Living by the Grace of God, Part 3
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Saturday, October 10, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Blood of the Lamb
Revelation 12:10-11: “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Believers in Christ will not deny that the primary purpose of existence of the Church in the world is to witness to the saving grace of God in forgiving and cleansing the sins of all who come to believe in Jesus Christ as Saviour. A fundamental element of the Christian faith is the power of the blood of Christ to cleanse of all sin and unrighteousness. But the Holy Spirit often leads us into situations where we must confront the reality of whether we believe the Gospel we preach.
We show great zeal in going about telling sinners about the cleansing power of the blood and the mercy and grace of God to forgive them of their sins, forget their past, and make them completely new creatures. Then these sinners follow us to our church meetings only to hear us excuse our own ongoing vices as though by just joining a church and professing Christianity we obtain divine license to do the same things we ask them to repent of and told them the blood of Christ would cleanse them from. But that’s not all. And this is the issue being highlighted in this message.
If they stay around it does not take them long for the sinners we invite to join our churches to discover by the comments they hear us whisper about one another and the snobbery they see in our regards for one another that the cleansing of the blood is not all that significant in qualifying one for regards of trust and respect or recommendations for offices in the church. It becomes obvious to them that one’s faultless past and high social regards remain primary qualifications for treatments of respect and assignment to offices in the church rather than the cleansing of sinners by the blood of Lamb. In other words, to many professing Christians today, the ugly sinful past of others is never washed away by the blood of Lamb and buried in the sea of forgetfulness.
One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children.
It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This is when the problems began. You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son. The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting. As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past.
As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be. He began to speak and his statement was this: "My fiancée's past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?"
The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lamb of God. Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters. Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.
When we dig up again the buried past of other Christians, snob them because of their past reputation, or even hold them in suspicion because of unfounded accusations, we are demonstrating our scepticism about the cleansing power of the Blood of the Lamb. In addition, we are joining with the devil “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night.” We are warned in Hebrews 10:29: “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
Believers in Christ will not deny that the primary purpose of existence of the Church in the world is to witness to the saving grace of God in forgiving and cleansing the sins of all who come to believe in Jesus Christ as Saviour. A fundamental element of the Christian faith is the power of the blood of Christ to cleanse of all sin and unrighteousness. But the Holy Spirit often leads us into situations where we must confront the reality of whether we believe the Gospel we preach.
We show great zeal in going about telling sinners about the cleansing power of the blood and the mercy and grace of God to forgive them of their sins, forget their past, and make them completely new creatures. Then these sinners follow us to our church meetings only to hear us excuse our own ongoing vices as though by just joining a church and professing Christianity we obtain divine license to do the same things we ask them to repent of and told them the blood of Christ would cleanse them from. But that’s not all. And this is the issue being highlighted in this message.
If they stay around it does not take them long for the sinners we invite to join our churches to discover by the comments they hear us whisper about one another and the snobbery they see in our regards for one another that the cleansing of the blood is not all that significant in qualifying one for regards of trust and respect or recommendations for offices in the church. It becomes obvious to them that one’s faultless past and high social regards remain primary qualifications for treatments of respect and assignment to offices in the church rather than the cleansing of sinners by the blood of Lamb. In other words, to many professing Christians today, the ugly sinful past of others is never washed away by the blood of Lamb and buried in the sea of forgetfulness.
One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children.
It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor's son. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This is when the problems began. You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor's son. The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting. As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past.
As she began to cry the pastor's son stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be. He began to speak and his statement was this: "My fiancée's past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?"
The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lamb of God. Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters. Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.
When we dig up again the buried past of other Christians, snob them because of their past reputation, or even hold them in suspicion because of unfounded accusations, we are demonstrating our scepticism about the cleansing power of the Blood of the Lamb. In addition, we are joining with the devil “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night.” We are warned in Hebrews 10:29: “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Broken Reeds and Smoking Flax
We read in Isaiah 42:3: “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.”
Isaiah is referring to the mission of Jesus Christ to bring life and restoration. According to Isaiah, the ministry of Jesus Christ would be a ministry of life and restoration and not of death and condemnation. “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.”
What are bruised reeds and smoking flax? A reed is a straight stalk of grass. A field of grass would have countless stalks or reeds. Obviously, in a field of grass the significance of one stalk would be minimal, and much less would be a bruised one which may likely wither quickly. Flax is a plant produced for its fibre. Smoking flax may appear useless for two reasons. One is smoke is a nuisance and may be a signal of unwanted fire. The other is if flax is being burnt for its heat, smoking flax may be a sign of smothered or dying fire and would be considered unnecessary. So for either reason one does not need smoking flax.
But why then would Jesus not break a bruised reed or quench smoking flax? While a bruised reed is just a faulty withering stalk of weed among many unscarred stalks in a field, it still has the potential to be restored to a healthy plant. In a similar way, while smoking flax is a nuisance it can be fanned into useful flames. Not to break a bruised reed or put out smoking flax is to demonstrate hope in the potential of the bruised reed to heal and the smoking flax to rekindle.
Now, what about the bruised reeds and smoking flax among us today? Bruised reeds and smoking flax are usually among the outcasts of religious establishments. Bruised and smouldering, their inner potential for life and restoration is completely dismissed. Their outward bruises and flameless cinders make them rejects by the Pharisaic standards of mainstream religions. This is usually due to two obvious reasons. One is that their bruises and suppressed spirits may be the direct results of persecutions from the cold and callous hand of loveless religious snobbery and authoritarianism. The other is that cold and callous religious establishments, void of the life-giving power of the Spirit to heal and revive, cover their shameful helplessness by shunning and condemning the wounded and the faint.
God, however, sees beyond the bruises and smoke which conceal the undying purpose and inextinguishable fire born of the Spirit of God in hearts of those who are His, yet are judged unfit by the uncharitable yardstick of men's religious traditions and arrogance. “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Usually, as history often shows, it is through the healing of rejected bruised reeds and the rekindling of discarded smoking flax that the ongoing move of the Spirit of God breaks out. Jesus Christ was rejected by His own people. Martin Luther, whom God used to provide leadership to the reformation movement, was thrown out of the Roman Catholic Church. The Pentecostal movement of the early 20th century was despised as fanaticism. The Latter Rain movement of the mid-20th century was shunned as heresy.
The history of God's dealings with mankind indicates that mainstream religious establishments seemed to have always failed to recognize the true direction of the move of the Spirit of God, and have had the tendency to reject those in whom the Spirit of God is moving even when they themselves have had their historical origins in similar radical movements. It seems so common for spiritual movements which were once aflame and empowered by the life of the Spirit of God to become settled in a stagnant pool of accumulated traditions and forms which refuse to flow with any ongoing move of the Spirit in life-giving truths and power. It is in these stagnant pools of religious traditions and forms that unyielding structures of positions and arrogance arise.
A usual unfortunate consequence is that they who once were persecuted for righteousness' sake become the persecutors of them who are moved in the newness of righteous living in Christ and by the ongoing flow of the Spirit of God. Limited now by a narrow view by which they see their past experiences as the beginning and end for all God does in the Church they have no regard or tolerance for the ongoing move of the Spirit of God in new areas. They easily embark on a crusade of breaking bruised reeds and quenching smoking flax.
Someone wrote to me these inspiring words along this line: “Christ-like mentality produces life; the Law only produced death. Let no man try to destroy the dreams that are produced out of the relationship between you and your Father. Those who live under the Law will try to bring death to all of the God produced thoughts that pour out of your belly like living water.”
Isaiah is referring to the mission of Jesus Christ to bring life and restoration. According to Isaiah, the ministry of Jesus Christ would be a ministry of life and restoration and not of death and condemnation. “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.”
What are bruised reeds and smoking flax? A reed is a straight stalk of grass. A field of grass would have countless stalks or reeds. Obviously, in a field of grass the significance of one stalk would be minimal, and much less would be a bruised one which may likely wither quickly. Flax is a plant produced for its fibre. Smoking flax may appear useless for two reasons. One is smoke is a nuisance and may be a signal of unwanted fire. The other is if flax is being burnt for its heat, smoking flax may be a sign of smothered or dying fire and would be considered unnecessary. So for either reason one does not need smoking flax.
But why then would Jesus not break a bruised reed or quench smoking flax? While a bruised reed is just a faulty withering stalk of weed among many unscarred stalks in a field, it still has the potential to be restored to a healthy plant. In a similar way, while smoking flax is a nuisance it can be fanned into useful flames. Not to break a bruised reed or put out smoking flax is to demonstrate hope in the potential of the bruised reed to heal and the smoking flax to rekindle.
Now, what about the bruised reeds and smoking flax among us today? Bruised reeds and smoking flax are usually among the outcasts of religious establishments. Bruised and smouldering, their inner potential for life and restoration is completely dismissed. Their outward bruises and flameless cinders make them rejects by the Pharisaic standards of mainstream religions. This is usually due to two obvious reasons. One is that their bruises and suppressed spirits may be the direct results of persecutions from the cold and callous hand of loveless religious snobbery and authoritarianism. The other is that cold and callous religious establishments, void of the life-giving power of the Spirit to heal and revive, cover their shameful helplessness by shunning and condemning the wounded and the faint.
God, however, sees beyond the bruises and smoke which conceal the undying purpose and inextinguishable fire born of the Spirit of God in hearts of those who are His, yet are judged unfit by the uncharitable yardstick of men's religious traditions and arrogance. “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Usually, as history often shows, it is through the healing of rejected bruised reeds and the rekindling of discarded smoking flax that the ongoing move of the Spirit of God breaks out. Jesus Christ was rejected by His own people. Martin Luther, whom God used to provide leadership to the reformation movement, was thrown out of the Roman Catholic Church. The Pentecostal movement of the early 20th century was despised as fanaticism. The Latter Rain movement of the mid-20th century was shunned as heresy.
The history of God's dealings with mankind indicates that mainstream religious establishments seemed to have always failed to recognize the true direction of the move of the Spirit of God, and have had the tendency to reject those in whom the Spirit of God is moving even when they themselves have had their historical origins in similar radical movements. It seems so common for spiritual movements which were once aflame and empowered by the life of the Spirit of God to become settled in a stagnant pool of accumulated traditions and forms which refuse to flow with any ongoing move of the Spirit in life-giving truths and power. It is in these stagnant pools of religious traditions and forms that unyielding structures of positions and arrogance arise.
A usual unfortunate consequence is that they who once were persecuted for righteousness' sake become the persecutors of them who are moved in the newness of righteous living in Christ and by the ongoing flow of the Spirit of God. Limited now by a narrow view by which they see their past experiences as the beginning and end for all God does in the Church they have no regard or tolerance for the ongoing move of the Spirit of God in new areas. They easily embark on a crusade of breaking bruised reeds and quenching smoking flax.
Someone wrote to me these inspiring words along this line: “Christ-like mentality produces life; the Law only produced death. Let no man try to destroy the dreams that are produced out of the relationship between you and your Father. Those who live under the Law will try to bring death to all of the God produced thoughts that pour out of your belly like living water.”
Monday, February 09, 2009
New Creation Christians: All Things Are New
2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
We will now examine the final characteristic of the new creation Christians described in 2 Corinthians 5:17. It reveals the complete newness of the new creation Christian. No other description of the new creation Christian is as impressive as this one. It defines the newness of the entire character of one who is in Christ – all is new!
It is important to note here too, like we have done before, the plainness with which the word of God describes the newness of the character of anyone who is in Christ. The Scripture passage does not mention a gradual process of renewal. It does not say, for example, some aspects of the character of one in Christ are new and other aspects are still old and the old ones are gradually receding. Nor does it say newness of character is gradually emerging while there are still some of the old things remaining to be dealt with as time goes on. The Holy Spirit makes a plain, comprehensive statement of an accomplished fact there – behold, all things have become new. Newness is thorough and accomplished.
Do you hear this positive Gospel preached today? If you are blessed to hear it, you have heard the word of God, spoken as the Holy Spirit has given it. And it certainly would have inspired your faith to know and believe who you really are, if you are a believer in Christ. If you are not a believer in Christ such a message would tell you the character you can miraculously become if you become a believer in Christ.
It is important for us to realize that, as the Scriptures emphasize, the real faith that produces real salvation comes from hearing and believing the true Gospel as presented in the Scriptures. We read in Romans 10:16-17: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ Then faith is of hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
When the Scriptures declare that God has transformed any one in Christ into a completely new creation, this is the Gospel that is to be preached, heard, and believed, and it will produce real salvation results. It witnesses to the truth that God does not produce incompleteness. Who dares find fault or impurity in that which God declares He has made new?
The newness of the Christian life is brought out convincingly in the Gospel’s description of salvation.
Jesus points out in Matthew 9:16-17: “No one puts a piece of new cloth onto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; else the wineskins burst, and the wine runs out, and the wineskins perish. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved together.”
We read also in Ephesians 4:21-24: “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
Paul is quite explicit about the termination of our old nature of sin and the bringing forth of a newness of life through our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ in the work of salvation. We read in Romans 6:1-6: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
It is clear to us that the message of the Gospel as presented in the Scriptures are radical in relation to some of what we know is taught by men as the Gospel. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of any medicine is in its purity. Men’s distortion and modification of the word of God to fit their reasoning will not produce the faith in the hearers, as well as the miraculous effects, that the pure word of God can. It is the incorruptible seed of the word of God that gives birth to God’s incorruptible children. Hence, it is necessary that, if we are going to benefit from the power of the Gospel message unto salvation, we accept the word of God as He declares it, believe it, meditate on it, agree with God, and let His word accomplish in us what He decrees it to accomplish.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
We will now examine the final characteristic of the new creation Christians described in 2 Corinthians 5:17. It reveals the complete newness of the new creation Christian. No other description of the new creation Christian is as impressive as this one. It defines the newness of the entire character of one who is in Christ – all is new!
It is important to note here too, like we have done before, the plainness with which the word of God describes the newness of the character of anyone who is in Christ. The Scripture passage does not mention a gradual process of renewal. It does not say, for example, some aspects of the character of one in Christ are new and other aspects are still old and the old ones are gradually receding. Nor does it say newness of character is gradually emerging while there are still some of the old things remaining to be dealt with as time goes on. The Holy Spirit makes a plain, comprehensive statement of an accomplished fact there – behold, all things have become new. Newness is thorough and accomplished.
Do you hear this positive Gospel preached today? If you are blessed to hear it, you have heard the word of God, spoken as the Holy Spirit has given it. And it certainly would have inspired your faith to know and believe who you really are, if you are a believer in Christ. If you are not a believer in Christ such a message would tell you the character you can miraculously become if you become a believer in Christ.
It is important for us to realize that, as the Scriptures emphasize, the real faith that produces real salvation comes from hearing and believing the true Gospel as presented in the Scriptures. We read in Romans 10:16-17: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ Then faith is of hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
When the Scriptures declare that God has transformed any one in Christ into a completely new creation, this is the Gospel that is to be preached, heard, and believed, and it will produce real salvation results. It witnesses to the truth that God does not produce incompleteness. Who dares find fault or impurity in that which God declares He has made new?
The newness of the Christian life is brought out convincingly in the Gospel’s description of salvation.
Jesus points out in Matthew 9:16-17: “No one puts a piece of new cloth onto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up takes from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do men put new wine into old wineskins; else the wineskins burst, and the wine runs out, and the wineskins perish. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved together.”
We read also in Ephesians 4:21-24: “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
Paul is quite explicit about the termination of our old nature of sin and the bringing forth of a newness of life through our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ in the work of salvation. We read in Romans 6:1-6: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
It is clear to us that the message of the Gospel as presented in the Scriptures are radical in relation to some of what we know is taught by men as the Gospel. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of any medicine is in its purity. Men’s distortion and modification of the word of God to fit their reasoning will not produce the faith in the hearers, as well as the miraculous effects, that the pure word of God can. It is the incorruptible seed of the word of God that gives birth to God’s incorruptible children. Hence, it is necessary that, if we are going to benefit from the power of the Gospel message unto salvation, we accept the word of God as He declares it, believe it, meditate on it, agree with God, and let His word accomplish in us what He decrees it to accomplish.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
New Creation Christians: Old Things Passed Away
2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
We will look at another characteristic of the new creation Christian. The Scripture passage points out, with regard to a new creation Christian, old things have passed away. Again, like we did previously, we must note the plain and assertive language the Holy Spirit uses in the Scripture passage to describe one who is in Christ. The Scripture passage does not say old things are passing away; nor old things might pass away; nor old things will pass away. It firmly states old things have passed away. It's an accomplished fact.
This is a marvelous work of God in the conversion of a sinner. God can both create and destroy. God creates a new creature and destroys the old nature of anyone in Christ. This is a spiritual phenomenon and may not be all visible to the natural eye, but we who have faith in God must embrace its reality. Old things have passed away from a new creation Christian. This is true of any one who is in Christ.
What are the old things that have passed away from a new creation Christian? The Bible identifies a list of old things which have passed away from a new creation Christian. The list includes both former religious customs and ungodly practices.
To begin with, the new creation Christian is not under the old covenant arrangement established between God and the people of Israel involving the Law of Moses. The old covenant vanishes in Christ. “In that He says, ‘A new Covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13).
Participation in the old covenant religious rituals contributes absolutely nothing towards one’s standing in Christ. Christianity abolishes all old covenant rites, ceremonies, and laws, and introduces a way through salvation by grace for all mankind alike to become the people of God. For instance, circumcision, which identified the Jews under the old covenant as God’s people, completely loses significance in Christ. We read in Galatians 6:15: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”
For Gentiles who have become new creation Christians, old pagan religious practices such as idolatry and the occult passed away. New creation Christians have nothing to do with these vain superstitious practices of idol worship, sorcery, and the occult.
And finally, for all new creation Christians, who were formerly Jews and Gentiles, the old corrupt nature with its ungodly lifestyles in the flesh have passed away. We are exhorted in Colossians 3:5-11: “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”
The wonder of the death of Christ on the Cross is its power to effectively bring an end to our old nature which was under the control of the flesh and the old body of sin and death. The Bible teaches this truth, but so many lack the faith to accept it that we have had all sorts of alternative explanations that lack the boldness of faith to take God at His word. But the plain declaration of the word of God is new creation Christians are delivered from the ungodliness of the old carnal nature. “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). And we are assured in Romans 8:9: “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
Therefore, for anyone who is a new creation in Christ, old things have passed away. Don’t look for them. Don’t accept them. Don’t identify yourself with them. Agree with God that the old things of your former ungodly lifestyle are gone!
We will look at another characteristic of the new creation Christian. The Scripture passage points out, with regard to a new creation Christian, old things have passed away. Again, like we did previously, we must note the plain and assertive language the Holy Spirit uses in the Scripture passage to describe one who is in Christ. The Scripture passage does not say old things are passing away; nor old things might pass away; nor old things will pass away. It firmly states old things have passed away. It's an accomplished fact.
This is a marvelous work of God in the conversion of a sinner. God can both create and destroy. God creates a new creature and destroys the old nature of anyone in Christ. This is a spiritual phenomenon and may not be all visible to the natural eye, but we who have faith in God must embrace its reality. Old things have passed away from a new creation Christian. This is true of any one who is in Christ.
What are the old things that have passed away from a new creation Christian? The Bible identifies a list of old things which have passed away from a new creation Christian. The list includes both former religious customs and ungodly practices.
To begin with, the new creation Christian is not under the old covenant arrangement established between God and the people of Israel involving the Law of Moses. The old covenant vanishes in Christ. “In that He says, ‘A new Covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13).
Participation in the old covenant religious rituals contributes absolutely nothing towards one’s standing in Christ. Christianity abolishes all old covenant rites, ceremonies, and laws, and introduces a way through salvation by grace for all mankind alike to become the people of God. For instance, circumcision, which identified the Jews under the old covenant as God’s people, completely loses significance in Christ. We read in Galatians 6:15: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”
For Gentiles who have become new creation Christians, old pagan religious practices such as idolatry and the occult passed away. New creation Christians have nothing to do with these vain superstitious practices of idol worship, sorcery, and the occult.
And finally, for all new creation Christians, who were formerly Jews and Gentiles, the old corrupt nature with its ungodly lifestyles in the flesh have passed away. We are exhorted in Colossians 3:5-11: “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”
The wonder of the death of Christ on the Cross is its power to effectively bring an end to our old nature which was under the control of the flesh and the old body of sin and death. The Bible teaches this truth, but so many lack the faith to accept it that we have had all sorts of alternative explanations that lack the boldness of faith to take God at His word. But the plain declaration of the word of God is new creation Christians are delivered from the ungodliness of the old carnal nature. “We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). And we are assured in Romans 8:9: “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
Therefore, for anyone who is a new creation in Christ, old things have passed away. Don’t look for them. Don’t accept them. Don’t identify yourself with them. Agree with God that the old things of your former ungodly lifestyle are gone!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Celebrate the Outcome of the Audacity of Hope against Social Prejudice: Barack Obama's Inauguration!
Yes, I believe Barack Obama's historical election to the US Presidency and his celebrated inauguration on January 20, 2008 as an African American indicates clearly that the Lord rules in the kingdoms of men. In a country where discrimination against African Americans was formally insitutionalized in the society as recently as just about four decades ago and which has a Congress of only one African American senator among a hundred senators, it is an acclaimed astonishment that Barack Obama, an African American of socially insignificant background, has been elected as the first U.S. African American President from among a list of highly prominent white candidates.
God declared this plainly to a stubborn and arrogant king once in Daniel 4:17: "This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, so that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will, and sets up over it the lowest of men."
This world is bound by prejudices which blind many and delude them into vain pride of themselves and unjust spite for others. With this they ignore the real values with which God endows a man and are caught by surprise when God makes His commendation and confirms His approval of His chosen.
In the true Church, among true and sincere members of the Body of Christ, such evil and vain thinking are banished because the Spirit of God makes us who we are or can be in the Body of Christ. He does it in a way that none is better than the other and we all need one another. Praise the Lord.
But if the oppressed and despised of the world will wait on God it's amazing how marvelously the Lord gives grace to the humble and brings down the proud. "Surely He scorns the scorners; but He gives grace to the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools" (Proverbs 3:34-35).
Barack Obama's inauguration is a celebration for all upon earth for generations to come of the audacity of hope and the working of the power of God on the side of the lowly. David would have celebrated with these words in Psalms 75:5-7:
5: Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
6: For promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
7: But God is the judge: He puts down one, and sets up another.
Our Father and God, You who rule in the kingdoms of men, we thank you for the grace and justice you have demonstrated, as well as the hope you have unleashed, to the poor, lowly, and oppressed through the raisng up of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States of America. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, give Barack Obama grace and wisdom, power and favour, to execute Your will in his rulership according to Your purpose for the welfare of the people of the United States of America and all the nations of the earth. Amen!
God declared this plainly to a stubborn and arrogant king once in Daniel 4:17: "This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, so that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He will, and sets up over it the lowest of men."
This world is bound by prejudices which blind many and delude them into vain pride of themselves and unjust spite for others. With this they ignore the real values with which God endows a man and are caught by surprise when God makes His commendation and confirms His approval of His chosen.
In the true Church, among true and sincere members of the Body of Christ, such evil and vain thinking are banished because the Spirit of God makes us who we are or can be in the Body of Christ. He does it in a way that none is better than the other and we all need one another. Praise the Lord.
But if the oppressed and despised of the world will wait on God it's amazing how marvelously the Lord gives grace to the humble and brings down the proud. "Surely He scorns the scorners; but He gives grace to the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools" (Proverbs 3:34-35).
Barack Obama's inauguration is a celebration for all upon earth for generations to come of the audacity of hope and the working of the power of God on the side of the lowly. David would have celebrated with these words in Psalms 75:5-7:
5: Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
6: For promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
7: But God is the judge: He puts down one, and sets up another.
Our Father and God, You who rule in the kingdoms of men, we thank you for the grace and justice you have demonstrated, as well as the hope you have unleashed, to the poor, lowly, and oppressed through the raisng up of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States of America. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, give Barack Obama grace and wisdom, power and favour, to execute Your will in his rulership according to Your purpose for the welfare of the people of the United States of America and all the nations of the earth. Amen!
New Creation Christians: Transformed in Christ
2Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold; all things have become new.”
This Scripture passage states plainly “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation….” The Holy Spirit clearly does not mean in the Scripture passage that one in Christ ought to be a new creation or is trying to be a new creation. He means, as the Scripture passage states, one who is in Christ is in fact a new creation.
In other words, the characteristics of a new creation make up and are manifested in anyone who is in Christ. Anyone who is in Christ lives the life of a new creation. The idea of a new creation means change has taken place from a former state. Thus, being in Christ produces a transformation which results in a new creation or a new being changed from the former sinful state which existed prior to being in Christ.
The word creation used in the passage denotes the result of a creative act. It is the same word used in the Bible to denote what God has created, produced, designed, or brought into existence (Mark 10:6; Mark 13:19; Romans 1:25; Revelation 3:14). And so, a sinner who comes to Christ is effectively assimilated into Christ and God makes of that sinner a completely new person. This implies there is an operation of the creative power of God in the conversion of a sinner in Christ to transform the person into a new creation.
The new creation in Christ is therefore not the product of human effort or genetic inheritance. It is the result of the creative work of God in Christ. John describes God’s sovereign work in producing this new creation in Christ as being born again solely of God. We read in John 1:12-13: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” What all of this says to us is that the conversion of a sinner who comes to Christ is the result of the powerful work of God alone through Christ without any input from man.
It is important that we understand the divine process of conversion and not mistake conformity to certain religious rituals and customs, joining churches, self-fostered change in behaviour, and social forms of rehabilitation for Christian conversion. Paul emphasizes the futility of these things in the transformation of a sinner in Christ in Galatians 6:15: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”
New creation Christians are offspring of God, born anew of God. God by His grace through salvation has created us new creatures in Christ. If we are Christians, by faith in God we must define ourselves according to what the word of God says we are, and not according to our feelings or the opinions of men. We were once sinners, dead in sin and iniquity, but by the grace of God we now are converted and transformed by divine creative power in Christ.
We are not aspiring to be but are new creatures in Christ and we live and walk as new creatures in Christ. Therefore, let us stand on our faith in Christ and live fully the newness of life which we have in Christ in whom God has made us to be new creations.
This Scripture passage states plainly “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation….” The Holy Spirit clearly does not mean in the Scripture passage that one in Christ ought to be a new creation or is trying to be a new creation. He means, as the Scripture passage states, one who is in Christ is in fact a new creation.
In other words, the characteristics of a new creation make up and are manifested in anyone who is in Christ. Anyone who is in Christ lives the life of a new creation. The idea of a new creation means change has taken place from a former state. Thus, being in Christ produces a transformation which results in a new creation or a new being changed from the former sinful state which existed prior to being in Christ.
The word creation used in the passage denotes the result of a creative act. It is the same word used in the Bible to denote what God has created, produced, designed, or brought into existence (Mark 10:6; Mark 13:19; Romans 1:25; Revelation 3:14). And so, a sinner who comes to Christ is effectively assimilated into Christ and God makes of that sinner a completely new person. This implies there is an operation of the creative power of God in the conversion of a sinner in Christ to transform the person into a new creation.
The new creation in Christ is therefore not the product of human effort or genetic inheritance. It is the result of the creative work of God in Christ. John describes God’s sovereign work in producing this new creation in Christ as being born again solely of God. We read in John 1:12-13: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” What all of this says to us is that the conversion of a sinner who comes to Christ is the result of the powerful work of God alone through Christ without any input from man.
It is important that we understand the divine process of conversion and not mistake conformity to certain religious rituals and customs, joining churches, self-fostered change in behaviour, and social forms of rehabilitation for Christian conversion. Paul emphasizes the futility of these things in the transformation of a sinner in Christ in Galatians 6:15: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”
New creation Christians are offspring of God, born anew of God. God by His grace through salvation has created us new creatures in Christ. If we are Christians, by faith in God we must define ourselves according to what the word of God says we are, and not according to our feelings or the opinions of men. We were once sinners, dead in sin and iniquity, but by the grace of God we now are converted and transformed by divine creative power in Christ.
We are not aspiring to be but are new creatures in Christ and we live and walk as new creatures in Christ. Therefore, let us stand on our faith in Christ and live fully the newness of life which we have in Christ in whom God has made us to be new creations.
Monday, January 12, 2009
New Creation Christians: Being in Christ
2Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold; all things have become new.”
To fully appreciate who we Christians are, we need to grasp the true meaning and thoroughness of the change God produces in one who has become a believer in Christ. The Scripture passage, 2 Corinthians 5:17, plainly describes this change as a transformation from an old to a new creation.
The Scripture passage first identifies what is the fundamental root-cause of this change. It is being “in Christ.” One must be in Christ to experience this change.
The Scripture passage is plainly making a distinction between people who are in Christ and people who are not in Christ. It is good to note the distinction is not between people who belong to a religious organization or church group and people who do not belong to a religious organization or church group. The distinction is clearly between being in Christ and not being in Christ.
What does it mean to be in Christ? According to the Scriptures, to be in Christ is to be taken into Christ to become a vital part of Christ.
Jesus used the parable of the vine and its branches in John 15 to illustrate this integral connection between Him and those who abide in Him. In the parable, the branches of the vine are so united with the vine as to derive their existence and all their nourishment from the vine. The branches are sustained by the vine and share the life and substance of the vine.
Jesus explains in the parable in John 15:4-6: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
According to Jesus, as the branches of the vine have no existence and cannot function if separated from or outside the vine, so no genuine Christian can exist or function as a true Christian outside or independent of Him. To be in Christ means therefore to be in union with Christ and to be in absolute dependence upon Christ. Any one who is in Christ is sustained by Christ with the life and strength of Christ and shares in the character and Spirit of Christ.
Therefore, being in Christ is a necessary condition or fundamental basis for being a new creation Christian. "If any man is in Christ" denotes all who are in Christ. Hence, all who are in Christ are transformed into new creation Christians. It implies that this profound spiritual change of a human being is universally possible.
Any one from any culture, nation, tribe, people, and religion can undergo that Christian transformation. But the necessary condition is that they must be in Christ.
To fully appreciate who we Christians are, we need to grasp the true meaning and thoroughness of the change God produces in one who has become a believer in Christ. The Scripture passage, 2 Corinthians 5:17, plainly describes this change as a transformation from an old to a new creation.
The Scripture passage first identifies what is the fundamental root-cause of this change. It is being “in Christ.” One must be in Christ to experience this change.
The Scripture passage is plainly making a distinction between people who are in Christ and people who are not in Christ. It is good to note the distinction is not between people who belong to a religious organization or church group and people who do not belong to a religious organization or church group. The distinction is clearly between being in Christ and not being in Christ.
What does it mean to be in Christ? According to the Scriptures, to be in Christ is to be taken into Christ to become a vital part of Christ.
Jesus used the parable of the vine and its branches in John 15 to illustrate this integral connection between Him and those who abide in Him. In the parable, the branches of the vine are so united with the vine as to derive their existence and all their nourishment from the vine. The branches are sustained by the vine and share the life and substance of the vine.
Jesus explains in the parable in John 15:4-6: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
According to Jesus, as the branches of the vine have no existence and cannot function if separated from or outside the vine, so no genuine Christian can exist or function as a true Christian outside or independent of Him. To be in Christ means therefore to be in union with Christ and to be in absolute dependence upon Christ. Any one who is in Christ is sustained by Christ with the life and strength of Christ and shares in the character and Spirit of Christ.
Therefore, being in Christ is a necessary condition or fundamental basis for being a new creation Christian. "If any man is in Christ" denotes all who are in Christ. Hence, all who are in Christ are transformed into new creation Christians. It implies that this profound spiritual change of a human being is universally possible.
Any one from any culture, nation, tribe, people, and religion can undergo that Christian transformation. But the necessary condition is that they must be in Christ.
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