Baptistic Theologies, 2009

work. For Kargel, suffering not only sympathetically identifies the believer with Christ and his sufferings but also removes sin and its temptation by showing that the Christian cannot hold on to anything as of right, nor safety, possessions or health. Suffering also confirms that the believer is in the true way of Christ and allows the believer to participate in His holiness; only through the way of suffering can holiness and patience be developed. For Kargel, the believer’s identification with the cross of Christ should be a full death to sin. If in us exists Christ which once and for all condemned to death sin and the law of sin on the cross (Romans 8:3) then the body will consider those evils to be disgraceful and cease to pay attention to their 69 Ibid., p. 83. 711 This poem is taken from ibid., pp. 83-84. ‘Only in Christ is there the freedom from sin (1 John3:6; Romans 8:2-10); Only in HIM is the end of the old life and the old “I” (Galatians 2:19-20); Only in HIM is the end of the life within the world (Galatians 6:14-15); Only in HIM is there always victory (II Corinthians 2:14); Only in HIM is strength and a fortification (I Corinthians. 1:24; Ephesians 6:10; Isaiah 45:24; Jeremiah 6: 19); Only in HIM are we enriched with all (I Corinthians 1:5-7, 29-30); Only in HIM are all the Divine promises “Yes” and “Amen” (II Corinthians 1:20); Only in HIM is there unity with all God’s children (Ephesians, 4:16; John 17:21-23); Only in HIM is all new (II Corinthians 5:17); Only in HIM is it possible to reign in life (Romans 5:17, 21); Only in HIM is completeness (Colossians 2:10); Only in HIM can we pray and be heard (John 15:7).’ 71 Ibid., pp. 77-113. The other headings for sanctification are; considering the cost, abiding in Christ, yielding to the Holy Spirit, reading the Bible, faith, prayer and fellowship. Ivan Kargel and the Fulfilment of Revival 37 temptations. It is paralyzed, inactive in its relation to sin and must not 72 and cannot serve sin as it did earlier, it is dead to sin. The way of the cross was a mark for Kargel of the true Christian faith. ‘So many would like to be saved, to become Christians, but faith and the offering up of sacrifices do not agree with their dogma, their faith does not cost them anything’. ~ The cross and suffering were the death of the ‘old man’. Kargel saw the way of the cross as the normal Christian life. ‘Suffering and grief’, he wrote, ‘were on the path of our Lord - that is what we just saw; and our path will be the same for there will be no other, it must not be any other’. 74 For Kargel, suffering also relates to the struggle against sin. The suffering that one feels should be welcomed as the fire which refines gold, pointing to the fact that the Holy Spirit is committed to us. Suffering is to be proof of ‘perfect fidelity’; it is a ‘test of obedience which should be accomplished all the more seriously and despite its difficult