Your one new nature

Your one new nature

Your Spirit has been made new in Christ the old is gone and the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new and 18. All things are of God

Today we do not have two natures as religion has often taught us but we have one new nature created after Christ.

Let me just say that Christ would never share a house with the devil. Christ didn’t tell the devil move over I’m coming in to share this house with you. No when Christ came into your heart He evicted the devil once and for all out of your life. Even Christ said a house divided against itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:25) so why would He share the same house with your fallen nature? The answer is He does not!

Yes we were in Adam or in Sin until we were born again but once we are born again we were taken out of Adam and sin and placed into Christ and into His righteousness. So In Christ is our new position. We are not both in Adam and in Christ at the same time!

We are now a new creation in Christ the old is gone and the new has come and all things are of God.  And notice that I didn’t say this God did. So the truth is that we no longer have two natures inside of us like we have been taught fighting for dominance and control but we have one new nature and that is Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:22 for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

So if I only have one new nature what about the temptations I still feel in the flesh?

Well first of all temptation is not a sin but it’s what you do with the temptation that makes it a sin or not a sin..

Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Remember Jesus was tempted in all points just like we are but without sin so temptation is not sin. If temptation was a sin then Christ would have failed but we all know He didn’t.

S o what I’m saying is that even though we through the new birth only  have one new nature we still like Christ will be tempted but temptation is not sin. Temptation only becomes sin when we give into it.

So what happens if I give into sin?  Does that then make me a sinner? Let me say emphatically no! If you sin you do not suddenly become a sinner. Now this may shock some when I say this but as a new creation in Christ if you sin it does not suddenly make you a sinner you are still the righteousness of God in Christ and that will never change, unlike Adam who sinned once and died, lost His position with God and became a sinner through that one disobedient act of sin (remember God said in the day you eat you will die)under the new covenant this does not happen to us. Why? Because under the new covenant God has done something far better then what Adam had and that is He permanently joined us to himself and has sealed us with the Holy Spirit! Under the new covenant the blood of Christ continually cleanses us from all sin past , present and future. And why would God do this? There is only one word to explain it and that is LOVE..  God loves us so much that He doesn’t want anything to ever come between us and Him ever again. Romans 8: 31-37

Once you are made a new creation in Christ then you are new and nothing will change that. Let me ask you a question.  What did you do to become a sinner? The answer is nothing because you were born a sinner because of Adams sin and what is it that you do to become righteous? Again you did nothing it was through Christ’s obedience that makes us righteous and it’s through our faith in His obedience to the cross that we are born again and made new.

As we acknowledge our new reality in Christ  we will then be free from religious bondage and be transformed from the inside out by the Spirit of God.

 

As you have recieved Christ walk in Him

Col 2:6 tells us in the same way that you received Christ walk in Him.

How did you receive Christ? I know how I received Christ. I was reading the Bible one night and suddenly it was like a great light came on! God revealed His great love to me through the cross and all of a sudden I just knew that Jesus died on the cross just for me so that I could be forgiven, made righteous and enjoy Gods presence forever! And as I saw Gods great love me I couldn’t help but receive Him and follow Him. So today some 30 years later I am still instructed to follow Him every day in the very same way that I first received Him. Now religion will often tell you yes its good that you received Christ and experience His love for you when you first got saved but now that you are saved the honey moon is basically over and it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work . Religion will often tell you now that your saved here is  a list of things you must do in order to vigorously maintain your right standing and relationship with God and grow as a Christian and this list often includes things like, reading your bible every day, attending church every Sunday, tithing, volunteer work, witnessing, and so on. Now let me make it perfectly clear that all the things on the above list are not bad things. In fact It’s good to read your bible every day, attend church and give and so on, but the things on the list have nothing to do with your right standing with God or your salvation. We are saved today not because of anything we do but because of what Christ did over 2000 years ago, but  religion will often insist on trying to get you to begin to earn what God has given you freely and  wants to continue to freely give to you. Religion wants to shift you from love and grace to a system of works, performance and self centered disciplines and even dependence on them more then Christ and the Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Paul continually faced this same dilemma with the early church. The Apostle Paul preached the cross, grace through faith and the free gift of righteousness but then religion would come along  behind him and preach a system of works and a fleshly maintenance program.  So Paul asked the church in Galatia this question “you who began by the spirit are you now made perfect by your own works?”

Galatians 3:1   (Amplified)

O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified?

 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing [the message of the Gospel] and believing [it]? [Was it from observing a law of rituals or from a message of faith?]

 Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?

Paul is saying that we are to walk with the Lord and we are perfected everyday in the same way that we received Him! By grace through faith! We do not receive Jesus by faith and then turn to some kind of self determination self effort program to maintain and grow in the Lord. No! We grow in the Lord the same way that we received Him! We simply keep our eyes on the Gods great love for us demonstrated through the cross and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We don’t grow in the Lord through some kind of fleshly maintenance program. We don’t grow in the Lord through our own self effort or  disciplines or by the works of the flesh or reading thousands of how to books or through systems or rituals but we grow as we continue to embrace Gods great love for us and His Life. As a matter of fact when you turn from following the Spirit and turn to your own fleshly effort for growth it actually frustrates Gods grace, feeds your own pride and will stunt your growth! This is why many people who have been in church for years who are still babies in Christ. There growth has been stunted because they turn from the grace of God; the love of God and the Spirit of God to dependence on systems and the flesh for perfection. I always said that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian no more than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger. The only thing that grows in those who are dependent on their own fleshly disciplines for growth is their own pride and arrogance.

Col 2:16

¹⁶ Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath.

¹⁷ Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ.

¹⁸ Let no one defraud you by acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions [he claims] he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit,

¹⁹ And not holding fast to the Head, from Whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

²⁰ If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things and have escaped from the world’s crude and elemental notions and teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? [Why do you submit to rules and regulations?—such as]

²¹ Do not handle [this], Do not taste [that], Do not even touch [them],

²² Referring to things all of which perish with being used. To do this is to follow human precepts and doctrines.

²³ Such [practices] have indeed the outward appearance [that popularly passes] for wisdom, in promoting self-imposed rigor of devotion and delight in self-humiliation and severity of discipline of the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh (the lower nature). [Instead, they do not honor God but serve only to indulge the flesh.]

A new constraint

John 1:17                                                                                                                                                             for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

First notice that truth is on the side of grace. Today if you are not preaching grace then you are not really preaching the truth that will set people free from sin.

Romans 6:14                                                                                                                                                       for sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

The only way that people will ever be set free from the power of sin is to preach grace. The law gives strength to sin but grace sets people free from sins dominion.

There are two main covenants in the Bible the old and the new or law and grace.  We are no longer under the law but grace. If we mix the two then this mixed gospel produces failure and frustration. Many Christians today continually fail and are frustrated because they are still under a mixture of law and grace. Many teachers and preachers today preach a mixture of law and grace because they are afraid that people will just run wild in sin if they don’t somehow balance grace with the law but if you will read the bible carefully you will see that it was at the cross the law was taken out of the way and grace established.

The law was kind of like a leash on a dog. A leash is a physical restraint that keeps the dog under control. The law is also referred to as the letter but when Christ died the law was taken out of the way. It’s kind of like the leash was taken off the dog. So what happens when the leash is taken off the dog? One of two things will happen. First the dog may run off because he is free from the leash. Second the dog make run off for a little while but he will eventually come back to the one who held the leash because the dog knows that the one who holds the leash loves him, feeds him. Takes care of him and is for him not against him.  Now like the dog as you take the leash law away and preach grace there will be many Christians who may just run wild for a short season but if they have truly been born again they like the prodigal will always come to their senses and come back to the one who they know loves them, feeds them and protects them.

Today under the new covenant we are no longer under the letter of the law but under grace that is we are not constrained by the physical leash of the law or the letter but we have a new constraint and its an invisible constraint called Gods unconditional love and the Spirit of life.  Today we are constrained because we know that God is for us and not against us.  Today we are constrained because we know that to be in our father house is really the only safe place to be. Today we are constrained by Gods life. Remember when most of the disciples at one point quit following Jesus and then Jesus turned to those who were left and said will you also go? And they said where we are going to go you have the words of eternal life! The disciples were constrained by the life of Jesus not the law and as preachers we have no right to put the leash of the law back on people in an effort to control and constrain them because we are afraid if we preach too much grace they will run wild, it is not our business to try and constrain people it is our job to preach the gospel of grace and life. Jesus did not say I have come to give you religion and rules no He said I have come that you might have life! The main reason people followed Jesus was because He loved them, forgave them and gave them life . The law came by moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Today we need a revelation of Gods great unconditional love for us and His love will constrain us.

Constrained by Gods Love

John 1:17                                                                                                                                                                for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

First notice that truth is on the side of grace. Today if you are not preaching grace then you are not really preaching the truth that will set people free from sin.

Romans 6:14                                                                                                                                                      for sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

The only way that people will ever be set free from the power of sin is to preach grace. The law gives strength to sin but grace sets people free from sins dominion.

There are two main covenants in the Bible the old and the new or law and grace.  We are no longer under the law but grace. If we mix the two then this mixed gospel produces failure and frustration. Many Christians today continually fail and are frustrated because they are still under a mixture of law and grace. Many teachers and preachers today preach a mixture of law and grace because they are afraid that people will just run wild in sin if they don’t somehow balance grace with the law but if you will read the bible carefully you will see that it was at the cross the law was taken out of the way and grace established.

The law was kind of like a leash on a dog. A leash is a physical restraint that keeps the dog under control. The law is also referred to as the letter but when Christ died the law was taken out of the way. It’s kind of like the leash was taken off the dog. So what happens when the leash is taken off the dog? One of two things will happen. First the dog may run off because he is free from the leash. Second the dog make run off for a little while but he will eventually come back to the one who held the leash because the dog knows that the one who holds the leash loves him, feeds him. Takes care of him and is for him not against him.  Now like the dog as you take the leash law away and preach grace there will be many Christians who may just run wild for a short season but if they have truly been born again they like the prodigal will always come to their senses and come back to the one who they know loves them, feeds them and protects them.

Today under the new covenant we are no longer under the letter of the law but under grace that is we are not constrained by the physical leash of the law or the letter but we have a new constraint and its an invisible constraint called Gods unconditional love and the Spirit of life.  Today we are constrained because we know that God is for us and not against us.  Today we are constrained because we know that to be in our father house is really the only safe place to be. Today we are constrained by Gods life. Remember when most of the disciples at one point quit following Jesus and then Jesus turned to those who were left and said will you also go? And they said where we are going to go you have the words of eternal life! The disciples were constrained by the life of Jesus not the law and as preachers we have no right to put the leash of the law back on people in an effort to control and constrain them because we are afraid if we preach too much grace they will run wild, it is not our business to try and constrain people it is our job to preach the gospel of grace and life. Jesus did not say I have come to give you religion and rules no He said I have come that you might have life! The main reason people followed Jesus was because He loved them, forgave them and gave them life . The law came by moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Today we need a revelation of Gods great unconditional love for us and His love will constrain us.

The God of Much More

Notice the words much more. Much more does not mean less it means more than before. The bible says if when we were sinners God loved us how much more will He not love us and freely give us all things now that we are saved and born into His family. The word teaches that Gods goodness, grace and blessing actually increase after were saved more than before but religion often teaches the very opposite. Religion will often imply that God is actually somehow less tolerant and more judgmental toward you after you’re saved then before you’re saved. Religion will often teach that before your saved even though you were in sin, sleeping around, doing all kind of immoral things that God still loves you and is patient toward you and extends His grace toward you( while we were yet sinners Christ died) but now after you are saved  if you so much as think a bad thought or skip reading your bible or say don’t attend church one Sunday or maybe you don’t tithe like your told to that God is ready to smack you even curse you or allow some kind of sickness or tragedy to come in your life to teach you a lesson ! It’s like we portray God as someone who before we are joined to Him  wines us and dines us and  tells us how much He loves us , who looks beyond all our faults and only sees our need but then right after we are married He suddenly changes into another person. Now that we are married to Him If we don’t do the dishes right or say even one little thing that is out of place then God is ready to smack us, Judge us. I have actually heard teaching that pictures God shaking us over hell on a rotten stick! I mean  if we so much as slip, if we don’t read our bible every day or attend church every time the doors are open then God will be disappointed with us ,  angry with us or even turn His back on us or threatens to even withdraw His presence from us  and He  might if we are not careful He just might even write ichabod  over our house. What happen to the much more? If God loved us before we were sinners how much more now that we are save will he not extend His grace and love to us? Im beginning to see that those in  religion or legalism simply do not understand the much more love of God

Religion believes that God is merciful to the sinner but He is hard on the Christian especially if they slip.

To illustrate this point say if someone comes into the church who is lost most would find someone to minister Gods love and grace to that lost person but say the lost person gets saved and then comes back to church the next Sunday drunk all of a sudden they will not be met with the same love and  mercy that they did before but they will be met with a different  message of God is not pleased with you, God is angry with you, God is ready to smack you unless you straighten up your act. It will be more of a message of condemnation and judgment instead of love and grace.

Religion will always tie Gods love with  performance.

Remember in Luke 15 when the prodigal left home? And when he came back the father did not love him less if anything He loved him even more!  In fact the father killed the fatted calf and threw a big party for him but notice when the elder brother drew near and saw the much more party going on he didn’t understand it, in fact he actually got angry at the father. He felt the father should not have loved him more but actually less. He probably felt that the father should have made him to pay for what his backslidden ways but God is not like that. Religion often paints a wrong picture of God that says Gods love is based upon our own disciplines and performance but the reality is that God will always love us and is always ready to extend even more of His love, grace and goodness to us if we will simply come to Him and if God loved us before we were saved He will love us much more. Why because we are in a new position in the Lord. We have actually now been created new and joined to the Lord who is love. God’s love does not decrease when we come to Him it increases. We are baptized into His love. To say God somehow loves you less when you are placed into Him is like saying “if I step  into the ocean I will be less wet! “ that’s impossible! You will not be less wet you will be more wet!

Romans 5:9 much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Romans 5:10  for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Do you understand that when we were placed into Christ through the new birth we were also placed into His Love and His very Life! We were baptized into Christ! Joined with Him and now we are one spirit with Him,

Romans 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Romans 5;17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Matthew 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith

Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

God is a much more God!

The 3 that died on the cross

 Did you know that three died on the same cross that Christ died on? First Christ died, second the old you died and third the law died. We must recognize the death of all three to be free.

First we know that Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8                                                                                                                                                                                     But God commanded his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us

But second the Bible says that we also died with Him and we must recognize this reality death as well.

 Romans 6:5-11

⁵ For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God].

⁶ We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin.

⁷ For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from [the power of] sin [among men].

⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

⁹ Because we know that Christ (the Anointed One), being once raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him.

¹⁰ For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].

¹¹ Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.

The Bible says that when Christ died that our old self was also nailed to the cross with Him and died. If we are to be free from sin then we must recognize this fact.

Many in church today still teach that our old man is still alive in us today but that is completely contrary to scripture because it is very clear that when Christ was nailed to the cross our old nature was nailed with him and its is not until we completely recognize this reality truth that we will finally be from the power of sin and alive to God..

Many still teach that we have two natures the old and the new nature inside and depending on which one we feed the most will determine which will rule in our lives. This sounds good but this again is not right!  The bible says we have one new nature not two and if we are to be free from sin we must recognize that the old nature died with Christ , was nailed to the tree  this is why the Apostle Paul says this in

Galatians 2:20                                                                                                                                                                                               I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Now this may be hard for your mind to comprehend but in the eternal realm your old man, the old you was already crucified with Christ. It is D.E.A.D dead! Do not let anyone to ever tell you that you still have an old nature because if you have put your faith in Christ you do not.

2 Corinthians 5:17                                                                                                                                                                     Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold the fresh and new has come!

You are not the same old you. You are a new creation in Christ. The old you is gone and the new has come!

Again the key to be free is to recognize the death of all 3… Christ, Your old nature and now last the Law.

Colossians 2:14                                                                                                                                                                                having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.

How was the law dealt with? It was also nailed to the cross. The law was nailed to the same cross that Chris died on. The Bible says that the law actually worked against us and was hostile to us. The law also empowered sin in our lives but the law was taken out of the way and nailed to the cross so that we are no longer under the law today but we are now under grace !

Hebrews 7:19                                                                                                                                                                                                    For the Law never made anything perfect—but instead a better hope is introduced through which we [now] come close to God.

The Law never made anything perfect So why was the law given? To introduce us to a better hope and that hope is Christ! Christ is our new life and our hope and we are made righteous today through faith in Christ not the Law.

 

Romans 7:4                                                                                                                                                                                   Likewise, my brethren, you have undergone death as to the Law through the [crucified] body of Christ, so that now you may belong to another, to Him Who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.

The Law  was nailed to the cross and the Law died to us through the body of Christ so that we could be completely be free to be joined or married to Christ in order that we may be able to bear fruit unto God.

Romans 6:14

¹⁴ For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy].

¹⁵ What then [are we to conclude]? Shall we sin because we live not under Law but under God’s favor and mercy? Certainly not!

¹⁶ Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)?

¹⁷ But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed.

We will be free as we recognize the death of all 3 Christ, our old man and the law.

Now this is where the problem lies in much of the church. First we teach that Christ died for past sin but not present our future sin, second we teach that our old man is not dead but still alive and last we teach that we are still alive to the law. No wonder most Christians spend their entire lives  in bondage they have not yet come into agreement with reality truth of the 3 that died.

 

 

Signed, Sealed , Delivered Im Yours

The gospel is in Romans 5:10 we are reconciled through His death but we are saved through His life. We are justified and made righteous by faith in the finished work of the cross and the shed blood of Jesus but we are actually saved and transformed by His life or by the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of grace and life that now lives and works in us.  You could say the blood of Christ is what cleaned and prepared the house for the Holy Spirit to be able to move into. The Holy Spirit could not move into a dirty house.  The house had to be clean first. Now religion will often imply that man can clean up his own house but that is impossible the only thing that can clean the house is the blood of Jesus as the old song says “what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Jesus”.  Once we believe the blood of Jesus then cleans the house from all sin and all unrighteousness.

Now what I’m beginning to realize is that most Christians have the first half the of the gospel right but in most cases they are completely ignorant of the second half of the gospel. In other words they are only receiving and believing 50% of the gospel. The first half of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins and reconciled us back to God but the second half of the gospel is that Christ rose from then dead and then actually put His own life and nature in us to live in us, through us, as us. The other half of the gospel is the reality of Galatians 2:20 that says  “it’s no longer I that lives but now Christ that lives in me and the life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me. The gospel is that we rest in the finished work of the cross for righteousness and we also  rest and cling to the  very life and the power of the Spirit who now lives in us for salvation and complete transformation.

The Gospel is  2 Corinthians 5:17 amp.

 Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold the fresh and new has come!

The gospel is that once you believe and receive Christ you are instantly  cleansed of all unrighteousness and through the power of the Holy Spirit we are made into a new creation altogether. Now our body may look the same after the Holy Spirit comes in and often times we may not feel too much different then we use to, but on the inside that is in our spirit we  are a brand new creation where old things have passed away and all things have been created brand new and all things are of God ! In other words it’s a done deal..

When we sold our house recently we had to go to a notary who places a seal on the signed papers to make it official. Once the house closed the deal was finished or in other words it’s a done deal! Today I don’t even think about the house like I use to. I don’t worry if the lawn is being mowed or if the house is being taken care of. Why? Because the house no longer belongs to me but to someone else. There is  a scripture that  reminds me  about the official seal that God has place on our lives as well

Ephesians 1:13-14   It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

 Isn’t it  kind of funny how that religion  seems to work hard to get you to always doubt your salvation but the truth is that God wants you to be fully persuaded that you are His and that what He began He will finish.

The Bible says that when we put our faith in Christ that we are actually joined with the Lord , made to be one Spirit with Him and then officially signed, sealed and delivered by the Holy Spirit and we are promise that God will finish what He started. In other words it’s a done deal!

Like the Old Mow Town song says I’m signed, sealed delivered, I’m yours…

Religion wants us to doubt our salvation so that we will be dependent on a system of works and our own self disciplines to keep us a float but God wants the very opposite He wants us to be fully persuaded and convinced of what has already been done through and in His Son . God wants us to be completely convinced that what He began He will finish. God wants fully convinced that we have been made new creations in Christ and that old things have passed away and all things have become new. God  wants us to be fully convinced and persuaded that we are the righteousness of God in Christ and that nothing will ever be able to separate us from Him and His love ever again !  The apostle Paul speaks of this persuasion in Romans 8:31-37

A true preacher of the gospel does not sow seeds of doubt and condemnation but they will preach the good news , the gospel that fully persuades people to believe they are clean through the blood of Christ and made new by the recreation of the Spirit and sealed with the promise of the Spirit.

The Swing

First we must understand that man is Spirit, Soul and Body.

The soul can swing back and forth from time to time and is often full of noise and fluctuations. The Soul is your mind, will and emotions, Imaginations and appetites. The Soul can have mood swings but the Spirit is noiseless, it is stable, it is perfect, it is one with God and God wants us to walk after the Spirit not after the fluctuations of the Soul. The Soul should follow the Spirit. Jesus was not led by His soul but by the Spirit.  So how do we follow the Spirit instead of being tossed around in agitation by the dictates of the soul? First we cannot stop the fluctuations of the soul and follow the spirit through our own sheer determination and will power but we must learn to instead set our minds on those things that God says are fixed and stable. As we set our minds on the that which is fixed and  stable than our soul will become more stable as well and less prone to swings

To illustrate a swing has two parts there is the rope and seat or the swing part and then there is the fixed part or the part where the swing is attached, fixed and stable that never moves. The fixed part is what supports the swing part and keeps it from falling. It’s also interesting to note that a child will never look at the fixed part but only the swing part while an adult often first looks at  the fixed part  or the part that holds and supports the swing. The swing part is our soul or our mind, will and emotions and the fixed part is our spirit, it is Jesus and it is reality truth of the gospel.

To see more stability in our life we must learn to fix our eyes on that which is fixed and not the swing. So what is fixed?

First Gods love for you is fixed

God loves you unconditionally and there is nothing that you could ever do to change that. God will always love you. God’s love is unconditional. God isn’t in a swivel chair. God’s love does not fluctuate with your behavior but God keeps on loving you when you’re doing good or bad. You cannot exhaust the the love that God has for you. In fact it would be easier to empty the ocean with a Dixie cup then to exhaust Gods love for you. When the prodigal son came home he did not find a judgmental, condemning father no! He found a father full of love forgiveness and ready to restore his son back to his rightful place. Give into Gods great love today and it will change your heart and life.

 2^nd Know that God is always for you and never, never against you.

 3^rd  you are to always keep your eyes fixed on Jesus your advocate, your high priest and the author and finisher of your faith. He that began a good work in you will finish it! This is fixed into motion

 4^th   you are the righteousness of God in Christ this Is your fixed place and nature and there is nothing that you can do that will ever change that. This must be a fixed place in your mind you are righteous when you’re doing good and you’re righteous when you’re not doing so good. You were made to be the righteousness of God in Christ. You are a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

 

 5^th There is no condemnation for those in Christ. Romans 8:1. Never receive condemnation because it’s not from God. God has justified you all sin has been paid for and there is no more condemnation coming to you from God.

Romans 8:31-39 must become a fixed place in your mind

 ³¹ What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

³² He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

³³ Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

³⁴ Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

³⁶ As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

6^th      We are no longer under the law but under grace. We are no longer under the old covenant but under a brand new covenant with better promises                                                                                                                              

 7^th always be thankful in everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you.

 8^th  We are to stay in rest. Rest is where we are to always stay and live. Rest is the faith that says it’s all been done and there is nothing left for us to do but to receive and enjoy all the blessings of God and to walk with God and enjoy God forever.

 

The Word of God is Living and Powerful

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Not only do we need to read Gods word but we need to hear Gods word every day. why? Because it is living and  powerful and sharper than any two edged sword and the word helps us to keep on track of what is Him or Us. The soul is our mind, will, emotions. Imaginations and appetites and often times we will make decisions based on our soul or our own emotions and imaginations rather then what the word is saying to us but the word of God helps to cut through all the emotional soulish noise and discern what is truly the mind of God in every given situation.. Are you looking for answers to life’s questions or need direction? Then get into the word and keep your heart open to what God is saying. He will lead and guide you into all truth. Jesus was led by the spirit not His soul. We too are called to be spirit led and the spirit and the word always agree.

A skilled meat cutter knows how to cut and trim meat. He knows how with a sharp knife to trim away the waste and keep the good stuff. This in essence is what the word of God does.  God’s word keeps us on track with the spirit and it keeps us from just making decisions based on our own emotions and appetites. Remember when the disciples said to give Jesus something to eat and His response was my meat is to do the will of the one who has sent me. Jesus was not led by what His emotions or appetites or even His own imaginations told Him to do but He was led by the Spirit and the word of God

We have all heard about impulse buying and  know that many in marketing and in business today know how to display products or say things to get people to purchase products based on their emotions. I know many who have gotten into extreme debt because of an emotional purchase. They often buy things that they cannot afford and then when the bill comes they say “O know what have I done!”. It’s the same way with many of life’s decisions. This can even happen with people who get involved in wrong relationships that they often regret later on. We know Gods word says for us to not be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever but often times many will still  jump and make decisions based on their own emotions and needs rather then what the Spirit and the word of God is saying. For example the emotional feeling of loneliness or fear of being alone can be a very powerful force and then someone comes along that looks like a pretty good prospect to fill the bill, but deep down they know God is saying no, but they instead allow their soulish emotions to over ride the Spirit and  jump into the relationship any way and ten later on regret the decision. This is just one example out of many but the important thing is that we do not allow the enemy to come to us with his bag of merchandise to keep us jumping here and there in our emotions but that we  instead learn to stay in the word  because it will cut through all the soulish emotional mess and it will help us to stay on track and to be truly led by the Spirit. The word of God is sharp the only thing that will give us true discernment for all of life’s decisions. As David said about Gods word in Psalms

Psalm 119:105                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

 

Recievers not Achievers

Romans 1:17

The Righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,, not from faith to law or faith to works but faith to faith and the Bible says that the just will live by faith.

Romans 11:6   we are saved by grace through faith and not by works.

⁶ And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

Its either all grace or all works but not both.. We do not start off in grace and then maintain our salvation through works as most churches imply or even boldly teach. No we are save by grace and its by Gods grace that we will arrive to our final destination. It is grace, grace, grace and not of works lest any man should boast.

Galatians 2:16                                                                                                                                                                              Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Ephesians 2:8-10

 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The works are works that God has ordained for us to walk in are a result of our right believing and resting in the finished work of Christ. These works are the fruit of the Spirit. They have nothing to do with salvation or earning your right standing with God. These works are a result of your believing that you are already in right standing with God and as a result of your right believing then your heart is changed and good works of the spirit will become evident in your life. But your works have nothing to do with your being in right standing with God. Your right standing with God is a gift from God through the work of Christ at the cross

We are not achievers of God’s Grace but we are believers of God’s Grace

Titus 3:5                                                                                                                                                                                              Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Romans 4:3-5                                                                                                                                                                                        for what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁴ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt

⁵ But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness

 

Of course those still in the law or mixture of law and grace will always say “well what about James?” James says faith without works is dead! Those under the law will always go to James because they have a works mentality. Works for those under the law is like a security blanket. If you threaten to take away their works blanket then they begin to cry out “but what about James!” James says faith without works is dead! But we need to understand that the works that James was speaking of was not speaking of the works of the flesh for righteousness or Justification but he is speaking about works that come as a result from right believing. In other words if you believe the right way then fruit will naturally follow. The fruit of the spirit are these works of faith that James is speaking about but these works have nothing to do with earning salvation or righteousness because it is very clear that righteousness is a gift from God that can never be earned by works’

The only way for us to ever reign in this life is to stop trying to earn what God has already freely given to us. In other words we quit trying to be achievers and start being receivers.

Romans 5:17                                                                                                                                                                                                For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus

Too many have been duked by the devil and wrong teaching into thinking that they begin by the gift of grace and but then somehow must now earn or maintain their way with God through fleshly works and effort but this is not true. The only way that we will ever continue to reign in this life is to continue to receive Gods grace and the free gift of righteousness.. Again we must stop trying to be achievers and start being receivers.