Most Christians only put to death the negative aspects of their natural life. They treasure the good aspects and seek to preserve them. Those of every nationality treasure their own national characteristics and philosophy. The Chinese may pride themselves on their philosophical ethics, whereas Americans may boast of their frankness and openness. Hardly any Christians are willing to drop their national characteristics in order to live out the divine life. Although we may be willing to put so many other things to death, we hold these national characteristics as a priceless treasure. If we do not treasure these characteristics consciously, we do so subconsciously. As a result, a basic element of our natural life is not put to death. This element then becomes a huge rock hindering the release of the power of Christ’s resurrection from within us.
Treasuring part of our natural life creates a serious problem with respect to the experience of Christ. We are not willing for a certain part of our being to be put to death and conformed to the death of Christ. Thus, this part of our natural life remains as a frustration to the release of the divine life. This is the reason that, after years of seeking the Lord and experiencing Him, we may reach a place where we find ourselves stopped and unable to go on. In the early stages of our Christian life, we may have grown rather quickly. But because the “rock” of our national characteristics remains within us, our growth in life is now held back. Many of us can testify that this is precisely our situation.
Some saints have been stopped by this “rock” for a long time. Year after year has passed, but they remain the same. They have not made any further spiritual progress. The reason for this shortage is that they have not put to death their national characteristics and counted them as refuse. These saints may be willing to count everything else as refuse, but not their national characteristics. Some may proclaim that they count all things as refuse, but at least this one matter remains, hidden within them. May the Lord shine on us and show us our lack and the reason for it!
The reason for our lack of progress is that we have not been conformed to Christ’s death in a full way. Years ago, you may have had much more conformity to Christ’s death than today. Because you have not progressed in being conformed to the death of Christ, your growth in life has been held back, and your experience of the power of Christ’s resurrection has been severely limited. This hinders you from further and higher experiences of Christ. Thus, instead of speaking of up-to-date experiences, you try to live on your past experiences and speak of them again and again.
In verse 11 Paul goes on to say, “If by any means I may attain to the out-resurrection from among the dead.” To attain means to arrive at. This requires us to run triumphantly the race for the prize (1 Cor. 9:24-26; 2 Tim. 4:7-8).
The out-resurrection from among the dead denotes the outstanding resurrection, the extra-resurrection, which will be a prize to the overcoming saints. All believers who are dead in Christ will participate in the resurrection from among the dead at the Lord’s coming back (1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52). But the overcoming saints will enjoy an extra, outstanding portion of that resurrection. This is the “better resurrection” mentioned in Hebrews 11:35. The better resurrection is not only “the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:4-6), “the resurrection of life” (John 5:28-29), but also the out-resurrection, the resurrection in which the Lord’s overcomers will receive the reward of the kingdom, which the apostle Paul sought after.
To arrive at the out-resurrection means that our entire being has been gradually and continually resurrected. God first resurrected our deadened spirit (Eph. 2:5-6). Then from our spirit He proceeds to resurrect our soul (Rom. 8:6) and our mortal body (Rom. 8:11), until our entire being— spirit, soul, and body—is fully resurrected out of our old being by His life and with His life. This is a process in life through which we must pass and a race for us to run until we arrive at the out-resurrection as the prize. Hence, the out-resurrection should be the goal and destination of our Christian life. We can only reach this goal by being conformed to the death of Christ, by living a crucified life. In the death of Christ we are processed in resurrection from the old creation to the new.