I must cleanse myself from all filthiness in my flesh and my spirit until both are in harmony with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I mentally rebellious and defiant?
As mentioned in the previous post, God's Word through His Son, ministered to every believer by the Holy Spirit, cleanses us, not our own efforts. In fact, if we try on our own, through our own efforts to make ourselves clean, we all dirty ourselves further:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64: 6)
In fact, by the power of the Holy Spirit, every believer has been made already the righteousness of God in Christ (cf 2 Corinthians 5: 21) We do not try to create righteousness or force the fruit of righteousness to be born in our lives.
Rebelliousness and defiance give way as the Holy Spirit bears His fruit within us:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
"Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Galatians 5: 22-24)
Meekness, temperance, longsuffering all replace rebelliousness and defiance in the believer. To the extent, however, that we try to effect these changes ourselves, we frustrate the grace of God in our lives (cf Galatians 2: 21).
Am I allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in me? (see Philippians 2:5).
Christ is born within us from the moment that we receive Him by grace through faith (Ephesians 2: 6), and therefore we have the mind of Christ already (cf 1 Corinthians 2: 16) It is no longer a matter of getting more of God to enter our lives. Instead, the Christian life is awakening to our righteousness, which leads us no longer to sin (1 Corinthians 15: 34), and then the eyes of our understanding open ever more to reveal to us what we have and who we are in Christ (Ephesians 1: 17-19)! Our walk with God in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is an eternal discovery of the unsearchable riches of Christ within us (Ephesians 3: 8) working out of us (Philippians 2: 12-13). Hence, the parable of the scribes of the Kingdom:
"Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
"Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." (Matthew 13: 51-52)
Christ never spoke of His right to Himself, but always maintained an inner vigilance to submit His spirit continually to His Father.
Chamber's locution here imparts the erroneous impression that the Holy Spirit acted only at the behest of the Son, when in fact Jesus was led by the Spirit:
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." (Matthew 4: 1)
Jesus demonstrated a complete and consummate submission to the Holy Spirit, who operated without hindrance.
I also have the responsibility to keep my spirit in agreement with His Spirit.
The Holy Spirit keeps us through the power of God's grace:
"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;" ( 1 Peter 1: 13)
We are sober in the knowledge of God's grace in us, not by our efforts, but by faith:
"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein." (Hebrews 13: 9)
The grace of God within us does the work. Our part is to believe and receive the work of God's grace imparted and impressed upon us by the Holy Spirit.
And when I do, Jesus gradually lifts me up to the level where He lived-a level of perfect submission to His Father’s will
We are already lifted up in Christ:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
"And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: " (Ephesians 2: 4-6)
— where I pay no attention to anything else.
Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God? Is God having His way with me, and are people beginning to see God in my life more and more?
We are already perfect in Christ!
"Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:" (Colossians 1: 28)
As in many of his devotional passages, Chambers places too much emphasis on what a believer must do instead of expounding on the every growing and glorified savior who lives and dwells in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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