As an opening word to this message, I would like to share something concerning the way that we study the Bible. We study the Word of life by the way of life. This is why we have called our Bible study a life-study of the Bible. Our life-study is different from Christianity theology. In Christianity there are many kinds of theology. All these kinds of theology in a certain sense help people, but in a greater sense retain them in that theology. For example, reformed theology in a sense helps people, but in a stronger sense it holds people back and keeps them far away from the divine revelation that is unveiled in God’s holy Word. The more we compare traditional theology with the teaching of the Bible, the more discrepancies we find.
According to traditional theology, the Son of God was born to be a man, but the Bible in 1 Timothy 3:16 says that God was manifested in the flesh. Here is a discrepancy. Was the incarnation the incarnation of the Son only or of the entire God, the complete God? Certainly it was the Son’s incarnation, but we should never forget that the Son is a part of the Divine Trinity. Colossians 2:9 tells us that Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. The Son’s incarnation was the incarnation of the Divine Trinity, including the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Now we have gone higher from the life-study of the Bible to what we call the crystallization-study. The life-study is on the first level. The crystallization-study is on the second level. Crystallization in our usage is based upon the essence. We want to see the organic “crystals” in the Bible.
Let us consider one of these crystals in the book of Romans. Romans comprises two sections. The first is judicial. The second is organic. Romans 1:17 says, “The righteous shall have life and live by faith.” “The righteous shall have” is judicial, unveiling the legal procedure of God’s salvation in saving sinners. “Shall have life and live by faith” is organic, unveiling the purpose of God’s salvation in carrying out God’s economy according to His desire. Christ’s redemption by His blood is the first part of God’s salvation. This is judicial to fulfill the righteous requirements according to God’s righteous law. But this is just the procedure not the purpose. The purpose is for man to have life and to live life. The church as the Body of Christ cannot be seen in the judicial part of God’s salvation. The Body of Christ is in the organic aspect. The judicial process and the organic purpose of God’s salvation are a big “crystal” in the book of Romans.
We need to be convinced that the genuine, pure revelation according to the holy Scripture is critically different from today’s Christianity theology. Today’s Christianity is deformed and degraded. I am burdened to share this because by listening to our prayers, I can sense the oldness. Our prayers have been formed, regulated, and kept mostly according to the old theology. We should not pray according to the old theology. Instead, we should pray according to what we have seen recently.
Song of Songs 2:14-15 portrays the lover’s deliverance from the self by the cross of Christ.
The attainment of the lover of Christ in her pursuing after Christ for satisfaction and rest results in a condition in which she overcares for her spiritual condition before Christ concerning whether or not she remains in the perfection she has attained. When I was young, after giving a good message, I could not forget about it. I would remain in it to enjoy it. Eventually, I would make it the standard for my upcoming messages. All the messages had to be as good as that one. This meant that I had attained to a certain condition and that I wanted to remain in it. When some of the sisters give a testimony in the meetings, they are looking for strong “amens” from the saints. One day a sister may give a wonderful word, and the saints may respond with strong “amens” and “hallelujahs.” That makes the sister feel that she has been exalted to the third heaven. She would never forget this experience and would make it her standard because that became a condition to which she had attained.
This boasting produces the self. The self is produced by self-boasting, self-exaltation, and self-glorification. The more we boast of ourselves, the stronger our self becomes. Based upon our boasting, we exalt ourselves. Then we glorify ourselves. We may not admit this. Instead we may say, “I gave all the glory to God.” But still we received the exaltation. Exaltation means glorification. To exalt God is to glorify Him. This shows that pride is the source of self.