Scripture: "Let us press on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God."—HEB. vi. I.
The parable of the difference between the foundations and the effect on the houses built on them will teach us important lessons about the two kinds of life. St. Paul lays the foundation of the house of God in the doctrine of Justification by faith in Jesus Christ. That is the one sure immovable ground upon which a lost sinner finds his eternal salvation (Rom. v. 2).
What is the house built upon this foundation ? Read Romans v. 12-18. There the apostle points out that Justification and peace with God are not everything, they are only the beginning. Then he goes on to show that as in Adam we died, so in the second Adam, Christ, we receive the abundance of grace whereby we may live through Jesus Christ. That is the life built on the foundation. He points out in chapter vi. how in Christ we have died unto sin: we are baptized into His death; and as we are united to Him by the likeness of His death we shall be united by the likeness of His resurrection. If we have died with Christ, we may be sure we really are dead to sin, but alive unto God in Jesus our Lord.
It is union with the crucified and risen Christ that sets us free from the power of sin, and through the Spirit, Christ Jesus releases us wholly from the power of sin. This life in Christ is the edifice that must be built upon the foundation of Justification.
How little is Romans vi. grasped or appropriated. We are ever ready to lay the foundation and be content with that. Nay, Child of God, our experience must be deeper. We must experience that Christ is our life, that we are crucified with Him, and in Him, and in Him are dead and risen again. That only will enable us to live a holy, godly life in the joy of the Holy Spirit.
