The Journal of Biblical Accuracy

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• Some Facts

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 Some facts

I was reading recently a very nice book from Chinese author Watchman Nee. The
name of the book is “The new covenant” and in its first chapters the author explains the
difference between facts and promises. I found his explanations very simple and
enlightening. Many times we confuse promises with facts and facts with promises. It is
really enlightening to know what is a fact and what is a promise. The promise brings with
it the possibility that it will not be done unless certain conditions are met. That’s why it is
a promise. We saw such a promise earlier in this issue: the promise of well being and long
life. This promise is conditional on honoring your father and mother. On the other hand
when God says that if we confess our sins He will forgive us and will clean us from all
unrighteousness (I John 1:9) this is not a promise. This is a fact. As soon as you have
confessed yours sins, you do not need to think longer whether you are still carrying them
or whether they are forgiven! THEY ARE FORGIVEN! This is not a promise. It is a
FACT! Also when the Word of God tells us that those that believe in Jesus Christ are sons
and daughters of God and they are born of God, this again is not a promise! It is a FACT!
If you believe that Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead you are a son of God
and you are NOW! It is a wonderful fact! As a friend of mine was recently telling me the
parts of the armor of God are all part of our identity in Christ. What the devil greatly fears
is to see us walking according to what we are. What he greatly fears is that we realize the
things the Word of God says that we are! Whether you feel or not righteous does not
change the fact that you ARE righteous! It affects however the way you walk in this life.
You may be righteous but if you don’t believe this fact or if you don’t know it then you
immediately miss the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14)! The focus of the
devil is simple: to forget or deny by disbelief (doubt) what you are in Christ.

Facts vs. promises: an application with Romans 6:6

Returning back to the facts, here is one more: when the Word of God says that we
must count our old man as crucified with Christ this is not a promise: you don’t pray for
God to crucify the old man. The old man IS crucified. God cannot do something more! He
has done it! He has crucified it! Your old man IS crucified NOW. “Why then do we still
sin?” some will say. Here it is the answer Watchman Nee gives (emphasis is added)

“some have asked “If this is the case, why do we sin again? If the old man has already
been crucified and if we have the new man, why do we still sin?” This leads us to a new
question. What should we do to realize God’s accomplished facts? A mistake that many
people make is that they change God’s facts into promises. The old man has been
crucified. However, some think that God has only promised to crucify the old man. They
think that they should ask God to crucify the old man. Whenever they sin, they think that
their old man is still not crucified. So they again ask God to crucify it. Whenever they
encounter temptations, they think that the old man has not been dealt with, and they again
ask God to deal with it. They do not realize that God’s facts are different from His
promises. God has done many things. Facts are not things that God has promised to do.
Therefore we do not need to pray. We do not need to have more zealous prayers,
but to believe. Toward God’s facts, we must only believe. If we believe, we will have the
experience. Fact, faith, experience – this is the order that God has ordained, and this is a
great principle in our spiritual life. We only need to do this: First, we should know God’s
facts. God must reveal them to us through the Holy Spirit. Second, after we know God’s
facts concerning a certain matter, we should lay hold of God’s Word and believe that we
are already according to His Word. God’s fact says it and we are what His Word says.
Third we should exercise this faith and thank God that we are what He says we are and
should live according to what we already are. Fourth whenever temptations and trials
come, we should believe that God’s Word and facts are more reliable than our experience.
All we have to do is fully believe in God’s Word; He will be responsible for giving us the
experience. If we only pay attention to our experience we will fail. We should pay
attention to believing in God’s fact. This is our only responsibility. We can commit our
experience to God because it is His responsibility.
The basis for a Christian’s experience is Romans 6:6. All we have to do is to allow
God’s Spirit to show us how our old man is crucified. Then we should lay hold of God’s
Word and believe that we are dead to sin. After this we should live as if we are already
dead. Even when temptations come and tell us that we have not died, we should still
believe more in what God has done than in our feelings and experience. If we do this,
experience will follow. We should note that God’s fact does not become real by doing
this. Rather we do this because God’s fact is already real.
If our old man has not died, we could pray and ask him to crucify it. But if the
crucifixion is an accomplished fact and we still ask God to accomplish it again, then there
is nothing more to say except that we are entirely lacking in faith. May we have greater
faith before God. I admit that if I had not personally passed through my sickness in the
past three years, I would not have known what faith is. In many places I have seen many
dear brothers. But I have seldom seen a person who believes in God. What is faith?
Faith is believing that whatever God has said means exactly what He has said. It is
believing that everything is according to God’s Word. God has said that our old man
is dead. This means that our old man is dead. A fact is something that God has
accomplished through Christ. No one can say anything more about it. God sent His Son
to accomplish everything for us and told us, through the Bible, what He accomplished.
Now what He has accomplished has finished; God can do nothing more, and we should
do nothing more than accept it before Him with a humble heart and believe that His Word
is real. May our hardened hearts and evil hearts of unbelief be removed so that we will
receive God’s grace” (Watchman Nee, The New Covenant, Living Stream ministry, pp.
19-21)”

Faith is believing that whatever God has said that’s what He means! God has said
that our old man is dead? This is the truth! God says in Romans 10:9-10 that if one
confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in His heart that God raised Him
from the dead he will be saved. Well then if you have done this, you do not need to find
out whether you are saved or not. YOU ARE! It is a fact! When God’s Word tells us that
those that believe that Jesus is the Christ they are born of God (I John 5:1) it means what
it says! If you believe this, you are born of God! It is a fact! Here are some more facts
from Ephesians 2 this time:

Ephesians 2:1-10, 19-20

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the
air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once
conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in
mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised
us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the
ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them….. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone,”

What is described in the above verses are not promises or things that we may
obtain or we may not. In contrast these are plain facts! It is not true that you are dead in
sins! It WAS true! What IS true is that though dead in sins and trespasses “God made us
alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and
made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. These are FACTS. These is
what we are and where we are NOW! This is not something that you must pray for! This
is something that you must thank God for! It is done! The same also for the following:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in
them”. You don’t have to wait to be saved. If you have believed in Jesus and in his
resurrection YOU ARE SAVED! You are not a foreigner any longer! This is what you
WERE! Now you ARE of the household of God! Confess it! Believe it! What the devil
desires is that you never know who you ARE in Christ. Once you know what he is after
is that you dismiss it by not believing it! Don’t fall prey to any of these. God’s fact are
sureties and they are yours NOW. LIVE WITH THEM! As Watchman Nee said : “We
should note that God’s fact does not become real by doing this. Rather we do this
because God’s fact is already real.” Seeing is believing they say. You saw it in God’s
Word, then believe it! You are what God says that you are! Nothing less!

Tassos Kioulachoglou