In Romans Paul uses the matters of eating and regarding a certain day as a test to see whether we have given ourselves to the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 5 he uses the matter of being beside ourselves or being sober-minded as another test. If we say that we have given ourselves to the Lord, can we be beside ourselves if that is what the Lord is doing? In verse 13 Paul says, “Whether we were beside ourselves, it was to God; or whether we are sober-minded, it is for you.” If we have given ourselves to Him, when He is beside Himself, we will be beside ourselves. The expression beside ourselves means that we are “mad, crazy.” If Christ is crazy in us, will we be crazy as well?
When Sister Peace Wang was a young woman, she was sent to study in Hangchow. While she was studying in a middle school, she was saved. She strongly believed in Jesus, but when her belief in a “foreign religion” became known, it brought great shame to her father who was the mayor in Chia-hsing County, Chekiang Province. Sister Wang not only believed in a “foreign religion”; she was beside herself for the Lord, even preaching the gospel in the streets. Her father said to her, “You have brought me great shame! I am the mayor here. How can you preach a foreign religion on the street?” She told her father, “I will preach Jesus for the rest of my life. I will preach Jesus my whole life.” At that time she also was engaged to be married, but she broke off the engagement. When her parents asked her what she wanted to do, she said, “I want only Jesus, and I want only to preach Jesus.” Nothing that her parents could say changed her mind, and one day, she announced, “I am going now to preach Jesus.” When her parents could not prevail upon her to stay, they let her go. As she was leaving, they called her name from their front door, but she would not turn back. This is the extent to which she was beside herself.
We may say that we have given ourselves to the Lord, but have we really given ourselves to the Lord? When we encounter many different matters, we quickly discover that only one out of a hundred have been given over to the Lord; the remaining ninety-nine matters are still in our hands. We may say that we have consecrated ourselves, but we still keep something for ourselves. If something is not important to us, we may have consecrated it to the Lord. However, in other matters of more importance we may not have consecrated them to the Lord at all. This is the reason that problems arise in the practical matters that we encounter.
All those who are working with young people and students must have a thorough dealing before the Lord. Only those who are serious can do a serious work. If we have not consecrated ourselves thoroughly, if we have not been gained by the Lord, if we have not been touched by the Lord with regard to a single practical matter, how can we lead others to do these things? It is no wonder that our work is not solid.
All our problems are related to the matter of consecration. Consequently, the extent to which we enjoy the Lord’s person depends upon how much we have given ourselves to Him. Paul says that the Lord’s love constrains us so that we might no longer live to ourselves (vv. 14-15). If the Lord is beside Himself in us, we should be beside ourselves. If He is sober-minded in us, we should be sober-minded. There is no rule, no law, and no ordinance related to being beside ourselves and being sober-minded.
The Lord must have the ground in us in order to be our person. He is the Lord who is beside Himself, and He is the Lord who is sober-minded. Our Lord Jesus is not predictable, because He is a living person. He can act one way in us one day and another way in us the next day. He is impossible to imitate. When the Lord is beside Himself, He can be beside Himself to the uttermost. When He is solemn, He can be extremely solemn. He is not predictable, and He does not have any set behavior. When we give ourselves to Him in a full way, He will be lived out of us more fully, but if we give only a little of ourselves to Him, He will be lived out of us only to a small degree. The extent to which He is lived out from us depends entirely upon the extent to which we give ourselves to Him.
Since Christ died for us, Paul says that we who live may no longer live to ourselves but to Him who died for us and has been raised (v. 15). This means that we should let Him live in us. In verse 16 Paul says, “So then we, from now on, know no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him so no longer.” When a person gives himself completely to the Lord, allowing Him to be the person in him and to live in him, he becomes a different person, a person whom we can no longer know according to the flesh. If our knowing of a person who no longer lives to himself is only according to his outward appearance, we will miss the fact that another person, Christ, is living in him.
For example, we may know a brother who is very cautious and very narrow. However, after meeting with the saints and enjoying the Lord, he may come to the realization that Christ must be his person and, consequently, gives himself completely to the Lord. For him this is a revolutionary change, because he is no longer living, but Christ is living in Him. Although he was cautious and narrow, the Lord Jesus in him is tolerant and broad. If we continue to know this brother based on our former appraisal of him, we will not truly know him. Once he takes Christ as his person by giving himself fully to the Lord, he is no longer the same, and his outward appearance is no longer an accurate reflection of his person. He is a different person because he no longer lives according to his old man and instead takes Christ as his person.