If we want Christ’s life to save us, we must allow Him to live in us. Yes, we have Christ as life within us, but our mind, emotion, and will are very strong. Most of the time, we do not give Christ the liberty to live in us. This is why we need to lay ourselves on the altar, pray that the Lord will keep us open to Him, and allow Him to deal with the various parts of our being. Then He will have the opportunity to live in us.
In Galatians 2:20 Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ.” The “I” spoken of in this verse is in our mind, emotion, and will. The problems in married life and in the church life are caused by this “I.” We may know the doctrine that the “I” has been crucified with Christ and may proclaim this boldly, but we may still remain strong in our mind, emotion, and will. We need to be careful whenever our mind is strong, whenever our emotion is stirred up, and whenever our will is set. As long as we allow the “I” to prevail, the Lord Jesus is dethroned within us and has no opportunity to live in us. If we dethrone the Lord Jesus in this way, the matter of being saved in His life will merely be a doctrine to us. He will not be the one living in us; rather, the “I” will continue to live.
We have pointed out that married life exposes us. When there are difficulties, the husband tends to blame the wife, the wife tends to blame the husband, and both secretly tend to blame the Lord. But if we did not have the very wife or husband we have, we would not be fully exposed. When some have difficulties in their married life, they think of getting a divorce. Likewise, when some find that the church is not perfect, they consider getting a “divorce” from the church life. Many dream of an ideal church life. But after their church life “honeymoon” comes to an end, they are disappointed. When they face problems in the church, they begin to doubt whether the church really is the church.
The Lord’s ordination is never wrong. All marriages are divinely ordained for the fulfillment of His purpose. Whenever we are exposed in our married life, we should thank the Lord. This exposing is for the Lord’s saving. The Lord’s intention is to expose us in order to save us in His life from our natural being. When we are exposed, the Lord has the opportunity to live in us. Both in the married life and in the church life we are exposed so that the Lord may live in us. Therefore, do not blame your husband or wife, and do not blame the church. Furthermore, do not blame the Lord. Instead, you should say, “Lord, how I thank You for this situation. I love the church, not because it is perfect, but because it exposes me. Lord, lay me on the altar and deal with my mind, emotion, and will so that You can live in me.”
As the Lord lives in us, He saves us. His saving life works only as He has the opportunity to live in us. If He is to live within us, we need to present ourselves to Him. Such a consecration involves the practical dealing with our mind, emotion, and will.
We all need to be saved in the life of Christ. For this, there is the need of a long process of exposure, especially in the matter of our individualism. In order to be built up together, we need to be exposed with respect to our natural mind, emotion, and will. Once we have been exposed, we shall surrender our inner being to the Lord, and He will be free to live within us. Then the divine life will save us from being individualistic. As we are saved in His life, we become the Body and members one of another. May the Lord have mercy upon us that we may see our need to be saved in His life from individualism for the building up of the Body.