Normal Christian Life

by Watchman Nee
Theme: No longer I, but Christ Gal 2:20
In all his [Gods] dealings with us, he works by taking us out of the way and substituting Christ in our place. The Son of God died instead of us for our forgiveness: he lives instead of us for our deliverance.

I. Our Problem In Christ we have two substitutions: 1. A Substitute on the cross, who secures our forgiveness 2. A Substitute within, who secures our victory Dual problem: Sins vs. Sin not only have I done something wrong but there is something wrong inside Sins [Rom 1:1 5:11] wrong actions committed before God requiring forgiveness (what I did) paid for by the blood (3:25, 5:9) Sin [Rom 5:12 8:39] nature from birth, sin as a principle works in me requiring deliverance (what I was) destroyed by the cross (6:6)
The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin.

II. The Blood of Christ: works three ways 1. Godward God cannot overlook our sins, they require payment thus the blood is primarily for God as He looks at us through the blood (Ex 13:12, Heb 9:11-12), the blood of Christ wholly satisfies God, nothing else will do (1 Pet 1:18-19) 2. Manward cleanses mans conscience for the purpose of fellowship with God (Heb 10:22; Ez 36:26) removes the barrier that keeps me from fellowshipping with God, we come to God only by the basis of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross every time, NOT based on how we feel or what we have done, draws us night to Christ (Eph 2:13) and grants us boldness (Heb 10:19, 22) removes all consciousness of sin (Heb 10:2) 3. Satanward he is called the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10), the Lord is our priest, operating with His own blood (Heb 9:12), God did not cover sin or overlook it, He paid for it and it is GONE, if God is for us who can be against us (8:31, 33-34) Jesus is the propitiation of our sins, He became sin (1 Jn 2:1-2, 2 Cor 5:21)

accusation is the most power that the devil has, we never answer Satan with our performance or conduct but rather the blood of Christ, the answer (8:33-34, Rev 12:11) III. The Cross of Christ A. What is a sinner? (5:12-21) We are not sinners because we commit sins; we sin because we are sinners. It is an issue of nature. We are sinners by constitution rather than by action. The fact that someone sins is evidence that he is a sinner, not the cause. We were sinners because we were born in Adam and for no other reason. It is birth that counts; who is one born under? The problem lies not in what I have done but in what I am by way of birth. Just as Christ was raised from the dead, so are we everything He endured, we endured (6:4)
The Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my old man. It needs the Cross to crucify me. The Blood deals with the sin, but the Cross must deal with the sinner.

B. What is our identity? We are wrongly focused much more on our doing rather than our being. Our being defines us, not our doing. Ergo, our defeated life was derived from Adam as we were in him and then being in Christ, He becomes the source of our life as we are born again in Him.
So, as we have said, the trouble is in our heredity, not in our behavior. Unless we can change our parentage here is no deliverance for us. As through the one mans disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous. In Adam we receive everything that is of Adam; in Christ we receive everything that is of Christ.

C. What about sin? We have died to sin (6:2) because we were baptized into His death (6:3)
When the Lord Jesus was on the Cross all of us died not individually, for we had not yet been born but, being in Him, we died in Him. One died for all, therefore all died. 2 Cor 5:14 We died in him as the last Adam; we live in him as the second Man. The Cross is thus the mighty act of God which translates us from Adam to Christ.

IV. Pattern for the Normal Christian Life 1. Knowing 2. Reckoning 3. Presenting ourselves to God 4. Walking in the Spirit of God