How to Deal with Frustration

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20.

This is a very well known Bible verse that many of us know by heart, but the big question is whether we can apply it to ourselves. Can we really say “I am crucified with Christ”, or should we maybe say, “Paul was crucified with Christ”?

Paul’s thorough conversion can be verified in different passages in the Bible. When in 1 Corinthians 11:1 he says “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ”, a thought that he repeats to the Philippians (3:17), there is not a single bit of pride or presumption in his declaration, but a self-awareness of his total consecration to His divine Master. Christ can only live in us by faith, therefore if we believe He is in us, we act accordingly.

Unfortunately, one of our favourite chapters in the Bible is Romans 7 and from it, verses 14 to 23, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

How many times are these verses used as an excuse for our weaknesses of the flesh! If Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles said this and experienced it, what can anyone expect from us? But Paul wrote and experienced chapter 8 as well, and he declares “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (8:2).

Jesus, on the other hand was “in all points tempted as we are, yet, without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15). But that was Jesus! Who is Jesus? Our Redeemer, our Saviour, our Master, but also our Example and our Strength! He came to “save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21). He redeems us from the power of sin. He gives us the Consoler, the Holy Spirit, to guide us in the whole knowledge of the truth and that knowledge implies the revelation of our sins one by one. What do we have to give Jesus so that He can give us the Spirit, our sins one by one? Yes. Only that? “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:19). The sin, in the singular, our sinful nature in exchange for the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), also in the singular. We may spend a whole lifetime giving the Lord our sins, but not our sinful nature that produces one sin per second; and the Lord can keep on giving us his Spirit to make us aware of our sinfulness, but the fruit of the Spirit is not in us.

Thus we find ourselves in a vicious circle and frustration sets in. We expect a miracle and God expects our surrendering to His holy will, our real repentance, which is “sorrow for sin and a turning away from it.” Steps to Christ, p. 23. Do we feel sorrow for our sins? Surely we do, because the Holy Spirit is still working in us. Do we turn away from it? That is another matter altogether; sometimes we do, sometimes we do not. Turning away is painful because the flesh suffers when it is deprived of what satisfies it. “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:1, 2)

The battle against sin takes place in the mind and in order to be able even to enter into this battle, we need a transformation of the mind, to stop seeing things as the world sees them and start seeing them as God does. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2). This transformation of the mind (“metamorphosis” in the Greek version) is produced by the influence of the Spirit of God working constantly on us. It depends totally on us whether we allow this transformation to take place in our life or we continue according to our own concept of righteousness. Let us remember that the Scriptures were given “… for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16) because “we are all an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6).

Peter and Paul, two instruments of God to take the message of salvation to the Jews and to the Gentiles respectively, were dominated by their own temperament and their own sense of righteousness, which they exercised without a second thought. Paul, in the name of God, persecuted the followers of Christ and Peter cut off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest.

When Jesus was taken to Caiaphas, Peter sat with the scornful to keep his body warm and he ended up denying Jesus, “I do not know the man”, he declared. Was it a lie? Did Peter really know the man? He was the first one to acknowledge that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and that came not from him, but the Spirit of God revealed it to him. He had seen Jesus working miracles, healing the sick, resurrecting the dead and all these deeds confirmed that He was actually the One sent from heaven. But did Peter know Jesus, the man? “I do not know the man.” Peter was far from experiencing what a man under the power of the Holy Spirit could do and Jesus’ attitude before His accusers and executioners was absolutely inconceivable for Peter. He did not lie, he did not know the man and Jesus knew it; that is why He had so much mercy for him.

“And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter… and Peter went out, and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61, 62). Peter realized the magnitude of his sin, the depth of his sinful nature that led him to deny his Master. Jesus looked at him and with that look a miracle took place in Peter’s heart. It took just a few seconds for Peter, the stone, the man with a stony heart, to fall upon the Stone that is Jesus and be broken. (Luke 20:18). In that very moment Peter lost all his self-assertiveness and surrendered his sinful nature to Jesus, because he realized how far it could take him and he experienced the Lord’s mercy to the utmost. He received a heart of flesh, the law in his heart and the Spirit of God within himself. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” (Romans 8:11, 9).

God waits for us to allow this miracle to take place in our life. Jesus knocks at the door of our heart and waits. What for? “And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you… that he may have mercy upon you.” (Isaiah 30:18). What does God’s grace do to us? What does His infinite mercy produce in our heart? “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Romans 2:4). Deep repentance. Somebody who has fallen upon the Stone, who has experienced the depth of his own sinfulness and the despair of knowing he is irredeemably lost will rejoice in the blessing of forgiveness and consider himself always a forgiven sinner. The flesh is subdued by the Spirit. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is free from sin.” (Romans 6:9).

Paul explains to the Galatians, ““I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” And he says to the Corinthians, “I die daily.” Was it a terrible effort for Paul to die daily? He could not do otherwise! Why? Because he lived under grace, because that experience in which he fell off his horse and was blinded by the light of heaven was engraved in his heart. Peter’s experience with Jesus was not less relevant. Jesus’ eyes looking at Peter with incommensurate love never departed from his memory either. Both of them passed from living under the law to living in grace.

What was then the secret of Paul’s successful Christian life? Why is it that he can say, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”? He himself explains it further on, “I do not frustrate the grace of God…” (Galatians 2.21).

As long as we do not frustrate the grace of God, we shall not be frustrated Christians; as long as we believe Jesus’ own words “for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:53), we shall continue under grace.

May the Lord help us to abide in Him.
AMEN.

Teresa Corti