| The Christian Life | October 1940 |
Spiritual Balance
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.”—II Timothy 1:7,8
THE message of our text was written by the Apostle Paul during his second imprisonment at Rome. Later in this epistle to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy, Paul explains that many of the brethren throughout Asia had forsaken him, apparently because they were fearful of being persecuted if they continued their friendship with the Apostle. Paul is encouraging Timothy not to follow such a course himself—not to be ashamed of the gospel, nor to shrink from the afflictions which loyalty to the gospel message might bring upon him. He points out that such a spirit of fear would not be from the Lord, because the spirit of the Lord is one of power, not of fear, as well as one of love, and of a sound mind.
From a worldly standpoint, a sound mind would dictate quite a different course from what the apostle was urging upon Timothy. The worldly-wise would say that it would be foolish to continue supporting the cause of one who was already in prison and liable to be executed in the near future. The worldly-wise would reason that the best thing to do under the circumstances would be that which many of the brethren throughout Asia had already done; namely, to forsake the apostle. But the soundness of mind which Paul was urging upon Timothy was not the sort that would necessarily be adjudged as sound from the standpoint of the worldly-wise.
Worldly wisdom always dictates a policy of self-preservation, whereas the wisdom from above, is the wisdom which should guide the Christian in the deciding of every issue, and it dictates a course of sacrifice rather than of preservation. Because the faithful Christian takes this unselfish viewpoint of life, he is looked upon by the worldly-wise as being very foolish indeed. In the particular case of Timothy, it would seem to the world that he would be very unsound should he follow the course which would bring him into a position where he would need to suffer and perhaps die for the Gospel of Christ.
LOVE THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE
True soundness of mind, from the divine standpoint, can be attained only in proportion as one charts his course in harmony with the great principle of love. This means that the Christian should view every issue from an unselfish standpoint. His first thought in deciding what to say and what to do under any given circumstance must be that of glorifying God and of having his thoughts, words and deeds such as will bring blessing to others, irrespective of what the cost may be to himself. If we plan our life merely with the thought in mind of providing comfort and, perhaps, luxury for ourselves, it means that from God’s standpoint we are very unsound of mind.
No wonder that the apostle in his letter to the Corinthians emphasizes the fundamental importance of love as a guiding principle in the Christian’s life! Apart from love, no issue could be properly and Scripturally decided by the Christian. At every turn of the road, should selfishness instead of love dictate the course to be taken, the Christian would find himself farther and farther away from divine favor, and manifesting less and less of the spirit of a sound mind.
What the apostle designates as the “spirit of a sound mind,” is the very opposite of the extreme radicalism of the fanatic. It is never necessary to be a fanatic in order to be whole-heartedly devoted to the Lord and His Word of truth. Paul said, “This one thing I do”; but this great apostle was not a radical in the sense of being an extremist along any line of Christian endeavor; yet he was uncompromising in his loyalty to God and to the truth.
The spirit of a sound mind is attained through a study of the Word of God and the application of its precepts in our daily lives. But in order to thus attain true spiritual balance, it is necessary that we “rightly divide the Word of truth.” If we are to rightly divide the Word of truth, it is necessary that our study of God’s Word be for the sole purpose of showing ourselves “approved unto God.” This means that the slightest degree of selfishness or insincerity in our study of the Word will prevent us from understanding it properly. This fact alone, probably more than any other one thing, accounts for the hundreds of different ways in which the Bible has been “interpreted.”
God is dealing with us according to our faith and the sincerity of our consecration. For this reason He has caused His Word to be written in such a way as to make a practical test of our sincerity. The time-worn statement that the Bible is like an “old fiddle on which you can play any tune,” is true, if, in our study of the Sacred Word, we simply seek to find justification for the “tune” of our own conception or liking.
It would seem that many phases of the Truth, and especially the practical application of it in the Christian life, is presented in the Bible in such a way that if we have any degree of self-will we shall be able to justify ourselves in taking almost any extreme position that may meet the approval our selfish fancy. If we are to attain the spirit of a sound mind—spiritual balance—it is necessary to take into account all that the Scriptures may have to say on a given subject, and from this entire testimony endeavor to glean the full intent of the divine will for us relative thereto.
RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM
There is much said in God’s Word to indicate that He expects His people, as individuals, to be loyal to Him and to be guided by His will, wholly irrespective of the course taken by others. Certainly as Christians we cannot make each other’s calling and election sure. It is necessary, as the apostle wrote to the Philippians, to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”—Phil. 2:12,13
If we were to consider Scriptures bearing on the Christian’s individual responsibility to the Lord, and ignore those which indicate that God is pleased for us to fellowship and co-operate with others in His service, we might be able, apparently, to justify ourselves in becoming what, in the world, would be styled “rugged individualists.” Indeed individualism seems to have gripped some Christians to such an extent that they imagine they can make a greater success of their Christian life by holding entirely aloof from all other Christians, and depending for spiritual nourishment and encouragement simply upon their private study of the Bible.
CHANNEL CHRISTIANS
Then there is an opposite extreme to individualism against which all of us need to be on guard. This reverse position is that of renouncing practically all individual responsibility and claiming that God deals with His people only as members of His “organization” and that if one is in that organization, and faithful to it as unto the Lord, he is sure to have the protection of Jehovah; though he neglects to search the Scriptures for himself, or develop Christian character. Neither this, nor the opposite extreme of individualism can be wholly pleasing to God.
We must not ignore any of the plain instructions of His Word, all of which are vital to our lives as new creatures. When Paul wrote to the Philippians and admonished them to work out their own salvation, he undoubtedly meant to emphasize that in the final analysis no one can work out our salvation for us; that it is a personal matter between us and the Lord. This means that we are individually responsible to the Lord for the things we believe and the things we do. As individuals we are to “prove all things” and not to accept anything as true simply because it reaches us through some earthly “channel” which we have decided must be the Lord’s channel.
To work out our own salvation means, also, that we will have a true love for Christian liberty, and will not permit ourselves to be bound by earthly sects and organizations which “fetter reason with their rules.” In the exercise of this true Christian liberty we will reach out and take hold upon the promises of the Lord as individuals, and we will realize that they apply to us irrespective of the opinions and rulings of men or of man-made organizations.
Laying hold upon these divine promises individually, we will rejoice in the Lord no matter what may come or what may go. If we have privileges of service for the Truth we will rejoice; if we are denied them, we can still rejoice in His will. Our union with God and with Christ, as individuals, should be so real, and so vitally and substantially established upon the basis of personal faith in Him, that even though our dearest friend, or perhaps the one who brought us the Truth should fall away, we will continue to stand, energetically working out our own salvation.
CO-OPERATION NECESSARY
While exercising our individual privileges as Christians, however, we are not to ignore the fact that we also have a responsibility toward others; and that the Lord, in His wisdom, has arranged that many of the blessings which we may receive as individuals must come to us through fellow-Christians. When Paul said, “Work out your own salvation,” he did not mean that we can be successful Christians while wholly ignoring the fact that there is an association of Christians of which we, as individuals, must be a part. He did not mean that we should neglect the assembling of ourselves together, “as the manner of some is.”
Paul said, “It is God that worketh in you,” but he did not mean that God works directly in us by whispering His instructions into our ears, nor that He miraculously lifts us up from the crowd and deals with us in ways of our own choosing. God does, indeed, work in us as individuals, but He has His own way of doing it. He works according to His own plans, not according to ours.
One clue as to how God works in us is given in the fourth chapter of Ephesians. By reading this chapter carefully we get the unmistakable thought that God works not only through the prophets and apostles, but also through various other servants—evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc. This means that in order to properly maintain our own individual standing before God, we must co-operate with Him through others whom He may choose to use from time to time in the work of the ministry.
Surely we cannot be individualists to the extent of ignoring the message of the prophets and the apostles! Nor can we safely be independent Christians in the sense of ignoring the helps that may come to us through the elders of the ecclesia, or through any others whom the Lord may use to encourage His people.
SPECIAL SERVANTS FOR THE CHURCH
In addition to the apostles and prophets, and also in addition to those servants in the local ecclesias which the Lord is pleased to use for the blessing of His people, He has, also, raised up from time to time throughout the age, special teachers whose commission has been to bring to the attention of His people as a whole “meat in due season.” In the book of Revelation, seven of these special servants are pointed out and referred to as messengers to the seven churches. How rich have been the blessings that the Lord has poured out upon His people through His use of the seventh messenger to the church in this, the Laodicean period!
When the time came for the Gospel to go to the Gentiles, God did not enlighten the minds of individual Gentiles as a result of their own personal study of the Bible. Rather, He raised up a special apostle to the Gentiles, and through him carried the Word of truth to those who previously had been aliens and strangers from the Commonwealth of Israel.
This same principle we have seen in operation at this end of the age. When the time came for the glorious harvest message of present truth to be made known to the church as a whole, the Lord did not reveal this “meat in due season” to individuals in various parts of the earth, and as a result of their own personal study of the Bible. Rather, He served this “meat” to one whom He appointed as a faithful servant to minister the glorious harvest message to the remainder of the household. To ignore this provision of the Lord and to insist that the message He has given to His church in this way is relatively unimportant would, it seems to us, reveal a condition of unbalance, spiritually. It would seem that such an attitude would reflect a tendency toward individualism which would be unwarranted by the Word of God.
On the other hand, the fact that the Lord has, from time to time throughout the age, used these special servants, does not by any manner of means release us as individuals from the necessity of continuing to “prove all things” and to “hold fast that which is good.” Only the prophets, apostles, and our Lord Jesus must be considered as inspired ministers to the church. The privilege of all servants in the church, aside from the inspired writers of the Bible, is merely to assist the household of faith to a better understanding of the Scriptures. Hence, our individual responsibility as Christians is to accept only that which we can prove to be wholly in harmony with the Word of God.
Thus it is that by considering the entire Scriptural testimony which reveals God’s will for us, we learn that He wants us to exercise an individual faith and trust in Him, and to realize our responsibility of proving all things from His Sacred Word; and yet, on the other hand, He also wants us to fellowship and co-operate with our brethren. He wants us to realize that, as in the past, so during the harvest period, He has fed and encouraged His people through special servants. He wants us to realize that His arrangements for working in us to will and to do His good pleasure is further expressed through local ecclesia arrangements, through the elders and other servants of the church who are placed in the body as it pleaseth Him. He wants us to rejoice in the blessings He thus provides for us and also to be on the alert ourselves to render any service we can to other members of the body. By thus giving heed to the entire Scriptural testimony and seeking to apply it in our lives, we attain a spiritual balance—the spirit of a sound mind—which will merit His approval.
THE DEVOTIONAL LIFE
The Scriptures have much to say concerning what many speak of as the devotional life. This devotional life consists of Bible study, fellowship with others of like precious faith, prayer, etc. In it is also included sincere efforts to have our lives conform to the image of Christ. Surely there can be no doubt that God wants us to be faithful along all these lines. He wants us to search the Scriptures daily. He wants us to be instant in prayer. He wants us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. He wants us to be kind and gentle, and patient; He wants us to be like Christ in all these ways.
In addition to the instructions of God’s Word pertaining to the devotional life, it also makes clear the divine will with respect to things that we are to do in His service. We cannot, therefore, hope to be balanced Christians, to possess the spirit of a sound mind, if we merely are faithful to the instructions which have to do with Bible study, prayer and character development. We should realize that obedience and faithfulness along these lines are but preparatory for the privileges of being co-workers with God in the accomplishment of His glorious plan for the reconciliation of the human race.
This being true, we should be on the alert to acquaint ourselves with the instructions of His Word as they pertain to faithfulness in His service. If we are wholly sincere in our consecration we will not wish to overlook what the Lord has said concerning the privilege of laying down our lives in working for Him. We will not ignore these instructions on the ground that to do so may result in an easier path for us, or to enjoy more of the comforts of this life, either of home or of leisure, or otherwise. Keeping in mind that the spirit of a sound mind is one which is animated by the great principle of unselfishness, we will interpret God’s instructions pertaining to our privilege of working for Him in harmony with love, and will gladly enter into whatever opportunity He indicates to be His will for us, irrespective of what the cost may be of time, comfort, money or otherwise.
Every Christian should realize, however, that he cannot work his way into the Kingdom. That is to say, we should know that there is nothing we can do for the Lord which will earn for us the right to joint-heirship with Christ. We should ever keep in mind that God’s favor to us is wholly by His grace, and not because of anything we have done to warrant it. This fact however, should not be used as an excuse for not being faithful in serving as ministers of the Kingdom message.
The apostle says, “Not of works, lest any man should boast:” (Eph. 2:8,9) Surely God would not be pleased for us to boast of what we have done for Him, nor to claim His favor upon the basin of our own merit. But, let us not, dear brethren, improperly apply texts of Scripture in order to provide comfortable resting places for ourselves in the camp of inactivity.
ACCEPTABLE AND UNACCEPTABLE SERVICE
But the Lord is not looking for a campaign of “great works.” Surely nothing could be more displeasing to the Lord than for us to assume that simply because we are engaged in a frenzy of activity that He will be pleased with us. This would be another extreme position reflecting the spirit, not of a sound mind, but of an unsound mind—spiritual unbalance. That such an erroneous position is a possibility is clearly indicated by the words of the Master in which He explained that in the end of the age many would come to Him and claim His friendship upon the basis of the “many wonderful works” they had done in His name, and that He would answer them saying, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity; I never knew you.” (Matt. 7:21-23) This statement clearly reveals the possibility of one becoming unbalanced with the idea of great works. But it should not, nevertheless, be used to justify the false position of no works.
That it is pleasing to God for a Christian to be actively engaged in the divine service there can be no doubt. In fact, the ideal Christian life is one that is wholly and directly spent for God, even as was that of the Master; yet few are in a position to render such direct and full-time service. The Bible itself circumscribes the energies of the Christian, by pointing out that certain earthly obligations, especially toward one’s family or dependents, must be met before one may properly feel free to devote time and strength to the service of God.
The sincere Christian will find no great difficulty in fitting himself in with these various Scriptural requirements; yet the insincere will find in them an excuse to side-step the responsibilities of his consecration vow, which requires him to present his body a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”—Romans 12:1
The divine commission given to the church most unmistakably implies self-sacrificing activity in proclaiming the glad tidings of the Kingdom. The examples of the apostles in this respect indicate clearly what they understood this commission to mean. Their instructions to the church emphasize and re-emphasize the importance of faithfulness in the Lord’s service. But this does not mean, as many seem to have concluded, that all the Lord requires of a Christian is that he should be everlastingly active in a feverish campaign of “great works.”
TAKE NO THOUGHT FOR THE MORROW
On one occasion Jesus said to His disciples, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.” (Luke 12:22) Here is an inspired statement, which if taken independently of other instructions of the Sacred Word, might lead to fanaticism. While these words of the Master should not be used as the justification for fanaticism, yet they are a heart-searching command implying how fully the Lord expects us to be devoted to Him if we have made a full consecration to do His will. In connection with this statement Jesus explained that we can truly put our trust in the Heavenly Father, knowing that He will care for our physical needs, and that, because of this, we can and should seek first the Kingdom of heaven and its righteousness. But Jesus did not mean that a Christian can throw off all responsibility of a material nature, because other Scriptures outline certain responsibilities which, if he is to be faithful to the Lord, must be discharged faithfully as unto Him.
In Romans 12:17, Paul tells us we are to “provide things honest in the sight of all men.” In I Timothy 5:8 we read, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” If we are to be balanced Christians we must take these passages and those of a similar import, put them over against Jesus’ words in Luke 12, and seek to know and practice the harmony of thought that lies between them.
The words of Jesus in Luke 12 undoubtedly are intended to convey the thought that the consecrated Christian is to regard ALL his time—his whole life—as devoted to the service of God. He is to seek first the Kingdom of heaven, and if he does this, he is to have full confidence that the Heavenly Father will take care of his earthly interests. On the other hand, while one can consecrate himself to the Lord, he cannot consecrate his family, in the sense that they must become a part of the sacrifice he is making. Thus it is seen that the practical carrying out of one’s consecration vows must be circumscribed to the extent to which the Scriptures obligate him to care for those dependent upon him for support.
But herein is another heart-searching test of our sincerity before God. Did we really mean it when we said, “Here Lord, I bring to Thee mine all”? If so, we will see to it that our all is really consumed upon the altar of sacrifice—as directly and as effectively as possible in the divine service. If our consecration was not wholly sincere, or if since we made it we have become to any extent cool in our zeal and devotion to the Lord—“weary in well-doing”—then we will be able to find in the various instructions of the Bible apparently plausible excuses to “draw back.”
The command to “provide things honest,” will be interpreted by us, if we are insincere, to mean that we should devote practically all of our time and strength in providing things that are luxurious. The command which obligates us to provide for our own may be construed to signify that we should spend our entire life caring for them, and that we must also leave them well taken care of when we die; even though the “Kingdom of heaven and its righteousness” must thereby be almost wholly neglected.
Here again, then, the spirit of God, operating through His Word, will enable us, if we are sincerely consecrated to Him, to exercise the “spirit of a sound mind,” and to see that since we have consecrated ourselves to God, we belong wholly to Him; and that other conditions being equal, we are to be entirely consumed in His service. It also will enable us to see that God would have us use some of our time and some of our strength—as much as is reasonably necessary—to care for those who by ties of blood or marriage, are properly dependent upon us. We will not, however, use these latter instructions as an excuse to devote our entire life to earthly pursuits; yea, we will rejoice in the fact that all necessary service in caring for our own according to the flesh is counted by God as also a part of our sacrifice to Him.
JESUS, THE PERFECT EXAMPLE
In Jesus we have perfectly exemplified that true spiritual balance for which the Heavenly Father would have us strive. Jesus was wholly devoted to His Father. Jesus recognized His dependence upon the Father in all things. Jesus, having consecrated Himself to do the Father’s will, and knowing that God had revealed His will in the Scriptures, was faithful in the use of the Scriptures as the means of divine guidance in His everyday life. Yes, Jesus was truly a “Bible Student.”
Jesus’ devotional life of prayer and communion, with the Father was ideal. He prayed much and often, and upon every occasion when some special service was to he rendered He took the matter to the Father in prayer, seeking His guidance and invoking the divine blessing. In addition to paying strict attention to His own relationship to the Heavenly Father, Jesus also zealously laid down His life for the blessing of others. The Master exercised a loving watch-care over His disciples, teaching them, instructing them, providing for their needs, both temporal and spiritual.
Jesus also was faithful in bearing witness to the truth whenever and wherever opportunity afforded. When He saw the multitude who had come to meet Him in a desert place, His heart was filled with compassion for them because they were as sheep without a shepherd. Because of His compassion for these distressed people, He taught them many things. Thus He used His strength to impart blessings to others even though the time had not come for them to be converted. Jesus recognized that the use of such privileges was a part of His training for future glory in the Kingdom.
THAT THE MINISTRY BE NOT BLAMED
In II Corinthians, Chapter 6, the Apostle Paul presents to us the proper relationship between the devotional life and our service for the Lord. He reminds us in the first verse of this chapter that we are “workers together with Him.” Then he admonishes us further, saying, “Giving no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed.” (Verse 3) From here on in the chapter the apostle mentions our privilege of suffering with Christ, and tells us of the importance of knowledge, of longsuffering, of kindness, of being filled with the Holy Spirit, of being controlled by “love unfeigned,” of being instructed by the Word of God, of having on the whole armor of God, etc. All of these necessary elements of the Christian life Paul indicates as being important in order that “the ministry be not blamed.”
The thought thus presented by the apostle is that Christian character development, prayer, Bible study, etc., are the background of the Christian ministry. We cannot hope to be kind enough or pure enough, nor to pray enough, to warrant our being made joint-heirs with Christ in the Kingdom. Neither can we hope to be zealous enough in the service of God to work our way into the Kingdom. Our acceptableness with God in all these things is through Christ and by divine grace. But God does want us to deport ourselves as His ministers in such a manner as not to bring unnecessary reproach upon the ministry. He does want us to be kind, to be gentle. He does want us to know the truth, in order that we may not misrepresent Him when we attempt to present it to others. He does want us to commune with Him in prayer—to keep the lines of communication open so that we may have access to the throne of grace at all times—to obtain mercy and find strength to help in times of need. All of this the Heavenly Father expects of us, and then with this proper background, He wants us to go out zealously in His service, as faithful witnesses for Jesus and for the Word of God.
Jesus was all of these things. In Him we find the perfect example of everything that the apostle urges upon us as ambassadors of Christ. This means that the balanced Christian is a Christ-like Christian, one in whose life is displayed more and more, day by day, the image of the Master—one who seeks to do as Christ did, and to be like Him under all circumstances and conditions.
Jesus was not an extremist along any particular line. Jesus did not ride hobbies. Jesus did not conclude that this, that or the other divine requirement was more or less important than the rest, and that, therefore, those that particularly appealed to Him should be stressed and the others ignored. Jesus made it plain that it is by obedience to every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God that one can have the divine favor. Jesus in His own perfection displayed this full obedience, and if we are to be balanced Christians we will endeavor to copy Him, to have the divine image, as reflected in Christ, worked out more and more in our daily lives irrespective of what the cost may be to us. May the Lord grant that this shall be true in the experience of each one of us as the days go by.