The experience of the Apostle Paul (that is, the experience of Saul of Tarsus before he became an apostle, and which, as an apostle, he so vividly portrayed) is the experience of thousands of others even until this day: "To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. ... I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." (Romans 7:18,21)
With this state of things many, unlike the apostle, are content, thinking that God will take the will for the deed, and satisfied that if they but cry out against sin, and always declare their desire to do right, that will be sufficient excuse for their conformity to the evil that dwells in their flesh.
But there is no excuse for sin, no matter how closely it is interwoven with one's flesh; for: "Christ has suffered for us in the flesh," (1 Peter 4:1) "the Just for the unjust," (1 Peter 3:18) that He might bring us to God, "[And] he that has suffered in the flesh" (1 Peter 4:1) has ceased from sin.
In the lesson before us, we learn how truly and how righteously it is that: "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold [down] the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; For ever since the creation of the world the invisible things of Him, even His everlasting power and Divinity, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made," (Romans 1:18-20) seen most clearly in men, the earthen vessels that bear about the living image of God, "so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)
So come we to the teaching of "the righteousness which is by faith," (Hebrews 11:7) which sounds as clearly forth today as when Moses uttered it, to every soul that would either comfort or upbraid itself with the words, "How to perform that which is good I find not, ... [But] I find a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." (Romans 7:18,21)
And here is the teaching: "This commandment which I command you this day, it is not hidden from you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the Word is very nigh unto you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it." (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
The commandment, the word, is "very nigh unto you." How near? "In your mouth, and in your heart." (Deuteronomy 30:14)
Why is it so near? "That you may do it." (Deuteronomy 30:14)
Is it not plain that these words are spoken to those who are yet in sin, seeking, no doubt, but not yet having found the way of righteousness? The word is near those who are not doing it, in order that they may do it.
Christ is the Word
What is this commandment, this word, which is so very nigh unto us, even in our mouth, and in our hearts? There can be but one answer: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. ... That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world. ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, ... full of grace and truth." (John 1:1,4,9,14)
The same Word is still made flesh, and is yet dwelling among us, and in our mouth and in our heart, full of grace and truth, that we may do thereafter.
Christ is the Word, and He is with us--"God with us" (Matthew 1:23)--always, even unto the end of the world, in our mouth, and in our heart. This is the message of righteousness by faith to a sinful world. Hear it as it is given by the same apostle who bemoaned the ever-present sin his flesh: "The righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above); Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead). But what says it? The Word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart; that is, the Word of faith, which we preach; That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:6-10)
It needs no argument to show that Paul quotes from Moses, and that the "word," of which Moses spoke, was Christ. It is Christ that is very near, in our mouth and in our heart. It is true that there is a sense of nearness, a reality, to the saint, that the sinner knows nothing about; but the actual difference consists only in faith or the lack of faith. Christ is equally near to all, but all do not know it. To the most of mankind He is as if He were not; when faith comes, it lays hold upon that which is, and we see and know Him, "who is over all, and through all, and in all." (Ephesians 4:6, RV)
How strange it is that people are slowest to believe that which is most evident. Men in general have a sort of belief in God as One far away, but they have no idea of His nearness, and it is difficult to make them believe that He is near. Now see how God puts it: "Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off?" (Jeremiah 23:23)
He will not consider that anybody can doubt that He is a God near at hand; but He will have the doubters believe that He is far off as well,--that He is a great God, who fills all things.
Proof of God's Nearness
"But, how can I know for myself that He is near?" someone says. It is the easiest thing in the world. The wonder is how anybody cannot help knowing it. "The Word [Christ] is near you, in your mouth." (Romans 10:8)
Draw in a full breath, and hold it a few seconds; you often do it, but do it now consciously, voluntarily. Now breath out again. Try now to go two minutes, or even one minute, without breathing. Perhaps you could hold out a minute, but you find two minutes impossible. You must breath in spite of yourself. It would be an absolute impossibility for anybody to commit suicide by holding his breath. And think now, that the stream of life-giving breath is day and night flowing. You use it in speaking and singing, without thinking of it. It is God's own presence; it is the breath of the Almighty that gives you life. Your lungs are but the instruments for God's breath.
"And in your heart." (Romans 10:8)
Steadily, without ceasing day or night, your heart keeps up its activity. Not only so, but it, so to speak, regulates itself according to circumstances, beating fast when more blood is needed, and slowly when the system sinks to repose. It does it itself, they say. What! is the heart self-existent? if so it must be God! Oh, no; the heart is but a bundle of muscular fiber; but God, the ever-present, ever-active is there. The fact that we live is proof of His presence. "In Him we live, and move, and have our being. ... He [is] not far from every one of us," (Acts 17:28,27) was Paul's testimony to the heathen in Athens. And He is near to the weakest and most wicked, in order that they may serve Him if they will.
How To Obey God
Well, then, how is it that we can lay hold of this Divine power, so that it will show itself active in us, not merely in giving life to our bodies, as it does to the beasts, but in holiness and righteousness? The answer has been given: "If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." (Romans 10:9)
But what is it to confess the Lord Jesus? It is to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,--in human flesh,--and therefore in your flesh. He is the Son of man, indissolubly joined to humanity. To confess is to acknowledge a thing that already exists. You confess Christ by recognizing His presence in your being, and by acknowledging it and His right and power to rule in you. This is the true and only real "confession of faith." What then? "Believe in your heart at God has raised Him from the dead." (Romans 10:9)
Believe that it is the living and active Lord that is in you; that He dwells in every cell and fiber of your being with all the power of the resurrection. Is there not victory in that truth? You say rightly that in you, that is, in your flesh, dwells no good thing. (Romans 7:18) That is, the flesh itself is wholly corrupt, and all that can come from flesh itself is sin and death. But the Word of life is there, and He has "power over all flesh," (John 17:2) as was fully demonstrated in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6)
This is the way to serve and obey God. We simply recognize and constantly acknowledge, and so come into harmony with, that which is,--with the almighty power that rules the universe. Try it, not hesitatingly or doubtingly, but in the same confidence in which you lie down to sleep or go about your work, assured that your breathing will continue, and you will find that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, "according to the power that works in us;" (Ephesians 3:20) and you will involuntarily give to Him the glory and the dominion. This is practical righteousness.
The Mystery of Godliness
And, that Word of God Incarnate,
Jesus Christ our Blessed Lord,
Wondrous Mystery of ages,
Son of Man, and Son of God;
He is with us now and ever.
Jesus, Saviour, still the same,
Closest Friend and truest Brother,
Love, His best and endless name.
--Present Truth, September 4, 1902--Deuteronomy 30:11-20
E.J. Waggoner