Sharing in the Atonement

God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14

The gospel of Jesus Christ always forces a decision of our will. Have I accepted God’s verdict on sin as judged on the Cross of Christ? Do I have even the slightest interest in the death of Jesus? Do I want to be identified with His death— to be completely dead to all interest in sin, worldliness, and self? Do I long to be so closely identified with Jesus that I am of no value for anything except Him and His purposes? The great privilege of discipleship is that I can commit myself under the banner of His Cross, and that means death to sin. You must get alone with Jesus and either decide to tell Him that you do not want sin to die out in you, or that at any cost you want to be identified with His death. When you act in confident faith in what our Lord did on the cross, a supernatural identification with His death takes place immediately. And you will come to know through a higher knowledge that your old life was “crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). The proof that your old life is dead, having been “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), is the amazing ease with which the life of God in you now enables you to obey the voice of Jesus Christ.

Every once in a while our Lord gives us a glimpse of what we would be like if it were not for Him. This is a confirmation of what He said— “. . . without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). That is why the underlying foundation of Christianity is personal, passionate devotion to the Lord Jesus. We mistake the joy of our first introduction into God’s kingdom as His purpose for getting us there. Yet God’s purpose in getting us into His kingdom is that we may realize all that identification with Jesus Christ means.

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個人怎樣有分於救贖？

但我斷不以別的誇口，只誇我們主耶穌基督的十字架。 （加六14）

耶穌基督的福音總牽涉到意志的問題。我接受神在基督十字架上對罪的宣判麼？我對耶穌的死，有絲毫興趣麼？我願意與他的死連合，對罪、對世界、對自己的興趣完全殺滅；以致除了他，一概看為有損麼？作門徒的最大權利，就是在十字架上籤上名字，表示對罪死了。你要單獨來到耶穌面前，對他說你不願意罪從你身上除淨，或對他說你願意不計代價，與他的死聯合。只要你超乎知識的知識，告訴你是神在你裡面的生命，叫你順服主的聲音，這是出奇的輕省容易。

有時候，主會讓我們看看沒有了他我們會怎樣，要證明他說：[離了我，你們就不能作什麼。 ]因此，基督徒的基石是個人對主耶穌全心全意的愛慕效忠。我們往往以為初信主進入天國時那種驚喜之情，就是神的目的。其實他給我們這經歷，目的是要我們體會什麼是與主耶穌合一。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，為著你自己，和靠著你那無所不能的恩典，我學習進入你的同在中；我讚美你。願你的恩典，亮光和智慧觸摸我的身體和心靈；願你的觸摸帶來光明和生氣。