Abiding in Christ

Numbers 35:25-29 (ESV)
And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. [26] But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, [27] and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. [28] For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. [29] And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. If the manslayer is found to be truly a manslayer, and not a murderer, the congregation is held responsible for the life of the manslayer, and must protect him from avenger. In the same way those who have been declared righteous through faith in Christ shall be protected from the wrath of God by Christ. Christ is responsible for the eternal safety of our souls. No vengeance of God shall fall upon those who are in Christ's hands. Christ has made the payment, so that we may not die in the hand of God the Avenger. Those in Christ have truly been forgiven and justified through faith, and there is no condemnation.

Seeing as we believers are counted righteous and cared for by God, we are not to condemn or judge one another too harshly. We are also responsible for one another's spiritual safety. If a brother has sinned, we are not accuse them before God like Satan, but we are to rebuke them in love, then if they repent, we ought to forgive them, cover them and pray for them that their faith may be restored. We are all children of God, each of us beloved by God, each of us for whom Christ died. So then, let us fear to treat our brothers will love and care, not as though they are our enemies.

And the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. After the judgment, the manslayer is to be taken back to the city of refuge to which he fled originally, and must spend his time there until the death of the High Priest. What is the significance of this? First of all, it meant that even though the manslayer had not committed murder, he had still shed another man's blood, and therefore someone had to pay the price for his sin. If the manslayer was to live, someone else had to take the blame. It would be the High Priest who would do this work, and die the substitutionary death, that the manslayer may go free. In the same way, though we believers have been declared righteous, someone had to pay the price for our sins. Someone had to bear the guilt. We could not simply walk away as a free man. Like the manslayer, we have committed sin that demands justice. Someone had to die. But praised be to God, that He has sent His only Son to be High Priest for us, anointed with the Holy Spirit, that He may die to take the blame of our sins. He died, and therefore we could go free, fully and legally righteous before Him. Just as the manslayer after the death of the High Priest could go out confidently without fear of vengeance, since the price has been paid, so can us Christians, because of Christ.

But High Priest did not remain dead, but He rose from the dead that He may be our High Priest forever. Therefore unlike the manslayer, we are obliged to stay within the city forever and ever. We have become slaves of God and of righteousness. We are Christ's possession forever, purchased with His blood. Unlike the manslayer, we do not have any reason to claim innocency in and of our own selves. We had really done terrible things, equivalent to murder. And we would have really murdered God if we could. And indirectly, at least, we did kill Christ -we have smothered Him with our sins. We are all guilty of the murder of God's Son. Manslayers, who had not really done anything wrong in their hearts, had every right to leave the city of refuge once the High Priest has died. But we, having been forgiven of heinous sins, and that by the blood of God's own Son, cannot possibly leave the presence of God to live our own lives. As long as Christ lives, we shall be a prisoner of God. We shall forever be in chains of Christ's love and His grace. Goodness and mercy will follow us rest of our lives until all of eternity. We will never escape from the arms of God that has embraced us once, which shall embrace us forever. We will never be able to get away from His Spirit, which has held us captive in His everlasting Gospel:
Psalm 139:7-10 (ESV)
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? [8] If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! [9] If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, [10] even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. God gives solemn warning here that if the manslayer goes outside the boundary of the city of refuge during his captivity, he does so to his own peril. God is also warning here against apostasy. Professing Christians who do not continue abiding in Christ, but chooses to dabble again in sin, is walking out of the shelter and into the storm. Not that those who truly have come to Christ can actually be lost again. But by not abiding in Christ, they prove themselves to have never been saved in the first place, like Judas:
1 John 2:19 (ESV)
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
John 15:6 (ESV)
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

A true Christian continues to abide in Jesus Christ. And abiding in Christ means to be abiding in righteousness. One who lives in continual sin cannot claim to be in genuine fellowship with God. Such a man is in fellowship with the devil, still being his child, never having been born again by the Spirit of God. What we do shows where we are, and who we are of:
1 John 3:5-10 (ESV)
You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. [6] No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. [7] Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. [8] Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. [9] No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. [10] By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

However, it is still be possible for those who have truly been born again to temporarily go out of the boundaries of Christ. See how Paul warns us Christians:
Ephesians 5:5-8 (ESV)
For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. [6] Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. [7] Therefore do not become partners with them; [8] for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
When we do those things that those who are going to Hell are doing, that's when we are walking out of the Lord. It is what we do that puts the distinction between us, children of light, from the sons of disobedience. But if we do the very things because of which God is going to destroy the world, how shall we expect to be saved? We are putting ourselves in danger of being partakers of wrath. We ought to be what we are, and do God's commandments. By this we shall abide in Christ's love:
John 15:10 (ESV)
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

Why would the manslayer, who is living in captivity, venture out of the boundaries of the city? It may be that the man, so comfortable with his life in the city of refuge, has forgotten about his identity and situation as a manslayer. This may be our case. So comfortable with our life in Christ, we may have forgotten that we are hell-deserving sinners who have been redeemed, and wandered away from Christ as though we don't need His protection. It is as Peter said:
2 Peter 1:9 (ESV)
For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
Have we become so nearsighted, that we have forgotten our past, about how God rescued us from His own wrath by the blood of Jesus? We ought to look far back to our past life, how God should have crushed us with His justice, yet He saved us, that we may have fellowship with Him through His Son. If we have become amnesiac of God's grace, we can wander away from Christ. Let us remember that we need Him and His grace always.

Why else would a manslayer leave the city of refuge? It may be the man misses his old home so much, that he is willing to cross the boundaries of his captivity to return there. This is warning for us Christians who dare to miss the world with its lusts. The manslayer may have a right to miss his home town, but we have no right to miss our old home, which is the enemy of God our Father:
1 John 5:19 (ESV)
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
James 4:4 (ESV)
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

We ought to cut off all ties and associations with the world. God has made Christ our new home. What is there for us to miss of the world? What fruit did we have there, when we were doing those things which produced nothing but death? It was all vanities, and chasing after the wind. What sorrow and groaning did we have when we were slaves to the prince of the power of the air, carrying out his will, being sold under sin, laboring only to store up the wrath of God for ourselves? Why do we long to go back to Egypt, from which we so longed to be delivered?:
Exodus 2:23 (ESV)
During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
Let us be content at where we are, and let us not have any foolish nostalgia of the chains to which we were bound. We ought to constantly think over our current blessedness in Christ, and remember how miserable it was outside of Him, without hope and without God in this world. How much better off we are in this land of milk and honey, where we are fed with true food and drank with true drink? Shall we abandon Him to serve our old master sin, and receive for ourselves sorrow and pain?

Let us test ourselves where we are today. Are we safely abiding in Christ, or have we fallen away from Him, and exposed ourselves to the wrath of God? If we are not God's children, the fact that we are not abiding in Christ, shows plainly that we have no eternal life in us. If we are truly God's children, continuously staying outside of Christ will lead us to God's judgment and discipline, that we may not be condemned with the world:
1 Corinthians 11:32 (ESV)
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Wherever we are, God does not want to see any of us perish. God wants us to be saved, and if we are saved, He wants us to stay with Christ. Let us hold fast to Christ, and never let Him go. God has not allowed us who have come to Him once to ever leave His presence. There is nothing certain outside of Christ, but in Christ, salvation is sure and guaranteed. No harm or hurt will ever come when Christ is with us and we are with Him. Let us continue in Him, and be patient in Him, for our day of redemption draws near. When we see Him as He is, we shall all be changed, and we will never again be tempted to leave His presence. Let us put our hope for that day. Amen.