Crucified With Christ

nightWhen we are born again of the Spirit of God, even though the reality of the Spirit now dwelling in us may be strong, our thinking still needs to catch up with the change that has occurred in our hearts - in our inner man. It is necessary to renew our minds. As babes in Christ we need the milk of the word to grow. We need to long for it for it is by the word we grow in respect to salvation. (cf.1 Peter 2:2) To be able to walk by the Spirit we need to look to the Holy Spirit within who has become our Teacher. Sadly many new believers have been quickly taught the traditions and beliefs of men rather than encouraged to look to the Holy Spirit who will lead them into all truth. Men teach their interpretations of scripture so, effectively ignoring the Holy Spirit, they declare scripture as being the guide to follow. The inner witness that bears witness with our spirit that we have become a child of God is soon ignored. The anointing within which is true and not a lie is not emphasised. So many Christians are taught by men who make disciples after themselves and the ministry of the Holy Spirit as Teacher is often soon lost.

Paul's first teaching amongst the Church in Corinth was to know nothing among them except, "Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1Cor.2:2) Knowing we have been crucified with Christ is essential if we are to walk in His resurrection.

Watchman Nee tells a story, "For years after my conversion I had been taught that the way of deliverance was to count myself dead to sin and alive to God (Ro.6:11) I 'reckoned' from 1920 to 1927, and the trouble was that the more I did so the more alive to sin I clearly was. I simply could not believe myself dead, and I could not produce death. Sin was still defeating me, and I saw that something was fundamentally wrong. So I asked God to show me the meaning of the expression, 'I have been crucified with Christ'. It became clear to me that when speaking of this subject God nowhere says, 'You must be,' but always 'You have been.' Yet in view of my constant failure this just did not seem possible, unless I was to be honest with myself. I almost turned to the conclusion that only dishonest people could make such statements. Yet whenever I sought help from others I was sent back to Romans 6:11. I appreciated its teaching, but I could not make out why nothing resulted from it. No one, you see, had pointed out to me that 'knowing' (verse 6) must precede 'reckoning' (verse 11). For months I was troubled and prayed earnestly, reading the scriptures and seeking light. I said to the Lord, 'If I cannot be brought to see this, which is so fundamental, I will not preach any more. I want first to get clear on this.'  

I remember one morning - how can I ever forget it! - I was reading Romans and I came to the words: 'Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin' Knowing this! How could I know it? I prayed, 'Lord, open my eyes!' and then, in a flash, I saw. I had earlier been reading 1Cor.1:30: 'You are in Christ Jesus.' I turned it up and looked at it again. 'That you are in Christ Jesus, is God's doing!' It was amazing! Then if Christ died, and that is certain fact, and if God put me into Him, then I must have died too. All at once I saw oneness with Christ: that I was in Him, and that when He died I died. My death to sin was a matter of the past and not the future. It is divine fact that had dawned on me. Carried away with joy I jumped from my chair and ran downstairs to the young man working in the kitchen. 'Brother,' I said, seizing him by the hands, 'do you know that I have died?' I must admit he looked puzzled, 'What do you mean?' he exclaimed, so I went on: 'Do you not know that Christ has died? Do you not know that I've died with Him? Do you not know that my death is no less truly a fact than His?' Oh it was so real to me! I felt like shouting my discovery through the streets of Shanghai. From that day to this I have never for one moment doubted the finality of that word: 'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.'"  

Spiritual understanding is different to intellectual understanding. Only when we understand spiritually do we truly 'know'. This is the knowledge of Christ that is essential for us to grow spiritually. This can only be imparted by the Holy Spirit within. 

The following download endeavours to explain the reality of being crucified with Christ. May the Holy Spirit Himself bring revelation to those who read it 

Download 'We Were Crucified With Christ' here(90.6k)

See also Booklets Section for the booklet, ‘Crucified With Christ’.