Speak well of Christ!

A beloved brother in Michigan, A. Hartsema was his name, once said to me: “Speak well of Christ!” These words have followed me over the years.

In my early youth in Pennsylvania I came under a terrible bondage without knowing it myself. Those were days without joy. A brother saw me and said, “You have changed, Jorn. You used to always exalt Christ, but now….” He didn´t say that I was exalting myself, but did regret that legalism now marked my “testimony”. The Lord was faithful, however, and revealed my freedom in Christ anew, and the book of Romans became my charter.

Speak well of Christ! You don´t speak well of Christ by just shouting “Jesus” with a shrilling voice all the time. In fact, that may be just one way of speaking well of yourself using the name of Jesus for selfish purposes. The Corinthians did that with the name of Christ (see 1 Cor. 1:12).

To speak well of Christ implies the Holy Spirit´s conviction of your own “lostness” and your happy freedom in Christ alone. This is certainly “the aroma of life leading to life” (1 Cor. 2:16) before a watching and dying world.
-jn-