Identification with Christ

J. Gregory Mantle has some helpful words on the practical implications of what identification with Christ means. The following is taken from Keswick's Authentic Voice selected and edited by Herbert F. Stevenson:

"For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:10-11).

"I take it for granted that everyone in this tent knows that the great doctrine of this chapter is the doctrine of spiritual identification with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death and in His risen and ascended life. It is worthy of notice that this doctrine of identification is peculiar to Christianity. You will find in non-Christian faiths the idea of death to the fleshly self as the end of the human and as the beginning of a divine life; but that thought has never worked out in practice, because there has not been coupled with it this great doctrine of identification with a living person.

"I remember standing one day on the platform of that wonderful pagoda in Rangoon, the pagoda of the Golden Sword, and I saw large numbers of Burmese women prostrating themselves before the Buddha. I said to the friend who was with me, 'What is it that these people are praying about: what is the burden of their prayer?' I learned that the burden of their prayer was this: looking toward the Buddha, and praying to the Buddha, they said, 'Make me as good as you were; make me as gentle as you were; make me as holy as you were.' And there they stopped. They could not sing the hymns that we have been singing: especially that glorious hymn that we have just sung, where our gentleness, and our patience, and our holiness become possible, because of our identification with our crucified but risen and ascended Lord.

"You will notice that over and over again the apostle says to these Roman Christians, 'Do not you know this?' In Romans 6:3, 'Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?' Romans 6:6, literally, 'Getting to know this'—the most important thing that you could get to know, the thing the enemy does not want you to know, the thing Satan dreads that you should know—'getting to know this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed'—a word that is translated in some places 'abolished,' in some places 'done away'—'that the body of sin might be done away, that henceforth we should not serve sin.' Then again, in Romans 6:9, 'Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.' Then in the beginning of chapter 7, Romans 7:1, 'Know ye not, brethren . . . ?' How anxious the apostle was that these Christians should know these things.

"The truths are so profound, so marvelous, they have such a wonderful influence upon the life, revolutionizing it, transforming it from defeat into victory, from weakness into strength, from gloom into gladness and glory, from death into life, that Paul felt the great thing for Christians to whom he wrote was to know these truths. And unless we know them, how can we live in the power of them? You may have this wonderful truth in your New Testament—as you have: but unless you have entered into the power of it, of what value is it to you? Just at this moment part of this building was flooded with electric light. It is a comparatively recent discovery; but there was just as much electricity in this land of ours when it was inhabited by painted savages as there is today, only they did not know of it, they did not know how to harness it. We have been living for centuries on the edge of the profoundest secrets, and we are just beginning to discover things which have been hidden from us for centuries. And you have this wonderful truth in your Bible. Oh, may God help us to enter into the power of it, to utilize it, to live it out, so that men may see that, in glorious reality, we are identified with our crucified, and risen, and ascended Lord.

"I want you to follow me as I suggest four lines of reckoning. I want you, first of all, to reckon on the fact of death; then, to reckon on the fellowship of death; then, to reckon on the continuity of death; and finally, on the realization of death.

"First of all, reckon on the fact of death—that is to say, I am going to reckon myself dead with Christ. And you will notice that is what this wonderful chapter tells you that you may do. Notice the repetition of the word. In verse 6, 'crucified with Him'; in verse 8, 'dead with Him'; in verse 4, 'buried with Him'; in verse 8, 'live with Him.' Crucified with Him, dead with Him, buried with Him, and living with Him; identification in crucifixion, in death, in burial, in resurrection. And if we are to rest our faith unwaveringly upon this great fact, we must remind ourselves once again that it is gloriously true that 'our old man,' that is our fallen, unregenerate nature—not as God created it, but as sin defaced and defiled it—'our old man' was crucified with Christ, that the 'body of sin'—so-called because every part of our being has been corrupted by sin—might be done away, or abolished. It is important for us to remember, I say, that Jesus Christ took this to the cruel cross, and that it was condemned in the death of Jesus Christ.

"There is one verse that has helped me perhaps more than any other in the realization of this great truth. It is in this epistle, at Romans 8:1-4: 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin'—look at your margin, where you have the Greek words literally given, 'God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness,' the righteous requirements, 'of the law might be fulfilled in us . . .'

"Now, it is that expression that has been so wonderfully helpful to me—'God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin.' When our blessed Lord hung upon the cross, He hung there in the likeness of the flesh of sin. He took this flesh of sin to the only place where it can ever be taken for us to be delivered from its power: He took it to the cross. You remember what is said about that which is taken to the cross: 'Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree' (Galatians 3:13). Cursed is that which hangs on the cross: so that, this flesh of sin, in the sight of God, is an accursed thing. Am I going to fondle it, am I going to encourage it, am I going to pamper it, am I going to give it a new lease of life, this thing which is accursed because Jesus Christ took it to the place where that was ever accursed which hung upon it?

"Have you ever done this, have you said to your sinful self—that self which cannot be improved; that self for which there is no healing medicine except death—have you ever said to that sinful self, 'My sinful self, thou hateful thing, breaking out now in pride, and now in passion, and now in jealousy, and now in indolence, and now in selfishness, breaking out in a thousand hateful forms; my sinful self, I put thee where the sinless Christ put thee, on the cross; hang there, for God has put thee there: I choose, of my own will, that thou shalt hang in the place where God has chosen to put thee—on the cross of Calvary'?

"Here is the secret of victory! Reckon on this glorious fact, reckon yourself dead in the death of Christ, and dare to say, 'In Him I am dead to sin.' He appeared once to put away sin. Whose sin? Not His own; He was the sinless One. He appeared once, in the end of the world, to put away sin: my sin, blessed be His name; your sin; and it is my privilege tonight, and yours, to say, 'I reckon myself dead to sin, because I identify myself—by an act of daring faith—I identify myself with Christ in the fact of His death.'

"Reckon, secondly, on the fellowship of death. You will notice how the apostle insists upon that, in this chapter. He says, 'Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection . . . If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead . . .' (Romans 6:4-11)—reckon on the fellowship of death.

"What a wonderful argument that is at the close of Romans 5, that magnificent contrast between the first Adam and the last Adam. I only want to say this—that every living soul is identified either with the first Adam or with the last Adam. We are lost in the one or saved in the other; defeated in the one or victorious in the other; weak in the one or strong in the other; dissatisfied in the one or gloriously satisfied in the other. 'Now none but Christ can satisfy' we were singing just now, because we have changed our relationship; because of our own choice we have identified ourselves with a new race, the Christ race.

"Reckon on the fellowship of death. Remember that all that happened to Jesus Christ, as the Head of the new race, happened in the purpose of God, to you. When He hung upon Calvary’s cross, I hung there, in the purpose of God; the nails that pierced His sacred hands and feet, slew my old life. Say to yourself again and again, 'I died with Christ; when He hung on the cross, I hung there. When He rose in triumph over death, I rose with Him.'

"Our relationship with the first Adam is not a relationship of choice; we are identified with him apart altogether from our choice; we are born in sin. But our relationship with the last Adam, the Lord Jesus, is a matter of choice; and our choice is our probation. We may say, everyone of us, whether we choose any longer to be identified with him with whom identification means sour grapes. 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge' (Ezekiel 18:2); and it will always be 'sour grapes' as long as we are identified with the first Adam. We can, of our own choice, identify ourselves with Him who said, 'I am the true vine,' and we can begin to bear the sweet, luscious fruit which is the outcome of this identification with the Lord Jesus Christ. We become the branches, and make it possible for Him to express His life, His beauty, the winsomeness, the gladness and the victory that is in Jesus Christ, through us who are the branches. How He longs for men and women, branches through which to express all that is beautiful and victorious in His life. Reckon on the fellowship of His death.

"Reckon also on the fellowship of His resurrection; because there is not only a stream of death running throughout this chapter. I have in my Bible a railway running through this chapter. There is the death railway, first of all. I have underlined and railwayed all the passages relating to death. But it would be an imperfect railway system if I did not railway something else. I have another railway of all the passages that relate to life: 'If we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection' (Romans 6:5). There is the Easter glory, on the other side of the cross. Have you ever noticed Romans 6:4: 'Like as Christ was raised up from the dead . . .' By what? By the mercy of the Father? No. By the justice of the Father? No. By the glory of the Father. There is more glory gathering about the empty tomb of Jesus Christ than about any other incident in the life of the Savior. It is the most glorious event in the history of our Lord. 'The glory of the Father.' I wonder whether Jesus Christ was thinking of it when He said, 'Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee'? (John 17:1).

"Peter says that God raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory. I love on Easter day to dwell on the glory of the resurrection. You have only to read the passages which describe it, and the salutations of the risen Savior, to see how much glory there is in it. When He came out of the tomb His greeting to His disciples was, 'All hail!' It was the shout of a conqueror; the shout of One who had triumphed over death, hell, and Satan; of One who had rifled the tomb, and of whom it was written by Paul, 'Death hath no more dominion over Him' (Romans 6:9). He hath conquered gloriously the great enemy of man. 'The glory of the Father!' I dare say that you used to think, as I did when I was a boy, that what happened in the empty tomb was this—that Jesus Christ folded up those linen clothes that were wrapped around His sacred body, and put them in a corner of the sepulchre, as a mark of leisureliness and tidiness. That is what I used to think; but I have learned, since then, that that is not what happened at all. What happened was this: Jesus Christ left those yards of linen cloth, in which there was a hundred pounds weight of spices, undisturbed in any of their windings. There was the napkin that was wrapped around His sacred head; it was not disturbed in a single convolution, but the head was gone; and of all the yards of cloth wrapped around Him, not a single winding had been disturbed, but the body was gone. I do not wonder that when the disciples looked in and perceived the stupendous miracle that had been wrought, they believed. Is there not some significance there? Ought we not to leave behind us the old life, corrupt and ever growing in corruption? Ought we not to leave it behind us in the sepulchre, as the Master did?

"That manly Christian and stalwart teacher, Dr. Dale, of Birmingham, tells us that, towards the end of his life, he began to ask God to forgive something for which he had never asked forgiveness before. He asked God to forgive him for the sins of gloom. He felt that his face had been gloomy, and he wanted forgiveness for the gloom that had overshadowed his life. You remember the story of how, as he was getting ready for Easter Day services, there flashed upon him with new meaning the thought, 'Jesus Christ is alive!' He walked up and down his study and said, 'Jesus Christ is alive!' And in the glory of that risen life, he went to preach; and his sun nevermore went down. In the gladness of that resurrection vision, in the glory of that Easter morning, he lived; and his congregation sang every Sabbath morning the Easter hymn, 'Christ the Lord is risen to-day, Hallelujah.'

"A lady came to me in Japan last summer and said, 'I am a missionary here, and have to make a sad confession to you. I have come to tell you this, that though I came out from America to teach the people here in Japan, I have never had a single hour of joy in my Christian life. And,' she said, 'I feel so ashamed of it. Can you tell me the secret of joy? Can you tell me how to get some gladness into my life? I feel that I cannot commend the religion of Jesus Christ to people while I have a joyless experience.' I said, 'I do not know any secret of joy like this—I am alive in the risen, victorious, indissoluble life of my risen Lord. The glory of that Easter morning is mine. Why, I cannot think of that for five minutes without being glad, without saying goodbye to sorrow and sighing.'

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!

"We did not sing that half so jubilantly as we ought to have done. There is triumph there. If we knew the experience more fully, we should sing more jubilantly. That is the secret of victory and of joy. You cannot have a sad face and a defeated look if you are living in the glorious, victorious, risen life of Jesus Christ. And what God did for Jesus Christ He is ready to do for you tonight. He is ready to raise you from the dead, not by His mercy or justice, but by His glory. He will give you a glorious resurrection, if only you will let Him do it.

"Reckon, moreover, on the continuity of death. Do you notice the alteration in the Revised Version? It is not simply 'once'; there are two other words there: 'In that He died, He died unto sin once for all: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.' Is there not need to emphasize the continuity of this resurrection life? I know I have been disheartened at times, when I have gone back to some place where there had been a gracious visitation of the Spirit of God, and many men and women had by faith identified themselves with Christ in His death and risen life. It has been a great discouragement to find that they had gone back; and that, when I have gone to the place again, they have had to renew this great act of identification with Him. All our dealings with God are dealings for eternity. Do not let us play at identification with Jesus Christ. Do not let us trifle with these tremendously solemn truths. 'Once for all' let us determine, in the strength of God, never to go back. 'Once for all' remember that it is written, 'If any man shall draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him' (Hebrews 10:38). 'Once for all' reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God.

"I had on my table sometime ago a beautiful plant. I think it is called an india-rubber plant, and I used to admire its glorious leaves. One day I noticed the green leaves losing their brilliance. I watched the plant closely, and presently the green turned to yellow. One morning I noticed that these leaves, in which I found such delight, had fallen off, just at the least shaking of the table. What was the matter? Take a microscope, and look at the point of union between the leaf and the plant. What has happened there? This: all those little canals and arteries through which the sap has been flowing into the leaf have been what botanists call 'silted up,' all closed, every one of them. You do not wonder that the leaves have lost their verdure, have become yellow, and have fallen off, because they were starved to death. All the strength and the sap of the plant were being thrown into new life. Bursting out at the top of the plant were new leaves; and the lower ones were dispensed with. What I want to point out is this: when the plant decided (if you will forgive me for putting it like this) to dispense with the lower leaves, and began to silt up the arteries, the plant never went back on its resolve, never said, 'Well, these leaves are admired, they are very useful and beautiful; I will keep them after all.' No, having once begun the silting up process, it went on until every avenue was closed, all resources were completely cut off, and the leaves dropped off because no life was any longer afforded them.

"Beloved, let us show the same spirit with regard to everything in our life that is not of Jesus Christ. Let us begin to 'silt up,' to put the cross of Jesus Christ between our self and that passion, to put the sin-killing cross between our self and that lust, that jealousy, that indolence, that spirit which is not of Jesus Christ—put it there, and keep it there; and what will happen? Why, it will happen, by and by, that the old habit will drop off. Every Sunday night I look into the faces of men we know as 'Deptford miracles'—once the greatest scamps in Deptford. They have lost their desire to drink away their wits, and to do unholy things. Don’t you see what has happened? God has graciously honored their faith, their reckoning; and these things have dropped off. They can pass by a hundred public houses without any desire to go in. Instead of the blow, when they go home, there is the kiss for the wife and for the children. Why, I know men in my congregation who were such a terror in the home that the children would hide in the cupboard, or behind mother’s apron if they could not get to the cupboard fast enough, because they knew that father’s advent meant kicks, curses, and brutal treatment. But they run up the street to meet father now, and fling their arms around his neck, because the old father has become a new father, and a wonderful change has been wrought.

"Last of all, let us reckon on the realisation of death. God will make it real. Why are we authorized to reckon on these glorious facts? Simply because God does it. God reckons me to have died with Christ, and I am going to reckon myself to be where God reckons me. God reckons me to be living in Christ, and I am going to reckon myself to be living in Christ. Dr. Pierson pointed out, in this convention, that the word in Genesis about Abraham is this—not 'Abraham believed God,' but 'Abraham amened God.' He staggered not at the promise through unbelief, but said 'Amen' to it. It seems akin to madness for you to reckon yourself dead to the foul things in your life that have mastered you a hundred times, so that you have come back to this convention with the overwhelming sense of defeat. My brother, say 'Amen' to God. Then God will honor your faith, and make these things real in your life, and your Amen to God will please Him as Abraham’s did, for God was so pleased with Abraham’s Amen that He counted it to Him for righteousness."