Chambers/Utmost/12-9
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12月9日
Classic: The Offence Of The Natural
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. — Galatians 5:24
The natural life is not sinful; we must be apostatized from sin, have nothing to do with sin in any shape or form. Sin belongs to hell and the devil; I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence and self-assertiveness, and this is where the battle has to be fought. It is the things that are right and noble and good from the natural stand point that keep us back from God’s best. To discern that natural virtues antagonize surrender to God, is to bring our soul into the centre of its greatest battle. Very few of us debate with the sordid and evil and wrong, but we do debate with the good. It is the good that hates the best, and the higher up you get in the scale of the natural virtues, the more intense is the opposition to Jesus Christ. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh” — it is going to cost the natural in you everything, not something. Jesus said — If any man will be My disciple, “let him deny himself” i.e., his right to himself, and a man has to realise Who Jesus Christ is before he will do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.
The natural life is not spiritual, and it can only be made spiritual by sacrifice. If we do not resolutely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural in us. There is no royal road there; each of us has it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of performing.
Updated: The Opposition of the Natural
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —Galatians 5:24
The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.
The natural life is not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing, and thereby performing His will.
한글: 자연의 반대
갈 5:24, "그리스도 예수의 사람들은 육체와 함께 그 정욕과 탐심을 십자가에 못 박았느니라"
자연적인 삶 자체는 죄가 되지 않습니다. 그러나 우리는 죄를 버려야하며, 어떤 방식으로든 죄와 아무 상관이 없어야 합니다. 죄는 지옥과 악마에게 속하는 것입니다. 하나님의 자녀로서 나 자신은 천국과 하나님에게 속합니다. 죄를 포기하는지의 여부가 아니라, 내 자신의 권리와 자연적 독립성, 그리고 자신의 의지를 포기하는 것입니다. 그 곳이 전투가 벌어지는 곳입니다. 자연스러운 관점에서 옳고 고귀하며 선한 것들은 하나님의 최고가 되지 못하게 하는 것들입니다. 자연적 도덕적 우수성이 하나님께 항복하는 것을 반대하는 것을 이해한다면 우리의 영혼을 가장 위대한 전투의 중심으로 데리고 오게됩니다. 아주 적은 수의 사람들만이 무엇이 더럽고 악하고 그릇된 것인지 논쟁하지만, 우리는 선한 것을 놓고 논쟁을 벌입니다. 최고를 반대하는 것은 적당히 좋은 것입니다. 사람의 도덕적 탁월성의 수준이 높을수록 예수 그리스도에 대한 반대가 더욱 강해집니다. "그리스도 예수의 사람들은 육체를...박았느니라" 자연적 삶에게 요구되는 것은 한 두가지가 아니라 모든 것입니다. 예수님께서 말씀하시기를 "누구든지 나를 따라오려거든 자기를 부인"해야 한다고 하셨습니다 (마 16:24). 자신에 대한 권리를 부인해야하며, 그러기전에는 예수 그리스도가 누구인지를 알아야합니다. 자신의 독립의 장례식에 가기를 꺼려하게 되는 것을 주의하십시오.
자연적인 삶은 영적이 아니며 희생을 통해서만 영적으로 만들 수 있습니다. 의도적으로 자연을 희생하지 않는다면, 초자역적인것이 결코 우리에게 자연스러워질 수 없습니다. 높거나 쉬운 길은 없습니다. 우리 각자는 자신의 손으로 그것을 완전히 달성 할 수 있는 방법을 가지고 있습니다. 그것은 기도하는 지의 여부에 달린 것이 아니라, 희생하는냐에 있는 것이며, 그로하여 하나님의 뜻을 행하는 것입니다.