THE DEATH TO SIN

IT is very important to understand clearly the stage of
experience depicted in the following pages, for truth out
of place can be poison. The title of the book is a sufficient
explanation, if it is apprehended, but it may be necessary to
emphasize in still plainer language than the title expresses,
the fact that conformity to death is the climax of— not the way
to — the ” Risen Life “, i.e., the life of union with the Risen
Lord on the heavenly side of the Cross.

Conformity to death, and bearing about in the body the
dying of Jesus, is quite another aspect of the Cross, to that
given in the sixth of Romans. The believer’s break with
sin, through apprehending the death to sin of Christ as the
Representative Man, is to be definite and decisive. Based on
God’s fact of the meaning of Calvary declared in Romans
6 : 6, the believer is to reckon himself dead — not dying— to
sin, counting upon the Spirit of God to make the reckoning
true. Standing on the basis of ” dead to sin “, the believer
finds the mastery of sbi broken, and ” living to God ” in
Christ Jesus he is a ” new creation ” (2 Corinthians 5: 17).
Joined to the Lord, he is K one spirit ” with Him — his life is
hid ” with Christ in God “.

But now comes the question of the manifestation of that
hidden life — the life of Jesus — how is it to be lived? Here
the messages in the following pages will meet the need.
Standing stedfastly on the basis of Romans 6′ 6, 11, etc., as the
bed-rock fact in relation to sin, the believer whose life is
hidden with Christ in God, now is able to bear the ” fellowship
of Christ’s sufferings “, and be made conformable to His
death, so that the life in union with the Risen Lord may be
manifested in the body, and through the body, to others—
” death ” working in us, and ” life in you ” {2 Corinthians
4: 12),

The need for both of these aspects of the Cross to be appre-
hended clearly, in their right order, by the Lord’s children,

6

THE CLIMAX OF THE RISEN LIFE

is very great, for if the believer imagines himself in the path
of ‘* conformity to death ** when he lias not first apprehended
the death to sin, he will never obtain victory over sin, nor
have any note of victory in his life, and, again, if the believer
who rejoicingly knows the emancipation of Romans 6,
from sin as a master, does not sec the succeeding stage of
conformity to death for life-giving and fruit-bearing service,
he is in danger of being hard and unbroken in exterior, and of
failing to manifest the broken and contrite spirit so precious
to God.

It is necessary, also, to emphasize; not only the need of
the believer’s knowing the two stages, i.e., the death to sin
of Romans 6, and conformity to death of Philippians 3:10, but
that they both should be continuous at one and the same time,
in every obedient child of God. The bed-rock basis of death
to sin needing the persistent ” reckoning “, must never be
departed from, or the apprehension of Romans 6, looked
upon simply as a past land-mark in the spiritual life. If this
is done, sin in more subtle formSj will re-assert the mastery,
without being called sin. The persistent standing on the
bed-rock basis of death to sin alone enables the Spirit of God
to reveal in deeper measure what is sin in the sight of God, so
that in the power of the new life, the believer does not let sin
reign in practice (Romans 6 : 12); and whilst standing on the
basis, the acceptance of conformity to death alone permits the
outflow of the life of Jesus through the mortal body, when “We
which Hue, are alwqy delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that
the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal
flesh”. The two must go together ! In relation to sin, we
reckon we are dead with Christ, and therefore ” dead indeed
unto sin “, and living unto God ” in Christ Jesus *’; in relation
to others, we accept the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings and
the becoming conformable unto His death, so that life may
how through us to a dying World,

Standing then, on the basis of Romans 6 — may the reader
say Amen to the messages in the following pages, and follow
in the steps of the Lamb of Calvary,