◄ Permanent Position ►

Alive unto God in Jesus Christ, our Lord" (Rom. 6:11)

Until the believer's faith is firmly established in the fact of his position in the risen Lord Jesus, he will not be able to rest in Him during the process of his position becoming his condition. One must be sure of the Source before he can trust for the growth.

"The standing of the believer is settled, perfect, eternal. His state is imperfect and fluctuating. He is partaker of the new life which cannot sin; but he bears about within him the old man which can do nothing else but sin. Now his standing is in the new and not in the old. He is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Rom. 8:9). He is not under law, but under grace. This is his perfect and unalterable position; his sins are gone before God; his person is accepted by God - all complete in the Lord Jesus Christ.

"His practical condition can never touch his position. It can very seriously affect his fellowship, his worship, his testimony, his usefulness, his spiritual enjoyment, the glory of the Lord Jesus as involved in his practical career. These are great consequences in the estimation of every sensitive conscience and well-regulated mind; but the position of the true believer remains intact and unalterable. The feeblest member of the family of God has this place of security, and is perfect in Christ. To deny this is to remove the true basis of self-judgment and practical growth." -C.H.M.

"We are spiritually both in the wilderness and in Canaan; we are partakers on earth of the heavenly calling, and we are seated in Christ in the heavenly places. The enjoyment of the favors of the Father to us, in the heavenly places in Christ, enhances the sense of His favors to us in the wilderness." -H.F.W.

"We are identified in union with Him who stands as really for us in the glory of the heavens as once for us He hung upon the Cross."

"For to me to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21).