LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
From the individual to the collective (II)
"So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh...." (Rom. 8.12).
As we saw in the previous reflection, the book of Romans shows, from faith to faith, the righteousness of God. In Romans 3 to 7, we have the whole atoning work of Christ, bringing us forgiveness, justification and deliverance. Romans 8 tells us of a living in the Spirit, no longer in the flesh, and Romans 12 tells us of a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - a collective sacrifice.
Many Christians know that. They know, from the word of God, the need to live in communion as a church, for we are members of one another, but they fail to do so. Why? Why do they approve of the word of God, needing to live in love, but what we see is a lack of that love, of humility, of forgiveness, of bearing with one another? Because we do not yet pass from the individual to the collective, from the flesh to the spirit; we do not yet see that the growth in the Christian life proceeds to the stature of the perfect man, which is the corporate Christ.
We will only pass from the individual to the collective, when our flesh is dealt with by the work of the cross and we become debtors to the Spirit, so that we no longer walk according to the flesh. And all who are led by the Spirit are mature sons of God.
As long as we are treated in the flesh, if we do not take up our cross, we may be living with the brethren, but we will not yet live as true members of the Body, being used by the Spirit for the common good. And what is the exact moment when this change is made by the Spirit? When we become debtors to the Spirit, so that we no longer walk according to the flesh (Rom. 8.12-13); when we understand that the Spirit is the Paraclete, the teacher and the guarantee of our inheritance, and that the Spirit is the Lord, the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.
We will only function as effective members in the Lord's church, when we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Therefore, those who do the work of the ministry are the perfected saints, the mature brethren; not the inconstant children. Until this happens, we are still in labor pains, as Paul says: "My little children, for whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. 4.19).