Other Christians believe that sanctification is the eradication of our sinful nature. There was a preacher in Shanghai many years ago who taught strongly the concept of eradication. He told people that they could not sin after they were saved. One day this preacher and several young men who were under his teaching went to the city park in Shanghai. That park required the proof of a ticket in order to be admitted. This man bought three or four tickets to be used by a total of five persons. How did he do this? First, some of them entered the park with the tickets. Then one of them came out with the tickets and gave a ticket to one of the others. This continued until all five men had entered the park. In this sinful way that preacher brought his four young disciples through the gate of the park. As a result of this, one of the young men began to doubt the teaching of eradication. He said within himself, “What are you doing? You say that sin has been eradicated from you. What is this?” Eventually, the young man went to the preacher and said, “Was that not a sin?” The preacher replied, “No, that was not a sin. That was just a little weakness.” The leader of this group who proclaimed that his sinful nature had been eradicated was wrong. We should never accept a teaching that says that we have become so spiritual and holy that it is impossible for us to sin. If we accept such a doctrine, we will be deceived, and the result will be misery.
Now that we have received Christ into us, we have to enjoy Him in the spirit day by day. We have to eat Him, drink Him, and breathe Him in. This living Christ within us will transform us and sanctify [199] us in our disposition through our enjoyment of Him. For us to merely stand on the fact that we have been positionally sanctified and then endeavor to do something to stand against the sinful nature within us does not work. We need to realize that the living, life-giving Spirit, Christ as life, is within us. Now we need to open ourselves to Him day by day and even hour by hour. We need to eat Him, drink Him, breathe Him, and abide in Him to enjoy Him. Then He will transform us. This transformation is not an outward correction or adjustment. By enjoying Christ as life and by being filled with Him as life, His life swallows up all the negative things in our being. His life will swallow up our bad temper. His life will transform the clay vessels into gold, pearl, and precious stones.
Do not try to overcome your temper by your own effort. Your temper is too big for you to overcome by yourself. Do not deal with your temper but deal with Christ. Eat of Him as the tree of life. Rest under His shadow and enjoy His fruit. The life of Christ is living and powerful and can swallow up all the death and negative things within us. He will not only correct us, adjust us, deliver us, and save us, but He will transform us. We need to forget about our temper, our weaknesses, our problems, and our troubles. We need to take our eyes away from all these things and look to Christ. Look away from everything unto Jesus (Heb. 12:2), and set your mind upon Him (Rom. 8:6). Feast on Him, drink Him, breathe Him in, abide in Him, praise Him, adore Him, and behold Him. We need to be like a mirror beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18). When we behold the Lord in this way, He infuses us with the elements of what He is and what He has done. Thus, we are being metabolically transformed into His image, and all the negative things within our being are swallowed up.
To enjoy the Lord is the way of salvation, sanctification, and transformation. The more we are sanctified, the more we will be transformed and the more holy we will become. Our holiness will not just be a change in position but a change in our very nature. When we are being transformed, we are in resurrection and ascension. We are in a transcendent condition, and all things are under our feet. Teaching people to correct themselves, to adjust themselves, or to improve themselves is not the right way, the heavenly way, or the divine way. The divine way is not self-correction, self-adjustment, or self-improvement. God’s way is to put Christ into us [200] for us to enjoy Him by eating Him, drinking Him, breathing Him in, abiding in Him, and letting Him be everything to us. He is living and powerful, and He will transform us. Transformation is much better than outward correction, adjustment, or improvement. Transformation is a heavenly, spiritual, divine metabolic change in our being. The Lord is transforming us from one degree of glory to another degree of glory. We are being changed from clay to gold, pearl, and precious stones. The way of transformation is to enjoy the Lord, to feast on Him. Transformation is a feast, an enjoyment.
All of us are like Mephibosheth, the grandson of King Saul (2 Sam. 4:4). Mephibosheth was lame; he was unable to walk. King David preserved his life, restored to him all his inheritance, and invited him to feast with him at the same table (9:1-13). After Mephibosheth received grace from David, he only looked at the riches on David’s table; he did not look at his two lame legs underneath the table. Whenever we look at ourselves, we discover that we are lame, and we become discouraged. After we have been saved, we should forget about our two lame legs and sit at the table of our King, Jesus Christ, to enjoy Him with all His unsearchable riches. We should only look at the riches on the Lord’s table and enjoy them. By our enjoyment of the unsearchably rich Christ, He will transform us.
GOD’S ULTIMATE INTENTION FULFILLED
BY THE ENJOYMENT OF THE TRIUNE GOD
AS THE TREE OF LIFE
The precious materials at the flow of the river in Genesis 2 are for God’s building. At the end of the divine revelation there are the tree of life, the river of water of life, and the precious materials built up as a holy city, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:1-2; 21:18-21). This city is the counterpart of Christ and the dwelling place of God for God to rest in. As the counterpart of Christ, the holy city satisfies Christ, and as the dwelling place of God, the holy city satisfies God.
The beginning of the Scriptures shows us the tree of life with a flowing river issuing in precious materials. At the end of the Scriptures there is a universal city built up with these precious materials with the tree of life growing in it and the river of life flowing in it. This shows that God’s eternal purpose, His ultimate intention, is to have a divine building built by the tree of life with the flow of the river of water of life to produce the precious materials. According to [201] God’s ultimate and eternal intention, we have to be transformed and built up. Transformation is for God’s building. How spiritual we are depends on how much we have been transformed and how much we have been built up.
The book of Romans provides a sketch of the Christian life. This book begins with justification by faith (3:21—5:11) and continues with sanctification (5:12—8:13), transformation (12:1—15:13), conformation, and glorification (8:14-39) for the Body life (12:1-21). Through the Lord’s redemption we are justified and brought back to Him. Now a transforming work is going on within us in the spirit. We have to be sanctified, transformed, and conformed to the image of the Son of God. This is all for the Body of Christ, which is the building. Justification is for sanctification, sanctification is for transformation, and transformation is for God’s building. We are transformed and thus conformed into the very image of Christ that we may be materials good for God’s building.
God’s building is the expression of God Himself. The New Jerusalem has the appearance of jasper (Rev. 21:11), and jasper is also the appearance of God (4:3). The city’s wall and the first foundation of the city are built with jasper (21:18-19). This means that with the New Jerusalem there is the image of God. Furthermore, within the holy city is the throne of God and of the Lamb (22:1), which means that God’s authority is exercised there. Thus, God’s purpose and intention are fulfilled by the enjoyment of the Triune God as the tree of life.