It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not
let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1 NIV)
There is another
word, which just means that which has escaped from slavery and is breathing
free air. That is a fine picture, a fine portrait for Overcomers – that which
has escaped from slavery and is breathing free air. I dare not stay to
interpret that. Some of us, even in our Christian lives and histories, know
what it is to escape from slavery. Oh, the old bondage of the Christian system
and order, expectation and demand, all the old rota and legality! – to be free
of it all! Not only to be raised with Christ, but to have the grave clothes
taken off and to be breathing the free air of the spiritually emancipated!
That is what this word calls a "remnant," and that is not something extra to
Christianity. It is exactly what you find at the beginning with the Church.
The Lord had
cried in the midst of a burdened, tyrannized, religious nation – "Come unto
Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My
yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matt.
11:28-30). What is the old yoke, the old burden, which has harassed and worn
these people so that they are weary to death, drawing out His compassionate
appeal – "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest"? It is the old yoke and
burden of legalistic religion, 'thou shalt' and 'thou shalt not': 'you must'
and 'you must not' – the whole system built up like that; a great burden.
"They bind heavy burdens," He said, "and grievous to be borne, and lay them on
men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with their finger"
(Matt. 23:4). And this word for "remnant" means such as have escaped slavery and
are breathing the free air. You find them in the beginning of the book of the
Acts. Overcomers are those who go back to the beginning in experience. They do
not take up something further which is deeper teaching or fuller light. It is
the primal freshness and fullness of Christ that Overcomers represent –
unfortunately, in contrast to the general situation.