When a Christian lives a normal life before God, he will display certain characteristics that will distinguish him from other people. Titus 2:14 says that God redeemed us from all lawlessness and purified to Himself a particular, or peculiar, people. This means that if a person who has received God’s salvation lives in such a salvation to be a normal Christian, his living will appear peculiar to others. Since he does not follow the current of the world as others do, he is peculiar before men. This is a characteristic of a Christian. Christians are different from the worldly people. Those who are in religion are nearly the same as the worldly people, but Christians are not. As those who have received God’s salvation, Christians in their normal living are considered peculiar by the world. Therefore, Christians are a peculiar people. This is their manifestation before men.
On the other hand, a Christian is contradictory within himself. If a Christian lives before God, not departing from the right track, he is seen as peculiar before men. Yet he is also contradictory within himself. The more a person loves the Lord, the more he looks peculiar before men and experiences contradictions within himself. This means that something inside of him disapproves of whatever he does, speaks, and expresses on the outside. His inward being is in opposition, in conflict, and in contradiction with his outward being. Whenever a Christian is neither peculiar without nor contradictory within, then something is wrong with him. Since everything we are speaking here is all within the sphere of Christian living, I would like to present these two aspects as two principles which are before all of us, hoping that we would take hold of them and always use them to measure ourselves. Whenever we lose our outward characteristic of being peculiar and our inward characteristic of being contradictory, we can be sure that we have become degraded. If a Christian is normal before God, he is definitely peculiar before men and contradictory within himself. Being peculiar and being contradictory are the two prerequisites of a person who loves the Lord.
In addition, we have to look at another principle. What should be the starting point of the Christian walk before God? In other words, when a Christian does a certain thing, from where does it originate? For example, someone may ask me-a Christian-to do a certain thing for him. Naturally, I would consider whether this thing is beneficial to him. If it is beneficial, I will do it. This is doing things out of my thinking. If I think it is all right, I will do it; otherwise, I will not do it. I do this thing with my thinking and my insight as the starting point. Another example is when a non-Christian receives an invitation to a banquet, and he begins to consider whether he should go. Of course, such consideration or thinking becomes the starting point of his decision. Normal Christians, however, should conduct themselves not according to their own thinking or insight but according to the sense in their innermost part.
Why should our innermost part be the starting point of our Christian walk? We have to realize that our consideration and our discernment are not trustworthy. Even if they are correct, they may still not be pleasing to God, because the starting point is wrong. As Christians, we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us (Rom. 8:11), and we also have God in us (Phil. 2:13; Heb. 13:20-21). This God who is in us lives in our innermost part, which is our spirit. We cannot easily analyze the spirit, but we can sense it. Our innermost feeling is the sense in our spirit. Christ lives in our innermost part, that is, in our spirit (Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor. 13:3, 5). Therefore, to be a normal Christian is to be a Christian according to the sense in our spirit. If we want to be those who follow Christ, we have to follow the sense in our innermost part because that is where Christ dwells.
I hope that we would not treat this matter lightly. In particular, the newly saved ones should pay much attention to it. Many Christians have a great lack in their spiritual experience because they do not understand this matter. Religions always focus on teaching people outwardly; their starting point is from without. But God’s salvation is not like that. After we have received God’s salvation, this salvation abides in us and requires us to have our starting point from within. From that time onward, we should no longer walk merely according to our own discernment and perception. Rather, we must walk according to the sense in our deepest part, that is, the sense in our spirit, because Christ lives in our spirit, our innermost part.
Let me illustrate. Suppose one day as we are praying and pursuing the Lord, we sense in our innermost part that we should no longer wear the clothing that we are wearing. It is not a matter of whether we like or dislike this clothing; rather, it is a matter of having a sense of disapproval while we are praying. We feel uncomfortable if we continue to wear this clothing. Perhaps we would seek out fellowship and ask a certain brother regarding this matter. Perhaps that brother would gently say, “This clothing looks fine. I do not know why you should not wear it,” yet we still feel uncomfortable despite what he says. What should we do then? Should we follow his outward advice or should we act according to our inward sense? Regardless of anything else, a normal Christian must take his inner sense as the starting point of his daily walk.
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