SERVICE ACCORDING TO REVELATION
There is only one thing that we have that counts before God—Christ. We have to see at least once that Christ was crucified on the cross to bear our sins and that He is truly our Savior. We all must have this “one day” before we can say that we have been saved. We also must have a “one day” when the Holy Spirit shows us that it is no longer we but Christ. It is not we who submit to our husband, but it is Christ who submits. It is not we who love our wife, but it is Christ who loves. It is not we who are zealous, but it is Christ who is zealous. The Holy Spirit shows us that those who want to do good, who want to love their wives, and who want to submit to their husbands are already crucified with Christ, and now it is Christ who lives in them (Gal. 2:20). We are not the ones who do good, who are zealous, who love others, or who preach the gospel. We have been crucified with Christ, and now it is Christ who lives in us.
“ONE DAY”
We should have several “one days” in our lifetime. The first one should be when the Holy Spirit shows us that the Lord Jesus bore up our sins in His body and was resurrected from among the dead to be our life. This should be our first “one day.” Then our second “one day” should be when we see that it was not merely the sinning “I” who was crucified on the cross but that even the “I” who does good was also crucified. It was not merely the “I” who has a bad temper who was crucified on the cross, but even the meek “I” was also crucified. The Holy Spirit shows us that we are already crucified with Christ and that it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” I have passed away, I am terminated, I am over, and I am already crucified. A living person can do evil and can also do good. But now that I have been put to death, can I still commit sin? No. Can this dead person still do good? No. Can a person who previously hit his wife but has now been crucified still hit his wife? No. Can he love his wife now? No. He is dead. He can neither hit his wife nor love his wife. This is to be a Christian.
A Christian is one who is dead both to sin and to good. A dead person can neither sin nor do good. “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” What does it mean to be a Christian? To be a Christian means that “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” Because I am identified with Him, when He was crucified, I was also crucified. I was crucified with Him, and His death is my death. Such a death delivers me from my sins and my goodness. This is not a matter of doctrine but a matter of revelation.
Hence, we need another “one day” when the Holy Spirit shows us again that we are already crucified with Christ and that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. If we see this, we will no longer resolve to do good or be determined to do certain things; rather, we will simply praise. When we see this and praise Him for this, Christ will have more ground in us and will be expressed through us. When Christ is magnified in us, we will love our wife, submit to our husband, and love sinners. However, the love and submission will not be our doing but the overflow of Christ. We have already been crucified. When Christ gains the ground in us, He will be expressed through us. At that time, we will really love our wife, submit to our husband, be zealous, and have the love for sinners. However, we will not be conscious of how much we have done. Rather, we will only have the sense that we are crucified with Christ and that He is living in us. This is service according to revelation.
Hence, when we see Christ for the first time in our Christian life and in our Christian path, we see that He was crucified and died for us and that we are saved. Eventually we will also see that when Christ died for us on the cross to save us, we ourselves were also crucified. When we see this, we will not do anything because a dead person can neither do good nor have any hope. We will see that we are finished. We will see that it is no longer we who live but that it is Christ who lives in us. At this time we will see that once we go out, He comes in. From that day onward, we simply will not be able to make any resolutions or to have any hope in ourselves, because we will realize that it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. At this moment our Christian life truly begins.
Although we may be saved, if we do not know this way, we will still live within the realm of religion. This will be the case until one day the Holy Spirit will show us that we are crucified. Then we will be truly terminated in our experience. From that day onward it will be no longer we who serve but Christ who serves. Our Christian living will not really begin until that day.
(The Path of Our Growth in Life, Chapter 7, by Witness Lee)
