Col. 2:14. The forgiveness of God is like the God who grants it—everlasting, all-comprehensive, immeasurable…. No possibility of condemnation. The bond that was against me is now nailed up, as it were, in the court of justice for the protection of the debtor. I now owe everything to the love of God; I owe my whole self. Let Christ dwell in my heart, to guide every glance of the eye, every thought of the mind.
How strange would it seem to us to see a prince in sorry garments seated on the alebench in company with common men! how much greater the inconsistency when a child of the living God, a king and a priest unto God, degrades himself to fellowship with the unregenerate!
In order of time we were in the first man Adam, the man of the earth, first: but not so in order of purpose and decree; according to this we were in the last Adam, the second man, the Lord from heaven, ere we fell in the first.
Every flock bears the mark of its owner; so the sheep of Christ have their mark, even poverty of spirit; each one is a poor needy sinner, self-judged and self-condemned, according to the justice of God.
For a child of God to talk of his heavenly calling, and not to walk according to it, how sad a sight! The moment I am born of God, I am in the world in a new relation; I am a crucified man and that I am such should be evident to all around.
God holds us accountable for what we have, and not for what we have not. If I have only ten minutes to read the Word, do I employ those ten minutes according to my accountability?
Many believers, though they live in New Testament times, walk in the Old Testament spirit.
The “New Creature”
The believer in Jesus, being created anew, has the likeness of God stamped upon him. In nature the child resembles the parent. There is no feature of the countenance of God the Father but is to be found in the feeblest child of grace. (2 Pet. 1:4.)
According to the new man, we crave the knowledge of God’s truth for the sake of obedience; but the flesh desires knowledge for the vain-glorious talk of the lips that tendeth to penury. (Prov. 14:23.)