CHAPTER 11
Standing and State
l. The declaration.
We believe that if we are to attain to truth, we must distinguish most clearly between
:
standing and state.
hope and prize.
free gift and reward.
Otherwise, by confusing things that differ we shall give no certain sound in our witness,
and
have no certainty in our work or walk.
2. Scriptural grounds.
'It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.
If we suffer,
we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we believe
not, He abideth
faithful: He cannot deny Himself' (2 Tim. 2:11-13).
' ... Made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light' (Col.
1:12)
'Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve
the
Lord Christ' (Col. 3:24).
'In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and
unreproveable in His sight' (Col. 1:22).
' ... warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present
every
man perfect in Christ Jesus' (Col. 1:28).
'In Whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him' (Eph. 3:12).
' ... Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling' (Phil. 2:12).
' ... I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities
... shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Rom. 8:38,39).
'Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?
So run, that
ye may obtain ... I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by
any means, when I have preached (heralded) to others, I myself should be a castaway
(disapproved)' (1 Cor. 9:24-27).
'Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting
those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I
press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus' (Phil. 3:13,14).
'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth
there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness' (2 Tim. 4;7,8).
3. An expansion and application of these scriptures.
Much mischief is wrought among the children of God by teachers failing to distinguish
between those things which belong to the believer in Christ as a free gift of grace,
and those things
which are held out to him as a reward in connection with his service.
Such words as prize, crown, reward, win and gain have no place in a salvation that
is by
grace, through faith, without works. It is impossible for the same believer at the
same time and
connected with the same thing to be confident and yet in fear and trembling. It is
specially harmful to the truth of the One Body to attempt to teach from Philippians
3 that membership of that Body is held out as a prize to be won. It is equally untrue
to speak of the prize of Philippians 3 as the hope of the church; for if we do, then
we must also teach that Paul, when he wrote Philippians, had not then attained membership
of the One Body, and was not certain of the blessed hope of resurrection. Leave
Philippians 3 as the record of an added prize that may be won, associated with perfection
and the high calling, and all is clear.
Let us examine some of the scriptural grounds for this distinction, taking as an example
2 Timothy 2:11-13. The subject here is twofold: living and reigning. Living is
one thing; reigning is
another. Now living with Christ depends upon our having died with Him, but reigning
with Him
depends upon suffering and enduring. In the realm of life -- none can pluck us out
of His hand; 'once in Him, in Him for ever'. No member of the One Body can ever
forfeit his membership. The whole standing is by grace. We are chosen by God alone
and assured of eternal security, so that it can even be said :
'If we are unbelieving, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself' (2 Tim. 2:13,
Author's translation).
Once having died with Him, there can be no forfeiture or loss.
'Who died for us, that, whether we be watchful or sleepy, we should live together
with Him'
(1 Thess. 5:10, Author's translation).
Reigning, however, is quite another matter, and depends upon enduring. In this sphere,
we
can lose or forfeit. 'If we deny Him, He also will deny us'. These words must not
however be made to contradict what follows in verse 13. The contradiction may be
avoided if we distinguish the two spheres. Set out in line with the subject, the
verses appear as follows :
A v. 11. If we died with Him, we shall live. Life and free grace.
B v. 12. If we endure, we shall reign.
B v. 12. If we deny Him, we shall be denied. Endurance and reward.
A v. 13. If we are faithless, He abideth faithful. Life and free grace.
Another passage that demands the same discernment is 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. The
foundation, Christ Himself, once laid is unalterable. No 'if' can be admitted there.
What a man
builds, however, on that foundation is subject to quite a different principle. He
may receive a reward or he may suffer loss; but even if he should suffer loss: 'He
himself shall be saved: yet as by fire'.
The same principle of distinction obtains in 1 Corinthians 9:27. Paul had no thought
that he
could ever be a 'castaway' from grace or from Christ, but in respect of the prize
he realized that the
flesh was a danger to his hopes of winning it. He kept under his body, lest he should
be disqualified regarding the prize, but no amount of keeping under of the body would
ever save Paul or anyone else from the wages of sin.
The next chapter in the epistle (verses 1-5), with its contrast between 'all' and
'many',
emphasizes the lesson. Moses was a man of God; he appeared on the mount of transfiguration,
but he forfeited entry into the promised land. Every one of the Israelites whose
carcases fell in the
wilderness had been redeemed by the Passover lamb.
So when we come to Philippians let us remember to keep it in its place. Referring
to the
structure given above of 2 Timothy 2:11-13, A.A. correspond to Ephesians, where we
have boldness, confidence, acceptance. Philippians corresponds to B.B. of the same
structure, where we have fear and trembling. Here we have an 'if' -- 'if by any
means'. Paul reaches out to attain the prize which God has attached to the high calling.
Sir Robert Anderson has pointed out that those who quote Philippians 3:14 as 'the
on-high calling', meaning thereby a summons that will call them up to glory, do not
regard the implications of the whole verse. The words, 'the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus', do not fit a future summons. The ano calling is the calling of the church
of the One Body, and attached to it, but quite distinct therefrom, is a prize. This
prize may or may not be attained, but in no case can the hope be forfeited or membership
of the One Body lapse.
So with the two references to the inheritance in Colossians 1 and 3, already quoted
in this
section. In the first case God has made us meet; nothing remains for us to do to
qualify for it. In the second it is the reward of the inheritance for faithful service.
So with the two 'presentings'. In the first case we are presented through the death of Christ holy and unblameable, yet Paul warns and teaches that he may present every
man perfect in Christ. Paul could not and did not touch here the presenting of Colossians
1:22.
It is most important that these things that differ should be clearly defined. Those
who do not
thus rightly divide the truth are preparing for disapproval and shame in that day
(2 Tim. 2:15).