Reflections
But we all, with open
face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. (2 Cor 3:18)
February
By David A. DePra
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Title |
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Flesh
vs. Spirit |
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A
New Creature |
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Received
From Above |
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Denying
Self |
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Taking
Up the Cross |
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Losing
Our Lives |
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Suffering
the Loss of All Things |
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Self-Righteousness |
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Christ,
Our Righteousness |
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Whatever
It Takes |
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The
Great Transition |
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Treasure
in Earthen Vessels |
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Who
Do Men Say that I Am? |
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Personal
Revelation |
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Upon
This Rock |
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Jesus
Christ is God |
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The
Only Way to God |
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The
Virgin Birth |
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The
Son of Man |
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The
Last Adam |
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Resurrection
Life |
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Victory
Over Death |
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Baptised
Into His Death |
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Ingrafted
Into Christ |
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Freedom
From Sin |
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Death
and Resurrection |
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Faith
and Victory |
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Strength
Through Weakness |
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Purpose
of God’s Law |
Flesh vs. Spirit
Unless
a man is born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God….that which
is born of the flesh IS flesh. And
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
(John 3:6)
To be born from above does not mean that, “we turn over a new leaf,”
or that we merely alter our conduct according to a list of laws or Bible
principles. These things can be
done purely out of the flesh – and be incredibly religious.
Yet they are not of God.
The new birth happens when I receive His life from above – I received
Him from the outside of myself INTO myself.
It does not originate from this world.
It is not of the flesh. It
is from above – brought into my spirit from the outside. Jesus Christ joins us to Himself and we become a new
creation.
People can imitate the new birth in many ways. Religious forms of the flesh can be quite persuasive, but
they are still of the flesh. In the
end, unless Christ is in us, we are not born from above, indeed, we are not
saved. We cannot SEE.
It is one thing to be blind and WANT to see. But it is entirely another to be blind and not know it –
indeed think you DO see. Jesus says
the key is: The birth from above.
A New Creature
Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new. (2
Cor. 5:17)
We are saved when Jesus Christ joins us to Himself. Since He is THE LIFE,
then when we are joined to Him, we are ALIVE in Him.
We are planted together with Him in His death -- and then what is birthed
through His resurrection is the new creature in Christ Jesus.
(see Rom. 6:5)
If it were possible to mechanically draw a circle around our resurrection union with Christ – inside that circle would be the new creature; the new man; the inward man – it would include all that is saved and born from above. But what is outside of that circle would remain natural. This is the division or separation between soul and spirit that is within each believer.
You will note that when a person is united with Christ that his natural
man is not obliterated – the natural man does not cease to exist in this age.
“We have this treasure IN an earthen vessel.”
(II Cor. 4:7) But as it
pertains to the purpose of God, and that which is eternal, this outward man is
in the process of perishing. Only
that which is Christ, will, in the end, remain.
During this age, the natural man is to become governed by the new
creature that is inside of this imaginary circle. But the natural man will never be LIKE Christ.
Rather, the natural man will come under the work of the Cross so that the
Christ who is within might be seen through natural man. The
natural must be made weak, that He might be strong in us.
(see II Cor. 12:9-10) Christ
is evermore the power of God. (I
Cor. 1:24)
Received From Above
A
man can possess nothing, except it be given him from heaven. (John 3:27)
John the Baptist was, of course, referring to the things of God. It is certainly possible for people to possess much through their own efforts, and to possess things that are outside of the will of God. John is saying that what is of God must come from God.
Paul the apostle said the same thing: "Don't you know your own selves that unless Christ is in you -- you are a reprobate?" (II Cor. 13:5) A reprobate is a person who is of no use, and without value. Add all of this up and it means that there is no inherent greatness in man. All that is of value is found in Christ -- and therefore, all that is of value is received only when we receive Him.
Christianity is not a matter of God tapping into, and bringing out, our potential. It is not a matter of God enhancing us with Christ. Rather, it is a matter of receiving from above the One in whom dwells ALL the fullness of God – and in whom is ALL that God has to give.
Denying Self
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt. 16:24-25)
In this passage, Jesus tells us what we must do in order to, "come after," Him. Do we want to follow Christ? Then we need to read and obey this verse. Otherwise, we are deceiving ourselves.
The first thing Jesus says a person must do is, "deny himself." This is not so much about denying ourselves THINGS. No. People have tried that -- religious asceticism cannot please God because it is often nothing more than a, "work," we do to make ourselves right with Him. No. To deny self means to deny my right to myself -- it means to relinquish my self-ownership. We are to do this not merely to obey a principle. We are to do it because it the only way to walk in the Truth and walk in oneness with Christ. God Himself will lead us in a way that will result in the practical outworking of this Truth.
To deny self is ultimately to take my place in the Cross. Jesus says that. But practically, it means that I will no longer look to anything about myself as the basis for relationship with God. I will no longer live as if I belong to myself, but belong to God.
Taking Up the Cross
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt. 16:24-25)
If I am saved -- if I am raised in Christ -- it is only because I have taken my place in His Cross. That is a once and for all and forever reality. But here we see the working out of that finished reality. We have to progressively relinquish all that is contrary to Christ to find true life in Him. In order for this to take place, we have to bear the Cross God brings into our lives. This will look different for each believer but accomplish the same purpose. And God Himself will initiate our Cross – He alone can do this.
The Cross is the instrument of death, and because it is death to the only life we have ever known, it will seem like a terribly negative proposition. But in reality, the Cross works freedom from all that keeps us from experiencing Jesus Christ. God's goal is not to deprive us. It is to make us able to receive and live in all that He is.
God never tells us to fix ourselves.
He never tells us to cure what ails us.
But He does tell us to do one thing -- the only thing we can do:
He tells us to bring ourselves, with all of our sin and failures to the
Cross. In short, we are to
relinquish the one thing we do possess – ourselves -- which is dead and
corrupt.
Losing Our Lives
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt. 16:24-25)
Millions today are being taught that God wants to bless their lives, and they are being given instructions as to how to get Him to do it. Yet Jesus states here that we are to LOSE our lives for His sake. How likely is it that God will bless a life that we are told to lose?
To LOSE your life for Jesus' sake means to relinquish your right to yourself; to abandon yourself to God; to leave yourself alone; to actually embrace the Truth that you are no longer your own. In short, lose yourself to God and let Him determine the outcome. We can do this all at once as a commitment. But then God must work it out through the work of the Cross – and we must believe and obey.
If we want Christ to be formed in us -- if we want to come into the
realization of the Son of God in an inward way -- we have to lose our lives into
the hands of God. This is not
merely a religious principle to follow. It
is because of the nature of things -- we cannot live in Christ from out of the
Adam life. We have to find Him as
our life, and learn to live by faith from out of Jesus Christ.
Suffering the Loss of All Things
I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them as dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness...but the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Phil. 3:8-9)
If you read Philippians 3 you will discover that Paul lists those THINGS that he lost for the sake of Christ. (see Phil. 3:4-6) You will not find SINS on that list. Nor material possessions. Rather, Paul said he lost everything about HIMSELF that he had been using to make himself righteous before God. In short, primary to what Paul lost, was his self-righteousness.
Anyone of us can easily read and memorize the doctrines of the Bible. We can become experts on the doctrines of justification by faith and law vs. grace. But Paul is not talking about a doctrinal realization. He is talking about what happened to him when he encountered Christ. He saw that his self-righteousness was a lie. So he lost it.
Losing self-righteousness is so vital and central that Paul was able to
say that when he lost his, it was so that he might, "win Christ and be
found in Him." But notice HOW
Paul was found in Christ: No longer
with a self-righteousness, but with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
This was the pivotal point in Paul's walk with Christ.
Self-Righteousness
I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them as dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness...but the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Phil. 3:8-9)
Self-righteousness is not merely a Christian walk that has a little too much law. It is actually a lie; a facade. Self-righteousness is a false righteousness, based in unbelief. Ultimately, if we are not careful, it is a position that denies Jesus Christ. It is a false Christianity.
The epistle to the Galatians addresses this matter at length. Paul warned them, "Christ is become of no effect unto you who would be justified by law. You are fallen from grace." (Gal. 5:4) That is a false Christianity; a deception. Indeed, he is able to also state, "If righteousness comes by law-keeping, then Christ is dead in vain." (Gal. 2:21) Indeed, Paul says that legalism is ANOTHER GOSPEL.
Self-righteousness is self-deception. Paul said the Galatians were actually, “bewitched,” or, “mesmerized.” (see Gal. 3:1) They were deceived and comfortable in that deception. According to Paul, this matter is central to our freedom to, "win Christ and be found in Him." We must get this matter of righteousness settled in the Truth.
Christ, Our Righteousness
I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them as dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness...but the righteousness which is of God by faith. (Phil. 3:8-9)
Paul is not here describing a doctrinal shift in his life. Neither is he describing a religious hoop through which he jumped to please God. No. He is describing what happened to him when he encountered Jesus Christ. He saw the TRUTH about his own righteousness – and thus, he counted it as dung. He found that Christ was the only true righteousness.
Paul said that he WON Christ and was found IN HIM -- not having his own righteousness, but was found in Christ with the righteousness of God. What does he mean? He tells us elsewhere. To the Corinthians he writes, "Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us....righteousness." (I Cor. 1:30) Jesus Christ IS our righteousness. Thus, when Paul won Christ and was found in Him, he discovered that the Christ who was living in him was the righteousness of God in him. That was all he needed.
Through faith, God imputes to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But what this really means is that God imparts to us Christ Himself, who IS our righteousness. This is the result of winning Christ and being found in Him -- He is our righteousness.
Whatever It Takes
I
beseech you, brethren, because of the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1)
There is no other place God will bring us if we want to walk in the Truth and come into the fullness of Jesus Christ except what is described in Romans 12:1. However, you will note that the tone is not morbid or depressing. Rather, it is positive -- Paul's appeal is, "because of the mercies of God," and not because of some threat of punishment if we don't obey. This is because Paul is describing a practical means of losing our lives in order to find Christ as our life.
If we were to take this verse and restate it as a prayer to God, it might read, "Lord, do whatever it takes to bring your will to pass in me -- do whatever it takes to bring me into the fullness of Christ." That really is, "presenting yourself as a living sacrifice." Do we want the glory of God and His purpose in Christ enough to ask God, "to do whatever it takes to bring it to pass?"
What will it take? The details will vary with the individual. But the basis will be the same -- it will take a work of the Cross and the loss of myself to Christ, that I may find Him. This is the altar upon which I am to present myself. This is a prayer God will always answer. I must then believe and obey when God does begin to answer.
The Great Transition
Jesus Christ makes the believer one with Himself at salvation. This union -- which could be called, "resurrection union," IS the new creature in Christ Jesus. All that is outside of that union or new creature remains of the natural. Both exist within the born again believer.
God is not working out His purpose through the old creation. He is not working upon our natural man to make him Christ-like. He is not seeking to bring out some inherent greatness in our natural man. Rather, He brought an end to the Adam race through the death of Christ. In Adam all die. In Christ, all are alive. (I Cor. 15:22) God is doing all things through Christ -- everything God is doing in our lives is according to, and by the means of, the Living Christ who dwells in us.
We might say that there is a great transition going on in the believer, and ultimately, in this world. It is a transition from the old Adam race to the new creation in Christ Jesus. Christ did not come to fix the old. He came to put it to a final death so that what could emerge is life in Himself. Believers are in the process of this practical transition -- that is why we must, "bear in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that the life also of the Lord Jesus might be made manifest through our mortal bodies." (II Cor. 4: 10)
Treasure in Earthen Vessels
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Cor 4:7)
This is another picture of, “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27) But it is a picture that stresses the distinction between ourselves and Christ. He is the Treasure and we are the earthen vessel. We will never be the Treasure. Indeed, even while Christ is in us, and we are one with Him in spirit, He remains distinct. He carries all of the value. We are privileged to receive and experience Him.
If you read this passage from II Corinthians 4, you will discover that it was never God’s purpose to make the earthen vessel look like Jesus. Neither was it ever God’s purpose to take the earthen vessel and bring out the best in it. No. We are told in this verse that the VALUE (excellency) of the power is never of us, but of Christ. In fact, Paul goes on in the passage to say of the earthen vessel:
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. (II Cor. 4:10-11)
The earthen vessel is to be broken by the Cross so that the life of the Treasure might shine through. We must be made weak so that Christ, the power of God, might live through us. We must lose our lives for His sake in order to find true life in Him.
Who Do Men Say That I Am?
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” And they said, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said unto them, “But whom say ye that I am?” (Matt. 16:13-15)
In the final analysis, it does not matter -- to our relationship with God -- what other people say about Jesus Christ. It does not matter even if they give the right answer. What matters is what WE say and believe about Jesus. Relationship with God is never by proxy. We are personally held accountable for the light we have personally been given. In the end, what will matter is who Jesus Christ is to us, and who we are to Him.
It is a fact that once God reveals to us His Son, and we have embraced the Truth about Christ, that it is not possible to confess that He is anything other than the Christ, the Son of the Living God. If we are distorting the identity of Jesus, then either God has yet to reveal Him to us, or we have not heard Him. It is a fact that most people who call Jesus something less than the Son of God do not want to come to terms with Him.
Personal Revelation
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. (Mat 16:16-17)
Peter saw and confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God – not because of brain power, emotions, or study. He saw it because God the Father had personally revealed to him this Truth. And the fact of the matter is, each of us have to receive the Truth about Christ in the same way. We cannot base our faith or knowledge of Christ upon what other people say about Him. We cannot base it upon any, “flesh and blood,” source. It must be revealed to us by the Father from heaven.
You cannot be saved, or come to know Christ, because you have been raised in a Christian family. Neither can it happen because you attend a good church. Those things can rightly point us to Christ, but none of them can gender life in us. The source of new life is ABOVE – we must be born from above. God must initiate our calling to Christ. (John 6:44) But then we must decide whether to hear and believe.
Christianity is CHRIST IN YOU – it
is Christ in the individual. This
is the basis of not only Christianity, but even of the Body of Christ.
We are in the Body only because we are first in Christ individually.
Any teaching that undermines our personal access to God through Christ as
our personal and only Mediator is a lie. Peter
saw the Truth because God revealed it to him personally.
God wants to do the same for us all.
Upon This Rock
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Mat 16:16-18)
What is the Rock upon which the church is to be built? Peter? No. The Rock is Jesus Christ – the church is built upon the personal revelation of the Christ to the individual. In short, Christ is first in the individual. Gather together many to whom Christ has been revealed and in whom Christ dwells, and you have the church.
This tells us that the church is comprised of those in whom Christ dwells -- of those who have received a personal revelation of Christ. It also tells us that the ministry of the church is to teach people that very fact – and then to edify those who are in Christ. Jesus Christ does not, “build His church,” by increasing members, money, and buildings. He builds it through the revelation of Himself to individuals. The church is built upon the Rock only to the extent that the individuals in it are built upon the Rock.
Jesus Christ is God
There are professing Christians today, including entire churches, who deny that Jesus Christ is God. Of course this means they must also deny the virgin birth, His resurrection, and deny that He is the ONLY WAY to the Father. Yet some profess that they love others and say they love God. The Bible does not mince words on this matter:
Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:9)
The, “doctrine of Christ,” includes all of the essential Truth about Him. Primary to this would certainly be His identity. But don’t misunderstand. John is not saying that if you do not abide in the doctrine of Christ that God will punish you by withdrawing from you. No. He is saying that if you do not live in the Truth of Christ that this is evidence that you already do not have a relationship with God – through your own unbelief.
If we have truly received and embraced
God’s revelation of Jesus Christ we will know who He is, and be growing to
live in that Truth. God reveals
only the Truth about Christ. What
this tells us is that all of the error about Christ – who He is and what He
has done – is not because God has sent a mixed message.
No. Error about the Person
of Christ is the result of either relying upon yourself to figure it out, or it
is the result of refusing the Truth.
The Only Way to God
I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me. (John 14:6)
Jesus did not say, “I am A way, A truth, and A life.” This is proven by His next words: “No one comes to the Father except by Me.” He could not have been more clear. Now, (pardon me as I borrow an argument from C.S. Lewis) either Jesus Christ was liar, totally insane, or He was telling the complete Truth about Himself. Thus, those who say He was a good man or prophet have no basis for their claim. He continually made claims that no sane person could make about himself unless He were actually the Son of God.
People object to Jesus as the only way to God because they say that this demands that only Christians can be saved. That is absolutely correct. But the fact is, God invites all people to come to Christ and become Christians. Christ as the only Way is a narrow Way, but God invites all to come that Way.
Jesus is the only Way to God because He alone is the only begotten Son of God become man – and He alone died for us and was raised. He alone is Lord of all. This is not a matter of theology and it does not cater to human demands. It is the Truth.
The Virgin Birth
The virgin birth is an absolute Truth and is necessary if Jesus is God Incarnate. For if Jesus had two human parents -- was the product of human reproduction -- then He did not pre-exist, and was therefore not God. It means He was born OF this world.
Every human being since Adam has been born OF this world. But Jesus continually claimed that He CAME INTO this world from the outside – indeed, He is the only person to ever be born into this world from the outside. This required a virgin birth so that He His life could be supernaturally implanted into Mary’s womb – thus maintaining His identity, individuality, and divinity. Thus, those who deny the virgin birth are denying that Jesus was God, denying the Bible, and calling Jesus a liar. It is just that serious.
To deny the virgin birth is to deny GOD BECAME MAN. But this, in turn, is an actual denial of Jesus as Savior, and thus, of the redemption He accomplished. Only if Jesus was God become man, and lived a sinless life, could He bear the sin of the world, and be the Savior.
Someone once said that those who deny the identity of Christ usually always deny at least the two Truths of the virgin birth and the resurrection. Sure. These two Truths are essential to the identity of Jesus of God, and thus, make us accountable to Him.
The Son of Man
Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Phil. 2:6-8)
Jesus was the only begotten Son of God. But He entered into this world from the outside through the womb of Mary and became God Incarnate. The name by which He referred to Himself as, “God become man,” was, “The Son of Man.” Of course, the Son of Man is also the Son of God – one hundred percent God and one hundred percent man. “For in him dwelled all the fullness of Godhood bodily.” (Col. 2:9)
The
Son of Man is also referred to as The Last Adam.
(I Cor. 15:45) These names accent
the humanity of Christ but also point us to the reason He had to become a human
being. Jesus became The Last Adam
in order to live a sinless life to God’s glory, and thus bring to a fullness
and a consummation all that God originally wanted in the Adam race.
Then, once that was accomplished, He presented Himself as the perfect man
– the Lamb without blemish – to bear the sin of the Adam race -- indeed, to
bear the Adam race collectively -- on the Cross.
Thus, when Jesus died on the Cross, the Adam race died IN HIM.
His death ENDED the Adam race – that is why He is called The Last Adam.
Through His resurrection, God began a NEW creation – a NEW race.
The Last Adam
Jesus Christ, who is called, “The Last Adam,” (I Cor. 15:45) is given that name because He brought to fullness all that God originally intended for the Adam race. But then, having done that, He bore the sin of all on the Cross – indeed, He bore that Adam race on the Cross. This ENDED the Adam race – His death was the death of all that was contained in the Adam race. Thus, He was the LAST Adam – the consummation of the original Adamic race. Now, in Christ risen, God has made a NEW MAN.
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God was not merely reversing the death of the Adam race. The resurrection did not fix humanity, or cure what ailed the Adam race. No. The Adam race ENDED at the Cross, and was left in the grave. What emerged through the resurrection was a brand new race – a new creature in Christ Jesus.
Paul says, “If
any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.” (II Cor. 5:17) The new creation in Christ Jesus is not a reformed,
renovated, or fixed up old creation. No.
The Cross of Jesus Christ has set us completely free from the power of
the old man in Adam. Through the
resurrection, we are raised IN CHRIST JESUS as new creations.
This fact is the key to all freedom from sin and power over the enemy.
Resurrection Life
Resurrection life is not a THING or a POWER that God somehow gives to us. No. Jesus said, “I AM the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) Resurrection life is CHRIST IN US.
If we are one with Jesus Christ, then not only is His life ours, but He IS our life. Paul said, “Christ, who IS our life.” (Col. 3:4) Thus, to the extent that we have LOST OUR LIVES, we will be able to live in a oneness with Him as our resurrection and life.
The ramifications of this Truth are staggering. The resurrection conquered the last enemy, death – it defeated forever Satan. Through the Cross, the entire Adam race was ended, and thus, we the ground upon which Satan works was no longer the basis for our life. Through the resurrection there was a new creation in Christ – which provides no ground for Satan, indeed, gives us Christ as our life.
This is why Paul is able to say, “Christ, the power of God.” (I Cor. 1:24) In His very Person is all resurrection life. But in order to live in His power, we must be made WEAK in ourselves. (II Cor. 12:9-10) We have to stop living from out of ourselves as the source, and begin living from out of Him by faith. And through abiding in Him by faith, we have power over the old creation and over Satan himself.
Victory Over Death
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Heb. 2:14-15)
The victory of Jesus Christ over death, and over Satan, was not merely a legal victory. It was a living victory – accomplished through death and resurrection.
When Adam sinned he put the entire Adam race under the sentence of death. Jesus did not come to provide a way for God to lift this sentence of death from the Adam race. Rather, Jesus came to satisfy that sentence of death – in Christ the Adam race died – not just legally, but actually. Jesus actually bore the body of sin – the Adam race – on the Cross. (Rom. 6:6) And when Jesus died, the Adam race died. The justice of God and the sentence of death was satisfied.
Because of Adam’s sin, the Adam race was spiritually dead – no longer one with God in spirit. This meant that the fallen Adam race, with all of it’s aspects – the flesh, the psychic, and the natural –was the ground of Satan. Satan had access to man’s nature and makeup.
When Jesus Christ died, the Adam race
died in Him. What was raised was a
new race – a new man in Christ Jesus. Thus,
through the death and resurrection of Christ, the ground of Satan is undercut
– left in the grave -- and a new man indwelt with resurrection life was born.
This is the key to victory over all sin and death:
The resurrection life of Jesus Christ.
If we are in Christ, we are a new creation.
Baptized Into His Death
Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (Rom. 6:3)
Jesus Christ died FOR us – He tasted a death for each of us that, if we take our place in His death – that we will never have to taste. But if this is merely a legal transaction, it will do nothing to change us. It will do nothing to set us free from the power of the old man.
Paul says that we are, “baptised into the death of Christ.” We are buried together with Him. Indeed, elsewhere he says that we are, “crucified with Christ.” (Gal. 2:20) In other words, because Jesus died FOR us, we died in Him. His death, and our union with Him in His death and resurrection, is the reason why we are set free from the old man in Adam. This is not merely legal. It is because of the living Christ who is in us.
Engrafted Into Christ
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:5)
Christianity is not a religion ABOUT Christ. Neither is salvation merely a new legal classification. Christianity is, “Christ in us.” (Col. 1:27) Salvation is also Christ in us – we are joined to the Lord and one spirit with Him (I Cor. 6:17) – we are joined to the One who said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) The reason we have eternal life is because we are one with Life Himself.
In Romans 6:5 we see that the believer
is, “planted,” or, “engrafted,” into Christ.
Thus, His death brings death to our old man.
His life becomes our life. This
is not theory. It is the Truth. It is what it means to be a Christian – it is the only kind
of Christianity there is.
God became man in order that man could
become one with God. Jesus Christ
died and was raised for us so that we could die and be raised in Him.
That spells freedom from the old creation – from the power of it in
this age – and new life in His life.
Freedom From Sin
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. (Rom. 6:6-7)
Freedom from sin is never the result of following a, “how-to,” list. It is not accomplished by gathering together a bunch of Bible verses and obeying them. Indeed, this is exactly what leads to legalism. Legalists always follow Bible laws and rules. The Pharisees said they followed them. But that alone accomplishes nothing.
Freedom from sin is only possible if the source of sin dies – the old man in Adam. This is the seat of the sin nature and the access point for Satan. Thus, Paul does NOT SAY, “For he that tries real hard is freed from sin,” or, “He that submits to the correct teacher is freed from sin,” or, “He that discovers the right Bible law is freed from sin.” No. Paul says, “For he that is dead is freed from sin.” This is made real by faith in Christ and in what He has done for us.
Our faith cannot be in our ability to keep laws – even if we think God will help us. No. Our faith must in Christ. We must see that our old man is already crucified in Christ – and we must actually LOSE that life by picking up our Cross daily. Picking up our Cross doesn’t make this Truth to be the Truth – but rather, it is the means by which we actually come to experience the Truth of the finality of the Cross. Are we dead in Christ? Pick up your Cross and you will find that it is true.
Death and Resurrection
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. (Rom. 6:8)
Jesus Christ accomplished a complete and final redemption through His death and resurrection. There are no victories left to win. There is no forgiving left to do. There is no greater defeat to be brought to Satan. But there is one thing left to do: Believe. We must believe – which means to fully embrace and surrender to Jesus Christ.
The primary way in which I believe that, “It is finished,” is by losing my life for Jesus’ sake – by picking up the Cross daily. If I do, then, and only then, will I find true life in Him. (Matt. 16:24) But this is not a matter of my actions making what is finished by Christ to be more finished. It is not a matter of me making what is true more true. No. Rather, it is a matter of me abiding in the One IN WHOM are the power of the Cross and the resurrection. I have to experience Christ.
Death to the old must always proceed resurrection unto the new. I must relinquish my life – which is to relinquish my right to myself – to Jesus Christ crucified. What will happen is that I will, “live with Him,” that is, Jesus won’t give me my life, He will give me His.
Faith and Victory
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he lives, he lives unto God. Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Rom. 6:9-12)
The basis for all faith, and thus, all victory, is the finished work of Jesus Christ. It is finished. There is nothing left for us to finish. What is left for us to do is believe and live like it is finished: We are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God.
Religion would teach us that the way to overcome sin is to stop sinning. Laws and rules – usually right from the Bible – are usually provided. But it is folly to tell someone who cannot stop sinning that they simply need to stop sinning. They can’t. That is the problem. Of course, some sins are subtle – such as the sin of self-righteousness. It usually takes a work of God to bring us to see our complete inability to stop sinning.
The way to stop sinning is not through any human effort. I can stop sinning only if I start believing. Faith will motivate me to lose my old life to Christ – lose the life that provides the basis for all sin. Only then can I find freedom. Freedom from sin is the result of oneness with Christ in His death. All other efforts are futile. In a word, all obedience in the Christian life must be the OUTCOME of faith in Christ.
Strength Thru Weakness
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (II Cor. 12:9-10)
When we are born from above, Jesus Christ joins us to Himself and we become one spirit with Him. (I Cor. 6:17) But all those dimensions of our makeup that are outside of our oneness in spirit with Christ remain natural – contrary to the One who is in us.
It is the goal of God to form Christ in us (Gal. 4:19), so that He might be manifested through us. But the natural man is in the way. Our natural man will strongly resist the new life even in religious ways. This does not always have to be conscious – it is the NATURE of the natural man to resist. So what is the solution? To turn in upon our natural man and beat our flesh over the head to force it to obey? You can try, but this won’t work. Religious flesh will simply pop up in some other form.
Practically speaking, our natural man must be crucified -- made WEAK – reduced and brought down to nothing. God will bring a work of the Cross. We must be shown that there is absolutely nothing in our natural man that can walk with God. But the good news is that we can then put all of our faith in Christ and live from out of Him for all things. This is spiritual strength. There is simply no way to live from OUT OF Christ – who is the power of God (I Cor. 1:24) – unless I am being made weak in myself. As Paul said, “For when I am weak, I am strong (in Him).”
Purpose of God’s Law
Now we know that what things that the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Rom. 3:19-20)
The
purpose of the law was never to give man a standard he must keep.
The purpose was to reveal the righteousness of God in written form, and
to prove to man that he could never righteous enough for God.
In short, the law exposes what we ARE.
Stand face to face with the holy, just, and good law of God, and you will
be exposed as unholy, unjust, and bad.
If
a person is honest, the law will stop their mouth – they will stop talking
about the possibilities of their own righteousness through works.
The more we try to keep any law of God, the more that law will probe and
expose us as hopeless. But that is
not the end of the purpose of the law: It
is to bring us to where we will fall to our knees and put our faith in the
Person of Jesus Christ – and then live in God’s grace and Truth.