"You are in Me and I am in you." -Jesus

Christ In You
The Helper is IN YOU & with you forever. The Helper is the Spirit of truth. You know the Spirit of truth because He lives with you and is IN YOU. I live & so do you. Know that I am in My Father, and you are IN ME, and I am IN YOU. (John 14:16-20)
Because the Spirit of God dwells IN YOU, you are not in the flesh but IN the Spirit. Christ is IN YOU. Your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. But the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells IN YOU. He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells IN YOU. (Romans 8:9-11)
Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is IN YOU. (1 Corinthians 6:19)
You are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells IN YOU. (1 Corinthians 3:16)
God is the one who works IN YOU, both to desire and to do the good & loving things He desires. (Philippians 2:13)
Little children you are from God and have victory over the spirits of antichrists; because greater is He who is IN YOU than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
The glory of this reality is super-abundant, Christ is IN YOU! He gives you hope that you will see the riches of His glory unfold in your daily life. (Colossians 1:27)
Jesus Christ is IN YOU! (2 Corinthians 13:5)

You In Christ
By God's doing you are IN CHRIST JESUS. Jesus became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and purification and restoration of value. If you're going to rejoice, rejoice in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:30)
You are IN CHRIST! you are a new creature! The old things passed away! Look at the new things that have come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
There is no condemnation for you because you are IN CHRIST JESUS! (Romans 8:1)
Consider yourselves dead to sin in the same way Jesus is dead to sin. Consider yourselves alive to God IN CHRIST JESUS in the same way Jesus is alive to God. (Romans 6:11)
You were formerly darkness but now you are Light IN THE LORD; walk as children of Light. (Ephesians 5:8)
Your life is hidden with Christ IN GOD. Christ is your life. (Colossians 3:3)
We, who are many, are one body IN CHRIST, and we are each members one of another. (Romans 12:5)
We are all equally one IN CHRIST JESUS. (Galatians 3:28)

You being in God & God being in you is like a bag in the ocean.
It is in the ocean, & at the same time, the ocean is in it.

The Idea That the Bible Replaced God

There is a widespread teaching that God only speaks to us through the bible. It or similar teachings say, "the bible is the primary way God speaks to us" or that "the bible is God's chosen thing to speak to mankind." Does the bible itself actually back this idea up? Let's look to Jesus first.

Jesus

• While Jesus quoted scriptures & taught from them (Luke 24:27) Jesus never told anyone, including his disciples to read, study, or meditate on the scriptures. Obviously John was familiar with scriptures because in His gospel he often pointed out how Christ fulfilled scriptures. Still the absence of this command should really make us think.
• Jesus said the Holy Spirit would lead Christians to ALL truth. He made no mention of scripture leading people to truth.
• Jesus never told his disciples to teach or preach from the scriptures.
• In Matthew 26:54-56 Jesus said He fulfills the scriptures.
• In John 5:39 Jesus said that the scriptures themselves do not contain eternal life but they do testify of who can give us eternal life, Jesus Himself. This lets us know that eternal life is not something to be obtained by intellect or belief in scriptures but by encountering Jesus & trusting Him. In short the purpose of the scriptures are to point to the living God, not to replace Him & His voice as if He were dead or absent.
• Jesus nor anyone else ever prophesied that the New Testament would be collected.

Acts

• Paul only used the scriptures in evangelism with people (Jews) who already knew the scriptures because they valued the scriptures. Paul did this to the Berean Jews to convince them from the scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 17:11).
• Paul, Apollos, & Phillip were described in Acts as only using the scriptures to prove that Jesus is the Messiah to Jews.
• The meeting of the Assembly in Jerusalem to address the Gentiles came up with 3 things for them to keep, with Paul saying later that one of those doesn't even matter. They did not say "give them a copy of the scriptures & have them read it."

Paul

• Most of the times Paul quotes old covenant scripture he does so pointing to Jesus as the Messiah or to show that we are made righteous by trust. Paul does quote scriptures a few times to make other points.
• Paul wrote, "All scripture inspired of God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16).
• So scripture is a good & beneficial thing. He does not suggest however that all scripture is profitable to all people in all situations. Peter said of Paul's writings that people can & do twist his writings to their own destruction.

Peter

• Peter taught from scripture in 1 Peter 2.
• Peter said that, "no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation" speaking of how scripture prophesied about Jesus. He said the the prophecies of scripture were written by "men moved by the Holy Spirit speaking from God" (2 Peter 1:16-21)
• In 2 Peter 3:16 he said, "The untaught and unstable distort all of the Scriptures to their own destruction (referring to the Old Testament as well as Paul's writings)."
• Who teaches us? Jesus said it is the Holy Spirit
• Who makes us stable? God
• So the people Peter was talking about used the scriptures without trusting or learning from God. God will never teach you to destroy yourself. Satan is the one who seeks to destroy & Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:1 that there are indeed "doctrines of demons" out there.

Wait.. Who is Lord again?
Again & again we see scripture say that Jesus Christ is our Lord, yet again & again I hear Christians say that the bible is our final authority. What a contradiction! Those who take scripture as "final authority" contradict the scriptures themselves because the scriptures make it very clear that "Jesus is Lord." It is easier to lead someone into falsehood by saying, "the bible says.." than it is by saying, "God told me.." Even the scriptures tell us to "live & walk by the spirit." After the Spirit has come scripture doesn't say, "live & walk by the scriptures."

How can you have Christianity without Christ? You take a book that points to Christ & you make the book point back at itself. In short you call the bible the "word of God" as if the bible itself did not say "the Word of God is Jesus who came to earth in the flesh." When you claim the book speaks for God you can then use the book to play God. You can manipulate people with the book by pointing to what you claim "God said" & regardless of the context people will believe you. Jesus said he is our ONE leader, if you call yourself a Christian leader, whether you realize it or not, you are playing God, period.

Most churches are in fact "Satan's School for Christians." They teach you & lead you to believe more lies about God & yourself than you would ever believe if you sat at home your whole life & never picked up the bible once.

Learning from Scripture
 Seeing one statement in a book that has been split into hundreds of verses and that book being only one book in the bible it is going to be hard to know what is going on. The bible was never meant to be used the way people use it. People are supposed to learn by the Spirit. When someone replaces the Spirit with the bible they won’t learn anything.

Some translations suck but Peter also said that Paul wrote in a way & about things that were hard to understand. The letters were only written to certain people & many people at the time couldn’t even read. So there is nothing wrong with not approaching or reading scripture, Jesus never commanded it & while scripture was upheld as profitable it is the truth of scripture that is important & impactful however you learn it.

To be part of relationships &/or a community where some gather insight from scriptures and others don't is ok because those who do can pass it on. The difference between this and a church where a pastor preaches is that it is never my job to pass things on, it is my joy. And no one is obligated to listen to me or submit to me. They are allowed to make assessments about what is true themselves with the guidance of God. They never have to give up their rights to think & relate to God themselves. A fruit of the Spirit is joy so God uses the joy of the truth you find to invite you to share it with others.

Some say, "the Spirit won't contradict the scriptures." I wholeheartedly believe that the Spirit will contradict your wrong interpretation of the scriptures. The challenge for us is to decide whether we've got it all figured out & interpreted correctly or that we could be wrong. That is one reason we ultimately must walk by the Spirit. Walking by the scriptures relies on our interpretation of the scriptures & has certainly kept countless people from truth & freedom. Walking by the Spirit relies on our living God Himself to teach us. And of course God can & almost certainly will use the teachings of others & the scriptures themselves to teach you. But the question is.. Who do you trust more, you, your interpretations, & what other people have taught you OR Jesus the living life-giving Spirit? The answer affects every aspect of your life. If you trust yourself & other people more than God your life will be overflowing with hatred, pride, shame, guilt, & unrest. If you trust Jesus more your life will be overflowing with love, peace, & joy.

"I will remember the works of the Lord. Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago! I will think about all you have done; I will reflect upon your deeds! O God, your deeds are extraordinary! What god can compare to our great God?" (Psalm 77:11-13)

How Your New Creation in Christ Parallels the 7 Days of Creation

Day One
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
First God created your flesh. Heavens and earth picture physical life heavens=mind & earth=flesh. Your life is unfolded by God.

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Your life is an empty nothing (formless & void). Gloom & shame (darkness) is over the surface of your heart. Your heart is deep because God has made you to be wonderfully filled with His love. The Spirit of God moves over the surface of your heart.

Strangely Genesis doesn't give an account of God creating darkness. Isaiah 45:7 confirms He did create literal darkness. I believe the reason why this is missing is because God intended the story of creation in Genesis 1 to parallel our new creation in Jesus. God did not create the darkness in us, He did not give sin, gloom, & shame to our bodies & spirit. I believe this is also why God directly calling or seeing darkness as good, as He did with light and the many other things, is absent. Darkness represent sin & shame in Genesis 1 & those are not good.

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
Let there be light means you have to let The Light transform you by trusting Him. If you do then light is created in you, you are joined with Christ who is The Light (John 8:12),. The heavens were made before light came, Isaiah 42:5,12 says God stretched out the heavens. The heavens represent your mind. He stretched out your mind so you could trust in His truth & become light.

God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
God judges you as good because of the light you are created as. He separates the light from the darkness. You are separated from darkness (sin). You are now in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7). Notice light existed before light was separated from darkness. It is because of God's work on the cross that light is separated from darkness. It is a work He had to do. The only way for God to separate your spirit from your sinful flesh was to condemn sin in His flesh & give you a new spirit. Your flesh is separated from your identity, light is now your identity. "You were formerly darkness (sinful flesh), but now you are Light in the Lord (spirit); walk as children of Light" (Ephesians 5:8). We are called "children of light," our rebirth comes from light (God).

God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. 
The darkness/night is your flesh. The day/light is your spirit. Your flesh was there before your spirit of light just as darkness was there first before God gave you light.

And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Strangely the Hebrew in Genesis calls this "one day" instead of "the first day" & is in contrast to the words meaning second, third, etc. used later in the chapter. Much debate has gone on because of this. However reading this text from the "you are a new creation in Christ" perspective gives incredible meaning. Day plural is "days" which refers to life. Day represents life. One day means "one life." You are One Life with God! "Jesus Christ is your life" (Colossians 3:4). You are one Spirit with God (1 Corinthians 6:17).

In your beginning God created your body & mind, your flesh. Your flesh was as nothing, with gloom & shame covering your deep yet empty heart. The Spirit of God was moving over the surface of your heart Then He said, "Let there be light; and there was light." God saw you as good; and separated your spirit of light from the darkness of your flesh. He called you spirit & life and the flesh He called sinful & dead. First there came darkness and then came the breaking forth of light. You are One Life with God.

Second Day
Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Then God said, "Let there be a renewed mind in the midst of your heart & let it separate the fleshly heart from the spiritual heart." God made the renewed mind, and separated the fleshly heart which was below the renewed mind from the spiritual heart which was above the renewed mind; and it was so. God called the renewed mind the unveiled mind of Christ. First there was ignorance and then came enlightenment. A second life.

"Second life" & the ones that follow picture the abundant life of Christ. You are receiving renewing life from Him over & over again. You could call this process being "layered with life."

Waters also have the meaning of something short-lived. While we live on earth the depths of our fleshly hearts need to be filled. Our spirit is already filled with whatever we need. Once we pass out of this body into the full reality of the spirit we won't have to renew our minds because our minds of flesh will be gone & we will enjoy the fullness of the spirit.

Third Day
Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so.
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Then God said, "Let the heart below the flesh be gathered into one place, and let the clean flesh appear"; and it was so. God called the clean flesh body parts offered to righteousness, and the gathering of the fleshly heart He called body parts offered to sin; and God saw that the separation was good.

Then God said, "Let the body parts offered to righteousness produce fresh rest, healing coupled with truth, and fruitful love uniquely suited for each person with the truth of Christ in it"; and it was so.

The body parts offered to righteousness brought fresh rest, uniquely suited healing coupled with truth, and fruitful love uniquely suited for each person with the truth of Christ in it; and God saw that it was good. First there was dormancy and then love sprang out, a third life.

God said "it was good" twice on the third day. Why? Because this is the day when the new man begins impacting others. Clean flesh is one that lets love manifest through it. On this day God begins producing fruit, which is love that flows out of the abundance. Fruit (love) is only produced when a tree (person) draws more than it needs to survive. Also note that a tree never eats its own fruit, the fruit is for someone else. God loves blessing others through you, it is a double blessing for Him & a double blessing for you! The third day to the Jews is known as the "day of double blessing." Most Jewish weddings take place on Tuesday (third day) including the wedding Jesus went to (John 2:1,3).

The fleshly heart is the same spoken of on day 2. The waters/seas here picture the unhealthy emotions & actions produced by the fleshly heart. Revelation 21:1 says there are "no more seas" immediately after the judgment day. At that point fleshly hearts no longer exists. Vegetation is the same word used in Psalm 23 of "green pastures" thus it pictures rest.

With this parallel we can see why God "separated" things in creation because that is what He does in our walk in our new creation. First & foremost our identity is separated from the flesh. Second our minds & hearts (mindsets, beliefs) are separated from the flesh. Third our hearts (emotions, actions) are further separated from the flesh as well as our physical body parts which housed lusts & undisciplined behaviors.

Fourth Day
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.
God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Then God said, "Let there be enlightenment in the mind of the flesh to separate the spirit of life from the flesh, and let the enlightenment be for guiding others and as a reminder of life & eternal life; and let the enlightenment be for showing others Christ, to renew the minds of their flesh & give them enlightenment"; and it was so.

God gave two great enlightenments, the greater to control the life flowing from the spirit, and the lesser to control the deeds of the flesh; He also gave multitudes of enlightenment placed in the mind of the flesh to give enlightenment to the flesh, and to control the spirit and the flesh, and to separate consciousness of the spirit from sin consciousness; and God saw that it was good. First there was shadowiness and then light prevailed over it, a fourth life.

Fifth Day
Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

Then God said, “Let the depths of your heart bring forth abundant swarms of life to others, and let peace fly to others who are open in the mind of their flesh." God created great love in your heart for life giving and heart moving. The depths of your heart swarm with uniquely suited love for each person, and uniquely suited wings of peace for each person; and God saw that it was good. God blessed the love & life inside of you, saying "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the depths of others hearts, and let peace multiply to all flesh.” First there was emptiness now there is abundant love, a fifth life.

Sixth Day Part 1
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, "Let your flesh release life & love uniquely suited for others:  silent love, moving love, and energetic love uniquely suited for whoever would accept it"; and it was so. God made energetic love, silent love, and all kinds of love that can move a human being, uniquely suited for whoever would accept it; and God saw that it was good.

"Let your flesh release" means let your mind, which is made of flesh, release, allow, or bring forth goodness from your spirit. Actions & emotions manifest through your flesh.

Sixth Day Part 2
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Then God said, “We have made new men in Our image, according to Our likeness; they possess & can command the life in their hearts and the peace of their flesh, and the silent love, and the love that moves mankind."

God created new men in His own image, in the image of God He created them; separate but equal He created them. "Abound with love towards others, displace the flesh & control it. Command the abundant life in your hearts, command peace for your flesh, command all the life you have in your spirit to move hearts of flesh."

Then God said, “Look, I have given you all healing sown by truth for your hearts & flesh, and every bit of fruitful love which brings forth friendship & truth. Truth, healing, and friendship are your food. To all energetic love, all peace in the flesh, all moving love, to all things that have & give life, I have given every bit of naturally progressing healing to feed, sustain, & grow them”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and look at it, it was very good. And there was abundance and there was overabundance, the sixth life.

Here is meaning I received from the pictograph for the words 'green plant.' "I hand you who were once poor the ability to gather light through love. You know me & eat with me in my family."

Day Seven
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

The mind & the flesh came to an end, and all the things around them. By the seventh day God completed His work of making all things new, and He rested with His new creation on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it eternally holy, because in it He rested with His holy & completed children who He had created and made.

Evening has the meaning of "obscuration" & "mixture." In evening the flesh obscures the spirit & they outwardly seem mixed but by the morning, which has the meaning of "becoming distinguishable," the separation of the spirit from the flesh is more outwardly obvious than it was at the beginning of the day. On the seventh day there is no "evening & morning." The sixth day ends with a spiritual man with sanctified flesh but the seventh day is eternal glorification, a rest from the new creation because creation is complete. The spiritual creation, you becoming part of God's light, was complete on day one, but the mind/heart/flesh renewal is not complete until the body passes away. You are put to rest in peace as your consciousness now solely exists in the spirit & your spirit rests without the burden of the flesh. That is the seventh day.

A Note:
Below all 7 days are combined. The symbolism I used to translate not only comes from truth found in the New Testament about our new creation but I researched the symbolic meanings of words, root meanings of words, & even meanings culled from the Ancient Hebrew pictographs for the words. So writing this was not a matter of me plugging in what I thought sounded pretty but meanings hidden in the text itself, truth culled from the New Testament & the experience of living my life as a new creation in Christ regarding how He changes me. So please trust that my writing here is more than a poet in love with God, the depths and beauty of what is said is actually buried in the text.

The Seven Days of Your New Creation in Jesus

In your beginning God created your body & mind, your flesh. Your flesh was as nothing, with gloom & shame covering your deep yet empty heart. The Spirit of God was moving over the surface of your heart Then He said, "Let there be light; and there was light." God saw you as good; and separated your spirit of light from the darkness of your flesh. He called you spirit & life and the flesh He called sinful & dead. First there came darkness and then came the breaking forth of light. You are One Life with God.

Then God said, "Let there be a renewed mind in the midst of your heart & let it separate the fleshly heart from the spiritual heart." God made the renewed mind, and separated the fleshly heart which was below the renewed mind from the spiritual heart which was above the renewed mind; and it was so. God called the renewed mind the unveiled mind of Christ. First there was ignorance and then came enlightenment. A second life.

Then God said, "Let the heart below the flesh be gathered into one place, and let the clean flesh appear"; and it was so. God called the clean flesh body parts offered to righteousness, and the gathering of the fleshly heart He called body parts offered to sin; and God saw that the separation was good.

Then God said, "Let the body parts offered to righteousness produce fresh rest, healing coupled with truth, and fruitful love uniquely suited for each person with the truth of Christ in it"; and it was so.

The body parts offered to righteousness brought fresh rest, uniquely suited healing coupled with truth, and fruitful love uniquely suited for each person with the truth of Christ in it; and God saw that it was good. First there was dormancy and then love sprang out, a third life.

Then God said, "Let there be enlightenment in the mind of the flesh to separate the spirit of life from the flesh, and let the enlightenment be for guiding others and as a reminder of life & eternal life; and let the enlightenment be for showing others Christ, to renew the minds of their flesh & give them enlightenment"; and it was so.

God gave two great enlightenments, the greater to control the life flowing from the spirit, and the lesser to control the deeds of the flesh; He also gave multitudes of enlightenment placed in the mind of the flesh to give enlightenment to the flesh, and to control the spirit and the flesh, and to separate consciousness of the spirit from sin consciousness; and God saw that it was good. First there was shadowiness and then light prevailed over it, a fourth life.

Then God said, “Let the depths of your heart bring forth abundant swarms of life to others, and let peace fly to others who are open in the mind of their flesh." God created great love in your heart for life giving and heart moving. The depths of your heart swarm with uniquely suited love for each person, and uniquely suited wings of peace for each person; and God saw that it was good. God blessed the love & life inside of you, saying "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the depths of others hearts, and let peace multiply to all flesh.” First there was emptiness now there is abundant love, a fifth life.

Then God said, "Let your flesh release life & love uniquely suited for others:  silent love, moving love, and energetic love uniquely suited for whoever would accept it"; and it was so. God made energetic love, silent love, and all kinds of love that can move a human being, uniquely suited for whoever would accept it; and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “We have made new men in Our image, according to Our likeness; they possess & can command the life in their hearts and the peace of their flesh, and the silent love, and the love that moves mankind."

God created new men in His own image, in the image of God He created them; separate but equal He created them. "Abound with love towards others, displace the flesh & control it. Command the abundant life in your hearts, command peace for your flesh, command all the life you have in your spirit to move hearts of flesh."

Then God said, “Look, I have given you all healing sown by truth for your hearts & flesh, and every bit of fruitful love which brings forth friendship & truth. Truth, healing, and friendship are your food. To all energetic love, all peace in the flesh, all moving love, to all things that have & give life, I have given every bit of naturally progressing healing to feed, sustain, & grow them”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and look at it, it was very good. And there was abundance and there was overabundance, the sixth life.

The mind & the flesh came to an end, and all the things around them. By the seventh day God completed His work of making all things new, and He rested with His new creation on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it eternally holy, because in it He rested with His holy & completed children who He had created and made.

Fearing the Truth

I don't have the impression that truth is dangerous & to be avoided. Are we to think that everyone that Paul wrote Romans & Corinthians to, or everyone Hebrews was written to, or everyone that 1 John was written to were all mature enough to "handle the truth"?

Paul said to the Romans "I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh" & he goes on to speak some of the most solid & amazing spiritual perfection language in all of scripture.

In 1 Corinthians Paul calls the people "babes" yet still hands out to them major things in 2 Corinthians such as "God is no longer charging people with sin" (5:19-20), & "we identify no one according to the flesh (5:16)."

2 Corinthians 5:16-20 isn't meat, it is as pure & simple as the gospel gets & Paul speaks of the new creation (spirit) in this same context.
"From now on we identify no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; look, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the service of reconciliation, which is that, "In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their (the world's) sins against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."'

Is it dangerous for people to pick up the bible and read it? How does the truth lead someone astray? Why would we rather put the light of the gospel & our new creation in Christ under a bushel OUT OF FEAR than we would shine it?

Are we to be afraid of God's perfect love which doesn't charge people with sin & makes His children born spiritually perfect? Or are we to be so afraid of sin, whose power Christ destroyed, that we hush up about the goodness of God? Are we to be more afraid of the power of the enemy to lead people astray with the truth than we are to trust in God that He will use the truth to set them free?

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who trusts" (Romans 1:16). I trust the power of the true gospel far more than I trust that the enemy can distort its results. False gospels ruin people. The true gospel makes people whole.

I've never seen a single person ruined by the God's honest truth. People who fear the truth of grace still bask in a self-righteous mindset. They think that people shouldn't be taught about Christ's righteousness given to us until they can "handle the truth" & not go out acting however they want. They are afraid that knowledge of grace will cause people to behave badly. So what if it does? Would you rather someone believe a lie & be ignorant of the truth & behave morally for a time or someone know the truth of God's love & behave immorally for a time? The first entrusts people to themselves and their own performance. The second entrusts people to God & the power of His truth. For whatever reason people are so afraid of someone "sinning" that they'd rather keep them in the dark instead of exposing them to the light of God's love, the same love that is the only thing that truly changes people.

Romans 7, Rebirth, & Renewed Minds

"I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want." (Romans 7:15,19)

I once experienced the struggle Romans 7 talks about when I believed I was a sinner. But now that I truly walk by the spirit (which doesn't simply mean to act moral or obey the law, it means to know & focus on the spirit of God & what he has birthed as our spirit) I never experience the condition of Romans 7 but the freedom & empowered state spoken of in Romans 8 where I never have condemnation, guilt, or shame.

Twice in Romans 7 (17 & 20) Paul says, "It is no longer I who sin but sin living in me that sins." He is saying "I no longer sin." "I do not sin anymore." "When you see sin come out of my person it is not me who is doing it. I am not the cause or the source. I no longer produce sin." This gels perfectly with 1 John 3:9 which says someone who is born of God cannot produce sin. I can rightly say, "I, being a child of God, no longer sin."

"It is no longer I who sin but sin living in me that sins," has to be speaking of either the flesh, the mind (soul), the spirit, or some combination of those. Certainly it is at the very least talking about the spirit. IT MUST BE TALKING ABOUT ONE OF THEM or Paul is a liar & you must throw out his writings.

I no longer sin. Sin in my flesh still produces sinful actions if I don't walk by spirit but I, in my new spiritual identity in Christ, do not sin. Why? Because a birth establishes a new identity. "Your new creation has been created in God’s image. It is righteous and holy" (Ephesians 4:24).

"From now on we identify NO ONE according to the flesh (what else is there left to identify by but the spirit?). If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things PASSED AWAY; behold, new things have come." (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) That new creature is new because it has been recently born. Jesus said in John 3:6, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." New birth exclusively concerns the spirit because "A man cannot be born when he is old. He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born" (John 3:4). Our new creation is our spirit, we are not to identify ourselves according to the flesh. Don't hold onto the flesh as part of your identity, doing so empowers the enemy.

If "It is not I who sins but the sin living in me that sins," as Paul says in Romans 7:17,20, then who is responsible for the sins?
While there are various instigators for unloving actions (sin, Satan, the law, the body, lies that are believed) the unrenewed mind, which is flesh, is ultimately responsible for those actions occurring.

If you don't put to death the DEEDS of the flesh sin is going to come out of your body. If you don't mow the lawn it is going to continue to grow & get longer. Putting to death the deeds of the flesh is like mowing the lawn. Renewing your mind is like uprooting the grass & plowing the dirt so sin will never grow there again. The less renewed your mind is the more unloving actions will show up in your behavior.

Truly it is not you, as a spiritual child of God, sinning. If sinful actions come out in your behavior it is your unrenewed mind that does not cut them off. Your mind is the bridge between the flesh & the spirit. The unrenewed parts of your mind are paved with old flesh. The renewed parts of your mind are paved with spirit.

Your mind can be used as a lawnmower, plow, or seed sowing hand. The unrenewed mind lets the grass grow. A partially spiritual area of the mind only mows the grass. A renewed area of the mind plows the land to prevent grass from growing in that area again. A fully renewed area of the mind sows good seed into the soil for fruit bearing life.

The love of the spirit, through renewed parts of the mind, takes responsibility for the unloving actions caused by the flesh & makes amends with the parties harmed. Christ made amends for our actions & relationally He continues to do so through us who walk by spirit. So our spiritual identity in Christ isn't a false excuse to "get off the hook" for how we behave. It is our reborn identity perfectly loved by God that, given the opportunity, flows out only good things. It is our true self, our eternal self. It is not self-centered nor does it make excuses for the flesh's behavior. It is one spirit with God (1 Corinthians 6:17 & Ephesians 4:4). It is God living in us, & with us, & through us. I will accept nothing less than the identity I know I was born into by the Spirit of God. I am not a sinner. I am perfected forever. I am perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect. I am one with God because He wanted to love me & I let Him. The fact that nothing can separate you from His love means you are already in His love. Absolutely nothing ever stands between you & His love. Trust Him & let Him love you as He wants to love you.


Related Posts
Commentary on Romans 7 by Andrew Wommack

Catching Up in Perfection

"The former way of doing things, a system of commandments that were weak & useless, was set aside because the law never made anything perfect. God has brought in a better hope, through which we draw near to God" (Hebrews 7:18-19).
"The sacrifice of Christ makes those who draw near to God perfect" (Hebrews 10:1).

The Law made nothing perfect but Christ does!

"By one offering Jesus has perfected forever those who are made holy" (Hebrews 10:14).
"The spirits of righteous men have been made perfect" (Hebrews 12:22-23).

Another accurate translation of the word "perfect" is "complete." The word "saved" can be translated as "made whole." Thus when you are saved you are complete, you are made whole, you are perfect forever. "The Lord's work is perfect" (Deuteronomy 32:4). You are His work (Ephesians 2:10).

"The blood of Christ can purify our consciousness of dead works so we can worship the living God" (Hebrews 9:14).
"God is able to make His worshipers perfect in their consciousness" (Hebrews 9:9).
"The sacrifice of Christ has purified us one time for all time thus our consciousness of sin & feelings of guilt can disappear forever" (Hebrews 10:2).
"Our evil consciences have been removed by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood. We are clean. Let us draw near to Him with true hearts that are fully confident by trusting in Him" (Hebrews 10:22).
"A clear conscience depends on our knowledge of God’s grace & love for us, not on our own fleshly wisdom. It brings pure motives and godly sincerity to all of our behavior" (2 Corinthians 1:12).

"Your beauty is perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God (Ezekiel 16:14).

These are Jesus' words to the parts of His body which is His bride, the Assembly, "You are so beautiful, my beloved, so perfect in every part." (Song of Songs 4:7)

Here is a song I made in 2007 with the same title as this post.

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).

Spiritual Identity in Christ Summarized

"Because Christ died for all we are to no longer identify anyone according to the flesh" (2 Corinthians 5:16).
Our identity is our spirit, that is how God identifies us and how God wants us to identify ourselves.

"For those who are in Christ the old spirit has gone" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

"Your new spirit has been created in the likeness of God. You truly are right with God. You were made righteous, pure, guiltless, innocent, faultless, and holy" (Ephesians 4:24).

"All wrongdoing is sin. We know that no one who is born of God sins." (1 John 5:17-18)
The only part of you that is born of God is your spirit, Jesus makes that clear in John 3. Now remember God only identifies you by your spirit. So essentially what this scripture says is, "You can do no wrong in God's eyes!"

God is not mocked. - Avoid Flesh Renovation

God is not mocked.
Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, he will also reap."

Most take this to mean, "You better not mock God by sinning or He'll punish you."  But I think "God is not mocked" shares meaning with 2 Corinthians 5:19, "God does not count sins against you."  Literally God is not mocked.  God is not counting anything you do against you, but you will still receive the consequences of your actions.

It goes on to say in 6:8, "The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."  Jesus said in John 17:3 that eternal life can be defined as "knowing God" or "relationship with God."  So if you sow to the spirit (trust in God, set your mind on the spirit) you will know God more & grow an ever improving relationship with Him.

Avoid Flesh Renovation
"The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6).

The flesh is your physical body & mind. It is what produces sin.  Your spirit is "born in the likeness of God" (Ephesians 4:24).  It cannot produce sin (1 John 3:9).  You don't want to attempt a flesh renovation, not even based on the commands of scripture.  Attempting a flesh renovation is "sowing to your flesh."  Focusing on the negative qualities & behaviors of yourself or others will cause you to lack peace & reap corruption (an inferior, harmful life).  Focus on God & who He has made you in your new born spirit & as Philippians 2:13 says, "God will work in you to desire & to act according to His good pleasure."

What is Sin?

I was asked "What is Sin?" Over the past year I have studied extensively what sin is. I have looked into the Hebrew & Greek meanings, & I have looked at every context where the words sin, sinner, & transgression appear in the New Testament. Here is my partially off the cuff answer.

#1 In the old covenant sin was breaking the laws that God gave.
Romans 5:13 says, "Sin is not charged when there is no law" & Romans 4:15 says, "Where there is no law there is no transgression/sin." Jesus ended the law at the cross (Colossians 2:14, Ephesians 2:15). God no longer charges anyone with sin (2 Corinthians 5:19). This type of charged or imputed sin is gone. Christ took sin away, along with the law, when He died on the cross.

#2 Sin is a condition that causes unloving actions.
The condition of sin exists in the spirit for non-Christians, their spirit is dead (separated from knowing God). For Christians God has made their spirit alive and it no longer has the condition of sin. The born again spirit of a Christian does not have the sin condition (1 John 3:9,5:18). The condition of sin remains for all mankind in the flesh (physical body & mind) therefore Christians can still behave unlovingly (Romans 7:17). Christians know God and have the option to "live by the spirit" by "putting their mind on the spirit." Doing so becomes easier if you allow God to "renew your mind" with His love and His truth.

#3 Sin is an unloving action
This sin is partially dependent upon who is counting. God will never charge Christians with sin because He identifies them by the spirit and not by the flesh. Scripture uses the term sin to refer to something harmful we do to another human being, a Christian can sin against another person (only through the flesh) but cannot sin against God alone. Sinning against (harming) another Christian is considered as acting unlovingly toward Jesus (1 Corinthians 8:12, Acts 9:4).

Non-Christians aren't charged with sin by God in this life but He "stores up wrath" for them based on their actions if they ultimately reject Jesus. He releases this wrath at judgment.

You can count sins against yourself or others (James 4:12,17) but doing so doesn't cause God to count sins, it only affects how we live and treat others. Christians do not need to count their own sins or be conscious of "is this sin or is that sin?" (Hebrews 10:1-2). They also don't need to count sin against other people. God does not do this and they should follow His example for the benefit of everyone.

Summary of What Sin is Today

• For everyone sin is a condition in the body and mind which causes unloving actions.
• For non-Christians sin is a spiritual condition that prevents them from having a relationship with God. It is easily cured by trusting in Jesus.
• For the Christian sin does not exist apart from the body & mind. God never charges them with it & their spirit cannot produce it because it is born in pure holiness in the likeness of God (Ephesians 4:24).
• For everyone sin is an optional label you can put on unloving actions to hold those actions against yourself or others. Sin is an unnecessary label for actions unless:
1. You are recognizing what Jesus took for you on the cross.
2. You are pointing a non-Christian to the fact that they have the spiritual condition of sin so they will come to trust Jesus for the cure.
3. You are trying to make a Christian aware of their harmful behavior towards other people so that they will walk by the spirit and not by the flesh.

Why I Will Never Surrender to God

I just don't like it when people use the term "surrender" when talking about God but I keep running into people using it.

The word "surrender" is not used once in the New Testament. I've never heard it used positively in the secular world unless evil surrenders to good in a battle. We Christians are not evil! We are the loved, righteous, holy, perfected children of God! The first definition of surrender on Google is "Cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority." We are not at war with God! He is our friend, not our enemy!

Some use the word "surrender" instead of the word "submit" but that still doesn't sit right with me. Look how this phrase changes. "Wives submit to your husbands" turns into "Wives surrender to your husbands." Sounds sick and violent to me. Side note:  The word "submit" in the bible is best translated as cooperate. It does not mean "utterly obey," as so often taught. If it did then "Submit to one another" would be senseless.

The great myth of performance based religion is that we are supposed to give our lives to God but the fact of grace is that God gives His life to us. We live by Him & with Him, not for Him. We always have His power and presence.

I hate that religion turns our loving Father into a competing force who blasts us until we give up. It teaches that God's bullets are conviction. Convict is a synonym for condemn and there is no condemnation in Christ! Scripture never says God will convict His children of sin. It only says He will convince them of righteousness. God will never guilt trip you. Don't feel righteous? It is ungodly for a Christian to feel unrighteous. God never causes you to feel that way. Empathy and compassion are godly, conviction is not.

We are in Christ. In Christ there is no sin (1 John 3:5). Stop identifying yourself by the flesh. Christ didn't bear the guilt of your sin just to have a reason to get revenge on you and make your life miserable by guilt tripping you every day. He took your sin away forever. He won't charge you with it. He doesn't even remember it. You aren't a bag of bones. You are God's everlasting & ever-loved spirit child! God is your Father not your foe. I will never surrender to God because I am on His side & Christ has already won the war.

See Also:  Surrender or Submission? Defeat or Victory?

Holy

God is Holy
Holy means pure, unmixed, or set apart. When speaking of God it refers to His purity, that there is no evil found in Him. It also means God is set apart, not in the physical sense but that He is special & unique, there is no one like Him. God is special, wonderful and to be highly favored. Sometimes holy refers to God's trustworthiness, that He is unmixed with falsehood & deceit. God's "holy name" refers to the pure goodness and trustworthiness of His character. In these meanings we can see how calling God "holy" is a form of praise.

“Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?" (Exodus 15:11)

God Called Things Holy
Many times holy means special to God, something He holds dear or as important. In the old covenant there were many inanimate objects, animals, gatherings, and places that were holy (set apart, special, purified for use). What God considers special is important because He is wise and kind. God set apart certain things and practices as holy in the old covenant because they are symbols of the holy man Jesus the Messiah, His beloved Son.

Jesus is Holy
Holy and Messiah (Christ) are actually similar terms. The Father, David, Peter, Paul, John, & even demons called Jesus "The Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24, Acts 2:27, 1 John 2:20). Messiah literally means "The Anointed One" which is "The Chosen One." He is The Chosen King, The Chosen Priest, The Chosen Spokesman, The Chosen Mediator between God and mankind. Jesus is special & unique. Jesus the Messiah is, in regards to living beings, the "Holy of Holies," "The Most Holy Being."

The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is The Unique Spirit of God, The Pure Spirit of God. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God but He is also the first born among many children, God has many sons and daughters. Likewise The Holy Spirit is the Unique Spirit of God even though all of God's children have holy spirits themselves. We are united with God and one with Him yet, like a married couple, He is still uniquely God and we are still uniquely us.

Saints are The Holy People of God

God calls His children "saints" which simply means "holy people." 2 Thessalonians 1:10 tells us that "God's holy people" are all those who have trusted Him. We are holy and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12) & He calls us His holy temple (1 Corinthians 3:17). We are God's spiritual children, born by His spirit when we trust Jesus. Our spirit is born holy. We are "created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).

God Alone is Holy?
Revelation 15:4 says, "God alone is holy" but the bible calls other people holy, including all of God's children. How is this possible? One simple word, "in." God's people are "in God" they are "in Christ." Colossians 3:3 says we are "hidden with Christ in God." Jesus' prayer recorded in John 17 came true, we are "one in the Father and the Son," "He is in us and we are in Him." Christ is a body, Jesus is the head of that body, those who trust Him are the rest of that body. Just as my hand is me and a part of me so too are we parts of the body of Christ and we are Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). We are "one body and one Spirit" with God (Ephesians 4:4).

The Holy Bible
The scriptures are called holy in Romans 1:2. This indicates that they are special, unique, and pure.

God's Holiness and Anger
So many people speak of God's holiness as if it were His reason for offense, anger, and wrath. I've even heard people contrast His holiness with His love! God is love. His holiness is not separate from His love. Holy does not mean 'quick to anger' or 'easily offended' as so many teach.

God is not an immature religious nut who considers himself so "pure" that He gets angry at the sight of something just because He doesn't like it. God is love. Scripture defines love as selfless (1 Corinthians 13:5). God is not irrationally bias towards things. He has reasons. He sees and knows if there is something ultimately harmful in something. He opposes things that will drive people away from Him or make them feel farther from Him than they are. God's holiness does not get offended but His compassion burns to protect those He loves like any good father's would.

Offend means "to cause anger in." While there are times where God gets angry and severe in scripture nowhere does scripture say "God was offended" or that God's holiness was offended. Scripture never uses the word "offended" to describe God at all. It only says that we are the ones who get offended at Him! (See Matthew 13:57 & Mark 6:3) Jesus said, "Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me” (Matthew 11:6, Luke 7:23).

God seeks to protect His holy name (reputation of His purely good character) because anything said against His good character would cause people to not trust Him. Those who don't trust Him cannot experience His love or be aware of His goodness. He seeks to protect His name for our sake. He is "jealous for His holy name" (Ezekiel 39:25) because He is the only true God. Knowing Him is the best thing for everyone. Serving fake gods or living without Him is of no benefit and is in fact the worst thing for anyone.

God, as love, does not take into account wrongs suffered (1 Corinthians 13:5). God does not count sins against anyone (2 Corinthians 5:19). One amazing thing about God's love is that He seeks to save the abused and the abusers. He protects His friends and loves His enemies into friendships. Paul is a perfect example of this. He went from being a murderer of God's people to a lover and helper of God's people. God said in Hosea 11:9, perhaps foreshadowing Jesus who said He did not come to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17),  "I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath."

"Jesus came in the flesh to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26). Jesus put sin away for everyone. He does not count sins against anyone in this life in order to make relationship with Himself fully available to everyone. Those who trust Jesus have their sin taken away permanently and God will never be angry at them (Isaiah 54:9-10). God will never have anger or wrath towards His children. Those who reject Jesus have God's wrath "stored up for them" & their sins are taken back out at judgment. "Blessed are the people whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin" (Romans 4:8), those people are His children, His holy children.

God is so holy that He passes His holiness onto His children. He takes those who were ordinary & filthy and makes them pure & perfect forever (Hebrews 10:14).


Scriptures Showing the Various Meanings of Holy

• Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy (special/pure) ground” (Exodus 3:5).
  • God's manifested presence is what makes the ground holy.
• Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy (pure, specially set apart). (Exodus 20:8)
• “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘ Holy (specially set apart) to the Lord.’ (Exodus 28:36)
• The Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’” (Leviticus 10:3)
  • God is special, wonderful and to be highly favored.
• “You shall not profane (pollute) My holy (pure) name, but I will be sanctified (spoken of as pure) among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you (sets you apart and purifies) (Leviticus 22:32)
• Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “ Because you have not trusted Me, to treat Me as holy (special/pure/trustworthy- unmixed with falsehood & deceit) in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:11-12)
• For you are a holy (special/set apart) people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 7:6)
• There is no one holy (unique) like the Lord (1 Samuel 2:2)
• For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name (trustworthy character). (Psalm 33:21)

Our True Identity & True Victory

As a Christian God does not identify you by your behavior but by the fact that you have a reborn spirit, that you are His child. God's children have been "perfected for all time" (Hebrews 10:14). You are perfect in God's eyes and God's eyes are the ones that count not our human eyes that judge everything based on behavior.

Romans 10:4 tells us, "Jesus Christ is the end of the law for everyone who trusts Him." Romans 4:15 says, "Where there is no law there is no sin." Romans 5:13 says, "Sin is not charged when there is no law." We still do harmful things but Jesus took sin away, He nailed it to the cross with the law.

"Jesus was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. Everyone who has been born of God does not practice sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. We know that no one who is born of God sins; but Jesus who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him." (1 John 3:5-6,9; 5:18)

That is talking about you Christians, your spirit (the only part of you that is born of God) is perfect and sinless. That is what it means to be a child of God. The bible says to not regard anyone, including yourself, according to the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:16). While my flesh still produces harmful actions I am perfect. I am sinless. Just like Jesus prayed for me to be in John 17:11 I am one with God. If you are a child of God you are too. 1 Corinthians 15:17 says, "Because Jesus rose from the dead we are not in our sins!!" We are IN CHRIST.

Your victory is Christ's victory. He has already won. You just need to grow in understanding of His love so you can join in His victory party. Your mind doesn't have to be fully straight & your heart doesn't have to be strong. He won for the harassed and helpless. Join me & celebrate in Jesus's victory party!


Related Posts:
God's Old Target, Our Own Targets, Jesus's Victory Party
Sin? Forgetaboutit!

The Sinless Spiritual Identity of Every Christian (In 100 Words)

1 John 3:9 tells us, "Everyone who has been born of God does not commit sin, because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God." I've studied & "does not commit sin" can be translated as "does not produce sin" or "does not bring forth sin." Why is this so? Because we are born of God. As Jesus talks about in John 3, our flesh is not born of God but our spirit is. God identifies us by our "new creation" which is our reborn spirit. That spirit cannot sin.

Romans 6 - We who died to sin cannot still live in it.

Paul wrote in Romans 6:1-7, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might live a new life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that 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 he who has died is freed from sin."

Most people reference only the first verse which says, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be!" This context is not about "trying hard not to sin because we are under grace." It is about how we died to sin and are totally free from it! Paul uses the same language in Romans 7:7, "What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be!" That doesn't mean "the law should try hard to not be sin," nor does it mean "the law does not want to be sin," it means the law is not sin, it cannot be. "May it never be" does not mean, as it is so often taught, "Don't do it!" It literally means that it may never be, it is impossible. Here are some even more obvious examples.
    Is the faithfulness of God nullified by the unbelief of men? May it never be! (Romans 3:3-4)   
    Is God unrighteous? May it never be! (Romans 3:5-6)
    Has God rejected His people, has He? May it never be! (Romans 11:1)

The dominant interpretation of Romans 6:1 is "You better not sin just because you are under grace!" But continuing on in the chapter we see that is not the meaning. Paul asks, "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" Most take the meaning as "Don't sin!" but in fact it means you cannot live in sin because you died to it. You are now in Christ! "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" We shall not because He cannot! We cannot live in sin & in Christ at the same time. We are forever in Christ! "Our old self was crucified with Him (it died to sin), in order that our body of sin might be done away with." Our body of sin is done away with. How shall we who are full grown men go back to having the bodies of children? It is not possible. Your young body is gone. Likewise your body of sin is done away with.

We can never continue in sin, it can never be because we died to it and are now alive in Christ. God does not see us as sin stained flesh but as His children. Our identity is our spirit. Our spirit has been born of God, our flesh has not. A spirit that has been born of God cannot sin (1 John 3:9; 5:18). You as a child of God cannot sin.

Romans 6:1 is about spiritual identity, not about behavior. When the bible says "in sin" it does not mean what our religion has taught us "in sin" means. It does not mean "continuing to manifest similar sinful actions." It should be obvious to anyone that a Christian's flesh can "continue in sin" in that sense. People have used this scripture & others to measure people's morality claiming it is impossible for a true Christian to "continue in sin" by which they mean sin with the flesh "too much." But how far is far enough to "continue" & how much is "too much" is never definable & it makes people judge others by their own knowledge of good & evil.

The phrase "In sin" in the bible means the locality of your identity being "in sin." Our identity is now "in Christ." We cannot be in both, we cannot be sinner & saint at the same time. We "cannot continue to live in Sin Town" while living in Christ Town at the same time because we have permanently moved into Christ Town. It may never be, it is impossible.

I am not saying we cannot behave unlovingly. That is why Romans 8:13 says, "By the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the flesh." The deeds of the flesh are destructive, harmful, & unloving but we must understand that we are not the flesh. We are identified by God as His perfect and holy children. May we see ourselves as He sees us!

"We are not in the flesh but in the spirit because the Spirit of God lives in us. We belong to God. Christ is in us. Our flesh is dead because of sin, yet our spirit is alive because of righteousness" (Romans 8:9-10). "Because Christ died for all we no longer identify anyone, including ourselves, according to the flesh" (2 Corinthians 5:16).

Romans 6 doesn't concern our behavior under grace but our identity in Christ because of grace. We are the sinless children of God. We cannot continue in sin. Our old sinful self was crucified with Christ and because of that our sin was done away with. We died and are freed from sin. We cannot produce sin. Our spirits are in Christ and in Him there is no sin (1 John 3:5). We are in Him! He has exchanged our life for His (Colossians 3:3-4).

Another interpretation of Romans 6:1 by grace teachers is that "grace is not a license to sin" or "it is still not ok to sin just because you are under grace." But that is not what this context is about. They also teach from this scripture that when you are saved your desire to sin decreases so you won't continue in sin. While it is true that grace lessens our desire to do harmful & destructive things that is still not what Romans 6:1 is saying. If you want a scripture that teaches us this refer instead to Titus 2:12 which says, "It is the grace of God that trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. The grace of God makes us eager to do what is good."

Allow your mind to be renewed by the truth of your identity in Christ and the deeds of your flesh will dwindle. Marvel at how much He loves you and you will marvel at how much He can love through you. "Set your minds on the things of the spirit and you will walk in the spirit. The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:5-6).

"Your new spirit has been created in the likeness of God. You truly are right with God. You were made righteous, pure, guiltless, innocent, faultless, and holy" (Ephesians 4:24).

For Related Posts see my Sin? Forgetaboutit! Page
See also my explanation of why the law is not sin

What Happened to Christians on the Cross and at Salvation

Every Christian knows what happened to Jesus on the cross, but not every Christian knows what happened to them. Because of this they’re striving to become someone they already are and they’re fighting to obtain something they already have.

1. What did I lose at the cross?
    My Old self, my sinful nature (Rms 6:6)
    All my sin (Ps 103:12)
    Any need for punishment or fear of punishment from God (1 Jn 4:18)
    My inability to please God (Rm 8:8)
    Any relationship I might have had with the law (Rm 7:6)
2. What did I retain after the cross?
    My physical body (Rm 8:23)
    Most of my way of thinking (Romans 12:2, Eph 4:23)
3. What did I gain after the cross?
    Peace with God (2 Cor 5:19, Col 1:20)
    Complete forgiveness (Col 2:13)
    God's acceptance (Eph 1:6)
    A relationship with God the Father and the Son (1 Jn 3:1)
    My New self, a God-born living spirit (2 Cor 5:17)
    His life: Christ is my life (Col 3:4)
    His Spirit (Rom 8:11)
    His righteousness (Rms 1:17)
    His holiness (1 Cor 1:3)
    His eternal perfection (Heb 10:4)
    The ability to stand on Christ's trustworthiness (Gal 2:20)
    The ability to think the thoughts of His mind (1 Cor 2:16)
    The ability to approach God with confidence knowing His favor for me (Heb 4:16).
    New desires and aspirations (Gal 5:18)
    The full rights of sonship (Gal 3:26)
    Everything I need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3, Php 4:19)
    Every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)

The instant you were born again, God did an amazing work in your life. He gave you a glorious new past and a completely new life. He changed just about everything there is to change about you. But one thing God left unchanged was your mind, your way of thinking. Only you can change that.

Given that there is one part of you that did not change at the cross, what do you think is the key to living the victorious life that God wants you to live? That’s right, you need to change the way you think.

Everything we need pertaining to life and godliness comes through our knowledge of Him who called us (2 Pet 1:13). If you want to see breakthrough in your life, look to Jesus, look to the cross, and change the way you think:  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Rm 12:2a)

Now repeat after me: “On the cross I died and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the trustworthiness of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” This is the glorious beginning of your new story!

This post is my summary of a post by Paul Ellis titled Your Glorious New Past

Living by the Spirit

Knowing Our New Self
God is love. Christ fulfilled the law. So love truly is the fulfilling of the law. We love because He first loved us.

"God condemned sin in the body of Jesus in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh but according to the spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires" (Romans 8:3-5).

Our spirits are our true identity. Our spirits (our new man/new creation) are created in such a way that they not only have righteousness in the sense that they are "right with God" but they also are credited with the perfect obedience of Jesus. They are righteous in the sense that they've already kept the whole law. Our spirits always "live by the spirit." Jesus obeyed on our behalf so to God it is as if we have always obeyed. Disobedience is sin and God remembers our sins no more, He took them away at the cross, so all we have left for Him to remember is good. Because of Jesus' death the righteous requirement of the law is fully met in our spirits.

Therefore if we live according to the spirit by putting our minds on God, His spiritual blessings, and the favor He has for all His children our outward lives will reflect the loving nature He has born into us. If we live knowing the goodness of the nature we inherited from God & live in relationship with the life giving Spirit of Christ within us we will love others like Jesus did and participate in the love He wants to display to those around us today.

Relating to God in the Spirit
While God does engage with us at times He seems to give us autonomy in our relationship with Him. He does not force Himself upon us. James 4:8 supports this idea, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."

Since we approach God through the spirit we have to think about Him to approach Him. Our relationship with God is very practical. If we don't take time to think about Him we usually don't get the benefits of the relationship.

I've been blessed with the opportunities to dwell on God a lot. I personally think about the amazing things He's done for us through the cross. That draws me near to Him and fills me with joy.

Remember, God is the source of all good so God is loving us in many areas where we just don't realize He is involved. God participates in bringing us all the joys of our life. He truly is in sunsets, smiles, laughter, and breezes. He loves us in far more ways than we know. God participates in all the non-destructive pleasures of life.

"You make known to me the path of life; In Your presence I am filled with joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."
(Psalm 16:11)

Reconciliation Now! The Good News of Reconciliation

God the Father was in Christ on the cross, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

We have reconciliation available now. God reconciled the world to Himself no longer counting people's sins against them. The gospel isn't primarily about heaven and hell. It is not about law or your failure to keep the law. The good news is that sins & all barriers between us and God are taken away. The gospel is about relationship. Jesus said "This is eternal life, to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." Eternal life isn't about a destination, though it includes one. Eternal life is an intimate and everlasting relationship with the person of God. The good news is this, that I can know God and be known by Him!!

What is Reconciliation?
Reconcile means to restore relations. The word is used in scripture in regard to the fact that in the garden of Eden people did have a close relationship with God. God in Christ restored the availability of relationship by taking away the sins of the world so there is no barrier between God and man. People just need to engage God with trust and they will get to know the amazing God He is. Reconciliation in the broad sense is God lifting mankind up from the fall to where they are free to relate to God again. So today reconciliation refers to God making relationship with Himself available to all.

Jesus is said to be the "propitiation" for our sins. That means His sacrifice removed the animosity God would have towards people for their behavior. He no longer counts sins against people. If we ever doubt the magnitude of God's generous and forgiving love for us we need only to look to the cross.

What Does it Mean to "Repent and Believe?"
The word repent means "to change your mind." The word believe in the bible means "to trust" or "to entrust." This is not a call to change behavior as is so often taught. It is a call to "Forget about what you thought you knew about God, the rule keeping & the rituals. God has revealed Himself fully through His Son Jesus the Christ. He died to take away the sins of the world. He is risen. He is alive now. Trust this risen Jesus, entrust yourself to Him. Nothing stands between you and Him. Nothing stands between you and God. He has already opened His arms to you on the cross as an everlasting invitation to embrace Him."

The following is a reason why changing your mind (repentance) is a part of salvation. "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil deeds" (Colossians 1:21). We thought we were enemies of God in our minds because of our evil deeds. Once we come to know the peace God has made with us through the death (blood) of Jesus we realize that God does not call us enemies but longs to know us as friends. Jesus is the living Word of God (John 1:1) and our living peace (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus is the living peace treaty of God. If we accept the living peace treaty of God's Son we become God's children and God's friends.

The Incredible Father
God is the Father in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). God the Father is constantly waiting for you to come to Him. The moment He sees you He runs to you filled with love and compassion and throws His arms around you, hugging you and kissing you. His forgiveness is so great that He ignores your sins even when you bring them up to Him. He cares only to celebrate that you are now with Him. When we are lost we have it even better than the sons in this story because Jesus goes out to find us to bring us to the Father.

Reconciled to God Forever
Jesus said in John 6:37 "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away." That is a true "never" for all who come to Him. Whenever you do something that you think comes between you and God it certainly does not. God NEVER drives you away once you come to Him. He does not count your sins against you, ever (2 Corinthians 5:19). He does not consider them. He does not take them into account. His perfect love makes it so you are never punished by Him (see 1 John 4:18). You have no need to fear. Allow His peace to take control of your heart (Colossians 3:15).

Summary
God is reconciled to all mankind.
    He has overcome any animosity He could have towards mankind by judging the world's sins in the body of Jesus
    He offers His friendship to all.
    His love, peace, favor, grace, & goodwill is extending to all.
    He forgave everyone and wants them to know it
   
God wants all people to be reconciled to Him.
    To know the peace He has made with us through the death of Jesus.
    To become aware of the good things He has done for us.
    To become aware of the good things He offers to us.
    To change our minds from distrust to trust.
    To accept all He longs to give us.

Additional Scriptures
The favor of God has appeared with salvation for all people (Titus 2:11)

Mankind treated God as an enemy yet God reconciled all men to Himself through the death of His Son. Since mankind is reconciled to God by His death people will abundantly be saved, cured, & made whole by his life. (Romans 5:10)

God has restored our relationship with himself through Christ, and has given us this task of restoring relationships. God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others. Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him. (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, GWT)

Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. Christ was without sin, but for our sake God made him take our sin in order that in union with him we might receive the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:19,21 GNB)

We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received relationship with God! (Romans 5:11)

My Paraphrase from 2 Corinthians 5-6
God the Father was in Jesus Christ on the cross making relationship with Himself available to the world by no longer counting people's sins against them. Christ died for all. God has given us this message of relationship to tell others. We speak on behalf of Christ when we plead, “Come to God!” Christ never sinned, but God made Him become sin for all so that all could be made right with God through trusting Christ and become the righteousness of God in Him.

God says to all, “At just the right time, I hear you. On the day of salvation, I help you.”

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. Now is the right time to call out to God. Today is the right day to be helped. Do not put it off.

By knowledge, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by genuine love, by truthful teaching, & by the power of God we tell these things to all.

We work together with Christ and we implore all who receive Christ,
"Please don't ignore one bit of this marvelous life of love & kindness God gives. From now on regard no one according to the flesh. All who are in Christ are new creatures, the old has died, and a new living spirit has been received! All of these things are gifts from God:  His Son, your freedom from sin, your freedom from being charged with sin, your being made right with God, your salvation, your relationship with God, His love, His favor, His grace, His kindness, His righteousness, & your new spirit that is born of God. He brought us to Himself through Christ. Christ died for all so that we who have living spirits no longer live alone but with Him who died for us and rose again. The love of Christ surrounds us!"