The Salvation of Jesus (4), the Path to Progress: “Reckoning” [Unser Herr lebt, Issue 55]

The Salvation of Jesus (4), the Path to Progress: “Reckoning”

Unser Herr lebt, Issue 55, 2020

Gotthold Beck

David confessed in his psalm:

How blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed is the person against whom the Lord does not charge iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Psalms 32:1-2, International Standard Version)

John wrote in his letter, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).”

When we read these verses, we will realize deep in our hearts how precious the blood of the Lord Jesus is. We will always want to know and appreciate the preciousness of the blood of the Lord Jesus even more and more.

In this article, I want to discuss with you, based on the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 6, verses 1 to 11, about the “reckoning” as the path to our progress.

Before we get down to this main subject, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what we have learned in the previous articles.

The Value of the Shed Blood of Jesus and His Cross

We learned three things regarding the meanings of the blood that the Lord Jesus shed. Firstly, because of His blood, the wall called sin, which used to separate humans from the Lord God, was taken away and we are now allowed to have fellowship with God. Secondly, if we recognize the true value of this Blood, our guilty conscience will vanish. Thirdly, we have learned that if we learn the value of the Blood deeply, the devil’s accusation will lose its effect.

Then, we have seen the value of the cross of Jesus to our old man.

Any Christian, sooner or later, hits a wall where he or she recognizes that they need to grow spiritually, but they cannot, and start to wonder how they can. They aspire to live “the life of victory,” but they found themselves totally helpless. They are confronted with the sinful nature within them all the time and they cannot be free from it.

This way, we have learned that, compared with being forgiven of our sin and being justified by the blood of the Lord Jesus, how much more difficult is it for us to move forward and be sanctified.

We also learned that, just as we did not have to make efforts to be saved and justified, our human efforts are useless to be sanctified. Therefore, instead of striving to overcome sin in our strength, we need to know what the source of our sin is and move on to the path of deliverance that God has prepared for us.

The Road to the Progress. Phase 1: “Knowing”

“We know that our old natures were crucified with Him so that our sin-laden bodies might be rendered powerless and we might no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6).” As we can see from this Word of God, the resource for deliverance has already been provided by the Lord. If we desire to move further inwardly and spiritually, we absolutely need to understand this fact. So, in the previous article, we learned three things about “knowing.”

Firstly, what it is that we absolutely need to know. That it is a historical fact that we have been crucified with the Lord Jesus. Secondly, in what way we should understand this historical fact. That, not just as a mere knowledge, but we must understand it by revelation from above. Thirdly why is it so important for us to know this fact? It is because it’s a historical fact that we have been crucified with Jesus Christ and if we know this fact by revelation, all our problems will be solved from the ground up. These are what we learned in the previous article.

Now, what does it take for us to enter the life of victory that we are all longing for?

The Road to the Progress. Phase 2: “Reckoning”

Now, let us move on to the second phase of the road to progress, which is the subject of this article. In the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 6, verse 1, we read the following:

In the same way, you too must continually consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but living for God through the Messiah Jesus. (Romans 6:11)

It is written “we must consider” in this verse, but I think that more adequate word which expresses the intention of the author should be “acknowledge” or “reckon.” This is the commandment of God to you. What is it then He is commanding you here? What is He asking you to “consider” or “reckon”? Let us continue to read the Word of God carefully.

Actually, verse 6 and verse 11 of the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 6 are to be read together considering their content. Let us look at verses 6 and 11:

We know that our old natures were crucified with him so that our sin-laden bodies might be rendered powerless and we might no longer be slaves to sin.... In the same way, you too must continually consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but living for God through the Messiah Jesus. (Romans 6:6, 11)

Know it and then consider it. In other words, the proper order of things is, first to know, then acknowledge and reckon. Once we know that our old man has been crucified and already died with Christ, the next thing for us to do is to acknowledge and reckon that very fact. However, this reckoning is of no use unless it is done based on God’s truth shown by revelation. Otherwise, our faith will be groundless and vain.

If we know this fact through revelation, it will be a natural thing for us to reckon God’s truth.

[1] Seeing the Fact by Revelation

Verse 11 is of no use unless it is combined with the fact described in verse 6. We are well aware of our weakness, which is always attacked by the devil. What do we do when the attack begins? We try to remind ourselves very hard, “my old man is dead; He must have been dead already.” But, the more we struggle to deal with it, the more we realize that our old man actually revives and is acting vigorously. Why is that?

This is because we have not yet stepped into the first stage. It is because we have not seen by revelation yet with the “eyes of our heart” that we already have been crucified with the Lord Jesus.

When the Lord Jesus died, we too died with Him, for we were placed inside Jesus when it happened. Jesus certainly died. In the same way, our old man certainly has died with Jesus. Have you seen this fact through the revelation? Or, do you just know it as head knowledge from books? If the Lord opens your eyes to this eternal fact, you will just start to rejoice and praise Him with all your heart for having died with the Lord.

What is the secret to being able to reckon this way? It is to have the fact revealed to you. The following example of Peter tells this secret:

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” Then Jesus told him, “How blessed you are, Simon son of Jonah, since flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, though my Father in heaven has. (Matthew 16:16-17)

By revelation, Peter came to realize that Jesus was Christ.

Paul too wrote to the believers in Ephesus as follows:

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the most glorious Father, would give you a wise spirit, along with revelation that comes through knowing the Messiah fully. Then, with the eyes of your hearts enlightened, you will know the confidence that is produced by God having called you, the rich glory that is his inheritance among the saints, and the unlimited greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his mighty strength. (Ephesians 1:17-19)

Again, Paul clearly stated how he wished that the spirit of revelation will be given to his brothers and sisters and the eyes of their hearts are enlightened.

That we have been united with the Lord Jesus is not just a theory, but a fact. It is necessary for us to see this fact through revelation from above. This is not an ambiguous event. At some point in our lives, we all had a very profound experience of realizing the fact that Jesus died for us and seeing it in the eyes of our hearts. Now, if we also see in the eyes of our hearts that we “died with Jesus,” it will give us experience no less profound than that. These two experiences should be the foundation of our lives.

Our old man is dead because he has been crucified with the Lord. We have seen what God has already done for us in Christ and now we can take it into account. This is what we call reckoning. It is not that we reckon how we will die to ourselves from now, but we reckon that we already have died and take it into account.

[2] Acknowledging and Reckoning the Revealed Fact

What does it actually mean for us to “consider”? It is very much like doing a simple calculation and keeping an account book.

There are different kinds of jobs, among which the ones that give explicit answers are those which deal with numbers. Painters paint a picture. But no painter can paint a perfect picture in an objective sense. We cannot expect historians to be completely accurate because they cannot prove if the materials they collected are 100% true. It is also impossible for cartographers to draw completely accurate maps. Even if several people see and hear the same thing, when it comes to expressing it, they will never be the same. Human beings are imprecise by nature. However, counting something or keeping accounting books is a different story. One plus one is two. This is the same in Tokyo, New York, and Moscow.

What is the point of the Word of God in chapter 6, verse 11 of the Epistle to the Romans, “you must continually consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned.” It is saying that, because we have died with the Lord, we all should acknowledge it as a fact and take it into our reckoning.

For example, if you are to keep a cashbook and you have 50,000 yen, what would you write in it? You would simply write 50,000 yen in it. You would do so because you actually have 50,000 yen with you. You consider based on this simple fact and then you put it into account.

When you go shopping, you always keep in your mind that you have fifty thousand yen. In that same way, the Lord God is telling you that you should take into account that you have died as far as sin is concerned. He tells you to do so because it is a fact. This is God's command. Because you had fifty thousand yen, you put that amount into your account. In the same way, since we have died as far as sin is concerned, we reckon that way.

When the Lord died, we died with Him. Therefore, we have to reckon, believe and close the books, so to speak, as to the fact that we have died as far as sin is concerned.

What do we have to do to acknowledge this fact from our heart? It has to be done in the Lord, not in ourselves. Look up to the Lord Jesus and think of the work He has accomplished on the cross. This is the secret of reckoning.

Let us take a closer look at this matter of reckoning on faith.

The first part of the Epistle to the Romans mostly revolves around faith. The forgiveness of our sins, our being justified, peace with God; these kinds of things can be obtained through believing. On the other hand, In the second half of the Epistle to Romans, the word “consider” is used more often than the word “believe.” In reality, however, believing and reckoning are the same things.

What is faith? Faith is accepting what God has done. Faith is always based on the fact that has already been done in the past. When we think of the goal of our faith, we always look upon our future, but most of our faith is based on the fact that has occurred in the past. The word “consider” that appears many times in the second half of the Epistle to the Romans all refer to fact of the past. That is why the author uses the word “consider” the fact that has already happened.

In the Gospel according to Mark, the Lord Jesus uses the word that has the same meaning as to “reckon” or “calculate” in context:

That is why I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. (Mark 11:24)

Let us believe that we “have received” in the Lord Jesus. The Lord is telling us that He already has given us faith. Can you praise with heartfelt joy that you have already been crucified with Jesus? If you can, it is because you are now able to reckon the value of your faith.

The third chapter of the Epistle to the Romans tells us that the Lord Jesus died in order to take our sin upon Himself, to sacrifice Himself on behalf of us, to justify us and to forgive us. The sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans was written to tell us that the death of Jesus was also for our deliverance from our sinful nature. When we learned the first fact from chapter 3, we believed in the Lord and received the forgiveness of our sin. The Lord is telling us, instead of staying in this state of chapter 3 (the first stage), to move on to the second stage where you believe in the deliverance from our sin and take it into consideration.

[3] Faith that Makes the Fact of God your Experience

So far, we have learned about “reckoning” and now I would like to take a moment to reflect briefly on the only answer to our trial and failure: faith.

Suppose we reckon what chapter 3 and chapter 6 of the Epistle to the Romans tells us and believed in them, then there was an attempt on our lives and we failed. What should we do then? We might begin to wonder that what was stated in chapter 6, verse 11 of the Epistle to the Romans was just a desk theory and not real.

But that is not true. What the devil aims most of all is to raise a doubt in us about the unmovable and eternal fact of God. By whispering to our hearts, “you see, the old man in you is not dead, but still alive.” he succeeds in raising a doubt on the Word of God.

What should our response to this be? Will we believe in carnal and material things, which we can see with our eyes, touch with our hands, feel and comprehend in our mind? Or, will we believe in something 'spiritual'?

The Bible states that as long as we live on this earth, our sinful nature cannot be completely erased and the possibility of committing sins always remains in us. Therefore, we need the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of the sin that we carry inside us, whether we realize it or not. We have to understand this fact.

The nature of sin is always lurking deep inside us. However, I believe that we must be freed from this power of sin day by day by our faith and instead of allowing ourselves to be slaves of sin, we need to offer ourselves to God as the armor of righteousness. It is stated in the First Epistle of John, chapter 3, verse 9:

No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God’s seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born from God. (1 John 3:9)

This verse shows us that our deliverance from the old man and the nature of sin is a fact. Needless to say, John is not saying that believers cannot commit sin anymore. He is saying that they are Christians and Jesus Christ dwelling in them cannot commit sin. Therefore, there are two distinct natures in us believers. One is the nature of the Lord Jesus, which can never commit any sin at all, and the other is the nature of our old man, the nature of sin we were born with. Therefore, it is a matter of which fact we are standing on, what kind of fact we are based on as we reckon, and the kind of fact we live on.

That is to say, the question is whether we continue to live an earthly life based on the fact that we have old nature of sin, or we live a life of faith based on the fact that the Holy Lord Jesus dwells within us. As we live in this end time, I would like all of us to remind ourselves much deeper in our hearts how important it is to have faith. Let us think again about what faith is.

Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about and the certainty that what we cannot see exists. (Hebrew 11:1)

This is the only verse in the Bible that gives a definition of faith. Faith is to be convinced of “the fact that has already been done” and get hold of it.

In our daily lives, we get hold of a fact by seeing it with our eyes and hearing it with our ears. The fields are filled with a variety of colorful flowers, red, blue yellow and purple. If we keep our eyes closed, these flowers cannot delight our eyes at all. But, when we open our eyes, we see flowers of various colors, which make us delightful. Blind people cannot distinguish the colors. It is difficult for those who are deaf to understand what music is. However, even if we cannot see or hear them, it does not change the fact that flowers have colors and music has sound. In this way, by seeing with our eyes or hearing with our ears, we acknowledge what is actually there and get hold of it.

What we have learned so far about the crucifixion and death of the Lord Jesus, that our sin has been forgiven by His blood, cannot be captured by our senses. It is by nothing but our faith that we can get hold of the everlasting truth of God, which cannot be seen with eyes. Paul has made this wonderful testimony as follows:

We do not look for things that can be seen but for things that cannot be seen. For things that can be seen are temporary, but things that cannot be seen are eternal. (1 Corinthians 4:18)

It is our faith that makes the fact of God our experience. Many people read chapter 6, verse 6 of the Epistle to the Romans, but it hardly becomes their personal experience. It certainly becomes true for those who believe, but to those who doubt or think with their heads, this fact, what Jesus has done for us is not accepted as truth.

It is essential to realize that our old man has been crucified with Jesus. Fact, regardless of whether you believe it or not, is still a fact. The fact that our sinful nature has been crucified with the Lord Jesus remains even if we refuse to believe it. However, if we do not believe this fact, it is totally meaningless to us. Our 'faith' turns this fact of our being crucified with the Lord into the experience.

Once, this brother, who was of great service to the Lord Jesus became terribly ill. The high fever continued for five days, which prevented him from sleeping. Then, this brother felt a conviction that he has been healed. However, he continued to show the same symptoms. He still had a high fever; his pulse was rapid and his head was still pounding. That was when he heard the whispering of the devil. He whispered, “where did the promise of God go? where is your faith, your prayer?” This brother nearly gave in to these words, but he determined to pray again and tried to keep praying. At that moment, he was given the Word of God; “Your Word is truth. Your Word is truth.” If the Word of God is true, then the apparent symptoms must be false. This brother talked back to the devil, “I know that this fever and pain is not real. Only the Word of God is true.” After five minutes or so, he fell asleep. And when he woke up, he found out that his illness was completely healed. This brother was healed because he was convinced that it was the Lord's will that he be healed.

It is true that not all illnesses are healed. However, it is always true that we have been crucified with the Lord Jesus and there is no doubt about it. In order to reject the accusation of the devil, it is absolutely necessary to believe in the Word of God. Even if we fail so badly and the devil tries to take advantage of that failure, we should not stop believing in the Word of God.

Satan strives to draw us away from the Word of God by giving us false signs, feelings and experiences as well as words. The devil desperately tries to let us believe that our old man is not dead but still alive. We have to take to our heart that we will fall into the trick of the devil if we do not hold tight to the Word of God. Do we move based on visible circumstances and situations, or do we live on the Word of God?

My name is Mr. Beck. This is a fact that I acknowledge. I might one day lose my memory and forget my name. But, even if I completely forget it and cannot recognize my name, it does not change the fact that I am Mr. Beck. Let us say I decide to use a false name for some reason and begin to call myself 'Mr. Kennedy,' this will be very difficult. I have to be on my toes all the time to make sure I do not refer to myself as Beck to anyone I meet. However, if someone inadvertently calls me Mr. Beck, I might answer “yes!” Facts are hard to hide. When I loosen up a bit, it will appear easily. Because it is a fact that I am Beck, it is very hard to forget it and this fact will never change no matter what.

In the same way, that we have been crucified with the Lord Jesus is the fact that nothing can change, regardless of whether we feel it or not, believe it or not, or no matter what happens.

Why am I so much sure of this fact? It is because the Bible clearly states that “one person died for all people; therefore, all people have died. (2 Corinthians 5:14).” Fact remains as fact, even if our senses or reason refuses to recognize it.

As long as we stand firm on this fact, the devil cannot lay his finger on us. Satan always comes and attempts to shake our conviction. When we begin to cast any questions about the Word of God, the devil wins. Contrarily, the devil cannot either touch or control those who take into consideration and firmly believe God’s fact. It is written in the second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 5 verse 7, “we live by faith, not by sight.” Do you surely walk by your faith, not by your sight?

You may still remember this parable: 'Fact' 'faith' and 'experience' are walking in a line on a high, narrow wall. 'Fact' is leading the way. This 'fact' does not look left or right. He does not look back either. He is just walking straight ahead without a side glance. 'Faith' is walking following the 'fact.' As far as the 'faith' is walking forward, staring at just the 'fact' in front of him, nothing happens. The 'experience' that follows them also is walking well and straight. However, one day, Mr. faith begins to be concerned about Mr. experience who walks behind him. He wonders, “how is this Experience guy doing?” and turns back. At that moment, Mr. fact disappears from the sight of Mr. faith. Immediately, Mr. faith loses his balance and falls off the wall. It is said that Mr. experience fell together with Mr. faith.

What is the purpose of the devil in tempting us all the time? It is to cause believers to take their eyes off the Lord Jesus, instead they look into themselves, look at various things surrounding them or the worldly things their eyes can see. Very often, faith encounters various events that contradict the Word of God. The question is, when this happens, whether we act based on our senses and give in to the deceptions of the devil, or we reject all things that oppose the Word of the Lord God and stand firm in His Word. It is nothing but the attitude we take that determines whether we wipe away all reasons to deny the Word of God, or we will lose our faith. Let us keep deep in our hearts that what our eyes cannot see will remain forever. If we continue to keep our eyes on the fact the Lord has done, it will begin to become our fact too. The Lord Jesus Himself will be in fact our own “righteousness” and the Lord Jesus will be our own “holiness” inside us as a reality and the “life of resurrection” will become our lives too. When Paul wrote the Epistle to Galatians, this was actually what was in his mind:

My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until the Messiah is formed in you. (Galatians 4:19)

Only by faith, does the eternal objective fact of God become our personal and subjective experience. Finally, let us discuss the importance of abiding in the Lord Jesus.

[4] Abiding in the Lord Jesus

John recorded the Word that the Lord has spoken:

“Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot produce fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. (John 15:4)

“Abide in me, and I will abide in you.” As I have mentioned many times before, the Bible does not say that “our nature of sin has been taken away,” nor does it say, “we died in ourselves.” The Bible states that we died “in Christ” and that the “work of our sinful nature” was killed.

Let me tell you again. The Bible says that we died in Christ and the work of our sinful nature was killed. If we believe this fact firmly and continue to abide in Christ, it will begin to become our own experience.

Nowhere in the Bible, we are commanded to “enter” into Christ with all our might. Since we are already placed inside Christ. What the Lord Jesus commands us is not to “come into Himself,” but it is to “abide in Him.” It was the work of the Lord God that brought us into the Lord Jesus. All we have to do is to remain in Him.

The Lord God has done His work of salvation and deliverance in Christ, not in us personally. It is necessary for us to recognize this fact.

God did this work of salvation and deliverance “for us,” but not “in us.” The Lord God accomplished this work all through His Son, Jesus “in Jesus.” Therefore, what the Lord has experienced has to be our own experience too.

There can be no spiritual experience apart from the Lord Jesus. God has done all His work in His Son, Jesus. We have been crucified with Christ, raised with Christ, made to sit on the throne of heaven with Christ, made completely content by Christ and blessed with all blessings of the Spirit in Christ. All things have been done, not in us, but in Christ.

When you believe and take into consideration what Jesus has done for you, it will begin to become your personal experience. What the Lord Jesus experienced will be your experience too. However, if you refuse to recognize and take into account this work that God has done for us, but you only look within yourself and seek to have your own experience, you will actually have to experience the opposite of what the Bible says. That is to say; you will come to realize that the old man and the sin nature are not dead at all but are very much alive and active in you.

What does it mean for us to remain in the Lord Jesus?

It means that we stand firm on God’s fact; what God has accomplished will never change forever, no matter what happens. It means that we stand on the fact that we have died with Christ, we have been raised with Him, we have been made to sit together on the throne of heaven with Him, and we have been made to be blessed with the spirit in Christ. This fact and work of God is invisible to the eyes. Therefore, we want to walk, not according to what our eyes can see, that is to say, not according to our outward conditions, our failures, or our sin nature that we were born with, but according to the fact that has been done for us in Christ, acknowledging and clearly reckoning this fact. When we do, what the Lord Jesus has done will be ours too. The work that the Lord God has accomplished in Christ will be realized in our daily lives through our faith in Him.

We do not need to eliminate, hide or disguise our old self and sinful nature. It is not necessary for us to make our own effort to live with the resurrection life and transform ourselves into something perfect. If we do, it will bind us by the commandment, which will make us fall into despair. What we definitely have to do is to surrender and entrust ourselves to Him. There is a difference of heaven and hell between trying with our own effort and entrusting ourselves to the Lord.

When the Lord Jesus died, you were within Christ. When the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, you were placed in the Lord. When the Lord Jesus was seated at the right-hand side of His Father God, you were there inside the Lord. If you take this fact into account and reckon it deeply, the experience of Jesus becomes your experience too.

The Lord God has placed you inside Christ. Therefore, what happened to Jesus also happened to you. What has been done to the head has been done to the body too.

Many believers seek the new blessing, new experience and aspire for a life that is filled with the Holy Spirit flowing out from inside. We earnestly desire and seek these kinds of things, but we should not forget that these are inseparable from the Lord Jesus as a Person. Only by opening our eyes of the hearts to the Lord Jesus can we make these experiences truly our own. Other blessings and experiences are just temporary and will eventually fade away. If you want to have the true experience of the Lord, you need to see the fact that has been done in Jesus in the eyes of your hearts by revelation, believe it and reckon it; otherwise, that cannot be your true experience. The Lord God has done all things in His Son, the Lord Jesus. And as He did, He placed us inside His only begotten Son, Jesus. Therefore, regardless of whether we believe it or not, we too have experienced all that Jesus experienced. Your disbelief will render this precious fact totally useless. However, by faith, the experience of Jesus becomes our own experience and we will be changed into the same image as the Lord from glory to glory.

Let me finish this article by quoting again from the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 6, verses 6 and 11:

We know that our old natures were crucified with him so that our sin-laden bodies might be rendered powerless and we might no longer be slaves to sin.... In the same way, you too must continually consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but living for God through the Messiah Jesus. (Romans 6:6, 11)

(Notes)

The word “consider” as it appears in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 6, verse 11, “you must consider,” is translated in different ways in various Bible translations:

It is translated as “you must acknowledge,” “you must think,” and “you should admit,” in Japanese Bible translations and “reckon yourselves” (calculate, think, guess, regard, or consider) in the New King James Bible.

Furthermore, in the original Greek Bible, it is stated, “λογιζεοθε,” which literally means “you count,” the word “λογιζομαι” has meanings as to calculate, to make account, to examine the arguments, to acknowledge, or to think. (From the editor)