The Word on the Street - Come Alive!!
1 Peter 3:For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; There was a guy in our fraternity who used to do the wildest things. One morning we heard that he had done the "streaking thing" in the middle of a pep rally. I turned to a friend of mind and said "He ain't right in the head" and we both laughed. Sometimes we do things that make us think we are not "right in our head" and then we have to evaluate what got us there. So many of our brothers have drifted from the faith and it is not because they are not right in the head, but not right in their heart.
Scripture says our battle is a spiritual battle, so that battle is not in the head, but in the heart! In the above verse, we have a reminder from Peter that Jesus did not suffer in vain. Jesus paid the debt for our sins and gave us a return of a new heart, a live heart. That new heart causes a major rumble in our soul that compels us to walk with God in the spirit and that walk is a walk of faith and action. To become alive in the Spirit is to realize that we follow the Spirit in everything we do. The Holy Spirit always lines up with God's Word and that direction is our best move as a believer.
Jesus bringing us to God is a foundational truth for believers and even though we were unjust, Jesus' death on the cross made us right with God. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. The transformation process, known as sanctification, is an ongoing process of growth for those who are born-again. To be made alive in the Spirit begins a process of growth that transforms us at our core and then we actually do come alive! In Colossians 3:10 Paul talks about this new person and the renewing is coming alive. The verse is as follows 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it— No longer any guesswork about how to live the Christian life. Truth shows the way. SO COME ALIVE!!
The Pilgrimage Continues...
David Warren