WE ARE NOT IN HEAVEN YET

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-13)

Devotion 5 of 37

THE NECESSITY OF DILIGENCE

The nature of spiritual life dictates the manner in which the Holy Spirit speaks of it. Admonitions directed toward believers are not mere suggestions, but deal with necessities required by the life that is in Christ Jesus. This is a different approach to life than that of law, as under the First Covenant. The law was "weak through the flesh" (Rom 8:3), and therefore it was severely limited in its effects. It could not remove a person's sin, or make him righteous. It could not cleanse the conscience or produce confidence in God. It could not undo anything the sinner had done. Nor, indeed, could it empower the person under it to do what was right and refrain from what was wrong. The entire matter of salvation was placed in the hands of the person. Thus the law declared, "the man which doeth those things shall live by them" (Rom 10:5; Lev 18:5; Neh 9:29; Ezek 20:11,13,21; Lk 10:28; Gal 3:12).

Under this kind of arrangement, Divine stipulations are viewed quite differently. Although God is gracious, that aspect of His Person is not clearly seen under a system of Law. Men do not think about the nature of spiritual life, because that life depends upon the doing of the individual. It is not promised until all requirements have been met by the person seeking life. That is how the Law operates. The obtaining of life is the real issue, and not the sustaining of it. Not to be overlooked is the fact that spiritual life was not possible through Law. That is why it is written, "For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law" (Gal 3:21).

How different–gloriously different--it is in Christ Jesus. Here, life is offered for a look. As it is written, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Isa 45:22). The truth of this was pictured when Moses prepared a brazen serpent on which those bitten by deadly snakes were told to look. It is written, "that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived" (Num 21:9). Jesus referred to this incident, confirming that looking is a synonym for believing. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).

The point of this is that now, in Christ, life is not offered because we have fulfilled the Law, but because we looked to the Son, believing on Him. Now, once received, life is seen as something to be sustained, not obtained. The Scriptural idiom for this is "Lay hold on eternal life" (1 Tim 6:12,19). By that, the Spirit does not mean we do not have eternal life, for He unequivocally affirms that in Christ we DO possess eternal life (John 3:36; 5:24; 6:47,54; 1 John 5:11-13, 20). But we do not have the whole of it. Thus, what we have is to be maintained, while stretching forward to take whole of its fulness.

Here is where the requirement for diligence comes in. Diligence is earnestness, striving after something, eagerness, commitment, and devotion. It is investing ourselves in the things of God, sowing "to the Spirit" that we may, of Him, "reap life ever lasting" (Gal 6:8). Let no person be deceived into thinking the Holy Spirit will bring the fulness of eternal life to those who make no investment in it, or show no interest in it. It makes no difference what finely tuned theologies may be presented on the subject, the nature of spiritual life requires your investment, else it simply will not be sustained. Christians are solemnly told, "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Rom 8:13). In this case, those who "die" would be "twice dead," which expression is sanctified by the Holy Spirit. "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots" (Jude 12). I understand there are some who believe clouds cannot be "without water," fruit cannot "wither," people cannot be "twice dead," and the tree cannot be "plucked up by the roots." But they are simply wrong. Perhaps they do not say it in those words, but that IS how the Spirit says it.

Believers are admonished to "show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end" (Heb 6:11). They are exhorted to give diligence to add to their faith those virtues that will make them fruitful and keep them from falling (2 Pet 1:5-8). They are to "give diligence" to make their "calling and election sure" (2 Pet 1:10). As we run the race with patience that is set before us, we are to be found "looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God" (Heb 13:12). In fact, coming to God, whether initially or in the life of faith, requires that He be seen as "a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Heb 11:6).

And why is such an emphasis placed upon diligence? While viewing the average professing Christian you would hardly conclude that diligence is required. But it is, otherwise the Spirit would not have urged and encouraged us to be diligent. The reason for the admonition is the nature of spiritual life. It cannot be sustained without the serious interest of the individual. This is not a simplistic matter, as though diligence was a lifeless commandment to be kept, else the Lord will take our life from us. Rather, it is because we are in a hostile world, and live with militating influences, both within and without. Satan is aggressive against us, "seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet 5:8). We are engaged in fierce conflict "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph 6:12). We even have a contrary law with us, "warring against the law of our mind" (Rom 7:23).

Who is the soul who imagines he will be sustained in such an arena apart from his own involvement? I understand that the effort itself will not sustain the person. However, the faith that demands the effort is the factor that will cause the person to overcome (1 John 5:4-5). From an even higher vantage point, God Himself will keep us by His power, through our faith, which causes us to be diligent (1 Pet 1:5).

Every soul that is, in the sense of Scripture, diligent, will be sustained. God will undergird that person, bringing him at last into the glory. For those who ARE diligent, they will eventually be able to see "it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13). For those, however, who are not diligent, God is NOT working in them, and they are by no means safe. For them "it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (Rom 13:11).


PRAYER POINT: Father, I desire for You to be glorified in me and by me. In Jesus' name, I seek for grace to be diligent in running the race You have placed before me, seeking to obtain the prize.

-- Tomorrow: WE HAVE NOT YET ATTAINED --