THE RECKONING THAT COUNTS

by Miles J. Stanford

The often quoted but seldom understood Philippians 3:10 involves reckoning. It sets forth first the Christian's GOAL, then the means and process by which that goal is reached: "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death."

"THAT I MAY KNOW HIM." The one reason for our existence as believers is to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ; and it is through this knowledge that we know our heavenly Father. Let it be repeated, and may it be heeded: "This is life eternal, that they may KNOW Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). This is to be personal, oneness-of-nature knowledge, not just knowledge ABOUT Him. Entering into this wonderful fellowship of union with Him is going to require the best of our attention here, and all of it in eternity.

The key to knowing the Lord Jesus here and now is the Word of God. We can learn about Him through our general study of the Scriptures, but we can only get to know Him personally by FEEDING upon Him therein. In our devotions, we should concentrate on the Living Word as revealed in the written Word. In this quiet fellowship, we study Him in Scripture in dependence upon the Spirit of Truth. We get to know Him as we meditate upon Him in the Word, both as He was on earth and as He is in glory -- observing His character (attitudes, actions and reactions), listening to Him speak, speaking to Him, responding to Him, loving and trusting Him.

While we feed upon Christ as the Bread of Life, and abide in Him as the True Vine, the faithful Holy Spirit is forming Him deep within the springs of our life, within our very spirit where He abides. Gazing upon the Lord Jesus in the authoritative Word keeps us under the transforming influence of THE PRINCIPLE OF ASSIMILATION: "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

"THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION." We first know this mighty power of His resurrection and ascension when we see our scriptural POSITION in our risen Lord. The foundation of all resurrection life is death. "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection" (Rom.6:5). "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us... hath quickened us together with Christ... and hath raised us up together" (Ephesians 2:4-6). We are new creations in Christ Jesus by the power of His resurrection.

Our reckoning is to be based upon our POSITION. We count ourselves alive unto God in Christ. Through our faith in this fact, the Holy Spirit makes this truth real in our CONDITION, our growth. We abide in Him above, and He manifests Himself in us below. In reckoning, we are yielding; our faith rests upon the fact that God has raised us together with the Lord Jesus, and this enables us to yield ourselves unto God "AS THOSE THAT ARE ALIVE FROM THE DEAD" (Rom.6:13).

Certainly, we cannot yield ourselves to God when we do not know that we are FREE to do so. We are hopelessly taken up with the struggle for freedom, unless we are aware that we have been cut off from the slavery of sin and self through our having died on the Cross. Until we know that we are alive from the dead, we cannot yield to Him as such. We do not yield in order to become free, but BECAUSE we are free in the risen Lord. Having died unto the old, we are alive and free in the new. Count it so.

Finally, we shall know the power of His resurrection when our physical bodies are changed, at the Lord's return. "If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from he dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11). "For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself. Wherefore, my brethren beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord" (Philippians 3:20,21; 4:1, ASV).

We know the power of His resurrection in our position; we are realizing that power in our spiritual growth; we will forever know His mighty power in our resurrection bodies. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:4).

"THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS." Suffering is the lot of all men, the privilege of all believers. The general thinking is that God is not blessing unless He keeps us from, or relieves us of, suffering. Far from it! There is no fellowship with, and growth in, the crucified Lord without suffering -- physical, mental, and spiritual.

Fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the source of our suffering. "If, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:20-21). Paul is our PATTERN of suffering as a Christian. As soon as the Apostle was saved, the Lord Jesus said, "I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:16). "Alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:11). Paul's sufferings (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, for instance) came indirectly from the nail-pierced hands and spear-pierced heart of his Lord. ALL these things were working together for his good. Notice Paul's attitude! "I obtained MERCY, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should afterward believe on {74} Him to life everlasting" (1 Timothy 1:16). "If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY which shall be revealed in us" (ROM 8:17, 18). "If we suffer, we shall also REIGN with Him" (2 Timothy 2:12).

Our fellowship in His sufferings bears threefold fruit. In suffering we LEARN SOMETHING OF THE PROCESS OF GROWTH. "Knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience" (ROM 5:3-4). He chastens (child-trains) us "for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). In suffering we also LEARN MORE OF HIM. "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:5). And in sufferings we LEARN TO APPRECIATE THE NEEDS OF OTHERS. "Blessed be God... the God of all comport; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

"BEING MADE CONFORMABLE UNTO HIS DEATH." We are "alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake," and thereby are being "conformed to His death" -- that we may be conformed to His image. As we take up our Cross daily, this conformation is worked out in the two aspects of DEATH and LIFE. Self is dealt with by the crucifixion of Calvary; its power is broken by the death process within. As a result, the crucified life of the Lord Jesus is manifested in our mortal bodies. "Let this mind [attitude] be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who... made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant... and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross" (Philippians 2:5,7,8).

As we remain within the crucifying influence of the Cross, we are freed to abide in the life-giving influence of the Resurrected One. We are to be conformed to His death as the basis of our being conformed to the image of His life-out-of-death. In this alien world we are as pilgrims, crucified followers of our crucified Lord. "He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23).

The first valid faith we exercised toward God was by means of reckoning. We counted upon the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior, and were thereby saved. THE PRINCIPLE OF RECKONING is to have faith in a FINISHED WORK. Nowhere is this principle more explicitly revealed than in Colossians Three.

"If [since] then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with Him be manifested in glory" (Colossians 3:1-4, ASV).

"IF [SINCE] THEN YE WERE RAISED TOGETHER WITH CHRIST." Here, as always, Paul sets forth the doctrine before he presents the exhortation. He does likewise in Ephesians, revealing the wonderful fact that God "hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' (Ephesians 2:6). This is the truth that we need in order to reckon, so that we may abide in Him above and He may be manifested in us here below.

"SEEK THE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE, WHERE CHRIST IS, SEATED ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD." Reckoning ourselves alive unto God in Christ amounts to our taking our position in Him. Since the heavenly sphere is now our true position, it follows that we are to seek there the things of Christ -- spiritual realities. Everything in heaven is centered in Christ, "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him" (Colossians 2:9,10).

Our Father yearns for fellowship with His own. How can His heart-longing be satisfied apart from our feeding on the things of Christ, so that we may enter into oneness of mind and purpose with Him? To this end we have been made partakers of the divine nature.

Although we seek, and learn, FROM our risen position, yet the revelation comes THROUGH the Word. All, all depends upon our knowledge of the scriptural facts. Through our Spirit-taught study of God's Word, we are given both the revelation of the truth, and its practical reality in our lives.

"SET YOUR MIND ON THE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE, NOT ON THE THINGS THAT ARE UPON THE EARTH." As we "eat of the old corn of the land" (Joshua 5:11), feeding upon the Lord Jesus in heaven by means of the Word, we learn of Him and grow in Him. Our mind is set upon the One in whom we live, not upon self and this world unto which we have died. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Luke 12:34).

Dr. C.I.Scofield comments on Joshua 5:11 as follows: "The manna is a type of Christ in humiliation, known 'after the flesh,' giving His flesh that the believer might have life (John 6:49-51); while the 'OLD CORN OF THE LAND' is Christ apprehended as risen, glorified, and seated in the heavenlies. Occupation with Christ on earth, 'crucified through weakness,' tends to a wilderness experience. An experience befitting the believer's place in the heavenlies demands an apprehension of he power of His resurrection (2 Corinthians 5:16; 13;4; Philippians 3:10; Ephesians 1:15-23). It is the contrast between 'milk' and 'meat' in Paul's writings (1 Corinthians 3:1-2; Hebrews 5:12-14; 6:1-3)."

The Holy Spirit ministers life exclusively from the true, heavenly Source, Christ. He is the Spirit of Christ, and He gives us the things of the glorified Lord. Even so, if we fail to reckon upon our having died unto sin at Calvary, the old earthy source within will continue to produce its stream of carnality. As our mind is set on things that are upon the earth, we become increasingly earthbound and self-centered. When we set our minds upon Christ and abide in Him as our risen life, we become increasingly conformed to His image.

"FOR YE DIED, AND YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD." In this one brief statement Paul compresses the entire finished work of Romans Six, the whole truth of our identification with Christ. Upon these twelve one-syllable words our reckoning for growth is founded!

In this concise statement, Paul is dealing mainly with our relationship to the world and things earthly. Our having died on Calvary not only separated us from the reign of sin and self, but also from the deadly influence of this present world. By means of the Cross "the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14).

"FOR YE DIED." The only way we can escape the influence of the earthly sphere, the very element in which the self-life thrives, is to count upon our having died unto it. The death that we passed through now stands between us and the world.

"AND YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD." Our Father not only has cut us off from the world system, but He has hidden us from its deadly power. We are in it, but not of it. Our life is anchored in, and maintained by, our risen Lord Jesus. The reason so many Christians are not living FROM their heavenly position in the Liberator is that they are not yet established in the truth of their freedom from the influence of the world.

There is a continuity of reckoning that must be followed; no step can be by-passed. Until we know and reckon upon the truth of our having died OUT OF the Adamic creation, we cannot exercise intelligent faith in counting that: (1) we are a new creation in Christ Jesus; (2) we are alive unto God in Him; (3) our life is hid with Christ in God. Established positionally, we will become established experiential.

When we learn to fix our mind upon Christ and rest in Him in the heavenlies, we well not be oppressed by self, circumstances, and situations here on earth. Our spiritual position is not down here, praying and pleading for help from Him up there: just the opposite! We do not go TO Him for help, but we rest IN Him as the All-sufficient One. We {81} do not bring Him down to our level for our use; we abide in Him at His level, for His use.

"WHEN CHRIST, WHO IS OUR LIFE, SHALL BE MANIFESTED, THEN SHALL YE ALSO WITH HIM BE MANIFESTED IN GLORY." Christ is our Christian life; therefore, as we grow spiritually we become more like Him. At His second coming, we shall even have a glorious body like His. Our Father has already glorified us in Christ; our Lord's return will bring the manifestation of that finished work. "And whom He justified, them He also glorified" (Romans 8:30). Count and rest upon it. "For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory" (Philippians 3:21, ASV).

"YE HAVE PUT OFF THE OLD MAN" (Colossians 3:9). When was this accomplished" At Calvary! There we were separated from the old by our death in Christ. Now. experientially, we are cut off from the doings of the old man by reckoning upon his crucifixion.

"AND HAVE PUT ON THE NEW MAN, WHICH IS RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE AFTER THE IMAGE OF HIM THAT {82} CREATED HIM." (Colossians 3:10). The new man was put on when we were re-created in the Lord Jesus. This new nature is the very life of the One who is the express image of God. Therefore, our growth in the knowledge of Him results in the manifestation of His life.

For years we try to handle the problem of sin and self DIRECTLY. On the negative side, we seek to suppress self, or crucify the old nature. On the positive side, we plead with God to change us for the better, and we try to be more Christlike. But in it all, we never seem to emerge from Romans Seven -- total defeat.

Finally, we learn to meet the problem INDIRECTLY, by reckoning. We see in the Word that the old man has been effectively "put off" at the Cross; and we also see that the new man has been "put on" through our resurrection in Christ. Instead of being taken up with the problem, we now set our mind and heart on God's answer: the crucifying Cross, and the risen Christ.