The Removing of Self to become Pure Gold (2)
New Jerusalem is “pure gold” (Rev. 21:18). “Pure” indicates that the city has no mixture. In everything the city is God Himself plus God wrought into His people.
What God has put into us is pure gold, but because there is so much dross in us, so many things which are not of God, we have become an alloy. Therefore, God must expend much effort to make us see those things in us which are of self and those things which cannot bring glory to Him. We believe that if God speaks to us, we will discover that what needs to be removed is much more than what needs to be added. Christians who are especially strong in the soul must remember that God’s work in them through the Holy Spirit is to remove things from them and to reduce them.*
This quote parallels the first part of Philippians 3. In verse 3 Paul writes that we “serve by the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.” The flesh here is the whole natural man. In verses 4 to 6 he recalls good human traits in which he could have boasted.
In verse 7 he turns. “But what things were gains to me, these I have counted as loss on account of Christ.” Even more, in verse 8 he proclaims “I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.”
He goes on in verse 9 “not having my own righteousness…but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith.” Even Paul’s own righteousness needed to be removed since it was something which would not radiate God’s glory. New Jerusalem will only radiate what is of God and what God has wrought into us.
* From chapter 5 of The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, available at www.ministrybooks.org/ and www.livingstream.com/en/the-church/8012401-glorious-church-the.html.
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Posted by Don on June 22, 2022
