Romans 6 says that our old man has been crucified with Christ (v. 6). This is a fact. Some Christians say, “I know that my old man is crucified, but I do not know why my old man is still living today.” The reason for this is that they have touched a doctrine; they have not touched the spiritual reality. We must realize that if a doctrine is in letters and not in the Holy Spirit, we will not receive any life even if we know all about it. If we merely touch the doctrines of salvation, justification, and sanctification, what we have are merely letters, and they are dead. A doctrine must be in the Holy Spirit before it can become a spiritual reality. When we touch the spiritual reality, we touch life, and it is living and fresh.
A person may seemingly deliver a very spiritual sermon. Yet what he says stifles others because he has not said the real thing itself. When a man touches reality, what he says will be real. It is reality that causes others to touch reality. Otherwise, even if there are extensive quotations and references, and even if all the logic is right, those who know reality will still say that it is not reality.
Another matter is the knowledge of Christ. Those who know Christ according to outward appearance do not really know Him. The only real knowledge is the knowledge in reality. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, men seemed to touch Him, but actually they did not touch Him. They seemed to know the Lord Jesus, but actually they did not know Him. Their knowledge was outward and superficial. Those who truly knew the Lord Jesus were the ones who touched the reality. Their knowledge was in the spirit. We must consider a little more from the Bible concerning this point because this is a very basic experience.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, men knew Him in two ways. One was knowledge according to appearance, and the other was inward knowledge. Let us first consider the meaning of knowing Him according to outward appearance.
The Jews knew the Lord Jesus according to His outward appearance. They held on to their presumptuous attitude from the very beginning. They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (John 6:42). They were very confident. Since they knew His father and mother, they thought that they knew Him as well. When the Lord Jesus came into His own country, they said, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3). They knew not only the Lord’s parents, but His brothers and sisters as well. But did they really know the Lord Jesus? No, they did not know Him. Although they knew the Lord’s parents, they did not know the Lord Jesus. Although they knew the Lord’s brothers and sisters, they did not know Him. They judged who the Lord was by His outward appearance, and they did not touch the reality.
Another group of people knew the Lord a little deeper than the Jews. But they still did not know Him in an inward way. When the Lord was in Caesarea Philippi, He asked the disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” They said, “Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matt. 16:13-14). This was much more advanced than the knowledge of the Jews. Some said that the Lord was Elijah. Elijah was a powerful prophet; he can be considered as a symbol of power. The Lord Jesus was indeed an Elijah; He was a most powerful prophet. Others said that the Lord was Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a weeping prophet; he can be considered as a symbol of emotion. The Lord Jesus was indeed a Jeremiah, one who was full of emotion. When He rebuked the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, He repeated eight times, “Woe to you” (23:13-16, 23, 25, 27, 29). When He saw some selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers sitting there, He poured out the money of the moneychangers and overturned their tables (John 2:15). He was truly an Elijah. When He was with the tax collectors and the sinners, He feasted with them (Matt. 9:10). When He sat down in the house of Simon, He allowed a woman to weep over His feet (Luke 7:37-38). When He saw Mary weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He sighed in His spirit, and wept also! (John 11:33, 35). He was truly a Jeremiah. But whether others called Him Elijah or Jeremiah, this knowledge was still outward knowledge.
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