Buried with Christ, and raised with Him too

1
Buried with Christ, and raised with Him too;
What is there left for me to do?
Simply to cease from struggling and strife,
Simply to walk in newness of life.
    Glory be to God!
2
Risen with Christ, my glorious Head,
Holiness now the pathway I tread,
Beautiful thought, while walking therein:
He that is dead is freed from sin.
    Glory be to God!
3
Living with Christ, who dieth no more,
Following Christ, who goeth before;
I am from bondage utterly freed,
Reckoning self as dead indeed.
    Glory be to God!
4
Living for Christ, my members I yield,
Servants to God, for evermore sealed,
Not under law, I’m now under grace,
Sin is dethroned, and Christ takes its place.
    Glory be to God!
5
Growing in Christ; no more shall be named
Things of which now I’m truly ashamed,
Fruit unto holiness will I bear,
Life evermore, the end I shall share.
    Glory be to God!
6
Linda

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Brother Tom! Today I discovered your remarks 10 years after you posted them. And what joy they bring me! I don't know who you are, brother, or even if you're still in this life, but I will know you when I see you in heaven and we will celebrate Jesus together for all eternity!


Anthea Ring

Devizes, Wiltshire, United Kingdom

A wonderful hymn that I haven't seen for years. So simple and yet totally profound and true.


Samuel Appiah Ofori

Tournai, Hinaut, Belgium

I enjoy singing hymns which are usually based directly on the Word. Thus we can proclaim simply in faith to the Lord. Thank You Lord!

Living for Christ, my members I yield,

Servants to God, for evermore sealed,

Not under law, I’m now under grace,

Sin is dethroned, and Christ takes its place.

Glory be to God!


Istifanus Ariko

Kaduna., Nigeria

No condemnation for me, as I live and keep my feet in Christ Jesus:

''if I die with Him, I will live with Him.

If I suffer with Him I will reign with Him... ''


Steve Finnell

WASHING OF WATER? EPHESIANS 5:26 BY STEVE FINNELL

What does the washing of water found in Ephesians 5:26 mean? Should you, as a believer in Christ, look to creed books and Bible commentaries for the answer to that question or should you look to translations of the Bible for truth? Do you want to trust men or do you want to trust God's written word?

Ephesians 5:25-26...just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (NKJV)

How did Christ sanctify and cleanse the church? The church is the body of Christ. The church is comprised of Christians. How did Christ sanctify and cleanse the church?

Ephesians 5:26 to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God's word;(The Living Bible- Paraphrased)

Ephesians 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, (KJV)

Ephesians 5:26 in order to make her holy, cleaning her with the baptismal water by the Word. (Weymouth New testament)


Tom

Hallelujah! Praise God, it is all done. What is there left for me to do? NOTHING. Just enjoy His salvation and grace. But this is not a "do". It is a "done". I am on vacat-ion, at the beach, because I have "vacated" my being. It is empty, hallelujah! I am not trying to do ONE THING. Trusting this promise, that He lives in me, I have stopped living in me. Why should I continue? Why should I compete with God? And guess what? He comes in and makes His joyful home. Not only that, but He HAS to come in and make His home, poor Jesus, He has no choice. His Dad (and my Dad now) promised it, so whether He likes it or not, whether there is trash or dirty laundry that stinks in there, He HAS to make it right. And He does, with joy. I have been a Christian more than 2 decades, and I still don't get the "Sit", let alone the "Walk, Stand". I died. I really died. What a relief. No more "having" to be a Christian. No more having to be good. No more trying anything. I am done for. That burden is gone, and I am free to watch God inside me do what I could never do. The fake stuff is in the fire. I traded in my 1983 rusted out Escort and got the 2013 Rolls Royce, and for free!! That's the brand for me.

When the apostle Paul was Saul, he was a very aggressive young man. Everything with him was "I, me, my, and mine." With Saul it was "I first, my and mine in the middle, and me last." Everything was Saul of Tarsus. But the Lord Jesus knocked him down on the road to Damascus, and Saul asked, "Who are You, Lord?" (Acts 9:5). The Lord said, "I am Jesus" (v. 5). The Lord was saying, "I am the great I Am. I am the One that is. You must believe that I am and you are not." Eventually, Saul changed his name. Saul was over, and Paul came up (Acts 13:9 and note 1). This Paul was the one who told us, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." This is to believe that God is.

Nothing can make the unique God happy except one thing. That is faith. Faith is to believe that God is. Then I would check with you, "If only God is, where are you?" The first stanza of Hymns, #483 says, "Buried with Christ, and raised with Him too;/What is there left for me to do?/Simply to cease from struggling and strife,/Simply to walk in newness of life./Glory be to God!" Where are you? You are in the tomb. Today who are you? You need to say, "It is no more I, but Christ." I would like again to refer to what Darby said: "O the joy of having nothing and being nothing, seeing nothing but a living Christ in glory, and being careful for nothing but His interests down here." This is faith. We care for nothing but His interest. We should always say, "Not I, not me, not my, not mine; but He, Him, His. He is the first and the last and everything in between." "Christ, only Christ" (see Hymns, #591—stanza 5).

I like this hymn. It is one of the highest hymns in all the hymnals of Christianity. How wonderful and excellent it is that we have been buried with Christ! But burial is not the end. Following burial, there is resurrection. If burial were the end, that would be the death of Adam. Christ's death is not like this. He was buried and raised up, and we are in Him. Thus we have been buried and raised up with Him. Now the only thing left for us to do is simply to walk in newness of life. This stanza comes from Romans 6:4, which says, "We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life."

We were crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, and raised up with Christ to simply walk in newness of life. A husband should not try to love his wife. He needs only to walk in newness of life. If he tries to love his wife, his loving will not last. His loving of his wife must be his walking in newness of life. In the same way, a wife should not try to submit herself to her husband. She should simply walk in newness of life. The newness of life in verse 4 is in contrast with the old man in verse 6. We were the old man, but today we are something new. We are God's new creation, the new man. Now what is there left for us to do? Simply to walk in newness of life.

If you have this revelation that you are dead, buried, and finished, it will completely change your mind, thinking, understanding, apprehension, and spiritual realization. Before you receive such a revelation, you may read the Scriptures, pray, come to the meetings, and try to do good and overcome evil. In doing all these things, you will think that you are a normal Christian. When faced with evil, you will try your best to overcome, and when faced with the opportunity to do good, you will try your best to do it. This is the condition of the majority of Christians today. If, however, the Holy Spirit comes to you and reveals to you that you have been buried and raised up with Christ, you will experience a big change. After seeing this revelation, when faced with evil, you simply will not try to overcome it. You will not try to overcome it because you will have the deep realization that you have been buried and are through with this world. Likewise, when you have the opportunity to do good, since you realize that you have been buried, you simply will not try to do it. Hymns, #483 matches this thought. It asks, "Buried with Christ, and raised with Him too; / What is there left for me to do?" The answer to this question is that there is nothing left for us to do. There is nothing left for us to do, either good or bad. We are buried, finished, and through.

If we try anything, we should try doing what this hymn suggests. We have been buried, and Christ is resurrected with us. Day after day, we need to be reminded that we have already been buried and that our position is in death. For us to remain in death is to be like a seed remaining in the earth. Eventually, the life within the seed will rise up. Likewise, when we remain in His death, Christ who is the life within us will rise up.

We are not stones, but grains of wheat. The difference between a stone and a grain of wheat is that the grain of wheat has life in it. When the grain is sown into the soil and remains there, sooner or later the life within the grain will rise up. Likewise, Christ as the life in us will rise up if we stay in His death.

Piano Hymns