EXCEPT
                                BY J W LUMAN



My heart never ceases to be amazed at the unlimited grace of 
God, and yet also the unchangeable, irrevocable Word of God. 
One of the most important truths I learn as I continue to walk in 
Christ is that God's Word is exact. Man tries to make God to be 
as he is himself, double-minded and unstable in all his ways. Most 
people just don't want God to mean what He, by His Word, says. 
How many different meanings are given to one Word of God when 
in fact, there is just one true meaning. Someone said to me 
recently that truth is truth no matter where you find it. Truth does 
not really have many faces. We just try to disguise it, but basically 
truth stands alone as truth. Just so, God's Word, which is all truth, 
stands alone. It does not change from day to day. The problem is 
that we do change. Our values change and our thinking upon 
certain issues change, so we want to change God's Word to fit our 
present day values. The fact is that very few have ever lived by 
God's Word in the first place. Most try to apply the Word to their 
lives rather than having their lives conformed by the Word. 

"In the beginning was the Word..." All things must begin with and 
by the Word.  You do not apply the Word to the old. The Word 
brings new. We cannot just take our old life and try to live it up to 
the Word. We must allow the Word to bring forth a new life of 
itself. A life which begins by the Word. Is there such a life? The 
scripture declares that there is. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Ye 
must be born again..." Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
(enter into) the kingdom of God." John 3:1-7.

There is a new birth which is another life. This new birth or new 
life is by the Word of God. You might say that it is the Life of the 
Word in you. Look now if you will at 1 Peter 1:23 - "Being born 
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of 
God, which liveth and abideth forever." The new birth is by the 
Word, through the Word, and of the Word which liveth. Who is 
the Word which liveth? "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: 
but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." (Romans 6:10) There is 
but one who liveth, and it is because of Him that we who are born 
again live. We live by the Word of God. Jesus said that man shall 
live by the Word of God. I speak now not of the letter but of the 
Spirit of whom the letter is written. 


The scripture declares but one Word, even the Word of God. The 
scripture was written to declare the Living Word, and only the 
scripture can declare the Word, in that the two are one. The 
scripture is given unto man to declare the Living Word by which 
man may be born again. The Word is contained in the scriptures 
and is complete therein, but no natural mind can contain the Word 
and no natural mind can understand the scripture, thus the 
necessity of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:13) So, 
to the son of God with knowledge, the scripture is not a dead letter 
but a living glass reflecting the living Word. (11 Corinthians 3:18) 
It is by the scripture that we understand that Christ, the living 
Word, is our life, and it is in the scripture that we feed upon Him. 
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye 
have no life in you." (John 6:53) You should read the sixth chapter 
of John. This is the Word speaking. Not only are we born of the 
Word, but we live by the Word. "Except ye eat"... "Except ye 
drink...you have no life in you." 

Those are powerful words, but very few believers seem to 
understand that the Word is absolute, and that except MEANS 
EXCEPT. Very few truly eat and drink. How can they? They never 
come to the table. Christ the Word is the Bread of life. The Bread 
which is both meat and drink, but where is the Bread broken and 
freely given? Only in the scripture. Jesus says, "search the 
scriptures... they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39) Many 
read the Bible but few indeed, out of real hunger and thirst, search 
for Christ. Most are like the forgetful hearer in James 1:21-25. 
They look in the glass (scripture) and only see themselves but 
never continue until they behold the perfect law of liberty which is 
Christ. Thus few find real happiness in the scripture. They go to 
the table but they don't eat and a starving man is not happy in his 
deed and so leaves the scripture and goes his own way still 
seeking truth or food, each step taking him farther from it. David 
says, "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin 
against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes. I 
will delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget thy word. Thy 
testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors. I have 
declared my ways, and thou heardest me; teach me thy statutes. 
Teach me, O Lord, the way of they statutes; and I shall keep it 
unto the end. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; 
for therein do I delight. Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is 
devoted to thy fear. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: 
quicken me in thy righteousness." (Psalms 
119:11,12,16,24,26,33,35 & 38,40).

Daily cleansing is by the Word through the scriptures, "that he 
may present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or 
wrinkle..." How? ...and cleanse it with the washing of water by the 
Word." (Ephesians 5:26-27) From Genesis to Revelation, water 
and waters are a type of the scripture. It is by the cleansing and 
healing power of the scripture that the mind is prepared for the 
coming forth of the Living Word. Because our environment is 
contrary to the Life of Christ (we live in the world), daily cleansing 
is absolutely necessary. That is why the scripture is always in type 
of running or cleansing water or streams of water, but never a 
stagnant pond. Look if you will in Ezekiel 47:10=-5. "Afterward, He 
brought me again unto the door of the House..." Friend, there is 
only one door to the Father's House and that door is Christ. The 
real key here is the next word,"...and, behold,..." The Word, 
behold, always is used when Christ is to be seen "... and, behold, 
water issued out from under the threshold of the house 
eastward..." The thought I am on here is seen in the term, 
"BEHOLD, WATERS". Each time the believer looks at the 
scripture, he is to see nothing but the truth of Christ, and at that 
point the scripture and Christ the Word are one, so... "Behold, 
waters."

Notice again that the waters issued forth. All scripture comes forth 
from the Father's House and is the very foundation upon which it 
sets. The man with the line in his hand is the Son of God himself. 
Notice in verse two how He led Ezekiel in the way and brought 
him to the waters. He had to go by the way to the waters, and then 
the MAN began to measure the waters with his line. There is only 
one who can measure the depth of the scripture, and that one is 
Christ himself. Once you begin to see Christ in the scriptures, they 
are measured by His fullness and there is no end to their depth. 
No longer will you just "read the Bible." You will get lost in the 
fulness of His life. Read carefully verses 3-5. Here you see the 
waters become a great river, just as the Scripture becomes the 
one Word of God. Once the scripture becomes the Word of God to 
you, that river which is the very life of Christ will consume your life.

Verse 3-"...the waters were to the ankles." The first thing to be 
covered is your way, or your walk. Most believers have never yet 
gotten this far into the river. They walk in their own way trying to 
make footprints. Notice also that you are not left in wading waters; 
there you pass through. There is only one place to go and that's 
deeper. "...the waters were to the knees..." The ability to stand is 
in the knees. If they are weak you cannot stand. Look
now to your strength or ability to stand; look, and all you will see is 
the river. It is by Him that we stand. "...the waters were to the 
loins." Here is found the seed of man, the beauty of man, the 
symbol of his manhood and strength. Look now to the loins, and 
you see only the water. "...and it was a river that I could not pass 
over." The truth here is in the words," I could not." I cannot stand, 
I cannot walk, I cannot pass over. How wonderful it is, while 
searching the scriptures, to realize that we have been placed in 
Christ and are to be swallowed up of His life. I challenge the 
person who thinks that he has mastered the scripture. It is doubtful 
that such a person has ever yet come to the river. 

Look now at John 7:38: "He that believeth on me, as the scripture 
hath said, out of his belly (heart) shall flow rivers of living water." 
And in John 4:14: "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall 
give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall 
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." And 
again in II Corinthians 3:6: " Who also hath made us able 
ministers of the new testament: not of the letter, but of the Spirit; 
for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." It is made clear here 
that by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the son of God with 
knowledge will, by the scriptures, minister not the letter (man's 
knowledge of the Word), but the Living Word of God. It shall flow 
forth from his very inner mind (heart), for by the Word he has 
received the mind of Christ. The scripture in his mind is not letter, 
but Spirit. It shall be in Him a well springing up.

The scripture declares but one life, and that is the life of Christ in 
you. By the scripture we shall declare that one life, as did Paul in 
Galatians 2:20, Philippians 1:21 and Colossians 1:27. The 
scripture and Christ the Living Word cannot be separated in the 
mind of the son of God who has the Word in him. It is by the 
Living Word of the New Testament or New Covenant, which is 
Christ, that we are made able ministers, so that by the scripture 
we minister not the letter but the very Spirit of Christ. (II 
Corinthians 3:6-18) I search the scripture daily because therein my 
heart feeds on the life of Christ in me, who is the Living Word of 
God.

Not only do we live by the Word but we also die by the Word, that 
Christ may live through us. "...Except a corn of wheat fall into the 
ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit." (John 12:24) The secret of His life is in 
understanding His death, for out of His death comes His life. 
Notice in Romans the sixth chapter, the third verse: "know ye not, 
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were 
baptized into His death?" Who's death? His death! Now look at 
verse 5 "...we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." 
Who's resurrection? His resurrection! Out of His death comes His 
resurrection. Where do you and I come in? How do we fit into this 
picture? Only by Him! We are not to be concerned with either 
death or life, but with Christ. We are not to be ministers of death or 
life, but of Christ. Perhaps the word "likeness" here is the key to 
our understanding. It could be interpreted as exactness, or that 
death which is Christ and that resurrection which is Christ. The 
word "likeness" does not infer an imitation, but the very same. In 
other words, there is not another death like His that we are to die. 
There is just one death and that one is His own death. When we 
are baptized into Him, we were also baptized into His death. 

Therefore, we are raised up by His resurrection. Not a life like His, 
but by His very own life. Verse six: " Knowing (growing daily in the 
Spirit's understanding) this, that our old man is crucified (Christ's 
death) with Him (by Him, through Him)...", and verse eight: " we 
shall also live with Him" (by Him, through Him). This knowing is 
brought about by the Living Word. It is by the Word that we know.

The Word "know" or "knowing" as used in this text refers to an 
actual experienced relationship which grows daily, the fruit of 
which is wisdom and understanding. This knowing comes by the 
revelation of Jesus Christ in the believer. (Galatians 1:16) The 
letter of the scripture declares that we are dead. The letter makes 
sin appear as sin indeed. But the Living Word declares the life of 
Christ. Therefore, the very scripture which condemns us as 
sinners, also brings us to the knowledge of Life and the same 
Word which declares the old man is dead declares that the New 
Man is life eternal. It is by the Living Word that we are able to 
rejoice in the cross where our old life, which is dead, dies and His 
life begins! 

My friend the Word of God is singular and exact in declaring but 
one. "Except a man be born again...","except ye eat the flesh of 
the Son of man and drink His blood..." "Except a corn of wheat fall 
into the ground and die..." THE ONE IS CHRIST.