READING
[p. 125] READING
Romans 7:22 - 25; Romans 8:1 - 4. 1 Corinthians 14:37; Leviticus 1:1,2; Deuteronomy 17:8 - 13.
JT I wanted to show, by the Lord’s help, during this enquiry how Romans develops the priestly, believer, or as we may say, the spiritual feature; and that as it is thus developed, the believer is qualified to have part in the assembly in its relations Godward and manward; and I had particularly in view the relation of the priesthood to the law.
JMcL Were you thinking that in Christianity all these things which we enjoy are open now to every believer?
JT That is what I was thinking, and that that feature — the priestly feature — begins as deliverance is known, indeed even before, because this passage in Romans 7 shows that the believer delights in the law of God even earlier than deliverance. His delight in it would increase, and chapter 8 shows how the righteous requirements of it are fulfilled in him now as walking after the Spirit; that is as he values the law of God, delights in it, and fulfils its righteous requirements, he becomes accustomed to law in its spiritual significance, because he sees that the law is spiritual. And as becoming accustomed to law, he is prepared to take up that principle as applying to the assembly; not that the law of Exodus applies directly to the assembly, but there is what corresponds in the commandment of the Lord as in 1 Corinthians. So the element of priesthood runs through all the types, showing that whether the assembly functions in relation to God, as in the offerings in Leviticus, or whether in discipline all would come under the hand of the priest.
AP Would the husband in the first part of the chapter answer to the priestly side?
JT [p. 126] Yes, but the element of law necessarily comes under the hand of the priest. The law that governed the offerings of the people as in the early part of Leviticus, was given to Aaron and his sons. The discipline of the assembly — the public government of the assembly — also comes under the priests, and when it is seen that every believer is a priest, then it would be clear that each believer should accept the obligations of priesthood. The offerings of God are regulated by a law, under the hand of the priest; there was the law of the burnt offering, the law of the meat offering, and so in regard of all the offerings. Then, too, if there be matters requiring judgment, the priest has his part in that, and there is to be no appeal from a decision rendered in that priestly manner.
HB Would the change of the priesthood necessitating a change of the law set that forth?
JT Yes; we, of course, are not speaking of law in the assembly as the law presented in Exodus, but of new principles that have been unfolded.
JMcL Have you in mind the thought of administration?
JT Yes. One is struck with the occurrence of the word ‘law’ in these verses; the believer becomes accustomed to the principle, so that when he comes to have to do with the law of the assembly he is prepared for it.
Rem “Legitimately subject to Christ?” 1 Corinthians 9:21.
JT Yes. And you will recognise that “the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment”, 1 Corinthians 14:37 and as it is in the singular it refers to the whole epistle. It is one thought — the Lord’s commandment, and His commandment takes, as it were, His place in authority. He is absent from the scene but His commandment is to govern us, and the priests are particularly responsible, so that every one in Corinth would have to take the thing home to himself and say, ‘This is the Lord’s commandment to me’, and if it is, it must be enforced, and it is my responsibility to see that it is enforced. If I profess to be a Christian, to be spiritual, that is my obligation. It is for every one in the company, and the principle of law should not be foreign to any Christian, because he begins experimentally with this, that he delights in the law of God after the inward man. He looks at it as of value.
AP The Lord’s commandment would be fulfilled in regard of the law of the house, I suppose?
JT The righteous requirement of the law of Exodus is fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit, but the commandment of the Lord directly given to us in Corinthians is also to be fulfilled, so Romans prepares the believer for the assembly.
HH Are we to understand that the delighting in the law of God after the inward man is a priestly instinct?
JT Yes.
HH And chapter 8 would be a further thought we are delivered so as to carry it out, that is to fulfil the requirement.
DG Then are the priestly instincts there right from the beginning of the work of God in the soul?
JT Yes. The responsibility of the Lord’s commandment must not be put upon the shoulders of others; it is the obligation of every one to enforce it.
JMcL Every one working for the good of the whole, you mean?.
JT Yes, you take it up in relation to the whole. So Leviticus 1 is to the saint in his capacity as a responsible person in this world. Chapters 1 - 5 are words spoken to Moses to speak to the children of Israel in regard to their offerings. It is the word of God to us as having anything to bring to God in a spiritual way, but the sons of Aaron are there all the time, and they are essential to the thing, essential to [p. 128] the offerer. The offerer can bring the offerings but the priest offers them. Then when we come to chapter 6 the law of the offerings is committed formally into the hands of Aaron and his sons, that is, they as priests are responsible. So that we have first the offerers addressed, and then the divine law committed to the priests. The priest is concerned as to what is due to God; he was called to that; “to minister unto me in the priest’s office”. Exodus 29:1. So offerings should be presented according to God; they should be presented in due order.
JMcL “This is the law”, Leviticus 6:14 would be chapter 6.
JT Yes. The word is to Aaron and his sons, not to the children of Israel, and all through this and the next chapter it is a question of what is committed to the priests. Thus I thought we might see how the element of priesthood is there from the outset. If the priest is true to the exercise, he begins that way, he delights in the law of God.
JMcL Whom do Aaron and his sons set forth?
JT Christ and the saints in connection with the priestly service.
Ques Would priesthood be there before the Spirit is received?
JT Yes, the element is there.
J.R. Do you think so?
JT Yes. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. John 3:6. “God is a Spirit”. John 4:24. New birth involves that which is born is spirit and that is developed — that is, instincts Godward. They may be feeble but they develop. In John 4 the Lord speaks to the woman of living water springing up in her. Notice that it is living water; that is, there is the element of cleansing, and then it says she left her waterpot and went her way into the city. She had become spiritual, she had come to see that her body was the waterpot the vessel in which there was living water, the element of cleansing being there. She left the literal for the [p. 129] spiritual. She was beginning to be spiritual. Then look at Peter in chapter 6 confessing the Lord, “Thou art the holy one of God”. John 6:69. That was development on spiritual lines — he recognised the holy one of God.
HH Where the priestly element is, there is material for the Spirit to work upon?
JT Yes. So in chapter 8 you get deliverance and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ which has set him free. He is now a son of Aaron. It is the priestly element that is developed.
AP He only refers to himself there.
JT Yes, he wants to establish a principle. It may apply to you or to any believer. He could not say it definitely of the Romans, for he had not been there, so he puts it in this way that they might see the principle.
DG And take it up.
JT If it were true of Paul, it may be true of all; it is a question here of setting out the truth, not of the state of the Roman Christians.
HH Would you say that those who come under the hand of the priest in chapter 8 would become good material for the assembly?
JT Yes, that is the point, Romans and Corinthians go together. In Romans, I think, the standpoint is the mercy-seat, and believers are brought into correspondence with that so, saying that you “delight in the law of God after the inward man” means that you are in accord with the ark, of which the mercy-seat was the lid — the Lord had the law in His heart.
HB Would you develop a little what you say in regard of being in accord with the mercy-seat?
JT Well, the mercy-seat was the lid of the ark, as I said, underneath it were the tables of the covenant, and the Lord Jesus coming into this world as man took that up; He came to do the will of God,
[p. 130] delighting to do it, and the formal expression of that will was the law. What was there had to be taken up; for the law was the testimony to the rights of God, and by it was the knowledge of sin. The Lord Jesus took it up and maintained it absolutely, and that underlies His death; so that the blood is on the mercy-seat and the believer is to be brought into accord with that, and he expresses it when he says I delight in the law of God after the inward man.
RF In John 14 the Lord says, “He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me”. John 14:21. Is that on the same line?
JT Yes. That is 1 Corinthians. There you come out as a priest. You must not expect to lead others to do it unless you do it yourself. This is a matter of the greatest importance, especially for young believers amongst us, as we often put things into the hands of a few in the assembly. That is not the divine thought. Every one is a priest, and so each one should take up the obligation of the assembly. Romans lays the basis in the soul, so that such a one becomes accustomed to law, and develops in the understanding of the epistle to the Corinthians, which is the law governing the assembly in its relations Godward and manward.
Rem The woman is brought under new domination — a new husband.
JT Yes. Her body is for the Lord; as in John 4 the woman leaves her waterpot, so the truth in Romans leads to presenting the body a living sacrifice.
JMcL The woman did not know the import of what she was doing!
JT But it is put down for us by the Holy Spirit.
HH It is not only that we are free from the pressure of sin and death, but that we might be free for the Lord’s service.
JT Yes, the Lord took up the law — “thy law is within my heart”
— [p. 131] and the Holy Spirit enables the believer to fulfil the righteous requirement of it. It must be taken up by the believer in this way; it cannot be ignored.
Rem I thought that one got in a measure new covenant blessings in chapter 5, and the law that you delight in is in chapter 7 The love of God shed abroad in our hearts is the new covenant; but you must not pass over the old, that is, viewed in the spirit of it its newness of spirit: “that we should serve in newness of spirit”. Romans 7:6.
DG Do you distinguish between delighting in and the power to carry it out?
JT Yes. But you do delight in the thing, that is, after the inward man. It is collateral with the new birth; it is ‘spirit’ and it is in virtue of that, that I delight in the law of God. It is the inward man. So priesthood applies to the youngest believer, if he is truly a believer; it is not something in the distance, but it is there, and as you receive the Spirit you are set up in it; that is in the law of it: in “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus”. “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit”. Now, I think, that man has qualified to be a priest, for he is maintaining the law in the spirit of it in his conduct.
HH And he has power to fulfil it.
RF But in chapter 7 does not the believer learn to distinguish between what is natural and what is spiritual?
JT Quite. He sees now two principles, two laws working — the law of his mind, and another law warring in opposition to that but he gets deliverance. I do urge the word ‘law’ here. Are you acquainted with the thought at the beginning of your spiritual history? There is today much lawlessness, but as you are acquainted with ‘law’ you are brought into subjection. It is not only the Spirit of life but the law of it that brings liberation. I believe if Romans 7 were gone through more, the younger Christian would be more subject, and thus more prepared for the assembly, because I think when you delight in the law of God after the inward man you are qualified for your place as a board in the tabernacle, so to speak. You are fitted to take your place in relation to the assembly. There is no doubt that in years gone by Romans 7 was much more dwelt upon. I believe if it were more understood, there would be more subjection and we should fit in together better, because the element of subjection would be more there. The boards stood up, and the principle is that the believer stands up in righteousness, in subjection; and then there was a bar of gold binding them all together. What is of the Spirit binds us all together.
RW This man who delights in the law of God is a wretched man. You would not think that he would be fit for priestly service.
JT Not yet, but the element is there. The stone in the quarry has to be squared off.
Rem He is not able to accomplish it!
JT But in the next chapter he gets deliverance. “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free”. He has now come to it. Would you say that?
Rem Yes. I say that, but he would not be happy in chapter 7.
JT No, that is so. We do not know joy until we know righteousness and get the Spirit. The process has to be gone through, so that I learn to distinguish between “I myself with the mind serve God’s law; but with the flesh sin’s law”. That is the end of the seventh chapter.
Ques Is it a spiritual mind?
JT So far. You get the renewed mind later.
[p. 133] The Holy Spirit is not brought in yet. It is what he has come to. In the next chapter you get deliverance.
JR How far can we delight in the law of God without having received the Spirit?
JT We cannot go far, but the element is there: “I delight in”.
HB Is it not always the case that you get the thing itself before you get the light with regard to it?
JT The germ of it is there, but there is a process of exercise through which you come into the fulness of it after you get the Spirit.
RF That is what really lies at the basis of all true fellowship?
JT Yes. It is an element that implies subjection. Law is to get you under control, and it is necessary to begin with it, and as the principle is seen, it forms you. It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which sets free.
Ques Would our responsibility be that we allow the Spirit to have His way?
JT Yes. I think you will remember that in Numbers 21 the well is dug at the direction of the ‘law-giver’ that is to say, the element of law is carried over in relation to the Spirit. I have no doubt the word ‘law’ in the sense of authority is used more frequently in Romans that in any other book in the New Testament because it is a question of obedience. “Ye have obeyed from the heart”. Romans 6:17. The believer moves in relation to the law, which cannot be neglected.
HH It is very interesting that in Deuteronomy 33 it says, “From his right hand went a fiery law for them”, Deuteronomy 33:2 and yet it says, “Yea, he loved the people”. Deuteronomy 33:3.
JT Yes, and the law in that chapter is considered the inheritance of Jacob. “Moses commanded us a law the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob”. Deuteronomy 33:4 it is not against them, it is their inheritance.
HB What we sometimes sing, ‘Free from the law, oh happy condition’, [p. 134] etc is only partially true?
JT Yes. The Lord Jesus took it up and put it in His heart, and the believer would take it up, too.
Rem It is not the law as applied to men in the flesh?
JT Not at all. As to the law in its legal and literal application we are become dead to it by the body of Christ, so that we are to serve in newness of spirit.
JR The principle of obedience is implied in the principle of law?
JT Quite.
JMcL Is the body of the believer in view in the laying down of these principles?
JT Yes. So we are enjoined to present our bodies a living sacrifice. You are available as having given yourself over to God, and that comes under the priest. Every sacrifice comes under the priest. Romans does not develop that, but the sacrifice is there and the priest takes it up and presents it to God. So it goes on to say, “We, being many, are one body in Christ” Romans 12:5 not yet Christ’s body, because you do not get that in Romans but in Colossians; in Romans it is “one body in Christ”; we do not go beyond that. The boards are not only brought to light but set up.
JMcL The idea of insubjection would be quite foreign to the principle of the body. We learn to be subject to one another.
JT Yes. So Romans underlies Corinthians.
AP The priestly side of the Old Testament would come out in chapter 12?
JT Yes. That is where you begin to offer. You may not have a bullock, but you have your own body. It is an ‘intelligent’ service, a priestly service.
Rem In chapter 15 we have a wonderful priestly service of the apostle: “that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable”. Romans 15:[p. 135] 16.
JT Yes. That is what he was doing. In Romans 12 we do not go beyond our service as believers — presenting our bodies a living sacrifice.
AP In chapter 8 we only touch life. It is “shall live”.
JT Quite. “If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”. Romans 8:13.
Ques What is the difference between the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath set me free” and “ye shall live”?
JT I think “set free” in chapter 8 is what is contemplated in view of flesh, and the law acting on the law in his members which warred against the law of his mind. Deeds of the body are your own conduct. It is what your body is capable of. You live as you put these to death. As an unbeliever you are actuated by the natural emotions of your members, but that is given up. “Life in Christ Jesus” is governed by a principle that is true to itself.
Now I wanted to show how understanding priesthood in this way would bring every believer under obligation. You cannot say “they are doing this or that”; what responsibility there is belongs to all.
JMcL Instead of complaining that things are not done this way or that way, you show the way.
JT It is a good thing to put people into power. People sometimes complain loudly of those in authority, but put them into power and they change their tune quickly. Take the thing up yourself and see what you can make of it. Nobody can consistently say ‘No’ because all are priests, as having the Spirit. So the word — the law — in Leviticus 6 applies to every such an one. It is to “Aaron and his sons”. There you find that the altar is wholly in their custody, therefore the priest was to have a certain portion of the offerings for himself, so that he should be nourished. You will be well paid if you take up [p. 136] the responsibility!
AP So that all may be contributors in the assembly.
JT Yes, exactly, and priestly food is obtained in the acceptance of obligation there. Then in Leviticus, in the case of leprosy, the priest is to determine every thing related thereto, and in Deuteronomy the people are again charged to take heed in the plague of leprosy to all that the priests the Levites shall teach them. Every matter of controversy, too, was to be brought to the priests for judgment.
Rem It is very easy to be occupied with evil in the assembly, and to suffer loss through it, but it is another thing to take it up in such wise as that there is gain by it.
JT I think that is most important; for all things taken up should involve gain to us.
HB With regard to the assembly, should it ever be legislative?
JT The priests had to carry out the law, not to make it. I do not think there is strictly any law-making. The mischief is that there has been legislation. I think, with regard to the priest, the point is that the law is handed over to him and it is perfect, and it is “at his mouth they seek the law”. Malachi 2:7. The Lord says, “On these two commandments the whole law and the prophets hang”, Matthew 22:40 showing the importance of divine commandments. It is for the priest to enforce the law, and so in Deuteronomy in the passage read the decisions were to be according to it. In verse 9 of chapter 17 it says, “And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days and enquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment ... .. and the man that will do presumptuously and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shall put away the evil from Israel”.
[p. 137] The priest and the judge were there to carry it out. The judge’s duty is to explain law and apply it. They shall hear law from the priest’s mouth.
HH The principles are all laid down to us, but the question is how to apply them at any moment. That is where the priestly function comes in.
JT Yes. It is for them to act according to the law. A decision reached on those lines cannot be set aside. It stands. Here is a case in this chapter, and it is not to be dealt with by any group of persons, it is to be judged by the priests. Priesthood in Christianity includes all saints and the thing has to be put on their consciences. If it is dealt with according to this passage the decision stands, and should be bowed to by every saint on earth as the will of heaven.
Ques Would Matthew 18 be that?
JT Yes.
Rem If we were more in the gain individually of what is unfolded in Romans we would, when it was a question of the assembly consciences being stirred up, be more subject to the judgment arrived at.
JT If he were more in the good of Romans 7 the youngest believer in the assembly would bow. He knows law and he sees that law must prevail.
Ques Is that the direct government of God?
JT God is governing directly through the assembly; indirect government would be outside and we must submit; but direct government is in the assembly.
AP Would not this passage in Deuteronomy that we have read help us to see the great importance of coming under law? It implies death to refuse it.
JT The saints, therefore, should become well versed in 1 Corinthians, particularly in regard of assembly matters.
Rem If the law were known and we were subject to it, there would be no controversy at [p. 138] all.
JG If we all said the same thing, there would be no controversy.
JT The apostle directs then that those who are least esteemed in the assembly should be set to judge as to things of this life, meaning that the least esteemed in the assembly is a priest, which shows what a member of the assembly is.