Ruled by the Peace of Christ, Inhabited by the Word of Christ, and Living in Union with God

For us to persevere in prayer for the one new man we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in us, let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and live in union with Christ (see Col. 3:15-17).

This is the condition that we must find ourselves in so that we can persevere in prayer, remain in prayer.

May it be that all the local churches on earth would be praying churches, and that all the saints would be praying saints, realising that, as we get closer and closer to the end of this age, more and more prayers are needed.

The Lord has already created the one new man in Himself on the cross; He has already made peace and has given Himself to us as peace; and Christ with all His riches is embodied in His word.

We just need to allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts and remove any problems and issues, any friction and offense, and anything that stands in its way – may Christ’s peace rule in us for the Body!

We need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, abiding in us in all wisdom, and making home in us to do an inward change in our being until we are filled with the word and the word inhabits us richly.

We need to live in union with the Lord, doing all things not in and by ourselves but in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father. All these things are found in Col. 3:15-17.

Right after Paul spoke of the one new man in Col. 3:10-11, he talked about the practical living of the one new man, a living of the saints in union with Christ; this is a God-man living, a new man living.

And all of this is for us to have the right condition to persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving (Col. 4:2).

So after the revelation of the one new man, Paul sets forth three conditions: the peace of Christ arbitrating in our hearts, the word of Christ dwelling in us richly, and living in union with Christ for the one new man.

Let the Peace of Christ Arbitrate in our Hearts for the Practical Existence of the One New Man

In order for us to carry on with persevering in prayer and having a new man prayer life, we must live in a condition of peace, an inward peace; this is Christ Himself as our peace.

We already have the peace of Christ within us, for in Himself Christ made peace and created the one new man out of two peoples (Eph. 2:15). This is the very peace that Paul tells us of in Col. 3:15; we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts, to which we were called in one Body, and be thankful.

The oneness of the one new man produces genuine peace; apart from Christ and the church, we cannot be truly one, for only in Christ and in the church we have oneness and we can have peace.

In the new man there’s oneness because Christ is all and in all; this oneness is our peace – the oneness in the new man is our peace.

A person who doesn’t have peace within cannot pray; if we are in tumult inwardly, if there’s storms and problems inside, if we have a problem with this or that person, the peace of Christ doesn’t rule in you.

If we don’t allow the peace of Christ to arbitrate in our hearts, we live in our feelings and reactions, and there’s no peace in us; therefore, we can’t persevere in prayer. We need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our heart for the new man life.

As the Lord said, before we come to Him in prayer, we should go to our brother and make restitution, apologize, and take care of any offense first; then, we can come to Him in prayer. So much of our prayer is not acceptable to God not because we are not sincere but because our condition is wrong.

May we be those who allow the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts daily, letting His peace be the ultimate decider of all things; when His peace arbitrates in us, we are in a condition of peace, and we can persevere in prayer to bring in the practical existence of the one new man.

Thank You Lord Jesus for making peace for us on the cross; You are now our peace, and we allow You to arbitrate in our heart for the practical existence of the one new man. Amen Lord, You made the Jews and the Gentiles into one new man, and we let You as our peace arbitrate in our hearts for the Body life! May Your peace preside in us, be the ultimate decider in all things, and saturate us with Your peace, bringing us into a condition of peace so that we can persevere in prayer for the practical existence of the one new man!

Opening our Being Letting the Word of Christ Dwell in us Richly to be Saturated with Christ’s Riches

The way for Christ to exercise His headship and to minister His riches to us is through His word; therefore, we need to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom (Col. 2:19; 3:16).

For us to have the new man prayer life, we need to be in a condition of letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly. This is different from merely reading the Bible or even memorizing the Scripture verses.

We need to let the word, who is the embodiment of Christ with all His riches, dwell in us, house Himself in us, and inhabit us richly.

The word is Christ Himself; when we exercise our spirit over the word of God and open our whole being to Him, the word of Christ will inhabit us richly, and Christ is making His home deep in our hearts.

When the word of Christ dwells in us and inhabits us to this extent, that word will be the vehicle through which Christ ministers His riches into us in so many ways; we need these riches, so we need the word to sustain us and sustain our prayer life.

The best prayer is the prayer filled with the word of God; this doesn’t mean that we should pray the word word by word but rather mingle the word with prayer.

Praying God’s promises back to Him and using God’s word to speak back to God is the highest prayer, and in this way He can do in us what He promises to do in His word.

We shouldn’t be closed but learn to open our entire being to the Lord and to His word, and we should be willing to be filled with the word of Christ.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that we should read the Bible more, but that we allow the word of Christ get into us, dwell in us, fill us from within, and operate in us.

The word of Christ is the word spoken by Christ; in His New Testament economy, God speaks to us in the Son, and the Son spoke not only in the Gospels but also through His apostles in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation.

The word of Christ includes the entire New Testament; we need to be filled with this word, allowing the word of Christ to have adequate room in our being so that it may operate and minister the riches of Christ into our inner being.

The riches of Christ are in His word; when the word of Christ has a free course within us, when we don’t confine the word to just our mind but let it operate and make home in all our inward being, we enjoy the riches of Christ being dispensed into us.

Many believers, however, study the Bible but do not allow the word of Christ to dwell in them richly; they don’t permit it to move, act, and have its being in them, so what comes out of them is not Christ but their philosophy and culture, and Christ cannot be seen. Oh Lord Jesus!

May we allow the word to inhabit us, make home in us, operate in us, and change things in our being, changing our mentality and philosophy, and filling us with the riches of Christ!

This is why we have to pray-read the word of God; to pray-read is not merely an activity we do in the church life – it is not a “local church practice” as such, but rather it is essential for it brings the word and prayer together, and in this way the word can inhabit us and fill us in a living way.

In order for the word of Christ to dwell in us richly for the one new man, we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts; as we let the peace arbitrate in us, we also let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.

Lord Jesus, we open our entire being to You as we come to Your word; we want to allow Your word to dwell in us richly in all wisdom! Save us from merely reading the Bible without allowing the word of Christ to inhabit us, act in us, and operate in our inner being. Dear Lord, we love You and we love Your word; we take Your word into us, we pray Your word back to God, and we allow the word to act, move, and operate in us so that we may be filled with the riches of Christ! Amen, Lord Jesus, may Your peace arbitrate in us and may Your word dwell in us richly!

Living in Union with Christ by being One with Him and doing Everything in His Name by Acting in the Spirit

Paul tells us in Col. 3:17 that, whatever we do, in work and in deed, we should do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; this is to live in union with Christ.

For us to live in union with Christ is that in our daily living we are not apart from Christ but rather, we are one with Him and we do everything in His name by acting in the Spirit.

Whatever we do in word or in deed, we should do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, that is, in His person, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

As we do things, as we live, as we walk about, as we have our daily life, we should do all things in union with Christ. This means that we need to live a life in oneness with Christ. In the name of the Lord refers to His person; to be in the name of the Lord is to be in the Lord Himself.

If we live apart from Christ, how can we pray the new man kind of prayer?

In John 15 the Lord told us to abide in Him and ask for whatever we want, and it will be done for us; apart from Him, we can do nothing.

We need to abide in the Lord by first letting the peace of Christ arbitrate in us and then allowing the word of Christ to dwell in us richly; as a result, our daily living will be in union with the Lord, and apart from Him we will do nothing.

Whatever we do apart from Christ has no value; when we do things apart from the all-inclusive Christ who lives and dwells in us is considered as nothing.

Our living as saints and as constituents of the one new man must be in union with Christ; in all our living we need to be one with Him. We have been joined to the Lord to be one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17); we simply need to abide in Him and live in this organic union with Him.

For us to persevere in the prayer of the one new man, we need to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in us, let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and live in union with the Lord daily.

When we live such a life, we can correspond in prayer to the heavenly Christ who is interceding for us. Our prayer will be a reflection of His heavenly intercession; we will not pray our own burden or prayer but we will correspond to His prayer.

May we live a life in the spirit, walking in the Spirit to sustain our prayer life!

Lord Jesus, we want to live in union with Christ by being one with Him in everything we do. Amen, Lord, may we do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the glory of our God and Father! May our daily life be in the organic union with Christ so that we may abide in Him, He may abide in us, and He may live in us and pray in us. Lord, amen, may the peace of Christ rule and arbitrate in us, may the word of Christ dwell in us richly and inhabit us, and may we live in the organic union with Christ so that we may have the condition to persevere in prayer for the one new man living!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Colossians, msgs. 29, 63-64 (Witness by Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The One New Man Fulfilling God’s Purpose in Creating Man (2019 fall ITERO), week 6, The Prayer Needed for the Reality and Practicality of the One New Man.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – And let the peace of Christ / Arbitrate in your hearts, / To which also / You were called / In one Body; / And be thankful. (Scripture song)
  – Let the word of Christ dwell in you / Richly, in all wisdom / Teaching and admonishing one another / In psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, / Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord / And whatever you do, in word or in work / Do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, / Do all in the name of our Lord. (Scripture song)
  – Lord, teach me how to exercise / My spirit now to contact Thee, / That in Thy Spirit I may walk / And live by Thy reality. (Hymns #493)