NOTE: FOR A MORE-READABLE VERSION, DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE. TO DOWNLOAD, CLICK ON "SURRENDERING TO OUR GOD" IN THE RIGHT-HAND COLUMN OF THIS PAGE.
Preview
INTRODUCTION
“Surrender” suggests voluntarily “giving up”, because it is the best option available. This is appropriate to our use of the term in this study. When surrendering takes place, the custody of your “person”, your possessions, and your power is transferred to another person or entity. This is a time of divesting all your resources into the care of someone else. Your treatment after you surrender will depend on the character of the one to whom you are surrendering. It is likely that surrender to a person or a world-connected entity will bring pain and loss. Assuredly, there is uncertainty as to what will happen when we surrender, and we must weigh the feasibility of either giving up or resisting. The question that arises is this: Will we lose everything when we surrender and—if so—will we gain it back? Or is it possible that we might even improve our condition by surrendering, even if we give up everything? Actually, The surrender we are thinking of in this study is that which is directed toward God, and this surrender will bring great benefits, and is the one time when we can be assured that surrendering will lead to a better life.
COMING UP
In this study, we are going to ask you to work toward a time of surrendering, and we are going to show you how this is done, and why you need to do it. The assumption is that the “surrender” we are asked to do is a good and desirable thing, even though we must be willing to lay down everything we have. We will look at obstacles to our surrendering, and at the way surrendering is accomplished. This will require us to examine these five questions: What prevents surrender? How can we prepare to surrender? How can we practice and rehearse our surrender? How can we be primed at last for surrender? And what stipulations have been made to warrant our presenting ourselves for surrender?
Practices or Conditions that Prevent Surrendering
“SURRENDER” IS RESISTED
Obviously, we are talking about surrendering to God. It seems so mindless to refuse to surrender to Him, since He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and He can bless us in ways that the world can’t. Yet there are powerful forces and arguments around that make it easier not to surrender, even though we have been assured that He always has our best interests in mind. We will look briefly at a few of these. Perhaps surprisingly, most of the things that prevent our surrendering have to do with conditions inside ourselves, rather than outside. The biggest impediment is that we are just not prepared to surrender, and—even if we occasionally surrender—it does not “stick”, because the groundwork has not been laid on which to base a complete giving-in to God.
BEING CHRISTIAN IN NAME ONLY
Is. 48:1-2 describes a condition that prevents our surrender, as follows:
“’Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel—the Lord Almighty is his name...’”
Substitute “Christian” for “Israel” and the “line of Judah”. Now look at what it takes to “invoke God”. The condition described here includes two indicators for the quality of our walk. As Christians (we have the name, if we have believed), we are to excel in two areas: “truth” and “righteousness”. If you have studied our previous writings, you know that these are markers for “maturity” and “fellowship”. (If these doctrines do not resonate with you, do the following before continuing: complete the course, Bible Basics for Living: Essential Foundations, available at this website.) So we are to “mature” and we are to “walk in fellowship”...or “by the Spirit”. We have seen before how this is done. Learning truths from the Word builds our maturity; and confession followed by ongoing faith results in a “walk in the Spirit”. These lead to the production of divine good (“righteousness”). We will say more about these and other preparations for surrender later in this study, but for now, we can conclude that—if we are not taking care of our growth and spirituality—we will be prevented from surrendering to God, because we are not ready. And if we are not even moving toward “surrender”, we will be functioning as Christians in name only.
SELF WILL
Another condition that prevents surrender is our own volition, or will. We were given freedom of choice at creation, and we can reject God’s way as the way for us to live, even though we are His children. This is the result of pride and our own inclination to believe that we are the ones who must hold our destiny in-hand and determine what is best for our lives, rather than giving them over to God. Even when it comes to Christian living, we often believe we have the best ideas and skills for producing what we assume will be the best life.
Gal. 3:3 sizes up our reluctance to relinquish the reins to God, saying, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Andrew Murray encapsulated this nicely, saying the following:
“Now, we have here a solemn discovery of what the great want is in the church of Christ. God has called the church of Christ to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the church is living for the most part in the power of human flesh, and of will and energy and effort apart from the Spirit of God.” (All quotes from Murray in this article are from his public-domain book, Absolute Surrender, published in 1895.)
Self-will leads to all the other “self-something’s” that dominate humanity. Self-anything prevents surrender. And the choice is ours.
SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Self-will, self-confidence, and self-righteousness prevent surrender. Job trusted God and lived in prosperity, and was the most mature believer on earth at the time he was alive. But he had not surrendered completely, and he ran out of gas under God’s testing. Job 32:2 says this about Job’s response to his suffering: “But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God.” Job had sinned, before and after his trials began, and he was refusing to confess his sins. Furthermore, he was blaming his suffering on God as being some kind of unjust treatment.
In Job 34:5, Elihu said this: “’Job says, ‘I am innocent, but God denies me justice. Although I am right, I am considered a liar; although I am guiltless, his arrow inflicts an incurable wound’.’” Elihu had quoted Job as saying, “I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt” (Job 33:9). So Elihu followed with this: “But I tell you, in this you are not right...” (Job 33:12). Job could not surrender until he shook off his self-righteousness, confessed his failure, and substituted God’s will for his own. Job finally acknowledged his self-will and self-righteousness, and ended up confessing his sins and surrendering completely to God and His will, saying, “My ears had heard of you [God] but now my eyes have seen you [in training]. Therefore I despise myself and repent [confess] in dust and ashes.” And for that he received “double-blessings” (Job 42:5-6. See Job 42 for Job’s entire confession and the results of his return to the Lord).
UNBELIEF
“Unbelief” is another condition that prevents surrender, thus keeping us out of God’s rest. This is what we see in Heb. 3:16-19, which says the following:
“Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”
The “rest” cited in this passage does not refer to salvation; it is related to a rest that was denied the Jews in the desert, and is now open to believers in the Church Age. This is the place of surrender...entering God’s rest...and the condition that prevents this is a lack of faith. The only way to remedy this is to build our faith.
We will explore these and other principles as we proceed through this study, and see in more detail why we are prevented from surrendering.
Preparations for Surrender
PREVIEW
Preparations for surrender include choosing well; learning God’s will; confessing our sins; and growing to maturity through study and endurance of God’s training. To surrender, we must be prepared.
CHOICE
We are clearly at choice about most things in life, even though realistic limitations define certain parameters for our choices...certain conditions of our birth and life over which we have no control. But when it comes to spiritual matters, in particular, we have absolute freedom and choice.
The choices we make will be based on what we value and what we want. If we look at our choices in life, they pretty much follow our hearts. Matt. 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What we treasure determines the place where our hearts will be focused. Our attention and energies are drawn to the things we value most. If these things are related to God, we will be drawn to Him; if they are related to things in the world, they will include what the world offers, such as possessions, money, power, pleasure, and so on. Matt. 6:24, following up on what was said in verse 21, says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
If our focus is on money and things related to money, we will serve our flesh and the world. But we are at choice. We can choose, instead, to emphasize our spiritual lives, and make worldly things secondary. In Matt. 6:25a, Jesus told us, “...do not worry about your life...” Virtually, He is saying that focus on the world brings worldly and “fleshly” concerns, whereas seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness brings focus on spiritual pursuits (see Matt. 6:33). It is no wonder that surrender is more likely when we reject the world as the source for value and meaning, and look to God for provision and security.
Josh. 24:14-16, illustrates our ability to choose God, saying this:
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the god of the Amorites, in whose land your are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
We can choose whom we will serve. This is the exercise of our free will, a right given to us by God. He wants us to choose Him, but He will not force that choice.
LEARNING GOD’S WILL
God has a “will” in all matters, and it is important for us to know as much about His will as we can, so we can know what we are shooting for when we seek to “do His will”. Paul taught about God’s will, as we see in Acts 20:27, where Paul said, “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” The more we learn about God and His grace system, the better we will understand His will.
It is important to know His will. In Ephesians 5:17, we see Paul saying, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” He is calling for us to study and grasp the principles of God’s program for believers, which is standard and identical for ALL believers. This is the “standardized” will of God, which is the same for everyone. This includes all the techniques and promises we have studied, which apply to all of us the same. But there is also a “specific” will for each believer, which is personalized for each one of us. Everyone’s “personalized” will looks different from that which God has designed for all others. In Eph. 5:10, Paul cites the individualized will of God, saying, “...and find out what pleases the Lord.” So we are to learn the “generalized” will of God, by which we will eventually find out His “personalized” will. Knowing the separate and individual will of God for each of us will only occur when we have reached a high level of maturity. Until then, our hands will be full trying to master the techniques by which we learn to operate in His general will.
Whether we are talking about the general or specific will of God, we are to seek to submit ourselves to His will. In Matthew 6:10, we witness Jesus’ submission to His Father’s will by His saying, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is the view-point we should have: one of submission to the Father’s will. Of this, we said the following in Being Devoted to Prayer:
“When we commit our will to His, we will have reached the pinnacle of maturity, because we are saying to God, ‘I know that your plan is perfect, that your power is absolute, and that all outcomes belong to you.’ We are not giving God permission to be Himself; we are interjecting ourselves into His heavenly picture by submitting ourselves to Him. When we give it all to Him, we demonstrate the kind of faith that enables us to do incredible things by His power.”
Jesus came to do His Father’s will, and that is our objective, also. Heb. 10:5-7 reports the following about Jesus’ purpose on earth:
“Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God’.’”
Old Testament sacrifices were insufficient, except to illustrate the most efficacious sacrifice of all: that of Jesus Christ. It was the Father’s will that the Son should make this sacrifice, and that is why He came...to fulfill the Father’s will. He “submitted” to that will. Now the choice is ours: Will we live according to “thy will be done”, or will we live by the prideful phrase that Satan declared, which was “I will” (see Is. 14:13)? If we subscribe to the “I will” principle, we will never submit to God’s will, and we will not be able to surrender under these conditions. We can choose whose will we are going to fulfill.
CONFESSION OF SINS
Another piece in the process of preparation for surrendering involves the confession of our sins. The sin record must be clean, and we must be restored to fellowship before we can grow and move toward surrender. Confession is more about RETURN than anything else. We must CONTINUE with Him, and PERSEVERE, regardless of how we fail. We WILL fail, but that is not where we must stay. We must return to growth and God-consciousness and service immediately. This is the way of grace and mercy, and this is a primary way to prepare for surrender.
In setting up this topic, we must be aware that confession is for believers only. Pastors and evangelists frequently make the colossal mistake of attaching confession to the plan of salvation, and this is patently false! Confession is the way for Christians to stay clean and grow through fellowship. This is a technique designed for BELIEVERS to prevent sin from spoiling their record and corrupting their faith.
Most people have, at one time or another in their lifetime, gone past the due date for a vehicle inspection, or allowed car insurance to lapse, and have been ticketed for this kind of error. But isn’t it nice when the officer informs us, “If you will correct this by such and such a date, and show evidence to the judge that this has been done, there will be no fine, and this will not go on your record.” It will be as if it never happened. No fine, no punishment. That’s the way it is with God. This analogy does not fit perfectly with the function of grace and mercy, but the connection follows that, by owning up to our mistakes, we are absolved of all guilt, and no record of the infraction is kept. On the other hand, if we do not face the judge, and continue on as if we did not make a mistake, then punishment kicks in, which—for believers—is discipline. It is easier just to face the music, rather than being “fined”.
Once again, confession is for believers only! Unbelievers live in condemnation, and their earthly lives are conducted by completely different guidelines and rules, which are not related to spiritual growth and a walk in the Spirit, as ours is. The difference between believers and unbelievers must be distinguished when we study the Scripture. And there is another distinction which must be made, and that is this: determining when Scripture applies to either our POSITION in Christ, or our CONDITION before Him. What is “position”? It is where we are for all eternity, which is in union with Christ, because we have believed in Him. Put another way, “position” is our place IN GOD’S MIND. This is our permanent record, one that cannot be altered or erased. And then there’s our “condition”.
What is “condition”? It is our status in these bodies, including minds, souls, spirits, and hearts, related to sin and faith. For our condition before God to be favorable, we must have a clean sin-record, which means that all sins must have been genuinely confessed. Another aspect of our condition is the strength of our faith. When we grow sufficiently, our faith will be strong, and our walk in fellowship with God will be consistent. A “good” condition involves being clean and moving in God’s direction. Confession is the grace method for achieving this cleanliness; we must recognize that we cannot prevent or remove sin on our own. Only grace and mercy can do this. A nice side-benefit of staying clean is that we can advance toward maturity in that state, which leads to less sinning!
The things we have said already about confession have all been covered in previous studies. We recommend you master the techniques discussed in earlier books, articles, and blogs, to get maximum benefit from this current study. We will briefly review some scriptures on confession, to demonstrate that the concept is based on divine principles, and not on some drummed-up philosophy of my own.
2 Tim. 2:20-21 introduces spiritual hygiene to us, saying the following:
“In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter [ignoble purposes], he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
Don’t be misled by the phrase “cleanses himself”. This has to do with following grace procedures for getting the cleansing, an act performed completely by the Holy Spirit whenever we confess our sins. We don’t forgive ourselves; God has to do this. And notice what happens when we are “clean”: we become an “instrument” for God’s use, we are “made holy”, we are “useful to the Master”, and we are equipped to “do any good work”. This is why cleanliness is so important. Cleanliness makes us “holy”, which enables us to relate harmoniously with the Holy Spirit, and this—in turn—allows us to be used by God as His instruments for service and divine good.
Being made “holy” is also known as “sanctification”. Sanctification is “purity” or a state of being “cleansed”. We receive eternal sanctification when we become a believer, as a provision of our new position. Experiential sanctification, on the other hand, is a matter of being clean in our condition while we are still in these bodies. Our present topic of confession is related to our “condition”, since our “position” is eternally secure. Concerning sanctification, 1 Thess. 5:23-24 says this:
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”
Who cleanses? God (as in “...he will do it”). In fact, God doing the work is the basis for this whole study on “surrender”. We surrender to Him because HE DOES IT! God does the cleansing, which leaves us blameless, and then God’s power does the work. It looks like we would be eager to turn the hard work over to someone else, but, as we shall see, “not working” is the hardest thing we will ever do.
We saw above a good example of refusing to confess when Job became self-righteous. Job 33:8-13 describes this mistake completely, once again in the words of Elihu, who said the following:
“But you have said in my hearing—I heard the very words—‘I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’ But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal. Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one’s words?”
Lack of faith, rebellion, pride, self-righteousness: these characterized Job’s state prior to his confession and restoration. This had to be satisfied before he could move toward full surrender to God’s will, which eventually resulted in great prosperity for him.
When we sin, we are not to pine away at our failure, and sit endlessly in “sackcloth and ashes”. We are to confess our sins and move on. Failure can feed on itself, because WE ALL FAIL; it is what we do with our failure afterwards that counts. We can either wallow in the mud of our sin, or become prepared to surrender. Confession will be needed, for sure, but once that is done, we do not stay attached to our guilt and shame. We leave them behind and get back in step with the Spirit. Before we confess, we can say, with Paul, “What a wretched man I am!” (Rom. 7:24). After confession, we can say—again with Paul—“I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13).
By moving on, we can resume service. But if we do not let go of it and TRUST GOD TO FORGIVE AS HE HAS PROMISED, then our service cannot go on. Luke 9:62 says, “Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God’.” Confess and resume service. 1 Sam. 12:20 brings this into focus, saying, “’ Do not be afraid,’ Samuel replied. ‘You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.” When we fail, we must confess and return; this is the only way we can be re-equipped to perform the service made possible by our gifts. If we don’t confess AND accept the forgiveness that goes with it, we will be “turning from the Lord” and we will remove ourselves from God’s instrument table.
Confession is an integral component for surrender. Murray described this well, saying the following:
“The command comes to us individually, unitedly. God wants us as His children to arise and place our sins before Him, and to call upon Him for mercy. Oh, are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye perfecting in the flesh that which was begun in the Spirit? Let us bow in shame, and confess before God how our fleshly religion, our self-effort, and self-confidence, have been the cause of every failure. I have often been asked by young Christians: ‘Why is it that I fail so? I did so solemnly vow with my whole heart, and did desire to serve God; why have I failed’?”
Murray responded to this question, saying this:
“My dear friend, you are trying to do in your own strength what Christ alone can do in you.....And when they tell me: ‘I am sure I knew Christ alone could do it, I was not trusting in myself,’ my answer always is: ‘You were trusting in yourself or you could not have failed. If you had trusted Christ, He could not fail’.”
Confession is followed by faith, and that is the Christian life. Murray invites us: “Oh, come and confess [to God] every failure of temper, every failure of tongue however, small, every failure owing to the absence of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the power of self.” Every failure must be surrendered to God through confession.
J Hampton Keathley, III, in his book, ABC’s for Christian Growth: Laying the Foundation (p. 523), discussed Jesus’ use of foot-washing to illustrate the process of being cleansed from daily sin, as part of the Christian walk. He showed the distinction between the Greek verb used for “bathing”, which is for the whole body, and the one for “washing”, which Jesus used regarding the feet. (See John 13:6-11.) When Peter refused to have Jesus wash his feet, Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you [not “bathe” you], you have no part [fellowship] with me” (John 13:8b). Keathley summarized the application of this illustration, saying the following:
“He [Jesus] was not denying Peter the possibility of salvation or relationship with Him [by saying, “...you have no part with me”]. The issue was intimate fellowship. For fellowship to occur, there must be daily cleansing through honest confession of all known sin (1 John 1:9). When we confess, He, the Lord Jesus, is faithful to forgive and cleanse us (wash our feet).”
To this, Keathley added the following (p. 524): “The daily washing through confession is needed for the privilege of fellowship and the power of Christ through the control of the Spirit in one’s life.” Once again, we see an encapsulation of the essence of Christian living. We are to confess and walk (by faith) in the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot repeat this often enough. Even with all the repetition, I witness so few who really get it. I will reiterate this until I die: God alone can do God’s work. My objective is to be the crescent wrench He holds in His hand while He is doing it.
Eph. 3:20 concludes it nicely, saying, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus...” He does it, by His power, which works within us...if we are in fellowship with Him.
(For a more complete study of confession in all its forms, see Bible Basics for Living, the chapter titled, “The Solution for Sin”, beginning on page 41. This book can be downloaded, or parts copied, from this website.)
MATURITY AND GROWTH
Another step in preparation for surrender is growing into maturity. Without upper-level maturity, based on intensive growth, we may surrender for short bursts, but that condition will not be long-lasting. There is no easy route to maturity, and no short-cut to surrendering. If we want it, we must get ready for rigorous study and training, as we shall see very soon.
There are immediate reasons why growth is desirable. We want to grow, first of all, because it glorifies God. 2 Pet. 3:18 says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” As we grow, we learn ways to please God, not because we become smart and beautiful; after all, He loved us infinitely, even in our most imperfect state. Rather, we are able to PLEASE God as we grow into His grace operations through knowledge of Him and through the training He brings. When we mature, we adopt behaviors and patterns that follow grace, and please Him.
We want to grow also so that we will be productive. There are rewards for “divine good”, which we will receive when the nature of our “deeds” are evaluated by Jesus Christ at His Judgment Seat. But we also have a desire to give our lives meaning and purpose now, while we are still alive. So we want to grow and use grace techniques, build our faith, and become fruitful through the work of the Holy Spirit. Concerning our fruitfulness, Jer. 17:7-8 tells us the following:
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
This tells us that the believer who is maturing, and who is learning to “trust in the Lord”, and to have “confidence in him”, will not be deterred from service, even though the direction of the swim is upstream. He perseveres in faith, whatever the circumstances, and fruit is continually borne through him.
God takes care of those who are maturing. Ps. 33:18 says, “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.” God attends to and PROTECTS believers who are maturing. This is because they qualify for it by being close to God; and they need it, because maturing Christians are a threat to Satan. Spiritual growth requires the devil to concentrate his attention, and that of his minions, toward the site of growth, i.e., to bring harm and confusion to growing believers, and to disrupt their walk with God. But extra danger is an occasion for extra protection, so—even though the fight is tough—by staying close to God, we can withstand Satanic probes and attacks.
Growth also enables service. Look at 2 Tim. 2:1-5, where Paul advises Timothy regarding his gifted service:
“You, then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.”
By growing and becoming stronger IN and THROUGH the grace of God, we will become equipped to serve Him. We have discussed gifted service in previous articles, and we will have more to say about it in this one, but—for now—what we are trying to establish is that growth makes our faith stronger, and more gets done because of it. In other words, grace does more when we mature, and surrender looms large in the future of the believer who lives by grace.
Maturity follows a specific path, through which a believer becomes stronger in his faith, and by which his life and closer association with God yield greater satisfaction, power, and productivity. Col. 1:9-12 lays the process out perfectly, as follows:
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
We could spend many pages extracting all the rich meanings inherent in this passage; it is over-flowing with truth. But the main point we want to see in these verses is how the maturation process is broken down into parts. The question that is answered is this: what are the major components of our growth? Here is what we suggest is happening to the growing believer, as seen in this passage: He is...
The sequence for our growth and movement toward surrender involves a kind of evolving consciousness, which gradually morphs from self-confidence to God-confidence. Here is what happens from the time we are new believers, until we become mature and are ready to surrender ourselves to God:
1. When we are regenerated, having just become believers, we are convinced that we have “full power”, and can conquer evil, doubt, and all on-comers. We believe this: “I can!”
2. But setbacks, disappointments, resistance, and failures start to surface very soon, which erodes our confidence, and causes us to say, “I can’t!” This is when we begin to realize our impotence. At this stage, we will either despair and give up, or get correct information and begin to grow.
3. If we will continue to grow, at some point we will come to realize how the grace-life works, and maturity will cause us to see that, even though we thought we “could”, and found out that we “couldn’t”, we realize that “God can!” When we start to see that God alone can do what God expects, we will be reaching the point when we will trust Him to be all He is...in us, and to do all He requires...through us.
4. When we reach the apex of maturity, we will finally see God doing it all...all that we couldn’t do...and all that we learned He could do. This is when we can surrender, and sell out to God completely, and know the full experience of God in every piece of our hearts and in every part of our lives. When we surrender, there will be no obstacle remaining to impede the flow of grace into our lives.
To reach the point of maturity that we can surrender to God, we must go through the training rigors designed by God to bring us there. This involves, first of all, intensive study of the Scripture, and—secondly—enduring the tests and trials that come to us as training to strengthen our faith.
STUDYING TO GROW
When we talk about “studying”, various images come to mind. This means different things to different people. I believe each of us should “learn” the way that is best for him or her. One primary way, almost universally effective, is to be “taught” truth. Following a pastor/teacher is one of the prescribed ways for us to learn God’s ways for living. The problem with this is that it is difficult to find anyone who is actually teaching truth! And if what you are learning is NOT TRUTH, then you will not be growing; rather, you may end up practicing all kinds of legalism and rule-keeping that will lead to EVIL and take you away from the grace-life that God has designed for you. The key is this: You have to WANT IT! If you want the truth, you will find it.
There are other ways to study. There are CD’s, DVD’s, mp3’s, and whatever else is “current”, electronically, to hear and watch lessons on the Bible. Far-and-away, my best study routine is to look for scriptures dealing with a topic of interest to me, and looking throughout the Bible to find the truths regarding that topic. But then I write about what I find, assuming that my gift will be instrumental for some to help them see God’s ways...those who learn best by reading and studying what others have written.
We must specify what we want to learn. It is especially important to look for and learn truths for living. If you know every historical and prophetic and factual reference in the Bible, but have not mastered the “how-to’s” of the Christian life, then you are no better off than someone who has never even cracked the Book. When we say “knowledge”, we are not talking about memorization of facts and academic content; we are talking about understanding principles of living by God’s grace and in His power. These are the essential foundations for living.
The Bible has a lot to say about studying to grow. There is no way to learn the truth initially without studying it, whether it is by reading, listening, or some other form of dissemination. You won’t acquire truth by sitting in a quiet, dark room and waiting for answers to bubble up from somewhere inside of you. Truth comes from outside of us (Plato was wrong!), and the object is to take it from the outside and move it to the inside. This involves our deliberately, consciously absorbing information into our minds, where the process of truth-assimilation can begin.
We must be clear, though. I am totally convinced that human IQ has nothing to do with absorbing the truth. The truths of the Bible are quite simple, and the techniques God has provided for living according to these truths are easy to learn. The hard part is getting over our own flesh, and our own thoughts, and turning to believe what we learn. What matters in learning is our spiritual IQ. If we are believers, AND if we are in fellowship, we can be taught by the Holy Spirit, if we expose ourselves to the truths in God’s Word.
1 Cor. 2:12-13 confirms this, saying the following:
“We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
Jesus predicted this teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, when he told His disciples that they would be taught by Him, as follows:
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:25-26).
The teaching process works through the Word, but enlightenment comes from the Holy Spirit. Learning must be processed into the soul by hearing it and believing it, whereby it is understood; and when we capture it as a treasured possession, it becomes wisdom that can be applied. (This is discussed thoroughly in The Power of God’s Word, available at this website.) For as long as we are in the “condition” of being controlled by the Spirit, we can expose ourselves to the truth and receive it into our hearts. As we do this, we will be acquiring “nutrients” that will strengthen our faith. In this way, we can learn everything we need to know to live in God’s will and to please Him. There is a way!
Studying to grow and mature was seen by Paul as a vital part of our Christian lives. His entire mission was, apart from advancing the gospel, to lead believers to greater maturity. In Col. 1:28-29 (NET), Paul declared this:
“We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me.”
Paul understood that the function of his gift, operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, was targeted at building up believers until they reached maturity. He said this again in Col. 2:2-3, which says this:
“My purpose is that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
He wanted the Colossians (and us) to have a complete understanding of truth, so that we can participate in the grace of God, as personified in the Son. As we grow, and wisdom and knowledge increase, we will gain the assurance of truth and intensify our confidence in the Holy Spirit. Put simply, teaching and learning will lead to maturity. 2 Tim. 3:16 summarizes this nicely, saying, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
If we do not absorb truth, we will not grow. This means we will be locked perpetually into a state of immaturity, which makes it difficult for us to “walk in the Spirit”; instead, we will be “walking by the flesh”. Our lives will be characterized mostly by the control of the sinful nature. Spirituality vs. carnality refers to being in or out of fellowship; if we are not growing—we cannot maintain fellowship, because our faith will not be strong enough to prompt us to confess our sins. Thus we will remain in a carnal, or “fleshly”, condition.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians and told them that he could not speak to them as “spiritual”, but only as “carnal”. This is what we see in 1 Cor. 3:1, which says, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as fleshly—mere infants in Christ.” He then told them that he could not teach them, except with the most rudimentary concepts. Here is what he said: “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.”
We must start off with milk, or basic doctrines, but we must stay with our training program and move on up to meatier concepts. Heb. 6:1a says, “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance...” The idea here is that we must move past a study of the gospel message, because we are already saved, and we must not keep on repeating earlier, fundamental teachings such as “repentance”, which deals with changing our minds about Christ...an event that takes place when we first believe in Him. So why do we “leave”, or move beyond, elementary teachings? To move on to maturity!
As we move upward into more-advanced levels of maturity, we can fulfill 2 Pet. 1:2, which says, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Grace has to do with what we increasingly receive as we grow, and peace is connected to our walk in the Spirit. Both of these come through what? Practice? No. Determination? No. They come through KNOWLEDGE of God and Jesus Christ. We cannot perform that which we do not understand. As we learn grace techniques and acquire grace assets, God will be able to do His work through us...work that we can’t do without Him.
In essence, we are maturing IN Him, as we learn ABOUT Him. Eph. 4:15 tells us how this happens, saying, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” By exercising our gifts with each other, we can all grow “into Him”, which means drawing closer to Him and having His power motivating and equipping us for divine production. As we grow, we do more, but not us, but God, who works through us. He does more when we trust more, and by building our faith, we are depending more on Him to accomplish what He wants in, from, and around us.
As we are built up, knowledge builds on knowledge, and wisdom accumulates. Prov. 9:9 says, “Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.” Understanding one principle opens the way to grasping two more, and knowledge begins to grow. This process will continue until knowledge reaches significant levels. As I learn, I expect to grow, and I anticipate that new principles will move into the range of my understanding. There is always more to be learned, because the Word is said to be dynamic and powerful (Heb. 4:12).
Keep in mind is that what we want to “master” is “truth for living”. Principles, techniques, procedures, protocols, and methods...these form the texture of truths that build us up and strengthen our faith. In my opinion, all the rest of Scripture...any doctrine not directly related to what we DO to live the Christian life correctly...is there to SUPPORT such truths. Truths for living tell us all about Who God is, what He expects, how he equips us for godliness, and what He provides in the way of sustaining and empowering resources to enable us to function within the parameters of His will. The rest of the Bible illustrates, contextualizes, frames, or exemplifies “practical” truths. So we want to know about God’s provisions, God’s precepts, and God’s pre-eminence.
The Word is always our source of knowledge, which we learn as we are taught and directed by our Teacher, the Holy Spirit. Acts 20:32 says, “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Study builds us up. This is why we must continue our growth through study for as long as we live. As we see in Deut. 4:9, we must stay committed to our pathway of instruction, as follows:
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Studying is the first avenue to growth. Training through trials and tests is another. If God’s training is unknown to you, please take time to read the book, God’s Training Program for Believers, as it provides a complete description of God’s preparation of our hearts for service and blessing.
TRAINING THROUGH TRIALS AND TESTS
Diamonds are formed under pressure. Similarly, growing believers are “perfected”...moved toward maturity...by trials and tests. Job 23:10 says, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Testing refines and enriches. Testing has the potential to increase our faith, if we permit God’s training to build us up. It is possible to reject the training and become bitter when hardship comes, but it is also possible to recognize God’s hand in whatever is happening, and to grow from the experiences God brings to (or permits in) our lives.
1 Pet. 4:19 tells us what our response to suffering should be, saying, “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” We should re-focus our energies and passion onto God and His Word, so we can continue in fellowship and the control of the Spirit, even in suffering. But, obviously, since we can choose to “continue”, we can also choose to walk away, redirecting our faith into other resources, such as ourselves or the world. The proper response to suffering is commitment, which is the beginning of surrender (more on this later).
When our commitment is renewed, we will endure suffering, because we will be basing our faith on God’s Word. Rom. 15:4 gives us this: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us; so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope [faith].” When we know that God is training us through suffering, we can know this is brought to us by God’s design or God’s permission, which, either way, is by God’s plan. And whatever is happening is brought to us to give us the opportunity to practice our faith before Him...and to strengthen that faith.
God’s training is God’s follow-up to our learning His Word. When we believe what we have learned, we grow. But there is training “on the field”, where we must see how God’s truths go beyond academic exercise and enter the real world of our internal and external events. God’s “field-training” shows us how His Word applies to experience. There is so much to be said about this topic. Our suffering is ESSENTIAL for our growth. Unless we learn to trust God under adversity, we will not build our faith. This concept is crucial, which is why we have written an entire book about it, titled God’s Training Program for Believers. This is a “must” read for a full concept of the value and “feel” of God’s training, and to see how it is designed to bless us.
Presently, we are discussing training, both through the Word and through experience, as a way to increase our faith. These two aspects of training are provided so that we can prepare for surrender. And these operate within a larger context in which all the techniques that we have taught over the last several years come into play. When we stack up all the techniques, and go through all the training drills intended for us, there is yet one thing left to do: Surrender.
Surrender is possible at the time when we have learned about ways to operate in God’s grace system, and are applying the techniques we have learned. We have studied the following grace techniques for attaining spirituality and maturity in great detail throughout our books and articles:
1. Confession of sins to be cleansed.
2. Acknowledgement of God, or God-consciousness.
3. Prayer.
4. Growth through the assimilation of truth.
5. Trusting in the Lord and giving thanks.
6. Maintenance of humility.
7. Growth through perseverance and the endurance of tests and trials.
8. Fear of the Lord.
9. Drawing nearer to God and believing His promises.
All of these things, taken together, have the effect of preparing us for entering a surrendered state. I believe very few believers ever reach this level of maturity...probably just a handful throughout history. But I believe it is open to us all. We cannot claim that—once we have surrendered—we will never fail again, because that would deny the persistent presence of our evil nature. Sin is still open to us, and we are still at choice. But I do believe that “surrender” is a new plateau of spirituality that will yield such great strength that the horrible struggle will ease, and that we can get a foretaste of the victory that we will have when Christ returns. This is worth any effort we can make (with grace still doing the “work”, of course) in order for us to reach this level of super-maturity.
Along with, and mixed in with, the techniques that we are applying, there are certain routines that we can “practice” in anticipation of that time when “surrender” becomes possible. We will look at these next.
Practicing for Surrender
PREVIEW OF THE PRACTICES
The practices that refine us for surrendering to God include seeking God, living by faith, walking by the Spirit, waiting on God, and operating in our gifts. These practices are blended with the techniques we have learned, and might even be considered “techniques” themselves, but we will view them here simply as key steps toward our final “surrender”.
SEEKING GOD
Pastors and preachers often say, “If you seek God, you will find Him.” This is accurate and reflects Scripture perfectly. We will say it again in this section. But knowing you should do something is different from knowing how to do it. Keep in mind as you read this section that seeking God means spending time in study and prayer, all the while having the humility to confess your sins. Seeking God means using His techniques for walking in the Spirit and growing in knowledge and grace. “Seeking” is an indication of “wanting”, when we reflect a desire for more of Him by following His methods for staying clean, and by learning to depend on Him.
We seek God, anticipating at some point that we will reach “perigee” (meaning “closest to the earth”) with God. This will be the time of maximum maturity, greatest work, and—finally—surrender. Right now, we are SEEKING, which is what we are told repeatedly to do. This is what we are told to do in these extractions from Luke 11:9 and 11:10, respectively, which say, “seek and you will find”, and “he who seeks finds”. Since this is a firm promise, that if we “seek” we will find, “seeking” must be a serious pursuit of God and His truth, and not a paltry or half-hearted glance in God’s direction...some fleeting curiosity that flashes and then fades. This is a sustained, persistent search...a relentless chasing after God. 1 Chron. 16:11 tells us, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” We can never stop searching for God.
Seeking God is a commandment, and an opportunity. Jesus told us that our needs will be met, if we will “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). In Ps. 34:4 David said, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Then in Ps. 119:58, David added, “I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.” And once again, he declares, “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands” (Ps. 119:10). Seeking God is seen as a perpetual requirement in 1 Chron. 16:11, which says, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”
And when will the search end? When will we find Him? Jer. 29:13 answers by saying, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.” In order to seek God with this kind of intensity, we must be mature and spiritual. Finding what we are searching for is the product of enormous attention to growth, and persistent endurance of God’s training. There are many upshots from such “seeking”, as we see in the following verses:
· Zeph. 2:3—“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands, seek righteousness, seek humility...” For us, this is a command to seek God in fellowship, the product of confession and humility.
· Hos. 5:15—“Then I [God] will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” For our search to be effective, we must—once again—have all our sins confessed.
· Ps. 105:4—“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” We seek His strength, favor, attention, forgiveness, knowledge, blessing, and strength. All of these are inherent in “the Lord and his strength”.
· Deut. 4:29—“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Notice the distinction between just “seeking” and “seeking with all your heart and all your soul”. To find God...really get close to Him...we must reach advanced maturity, and this doesn’t happen in a day.
· 1 Pet. 3:11—“He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.” “Turning from evil” is confession, through which we can “do good”. Seeking peace is the second step in the “turning” process; peace means, as we have seen many times, “fellowship” We pursue fellowship as part of seeking God.
· Ps. 24:4-6—“He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.” Notice that being “clean” and “vindicated” by God is the condition of those who are able to “seek him”. For us, being clean means being controlled by the Spirit, and He is the One who can guide our search.
Seeking God is a spiritual exercise that gives us “practice” for surrendering. This is true, as well, for exercising our faith, as we will see next.
LIVING BY FAITH
Faith, as we have seen so many times before, has two applications. There is faith for salvation...believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He rose from the dead as our Savior...and then there is faith for living. When we look at faith in Scripture, we must determine whether its usage applies to salvation, or to living. Context will determine this. We will attempt to be clear in the distinction between these two as we review the principles of living by faith.
Most of our discussion of faith in the past has dealt with faith for living, and has reflected it as a technique for accessing God’s power (walking in the Spirit). But we have also reflected faith as being receptive and credulous toward the promises of God. Before we discuss further the procedures of faith as parts of a “technique”, we want to review the application of faith toward God’s promises.
We said the following about “believing the promises” in the book Power of God’s Word, Vol. 2, p. 66:
“’Believing the promises’ is the unseen part of our faith, the place of waiting on God in stillness, the act of not acting, but trusting; the haven for resting and “not working”; a time of surrendering to His will and not our own; and the position of comfort that comes from divine assurances that He is God…and that He loves us. When we believe, we will know that God will meet all our needs, and that His perfect plan is working. This is a time of quiet, steady confidence that God will provide what He has promised.
There is nothing to DO with these promises, except to learn them and believe them. Applying the “techniques” involves the “doing”, or active, part of faith operations. Believing the “promises” is the “waiting”, or inactive, part of faith. The promises themselves do the work, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The promises also have a connection with our topic of “surrender”. We can never surrender if we do not KNOW what is promised, and the promises cannot be fulfilled, if we do not ACCEPT them.
A list of promises, broken down into categories, is given in Power of God’s Word, Vol. 2, pp. 68-74. The list is too voluminous to include this list in its entirety here, so we will give representative verses, and refer you to the book for the complete list. The categories of promises are, as follows:
1. Love
2. Protection
3. Provision
4. Blessing
5. Empowerment
Here are some examples of promises within these categories:
Love Promises
· “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39)
· “’Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed’, says the Lord, who has compassion on you’.” (Is. 54:10)
· “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever....Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” (Ps. 136:1, 26)
Protection Promises
· “If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the Lord, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.” (Ps. 91:9-10)
· “’Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him’.” (Ps. 91:14-15)
· “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Is. 41:10)
Provision Promises
· “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)
· “And my God shall supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)
· “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:32-33)
Blessing Promises
· “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; plated in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.”(Ps. 92:12-15)
· “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.” (Jer. 29:11)
· “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” (1 John 3:21-22)
Empowerment Promises
· “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Ps. 73:26)
· “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” (Ps. 46:1-3, 10a)
· “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Cor. 4:7)
These are a few of the many things that God promises. Notice that most promises come with requirements, all of which revolve around our being mature, spiritual, etc., whereby faith toward the promises is exercised.
Then there is faith for living. This type of faith is “operational” and active, to be applied to the circumstances of our lives. This is the faith that accepts the validity of grace operations, such as confession, prayer, and Bible study, allowing all the techniques to have their full impact. Without faith for living, the entire grace system would collapse within our hearts and within the scope of our daily activities. Without this active faith, we will never mature, we will bear no fruit, we will not be content, and we will not be rewarded...either in this life or the next (i.e., even in heaven, our rewards will be scant).
The kind of faith that is effective is directed toward the unseen. John 4:46-53 describes a “royal official” coming to Jesus about his son, who was sick in Capernaum. He came some distance to see Jesus and to plead for him to come to Capernaum to heal his son. Jesus assured him that his prayer had been granted, that his son would survive, and that he could go. A key verse in this passage is verse 50, which says, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.” He believed what Jesus said and found out on the way home that his son had been healed at the exact time that Jesus had told him the boy would live. This official had faith, even before he saw the results.
Such faith is required, if we are going to be effective in the Christian life. Heb. 11:6a says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God...” It is impossible for anything truly good to come out of a life and mind where faith is absent. Think about this: “Good” is virtually impossible for man, as evidenced by the fact that we have to believe in someone else to produce it. Thanks are owed to God that what is impossible for us is possible for Him. Mark 10:27 says, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” God can do what we cannot do...viz., produce divine good. Our job is to TRUST HIM TO DO IT! The condition that allows our participation in God’s “possibility” is our faith.
Keep in mind that the object of our faith is God, in the person of His Son, and not some “outcome” that we hope for. We trust Him that whatever result He brings to us will be right, just, and loving. We trust always that He knows best, which is why we always pray, “Your will be done.”
Living by faith is the goal. Gal. 2:20, which we have seen so many times, says this:
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
We are “crucified with Christ”, which means that we are dead, yet we “live in the body”; but the life we are now living, the part that is not “dead”, is an expression of divine life that is not ours originally, but that is imparted to us because of our faith. We have eternal life, because we believed in Christ at salvation; and after that, we have a perpetuation of that life within us, in time, TO THE DEGREE THAT WE OPERATE IN FAITH. We live by faith, we walk by faith, and we stand by faith. Regarding our stance, Is. 7:9b says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Faith gives us the strength to stand and to “do”. No self-directed “obedience” will accomplish what the Spirit of God will do, when our faith takes us from our “impossible” to His “possible”.
Faith that keeps us standing will only be possible when we walk in fellowship with God. Murray said the following about fellowship:
“That brings me to just one more thought in regard to faith—faith implies fellowship with God....if you want to get into this life of godliness, you must take time for fellowship with God.”
Fellowship is required for empowerment. Even learning the Word is affected by fellowship. Without the faith of fellowship, the Bible is just a bunch of paragraphs and sentences. For its value to be fully infused, it must be received in communion with the Holy Spirit, which makes faith operable, thus enabling understanding. But when we are out of fellowship, faith will not work for any of its designed purposes. Remember, faith needs fellowship to work for divine good, and it needs the strength of maturity to operate consistently. When we choose not to confess and we choose not to grow, our faith will sag, and we will be “walking in the flesh”, instead of “living by faith”.
For a categorical list of verses on faith, see God’s Training Program for Believers, p. 52, available at this website.
LIVING BY THE SPIRIT
The Christian life, as we have seen, is a matter of “choice”. Even when we are controlled by the Spirit, we are still free to choose to walk away at any time. The Spirit only “controls” us in the sense that His power enables us to participate in the production of His fruit, which continues ONLY FOR AS LONG AS we are trusting in Him! When we choose the world’s way, or accept the pull of “fleshly” desires, or decide to fashion our own righteousness, or “fold” under pressure, we will walk away from our faith, and will neither be led by the Spirit, nor continuing on our pathway toward maturity. The object is to stay clean and to continue to grow, in order to strengthen our faith and CHANGE the pattern of our lives.
If we could just “follow the rules” on our own, we would not need to spend so much time trying to understand and practice ways that lead to engaging the Holy Spirit to get things done. The role of faith is to open the door to the power of the Spirit, so that He can do what we can’t. This is our goal: To let God BE God...through us. God, help those who suggest that “obedience” through self-effort is the way to please God. The way to please God is to TRUST Him. That’s obedience! Faith unleashes His Spirit within us, so that we can—indeed—please Him.
The only real life is the “life of the Spirit”. Rom. 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” First of all, “death” and “life” do not always indicate either “eternal” or “physical” death and life, but can stand for “temporal” death, or a kind of death that occurs while we are still physically alive. Rom. 8:6 says, “The mind of the sinful [fleshly, carnal] man is [spiritual] death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is [spiritual] life and peace.” So there is physical life and death, eternal life and death, and temporal life and death. In physical death, our bodies die. In eternal death, our souls die into perpetuity until we believe. And within the scope of our lives as believers, temporal death can take place in the form of carnality, or the loss of fellowship. This is why Eph. 5:14b instructs carnal believers to “rise from the dead” and return to the “light”, or to fellowship. We “live” in fellowship; we “die” in carnality.
When we are not in fellowship, we are controlled by the sinful nature. Lack of spirituality is due to our unplugging from the Spirit’s power, and engaging the flesh. (We don’t “lose” the Spirit; we just truncate His control by becoming and remaining “unclean”.) When the flesh takes over, we are the ones who must stop it...by confessing and then moving forward in faith. After that, ongoing escape from the control of the flesh can be achieved through sustained dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Lewis Sperry Chafer, in his book, He That is Spiritual, p. 97, published by Zondervan in 1918, said the following in a lengthy, but meaty, paragraph about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives:
“It is often the “beginning of days” in a Christian’s life, when he really believes and heeds the Word of God enough to be made aware of his own limitations, and seriously considers the exact revelation as to what he of himself can or cannot do, and attempt to do the work we have engaged another to do. We naturally rely on the person we have engaged to do it. Have we ever learned to depend on the Spirit for anything? Are we intelligently counting on the Spirit to undertake those particular things which, according to the Scriptures, He is appointed to do? Do we really believe we are just as helpless as His Word declares us to be? Do we really believe He is able and waiting to do everything we cannot do? Having begun in the Spirit, so far as the divine undertaking in salvation is concerned, are we now to be perfected by the flesh? In meeting the impossible issues of a true Christian life, are we consciously living upon a works-principle, or upon a faith-principle? The Bible emphatically declares the believer to be upon a faith-principle when he is really within the plan of God for his daily life. These uncomplicated teachings are on the pages of God’s Book and an attentive Christian can hardly avoid them.”
As founder of one of the most prominent Christian institutions in evangelical Christianity, Dallas Theological Seminary, Chafer led generations of God’s servants to fruitful ministries throughout the world. Probably one of the most mature believers in this century and the last, his message still rings true today. He believed that the power of the Holy Spirit is the key to everything we will ever accomplish. His words present this issue clearly, as he continues the quote shown above, adding this:
“The God-honoring quality of life is always the divine objective in the believer’s daily life. Its realization is never by a human resolution or struggle or the resources of the flesh: it is by ‘fighting the good fight of faith.’ There is a wide difference between ‘fighting’ to do what God alone can do, and ‘fighting’ to maintain an attitude of dependence on Him to do what He alone can do. The child of God has an all-engaging responsibility of continuing in an attitude of reliance upon the Spirit. This is the point of his constant attention. This is his divinely appointed task and place of co-operation in the mighty undertaking of God.”
Thank God that this message is still being preserved. The practice of most churches and Christian organizations today assumes the opposite view, proclaiming that the Christian life is a matter of “human resolution or struggle or the resources of the flesh”. They preach “godliness”, but omit the power (2 Tim. 3:5).
One of the scriptures that Chafer, no doubt, had in mind, when he said we can “hardly avoid” the “uncomplicated teachings on the pages of God’s book”, is this one:
“Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:4-6)
This is a very clear statement proving that the source of “competence” for Christian living is God. We have strong “confidence”, or “faith”, in Him, and therefore He shares His competence with us in the form of the Holy Spirit; it is the Spirit through whom we have “competence”! Living by the law, following the “letter”, adhering to legalities, or staying “obedient” to the rules WILL NOT MAKE US GOOD OR INCREASE OUR COMPETENCE! Good is from God alone!
In 2 Cor. 3, verses 7-11, we see a contrast between the power and glory connected with the Spirit, and that pertaining to law-keeping. This passage says this:
“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!”
So the law had a certain “holiness”, because it expressed God’s standards. But mankind has repeatedly demonstrated that he cannot follow them or live up to them. So if the law has a glow, how much more brilliant will be the glow of the Holy Spirit, expressed directly through the life of a believer? It is the Spirit who brings righteousness; His light will shine through us, when He is controlling our lives. Of this, Murray said the following:
“God has called the church of Christ to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the church is living for the most part in the power of human flesh, and of will and energy and effort apart from the Spirit of God. I doubt not that that is the case with many individual believers; and, oh, if God will use me to give you a message from Him, my one message will be this: ‘If the church will return to acknowledge that the Holy spirit is her strength and her help, and if the church will return to give up everything, and wait upon God to be filled with the Spirit, her days of beauty and gladness will return and we shall see the glory of God revealed among us’.” This is my message to every individual believer: ‘Nothing will help you unless you come to understand that you must live every day under the power of the Holy Spirit’.”
Nothing can be added to this, except to say that, 120 years later, the body of Christ is still languishing in efforts of the flesh, trying to please God...man’s way. And nothing pleases Satan better, because nothing scares him more or damages him more than God’s power in a connected believer. How foolish we are to attempt to do God’s work apart from His power. We always end up doing a lot more harm than good. Wherever else I may be wrong or naively interpreting Scripture from the comfort of my office chair, I am completely convinced of this one truth concerning our Christian lives: God does it all; we are stick-men with no might of our own. But with His strength, we can accomplish the impossible.
A great warrior of truth and faith, a student of Chafer’s teachings, though probably not of the seminary president and professor himself, J Hampton Keathley, III, echoes the view that the power of the Holy Spirit is required for us to succeed in our mission as God’s soldiers. He said the following concerning life lived in God’s power:
“Is our best what God wants? No! He wants faith in His best, the Lord Jesus, and in the person of the Spirit whom God has sent to indwell us and empower us so we can experience the power of Christ and the ability to do our best, not in our own strength, but in the strength which God supplies. ‘And for this purpose, I work hard, struggling constantly in accordance with His working which continues to work in me mightily’ (Colossians 1:29, author’s translation).” (ABC’s for Christian Growth, p. 185.)
It is God’s strength that works “mightily” in us. Keathley goes on to disclose the reason we need the Holy Spirit to empower us to do the Lord’s work, saying, “So often, we tend to run off to do this or that in our own steam because we are all so prone to trust in our own resources.” If we operate under the assumption that we are the ones who can and must do the work, we will fail. Keathley understood where the power lies. When will we start thinking about surrendering to this superior source for good? When will we decide to let God be God?
But I’m not through. I will hit you with every verbal hammer I can find to forge in you an understanding of God’s grace and power. In that vein, here’s another blow from Andrew Murray:
“The power to do is not a permanent gift, but must be each moment received from the Holy Spirit. It is the man who is conscious of his own impotence as a believer who will learn that by the Holy Spirit he can live a holy life.” (Emphasis is Murray’s.)
It is our consciousness of God’s grace and power, contrasted with our own insufficiency, that helps us understand that our efforts will fail, whereas God’s will always succeed. One of the greatest signs of our weakness is our sin. We deal with sin by confessing our sins, which cleanses us and qualifies us for restoration and fellowship. But then we still have the SIN NATURE, which wants to (and does) pull us into sin and/or legalism. This must be dealt with. Once we are returned to fellowship, the empowerment of the Spirit will be resumed, and this will be sustained commensurate with our faith. So get this: This state of “spirituality” will not last long, unless our faith is strong. If our faith is firm, the Holy Spirit will be kept in power within us, and THE SINFUL NATURE WILL BE CONTROLLED. So here it is: Confession takes care of sin, and the Holy Spirit then takes takes care of the sin-nature (the duration of which depends on our maturity). The effect: more good; less sin. Don’t tell me that our reason for emphasizing God’s grace is so we can have a pretext to sin. No! It is so we WON’T SIN!
WAITING ON GOD
Waiting on God is a spiritual exercise that helps us get ready to surrender. When we can wait on the Lord in faith and with abiding patience, we will be entering an upper-level of maturity that precedes surrender. The spiritual skill we want to practice now is “waiting”. Ps. 5:3 says, “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” We pray, and then “wait in expectation”, which means to “wait on God while we are trusting in Him”.
Waiting is not as passive as it seems. It involves “watching”. We don’t just wait and nap. We are to be vigilant, actively believing, and waiting to see how God handles our request. Ps. 130:5-6 says this:
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
Notice the emphasis on “more than watchmen”, stated twice. Watchmen are trained to be alert, always scanning for alterations in the environment. We are to be MORE aware than they are, as we watch for the Lord’s workings in our lives. And what we “expect” while we are waiting is not so much a specific outcome, as we saw before, but that God will bring the best possible result. Our faith is always in our perfect God; not in a specific outcome.
We are to wait in stillness, which means we do not have to scurry around, frantically attempting to solve our own problems. This does not remove common sense for real-world decisions, but calls for an attitude to take into all our daily functions and decisions. This attitude consists of an abiding trust in God, as we do what we do in our careers, relationships, home-lives, and so on. We do “normal” things with “super-normal” power behind them.
Ps. 37:7 carries this further, saying, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...” This does not mean we have to wait until the end of the day, when the smoke from the fires of the day have cleared, before we can be still. “Stillness” is an aura of trust that we live in and by as we run through the flames. And while we are still, we are waiting...patiently...with an ongoing faith, knowing that all of God’s workings are “good”.
Sometimes, there are no exits or escape routes from the danger...or no water holes across the scorching desert. This is when we have been reduced to helplessness...when self-trust is no longer an option. Our resources have been depleted, and we can only hope in God’s mercy and grace. We can “stand still” as a choice, but sometimes, it’s the only thing we can do. Either way, waiting and watching for the omnipotent hand of the Almighty God to bring us all we need, in order to be all He expects, is always the best option. As the Jews stood before a deep and churning sea, and Pharaoh’s army bore down on them, Moses made this speech to them:
“Moses answered the people, ‘Do no be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still’.”
Moses is calling for them to reach inside themselves and dredge up all the faith they can to allow the problem of the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army to be God’s problem, and not theirs. Who will do the fighting? The Lord. And what is our part? “Only to be still.” Then we will “see the deliverance”, which is God handling the problem the best way HE knows, while we believe that His solutions are the best.
Then there is the story of Jehoshaphat, who faced a hideously-huge army in full battle gear, arrayed against the men and women and children of Judah. His response was consistent with his life: He responded in faith, trusting God’s word to him, which was this:
“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you’.”
This was given to another people in another age, but it applies to us in this one. We do not have to fight the battles. We are to “take our positions”, assume our “stations in life”, and then “stand firm”, meaning to hold steady in a growing faith. Then we can watch for the Lord to work, as we wait on Him. He will deliver us in the BEST way and at the RIGHT time.
While we are waiting, it is possible for us to stay strong, because waiting itself is an indication of maturing faith. Ps. 27:13-14 confirms this, saying, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” This is a familiar theme: “I am confident”. And what is the foundation of this confidence? “...the goodness of the Lord.” We have confidence, because we KNOW that God is there, that God is good, and that His plan is perfect. We know that His plan is not to harm us, but to give us “hope and a future”, as seen in Jer. 29:11-13. This promise was given directly to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, but, once again, reflects God’s attitude in dealing with us. As much as HE IS OUR GOD...HE CARES...for us. So we, too, can “take heart” and “wait”.
Waiting is a much bigger topic in Scripture than most Christians realize. And it requires advanced maturity. Here are some references that can be perused at your leisure. These call for us to WAIT: Ps. 37:34; Is. 26:8; Ps. 33:20; Ps. 27:14; Ps. 130:5; Micah 7:7; Hab. 2:3; Prov. 38:15.
Waiting is an attitude...an inner working of the heart. But be prepared: we are going to be very busy while we are waiting, as we will see next.
GIFTS AND SERVICE
We have covered this topic thoroughly in previous books and articles, but we include it here in our discussion of “practicing” for our upcoming surrender, because it is the external expression of an internal faith and love. When we are exercising our gifts in faith and thus in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be demonstrating our preparedness to surrender.
We will give a brief reminder here of the principle of gifted service, as seen in Scripture. Eph. 4:1-16 gives a good summary of the purpose and operation of gifts, as follows:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: ‘When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.’ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly region? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
This passage has been quoted in its entirety, because it provides a poignant presentation of all we want to say about gifts, which includes the following:
1. That we are “called” by being given specific gifts, and then we are charged to use them.
2. That humility and love are the basis for gifted service.
3. That fellowship is crucial to service...both between us and God, and among each other.
4. That the Spirit of Christ is the source of our gifts and that gifted service is a function of grace.
5. That gifts vary from one believer to the next.
6. That gifts exist to “equip us all for service”, to “build each other up”, and to “cause each other to grow” toward maturity.
7. That we can mature to the point that we attain the “fullness of Christ” (concomitant with surrendering, as we shall see).
All service is orchestrated and conducted by God, and the concert is played by those who brought their instruments (are filled with the Spirit). Once we are in tune with the Conductor, we will play to His cadence, and by His direction, all reading off the same sheet of music. Otherwise, we will just be making noise. Gifts are to operate in harmony and synchronicity...working together according to God’s arrangement.
A good picture of harmonious and constructive service is seen in 1 Th. 5:12-15, which describes it like this:
“Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
Notice the respect, humility, love, fellowship, and cooperation that these believers are called upon to exhibit. This is how corporate gifted service is to operate, with each contributing, and all benefiting. And that means ALL. No one is to be neglected or ignored. We are to “gin up” those who are doing nothing; encourage and pay attention to those who never say a word; and be patient with everyone. Patience is perhaps the hardest thing to achieve, and this requires a perspective of faith that trusts God for outcomes, even when dealing with some who seem insufferable. Above all, we must be growing ourselves, and building our faith, which will enable fellowship and love, and maximize the effectiveness of our gifts.
Serving within the scope of our gifts, in a spirit of love and care, prepares us spiritually for surrender, because—not only are we helping others, we are growing as a result of their gifts functioning in our behalf. And I believe we grow by serving, as well as by being served.
Specific gifts have been thoroughly delineated in previous studies, so they will be given only cursory attention here...just enough to acknowledge that gifts are specifically allocated to each believer. The main purpose for listing gifts at all is so that we can 1) perhaps see our own, 2) see that gifts differ from one believer to the next, and 3) acknowledge that all gifts are essential. Rom. 12:6-8, 10, taken together, give us the following statement on gifts:
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith [maturity]. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
The gifts suggested in this passage reflect the mature spirit in which they are to be conducted. No gifts should operate prematurely, meaning that expectations for performance in the “gift exchange” should be constrained by the levels of maturity. No baby believer should be doing anything but going through basic training in the Word.
To see the condition under which services should operate, we turn to Rom. 14:17-19, which says this:
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”
The kingdom of God is often a symbol for fellowship (see Bible Basics on Sin and Mercy, pp. 58-83). It is a matter of “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”, which have been described before as conditions that indicate fellowship. And notice that the fellowship takes place “in the Holy Spirit”, which is where it resides and from which it draws life. When we serve Christ “in this way” (in fellowship), it will be “pleasing to God” and will be received by those who want and need it. We should never try to serve without confession and restoration, assuring that fellowship always precede service. When service is done in this way, it will lead to “peace”, or fellowship among believers, and “mutual edification”, the central purpose for gifts.
What needs to happen in this nation is the strengthening of God’s people. That is more important than revivals and improved morality, even though Christians everywhere, mostly babies, are dragging nets and beating drums, trying to increase their numbers or get changes in behavior. What is needed is MATURITY, with SPIRITUALITY. Then, REAL service can go on in God’s energy. Without mature believers...walking in the Spirit...there will be no meaningful service, and edification will be a lost art. But when believers unite in faith, and grow together, real church operations can flourish, and gifted service and Spirit-directed evangelism and discipleship can be conducted with genuine purpose and significance.
When gifted interaction takes place, believers grow. And when growth is sufficient, surrender is possible. But we are not quite there yet. We must be “primed” to surrender.
Priming for Surrender
NEARING THE TIME OF SURRENDER
When we go through the levels of maturity, we will reach a point when we are ready to be “primed”. This is a time when we do the final “primping” (part of “priming”) before our featured performance in the consummate act of surrendering. We will not be able to surrender until all “priming” requirements have been met, and that will not even be possible until we have completed “preparation” and “practice”. When we reach the level of “priming”, we will have reached super-maturity, when the last leg of our journey toward surrendering lies before us.
There are several aspects of “priming for surrender” that we want to look at. The first is the full and final realization that “we can’t”, meaning that we have come to realize completely that God is the only one who can perform His work. When we fully grasp this, we are nearing the time when our minds will have been re-worked (renewed), giving us God’s viewpoint and making us ready to relinquish our lives to God. Another requirement is that we must understand what it means to be a believer that follows “God’s heart”, and KNOW that failure does not have to be the end of the road leading to maturity. Also, we need to spend whatever time it takes to fully comprehend the source of power for our lives, which is God alone...and never the initiative or determination of the flesh. Finally, we must engage the “preliminary” forms of surrender, which include drawing near, yielding, offering our bodies, submission, and commitment. We will look at each of these steps separately.
KNOWING THAT “WE CAN’T”
This is a central theme of all our writing: understanding our helplessness and God’s all-sufficiency. The contrast between these is infinite. We fail to grasp this because we do two things: 1) aggrandize our own potency and place, and 2) reduce an infinite God to the finite, where His position and power are roughly on the same plane as ours. We exaggerate ourselves and discount God. This is the greatest tragedy in all of Christianity.
What we must understand before surrender can be completed is that we must depend on God for everything. He is able to work through us when we are willing to let Him, AND when we have matured to the point that our faith will unleash His power within us. At lower levels of maturity, we are incapable of this kind of faith, even if we are willing. We have to go through the steps, and grow into the kind of faith that is needed for spirituality, and we all have the potential for this. Remember this: Faith releases the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what we keep repeating. And when faith is strong enough, we will be “walking by the Spirit”...virtually all the time.
One verse that we use over and over is worth re-quoting here: “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:3) When we stop trying to do the job that only God can do, acknowledging that only He can do it, then He can go to work fulfilling His plan and will in and for our lives, and produce divine good through us.
We must remember the difference between us and God, as per Luke 18:27, which says, “What is impossible with men is possible for God.” There are many things that are “impossible” for us to do: stopping sin, loving God and man, producing real spiritual fruit, generating divine righteousness, and conducting Spirit-led gifted service. These have to be done by God’s Spirit; we are but the instruments he uses to do the work. So, when it comes to divine good, only God can produce it.
Even Paul did not claim to be able to do anything good on his own, as we have seen before in 1 Cor. 15:10b, where Paul said, “No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Add to this Phil. 2:13, which was quoted earlier: “...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” And pile on Rom. 7:24a, where Paul says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Paul had the Spirit of Christ, but did not fully understand yet what the Spirit could do for him. Concerning the plight of not knowing the power at our disposal, and our own limited view of our need for it, once again we quote Andrew Murray, from his book Absolute Surrender.
“Here is the great mistake made by many Christian people: they think that when there is a renewed will, it is enough; but that is not the case. This regenerate man [Paul] tells us: ‘I will to do what is good, but the power to perform I find not.’ How often people tell us that if you set yourself determinedly, you can perform what you will! But this man was as determined as any man can be, and yet he made the confession: ‘To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not’ (Rom. 7:18).”
Notice that in Rom. 7 the names of Christ, God and the Holy Spirit occur only one time each, until the end of the chapter, when the name of Christ appears as a transition to chapter 8, as we shall show. Chapter 7 shows the futility of man’s efforts. The law, symbol for human effort and self-deliverance, appears in this chapter nearly twenty times. The words I, me, and my, occur collectively more than forty times. This is because this chapter depicts the impotence of a believer who is trying to please God without the filling of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s confession, “What a wretched man I am!” (v. 24) tells us that he is finally turning the corner on self-effort, and seeing where his hope lies...in Christ Jesus...as shown by his question and answer: “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v. 24b-25a) This is why he mentions God or Christ or the Holy Spirit in the next chapter (chapter 8) at least 29 times. Paul is showing the contrast between a life lived in the energy of the flesh and one lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Self-effort is a form of legalism, which is a product of the sinful nature, as we have seen before. When we are trying to conform to a standard, even a good one, we are depending on ourselves to achieve it, and this means our sinful nature is trying to “do good”. Good of some kind may be forthcoming, but it is not divine good, and “human good” always leads to sin, because it is generated under the control of the sinful nature. Think this is not true? Go into the homes of Christians. Look at the loss of temper, the bitterness, the invective, and the sharpness of tone. And go into churches. Look at the strife and envy and jealousy and sensitivity and pride. These are the direct results of attempts to SERVE GOD through self-effort.
It is easy to say “I can do”, and not finish the statement, which is “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13). Between the “I can” and “through him”, there is the realization that “I can do nothing” (John 15:5). Then there is the outcome: He “strengthens me”, without which we truly can do nothing. We must not stop with the phrase, “I can”, but go on to “through Christ”.
Murray said “let it be my glory to be helpless”, reflecting Paul’s statement in 2 Cor. 12:9-10, where he said he would “boast” about his weaknesses, and “delight” in them, because he could become “strong” by recognizing them. Murray adds the following about our helplessness:
“I pray you learn the lesson now. If you felt you could not do it, you are on the right road, if you let yourselves be led. Accept that position, and maintain it before God: ‘My heart’s desire and delight, O God, is absolute surrender, but I cannot perform it. It is impossible for me to live that life. It is beyond me.’ Fall down and learn that when you are utterly helpless, God will come to work in you not only to will but also to do.” [Murray’s source: Phil. 2:13]
With advanced maturity, we don’t recognize our strength, as faith grows, but our helplessness. As our awareness of God increases, we become more aware of our incapacities. We want to do right and be right...to do our part...but we see clearly that we are helpless to make this happen. Self-faith is an expression of our weakness; the more we think WE can do it, the less we will actually do, regardless of how big a splash we make in our little pond. Surrender will require an emptying of the self and all its attachments, and the infusion of the power of the Holy Spirit. We must know how helpless we are and see how powerful He is...and how essential He is to us...if we are ever to participate in His glory—that glory which He, alone, can bring to Himself. When we know our place, we will be carriers of that glory.
When we know we are helpless, we can learn faith. Faith begins with despair. When we find we must cease from man and the world, and realize that our only hope is in God, then we will learn what it means to TRUST in God. I really like what Murray said about this:
“...another must do it for me. And that is the secret of the spiritual life. A man must learn to say: ‘I give up everything; I have tried and longed and thought and prayed, but failure has come. God has blessed me and helped me, but still, in the long run, there has been so much of sin and sadness.’ What a change comes when a man is thus broken down into utter helplessness and self-despair, and says: ‘I can do nothing!’”
Seeing ourselves, not as others see us, but as God sees us, propels us toward the time when we can surrender our inadequacy to His capability...when His perfection can continually cloak our flaws with His goodness. The refinements He brings, operating within us as His Spirit, enable us to do right and glorify Him.
A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART
Before we talk about the “God-can” part of the surrendering equation, we want to briefly look at what it means to be a “man after God’s own heart”. Look first at Abraham, as described in Rom. 4:18-21, which says this:
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
So Abraham exhibited great faith, and God’s promise of a son...a “seed” between him and Sarah...was fulfilled. In James 2:23, Abraham was even called a “friend” of God.
David was another super-believer. His faith was so great and his attachment to God so strong that God said he “kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.” (1 Kings 14:8) It was also reported that he “walked uprightly” before God, “in integrity and uprightness”. (1 Ki. 9:4) And it was said of his son Solomon that “his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.” (1 Ki. 11:4) So David was an exceptional man of faith (also see this in Heb. 11:32-33).
And who can ignore Job, of whom God said, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8b). Job was highlighted as the most mature man alive at the time, as per God’s testimony. And Job’s own words confirm his faith, as we see in his statement: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope [trust] in him” (Job 13:15a). Surely, here was a man whose faith was stellar, and whose patience was endless. James 5:11a assessed Job’s perseverance, saying this about him: “As you know we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.”
Job has to be counted among the great adherents to faith, and one whose heart followed God’s.
But here the consonant and harmonious tones that we are enjoying in these stories begin to wax dissonant and a little cacophonous. Something is wrong. Don’t we read in Scripture that Abraham lost faith in God’s promise and slept with Hagar so that he could bring about what God had not finished...i.e., making an heir of his own seed with his own wife? And didn’t we see in Scripture that David stole Bathsheba from her husband Uriah and had him killed in battle? And didn’t Elihu castigate Job for accusing God of unfairness for causing him suffering that he did not deserve? In fact, here is what Elihu said to Job:
“But you have said in my hearing—I heard the very words—‘I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’ But I tell you, in this you are not right...”
The surprise is that these believers, extolled for their exceptional faith, were also consummate failures, not as unbelievers or as baby believers, but as seasoned and trained paragons of maturity. And still they failed. So what is wrong with this picture?
The difference in these men, what made their faith noteworthy, was not witnessed in their performance or perfection, but in their willingness to recognize that the key to pleasing God is found in humble recognition of our failures and our inability to do good and produce righteousness. Each of these men failed, but they also recovered. Abraham fell on his face twice before he received confirmation of the covenant between him and God. (Gen. 17:3, 17) As for David, he confessed his sins. This confession, found in Ps. 32 and 51, is poignant, exemplified in Ps. 32:3-5, which says this:
“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Job also confessed his sins, as he re-awakened to his own inadequacy. This is what he said:
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
These all failed, but notice the contrition expressed by each of them. Many have failed from time to time since: Solomon, Paul, Peter, and endless others...and so have you and I. These all repented and confessed. And hopefully we will, as well.
The secret to forgiveness and restoration, to returning things to their original condition, AS IF sin had not happened, is the same for all of us: genuine confession. But surrender, the ultimate state of maturity, goes further; it is characterized no longer by ISOLATED ACTS of confession, but by an ongoing MINDSET of humility and repentance...a perpetual attitude of confession and relinquishment. This is what super-mature believers do with failure. Key point: God will build on our failings, if we commit them to Him. Failure alone cannot stop us; rather, not recognizing and admitting our failings to God is what will do us in.
It is not what we “do” that pleases God, but what we “believe”. God erases sins that are confessed, and when we reach super-maturity, confession becomes a constant melody played for the Spirit within us. Then, it will be our faith in the peaks of spirituality that God will remember, not the sins that occurred in the valleys of carnality...because we are living in the mercy of His forgiveness and the grace of his provision. Over time, when we are primed and ready, those peaks and valleys will level into the smooth and open plains of surrender, and we will see sin controlled and righteousness produced. What a day that will be!
KNOWING THAT “GOD CAN”
When we think about God, as compared to ourselves, the difference is incomprehensible. Which is probably why not many seem to get the idea that God alone can do what we cannot. God does not favor us on the basis of our being strong and capable, or highly disciplined and educated, or attractive and winsome. God chooses by a criterion not related to inherent, pre-existent qualities that are ours by birth or training within the cosmic system. No. God chooses on the basis of His foreknowledge of our humility and submission. “Chosen ones”, or believers who thirst after God, become the heroes and true generals in God’s army. One of the best expressions of this truth is found in 1 Cor. 1:26-31, which gives us the following:
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord’.”
Paul, himself, one of the smartest people who ever lived, said he came to the Corinthians, “not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor. 2:4b-5). Faith in man and in self may yield results in the world, but they will mean nothing in the kingdom of light. Paul added that the “wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age”, is “coming to nothing” (1 Cor. 2:6b).
So, we are nothing, can do nothing, and all that we create is coming to nothing. By contrast, “nothing is impossible for God”. We can’t; God can. Go back to verse 30 in 1 Cor. 1, quoted directly above. Jesus Christ is “for us wisdom...our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” We can never boast, then, except to praise the efforts of God. God is the only one who can say, “I can,” and “I did.” But do not despair. We are not “useless” just because “we can’t”. God can use our uselessness, helplessness, and weakness, if we turn them over to Him by acknowledging our worthlessness and recognizing God’s greatness. Is. 40:28-31 tells us how God props us up and gives us vitality, saying this:
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
What a beautiful description of the process for God’s perfection flowing into our nothingness. We are like grass (Is. 40:8), that dries up and falls; or grasshoppers (Is. 40:22), hardly noticeable or visible. To such inconsequential creatures, God says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9a). It is He who leads us by still waters. It is He who restores our soul. It is He who strengthens and comforts us. It is He who gives us hope and a future. It is He who fights the battles. It is He who protects us. It is He who gives us wisdom. It is He who delivers us, and ultimately saves us. “And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8b). When we know this, we will know that “God can”.
We are saved by His grace and kept by His power. This is what we see in 1 Pet. 1:3-5. In verse 3 we see that “he has given us new birth”, and then in verse 5 we see that, “through faith” we “are shielded by God’s power”. After we are born again, the shield of God’s power is granted THROUGH FAITH. If faith is strong, we have His shield...in the form of His power. 2 Thess. 3:3 says it this way, “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” It is the devil’s work to whisper us into deception or tempt us into sin, and it is he from whom we MUST have protection...and God provides this for us...through faith. Strong faith secures a strong shield.
There is much talk around Christendom about “godliness”, about doing and saying things that reflect devotion or commitment, but there is little talk about the power of God, and the ways He has provided for us to access it. This is the result of Satan’s work. 2 Tim. 2:26 warns us about the “trap of the devil, who has taken them [carnal believers] captive to do his will.” Then 2 Thess. 3 follows this up, describing Satan’s work, as “a form of godliness, but denying its power” (v. 5). When we operate with the belief that “I can”, we are captives of Satan, and sin and/or legalism will follow. When we recognize that “God can”, we will exist and move by His power, and divine good will ensue.
Power came in Acts 1:8a, where we see this: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you...” This is what Jesus promised to his disciples, and this promise applies to every believer since that time. We have access to infinite power from the time the Holy Spirit “comes upon us”, a permanent condition that begins at salvation. But just because the power is there does not mean that it is turned on. God will not impose His holiness on a space occupied by sin, so—for the Spirit to fill our hearts—we must be cleansed. The power is always there, available as a case of “God can”, but it will work for us only when we have learned that “we can’t”.
When the power is on within us, God can produce His fruit through us. Phil. 1:9-11 says this:
“And this is my prayer: that your love [fellowship] may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness THAT COMES THROUGH JESUS CHRIST—to the glory and praise of God.” (emphasis mine)
When we are “pure and blameless”, we can be “filled with the fruit of righteousness”...which comes ONLY through Jesus Christ, or—in other words—through His Spirit. He can; we can’t. We must get this: Righteousness comes from God; not from us! And I must distinguish something once again: salvation righteousness is imputed forever; living righteousness is only produced when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
The expression of God’s power, His “can-ness”, is seen as grace. This is why He told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” But this grace is not like an aspirin, to help us get by. This grace is all-encompassing and grand. 2 Cor. 9:14 calls it “surpassing grace”, which God “gives” to those who serve in faith. With grace comes strength. 2 Tim. 2:1b tells us to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Without grace, there will be no strength. Remember Paul’s statement about how his own work was being done: “No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). Grace is essential to every aspect of our Christian lives, including our accessing and drawing on the power of God by using grace techniques to acquire grace assets.
When we trust God to DO what we CANNOT DO, He goes to work. Heb. 13:20-21 says this:
May the god of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
How can the seminal doctrine of God doing His own work escape so many pastors, Christian leaders, and believers, when it is literally on every page of Scripture in some form or another? Sometimes, it is completely obvious and clearly stated, as it is in this passage from Hebrews: “...may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through [the Spirit of] Jesus Christ.” He “works” what pleases Him, and we have the privilege of participating in His work, if we get the techniques down pat, and follow them. This is PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY! This is for implementation through our faith, which engages God’s practices by His power. By following the techniques, we are able to be used in the process of God doing “what is pleasing to him”.
Repetition of this principle may become a little laborious for those who “got it” a long time ago. But all of us need to be reminded of the SOURCE of all good, all strength, and all of life. So, as Peter said in 2 Pet.1:12, “I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.” And what had he told them? In verses 3 and 4 he had said the following:
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
God’s power equips us for “everything we need”. His Word gives us the techniques we are to follow, and then specifies the assurances He makes when we do. If we confess, we are assured that we will be forgiven. If we pray the “prayer of faith”, we can be sure that we are praying “according to God’s will”, and we will get what we ask for, because our prayer has been adjusted to what God wants to give. (Otherwise, we would not be praying a “prayer of faith”.) By studying “in fellowship”, we are certain that we will receive nutrients for our souls that will strengthen our faith. If we endure God’s training through trials and tests, we are assured that our faith will be refined and enriched. And if we progressively move toward maturity, and eventually fully understand the love and character and grace of God, we are confident that we will reach super-maturity, which can then serve as a launching pad into surrender and the fullness of God.
But who supplied the techniques for achieving this? God. And who enables the completion of each step? God. And who is waiting for us to surrender, so that He can bring His fruit and blessing into all aspects of our lives? Yes, it is God. He wants to express His infinite Self in our mortal bodies. He wants to be Himself...in us...and He doesn’t need our strength to do it...He only needs our permission. 2 Cor. 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure [knowledge of the glory of God] in jars of clay [mortal bodies] to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Our hope is that “the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal body” (2 Cor. 4:10b). By His power, God’s life is seen in us, which comes, of course, from Him, and not from us.
We are told to be strong, not in our own strength, but in His, as we see in Eph. 6:10, which says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” And we see this yet again in another frequently-quoted passage, Eph. 1:17-20, which reads like this:
“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms...”
The power comes from HIS strength, not ours. Even our gifts do not operate in our own strength. They must function by the filling and direction and control of the Holy Spirit; otherwise, the “service” is just the work of the flesh, which will produce no good. It LOOKS like service, but it is serving one who is an enemy of God, the one who wants to use us in his evil army. The Christian life is made up of acts of God, performed through willing and prepared believers. Gifted service, rendered in Spirit and truth, is a product of growth and fellowship, a work of God, as we see in the following passage:
“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:4-9)
The gifts are there, the growth is there, the cleansing is there, the fellowship is there...hence the “keeping” is there, “because of his grace” (v. 4). Thus Paul can say, in the next chapter (chapter 2, verse 4), “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power...” His gifts were constrained by the Holy Spirit, as ours are now, and all gifts get their effectiveness through abiding faith in the Spirit’s power. 1 Pet 4:11b tells us, “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” Anytime we do the work, we want credit for it. When God does the work, He gets the credit.
We want His power to operate in us, not so we will “feel powerful”, because we may not feel a thing...but so we can know that his fruit is being produced through us, that He is being glorified, and that He is pleased with us. Eph. 3:16-19 says this:
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
We will see this verse again in the section on “surrender”, but for now, we want to drive home the point that our objective is to access HIS POWER! It is HIS strength that has an effect...not ours. There is nothing about us that counts, except for the expression of our faith. And even that brings no merit or credit to ourselves, but simply recognizes God’s power. God “can”, because He has the power. He “can”, because He is God.
Finally, we offer the following verses on “grace and power”, for your perusal and meditation:
PRELIMINARY STEPS FOR SURRENDERING
As mentioned earlier, the “preliminary” steps to surrender include drawing near, yielding, offering our bodies, submission, and commitment. Each of these lends itself to the surrendering process in its own way, and we shall look at each one.
The Preliminary Step of Drawing Near to God. Closeness to God is a condition associated with maturity. The more mature we are, the closer we will be to God, because our faith will be stronger and the “eyes of our hearts” will see Him more clearly and accurately. Of course, maturity is predicated on extensive periods of spirituality, during which we will be praying, studying, enduring, and growing. And as we mature, we draw nearer to God. This is not only wonderful and reassuring, it is required, because it is commanded in the Bible.
James 4:8a tells us, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” This crucial command, which we will re-visit when we get to the section on “surrendering”, tells us to move in the direction of the Deity...to draw near. We would not be asked to move closer to God, if it were not—first of all—possible, and—secondly—expected. This is something we can and should do! Now, we want to know more about the process for drawing near, so we can know how it is done.
In Heb. 10, verses 19-22, we have a description of the conditions and steps for drawing near, which is presented, as follows:
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
To get closer to God, there are certain things we need to “do” and/or “have”. Here is a list of prerequisites for getting closer to God, as seen in this passage:
But when Jesus’ work was finished, the veil was ripped from top to bottom, and is no longer an obstruction to “closeness to God”. Believers can now enter the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place, but there’s a catch: We must be clean and we must bring our faith with us (Heb. 10:22). Furthermore, our faith must be strong enough to sustain us there. Otherwise, we will be in and out of the Most Holy Place in an instant, and we will not be experiencing the benefits of “closeness to God”.
So, at this point in our progression toward “surrendering”, we reach a point in our maturity that the conditions of cleanliness and strong faith are being met. This means that we are qualified to occupy the Most Holy Place. This is what we see in Heb. 4:14-16, which says this:
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Jesus Christ is now our high priest, and—through our union with Him—we are also priests. We qualify to enter the Most Holy Place. Through our identification with Him and the imputation of His righteousness at salvation, we are eligible to enter, AND by the forgiveness of sin through confession and the presence of faith, we are qualified to enter. In this passage, entering the Most Holy Place is described as “approaching God’s throne of grace”...which is drawing near to the presence of God. But notice the sequence as we approach: 1) we receive mercy, and 2) we find grace to help us in our time of need.
When we “receive mercy”, we find forgiveness. Mercy for believers is absolution through confession. This then qualifies us to “find grace”, which is ALL WE NEED! When we move closer to God, we will find the “mother lode of grace”. But the road to this point has been long and arduous, and this will not be found by immature or carnal believers. “Drawing near” places us standing before God, in faith, ready for the swearing-in ceremony, waiting to surrender, beginning with “yielding”.
The Preliminary Step of Yielding. Yielding, offering our bodies, submitting, and committing are all lighter forms of surrendering. Before we can surrender, we must completer these “practice runs”. This sounds easy enough, but the level of maturity required to do these is at the “exceptional” level.
To frame the process of “yielding”, we will use two scriptures: 1 Cor. 2:16b and Phil. 2:5-9. The first reference looks like this: “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” Believers have access to the contents of Christ’s thoughts. This is primarily the divine view-point of Christ, as expressed in His Word. By knowing the Word, we know the thinking of God. But there is another meaning in this verse, which becomes clear when we couple it with the passage in Philippians.
Phil. 2:5-8 says the following:
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
What was the nature of Christ, his attitude, his behavior? In essence, what was the “mind” of Christ? Primarily, it consisted of “yeildedness”. He did not seek equality with God, as Satan did. He did not take advantage of the power He knew He had, but submitted to His Father’s will and power. And He became like a servant...subservient...obedient to the plan of His Father. He constantly gave in to all requirements and fulfilled them to the letter. He had learned His Father’s plan and yielded to any outcome which had been designed for Him. He trusted His Father; He was dependent on Him.
If this was true for Jesus, how much more should it be true for us? If we do not reflect our dependency on Him, it is because we do not understand the reality of God and our place in His plan. When we truly know God, we can do nothing but humble ourselves and yield to Him, confident that He will maneuver the affairs of our lives so that everything will work for our good, and so that He will be pleased with what we have become in relation to Him.
The Preliminary Step of Offering our Bodies. “Body” is the same thing as “life”, including body and soul. Offering our “bodies” sounds a little morbid, but this is actually offering our “lives” to God. This is what we are told to do in Rom. 6:12-13, which says this:
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”
Instead of offering ourselves to our sinful nature, which will take us in a direction away from God, we must offer ourselves as instruments to His service. If we are servants of sin, meaning it has not been subdued in our lives, we will not be able to offer ourselves to God. When we achieve a higher level of maturity, and are walking in the power of His Spirit, sin will be removed as an obstruction to our making this offering to God. Until then, we are not ready to offer anything except our time in growth, through study and endurance, and our attention to the filling of the Spirit, through confession and prayer. One primary proof that we are ready to offer our lives to God is that sin will be under control, as per the next verse in the passage just quoted, Rom. 6:14, which says, ,”For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
If we have spent time in grade maturing and walking in the Spirit, this will evidenced by “purity” in our walk, as well as in our hearts. Our hearts are purified through confession, but if sin is still haunting us and controlling us, then we are, indeed, operating under the law, which means the “flesh” is trying to corral the flesh, which keeps us in the grip of sin. Gal. 5:18 says, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” The key is consistency...in confession, in prayer, in learning God’s truths for living, and in enduring whatever training is necessary to bring us into line with God’s will...UNTIL WE GET IT. The key is in persevering until our faith is strong enough to beat the sin. The battle cry is this: Don’t let up! Never stop moving forward...keep going...even when we fail and fail and fail. At some point, we will no longer be under sin’s mastery; we will be ready to offer ourselves to God.
Rom. 12:1 follows this theme, saying, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” First of all, notice that offering our bodies takes place “in view of God’s mercy”, or through the process of His forgiveness of our sins. It is because we are forgiven that we are able to offer ourselves. Why? Because this is the only time when we are “holy and pleasing to God”. By being cleansed (“holy”), AND by maturing and walking in the Spirit (being “pleasing to God”), we are qualified to conduct the spiritual act of worship, which is “offering our bodies”. See the prerequisite? See the process? Through advanced maturity and spirituality...reaching the point that we are “pleasing to God”...we are able to take the next step, which is to offer our bodies.
The Preliminary Step of Submitting to God. Submission is related to God’s will. When we submit, we are bowing to God’s wishes and wants where our lives are concerned. It is acquiescing to His divine preferences. We are saying what He wants is what we want, because what He wants is perfect. Therefore, we submit to Him.
James 4:7a says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” This is a simple command, incorporated with a string of commands, all having to do with “surrender”. We will integrate this command with the others when we get to the section on surrendering, but right now we are giving “submission” our full attention to understand what it means and how it is done.
In the middle of a passage telling us to submit to masters and rulers, 1 Pet. 2:15 tells us what God’s primary will is regarding our entire mode of conduct. This verse says, “For it is God’s will that by doing good, you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” Doing right, and thus intensifying the light we shine before men, is one important outcome of producing “divine good”; but there are other outcomes, such as sharing our gifts with other believers, spreading the gospel message to a lost and dying world, pleasing and glorifying God, and building up rewards in heaven. By submitting ourselves to God’s will, we will see these outcomes generated. Once again, we pound on the dual drums of maturity and spirituality, which are the media for achieving a submission that satisfies God’s will and results in divine good.
When we submit to God, we will honor him with our lives. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says,
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
Honoring God involves choosing the Spirit over the sinful nature, the filling of the Spirit over sin. This is the starting point for a long and difficult journey to strong faith and sustained spiritual empowerment, which we will reach if we don’t give up. We must drag our failing selves along by the grace of God, and know that the baggage of sin is a permanent attachment that will weigh us down and stop us in our tracks...if we do not find a way to control it. The passage above refers primarily to sexual immorality (see v. 18), which shows submission TO the body, rather than OF the body. Sexual sin is the scourge of the human race, and a place of human weakness constantly exploited by Satan. But even this can be controlled through higher-level faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. Once again, don’t give up. Don’t stop short. Good will appear, if you persevere.
When we are living in the power of the Holy Spirit, rather than being crushed by sin, we can submit our lives to God, which is one more step toward full surrender. This will be evidenced by the “good” we do. When faith is strong enough, our lives will follow God’s will, and we will practice “obedience that comes from faith” (Rom. 1:5b).
The Preliminary Step of Committing to God. Commitment is an expression of loyalty, and loyalty is an extension of love. Love, then, is at the base of our commitment to God. Love, as God frames it, is the product of extreme maturity and consistent spirituality. Keep in mind that maturity is a continuum of growth, following a track of progression or retrogression; while spirituality is an on or off proposition, in which we are either controlled by the Spirit...or controlled by the sinful nature. The ultimate product of maturity and spirituality is love, which is the most prominent fruit produce by the Holy Spirit.
Commitment comes out of love for God, which is accompanied by love for our fellow-man. The first and most binding command Jesus ever gave, outside of “believing in Him”, was that we love God. Mark 12:30 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” In an article called, “Paramount Issues of Life”, p. 24, J. Hampton Keathley, III gave a framework for understanding each of the four sources of love described in this verse: heart, soul, mind, and strength. With my own twist added, here is what Keathley said about these:
1. Heart-love. Heart-love has to do with fellowship, whereby we stay close to Him by confessing sins. When we are continually in fellowship with Him, this lays the groundwork for commitment.
2. Soul-love. Soul-love relates to submission of our bodies, as we saw in “Submitting to God” above. But commitment goes beyond submission, to a deeper level of devotion. When we truly reach the level of maturity that we love God without reservation and without a break, we give ourselves to Him in prayerful submission and commitment.
3. Mind-love. This love is linked to our view-point of life. When we have mastered the truths of God’s Word, we will have the perspective of faith, based on full understanding of the message of mercy and grace. Every thought will be brought into obedience to Him.
4. Strength-love. This love is related to our “strengths”, particularly our gifts. When we are committed to God, we focus our energies on the operation of our gifts in service to others. All of our energy goes into edifying others through our own spirituality and God-given abilities.
When we love God, we will have no trouble committing to Him: all that we are, think, imagine, intend, and hope for belong to Him. And this commitment remains, even in hard times. 1 Pet. 4:19 says, “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” This may seem like an odd time to commit...when we are suffering...but this is a time of intense training, at which time we can take giant steps toward full maturity and commitment. At the end of perseverance is commitment.
Commitment will bring our performance in the production of righteousness to a peak, giving us unprecedented energy for service. This is what we see in Ps. 37:5-6, which says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” When we are committed to God, and I mean “mature” commitment, we will see the fruits of fellowship, the obedience of our faith, the fulfillment of God’s promises, and a harvest from all our planting. And, most important of all, we will stand as candidates for the final stage of Christian advancement: our surrender.
Presenting Ourselves for Surrender
INTRODUCTION
This is the giving of our all. This is our intended destination on earth, the Shangri-la of our Christian faith, our highest service, and our finest hour. It may seem a little artificial or contrived, to call this highest point of maturity “surrender”; it might be called “rest”, or the “fullness of God”, or “ultimate-maturity”. Whatever the label, this maximum point of spiritual growth is the moment when God becomes the center of everything, not a peripheral interest; this is a time when a mature believer realizes that anything “God-like” must come from “God”. We will call it “surrender”. Reaching this point means the development of “full faith” leading to “complete release”. It is a time when we see God fully, trust Him unreservedly, and discontinue self-effort completely. It is a time when we relinquish all of God’s work to God, and lay ourselves...all we are and all we have...before Him, submitting our bodies to be the gloves He will wear to accomplish His divine purposes.
It is important to interject that God’s working does not make us “passive”. When He works, we will expend our own energy to the point of exhaustion. God’s work is done when we actively confess, pray, study, trust, and endure, concomitant with the engagement of our gifts. If we are spiritual and mature, we will be active and busy in the way God has designed for each of us. There is a lot of “work” to Christian growth and service, but notice: The efforts come from the strength supplied by the Holy Spirit, and are only meaningful if they originate with Him.
Put simply: The Christian life is about GROWING through a WALK IN THE SPIRIT, made possible by using grace techniques and assets, and believing what God has promised. And—if we grow enough—we will reach super-maturity, when we can surrender our hearts and lives to God. God will then be pleased, and we will be party to the accomplishment of His perfect will in our lives. That is our objective.
THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES
John 15:1-17 records a message that Jesus gave to His disciples. But it was meant for dissemination to all believers, as the disciples were instructed to pass His message on to all who had come to faith in Christ. In this message, Jesus illustrated the “Christian” life, which consists of “abiding in Him”. This phrase means “walking in the Spirit” through “constant fellowship”. The application of “abiding” must not be misunderstood. It would be a giant leap to believe that it has to do with our being in “union” with Christ, since that is clearly an eternal and unchanging condition for all believers. “Abiding” does not mean “saved”. It is a condition of the saved. The state of “abiding” must be seen as intermittent, a condition of the heart, which is elsewhere described in Scripture as being controlled by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to being controlled by the sinful nature. Abiding in Christ can be started, stopped, and restarted, which cannot be said of the position of a believer, who is forever identified as a child of God.
We will look at salient points in John 15:1-17, relative to surrendering. When Jesus made a point of our needing to “abide” in Him, He was thinking beyond fellowship; He had in mind an ongoing state of submission that displays little deterioration or decline (this does NOT mean permanent; only salvation is eternal). This cannot be said of most believers, as most oscillate quickly between fellowship and carnality, and some never achieve fellowship at all, except for the initial fellowship experienced at salvation. But once a truly-seeking believer reaches super-maturity, and knows the “fullness of God”, he will be walking in the Spirit, have greater strength to deal with sin, experience stronger awareness of the reality and plan of God, enjoy better use of divine techniques and assets, and acquire more faith to operate in God’s power. From this vantage point, deviation is less likely, and the continuation of fellowship will become the norm. This, I believe, is “surrender”.
Here is what we see in John 15:1-17 (please follow in your Bible):
1. Verses 1-4. Jesus Christ is the vine, meaning that He is the source for all spiritual life and production. We are the branches, who are expected to “bear the fruit” of the vine, easily recognized as the fruit of the Spirit. Those who are in fellowship, or who “remain” in Him will bear the fruit generated by the vine, because they have been “pruned”, which the NIV also translates as “cleaned”. When we are “cleaned”, the production of fruit will be possible.
2. Verses 5-8. If we are not cleaned and do not bear fruit, we will be “cut off”, which means we lose our fellowship, and will no longer function as fruitful branches. It is only when we “abide in Him” that we can bear fruit, because without Him we can do nothing. If we do not “remain in Him”, we will be thrown away, or removed from fellowship, and we will “wither”, which means we will become dried up and useless spiritually. The sap of the vine will not flow, if we become detached. Staying attached to the vine follows a procedure, and the entire process for drawing from the vine is encapsulated in this passage, including the following: confession (being “cleaned”), prayer (“ask what you wish”), learning the truth (“If my words remain in you”), walking in the Spirit (“If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit”), and glorifying God (“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit”).
3. Verses 9-13. Fruit is seen in these verses as love and joy, referencing the upcoming Pauline letter to the Galatians, in which he described the fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control” (Gal. 5:22-23a). These are the spiritual qualities that will exist whenever a believer is growing and is filled with the Spirit. When we obey the command of Jesus to remain in Him, we will “remain” in His love, and He will complete His “joy” in us. When we are told to “lay down our lives” as the greatest expression of love, this depicts the sacrifice we make in the preparation and operation of our gifts. Our gifts are the media for bearing fruit; God’s power is the source.
4. Verses 14-17. Jesus Christ gives us an indescribable honor by telling us we can become His “friends”. It is one thing to be a “servant” of Christ; it is another to be His “friend”. It is not hard to see the distinction between these two. When we are growing and learning the protocols for spirituality and trust and service, we are “servants”. When we reach the point of super-maturity, we know and practice “grace procedures” with “steadfast faith”, and qualify to become his “friends”. This is the time of “surrender”. As servants, we are learning. As friends, we KNOW. “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (v. 15b). His final command to those who have reached this level of commitment and maturity: “Love each other” (v. 17), which means to “walk in My Spirit” and “bear fruit—fruit that will last” (v. 17).
We are commanded to stay in fellowship, grow in the knowledge of Christ, build our faith, pray to Him, and bear fruit through His strength. These have the potential for bringing us to rich friendship with Jesus Christ, whom we relate to as the Holy Spirit, where we will live in the place of surrender and intimacy with God.
Andrew Murray, once again in his book, Absolute Surrender, shares the following “effects” from “abiding in the vine”, or surrendering, as seen in John 15. Some of his observations are quoted, while others are summarized and paraphrased, as follows:
1. Absolute Dependence. “If I can learn every moment of the day to depend on God, everything will come right.” (p. 61) God is responsible for doing the work. We are responsible to let Him, by being branches. The sap flows; all we have to do is receive it. “If I am something, God is not everything.” (p. 62) When I am nothing, God is everything.
2. Deep Restfulness. The rest of surrender is deep, but this rest is not passive. “No one who learns to rest upon the living Christ can become slothful, for the closer your contact with Christ the more of the Spirit of His zeal and love will be borne in upon you.” (p. 63) Work will be done and we will be fatigued by the time God is through. Every good thing that comes THROUGH us, comes—not FROM us—but from God. That includes love. Romans 5:5 (KJV) says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” When we let it all come from Him, and stop trying to produce it (meaning the “fruit”) by ourselves, then God can go to work. And when God works through us, our “deep restfulness” will entail great activity.
3. Much Fruitfulness. We cannot bear fruit if we are not in close connection with Jesus Christ. “Lord Jesus, nothing less than the sap that flows through thyself, nothing less than the divine life is what we ask. Lord Jesus, I pray Thee let thy Spirit flow through me in all my work for thee.” (p. 64) The sap is the power of the Holy Spirit! When you get Him flowing through you, fruit will be produced.
4. Close communion. “What is the application to our life of this abiding communion? What does it mean? It means close fellowship with Christ in secret prayer.” (p. 65) Abiding, or “communion”, is “fellowship”.
5. Absolute surrender. What is this? “...just as entirely and absolutely as Christ gave up His life to do nothing but seek the Father absolutely and entirely, I am to do nothing but to seek the pleasure of Christ.” (p. 66) This is the removal of anything in our lives that is not in line with God’s will, or that is held back as “ours”, and not given up to God! What is there that we are not willing to give up? And what about willingness to be reduced to absolute helplessness and weakness; are we prepared to face this? Not yet; we are simply not ready. We have much to do before we reach the level of full concession to God. But when we are ready, we can surrender.
When we surrender, “He can, and does indeed, come and take actual possession of us, and gives unbroken fellowship all the day.” (p. 67) “Lord, everything in my life has to be in most complete harmony with my position as a branch of Thee, the blessed Vine.” (p. 68) Christ invites us, as follows: “I, the living One who have so completely given myself to you, am the Vine. You cannot trust me too much. I am the Almighty Worker, full of divine life and power.” (p. 68) And He adds, “I will draw you to myself, I will bless you, I will strengthen you, I will fulfill you with my Spirit.” And to Him we can only say, “Thou art my Vine, and I am thy branch. It is enough, my soul is satisfied.” (p. 68) Here it is: “The vine is calling us to absolute surrender.” (p. 67)
Our challenge is to mature to the point that we can surrender. When we reach that point, we will know that our surrender is going to be absolute. Murray said the following about the act of surrendering:
“I do not understand that word surrender fully; it gets new meaning every now and then; it enlarges immensely from time to time. But I advise you to speak it out: ‘Absolute surrender to Thee, O Christ, is what I have chosen.’ And Christ will show you what is not according to His mind, and lead you on to deeper and higher blessedness.”
When we see our place as branches, know our dependency on the vine, and recognize our need to become what we already are...His pathways for divine goodness on earth...we can start “practicing” surrender. At the same time, we must continue preparation for that time when we can truly surrender, giving it all to God.
SURRENDERING TO OUR GOD
Setting Up the Surrender. Prior to super-maturity, our primary question cannot be, “How do I surrender”, but must be, instead, “How do I prepare to surrender”. We will always hope and seek and wait for surrender, but our focus is on these: the growth of this day, prayers for this hour, confession for this minute, and faith for this and every second. For those who arrive, surrender has been as much about the journey, as it has the destination. All that we have written previously deals with the journey. Now, we want to look at the destination.
First of all, the “will” to which we are surrendering is perfect. Rom. 12:2 calls God’s will “good, pleasing, and perfect”. What God wants is perfect, and He will bring His “perfection” to our lives, if we permit it. What He wants for each of us is the best life possible, within the scope of His plan for us. His plan revolves around our choices, and includes some combination of discipline, training, and blessing that accommodates these choices. Our only limitation is our own volition; He will not force His will on us. So God plans discipline, training, and blessing in ways that facilitate our adoption of His will; but this is effective only to the degree that we want what He wants. If we are truly wanting and seeking His will for our lives, we will grow to super-maturity, and then we will surrender to that will.
When we couple God’s perfect will in Rom. 12:2 with God’s program of mercy and grace, we see that He offers to help us know and achieve His will. Phil. 2:13 is a big part of our study on “surrender”, because it tells us about the assistance we have from God. The verse preceding verse 13 (v. 12) sets up verse 13 by saying, “Continue to work out your salvation [temporal deliverance, not eternal salvation] with fear and trembling.” Working out our deliverance involves the whole spirituality/maturity process, which consists ultimately of 1) fear and trembling, or total reverence toward God, and 2) recognition of His awesome power. A “fearful” acknowledgement of God, “with trembling”, is the response of a mature faith, one which is ready to surrender.
Verse 13 gives us the underpinning for this advanced level of insight—seeing God as He is—by saying this: “...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” When we have reached the level of closeness to God that we fully acknowledge and trust Him, and walk close to Him with open-mouthed awe at His greatness (v. 12), then we have come to the moment of surrender (v. 13). It is then that God goes to work IN US to do two things: 1) make us willing to surrender, and 2) enable us to take the final step of surrendering. But notice this, just to be clear: He doesn’t usurp our “will” to make us “willing”, unless we have reached the level of faith that we are willing to be made willing. Then He will work in us to empower us to ACT, “according to His good purpose”. The choice is still ours, but the work is His. When we get close enough to God, and want Him enough...in short, when we surrender to Him...He plants His will, and then He goes to work in us to implement it!
Surrender is the accumulation of all that we have done on our journey. It is as though we have reached a level of trust and communion (maturity and spirituality) sufficient to allow our spiritual momentum, driven by the Holy Spirit, to carry us across the line of surrender. The path to surrender has consisted of growing and trusting and waiting and watching, while God has brought us to the moment of surrender.
The Power to Surrender. To mark the difference between the operation of our power and that of God, even in surrender, we cite a statement from ABC’s for Christian Growth. On pages 135-136, author J. Hampton Keathley, III, quotes William D. Lawrence, who is quoting from a transcript of class notes taken from a lecture given by Lewis Sperry Chafer. Here is what Chafer said:
“Your obligation is not to do it [obey God] in any strength of your own, or to try to do it, but to do it in the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit... You will do it in the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit and this is where the believer’s responsibility brings him. That is the thing that constitutes the ability to live the spiritual life and that is none other than the ability to walk by means of the Spirit in your daily life. That is the salvation from the reigning power of sin... Therefore you fall back upon the infinite power—think of it—the infinite power of the indwelling Spirit. (Ital. orig.)
“We draw on the Spirit’s power through a simple prayer of dependence in which we acknowledge our inability to accomplish anything for God apart from Him. We tell the Spirit, ‘I cannot do this in my own power. I give myself to You for You to enable me to do what You want me to do and I thank You by faith that You will keep your promise to me to enable me to obey and serve You.”
I know that I must rely on Him to empower me to do what I must do. When we truly understand this prayer: “I cannot do this in my own power. I give myself to You for You to enable me to do what You want me to do...”, we will be ready to surrender.
We see an example of this kind of surrender in Paul. He was exercising his gift, which was to bring maturity to believers in the early church, and he was clear about the source of his “work”, saying this: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1:29). Paul recognized, as did Lewis Sperry Chafer, that God’s work depends on God, and we extrapolate from this that surrendering to God is relinquishing His work to Him. As we stated before, however, this does not imply “passivity”, or inactivity on our part. The surrendered life is one of enormous exertion under the direction of the Spirit...one of great production in His power. With surrender, working in God’s power becomes a rigorous routine.
We get directions for surrendering to God from God, as per Is. 48:17b, which says, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” He tells us what we are going to have to do to reach His “best”; He directs us as we are moving toward Him; and He gives us what we need to achieve the final step. Heb. 13:20-21 tells us that He “equips” us for surrender, saying the following:
“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
The source for our act of surrendering could not be any clearer. He equips us with everything good for doing his will, and then he will work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, who will be glorified by the Father...through us. How can we sufficiently magnify this passage to get the full impact of its message. God equips us with His good for doing what He wants, and then He takes the equipment He gave us and works it within us to cause us to think and perform in ways that please Him. And here is our part: 1) maturing to the point that we trust Him to do what this verse says—i.e., to “work in us what is pleasing to him”—and 2) maintaining spirituality, so the Spirit can direct us in doing His will.
I am amazed at the consistency of the message on surrender throughout the Bible and hence through all my studies. The message has always been that God works...through us...when we get close to Him. This has been my position since I started writing in 2010. It is refreshing to go back to the simple messages of my first book, Getting Closer to God, where I espoused the same points I am making now. This is before I discovered Keathley, or Murray, or Chafer. This is what I saw in the Word, and I did not even have an NIV at the time. Why am I saying this? Because the truth is just THERE...in the Word! Here is what I stated about “surrender” in my first book:
“It is time to get down to the core of this study. The point of faith, or of our “knowing” God, is surrender. Faith is the conductor; surrender is the endpoint. It is the most important component in our relationship with God. Surrender is the peak of acknowledging God, fearing the Lord, and being God-conscious. When we get close to God, we SUBMIT to Him, and to His will. He becomes more as we become less. God is in us…waiting for our submission to Him…so that He can open the gateway of our lives to His divine production. He produces IN us and THROUGH us. God IS. God DOES. How can we ever see this or describe it? This is the heart of being in Him…and Him in us; it is about surrender.
“God is the source of all good things, the Ultimate Energy, the origin of everything. When we see this, we will fear Him, and surrender to him. Faith is Godward, as are fear and surrender, but it is also lifeward. It brings the God we fear to the lives we live, and He meets all our needs. God is then revealed through us. We surrender to all He is, so we can become all He intends.”
The truth regarding surrender persists for all times, cultures, generations, nations, and peoples. Full surrender to God is the important, though sometimes elusive, goal for all believers everywhere, including you and me.
What Happens When we Surrender. When we “surrender to all He is”, then we can do His will by His strength...thus becoming “all he intends”. Jeremiah 17:5-6 tells us what happens if we refuse to build our faith or grow to maturity. Here is what he said:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.”
Then, in the next verse (v. 7) Jeremiah contrasts this sorry state with that of the surrendered man, who is characterized, as follows:
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
I believe this kind of blessing is reserved for the surrendered believer. New or carnal believers should not get too excited that the flood-gates of heaven are going to open and yield profuse prosperity. If they have not matured, they are “living in the desert”, regardless of any trappings around them that suggest profit and gain. But when a believer matures and surrenders, blessings will come, as they did for Job. Later in this study, we will say more about the blessings that come through surrender.
Surrender is the peak level of maturity, faith, and commitment. When we reach a sufficient level of understanding and “abiding”, we will enter a time of perpetual blessing, spiritual production, and unprecedented peace. As we have stated before, few reach this point, but all can. When we surrender, we fulfill 2 Cor. 5:15, which says, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” Life is no longer a matter of pleasing self. Humanly speaking, we are incapable of abandoning self-interest, but the time of yielding to the greater forces of God’s spiritual world will enable us to give up self-pleasure, changing our focus instead to one of pleasing Him. Ironically, pleasing Him will turn out to be the greatest pleasure we can ever know.
When we surrender, our definition of life and our whole perspective will change. It is important to know that a surrendered believer will no longer think the same way he did before. “Sacrifice” will be seen as “opportunity”. “Surrendering” will be seen as “conquering”. “Giving” will be seen as “gaining”. And “letting go” will be seen as “taking hold”. When we surrender, all the superlatives in our language come into play to describe the outcome. All the great promises of Scripture will be fulfilled. And our minds will finally be directed by God toward “heavenly things”, things that are “true...noble...right...pure...lovely...admirable...excellent...and where honor and stability and purity and love will occupy our thoughts and lives. This is the time when we will truly let our “light shine before men”, and a time when God will be glorified through us.
Surrender is illustrated in Scripture as a kind of “rest”. We saw this earlier in reference to “entering His rest”, something the Jews in the desert refused to do, but an option that is still open to us. We enter His rest by building our faith (Heb. 3:18-19), and then we stop the labor that WE design, and JOIN GOD IN HIS. Heb. 4:10-11a describes it this way: “...for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest...” The work we are to do is to “believe” more and more, which is not “work” at all, but a matter of learning to entrust divine work to the Divine Being. When we believe enough, we will surrender.
In Matt. 11:28-30, Jesus advanced the idea of “resting” in Him, saying this:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This is a picture of surrender. When we surrender, He takes it from there. He Himself walked in the power of the Holy Spirit (not His own), as described in Luke 4:14-15, which says, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.” He rested in the power of the Spirit, and now invites us to do the same...to come to Him to “find rest” by “taking on His yoke”, which is resting in His power as He does His work within us.
Another illustration of surrender is seen in our entering the Most Holy Place, which is closely connected with fellowship. We are in and out of fellowship, based on our condition as “clean” or “unclean”. When we have confessed and are in fellowship, we enter the Most Holy Place. But we do not stay there...we do not “rest” there, because we are overpowered by the world, the devil, and our sinful nature. When we surrender from a place of super-maturity, we can occupy the Most Holy Place as our regular place of residence. There we will have the potential to live in ongoing cleanliness, resulting in God’s perpetual expression of mercy, which then culminates as the provision of amplified grace.
This surrender can happen to any believer who reaches super-maturity. Such growth is the result of 1) concentrated study of God’s principles for living, and 2) endurance of God’s training through tests, isolation, dead-ends, losses, pain, and all kinds of suffering. Growth is no cake-walk, and maturity is not “automatic”, or just a “matter of time”. The requirements are specific and rigorous, as we have seen many times before. But when we mature, surrender becomes possible at last, because we grow our faith enough to trust God to make it happen. Even this last giant step by a super-mature believer is something that requires divine empowerment...something God does according to our faith.
Surrender is a strong commitment derived from great faith and ongoing fellowship, which seems to imply a condition of life-long, uninterrupted holiness. Permanence seems promising. With the victory inherent in our surrender, it may be hard to imagine returning to carnal ways; but now the caveat: Slippage is possible. When we reach the level of growth that Job did, and Paul did, and Peter did, and David did...we enter a deep level of spirituality that is hard to shake. This is a time of constant trusting, walking in the Spirit, prayer, and reverence. BUT...we can still choose to turn back and go our own way, in which case we will lose what we gained until we recover it the same way that we acquired it initially...through dedicated growth. It seems clear that this “restoration to surrender” will not take as long as the initial “effort” that got us there, but we will have to return to the Lord completely before we re-enter a surrendered state.
Surrender, then, is not a “once-for-all” experience, the way salvation is. There is no question that surrendering is a great triumph. It entails a deep level of spirituality, and is a time of great trust, wisdom, prayer, and reverence. But we can go backward in a heartbeat. We need to note this: We must not stop progressing, just because we have surrendered. The path of growth and greater service lies ahead of us, and we cannot slow down or look away from the path God has shown us. Also, we must always remember mercy and grace: If we DO slide back, we can still recover and come back to our commitment to God. But while we are in the surrendered state, we must never let our guard down or relax our training and alertness. Anyone can slip...anytime...even surrendered believers.
Getting the Fullness of God at Surrender. Back to the upside: When we surrender, we get the fullness of God. This is the part of our discussion where we link our act of surrendering with the special provision that God makes after that time. Surrender is the crowning technique; the fullness of God is the outcome. This highest of all Christian experiences is available to all who have signed up for—and fulfilled all requirements pertaining to—maximum growth.
When we get the fullness of God, what do we get? Eph. 3:17b-21a answers this question with the following:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory...”
The reason it is hard for us to describe what we get with the fullness of God is that it is “beyond imagination”. It is within reach, however, even though we can’t fathom what it will include. When we are “rooted”, meaning mature...and “established in love”, meaning walking in the Spirit, we will “have power”. This power can acquaint us with knowledge of the multi-dimensional love of Christ, which GOES BEYOND normal understanding. It is this special knowledge that opens us to the “fullness of God”. The word translated “knowledge” in Eph. 3:19, means “absolute knowledge”, which will come only with super-growth and highly-advanced maturity. This complete understanding of the grace, mercy, and love of Christ is the key to our final surrender to God, and our becoming recipients of the fullness of God.
When the fullness of God comes to us, we are set up to receive special treatment and supplies from God. In our discussion of the “fullness of God”, in a recent article by that name, we stated the following, repeated here for emphasis:
“We believe that the attainment of the fullness of God is the time when God’s immeasurable benefits and blessings surge forward in ways that cannot be envisioned. It is a time when Satan finally “flees from us”, and a time when we experience the complete peace and joy that God makes available. This is the true “rest” which God offers, and the great deliverance He promises.”
We will say more about Satan’s “flight” shortly, but first we want to establish that the fullness of God is a time of unprecedented blessing. Psalm 91 seems to be a description of the blessings that come to the surrendered believer. In this psalm we see a surrendered believer as one who fulfills the following:
1. “dwells in the shelter of the Most High”
2. makes the Most High his “dwelling”
3. says of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress”
4. says God is “my God, in whom I trust”
5. about whom God says, “...he loves me”, and “he acknowledges my name”.
This is the surrendered believer, who will see the fullness of God in His life. And here is what God promises the believer who has surrendered to Him, based on Psalm 91:
1. He will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2. He will be saved from the hunter’s trap and from disease.
3. He will be covered with God’s “feathers” and find refuge under God’s wings.
4. He will not be afraid of night terrors, arrows of the daytime, nor any disease or plague.
5. Though a thousand or ten thousand fall around him, injury will not come close to him.
6. No harm will come to him and no disaster will come near his home.
7. Angels will guard him wherever he goes.
8. They will lift him up in their hands, so that he will not “strike his foot against a stone”.
9. He will walk among the lions and cobras of life, and trample them.
10. God will always rescue him and protect him.
11. God will answer his prayers and be with him when trouble comes.
12. God will deliver him from troubles and honor him.
13. God will give him a long and satisfying life.
14. God will teach him about grace and show him divine deliverance.
These marvelous blessings and provisions are reserved for the believer who has reached super-maturity and has surrendered to God. Along the path toward maturity, any of these can be seen in some form and to some degree, but not the way they will be seen when the ultimate surrender has taken place. When we surrender at the end of the “highway of holiness” (Is. 35:8), training will have been completed, and we will become “graduates”. Growth is worth any commitment of body and soul to achieve this, because it leads to the fulfillment and Christian success that comes from advanced maturity and surrender.
After we Surrender. WARNING: DON’T FORGET GOD! After we have gone through training, and have surrendered, and are enjoying the fullness of God, we must not forget God. Deut. 8:10-11a depicts this, saying, “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God...” We must not become self-satisfied and complacent, but must continue our pattern of devotion and growth. We must not forget the One who brought us. SOLUTION: REMEMBER GOD!
The place of surrender, dwelling with the Most High, living in the Most Holy Place, and living in the fullness of God, is equivalent to entering the Promised Land. Deut. 8:2-3 gives a picture of what we have been through to reach this point, saying this:
“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
When we go through God’s training with endurance and faith, we become prepared to enter the Promised Land, where blessings abound. I believe the benefits that will come to a believer who has surrendered will be similar to those described in Deuteronomy 28:3-8, which were designated for Jews who obeyed God. Here is what they were promised, and what we imagine will be a minimum for any believer who has surrendered:
“You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but fled from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.”
I have studied this passage before, and have seen it as part of growth and fellowship, but now I see the “immeasurably-more” aspect of this flood of blessings as the privileged provision of the surrendered believer. What a day that will be when all we touch will prosper, when we will encounter blessings coming and going. This is what we look forward to, and—if we persevere in our pattern of faith-progression and spiritual increase—it will come.
Surrender Leads to More Grace. We surrender, because we have reached a level of faith that we recognize God for who He is. We get the fullness of God, because we have attained “absolute knowledge” of His love. And when we get “more knowledge” of His love, we get “additional grace” in the form of great blessings. To understand “more grace”, we want to look at James 4:6-10, which encapsulates the process for maturing and surrendering, and depicts the results, which feature “more grace”. We will quote this passage, and then we will analyze it. Here is what it says:
“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
Prior to this passage, James had been discussing the issue of selfish motives, the results of self-seeking pursuits, and the outcome of worldly attachments. Now, he contrasts attempts to satisfy ourselves...with the satisfaction that comes from God’s grace. This is seen in his statement, “...he gives us more grace” (v. 6). But super-grace is not for just any believer; it is reserved for the surrendered believer. As we look more closely at this passage, this will become clear.
After the verse announcing “more grace” (v. 6), James declares that God “opposes” the proud, but “gives grace” (“more” grace) to the humble (see v. 7). Then he mentions humility, which is one of the early signs of a mature view of our place before God, which includes recognition of God’s absolute supremacy in and above His creation, and His grace toward His creatures. Humility is a major gateway to God’s fullness, which is seen here as “more grace”. On the other hand, we will find resistance from God as long as we persist in a self-centered pattern. This is “pre-maturity” and/or “mid-carnality” behavior, against which God will bring opposition. Self-absorption, or “pride”, is the origin and foundation for all sin, and will prevent the provision and operation of “more grace”.
So how do we get the “advanced” level of grace, which goes beyond discipline, training, and having certain basic needs met, to a plane of “greater” provision? James answers this in his next statement in verse 7: “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” Submission is entry-level surrender, wherein we step forward, ready to enter the place of “more grace”. When we surrender, we enter something “new”, and “new benefits” begin to flow in ways we never imagined. Our not expecting such blessing is not a matter of small faith, but an abiding humility, and the “surprise” of the new benefits is part of the blessing. Whatever these assets are, we had not thought about them, or “imagined” them, which probably means that they are spiritual in nature, more-so than material. But I also believe that the blessings of surrendering are inclusive and wide-ranging. Whatever the blessings, I believe they will be totally satisfying!
Resisting the Devil after Surrender. The next statement in verse 7 has some surprising implications. James calls on us to do this: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” To get the meaning of this verse, we must understand the usage of the word “resist” in the original language. “Resisting” is not limited to a present, in-the-moment occurrence, but is seen as a protracted process of “resisting and resisting and resisting”. What happens when we keep on “resisting” the devil? Well, we do not “cast him out” or “bind him” or try to engage him in combat. Satan likes nothing better. We simply stand fast in faith and endure the “trials” and “tests” that God allows or brings, as these give us an opportunity to demonstrate our faith under fire. Get this: Trusting God is resisting Satan! Our willingness to trust shows Satan and all other fallen and elect angels that acceptance of God’s way is a matter of choice, and that we are responsible for accepting or rejecting God’s plan. (See God’s Training Program for Believers, the chapter titled, “The War Against God”, for a complete discussion on this seminal doctrine.)
Resisting the devil is trusting God, who alone has the power to fight Satan. This is not a single event of trusting, or “resisting”, but an ongoing condition, a sustained attitude of reliance on God. And what happens if we keep on trusting, hence “resisting”? Satan will flee! This means that, if we will keep on growing and maturing, at some point, Satan will give up and LEAVE US ALONE! I believe this takes place at the time of our surrender. When we reach super-maturity and surrender to God, and are basking in the fullness of God’s love and grace, I think we become so full of God that Satan sees that further machinations against us are a waste of his resources, so he moves on to other more achievable projects. This is one reason why life is so much easier when we have reached the time of surrender.
The Growth Routine that Led us to Surrender. Verses 8-10 (still in James 4) give the back-story regarding growth leading to surrender and greater grace. James works backwards through the sequence of events, as follows:
1. “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” The last thing we do before surrender is get closer to God, who gives us the resources to take the final step.
2. “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” This is clearly a reference to confession of our sins, whereby we are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness. This is what we do in order to approach God, as the Levite priests did before they entered the Most Holy Place.
3. “Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom...” This state of our hearts is the result of our personal awareness of our sin and failure prior to confession. This condition of sorrow should last ONLY UNTIL we confess, after which time we can trust in God’s promise to forgive, thus removing all need for guilt and remorse.
4. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” This is the pre-confession state of mind that leads to sorrow and confession. Humility will be followed by confession, resulting in forgiveness and restoration of fellowship, or being “lifted up”.
Tracing the sequence in correct order, we see the following progression: 1) humbling ourselves, 2) recognizing our failure, and 3) confessing our sins, thus enabling us to 4) come closer to God. This pattern of cleansing and humility makes us eligible to receive God’s truth and training, which will advance us toward maturity, culminating at some point in surrender, which yields the fullness of God, and greater grace. That’s a mouthful! We see, then, the high peak we are climbing toward, but we see intermittent peaks between us and this final one, and we have learned enough to know that there are many valleys we will have to go through to reach the last peak. Fortunately, God is willing to go with us every step of the way. We are not alone.
The Act of Surrendering, or Giving up our Lives. When we face the act of actually surrendering, we must understand what we are “giving up”. We have talked about the gains of surrendering, but what will we be sacrificing when we surrender? Christ is our model, when it comes to sacrifice, and His sacrifice gives us some idea of what we must give up. Eph. 5:1-2 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Christ gave “himself”, suggesting that the first thing we can expect to yield in surrendering is our “self”. This involves surrendering at our core level, where our innermost being resides. Christ gave “Himself”, and we are to give “ourselves”. But what does this look like?
We sacrifice ourselves, as “dearly loved children”. This description speaks of those who are surrendering and are becoming “imitators of God”, who will now live “lives of love”. Those who have surrendered will live in God’s power and the love He brings to them. And what do surrendered believers do with this love? They express it through their gifts, not once a week, but constantly. The “sacrifice” is to give up whatever we must to exercise the gifts we have been granted for the service and edification of other believers...anytime they need it! There are no “breaks”, or vacations, or leaves of absence; we are on all the time. This is our labor of love, which becomes a “fragrant offering and sacrifice” to God.
Another aspect of surrender is losing our “life”. Matt. 10:39 says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” We are to “lose our lives”, but does this mean we have to go out and die for the cause of Christ in order to “find” our lives? No. I believe it means to find the life of love and service that we saw in Eph. 5:2. It means to give up self-centered living as the core and purpose of all we do, and to turn our lives over to the service of Christ. The life we are already living is not the focal point of the life we must live. We give up our purposes, aspirations, needs, wants, comforts, pleasures, and—yes—even our possessions, if need be. For us, living is Christ, WHATEVER THAT REQUIRES. But will life be better? Yes. Blessed? Yes. Productive? Yes. Because it is the life of Christ...and that’s the best life!
Gal. 2:20 bolsters this notion, saying, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” I believe this verse gives a picture of the surrendered life. For the “average” Christian, life has not yet become “Christ living”, or a “life of faith”, as these are the marks of a mature believer. It is clear that—for those who mature and live “by faith in the Son of God”—advanced growth will be evident, leading to surrender. And when we do surrender our lives to Christ, it is no longer we that live, but the Spirit of Christ that is living in us. To surrender is to abandon our cause, allowing God to direct us into His.
We saw Matt. 10:39, which told us that we must “lose” our lives to find them. The background for this verse in vv. 34-38 amplifies its meaning for us, and helps us conceive what it means to give up our lives to God. Verse 34 quotes Jesus, who said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” There are going to be divisions along the way when we surrender everything to Jesus...often there are painful separations. Look at verses 35-38, which adds this:
“...a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
This passage begins by citing the people we value most, and ends with the requirement that we must not value anything or anyone more than God. This is the sacrifice we must be willing to make. This is no small task; there is no pain greater than being ostracized and shunned by one’s own family, because of one’s doctrine and faith. And it is little better to lose friends on the same basis, as per Ps. 55:12-14a, which says this:
“If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship...”
This is the potential loss of the surrendered life: loss of family and friends, and even complete isolation. But this loss is not all it seems. There is much to be gained through perseverance in the faith and loyalty to the truth; and no loss can compare to it. But this is what we gamble: that we will lose everything we have and everyone we know when we enter a life of complete surrender to God. Nonetheless, I am totally convinced that the benefits gained when we surrender are infinitely greater than any cost we might pay to cross this Rubicon. (When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, it was to declare himself and to claim power.) Why do we GAIN when we surrender? Because on the other side of this river is the Promised Land and endless power. For us, we will not be surrendering to a hostile enemy, but to the Almighty God, who guarantees that He will protect us and bless us in every way.
Becoming Like Little Children. It is ironic that—the more mature we get—the more childlike our faith becomes. Maturity does not produce giants with great muscles, but helpless children with great faith. In Matt. 18:1-3, Jesus addressed this paradox, as follows:
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child and had him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’.”
The kingdom of heaven is an internal place, as per Luke 17:21, where Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Without question, there are times in the Bible when the kingdom of God has millennial or celestial connections, but it can also be the place and process of Christian living, both internally and externally, as it is here.
The “kingdom of heaven” that Jesus had in mind when he said in Matthew, “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”, is a place of spirituality and divine operation. This kingdom is the sphere within which growth and divine production take place. Internally, this is a place of fellowship and wisdom. Outside of this, there is a “place” called the “kingdom of heaven”, where we represent God before angels and the world. The internal condition must be in good repair before the external manifestation can be seen. Ideally, our internal condition will become one of surrender, with the result that we experience the “fullness of God”, so we can show “the light of Christ”.
Our main point, however, is not now important it is that we live properly “in the kingdom”, but that we must become “like little children” before any good thing can happen. A child does not have the strength to do much, and must depend on others to accomplish complex or difficult tasks. The irony is that we become more “productive” as we become more “helpless”, more childlike. Why? Because we stop analyzing and reasoning and machinating...and just TRUST! Paul understood that he had to remove himself and his great education and eloquence to preach a simple message of faith that all could understand, a message delivered through the power of the Spirit and not through human competence or sophistication. Here is what he said:
“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Cor. 2:2-5)
When we mature, we do not become stronger, but more faithful. Maturity leads, not to complexity, sagacity, and self-sufficiency, but to simplicity, and a kind of “foolishness” for God. We learn so much that we come to “know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified”. Our faith will become simpler and more unquestioning, more “childlike”, in the face of whatever odds the world gives us. When we surrender, we do not become forceful and dynamic; we become helpless and dependent...which calls up God’s infinite power to enable us to move and live in His grace and majesty.
We Are Nothing. We are reminded that we are “nothing” before God. This is not only accurate; it is also appropriate. Andrew Murray summarized our true condition, as follows:
“Apart from Me—you nothing. Lord, I gladly accept the arrangement: I nothing—Thou all. My nothingness is my highest blessing, because Thou art the Vine, that givest and workest all. So be it, Lord! I, nothing, ever waiting on Thy fullness. Lord, reveal to me the glory of this blessed life.”
Growth leads to nothingness. This sounds a little like “reverse growth” (Benjamin Button comes to mind). But the more childlike our faith, the more single-pointed and uncluttered our trust, the more God will become everything within us, as we become nothing. This is when the fullness of God replaces the emptiness of our soul. This is the time when we no longer puff ourselves up as our own reason for living...and a time when each step down from our “self” is a step up toward God.
We Will Fail, but We Must Grow. So, you get it now, and you want to surrender, to reach this place of ultimate blessing and output. And maybe you’ve tried to surrender, but have failed again and again. We must understand this: True surrender will come only after many false starts and aborted attempts, because we must reach a certain level of maturity before it happens for real. We will inevitably fail along the way, and if we admit our failures to God, He will convert them into growth, and we will move higher on the scale toward full surrender. We must persevere, through great set-backs and reversals, and never give up or be discouraged. We are on a road with many U-turn lanes, but we must never turn back or slow down.
The process is simple. Failure is inevitable, but success builds on failure. When one reaches a level of maturity that readiness for surrender is indicated, it is certain that many failed surrenders will litter the trail of his or her past. Abraham, like so many, failed miserably over and over. We cited earlier his desperation to have a progeny, and his misguided attempt to give himself one. Prior to this attempt (remember Hagar), he complained for years that God was not fulfilling His promise. Yet his times of moaning were interspersed with times of prayer and listening and faith. He was failing repeatedly, yet he was growing. He even, at one point, lost faith and became faithless and frightened. This was when he and Sarah were in Egypt, when the following happened: To protect his own life, he passed off his beautiful wife Sarah as his sister, so that he would be “favored” by Egyptian royalty, who would see Abraham as a potential kinsman and ally...someone to protect...not kill. So his faith was lacking on this occasion, and he failed. And yet he went on after this and kept growing.
Abraham Surrendered and So Must We. We will omit details of Abraham’s story of failures and successes, cited in Genesis 12 through 21, and come to the time of his surrender in Gen. 22, when he followed God’s instructions to offer up his son Isaac, even though Isaac was his only shot at continued progeny. When God called, Abraham stepped up after many years of failure and growth mixed, and said, “Here I am” (Gen. 22:1b). God gave him orders to sacrifice Isaac, and Abraham did not hesitate, but proceeded to trust God and follow His command. This act of faith demonstrated the great growth that had taken place. Of course, we know that God was “testing” Abraham, a test he passed, which qualified him to move at last into the sparse ranks of surrendered believers. His son Isaac was spared, and Abraham’s faith was vindicated. He became a surrendered man.
As evidence of Abraham’s continued faith after that time, we see him near the end of his life operating by faith and not by sight. He sent a servant to get a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s homeland and clan, rather than from the land of Canaan. He trusted God to identify the woman and bring her back to Isaac, sight unseen, as a willing participant in the wedding which was, at that point, only a “prayer”. The servant found Rebekah, she fulfilled all requirements and conditions, and agreed to return with the servant to the place where Isaac was. She declared unequivocally, “I will go” (Gen. 24:58b). She was readily accepted by Isaac, as she was beautiful and resourceful, so Abraham’s plan to perpetuate his progeny was successful. Why this time and not before? Because it was couched in Abraham’s faith and God’s will, unlike the event with Hagar much earlier.
The difference was surrender. In fact, everything that happened to Abraham after his surrender was characterized by blessing and prosperity. His servant said this about Abraham to Rebekah: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master” (Gen. 24:27a). Abraham was the non-stop recipient of grace and favorable attention from God. So Abraham failed, stepped up, failed, stepped up, and failed again and again. And continued to search for God and to grow. Finally, he stepped up and surrendered, and moved into the fullness of God.
We can do this, as well. We can say, “Here I am,” after many failures and reversals; we can step up, and we can surrender. Isaiah said something similar, when he surrendered. He asserted to the Lord, “Here am I. Send me!” How many times we must say this before we will be ready to be sent, we cannot say, but we know that a life of seeking and praying and learning and trusting and growing and serving will lead us at some point to the time when we can surrender to Him, and allow His Spirit not only to “help” us live, but to live through us. We are surrendering our life in exchange for His. Not a bad deal. Amen.
Preview
INTRODUCTION
“Surrender” suggests voluntarily “giving up”, because it is the best option available. This is appropriate to our use of the term in this study. When surrendering takes place, the custody of your “person”, your possessions, and your power is transferred to another person or entity. This is a time of divesting all your resources into the care of someone else. Your treatment after you surrender will depend on the character of the one to whom you are surrendering. It is likely that surrender to a person or a world-connected entity will bring pain and loss. Assuredly, there is uncertainty as to what will happen when we surrender, and we must weigh the feasibility of either giving up or resisting. The question that arises is this: Will we lose everything when we surrender and—if so—will we gain it back? Or is it possible that we might even improve our condition by surrendering, even if we give up everything? Actually, The surrender we are thinking of in this study is that which is directed toward God, and this surrender will bring great benefits, and is the one time when we can be assured that surrendering will lead to a better life.
COMING UP
In this study, we are going to ask you to work toward a time of surrendering, and we are going to show you how this is done, and why you need to do it. The assumption is that the “surrender” we are asked to do is a good and desirable thing, even though we must be willing to lay down everything we have. We will look at obstacles to our surrendering, and at the way surrendering is accomplished. This will require us to examine these five questions: What prevents surrender? How can we prepare to surrender? How can we practice and rehearse our surrender? How can we be primed at last for surrender? And what stipulations have been made to warrant our presenting ourselves for surrender?
Practices or Conditions that Prevent Surrendering
“SURRENDER” IS RESISTED
Obviously, we are talking about surrendering to God. It seems so mindless to refuse to surrender to Him, since He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and He can bless us in ways that the world can’t. Yet there are powerful forces and arguments around that make it easier not to surrender, even though we have been assured that He always has our best interests in mind. We will look briefly at a few of these. Perhaps surprisingly, most of the things that prevent our surrendering have to do with conditions inside ourselves, rather than outside. The biggest impediment is that we are just not prepared to surrender, and—even if we occasionally surrender—it does not “stick”, because the groundwork has not been laid on which to base a complete giving-in to God.
BEING CHRISTIAN IN NAME ONLY
Is. 48:1-2 describes a condition that prevents our surrender, as follows:
“’Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel—the Lord Almighty is his name...’”
Substitute “Christian” for “Israel” and the “line of Judah”. Now look at what it takes to “invoke God”. The condition described here includes two indicators for the quality of our walk. As Christians (we have the name, if we have believed), we are to excel in two areas: “truth” and “righteousness”. If you have studied our previous writings, you know that these are markers for “maturity” and “fellowship”. (If these doctrines do not resonate with you, do the following before continuing: complete the course, Bible Basics for Living: Essential Foundations, available at this website.) So we are to “mature” and we are to “walk in fellowship”...or “by the Spirit”. We have seen before how this is done. Learning truths from the Word builds our maturity; and confession followed by ongoing faith results in a “walk in the Spirit”. These lead to the production of divine good (“righteousness”). We will say more about these and other preparations for surrender later in this study, but for now, we can conclude that—if we are not taking care of our growth and spirituality—we will be prevented from surrendering to God, because we are not ready. And if we are not even moving toward “surrender”, we will be functioning as Christians in name only.
SELF WILL
Another condition that prevents surrender is our own volition, or will. We were given freedom of choice at creation, and we can reject God’s way as the way for us to live, even though we are His children. This is the result of pride and our own inclination to believe that we are the ones who must hold our destiny in-hand and determine what is best for our lives, rather than giving them over to God. Even when it comes to Christian living, we often believe we have the best ideas and skills for producing what we assume will be the best life.
Gal. 3:3 sizes up our reluctance to relinquish the reins to God, saying, “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Andrew Murray encapsulated this nicely, saying the following:
“Now, we have here a solemn discovery of what the great want is in the church of Christ. God has called the church of Christ to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the church is living for the most part in the power of human flesh, and of will and energy and effort apart from the Spirit of God.” (All quotes from Murray in this article are from his public-domain book, Absolute Surrender, published in 1895.)
Self-will leads to all the other “self-something’s” that dominate humanity. Self-anything prevents surrender. And the choice is ours.
SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Self-will, self-confidence, and self-righteousness prevent surrender. Job trusted God and lived in prosperity, and was the most mature believer on earth at the time he was alive. But he had not surrendered completely, and he ran out of gas under God’s testing. Job 32:2 says this about Job’s response to his suffering: “But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God.” Job had sinned, before and after his trials began, and he was refusing to confess his sins. Furthermore, he was blaming his suffering on God as being some kind of unjust treatment.
In Job 34:5, Elihu said this: “’Job says, ‘I am innocent, but God denies me justice. Although I am right, I am considered a liar; although I am guiltless, his arrow inflicts an incurable wound’.’” Elihu had quoted Job as saying, “I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt” (Job 33:9). So Elihu followed with this: “But I tell you, in this you are not right...” (Job 33:12). Job could not surrender until he shook off his self-righteousness, confessed his failure, and substituted God’s will for his own. Job finally acknowledged his self-will and self-righteousness, and ended up confessing his sins and surrendering completely to God and His will, saying, “My ears had heard of you [God] but now my eyes have seen you [in training]. Therefore I despise myself and repent [confess] in dust and ashes.” And for that he received “double-blessings” (Job 42:5-6. See Job 42 for Job’s entire confession and the results of his return to the Lord).
UNBELIEF
“Unbelief” is another condition that prevents surrender, thus keeping us out of God’s rest. This is what we see in Heb. 3:16-19, which says the following:
“Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.”
The “rest” cited in this passage does not refer to salvation; it is related to a rest that was denied the Jews in the desert, and is now open to believers in the Church Age. This is the place of surrender...entering God’s rest...and the condition that prevents this is a lack of faith. The only way to remedy this is to build our faith.
We will explore these and other principles as we proceed through this study, and see in more detail why we are prevented from surrendering.
Preparations for Surrender
PREVIEW
Preparations for surrender include choosing well; learning God’s will; confessing our sins; and growing to maturity through study and endurance of God’s training. To surrender, we must be prepared.
CHOICE
We are clearly at choice about most things in life, even though realistic limitations define certain parameters for our choices...certain conditions of our birth and life over which we have no control. But when it comes to spiritual matters, in particular, we have absolute freedom and choice.
The choices we make will be based on what we value and what we want. If we look at our choices in life, they pretty much follow our hearts. Matt. 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What we treasure determines the place where our hearts will be focused. Our attention and energies are drawn to the things we value most. If these things are related to God, we will be drawn to Him; if they are related to things in the world, they will include what the world offers, such as possessions, money, power, pleasure, and so on. Matt. 6:24, following up on what was said in verse 21, says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
If our focus is on money and things related to money, we will serve our flesh and the world. But we are at choice. We can choose, instead, to emphasize our spiritual lives, and make worldly things secondary. In Matt. 6:25a, Jesus told us, “...do not worry about your life...” Virtually, He is saying that focus on the world brings worldly and “fleshly” concerns, whereas seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness brings focus on spiritual pursuits (see Matt. 6:33). It is no wonder that surrender is more likely when we reject the world as the source for value and meaning, and look to God for provision and security.
Josh. 24:14-16, illustrates our ability to choose God, saying this:
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the god of the Amorites, in whose land your are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
We can choose whom we will serve. This is the exercise of our free will, a right given to us by God. He wants us to choose Him, but He will not force that choice.
LEARNING GOD’S WILL
God has a “will” in all matters, and it is important for us to know as much about His will as we can, so we can know what we are shooting for when we seek to “do His will”. Paul taught about God’s will, as we see in Acts 20:27, where Paul said, “For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” The more we learn about God and His grace system, the better we will understand His will.
It is important to know His will. In Ephesians 5:17, we see Paul saying, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” He is calling for us to study and grasp the principles of God’s program for believers, which is standard and identical for ALL believers. This is the “standardized” will of God, which is the same for everyone. This includes all the techniques and promises we have studied, which apply to all of us the same. But there is also a “specific” will for each believer, which is personalized for each one of us. Everyone’s “personalized” will looks different from that which God has designed for all others. In Eph. 5:10, Paul cites the individualized will of God, saying, “...and find out what pleases the Lord.” So we are to learn the “generalized” will of God, by which we will eventually find out His “personalized” will. Knowing the separate and individual will of God for each of us will only occur when we have reached a high level of maturity. Until then, our hands will be full trying to master the techniques by which we learn to operate in His general will.
Whether we are talking about the general or specific will of God, we are to seek to submit ourselves to His will. In Matthew 6:10, we witness Jesus’ submission to His Father’s will by His saying, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is the view-point we should have: one of submission to the Father’s will. Of this, we said the following in Being Devoted to Prayer:
“When we commit our will to His, we will have reached the pinnacle of maturity, because we are saying to God, ‘I know that your plan is perfect, that your power is absolute, and that all outcomes belong to you.’ We are not giving God permission to be Himself; we are interjecting ourselves into His heavenly picture by submitting ourselves to Him. When we give it all to Him, we demonstrate the kind of faith that enables us to do incredible things by His power.”
Jesus came to do His Father’s will, and that is our objective, also. Heb. 10:5-7 reports the following about Jesus’ purpose on earth:
“Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God’.’”
Old Testament sacrifices were insufficient, except to illustrate the most efficacious sacrifice of all: that of Jesus Christ. It was the Father’s will that the Son should make this sacrifice, and that is why He came...to fulfill the Father’s will. He “submitted” to that will. Now the choice is ours: Will we live according to “thy will be done”, or will we live by the prideful phrase that Satan declared, which was “I will” (see Is. 14:13)? If we subscribe to the “I will” principle, we will never submit to God’s will, and we will not be able to surrender under these conditions. We can choose whose will we are going to fulfill.
CONFESSION OF SINS
Another piece in the process of preparation for surrendering involves the confession of our sins. The sin record must be clean, and we must be restored to fellowship before we can grow and move toward surrender. Confession is more about RETURN than anything else. We must CONTINUE with Him, and PERSEVERE, regardless of how we fail. We WILL fail, but that is not where we must stay. We must return to growth and God-consciousness and service immediately. This is the way of grace and mercy, and this is a primary way to prepare for surrender.
In setting up this topic, we must be aware that confession is for believers only. Pastors and evangelists frequently make the colossal mistake of attaching confession to the plan of salvation, and this is patently false! Confession is the way for Christians to stay clean and grow through fellowship. This is a technique designed for BELIEVERS to prevent sin from spoiling their record and corrupting their faith.
Most people have, at one time or another in their lifetime, gone past the due date for a vehicle inspection, or allowed car insurance to lapse, and have been ticketed for this kind of error. But isn’t it nice when the officer informs us, “If you will correct this by such and such a date, and show evidence to the judge that this has been done, there will be no fine, and this will not go on your record.” It will be as if it never happened. No fine, no punishment. That’s the way it is with God. This analogy does not fit perfectly with the function of grace and mercy, but the connection follows that, by owning up to our mistakes, we are absolved of all guilt, and no record of the infraction is kept. On the other hand, if we do not face the judge, and continue on as if we did not make a mistake, then punishment kicks in, which—for believers—is discipline. It is easier just to face the music, rather than being “fined”.
Once again, confession is for believers only! Unbelievers live in condemnation, and their earthly lives are conducted by completely different guidelines and rules, which are not related to spiritual growth and a walk in the Spirit, as ours is. The difference between believers and unbelievers must be distinguished when we study the Scripture. And there is another distinction which must be made, and that is this: determining when Scripture applies to either our POSITION in Christ, or our CONDITION before Him. What is “position”? It is where we are for all eternity, which is in union with Christ, because we have believed in Him. Put another way, “position” is our place IN GOD’S MIND. This is our permanent record, one that cannot be altered or erased. And then there’s our “condition”.
What is “condition”? It is our status in these bodies, including minds, souls, spirits, and hearts, related to sin and faith. For our condition before God to be favorable, we must have a clean sin-record, which means that all sins must have been genuinely confessed. Another aspect of our condition is the strength of our faith. When we grow sufficiently, our faith will be strong, and our walk in fellowship with God will be consistent. A “good” condition involves being clean and moving in God’s direction. Confession is the grace method for achieving this cleanliness; we must recognize that we cannot prevent or remove sin on our own. Only grace and mercy can do this. A nice side-benefit of staying clean is that we can advance toward maturity in that state, which leads to less sinning!
The things we have said already about confession have all been covered in previous studies. We recommend you master the techniques discussed in earlier books, articles, and blogs, to get maximum benefit from this current study. We will briefly review some scriptures on confession, to demonstrate that the concept is based on divine principles, and not on some drummed-up philosophy of my own.
2 Tim. 2:20-21 introduces spiritual hygiene to us, saying the following:
“In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter [ignoble purposes], he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
Don’t be misled by the phrase “cleanses himself”. This has to do with following grace procedures for getting the cleansing, an act performed completely by the Holy Spirit whenever we confess our sins. We don’t forgive ourselves; God has to do this. And notice what happens when we are “clean”: we become an “instrument” for God’s use, we are “made holy”, we are “useful to the Master”, and we are equipped to “do any good work”. This is why cleanliness is so important. Cleanliness makes us “holy”, which enables us to relate harmoniously with the Holy Spirit, and this—in turn—allows us to be used by God as His instruments for service and divine good.
Being made “holy” is also known as “sanctification”. Sanctification is “purity” or a state of being “cleansed”. We receive eternal sanctification when we become a believer, as a provision of our new position. Experiential sanctification, on the other hand, is a matter of being clean in our condition while we are still in these bodies. Our present topic of confession is related to our “condition”, since our “position” is eternally secure. Concerning sanctification, 1 Thess. 5:23-24 says this:
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”
Who cleanses? God (as in “...he will do it”). In fact, God doing the work is the basis for this whole study on “surrender”. We surrender to Him because HE DOES IT! God does the cleansing, which leaves us blameless, and then God’s power does the work. It looks like we would be eager to turn the hard work over to someone else, but, as we shall see, “not working” is the hardest thing we will ever do.
We saw above a good example of refusing to confess when Job became self-righteous. Job 33:8-13 describes this mistake completely, once again in the words of Elihu, who said the following:
“But you have said in my hearing—I heard the very words—‘I am pure, I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’ But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal. Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one’s words?”
Lack of faith, rebellion, pride, self-righteousness: these characterized Job’s state prior to his confession and restoration. This had to be satisfied before he could move toward full surrender to God’s will, which eventually resulted in great prosperity for him.
When we sin, we are not to pine away at our failure, and sit endlessly in “sackcloth and ashes”. We are to confess our sins and move on. Failure can feed on itself, because WE ALL FAIL; it is what we do with our failure afterwards that counts. We can either wallow in the mud of our sin, or become prepared to surrender. Confession will be needed, for sure, but once that is done, we do not stay attached to our guilt and shame. We leave them behind and get back in step with the Spirit. Before we confess, we can say, with Paul, “What a wretched man I am!” (Rom. 7:24). After confession, we can say—again with Paul—“I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13).
By moving on, we can resume service. But if we do not let go of it and TRUST GOD TO FORGIVE AS HE HAS PROMISED, then our service cannot go on. Luke 9:62 says, “Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God’.” Confess and resume service. 1 Sam. 12:20 brings this into focus, saying, “’ Do not be afraid,’ Samuel replied. ‘You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.” When we fail, we must confess and return; this is the only way we can be re-equipped to perform the service made possible by our gifts. If we don’t confess AND accept the forgiveness that goes with it, we will be “turning from the Lord” and we will remove ourselves from God’s instrument table.
Confession is an integral component for surrender. Murray described this well, saying the following:
“The command comes to us individually, unitedly. God wants us as His children to arise and place our sins before Him, and to call upon Him for mercy. Oh, are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye perfecting in the flesh that which was begun in the Spirit? Let us bow in shame, and confess before God how our fleshly religion, our self-effort, and self-confidence, have been the cause of every failure. I have often been asked by young Christians: ‘Why is it that I fail so? I did so solemnly vow with my whole heart, and did desire to serve God; why have I failed’?”
Murray responded to this question, saying this:
“My dear friend, you are trying to do in your own strength what Christ alone can do in you.....And when they tell me: ‘I am sure I knew Christ alone could do it, I was not trusting in myself,’ my answer always is: ‘You were trusting in yourself or you could not have failed. If you had trusted Christ, He could not fail’.”
Confession is followed by faith, and that is the Christian life. Murray invites us: “Oh, come and confess [to God] every failure of temper, every failure of tongue however, small, every failure owing to the absence of the Holy Spirit and the presence of the power of self.” Every failure must be surrendered to God through confession.
J Hampton Keathley, III, in his book, ABC’s for Christian Growth: Laying the Foundation (p. 523), discussed Jesus’ use of foot-washing to illustrate the process of being cleansed from daily sin, as part of the Christian walk. He showed the distinction between the Greek verb used for “bathing”, which is for the whole body, and the one for “washing”, which Jesus used regarding the feet. (See John 13:6-11.) When Peter refused to have Jesus wash his feet, Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you [not “bathe” you], you have no part [fellowship] with me” (John 13:8b). Keathley summarized the application of this illustration, saying the following:
“He [Jesus] was not denying Peter the possibility of salvation or relationship with Him [by saying, “...you have no part with me”]. The issue was intimate fellowship. For fellowship to occur, there must be daily cleansing through honest confession of all known sin (1 John 1:9). When we confess, He, the Lord Jesus, is faithful to forgive and cleanse us (wash our feet).”
To this, Keathley added the following (p. 524): “The daily washing through confession is needed for the privilege of fellowship and the power of Christ through the control of the Spirit in one’s life.” Once again, we see an encapsulation of the essence of Christian living. We are to confess and walk (by faith) in the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot repeat this often enough. Even with all the repetition, I witness so few who really get it. I will reiterate this until I die: God alone can do God’s work. My objective is to be the crescent wrench He holds in His hand while He is doing it.
Eph. 3:20 concludes it nicely, saying, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus...” He does it, by His power, which works within us...if we are in fellowship with Him.
(For a more complete study of confession in all its forms, see Bible Basics for Living, the chapter titled, “The Solution for Sin”, beginning on page 41. This book can be downloaded, or parts copied, from this website.)
MATURITY AND GROWTH
Another step in preparation for surrender is growing into maturity. Without upper-level maturity, based on intensive growth, we may surrender for short bursts, but that condition will not be long-lasting. There is no easy route to maturity, and no short-cut to surrendering. If we want it, we must get ready for rigorous study and training, as we shall see very soon.
There are immediate reasons why growth is desirable. We want to grow, first of all, because it glorifies God. 2 Pet. 3:18 says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” As we grow, we learn ways to please God, not because we become smart and beautiful; after all, He loved us infinitely, even in our most imperfect state. Rather, we are able to PLEASE God as we grow into His grace operations through knowledge of Him and through the training He brings. When we mature, we adopt behaviors and patterns that follow grace, and please Him.
We want to grow also so that we will be productive. There are rewards for “divine good”, which we will receive when the nature of our “deeds” are evaluated by Jesus Christ at His Judgment Seat. But we also have a desire to give our lives meaning and purpose now, while we are still alive. So we want to grow and use grace techniques, build our faith, and become fruitful through the work of the Holy Spirit. Concerning our fruitfulness, Jer. 17:7-8 tells us the following:
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
This tells us that the believer who is maturing, and who is learning to “trust in the Lord”, and to have “confidence in him”, will not be deterred from service, even though the direction of the swim is upstream. He perseveres in faith, whatever the circumstances, and fruit is continually borne through him.
God takes care of those who are maturing. Ps. 33:18 says, “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.” God attends to and PROTECTS believers who are maturing. This is because they qualify for it by being close to God; and they need it, because maturing Christians are a threat to Satan. Spiritual growth requires the devil to concentrate his attention, and that of his minions, toward the site of growth, i.e., to bring harm and confusion to growing believers, and to disrupt their walk with God. But extra danger is an occasion for extra protection, so—even though the fight is tough—by staying close to God, we can withstand Satanic probes and attacks.
Growth also enables service. Look at 2 Tim. 2:1-5, where Paul advises Timothy regarding his gifted service:
“You, then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.”
By growing and becoming stronger IN and THROUGH the grace of God, we will become equipped to serve Him. We have discussed gifted service in previous articles, and we will have more to say about it in this one, but—for now—what we are trying to establish is that growth makes our faith stronger, and more gets done because of it. In other words, grace does more when we mature, and surrender looms large in the future of the believer who lives by grace.
Maturity follows a specific path, through which a believer becomes stronger in his faith, and by which his life and closer association with God yield greater satisfaction, power, and productivity. Col. 1:9-12 lays the process out perfectly, as follows:
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
We could spend many pages extracting all the rich meanings inherent in this passage; it is over-flowing with truth. But the main point we want to see in these verses is how the maturation process is broken down into parts. The question that is answered is this: what are the major components of our growth? Here is what we suggest is happening to the growing believer, as seen in this passage: He is...
- Being filled with knowledge with all wisdom and understanding.
- Living a life worthy of Him, pleasing Him in every way.
- Bearing fruit in all kinds of “good work”, also known as “divine good”.
- Becoming fully strong in faith and love.
- Living a life of patience, endurance, and joy, i.e., walking in the Spirit.
The sequence for our growth and movement toward surrender involves a kind of evolving consciousness, which gradually morphs from self-confidence to God-confidence. Here is what happens from the time we are new believers, until we become mature and are ready to surrender ourselves to God:
1. When we are regenerated, having just become believers, we are convinced that we have “full power”, and can conquer evil, doubt, and all on-comers. We believe this: “I can!”
2. But setbacks, disappointments, resistance, and failures start to surface very soon, which erodes our confidence, and causes us to say, “I can’t!” This is when we begin to realize our impotence. At this stage, we will either despair and give up, or get correct information and begin to grow.
3. If we will continue to grow, at some point we will come to realize how the grace-life works, and maturity will cause us to see that, even though we thought we “could”, and found out that we “couldn’t”, we realize that “God can!” When we start to see that God alone can do what God expects, we will be reaching the point when we will trust Him to be all He is...in us, and to do all He requires...through us.
4. When we reach the apex of maturity, we will finally see God doing it all...all that we couldn’t do...and all that we learned He could do. This is when we can surrender, and sell out to God completely, and know the full experience of God in every piece of our hearts and in every part of our lives. When we surrender, there will be no obstacle remaining to impede the flow of grace into our lives.
To reach the point of maturity that we can surrender to God, we must go through the training rigors designed by God to bring us there. This involves, first of all, intensive study of the Scripture, and—secondly—enduring the tests and trials that come to us as training to strengthen our faith.
STUDYING TO GROW
When we talk about “studying”, various images come to mind. This means different things to different people. I believe each of us should “learn” the way that is best for him or her. One primary way, almost universally effective, is to be “taught” truth. Following a pastor/teacher is one of the prescribed ways for us to learn God’s ways for living. The problem with this is that it is difficult to find anyone who is actually teaching truth! And if what you are learning is NOT TRUTH, then you will not be growing; rather, you may end up practicing all kinds of legalism and rule-keeping that will lead to EVIL and take you away from the grace-life that God has designed for you. The key is this: You have to WANT IT! If you want the truth, you will find it.
There are other ways to study. There are CD’s, DVD’s, mp3’s, and whatever else is “current”, electronically, to hear and watch lessons on the Bible. Far-and-away, my best study routine is to look for scriptures dealing with a topic of interest to me, and looking throughout the Bible to find the truths regarding that topic. But then I write about what I find, assuming that my gift will be instrumental for some to help them see God’s ways...those who learn best by reading and studying what others have written.
We must specify what we want to learn. It is especially important to look for and learn truths for living. If you know every historical and prophetic and factual reference in the Bible, but have not mastered the “how-to’s” of the Christian life, then you are no better off than someone who has never even cracked the Book. When we say “knowledge”, we are not talking about memorization of facts and academic content; we are talking about understanding principles of living by God’s grace and in His power. These are the essential foundations for living.
The Bible has a lot to say about studying to grow. There is no way to learn the truth initially without studying it, whether it is by reading, listening, or some other form of dissemination. You won’t acquire truth by sitting in a quiet, dark room and waiting for answers to bubble up from somewhere inside of you. Truth comes from outside of us (Plato was wrong!), and the object is to take it from the outside and move it to the inside. This involves our deliberately, consciously absorbing information into our minds, where the process of truth-assimilation can begin.
We must be clear, though. I am totally convinced that human IQ has nothing to do with absorbing the truth. The truths of the Bible are quite simple, and the techniques God has provided for living according to these truths are easy to learn. The hard part is getting over our own flesh, and our own thoughts, and turning to believe what we learn. What matters in learning is our spiritual IQ. If we are believers, AND if we are in fellowship, we can be taught by the Holy Spirit, if we expose ourselves to the truths in God’s Word.
1 Cor. 2:12-13 confirms this, saying the following:
“We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
Jesus predicted this teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, when he told His disciples that they would be taught by Him, as follows:
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:25-26).
The teaching process works through the Word, but enlightenment comes from the Holy Spirit. Learning must be processed into the soul by hearing it and believing it, whereby it is understood; and when we capture it as a treasured possession, it becomes wisdom that can be applied. (This is discussed thoroughly in The Power of God’s Word, available at this website.) For as long as we are in the “condition” of being controlled by the Spirit, we can expose ourselves to the truth and receive it into our hearts. As we do this, we will be acquiring “nutrients” that will strengthen our faith. In this way, we can learn everything we need to know to live in God’s will and to please Him. There is a way!
Studying to grow and mature was seen by Paul as a vital part of our Christian lives. His entire mission was, apart from advancing the gospel, to lead believers to greater maturity. In Col. 1:28-29 (NET), Paul declared this:
“We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me.”
Paul understood that the function of his gift, operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, was targeted at building up believers until they reached maturity. He said this again in Col. 2:2-3, which says this:
“My purpose is that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
He wanted the Colossians (and us) to have a complete understanding of truth, so that we can participate in the grace of God, as personified in the Son. As we grow, and wisdom and knowledge increase, we will gain the assurance of truth and intensify our confidence in the Holy Spirit. Put simply, teaching and learning will lead to maturity. 2 Tim. 3:16 summarizes this nicely, saying, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
If we do not absorb truth, we will not grow. This means we will be locked perpetually into a state of immaturity, which makes it difficult for us to “walk in the Spirit”; instead, we will be “walking by the flesh”. Our lives will be characterized mostly by the control of the sinful nature. Spirituality vs. carnality refers to being in or out of fellowship; if we are not growing—we cannot maintain fellowship, because our faith will not be strong enough to prompt us to confess our sins. Thus we will remain in a carnal, or “fleshly”, condition.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians and told them that he could not speak to them as “spiritual”, but only as “carnal”. This is what we see in 1 Cor. 3:1, which says, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as fleshly—mere infants in Christ.” He then told them that he could not teach them, except with the most rudimentary concepts. Here is what he said: “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.”
We must start off with milk, or basic doctrines, but we must stay with our training program and move on up to meatier concepts. Heb. 6:1a says, “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance...” The idea here is that we must move past a study of the gospel message, because we are already saved, and we must not keep on repeating earlier, fundamental teachings such as “repentance”, which deals with changing our minds about Christ...an event that takes place when we first believe in Him. So why do we “leave”, or move beyond, elementary teachings? To move on to maturity!
As we move upward into more-advanced levels of maturity, we can fulfill 2 Pet. 1:2, which says, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Grace has to do with what we increasingly receive as we grow, and peace is connected to our walk in the Spirit. Both of these come through what? Practice? No. Determination? No. They come through KNOWLEDGE of God and Jesus Christ. We cannot perform that which we do not understand. As we learn grace techniques and acquire grace assets, God will be able to do His work through us...work that we can’t do without Him.
In essence, we are maturing IN Him, as we learn ABOUT Him. Eph. 4:15 tells us how this happens, saying, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” By exercising our gifts with each other, we can all grow “into Him”, which means drawing closer to Him and having His power motivating and equipping us for divine production. As we grow, we do more, but not us, but God, who works through us. He does more when we trust more, and by building our faith, we are depending more on Him to accomplish what He wants in, from, and around us.
As we are built up, knowledge builds on knowledge, and wisdom accumulates. Prov. 9:9 says, “Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.” Understanding one principle opens the way to grasping two more, and knowledge begins to grow. This process will continue until knowledge reaches significant levels. As I learn, I expect to grow, and I anticipate that new principles will move into the range of my understanding. There is always more to be learned, because the Word is said to be dynamic and powerful (Heb. 4:12).
Keep in mind is that what we want to “master” is “truth for living”. Principles, techniques, procedures, protocols, and methods...these form the texture of truths that build us up and strengthen our faith. In my opinion, all the rest of Scripture...any doctrine not directly related to what we DO to live the Christian life correctly...is there to SUPPORT such truths. Truths for living tell us all about Who God is, what He expects, how he equips us for godliness, and what He provides in the way of sustaining and empowering resources to enable us to function within the parameters of His will. The rest of the Bible illustrates, contextualizes, frames, or exemplifies “practical” truths. So we want to know about God’s provisions, God’s precepts, and God’s pre-eminence.
The Word is always our source of knowledge, which we learn as we are taught and directed by our Teacher, the Holy Spirit. Acts 20:32 says, “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Study builds us up. This is why we must continue our growth through study for as long as we live. As we see in Deut. 4:9, we must stay committed to our pathway of instruction, as follows:
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Studying is the first avenue to growth. Training through trials and tests is another. If God’s training is unknown to you, please take time to read the book, God’s Training Program for Believers, as it provides a complete description of God’s preparation of our hearts for service and blessing.
TRAINING THROUGH TRIALS AND TESTS
Diamonds are formed under pressure. Similarly, growing believers are “perfected”...moved toward maturity...by trials and tests. Job 23:10 says, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Testing refines and enriches. Testing has the potential to increase our faith, if we permit God’s training to build us up. It is possible to reject the training and become bitter when hardship comes, but it is also possible to recognize God’s hand in whatever is happening, and to grow from the experiences God brings to (or permits in) our lives.
1 Pet. 4:19 tells us what our response to suffering should be, saying, “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” We should re-focus our energies and passion onto God and His Word, so we can continue in fellowship and the control of the Spirit, even in suffering. But, obviously, since we can choose to “continue”, we can also choose to walk away, redirecting our faith into other resources, such as ourselves or the world. The proper response to suffering is commitment, which is the beginning of surrender (more on this later).
When our commitment is renewed, we will endure suffering, because we will be basing our faith on God’s Word. Rom. 15:4 gives us this: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us; so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope [faith].” When we know that God is training us through suffering, we can know this is brought to us by God’s design or God’s permission, which, either way, is by God’s plan. And whatever is happening is brought to us to give us the opportunity to practice our faith before Him...and to strengthen that faith.
God’s training is God’s follow-up to our learning His Word. When we believe what we have learned, we grow. But there is training “on the field”, where we must see how God’s truths go beyond academic exercise and enter the real world of our internal and external events. God’s “field-training” shows us how His Word applies to experience. There is so much to be said about this topic. Our suffering is ESSENTIAL for our growth. Unless we learn to trust God under adversity, we will not build our faith. This concept is crucial, which is why we have written an entire book about it, titled God’s Training Program for Believers. This is a “must” read for a full concept of the value and “feel” of God’s training, and to see how it is designed to bless us.
Presently, we are discussing training, both through the Word and through experience, as a way to increase our faith. These two aspects of training are provided so that we can prepare for surrender. And these operate within a larger context in which all the techniques that we have taught over the last several years come into play. When we stack up all the techniques, and go through all the training drills intended for us, there is yet one thing left to do: Surrender.
Surrender is possible at the time when we have learned about ways to operate in God’s grace system, and are applying the techniques we have learned. We have studied the following grace techniques for attaining spirituality and maturity in great detail throughout our books and articles:
1. Confession of sins to be cleansed.
2. Acknowledgement of God, or God-consciousness.
3. Prayer.
4. Growth through the assimilation of truth.
5. Trusting in the Lord and giving thanks.
6. Maintenance of humility.
7. Growth through perseverance and the endurance of tests and trials.
8. Fear of the Lord.
9. Drawing nearer to God and believing His promises.
All of these things, taken together, have the effect of preparing us for entering a surrendered state. I believe very few believers ever reach this level of maturity...probably just a handful throughout history. But I believe it is open to us all. We cannot claim that—once we have surrendered—we will never fail again, because that would deny the persistent presence of our evil nature. Sin is still open to us, and we are still at choice. But I do believe that “surrender” is a new plateau of spirituality that will yield such great strength that the horrible struggle will ease, and that we can get a foretaste of the victory that we will have when Christ returns. This is worth any effort we can make (with grace still doing the “work”, of course) in order for us to reach this level of super-maturity.
Along with, and mixed in with, the techniques that we are applying, there are certain routines that we can “practice” in anticipation of that time when “surrender” becomes possible. We will look at these next.
Practicing for Surrender
PREVIEW OF THE PRACTICES
The practices that refine us for surrendering to God include seeking God, living by faith, walking by the Spirit, waiting on God, and operating in our gifts. These practices are blended with the techniques we have learned, and might even be considered “techniques” themselves, but we will view them here simply as key steps toward our final “surrender”.
SEEKING GOD
Pastors and preachers often say, “If you seek God, you will find Him.” This is accurate and reflects Scripture perfectly. We will say it again in this section. But knowing you should do something is different from knowing how to do it. Keep in mind as you read this section that seeking God means spending time in study and prayer, all the while having the humility to confess your sins. Seeking God means using His techniques for walking in the Spirit and growing in knowledge and grace. “Seeking” is an indication of “wanting”, when we reflect a desire for more of Him by following His methods for staying clean, and by learning to depend on Him.
We seek God, anticipating at some point that we will reach “perigee” (meaning “closest to the earth”) with God. This will be the time of maximum maturity, greatest work, and—finally—surrender. Right now, we are SEEKING, which is what we are told repeatedly to do. This is what we are told to do in these extractions from Luke 11:9 and 11:10, respectively, which say, “seek and you will find”, and “he who seeks finds”. Since this is a firm promise, that if we “seek” we will find, “seeking” must be a serious pursuit of God and His truth, and not a paltry or half-hearted glance in God’s direction...some fleeting curiosity that flashes and then fades. This is a sustained, persistent search...a relentless chasing after God. 1 Chron. 16:11 tells us, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” We can never stop searching for God.
Seeking God is a commandment, and an opportunity. Jesus told us that our needs will be met, if we will “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). In Ps. 34:4 David said, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Then in Ps. 119:58, David added, “I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.” And once again, he declares, “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands” (Ps. 119:10). Seeking God is seen as a perpetual requirement in 1 Chron. 16:11, which says, “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.”
And when will the search end? When will we find Him? Jer. 29:13 answers by saying, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.” In order to seek God with this kind of intensity, we must be mature and spiritual. Finding what we are searching for is the product of enormous attention to growth, and persistent endurance of God’s training. There are many upshots from such “seeking”, as we see in the following verses:
· Zeph. 2:3—“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands, seek righteousness, seek humility...” For us, this is a command to seek God in fellowship, the product of confession and humility.
· Hos. 5:15—“Then I [God] will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” For our search to be effective, we must—once again—have all our sins confessed.
· Ps. 105:4—“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” We seek His strength, favor, attention, forgiveness, knowledge, blessing, and strength. All of these are inherent in “the Lord and his strength”.
· Deut. 4:29—“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Notice the distinction between just “seeking” and “seeking with all your heart and all your soul”. To find God...really get close to Him...we must reach advanced maturity, and this doesn’t happen in a day.
· 1 Pet. 3:11—“He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.” “Turning from evil” is confession, through which we can “do good”. Seeking peace is the second step in the “turning” process; peace means, as we have seen many times, “fellowship” We pursue fellowship as part of seeking God.
· Ps. 24:4-6—“He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.” Notice that being “clean” and “vindicated” by God is the condition of those who are able to “seek him”. For us, being clean means being controlled by the Spirit, and He is the One who can guide our search.
Seeking God is a spiritual exercise that gives us “practice” for surrendering. This is true, as well, for exercising our faith, as we will see next.
LIVING BY FAITH
Faith, as we have seen so many times before, has two applications. There is faith for salvation...believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He rose from the dead as our Savior...and then there is faith for living. When we look at faith in Scripture, we must determine whether its usage applies to salvation, or to living. Context will determine this. We will attempt to be clear in the distinction between these two as we review the principles of living by faith.
Most of our discussion of faith in the past has dealt with faith for living, and has reflected it as a technique for accessing God’s power (walking in the Spirit). But we have also reflected faith as being receptive and credulous toward the promises of God. Before we discuss further the procedures of faith as parts of a “technique”, we want to review the application of faith toward God’s promises.
We said the following about “believing the promises” in the book Power of God’s Word, Vol. 2, p. 66:
“’Believing the promises’ is the unseen part of our faith, the place of waiting on God in stillness, the act of not acting, but trusting; the haven for resting and “not working”; a time of surrendering to His will and not our own; and the position of comfort that comes from divine assurances that He is God…and that He loves us. When we believe, we will know that God will meet all our needs, and that His perfect plan is working. This is a time of quiet, steady confidence that God will provide what He has promised.
There is nothing to DO with these promises, except to learn them and believe them. Applying the “techniques” involves the “doing”, or active, part of faith operations. Believing the “promises” is the “waiting”, or inactive, part of faith. The promises themselves do the work, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The promises also have a connection with our topic of “surrender”. We can never surrender if we do not KNOW what is promised, and the promises cannot be fulfilled, if we do not ACCEPT them.
A list of promises, broken down into categories, is given in Power of God’s Word, Vol. 2, pp. 68-74. The list is too voluminous to include this list in its entirety here, so we will give representative verses, and refer you to the book for the complete list. The categories of promises are, as follows:
1. Love
2. Protection
3. Provision
4. Blessing
5. Empowerment
Here are some examples of promises within these categories:
Love Promises
· “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39)
· “’Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed’, says the Lord, who has compassion on you’.” (Is. 54:10)
· “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever....Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” (Ps. 136:1, 26)
Protection Promises
· “If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the Lord, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.” (Ps. 91:9-10)
· “’Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him’.” (Ps. 91:14-15)
· “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Is. 41:10)
Provision Promises
· “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb. 4:16)
· “And my God shall supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19)
· “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:32-33)
Blessing Promises
· “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; plated in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.”(Ps. 92:12-15)
· “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.” (Jer. 29:11)
· “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” (1 John 3:21-22)
Empowerment Promises
· “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Ps. 73:26)
· “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” (Ps. 46:1-3, 10a)
· “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Cor. 4:7)
These are a few of the many things that God promises. Notice that most promises come with requirements, all of which revolve around our being mature, spiritual, etc., whereby faith toward the promises is exercised.
Then there is faith for living. This type of faith is “operational” and active, to be applied to the circumstances of our lives. This is the faith that accepts the validity of grace operations, such as confession, prayer, and Bible study, allowing all the techniques to have their full impact. Without faith for living, the entire grace system would collapse within our hearts and within the scope of our daily activities. Without this active faith, we will never mature, we will bear no fruit, we will not be content, and we will not be rewarded...either in this life or the next (i.e., even in heaven, our rewards will be scant).
The kind of faith that is effective is directed toward the unseen. John 4:46-53 describes a “royal official” coming to Jesus about his son, who was sick in Capernaum. He came some distance to see Jesus and to plead for him to come to Capernaum to heal his son. Jesus assured him that his prayer had been granted, that his son would survive, and that he could go. A key verse in this passage is verse 50, which says, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.” He believed what Jesus said and found out on the way home that his son had been healed at the exact time that Jesus had told him the boy would live. This official had faith, even before he saw the results.
Such faith is required, if we are going to be effective in the Christian life. Heb. 11:6a says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God...” It is impossible for anything truly good to come out of a life and mind where faith is absent. Think about this: “Good” is virtually impossible for man, as evidenced by the fact that we have to believe in someone else to produce it. Thanks are owed to God that what is impossible for us is possible for Him. Mark 10:27 says, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” God can do what we cannot do...viz., produce divine good. Our job is to TRUST HIM TO DO IT! The condition that allows our participation in God’s “possibility” is our faith.
Keep in mind that the object of our faith is God, in the person of His Son, and not some “outcome” that we hope for. We trust Him that whatever result He brings to us will be right, just, and loving. We trust always that He knows best, which is why we always pray, “Your will be done.”
Living by faith is the goal. Gal. 2:20, which we have seen so many times, says this:
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
We are “crucified with Christ”, which means that we are dead, yet we “live in the body”; but the life we are now living, the part that is not “dead”, is an expression of divine life that is not ours originally, but that is imparted to us because of our faith. We have eternal life, because we believed in Christ at salvation; and after that, we have a perpetuation of that life within us, in time, TO THE DEGREE THAT WE OPERATE IN FAITH. We live by faith, we walk by faith, and we stand by faith. Regarding our stance, Is. 7:9b says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Faith gives us the strength to stand and to “do”. No self-directed “obedience” will accomplish what the Spirit of God will do, when our faith takes us from our “impossible” to His “possible”.
Faith that keeps us standing will only be possible when we walk in fellowship with God. Murray said the following about fellowship:
“That brings me to just one more thought in regard to faith—faith implies fellowship with God....if you want to get into this life of godliness, you must take time for fellowship with God.”
Fellowship is required for empowerment. Even learning the Word is affected by fellowship. Without the faith of fellowship, the Bible is just a bunch of paragraphs and sentences. For its value to be fully infused, it must be received in communion with the Holy Spirit, which makes faith operable, thus enabling understanding. But when we are out of fellowship, faith will not work for any of its designed purposes. Remember, faith needs fellowship to work for divine good, and it needs the strength of maturity to operate consistently. When we choose not to confess and we choose not to grow, our faith will sag, and we will be “walking in the flesh”, instead of “living by faith”.
For a categorical list of verses on faith, see God’s Training Program for Believers, p. 52, available at this website.
LIVING BY THE SPIRIT
The Christian life, as we have seen, is a matter of “choice”. Even when we are controlled by the Spirit, we are still free to choose to walk away at any time. The Spirit only “controls” us in the sense that His power enables us to participate in the production of His fruit, which continues ONLY FOR AS LONG AS we are trusting in Him! When we choose the world’s way, or accept the pull of “fleshly” desires, or decide to fashion our own righteousness, or “fold” under pressure, we will walk away from our faith, and will neither be led by the Spirit, nor continuing on our pathway toward maturity. The object is to stay clean and to continue to grow, in order to strengthen our faith and CHANGE the pattern of our lives.
If we could just “follow the rules” on our own, we would not need to spend so much time trying to understand and practice ways that lead to engaging the Holy Spirit to get things done. The role of faith is to open the door to the power of the Spirit, so that He can do what we can’t. This is our goal: To let God BE God...through us. God, help those who suggest that “obedience” through self-effort is the way to please God. The way to please God is to TRUST Him. That’s obedience! Faith unleashes His Spirit within us, so that we can—indeed—please Him.
The only real life is the “life of the Spirit”. Rom. 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” First of all, “death” and “life” do not always indicate either “eternal” or “physical” death and life, but can stand for “temporal” death, or a kind of death that occurs while we are still physically alive. Rom. 8:6 says, “The mind of the sinful [fleshly, carnal] man is [spiritual] death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is [spiritual] life and peace.” So there is physical life and death, eternal life and death, and temporal life and death. In physical death, our bodies die. In eternal death, our souls die into perpetuity until we believe. And within the scope of our lives as believers, temporal death can take place in the form of carnality, or the loss of fellowship. This is why Eph. 5:14b instructs carnal believers to “rise from the dead” and return to the “light”, or to fellowship. We “live” in fellowship; we “die” in carnality.
When we are not in fellowship, we are controlled by the sinful nature. Lack of spirituality is due to our unplugging from the Spirit’s power, and engaging the flesh. (We don’t “lose” the Spirit; we just truncate His control by becoming and remaining “unclean”.) When the flesh takes over, we are the ones who must stop it...by confessing and then moving forward in faith. After that, ongoing escape from the control of the flesh can be achieved through sustained dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Lewis Sperry Chafer, in his book, He That is Spiritual, p. 97, published by Zondervan in 1918, said the following in a lengthy, but meaty, paragraph about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives:
“It is often the “beginning of days” in a Christian’s life, when he really believes and heeds the Word of God enough to be made aware of his own limitations, and seriously considers the exact revelation as to what he of himself can or cannot do, and attempt to do the work we have engaged another to do. We naturally rely on the person we have engaged to do it. Have we ever learned to depend on the Spirit for anything? Are we intelligently counting on the Spirit to undertake those particular things which, according to the Scriptures, He is appointed to do? Do we really believe we are just as helpless as His Word declares us to be? Do we really believe He is able and waiting to do everything we cannot do? Having begun in the Spirit, so far as the divine undertaking in salvation is concerned, are we now to be perfected by the flesh? In meeting the impossible issues of a true Christian life, are we consciously living upon a works-principle, or upon a faith-principle? The Bible emphatically declares the believer to be upon a faith-principle when he is really within the plan of God for his daily life. These uncomplicated teachings are on the pages of God’s Book and an attentive Christian can hardly avoid them.”
As founder of one of the most prominent Christian institutions in evangelical Christianity, Dallas Theological Seminary, Chafer led generations of God’s servants to fruitful ministries throughout the world. Probably one of the most mature believers in this century and the last, his message still rings true today. He believed that the power of the Holy Spirit is the key to everything we will ever accomplish. His words present this issue clearly, as he continues the quote shown above, adding this:
“The God-honoring quality of life is always the divine objective in the believer’s daily life. Its realization is never by a human resolution or struggle or the resources of the flesh: it is by ‘fighting the good fight of faith.’ There is a wide difference between ‘fighting’ to do what God alone can do, and ‘fighting’ to maintain an attitude of dependence on Him to do what He alone can do. The child of God has an all-engaging responsibility of continuing in an attitude of reliance upon the Spirit. This is the point of his constant attention. This is his divinely appointed task and place of co-operation in the mighty undertaking of God.”
Thank God that this message is still being preserved. The practice of most churches and Christian organizations today assumes the opposite view, proclaiming that the Christian life is a matter of “human resolution or struggle or the resources of the flesh”. They preach “godliness”, but omit the power (2 Tim. 3:5).
One of the scriptures that Chafer, no doubt, had in mind, when he said we can “hardly avoid” the “uncomplicated teachings on the pages of God’s book”, is this one:
“Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:4-6)
This is a very clear statement proving that the source of “competence” for Christian living is God. We have strong “confidence”, or “faith”, in Him, and therefore He shares His competence with us in the form of the Holy Spirit; it is the Spirit through whom we have “competence”! Living by the law, following the “letter”, adhering to legalities, or staying “obedient” to the rules WILL NOT MAKE US GOOD OR INCREASE OUR COMPETENCE! Good is from God alone!
In 2 Cor. 3, verses 7-11, we see a contrast between the power and glory connected with the Spirit, and that pertaining to law-keeping. This passage says this:
“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!”
So the law had a certain “holiness”, because it expressed God’s standards. But mankind has repeatedly demonstrated that he cannot follow them or live up to them. So if the law has a glow, how much more brilliant will be the glow of the Holy Spirit, expressed directly through the life of a believer? It is the Spirit who brings righteousness; His light will shine through us, when He is controlling our lives. Of this, Murray said the following:
“God has called the church of Christ to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the church is living for the most part in the power of human flesh, and of will and energy and effort apart from the Spirit of God. I doubt not that that is the case with many individual believers; and, oh, if God will use me to give you a message from Him, my one message will be this: ‘If the church will return to acknowledge that the Holy spirit is her strength and her help, and if the church will return to give up everything, and wait upon God to be filled with the Spirit, her days of beauty and gladness will return and we shall see the glory of God revealed among us’.” This is my message to every individual believer: ‘Nothing will help you unless you come to understand that you must live every day under the power of the Holy Spirit’.”
Nothing can be added to this, except to say that, 120 years later, the body of Christ is still languishing in efforts of the flesh, trying to please God...man’s way. And nothing pleases Satan better, because nothing scares him more or damages him more than God’s power in a connected believer. How foolish we are to attempt to do God’s work apart from His power. We always end up doing a lot more harm than good. Wherever else I may be wrong or naively interpreting Scripture from the comfort of my office chair, I am completely convinced of this one truth concerning our Christian lives: God does it all; we are stick-men with no might of our own. But with His strength, we can accomplish the impossible.
A great warrior of truth and faith, a student of Chafer’s teachings, though probably not of the seminary president and professor himself, J Hampton Keathley, III, echoes the view that the power of the Holy Spirit is required for us to succeed in our mission as God’s soldiers. He said the following concerning life lived in God’s power:
“Is our best what God wants? No! He wants faith in His best, the Lord Jesus, and in the person of the Spirit whom God has sent to indwell us and empower us so we can experience the power of Christ and the ability to do our best, not in our own strength, but in the strength which God supplies. ‘And for this purpose, I work hard, struggling constantly in accordance with His working which continues to work in me mightily’ (Colossians 1:29, author’s translation).” (ABC’s for Christian Growth, p. 185.)
It is God’s strength that works “mightily” in us. Keathley goes on to disclose the reason we need the Holy Spirit to empower us to do the Lord’s work, saying, “So often, we tend to run off to do this or that in our own steam because we are all so prone to trust in our own resources.” If we operate under the assumption that we are the ones who can and must do the work, we will fail. Keathley understood where the power lies. When will we start thinking about surrendering to this superior source for good? When will we decide to let God be God?
But I’m not through. I will hit you with every verbal hammer I can find to forge in you an understanding of God’s grace and power. In that vein, here’s another blow from Andrew Murray:
“The power to do is not a permanent gift, but must be each moment received from the Holy Spirit. It is the man who is conscious of his own impotence as a believer who will learn that by the Holy Spirit he can live a holy life.” (Emphasis is Murray’s.)
It is our consciousness of God’s grace and power, contrasted with our own insufficiency, that helps us understand that our efforts will fail, whereas God’s will always succeed. One of the greatest signs of our weakness is our sin. We deal with sin by confessing our sins, which cleanses us and qualifies us for restoration and fellowship. But then we still have the SIN NATURE, which wants to (and does) pull us into sin and/or legalism. This must be dealt with. Once we are returned to fellowship, the empowerment of the Spirit will be resumed, and this will be sustained commensurate with our faith. So get this: This state of “spirituality” will not last long, unless our faith is strong. If our faith is firm, the Holy Spirit will be kept in power within us, and THE SINFUL NATURE WILL BE CONTROLLED. So here it is: Confession takes care of sin, and the Holy Spirit then takes takes care of the sin-nature (the duration of which depends on our maturity). The effect: more good; less sin. Don’t tell me that our reason for emphasizing God’s grace is so we can have a pretext to sin. No! It is so we WON’T SIN!
WAITING ON GOD
Waiting on God is a spiritual exercise that helps us get ready to surrender. When we can wait on the Lord in faith and with abiding patience, we will be entering an upper-level of maturity that precedes surrender. The spiritual skill we want to practice now is “waiting”. Ps. 5:3 says, “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” We pray, and then “wait in expectation”, which means to “wait on God while we are trusting in Him”.
Waiting is not as passive as it seems. It involves “watching”. We don’t just wait and nap. We are to be vigilant, actively believing, and waiting to see how God handles our request. Ps. 130:5-6 says this:
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
Notice the emphasis on “more than watchmen”, stated twice. Watchmen are trained to be alert, always scanning for alterations in the environment. We are to be MORE aware than they are, as we watch for the Lord’s workings in our lives. And what we “expect” while we are waiting is not so much a specific outcome, as we saw before, but that God will bring the best possible result. Our faith is always in our perfect God; not in a specific outcome.
We are to wait in stillness, which means we do not have to scurry around, frantically attempting to solve our own problems. This does not remove common sense for real-world decisions, but calls for an attitude to take into all our daily functions and decisions. This attitude consists of an abiding trust in God, as we do what we do in our careers, relationships, home-lives, and so on. We do “normal” things with “super-normal” power behind them.
Ps. 37:7 carries this further, saying, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...” This does not mean we have to wait until the end of the day, when the smoke from the fires of the day have cleared, before we can be still. “Stillness” is an aura of trust that we live in and by as we run through the flames. And while we are still, we are waiting...patiently...with an ongoing faith, knowing that all of God’s workings are “good”.
Sometimes, there are no exits or escape routes from the danger...or no water holes across the scorching desert. This is when we have been reduced to helplessness...when self-trust is no longer an option. Our resources have been depleted, and we can only hope in God’s mercy and grace. We can “stand still” as a choice, but sometimes, it’s the only thing we can do. Either way, waiting and watching for the omnipotent hand of the Almighty God to bring us all we need, in order to be all He expects, is always the best option. As the Jews stood before a deep and churning sea, and Pharaoh’s army bore down on them, Moses made this speech to them:
“Moses answered the people, ‘Do no be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still’.”
Moses is calling for them to reach inside themselves and dredge up all the faith they can to allow the problem of the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army to be God’s problem, and not theirs. Who will do the fighting? The Lord. And what is our part? “Only to be still.” Then we will “see the deliverance”, which is God handling the problem the best way HE knows, while we believe that His solutions are the best.
Then there is the story of Jehoshaphat, who faced a hideously-huge army in full battle gear, arrayed against the men and women and children of Judah. His response was consistent with his life: He responded in faith, trusting God’s word to him, which was this:
“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you’.”
This was given to another people in another age, but it applies to us in this one. We do not have to fight the battles. We are to “take our positions”, assume our “stations in life”, and then “stand firm”, meaning to hold steady in a growing faith. Then we can watch for the Lord to work, as we wait on Him. He will deliver us in the BEST way and at the RIGHT time.
While we are waiting, it is possible for us to stay strong, because waiting itself is an indication of maturing faith. Ps. 27:13-14 confirms this, saying, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” This is a familiar theme: “I am confident”. And what is the foundation of this confidence? “...the goodness of the Lord.” We have confidence, because we KNOW that God is there, that God is good, and that His plan is perfect. We know that His plan is not to harm us, but to give us “hope and a future”, as seen in Jer. 29:11-13. This promise was given directly to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, but, once again, reflects God’s attitude in dealing with us. As much as HE IS OUR GOD...HE CARES...for us. So we, too, can “take heart” and “wait”.
Waiting is a much bigger topic in Scripture than most Christians realize. And it requires advanced maturity. Here are some references that can be perused at your leisure. These call for us to WAIT: Ps. 37:34; Is. 26:8; Ps. 33:20; Ps. 27:14; Ps. 130:5; Micah 7:7; Hab. 2:3; Prov. 38:15.
Waiting is an attitude...an inner working of the heart. But be prepared: we are going to be very busy while we are waiting, as we will see next.
GIFTS AND SERVICE
We have covered this topic thoroughly in previous books and articles, but we include it here in our discussion of “practicing” for our upcoming surrender, because it is the external expression of an internal faith and love. When we are exercising our gifts in faith and thus in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be demonstrating our preparedness to surrender.
We will give a brief reminder here of the principle of gifted service, as seen in Scripture. Eph. 4:1-16 gives a good summary of the purpose and operation of gifts, as follows:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: ‘When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.’ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly region? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
This passage has been quoted in its entirety, because it provides a poignant presentation of all we want to say about gifts, which includes the following:
1. That we are “called” by being given specific gifts, and then we are charged to use them.
2. That humility and love are the basis for gifted service.
3. That fellowship is crucial to service...both between us and God, and among each other.
4. That the Spirit of Christ is the source of our gifts and that gifted service is a function of grace.
5. That gifts vary from one believer to the next.
6. That gifts exist to “equip us all for service”, to “build each other up”, and to “cause each other to grow” toward maturity.
7. That we can mature to the point that we attain the “fullness of Christ” (concomitant with surrendering, as we shall see).
All service is orchestrated and conducted by God, and the concert is played by those who brought their instruments (are filled with the Spirit). Once we are in tune with the Conductor, we will play to His cadence, and by His direction, all reading off the same sheet of music. Otherwise, we will just be making noise. Gifts are to operate in harmony and synchronicity...working together according to God’s arrangement.
A good picture of harmonious and constructive service is seen in 1 Th. 5:12-15, which describes it like this:
“Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
Notice the respect, humility, love, fellowship, and cooperation that these believers are called upon to exhibit. This is how corporate gifted service is to operate, with each contributing, and all benefiting. And that means ALL. No one is to be neglected or ignored. We are to “gin up” those who are doing nothing; encourage and pay attention to those who never say a word; and be patient with everyone. Patience is perhaps the hardest thing to achieve, and this requires a perspective of faith that trusts God for outcomes, even when dealing with some who seem insufferable. Above all, we must be growing ourselves, and building our faith, which will enable fellowship and love, and maximize the effectiveness of our gifts.
Serving within the scope of our gifts, in a spirit of love and care, prepares us spiritually for surrender, because—not only are we helping others, we are growing as a result of their gifts functioning in our behalf. And I believe we grow by serving, as well as by being served.
Specific gifts have been thoroughly delineated in previous studies, so they will be given only cursory attention here...just enough to acknowledge that gifts are specifically allocated to each believer. The main purpose for listing gifts at all is so that we can 1) perhaps see our own, 2) see that gifts differ from one believer to the next, and 3) acknowledge that all gifts are essential. Rom. 12:6-8, 10, taken together, give us the following statement on gifts:
“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith [maturity]. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
The gifts suggested in this passage reflect the mature spirit in which they are to be conducted. No gifts should operate prematurely, meaning that expectations for performance in the “gift exchange” should be constrained by the levels of maturity. No baby believer should be doing anything but going through basic training in the Word.
To see the condition under which services should operate, we turn to Rom. 14:17-19, which says this:
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”
The kingdom of God is often a symbol for fellowship (see Bible Basics on Sin and Mercy, pp. 58-83). It is a matter of “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”, which have been described before as conditions that indicate fellowship. And notice that the fellowship takes place “in the Holy Spirit”, which is where it resides and from which it draws life. When we serve Christ “in this way” (in fellowship), it will be “pleasing to God” and will be received by those who want and need it. We should never try to serve without confession and restoration, assuring that fellowship always precede service. When service is done in this way, it will lead to “peace”, or fellowship among believers, and “mutual edification”, the central purpose for gifts.
What needs to happen in this nation is the strengthening of God’s people. That is more important than revivals and improved morality, even though Christians everywhere, mostly babies, are dragging nets and beating drums, trying to increase their numbers or get changes in behavior. What is needed is MATURITY, with SPIRITUALITY. Then, REAL service can go on in God’s energy. Without mature believers...walking in the Spirit...there will be no meaningful service, and edification will be a lost art. But when believers unite in faith, and grow together, real church operations can flourish, and gifted service and Spirit-directed evangelism and discipleship can be conducted with genuine purpose and significance.
When gifted interaction takes place, believers grow. And when growth is sufficient, surrender is possible. But we are not quite there yet. We must be “primed” to surrender.
Priming for Surrender
NEARING THE TIME OF SURRENDER
When we go through the levels of maturity, we will reach a point when we are ready to be “primed”. This is a time when we do the final “primping” (part of “priming”) before our featured performance in the consummate act of surrendering. We will not be able to surrender until all “priming” requirements have been met, and that will not even be possible until we have completed “preparation” and “practice”. When we reach the level of “priming”, we will have reached super-maturity, when the last leg of our journey toward surrendering lies before us.
There are several aspects of “priming for surrender” that we want to look at. The first is the full and final realization that “we can’t”, meaning that we have come to realize completely that God is the only one who can perform His work. When we fully grasp this, we are nearing the time when our minds will have been re-worked (renewed), giving us God’s viewpoint and making us ready to relinquish our lives to God. Another requirement is that we must understand what it means to be a believer that follows “God’s heart”, and KNOW that failure does not have to be the end of the road leading to maturity. Also, we need to spend whatever time it takes to fully comprehend the source of power for our lives, which is God alone...and never the initiative or determination of the flesh. Finally, we must engage the “preliminary” forms of surrender, which include drawing near, yielding, offering our bodies, submission, and commitment. We will look at each of these steps separately.
KNOWING THAT “WE CAN’T”
This is a central theme of all our writing: understanding our helplessness and God’s all-sufficiency. The contrast between these is infinite. We fail to grasp this because we do two things: 1) aggrandize our own potency and place, and 2) reduce an infinite God to the finite, where His position and power are roughly on the same plane as ours. We exaggerate ourselves and discount God. This is the greatest tragedy in all of Christianity.
What we must understand before surrender can be completed is that we must depend on God for everything. He is able to work through us when we are willing to let Him, AND when we have matured to the point that our faith will unleash His power within us. At lower levels of maturity, we are incapable of this kind of faith, even if we are willing. We have to go through the steps, and grow into the kind of faith that is needed for spirituality, and we all have the potential for this. Remember this: Faith releases the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what we keep repeating. And when faith is strong enough, we will be “walking by the Spirit”...virtually all the time.
One verse that we use over and over is worth re-quoting here: “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:3) When we stop trying to do the job that only God can do, acknowledging that only He can do it, then He can go to work fulfilling His plan and will in and for our lives, and produce divine good through us.
We must remember the difference between us and God, as per Luke 18:27, which says, “What is impossible with men is possible for God.” There are many things that are “impossible” for us to do: stopping sin, loving God and man, producing real spiritual fruit, generating divine righteousness, and conducting Spirit-led gifted service. These have to be done by God’s Spirit; we are but the instruments he uses to do the work. So, when it comes to divine good, only God can produce it.
Even Paul did not claim to be able to do anything good on his own, as we have seen before in 1 Cor. 15:10b, where Paul said, “No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Add to this Phil. 2:13, which was quoted earlier: “...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” And pile on Rom. 7:24a, where Paul says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Paul had the Spirit of Christ, but did not fully understand yet what the Spirit could do for him. Concerning the plight of not knowing the power at our disposal, and our own limited view of our need for it, once again we quote Andrew Murray, from his book Absolute Surrender.
“Here is the great mistake made by many Christian people: they think that when there is a renewed will, it is enough; but that is not the case. This regenerate man [Paul] tells us: ‘I will to do what is good, but the power to perform I find not.’ How often people tell us that if you set yourself determinedly, you can perform what you will! But this man was as determined as any man can be, and yet he made the confession: ‘To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not’ (Rom. 7:18).”
Notice that in Rom. 7 the names of Christ, God and the Holy Spirit occur only one time each, until the end of the chapter, when the name of Christ appears as a transition to chapter 8, as we shall show. Chapter 7 shows the futility of man’s efforts. The law, symbol for human effort and self-deliverance, appears in this chapter nearly twenty times. The words I, me, and my, occur collectively more than forty times. This is because this chapter depicts the impotence of a believer who is trying to please God without the filling of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s confession, “What a wretched man I am!” (v. 24) tells us that he is finally turning the corner on self-effort, and seeing where his hope lies...in Christ Jesus...as shown by his question and answer: “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (v. 24b-25a) This is why he mentions God or Christ or the Holy Spirit in the next chapter (chapter 8) at least 29 times. Paul is showing the contrast between a life lived in the energy of the flesh and one lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Self-effort is a form of legalism, which is a product of the sinful nature, as we have seen before. When we are trying to conform to a standard, even a good one, we are depending on ourselves to achieve it, and this means our sinful nature is trying to “do good”. Good of some kind may be forthcoming, but it is not divine good, and “human good” always leads to sin, because it is generated under the control of the sinful nature. Think this is not true? Go into the homes of Christians. Look at the loss of temper, the bitterness, the invective, and the sharpness of tone. And go into churches. Look at the strife and envy and jealousy and sensitivity and pride. These are the direct results of attempts to SERVE GOD through self-effort.
It is easy to say “I can do”, and not finish the statement, which is “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13). Between the “I can” and “through him”, there is the realization that “I can do nothing” (John 15:5). Then there is the outcome: He “strengthens me”, without which we truly can do nothing. We must not stop with the phrase, “I can”, but go on to “through Christ”.
Murray said “let it be my glory to be helpless”, reflecting Paul’s statement in 2 Cor. 12:9-10, where he said he would “boast” about his weaknesses, and “delight” in them, because he could become “strong” by recognizing them. Murray adds the following about our helplessness:
“I pray you learn the lesson now. If you felt you could not do it, you are on the right road, if you let yourselves be led. Accept that position, and maintain it before God: ‘My heart’s desire and delight, O God, is absolute surrender, but I cannot perform it. It is impossible for me to live that life. It is beyond me.’ Fall down and learn that when you are utterly helpless, God will come to work in you not only to will but also to do.” [Murray’s source: Phil. 2:13]
With advanced maturity, we don’t recognize our strength, as faith grows, but our helplessness. As our awareness of God increases, we become more aware of our incapacities. We want to do right and be right...to do our part...but we see clearly that we are helpless to make this happen. Self-faith is an expression of our weakness; the more we think WE can do it, the less we will actually do, regardless of how big a splash we make in our little pond. Surrender will require an emptying of the self and all its attachments, and the infusion of the power of the Holy Spirit. We must know how helpless we are and see how powerful He is...and how essential He is to us...if we are ever to participate in His glory—that glory which He, alone, can bring to Himself. When we know our place, we will be carriers of that glory.
When we know we are helpless, we can learn faith. Faith begins with despair. When we find we must cease from man and the world, and realize that our only hope is in God, then we will learn what it means to TRUST in God. I really like what Murray said about this:
“...another must do it for me. And that is the secret of the spiritual life. A man must learn to say: ‘I give up everything; I have tried and longed and thought and prayed, but failure has come. God has blessed me and helped me, but still, in the long run, there has been so much of sin and sadness.’ What a change comes when a man is thus broken down into utter helplessness and self-despair, and says: ‘I can do nothing!’”
Seeing ourselves, not as others see us, but as God sees us, propels us toward the time when we can surrender our inadequacy to His capability...when His perfection can continually cloak our flaws with His goodness. The refinements He brings, operating within us as His Spirit, enable us to do right and glorify Him.
A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART
Before we talk about the “God-can” part of the surrendering equation, we want to briefly look at what it means to be a “man after God’s own heart”. Look first at Abraham, as described in Rom. 4:18-21, which says this:
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
So Abraham exhibited great faith, and God’s promise of a son...a “seed” between him and Sarah...was fulfilled. In James 2:23, Abraham was even called a “friend” of God.
David was another super-believer. His faith was so great and his attachment to God so strong that God said he “kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.” (1 Kings 14:8) It was also reported that he “walked uprightly” before God, “in integrity and uprightness”. (1 Ki. 9:4) And it was said of his son Solomon that “his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.” (1 Ki. 11:4) So David was an exceptional man of faith (also see this in Heb. 11:32-33).
And who can ignore Job, of whom God said, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8b). Job was highlighted as the most mature man alive at the time, as per God’s testimony. And Job’s own words confirm his faith, as we see in his statement: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope [trust] in him” (Job 13:15a). Surely, here was a man whose faith was stellar, and whose patience was endless. James 5:11a assessed Job’s perseverance, saying this about him: “As you know we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.”
Job has to be counted among the great adherents to faith, and one whose heart followed God’s.
But here the consonant and harmonious tones that we are enjoying in these stories begin to wax dissonant and a little cacophonous. Something is wrong. Don’t we read in Scripture that Abraham lost faith in God’s promise and slept with Hagar so that he could bring about what God had not finished...i.e., making an heir of his own seed with his own wife? And didn’t we see in Scripture that David stole Bathsheba from her husband Uriah and had him killed in battle? And didn’t Elihu castigate Job for accusing God of unfairness for causing him suffering that he did not deserve? In fact, here is what Elihu said to Job:
“But you have said in my hearing—I heard the very words—‘I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’ But I tell you, in this you are not right...”
The surprise is that these believers, extolled for their exceptional faith, were also consummate failures, not as unbelievers or as baby believers, but as seasoned and trained paragons of maturity. And still they failed. So what is wrong with this picture?
The difference in these men, what made their faith noteworthy, was not witnessed in their performance or perfection, but in their willingness to recognize that the key to pleasing God is found in humble recognition of our failures and our inability to do good and produce righteousness. Each of these men failed, but they also recovered. Abraham fell on his face twice before he received confirmation of the covenant between him and God. (Gen. 17:3, 17) As for David, he confessed his sins. This confession, found in Ps. 32 and 51, is poignant, exemplified in Ps. 32:3-5, which says this:
“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Job also confessed his sins, as he re-awakened to his own inadequacy. This is what he said:
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
These all failed, but notice the contrition expressed by each of them. Many have failed from time to time since: Solomon, Paul, Peter, and endless others...and so have you and I. These all repented and confessed. And hopefully we will, as well.
The secret to forgiveness and restoration, to returning things to their original condition, AS IF sin had not happened, is the same for all of us: genuine confession. But surrender, the ultimate state of maturity, goes further; it is characterized no longer by ISOLATED ACTS of confession, but by an ongoing MINDSET of humility and repentance...a perpetual attitude of confession and relinquishment. This is what super-mature believers do with failure. Key point: God will build on our failings, if we commit them to Him. Failure alone cannot stop us; rather, not recognizing and admitting our failings to God is what will do us in.
It is not what we “do” that pleases God, but what we “believe”. God erases sins that are confessed, and when we reach super-maturity, confession becomes a constant melody played for the Spirit within us. Then, it will be our faith in the peaks of spirituality that God will remember, not the sins that occurred in the valleys of carnality...because we are living in the mercy of His forgiveness and the grace of his provision. Over time, when we are primed and ready, those peaks and valleys will level into the smooth and open plains of surrender, and we will see sin controlled and righteousness produced. What a day that will be!
KNOWING THAT “GOD CAN”
When we think about God, as compared to ourselves, the difference is incomprehensible. Which is probably why not many seem to get the idea that God alone can do what we cannot. God does not favor us on the basis of our being strong and capable, or highly disciplined and educated, or attractive and winsome. God chooses by a criterion not related to inherent, pre-existent qualities that are ours by birth or training within the cosmic system. No. God chooses on the basis of His foreknowledge of our humility and submission. “Chosen ones”, or believers who thirst after God, become the heroes and true generals in God’s army. One of the best expressions of this truth is found in 1 Cor. 1:26-31, which gives us the following:
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord’.”
Paul, himself, one of the smartest people who ever lived, said he came to the Corinthians, “not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Cor. 2:4b-5). Faith in man and in self may yield results in the world, but they will mean nothing in the kingdom of light. Paul added that the “wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age”, is “coming to nothing” (1 Cor. 2:6b).
So, we are nothing, can do nothing, and all that we create is coming to nothing. By contrast, “nothing is impossible for God”. We can’t; God can. Go back to verse 30 in 1 Cor. 1, quoted directly above. Jesus Christ is “for us wisdom...our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” We can never boast, then, except to praise the efforts of God. God is the only one who can say, “I can,” and “I did.” But do not despair. We are not “useless” just because “we can’t”. God can use our uselessness, helplessness, and weakness, if we turn them over to Him by acknowledging our worthlessness and recognizing God’s greatness. Is. 40:28-31 tells us how God props us up and gives us vitality, saying this:
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
What a beautiful description of the process for God’s perfection flowing into our nothingness. We are like grass (Is. 40:8), that dries up and falls; or grasshoppers (Is. 40:22), hardly noticeable or visible. To such inconsequential creatures, God says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9a). It is He who leads us by still waters. It is He who restores our soul. It is He who strengthens and comforts us. It is He who gives us hope and a future. It is He who fights the battles. It is He who protects us. It is He who gives us wisdom. It is He who delivers us, and ultimately saves us. “And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8b). When we know this, we will know that “God can”.
We are saved by His grace and kept by His power. This is what we see in 1 Pet. 1:3-5. In verse 3 we see that “he has given us new birth”, and then in verse 5 we see that, “through faith” we “are shielded by God’s power”. After we are born again, the shield of God’s power is granted THROUGH FAITH. If faith is strong, we have His shield...in the form of His power. 2 Thess. 3:3 says it this way, “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” It is the devil’s work to whisper us into deception or tempt us into sin, and it is he from whom we MUST have protection...and God provides this for us...through faith. Strong faith secures a strong shield.
There is much talk around Christendom about “godliness”, about doing and saying things that reflect devotion or commitment, but there is little talk about the power of God, and the ways He has provided for us to access it. This is the result of Satan’s work. 2 Tim. 2:26 warns us about the “trap of the devil, who has taken them [carnal believers] captive to do his will.” Then 2 Thess. 3 follows this up, describing Satan’s work, as “a form of godliness, but denying its power” (v. 5). When we operate with the belief that “I can”, we are captives of Satan, and sin and/or legalism will follow. When we recognize that “God can”, we will exist and move by His power, and divine good will ensue.
Power came in Acts 1:8a, where we see this: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you...” This is what Jesus promised to his disciples, and this promise applies to every believer since that time. We have access to infinite power from the time the Holy Spirit “comes upon us”, a permanent condition that begins at salvation. But just because the power is there does not mean that it is turned on. God will not impose His holiness on a space occupied by sin, so—for the Spirit to fill our hearts—we must be cleansed. The power is always there, available as a case of “God can”, but it will work for us only when we have learned that “we can’t”.
When the power is on within us, God can produce His fruit through us. Phil. 1:9-11 says this:
“And this is my prayer: that your love [fellowship] may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness THAT COMES THROUGH JESUS CHRIST—to the glory and praise of God.” (emphasis mine)
When we are “pure and blameless”, we can be “filled with the fruit of righteousness”...which comes ONLY through Jesus Christ, or—in other words—through His Spirit. He can; we can’t. We must get this: Righteousness comes from God; not from us! And I must distinguish something once again: salvation righteousness is imputed forever; living righteousness is only produced when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
The expression of God’s power, His “can-ness”, is seen as grace. This is why He told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” But this grace is not like an aspirin, to help us get by. This grace is all-encompassing and grand. 2 Cor. 9:14 calls it “surpassing grace”, which God “gives” to those who serve in faith. With grace comes strength. 2 Tim. 2:1b tells us to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Without grace, there will be no strength. Remember Paul’s statement about how his own work was being done: “No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). Grace is essential to every aspect of our Christian lives, including our accessing and drawing on the power of God by using grace techniques to acquire grace assets.
When we trust God to DO what we CANNOT DO, He goes to work. Heb. 13:20-21 says this:
May the god of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
How can the seminal doctrine of God doing His own work escape so many pastors, Christian leaders, and believers, when it is literally on every page of Scripture in some form or another? Sometimes, it is completely obvious and clearly stated, as it is in this passage from Hebrews: “...may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through [the Spirit of] Jesus Christ.” He “works” what pleases Him, and we have the privilege of participating in His work, if we get the techniques down pat, and follow them. This is PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY! This is for implementation through our faith, which engages God’s practices by His power. By following the techniques, we are able to be used in the process of God doing “what is pleasing to him”.
Repetition of this principle may become a little laborious for those who “got it” a long time ago. But all of us need to be reminded of the SOURCE of all good, all strength, and all of life. So, as Peter said in 2 Pet.1:12, “I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.” And what had he told them? In verses 3 and 4 he had said the following:
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
God’s power equips us for “everything we need”. His Word gives us the techniques we are to follow, and then specifies the assurances He makes when we do. If we confess, we are assured that we will be forgiven. If we pray the “prayer of faith”, we can be sure that we are praying “according to God’s will”, and we will get what we ask for, because our prayer has been adjusted to what God wants to give. (Otherwise, we would not be praying a “prayer of faith”.) By studying “in fellowship”, we are certain that we will receive nutrients for our souls that will strengthen our faith. If we endure God’s training through trials and tests, we are assured that our faith will be refined and enriched. And if we progressively move toward maturity, and eventually fully understand the love and character and grace of God, we are confident that we will reach super-maturity, which can then serve as a launching pad into surrender and the fullness of God.
But who supplied the techniques for achieving this? God. And who enables the completion of each step? God. And who is waiting for us to surrender, so that He can bring His fruit and blessing into all aspects of our lives? Yes, it is God. He wants to express His infinite Self in our mortal bodies. He wants to be Himself...in us...and He doesn’t need our strength to do it...He only needs our permission. 2 Cor. 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure [knowledge of the glory of God] in jars of clay [mortal bodies] to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Our hope is that “the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal body” (2 Cor. 4:10b). By His power, God’s life is seen in us, which comes, of course, from Him, and not from us.
We are told to be strong, not in our own strength, but in His, as we see in Eph. 6:10, which says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” And we see this yet again in another frequently-quoted passage, Eph. 1:17-20, which reads like this:
“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms...”
The power comes from HIS strength, not ours. Even our gifts do not operate in our own strength. They must function by the filling and direction and control of the Holy Spirit; otherwise, the “service” is just the work of the flesh, which will produce no good. It LOOKS like service, but it is serving one who is an enemy of God, the one who wants to use us in his evil army. The Christian life is made up of acts of God, performed through willing and prepared believers. Gifted service, rendered in Spirit and truth, is a product of growth and fellowship, a work of God, as we see in the following passage:
“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:4-9)
The gifts are there, the growth is there, the cleansing is there, the fellowship is there...hence the “keeping” is there, “because of his grace” (v. 4). Thus Paul can say, in the next chapter (chapter 2, verse 4), “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power...” His gifts were constrained by the Holy Spirit, as ours are now, and all gifts get their effectiveness through abiding faith in the Spirit’s power. 1 Pet 4:11b tells us, “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” Anytime we do the work, we want credit for it. When God does the work, He gets the credit.
We want His power to operate in us, not so we will “feel powerful”, because we may not feel a thing...but so we can know that his fruit is being produced through us, that He is being glorified, and that He is pleased with us. Eph. 3:16-19 says this:
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
We will see this verse again in the section on “surrender”, but for now, we want to drive home the point that our objective is to access HIS POWER! It is HIS strength that has an effect...not ours. There is nothing about us that counts, except for the expression of our faith. And even that brings no merit or credit to ourselves, but simply recognizes God’s power. God “can”, because He has the power. He “can”, because He is God.
Finally, we offer the following verses on “grace and power”, for your perusal and meditation:
- I Cor. 3:10. “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it….”
- Rom. 15:15-16. “I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus….”
- II Cor. 1:12. “We have conducted ourselves in the world…in the holiness and sincerity that are from God…not according to worldly wisdom, but according to God’s grace.”
- II Cor. 6:7. “…we use truthfulness, and the presence of God’s power.”
- II Cor. 13:4. “For to be sure he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him [Jesus] to serve you.”
- Eph. 3:7. “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.”
- I Cor. 15:10. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God that was with me.”
PRELIMINARY STEPS FOR SURRENDERING
As mentioned earlier, the “preliminary” steps to surrender include drawing near, yielding, offering our bodies, submission, and commitment. Each of these lends itself to the surrendering process in its own way, and we shall look at each one.
The Preliminary Step of Drawing Near to God. Closeness to God is a condition associated with maturity. The more mature we are, the closer we will be to God, because our faith will be stronger and the “eyes of our hearts” will see Him more clearly and accurately. Of course, maturity is predicated on extensive periods of spirituality, during which we will be praying, studying, enduring, and growing. And as we mature, we draw nearer to God. This is not only wonderful and reassuring, it is required, because it is commanded in the Bible.
James 4:8a tells us, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” This crucial command, which we will re-visit when we get to the section on “surrendering”, tells us to move in the direction of the Deity...to draw near. We would not be asked to move closer to God, if it were not—first of all—possible, and—secondly—expected. This is something we can and should do! Now, we want to know more about the process for drawing near, so we can know how it is done.
In Heb. 10, verses 19-22, we have a description of the conditions and steps for drawing near, which is presented, as follows:
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
To get closer to God, there are certain things we need to “do” and/or “have”. Here is a list of prerequisites for getting closer to God, as seen in this passage:
- The first condition indicated is that we must have “confidence”. This is a state of believing, or having faith in God and His “way”. Notice that our faith is in the “blood of Jesus”, which gets us saved to begin with, and then that faith has the potential to sustain our spiritual lives in our post-salvation state.
- The second condition shown, is “drawing near” with “living faith”, which is a “sincere heart” and the “full assurance” of that faith. “Sincere heart” connotes humility and acknowledgement, and “full assurance that faith brings” indicates maturity. When our attitude is one of recognition of God’s character, and our faith has grown through the consistent use of all the techniques, we will be ready to advance toward God in mature confidence.
- The word “having” (v. 22) means “already having”, which discloses an a priori condition, meaning that something must be done before we can have the faith shown in steps 1 and 2. That “something” is the cleansing and restoration to fellowship that must be done prior to our “having faith”, which is the primary mechanism for moving us toward God. To have faith, we must first of all be cleansed from our sins by confession, as per 1 John 1:9. Returning to James 4 above, we see that “Come near to God” is followed by “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (all in verse 9).
But when Jesus’ work was finished, the veil was ripped from top to bottom, and is no longer an obstruction to “closeness to God”. Believers can now enter the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place, but there’s a catch: We must be clean and we must bring our faith with us (Heb. 10:22). Furthermore, our faith must be strong enough to sustain us there. Otherwise, we will be in and out of the Most Holy Place in an instant, and we will not be experiencing the benefits of “closeness to God”.
So, at this point in our progression toward “surrendering”, we reach a point in our maturity that the conditions of cleanliness and strong faith are being met. This means that we are qualified to occupy the Most Holy Place. This is what we see in Heb. 4:14-16, which says this:
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Jesus Christ is now our high priest, and—through our union with Him—we are also priests. We qualify to enter the Most Holy Place. Through our identification with Him and the imputation of His righteousness at salvation, we are eligible to enter, AND by the forgiveness of sin through confession and the presence of faith, we are qualified to enter. In this passage, entering the Most Holy Place is described as “approaching God’s throne of grace”...which is drawing near to the presence of God. But notice the sequence as we approach: 1) we receive mercy, and 2) we find grace to help us in our time of need.
When we “receive mercy”, we find forgiveness. Mercy for believers is absolution through confession. This then qualifies us to “find grace”, which is ALL WE NEED! When we move closer to God, we will find the “mother lode of grace”. But the road to this point has been long and arduous, and this will not be found by immature or carnal believers. “Drawing near” places us standing before God, in faith, ready for the swearing-in ceremony, waiting to surrender, beginning with “yielding”.
The Preliminary Step of Yielding. Yielding, offering our bodies, submitting, and committing are all lighter forms of surrendering. Before we can surrender, we must completer these “practice runs”. This sounds easy enough, but the level of maturity required to do these is at the “exceptional” level.
To frame the process of “yielding”, we will use two scriptures: 1 Cor. 2:16b and Phil. 2:5-9. The first reference looks like this: “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” Believers have access to the contents of Christ’s thoughts. This is primarily the divine view-point of Christ, as expressed in His Word. By knowing the Word, we know the thinking of God. But there is another meaning in this verse, which becomes clear when we couple it with the passage in Philippians.
Phil. 2:5-8 says the following:
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
What was the nature of Christ, his attitude, his behavior? In essence, what was the “mind” of Christ? Primarily, it consisted of “yeildedness”. He did not seek equality with God, as Satan did. He did not take advantage of the power He knew He had, but submitted to His Father’s will and power. And He became like a servant...subservient...obedient to the plan of His Father. He constantly gave in to all requirements and fulfilled them to the letter. He had learned His Father’s plan and yielded to any outcome which had been designed for Him. He trusted His Father; He was dependent on Him.
If this was true for Jesus, how much more should it be true for us? If we do not reflect our dependency on Him, it is because we do not understand the reality of God and our place in His plan. When we truly know God, we can do nothing but humble ourselves and yield to Him, confident that He will maneuver the affairs of our lives so that everything will work for our good, and so that He will be pleased with what we have become in relation to Him.
The Preliminary Step of Offering our Bodies. “Body” is the same thing as “life”, including body and soul. Offering our “bodies” sounds a little morbid, but this is actually offering our “lives” to God. This is what we are told to do in Rom. 6:12-13, which says this:
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”
Instead of offering ourselves to our sinful nature, which will take us in a direction away from God, we must offer ourselves as instruments to His service. If we are servants of sin, meaning it has not been subdued in our lives, we will not be able to offer ourselves to God. When we achieve a higher level of maturity, and are walking in the power of His Spirit, sin will be removed as an obstruction to our making this offering to God. Until then, we are not ready to offer anything except our time in growth, through study and endurance, and our attention to the filling of the Spirit, through confession and prayer. One primary proof that we are ready to offer our lives to God is that sin will be under control, as per the next verse in the passage just quoted, Rom. 6:14, which says, ,”For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
If we have spent time in grade maturing and walking in the Spirit, this will evidenced by “purity” in our walk, as well as in our hearts. Our hearts are purified through confession, but if sin is still haunting us and controlling us, then we are, indeed, operating under the law, which means the “flesh” is trying to corral the flesh, which keeps us in the grip of sin. Gal. 5:18 says, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” The key is consistency...in confession, in prayer, in learning God’s truths for living, and in enduring whatever training is necessary to bring us into line with God’s will...UNTIL WE GET IT. The key is in persevering until our faith is strong enough to beat the sin. The battle cry is this: Don’t let up! Never stop moving forward...keep going...even when we fail and fail and fail. At some point, we will no longer be under sin’s mastery; we will be ready to offer ourselves to God.
Rom. 12:1 follows this theme, saying, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” First of all, notice that offering our bodies takes place “in view of God’s mercy”, or through the process of His forgiveness of our sins. It is because we are forgiven that we are able to offer ourselves. Why? Because this is the only time when we are “holy and pleasing to God”. By being cleansed (“holy”), AND by maturing and walking in the Spirit (being “pleasing to God”), we are qualified to conduct the spiritual act of worship, which is “offering our bodies”. See the prerequisite? See the process? Through advanced maturity and spirituality...reaching the point that we are “pleasing to God”...we are able to take the next step, which is to offer our bodies.
The Preliminary Step of Submitting to God. Submission is related to God’s will. When we submit, we are bowing to God’s wishes and wants where our lives are concerned. It is acquiescing to His divine preferences. We are saying what He wants is what we want, because what He wants is perfect. Therefore, we submit to Him.
James 4:7a says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” This is a simple command, incorporated with a string of commands, all having to do with “surrender”. We will integrate this command with the others when we get to the section on surrendering, but right now we are giving “submission” our full attention to understand what it means and how it is done.
In the middle of a passage telling us to submit to masters and rulers, 1 Pet. 2:15 tells us what God’s primary will is regarding our entire mode of conduct. This verse says, “For it is God’s will that by doing good, you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” Doing right, and thus intensifying the light we shine before men, is one important outcome of producing “divine good”; but there are other outcomes, such as sharing our gifts with other believers, spreading the gospel message to a lost and dying world, pleasing and glorifying God, and building up rewards in heaven. By submitting ourselves to God’s will, we will see these outcomes generated. Once again, we pound on the dual drums of maturity and spirituality, which are the media for achieving a submission that satisfies God’s will and results in divine good.
When we submit to God, we will honor him with our lives. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says,
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
Honoring God involves choosing the Spirit over the sinful nature, the filling of the Spirit over sin. This is the starting point for a long and difficult journey to strong faith and sustained spiritual empowerment, which we will reach if we don’t give up. We must drag our failing selves along by the grace of God, and know that the baggage of sin is a permanent attachment that will weigh us down and stop us in our tracks...if we do not find a way to control it. The passage above refers primarily to sexual immorality (see v. 18), which shows submission TO the body, rather than OF the body. Sexual sin is the scourge of the human race, and a place of human weakness constantly exploited by Satan. But even this can be controlled through higher-level faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. Once again, don’t give up. Don’t stop short. Good will appear, if you persevere.
When we are living in the power of the Holy Spirit, rather than being crushed by sin, we can submit our lives to God, which is one more step toward full surrender. This will be evidenced by the “good” we do. When faith is strong enough, our lives will follow God’s will, and we will practice “obedience that comes from faith” (Rom. 1:5b).
The Preliminary Step of Committing to God. Commitment is an expression of loyalty, and loyalty is an extension of love. Love, then, is at the base of our commitment to God. Love, as God frames it, is the product of extreme maturity and consistent spirituality. Keep in mind that maturity is a continuum of growth, following a track of progression or retrogression; while spirituality is an on or off proposition, in which we are either controlled by the Spirit...or controlled by the sinful nature. The ultimate product of maturity and spirituality is love, which is the most prominent fruit produce by the Holy Spirit.
Commitment comes out of love for God, which is accompanied by love for our fellow-man. The first and most binding command Jesus ever gave, outside of “believing in Him”, was that we love God. Mark 12:30 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” In an article called, “Paramount Issues of Life”, p. 24, J. Hampton Keathley, III gave a framework for understanding each of the four sources of love described in this verse: heart, soul, mind, and strength. With my own twist added, here is what Keathley said about these:
1. Heart-love. Heart-love has to do with fellowship, whereby we stay close to Him by confessing sins. When we are continually in fellowship with Him, this lays the groundwork for commitment.
2. Soul-love. Soul-love relates to submission of our bodies, as we saw in “Submitting to God” above. But commitment goes beyond submission, to a deeper level of devotion. When we truly reach the level of maturity that we love God without reservation and without a break, we give ourselves to Him in prayerful submission and commitment.
3. Mind-love. This love is linked to our view-point of life. When we have mastered the truths of God’s Word, we will have the perspective of faith, based on full understanding of the message of mercy and grace. Every thought will be brought into obedience to Him.
4. Strength-love. This love is related to our “strengths”, particularly our gifts. When we are committed to God, we focus our energies on the operation of our gifts in service to others. All of our energy goes into edifying others through our own spirituality and God-given abilities.
When we love God, we will have no trouble committing to Him: all that we are, think, imagine, intend, and hope for belong to Him. And this commitment remains, even in hard times. 1 Pet. 4:19 says, “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” This may seem like an odd time to commit...when we are suffering...but this is a time of intense training, at which time we can take giant steps toward full maturity and commitment. At the end of perseverance is commitment.
Commitment will bring our performance in the production of righteousness to a peak, giving us unprecedented energy for service. This is what we see in Ps. 37:5-6, which says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” When we are committed to God, and I mean “mature” commitment, we will see the fruits of fellowship, the obedience of our faith, the fulfillment of God’s promises, and a harvest from all our planting. And, most important of all, we will stand as candidates for the final stage of Christian advancement: our surrender.
Presenting Ourselves for Surrender
INTRODUCTION
This is the giving of our all. This is our intended destination on earth, the Shangri-la of our Christian faith, our highest service, and our finest hour. It may seem a little artificial or contrived, to call this highest point of maturity “surrender”; it might be called “rest”, or the “fullness of God”, or “ultimate-maturity”. Whatever the label, this maximum point of spiritual growth is the moment when God becomes the center of everything, not a peripheral interest; this is a time when a mature believer realizes that anything “God-like” must come from “God”. We will call it “surrender”. Reaching this point means the development of “full faith” leading to “complete release”. It is a time when we see God fully, trust Him unreservedly, and discontinue self-effort completely. It is a time when we relinquish all of God’s work to God, and lay ourselves...all we are and all we have...before Him, submitting our bodies to be the gloves He will wear to accomplish His divine purposes.
It is important to interject that God’s working does not make us “passive”. When He works, we will expend our own energy to the point of exhaustion. God’s work is done when we actively confess, pray, study, trust, and endure, concomitant with the engagement of our gifts. If we are spiritual and mature, we will be active and busy in the way God has designed for each of us. There is a lot of “work” to Christian growth and service, but notice: The efforts come from the strength supplied by the Holy Spirit, and are only meaningful if they originate with Him.
Put simply: The Christian life is about GROWING through a WALK IN THE SPIRIT, made possible by using grace techniques and assets, and believing what God has promised. And—if we grow enough—we will reach super-maturity, when we can surrender our hearts and lives to God. God will then be pleased, and we will be party to the accomplishment of His perfect will in our lives. That is our objective.
THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES
John 15:1-17 records a message that Jesus gave to His disciples. But it was meant for dissemination to all believers, as the disciples were instructed to pass His message on to all who had come to faith in Christ. In this message, Jesus illustrated the “Christian” life, which consists of “abiding in Him”. This phrase means “walking in the Spirit” through “constant fellowship”. The application of “abiding” must not be misunderstood. It would be a giant leap to believe that it has to do with our being in “union” with Christ, since that is clearly an eternal and unchanging condition for all believers. “Abiding” does not mean “saved”. It is a condition of the saved. The state of “abiding” must be seen as intermittent, a condition of the heart, which is elsewhere described in Scripture as being controlled by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to being controlled by the sinful nature. Abiding in Christ can be started, stopped, and restarted, which cannot be said of the position of a believer, who is forever identified as a child of God.
We will look at salient points in John 15:1-17, relative to surrendering. When Jesus made a point of our needing to “abide” in Him, He was thinking beyond fellowship; He had in mind an ongoing state of submission that displays little deterioration or decline (this does NOT mean permanent; only salvation is eternal). This cannot be said of most believers, as most oscillate quickly between fellowship and carnality, and some never achieve fellowship at all, except for the initial fellowship experienced at salvation. But once a truly-seeking believer reaches super-maturity, and knows the “fullness of God”, he will be walking in the Spirit, have greater strength to deal with sin, experience stronger awareness of the reality and plan of God, enjoy better use of divine techniques and assets, and acquire more faith to operate in God’s power. From this vantage point, deviation is less likely, and the continuation of fellowship will become the norm. This, I believe, is “surrender”.
Here is what we see in John 15:1-17 (please follow in your Bible):
1. Verses 1-4. Jesus Christ is the vine, meaning that He is the source for all spiritual life and production. We are the branches, who are expected to “bear the fruit” of the vine, easily recognized as the fruit of the Spirit. Those who are in fellowship, or who “remain” in Him will bear the fruit generated by the vine, because they have been “pruned”, which the NIV also translates as “cleaned”. When we are “cleaned”, the production of fruit will be possible.
2. Verses 5-8. If we are not cleaned and do not bear fruit, we will be “cut off”, which means we lose our fellowship, and will no longer function as fruitful branches. It is only when we “abide in Him” that we can bear fruit, because without Him we can do nothing. If we do not “remain in Him”, we will be thrown away, or removed from fellowship, and we will “wither”, which means we will become dried up and useless spiritually. The sap of the vine will not flow, if we become detached. Staying attached to the vine follows a procedure, and the entire process for drawing from the vine is encapsulated in this passage, including the following: confession (being “cleaned”), prayer (“ask what you wish”), learning the truth (“If my words remain in you”), walking in the Spirit (“If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit”), and glorifying God (“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit”).
3. Verses 9-13. Fruit is seen in these verses as love and joy, referencing the upcoming Pauline letter to the Galatians, in which he described the fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control” (Gal. 5:22-23a). These are the spiritual qualities that will exist whenever a believer is growing and is filled with the Spirit. When we obey the command of Jesus to remain in Him, we will “remain” in His love, and He will complete His “joy” in us. When we are told to “lay down our lives” as the greatest expression of love, this depicts the sacrifice we make in the preparation and operation of our gifts. Our gifts are the media for bearing fruit; God’s power is the source.
4. Verses 14-17. Jesus Christ gives us an indescribable honor by telling us we can become His “friends”. It is one thing to be a “servant” of Christ; it is another to be His “friend”. It is not hard to see the distinction between these two. When we are growing and learning the protocols for spirituality and trust and service, we are “servants”. When we reach the point of super-maturity, we know and practice “grace procedures” with “steadfast faith”, and qualify to become his “friends”. This is the time of “surrender”. As servants, we are learning. As friends, we KNOW. “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (v. 15b). His final command to those who have reached this level of commitment and maturity: “Love each other” (v. 17), which means to “walk in My Spirit” and “bear fruit—fruit that will last” (v. 17).
We are commanded to stay in fellowship, grow in the knowledge of Christ, build our faith, pray to Him, and bear fruit through His strength. These have the potential for bringing us to rich friendship with Jesus Christ, whom we relate to as the Holy Spirit, where we will live in the place of surrender and intimacy with God.
Andrew Murray, once again in his book, Absolute Surrender, shares the following “effects” from “abiding in the vine”, or surrendering, as seen in John 15. Some of his observations are quoted, while others are summarized and paraphrased, as follows:
1. Absolute Dependence. “If I can learn every moment of the day to depend on God, everything will come right.” (p. 61) God is responsible for doing the work. We are responsible to let Him, by being branches. The sap flows; all we have to do is receive it. “If I am something, God is not everything.” (p. 62) When I am nothing, God is everything.
2. Deep Restfulness. The rest of surrender is deep, but this rest is not passive. “No one who learns to rest upon the living Christ can become slothful, for the closer your contact with Christ the more of the Spirit of His zeal and love will be borne in upon you.” (p. 63) Work will be done and we will be fatigued by the time God is through. Every good thing that comes THROUGH us, comes—not FROM us—but from God. That includes love. Romans 5:5 (KJV) says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” When we let it all come from Him, and stop trying to produce it (meaning the “fruit”) by ourselves, then God can go to work. And when God works through us, our “deep restfulness” will entail great activity.
3. Much Fruitfulness. We cannot bear fruit if we are not in close connection with Jesus Christ. “Lord Jesus, nothing less than the sap that flows through thyself, nothing less than the divine life is what we ask. Lord Jesus, I pray Thee let thy Spirit flow through me in all my work for thee.” (p. 64) The sap is the power of the Holy Spirit! When you get Him flowing through you, fruit will be produced.
4. Close communion. “What is the application to our life of this abiding communion? What does it mean? It means close fellowship with Christ in secret prayer.” (p. 65) Abiding, or “communion”, is “fellowship”.
5. Absolute surrender. What is this? “...just as entirely and absolutely as Christ gave up His life to do nothing but seek the Father absolutely and entirely, I am to do nothing but to seek the pleasure of Christ.” (p. 66) This is the removal of anything in our lives that is not in line with God’s will, or that is held back as “ours”, and not given up to God! What is there that we are not willing to give up? And what about willingness to be reduced to absolute helplessness and weakness; are we prepared to face this? Not yet; we are simply not ready. We have much to do before we reach the level of full concession to God. But when we are ready, we can surrender.
When we surrender, “He can, and does indeed, come and take actual possession of us, and gives unbroken fellowship all the day.” (p. 67) “Lord, everything in my life has to be in most complete harmony with my position as a branch of Thee, the blessed Vine.” (p. 68) Christ invites us, as follows: “I, the living One who have so completely given myself to you, am the Vine. You cannot trust me too much. I am the Almighty Worker, full of divine life and power.” (p. 68) And He adds, “I will draw you to myself, I will bless you, I will strengthen you, I will fulfill you with my Spirit.” And to Him we can only say, “Thou art my Vine, and I am thy branch. It is enough, my soul is satisfied.” (p. 68) Here it is: “The vine is calling us to absolute surrender.” (p. 67)
Our challenge is to mature to the point that we can surrender. When we reach that point, we will know that our surrender is going to be absolute. Murray said the following about the act of surrendering:
“I do not understand that word surrender fully; it gets new meaning every now and then; it enlarges immensely from time to time. But I advise you to speak it out: ‘Absolute surrender to Thee, O Christ, is what I have chosen.’ And Christ will show you what is not according to His mind, and lead you on to deeper and higher blessedness.”
When we see our place as branches, know our dependency on the vine, and recognize our need to become what we already are...His pathways for divine goodness on earth...we can start “practicing” surrender. At the same time, we must continue preparation for that time when we can truly surrender, giving it all to God.
SURRENDERING TO OUR GOD
Setting Up the Surrender. Prior to super-maturity, our primary question cannot be, “How do I surrender”, but must be, instead, “How do I prepare to surrender”. We will always hope and seek and wait for surrender, but our focus is on these: the growth of this day, prayers for this hour, confession for this minute, and faith for this and every second. For those who arrive, surrender has been as much about the journey, as it has the destination. All that we have written previously deals with the journey. Now, we want to look at the destination.
First of all, the “will” to which we are surrendering is perfect. Rom. 12:2 calls God’s will “good, pleasing, and perfect”. What God wants is perfect, and He will bring His “perfection” to our lives, if we permit it. What He wants for each of us is the best life possible, within the scope of His plan for us. His plan revolves around our choices, and includes some combination of discipline, training, and blessing that accommodates these choices. Our only limitation is our own volition; He will not force His will on us. So God plans discipline, training, and blessing in ways that facilitate our adoption of His will; but this is effective only to the degree that we want what He wants. If we are truly wanting and seeking His will for our lives, we will grow to super-maturity, and then we will surrender to that will.
When we couple God’s perfect will in Rom. 12:2 with God’s program of mercy and grace, we see that He offers to help us know and achieve His will. Phil. 2:13 is a big part of our study on “surrender”, because it tells us about the assistance we have from God. The verse preceding verse 13 (v. 12) sets up verse 13 by saying, “Continue to work out your salvation [temporal deliverance, not eternal salvation] with fear and trembling.” Working out our deliverance involves the whole spirituality/maturity process, which consists ultimately of 1) fear and trembling, or total reverence toward God, and 2) recognition of His awesome power. A “fearful” acknowledgement of God, “with trembling”, is the response of a mature faith, one which is ready to surrender.
Verse 13 gives us the underpinning for this advanced level of insight—seeing God as He is—by saying this: “...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” When we have reached the level of closeness to God that we fully acknowledge and trust Him, and walk close to Him with open-mouthed awe at His greatness (v. 12), then we have come to the moment of surrender (v. 13). It is then that God goes to work IN US to do two things: 1) make us willing to surrender, and 2) enable us to take the final step of surrendering. But notice this, just to be clear: He doesn’t usurp our “will” to make us “willing”, unless we have reached the level of faith that we are willing to be made willing. Then He will work in us to empower us to ACT, “according to His good purpose”. The choice is still ours, but the work is His. When we get close enough to God, and want Him enough...in short, when we surrender to Him...He plants His will, and then He goes to work in us to implement it!
Surrender is the accumulation of all that we have done on our journey. It is as though we have reached a level of trust and communion (maturity and spirituality) sufficient to allow our spiritual momentum, driven by the Holy Spirit, to carry us across the line of surrender. The path to surrender has consisted of growing and trusting and waiting and watching, while God has brought us to the moment of surrender.
The Power to Surrender. To mark the difference between the operation of our power and that of God, even in surrender, we cite a statement from ABC’s for Christian Growth. On pages 135-136, author J. Hampton Keathley, III, quotes William D. Lawrence, who is quoting from a transcript of class notes taken from a lecture given by Lewis Sperry Chafer. Here is what Chafer said:
“Your obligation is not to do it [obey God] in any strength of your own, or to try to do it, but to do it in the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit... You will do it in the enabling power of the indwelling Spirit and this is where the believer’s responsibility brings him. That is the thing that constitutes the ability to live the spiritual life and that is none other than the ability to walk by means of the Spirit in your daily life. That is the salvation from the reigning power of sin... Therefore you fall back upon the infinite power—think of it—the infinite power of the indwelling Spirit. (Ital. orig.)
“We draw on the Spirit’s power through a simple prayer of dependence in which we acknowledge our inability to accomplish anything for God apart from Him. We tell the Spirit, ‘I cannot do this in my own power. I give myself to You for You to enable me to do what You want me to do and I thank You by faith that You will keep your promise to me to enable me to obey and serve You.”
I know that I must rely on Him to empower me to do what I must do. When we truly understand this prayer: “I cannot do this in my own power. I give myself to You for You to enable me to do what You want me to do...”, we will be ready to surrender.
We see an example of this kind of surrender in Paul. He was exercising his gift, which was to bring maturity to believers in the early church, and he was clear about the source of his “work”, saying this: “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1:29). Paul recognized, as did Lewis Sperry Chafer, that God’s work depends on God, and we extrapolate from this that surrendering to God is relinquishing His work to Him. As we stated before, however, this does not imply “passivity”, or inactivity on our part. The surrendered life is one of enormous exertion under the direction of the Spirit...one of great production in His power. With surrender, working in God’s power becomes a rigorous routine.
We get directions for surrendering to God from God, as per Is. 48:17b, which says, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” He tells us what we are going to have to do to reach His “best”; He directs us as we are moving toward Him; and He gives us what we need to achieve the final step. Heb. 13:20-21 tells us that He “equips” us for surrender, saying the following:
“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
The source for our act of surrendering could not be any clearer. He equips us with everything good for doing his will, and then he will work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, who will be glorified by the Father...through us. How can we sufficiently magnify this passage to get the full impact of its message. God equips us with His good for doing what He wants, and then He takes the equipment He gave us and works it within us to cause us to think and perform in ways that please Him. And here is our part: 1) maturing to the point that we trust Him to do what this verse says—i.e., to “work in us what is pleasing to him”—and 2) maintaining spirituality, so the Spirit can direct us in doing His will.
I am amazed at the consistency of the message on surrender throughout the Bible and hence through all my studies. The message has always been that God works...through us...when we get close to Him. This has been my position since I started writing in 2010. It is refreshing to go back to the simple messages of my first book, Getting Closer to God, where I espoused the same points I am making now. This is before I discovered Keathley, or Murray, or Chafer. This is what I saw in the Word, and I did not even have an NIV at the time. Why am I saying this? Because the truth is just THERE...in the Word! Here is what I stated about “surrender” in my first book:
“It is time to get down to the core of this study. The point of faith, or of our “knowing” God, is surrender. Faith is the conductor; surrender is the endpoint. It is the most important component in our relationship with God. Surrender is the peak of acknowledging God, fearing the Lord, and being God-conscious. When we get close to God, we SUBMIT to Him, and to His will. He becomes more as we become less. God is in us…waiting for our submission to Him…so that He can open the gateway of our lives to His divine production. He produces IN us and THROUGH us. God IS. God DOES. How can we ever see this or describe it? This is the heart of being in Him…and Him in us; it is about surrender.
“God is the source of all good things, the Ultimate Energy, the origin of everything. When we see this, we will fear Him, and surrender to him. Faith is Godward, as are fear and surrender, but it is also lifeward. It brings the God we fear to the lives we live, and He meets all our needs. God is then revealed through us. We surrender to all He is, so we can become all He intends.”
The truth regarding surrender persists for all times, cultures, generations, nations, and peoples. Full surrender to God is the important, though sometimes elusive, goal for all believers everywhere, including you and me.
What Happens When we Surrender. When we “surrender to all He is”, then we can do His will by His strength...thus becoming “all he intends”. Jeremiah 17:5-6 tells us what happens if we refuse to build our faith or grow to maturity. Here is what he said:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.”
Then, in the next verse (v. 7) Jeremiah contrasts this sorry state with that of the surrendered man, who is characterized, as follows:
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
I believe this kind of blessing is reserved for the surrendered believer. New or carnal believers should not get too excited that the flood-gates of heaven are going to open and yield profuse prosperity. If they have not matured, they are “living in the desert”, regardless of any trappings around them that suggest profit and gain. But when a believer matures and surrenders, blessings will come, as they did for Job. Later in this study, we will say more about the blessings that come through surrender.
Surrender is the peak level of maturity, faith, and commitment. When we reach a sufficient level of understanding and “abiding”, we will enter a time of perpetual blessing, spiritual production, and unprecedented peace. As we have stated before, few reach this point, but all can. When we surrender, we fulfill 2 Cor. 5:15, which says, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” Life is no longer a matter of pleasing self. Humanly speaking, we are incapable of abandoning self-interest, but the time of yielding to the greater forces of God’s spiritual world will enable us to give up self-pleasure, changing our focus instead to one of pleasing Him. Ironically, pleasing Him will turn out to be the greatest pleasure we can ever know.
When we surrender, our definition of life and our whole perspective will change. It is important to know that a surrendered believer will no longer think the same way he did before. “Sacrifice” will be seen as “opportunity”. “Surrendering” will be seen as “conquering”. “Giving” will be seen as “gaining”. And “letting go” will be seen as “taking hold”. When we surrender, all the superlatives in our language come into play to describe the outcome. All the great promises of Scripture will be fulfilled. And our minds will finally be directed by God toward “heavenly things”, things that are “true...noble...right...pure...lovely...admirable...excellent...and where honor and stability and purity and love will occupy our thoughts and lives. This is the time when we will truly let our “light shine before men”, and a time when God will be glorified through us.
Surrender is illustrated in Scripture as a kind of “rest”. We saw this earlier in reference to “entering His rest”, something the Jews in the desert refused to do, but an option that is still open to us. We enter His rest by building our faith (Heb. 3:18-19), and then we stop the labor that WE design, and JOIN GOD IN HIS. Heb. 4:10-11a describes it this way: “...for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest...” The work we are to do is to “believe” more and more, which is not “work” at all, but a matter of learning to entrust divine work to the Divine Being. When we believe enough, we will surrender.
In Matt. 11:28-30, Jesus advanced the idea of “resting” in Him, saying this:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This is a picture of surrender. When we surrender, He takes it from there. He Himself walked in the power of the Holy Spirit (not His own), as described in Luke 4:14-15, which says, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.” He rested in the power of the Spirit, and now invites us to do the same...to come to Him to “find rest” by “taking on His yoke”, which is resting in His power as He does His work within us.
Another illustration of surrender is seen in our entering the Most Holy Place, which is closely connected with fellowship. We are in and out of fellowship, based on our condition as “clean” or “unclean”. When we have confessed and are in fellowship, we enter the Most Holy Place. But we do not stay there...we do not “rest” there, because we are overpowered by the world, the devil, and our sinful nature. When we surrender from a place of super-maturity, we can occupy the Most Holy Place as our regular place of residence. There we will have the potential to live in ongoing cleanliness, resulting in God’s perpetual expression of mercy, which then culminates as the provision of amplified grace.
This surrender can happen to any believer who reaches super-maturity. Such growth is the result of 1) concentrated study of God’s principles for living, and 2) endurance of God’s training through tests, isolation, dead-ends, losses, pain, and all kinds of suffering. Growth is no cake-walk, and maturity is not “automatic”, or just a “matter of time”. The requirements are specific and rigorous, as we have seen many times before. But when we mature, surrender becomes possible at last, because we grow our faith enough to trust God to make it happen. Even this last giant step by a super-mature believer is something that requires divine empowerment...something God does according to our faith.
Surrender is a strong commitment derived from great faith and ongoing fellowship, which seems to imply a condition of life-long, uninterrupted holiness. Permanence seems promising. With the victory inherent in our surrender, it may be hard to imagine returning to carnal ways; but now the caveat: Slippage is possible. When we reach the level of growth that Job did, and Paul did, and Peter did, and David did...we enter a deep level of spirituality that is hard to shake. This is a time of constant trusting, walking in the Spirit, prayer, and reverence. BUT...we can still choose to turn back and go our own way, in which case we will lose what we gained until we recover it the same way that we acquired it initially...through dedicated growth. It seems clear that this “restoration to surrender” will not take as long as the initial “effort” that got us there, but we will have to return to the Lord completely before we re-enter a surrendered state.
Surrender, then, is not a “once-for-all” experience, the way salvation is. There is no question that surrendering is a great triumph. It entails a deep level of spirituality, and is a time of great trust, wisdom, prayer, and reverence. But we can go backward in a heartbeat. We need to note this: We must not stop progressing, just because we have surrendered. The path of growth and greater service lies ahead of us, and we cannot slow down or look away from the path God has shown us. Also, we must always remember mercy and grace: If we DO slide back, we can still recover and come back to our commitment to God. But while we are in the surrendered state, we must never let our guard down or relax our training and alertness. Anyone can slip...anytime...even surrendered believers.
Getting the Fullness of God at Surrender. Back to the upside: When we surrender, we get the fullness of God. This is the part of our discussion where we link our act of surrendering with the special provision that God makes after that time. Surrender is the crowning technique; the fullness of God is the outcome. This highest of all Christian experiences is available to all who have signed up for—and fulfilled all requirements pertaining to—maximum growth.
When we get the fullness of God, what do we get? Eph. 3:17b-21a answers this question with the following:
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory...”
The reason it is hard for us to describe what we get with the fullness of God is that it is “beyond imagination”. It is within reach, however, even though we can’t fathom what it will include. When we are “rooted”, meaning mature...and “established in love”, meaning walking in the Spirit, we will “have power”. This power can acquaint us with knowledge of the multi-dimensional love of Christ, which GOES BEYOND normal understanding. It is this special knowledge that opens us to the “fullness of God”. The word translated “knowledge” in Eph. 3:19, means “absolute knowledge”, which will come only with super-growth and highly-advanced maturity. This complete understanding of the grace, mercy, and love of Christ is the key to our final surrender to God, and our becoming recipients of the fullness of God.
When the fullness of God comes to us, we are set up to receive special treatment and supplies from God. In our discussion of the “fullness of God”, in a recent article by that name, we stated the following, repeated here for emphasis:
“We believe that the attainment of the fullness of God is the time when God’s immeasurable benefits and blessings surge forward in ways that cannot be envisioned. It is a time when Satan finally “flees from us”, and a time when we experience the complete peace and joy that God makes available. This is the true “rest” which God offers, and the great deliverance He promises.”
We will say more about Satan’s “flight” shortly, but first we want to establish that the fullness of God is a time of unprecedented blessing. Psalm 91 seems to be a description of the blessings that come to the surrendered believer. In this psalm we see a surrendered believer as one who fulfills the following:
1. “dwells in the shelter of the Most High”
2. makes the Most High his “dwelling”
3. says of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress”
4. says God is “my God, in whom I trust”
5. about whom God says, “...he loves me”, and “he acknowledges my name”.
This is the surrendered believer, who will see the fullness of God in His life. And here is what God promises the believer who has surrendered to Him, based on Psalm 91:
1. He will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2. He will be saved from the hunter’s trap and from disease.
3. He will be covered with God’s “feathers” and find refuge under God’s wings.
4. He will not be afraid of night terrors, arrows of the daytime, nor any disease or plague.
5. Though a thousand or ten thousand fall around him, injury will not come close to him.
6. No harm will come to him and no disaster will come near his home.
7. Angels will guard him wherever he goes.
8. They will lift him up in their hands, so that he will not “strike his foot against a stone”.
9. He will walk among the lions and cobras of life, and trample them.
10. God will always rescue him and protect him.
11. God will answer his prayers and be with him when trouble comes.
12. God will deliver him from troubles and honor him.
13. God will give him a long and satisfying life.
14. God will teach him about grace and show him divine deliverance.
These marvelous blessings and provisions are reserved for the believer who has reached super-maturity and has surrendered to God. Along the path toward maturity, any of these can be seen in some form and to some degree, but not the way they will be seen when the ultimate surrender has taken place. When we surrender at the end of the “highway of holiness” (Is. 35:8), training will have been completed, and we will become “graduates”. Growth is worth any commitment of body and soul to achieve this, because it leads to the fulfillment and Christian success that comes from advanced maturity and surrender.
After we Surrender. WARNING: DON’T FORGET GOD! After we have gone through training, and have surrendered, and are enjoying the fullness of God, we must not forget God. Deut. 8:10-11a depicts this, saying, “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God...” We must not become self-satisfied and complacent, but must continue our pattern of devotion and growth. We must not forget the One who brought us. SOLUTION: REMEMBER GOD!
The place of surrender, dwelling with the Most High, living in the Most Holy Place, and living in the fullness of God, is equivalent to entering the Promised Land. Deut. 8:2-3 gives a picture of what we have been through to reach this point, saying this:
“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
When we go through God’s training with endurance and faith, we become prepared to enter the Promised Land, where blessings abound. I believe the benefits that will come to a believer who has surrendered will be similar to those described in Deuteronomy 28:3-8, which were designated for Jews who obeyed God. Here is what they were promised, and what we imagine will be a minimum for any believer who has surrendered:
“You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but fled from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.”
I have studied this passage before, and have seen it as part of growth and fellowship, but now I see the “immeasurably-more” aspect of this flood of blessings as the privileged provision of the surrendered believer. What a day that will be when all we touch will prosper, when we will encounter blessings coming and going. This is what we look forward to, and—if we persevere in our pattern of faith-progression and spiritual increase—it will come.
Surrender Leads to More Grace. We surrender, because we have reached a level of faith that we recognize God for who He is. We get the fullness of God, because we have attained “absolute knowledge” of His love. And when we get “more knowledge” of His love, we get “additional grace” in the form of great blessings. To understand “more grace”, we want to look at James 4:6-10, which encapsulates the process for maturing and surrendering, and depicts the results, which feature “more grace”. We will quote this passage, and then we will analyze it. Here is what it says:
“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
Prior to this passage, James had been discussing the issue of selfish motives, the results of self-seeking pursuits, and the outcome of worldly attachments. Now, he contrasts attempts to satisfy ourselves...with the satisfaction that comes from God’s grace. This is seen in his statement, “...he gives us more grace” (v. 6). But super-grace is not for just any believer; it is reserved for the surrendered believer. As we look more closely at this passage, this will become clear.
After the verse announcing “more grace” (v. 6), James declares that God “opposes” the proud, but “gives grace” (“more” grace) to the humble (see v. 7). Then he mentions humility, which is one of the early signs of a mature view of our place before God, which includes recognition of God’s absolute supremacy in and above His creation, and His grace toward His creatures. Humility is a major gateway to God’s fullness, which is seen here as “more grace”. On the other hand, we will find resistance from God as long as we persist in a self-centered pattern. This is “pre-maturity” and/or “mid-carnality” behavior, against which God will bring opposition. Self-absorption, or “pride”, is the origin and foundation for all sin, and will prevent the provision and operation of “more grace”.
So how do we get the “advanced” level of grace, which goes beyond discipline, training, and having certain basic needs met, to a plane of “greater” provision? James answers this in his next statement in verse 7: “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” Submission is entry-level surrender, wherein we step forward, ready to enter the place of “more grace”. When we surrender, we enter something “new”, and “new benefits” begin to flow in ways we never imagined. Our not expecting such blessing is not a matter of small faith, but an abiding humility, and the “surprise” of the new benefits is part of the blessing. Whatever these assets are, we had not thought about them, or “imagined” them, which probably means that they are spiritual in nature, more-so than material. But I also believe that the blessings of surrendering are inclusive and wide-ranging. Whatever the blessings, I believe they will be totally satisfying!
Resisting the Devil after Surrender. The next statement in verse 7 has some surprising implications. James calls on us to do this: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” To get the meaning of this verse, we must understand the usage of the word “resist” in the original language. “Resisting” is not limited to a present, in-the-moment occurrence, but is seen as a protracted process of “resisting and resisting and resisting”. What happens when we keep on “resisting” the devil? Well, we do not “cast him out” or “bind him” or try to engage him in combat. Satan likes nothing better. We simply stand fast in faith and endure the “trials” and “tests” that God allows or brings, as these give us an opportunity to demonstrate our faith under fire. Get this: Trusting God is resisting Satan! Our willingness to trust shows Satan and all other fallen and elect angels that acceptance of God’s way is a matter of choice, and that we are responsible for accepting or rejecting God’s plan. (See God’s Training Program for Believers, the chapter titled, “The War Against God”, for a complete discussion on this seminal doctrine.)
Resisting the devil is trusting God, who alone has the power to fight Satan. This is not a single event of trusting, or “resisting”, but an ongoing condition, a sustained attitude of reliance on God. And what happens if we keep on trusting, hence “resisting”? Satan will flee! This means that, if we will keep on growing and maturing, at some point, Satan will give up and LEAVE US ALONE! I believe this takes place at the time of our surrender. When we reach super-maturity and surrender to God, and are basking in the fullness of God’s love and grace, I think we become so full of God that Satan sees that further machinations against us are a waste of his resources, so he moves on to other more achievable projects. This is one reason why life is so much easier when we have reached the time of surrender.
The Growth Routine that Led us to Surrender. Verses 8-10 (still in James 4) give the back-story regarding growth leading to surrender and greater grace. James works backwards through the sequence of events, as follows:
1. “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” The last thing we do before surrender is get closer to God, who gives us the resources to take the final step.
2. “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” This is clearly a reference to confession of our sins, whereby we are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness. This is what we do in order to approach God, as the Levite priests did before they entered the Most Holy Place.
3. “Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom...” This state of our hearts is the result of our personal awareness of our sin and failure prior to confession. This condition of sorrow should last ONLY UNTIL we confess, after which time we can trust in God’s promise to forgive, thus removing all need for guilt and remorse.
4. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” This is the pre-confession state of mind that leads to sorrow and confession. Humility will be followed by confession, resulting in forgiveness and restoration of fellowship, or being “lifted up”.
Tracing the sequence in correct order, we see the following progression: 1) humbling ourselves, 2) recognizing our failure, and 3) confessing our sins, thus enabling us to 4) come closer to God. This pattern of cleansing and humility makes us eligible to receive God’s truth and training, which will advance us toward maturity, culminating at some point in surrender, which yields the fullness of God, and greater grace. That’s a mouthful! We see, then, the high peak we are climbing toward, but we see intermittent peaks between us and this final one, and we have learned enough to know that there are many valleys we will have to go through to reach the last peak. Fortunately, God is willing to go with us every step of the way. We are not alone.
The Act of Surrendering, or Giving up our Lives. When we face the act of actually surrendering, we must understand what we are “giving up”. We have talked about the gains of surrendering, but what will we be sacrificing when we surrender? Christ is our model, when it comes to sacrifice, and His sacrifice gives us some idea of what we must give up. Eph. 5:1-2 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Christ gave “himself”, suggesting that the first thing we can expect to yield in surrendering is our “self”. This involves surrendering at our core level, where our innermost being resides. Christ gave “Himself”, and we are to give “ourselves”. But what does this look like?
We sacrifice ourselves, as “dearly loved children”. This description speaks of those who are surrendering and are becoming “imitators of God”, who will now live “lives of love”. Those who have surrendered will live in God’s power and the love He brings to them. And what do surrendered believers do with this love? They express it through their gifts, not once a week, but constantly. The “sacrifice” is to give up whatever we must to exercise the gifts we have been granted for the service and edification of other believers...anytime they need it! There are no “breaks”, or vacations, or leaves of absence; we are on all the time. This is our labor of love, which becomes a “fragrant offering and sacrifice” to God.
Another aspect of surrender is losing our “life”. Matt. 10:39 says, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” We are to “lose our lives”, but does this mean we have to go out and die for the cause of Christ in order to “find” our lives? No. I believe it means to find the life of love and service that we saw in Eph. 5:2. It means to give up self-centered living as the core and purpose of all we do, and to turn our lives over to the service of Christ. The life we are already living is not the focal point of the life we must live. We give up our purposes, aspirations, needs, wants, comforts, pleasures, and—yes—even our possessions, if need be. For us, living is Christ, WHATEVER THAT REQUIRES. But will life be better? Yes. Blessed? Yes. Productive? Yes. Because it is the life of Christ...and that’s the best life!
Gal. 2:20 bolsters this notion, saying, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” I believe this verse gives a picture of the surrendered life. For the “average” Christian, life has not yet become “Christ living”, or a “life of faith”, as these are the marks of a mature believer. It is clear that—for those who mature and live “by faith in the Son of God”—advanced growth will be evident, leading to surrender. And when we do surrender our lives to Christ, it is no longer we that live, but the Spirit of Christ that is living in us. To surrender is to abandon our cause, allowing God to direct us into His.
We saw Matt. 10:39, which told us that we must “lose” our lives to find them. The background for this verse in vv. 34-38 amplifies its meaning for us, and helps us conceive what it means to give up our lives to God. Verse 34 quotes Jesus, who said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” There are going to be divisions along the way when we surrender everything to Jesus...often there are painful separations. Look at verses 35-38, which adds this:
“...a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
This passage begins by citing the people we value most, and ends with the requirement that we must not value anything or anyone more than God. This is the sacrifice we must be willing to make. This is no small task; there is no pain greater than being ostracized and shunned by one’s own family, because of one’s doctrine and faith. And it is little better to lose friends on the same basis, as per Ps. 55:12-14a, which says this:
“If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship...”
This is the potential loss of the surrendered life: loss of family and friends, and even complete isolation. But this loss is not all it seems. There is much to be gained through perseverance in the faith and loyalty to the truth; and no loss can compare to it. But this is what we gamble: that we will lose everything we have and everyone we know when we enter a life of complete surrender to God. Nonetheless, I am totally convinced that the benefits gained when we surrender are infinitely greater than any cost we might pay to cross this Rubicon. (When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, it was to declare himself and to claim power.) Why do we GAIN when we surrender? Because on the other side of this river is the Promised Land and endless power. For us, we will not be surrendering to a hostile enemy, but to the Almighty God, who guarantees that He will protect us and bless us in every way.
Becoming Like Little Children. It is ironic that—the more mature we get—the more childlike our faith becomes. Maturity does not produce giants with great muscles, but helpless children with great faith. In Matt. 18:1-3, Jesus addressed this paradox, as follows:
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child and had him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’.”
The kingdom of heaven is an internal place, as per Luke 17:21, where Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Without question, there are times in the Bible when the kingdom of God has millennial or celestial connections, but it can also be the place and process of Christian living, both internally and externally, as it is here.
The “kingdom of heaven” that Jesus had in mind when he said in Matthew, “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”, is a place of spirituality and divine operation. This kingdom is the sphere within which growth and divine production take place. Internally, this is a place of fellowship and wisdom. Outside of this, there is a “place” called the “kingdom of heaven”, where we represent God before angels and the world. The internal condition must be in good repair before the external manifestation can be seen. Ideally, our internal condition will become one of surrender, with the result that we experience the “fullness of God”, so we can show “the light of Christ”.
Our main point, however, is not now important it is that we live properly “in the kingdom”, but that we must become “like little children” before any good thing can happen. A child does not have the strength to do much, and must depend on others to accomplish complex or difficult tasks. The irony is that we become more “productive” as we become more “helpless”, more childlike. Why? Because we stop analyzing and reasoning and machinating...and just TRUST! Paul understood that he had to remove himself and his great education and eloquence to preach a simple message of faith that all could understand, a message delivered through the power of the Spirit and not through human competence or sophistication. Here is what he said:
“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Cor. 2:2-5)
When we mature, we do not become stronger, but more faithful. Maturity leads, not to complexity, sagacity, and self-sufficiency, but to simplicity, and a kind of “foolishness” for God. We learn so much that we come to “know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified”. Our faith will become simpler and more unquestioning, more “childlike”, in the face of whatever odds the world gives us. When we surrender, we do not become forceful and dynamic; we become helpless and dependent...which calls up God’s infinite power to enable us to move and live in His grace and majesty.
We Are Nothing. We are reminded that we are “nothing” before God. This is not only accurate; it is also appropriate. Andrew Murray summarized our true condition, as follows:
“Apart from Me—you nothing. Lord, I gladly accept the arrangement: I nothing—Thou all. My nothingness is my highest blessing, because Thou art the Vine, that givest and workest all. So be it, Lord! I, nothing, ever waiting on Thy fullness. Lord, reveal to me the glory of this blessed life.”
Growth leads to nothingness. This sounds a little like “reverse growth” (Benjamin Button comes to mind). But the more childlike our faith, the more single-pointed and uncluttered our trust, the more God will become everything within us, as we become nothing. This is when the fullness of God replaces the emptiness of our soul. This is the time when we no longer puff ourselves up as our own reason for living...and a time when each step down from our “self” is a step up toward God.
We Will Fail, but We Must Grow. So, you get it now, and you want to surrender, to reach this place of ultimate blessing and output. And maybe you’ve tried to surrender, but have failed again and again. We must understand this: True surrender will come only after many false starts and aborted attempts, because we must reach a certain level of maturity before it happens for real. We will inevitably fail along the way, and if we admit our failures to God, He will convert them into growth, and we will move higher on the scale toward full surrender. We must persevere, through great set-backs and reversals, and never give up or be discouraged. We are on a road with many U-turn lanes, but we must never turn back or slow down.
The process is simple. Failure is inevitable, but success builds on failure. When one reaches a level of maturity that readiness for surrender is indicated, it is certain that many failed surrenders will litter the trail of his or her past. Abraham, like so many, failed miserably over and over. We cited earlier his desperation to have a progeny, and his misguided attempt to give himself one. Prior to this attempt (remember Hagar), he complained for years that God was not fulfilling His promise. Yet his times of moaning were interspersed with times of prayer and listening and faith. He was failing repeatedly, yet he was growing. He even, at one point, lost faith and became faithless and frightened. This was when he and Sarah were in Egypt, when the following happened: To protect his own life, he passed off his beautiful wife Sarah as his sister, so that he would be “favored” by Egyptian royalty, who would see Abraham as a potential kinsman and ally...someone to protect...not kill. So his faith was lacking on this occasion, and he failed. And yet he went on after this and kept growing.
Abraham Surrendered and So Must We. We will omit details of Abraham’s story of failures and successes, cited in Genesis 12 through 21, and come to the time of his surrender in Gen. 22, when he followed God’s instructions to offer up his son Isaac, even though Isaac was his only shot at continued progeny. When God called, Abraham stepped up after many years of failure and growth mixed, and said, “Here I am” (Gen. 22:1b). God gave him orders to sacrifice Isaac, and Abraham did not hesitate, but proceeded to trust God and follow His command. This act of faith demonstrated the great growth that had taken place. Of course, we know that God was “testing” Abraham, a test he passed, which qualified him to move at last into the sparse ranks of surrendered believers. His son Isaac was spared, and Abraham’s faith was vindicated. He became a surrendered man.
As evidence of Abraham’s continued faith after that time, we see him near the end of his life operating by faith and not by sight. He sent a servant to get a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s homeland and clan, rather than from the land of Canaan. He trusted God to identify the woman and bring her back to Isaac, sight unseen, as a willing participant in the wedding which was, at that point, only a “prayer”. The servant found Rebekah, she fulfilled all requirements and conditions, and agreed to return with the servant to the place where Isaac was. She declared unequivocally, “I will go” (Gen. 24:58b). She was readily accepted by Isaac, as she was beautiful and resourceful, so Abraham’s plan to perpetuate his progeny was successful. Why this time and not before? Because it was couched in Abraham’s faith and God’s will, unlike the event with Hagar much earlier.
The difference was surrender. In fact, everything that happened to Abraham after his surrender was characterized by blessing and prosperity. His servant said this about Abraham to Rebekah: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master” (Gen. 24:27a). Abraham was the non-stop recipient of grace and favorable attention from God. So Abraham failed, stepped up, failed, stepped up, and failed again and again. And continued to search for God and to grow. Finally, he stepped up and surrendered, and moved into the fullness of God.
We can do this, as well. We can say, “Here I am,” after many failures and reversals; we can step up, and we can surrender. Isaiah said something similar, when he surrendered. He asserted to the Lord, “Here am I. Send me!” How many times we must say this before we will be ready to be sent, we cannot say, but we know that a life of seeking and praying and learning and trusting and growing and serving will lead us at some point to the time when we can surrender to Him, and allow His Spirit not only to “help” us live, but to live through us. We are surrendering our life in exchange for His. Not a bad deal. Amen.
RSS Feed