What Do I Come With?

What Do I Come With?

“But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.” Rom. 15:29. Paul was absolutely convinced of this and certain of this, and he could say with great boldness: “I know!” How was he able to do this? He gives an explanation in his personal testimony in Gal. 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

How is it with us, in the places where we come? Do I have the same assurance that I will come with a fullness of the blessing of Christ, rather than with my own thoughts and opinions? What was possible for Paul is also possible for us today. It was by bearing the cross of Christ that Paul came to this assurance in which he boasted. He experienced that when he carried Jesus’ death with him in his body, it resulted in the life of Christ—and that is what makes it blessed wherever we come. I need to come to an end of living for myself, seeking my own, thinking about what can benefit me, what I can gain for myself, etc. It is when this “self” in all its forms is on the cross, that the blessing comes forth. It should be a simple choice!

Paul writes in Rom. 15:14: “Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” When knowledge is applied in my life, goodness becomes a fruit of the cross I bear, and then the blessing comes that enables me to exhort and help people on their way. The personal battle that I am fighting gives me hope for those I meet. I get to experience, through obedience to the knowledge, that the life of Christ comes forth, not my opinions and my human nature. It is not knowledge alone that accomplishes this, but obedience to the knowledge, so that it is carried out and brings forth the blessing—the life of Christ.

In WotL no. 30, V. 3, Thorleif Hansen writes: “Be glorified, O Father, now among us, in holiness, in righteousness and pow’r. And let the name of Jesus be triumphant; dear God, reward His sufferings this hour.” How can this be done if there are no bodies in which His death is active, such that Jesus’ life can come forth and be triumphant? Then my life will be a reward for the battle that Jesus waged in His days—that same battle that all the faithful ones have waged after Him. Those who endure in this battle will always come with a fullness of the blessing of Christ. They will be able to exhort, comfort and help so that those who long for freedom from sin can find their way—but for others it often may not seem to be a blessing. Further on in the song it says: “Grant that the Gospel of the cross may flourish, that sinners bow before Thee at Thy feet. O may Thy people in Thy fear be nurtured and for their great inheritance made meet.” To grow up and become a teacher of godliness is not something you can study your way to; it is something I have live my way to. I have to partake in the life of Christ to be able to bring it forth in Spirit and power so that it results in repentance and hope! Then we have a fullness of the blessing of Christ that we can come with.

Paul gives us a great hope by his boldness—when we think about his hatred of Christians and his life before his conversion—that he could boldly proclaim that he would come with a fullness of the blessing of Christ. The same thing is possible for us today, but each one of us must wage the same personal battle that Paul did. The end result will be according to the effort we put into it.