I think it’s great that Steve started out here with the topic of salvation. Because if you REALLY get this part of the equation it changes the whole “filter” that you look at the Christian life from for the rest of your life.Here’s how it breaks down:
- You were born “in Adam” (of Adam and Eve fame)
- Adam is basically sin nature
- God can’t be in the presence of sin, so before He can even enter your life (in the form of the holy spirit) He must…
- Put to death the old nature (adam life) before he can replace it with the Holy Spirit. Because God doesn’t work around the same boundaries of time (he was before it, is infinite and created it afterall) at the moment of salvation you were actually placed into Christ and crucified on the cross with Him, that’s how the old nature was killed.
- And then you were resurrected with Him, in Christ… the whole “born again” idea.
This is what we call “The Exchanged Life”…
If you understand this then you understand your new nature NOW as a Christian is that of Christ… you are in Him… and He is in you… There is no “indwelling sin”. The struggle is only with your “flesh” or the various habits, strategies, and mindsets that you used before Christ to get your needs met.
Some may think this isn’t an important point… but it definitely is.
This means your nature, your “normal functioning” is to be Christ like, love incarnate basically. You’re holy and righteous because Christ is holy and righteous… not because of anything you do… and on the flipside, nothing you do can “unmake” you Holy and righteous. You dig?
Don’t believe me? Don’t feel holy and righteous?
If you’re a Saint… Why don’t you FEEL that way?
Then why do you feel like you’re never doing enough in your Christian life? Why do you feel guilty when you don’t go to Church? Etc… It’s because your innermost core desire is to please God (and you associate all those things with being pleasing to Him) and that’s why you feel guilty when you don’t do them.
This isn’t just me and Steve giving our opinions. God’s the ultimate authority right? Look up those Bible verses he mentions, it’s all right there in black and white. (Galatians 2:20, John 1:12, John 15:16)
Glad Steve started tackling these lies, look out for my next commentary!
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5 Things I’m grateful for today:
- I woke up to a sunny day
- I’m starting to speak a little Spanish in my dreams which means I’m getting a little more fluent…
- I finally got this blog set up and I’m ready to start living my purpose again, dealing with the most important stuff in my life.
- My back was hurting when I went to bed last night and it felt good when I woke up
- I’ve got a good deal of work lined up to pay some bills
(What I’m planning on doing is posting 5 things I’m grateful for each day, this is a great practice because it gets you out of your head, worries, problems, anxiety, whatever and gets you focused on how great your life REALLY is… plus it has a TON of health/well being benefits similar to meditation. I got the idea from this article called “Gratitude Training” )
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
ROBERT JENKINS 04.28.09 at 1:46 am
i really enjoy the truth thats christ brings out of you, but why do you say. the truth will set you free. i can’nt find that in the bible. i read the truth will make you free.