Alive In Christ, But With Work to Do

One of my favorite writers is George Eldon Ladd, who wrote among other books, ‘The Gospel of the Kingdom’. I was talking with a friend several months ago about who is a ‘saint’. Shortly after that conversation I came across this quote in Ladd’s book “A Theology of the New Testament.” I emailed the quote to him. I rediscovered the quote in my Word files just now. It is so wise (it seems to me) and answers questions that I know others wrestle with so I thought I would post an abridged version of it here. His words are in italics, mine are in plain text.

“The internal work of Christ is to be understood not in terms of a complete transformation of the human personality or the displacement of something human by something divine, but in terms of an influx of divine power accomplishing a reorientation of the will toward God. Now a person is enabled to do what the Law could not accomplish; she or he is enabled to love and worship and serve God and thus fulfill the highest demand of the Law.”

“The practical outworking of this new life is, however, one of tension . . . Because the person of faith is a new creation and has entered the new aeon of salvation, that person has died with Christ, been crucified with Christ, the old self has been crucified with Him, the flesh has been crucified, etc. (according to Paul in various letters). This is not something subjective and automatic and spontaneous; it indicates a new state of existence that must manifest itself in new life. Therefore, one must put to death the deeds of the body – the old, natural, rebellious human nature with its sinful deeds: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness.”

“The important thing to note is the tension. The old person – old nature—the old self has been put to death – it has been put off in principle; yet believers are exhorted to do in practice what has already been done in principle. . . He never says “do not sin” but rather, “do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies.”

“The power of the indwelling Spirit is not a spontaneous, all-possessing power: it requires a human response. Walking after the Spirit means to live each moment and to make each decision under the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.” (In other words, you must choose the right way. There are always two trees).

“Walking in the Spirit is walking in tension between the Spirit and the flesh. While the flesh has been crucified with Christ in principle, it can still be an active power in the Christian’s life and he or she must be constantly vigilant to keep the flesh under the control of the Spirit. . . The crucifixion and death of the flesh does not mean that it need no longer be reckoned with in Christian experience. The Christian will never be the person he or she wishes to be – free from temptation, struggle, tension. The old self is ever present; only by a constant walking after the Spirit can the dominance of the flesh be broken.” (Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, published by Eerdmanns, pg. 536, 537).

The Saint is the person who has been crucified with Christ, received the indwelling Holy Spirit, etc. when they repented and confessed Christ as Lord and Savior, and entered into life with Christ in the Kingdom of God. They are a new creation in-Christ. But they must still walk in tension between their life in the Spirit and the pull of the flesh. When we are in-Christ, we are in a new state of existence. The manifestation of that new existence depends upon two things. One, We must constantly stay connected, receiving the Holy Spirit, to break the dominance of the flesh. And two, we must choose the ‘right way’, sometimes moment-by-moment. As Ladd points out, Paul does not say, “do not sin”; He says, “do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies”. We have a role to play — we must “walk after the Spirit”. That is our ‘work’. The good news is that as we walk after the Spirit, we are becoming who we already are.

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Philippians 2: 12, 13 NIV).

Thanking Jesus for the Kingdom,

John

PS. I am working on my next post on ‘doors and promises’. The text I am working on is Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7: 7, 8. You know the passage: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”. These promises are so profound, so far-reaching, and potentially life-changing (and so deep) that it is taking me weeks of prayer and writing to begin to understand what I think Jesus is saying.

Part of my problem is how to condense into a post all that is encompassed in these promises and the conditions associated with them — like, “First, seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6: 33 NIV).

But I am persevering. It may take a few more weeks, but slowly the Holy Spirit is peeling back this particular onion. And it is very exciting!!

Jesus says, “ask and it will be given to you“. So I am asking Jesus and you — would you pray for me for supernatural insight and discernment? Thanks.