I N D E X
yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That No
Flesh Should Glory In His Presence'.
These words may well throw us back to Ephesians 2:11,12 where we are urged
to remember:
`That ye were Gentiles, without Christ, aliens ... strangers ... having no
hope, and without God in the world'.
To remember this will certainly make humility of mind, forbearance, and
long-suffering, far more possible than if it is forgotten.  While a wholesome
`remembrance' has a gracious effect upon our walk, there is, from another
aspect, an equally important `forgetfulness':
`Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I
do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, according to a mark, I press toward the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus ... let us walk by the
same rule, let us mind the same thing' (Phil. 3:13-16 author's
translation).
So whether we look back to the pit from which we have been delivered, or
look onward to the glories that stretch out ahead, whether we `remember' in the
one sense or `forget' in the other, our walk must be the meeker, and the lowlier
for it.  Then think of the humbling effect of such a passage as this:
`Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you
worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness,
and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
may be glorified in you' (2 Thess. 1:11,12).
Finally, what an effect upon our walk and our attitude to others such a
passage as 2 Timothy 1:9 should have:
`Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus, before the world began (age times)'.
Let us remember our calling, and seeing its grace and its glory, seek to
walk worthy of it `that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified'.
The Walk and its Characteristics
(Eph. 4:2)
A frame of mind, a spiritual graciousness, is necessary before it is
possible to attempt to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of the peace.
`With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one
another in love' (Eph. 4:2).
The word `lowliness' is better rendered `humility of mind', which brings
out more clearly the contrast of verse 17, `vanity of mind'.  This word is so
translated in Acts 20:19, where the apostle says:
`Serving the Lord with all humility of mind'.
We can imagine that some, nay many, if they had received the calling and
commission of the apostle Paul, would have displayed arrogance of mind,
270