Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new.” Although we are all familiar with this verse, have we become new? If we are not new, it is because we have not given ourselves to the Lord or taken the Lord as our person. When we give ourselves to the Lord and take Him as our person, old things pass away and all things will become new.
Old things are passing away and all things are becoming new in a person who has given himself to the Lord and who lets the Lord be the person in him. This contrast between old and new can be seen in Paul’s repeating of as and yet in 2 Corinthians 6. In verses 8 through 10 he uses the phrase as...and yet seven times. When we give ourselves to the Lord and let Him be the person in us, we are persons who are “as...and yet.” A brother may be as a native of Foochow, yet he is really Christ. Another brother may be as an aged man from Shangtung, yet he is really Christ. Still another brother may be as a respectable person from Shansi, yet he is really Christ. Similarly, we may be as spicy as a Hunan chili pepper and yet really be Christ. We may appear as this and yet be something else because we are different in our person. Consequently, with us there is both glory and dishonor, both evil report and good report (v. 8). This is the issue of giving ourselves completely to the Lord and taking Christ as our inner man, our person.
Many years ago I visited a church in a village and met an old sister. She could not read or even count. However, when I spoke to her about the Lord, she was as keen as a person with a Ph.D. degree. Seemingly she was illiterate, but actually she had a Ph.D. in matters related to the heavenly kingdom. Outwardly she was a country woman, but inwardly she was Christ. It is regrettable that not all believers are like this. Some who are illiterate outwardly are also “illiterate” in the things of Christ inwardly. This is because they have not taken the Lord as their person, and they have not given themselves to the Lord.
Genuine change does not come from outward improvement; rather, it is the result of giving ourselves to the Lord and taking Christ as our person. If we practice this, our outer man will not be our person. Instead, our outer man will be one who is “as...and yet.” Our real person will be Christ, who is in us as our person. We should be “as...and yet.” Outwardly Paul was Paul of Tarsus, but inwardly his person was the heavenly Christ. Outwardly he seemed to be a person whose bodily presence was weak, but inwardly his person was really the crucified, resurrected, and glorified Christ. Paul was “as...and yet.” This is the issue of giving ourselves to the Lord and of taking Him as our person.
We all must go to the Lord and deal with Him concerning the matter of consecration. We should ask ourselves how much we have given ourselves to the Lord. Are we absolute in our consecration? It is difficult to know whether we are truly absolute, but if we feel that we are not absolute in a certain matter, we must deal with it. If we have any doubts about our consecration, we must deal with the Lord concerning it.
If we have a sense that we are holding back a certain matter from the Lord, we should deal with it immediately, because it will become a problem in our spiritual journey if we do not deal with it. This problem may not manifest itself for five years. It is possible for ten, fifteen, twenty, or even twenty-five years to pass before it is manifested. I am not making a groundless statement. I have seen this recently in a certain brother. Even though the source of his problem was present thirty years ago, he encountered an environment that exposed the problem only recently.
In principle, we follow the Lord in the matter of our consecration, just as Abraham followed the Lord. In the beginning he was not absolute. When he came out of Ur of the Chaldeans, he was not absolute. Therefore, the Lord had to deal with Abraham’s father when they arrived at Haran (Gen. 11:31-32). When he went down to Egypt, he had another dealing related to his wife (12:9-20). Later, the Lord had to separate him from his nephew, Lot, because he had not dealt clearly with Lot (13:5-11). All these dealings were related to the matter of Abraham’s consecration. Even when the Lord gave him a son who was born according to grace, Abraham was tested by the Lord when he was asked to consecrate his son to Him (22:1-19). Only at this time was Abraham’s consecration complete.
We may feel that our consecration to the Lord is complete, but it is not. We may feel that we have given everything to Him but have no realization that we are still attached to a “father,” a “wife,” and a “nephew.” We may not be aware of these attachments, but the Lord is. When we follow the Lord, everything that we reserve for ourselves will be manifested sooner or later and become a source of problems to us.
If Abraham had taken care of the matters related to his father, his wife, and his nephew when he came out of Ur, he would not have encountered so many problems. These problems arose along the way only because he had not dealt with these matters clearly when he departed from Ur. Similarly, we may have consecrated ourselves to the Lord, but our consecration contains countless reservations. We may not even know what we have reserved. Eventually, however, the matters concerning our “father,” our “wife,” and our “nephew” will surface.
It is good that Abraham let the Lord win. When we encounter a problem with our consecration, we should never defeat the Lord. It is very easy for us to defeat the Lord in relation to our consecration. If we defeat Him, we will suffer loss. Whenever we encounter a problem related to our consecration, we should say, “Lord, defeat me. Have mercy on me and never let me go.” May He have mercy on all of us.