Sin kills (Romans 7:11)
The letter of the law kills (2 Corinthians 3:6).
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
The ministry of laws engraved in letters on stone brought death (2 Corinthians 3:7).
Sin gives birth to death (James 1:15).
The law arouses sinful passions & bears fruit for death (Romans 7:5).
You have died to sin (Romans 6:2).
You died to the law (Galatians 2:19). You have died to the law through the body of Christ (Romans 7:4).
Because Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross we have died to sins & live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).
We have been released from the Law, having died to the law which bound us in chains (Romans 7:6).
Consider yourself just as dead to sin as Jesus is (Romans 6:10-11).
If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. If you are led by the law you are not being led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18).
When you are not under law sin stops being your master because you are instead under grace (Romans 6:14).
Jesus made us alive together with Him while we were dead in our sins and transgressions. He has taken away from us all of our sins and transgressions. He canceled out the certificate of debt which consisted of laws that were against us & hostile to us. He has taken the law out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).
The law was not made for the righteous, know that everyone who has trusted Jesus is righteous. The Law is only good if one uses it lawfully, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Do not use the law for anything other than revealing the glorious gospel of the blessed God to the unrighteous so that they may trust Jesus (1 Timothy 1:8-11).
Showing posts with label dead to sin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dead to sin. Show all posts
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Consciousness of Sins is Self-centered
God no longer charges us with sins (2 Corinthians 5:19). The sacrifice of Christ has purified us for all time & our consciousness of sin can now disappear if we know we have been cleansed (Hebrews 10:1-2). God does not count your sins & neither should you. He has forgotten them forever, they have left His consciousness (Hebrews 8:12,10:17). He has taken our sin away. It is best for us to follow His example and no longer ascribe the condemning label "sin" to our actions.
Regardless of how it is identified, if you do something to harm someone they still experience loss or pain. Counting sin is self-centered. When you count your own sin you make everything you do that harms others more about you than about them. Love is not self-centered & that is what God tells us to live by in His new covenant. We aren't to live by fault finding introspection but by self giving love & affection. Counting sin makes you focus mainly on your feelings, morality, & performance; often even to the exclusion of those you are harming. "Love does no harm to a neighbor" (Romans 13:10). You can be love conscious without being sin conscious, obviously Jesus was because He had no sin.
It is impossible to avoid guilt & shame when you are conscious of sins. Shame means disgrace, dishonor, & "a turning in upon oneself." God will never put you to shame. He will never lead you to self-pity. The only way it is ok to "count sin" is to count the ways you have harmed another person in order to apologize to them & make amends. This is what James 5:16 refers to when it says "confess your sins to one another."
Someone who is love conscious doesn’t deny the pain he has caused others, he owns up to it. That is why Romans 6:11 says we are to "consider ourselves dead to sin BUT alive to God in Christ Jesus." Christ has freed us from sin consciousness thus we are dead to sin. But Christ has also made us alive to God thus we are free to be love conscious.
Defining Your Experience using Romans 6:11
"As a man thinks in His heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). "CONSIDER (regard, deem, judge, view, reckon, take, believe, see) yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
What people "consider" themselves to be changes how they experience God's love though it does not change God's love for them nor how He considers them. I believe the experience of most, if not all people can be defined by switching the variables in Romans 6:11. In reality all Non-Christians are dead to God & all Christians are dead to sin but alive to God whether they experience it or not. Please note "Alive to sin" also refers to "sin conscious," & "dead to sin" also refers to "no sin consciousness." Remember I am listing people's perceptions of themselves below. There are only two realities for mankind, 1. Sin & no God, 2. God & no sin.
Non-Christians
Sin consciousness is good if one has sin. It makes them aware of a problem so they can look for or receive the solution. Sin consciousness for a Christian however is like a healthy man receiving cancer treatment. For no reason he is destroyed by the chemo & radiation treatments (feelings of guilt & condemnation, devaluing himself based on his behavior). There is no cancer to remove so the treatment does 100% harm. Likewise Christ irrevocably took away the sins of Christians thus guilt serves no purpose & only destroys.
Related Posts
Catching Up in Perfection
Regardless of how it is identified, if you do something to harm someone they still experience loss or pain. Counting sin is self-centered. When you count your own sin you make everything you do that harms others more about you than about them. Love is not self-centered & that is what God tells us to live by in His new covenant. We aren't to live by fault finding introspection but by self giving love & affection. Counting sin makes you focus mainly on your feelings, morality, & performance; often even to the exclusion of those you are harming. "Love does no harm to a neighbor" (Romans 13:10). You can be love conscious without being sin conscious, obviously Jesus was because He had no sin.
It is impossible to avoid guilt & shame when you are conscious of sins. Shame means disgrace, dishonor, & "a turning in upon oneself." God will never put you to shame. He will never lead you to self-pity. The only way it is ok to "count sin" is to count the ways you have harmed another person in order to apologize to them & make amends. This is what James 5:16 refers to when it says "confess your sins to one another."
Someone who is love conscious doesn’t deny the pain he has caused others, he owns up to it. That is why Romans 6:11 says we are to "consider ourselves dead to sin BUT alive to God in Christ Jesus." Christ has freed us from sin consciousness thus we are dead to sin. But Christ has also made us alive to God thus we are free to be love conscious.
Defining Your Experience using Romans 6:11
"As a man thinks in His heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). "CONSIDER (regard, deem, judge, view, reckon, take, believe, see) yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
What people "consider" themselves to be changes how they experience God's love though it does not change God's love for them nor how He considers them. I believe the experience of most, if not all people can be defined by switching the variables in Romans 6:11. In reality all Non-Christians are dead to God & all Christians are dead to sin but alive to God whether they experience it or not. Please note "Alive to sin" also refers to "sin conscious," & "dead to sin" also refers to "no sin consciousness." Remember I am listing people's perceptions of themselves below. There are only two realities for mankind, 1. Sin & no God, 2. God & no sin.
Non-Christians
- Alive to sin
- This is the condition of a lost person who is aware of his negative actions in some way but has never paid attention to the gospel.
- Alive to sin & Dead to God
- These are those who know they do harmful things & have heard the gospel but reject it. These people may openly scoff at God or mock Him.
- Alive to sin but Dead to God
- Typically this is the condition of a lost person who is aware of his sinful state/actions but has not trusted Jesus. These are those "convicted" by the Holy Spirit of their disbelief in Christ. They are more concerned about their eternal status with God than they are with individual actions. They are usually on their way to trusting Christ for salvation.
- Dead to Sin
- These are those who have had their "conscience seared." They are remorseless & utterly self-centered.
- Dead to sin & Alive to God
- This is a rare type of person who believes that sin has never existed & that they can know God apart from Christ having come in the flesh. They are the people refuted in 1 John 1 & mentioned in 1 John 2:26
- Alive to God & Alive to sin
- These are "false converts," those who participate in a religion but have never met God. Some of these people are Pharisee types, they consider themselves alive to sin simply to boast in their self-righteous overcoming of it through rule keeping.
- Dead to sin & Dead to God
- Amazingly no one sees themselves this way. Those who see themselves dead to God always tie it to sin/behavior. The universal undergirding of salvation is exposed here. You cannot see yourself as separated from God without sin/behavior being the cause of it thus the need for a savior is revealed.
- Alive to God but Alive to sin
- Most genuine Christians live here. They have at least some relationship with God but their aliveness to sin causes them to constantly put the breaks on that relationship. What they consider sin makes them feel less loved & even forsaken (through "broken fellowship") by God. This type of life is like being stuck in traffic. You make a little progress then stop, a little progress then stop. When things seem to be progressing nicely you feel the hope of finally taking off at full speed just to end up slowing & stopping again soon after. This group is the best example of why a sin consciousness is dangerous for Christians. They can taste God's love but they are starving & can never eat & drink of His fullness as long as they are alive to sin. Sin consciousness is the primary opposing force to experiencing the love of God in a relationship with God. These people experience lots of shame & guilt. They live by unintentionally self-centered performance based morality. They experience sporadic freedom, joy, & peace based on how much they think they do or do not sin.
- Alive to sin & Dead to God
- This mindset includes Christians who think they have "lost their salvation" through actions they consider sinful. Some so called "backslidden" Christians may also see themselves this way. Those who feel cast off, on the shelf, or who are "running from God" also have this mindset. Those who think confession or repentance is tied to forgiveness from God may also find themselves here.
- Dead to sin & alive to sin at the same time.
- These people have a custom list of sins. They are dead to many of their own sins but very much alive to others. They are the condemning self-righteous types. While they can be Christians they pay little attention to the actual Spirit of God.
- Dead to sin & alive to God
- These people have freedom from sin but focus more on that freedom than they do on God Himself. They are a rare type of people today. They are the kind religious people fear will abuse their freedom but they are still experiencing God's love far more than the religious. In the first century there were many people like this which is why people are told to "not use their freedom to indulge in the flesh" (Galatians 5:13). This is a great place to be but it is still second best. Despite their behavior these people are often drawing closer & closer to God because they know that their negative behavior does not prevent it.
- Dead to sin but alive to God
- These people, the rarest of all, have no sin consciousness. Instead they have a love consciousness, they are conscientious to love. Their focus isn't on freedom from sin but aliveness to God. They are looking to love because of how well they have been loved by God. These are the most satisfied people in the world & they love better than anyone else.
Sin consciousness is good if one has sin. It makes them aware of a problem so they can look for or receive the solution. Sin consciousness for a Christian however is like a healthy man receiving cancer treatment. For no reason he is destroyed by the chemo & radiation treatments (feelings of guilt & condemnation, devaluing himself based on his behavior). There is no cancer to remove so the treatment does 100% harm. Likewise Christ irrevocably took away the sins of Christians thus guilt serves no purpose & only destroys.
We died with Christ. Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. For the death that He died, he died to sin one time. Remember this, you have likewise died to sin one time. You are permanently freed from sin & you do not need to "die" again. Now we live with Him in spirit & one day face to face. Death has no power over Christ. The life he lives, He lives to God. Remember this, you are alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. You have an unbreakable bond because you are now one spirit with Him. (Romans 6:8-11, Paraphrase)
Related Posts
Catching Up in Perfection
Friday, September 14, 2012
Reality Because of Christ: Flesh and Spirit
"Sin has no power over you because you are not under law but under grace." (Romans 6:14)
If you are struggling with sin you are either under the law or come short in your understanding of God's love for you. I still have behaviors that are not good but I don't "struggle" against them. Those actions are better defined as "lapses." A lapse is "a mistake resulting from inattention," inattention to God's love for me & inattention to my identity BECAUSE OF JESUS. Some might prefer the wording "my identity IN JESUS" but the truth is I have no identity apart from Him. My consciousness resides in this temporary tent of flesh but I am not the flesh anymore than a camper is the tent. I don't have an identity in Christ and an identity out of Christ. My sole identity is in Him thus I prefer to say my identity is "because of Him." I'm not sometimes in & sometimes out. I am never "in the flesh". There was a distinct change called rebirth, a permanent change of identity not based on my behavior but based on His love & trustworthiness.
Looking at Ephesians 6:12
The flesh is not something you are to fight. Flesh is not something to kill, crucify, or whatever. I hear "Heresy!" being yelled at me already. Ephesians 6:12 says, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood." So if you struggle with sin or the flesh something is wrong with your way of thinking, you are not operating under an awareness of God's gracious love for you. The flesh is not something to fight but to control, train, & teach. We must allow God to renew our minds & we must grow in the knowledge of God's love and trustworthiness because our minds are the bridge between the spirit and the flesh. Walking by the Spirit means to "set your mind on the things of the spirit." Our minds can either focus on flesh or focus on spirit. Our flesh is a faulty tent that needs to be repaired and secured. Our spirit is perfect forever and in constant oneness with God.
You don't train something by fighting it. If I trained an animal by kicking, punching, & throwing it that will not produce positive results. If there is any compliance it will be out of fear of punishment. Sound familiar? That is because the majority of Christians are taught to operate out of fear of punishment. "Keep the rules or get whipped!" Struggling against the flesh merely makes it harder to focus on the spirit. If I am in a one-on-one fight I am not thinking about how nice my grandmother is. I am captured by the conflict. I cannot focus on my good spirit while attempting to fight my flesh. The flesh isn't something you fight on the playground and leave lying in the dust. The flesh is always with you. "Present your body parts as servants to righteousness which will result in the purification of those parts" (Romans 6:19). Do you want your flesh to be the abused & angry dog that bites you or do you want it to be the channel through which you love others?
"Our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." The spiritual forces of evil approach us only to "steal, kill, and destroy" through deception. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Think about this for a second. Mainstream Christianity teaches "death to self" as a good thing that is a daily necessity. If your self is a bad & wicked thing why would Satan want to kill it? Why wouldn't he just let you destroy yourself? You have a good self so if you are trying to "kill yourself" every day Satan doesn't need to join in. Christ gives us abundant life. Satan wants to steal that life from us. He cannot actually do it but he can however convince you to keep yourself from experiencing that life by deceiving you into thinking that you are bad, the blood of Christ had no affect on you, & that being born again does not change your identity or spirit, it only means a ticket to heaven and an obligation to obey scriptures.
James 4:7 says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Resist means to actively fight against. Many people invite the devil to a fight only to get perpetually whooped. You aren't to conjure up Satan's presence for a fight. You resist Him when he comes to you otherwise you are to pay him absolutely no mind. You resist because he is the one putting pressure on you. You aren't to put pressure on him. When he flees it doesn't say pursue him.
What if you are trying to fight the wrong thing? What if you are trying to fight your flesh when you should be training it for righteous deeds? What if you are trying to fight sin after Christ has broken its power over you? What if you aren't required to look for a fight in the faults of your flesh? What if you are only to fight Satan when he comes at you? God does not fight you. He doesn't want you to "surrender" because you are forever on the same side as Him.
Looking at Romans 8:6
"The mind set on the flesh is death." This is talking about a mind "set" on the flesh, a mindset of flesh. A mind of an unsaved person or a mind that is not aware of the righteous identity given to it because of Christ. It is not speaking of a mind that occasionally turns to the flesh to allow its destructive deeds to be done. It is a mind that uses expressions like, "I need to die to self," "I must kill myself for God," "I must crucify myself daily." The mind set on the flesh identifies itself by the flesh rather than the spirit. It thinks self is a bad thing because it sees self only as flesh. It is ignorant on what rebirth means. In practicality (not in doctrine) it thinks that being "born again" equates to "being born again after I die so I can get into heaven."
"But the mind set on the spirit is life and peace." If you lack peace then you are not setting your mind on the spirit, you have not seen or are not thinking of the perfect identity Christ has shared with you. Notice it is also life, not death. It is a mind that is aware of God's resurrection power living within. Instead of wallowing in attempts to "die to self" it rejoices in the life Christ has given it, the unending relationship with God. A Christian's spirit is sinless thus if your mind is set on the spirit you will not focus on "sin," you will not be conscious of it. When a mind is set on something it excludes things which do not pertain to whatever it is set upon. If my mind is set on driving I'm not thinking about swimming. A mind set on the spirit agrees with God, it does not focus on sin nor does it charge sin to itself. It dwells on the goodness of God not the wretchedness of the flesh.
Looking at Other Scriptures
Galatians 5:24 says, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." First note it is past tense. The flesh has already been crucified. In the bible death pictures separation. The flesh and its passions & desires have been separated from who you are, they are not a part of your identity. The flesh being dead means, not that our physical bodies have passed on but that we are dead to it, it is no longer a part of who we are. Verse 25 goes on to say, "If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit." When we belong to Christ we live by the spirit. All Christians live by the spirit, that is their only source of life. Before you are saved your spirit & body are dead because of sin. When you receive salvation Christ is in you & "your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is alive because of righteousness" (Romans 8:10). So if you are a Christian walk by the spirit, focus on spiritual things. God is spirit. You are spirit. You are one spirit with God.
Colossians 2:9-15 says, Christ removed (circumcised) the body of the flesh. When we are immersed (baptized) in Him the flesh is removed and we become one spirit with Him. It is removed in terms of identity, not in terms of locality. We still have the same physical body we did before we were saved. Our rebirth creates a new man who is separate from the other, that man is a spirit. "Our old self (spirit, identity) was crucified with Christ, because of this our body of sin has been done away with" (Romans 6:6).
"By the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh" (Romans 8:13). There are two parts to this. The obvious one is to control yourself with your mind to where you do not allow the flesh to produce and carry out unloving & harmful deeds (you set your mind on the spirit). The second one, which must happen first for the other one to ever sustain, is to separate in your mind the deeds of the flesh from your identity. If you identify yourself by the deeds of the flesh (what most would think of as sin, disobedience, law breaking, etc) you will not walk by the spirit. If you don't focus on the spirit you cannot stop the flesh from producing and carrying out unloving & harmful deeds. If you still identify yourself as a sinner, even a "sinner saved by grace" you are not walking by the spirit and will not be able to "put to death the deeds of the flesh." If you tie what you do to who you are, sadly you are either clueless about what it means to be born again & blind to so much of the results of the cross or you are lapsing about God's goodness towards you.
What about Paul saying "I beat my body and make it my slave" (1 Corinthians 9:27)? Paul is referring to intensity in self-control, not self-destruction, fighting, death to self. "Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things" (1 Corinthians 9:25). He uses athletic language to picture one who trains his body to do his will. This does not picture shame, guilt, condemnation, or anything like that. Self-control is the opposite of death to self because self-control sees self as good. Mainstream Christianity teaches "death to self," the bible teaches "self-control." Paul was saying that he uses his spirit (self) to control his body so that it will serve his spiritual desires. Some creatures may require being struck to control them. Striking for training is a far cry from a fight to the death. Even at that Paul isn't talking about physical striking. He wasn't sitting around punching himself in the face. He was mainly referring to the weariness of travel to spread the gospel. He used his spirit to control his body for the sake of the gospel. There is nothing in this context about resisting sin or the like.
In 1 Timothy 1:18-19, 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul talks about "fighting the good fight." What is he talking about, resisting sin as many would have you believe? No, as always he is pointing to the living Christ not dead sin. First he says to Timothy, "Fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience." Then he says, "Fight the good fight of faith." Finally in 2 Timothy Paul says of himself, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." It is all about faith. To "fight the good fight" is to "continue to actively trust Jesus in your day-to-day life." It is trusting our Lord in the face of adversity & all other situations. Trusting Christ is walking by & setting your mind on the spirit. Christ is a life giving spirit. He doesn't demand our life, He gives us His life!
Instead of God wanting you to pledge to give up the flesh's bad habits He wants you to receive His goodness to displace those harmful behaviors. This is the paradigm of life. Life does not focus on faults. Life does not seek to fight for survival. Life does not seek to die. Christ's life is not fleeting. "Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. Christ is our life" (Colossians 3:3-4).
If you are struggling with sin you are either under the law or come short in your understanding of God's love for you. I still have behaviors that are not good but I don't "struggle" against them. Those actions are better defined as "lapses." A lapse is "a mistake resulting from inattention," inattention to God's love for me & inattention to my identity BECAUSE OF JESUS. Some might prefer the wording "my identity IN JESUS" but the truth is I have no identity apart from Him. My consciousness resides in this temporary tent of flesh but I am not the flesh anymore than a camper is the tent. I don't have an identity in Christ and an identity out of Christ. My sole identity is in Him thus I prefer to say my identity is "because of Him." I'm not sometimes in & sometimes out. I am never "in the flesh". There was a distinct change called rebirth, a permanent change of identity not based on my behavior but based on His love & trustworthiness.
Looking at Ephesians 6:12
The flesh is not something you are to fight. Flesh is not something to kill, crucify, or whatever. I hear "Heresy!" being yelled at me already. Ephesians 6:12 says, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood." So if you struggle with sin or the flesh something is wrong with your way of thinking, you are not operating under an awareness of God's gracious love for you. The flesh is not something to fight but to control, train, & teach. We must allow God to renew our minds & we must grow in the knowledge of God's love and trustworthiness because our minds are the bridge between the spirit and the flesh. Walking by the Spirit means to "set your mind on the things of the spirit." Our minds can either focus on flesh or focus on spirit. Our flesh is a faulty tent that needs to be repaired and secured. Our spirit is perfect forever and in constant oneness with God.
You don't train something by fighting it. If I trained an animal by kicking, punching, & throwing it that will not produce positive results. If there is any compliance it will be out of fear of punishment. Sound familiar? That is because the majority of Christians are taught to operate out of fear of punishment. "Keep the rules or get whipped!" Struggling against the flesh merely makes it harder to focus on the spirit. If I am in a one-on-one fight I am not thinking about how nice my grandmother is. I am captured by the conflict. I cannot focus on my good spirit while attempting to fight my flesh. The flesh isn't something you fight on the playground and leave lying in the dust. The flesh is always with you. "Present your body parts as servants to righteousness which will result in the purification of those parts" (Romans 6:19). Do you want your flesh to be the abused & angry dog that bites you or do you want it to be the channel through which you love others?
"Our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." The spiritual forces of evil approach us only to "steal, kill, and destroy" through deception. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Think about this for a second. Mainstream Christianity teaches "death to self" as a good thing that is a daily necessity. If your self is a bad & wicked thing why would Satan want to kill it? Why wouldn't he just let you destroy yourself? You have a good self so if you are trying to "kill yourself" every day Satan doesn't need to join in. Christ gives us abundant life. Satan wants to steal that life from us. He cannot actually do it but he can however convince you to keep yourself from experiencing that life by deceiving you into thinking that you are bad, the blood of Christ had no affect on you, & that being born again does not change your identity or spirit, it only means a ticket to heaven and an obligation to obey scriptures.
James 4:7 says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Resist means to actively fight against. Many people invite the devil to a fight only to get perpetually whooped. You aren't to conjure up Satan's presence for a fight. You resist Him when he comes to you otherwise you are to pay him absolutely no mind. You resist because he is the one putting pressure on you. You aren't to put pressure on him. When he flees it doesn't say pursue him.
What if you are trying to fight the wrong thing? What if you are trying to fight your flesh when you should be training it for righteous deeds? What if you are trying to fight sin after Christ has broken its power over you? What if you aren't required to look for a fight in the faults of your flesh? What if you are only to fight Satan when he comes at you? God does not fight you. He doesn't want you to "surrender" because you are forever on the same side as Him.
Looking at Romans 8:6
"The mind set on the flesh is death." This is talking about a mind "set" on the flesh, a mindset of flesh. A mind of an unsaved person or a mind that is not aware of the righteous identity given to it because of Christ. It is not speaking of a mind that occasionally turns to the flesh to allow its destructive deeds to be done. It is a mind that uses expressions like, "I need to die to self," "I must kill myself for God," "I must crucify myself daily." The mind set on the flesh identifies itself by the flesh rather than the spirit. It thinks self is a bad thing because it sees self only as flesh. It is ignorant on what rebirth means. In practicality (not in doctrine) it thinks that being "born again" equates to "being born again after I die so I can get into heaven."
"But the mind set on the spirit is life and peace." If you lack peace then you are not setting your mind on the spirit, you have not seen or are not thinking of the perfect identity Christ has shared with you. Notice it is also life, not death. It is a mind that is aware of God's resurrection power living within. Instead of wallowing in attempts to "die to self" it rejoices in the life Christ has given it, the unending relationship with God. A Christian's spirit is sinless thus if your mind is set on the spirit you will not focus on "sin," you will not be conscious of it. When a mind is set on something it excludes things which do not pertain to whatever it is set upon. If my mind is set on driving I'm not thinking about swimming. A mind set on the spirit agrees with God, it does not focus on sin nor does it charge sin to itself. It dwells on the goodness of God not the wretchedness of the flesh.
Looking at Other Scriptures
Galatians 5:24 says, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." First note it is past tense. The flesh has already been crucified. In the bible death pictures separation. The flesh and its passions & desires have been separated from who you are, they are not a part of your identity. The flesh being dead means, not that our physical bodies have passed on but that we are dead to it, it is no longer a part of who we are. Verse 25 goes on to say, "If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit." When we belong to Christ we live by the spirit. All Christians live by the spirit, that is their only source of life. Before you are saved your spirit & body are dead because of sin. When you receive salvation Christ is in you & "your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is alive because of righteousness" (Romans 8:10). So if you are a Christian walk by the spirit, focus on spiritual things. God is spirit. You are spirit. You are one spirit with God.
Colossians 2:9-15 says, Christ removed (circumcised) the body of the flesh. When we are immersed (baptized) in Him the flesh is removed and we become one spirit with Him. It is removed in terms of identity, not in terms of locality. We still have the same physical body we did before we were saved. Our rebirth creates a new man who is separate from the other, that man is a spirit. "Our old self (spirit, identity) was crucified with Christ, because of this our body of sin has been done away with" (Romans 6:6).
"By the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh" (Romans 8:13). There are two parts to this. The obvious one is to control yourself with your mind to where you do not allow the flesh to produce and carry out unloving & harmful deeds (you set your mind on the spirit). The second one, which must happen first for the other one to ever sustain, is to separate in your mind the deeds of the flesh from your identity. If you identify yourself by the deeds of the flesh (what most would think of as sin, disobedience, law breaking, etc) you will not walk by the spirit. If you don't focus on the spirit you cannot stop the flesh from producing and carrying out unloving & harmful deeds. If you still identify yourself as a sinner, even a "sinner saved by grace" you are not walking by the spirit and will not be able to "put to death the deeds of the flesh." If you tie what you do to who you are, sadly you are either clueless about what it means to be born again & blind to so much of the results of the cross or you are lapsing about God's goodness towards you.
What about Paul saying "I beat my body and make it my slave" (1 Corinthians 9:27)? Paul is referring to intensity in self-control, not self-destruction, fighting, death to self. "Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things" (1 Corinthians 9:25). He uses athletic language to picture one who trains his body to do his will. This does not picture shame, guilt, condemnation, or anything like that. Self-control is the opposite of death to self because self-control sees self as good. Mainstream Christianity teaches "death to self," the bible teaches "self-control." Paul was saying that he uses his spirit (self) to control his body so that it will serve his spiritual desires. Some creatures may require being struck to control them. Striking for training is a far cry from a fight to the death. Even at that Paul isn't talking about physical striking. He wasn't sitting around punching himself in the face. He was mainly referring to the weariness of travel to spread the gospel. He used his spirit to control his body for the sake of the gospel. There is nothing in this context about resisting sin or the like.
In 1 Timothy 1:18-19, 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul talks about "fighting the good fight." What is he talking about, resisting sin as many would have you believe? No, as always he is pointing to the living Christ not dead sin. First he says to Timothy, "Fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience." Then he says, "Fight the good fight of faith." Finally in 2 Timothy Paul says of himself, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." It is all about faith. To "fight the good fight" is to "continue to actively trust Jesus in your day-to-day life." It is trusting our Lord in the face of adversity & all other situations. Trusting Christ is walking by & setting your mind on the spirit. Christ is a life giving spirit. He doesn't demand our life, He gives us His life!
Instead of God wanting you to pledge to give up the flesh's bad habits He wants you to receive His goodness to displace those harmful behaviors. This is the paradigm of life. Life does not focus on faults. Life does not seek to fight for survival. Life does not seek to die. Christ's life is not fleeting. "Our lives are hidden with Christ in God. Christ is our life" (Colossians 3:3-4).
Monday, September 12, 2011
The Life of God vs. The Knowledge of Good and Evil
In the beginning did God think, "It is harmless for Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I just don't want them to, so I'll make a pointless rule about them not being allowed to eat of it. If they break that rule I'm going to call what they've done sin because it made me mad and I will have them and all of their generations suffer for ticking me off."
Was not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil a pointless rule that when broke would curse all of mankind? Was God being petty and cruel or was God wise enough to know that having the knowledge of good and evil is destructive to us?
Only God can properly handle having the knowledge of good and evil. God didn't create us to know good and evil He created us to know Him and be in relationship with Him. We often camp out at Jesus taking the penalty for our sin and unwittingly focus on our sin (which Christ took away) but we partake in Jesus' life in the resurrection. He took away our sin but most of us don't realize that. We focus on our sin and our knowledge of good and evil. Our sin is away and our life in Christ is here. Which is better to focus on what is away or on what is here? That which was taken or that which was given?
Man ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that is what brought sin into the world. Jesus died on a tree. Sin was brought in by a tree and sin was taken out on a tree. Christ died to the knowledge of good and evil so we don't have to live by that. Our life is not to be about "doing good and abstaining from evil." It is to yield to Jesus and trust Him to live through us.
The knowledge of good and evil gets in our way of knowing Jesus Christ the tree of Life. We are to "throw off the sin that so easily entangles us and fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our trust/faith in Him, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame" (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Shame is the result of living by the knowledge of good and evil. Shame is what caused Adam and Eve to hide from God in Genesis 3:8. Before they ate from the tree in Genesis 2:25 it says that they were not ashamed. In Genesis 3:10 Adam says they hid from God because they were afraid of God. Shame and fear cause you to hide from God. I cannot emphasize enough how universal, absolute, and real that truth is, shame and fear cause you to hide from God. Shame is what makes you think you have lost favor with God. Shame is the opposite of grace. When you live by the knowledge of good and evil you will feel shame, you will have fear, you will feel guilt, you will judge yourself harshly, you will judge others harshly.
We are not branches of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We are branches on Jesus, the tree of life. We live by His life by trusting Him. When we judge ourselves and others by our knowledge of good and evil we will be miserable and cruel. When we consider ourselves living to God in Christ Jesus we will experience God's love and will be loving to others.
Eve said in Genesis 3:13, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Today we eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because we are deceived by the serpent. Christ came to reverse the spiritual effects of the fall of man in the garden. When Jesus raised to life He came out of the tomb and into a garden. We were raised with Him. We are in that garden also. The garden of His life, love, grace, and righteousness.
Romans 6:6-11 says, "Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin for we have died and are freed from sin. Because we died with Christ, we trust that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Since it says to consider "in the same way" let us look at the "same way."
Since you were raised from the dead you cannot die again, death has no mastery over you. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who trusts in Me will live even if he dies." (John 11:25)
The death you died, you died to sin once and for all; but the life you live, you live to God. Consider yourself dead to sin because you are. Consider yourself alive to God in Christ Jesus because you are.
Jesus wants us to feast on Him. He is the bread of life, He is the tree of life and He is our life. God doesn't want you to try to be good. Trying to be good is eating from the wrong tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God wants you to let His life live through you. That is eating from the tree of life.
God said to Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die. "The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).
Here are some highlights from Romans 6-7:
Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. You are under God's favor. You have been set free from sin. Law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives. You died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to Jesus who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code (the law, obligation, knowledge of good and evil). Thanks be to God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Our Lover and His Bride
Let's look back at Genesis 2:22-25 & 3:21-23, "The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."
"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken."
Ephesians 5:29-32 says, "Christ feeds and takes care of His body, and we are members of His body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the Assembly."
Jesus said in Matthew 19:4-6, "The Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Colossians 3:1 says, "You have been raised with Christ." Genesis 3 is referred to as the fall. When Christ rose He lifted us up. Let us now take a look at Genesis 2 and 3 through the lens of the new covenant and through the eternal eyes of Christ.
"The Father fashioned His Son's bride out of His Son, and brought her to His Son. The Son said, "This is now spirit of my spirit, and mind of my mind.” For this reason the Son left His Father in Heaven, to be joined to his wife; and they shall become one as the Father and Son are one. And there is no shame."
"The Son sacrificed His skin, His flesh to clothe His wife with Himself. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the woman has become like one of Us, and now, she can stretch out her hand, and take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever!”"
Was not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil a pointless rule that when broke would curse all of mankind? Was God being petty and cruel or was God wise enough to know that having the knowledge of good and evil is destructive to us?
Only God can properly handle having the knowledge of good and evil. God didn't create us to know good and evil He created us to know Him and be in relationship with Him. We often camp out at Jesus taking the penalty for our sin and unwittingly focus on our sin (which Christ took away) but we partake in Jesus' life in the resurrection. He took away our sin but most of us don't realize that. We focus on our sin and our knowledge of good and evil. Our sin is away and our life in Christ is here. Which is better to focus on what is away or on what is here? That which was taken or that which was given?
Man ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that is what brought sin into the world. Jesus died on a tree. Sin was brought in by a tree and sin was taken out on a tree. Christ died to the knowledge of good and evil so we don't have to live by that. Our life is not to be about "doing good and abstaining from evil." It is to yield to Jesus and trust Him to live through us.
The knowledge of good and evil gets in our way of knowing Jesus Christ the tree of Life. We are to "throw off the sin that so easily entangles us and fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our trust/faith in Him, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame" (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Shame is the result of living by the knowledge of good and evil. Shame is what caused Adam and Eve to hide from God in Genesis 3:8. Before they ate from the tree in Genesis 2:25 it says that they were not ashamed. In Genesis 3:10 Adam says they hid from God because they were afraid of God. Shame and fear cause you to hide from God. I cannot emphasize enough how universal, absolute, and real that truth is, shame and fear cause you to hide from God. Shame is what makes you think you have lost favor with God. Shame is the opposite of grace. When you live by the knowledge of good and evil you will feel shame, you will have fear, you will feel guilt, you will judge yourself harshly, you will judge others harshly.
We are not branches of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We are branches on Jesus, the tree of life. We live by His life by trusting Him. When we judge ourselves and others by our knowledge of good and evil we will be miserable and cruel. When we consider ourselves living to God in Christ Jesus we will experience God's love and will be loving to others.
Eve said in Genesis 3:13, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Today we eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because we are deceived by the serpent. Christ came to reverse the spiritual effects of the fall of man in the garden. When Jesus raised to life He came out of the tomb and into a garden. We were raised with Him. We are in that garden also. The garden of His life, love, grace, and righteousness.
Romans 6:6-11 says, "Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin for we have died and are freed from sin. Because we died with Christ, we trust that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Since it says to consider "in the same way" let us look at the "same way."
Since you were raised from the dead you cannot die again, death has no mastery over you. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who trusts in Me will live even if he dies." (John 11:25)
The death you died, you died to sin once and for all; but the life you live, you live to God. Consider yourself dead to sin because you are. Consider yourself alive to God in Christ Jesus because you are.
Jesus wants us to feast on Him. He is the bread of life, He is the tree of life and He is our life. God doesn't want you to try to be good. Trying to be good is eating from the wrong tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God wants you to let His life live through you. That is eating from the tree of life.
God said to Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die. "The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).
Here are some highlights from Romans 6-7:
Sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. You are under God's favor. You have been set free from sin. Law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives. You died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to Jesus who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. We have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code (the law, obligation, knowledge of good and evil). Thanks be to God, who delivers us through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Our Lover and His Bride
Let's look back at Genesis 2:22-25 & 3:21-23, "The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."
"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken."
Ephesians 5:29-32 says, "Christ feeds and takes care of His body, and we are members of His body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the Assembly."
Jesus said in Matthew 19:4-6, "The Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Colossians 3:1 says, "You have been raised with Christ." Genesis 3 is referred to as the fall. When Christ rose He lifted us up. Let us now take a look at Genesis 2 and 3 through the lens of the new covenant and through the eternal eyes of Christ.
"The Father fashioned His Son's bride out of His Son, and brought her to His Son. The Son said, "This is now spirit of my spirit, and mind of my mind.” For this reason the Son left His Father in Heaven, to be joined to his wife; and they shall become one as the Father and Son are one. And there is no shame."
"The Son sacrificed His skin, His flesh to clothe His wife with Himself. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the woman has become like one of Us, and now, she can stretch out her hand, and take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever!”"
Friday, March 27, 2009
In Context: "The truth will set you free."
What the Bible actually says:
To the Jews who had trusted him, Jesus said, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." -John 8:31-32
So the truth just doesn't set me free.. I have to know it?
Well what is God's word?
God's word is truth -John 17:17
Well what is truth then?
Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." -John 14:6
So God's word is truth & Jesus is truth!
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. -John 1:1,14
And Jesus is also the Word of God!
So If I continue in God's word/Jesus, then I am truly a disciple of Jesus; and I will know the truth (God's word/Jesus), and the truth (God's word/Jesus) will make me free.
What does that mean though?
Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. -Psalm 37:4
So if my delight in the Lord my desire will be for more of Him.
So then continuing in God's truth allows me to know God more.
Let us look at this again
To the Jews who had trusted him, Jesus said, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." -John 8:31-32
So this was written to those who trusted Jesus. So I can't continue in His word if I don't trust Him & I can't be His true disciple if I don't continue in His word. If I don't trust Him that means I don't trust the truth and if I don't trust the truth which is God's word I will not continue in it & I can't be His true disciple and won't be set free.
It's like a big circle. I can't trust God if I don't know the truth & if I don't know the truth which is God's word then I won't continue in it but if I don't continue in it I won't know the truth.
So those who trust Him will continue in His word & be His true disciples & those are the only ones who are set free.
Free from what?
The wages of sin is death -Romans 6:23
Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." -John 8:34-36
Ok free from being slaves to sin but how?
He Himself (Jesus) bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. -1 Peter 2:24
But is that it just being free from being a slave to sin?
Now that you have been set free from sin and have become servants to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. -Romans 6:22
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