Today I will speak about the principles of Christian living. The entire New Testament shows us that there are only two principles of Christian living; everything else is merely fruit that issues from these two principles. Patience, meekness, truthfulness, temperance, and whatever else are not the principles of Christian living. There are only two principles of Christian living: one is faith; the other is obedience. All good fruit issues from these two principles. In our fellowship with the Lord, we need faith and obedience every day.
In the New Testament, many verses speak about faith and obedience. I will only mention Romans 6:11 and 13. Verse 11 says “reckon.” This is faith. Verse 13 says “present.” This is obedience. Verse 11 speaks of faith in reference to what Christ has accomplished. Verse 13 speaks of presenting our members to God, which will preserve the ground we gain through faith. If we can balance the principles of faith and obedience, all spiritual experiences will open before us, and we will be able to enter into these experiences freely.
What are faith and obedience? All the objective truths are in Christ and have been accomplished. All the subjective truths are in the Holy Spirit and will be accomplished by Him. I do not know if all of you understand the difference between redemption and salvation. Redemption was accomplished more than nineteen hundred years ago, while salvation was accomplished on the day you believed in the Lord. Therefore, redemption is objective; it has been accomplished in Christ. Salvation is subjective; it is what the Holy Spirit accomplishes in us. The order of these two matters cannot be reversed. The Lord Jesus did not accomplish salvation nineteen hundred years ago, neither did the Spirit within me accomplish redemption today. One was accomplished long ago; the other is waiting to be accomplished. Suppose I have not yet believed in the Lord. When you preach the gospel to me, you can only say that redemption has been accomplished; you cannot say that salvation has been accomplished, because I have not yet been saved. Salvation is accomplished only after I have believed in the Lord, but redemption was accomplished long before I believed in the Lord. All the redemptive work is past. All the objective works are in the past; they are absolute and eternal. All subjective works are accomplished in the present and in the future. One has been accomplished; the other is waiting to be accomplished. On the one hand, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are accomplished. On the other hand, the death which the Holy Spirit puts within you is accomplished only when you believe. The resurrection of Christ took place more than nineteen hundred years ago, but it is manifested in you on the day you believe. Everything objective is in the past; it is absolute, complete, and nothing can be added. Everything subjective is accomplished in the present and in the future. Receiving something objective and receiving something subjective require two completely different principles. Since the objective has been accomplished, we should just believe. Since the subjective is accomplished now and in the future, we need to obey. If we pay attention only to one side, we will go astray by either becoming theoretical or ascetic. The objective death, resurrection, and ascension require our believing. However, it is not enough just to believe. Day by day we also need to obey. Crucifixion with Christ requires obedience; the power of resurrection requires obedience; and the place of ascension requires obedience.
Brothers and sisters, we need an outward Savior and an inward Savior. We need the Word incarnated in the flesh and the Word manifested in the Holy Spirit. We need the Christ of Golgotha and the Christ in the Spirit. The Savior who is without demands our faith, whereas the Holy Spirit who is within demands our obedience. Now I would like to speak about some experiences in order for us to understand faith and obedience.
What does believing mean? This is something that we cannot give up even for a single day. Objective truths need our believing. A man should not say that he needs to die, resurrect, and ascend. Rather, he should say that he has died, resurrected, and ascended. What is faith? Faith means that you have known, seen, and acknowledged. A man cannot believe in what he has not seen. Whether it is death, resurrection, or ascension, there must first be the revelation of the Holy Spirit before there can be the faith. A doctrine is a presentation of the facts, while a truth is the reality behind what is presented. Many times, many doctrines are not truths to us. When something is really there, it will not only be a doctrine, but a truth. The death of the Lord Jesus on our behalf is not only a doctrine, but also a truth. Theology is about doctrines. In other words, doctrines are theology. The objective truth requires that we believe. We must know that it is real. In Greek, truth means reality. The death of the Lord is a truth, which means that the death of the Lord is a reality. The resurrection of the Lord is a truth, which means that the resurrection of the Lord is a reality. The ascension of the Lord is a truth, which means that the ascension of the Lord is a reality. This is what we call the truth.
How do we know that these truths are real? Every time we receive a truth, it is not due to what was said by the preacher. The only One in the whole world who can bring men into the truth is the Holy Spirit. Preachers can only speak doctrines to men, but there must be the revelation of the Holy Spirit before men can have faith. Brothers and sisters, have we seen this? I am not speaking about our death, resurrection, and ascension with Christ. I am only speaking about the Lord’s death on our behalf. In the past we did not know sin, neither did we know God or Christ. Perhaps one day when we heard someone speak about the death of the Lord Jesus on our behalf, there was one word that touched our heart. As a result we said, “Oh, that is what this is!” Suddenly we “saw” sin, we “saw” God, we “saw” Christ, and we “saw” salvation. We saw that our sins were forgiven, and we had the boldness to say that our sins were forgiven. Someone might have asked us how we knew our sins were forgiven. Despite their question, we were very clear about it because we had seen.
What is the revelation of the Holy Spirit? It is the Holy Spirit removing the veil and showing you what lies behind a preacher’s speaking. You may have seen what is meant by forgiveness and regeneration. This seeing is most precious. When you saw that Christ Jesus died in such a way, you believed. You may go to the countryside and see an old friend and preach to him. He may nod his head, but soon forget what you preached. He lacks one necessary thing; he has not obtained the revelation. Those who are blind cannot believe. Those who have no revelation cannot have faith. You must pray that God will make him see his sin and see the Savior. You may have preached three or five doctrines to him. But when he sees, there is no need to preach to him anymore. Just as he needs to see Christ’s death, he also needs to see resurrection, ascension, and all the other truths.
Brothers, you may go to the countryside to preach the gospel to fifty people and tell them how man sinned, how the Lord died for man, and how faith brings in salvation. All fifty people may nod their heads. However, does this mean that all fifty are saved? Although they nod their heads, they walk away with no realization that lying and pride are sins. They have heard about sin but have not seen sin. They have heard about the Savior but have not seen the Savior. Thus, there is no possibility for them to believe. Every time we preach the gospel to someone, we must ask God to open their eyes so that they will weep at seeing their sin and receive the Lord when they see Him. After some time a theological professor may come and tell them that their sins are not really sins and that the Lord’s death was merely an act of self-sacrifice. However, they will not be moved if they have seen something. They believe because they have seen something.
Death is an objective truth. It demands our believing. All the other objective truths also demand our believing. We have paid considerable attention to preaching the Lord’s death. Nevertheless, it has not been effective. Something is wrong in the matter of faith, and this means something is wrong with the revelation. Once I preached about the truth of our crucifixion with the Lord. A brother said that it was good and that he would be victorious from then on because he now knew the way to victory. I said that after a few days it would not work because he had not yet seen. You may ask someone how they were saved, and they may say that they heard the teaching. However, this kind of salvation will not last for more than a few days. Mere understanding in the mind is not faith. When you read the Bible or hear in the meeting that you have died, resurrected, and ascended, you should not say, “I have examined myself and have not found any resurrection or ascension.” Neither should you say lightly, “I have died, resurrected, and ascended.” Instead, you should ask the Lord, “Make me see that I have died, resurrected, and ascended.” If you pray in this way, the Lord will usher you into the objective truth, that is, into Himself. You will see that in Christ, you are dead, resurrected, and ascended. Since He has died, you also have died; since He has resurrected, you also have resurrected; and since He has ascended, you also have ascended. In this way you will say, “Lord, I thank You. In You I have died, resurrected, and ascended.” You will say this because of faith. This faith is based on the facts behind the words.
Mr. Hudson Taylor was at one time continuously experiencing failure and weakness. Once he wrote to his sister about how his heart was very troubled because he felt that he was lacking sanctification, life, and power within. He thought that if he could only abide in Christ, everything would be fine. His sister prayed for him. For a few months he prayed, struggled, fasted, made resolutions, read the Bible, and used more time for quiet meditation. However, nothing was effective. He wished he could abide in Christ forever, but it seemed that after dwelling in Him for a short while, he came out again. He said, “If I only knew I could abide in Christ, then everything would be well; but I could not.” From his diary we read the following story: one day he was praying again. He thought that if he could abide in Christ and could draw His juice and receive His nourishment and supply, he would have the power to overcome sin. He prayed again and read the Bible again. Then he came to John 15:5, which says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” He said, “I am the most foolish man in the whole world. I have been praying to be a branch; I wanted to abide in Christ. However, the Lord has said that I already am a branch and abiding in Him.” O brothers, if we realize this, we will say, “Hallelujah!” We do not need to enter anything, because we are already in. We do not need to strive to be a branch, nor do we become a branch only after we have overcome sin. We are already a branch, and we are abiding in Him. The purpose of John 15:5 is to tell us that we are abiding in Him and that we should not leave this abiding. We are a branch. All the juice, nourishment, and love are ours. Mr. Taylor said that since he saw this, he became a new Hudson Taylor. This was a great turning point in his life.
Believing is not changing God’s word into reality. It is believing that God’s word is reality. During last year’s special conference, I mentioned that the grace of God comprises three things: the promise, the fact, and the covenant. The promise is something which will be accomplished. The fact is something which has been accomplished. All the objective truths have been accomplished and are real. We only need to say to God, “Your Word says I have died, resurrected, and ascended. Therefore, I also say that I have died, resurrected, and ascended.” Indeed, this is the way we can stand firm. God has spoken, and it is so.
Mr. ______ was a famous speaker in the Keswick Conventions. The turning point of his life was due to one incident. Once he chose 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you,” to be the topic of his message. After he had prepared the outline, he knelt down to pray, “I respectfully present the draft of this message before You. O God! I pray for Your blessings.” After the prayer he realized that he could not use this message. “I was going to preach to the people that the grace of God is sufficient for us. But if anyone would ask me whether the grace of God is sufficient for me, I would definitely have to say no because I still have my temper and pride. If the grace of God is not sufficient for me, how can I say to people that it is sufficient for them? I cannot say that.” It was Saturday, there was no time to prepare for anything else, and he did not have the choice not to preach. Confronted with this difficult situation, he knelt down and prayed again, “O God! Today let Your grace be sufficient for me. May this become my own experience. I have been proud, jealous, lustful, and filled with unclean thoughts. Make me overcome all these if Your grace is truly sufficient for me.” He prayed the whole afternoon, but it seemed the more he prayed, the further God was away from him. Later he became tired and walked from his desk to the side of the fireplace for a rest. There on the wall by the fireplace hung a verse saying, “My grace IS sufficient for you.” Immediately he became clear that the grace of God is not “going to be sufficient for me,” nor “awaiting to be sufficient for me,” but rather it “is sufficient for me.” He did not need to ask God to give him sufficient grace; God’s grace was sufficient for him. He jumped to his feet and said, “The grace of God is sufficient for me. Why do I have to pray?” This is faith, and this is also a revelation. He said, “Thank God, for many years I always anticipated sufficient grace from God. On that day God revealed to me that His grace is sufficient. I came to a great turning point in my life.” The next day he was exceptionally powerful. Later in the Keswick Convention, he gave many messages and helped many people. Someone asked him how he became the way he was. He answered that he had seen the sufficiency.
There are many people who pray for death with Christ, but God says that in Christ we are dead. There are many who pray for resurrection and ascension, but God says that in Christ we are resurrected and ascended. There are many who pray to overcome the world, but the Word of God says that the victory which has overcome the world is our faith (1 John 5:4). Everything is in Christ. We must see this in order to believe. Suppose there is a brother or a sister here who has seen the objective truth. They may not have seen many things, but as long as they see one verse and truly believe in it, they can walk in the path before them. Many people make blind requests to God. Have you heard of sinners asking the Lord to die for them? Once when I was preaching the gospel, I heard someone pray in this way: “O Lord! I am a sinner. I ask that You die on my behalf.” This prayer is wrong. There are many people who pray for the Lord to die for them or that they would die together with the Lord. This is utterly a joke. The mind is really useless. We must believe in God’s Word more than our circumstances, feelings, trials, sins, lusts, and unclean thoughts. If we can do this, we definitely will be different. It is not enough that we listen. We must have the faith. May we see that God has accomplished everything in Christ.
However, we have to know that merely believing like this is not enough. The one thing that has to follow is obedience. On the one hand, we must believe. On the other hand, we must obey. Our self-will must be subdued, and we must present every member to God. Brothers and sisters, after we have a living faith, day by day we have to learn to obey God. Whenever God touches us on a certain point, and instead we want God to go along with us, we are not obeying God. Whenever our will is not subdued, we are unable to believe God. A sinner who does not repent cannot believe. Likewise, a believer who willfully does not obey cannot believe.
Some have many things stored in their houses. Some are hesitant to consecrate their children. Some do not have a right attitude towards their husbands. Some do not exercise proper stewardship of their money. Have you consecrated yourself to God? Are you willing to go wherever God sends you? If God wants you to do the most trivial job, are you willing to do it? Brothers and sisters, believing alone cannot keep you walking on the path ahead. Perhaps God wants you to obey immediately after you have believed, or He may wait a little while before He asks you to obey. With some people the Lord wants them to obey Him first, and then He gives them the faith. With other people God first gives them the faith, and then He demands obedience. With still others God gives them faith and at the same time demands their obedience.
I do not know what the Lord requires from each one of us. But I know that there is a great lack if we only have one of these two aspects. Anyone who has not presented his body to God and thinks that believing alone is sufficient is like an unturned cake. May we see that we must obey God. We must pass this step in a specific way. This is a hurdle. In order to be God’s stewards, we must have a specific starting point. There must be a point at which we say to God, “From today on, I offer myself to You.” There must be a specific dealing this way. There must be a time when we say to God, “From now on I offer You my time, my mind, my money, my family, and my all.” God touches everyone in a specific way. With some, God touches them on one point; with others, God touches them on another point. Many times God’s demand appears to be harsh and severe. But whatever God demands of us, we must obey. God wants us to prove that we will obey Him. Nothing is more precious to Him than Isaac. It is not enough just to say verbally, “I offer Isaac as a sacrifice.” We must present Isaac as an offering in reality. If we do this, we will see the lamb God has prepared. God is not satisfied until we have fully obeyed. We must experience specific dealings with the Lord.
We have an American friend who was once in China. His faith is truly great. The way the Lord led him to advance spiritually was as follows: He had a master’s degree, but he continued working in the university toward a doctorate of philosophy. He was a pastor and studying philosophy at the same time. He felt something wrong with his spiritual life, and he prayed to God, “I have a great deal of unbelief on many occasions. I cannot overcome some sins, and I do not have the power in the work.” For two weeks he specifically prayed for God to fill him with the Holy Spirit. He wanted to acquire the victorious life and power spoken of in the Bible. God told him then, “Do you really want this? If you really do, two months from now you should not take the examination for the doctorate of philosophy. I have no use for a doctorate of philosophy.” He felt that this was rather difficult. His doctorate of philosophy was something he definitely wanted. It would indeed be a pity if he did not go for the examination. He knelt down to pray and bargain with the Lord. He asked why He would not let him be a doctor of philosophy and a pastor as well. But God never bargains with man. Once God has made a demand, that is the demand. What God has said and commanded cannot be changed. During those two months, he was in considerable turmoil. When the last Saturday came, he was in a real battle. Should he choose the doctorate of philosophy, or should he choose the filling of the Holy Spirit? Is it better to have a doctorate of philosophy, or have a victorious life? If others can earn a doctorate of philosophy and at the same time be used by God, why could he not do the same? He continuously struggled and bargained with the Lord to no avail. A doctorate of philosophy was desirable; the filling of the Holy Spirit was also desirable. However, God would not yield. If he wanted a doctorate of philosophy, he could not live a spiritual life. If he wanted a spiritual life, he could not have his doctorate of philosophy. In the end, he said in tears, “I obey. Although I have studied philosophy for over two years, and for the past thirty some years since my childhood, I have looked forward to a doctorate in philosophy, I have to give up this pursuit for the sake of obeying God.” He wrote a letter to notify the school that he was not going to take the examination on Monday. Thus, he forsook his doctorate of philosophy degree forever. The next day he did not have a message on the pulpit because he was very tired from the previous night. So he simply related to the congregation the story of his obedience to the Lord. On that day, three-fourths of the people in the congregation shed tears and were revived. He himself was also very empowered. He said that had he foreseen this result, he would have obeyed God’s leading much sooner.
No one used by the Lord can ever avoid this kind of crisis. If we wish to avoid this kind of crisis, we cannot expect to experience progress in the spiritual life. We must believe and also obey. Not only do we need to obey once, but we must obey continuously. Otherwise, we will come short and be unbalanced. Obedience without faith is powerless. Faith without obedience is idealistic. It is very painful to be obedient without faith. Please remember the scriptural principles for our living: believing and obeying. We cannot believe without obeying or obey without believing. To believe and yet not obey is false belief. To obey and yet not believe is asceticism. Today in the Lord’s church, men either err in faith or in obedience. Every failure is the result of a shortage in one of the two or in both. There is either faith without obedience or obedience without faith, or there is neither faith nor obedience.
If we are willing to believe and obey, we will experience a long-lasting spring and an eternal sunshine. The path of the righteous is like the dawning light growing brighter and brighter until the high noon. May God bless us and make us perfect men before Him, that is, may we be men who will believe and obey.