It is by faith in Christ that we enter into such an organic union with Him. We have pointed out that faith is the appreciation of Jesus. This appreciation is implied even in Galatians 2:20. In this verse we see that we have been crucified with Christ. This refers to one aspect of our history. We also see that Christ lives in us and that the life that we now live in the flesh we live in the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. It is significant that in this verse Paul specifically refers to the Son of God as the One “who loved me.” If we do not have any consciousness of Christ’s love for us, we shall not be able to have faith in Him. Living faith comes from our sense of His love. This indicates that the faith by which we believe in Him is related to our appreciation of His loveliness. As we sense His preciousness, spontaneously an appreciation for Him wells up within us. This appreciation is our faith. When Paul referred to the Son of God as the One who “loved me and gave Himself for me,” he was filled with appreciation for the Lord Jesus. This appreciation is the very faith about which he speaks in this verse. The life he lived in the flesh he lived in this faith, the faith of the Son of God.
Whenever we say from the depths of our heart, “Lord Jesus, I love You,” our faith is strengthened. Our organic union with Christ is strengthened also. Furthermore, we sense that we have been cut away from sin, the world, the flesh, and religion. Some who have seen the light concerning the church have not been willing to give up the denominations. But one day they told the Lord how much they loved Him. Spontaneously they had the sense within that they should give up their association with the denominations. Because their organic union with Christ was strengthened, they experienced more cutting. The more we say, “Lord Jesus, I love You,” the more we sense that we have been cut off from everything other than Christ.
As we tell the Lord Jesus that we love Him, we experience the operation of genuine faith that is implied in our appreciation of Him. By this faith we realize our union with Christ. In this union we realize that His history is our history; with Christ we have been crucified, buried, and resurrected. We are dead to everything other than God, and we are living to God.
How foolish the Galatians were in turning from the Lord to the law! Did they not realize that they had been cut off from the law and joined to the living God? Through the organic union we are released from slavery under law. In this union we enjoy the freedom that is ours in Christ.
In your experience do you know that you are dead to law and alive to God? I do not have much assurance that many Christians realize this. Few Christians are actually living to God. For the most part, they are still living to something other than God, especially to their own kind of law. Instead of caring for God, we may care for our type of law. Different persons have different laws. The young people have their law, and the older ones have their law. This is the reason that the older ones unconsciously condemn the young ones. This condemnation comes from their law. Instead of living to God, we live to our kind of law. We have been cut off from the Mosaic law, but in our experience we have not been cut off from our own law. The fact that we still have our own laws indicates that our love for the Lord is not adequate. We are still short in our appreciation of Him. This lack weakens our faith. However, when our love for the Lord Jesus increases, our condemnation of others will decrease. If the older saints have a greater appreciation of the Lord, their condemnation of the young people will be swallowed up.
Just as the older saints have the tendency to condemn the young ones, the young ones may not appreciate the older ones. Suppose the young saints and the older saints come together for a prayer meeting. It will be difficult for them to work together. Either the older ones will be prevailing and dominating, or the younger ones will. The reason for this problem is that the older ones have their law and the younger ones have theirs.
It is easy for us to proclaim in a doctrinal way that we have died to law and that we are now living to God. Our practical experience, however, may be quite different. We may not have died to certain things, and we may not be living to God. Therefore, we need to turn to the Lord and receive more infusion from Him. As a result, we shall have a greater love and appreciation for Him. This will strengthen our faith, which will then operate in us to strengthen our union with Christ. As our organic union with Him is strengthened, we shall experience more cutting. If we all have this experience, in the meetings we shall no longer have the consciousness of the difference between the young ones and the old ones. Instead, we all shall realize that we have been cut away from everything other than the Triune God. Then in the prayer meetings we shall function, not conscious of our age, but in the organic union in which we are truly dead to law and living to God.
In this message I am concerned with experience, not with passing on mere knowledge. If we condemn others, we are deficient in our love for the Lord. Instead of living to God, we live to our own law. Those who do not fulfill the requirements of our law we condemn. However, if our appreciation of the Lord is adequate, the operating faith will work to strengthen our union with Christ, and we shall experience more cutting. Then in reality we shall have no law. We shall truly be dead to law and alive to God.
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