The Exchanged Life

"I do wish I could have a talk with you about the way of holiness. At the time you spoke of this very issue to me in conversation, it was the one subject occupying all other thoughts in my mind - though not from anything I have read, or from what others have spoken of, but as from a consciousness of my own personal failure; a constant falling short of that which I felt should be our aim; that perpetual striving to find some way by which a continuous enjoyment of that communion, that fellowship with Christ, which is at times so real, but more often so visionary, so far off! . . . I have come to the conclusion that this striving, this effort, this longing and hoping for better days to come, is not the true way to holiness and usefulness. While it is far better, no doubt, than being satisfied with our poor attainments and achievements, it is not the best way of all. I have been struck with a passage from a book, entitled “Christ is All.” It says:

“The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete.

“Truly, this is the Grace of faith! It is the chain that binds the soul to Christ, making the Savior and the believer one . . . It is the channel of God’s goodness becoming fully opened within the believer - that the plenteous fullness of Christ can flow unrestricted. It is when the barren branch allows the sap to flow, from the Fruitful Stem . . . so that One life reigns throughout the whole.

As believers who seek more of Christ, we mourn over our shortcomings, finding the hated monsters of sin and our flesh still striving for, and in many ways achieving, mastery. There is an acute sense that - evil is present with us when seeking to do good. But it is those who have felt this most keenly, those who have a deep inward exercise that they have died in Christ, who ascend to the highest heights of a Godly life. He is most holy who has a greater portion of Christ living within.

To allow my loving Savior to work His will into me - my sanctification - is what I would live for by His grace. Abiding! Not striving, nor struggling; looking off unto Him; trusting Him for present power to subdue all inward corruption; resting in the love of an Almighty Savior, and in the conscious joy of a complete salvation; that His Will should be truly supreme! This is not something new to the Scriptures. And yet! ’Tis new to me. I seem to have got to the edge only, of a boundless sea; to have only sipped of that which satisfies. Christ, quite literally, seems to me to be, not only all, but the only power for service. What’s more, it is He alone that can lead us into the practical realization of this unfathomable fullness.

How then is our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is, and all that He is for us. His life, His death, His work, He Himself, as revealed to us in His word, should be the ever present object of our thoughts. Not a striving to have faith, or to increase our faith, but a looking off to the Faithful One; a resting in the Loved One, entirely. And when this occurs, it does not seem as anything new, but rather, only something that we formerly misapprehended.

Who would have thought, the way God takes His own into deeper spiritual experiences would be through crisis! Yet so it is. And so it should be. Only the deepest heart hunger for more of Christ can weather the storms of outward circumstances, and penetrate through to the Sunshine that waits on the other side of such dark clouds.

What is the secret of entering into such a life of oneness with the Lord? It is not in asking how to get the sap out of the vine and into myself, but in remembering that Jesus is the Vine - the root, stem branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit, - all indeed. And far more too! The distinction lay in not attempting to get more out of Him, but simply rejoicing, because we are in Him - one with Him, and consequently with all His fullness. No longer seeking for the faith to bring holiness, but rejoicing in the fact of a perfect holiness in Christ. Only let us realize; it is by having entered into this total oneness with Him that this holiness - His holiness - is ours.

How many are the times, and how long the years in our spiritual pilgrimage, that we understand these things on a theoretical basis, without having entered into them on practical basis, in our daily living. And yet we still think, and act, as if we must make ourselves a branch, instead of taking the Lord at His word, and believing that each already is a branch - an extension of Him. And therein is a crux of the issue: I am a part of Him, but I must believe it and act upon it, to realize it. This is exactly what is so elusive. I am a member of Christ, and because I am, I have all I need of His fullness. I have seen this long enough in the Bible, and believed it to be true; but I did not believe it enough to have it manifest as a living reality.

How does one get faith strengthened? If I could only abide in Christ, all would be well. But I could not. I began one day with prayer, determined that I would spend the whole day not taking my eye from Him, even for a moment; but the pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, and the constant interruptions, often caused me to forget Him.

Is there no rescue? Must it be this to the end of my days - constant conflict, instead of victory, and all too often, defeat? How! Oh how can I talk with sincerity to others, and of the power that He gives to become Sons of God (God-like), when it is not so in my own experience? Instead of growing stronger, I seem to be getting weaker, and have even less power against sin; and no wonder, for even my faith and hope were diminishing. I began to hate myself, and my sin; and yet I gained no strength against it. I felt I was a child of God; His Spirit within would cry out, in spite of all. And yet, to rise to my privileges as a child of God, I was utterly powerless. I thought that holiness - practical holiness - was to be gradually attained by diligent use of the means of grace God has provided. I felt there was nothing I so much desired in this world, and nothing I so much needed. But so far from any measure of attaining it , the more I pursued and strove after it, the more it eluded my grasp; to the point where hope itself almost died out. I even began to think that perhaps, heaven was held sweeter portion than what God would give down here. Oh when will the conflict end? Yet even in the midst of my struggles, Christ has never seemed more precious. And I so relish the seasons of peace, and joy in the Lord. But these are transitory. Oh, how good the Lord was in bringing this conflict within to an end.

All this time, I felt assured that all I have need of was found in Christ. But the practical question was - how to get it out? Truly, He is rich; I am poor. He is strong; I am weak. I knew full well that in the root, in the stem, was abundant fatness; but how to get it out into my little branch remained the unanswered question.

Ever so gradually, as the light was dawning upon me, I saw ever more clearly - faith was the only prerequisite. It was faith that enabled to enter into this life; yet I had not that faith. OH, I strove for it; but it would not come. I tried to exercise it, will all the strength I had within; but in vain. Seeing more and more that wondrous supply laid up in Jesus, the fullness of our precious Savior - my helplessness and guilt seemed to increase. And the sins I committed appeared as trifles when compared to the sin of unbelief which was their cause - which would not take God at His word, but rather made Him a liar! I prayed for faith; but it would not come. What was I to do?

Then, when my agony of soul was at its height, the Spirit of God removed the scales from my eye, revealing the truth of our oneness with as I had never known it before. Now I see. Now I know!

How do we get the faith required? How do we enter into the blessed fullness and reality of all that is our in Christ? Not by striving; but by ceasing to strive. Not by attempting to achieve that which is not within us to attain; but by a total - a complete -resting in the Faithful One.

Now, as if for the first time, I saw! Now, I knew! And when I saw - when I knew - oh, the joy that flowed. Formerly, I had striven in vain to rest in Him. Now, I strive no more; I simply rest in Him. While I may not believe; while I may not be faithful - “If we believe not, He abideth faithful.” He has promised - “He will never leave me, never fail me!” And He never will.

But this was not the half that He showed me! As I thought of the vine and the branches - what a flood of light the blessed Spirit poured into me. My mistake was in trying to get the sap, the fullness, out of Him. I saw as I never did before, that I was a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. He is the root, the stem, and the branches. Oh the joy of seeing, and living, in this truth.

What a wonderful thing it is to be one with the risen and exalted Savior; to be a living, breathing, and active member of Christ! Think what it involves. Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can the right hand be rich and the left poor? Or the head be well fed while the body starves? Think of its bearing on prayer! Could a bank clerk say to a customer, “It was only your hand that wrote the check, not you,” or “I cannot pay this sum to your hand, only to your head”? Do you see it! So long as we keep within the extent of Christ’s credit - a tolerably wide limit - when we ask according to His will, and in His name, “He hears us: and . . . we know we have the petitions we desire of Him.”

The sweetest part, if one may speak of one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything; for I know He is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It little matters to my servant whether I send him to but a few trifles, or the most expensive articles. In either case he looks to me for the money, and brings back the purchases. So if God places me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; in positions of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? What fear is there that His resources are not equal to the need of each emergency? His resources are mine, for He is mine. He is with me, and dwells within me. All, springs from the believer’s oneness with Christ. Since Christ has thus dwelt in my heart - how happy I have been!

I am no better than before; but I am dead, and buried with Christ. And more! I am risen too, and one with an exalted Lord. Now this risen and exalted Lord actively lives in me - “and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” I now believe I am dead to sin. God reckons it so, and tells me to fully accept and believe in His reckoning. And who knows better; Him or me? He knows best. My past experiences may not have testified to this fact; but I dare not say it is so now. I know and feel that old things have passed away. While I am as capable as ever of sinning, Christ is realized as present within me as never before. He cannot sin. And the fullness and vitality of this, His active presence within me, keeps me from sinning. And further - the more I walk in this light - the countenance of His presence - the more receptive my conscience is to anything that disappoints Him; sin is instantly detected, confessed, and pardoned; peace and joy instantly restored upon full confession.

Now I see, as never before, faith is “the substance of things hoped for;” not a mere fleeting shadow. It is not less than sight, but more! Sight only shows the outward form of things; faith gives the tangible substance. You can rest on this substance; feed on this substance. Christ dwelling within the believer by faith is power indeed; and life indeed. Yet, Christ and sin will not dwell together; nor can we have His presence when a love of the world is harbored within.

Let us no longer consider Him as far off. God has united us - made us one - with Him; members of His very body. Nor should we look upon this experience - these truths - as being only for a few. They are the birthright and privilege of each and every child of God. And not one can dispense with them without dishonoring our Lord.

Excerpts taken from the biography, "Hudson Taylor," by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor. Available through: Overseas Missionary Fellowship.