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In His economy God has planned that we should do everything God requires of us—Matt. 5:18; 7:21; 12:50:
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It is impossible for us to do anything for God by ourselves; we need another life—the divine life, the life of God—19:26; John 3:15; 1 John 5:13.
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God wants us to do all of this not by ourselves but in Christ, by Christ, with Christ, through Christ, and by being one with Christ—John 6:57; 14:19; Phil. 4:13.
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This means that we need to have a spiritual union, an organic union, with Christ—John 15:4-5; Rom. 12:5:
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In order that we may enter into such a union with Christ, God wants us not only to believe in Christ but also to believe into Christ—John 3:15-16, 18.
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To believe into Christ is to have an organic union with Christ, becoming one spirit with Him—1 Cor. 6:17.
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In this union we are joined to Christ, we are one with Him, and we are in Him—John 15:4-5.
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Now as those who are one with Him and in Him, we need to do all that God requires by Christ and through Christ—Phil. 4:13.
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No longer should we live by ourselves and do things by ourselves, but we should live by Christ and do everything by Christ—John 6:57; 14:19.
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The crucial matter we need to realize is that God wants us to live, act, behave, work, and have our being in Christ, by Christ, with Christ, through Christ, and in oneness with Christ—Gal. 2:20; John 15:4-5, 7.
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In fulfilling God’s requirements, we should not have any trust in ourselves; rather, we should learn to take God’s desire as our desire and take Him as our life and life supply—Eph. 4:20-21; John 11:25; 6:57.
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 19:26 …Jesus said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
1 John 5:13 I have written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe into the name of the Son of God.
Whenever the Lord asks us to do something for Him, He does not intend that we do that thing by ourselves….Trying to keep His commandment by our energy is an insult to God; it is abominable in His sight. If we try to do this, the Lord might say, “I do not ask you to do something for Me by your strength or ability, for you do not have the strength or the ability. What I ask you to do for Me, I want you to do by Me. Learn to have faith in Me, to trust in Me. I will do everything for you. I simply want you to participate in My operation. I want to do something in man and with man….If you cooperate with Me, I will be able to do what I desire to do.” To do something for the Lord not by ourselves but by the Lord—this is pleasing to Him. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 149)
Today’s Reading
Deep within us there is an evil thing. This evil thing, which may appear to be very good, is our desire to do the will of God and to carry out the will of God by ourselves. In God’s view, this desire, despite its nice appearance, is actually abominable. We should never think that by ourselves we are able to do something for God. It is impossible for us to do anything for God by ourselves. We need another life—the divine life, the life of God. In order to have this life, we must be reborn, regenerated; that is, we need to be born of God. With our created life we cannot observe what God demands; we do not have the capacity to do God’s will. Even if our mind is clear, our love is balanced, and our will is strong, we still do not have the capacity to keep God’s commandment or to do His will.God wants us to express Him. But are we, in ourselves and by ourselves, able to express God? Certainly not! Just as a dog cannot express a bird, so we with our created life cannot express God. In order to express God, we must have the life of God. This life is the divine life, the eternal life. Actually, this life is the Triune God embodied in Christ, who is realized as the life-giving Spirit.
Although we have received the divine life, we are not accustomed to living by this life. We may never have had the thought of living by the divine life. Instead, we continue to trust in our old life. We may even pray for the improvement of the old life. In our prayer we may say, “Lord, You know how weak I am.” The Lord may answer, “There is no need for you to tell Me that you are weak. I know that you are weak. You are not merely weak—you are dead. This is the reason I have given you another life. Why would you not live by this new life which I have given you?”
I do not have the confidence that anyone among us, including myself, knows how to live by the divine life….We may be clear that the book of Deuteronomy manifests God, exposes us, and unveils Christ as our life, our life supply, and our everything, but we may not put this knowledge into practice. Instead of living by the divine life, we may turn to the old life and ask the Lord Jesus to help us to improve ourselves.
In fulfilling God’s requirements, we should not have any trust in ourselves. We need to learn to take the Lord’s desire as our desire and say, “Lord, I desire what You desire. In carrying out Your desire, I do not have any trust in myself, for I am not able to do Your will. Lord, because I have no trust in myself and because I have no capacity to fulfill Your desire, I take You as my life and life supply.” (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 149-151)
Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msgs. 2, 9, 21, 23