The Constancy of the Cross

by Dan DeVitis

he calling is ever before the disciple of Christ--be separated (sanctified) unto Him and His purposes; press into His high calling. Taken to heart are scripture pas-sages such as:

“…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14,15) and,

“…leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection (completion, maturity)…” (Heb. 6:1)

These and similar scriptures encourage spiritual growth in understanding and character and discourages settling into a religious routine (which ominously creeps into believers’ lives.) The critical issue before us is just what things are being forgotten and left behind? The key to answering this question lies in the understanding that a true believer in Christ is a “new creation: old things are passed away and all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17) Thus, it is certainly things of the old nature, the old character, old associations, the old belief system and religious practices, the old way of life, and the old routines that are left behind. Not left behind, as some rite of passage, are the spiritual experiences entered into in Christ. These become integrated into the new and eternal way of life.

On the one hand, spiritual experiences like the new birth, sanctification, baptism in water, baptism in the Holy Spirit, or revelations, should not become platforms on which the believer camps and forfeits continued spiritual development of other experiences. As a dear brother noted, “When the Israelites were sovereignly delivered out of Egypt and passed through the divinely parted Red Sea, they didn’t immediately set up the ‘The Passover Church,’ or the ‘Church of the Red Sea Crossing.’” There was something more. A greater experience, a higher destiny lay before them.

On the other hand, the Israelites were also commanded by God not to forget those events. He commanded them to remember them always, and even to observe some events as annual feast days--days of solemn convocation. Their God-related experiences became incorporated into their lives and into the lives of following generations.

Even so today, the walk of the disciple of Christ is not one of passing through, or participating in appointed rites or rituals. Just as the ritual of circumcision avails nothing for the believer (Rm. 2:25-29), neither does, as religious rites, water baptism, confirmation, church membership, or even the Lord’s Supper. It is only a new creation that matters. The Christ-related experiences of the new birth, baptisms, and so on, must become compounded and integrated into the life of this new creature in Christ. Having been embraced and completed in the past, these Christ-related experiences will have continuing results, even as faith releases their power. The experience may come by grace, but the constancy of that experience comes by faith. Without faith there is no gain.

"May we apprehend, by faith, the constancy of the cross to deliver, reconcile, and transform our lives to become that holy habitation of God..."

In the Kingdom walk of the believer, care must be taken so that no elementary principle (Heb. 6:1) ever be considered “accomplished”—been there, done that, what’s next? Instead, that spiritual experience must become a daily realization of life. Take, for example, the compelling declaration of Gal. 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” The word “crucified,” as used here, is in the Greek perfect tense that “represents an action that was completed in the past but has continuing results.” In the Greek, a further assertion is made that this declaration is a statement of fact, and that “I,” the subject, is receiving the action of the verb, “have been crucified.” This is a most powerful and significant analysis. Its full intent must be meditated upon with an open heart and open mind.

In the natural, once a foundation is laid, it is pretty much forgotten as it is built upon with wood and stone and furnished with all sorts of nice finishing touches. But the foundation itself, cut deep into dirt, mud, and rock, lies at unseen depths faithfully supporting the structure built upon it. A new emphasis centers on the house, its furnishings, functions, and use. So too, even as the House of God is being built, focus all too often shifts away from its foundation and to its framing and furnishings which could include programs, rallies, missions work, and fundraising. It may also include vision-oriented teachings as in building up the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12), becoming a holy habitation of God (Eph. 2:21,22), and the preparation of the Bride of Christ for His return (Eph. 5:25-27). And without the faithful workings of the foundational principles, all this becomes mere religion, absent of life and spiritual reality.

Without exception, the single most foundational spiritual experience that pervades all subsequent experiences and works is the cross of Christ. There can be no building up, no holy habitation, and no spiritual preparation without the continued realization of the constancy of the cross at work in our lives. “For I (Paul) determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified…that your faith should not be in the wisdom of man but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2:2,5) Once completed (some 2000+ years ago), once visited and appropriated by the believer, the cross continues to be the power of God in us, by faith, to form and breathe continued life and Godly character into that new creation. The Godly principle of “life out of death” holds true for the soul of the believer in this day even as it will hold true for the body of the believer in the Day of the Lord.

Romans 6 speaks of “us having been baptized into Christ, having been baptized into His death,” and “co-crucified with Him” as the sole basis for a subsequent walk resulting in righteousness--a life in conformity with God. It says, “knowing this,” i.e., to come into an experiential realization, by faith, of the continuing work of the cross in the life of the believer.

Perhaps no other scripture verse defines the working of the cross in the disciple’s life, to sanctify and consecrate unto God, as Gal. 6:14:

“God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world…” (“crucified!” Completed in the past but having continuing results.)

This proclaims the constancy of the cross, the “power of God,” available to work within the believer by faith, to redefine the life and walk of the one in Christ. The world has no use for this disciple, for his ways are foreign and against its grain. And the world, with all its (temporal) glory of power, prestige, pleasures, and wealth has no desire for this believer.

May we apprehend, by faith, the constancy of the cross to deliver, reconcile, and transform our lives to become that holy habitation of God, not in name only, but in true holiness. Thus the Body of Christ will be formed in the earth, and the Bride of Christ will be prepared for her eternal Bridegroom.