”But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…”  (Gal. 6:14)

To glory (boast) in the cross!  In what way?  As an ornament or necklace?  Of course not.  If our Lord had been executed by pistols would we then carry models of pistols as a necklace?

The apostle gloried in the cross because of what happened there. So if that is our motive for carrying the emblem of the cross, i.e. to tell the world what Christ has done to save us, fine!  From Spurgeon I learned to say, “My theology is very simple.  It has only 4 words, Christ died for me!”

And yet there´s more to it.  Those 4 words may become vain repetitions without the impact of the cross on us. In my very young days with New Tribes Mission, one of the leaders came along to minister to us in our “jungle camp” in PA.  His teaching was about the cross and its practical implications.  His teaching was like balm to my needy soul.

A  brother told me, however, how little I had applied that cross.  I was shocked, but realized that despite my “boast” in the cross and its comfort to me as a sinner, I little knew of a life crucified with Christ or as Paul put it,  crucified to the world and the old, selfish life belonging to the world.

That emphasis was needed, but it´s an ongoing process, isn´it? We never get to the point where we need no longer sing, “Just as I am without one plea…”  That was really the point of that speaker. His name was Ken Finney, a former missionary to South America and a humble man.

But I also learned that the grace of the cross goes hand in hand with the empty grave and my being enthroned with Christ in glory (Eph. 2:6). “Risen with Christ!” (Col. 3:1) and applied to our hearts by His Spirit is the  secret of our “release” from spiritual self-centredness.  That was another  lesson I had to learn.  “Your preaching took us into the grave and not away from it”, a brother once said to me once in my youth, and he was right.  This too is a truth that needs to be applied to us constantly.

March 18, 2015 - jn