Galatians 3:1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? 5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. 6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
There is a total misunderstanding of God's grace and the law of Moses. Some Christians feel like they need to work their way into God's good graces and others try to live a life of sin and not have to deal with the consequences. Neither is correct, in light of the above scripture let me splain! When we receive Jesus by faith we are born-again and we are new and received God's righteousness. We receive the Holy Spirit, as Jesus promised to seal the deal and God begins to teach us who this new person or new creation is. It is no small thing to receive the righteousness of God and the effect of that reception is huge!! Some people cannot get in the reality of the whole thing and some never get over it because God in us is a powerful thing.
In some cases, a new believer will not pursue the perfect truth and instruction from God's Word and they don't realize all that comes with this new life. A point in case, when we receive the righteousness of God our world changes. Conviction about sin becomes a reality and "getting away with murder" is not possible!! Paul wrote this to the church at Rome in Romans 6:1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. We no longer control our life and we submit that control to God and then His righteousness begins to do a new work in us and that is called sanctification. If we don't complement that process by getting mentored by another believer we short-circuit God's plan with the righteousness He has put in your life. A new believer doesn't understand what is taking place and how to react to it. That is why many new converts fall away and don't grow.
Another problem in not knowing what God wants us to do is "we hear about God's grace" and begin to think we can just sin and get forgiveness and keep on sinning. Wrong! Paul explained in a more detailed way in Romans 6: 1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Our very attitude about sin changes. Because of how good we are now? NO! It is because the righteousness of God is now in control and everything has changed. Paul goes on in these verses to explain that truth. Romans 6: 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live;[a] do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have a new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
To summarize, if you want to live a Godly life then let that part of Jesus in you take control, and the Holy Spirit will continue to grow your faith and sin will not be your rule anymore. Can you take it? Can you handle the new righteous thoughts and actions that now inhabit your body? You are still a sinner saved by God's grace, but you and your sinful nature are no longer in control. God is!! This is a huge part of Jesus being Lord and not just Savior. You must realize that what is in you is the Holy Spirit, or God and He equips you to live the life of a righteous person because it is His righteousness. Our righteousness compares to a bunch of throw-away rags. His righteousness is perfect and holy!
Give in to God and quit trying to be Mr. or Mrs. Christian and just submit to God and He will show you the way. Forget the old you and lean into the new you, cause that is who you are throughout eternity and it is GOOD!!! Paul said this to the church at Rome and it summarizes my whole point. Romans 6:16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Now you know. Can you handle it?
YES.
Vesselogical Out,
David Warren
Comments