Possessing and Managing

We should be very clear on the distinction between fact and experience. These two matters speak of two sides: the former is what God has accomplished for us, that position which He has given us; the latter is what we must practice in order to enjoy what God has given us. Nowadays believers usually go to extremes. Most of them do not know the riches in Christ. They have no idea that all the things the Lord Jesus has accomplished are for them. They plan and plot for God’s grace. They exert themselves to their limit to work out many righteousnesses in order to answer God’s demands and satisfy the inner urge of their new life. Fewer believers seem to know the grace of God very well. They reckon that because the Lord Jesus has already elevated them to the highest position, they can be fully satisfied and no longer need be concerned about exercising themselves to experience all the graces the Lord Jesus has given them. Both of these attitudes are faulty. To stress experience and forget fact will bring us under the bondage of the law. On the other hand, to emphasize fact and despise experience will cause us to be licentious. A Christian ought to know from the Scriptures what is his noble position in the Lord Jesus, but he ought also to know whether he walks worthily of the calling unto grace under the light of God.

God has already placed us in the noblest position. Due to our union with the Lord Jesus, all which our Lord has accomplished and conquered now belongs to us. This is the fact of our position. Our present problem, though, is how we can experience all this that the Lord Jesus has accomplished and conquered for us. Between fact and experience there is this vital step of the work of faith—by which is meant translating fact into experience; or in other words, making God’s accomplishment become man’s practice.

This step of the work of faith means none other than to "possess" and to "manage." The Lord has left His testament to us. Since He now has died, His testament has come into effect. We must not adopt a nonchalant attitude towards it, but must rather rise up to possess our inheritance so that we might enjoy its blessing. We are already the children of God, and therefore all which belongs to Him is now ours (1 Cor. 3.21-23). Let us not be like the elder son in Jesus’ parable who has the promise and yet has no enjoyment. This is due to his foolishness and unbelief. He has never asked for it, nor has he ever used it; and hence he possesses none of it. Had he only asked and exercised the right of being a son, a kid would not only have been his, but also, the tens and thousands of sheep would have been his as well!