As we will see when we come to the end of Song of Songs, the lover of Christ eventually sighs because she is still in the old creation. She longs to be fully like Christ, who has absolutely nothing to do with anything of the old creation. She has been remade by God to be a new creation, yet according to God's economy, God has allowed a part of the old creation to remain with her.

We may have some success in pursuing after Christ and may attain a certain amount of satisfaction. But then we may ask, "How can I maintain this? How can I keep myself in this condition?" At this point the self comes in.

Self comes in under the false cloak of introspection. Actually, self is constituted with introspection. Introspection is to examine yourself by looking into yourself. The Bible teaches us to always look away unto Jesus (Heb. 12:2). We should not look at ourselves. Our self is not worthy to look at. Nevertheless, every spiritual person who reaches a situation of satisfaction in Christ eventually falls into introspection, not only examining the self but also analyzing it. When I was a young believer, I looked at myself quite often. I did not like to do anything that would not glorify the Lord. But actually I was not caring for the Lord; I was caring for myself and for what others thought of me. Looking into ourselves in this way is the greatest weakness in the spiritual life and the greatest enemy.

In helping others who are seeking to be spiritual, we may encourage them to pray and to confess their shortcomings to the Lord. Such prayer and confession are normal. However, in some cases we should encourage others to cease from confessing and simply believe that the blood of Jesus cleanses them and that God is faithful and righteous to forgive them (1 John 1:7, 9), reminding them that God is faithful to honor Christ's redemption.

When we are introspective, we may confess the same matter again and again, thinking that the more we confess, the more forgiveness we will receive. This kind of confession comes from the satanic self; it is the result of analyzing ourselves in spiritual things. Only the cross of Christ can deliver us from such a situation caused by introspection. Therefore, we need to be called to be delivered from the self through our oneness with the cross. When we become one with the cross, hiding ourselves in the clefts of the rock and in the covert of the precipice, we will be delivered from the self.