Alive For Evermore

The Bible clearly reveals the believers new and continuous identification of their life in Jesus Christ. It reveals the legal side of our redemption, that is, what God did in Christ for us, from the Cross, until He sat down on the right hand of the Father. However, there is another side of identification. This is known as the vital side of redemption. That is, what the Holy Spirit through God’s Word, is doing in the believer now. Because we have not differentiated between the legal and the vital sides of redemption, there seems to arise some confusion. One school of theology has magnified the legal side, and another, the vital side. One is the courthouse aspect, while the other is the experiential aspect.

The legal part of redemption is the portion enacted by God when a sinner confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and accepts Him as his Savior. The following reveals some of the many aspects from God's Word, concerning the legal side of redemption, that He has provided for every believe through the meritorious work of Jesus Christ. The persons sins are remitted, wiped out as though they had never been (Acts 2:38); He/she is legally justified, that is, declared righteous or set right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21); He/she is legally reconciled to the Father (2 Corinthians 5:18); He/she is legally adopted by God (Romans 8:15); He/she legally become a member of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:18); Jesus publicly confesses him/her before the Father (Matthew 10:32); His/her name is written in the Book of Life (Luke 10:19); God becomes his/her Father (John 20:17). All these are the legal side of redemption and are instantaneous upon one's repentance, confession and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Now that these steps have been taken, the new believer, has a legal right to the Father's protection (2 Thessalonians 3:3); He/she has a 1ega1 right to Jesus' intercession (Hebrews 7:25); He/she has a legal right to the Advocacy of Christ (1 John 2:1); He/she has a legal right to the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38); He/she has a legal right to be in God’s royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9); He/she has a legal right to a child’s inheritance (Acts 2:32); He/she has a legal right to the use of Jesus' Name…(Mark 16:17) Let us keep in mind that when we overlook the legal side of redemption, we will find ourselves building an experiential structure without a foundation, and the building will surely fall (Matthew 7:24-27). This is the reason that so many who teach only the vital side of redemption have so many failures among the believers they teach and why some many believers are out of fellowship.

Now, let us look at some of the many aspects of the vital side of redemption which is the work that the Holy Spirit does in the believer through the Word of God. The Holy Spirit indwells him/her (Acts 2:38); The Holy Spirit imparts to his/her spirit the Nature of God, life as God has it, eternal life (2 Peter 1:4); The Holy Spirit makes him/her alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1); The peace of God which passes all understanding floods his/her soul (Philippians 6:7); The Holy Spirit witnesses with his/her spirit that he/she is a child of God (Romans 8:16); The love of God is poured out in his/her heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5); He/she has passed from death into life (John 5:24); He/she loves the brethren (1 John 3:16); The fruit of the Spirit fills his/her recreated spirit (Galatians 5:22-23); He/she is an heir with God and joint heir with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17); He/she can be immersed, baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8, 2:1-4).

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8) Therefore, the main thing to keep in mind concerning both the legal and vital sides of redemption is that they are both accomplished by God alone, by His great amazing grace. These things should show us why it is of great importance for believers to have a balance. If believers only have the legal side of the plan of redemption, it would lead into lifeless formalism. It would make doctrines, out of Truth resulting in intellectualism. If believers only have the vital side of the plan of redemption, it will lead into fanaticism, magnifying experiences above God’s Word.

When we understand the balance, we find that what is legally ours becomes vitally ours by the work of the Holy Spirit in us through God’s Word. In other words, it comes down to this. It comes down to  what we believe about God’s will, nature, character, purpose and plan as revealed in scripture. Many believers will say that God’s Word is true; that there are no discrepancies; that it is infallible and inerrant, but they dispute these very statements with doctrines, creeds and rituals that nullify God’s Word. Jesus said, "For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition...making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down." (Mark 7:8-13

So, there are three main actions that believers should embrace daily if they want to know without doubt what their true identity in Christ is. First, be saturated in God’s Word; second, confess God’s Word; third, have intimate fellowship with the Father. Doing these things will result in knowing who we are in Christ, who Christ is in us and how the Father truly sees us, that is, our identification in Christ. The more we receive, understand and live in our new and true identity, the more we will live in the realm of the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-18) The Apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children." (Ephesians 5:1) So, we must ask the question, "How can believers be imitators of God if they do not know God nor who they truly are in Christ, who Christ is in them and how the Father sees them? The Holy Spirit through the Prophet Hosea tells us, "My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me." (Hosea 4:6 NLT)

The answer to this question based on this scripture is clear. If believers have an unbiblical perspective or knowledge of God then it stands to reason that they will have, at best, a limited knowledge of their identity, and may never come into the victorious, abundant life that Christ has provided. However, the New Testament is filled with the realities of both the legal and vital side of redemption. The Apostle Paul tells us, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." (Ephesians 1:3-5) As we see in this revelation given to the Apostle Paul, man was marked for sonship before the foundation of the world. In other words, before the foundation of the world God the Father purposed a family, and man was and is the answer to that purpose.

So, let us no longer grow weary with an unbiblical understanding of our new and true identity in Jesus Christ. Why? "...because as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)