A Balanced New Creation

One of the great truths I was guided to share with the campers at the Lake Beauty Bible Camp, Minnesota, in 1978, was the need to have a balanced view of new creation realities. Biblical truths can be either in contrast or in correspondence with each other. Law and grace, for example, are in contrast with each other. Sonship and fellowship, union and communion, are truths that are in correspondence to each other.

Now whenever there are believers who know that they are the righteousness of God in Christ, that they are blessed with all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, that they are complete in him, there is a tendency to forget the corresponding truths about the walk. The glorious liberty of the children of God is a precious truth indeed, but without the balance of a disciplined walk, liberty becomes license and the carefree life becomes careless.

On the other hand, where there are believers who have found a new release and expression of freedom by some particular adjustment of their walk, the tendency is to see such adjustment as necessary to spiritual attainment, to the exercise of God’s power, and eventually to salvation itself. The disciplined walk of the dedicated believer fulfils many commands in the Word, but without the balance of the truth of our righteousness in Christ the walk becomes one of law with its inbuilt condemnation.

Let’s take three Pauline epistles — Romans, Ephesians, and Thessalonians– as examples of the balance between the truth of what we are in Christ and the walk that overflows from that truth. Romans chapters 1 to 8 teach what God did for us in Christ, and chapters 12 to 15 the practical walk of the believer. Ephesians chapters 1 to 3 teach what we are in Christ, and chapters 4 to 6 the practical walk of the believer. Likewise, I Thessalonians chapters 1 to 3 teach the believer’s future ‘Forever with the Lord’ and chapters 4 and 5 the practical walk of the believer. These three epistles demonstrate that sound teaching is both the foundation and the source of right practice.

It is evident that if our understanding of these three epistles is faulty, then our walk will also be faulty. However, it is also evident that a knowledge of our position in Christ without a corresponding walk lowers Christianity to an ideology rather than a practical and vibrant way of life.

Are there answers, then, to the excesses at each end of the scale? A few practical comments might be helpful here. To those who claim that the truth of the righteousness of God in Christ gives them total freedom in their walk, I would suggest they read again Romans 12-15, Ephesians 4-6, and I Thessalonians 4-5. There are no freedoms without fences. To those who claim that a disciplined walk is of first priority, I would suggest they read again Romans 1-8, Ephesians 1-3, and I Thessalonians 1-3. Sound teaching is both the foundation and the source of right practice.

Finally, it would be well for all believers to remember that Christianity is an individual matter. Let none of us be tricked by Satan’s device in being critical of another’s walk because they are ‘too holy’ and unrealistic, or they are ‘too worldly’ and thus ‘unspiritual.’ Let us maintain a balance. Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3). — Adapted from Now Magazine, May-July 1979.