No one can be sanctified without diligently taking heed to himself. By scrutinizing myself in the light of the Spirit, I gain knowledge about myself and about God. If we have received a thorough knowledge about ourselves first, later in life it will be easier to keep ourselves pure and irreproachable in God’s sight. Paul examined himself, and in Romans 7 he has given us an excellent representation of himself in relationship to God’s laws. That is why this chapter is the very foundation of the doctrine of sanctification. In this chapter, Paul writes to those who “know the law.” He says so much with just these few words. Know the law! Those who are under the law do not know the law, because they do not know the end of the law. In other words, by the law you have to be redeemed from the law in order to know the law. Therefore, Romans 7 applies to those souls who have been liberated. At one time in their life they were under the law, but now they are freed from it. Rom. 7:4. When we were under the law, we were bound to the law. But now we have been redeemed from the law by the body of Christ, that we should bear fruit to God. No sanctification can take place as long as we are under the law. We need to come into “the body of Christ” in order to be conformed to the image of the Son. Just because I can’t be sanctified by the law does not make the law sin, does it? Certainly not! For the law is holy, just and good. But I came to know sin through the law. I would not have known my corrupt nature unless I had tried to keep a holy law. In other words, the law brought me to the knowledge of my utter corruption, and this revelation of my absolute corruption is the death of Christ. He who did not know sin was made sin for us. Now we hang on the cross—on the accursed tree—with Him. We must continue in this position of faith throughout the entire process of our sanctification. Now we have no use for our self or for the law. We know that nothing good dwells in us. On the contrary, much evil dwells in us. Through the process of sanctification, all this evil must now die and be destroyed—within the body—on the cross. We must learn to differentiate between being dead to the law through the body of Christ and having attained to death within the body itself. Rom. 7:4 and Phil. 3:10. The whole process of sanctification takes place between these two kinds of death. The first death “to the law” is a death that is imputed to us for Jesus’ sake. The second death in the body of Christ is an acquired death attained by obedience and faithfulness to the Holy Spirit. It is important to diligently examine everything that takes place between the first and second deaths in the Holy Spirit, in the light of the Scriptures and in the light of our everyday life. Now we are fully armed with the Holy Spirit as an indwelling power and with a flesh in which nothing good dwells. Let us struggle forward as best we can. We know where Jesus went, and we know the way. The way He went led straight through the flesh in which nothing good dwelt. The flesh is that veil that separates us from God. Now we know the way. We meet all our enemies on this way, but they are bread for us. There is an abundance of food on this new and living way. We know that Jesus gave His flesh for the life of the world and that His flesh is “food indeed.” Bethlehem, Jesus’ birthplace, means “house of bread.” We can also say that Jesus’ body is the true house of bread. Why is there so pitifully little and poor spiritual nourishment? It is because people do not kill and eat. Kill and eat! That was what the heavenly vision revealed to Peter. People do not use the Sword of the Spirit! People are careful not to offend the rich merchant who is such a great financial blessing to the church. And the fine lady with the gold jewelry who seems like the epitome of love—what could the ladies’ missionary society accomplish without her valuable support? Not to mention all the others who could so easily be offended and go to another assembly! Alas! Alas! Flesh and more flesh wherever you turn! Wake up, O sword! Strike to the right and to the left. Give us something that can bring us life, because the sword of the Lord is filled with blood. Is. 34:6. On the day of slaughter, our heart experiences true satisfaction. Ps. 149:6; Jer. 48:10; Matt. 10:34. Away with all carnal caution! Let the sword come against the babblers! And against everyone who keeps back his sword from blood for the sake of making a living, for the sake of dishonest gain. Why is there so much dryness and sluggishness in the congregation? It is because there is not enough slaughtering and eating. The result is a few spiritually crippled people sitting around, who are all suffering from malnutrition. Now we have had a good day of slaughter at the meeting hall. We are alive because we have received food; then we go home again and meditate in the gold mine of Romans 7. “For what I am doing, I do not know.” Verse 15 (Norw.) [Emphasis added]. An amazing point. Don’t I know what I am doing? Yes, you know what you are doing according to your own understanding, but that is useless according to God’s understanding. You do not know whether the result of what you are doing is good or bad in God’s sight. Yet some people will say, “When I visit a sick person, then I know I have done something good.” Far from it! Perhaps the sick person can hardly bear your presence, and someone better than you has to stand and wait until you get around to leaving. So you go home feeling like you have done something good. But was it really good? This is how shallow people can be. The wise Paul said that he did not know what he was doing. No one ought to consider himself better than Paul. Abraham went out in faith, not knowing where he was going. “For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” Verse 15 [Emphasis added]. Only those who are awake will find wisdom in these words. I do what I hate in spite of being baptized with the Spirit, in spite of speaking in tongues and possessing the gift of prophecy. I do what I hate. For example, choose anything you want—the best deed you can think of. Endeavor to do your very best and do it with the greatest of care. Then, after you have completed this work and have gone home and considered it in your heart, you will find that you could have done it quite differently. You met someone and only talked about trivial things. Or the man you wanted to speak to was not in a good mood, and that put you in a bad mood. The timing of the conversation was poor, etc. Your intention was good, but you hate what you did because it did not have the desired effect; and to top it off, no one appreciated what you did. You find that so much of your own “I” was still clinging to what you did. The more you think about it, the worse it gets. The only solution is to forget what lies behind and pursue the things that are ahead. However, you have learned something through all this. You learned that your best works are as filthy rags. You learned to hate yourself and judge yourself. You also learned what this means: “Not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ.” 1 Cor. 9:21. You have learned that God shines His light on your works so that you can further purify yourself and enter into a deeper acknowledgment and understanding. Death is working in you so that life will come forth. Is it so bad to do what you hate? Oh no! But it is not good to be so oblivious that you cannot see that what you did could have been done much better. This was a good lesson in sanctification; next time we do something we hate, it will go more smoothly than it did the first time. How long must I continue to do what I hate? As long as I have a spark of life in me, because that is how I lose my life. As long as there is any sin remaining in my flesh, some of it will cling to my works. Surely no one would dare to insist that it’s better to think everything we have done was flawless, blameless, perfectly divine, etc. I would say that a person who sees himself that way has taken his place sitting with Satan on the farthest sides of the north. The “free assemblies” and the Pentecostals primarily ascribe Romans 7 to those who are in bondage to the law, but for us it is a gold mine where we can learn wonderful things. I hope that these dear friends will soon have their eyes opened to this fact and will come to an acknowledgement of their shameful error. Imagine—Paul saw another law in his members! When there is strife in an assembly, it is because this other law is active. “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” James 4:1. James also saw this law! But I doubt that those he wrote to saw this law, because James had to instruct them about it. I would assume that they boasted about their baptism in the Spirit, and that they were fully preoccupied with their spiritual gifts and their clear understanding of the doctrine! Nevertheless, their lusts were still warring in their members. Wherever I strive against the other law in my members with all my might, and yet still find myself taken captive by the law of sin in my members, that is where I meet my spiritual limitations—that is, my flesh. I do what I hate—a “deed of the body” comes forth. What sort of deed is that? It is a deed which sin in my flesh has forced me to do because I was not mature enough, strong enough or spiritual enough to restrain it. But is that not a conscious sin, a work of the flesh which we read about in Galatians 5:19? No, for I served God’s law with my mind, and that is not the case with those who commit works of the flesh. What can we do to get rid of this “deed of the body”? We must put it to death by the Spirit so that we can live. Rom. 8:13. Now we are as free as a bird again, but every time we do something that we did not want to do, we must put it to death. As we do this, we become more and more watchful, more and more aware of sin and more and more sanctified. Sin in our members, or “the body of sin,” is destroyed more and more. Rom. 6:6. We are crucified to all conscious sin, but unconscious sin remains in our members. Having been set free from sin, we have entered the ministry of righteousness, and we have our fruit to holiness. Rom. 6:22. We can say with Paul, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” The body of death is the body that will die. Sin dwells in that body. Even though we do not allow manifest sin to rule over us, we are still not able to overcome in those areas where we are carnal. Consequently, we can do nothing but give our assent to the situation as it is and say: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Rom. 7:25. Now let me ask: Is there anyone on earth who can do any more than serve the law of God with his mind? Everyone will have to answer: No, we cannot do any better than that. Then I want to ask another question: Is there anyone in this whole world who can serve the law of God with his flesh? Every sensible person will have to answer: No! Therefore, we serve the law of God with our mind and the law of sin with our flesh. There can be no doubt about that. There were two nations in Rebekah’s womb, and they struggled with each other. Even before they were born, one was loved and the other was hated. Isaac had the promise, yet there was still an Esau who had to be separated from him. Is it really so strange that an Esau has to be separated from us? Or are we too good for that? The amazing thing is that when I serve the law of God with my mind, there is no condemnation even though I still, necessarily, serve the law of sin with my flesh. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Rom. 8:2. Is it really possible to be made free from the law of sin and death and still have “another law” in our members? Yes, that is the only possibility. By way of example, we can say that Noah was saved from the law of sin and death when the ark lifted him up. Nevertheless, he certainly was not saved from the “other law” in his members. He took his fallen nature with him and planted it on the new earth. To understand these laws, we need to examine them in detail—consider all the parts of the whole—and ask: What is the law of sin from which we have been freed? The answer is: “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived [in my mind], it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” [Emphasis added]. This is what happens when the mind serves the law of sin. But we who serve the law of God with our mind are free from the law of sin. The verse continues: When sin is full-grown, it brings forth death. We have been freed from both of these laws. What things do we still carry with us after we have been set free from the law and have received the Spirit that was promised? We still have:1. The body of sin that is to be destroyed—in other words, sin in our body of death, or “the other law” in our members. Through faithfulness we can now destroy this sin through the power of the Spirit. Rom. 6:6-12, 14; Phil. 3:10.2. The body of death, which we carry with us here in this life and from which we will only be freed when we leave this earthly tabernacle.3. The deeds of the body, which are involuntary deeds that come forth from sin in the flesh. Rom. 8:13.4. “The wretched man” who has to drag all this with him. Rom. 7:24. But what do we receive as a result of this process taking place within us as we walk on this downward “way of death”? We receive:1. A new man (Col. 3:10) with divine nature. 2 Pet. 1:4.2. Faith, and the obedience of faith. Rom. 1:5.3. Freedom from the custody of the law. Gal. 3:25.4. The Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of His Son. Gal. 4:6.5. The right to dwell in the New Jerusalem, together with the general assembly of the firstborn and the spirits of just men made perfect. Heb. 12:22 and on.6. Brotherly love (2 Pet. 1:7) and love for all people.7. A complete understanding of the necessity of suffering together with Christ. Rom. 8:17-18; 1 Pet. 4:1-2.8. A royal position together with Jesus on His throne. Rev. 3:21. When Paul was in Ephesus, he met some believers who had not even heard that the Holy Spirit had come. Acts 19. When Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. Afterwards he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, conversing with them and persuading them concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but “spoke evil of the Way” [emphasis added] of God, he withdrew the disciples from them and conversed daily with them in the school of Tyrannus. From this we see that when Paul wanted to explain God’s “Way” in depth, most of those who were in the synagogue were hardened, and Paul had to separate the disciples from them. This same thing happens today. People like to hear about the baptism of the Spirit and the gift of tongues, about what God has done “for us” in Christ; but as soon as you speak about what God wants to do “in us,” people’s hearts close. Paul preached the obedience of faith. This placed a requirement on the disciples that the others were not willing to accept. Rom. 1:5; 15:18; 16:26. Consequently, they spoke evil of the Way of God. People call this way legalism, because on this way a person is required to obey the Holy Spirit. What good is it for a person to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues at almost every meeting if he is not obedient to the Spirit? Most people have excommunicated the Spirit. If someone does speak in the Spirit in a way that goes against the flesh, they “sing him down.” The religious money-making organization must be venerated above everything else! This is what it means to speak evil, sing evil and act evil toward “the way of God,” and toward those witnesses who are pressing forward on this way. If this is your attitude, you can speak in tongues until the walls crack, pray fervently until fire falls from heaven and write about the doctrine of sanctification until you are blue in the face. You are on the wrong way and you will remain on the wrong way. God is not with you, and your progress has stopped. Therefore, let us examine ourselves to see whether we are, in Spirit and in truth, on the “way of God,” and whether we are making progress. God is not a respecter of persons, and very often truth grows out of the earth. Ps. 85:11.Johan O. Smith