[January 18]
If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10
FROM the divine standpoint the body is treated as
dead, but the spirit, or mind, is treated as alive.
It
is the new creature which God recognizes, to which he
purposes to give a new spirit body in due time—in
the first resurrection.
It is necessary that this thought
be clearly fixed in our minds, in order that we may
continually realize our peace toward God and his favor
and sympathy toward us in Christ.
If we lose sight of
the fact that God regards us from the standpoint of
the will, if we get to thinking of ourselves and God's
estimate of us as according to the flesh, we are sure to
get proportionately into darkness and confusion and
discouragement.
But let us not forget, on the other
hand, that the spirit, or will, is counted alive because
of its righteousness, because it is in harmony with
God.
Let us, therefore, never be slack in respect to
the will, or intention, governing the conduct of our
lives, but remember that any laxity will mean the
proportionate loss of spiritual life.
To will right is
always possible to us, and nothing less than an absolutely
loyal will could be acceptable to God in Christ. Z'03-171 R3203:2 (Hymn 277)