Twice the Apostle Paul uses
this phrase, "Yet not I, but ". In his epistle to the Galatians he
wrote:
"I am crucified with
Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:2)
This testimony of the great
apostle belongs to all who have been saved and made members of the Body of
Christ, and identified with Him "who was delivered for our offences and
raised again for our justification." Each one can say, "I was
crucified with Christ." This is clearly brought out in Romans 6:3-4:
"Know ye not, that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?
Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into His death; that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life."
This applies to every
believer, and the baptism mentioned has not one drop of water connected with
it.
When Christ died on the cross
He not only died for our sins, but we died with Him. His death was our death.
His resurrection our resurrection, and now His life is our life. We reckon
ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, and by faith we can
say, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." This great truth
is expressed in a separated life, a surrendered life, a life lived in the faith
of the Son of God.
Once more Paul used "Yet
not I, but ..." when he wrote to the Corinthians:
"But by the grace of God
I am what I am; and the grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I
labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which
was with me." (1 Cor. 15: 10)
He had mentioned himself as a
witness of Christ risen from among the dead. He saw the Lord, and his whole
life was changed. He was as one born out of due season, a type of Israel's
regeneration yet future, when "They shall look on Him whom they
pierced." That great vision on the road to Damascus made of Paul not only
a believer in the Deity and Messiahship of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he became
the faithful servant of the Lord. It made him humble. Though he was by the will
of God the great Apostle to the Gentiles, the one to whom was made known the
truth of the mystery and to whom was given an abundance of revelations, yet he
called himself "the least of the apostles" and "less that the least
of all saints." He boasted that he had labored more abundantly than the
other apostles, but he added, "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was
with me." He ascribed it all, not to himself, but to the grace of God.
These two expressions,
"yet not I, but Christ" and "yet not I, but the grace of
God," describe the entire ministry of Paul. Two things he magnified and
glorified, extolled and exalted: Christ, and the grace of God. In all things,
in all his messages and personal testimony, an exaltation of Christ and
complete effacement of self are the great leading marks. He made his boast in
Christ. He magnified Him and the grace of God which had been bestowed upon him.
How little of this
self-effacement we see today. How many exalt themselves, boast of their
attainments, their service, their ministry, their converts, instead of glorying
in an all-sufficient Savior and the all-sufficient grace of God. The "Soli
Deo Gloria," to God alone be the glory, is often forgotten. May the Lord
help all of us in all our service for Him, of whatever nature it may be, to
magnify Christ and the grace of God and to seek His glory only.
Also Read
Israels Future - John D. LaVier
How God Saves Men
Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
(A 10 Minute Video)
Posted
By Cecil and Connie Spivey
cspivey1953@gmail.com
cspivey1953@gmail.com
Share this Bible Message with
your friends
No comments:
Post a Comment