However, the divine thought of the Bible is greatly different from human philosophy. The way of deliverance revealed by the Bible is not suffering, but death. It is not suffering which delivers man, but death. Romans 6:7 says, “For he who has died is justified from sin.” Although suffering can restrain man and keep him from sin, it can deliver him only to a certain extent. Moreover, those who suffer are not necessarily free from sin; sometimes they may sin even more. Therefore, suffering cannot actually deliver man. What saves and delivers man from sin is death. This is God’s way of salvation. This way is not through suffering, but through death.
Catholicism has subtly changed the meaning of the cross. There is a book among the Catholics called The Imitation of Christ which teaches people to bear the cross and to apply the suffering of the cross as an element of asceticism. Later, those from the inner life group had similar thoughts. Madame Guyon once said that the cross is something to be loved, and that she desired to embrace and kiss the cross. Even in the early years I had felt that this kind of speaking could lead to improper impressions. Therefore, forty years ago I wrote a hymn especially to clear up the confusion caused by Catholicism. The hymn (Hymns, #622) says:
If we take up the cross, will we but suffer pain?
Nay, if we bear the cross, be sure that we will die!
The meaning of the cross is that we may be slain;
The cross experienced the self will crucify.
Divine deliverance e’er slays man by the cross;
Though cruel it may seem, it is a grand release.
Christ ne’er will be our life if we escape the cross;
Christ ne’er will be expressed but by our sure decease.
The cross’s final goal, that God’s will be fulfilled;
His will’s arch enemy is but the self of man.
If self be done away and all the soul-life killed,
God’s will shall then prevail and prospered be His plan.
Christianity has followed Catholicism in this matter. In Christianity, speakings on the cross generally emphasize suffering. To many, bearing the cross means to suffer for the Lord. However, this is not the revelation of the Bible. The cross mentioned in the Bible emphasizes the termination and the putting to death of a person.
Living through dying is the basic thought of the Bible. For one to live, he must die. In John 12:24 the Lord Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Brother A. B. Simpson also said in one of his hymns, “This the secret nature hideth, harvest grows from buried grain” (Hymns, #482). This shows us that the biblical principle is living through dying. God’s way of salvation is to terminate us by the cross of Christ and to resurrect us by His Spirit of life. This appears to be a cruel punishment, but actually it is a glorious deliverance. Based on the revelation of the whole Bible, we see clearly that living through dying is God’s saving way.
The first ministry in the New Testament is that of John the Baptist. He came out to preach the baptism of repentance and immersed and buried men into the water, which signifies death, in order to terminate the man of the old creation. Following that, there was the ministry of the Lord Jesus. His ministry caused the terminated ones to have a new beginning, to resurrect from the dead, and to obtain the divine life. This adequately proves that in the salvation of God’s New Testament economy, there is a fundamental thought and principle, which is that fallen man can receive life only through death. Death is the initiation into resurrection. We have a hymn (Hymns, #631) which speaks very well concerning this matter.
If I’d know Christ’s risen power,
I must ever love the Cross;
Life from death alone arises;
There’s no gain except by loss.
If no death, no life,
If no death, no life;
Life from death alone arises;
If no death, no life.
If I’d have Christ formed within me,
I must breathe my final breath,
Live within the Cross’s shadow,
Put my soul-life e’er to death.
If God thru th’ Eternal Spirit
Nail me ever with the Lord;
Only then as death is working
Will His life thru me be poured.