“Is not the Victorious Life rather self-centered and is there not
danger of selfishness?” was asked.
“Is Christ selfish?” was the sufficient answer given to this question.
If the life of victory does not flow out in service, it is a
counterfeit, and cannot be maintained. There is a reason why a passion
for foreign missions will be found at the heart of all the conferences
that teach the life of victory in Christ. These two are inseparable,
Christ as the supply of our individual needs and Christ the sufficiency
for the world’s need.
Let our testimony to the Victorious Life be far more in loving, humble,
unselfish service to those about us and those in the ends of the earth,
than it is in the words of our lips.
Do We Grow Into Victory?
Growing in grace is one of the secrets of maintaining the life of
victory; without normal growth we shall lose our victory. We do not
grow _into_ grace; we grow _in_ it. Receiving the Victorious Life is
not a matter of growth.
There are, in many cases, shorter or longer periods of growth that
precede the entrance into the life of victory. So far as God is
concerned, the Life is a gift and not a growth, and it may be enjoyed
at once by any Christian. But the Christian may gradually come to
understand what are his privileges in Christ in the matter of victory
over sin. Or he may not at once get to the bottom in the surrender of
life to the Lord, and God will lead him on as quickly as he will go,
to the place of complete surrender and complete faith. This gradual
preparation before entering fully into victory must be distinguished
from “growth in grace,” which goes on in a normal way only when the
Christian _is_ abiding in Christ for victory.
Growth in grace, in the Word of God, never means growth out of sin.
There is no suggestion in the New Testament that a Christian is to grow
gradually out of sin. Sin is always dealt with through the blood of
Christ, and we need the Saviour every moment to keep us cleansed from
sin and its defilement. But if it is the blood that cleanses us by
grace we are not to eliminate sin gradually by our growth in grace.
What is “Growth in Grace”?
Growth in grace makes us more and more to conform to the likeness
of our Lord Jesus. There is no perfection in his brethren on earth
that can be compared to the measure of the stature of his fulness. By
faith we receive the fruit of the Spirit, which is just the character
of Christ produced in us by the new life of the Spirit. Every one of
the nine graces which constitute the one fruit of the Spirit,――“love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness,
self-control,”――belongs to the Christian who is trusting Christ for
victory. But in each of these graces he is to _abound more and more_.
This is true growth in grace.
One who by yielding his life to the mastery of Christ and by trusting
his word, “My grace is sufficient for thee,” has received the fulness
of the Spirit, may know very little about the Bible, or prayer, or
Christian service. Day by day he learns more of the wondrous things
out of the Word, learns better how to study it and use it in personal
work; day by day he learns new secrets of prayer from the Word and
by the diligent practice of prayer; and gradually he becomes a more
efficient and expert laborer in the harvest. This is true growth in the
knowledge of the Lord.