Chapter 5

GOD’S PLAN

THIS CHAPTER contains probably one of the most needed teachings for the church today. I say this not because I am writing it, but because of the truth in it I want to share.

There is much preaching which exhorts the believer to recognize the indwelling Christ, which tells him that Christ alone can give him victory. Such preaching then earnestly challenges the hearer to get into a deeper involvement with Christ so that the peace of God may fill his heart. All this is wonderful, true, and vitally necessary; but sadly, this is often
where the message ends.

The hearer has been taught, challenged, and brought to a crisis moment of deep decision, but then what does he do? How does he do it? I remember once when I had been speak ing to a group of college students. Their hearts were all fired up, and they were ready to go. Then as I conciu4ed,- one of them said, “Great, this is fine, just what we need, but how do we make it work? What are the mechanics of living a victorious life? Spell it out inch by inch!”

The greatest longing of many Christians is to have a victorious life. The believer may desire to make Christ real, but how to do so is the baffling problem. I want to share with you now God’s plan for making God’s total will a living reality in the experience of the believer.

I want to turn your attention to Romans 6:1-14. This section of Scripture tells quite clearly what is the plan in the mind of God whereby the mystery of God’s will can become a motivating power.

It is interesting to compare how different people react to the truth of the indwelling Christ. Every born-again child of God has a belief in the indwelling Christ. It is part of our spiritual vocabulary in prayer and praise and song. We love to sing such words as, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart!” It all sounds fine, very uplifting, and
theologically correct, but what does it mean?

Sometimes I trace the thought patterns of teenagers. There are some who reason this way: “Jesus lives in my heart, He will take care of me whatever happens, so I will live my life as I see it, and as I want it, and I’ll trust Jesus to take care of me.” Their favorite hymn becomes, “He will take care of you,” sung with a warm, comfortable feeling that whatever
happens, whatever I do, somehow Jesus will keep me.

It isn’t only teenagers who think like that, many adult Christians also have a nebulous concept of what Christian living means. There are many who just push on, do what they want, and expect Jesus to straighten things out for them. I need to realize that before I became a Christian, there was just “me”—my fallen human nature, the flesh. After I became a Christian, I became a partaker of the divine nature; Jesus came to indwell me in the person and presence of His Holy Spirit. The flesh, remember, is “all that a person is without Christ,” whether lovely or unlovely, gracious or ungracious. And it is in this area of the flesh that the power of sin is demonstrated and experienced.

As a Christian I now have two natures within me—a fallen human nature which is me, and the divine nature which is Christ. The whole problem of Christian living now turns on the relationship between these two natures. Who does what or who helps whom? Do I struggle on and do my best, then
call in Christ to help me when I am in trouble? Or does Jesus take control and I help Him? Is it a demonstration of team work?

In understanding this relationship most Christians need help. Romans 6 tells us what God’s plan is for solving this personal problem. Remember it was “God’s answer” that provided the Lamb of God to deal with the penalty of our sin. It was “God’s counsel” that devised the mystery of God’s
will, whereby Christ would dwell in us to give us victory over the power of sin. Now it is ‘God’s plan” that enables us to enjoy the success that God’s will provided. Let us now see what this plan is.

Verse 1 of Romans 6 poses a question: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Shall I just go on living the same defeated life and let God’s grace take care of it all? Quite rightly so the next two words are “God forbid.” Then the chapter begins to teach three important facts.

There used to be a time when basic teaching given in school was called the three R’s—reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. The Bible gives the three R’s of basic Christian living; we will discuss them one at a time. The first R is realize. The first eight verses say that in God’s sight, when Christ died on
the cross, I died. This comes as a shock, but here it is in the Word. Verse 3 says, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized unto his death.” Verse 4 says, “We are buried with him by baptism into death even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Verse 5
adds, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Verse 6 is very definite: “Our old man [fallen human natured is crucified with him.” Verse 8 says, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” Notice the emphasis: “with him” in verse 4, “together” verse 5, “with him” in both verses 6 and 8.

God has finished with the flesh, as Romans 8:8 says: “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” There is nothing in human nature by itself which can satisfy the heart of God. We are rebels, enemies of God; the heart is always a rebel, and God has no plans for improving human nature. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God” (2 Co 5:17, 18). We are new creatures because we have a new nature—the divine nature, Christ indwelling us.

If we accept this part of God’s plan, then we can see straight away that some of our nebulous ideas must go. It won’t be a case of my doing all I can for Christ, then calling Him in to help me over the hard spots. We will have to see ourselves in the context of Galatians 2:20, where Paul gives his own testimony to the truth we are at present considering. He says, “I
am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Notice that Paul uses the same two words “with Christ,” such as we have in this section. He accepts the great fact that when Christ died, he died. If he is crucified, the “he” being his fallen human nature, then he is
out of the way. This is exactly what we are considering under the first R—Realize that when Christ died, I died.

A further glance at the verses we have quoted from Romans 6 reveal one other important fact. As well as saying that we are to realize that we have died with Christ, they also go on to underline the fact that “we should walk in newness of life,” “should be in the likeness of His resurrection,” “should also live with Him.” This is a present-tense walk and a today
experience. This is not something that will happen when I get to heaven; this is the “now” of my salvation. This is the demonstration of the “new creature,” but it cannot take place until I first realize that “I” am out of the way. This is why so many of us never live like new creatures; we are always being fouled up by the old nature, either trying to help or hindering.

Now let us look at the second R, which is the word Reckon. We saw above that the teaching of the first eight verses is that in God’s sight, when Christ died, I died. Notice those words: in God’s sight. This is essential truth in His planning. God has finished with human nature and sees only Christ.

Here the problem really hits us. It is one thing to say “in God’s sight.” He may have finished with human nature, but I have not finished with my human nature. I am stuck with it, and it will be with me as long as I live on this earth. All its failings and fears, all its temptations and potential for sin, all its rebellion and independence—these are mine. In this human nature the power of sin is experienced; this is my daily battleground. Even though God has finished with it, I have not.

This is where the mystery of God’s will begins to reveal itself in all its amazing wisdom and matchless skill. God’s Word in verses 10 and 11 says, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

How do I handle a human nature which is in rebellion, which God has finished with? I proceed to finish with it myself—not a once-for-all finishing, but a moment-by-moment, leading to a day-by-day experience. How do I finish with it? The word in verse 11 is “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin.” Reckon means “consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken” (Amplified N.T.).

In other words, I should act as if I am dead to sin, I should behave as if I am insensible to its power.

This is not teaching sinless perfection, or putting forth the idea that I cannot sin. But it is saying, “I don’t have to sin, I don’t have to lose my temper, say those words, think those thoughts, do that act. I may sin and probably will, but I do not have to sin—there is a way out.” This is the motivating thought, the hinge upon which the door of blessing will swing
open to the touch.

Now, what do I do next when I count myself out of the situation? The truth comes in verse 13: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” The key word here is “yield.” I have called it the third R—Respond. I yield, respond, become vitally involved with the other nature that indwells me, the divine nature. I switch off the old nature, consider it dead, and relate the issues of living to the new nature. In other words, I recognize the indwelling Christ as a real person, and I bring my bodily members and faculties to place at His disposal.

Let me explain this in another way, by bringing to your mind and your imagination visual concepts and practical considerations. I want to talk about making a new behavior pattern. We all have our own behavior pattern. It has grown and developed with us as our life continued. This is the old behavior pattern, the pattern that comes from our own human nature. We know how it will react in many cases, be cause that is exactly what it has been doing over the years of our life. Certain events will make us fearful, and other things will make us angry. To some items we respond with joyous delight, to others with utter bewilderment. Certain temptations will almost invariably cause us to give way to our natural impulses and we fall into sin. There is always “the sin which doth so easily beset us” (Heb 12:1).

Before we became Christians this old behavior pattern was the story of our life. There are those of us whose life was like a constant rerun of an old movie, like the constant repetition of a record played on the turntable of our heart. Most of us never realize the pattern we live, we just tread it out in the jangle of daily living.

But when we became Christians, we suddenly realized that we should begin to live a different kind of life. So, with all our sincerity and enthusiasm we started to live for Jesus. We proceeded to clean up our lives, to get rid of our bad habits, to remodel our whole method of living. What we were trying to do was to improve our old behavior pattern, to start and live the Christian life.

This is exactly what many Christians are busily engaged in at this moment. This is what they call living the Christian life. The tragedy is that it becomes increasingly difficult to improve the old behavior pattern. Our failure to do so only increases our guilt which then drives us to higher heights of endeavor to improve our old behavior pattern and make it
acceptable to God.

Depending upon our age, sincerity, and enthusiasm, we keep on working at this impossible task until finally we accept defeat as normal. We then settle down to maintain the improvements we have made and console ourselves with the thought that this is the way most other Christians live. We may even have cause for pride when we see how many improvements we have compared to what we see in others.

Can you see the big mistake in all this? This old behavior pattern is the product of our fallen human nature. When we become true Christians, as we have seen, we receive a new nature; we are made partakers of the divine nature. This gives us a new source for living.

The first R taught us to Realize that in God’s sight when Christ died, I died. God has finished with the old nature which is the flesh. We have become new creatures; the old things have passed away, and all things have become new.

Our old behavior pattern is the path of the old nature, the flesh. The big mistake we make is in trying to improve it. God has finished with it, but we try to make it acceptable to Him. Romans 8:8 says, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God,” but we try to Christianize the old be
havior pattern, to Christianize the flesh. This is all wrong. It may sound good to the human heart, but it does nothing for the heart of God.

This one area is the great point of failure in many Christian lives. They are sincere and love the Lord, wanting to live for Him good, noble, pure lives. But they fail to see that there is only one good, noble, pure Christian life, and that is the life of Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and
the life.” There is only one way, only one truth, and only one life. No amount of sincere improvement to the old behavior pattern will ever make it acceptable to God.

What then is the answer? The answer is the glory of the mystery of God’s will. No human mind could ever imagine this tremendous solution to the problem of failure in the life of the believer. The answer is to make a new behavior pattern.

How do we proceed to make this new behavior pattern? The answer is to put into practice the three R’s of which we have been speaking.

Let us take a practical example which is surely found in the life of every Christian. Consider a fear, a temptation, or an anxiety such as we meet with day by day. When such a thing comes into our life, our immediate action is the reaction of the old behavior pattern. We respond by being fearful, or fighting temptation, or rationalizing worry. We try to handle
the situation ourselves. Even though we have failed many times before, we do a rerun of the whole issue.

When I use the first R, my reaction is totally different. I realize that in God’s plan for handling the situation, I must count myself Out. I am dead, therefore I don’t have to fight this particular problem.

Then I use the second R. I act as if I was dead to the thing. I bring the whole issue before the risen, victorious Christ who indwells me by His Holy Spirit. I say words like these: “Lord Jesus, this is the problem, the fear, the sin and, dear Lord, I can do nothing about it. I’m helpless, completely incapable of handling the situation.”

We need to be honest with God in this area, to admit our failures. Don’t try to bluff God, tell Him the truth—that you are licked.

But in the same breath in which we say, “Lord Jesus, I can’t,” we are quick to add, “But Lord Jesus, you can!” This very phrase can become a key to eternal blessing. “Lord Jesus, I can’t, but Lord Jesus, you can!”

We follow up now by using the third R, where we yield the whole thing and ourselves to God. We respond to His call and claim His promises. We can say, “Lord Jesus, I can’t but Lord Jesus, You can. So here and now I want to commit this thing to You. I don’t know how You will handle the situation, but I don’t need to know. I do believe that as I commit this thing to You now and keep on committing it to You, that You will give me victory Your way.”

This is how Proverbs 3:6 can become a living reality in your experience: “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

As I count myself out and count Christ in, acknowledging Him in all His risen power as God’s answer to the power of sin in my life, then He directs my path. He does not improve the old behavior pattern. He makes new paths for me to tread. He goes with me and walks with me in the paths of
His choosing.

I remember once counselling with a college man. He told me of a sin that came and filled his mind. He told how he had struggled to fight this thing but without success. We then shared the truths I have written above. I counselled him to handle this particular sin by acknowledging his failure and by making a definite commitment of the whole issue to Christ, whenever the attack should return. He came to me some days later and told me how he had been in prayer that morning when suddenly these evil thoughts had come and flooded his mind. Again he was overwhelmed with temptation, but he told me that he did not struggle this time. He had said, “Lord Jesus, this is the sin, and I can do nothing about it. Lord Jesus, I can’t but you can. So here and now I commit my mind and my thoughts into your power.”

He went on to add that as he continued on his knees the storm of evil desires swept in like a flood, so he kept on repeating, “Lord Jesus I can’t, but Lord Jesus, you can!” After what seemed a long time the storm suddenly departed and he felt a peace he had never known before. We rejoiced in the victory of Christ, but I warned him that this was not the end of the problem. Satan would come again and again to attack him in all sorts of ways, but he had to remember the teaching of the Word of God, and learn to yield continually to Christ.

It is this continual yielding to Christ that establishes the new behavior pattern. The more I acknowledge Him, the more He will direct my paths. The more He directs my path, the more firm and true will be my new behavior pattern.

This does not mean that I will become perfect in a day, or in a lifetime. Even Paul, the greatest Christian who ever lived, said, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after . . . I press toward the mark” (Phil 3:12, 14)

This becomes my new way of life. It will not be easy. Jesus never promised that the Christian life would be easy. It is something we have to work at day by day. It becomes a work of faith and a walk of faith.

We need to be prepared for the times of inevitable failure. There will be times when Satan will catch us unprepared. Something will suddenly arise, perhaps when we are under pressure or when we are tired or not feeling well. In an unguarded moment we will react, just as it comes naturally, and it will be the old behavior pattern once more.

As soon as we are aware that we have stepped once more into independence, we should confess this sin and seek the forgiveness and cleansing promised in 1 John 1:8, 9. And it can be a warning to us to keep close to the Lord.

As we learn to walk this way, practicing the presence of Christ, acknowledging Him in all our ways, then we reestablish the fellowship that was lost in the Garden. The more we love Him, the more we seek Him, and the sweeter will be our fellowship.

Not only do we find a great blessing this way, but the Lord Himself also can find blessing. Hebrews 12:2 says, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.” This is part of the joy that was set before Him, the restoration of the fellowship that was lost through independence. As we commit ourselves to Him, so we demonstrate our dependence, and as we do that, we show our love and trust.

One further word of counsel: do not expect a sudden and immediate transformation of your character and personality as you start to form this new behavior pattern. Remember that much of what God does, comes and grows little by little. There are no such things as instant dawn, instant spring, or instant roses. They all come gradually in varying ways as God has planned. Just as a seed grows day by day, so the truth will grow in our hearts. Little by little as the weeks and months go by, we will sense an increasing ability to commit to Christ and rest in His power.

This is called growing in grace. If we continue in our old behavior pattern, either proving it or improving it, there is no continuing work of grace in our hearts. Instead of growing in grace, we continue growing in disgrace, as we demonstrate the independence of the flesh, to our own cost and failure.

So God has a plan to deal with the penalty of sin; it is personal involvement with the death of Christ. In like manner, He has a plan to deal with the power of sin in the life of the believer; it is a personal involvement with the life of Christ. God has provided all I need, what matters now is how far I have obeyed His will and become personally involved with

the risen Lord who indwells me, who will never leave me
nor forsake me.