New Life and More

Thank the LORD for the wonderful revelation He made known to the Apostle Paul concerning ones identification in Christ. For instance, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) The very moment that a person confesses with their mouth the LORD Jesus Christ and takes Him as their Savior they become born again. Of course we know this, but do you know that the moment one becomes born again they instantaneously become a supernatural, one hundred percent "New Creation." Furthermore, do we truly understand this from Gods perspective? We are no long common anymore. We belong to an unusual supernatural order of beings. The Apostle Paul tells us, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works..."(Ephesians 2:10) and "the new man was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:24) The Apostle Peter tells us, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…" (1 Peter 2:9)

In Christ, the born again person is a new creation in every sense. They instantly become partakers of Gods divine nature; "by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:4) They instantly become partakers of Gods divine life; "...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) God’s ability instantly becomes their ability; "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." (John 14:12) God's strength instantly becomes their strength;  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) His promises instantly become their promises; "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." (2 Corinthians 1:20)

His love instantly becomes their love; "...the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5) His faith instantly becomes their faith; "So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have the God kind of faith." (Mark 11:22) His power instantly becomes their power;  "...My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9) His wisdom instantly becomes their wisdom; "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God..." (1 Corinthians 1:30); His righteousness instantly becomes their righteousness; "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) The list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, for many Christians this is hard to believe. Far to many Christians live in the sense realm rather than the spiritual realm. In other words, their belief system is based upon what they can see, touch, taste, smell or hear, (John 20:24-25) which has nothing to do with believing and acting upon God's Word. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh (senses) profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63) The word life is the Greek word "Zoe." It literally means, life as God has it; the very life of God; eternal life. Now we can understand why one instantaneously becomes a new creation in every sense. It is because the very life of God takes residence in the new believer immediately upon their confession of Christ. This has nothing to do with feelings. It is pure fact!

The next thing we see in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is, "old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." The old thing that Satan had control of has passed away. The believer is no longer spiritually dead but made alive in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:1) Jesus said of Himself, "the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me." (John 14:30) All believers must come to realize this very thing, Satan no longer has any authority, dominion, jurisdiction or power over them. All things have become new. The reality of the new creation is the most marvelous truths concerning the transformation of a lost, God hating, rebellious, Satan ruled person. The very life of God has dispossessed the entire former life and has filled the new believer with Himself. PTL

Now, through God's Word our faith is built up (Romans 10:17) and our recreated spirit is strengthened so that the soul (mind, will and emotions) is renewed and begins to respond to the recreated spirit and not the flesh. But this does not change the fact that the very nature and life of God is in the believer. For many in the church today, it is time to put an end to the ungodly habits of the flesh and negative confession from the mouth. It is time to let God’s life arise and call those things which do not exist as though they did. It is time to live in the abundant "Zoe" that Jesus gave His life for. It is time for believers to realize that eternal life is not a destination, but the "Zoe," life of God already exists in everyone who is born again. It is time to let the lost know that they too can have the same abundant "Zoe," life. Grace and peace be with you...

A Good, Good Father (Part 1)

For centuries, and even today, many Christians are unsure of the trials they face in this life. For many, it comes down to these questions. "Does God permit bad things to happen to His people." Does God use bad thing to chasten His People." Is God behind all the bad things that happen in the world." When I use the expression bad things, I mean sickness, disease, poverty, premature loss of life, wars, and what we call natural disasters (hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, etc). It will certainly take some time to thoroughly address these questions, but I do want to give you the answer to these questions up front now, emphatically NO! Bad things do not come from God!

One of the reasons why many believers have fallen prey to believing that God uses bad things, for whatever reason, against His children, is due to church leaders having a lack of understanding God's true nature and character which effects their understanding of His will. They use the statement that "God is sovereign" but in saying so they insinuate that God in His sovereignty permits Himself to operate outside of His Word. God certainly is sovereign, but He does not operate outside of His Word. Several times in John's gospel we see statements from Jesus such as, "Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work." (John 4:34) "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." (John 5:30) "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 6:38) 

So, the words and actions of Jesus are God's will. There is no account in the ministry of Jesus as revealed in the gospels, that God used Him to promote bad things upon people because it was His sovereign will. On the contrary, "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38) The reality is, God always did and always will do good. Of course the end will eventually come where those who oppose God will pay the price for their rejection and hatred toward Him and Jesus Christ.    

Another thing that we need to look at concerning this, is that many church leaders have a gross misunderstanding of creation. These two together have promoted a false image of the Living God. Genesis records, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"..."Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was VERY GOOD. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day." (Genesis 1:1, 31) and "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Genesis 2:1-3) Note that after God had created everything, "God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from ALL His work which He had done."

In other words, everything that God would ever do was set in motion in the six days of creation and after the sixth day, His work was completed. This means that everything that would happen from this point forward to the end of time in the mind of God was very good. There is no indication in creation the God meant, desired or even purposed that He should use something to foster bad things. Remember, God is the Alpha and the Omega the Beginning and the End. He is not bound by time and space and therefore He saw the end at the beginning. If we can comprehend this, we will begin to understand many wonderful things concerning God's will, nature, character, purpose and plan.

In chapter two of Genesis we see in great detail what God had created on the sixth day specifically those things pertaining to man. First, we see that God formed man of the dust of the ground, but it wasn't until God breathed His Spirit into man that man became a living soul, he was made alive in God. There is not one other created being or thing in all creation that God gave such special and intimate attention to other than man. We see this as He Himself breathed His Spirit into man. We also see that God had created the earth, water and vegetation which means that the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were present before man was created. We also see that God chose a specific place called Eden where He place man and gave man specific direction. In those directions, God gave Adam authority over all things on the earth. Basically, from God's perspective, if anything on earth got out of line, Adam did not have to ask God to deal with it, but he had the power, the authority, to put it back in line. All things were subject to Adam.

The only one that had more authority than Adam was God Himself. King David reveals, "For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas." (Psalm 8:5-8) In the Hebrew, this indicates that God had made man a little lower than Himself. This is very significant to the believer today when we begin to look at what redemption truly means through Jesus Christ.

Next, we see that God gave Adam one command that required his obedience, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17) And finally, we see that God made Adam a companion whom he called woman. Keep in mind that the creation of man, God's directives to man and His placement of man in Eden had all taken place on the sixth day of creation. At the end of the sixth day of creation, everything was set in motion by God. Believers must understand this if they are to truly understand that bad things do not come from God. As we proceed, I pray for the Holy Spirit to give us a greater revelation of our God, for He truly is a good, good Father...

What a Miracle

For everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and receives Him as Savior, there will be no Judgment like there was for Jesus; there will be no suffering in hell like there was for Jesus, and yet all the glorious things that the Father did through Christ from the incarnation to His seating at the Father's right hand, opened the door to what I believe is the greatest miracle of all, which is, when a person receives Christ as Lord and Savior, they instantly go from being a child of the devil to becoming a Child of God. "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." (Colossians 1:13) "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." (John 1:12)

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

This became a reality the moment Jesus carried His blood into the Holy of Holies and sat down at the right hand of the Father. These things are not progressive or future events, but a current reality. Now a person can accept Christ and know that the moment he or she does, they becomes a New Creation. The o1d things of their life have passed away, and behold all are become new; and all these things are of God, who has reconciled that person to Himself through Jesus Christ. Do you see why the New Creation is a miracle? A person upon receiving Christ in a single moment goes from convict, to an acquitted redeemed child of God. Not only that, but notice verse 21, “He who knew no sin, became sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." A person upon receiving Christ in a single moment also becomes the righteousness of God in Christ.

The Apostle Paul also reveals, "Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).  Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2 AMP)

As it is in 2 Corinthians 5:21 we also see here, that upon the confession of Christ as Lord and receiving Him as Savior we are declared righteous by God. Next we see, "Who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous." (Romans 4:25 YLT) In other words, after three days and nights of unimaginable suffering in hell by Jesus our Substitute, the very moment the claims of justice were satisfied, in the Father’s mind, sin was dealt with, mankind was declared righteous, and then Jesus was raised from the dead.

Yes, in the mind of God, all of mankind has been given right standing with Himself. There is no problem with sin in the mind of God. Sin was dealt with in Jesus. However, there is still a problem with sinners. Though mankind has been declared righteous, it only becomes a reality to an individual when they receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus when speaking to Nicodemus tells us, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18) God does not condemn the sinner, they condemn themselves for not believing on Jesus as we also see in the same conversation, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:17)

In the natural sense, it’s like a person having a debilitating disease that is life threatening. Someone has freely paid the price to provide the cure. Because someone took it upon themselves to provide the cure for free, in a sense the disease is already cured. However, there are people who know what needs to happen for the cure to become a reality to the diseased person. However, due other types of diseases that maybe attached to those who have received the cure, such as, fear, doubt, unbelief, guilt, unworthiness or a sense of inferiority, they do not tell the diseased person what makes the cure a reality. Eventually, after much suffering, the disease ends the person’s life. Unfortunately, this happens all the time because most believers do not know their true born again identity in Christ. They do not have an assured confidence as to who they are in Christ, who Christ is in them and how the Father truly sees them.

Nevertheless, the reality of the born again person still stands as the greatest miracle that could happen to any person. So, if you would like to be a miracle worker in Christ, go and let people know the good news that you have just viewed. In doing this, you are participating in throwing a party in heaven, "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance...Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:7, 10)

Born Free

The greatest desire within man has been the quest to rid himself of sin consciousness and live free of guilt, unworthiness, shame, condemnation and inferiority. To be free of these thing is the driving force behind all the major religions of the world. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter tells us, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) The facts is, God has dealt with the sin problem in His Son Jesus Christ. He has put sin away by the sacrifice of His Son and has made it possible on legal grounds for man who is spiritually dead and in union with Satan, (John 8:44), to become a new creation by confessing, believing and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In doing so, he immediately receives the very nature and life of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; 2 Peter 1:4) He may not know it, he may not take advantage of it, but it is true.

The downside of this great news is, sin consciousness has been permitted to rule over many believers and has been fostered, developed, and made a reality by ministers who have and continue to preach sin instead of preaching Christ and the new creation. Looking back to the Garden of Eden, we see that sin consciousness came with the fall, "...Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:8) Sin consciousness creates the guilt, unworthiness, shame, condemnation and inferiority which causes people hide from God, because spiritually dead man cannot stand in God's presence. We see how God illustrated this fact in the Old Testament where the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies once every year, and then only when he was blood covered. The High Priest did not go into the Holy of Holies to worship, but to make a yearly atonement for spiritually dead Israel. (Leviticus 16)

However, the time came when God would deal with man's sin once for all. How? He made Jesus sin. Sin was not only reckoned to Him, His spirit actually became sin. Looking at the Prophet Isaiah we find that Jesus died twice on the cross, "And they made His grave with the wicked, but with the rich at His death..." (Isaiah 53:9) The word death in the Hebrew is plural, "deaths." On the cross when Jesus became sin He died spiritually. His spiritual death led the way for His physical death. The same happened to the first Adam. Adam's sin separated him spiritually from God and 930 years later his physical body wore out. The good news is, Jesus was, "made alive in spirit." (1 Timothy 3;16), "He was justified in spirit." (1 Peter 3:18), He was not left in hell or in the grave, "For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption." (Acts 2:27) and He was the first person ever born again, "God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: You are My Son, today I have begotten You." (Acts 13:33) "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." (Colossians 1:15) 

God dealt with the sin problem and made man a new creation, gave him a new nature through Christ, because no man can stand right with God simply by having his sins pardoned. It would leave the old nature that produced those sins still in control of his life. But when a person becomes a child of God, "he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) and at the same time everything man has ever done in his past life is remitted, wiped out as though it was never committed. (Acts 2:38) 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, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) 

Notice, by grace through faith one is saved. God takes the sinner as he is. No matter how deep in sin he has gone, new birth will straighten him out. Many have been taught that a sinner could pray through, that he could repent until God would forgive him. All that is not scriptural. The truth is, God takes him as he is, full of sin, rebellion, and having the satanic nature. He imparts to him His nature and it is God's nature that drives out the old satanic nature and makes him a new creation. All the sins of that old nature are remitted instantaneously. The person stands before the Father as though sin had never been. The whole crux of redemption has one main end, that man might become the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) What does righteousness mean? It is the ability to stand in the Father's presence as though sin had never been, as free as Adam was before he sinned and as free as Jesus was in the resurrection.

Jesus tells us, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36) When one becomes born again, they are made free by Jesus Christ the Righteous. The Apostle Paul tells us, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus..." (Romans 8:1) We are new creations in Christ. We are the righteousness of God in Christ. We are children of God. When God's Word says, "the just (my righteous ones) shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17) He is describing the person who has become a new creation and has been made righteous with God's own nature. This is not simply a legal righteousness, nor a reckoned righteousness, but the actual impartation of God's own righteous nature.

So, let us no longer permit guilt, unworthiness, shame, condemnation and inferiority have place. Let us no longer look at what we were, but what we are, "the righteousness of God in Christ." PTL...

Reconciled

The notion of "New Creation" was spoken by the prophet Ezekiel centuries before it became a reality. "For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:24-27)

Though this is the Word of the Lord to Israel’s renewal, it is a prophetic Word concerning the New Covenant and New Birth. Becoming born again is the heart of Christianity. From the fall of man to Pentecost every plan and purpose of man’s redemption is centered on this. This is the reason for the incarnation, death, burial, resurrection and glorification of Christ. We need to come into the revelation knowledge of the scriptures and apply faith to who we are in Christ, what Christ is in us and how the Father sees us or Christianity is nothing more than one of the religions of the world.

Becoming born again, becoming a new creation in Christ, is not simply a conversion to new concepts or a theory. It is not rules and regulation to live by, but a reality. It’s the transformation of one’s life into the image of Christ from glory to glory. (2 Corinthians 3:18) Though Ezekiel spoke prophetically concerning this, Jesus is the first one who speaks in specifics of being born again. With His conversation Nicodemus, Jesus reveals what being born from above is and the need for it. 

"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered; most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:1-8)

Some things to notice here. No one can see or understand the Kingdom of God except he is born from above. No one can enter the Kingdom of God except he is born of water and the Spirit. Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, cannot understand it. Jesus shows us the difference between the natural and the spiritual man. One is born of natural means and the other is born of the Spirit. It is evident that Jesus fully understood the state of man. Jesus in speaking to the Jewish leaders as recorded in John 8:44, tells them they are of their father, the devil, meaning, they are partakers of satanic nature. Jesus also tells us in John 5:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

It is apparent that Jesus believed man to be spiritually dead, a child of the devil, and that the born again experience is to be a change of nature which also will mean a change of relationship. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Here we see that man is by nature a child of wrath, he is spiritually dead. Paul also tells us, Ephesians 2:12 explaining what the situation was with man prior to becoming born again, "that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." The Holy Spirit through the Apostle John tells us, "In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the Devil." (1 John 3:10) This clearly reveals that there are only two families on the earth and all of mankind is either a part of one or the other. They are either children of God or children of the devil; they have either the nature of God or the nature of the devil; either made alive, born again, a new creation or spiritually dead, having the satanic nature.

You may have heard the teaching that says that although a person can be saved they still retain their old sinful nature. However, scripture does not reveal man having a dual nature especially once he is born again as we saw above, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins." (Ephesians 2:1) Prior to being born again, man’s spirit was dead, but now, being born again his spirit is made alive. It does not say one half alive or partially alive or that he is dead and alive, but that he is made alive. We see this spoken of in the following scriptures, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24) "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:12) This is not a future possession but a present tense possession. 

"...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."(John 10:10) I labor this point because many believers live under guilt, condemnation, unworthiness, shame and or inferiority and not the life that Jesus’ substitution has so abundantly provided through faith in Him.
The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter tells us, "having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." (1 Peter 1:23) Believers are not illegitimate children, nor hybrids or half breeds, but are legitimately and legally born of God with His nature. (2 Peter 1:4) The fallen satanic nature is gone. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ..." (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

So, as the writer of Hebrews tells us, "...Let us go on to perfection..." (Hebrews 6:1) in Christ, let us do just that. Let us take our legal rights that God has provided for us in His most wonderful plan of redemption in and through Christ and know without question, the Father has taken it upon Himself to reconciled us, that is, He has received us with favor. We are His sons and daughters. PTL

It is a Reality

When we look at creation, we can draw the conclusion that man was the reason for creation. We can say this because everything was created for man, Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth...and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food." (Genesis 1:26-29) "...what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas." (Psalm 8:3-8)

Although this wonderful work of creation was for and to benefit man, in his one act of disobedience to only one command, "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17) man forfeited his dominion, his ownership, over all creation to God's enemy, Satan. (Luke 4:5-7) However, Gods desire and His great love for His crown Jewel, man, to be redeemed back to Himself, immediately after the fall, God put into action His plan for the redemption, the buy back of man. 

Through Jesus Christ, God the Word becoming flesh, God Himself would become liable for mans sin and rebellion. He would take it all upon Himself in order that the demand of justice be completely and lawfully satisfied. Through Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection, the just for the unjust, God had legally redeemed man once for all. Now God can on legal grounds give eternal life to man. Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:24) For everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and receives Him as Savior, there  will be no judgment nor will there be any suffering in hell like there was for Jesus. Yet in  all the glorious things that the Father did through Christ from the incarnation to His seating at His right, I believe the greatest miracle happens when a person receives Christ and instantly goes from being a child of the devil to becoming a child of God. "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." (Colossians 1:13)

The reality of who and what a born again person is in Christ, is nothing short of a miracle. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

This became a reality the moment Jesus carried His blood into the Holy of Holies in heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. These things are not progressive or future events, but a current reality. Now a person can accept Christ and know that the moment he does, he becomes a new creation. The o1d things of his life have passed away, and behold all are become new; and all these things are of God, who has reconciled that person to Himself through Jesus Christ. Do you see why the new creation is a miracle? A person upon receiving Christ in a single moment goes from a convict, to a redeemed child of God. (1 John 3:1) Not only that, but also notice, “He who knew no sin, became sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." A person upon receiving Christ in a single moment also becomes the righteousness of God in Christ.

Let us look at what the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul reveals, "Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).  Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2 AMP)

As it is in 2 Corinthians 5:21 we see here also; upon the confession of Christ as Lord and receiving Him as Savior we are declared righteous by God. This is emphatic. God Himself declares this. Is goes on, "who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous." (Romans 4:25 YLT) In other words, after three days and nights of unimaginable suffering in hell by Jesus our substitute, the very moment that justice was satisfied, in the Father’s mind, sin was dealt with, mankind was declared righteous, and then Jesus was raised from the dead. Yes, all of mankind in the mind of God has been given right standing. There is no problem with sin in the mind of God. Sin was dealt with in Jesus Christ. However, there is still a problem with sinners. Though mankind has been declared righteous, it only becomes a reality to an individual when they receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Next, Jesus reveals to us in His conversation with Nicodemus, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18) God does not condemn the sinner, they condemn themselves for not believing on Jesus. We see "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:17) This is why it is so highly important that believers know who they are in Christ, who Christ is in them and how the Father truly sees them.

In the natural sense, it’s like a person having a debilitating disease that is life threatening. Someone has freely paid the price to provide the cure. Because someone took it upon themselves to provide the cure for free, in a sense the disease is already cured. However, if the diseased person knows what needs to happen for the cure to become a reality and does not pursue it, in a sense they have brought the end result, death, upon themselves. To compound the matter, those who have received the cure may have other types of diseases attached to them, such as, fear, doubt, unbelief, guilt, unworthiness or a sense of inferiority, and though they themselves have received the cure, they do not tell other diseased people what makes the cure a reality. Unfortunately, this happens all the time because most believers do not have an assured confidence as to who they are in Christ, who Christ is in them and how the Father truly sees them.

The way to freedom on both of these fronts is to apply faith to the unchanging Word of God. Abraham did not have a complete revelation of God as we do today in what we call the Bible, yet it says of him, "He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." (Romans 4:20-21) This is why the writer of Hebrews encourages us to, "hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23) The Apostle Paul tells us, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might...Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand..." (Ephesians 6:10, 13-14) 

Believers are now in Christ and the reality of this means, He is in us and we are in Him; We are new creations the old has passed away; We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; He has not left us to live on our own; He is living His life in us; He is acting in us, through us, and with us; We can continue the work here on earth that He modeled for us; We are now His burden-bearers; We carry His load with His strength; We do His will with His ability. So, let us come to a greater revelation of the truth as to who we are in Christ, who Christ is in us, and how the Father truly see us. Our new life in Christ is not simply a path to follow; It is not a theory; It is not a doctrine; It is a reality; it is life.
Dogma and Doctrines have lost their significance. They are the worn-out shells, old wine skins of yesterday which have held believers in bondage for years. So, let us become God inside minded. Let us never forget, who we are in Christ; who Christ is in us; and how the Father truly see us. The days of condemnation, guilt, unworthiness, weakness, failure and inferiority are over. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle John Tells us, “…because as He is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17) Glory to God!!!

Hold Your Position

I believe that the two greatest struggles for most believers is completely believing God's Word and receiving our inheritance now. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) When we know what our Redemption in Christ truly means, and what it means to the Father, not simply a place in heaven when we pass from this life to eternity, then we pass out of the realm of worry, fear, doubt, unworthiness and inferiority and into the rest that God has provided in Christ.

The Apostle Paul recognized this so much that he tells us, "Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therein to be independent of circumstances." ( Philippians 4:11 TCT) Why or how can believers be independent of circumstances? Paul goes on and says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me." (Philippians 4:13) You see, redemption in the mind of the Father means a new creation, not a new renovation or a hybrid, but complete sonship with al1its privileges. It means that we have come into God’s family and have all the family rights and privileges now as His Children. Paul tells us, "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…" (Romans 8:15-17 ) What a remarkable promise..

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle John tells us, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God…" (1 John 3:1-2) We could stop here, because this should be enough to cause us to walk in newness of life free from the old nature understanding who we are is in Christ; who Christ is in us and how the Father truly sees all of His children. Jesus tells us, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26) and, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:11)

How about this, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:9 ) For some, it may take some time before the reality of this scripture becomes more than simply a nice scripture. The great God and Father, the Creator of all things, has called us into fellowship with His Son, because He sees us as new creations in and with Christ. It is important that all believers recognize these truths, because the Father sees us as being one with Him in Christ. Oh, it goes even further, PTL... 

"For if, through the transgression of one individual, death made use of the one individual to seize the sovereignty, all the more shall those who receive God's overflowing grace and gift of righteousness reign as kings in Life through the one individual, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17 WEY) We are now reigning as kings in the realm of life. We have become Masters; We are more than conquerors; We are set free; we are no longer held in captivity; We were slaves, defeated, conquered, held in bondage but He has taken us to His throne, and in the name of Jesus we become the bondage breakers for the rest of the human race.

Paul tells us, "Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." (Colossians 2:18)  Paul tells believers not to let anyone deprive them of their due reward. The only way to secure the prize was to hold on to the truth of God's Word and not yield to the philosophy of the world or the teachings of the Jews, who would try to defrauded them of their reward in Christ. The same can happen today and is happening today. Many of God's children are being cheated out of their inheritance through faithless teachers who teach the traditions and doctrines of man, rather than the unadulterated Word of God which builds faith (Romans 10:17) and produces life. (John 6:63) So,
hold your position in Christ and stand on His truth, as Jesus said, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)  

The Heart of Things

Man is a spirit, with a soul in a physical body. His body enables him to contact the physical, natural realm. His reasoning faculties, his soul, mind, will, emotions and intellect, puts him in contact with mental things. His spirit, on the-other-hand is the only part that puts him in contact with spiritual things. Before he is born again and receives eternal life his spirit is dominated by Satan, that is, spiritual death. This makes it impossible for him to understand God's Word. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Looking back in the scriptures, we see that God spoke to the Prophet Ezekiel, giving through him, to us, a remarkable prophecy, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-27) This word is actually speaking of the new creation that would be made available through faith in Jesus Christ. God tells us that He will recreate their spirit, or heart. He says, "I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." This suggests that a new kind of love is coming which will make them one as a body of people.

Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35) The prophetic words spoken through Ezekiel now comes to fruition through the believer, the new creation in Christ. He is going to take the stony heart of selfishness out of them, and give them His own heart of love. This new kind of love would not simply manifest through the believer towards those who love him or her only, but every person that they come in contact with.  Jesus reveals this very thing to us... 

^"You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:43-48) 

We also see in Ezekiel's prophecy, "I will put a new spirit within you." This is the promise of God Himself indwelling the believer. Jesus reaffirms this, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-18) God indwelling the believer is what makes him a new creation. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter tells us concerning the believer, "having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." (1 Peter 1:23) Peter tells us of this new person, "rather let it be the hidden person (man) of the heart." (1 Peter 3:4) It is here that we are given a title for the recreated human spirit. He is called the "hidden man of the heart." He is the new creation. He is the man, the real person. 

The physical body is not the man, it is the temporary dwelling place for the man. It is the home of the five senses. The soul is not not the man, it is simply the part that the five senses work through giving him knowledge and causing him to respond to the world around him. The brain would lie dormant, it would be inactive, if the five senses did not function. All of the knowledge that is taught in our colleges, universities and technical schools has come to man through these five channels. The only way that man can obtain knowledge, or an education, prior to becoming a new creation, is through these five senses. 

The Apostle Paul tells us, "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man." (Romans 7:22) "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16) "That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man." (Ephesians 3:16) In these scriptures we see that the hidden man is called the "inward man." In either case, the "hidden man" is the man. The outward, or the visible man, is the one that we see in the physical realm. It is the inward man who gives the outer man either his attractiveness or his unpleasantness. (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)  

Therefore, know that God deals with the inward man and not the outer man, that is, spiritual things are unveiled to the hidden man of the heart, the recreated spirit. Jesus tells us, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24) Now we can see man as being in Gods class. God is Spirit, man is a spirit. God is an eternal Spirit, man is an eternal spirit. He is capable of receiving the nature of God. (Ephesians 4:24) He is capable of loving God. (1 John 4:19) He is capable of loving like God. (Romans 5:5) He is capable of becoming a child of God. (John 1:12) 

From the beginning man was created in the image and likeness of God, that is, spiritual likeness. He lost that image in the fall, but it is restored in the new creation through faith in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul speak of the inward man also as the "new man." He tells us, "And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24), that is, the image and likeness of God. Peter says it this way, "you may be partakers of the divine nature." (2 Peter 1:4)   

As we see, the body is simply the home, or dwelling place, of the spirit. The recreated human spirit wishes to communicate its newfound joy to those about it. Hidden away as it is in the human body, it has no way of communication but through the five senses. This is why Paul tells us, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2) and, "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." (Ephesians 4:22-23) 

Therefore, the first thing that must be done after one is recreated is to bring these five senses into subjection to the recreated human spirit, and God's Word. When this is done the mind will be renewed. Although a person is born again, they still possess the same mind and body that had been under the dominion of Satan. This is the reason that it is so important to renew the mind and bring it into harmony with the recreated spirit. You must bring it into subjection to this new self that has come into being. The trouble with the majority of believers is that their minds have never been renewed. The believers mind will never be renewed until they begin to believe and act upon God's Word. 

So, let us "move on to perfection" in Christ allowing the Holy Spirit to get to the heart of things, so that "all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." 

Free at Last

The church has been very strong in teaching man his need of righteousness, but unfortunately, in doing so, many times the focus of the teaching has been about man's weakness and inability to
please God. What teaching like this truly lacks, is the truth of what we are in Christ, what Christ is in us, how the Father sees us and how righteousness and faith are available to everyone. Looking at some of the music used in the church, whether hymns or contemporary music, we can see in many of the lyrics that our redemption is put off until after death, such as, we are going to have rest when we get to heaven; we are going to have victory when we get to heaven; we are going to be over-comers when we get to heaven; we are going to have peace with God when we get to heaven. It is as though believers have nothing here on earth except failure, misery, disappointment and weakness. But is this what scripture truly teaches concerning the believers new life in Christ?

If these things are so, then what is meant when scripture says, "and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." (Colossians 2:10) or when it says, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37) or, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) how about, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1) or, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1) So, when are believers going to be able to have these things? When do these things become a reality? Is it after we finish our course here on earth and stand with Christ in the New Heaven and the New Earth? When do these things become ours?

It should seem very clear that we live in His presence now; that we walk in His presence now. If Christ cannot present us before the presence of the Father now with exceeding joy, He certainly cannot present us before the presence of the Father after death with exceeding joy. The Apostle Paul tells us, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) The Apostle Peter tells us, "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed." (1 Peter 2:24) Both of these scriptures tell us, that in Christ, we live righteous in the here and now. God Himself is our very righteousness, now, and we are the righteousness of God in Christ, now.

Peter tells us, "by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:4) I am convinced that the scriptures teach that we are partakers of the Divine Nature, now. To take this further, we see, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:17-18) "We know that we have passed from death to life..." (1 John 3:14)

The bottom line is, we are either new creations or we are not. We have either passed out of death into life, or we have not. When Paul says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you..." (Romans 6:14) he means exactly what he says. If you live a life of weakness and defeat, it is most likely because you do not know what you are in Christ, what Christ is in you and how the Father sees you. I believe the greatest need of the majority of believers today is to know these three highly important aspects of walking a victorious life through faith in Jesus Christ, right here, right now.

Look at these wonderful verses that are for believers now,  "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." (Ephesians 1:3) "That He might sanctify and cleanse her (the church) with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:26-27) "And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight." (Colossians 1:21-22) 

These are but a few of the hundreds of scriptures that confirm, these things have already been accomplished in Christ for the believer to walk in now. We stand before the Father, complete, cleansed, without spot or without wrinkle, reconciled, holy, blameless, above reproach, in Christ, now. Do you think that any believer filled with sin (as that term is used in scripture) could be in Christ and stand before the Father without spot, wrinkle, holy, blameless, righteous, etc.? If God could not take the sin nature out of us when we were born again; if the perfect blood of Christ cannot wipe out every bit of sin and He present us before the Father without wrinkle, reconciled, holy, blameless, above reproach, etc., now, then when can we ever be made right?

Simply put. When we know that Jesus died for our sins according to scripture, that the third day He arose again from the dead after He had put our sin away and satisfied the claims of Justice as our substitute; when we confess Him as Lord and take Him as our Savior, that very moment we receive God's nature and we become the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. This righteousness is not an experience, although it gives birth to many marvelous experiences. It is the nature of the Father imparted to every believer.

Therefore, I declare before the angels of heaven, before demons and all the hosts of hel1, that the redemptive work of Christ is absolutely complete in every way and able to present anyone who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and takes Him as Savior, in the presence of the Father complete in Him, now. So, as we gain more and more revelation of these facts, we will walk this planet in the way God has intended the believer to walk, as masters, being more than conquerors and being free to stand in the Father's presence, now, without guilt, shame, condemnation or inferiority, totally complete in Christ. "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36) PTL...

Living Large

The expression "Living Large" is described as, "Living an extravagant lifestyle." Naturally, this refers to a worldly concept that is solely a self-indulgent lifestyle. But for believers, if we were to think of what Jesus did for us through His death, resurrection and glorification, we to would come to realize that in Christ we too are "Living an extravagant lifestyle." This does not insinuate that as the world we are to be self-indulged, but truly thankful that all Christ is and has, is ours. Jesus tells us, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:12-15)

Notice, "All things that the Father has are Mine...He will take of Mine and declare it to you." The Apostle Paul tells us some incredible things concerning what the Father has given to Christ, Christ has given to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit has given (made all these things available) to believers. "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ..." (Romans 8:15-17) Paul continues, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) You might ask, "How could this be so?"

One of the things that bears witness to what Paul tells us is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. His resurrection is the proof of Satan's defeat, man's redemption, which gave the Father the legal right to make the believer a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Ephesians 1:7 also bears witness with this fact, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Christ has made redemption both eternal and available to all who confess Him.  The moment one is born again, redemption is immediately ours and Satan's dominion over us ends. Redemption has nothing to do with us, it is according to the riches of His grace. We were crucified with Him, died with Him, were buried with Him, suffered with Him, were justified with Him, were made alive with Him, conquered Satan with Him, were raised together with Him and are now seated with Him. Hallelujah!!!

The resurrection of Jesus is proof of our victory over the adversary. It is not theory, but fact that cannot be denied. Every person who confesses Jesus as Lord and takes Him as Savior, in the mind of the Father is a victor over the adversary. Unfortunately, so few of the Father's children have seen this mighty truth, that is, our victory was in the victory of Christ. When Jesus broke the power of death, Satan and sin, His victory became our victory. The Apostle Paul tells us, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God." (Colossians 3:1) In the mind of the Father it was our translation, our deliverance, "from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love."  (Colossians 1:13)

I believe that the greatest message of our perfect victory over the adversary is found in Ephesians 1:19-23  "and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

The same power that resurrected Christ and united Him with His dead body to reanimate it and fill it with immortality is also in the believer. Look at the wonderful Word from God through Paul to us, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." (Ephesians 3:20) We are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) because of the life of God that was imparted to us in the new creation. It is the power of God unveiled in the resurrection that shook the foundations of hell. Today, when believers know that they were raised together with Christ, when they know they are victors in every situation and over every circumstance they may find themselves in, then they know the fact that God has lifted us far above all rule, authority, power and dominion, not only in this age, but in that which is to come.

The Father gave Christ who is the head of the body to be master over all the forces of the universe. Because we are His Body, the church, therefore, God has put all things in subjection under the believer's feet. Jesus gave to the believer a legal right to the use of His Name. (Mark 16:17) He actually gave him the power of attorney so that in the Name of Jesus every demon and every power should obey that Name when spoken from the lips of the believer. There isn't anything too hard for God. (Luke 1:37) God's ability is the ability that He gives to us, so His resurrection is the proof of our right to reign over Satan and demons. He was raised because He had conquered Satan in our stead, so that we should no longer live in fear, condemnation, guilt or inferiority of the unseen forces of darkness.

This is great news. This is why we can consider ourselves as "living large." We do this through faith in Jesus Christ. We do this knowing that "we can do all things through Jesus Christ." (Philippians 4:13) We do this knowing that “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) And we do this knowing "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) So let us live large. Let us "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." (Ephesians 6:10) Let us live large through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.. It is "in Him we live, move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)    

The Reality of the Cross

Many believers have limited knowledge as to their identification in and with Christ. For most, the born again experience is the extent of their spiritual connection with the Savior, meaning that they have eternal life. (1 John 2:25) However, the Bible reveals some things that stagger the mind, because they are almost unbelievable. When the Apostle Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20) he meant that he had been judged, condemned, cast out, stripped naked, and nailed to the cross with Jesus. In other words, Paul literally identified himself with Christ in the disgrace and suffering of His crucifixion. Paul tells us, "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." (Romans 6:6) Our spirit, the real person that we are, that Paul refers to as the old man, which was spiritual dead, having the satanic nature, was nailed to the cross with Christ. This means Jesus identified with humanity in sin and suffering, and we identify with Him in His crucifixion. We were crucified with Christ! We were nailed to the cross with Christ!

In the Father's great plan of redemption, as soon as Christ was nailed to the cross, with His crown of thorns, and with the howling mob that surrounded Him, justice began to do its awful work behind the scenes in the spiritual realm. The people at the cross could only see Jesus in the physical realm hanging on the cross, but God saw the real man, His spirit. Angels and demons could also see His spirit, the real man, hidden within His body. Isaiah records for us the Father's plan, "Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses) and carried our sorrows (pains), yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6) On that awful instrument of death, the cross, Jesus not only became sin with our sin, sick with our sicknesses, but He also became a curse. (Galatians 3:13)

Sin and sickness are both a spiritual condition that manifest in the physical body. They both come from the same source, Satan. As we see, Jesus was made sin. Therefore, because He took our sin we
need not be ruled by it ever again (Romans 6:14) Because He was made sick with our sickness, we need not be ruled by sickness and disease ever again. It was all nailed to the cross with Christ. When we recognize this, we will no longer struggle for faith, righteousness, and holiness, because we will
know that we were nailed to the cross and died with Christ. PTL...

The Holy Spirits revelation to Paul concerning this is an unveiling of what happened from the time that Jesus was made sin on the cross, until He sat down at the right hand of God. Jesus was our Substitute and we are to identify ourselves with Him in this truth. He poured out His life unto death.
Through that death we were made alive. It was our sin that slew Him and it is His righteousness that gives us life. He drank the cup of death, that we might drink the cup of life. In that mighty ministry before He arose from the dead, He destroyed death. In fact when death slew Him, it slew itself. The reality of Christ's death is, He conquered sin when He allowed it to overcome Him. He conquered sickness and disease when He let them take possession of Him for a most wonderful purpose, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Think about His wonderful, perfect work of redemption from the cross to the right hand of the Majesty on high. He became one with us in weakness, in sin, in disease, and spiritual death that He might make us one with Himself in righteousness, in perfect health, and fellowship with the Father. (John 17:20-26) He became death's prisoner in order to set us free. In the mind of Justice, we died to sin and its dominion when we died with Christ. The believer now has a perfect oneness with Christ (John 15:5) We have become New Creations in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  Therefore, sin, sickness and disease do not belong to the New Creation. It is an abnormal thing in the mind of the Father for a child of God to be sick and although many seem to carry the burden of sickness and disease, we simply need to remind ourselves, we died with Him; We died to the dominion of sin; We died to the dominion of sickness and disease; We died to the dominion of circumstances and habits. We must let 1 Peter 2:24 become a reality in our lives, "Jesus, Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed," because these things are so...

I Am What I Am

The Apostle Paul says of himself, "But by the grace of God I am what I am..." (1 Corinthians 15:10) Paul tells us that it is by the favor of God that he is all that he is. All of his success; all of his ability; all that he is can be traced to God alone. In other words, Paul no longer identifies himself as Saul of Tarsus, his old nature, but as an Apostle, not called and appointed by man, but by God himself, the new nature. (Galatians 1:1) Paul was in tune with God. He further tells us, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

This is a very powerful scripture and it is important for believers to comprehend its fullness.  As it was with Paul, it is the same for the believer. How we formerly identified ourselves no longer applies. We are to identify ourselves with Christ. For instance when a person is asked to describe themselve, they usually mention race, religion, cultural background or social distinctions. But Paul was not associating himself with those things anymore, although he did mention these things to show where he came from. (Philippians 3:5-6) This did not mean that he was not a Jew in the natural sense, but now the overriding factor in his life was his identification with Christ. His identity was no longer determined by his physical heritage, social standing or racial distinctions. It is the same with every believer. Our identity lies in the fact that believers are all children of God, we are in Christ and Christ is in us.

Although we can be thankful for our physical heritage, we must be far more grateful for our  spiritual heritage in Christ. The significance of this highly essential truth cannot be overstated. When a person becomes born again, they are completely forgiven and are immediately given a new nature, the very nature of God (Ephesians 4:24; 2 Peter 1:4) Furthermore, Paul tells us, "For we are His workmanship, (masterpiece) created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) Believers are now citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20) Peter tells us that believers, "...are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Unfortunately, many people have had a very difficult childhood. Many are raised in a dysfunctional family. Their identity and perception of themselves were formed and programmed into their minds through the natural orders of this world. But for many, even when they receive the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, and are elated with this good news, generally, are never led away from associating with the old self. They are never brought to a place of seeing themselves how God the Father truly sees them. They tend to struggle in this new life as a Christian not knowing this simple but very important truth, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) They are no longer products of their past, but made completely new in Christ. Note, "...old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." Not renovated, not patch up, not a hybrid, but are completely made new, a new creation like Christ Himself.

So, how can one come to the place of being set free from their past and live a victorious life in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2) Believers are to be transformed (metamorphosed) by the renewing of their mind. Renewing the mind does not come naturally. There is no delete button that erases the past programming of the mind. We have to consciously come to know God's Word so that we can truly understand and know who we are from God's perspective. This does not come by-way-of intellectual knowledge, but by applying faith in the integrity of God's Word, that is, believing and acting on what God says in His Word. Of course to believe and act on God's Word requires revelation.

The renewing of the mind is a process. Changing the old way of thinking that has been constantly rehearsed in the mind does not go away because we wish it away. Knowing who we are in Christ and knowing how the Father sees us is not theology or theory nor the power of positive thinking. It come by-way-of a revelation of truth (God's Word) through the Holy Spirit and then exercising faith in this new revealed knowledge. Reason being, a persons faith will not exceed the revelation that they have. 

If you are struggling with your past, who you were before you became born again, then all you need to do is, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:7-11) God has some wonderful things that He has for you. All you need to do is believe and receive them, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24) PTL   

The Unveiling

In Paul's first letter to the church at Thessalonica he reveals an important piece of knowledge concerning the make up of man, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Modern psychologists do not understand this so they do not really know man. Their problem is they cannot get past the realm of the senses. We see that man is a spirit with a soul inside a body. We see this further carried out when we look back to the creation of man, "Then God said,"Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26) Finally, we see what being created in the image and likeness of God actually mean, "God is Spirit..." (John 4:24) So, behind the sense ruled soul (mind, will, emotions and intellect) is the real person (man), who is spirit.

Most of the church for centuries has been unfamiliar with this fact. They have not understood the full depths of the new creation, that is, mans recreated spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God..." (2 Corinthians 5:17-18) What an incredible fact! Just think if believers could learn to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in their recreated spirit and keep intimate fellowship with the Father, there would be no limitation to where we could go in spiritual things, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..." (Ephesians 3:20)

The Holy Spirit was given to believers to guide us into all truth or reality, "when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13) However, the Holy Spirit has a difficult job at best trying to lead believers who live by their reasoning faculties. Therefore, truth seems to allude them and they tend to never move beyond the regeneration experience. Peter refers to the recreated spirit as, "...the hidden man of the heart." (1 Peter 3:4) For many, this has a somewhat literal meaning in that the recreated spirit within the believe is concealed rather than seeing it as an open avenue to receive all of the inheritance that we have now through Jesus Christ,  "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ..." (Romans 8:16-17) and "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." (Colossians 1:12)

The reality of the new creation, the recreated spirit of man was foretold through the prophet Ezekiel, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-28) Notice the extremes that God said that He would do. He was not going spiritually heal man as some have been erroneously taught to believe. Nor was He going to fix-up or renovate man. No, He said, "I will put a new spirit within you; I will put My Spirit within you..." God said that He was going to give man a new spirit. He is going to make a new man out of him. This is the reality of the new creation.

What an incredible promise that has come to pass on all who are in Christ. The new creation means that the old sin nature has been taken out and replaced with God's divine nature. Man is no longer called the "old man" but the "new man, created in the image of God in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:24) As a sinner, the old man could not approach God, but now through faith in Jesus Christ, God has performed a miracle. He has recreated man. The old man has stopped being and the new man has taken its place. The "hidden man of the heart" is now born by the very Spirit of God and has access to "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3) Now that we know these facts, we should see just how imperative it is to develop our recreated spirit by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. In doing so, believers will walk a daily victorious life knowing that "God always leads us in triumph in Christ..." (2 Corinthians 2:14)

It Wasn't Me, it Was Me

The title may seem a little strange, but it has a point that deals with understanding new birth. The Holy Spirit through the apostle Peter tells us, "having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." (1 Peter 1:23) The Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul tells us, "What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil?" (2 Corinthians 6:15) Both of these verse reveal a wonderful truth, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Many Christians believe that when a person confesses the Lordship of Christ and receive Him as Savior that they receive eternal life but the old nature is not removed and that the new and old nature war with each other. The reason for this comes from a teaching from Romans chapter 7. However, if we take a closer look at the entire chapter we will notice the the words, grace, believer, beloved, etc. are not seen in any part of these verses. What we do see is the word law mentioned twenty three time in the KJV of the Bible. Many church leaders have extracted and taken out of context verses fifteen through twenty three. They miss the entire point that the apostle Paul is conveying to the Jewish believers, Paul is not explaining the experience of a believer, but of himself before his conversion, that is, as a Jew under the law. He reveals that the law awakens the conscience to sin which opens the door for his flesh which desires sin. The conflict that he experienced as a Jew under the law was between his mind recognizing the law is good and his flesh that wants to operate contrary to the law, that is, its desire is sin. Paul conclusion to the matter is, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25)

Paul honors and attributes the Lord as the only way that one can be deliver from this war between the flesh and mind. To make it simple, faith in Jesus Christ stops the war. For the believer, there is no dual nature at work. The believer is not under the law but under grace. Let's look again at the above verses that the Holy Spirit has spoken through Peter and Paul, (1 Peter 1:23)  "having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." To say that the believer still has the old nature in him is to say that the believer is not completely born again because he still maintains a measure of the satanic fallen nature, that is, corruptible seed and that corruptible seed shares the believer with God's incorruptible seed. But look again at what Paul says, (2 Corinthians 6:15)  "What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil?"

When a person is born again, they are born of the Holy Spirit and their spirit is recreated, but the flesh and the mind have not been recreated. However, in God's eyes, the believer is in fact "a new creation; old things (satanic nature) have passed away; behold, all things have become new." This is a fact but it takes faith to realize, accept and walk out in our lives. There is certainly nothing wrong with the physical body. God formed the body as a means to operate in the natural realm and to be a servant to the human spirit. Mans spirit was to rule over the flesh and mind. However, the fall of man caused spiritual death "And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh...Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:3, 6) Through the spiritual death of mankind, his flesh, the servant, has become the ruler leading him into confusion and anarchy (look around). Now you can see the dilemma that believers face. It is not a dual nature, but letting the flesh continue to have rule over the recreated spirit. But there is a solution that eliminates this dilemma. .

Paul continues into Romans chapter 8...
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But 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. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8:1-11)

Honestly, does this sound like a man who has experienced new birth and still is a sinner? Absolutely not! The Holy Spirit reveals through Paul the solution of being freed from sin, that is, the believer is no longer a sinner if he/she lives a life in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and does not let their flesh have control of their life. For church leaders to tell the saints that they are sinners, because after the great apostle Paul was also a sinner even after his conversion, reveals their lack of understanding the Pauline Epistles. It also is apparent that they are apparently not having fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Instead, they are excusing sinful behavior by accepting doctrines of the church over the Word of God. The greatest problem with this erroneous teaching is that the believer has no hope of living the victorious life that the Father has provided through Jesus Christ. After all "I'm just a sinner saved by grace and still have the old sinful nature."

I share these things because I sit with pastors from various denominations who I believe love the Lord but believe that they are just sinners or beggars. However, look what Paul tells us in his first letter to Timothy...
"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life." (1 Timothy 1:15-16) Paul was not saying that he was still a sinner, but that Jesus came to save sinners and due to him persecuting the church (his past) he, Saul of Tarsus, considered himself to be a great sinner, but we see that he obtained mercy, that is, he Paul the believer, was forgiven.

Paul tells us to, "...Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16) He also tells us to, "Put off the old man (old fallen nature) and put on the new man (new created nature)" (Ephesians 4:22, 24) But how does one do this? "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind." (Ephesians 4:23) and "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2) The way that a believer can walk by the Spirit and not fall prey to the lust of the flesh is to renew their mind through reading, studying and most important, meditating on the Word of God. God's Word feeds and strengthens the spirit, renews the mind and grows faith. This takes a process of time (it depends on the individual) but as your spirit grows your mind and body (flesh) will once again become the servant to your spirit. Again, this has nothing to do with having a dual nature, but everything to do with faith in Christ, His redemptive work and in God's Word which says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

A final thought concerning new birth it that the new man (the new nature) that one receives from God, is given immediately upon confessing the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving Him as Savior. Paul tells us concerning the new man, that it "was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:24) So logically thinking and looking at all that is shown hereon, how can a believer have God's nature (the new man) and the devil's nature (the old man) ruling their life at the same time? They absolutely cannot! Jesus said, "And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." (Mark 3:25) So let us stop living our Christian life as who we were, sinners, but who we are in Christ, the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)