Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,049
“And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15 ESV)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18 ESV)
Please feel free to read 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, in your Bibles, or on the internet, in its full context, but I want to highlight just these three verses.
The purpose of Jesus’ death was to take upon himself the sins of the entire world so that, in his death, he put our sins to death with him. Thus, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord Jesus we are able to die with him to sin and to be transformed of the Holy Spirit into new creations, not like our old fleshly sinful natures. And the purpose of his resurrection was to rise victorious over hell, sin, Satan, and death, on our behalf, so that by faith in him we might now live with him in victory over darkness and in holy living.
Therefore, Jesus Christ did not die that painful death on that cross on our behalf just to forgive us our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven and not to hell. He died to deliver us from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that we will now live holy lives, pleasing to him, and so we will no longer live for ourselves to please our flesh natures, but so that we will now live for God for his purposes and for his glory and praise. By faith in Jesus we deny self, die daily to sin, and we follow him in obedience to his ways.
So, we are not “in Christ” if we have not been crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For if our faith is genuine, “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” So we’re not to let sin continue to reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions, for if we obey sin, it leads to death, not to life eternal.
[Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14]
So, if we are “in Christ” we are now “new creations.” We are not like the old us under the control of our sinful flesh. And this is not saying that we have now reached instantaneous perfection. We have not! For our faith in Jesus is to be something that is ongoing, continuous, growing, changing, maturing, and transforming by the grace and in the power of God as we daily yield control of our lives over to the Lord and we deny self and die daily to sin and we walk daily with purpose (in conduct) in obedience to his commands.
For we don’t “get saved” and now we are good to go to heaven regardless of how we live. We have been saved (past), we are being saved (present, continuous), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns for his faithful bride and he takes us who have committed our lives to him to be with him for eternity. For our salvation from sin won’t be completed until Jesus’ return for his bride, when our marriage to him will be spiritually consummated. And right now he is preparing a place for us, his bride.
[Matthew 24:9-14; Romans 8:24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5]
And it is important to note here that all this is from God, indeed. For not one of us can be saved from our sins and have eternity with God unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of God’s requirement that we now die with him to sin so that we can, of the Spirit, be raised with him to walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, and no longer as slaves to sin. All this comes from God, but we have to cooperate with God.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2]
For to be reconciled to God is to decisively change, to change directions, to change from our old position of enslavement to sin to the same position as God, to righteousness, holiness, and godly living. And it is to change from enmity with God to partnership (cooperation, participation) with God in his work of grace in our lives in turning us from sin to holy living, and from the control of Satan to God’s control. This is about exchanging our old lives of living in sin and for self for the new life in Christ Jesus that he is offering.
Create in Me a Clean Heart
By Keith Green
Based off Psalms 51
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me
Caution: This link may contain ads
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18 ESV)
Please feel free to read 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, in your Bibles, or on the internet, in its full context, but I want to highlight just these three verses.
The purpose of Jesus’ death was to take upon himself the sins of the entire world so that, in his death, he put our sins to death with him. Thus, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord Jesus we are able to die with him to sin and to be transformed of the Holy Spirit into new creations, not like our old fleshly sinful natures. And the purpose of his resurrection was to rise victorious over hell, sin, Satan, and death, on our behalf, so that by faith in him we might now live with him in victory over darkness and in holy living.
Therefore, Jesus Christ did not die that painful death on that cross on our behalf just to forgive us our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven and not to hell. He died to deliver us from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that we will now live holy lives, pleasing to him, and so we will no longer live for ourselves to please our flesh natures, but so that we will now live for God for his purposes and for his glory and praise. By faith in Jesus we deny self, die daily to sin, and we follow him in obedience to his ways.
So, we are not “in Christ” if we have not been crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For if our faith is genuine, “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” So we’re not to let sin continue to reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions, for if we obey sin, it leads to death, not to life eternal.
[Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14]
So, if we are “in Christ” we are now “new creations.” We are not like the old us under the control of our sinful flesh. And this is not saying that we have now reached instantaneous perfection. We have not! For our faith in Jesus is to be something that is ongoing, continuous, growing, changing, maturing, and transforming by the grace and in the power of God as we daily yield control of our lives over to the Lord and we deny self and die daily to sin and we walk daily with purpose (in conduct) in obedience to his commands.
For we don’t “get saved” and now we are good to go to heaven regardless of how we live. We have been saved (past), we are being saved (present, continuous), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns for his faithful bride and he takes us who have committed our lives to him to be with him for eternity. For our salvation from sin won’t be completed until Jesus’ return for his bride, when our marriage to him will be spiritually consummated. And right now he is preparing a place for us, his bride.
[Matthew 24:9-14; Romans 8:24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5]
And it is important to note here that all this is from God, indeed. For not one of us can be saved from our sins and have eternity with God unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of God’s requirement that we now die with him to sin so that we can, of the Spirit, be raised with him to walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, and no longer as slaves to sin. All this comes from God, but we have to cooperate with God.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2]
For to be reconciled to God is to decisively change, to change directions, to change from our old position of enslavement to sin to the same position as God, to righteousness, holiness, and godly living. And it is to change from enmity with God to partnership (cooperation, participation) with God in his work of grace in our lives in turning us from sin to holy living, and from the control of Satan to God’s control. This is about exchanging our old lives of living in sin and for self for the new life in Christ Jesus that he is offering.
Create in Me a Clean Heart
By Keith Green
Based off Psalms 51
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me
Caution: This link may contain ads
