As noted in part 1 of this series, in the
Higher Life movement, the doctrine that Christ lives the Christian life, while
the believer simply passively trusts or abides, is the “Christ-life”; “The
Christian life is a large, generous Christ-life that lives itself” (pg. 181,
Account of the Union Meeting for the Promotion of Scriptural Holiness, Held at
Oxford, August 29 to September 7, 1874. Chicago: Revell, 1874; cf. pgs. 158, 168). Galatians 2:20 is employed to affirm that
Christ lives the Christian life instead of the believer, or at least the believer
who enters into the Higher Life or the Christ-life. It is difficult to figure out what the
meaning is of such an affirmation; it would seem to lead to either the heresy
of the absolute perfection of the believer in his will, nature and in all his
acts, for Christ considered in His human nature is absolutely perfect in His
will, nature and His acts, or to the heresy that Christ fails and Christ sins
when the believer sins, since, allegedly, Christ, not the believer, is living
the believer’s life.
One cannot avoid these heretical implications
by simply affirming that the believer fails to perfectly access the Lord Jesus’
personal life, and for this cause the Christian still sins, for this accessing
of Christ must be part of the Christian life—indeed, according to the advocates
of the view that the Lord Jesus lives the Christian life, accessing the Savior
is the essence of Christian life. How
then, can Christ fail to do this accessing for the believer, but be the One who
lives the Christian life? Yet further,
what can such a notion possibly mean—is Christ accessing Himself as He
allegedly lives the Christian life? The
idea that Jesus Christ lives the Christian life, not the Christian, has other
severe problems as well; for example, the Lord Jesus, as He is in heaven, does
not live by faith, as He has personal sight of all the glory of God, so the
Christian on earth would not have to live by faith. Indeed, the idea that the Lord Jesus lives
the Christian life instead of the believer is either abominable heresy or mystical
gobbledygook that cannot be given any clear propositional content. It certainly does not help the believer live
a holy life.
Hannah W. Smith, while usually restricting
sinless perfection to the human spirit, so that she did not quite reach a claim
of the literal perfection of Christ that was the necessary consequence of her
Higher Life theology, did nevertheless affirm that those who have had the “definite
experience” of “a heart made pure by faith” are “created pure and holy” so that
“temptations will come” only “from without,” not from within—an idea, however
contrary to the Bible, that makes it much easier to follow the guidance and
revelations of an Inner Voice—at least until they cease the moment-by-moment
Higher Life walk, at which time, somehow, “nothing but impurity remains,”
although “the carnal nature” had “been cast out” at the time of the second
blessing. She did, however, have to
confront the question, “How can we sin if we are made and kept pure in heart?”
a question to which she had only a very unsatisfactory answer (see Letter to
Anna, September 6, 1871, reproduced in the entries for June 17-18 of The
Christian’s Secret of a Holy Life, Hannah W. Smith, ed. Dieter; cf. the entry
for June 22).
Happily, since Galatians 2:20 never states
that Christ lives the Christian life instead of the believer, Kewick theology
has any support whatsoever from the text.
First, one notes that the verse does not distinguish between an upper
class of Christians who have entered into a Higher Life or second blessing and
a lower class who have not done so.
Galatians 2:20 is true for every Christian, and every Christian has
Christ as his life, is legally dead to sin, and has his life hid with Christ in
God (Colossians 3:3, 4).
What
does Galatians 2:20 actually affirm? 1.)
Paul was crucified with Christ, 2:20a.
2.) Nevertheless, he was spiritually alive; the apostle had spiritual life,
that he “might live unto God,” Galatians 2:19; 2:20b. 3.) The “I” who was now alive was not the
same “I” as before Paul’s conversion (cf. Romans 7:17), in that Paul was no
longer an ungodly, unregenerate person, a natural man and a slave of the old
covenant, as he was when he was under the law (Galatians 2:19). He was now dead to sin and alive to God
(Romans 6:10-11). The good in his life
was not sourced in himself, but in the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10). He now had a new principle within him and was
a new man, Galatians 2:20c. 4.) Christ now indwelt Paul, and was the source of
spiritual life and strength for him, 2:20d. 5.) The Apostle now lived his
natural life in his body by faith in Christ, 2:20e. 6.) Christ loved Paul, and died for him,
2:20f.
What about “I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me”? Surely this phrase
teaches that Christ lives the Christian life, no? The phrase will be examined in part 3 of this
series.
See here for this entire study.
No comments:
Post a Comment