Exchanged Life Articles
Where is the Cross?
By Charles R. SolomonThere is a plethora of written material which is Christian, or which purports to be, that is woefully silent on the role of the Cross in the life of the believer. Some of this oversight may be by design, but much is due to the fact that the emphasis of the presentation is an aspect other than that where the Cross is traditionally brought into focus. In yesteryear, when there was less liberalism, there was more material where the Cross stood out in bold relief; when it did not, it was assumed because a greater percentage of believers were able to 'read between the lines'.
Before I proceed further, I must stop and explain what I mean when I use the term, Cross. I am not referring to the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the atonement for our sins. This is assumed as understood and appropriated by faith or else the person is not a believer and is yet '...dead in trespasses and sins... ."(Eph. 2:1) One who is born of the Spirit has understood the truth of the Lord Jesus dying for him in the free pardon of sins. And, positionally, he was united with the Lord Jesus in death and resurrection as is so clearly delineated in Romans 6. Though the work of the Cross 'for' the believer has been accomplished for all eternity, the work of the Cross 'in' the believer may not be understood nor appropriated in the life of the believer in all of his sojourn here on Earth.
I am fully aware of the theological bias that this view represents and that a great segment of Christianity, involving respected theologians of the past and present, would take issue. However, I do not hesitate to take my stand with such time-honored saints as J. Hudson Taylor, Andrew Murray, Madame Guyon, F. B. Meyer, Charles Trumbull, L. E. Maxwell, F. J. Huegel, Watchman Nee, Ruth Paxson, and a host of others. While some are adept at developing systems of theology which may or may not be blessed of the Lord, the aforementioned men and women have been used of the Lord in bringing about the transformation of lives in the past; and their work goes on, through their writings, until the present time.
Though the believer has three enemies--the world, the flesh and the devil--our prime focus here is the flesh and the deceptions which are perpetrated, or accepted, because of it. My thesis is that the flesh either has been dealt with through the experienced Cross (Galatians 2:20) or it yet holds sway in the life of the believer. If it holds sway, the believer may be a practicing theologian or a fervent lay person or a believer who has '...followed him afar off... ."(Mark 14:54); in this sense, all may be deceived and may, unwittingly, practice deception. This is not to say that such believers are hypocrites or charlatans. J. Hudson Taylor was on the mission field for more that a decade before he experienced the work of the Cross in his own life--exchanging the self-life for the Christ-life. Indeed, most believers who are broken such that the Cross becomes an experiential reality in their lives have been believers several to many years.
But what is the point I am trying to make? Much of the prevalent teaching falls short of making the experienced Cross explicit. Obviously, a theological system which obviates the possibility of the Cross becoming an experiential reality would militate against its being understood in this sense. Then, those who do not hold alien theology but who, themselves, have not entered into the reality of it in experience can not teach it in a manner which leads to life. If death (the experiential understanding of the Cross) has not worked in them, then life (the life that is Christ) will not work in others. "So then death worketh in us, but life in you."(2 Cor. 4:12)
Not only will flesh be nurtured by the absence of the teaching of the Cross and prevent the believer from walking in victory; but, also, his ability to discern fleshly teaching and false doctrine is not developed. Or, his discernment is of more an intellectual and theological bent than it is spiritual. Lacking spiritual discernment, the theological positioning may be thoroughly orthodox while being spiritually lacking. Also, it is possible for the believer to be deceived by that which looks good but which has its basis in humanism, existentialism, New Age teaching or is the fleshly integration of secular facts with scriptural truth.
Let's look at some of the contemporary, and biblical, teaching which falls short in some areas. For example, there are many very good approaches to evangelism which are being honored by the Lord. Many are won to the Lord by understanding the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for them but who are yet walking after the flesh or in their own strength. It is glorious that they are saved and going to heaven but deplorable that so many will never know the victory that scripture says is the birthright of every believer.
Evangelism is scriptural and the need for multiplying it is urgent and critical, BUT WHERE IS THE CROSS? Again, there are many good approaches to discipleship which are instrumental in equipping believers in several particulars; BUT WHERE IS THE CROSS? The understanding of the experienced cross is conspicuously absent in most of the approaches to discipleship which are widely used by the church and para-church organizations today. This despite the truth of Luke 14:27: "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple."
Believers with emotional conflict and interpersonal problems are increasingly turning to Christian psychology and psychiatry for assistance. Many in those fields are extremely helpful in providing assistance to those who are hurting, Too, some of these attempt to make an assiduous application of scripture during the course of therapy to the situation, internal and external, with which the client is struggling. Application of the scripture and of scriptural principles can be helpful and God will honor it, BUT WHERE IS THE CROSS? Either the flesh is dealt with by the Cross, or it is strengthened for its inevitable conflict with the Spirit (Galatians 5:17).
We are blessed with many good Christian educational institutions from kindergarten to graduate level instruction. Christian subjects are taught in Christian settings, BUT WHERE IS THE CROSS? Some would deny the efficacy of the Cross to deal with the flesh because of an incompatible theological system while others teach the truth in courses on sanctification but do not integrate it in other courses having to do with spiritual life. As a result, emotional and mental disturbances are often seen as being in the domain of the behavioral scientist rather than being the opportunity for the application of spiritual life to the spiritual need.
Due to the lack of emphasis on the teaching of the Cross, there is much false teaching that goes undetected; and believers are being deceived. A believer I met was in administration in a major Christian college for almost two decades when he was exposed to some teaching which had the appearance of truth. He was at the point of buying the tapes containing this teaching and becoming a distributor when he began to understand the truth of the Cross in his own life. Thus enlightened, he had the discernment given by the Spirit that the teaching which had sounded so good initially was, in reality, New Age heresy!
Then, tenets of Hinduism can creep in obliquely and be appealing to the flesh and not be detected by the fleshly mind. Believers who have become accustomed to the absence of the Cross as explicit teaching do not have this as a yardstick by which to measure that with which they come into contact. The material may sound wonderful, BUT WHERE IS THE CROSS?
A believer may love the Lord and be engrossed in Christian service and have all the earmarks of a 'good Christian'. He may have an identity shaped by the affluence of this country or by the suffering of the environment behind the Iron Curtain and yet be subtly dominated by the reign of the flesh. On the one hand, the flesh can be proud of its prosperity; or, on the other, it can be proud of its suffering. BUT--in either case--WHERE IS THE CROSS? The believing theologian may live in a manner which is congruent with the scriptures as he sees them or the lay person may point to his life of sacrificial service, BUT WHERE IS THE CROSS?
Absent the teaching of the Cross, much that transpires within and without Christianity may appear to be consistent with the tenets of scripture. Much of the false teaching which abounds in this country would be stripped of its power to deceive if believers were grounded in the experiential understanding of the Cross. As the New Age comes of age, it will have swept increasing numbers of believers along with the rhetoric that sounds like it accords with scripture--"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."(2 Tim. 2:5)
It is not my intention to de-emphasize any scriptural injunction such as evangelism, discipleship, prayer, and instruction in the scriptures but, rather, to point out that the understanding and experience of the Cross is not optional--it is a command: "Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. "(Romans 6:11, 13) None of the disciplines of the Christian life is to be ignored but each is to be practiced in the power of the Holy Spirit--not in the strength of the flesh. Without the reality of the Cross, the disciplines of the Christian life will result in the flesh becoming stronger and increasingly resistant to meddling questions such as, "BUT WHERE IS THE CROSS?" Subscribe ...Subscribe to receive Exchanged Life Articles for free! You may also wish to read ....
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