Digression 5: The Name, The Word And The Glory

The theme of the glory of God is surely one of the most inspiring in the whole of Scripture. In Ex.33:18 Moses asked to see the glory of God. God replied by saying that He would proclaim His Name before Moses,but it was not possible for Moses to see His face. Because of this, Moses was hidden in a rock while the glory,or the bodily presence of God,passed by. So the glory of God is deeply associated with the face of God,with His personal bodily presence. We are hidden in Christ,the smitten rock,and from this position we can comprehend the glory,the moral attributes of God, and we ought to be awed at how close we are to the blinding light of God's full glory, His face. The "glory" of God can be shown to be His characteristics or attributes. In Ex.33:8 Moses asks to see God's glory, and in reply he is told God will proclaim His Name before him, which is done in Ex.34:5-7 by the declaration of God's righteous attributes. Solomon building a temple "For the name of the Lord, and an house for His Kingdom" (2 Chron.2:1) suggests that God's Kingdom is another manifestation of His Name, because it will be filled with His attributes. This helps us understand Rom.14:17: "The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink...but righteousness..joy", i.e. the characteristics of God's Name.

The same theme is found in Philippians 1:11, which speaks of us being filled with the fruits of righteousness- i.e. the righteous characteristics of God of Ex.34- unto the glory of God. The R.V. of Ex.34:5-7 says that God is full of these attributes- hence Phil.1:11 talks of us being filled with these things too if we bear the Name, even in this life. The idea of fullness and being filled often occurs in the New Testament in the context of the glory. Eph.1:23 describes the church as "His body, the fullness of Him (God?) that filleth all in all". Thus we are "the" fullness of God and Christ. "We beheld His glory..full of grace and truth (alluding to Ex. 34).. and of His fullness have all we received" (John 1:14,16). The word "filleth" in Eph.1:23 is the same as 'complete' in Col.2:9,10: "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him". Christ is filled with God's fullness of the righteous attributes of glory, and in Christ we are also filled. Seeing that we are the body of Christ it follows that the ecclesia in toto manifest the fulness of Christ's and therefore God's glory, through each of us manifesting a slightly different aspect of God's glorious character to perfection. Thus Peter reasons that the quicker the ecclesia spiritually develops, manifesting those attributes, the earlier Christ can return (2 Pet.3:11-15).

Despite the wonder of these things, let us remember that physically seeing the back of the Yahweh Angel who passed by (it could not have been God Himself because "no man hath seen God at any time") was the same as hearing the Name proclaimed. These things are only the back parts of God, although they comprehend all the spiritual things we can now understand. How much more wonderful in the Kingdom to see God Himself "face to face"- literally, "eye to eye", with the associated spiritual understanding which that will necessitate!

What we hope to show is that in some ways in this life we can see at least an image of that face, that true Glory, through the Word of God and above all in His Son, and this will ultimately prepare us to see God literally face to face. The book of Job talks much about seeing the face of God, and when we think of Job's pock-marked, boil filled face we perhaps see a figure of our total lack of glory, and our similar challenge to think upon the glories of God's face. Job 33 is especially interesting. Here Elihu,speaking on God's behalf, talks of the misery experienced by those who will not fully repent-perhaps a feeling we are familiar with in our spiritual lows; but if there is an intercessor, v.23, one among a thousand, who can shew unto man His (i.e. God's) righteousness- and it is Jesus who does this- then God is gracious to us, because, v.24, He has found a ransom; v.25,26. On repentance we experience a new, free relationship with God where prayer comes easy and we can in a way see God's face because righteousness is imputed to us. Job earlier complained that He couldn't see God's face- "He holdeth back the face of His throne" (26:9);but because God is prepared to impute His righteousness to us,in our case through Christ,it is possible figuratively for us to see God's face now. There are so many references to the shining of God's face representing forgiveness and acceptance, and to David exhorting us to seek God's face- e.g. in the context of Israel's sins "Turn us again and cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved"(Ps.80:3). It would seem that there was a thick dark cloud over the mercy seat, in which Yahweh dwelt in the form of the angel of the presence. When the people especially pleased God or He wanted to especially demonstrate His forgiveness of their sins,the angel shone forth out of the darkness. David wanted to see this more and more, so he prayed "Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth" (Ps.80:1). Paul clearly tells us that we have not come to darkness and the voice of words, like Israel at Sinai. We really can abide in the true light of glory. We who dwelt in darkness have seen a glorious light, we can abide in that light that David longed to see occasionally.

The face of God and the Way of God are also associated. David prays "Thy face, Lord, will I seek...teach me Thy way" (Ps.27:8,11). The Cherubim of glory protect the Way, we are told; when Cain sinned, he was driven away from the presence or (s.w.) face of God because he was driven away from the cherubim. Therefore he complained that he was hid from God's face. John the baptist was sent before the face of the Lord as manifested in the face of Jesus to prepare his ways. This he did by encouraging the people to repent. As David tells us it is only through repenting that we can see God's face.

So how then in practice can we see the face and glory of God in the face of Jesus? 1 Peter 1:8 seems to be alluding to the events of Exodus 34: "Whom having not seen (cp."Thou canst not see My face"), ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory " (cp.Ex.34:6 R.V. "The Lord, full of mercy..." and the other "glory" attributes). We cannot see God but we can be full of the attributes of glory, until we see Christ face to face, which is the context of the preceding v.7. Acts 2:28 quotes Psalm 16 concerning Christ's resurrection and ascension: "Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance". So Christ's fulness of joy was to see God's face, and He has left us His joy (John 15). This was "the joy set before Him", and it is ours too. This is our fullness of joy, to see God's face, spiritually in this life, and physically in the future. After asking us to let His Words abide in us, Jesus said He had told us that so that our joy might be full (John 15:7,11). So the effect of the Word and of true repentance and turning to God is the same as seeing God's face- it should bring that same fulness of joy. Other passages make the same connection between the Word and God's face shining upon us- e.g. Ps.119:135 "Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant,and teach me Thy statutes".

We are able to see God's face through having no sin, which is what the word of God stops (1 Jn.3:6,9 cp. 1 Pet.1:23); 3 Jn.11 implies that being born of God (by the word- 1 Pet.1:23), allows us to see God, i.e. His face.

Our Lord rebuked Phillip for asking to physically see God by saying that the knowledge they should have gained from his words and their spiritual 'seeing' or understanding of Christ should have had the same effect (Jn.14:9,7,10,17).

In Dt.5 Moses recalls that God spoke with the people "face to face in the mount" because "I stood between the LORD and you at that time,to shew you the Word of the Lord". Notice how Israel as well as Moses had this opportunity to know God face to face through the Word given to them. In Dt.4 we read that Israel saw no similitude, but heard a voice. We too cannot physically see God, but the Voice, the Word, is all sufficient. To them it was just the sound of Words-certain sounds coming through the air; but to Moses and to the Spiritual Israelite it was the face and glory of God. To us too, the word can be mere lines of ink on paper. Israel asked that this Word should not be spoken to them. Are we similarly so foolish, not to recognize the power of that Word? So again, we see the theme of the Word enabling us to see God face to face. In Dt.34:10 we read "there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses,whom the Lord knew face to face". This implies that because Moses was the greatest prophet- i.e. he had most dealing with the Word of God- therefore he was able to know God face to face. Similarly, because Jesus was the Word Himself, in bodily person, He was also in a sense, the face of God. Thus the Angel speaking face to face with Moses (Ex.33:11) is described in Num.12:8 as speaking mouth to mouth- because his words reveal his face. And Zechariah's access to the word was having 'the seeing of God' (2 Chron.26:5 AVmg.). There are also many examples,as we would expect,of the Word giving us the Name of God and also the glory of God,as well as letting us see God's face.

Jer.15:16: "Thy Words were found, and I did eat them (a primary reference to the finding of the book of the Law?); and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: Thy Name is called upon me, O Lord God of Hosts"(A.V.mg.) provides a strong connection between the word of God and the Name being given us. 1 Chron.13:6 describes the fact that the Name was "called upon" the ark. The word leads to that same Name being called on us, thus making us the ark of God's manifestation, with the associated cherubim of glory overshadowing us. Deut.18:18,19 is another example. There are many instances of the prophets personally taking the Name of Yahweh because the word caused them to manifest Him- e.g. Ezek.33:30 speaks of the Jews coming to Ezekiel's house to hear the Word of God from his lips, saying "Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord..they sit before thee as My people, and they hear thy words". Moses could say that by speaking forth the doctrine he had been inspired with he was publishing the name of the Lord (Dt.32:2,3); and Is.52:6 implies that Israel in the last days will come to know God's name through the Word. Isaiah 48:16 reads as if it is God speaking until we come to the last phrase, when we realize that it is because the prophet is speaking on God's behalf he is a full manifestation of Him: "Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I; and now the Lord God and His Spirit, hath sent me". The pouring out of water and spirit (both associated with the word) thus results in carrying God's name (Is.44:3,5).

Jesus prayed in Jn.17:6,8,22 "I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me...I have given unto them the words Thou gavest Me...the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them". So here we have a clear link between the word,the Name and the glory, the word dwelling in us making us part of the glory and Name of God. In Jn.10:35 Jesus quotes a passage in which men are called God and states "If He called them gods unto whom the Word of God came". So the Word of God coming to us gives us the Name of God. We are called gods (elohim), meaning 'those who derive their strength from God'. So if we let the Word of God come to us, we are deriving our strength from God. The Name of God is stated in Ex.3:14 to be "I will be who I will be". Those who bear God's Name must therefore exhibit God's will. Again, it is only the word which can help us do this- "of His own will begat He us by the word " (James 1:18); "which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh..but of God" (John 1:13). By developing the characteristics of the Name in us, the Word implants God's will in us, thus making us have the Name of God. From the language of the above two verses it seems reasonable to infer that a parallel is being drawn between the strong human desires for intercourse and procreation, and the even stronger desire of God for spiritual children, the power of which will or desire is focused in the word. Hence Dt.28:58: "The words of this Law are written...that thou mayest fear (appreciate) this glorious and fearful name, Yahweh Elohim", and the characteristics it contains; and Ps.122:4 equates "the testimony" (word) and the Name.

The Hebrew word for "glory" implies weight or heaviness; and frequently the word of God is described as weighty- e.g. Mt.23:23; Zech.7:11.

2 Cor.3 is an example of the Word turning us into the glory of God;we behold "as in a glass the glory of the Lord, (and) are changed unto the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord". We know the Spirit is present in the Word, and James talks of us looking into the "perfect law of liberty" as a mirror. So we look into that mirror, the Word, and we see ourselves in our true light. If the Word is acting on us, we should not see a reflection of ourselves, but rather a picture of God's glory. The longer we look- and James says we should constantly be looking into that mirror if the Word is abiding in us- the more the reflection we see will not be of ourselves, but of God's glory as we ourselves are actually changed into the glory of God. Finally at judgement day it will not be us we see at all but Christ, because we will have totally turned into Jesus, the image and the body will be one and the same. So then the Word acting upon us enables us to see God's face, to bear His Name, and therefore to reflect His glory and have hope of fully turning into the face and glory and Name of God. It is also instructive to see the clear association between the glory of God and the manna appearing at the same time in Exodus 16:7, bearing in mind Christ's association of the manna with the Word of God in John 6. The ideas of glory, word and name were in our Lord's mind in Jn.17. He gave us the glory God gave him by giving us the words God gave him, which was the same as manifesting the Name to us (Jn.17:22,8,6). Ps.19 is also relevant here; v.1-6 describe the glory of God, and the parallel v.7-14 the wonders of the word.

Ex.29:43 states that Israel were "sanctified by My glory", which was seen by the physical presence of the shekinah in their time. For the new Israel, the word is the sanctifier (John 17:17), thus linking the word and the glory. The discourse in the upper Room links together these strands of thought beautifully- the attributes of God (the fruits of the spirit), the glory, and the word: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do ,that the Father may be glorified...if My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done". Thus being "in My name" (which is now God's Name) and having His words in us are associated: "...go and bring forth fruit..that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you..herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit". The word abiding in us makes us in the Name and brings forth the fruit (of the spirit), which is to the glory of God ( John 14:13; 15:7,8,16). In passing, note that if God's word is in us our prayers will be powerful. So often we agonize over whether something is God's will which we are praying for, and therefore this militates against our having full faith in that prayer. There seem few examples of prayers in the Bible which explicitly emphasise praying according to God's will; the answer may be that if the word of God is in us, it will implant the will of God in us (James 1:18), and therefore our prayers will be according to God's will and will be answered therefore.

2 Tim.2:20,21 is on the same theme: "In a great house (alluding to Is.22:20-24 about the temple) there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth...if a man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work." That last phrase must link with 2 Tim.3:16,17, which says that the word of God enables the man of God to be "perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works". Thus the sanctifying and purging power is the word (as John 17:17; Eph.5:26). The word makes us acceptable vessels. These are elsewhere called "the vessels of glory" (Rom.9:23), filled with light, glory and treasure (2 Cor.4:6,7), which are all symbols of the word of God (Ps.119:105,130,162), filled with oil (Mat.25:4), the spirit word. The Word and the glory are again associated in Num.9:17,18 : "When the cloud (of the glory) was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed:and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched." Thus the commandment of God and the cloud of glory are portrayed as being synonymous. The record also stresses this in Num.10:11-13. Similarly in Lk.9:36 the word or voice of God is associated with the cloud of glory.

In Paul's letters especially, the ideas of the Spirit and the glory run together strongly. We know that the Spirit gifts have now been replaced by the Word, and therefore it is this which can in the same way fill us with God's glory:

- Eph.4:8 states that Jesus ascended in order to give the Spirit gifts to men, as He stressed in His discourse in the Upper Room. Then v.10 says that He ascended "that He might fill (s.w. Him that filleth all in all with the fullness, Eph.1:23) all things" (the saints). Note in passing how the phrase "all things" and "all in all" are used about the saints.The latter phrase is used solely in this context of the saints (Col.3:11 is a good example), and this is how we should read 1 Cor.15:28 "God may be all in all"- i.e. that God may be manifested completely in all His saints (not just 'in all creation generally') , who lived both before and during the Millenium. So the Spirit, in its' manifestation in the gifts or the word, was in order for us to be filled, to come, v.13, to the "stature of the fullness of Christ"- which we have shown is God's fullness.

- Eph.3:16,19: "According to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit..to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God". This beautifully brings together the ideas of glory, fullness and the Spirit (word).

Often we find that the glory and the fullness are associated with what some would call 'head knowledge'; whilst not an end in itself, it is vital if we are to start to appreciate, with a sense of awe that helps us overcome all the petty problems of the present, these high things on which we are thinking:

i) Comparing Col.2:2,3 and 9 shows that "the fullness of the Godhead" which we seek to receive is equated with "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge".

ii) Rev.4:6 and other visions of the beasts associated with the cherubim of glory stress they were "full of eyes"- a symbol of mental alertness to these things.

iii) James 3:17 "the wisdom that is from above.. full of mercy and good fruits" (of the spirit- righteous attributes- referring consciously to Exodus 34?)

iv) Romans 15:14 "ye also are full of goodness (Ex.34 R.V. again), filled with all knowledge".

v) We can only reach the "fullness of Christ" (Eph.4:13) through the knowledge of the Son of God and being a "perfect (complete) man", which only comes from a study of "all Scripture" (2 Tim.3:16,17).

vi) In Eph.1:17,18 Paul prays to "the Father of glory" to give the Ephesians "the spirit of wisdom...in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know..the riches of the glory". To pray to a father of something is in order to receive what they are the father of. Paul asks the "Father of glory" to give them wisdom, knowledge, understanding of the glory etc. So the glory and these things are parallel. Today that prayer is answered in our prayerful study of the Word.

It was the wonder of us having this glorious future that inspired Christ when on the cross- He looked ahead to us being in such glory due to His life and death in order to encourage Him in His sufferings. Psalm 17:15 shows us the mind of Christ: "I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness". So there is a parallel between seeing the Face of God and having His likeness, indicating that our strivings to be God-like really will result in us seeing God's face. Interestingly, the Septuagint uses the word 'glory' instead of 'likeness'. If we apply all this to Jesus, we have a connection with Isaiah 53:10,11: "When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied: by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities." This seems to imply that in some sense He had a vision of all His followers in a state of spiritual perfection and maturity- when He made the offering, He saw His seed, saw us the travail of His soul, justified many, and bore their iniquities. Isaiah says Jesus was "satisfied" by the thought of us in a spiritually mature and perfect state. Psalm 17 says He was satisfied by God's likeness, or glory. This must therefore refer to the likeness, the glory, the face of God reflected in us which Jesus saw in prospect on the cross or at the resurrection, or perhaps as He prayed the words in John 17 for all His followers of all ages to be one as He was with the Father. The idea of the word enabling us to see God seems to be expressed also in John 15:22-24, where Jesus says that because He had come and spoken unto them, "now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father". Also in John 14:9,10 Jesus seems to expand his answer to Phillip's question 'Show us the Father...he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" by saying that "the words that I speak...the Father that dwelleth in Me doeth", associating the word with seeing God.

If we seek God's glory (John 7:18)-i.e. the development of His attributes in us- He will seek ours (John 8:50), and our glory is His glory. The word for 'seek' used here can mean 'worship'- we must worship this concept of giving glory to God in our lives. God's glory is His essential self (Jn.17:5), yet He is willing to give us His glory. He will not give His glory to anyone apart from His people (Is.48:11). What higher honours can be revealed to us?

One practical way in which we can manifest the glory is by preaching, and to demonstrate this we will digress a little to consider 2 Cor.3 and 4. These seem to be the Spirit's commentary on the events of Exodus 33 and 34, particularly the glory that Moses witnessed and received in the mount. 2 Cor.3 begins with Paul showing how human were the "letters of commendation" that some were insisting he have. As will be shown, it seems that the Judaists were active in Corinth undermining Paul's authority as a preacher; see Paul's justification of himself in 2 Cor.11:21-24 (such language can only apply to the work of Judaists). To counter their claims, Paul develops this theme of "letters" being needed, showing that the "letters" written on the stone tables of the old covenant were now replaced by the ministration of the spirit which he and his supporters ("we") had been given. This ministration was more glorious than that written on stones, and he uses this irony to show how there was no need to insist on letters of recommendation now we have the ministry of the spirit Word in the gospel. The old covenant was written in tables of stone; the new was written by the spirit on "fleshy tables of the heart" (3:3). "Fleshy" is the same word as "carnal", and normally implies 'the sinful flesh' of our nature. Thus the spirit word which Paul preached had the power to put God's law into our stony sinful hearts, which the Law could not do. "The ministration of death...(came to pass by glory), so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance"(v.7); so the word of God in whatever manifestation is associated with the glory. However, the glory associated with the Law on Moses' face faded, although because of the veil over his face, neither Moses nor the people realized it. The same veil "remaineth..unlifted" (v.14) on the Jews. "But we all, reflecting as in a glass the glory of the open faced (unveiled) Lord, are changed into the same image" (Vine's translation). As explained earlier, by looking into the Word of God, we see the unveiled glory, and therefore in our preaching we reflect that glory in the word we preach to a greater extent than Moses did, and because of the ultimate realities of these things "we use great plainness of speech" in our preaching (3:12).

"If our Gospel be hid (lit: veiled), it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world (age- i.e. Moses) hath blinded the minds of them that believe not (as the Israelites were unable to look at the glory of Moses through fear of blindness), lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (the glory behind Moses' veil which was not fully revealed)...should shine unto them" (v.3,4); thus we are preaching the true gospel of glory, which is made veiled by the attitude of our hearers. Like John in the wilderness ("'Who art thou?' 'I am a voice' "), the preaching of the Gospel makes us lose our sense of personality as it involves us in this idea of furthering God's glory. Therefore Paul writes (4:5) "We preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus..for (because) God..hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus"- another clear allusion back to Exodus. And still with this theme of the glory in mind, he goes on to speak of our trials working for us "a far more exceeding weight of glory" (4:17; the Hebrew word for glory means an 'exceeding weight'- the lofty wonders of God's revelation to Moses can be repeated in our lives through our correct response to the trials the word of the gospel may bring). He then concludes(4:18) "We look not at the things which are seen (Moses and his fading glory), but at the things which are not seen ("the end"- the glory behind Moses): for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

And yet we so often fall short of all this. But encouragingly, the glory of God is often associated with forgiveness. When Israel refused to believe Joshua's good report, Moses recounted the attributes of glory to God, and pleaded for Him to have mercy because of them. He said "Let the power of My Lord be great, according as Thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy" (Num.14:17,18) etc. So these attributes of God are His strength- and His strength is in His great love. Several Psalms draw a parallel between God's great strength as expressed in the natural creation, and His forgiveness. David and Nehemiah also went through these attributes of glory when asking for forgiveness. In Rom.9:22,23 we read that God's longsuffering of sinful men demonstrates,to quote a modern version,"the boundless resources of His glory " towards us,the vessels of mercy. 1 Kings 8 gives further insight into this. Solomon prays that because God has said of the temple "My Name shall be there", "Thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant shall make in this place "(v.29). We have seen that the glory and Name of God are connected. Jesus is the true temple, full of the glory, the righteous attributes of God, and therefore if we pray in Christ, the temple, our prayers will be heard. Our Lord reasons that a Spirit/word filled mind is the true temple (Jn.4:23,24 cp. v.21)- a description pre-eminently fulfilled in himself as well as in us to a lesser extent. If the people sinned they were to enter the temple or turn towards it and "confess Thy Name". We in the Christ temple go through the same process of confessing the Name- perhaps by running through the attributes of Exodus 34- and thereby confessing God's righteousness and our sinfulness.

This is all brought together in Num.6:24-27, where the High Priestly blessing (i.e. forgiveness-Acts 3:26) was associated with God making "His face shine upon thee, and be gracious (Ex.34, the Lord, full of graciousness) unto thee; the Lord lift up His countenance (face) upon thee, and give thee peace (i.e. forgiveness). And they (priests) shall put My Name (by doing this) upon the children of Israel". Thus when we are forgiven, God's face shines upon us and His Name is called upon us, as it was first of all when by calling upon ourselves the Name in baptism our sins were forgiven.

The Lord Jesus showed the full reflection of the glory. John 1, in introducing Jesus as the full manifestation of God, has many links with Exodus 34- we are reminded there that we cannot see God, and yet the Son ,like the glory in Ex.34, has declared Him; Jesus is described as "full of grace and truth", alluding to Ex.34 :6 "the Lord,a God full of goodness and truth" (R.V.). So let us really strive to develop those attributes so that they really are part of our innermost beings. When Moses came down from the mount, he was not conscious that his face shone with the glory. We too should not have to self consciously exhibit the attributes of glory- they should be an almost natural part of us. We need to be born again by the Word so that we have a child-like lack of self consciousness, not self-regardingly displaying our spiritual attributes, but shewing "out of a good conversation our (spiritual) works with meekness of wisdom" (James 3:13).