In that spiritual life there will be much still to be learned. There will
still be imperfections. Spiritual life is not perfect; but the predominant
characteristic will be spiritual. When a man has given himself up to the
real, living, acting, ruling power of God's Spirit, he has got into the
right position in which he can grow. You never think of growing out of
sickness into health; you may grow out of feebleness into strength, as the
little babe can grow to be a strong man; but where there is disease, there
must healing come if there is to be a cure effected. There are Christians
who think that they must grow out of the carnal state into the spiritual
state. You never can. What could help those carnal Corinthians? To give
them milk could not help them, for milk was a proof they were in the wrong
state. To give them meat would not help them, for they were unfit to eat
it. What they needed was the knife of the surgeon. Paul says that the
carnal life must be cut out. "They that are Christ's have crucified the
flesh." When a man understands what that means, and accepts it in the
faith of what Christ can do, then one step can bring him from carnal to
spiritual. One simple act of faith in the power of Christ's death, one act
of surrender to the fellowship of Christ's death as the Holy Spirit can
make it ours, will make it ours, will bring deliverance from the power of
your efforts.

What brought deliverance to that poor condemned sinner who was most dark
and wretched in his unconverted state? He felt he could do nothing good of
himself. What did he do? He saw set before him the almighty Saviour and he
cast himself into His arms; he trusted himself to that omnipotent love and
cried, "Lord, have mercy upon me." That was salvation. It was not for
what he did that Christ accepted him. Oh, believers, if any of us who are
conscious that the carnal state predominates have to say: "It marks me; I
am a religious man, an earnest man, a friend of missions; I work for Christ