If this matter is not clear to us, we may make many mistakes. We need to see the basic principle and the basic factor of God's economy. We need to realize that when we were baptized, we were all buried in our baptistry. Therefore, we should remain in the baptistry, resting, sleeping, and dying there. That death is not a quick death. In man's eyes dying is nearly instantaneous, but in God's eyes dying takes a long time. We were all buried with Christ in His tomb (Rom. 6:4). That was the beginning of our dying. The dying that began in Christ's tomb has continued for the past twenty centuries. Today we are still dying. Whoever is not dying will be a troublemaker in the church life. If all the members of the church are dying and sleeping in their tomb, there will be no problems in the church life. All the problems in the church come from those who are still living.

The church life keeps us continually in the baptistry. To remain in the baptistry to die is to bear the cross. To bear the cross is to deal with us, the person—the Chinese person, the Mexican person, the American person, the German person. The cross deals with our being; it deals with what we are. This is to deal with the soul. However, many believers, after being saved for ten or twenty years, have never allowed their being to be touched by the Lord. It is impossible for such believers to experience any growth in life. As long as we live and do not die, we cannot grow. To grow means to have the Lord added into us (Col. 2:19). Merely believing in the Lord is not adequate; we need to experience the Lord's adding Himself into us. However, it is difficult for the Lord to add Himself into us because we are too strong and too full. Every inch of space in our being is ours; it is not Christ's. Thus, there is very little opportunity for the Lord to add Himself into us, and consequently there is very little growth in life. Growth in life is always in resurrection, and resurrection cannot come without crucifixion. Crucifixion is the threshold of resurrection. Once we enter into crucifixion, we will reach resurrection. In resurrection we enjoy Christ living in us. In resurrection Christ lives not only in us but also with us, and not only with us but also one with us. He makes Himself one with us.

According to God's eternal economy we, the created creatures, should die so that God can come in to raise us up, that we may live with God and God may live one with us, that is, in a way that makes Him and us one. First Corinthians 6:17 says, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit." Such a spirit mentioned in this verse is the resurrection. One spirit means one resurrection, for in resurrection the Spirit of Christ equals the resurrection of Christ. In resurrection these two are one. Now all this has been transfused into our being; but we still insist on remaining in the old man. We still insist on living by our self in the old man. Thus, it is impossible for us to have a Christian life. On this earth it is difficult to see one person who is living a Christian life. We can see Christianity, but we cannot see a proper, genuine, Christian life. A proper and genuine Christian life is a life in which the created man dies so that God, the Creator, can come in to live with this one who has died, to live with him as one. This is altogether in resurrection. Here we can realize the Christian life. This is why in the four Gospels the Lord stressed the matter of bearing the cross very much. We need to bear our cross to remain in the death that has been allotted to us. In our human life, in our natural life, we are good for nothing (Rom. 7:18). Thus, God would not give us anything but would assign to us a death. We must remain there. If we remain in this death, we will be brought into resurrection, and in resurrection we will live God and He will live in us and with us; He will even live one with us. This is the Christian life.