Outline
Ⅲ
We are believers in Christ, those who have life and live by the faith of the Son of God; faith annuls us and causes us to live God, to express God, and to minister God into people—2 Cor. 6:14-16; Rom. 1:17; Heb. 11:6; Gal. 2:20:
A
The believers in Christ (John 3:15-16) have been transferred from Adam into Christ (1 Cor. 15:22), they have been regenerated to be a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), they are united with Christ in His eternal life, and they are joined to Christ to be one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17):
１
As believers in Christ, we have been generated twice; we were generated the first time to be the natural man, but one day we were regenerated to be born anew with the divine, eternal life—John 3:6-7.
２
Our second birth certificate of our spiritual birth is seen in Romans 8:16, which says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God; our divine and mystical birth certificate is a double spirit, the Spirit with our spirit, which has become one spirit with the Lord.
B
When man hears Christ, knows Him, appreciates Him, and treasures Him, He causes faith to be generated in man, enabling man to believe in Him; thus, He becomes the faith in man by which man believes in Him—Heb. 12:2.
C
Faith comes out of the hearing of the word; when we hear Christ and contact Him as the living word of God in the written word of God, He becomes the applied word as the Spirit dispensed into us to be our faith; thus, God embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit mingled with our spirit is faith—Rom. 10:17; John 1:1; 5:39-40; 6:63.
D
The hearing of faith awakens our loving appreciation, and the more we love the Lord, the more faith operates to bring us into the riches, the profit, of the all-inclusive Spirit—Gal. 3:2, 5; 5:6.
E
Romans 12:3 says, "Not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to be sober-minded, as God has apportioned to each a measure of faith":
１
To think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think without a sober mind annuls the proper order of the Body life; God gave us the same faith in quality but not in quantity; the matter of quantity depends upon how we grow; if we grow today as the apostle Paul grew, the portion of faith we receive will be greatly enlarged.
２
How much faith God apportions to us depends upon our attitude; if we are not sober-minded (thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, not considering one another more excellent than ourselves, and thinking that we are something when we are nothing), God would not increase His apportioning of faith to us, and He probably would even decrease it—Phil. 2:2-3; Gal. 6:3; 1 Cor. 8:1-3.
F
We believers live by faith in the following relationships with Christ:
１
Christ is the vine, and we are His branches—John 15:1-8.
２
Christ is the Head, and we are His members—1 Cor. 12:27.
３
Christ is the breath of life, the water of life, and the bread of life, and we are His breathers, eaters, and drinkers—John 20:22; 4:10, 14; 7:37-39a; 6:35, 51-63, 68.
４
Christ is the Bridegroom, and we are His bride—3:29; Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 19:7-9; 2 Cor. 11:2-3.
５
Christ is the Father of the orphans, and we are the orphans who have become His children, enjoying His care and deliverance, which imply His rescue and saving every day—John 14:18; Psa. 68:5-6; Isa. 9:6; 22:19-22; John 1:12-13; 14:10; Psa. 107:1-43; 110:4; Rev. 2:1, 7; Heb. 7:25; Rom. 5:10.
６
Christ is our Physician, and we are His patients, enjoying Him as our Healer to be our forgiveness, enjoyment, joy, satisfaction, and freedom—Exo. 15:23-26; Mark 2:1—3:6.
７
Christ is the light of the world, and we are His followers so that we may have the light of life and be His diffuser to spread the divine light—John 8:12; Matt. 5:14-16; Phil. 2:12-16; 1 John 1:5, 7, 9; Rev. 21:23.
Morning Nourishment
John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten…of God.Rom. 12:3 …Not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to be sober-minded, as God has apportioned to each a measure of faith.
The designation believers designates those who have believed in [to] Christ as the Son of God according to God’s New Testament economy… Anyone who does not have faith in Christ, who does not believe in [to] Christ, is certainly not a believer.
The believers are those who have received Christ as their generating life for them to become the children of God. Believing into Christ equals receiving Him. When we believe into Christ, we receive Him. We receive Him by believing into Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1133, 1137)
Today’s Reading
We are God’s regenerated new creation, united with Christ in His divine life, joined to Christ as one spirit (2 Cor. 5:17; 1 Cor. 6:17). We are not merely generated persons in the old creation. We have been generated twice. The first time was by our parents to be the old creation. We were generated to be the natural man, but one day we were regenerated. Our birth certificate is an important and official document that records the date of our physical birth. Our second birth certificate of our spiritual birth is seen in Romans 8:16, which says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. Our birth certificate is a double spirit, the Spirit with our spirit. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” p. 88)According to Romans 10:17, faith comes out of the hearing of the word. Thus, the source of faith is the word…There are three aspects of the word.
First, there is the written word of God—the Bible (John 10:35). Then there is the living word of God—Christ (1:1). Finally, there is the applied word of God—the Spirit (Eph. 6:17; John 6:63).
The Bible is the written word, and Christ is the living word. Without the Spirit, however, the living word cannot be applied to us. The living word becomes the applied word through the Spirit. God has only one kind of word. First, He spoke, and what He spoke was written in a book. That is the Bible.
We have such a word, but not many have really been benefited by this word. This is why we have to either read or hear the Bible. Every week we gather together a number of times just to read, speak, and hear the word. When the word of the Bible is spoken to us and heard by us, right away the written word becomes the living word. That is Christ. When the living word is applied to us and received by us, it becomes the word of the Spirit. Then this word of the Spirit heard by us is the source of our faith. Faith comes from the hearing of this applied word by the Spirit through the living Christ out of the written Bible.
If you think you are bigger than Paul in the quantity of faith, you are crazy. You are not sober-minded [Rom. 12:3]. If you are really sober-minded, you will say, “Brother Paul was a big mountain. I am just a small stone.”…To think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think without a sober mind is to annul the proper order of the Body life.
In Romans 12 Paul deals with the practice of the Body life…God has not only allotted but also apportioned faith to us. He gave us the same faith in quality but not in quantity. The matter of quantity depends upon how you grow. If you grow today as the apostle Paul grew, the portion of faith you receive will be greatly enlarged. God first allotted faith to us in quality, and then He apportioned it in quantity. What kind of faith you have depends upon God’s allotment. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 286-287, 311-312)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “A Word of Love to the Co-workers, Elders, Lovers, and Seekers of the Lord,” ch. 2; Life-study of Galatians, msg. 14