Jesus became a curse for us and Jesus became sin for us

Abraham believed God and God accounted that to him as righteousness. That is the blessing of Abraham. Christ became a curse for us so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham. Also, Christ became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him! It's through nothing we've done... It's all what He has done! Your sins are not counted against you. You are not cursed. By faith, you are counted as righteous.

2 Cor 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Gal 3:5-14
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — 6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them."

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

GIG 192 - Us Living For God or God Living Through Us?

Life truly is God's gift to us! But is it really also true, as a common slogan goes, that "what we do with it is our gift to Him?" God created the universe, and everything in it - easily! Do we really have something of value to offer Him? Can we pay Him back in any way for the gift of Life He's given us?

This week we take a look at the difference between us living our life "for God," and God living His life through us. Rather than trusting in our own strength, we realize that we have died and now have a new life --- Christ lives in us. It's not us doing great stuff for God, it's Him expressing His very life through us. With this in mind, what does it mean to present ourselves as living sacrifices? We discuss this and more on this week's episode!

gigcast.graceroots.org

Let it go... Depend on Him!

As I ever so slooowwly put material together that will eventually turn into a book, I sometimes find it helpful to look back on my old blog posts. Sometimes I'm reminded of some things that I would truly love to include in a book and sometimes I'm reminded of how I once saw things and how my thinking has changed, even if only slightly most of the time.

When this blog was still brand new in June 2006, I wrote Let it go... Depend on Him!

At the time, it went like this:

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I've been "growing in grace" for a long time now. I mean, trusting in God's power in me - Christ's life - to be my victory and to be my sufficiency. But still I don't do everything perfectly. "I'm not what I want to be but I'm not what I used to be."

Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus doesn't mean everything changes instantly! Growing "slowly" hurts as it is, but forcing it to happen quickly is deadly! There are certain things I wish God would change in me right now, and I've prayed for certain changes in my life. Sometimes I can see how I've changed and sometimes I can only see just how far I have to go! But the thing about resting in God's grace and sufficiency is that YOU don't control the changes in your life. The One who knows best is the one who's life is working in you according to His perfect plan. Jesus said if you rest in Him, you will bear fruit... right?

Take a deep breath. Hold it for a few seconds. Let it go..

Literally, let it go.

The only power in you to change is the perfect power of the Almighty. He may not be doing things the way you think you should be doing things. That's OK! He's got your -- WHOLE LIFE -- in His hands. You might not have come as far as you wish but you haven't slipped so far as to be out of His plan!

He has taken into account your weakness.

In fact... He has said that His strength is made perfect in your weakness. He is not depending upon YOU. Rather, you are fully dependent upon Him. And He will accomplish what He wants to accomplish in your life. Don't doubt it!

Man looks on the outside. God looks on the heart. You are a person after God's own heart - not because you have done everything perfectly, but because you trust Him.

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I like a lot of what I said back then, but some things that I would add or change today would be to say that the reason we are weak is due to the fact that we no longer live! But Christ lives in us! When we are weak, then we are strong... but also when we are dead, then we are alive! "I have died, and I no longer live," says the Apostle Paul, "but Christ lives in me." Christ is my life. I'm not worried about "becoming" something better. I'm not concerned with "how far I've come" and "how far I have to go." I'm concerned with "today." I'm concerned with "right now." And Christ is my life right now, and I'm fully alive with Him right now! That's what matters!

Sure, I do look ahead. I "press on," as Paul would say. But press on toward what? Toward becoming a better person or a "better Christian?" Toward my own personal growth goals? Toward bigger and better "supernatural experiences?" No, I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ has already laid hold of me! It's a pressing on toward experiencing more and more fully who Christ is in me, and who I am in Him. A maturing... not of my actions, but of the realization of the fullness of Christ. I keep my eyes on Him.

Will my actions change? Sure! Will my attitudes change? The outward expression of the inward reality will truly change as I grow and mature, and as the life of Christ is more fully developed in me. And it all happens as I rest in Him, realizing more and more that He Himself is my life and sufficiency.

Focus on God's High View and Acceptance of You

This week's Growing in Grace program is a spin off of last week's program, and is again inspired in part by another blog post from Steve McVey, Who Accepted Whom? It's common for people to read the Bible and interpret what they read in a self-focused way, putting the responsibility on themselves to find God, to accept God, to come back to God, to perform for God, etc, when in reality God is the one who has reached out to us and performed all the work necessary for us to have a free, loving, intimate relationship with Him.

Kap and I talk about how we need to rid ourselves of an Old Covenant mentality and look at the Bible in light of God's high view of us as His treasured children, and His unconditional acceptance of us and love for us. He has placed us in Christ and He has made us alive together with Him. He has made peace with us. He has accepted us!

Despite the prodigal son's low view of himself, the father ran to him and accepted him with open arms, and paid no attention to what the son thought he might be able to do to gain a small measure of acceptance from his father. He threw a party for him!

We can forget any notion of "our part" in any of the salvation plan and in any part of the living out of this life in Christ. God has not left it up to us to make any of this happen! As if!!! He has simply asked us to believe. Through faith, we are branches on a vine, and we have no life in and of ourselves, but yet being connected to the vine we are privileged by God's grace to partake in the fullness of life in the Vine!

gigcast.graceroots.org

No struggle

As a sinner, I didn't have to struggle and strive to maintain my standing as a sinner. I was in Adam, and even when I did "good" things, my standing in Adam was maintained.

As a saint, I now don't have to struggle and strive to maintain my standing as a saint. I am in Christ, and even when I do "bad" things, my standing in Christ is maintained!

I was born in Adam.
Alive to sin, dead to God.
My very identity was a matter of sin and death.

I've been born again in Jesus.
Dead to sin, alive to God.
My very identity is a matter of righteousness and life!


Life in Christ isn't a matter of a bad person becoming a good person. It's a matter of a dead person becoming alive!

Just say NO to religion!

It's easy to see that there are many, many religions in the world. But... God never intended for mankind to live by religion! Christ didn't even come to start the Christian religion. The word "religion" itself appears in the Bible only four or five times, usually with a negative connotation. The Apostle Paul talked about his past religious life that he converted from (see Acts 25:19, 26:5). He converted from religion to LIFE. In Colossians 2:20-23 he talked about the do's and dont's that people try to live by (he called them the "principles of the world"), and he said "these things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion... but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh."

Paul talked in great detail about his former life in the Old Covenant religion, and how he came to the realization that, in my own words, all of his Old Covenant religious training really showed him that all the religion in the world would never and could never please God! Religion is not what God wants from us or for us. James is the only one who used the word "religion" in a positive light, in James 1:26-27, and I believe he was simply showing an example of what Life looks like when expressed outwardly.

When God created Adam and Eve, did He say, "be fruitful and multiply... and make sure you're very religious people?" Of course not! He gave them a choice, though. The choice, if you'll let me word it this way, was a choice between life and religion. The Tree of Life was there for them to eat freely from, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was there as well. The latter tree - the tree that opened them up to religion (the knowledge of right and wrong) - is the one He didn't want them to eat from. But they ate from that religion tree... and forfeited LIFE. Their first act of religion? They tried to cover their 'shame' with fig leaves.

Since that fateful day, there has never been ONE ACT of religion that has ever brought man closer to God. There is no act of religion that has ever restored man to Life. Why doesn't God want our religion? Because it doesn't work! Our very best religion is filthy to Him (Isaiah 64:6). God Himself is the one who brought us near to Himself... not through religion, but through the death and resurrection of a Person - Jesus. Through Jesus, God restored us to Life... after having killed us to religion.

God created you, not for religion, but for Life. He loves you, and He doesn't desire your "sacrifices and offerings" (Hebrews 10:8). He wants YOU... just because He loves you!

There's no 'Space In Between Us'

I've embedded a video here by the group Building 429. I like the group, but I admit that I'm actually posting this because of the lyrics in this particular song that I don't like. It's not my intention at all to put down the writers or performers of the song. My purpose here is to make a point about how some well-meaning teachings in the church - even teachings that include some grace in it (the song speaks of grace) - can actually represent a deficient version of the gospel that keeps Christians from understanding and walking in the fullness of Christ's life and God's grace. Please - again - I'm not trying to put anyone down here. This popular song (on Christian radio) is simply useful to me in illustrating a point.

The chorus of the song goes:

All I really want to do is to fall into
The emptiness that is
The space in between us
To break this division
All I really want to do is to fall into
The emptiness that is
The space in between us
Erase it and bring us together again

Why would I say that words like these represent a deficient gospel? Well, let me ask you, what space is there - really - between you and God? What division? What emptiness? Are you really apart from God and need to be brought back together with Him again? Is that what the New Covenant scriptures really tell us about ourselves?

Ephesians 2:13 says that we have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ. Hebrews 10:19-23 says that it's by His blood that we have boldness to "enter the Most Holy Place" and that we can experientially "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith." 1 Corinthians 6:17 says that we have been made one spirit with Him.

The gospel - the good news - is that we have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! (Romans 1:16-17, 2 Cor 5:21). Were we made righteous by our own good works? Were we brought near to God by our own works? Of course not! Therefore, if we sin, can those works make us unrighteous again, or keep us away from God? Of course not! It's all by the blood of Jesus, and not by how well or poorly we've performed. Think about it - when you've sinned, which is bigger - your sin or God's grace? Grace always wins, friends!

We sell ourselves short - our new-creation spirits - when we think anything we do separates us from God. Worse than that, we sell God's very gospel itself short. Is His gospel what He says it is, or isn't it!

There is a very important reason why I always want to always help people become established in all of this. If we, as Christians who have been brought near to God by the blood of Jesus, think there's a space or a gulf or a gap in between us and God, then we'll live as if there's a space or a gulf or a gap in between us and God. Instead of living as who we truly are - accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1:6), having peace with God (Rom 5:1) - we'll live as if we're separated from Him and as if He's angry with us or is waiting for US to do something to get ourselves "right with Him" - when it was never up to us in the first place (!), and, more importantly, when we never lost our right standing and our union with Him anyway!

Grace, the blood of Jesus, the NEW covenant, the NEW life we received in Christ - all of this changed EVERYTHING! There's no more separation from God. There's no more walking on eggshells, trying to keep ourselves in right standing with God. There's no more fear of Him hiding His face from us. His grace has accomplished everything that is needed. As we grow in our understanding of who we truly are in Him by grace alone through faith, we can trust more and more that God's grace and our daily renewing of our minds to all the wonderful truth of the Good News of the New Covenant - will continuously be at work in us, keeping us securely in Him.

Don't hope for what you already have! And don't wish for some space to be filled when there's no space there in the first place!

Related post: Jesus will never take you back

More on the Exchanged Life

Latest Growing in Grace program is available for download. Our life exchanged for His life. Our sin exchanged for His righteousness. Christ in you, the hope of glory!

gigcast.graceroots.org

Exchanged Life - Christ's Life In Us

Latest Growing in Grace program is available for download. Our life exchanged for His life. Our sin exchanged for His righteousness. Christ in you, the hope of glory!

gigcast.graceroots.org

Works - Part 4 of 4

I really think that our life in Christ is a life that doesn't look like what many Christians today see it as. For many, it's a life that revolves around "church." Many of the works that Christians are exhorted to do seem to be centered around church programs, ministries, outreaches, etc. Not that any of them are necessarily bad in and of themselves, but how often do Christians get wrapped up in those things and don't really live out the life of the person God has truly made them to be.

I personally had the guilt laid on me (perhaps mostly self-inflicted) because I quit working all the works I was expected to work in "the church," including but not limited to joining in on all the church activities and outreaches. None of them seemed to be appealing to my heart, and I felt guilty because I felt as if I was neglecting the "doing" of some very good things, including things that many people felt "needed" to be done. But I had come to the conclusion that all I was really doing was going through the motions with a lot of the stuff. The good news was that, since I'd come to have a strong foundation of who I am in Christ, I had an understanding within myself that I actually was a "doer" in so many other ways that simply didn't have the appearance of "church activity," but were really a result of walking in who I am in Christ. I've all too often found that what I'm called to do isn't what everyone else expects of me! It's been a struggle to truly discover that, but I think I'm finally free in that respect.

The "instructions" I had received implied that the work I needed to be involved in centered around Church Activity A, B and C, and then I was to sacrifice myself some more and also be involved in Activities D, E and F as well! But I discovered that God has many different "members" in Christ's body. We are all unique, and we walk in the works that God created for us to walk in, individually and as a body. Sometimes those works may indeed be "church activities," but so much of life is lived apart from the assembling of the saints - far away from whatever building we may have met in - and we walk as who we are wherever we are!

Look at the good works (the works of faith) that the saints mentioned in Hebrews 11 walked in. How much of it was forced or contrived? How much of it was "church work?" How much of it was based upon biblical instructions??? Heck, look at the work Paul and the apostles did! Look at what the people of the early church did. They didn't have "New Testament instructions" to follow. Wasn't it as simple as walking in the new life they'd been given, and encouraging one another and spurring one another on toward love and good deeds? There's plenty of room for instructing and correcting one another, but is that really the basis of the Christian life?

Works - Part 2 of 4

I don't believe that God created Adam and Eve (the first humans) and the rest of the human race for the purpose of living by instructions. In fact, wasn't it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that God told Adam not to eat from? We all know what happened (sin entered the world, and death through sin), but as we fast-forward to the Cross, and the Resurrection of Jesus we see that Christ came to take away sin, and through faith in Christ, man can be restored to LIFE. Through faith, man now has righteousness, holiness, completeness, goodness. God has taken away the sinful spirit that we were born with in Adam and has given us a new spirit that is alive together with Christ. By faith, we can walk according to this newness of life.

Rom 6:4 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.

The "baptism" above isn't water baptism, but it's a death and burial of our old sinful nature - the spiritual person we were in Adam. It's now dead and gone, and we've been raised together with Christ into new life! The natural result of growing and maturing in who we now are in this new life is a life of goodness. And the growing process is lifelong. It's by no means instantaneous.

This new life - which is nothing less (or more) than the very life of Christ in us - is where holiness and goodness and righteousness and good works flow from. This new life - Christ-in-me - is the foundation of the Christian life.

I am the Resurrection and the Life...

...He who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

Got to admit, this one sends shivers up and down my spine (cheesy "voice of Jesus" aside). :)

Carman - Lazarus

Do our "scripts" really work? (There's got to be more to life)

Came across this from Kent at Faithfully Dangerous. Kent quotes from theologian Walter Brueggemann, who is a friend of my dad's from college and seminary (50+ years ago) and is also my brother's godfather. I've only met Brueggemann once, and was too young at the time to appreciate any of his wisdom. ;) However, nowadays I've had some neat revelations as I've read bits and pieces of his work.

In the quote from the above linked-to blog post, Brueggemann says:

"Everybody has a script. People live their lives by a script that is sometimes explicit but often implicit. That script may be one of the great meta-narratives created by Karl Marx or Adam Smith or it may be an unrecognized tribal mantra like, 'My dad always said...' The practice of the script evokes a self, yields a sense of purpose and provides security..."

"...The dominant script of both selves and communities in our society, for both liberals and conservatives, is the script of therapeutic, technological, consumerist militarism that permeates every dimension of our common life" (emphasis mine).

(To see what Brueggemann means by "therapeutic," "technological," "consumerist" and "militarism," please see the entire post. It'll be well worth your time).

Isn't it true that we all essentially have a 'script' that we live by? In various ways, in our minds and hearts, we've all "written" the script as to how we live our lives moment by moment. I want to take a look at one of the angles from which many people seem to write their scripts. I think for many of us (human beings in general, unfortunately including Christians), our script generally involves how to make ourselves happy --- doesn't it? We live a certain way, trying to do all we can to make sure that we're always comfortable and happy. We want the "new and improved" version of a product. We want a huge TV screen so we can watch all our fantasies (TV characters, plots, sports teams, etc.) in larger than life high def. (Don't we even live vicariously through all these things?).

We desire to be wealthy, thinking we'll finally find fulfillment and happiness if we just have all the stuff we 'need.' (In fact, aren't most of us in the western world already wealthy, but since we can't have all we want we consider ourselves poor?). We even think perfect health will finally bring about the end of our pursuit of the best life possible. We try to keep up with the Jones'. We're always wanting more; we're always looking for the next temporary high to satisfy us.* We want our church and friends and family members to be all that we want them to be so that we don't have to be too uncomfortable. We even try to make God out to be what we want Him to be, whether that's on the legalistic, controlling end of the spectrum or on the spectrum that makes Him a God who simply wants us to be comfortable and cozy all the time.

Everybody's script is tweaked a little differently, but the point is, don't we all have our own scripts? And the bigger question... do our scripts really work?

What if we were to let go of our scripts - the way we think things should be, and the way we live to make things to be the way we think they should be - and instead follow Jesus' words to "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." What if life weren't about the pursuit of happiness, but rather, through some other means - a Person - we found true Life and Freedom?

Wouldn't we find true freedom? Real, genuine, God-supplied Life and Freedom?

I don't mean to imply that releasing ourselves from our "scripts" is an overnight process - not by any means! We've worked so hard to write them! ;) But slowly and by God's grace, can we get to know this Person and find Life in Him, and in Him alone? In fact, we already do have Life in Him. We are complete in Him. As we go through the process of being released from our scripts can we also at the same time allow Him to release the person who He's truly created us to be, out into the wild, free, dangerous, abundant life that He's created for us to live? (Not always "comfortable," not always "happy," but always fulfilling and free and filled with love).


*I thought this video went along with this post somewhat.
Stacie Orrico - More To Life

Trust Him to keep you

Back in the day (really not too very long ago) I was involved in a lot of "Can a Christian lose their salvation?" discussions. The number of Christians who fear, at least a little (and sometimes a lot), about whether or not they'll remain "saved" is probably more than you can imagine.

While I haven't participated heavily in discussions like that in quite a while, and while it would take too long to share all of what was discussed in those discussions, I'll highlight one of the main questions I used to ask people who worried or feared about the "loss" of salvation: "What exactly is it that saves a person in the first place?"

Paul put it quite simply:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Eph 2:8-9)

How much of that is your work? How much of it is "of yourselves?" None of it! It's "the gift of God, not by works..."

So then, once we're saved, does it suddenly become "of ourselves" to keep ourselves saved? For the many people who are so worried about Christians losing their salvation, it would seem that there's more than just an ounce of that type of thinking going around in their heads.

To lead up to where I'm going with this, let me relate that type of thinking to receiving some sort of gift that doesn't come with the batteries. Sure, the gift is free, but it's up to you to continuously provide the batteries to make sure the gift remains in working order.

But that's not the type of gift God has given us! God has not simply given us the gift of salvation, and then left us alone to try to maintain it our own. He has included Himself - His very Life - in the package!

It was His life that saved us, and it's His life that keeps us!

Unfortunately a very deficient "gospel" has been spread, and keeps on being spread, in which grace and salvation are depicted merely as a matter of our sins being forgiven. It's great that our sins have been forgiven, but if you are forgiven and yet remain in the same condition, what good is that? What's missing from the gospel message that's commonly taught is the issue of LIFE! We've not only been forgiven of all sin, but our sin has been taken away and we died to our old life in Adam, and we were raised up and made alive together with Christ Himself! Not only have we been forgiven, but our condition has changed! In Adam we were dead to God, but in Christ we are now fully alive to God.

Paul's words that follow the words quoted above say that we are God's workmanship. It's all of Him. Getting saved is of Him and not of us. Remaining saved is also of Him and not of us. If you couldn't get yourself saved, what can you do to keep yourself saved??? Trust Him to keep you.

"God... even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ..." (Eph 2:4-5). If He made you alive even when you were dead in your trespasses, do you think for a moment that He's going to not keep you alive when you sin now? While you can do nothing to keep yourself, He can and does continuously supply you with His very life, because as a branch is continuously sustained, not in and of itself but by the life of the vine, you are also continuously sustained by the very life of the One who calls Himself the Vine, Jesus.

God doesn't need your good works - He produces them

The words of Paul that I shared in a post earlier this week from Titus 3:4-7 included these words: "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done..."

That's something to cling on to and never forget! Our good works - our righteous deeds - play absolutely no part in getting us saved, (and if they play no part in getting us saved, they play no part in keeping us saved either - it's all by God's mercy and grace).

I suppose some could take this to mean that good works, or righteous deeds, are therefore irrelevant in the life of a Christian. Perhaps Paul had that thought in mind as he followed up those words about the wonderful gift of salvation in verses 4-7 with the words of verse 8:

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

In similar fashion, Paul also talks about good works in Ephesians 2:10, again, immediately after talking about how "by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph 2:8-9).

He says:

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

I said all of the above to establish that "good works" are indeed a part of the life of the Christian. But unfortunately the error that legalists have made is to make "good works" out to be the root of the Christian life. That is, legalists say that good works are necessary to maintain salvation. In their eyes, the work of Christ is superseded by our good works that we do 'for' Him. But look at the two passages I just shared (and there are plenty more passages along this line) and notice two things. First, notice the purpose of good works. Second, notice the source of good works.

In the passage from Titus, Paul says that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. Why? Because these things are good and profitable to people. You're not going to score any points with God, especially in regards to maintaining your right standing before Him, through any effort of your own! No amount of good works will help to maintain your acceptance by Him. It's all by His grace. Your good works are simply an outflow of His working in you, as the passage from Ephesians implies. You are God's workmanship (you are not your own workmanship). He Himself - His very life in you - is the very source of your good deeds. The good works that He works in and through you are good and profitable to people!

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing," wrote the writer of Hebrews. Why? Was is so legalists could turn Sunday mornings and evenings, and Wednesday evenings, and whenever the church doors are open, into "service times" at a "building" that Christians should attend to maintain their good spiritual standing before God and man? It sure has been made out to be that way today, hasn't it? But rather, the real reason for the "good habit" of meeting together was simply to encourage one another and to spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25). It's pretty simply, really.

(By the way, have you ever looked at the surrounding context of Hebrews 10:24-25? Did the writer simply suddenly decide to add those two sentences out of the blue? What exactly was the "hope we profess" (vs. 23), that the writer had been writing about? I think it's worth spending some time with in order to understand how he led up to those words, and I encourage you to look at it on your own).

Good works are a fruit of our life in Christ. They are most certainly not the root by which our righteousness is established or maintained! Christ is the Vine. We are the branches of the vine. The LIFE is in the Vine, and the fruit grows not as the branches struggle and strive to produce fruit for the Vine, but as the LIFE of the vine flows into the branches as the branches abide - rest - in the Vine. The branches have no life in and of themselves to produce anything anyway! "Abide in Me," Jesus says, "and you will bear fruit."

In Christ, we have become one spirit with God (1 Cor 6:17). We have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). It is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose (Phil 2:13). All my evangelical life I've heard things like, "God's depending upon you to do His will." "God's counting on you to complete His work." Hold on a second! He's not depending upon us! He doesn't need us! He loves us and desires us, but AS IF He needed anything! We are jars of clay, fully dependent upon Him!

Whatever the law says... (Part 5)

"All things are lawful for me," Paul said twice in 1 Corinthians. I can do whatever I want without fear of the law condemning me or making me guilty. "But not all things are helpful... but not all things edify... but not all things are beneficial." "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." (see 1 Cor 6:12, 10:23)

In the verses prior to 1 Cor. 6:12, Paul goes through a list of sinful behavior and he says that those who practice those things will not inherit the kingdom of God. He then goes on to say, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." It's after all this that he says, "All things are lawful for me... but not everything is beneficial."

As people who have been washed clean (a done deal), we are now among those who have inherited the kingdom of heaven. Since we've been washed, sanctified and justified... there is no legal case that can be made against us - no charge that can be brought up against us - no matter what we do, because "(God) has made (us) alive together with Him (Christ), having forgiven (us) all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Col 2:13-14). We are now under a new covenant, because "He has made the first obsolete (and) what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." (Heb 8:13).

All things are lawful for me. Even my sinful behavior doesn't stand in the way of my having been washed, sanctified and justified. However... since I have now been made alive together with Christ, I should not allow myself to be mastered by anything. Not everything is beneficial. All things are permissible, but not everything is constructive.

The main thing I'm pointing out here is that law is not the issue! Real, vibrant, constructive LIFE in Christ is what matters! Whatever the law says, it does not say to those who have LIFE!

This will be the last post in this series for now, unless I think of anything else to add or if anyone has any thoughts or questions that they'd like me to address.

Thanks

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your concerns and also for your prayers concerning my health condition. Also... in regards to the condition of my ever expanding age. :)

Overall my health is good and there is nothing that really stops me from functioning normally. My main concern is in being careful to prevent further developments with my Barrett's Esophagus, so I thank you for your prayers in that area!

As for my age... I do welcome the annual visit from the fire department, and here's to larger and larger fires! LOL. I truly feel that life has only just begun, even if my body is beginning to show signs of wear and tear. Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had made me increasingly aware of what real life truly is. :)

Saved by His life

This morning I've been traveling around the blogosphere and I've been reading some very wonderful posts from various people all about Easter and the resurrection of Christ. The birth of Jesus as a human being and His death on the cross are very important parts of God's plan so I'm thankful for the entire ordeal of Christ becoming a man.

But if not for the resurrection, there would be no life for us! There would be no eternal life. We would not have been able to die with Him and to also be raised again with Him, as so many of you have pointed out. We were reconciled by His death, but we were saved by His life.

Rom 5:10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

The cross is wonderful and it a vital part of the entire plan, but Christ's death was not enough. His resurrection made it possible for anyone who believes to be made alive with Him! We can sit around all day, knowing that we're forgiven, but unless we have LIFE, so what if we've been forgiven!

I thank God today, not only for the coming of Jesus as a man, and for His death on the cross, but for His life with which I've been made alive together with Him!

Life (more from The Legalist)

More from The Legalist

The roots of legalism are buried deep in the soil of man's sinfulness. He imagines that he can do "the will of the Father" through fleshly determination and self-effort, not realizing that the only one who did the will of the Father perfectly was the Son of His love, and it is only as we are surrendered to Him to live His life in us that we can do it!

True righteousness and holiness are manifestations of a life, and that life is Christ - in Him was life, and the life was the light of men; When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. (Col. 3:4)

Legalism, then, is a crude disregard of this fact: the law of sin can only be overcome by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus!

If there had been a law given which could have given life, the apostle wrote, verily righteousness should have been by the law. (Gal. 3:21) And since righteousness is the remedy for sin and cannot be gotten by law: Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Rom. 3:20) The law is not the answer to the sin problem!

(All emphasis is that of the author)

The letter of the New Testament - Part 4 - Conclusion

I know I posted 3 fairly long posts on this already, and I pretty much figured that Part 3 was the final post on this subject, but I keep thinking of one of the underlying reasons that all of this means so much to me, and so I'll just go ahead and share it. I've posted my story before, so some of this won't be new to some of you.

I mentioned something in the comments of Lydia's "Spurring On" post that would probably shock a lot of people... but it's something that is true as true can be. I said, "My marriage was hurt... by Biblical marriage principles!"

Gasp!

I'll try to explain. It's not that the words about marriage in the New Testament are bad or wrong. It's just that I had unwittingly replaced Christ with marriage principles when it came to wanting to have a great marriage. See, there was a period in my marriage in which I thought I didn't love my wife. And the sad thing is that this all happened long after I had begun to be firmly established in grace. My problem was that grace and biblical principles had become letter to me, rather than me seeing them and understanding them in the light of life.

I saw many areas in my marriage in which I felt I was falling short. Well, actually, I was "doing" a lot of good things that a Christian husband "should" do, but in the long run it was really out of either "duty" or out of an attempt to try to be a good husband, whether it came from a heart of love or not. So much of this became duty and not delight, that I began to think that I didn't really love my wife. "I'm just faking it," I thought. "Sure, I want to do things to please my wife, but what good is any of it if all I'm really doing is going through the motions."

I was looking at things through the wrong eyes. My beautiful, loving wife - and my marriage as a whole - had become more of a "project" for me to work on, rather than the relationship and union that it's meant to be. Ok... not that marriage doesn't involve work! Any amen's? :D But instead of viewing my marriage through the eyes of grace, I was viewing it through the eyes of living by marriage principles.

Like I said, I was actually "doing" a lot of good things, at least as I saw it. However, something was festering beneath the surface and I didn't quite know what it was. No matter how much "good" I was doing, I always felt like I fell short. The reason, as I've come to now see it, is because of the constant preaching and teaching of biblical marriage principles! I would go to church and hear principles for Christian living. I would turn on Christian radio and I would hear principles. I would go to my small group and hear principles. I couldn't go anywhere without hearing "this is how a husband should treat his wife," and "husbands, we need to be doing this or doing that for our wives..." I can't say enough, it's all good stuff! But the constant preaching and teaching of it all was very overwhelming - especially when God's grace was only mentioned in passing, rather than being taught as the foundation for the Christian life that it is. I felt that just as I was achieving victory in a certain area, I'd find that I'm so far away in other areas from being this wonderful "biblical" husband that I want to be.

Finally, something happened that got the light of true victory shining again. We went to see a counselor who really helped me see my folly. I really had resisted going to a counselor, because I thought all I would hear would be more principles! But in short, this man listened a lot, and in the end he said one word to me that turned everything around and gave me the right perspective again.

That word was "identity." My whole problem was that rather than living out of my true Identity in Christ… the New Creation that I truly am, in which Christ is my life… I was trying to be all the things that I thought I was supposed to be for my wife! I can hear the gasps of legalists now. :) But all I can say is that it wasn't working and it never will work!

We may have a nice, shiny appearance on the outside that makes us look as if we're really doing well at "living the Christian life," but on the inside we're dying, because we're living by letter and not by Christ's life.

Grace is the essence of the Christian life. "Doing" is not the essence of the Christian life. Rather, "doing" is the fruit of resting in grace, and growing in grace! As Lydia says in her post that I linked to, we need to be constantly encouraged in grace. As we submerse ourselves into pure grace and into God's unconditional love, we will find that we don't have to "try" to live the Christian life, but that the life of Christ in us cannot help but overflow into our doing. Anytime we go back to "trying," we quench the Spirit of grace and we find ourselves going backwards and not forward.

I see my wife with such different eyes today. That day - the day when the counselor said "identity" - I knew things would be different forever! See, I had taught grace. I had lived a life of grace, to a big extent. I could share grace doctrine and I could encourage people in who they are in Christ. But in a big sense I had backslidden. I had fallen from grace in my marriage. To fall from grace means to start trying to live by law and rules again, rather than by grace! That day, I repented of "trying" and I began trusting again. I changed my mind about how this marriage was going to be lived out.

Can you understand how "marriage principles" hurt my marriage? They became New Testament letter to me and they did what letter does... "kill." Life has now replaced letter. The New Testament exhortations and commands are wonderful reminders to us of what Life in Christ looks like. But if our lives become a matter of simply studying them week after week, and trying to live by them, we can very easily miss out on real Life.

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Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4