Category The New Life

By Reginald Wallis

CHAPTER FOUR

HOW DOES CALVARY BECOME REAL IN THE BELIEVER’S DAILY LIFE?

The Art of Reckoning

Here we come to the blessed theme of the triumphant “reckoning” of faith. Turn to Romans 6 again. What do we find the apostle exhorting in verse 11? His logic is perfect. Having emphasized the believer’s death with Christ, he now says, “Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” (6:11).

Reckon on what? Reckon on God’s fact that “the old man was crucified” with Christ, and that you have been raised again with him into “newness of life”. The fact, of course, is eternal. Even my unbelief does not alter the truth of God, though it will rob me of the blessing of it (Ro. 3:3).

What does it mean to “reckon”? Surely it is simply counting on a fact...

By Reginald Wallis

CHAPTER FIVE

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF “CHRIST LIVES IN ME”?

Here is a wonderful revelation which was locked up in the heart of God for centuries and hidden from the hearts of Old Testament worthies.

“Christ in you, the hope of glory”

That is “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints…” – to you, my brother and sister – ”which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:26-27). What a stupendous thought, transcending our finite comprehension! The Christ of God – “in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” – condescends to live within the redeemed spirit of a man (Col. 2:9).

We can conceive of him as God incarnate, born in the manger, and living as a Man amongst men; we ca...

By Reginald Wallis

CHAPTER SIX

IS IT “SINLESS PERFECTION”?

This chapter forms a sort of parenthesis, though its content needs to be carefully considered in connection with the Life of Victory.

Bible teachers who emphasize the need for personal victory in the heart and life of the believer, and who therefore teach the way of practical holiness, are often accused of being “sinless-perfectionists”. In fact, it is difficult to avoid this suspicion wherever such a ministry is given. There are always some who assume that the extremes of religious fanaticism are thereby approved of.

Fortunately, a faithful minister of the Word need not be concerned about the opinions or criticisms of others. Indeed, he must always expect some measure of misrepresentation...

By Reginald Wallis

CHAPTER SEVEN

HOW TO “REIGN IN LIFE”?

We now come to the last of our talks, and the climax of the blessed experience of victory in Christ.

“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Ro. 5:17).

This is something more than the possession of eternal life. It is “life more abundant” (Jn. 10:10). I see a sick young man in hospital. His cheeks are pallid, his eyes are sunken, and his pulse is low. Standing by him is a young man in all the robust vigor of healthy manhood. Each of these possesses life, but in one case it is only a matter of existence; in the other, there is life more abundant...

By Reginald Wallis

APPENDIX

DEFINITION OF TERMS

(As understood and defined by Grace Fellowship International)

OLD MAN (Old Nature, Adamic Life, Sin Nature)

The unregenerate spirit or Adamic life prior to salvation (Ro. 6:6; Col. 3:9).

NEW MAN

The regenerate spirit, or new nature, consisting of a new human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Col. 3:10).

FLESH (SELF, SELF-LIFE)

A position of the non-Christian who is enslaved to the power of sin through the old man. A condition of the Christian where the personality is yielded, voluntarily or involuntarily, to the control of indwelling sin which results in living out of human resources.

FLESH (Alternate Definition)

The soul’s selfish and distorted perceptions, values, identity messages, and coping mechanisms that have been learned independent...