BROUGHT INTO THE CHRISTIAN CIRCLE
[p. 253] BROUGHT INTO THE CHRISTIAN CIRCLE
We get two things brought before us in this chapter: firstly the passage from lawlessness to righteousness and secondly the passage from death unto life. Verse 5 “in Him sin is not”: there is no lawlessness in Christ and so we read, He “suffered ... to bring us to God”, that is to attach us to Christ who is God. By the Spirit we are brought into the christian circle. There was no preaching of the gospel until there was a Head and a circle into which souls could be brought. The escape from lawlessness and from hatred was all ready for them then. There is no righteousness without a Head. The Head is seen in Romans 5; it is really a question between Christ and antichrist in the heart. If men do not come into attachment to Christ they really set up antichrist in their hearts. It is difficult now to get a true idea of the christian circle; a person who is converted in popery does not find himself much in the christian circle and there is no christian circle in the Church of England. Hereby perceive we the love — it was a good atmosphere in the early days in the Acts.
There is no righteousness without a Head. Adam was not lord or head, Christ is Lord and Head, and it is as Head that repentance and remission of sins are preached in His name. Salvation is in the Lord, righteousness is in the Head, and attachment is to the Head and is connected with the thoughts of the Head, whereas confession is to the Lord, and connected with the thoughts of the Lord.
We have come into a circle of love: there are doubtless more distinguished christians to be found in the systems around us. We go on as individuals and it is with us really, “he that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies”.
People want a boat, so these christians in system have a boat. Peter left it and we have to leave the boat, whatever that boat may be. If you try to walk on the water you are [p. 254] much more exposed to the action of the wind and water than if you were in a boat, but if you walk on the water the hand of the Lord can sustain you there. What is going on now is the Spirit’s work in the individual, causing him to have an ear to hear. Then He can make revelations to you — you hear what the Spirit is saying to the assemblies. We cannot depend on the company: it is, “he that hath an ear”. So in the second epistle to Timothy the apostle looks for fidelity to Christ in the individual. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God”.