«　WEEK 5　DAY 3　»

　　Matt. 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens.

　　John 3:15 That everyone who believes into Him may have eternal life.

　　Phil. 4:13 I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.

　　In His economy God has planned that man should do everything God requires of him. However, God does not want man to do all this by himself; He wants man to do this by Christ, in Christ, with Christ, through Christ, and by being one with Christ. This means that we need to have a spiritual union, an organic union, with Christ. In order that we may enter into such a union with Christ, God wants us not only to believe in Christ but to believe into Christ (John 3:15, 16, 18). To believe into Christ is to have an organic union with Christ, becoming one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17b). In this union we are joined to Christ, we are one with Him, and we are in Him. Now as those who are one with Him and in Him, we need to do all that God requires by Christ and through Christ. No longer should we live by ourselves and do things by ourselves, but we should live by Christ and do everything by Christ. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 41)

　　Because Paul had a thorough realization of this, he could declare, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” [Gal. 2:20]. Here Paul was saying, “I have died in Christ through His death, but now He lives in me through His resurrection. His living in me is entirely by His being the life-giving Spirit.”…We all need to have the reality of Galatians 2:20, realizing that God does not want us to live for Him by ourselves but to live for Him by Christ, in Christ, with Christ, through Christ, and by being one with Christ. The crucial matter that 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.

　　Every servant of the Lord should match Him. But in ourselves and by ourselves we can neither match Him nor serve Him. We are utterly lacking the capacity to do this. We are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing. How can we match God or serve Him? As far as we are concerned, this is impossible, but it is possible through the Triune God embodied in the Son, who is realized as the Spirit. This Spirit is everywhere, yet He is embodied in the Bible for us to inhale that we may do all things in Christ and by Christ.

　　We should not try in ourselves to do anything for God. Rather, we should hate and reject our effort to serve God and match Him, for it is actually abominable in the sight of God. Yes, God wants us to fulfill His economy, but He does not want us to do this by ourselves. God’s desire is that we cast ourselves aside, forget ourselves, and fulfill His economy by the Spirit, that is, by the realization of the Son, who is the embodiment of the Father. We should live, act, behave, work, and have our being by the very Christ who is the life-giving Spirit. Then it will be no longer we who live but Christ who lives within us.

　　In Romans 10:8 Paul refers to “the word of the faith which we proclaim.” This word of faith includes repentance, returning to God, holding fast to God, and believing into the Triune God in order to have an organic union with Him and to live together with Him as one. Are you living? Are you behaving and working? To these questions we should be able to say, “Yes, I am living, behaving, and working, but I am doing this not in myself and by myself but in Christ and by Christ. I am living in the organic union with the Triune God.” This is the Christian life, this is the church life, the Body, and, ultimately, this will be our life for eternity in the New Jerusalem. In the Christian life and in the church life, it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, pp. 41, 43-44)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 5