Proclaiming
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
(Of both blood and body aspects)
Email: kgww-@tpg.com.au NOTE. When using this email address, please remove the dash (-) before the @ otherwise the email will not work. This dash is there to stop search engines picking up my true email address and bombarding me with useless emails.
If I were now asked
to explain the Gospel and full effect of the cross of Jesus Christ,
· How would I explain it?
·
How would I compare it with traditional descriptions and teachings
of the Gospel?
The
emphasis on the word now, means that I now have a
different view of the Gospel, that view adding to what I already knew, and
completing the whole story. I must say
right here that this is not some weird made up gospel – ‘some other gospel’ as
Paul puts it – but simply reveals what the Bible says in full. Although I believed I knew the Gospel well, I
now consider my previous view somewhat incomplete, partly in knowledge, but
mostly in the full application of the doctrine of the cross to my life as God
intended.
The
title for this study - The Blood and Body Gospel – is indicative of the nature
of the study. Further clues as to the use of the title can be taken from the
examples of the role of the blood and body of the lamb in the Passover and in
the remembrance of Christ in the eating of the bread ( body ) and drinking of
the cup ( blood ) in the Lord’s supper.
I
am going to contend that the blood aspect of the cross (dealing with sins),
which is generally taught well in evangelical churches, is incomplete when the
body aspect of the cross (dealing with sin) is not also known, taught and lived
by believers. In fact, I would contend
that it is not possible to live the Christian life from the blood aspect alone,
because it only addresses the issue of sins and their forgiveness and does not
fully recognize the sin / body aspect on
the living of the present life. This
leads to all sorts of difficulties such as powerless living, self-effort and
the difficulties in having and applying true biblical faith.
I
want to also say at the beginning that I did not work all this out myself. Yes, I have searched for a long time, and
been down many an endless path. But the
Lord, after initially enlightening me Himself, has now graced my life with
several others who have guided me through the scriptural principles
involved. Also the Holy Spirit has now
graciously revealed His truth to my heart – and is still so doing. Fortunately, one of my endless paths had
not been so far away from the real and full truth.
Even
in this synopsis I must emphasize the vital and fundamental role of the Holy
Spirit. In my experience it is quite
impossible to understand these things at a knowing level of our spirit, without
the Spirit’s teaching. Intellectual
knowledge alone will not and cannot make these things work in any life. It is only the Holy Spirit that can teach us
and bring about the experiential knowing that is required to operate in these
ways intended by God.
One
caution. I have found these things to
come to me in a knowing sense, only via the Holy Spirit. I believe that one may
read and study such things intellectually, think we know them and think we live
them out, but until such time as the Spirit of God reveals them, then we really
do not know them. So I would suggest
readers use the study to get to know the information in their mind, then seek
and allow the Spirit of God to make it real in their experience. That is one of the aspects of walking by
faith. I would advise against any
Christian who finds the material is this study to be new or partly new to them
– especially the body aspect of the cross, not to attempt to use it to teach
others until the Holy Spirit has taught them first. Academic knowledge of such things is pretty
useless without the revealing of it to one’s heart, heart revelation being
needed before one could ever teach it from their heart.
Finally,
this study has been written with Christians in mind. This is not to say that unbelievers might not
get to understand it with the help of a believer or with the help of the Holy
Spirit in prayer. With God, nothing is
impossible.
C
o n t e n t s
1 What
was Paul’s experience of ministering the Gospel?
2 Salvation
is full and complete
3 The
blood aspect of the cross.
4 The
body aspect of the cross.
5 How
can this be applied to my life?
Conclusion of basic
study
6 Issues
related to this study – in question and answer format
Details of these are at the end of the
study.
When
the prophet Daniel was brought before King Nebuchadnezzar to interpret a dream
for the King, he said to Nebuchadnezzar A....there is a God in heaven who
reveals secrets.@ (the word mysteries
is used in some versions)
Some
650 years later the Apostle Paul wrote of the mystery of the Gospel, one of
God’s most important mysteries, when he stated,
“the mystery which has been hidden
from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To
them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory.” Col. 1:26-27 (NKJV)
Notice
the nature of the mystery. “Christ
in you”
He
then extended the explanation of the mystery by adding:
“When Christ who is our life appears,
then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Col. 3:4 (NKJV)
The
extended explanation is, “Christ who is our life”
So
this mystery has a duality. Christ
in us and Christ our life. So
Paul was saying that this Christ, whose Spirit had re-birthed us at our
regeneration, was actually in us and was our
actual life. We (as our old
man – old self – the word self used in some modern bibles is both incorrect and
misleading – see later discussion) no longer lived. Christ now lived His life
in us. Other parts of scripture also
indicate that the old man was dead and that this new life of Christ was in us AS
our new life.
Galatians
“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. Gal.
So we can
say that: By faith
in Jesus, our old life is gone
and He lives in us, as our actual
life!
To
many in the Christian church, from my observations, these teachings remain
somewhat of a mystery. To some, these
things are more or less ignored and others, whilst they might give a lip
service to them in partial understanding, do not know or have not experienced
the full practical effect of this teaching in their lives. Still others, whilst they might know
something of the principles, have not allowed the Holy Spirit, or cooperated
with Him, to bring about the spiritual changes needed. Others still may have intellectually known
all the doctrine but not known what to do with it. Knowing and experiencing the
ways of the Spirit in these things is essential. The true and full Christian life cannot be
lived without it!
The
blood aspect of the cross is well known and well taught in most true
evangelical churches. We are born again, regenerated, have our sins forgiven,
saved from eternal death, justified before God and adopted by Him, receive
eternal life, made righteous, reconciled to God, redeemed, sanctified and
preserved by God.
But
when it comes to being dead to sin, freed from sin, no longer slaves of sin,
dead to law, our old man, having been
crucified with Christ, the church somehow cannot, and generally does not teach
how to apply these biblical facts by faith, as well as they do those relating
to being born again – the blood aspect of the cross. Consequently, it does not teach that it is
possible to receive the full benefits of the cross that scripture
describes. There seem to be very few
men and women of faith who have known to stand on all the correct biblical
facts long enough for the Spirit of God to work, to make these things known in
their personal experience. True biblical faith is required to do that. The church does not seem to teach to allow
for the receiving by faith of the full benefits of the cross, which are:
When
reading the above points, some readers may consider there to be a conflict
between the views expressed and the traditions or ‘isms of their own
denomination. Be patient! For what is
said here is what the Bible itself says and will be fully explained. To avoid or not consider these explanations
is to miss out on the full truth of the Gospel, which much of the church has
done for centuries.
Dan
Stone in his book The Rest of the Gospel, describes the problem new believers
face.
“But once we are
forgiven we have to start living the life.
And we ask, “How do I live this thing out? How do I get my act together? How do I keep from sinning? How do I make it work? What we discover is
that the truth that we are forgiven doesn’t tell us one thing about how to live
the life. It only addresses the question,
“What do I do about my sins?” It has
nothing to do with living the life.”
(Stone p 37)
In
short, because of that incompleteness, new believers are not able to fully live
as though Christ is their life or that Christ is fully within them. For even
though they realize that Christ, through the Holy Spirit was their regenerator
by His Spirit, they have not yet realized the fullness of Christ that Paul says
is the mystery that has now been revealed in New Testament times, after the
death and resurrection of Christ.
In
my opinion, this not allowing for or properly seeking this available fullness,
has led the modern day church to generally not have the experience of the
fullness of Christ, as Paul did, as evidenced by his ministry over many
years. The modern evangelical church
might do a reasonable job with its teachings and activities in relation to
being converted, born again and the like, but as for teachings regarding Christ
our life and Christ in you, there is a great lack. Hence, the life that God intended for
believers is not seen enough, a factor which must sadden Him, limit successful
evangelism and more importantly, have partially enabled saints trying to do
God’s will without the power to do so, for that is the end result of such
incomplete knowledge and application.
There
are many reasons why this has happened over the centuries. In my opinion, one of the major causes of
this deficiency is the incorrect interpretation of Romans 7:14-25 that is
taught in many churches. See later explanations. Moreover, Romans is often referred to as the
fifth gospel, yet is rarely taught. If
it is not taught then how can it be lived?
Paul’s explanation of how to achieve the fullness he talks of in Romans
8 must be learned intellectually and experientially via some co-operation
between man and Holy Spirit. To make
the point in another perspective altogether, Martin Luther began the
Reformation nearly 500 years ago, by his rediscovery of “the just shall live by
faith”. It could be argued that, to a very significant degree, the present
church does not seem to teach how to operate from the fullness of faith
originally intended. In a sense the
Reformation has not yet been fully consummated.
That is how important this issue appears to be.
The
purpose of this study is to reveal what fullness of life through the cross
means - and how believers might go about living that way. Believers also need
to know these things when they help to birth sinners into the
The question then is – Does the Gospel of Jesus Christ
supply all we need to live in the power of the Holy Spirit? Where is a good scriptural example to
demonstrate it for us? Obviously Paul is
one of the best examples where we can look.
1 What was Paul’s experience of ministering
the Gospel?
In
the book of Acts, Luke records many of the significant events in the life of
Paul. Despite the fact that Paul
experienced his share of suffering and persecution, his ministry was as
successful as could be imagined. If his
record in Acts, is examined it reveals how his knowledge of the Gospel and the
outworking of it in his life, enabled him to do things according to the Lord’s
will. All that he did reveals the
fullness of life that can only come from the life of Christ being resident in
him, enabling him in so many marvelous ways.
Examine the things he did. But first, examine the underpinnings of his
ministry, those words which describe the basis for all his fullness, knowledge,
wisdom and actions.
1.1. The words of Jesus.
That
He had come that we (and Paul) might have life more abundantly, or as some
versions put it, “have it to the full”.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to
kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may
have it more abundantly. John
In the Greek, the words “more abundantly” Strongs 4053 Perissos
means “exceedingly” “above the greatest abundance” “superabundantly”. So it can be seen therefore that the promise
of Jesus was for an abundance way beyond normal acceptance. (Zodhiates 1 page 1721)
1.2. Paul’s all embracing statement about his
life source.
“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.” Gal.
1.3.Paul asserting both blood
and body aspects of the Gospel.
Paul said
that both blood and body aspects of the Gospel contributed to the Christian
life.
The blood aspect of the
Gospel is well know in the church
“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how
much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! “ Rom. 5:9 (NIV)
“In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace “ Eph.
1:7 (NIV)
“but with the precious blood of Christ,
a lamb without blemish or defect.”
1 Pet.
The body aspect
of the Gospel - which is not often mentioned or taught.
“For we know that our old self was
crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with
that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died
has been freed from sin. “
Notice – anyone who has died
has been freed from sin. As we died with
Christ on the Cross we are therefore freed from sin. The remainder of this study will cover
these aspects in full.
Also,
Paul, when speaking to the Jews in the synagogue at Pisidian,
“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren,
that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; And by Him everyone who believes is justified
from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of
Moses.” Acts 13:38-39 (NKJV)
The
NASB version says the body aspect with even more emphasis,
“and through Him, everyone who believes is freed from all
things, from which you could not be freed through the law of
Moses.” (NASB)
Of particular interest
is being freed from sin – and of law.
This is a very important basis of Paul’s ability to minister as he did
in complete freedom, incorporating the full teaching of Romans 6-8. So how successful was he?
Let
us move to particular examples of Paul’s successful experience as an
apostle. Notice the vast variety of
experience and of victorious success.
Each of the aspects of Paul’s life are supported by scripture.
Scriptures
to do with successful or significant aspects of Paul’s life.
Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit and with joy. Acts
Paul healed. Acts
14:9-10
Paul
endured many tribulations. Acts
Paul preached
truth. Acts
Paul
exorcised evil spirits. Acts
Paul praised
God in difficult circumstances. Acts
Paul’s life
was a witness. Acts
Paul was in
control of every situation he faced. Acts
Paul
taught effectively. Acts
Paul received
personal guidance from the Lord. Acts
18:9-10,
Paul
performed miracles. Acts
Paul’s words
convicted people of their sins. Acts
19:18-19
Paul brought
people back to life. Acts
Paul
received words of knowledge from the Lord. Acts
Paul
sacrificed his life for the Gospel. Acts
Paul
suffered for the Gospel. Acts
Paul
was protected by God. Acts
28:5
Paul experienced suffering and persecution. - This
one is listed last, for it should be remembered that Paul also experienced
suffering and persecution of the highest order.
He provides many descriptions of this apparent adversity. However, there is no way that these can be
seen as a negative or a detraction from all his positive results, as suffering
and persecution are a part of the Lord’s will for true believers and are a part
of His ways in bringing about successful ministry.
Could any reader propose a more imposing
list? What a record that Paul could have
put on a resume! But there is much
more!! Dozens of other scriptures could
be found that highlight the philosophical underpinnings of Paul’s beliefs and
actions. The weight of the New
Testament absolutely asserts that fullness of life is obtained through Christ
by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.
Paul experienced this for himself, taught others and prayed for them to
be established in the Kingdom. The
importance of prayer for the Holy Spirit to do the work in believers is spoken
of by Paul in this verse.
“My little children, for whom I labor in birth
again until Christ is formed in you,” Gal.
Truly,
his knowledge, commitment and dedication were impressive. No one could argue that he was anything else
but successful.
However,
as will be seen in later discussion, some interpretations of Romans 7:14-25
would seem to argue against it being possible to have these (fullness of life)
achievements that are listed here is his negative experience spoken of here had
been permanent. However, Paul would not
and could not write Romans 7 and have it conflict with the rest of
Scripture. Consequently, these apparent
conflicts in relation to Romans 7 that seem to differ with the rest of his
positive assertions, must and do have another explanation. There simply cannot be such a contradiction
in the Word of God.
2
Salvation is full and complete
What
about salvation? Is it all we need, or
was Paul just exceptional? We can be
reassured that God’s salvation is full and complete and offers us exactly what
it offered Paul – by faith.
Salvation
by and through Jesus Christ has been provided completely, fully, and once and
for all. In the Old Testament, some
waited for it as did Jacob when he was dying, and Jonah when the Lord rescued
him from the belly of the fish.
“I have waited for your salvation, O
LORD!” Gen. 49:18 (NKJV)
“But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay
what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” Jon. 2:9 (NKJV)
In
the Old Testament the word salvation came from the Hebrew word Y‘shuw ‘ah (Strongs 3444) and means a deliverance, help
or victory coming from some source outside the oppression. It has the idea of being comfortable and
living with no problems. The eternal
result of our salvation wil be just like that.
(Zodhiates 1 pp 1599)
In the New Testament, they knew from Whom
salvation came, how it was obtained and its great value. Peter explained from Whom it came, Paul told
Timothy that salvation came through faith and the writer to the Hebrews
outlined its great value.
“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
“..and that from childhood you have known the
Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim.
“…how shall we escape if we neglect so
great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
Heb. 2:3 (NKJV)
In
the New Testament, the word salvation comes from the Greek noun Soteria
(Strongs 4991) and has a range of meanings, which include:
1.
Deliverance from sin and its spiritual consequences.
2.
Being attached to the body of Christ.
3.
Admission to eternal life in the
4.
Freedom from sin as a present power.
5.
Deliverance from the pollution of sin itself.
6.
The believer’s union with Christ.
7.
The believer becoming a new creature.
8.
Being reconciled to God.
9.
Entering a new spiritual life of righteousness, peace and joy .
(Zodhiates 2 pp 1360-1362)
To
understand the full meaning of the word, the use of the verb for salvation is
saved (sozo – Strongs 4982) is useful.
To save – to sozo – means to:
10.
Be delivered, make whole and preserve, in terms of both physical
and spiritual life.
11.
Be delivered from eternal death, sin, punishment and misery.
12.
Receive a spiritual life of a new nature from God.
13.
Be freed from the power of sin (even whilst enduring its presence
on earth). Zodhiates 2 pp 1353-1356)
From
the explanation of these Hebrew and Greek words we can see that salvation is
something that is very complete – there is nothing missing – everything has
been provided. So, if everything has
been provided, then why do we not see Christians living in this fullness,
instead of making it such the struggle it appears to be. Has God slipped up? Or have we?
To
be saved or have God’s salvation must result in a real change in the
person. Elisabeth Elliot puts it this
way.
“To be saved requires a severance from the
former life as clean and sharp as though made by a knife. There must be a wall of separation between
the old life and the new, a radical break.
That means death, death to the old life, in order for the new one to
begin. …..So my decision to receive Him, although made once, I must affirm in
thousands of ways, through thousands of choices, for the rest of my life….It is
no to myself and yes to Him. This
continual affirmation is usually made in small things, inconveniences,
unselfish giving up of preferences, yielding gracefully to the wishes of
others, without playing the martyr, learning to close doors quietly and turn
the volume down on music we would love to play loudly – sufferings they may be,
but only small sized ones. We may think
of them as little deaths. (Elliot pp
26-27)
And again.
“My once in a life time choice must be followed
by moment-by-moment choices to do things His way or mine. I must accept not just ‘salvation’, meaning a
free ticket to heaven, but His sovereign lordship of my life, His will ( which
often cuts across mine). (Elliot pp 140)
It
is my observation is that it is not generally realized that the old life is
actually dead, and because of this, many Christians are not able to do things
the Lord’s way. This point is covered
fully when the blood aspect of the cross is explained later in this study.
So
let us now look in detail at all that the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ provided for mankind. Firstly,
let us look at the familiar aspect, the blood aspect of the cross, where our
sins are forgiven and we receive the promise of eternal life.
3
The blood aspect of the cross.
The
most typical gospel sermon or teaching deals with the blood aspect of the
cross. The chart following summarizes
all the aspects of what the Bible teaches about these things.
|
What
happens to the repentant sinner Forgiveness of sins (This is from the blood aspect of cross) Long term viewpoint - eternal life from now into eternity. |
|
|
We are saved from
eternal death by Jesus |
Acts 4:10-12, Matt |
|
We are regenerated |
Titus 3: 5-6 |
|
We are born again |
John 3:3, 1 John 5:1, 1 Peter 1:23 |
|
We receive eternal life |
John 3:15-16, John 3:36 |
|
We are made righteous |
Phil 3:7-9 |
|
Our soul is converted. |
Matt 18:3, 2
Corinthians 5:17 Acts |
|
We are adopted by God |
Gal 4:4-5, John 1:12 |
|
We are reconciled to
God |
Eph |
|
Our sins are forgiven |
Acts |
|
We are justified before
God |
Romans 5:1 |
|
We are set apart for
God - sanctified. |
1 Thess 4:3, 1 Cor 1:2 |
|
We are redeemed by God –
by the blood of Jesus Christ |
1 Peter 1:18-19, Gal
3:13 Romans 5:9, Eph 1:7 |
|
We are preserved by God |
1 Thess 5:23, Jude 1 |
|
Later, we will be
glorified |
1 Cor |
3.1
Explanation of the blood aspect of the cross.
We
will deal with each of these of these aspects of the blood aspect of the cross,
by asking a range of questions, which will then be answered in terms of the
scriptures provided. This aspect of the
cross makes provision for our sins. (plural)
3.1.1.
Who saves us – and from what?
“let it be known to
you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him
this man stands here before you whole. …..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
“And
she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His
people from their sins.” Matt.
“For God did not
appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ….”1 Thess. 5:9 (NKJV)
Jesus Christ is the One who saves and that
He will save us from our sins if we repent and believe in what Jesus has done
for us.
3.1.2.
What is the process by which we are saved?
“not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us,
through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Savior, Titus 3:5-6
(NKJV)
Our salvation comes through the Holy
Spirit, by His washing of us in a
process called regeneration. We are made
new. As scripture says elsewhere –
The old has gone and the new has come.
Notice also that it is not our own works that
save us,
but His regeneration based on His mercy.
3.1.3.
What do we call this new
state?
“Jesus answered and
said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the
“Whoever believes that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him
who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.” 1 John 5:1 (NKJV)
“ having been born again, not of
corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and
abides forever…” 1 Pet.
It is called being born again, but notice
also – born of God.
3.1.4. What
are our future prospects?
“For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life.
John
“that whoever believes
in Him should not
perish but have eternal life. John
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John
We now have everlasting or eternal life.
3.1.5.
What is our new state and
outlook on life?
“But what things were
gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss
for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I
have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I
may gain Christ and be found in Him, not
having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith…” Phil.
3:7-9 (NKJV)
Our new state is that we have righteousness
from God.
Our new outlook on life is that we now view
knowing Christ
as being more important than anything else
in life.
3.1.6
What is the new state of our soul?
“and said, “Assuredly,
I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little
children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 18:3 (NKJV)
“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
“Repent therefore and
be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that
times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” Acts
“let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”
James
Our soul has been saved from eternal death,
by being renewed (or converted).
Because of this, our sins are blotted out
and we are refreshed.
“But when the fullness
of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman,
born under the law, to redeem those who
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Gal. 4:4-5 (NKJV)
“But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name: who were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God.” John 1:12-13 (NKJV)
We are now sons of the living God – and
children of God.
3.1.8 What is the status of our relationship with
God?
“..and that He might reconcile
them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to
death the enmity.” Eph.
“For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son,
much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the
reconciliation.”
“…and by Him to reconcile
all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in
heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 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” Col.
1:20-22 (NKJV)
We are now reconciled with God, Who
considers us holy and blameless.
3.1.9.
What is the status of our former sins?
“To Him all the
prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive
remission of sins.” Acts
“And according to the
law almost all things are purified with blood, and without
shedding of blood there is no remission.” Heb.
Our sins are remitted (forgiven) because of
the payment of Christ’s shed blood.
We are purified by His shed blood.
3.1.10
What is our standing before
God?
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom. 5:1 (NKJV)
We are justified before God, just as if we
had never sinned.
3.1.11
What else have we received?
“For this is the will of God, your
sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 1 Thess. 4:3 (NKJV)
“To the church of God
which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name
of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” 1 Cor. 1:2 (NKJV)
We are sanctified or set apart for God’s
purposes, called to be saints of God.
3.1.12
How did we come to belong
to God?
“knowing that you were
not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from
your aimless conduct received by tradition from your father, but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot.” 1 Pet. 1:18-19 (NKJV)
“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
Rom. 5:9 (NKJV)
“In Him we
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of His grace “ Eph. 1:7 (NKJV)
“Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us
(for it is written, “Cursed
is everyone who hangs on a tree”)”
(Gal. 3:13 (NKJV)
We
were redeemed or purchased by God,
redemption being possible because He shed His
blood for us.
We
were redeemed from our sinful conduct and from the curse of the law.
3.1.13 Who now looks after us?
“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 Thess. 5:23 (NKJV
“Jude, a bondservant
of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by
God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: (Jude 1:1 (NKJV)
We are preserved by the members of the
trinity.
3.1.14.
What shall be our final state?
“Behold, I tell you a
mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed.” 1 Cor. 15:51-52 (NKJV)
“Moreover whom He
predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and
whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Rom. 8:30 (NKJV)
We will be raised incorruptible and will be
glorified.
Let
us now summarize all these aspects of benefit of Christ shedding His blood.
3.2
How the believer benefits from the blood aspect of the cross – a
summary
·
Jesus Christ is the One who saves. He will save us from our sins.
·
Our salvation comes via the Holy Spirit, by His
washing of us in a process called regeneration.
We are made new. The old has gone
and the new has come. Notice also that
it is not our own works that save us, but His regeneration based on His mercy.
·
Our new state is being born again, also referred to
as born of God.
·
We shall now have everlasting (eternal)
life.
·
Our new moral state is that we now have
righteousness from God. Our new outlook
on life is that we now view knowing Christ as more important than anything else
in life.
·
Our soul has been saved from eternal
death, by being renewed or converted.
Because of this our sins are blotted out and we are refreshed.
·
We are now sons of the living God – and
children of God.
·
We are now reconciled with God, Who
considers us holy and blameless.
·
Our sins are remitted or forgiven because
of the payment of Christ’s shed blood.
·
We have been purified by His shed blood.
·
We are justified before God, just as if
we had never sinned.
·
We are sanctified (or set apart) for
God’s purposes, called to be saints of God.
·
We are redeemed (or purchased) by God,
the redemption being possible because He shed His blood for us. We were redeemed from our sinful conduct and
from the curse of the law.
·
We are preserved by the trinity.
·
We will be raised incorruptible and will
be glorified.
All this can be received by faith in the Son of
God – Jesus Christ.
What
a wonderful summary of the incredible benefit for the sinner who repents and
believes in Jesus Christ – and this is only a part of the story.
3.2.
Comments on the blood aspect of the cross
True
evangelical believers would have little trouble in recognizing and accepting
all these elements as relating to the (familiar) blood aspect of the
cross. However, for some believers it
might appear to represent the entire gospel of Jesus Christ. They might think that this is all there is
to the Gospel!
Remember,
at the beginning of this study, I asked the question:
If I were now asked
to explain the Gospel and full effect of the cross of Jesus Christ,
· How would I explain it?
·
How would I compare it with traditional descriptions and teachings
of the Gospel?
How
would I explain it? Those details are
still to come in later parts of this study.
How
would I compare it to traditional descriptions and teachings of the Gospel can
now begin to be answered. To many, the
blood aspect of the cross is all they have been taught and all they know. What I have provided here in (3.1) is the
traditional description and teaching of the cross. It is terrific and wonderful
news – the good news of the Gospel.
Without this aspect of the cross, people would not know and understand
that their sins have been forgiven and that they have received eternal life. However, if that is all they know and experience,
they will never know the fullness of life experience and freedom that is
possible through Christ.
Can
I suggest you look back over the benefits of the blood aspect of the cross and
see which ones of them, if any, actually help you live the life without sin
dogging you. If they were all you had,
then consider what protection you would have against sin – and sinning? I believe that the Lord had far more in mind
than just reconciling with a previously lost sinner, bringing him into newness
of life and all the other things mentioned in 3.1. The Lord also made provision to have our old
life crucified (at the cross) and replaced with a new life (coming from the
body aspect of the cross). Although the
blood aspect of the cross provides the initial benefits of this type,
especially in regeneration and in forgiveness of sin, this is quite inadequate
in order to receive the fullness of the power of the life of the risen Lord for
our life here on earth.
My
own experience as a Christian had me wondering if I could be doing anything
wrong when my relatively ordered life and confession according to 1 John 1:9
did not seem to bring the fullness of life and peace that other parts of
scripture suggested should be the norm for the believer. It was not until a friend took me through
Romans 6, some 15 years ago and showed me that when Christ died, I also died, and that since my conversion the
Bible actually said I had been freed from sin. That knowledge in itself,
although it stood me in good stead was insufficient to bring the fullness
promised, and for me, some level of frustration still existed until these
present studies began, although I can now see how the Lord has been continually
revealing these truths to me. When I
started to consider the things in this study, my heart leapt because it
understood, even though intellectual understanding took much longer. It would be my suggestion that you remember
that for yourself, for God needs time to make these things understandable to
our human minds, through the communication of His Holy Spirit with our spirit.
I
have also observed many friends and acquaintances who, despite their best and
wonderful efforts, believe they always seem to fall short of what they think
should be possible. Some in fact think
they are failures, even to the extent of doubting their salvation. So I believe these truths are something
really special and worth the time and effort to persevere until the Lord
reveals the truth.
3.4.
Faith! The
application of it to this blood aspect of the cross
How
does one gain the advantage of the blood aspect of the cross? By faith!
Do you remember when you first believed and trusted in the promises of
God that said that if you repented of your sin and believed in what Jesus
Christ had done for you, you would be saved?
To be born again, this is all you have to do – repent and believe. Regeneration is not available if you do not
repent or if you do not believe, or if you do not trust in what God has said in
His Word. Jesus said that without faith
we get nothing. So, simple faith is
what is needed to receive full benefit from this aspect of the cross. However, Paul says that this simple faith
needs to be expressed from our mouth, as an indication of our belief in what
Christ has done for us to make our salvation possible. He advises us in the
following verses.
“if you confess with
your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.” Rom. 10:9-10 (NKJV)
Without these words or expressions of faith,
nothing happens. The Spirit of God has
convicted us of our sin, we have heard the promises of God that He will forgive
if we repent of our sins and we are desperate for the salvation He offers. So to escape the wrath of God and receive
His forgiveness, we confess from our mouth the beliefs of our heart - and we
then receive His salvation.
However, my own experience and the experience of
most new believers making a confession of faith is that they are only aware of
the confessing of their sins (in particular the sin of not previously knowing
and accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour) and being free from the guilt of
their sin, and experiencing that as an emotional freedom emanating from the
spiritual realm. They normally still
know nothing of the freedom from their (future) sin or from the law, nor of
being led by the Spirit of God. Many in
fact make a new law out of the considerable guidance given in the New Testament
as to how to live the Christian life, trying to use the ink words on the page –
to live by those words – which results in self effort, rather than the Spirit
of God within to control their life. Sometimes 1 John 1:9 is (correctly)
provided and taught as a key verse from which relief can be gained by
confession of any sinful behaviour that might occur in their life. This is correct teaching but quite
incomplete, as later parts of this study will reveal.
As
faith is the key to opening up these truths, there will be much more discussion
on it later in the study after the body aspect of the cross has been introduced
and explained. Faith is perhaps even
more important in dealing with the body aspect of the cross.
4.
The body aspect of the cross
We
now move to the more difficult, less known and less understood part of
scripture, which I am referring to as the body aspect of the cross.
In
some circles this would be quite controversial. However, I am not concerned about that
for as all this information is in
scripture, it must be there for good doctrinal and practical reasons, even
though some divisions of Christendom and some of the Christian “ism’s” and
traditions might disagree, that is between them and the Lord.
I
recognize that it is a difficult thing to be confronted with doctrines which go
against what one has been taught and has practiced for many a year. I have twice experienced major changes in
doctrine, which at initial hearing of them, I scoffed and did not see the point
of even looking at them. That is a major
problem for anyone who believes they know it all. Only God knows it all and we should be like
the Bereans and see what the Bible says about these things. Temporarily at least, we should put aside
our traditions and “ism’s that might prevent us from finding out real
truth.
Consequently,
don’t believe a word of what you see here in this study. Having been guided into these ideas, go to
the Bible, and then to the Spirit of God over a long period, to see if these
things are true. For my part I took
nearly a year to get to an initial acceptance of them and am continuing in
study and following the guidance of the Lord Who wrote all the relevant
scriptures through His Spirit. All readers
should consider these things carefully.
|
How the
Lord enables us to live for Him Freedom from sin (This is from the body aspect of the cross) Short term viewpoint - living in fullness here on earth |
|
|
We are dead to sin. We are no longer slaves
to sin. |
Romans 6:2 and 6:11 Romans 6:18, Romans
8:15 |
|
We have been freed from
sin. Sin shall not be master over us. |
Romans 6:7 Romans 6:14 |
|
We do not sin
habitually. If we do sin it can be
confessed. |
1 John 3:6, 9, 5:18 1 John 1:8-9. |
|
Our old man (old self)
has been crucified with Christ. |
Romans 6:6, Gal 5:24 2 Corinthians 5:17 |
|
Our body of sin has
been done away with. |
Romans 6:6 |
|
We are holy and
blameless in his sight. |
Ephesians 1:4 |
|
We are alive to God
through Christ Jesus. |
Romans 6: 11, Romans
8:11 |
|
We are slaves to
righteousness and to God. |
Romans 6:18, Romans
6:22 |
|
We are dead to the law.
We are not under law but under grace. |
Romans 7:6 Romans 6:14 |
|
We are free from the
law of sin & death. We live by the Spirit of life. |
Romans 8:2 |
|
We are sons of God and
led by His Spirit. |
Romans 8:14 |
|
Christ lives in us. Christ is our life. |
Colossians 1:27, 3:4 Galations 2:20 |
4.1.
Explanation of the body aspect of the cross
We
will now deal with this most important and vital part of this study, by asking
another range of questions which will then be answered in terms of the
scriptures provided. This aspect of the
cross makes provision for sin. (singular)
This is quite different to the blood aspect of the cross which dealt
with our sins. (plural)
4.1.1
What provision has God made for sin to be
overcome?
“…..How shall we
who died to sin live any longer in it?”
Rom. 6:2 (NKJV)
“Likewise you also,
reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 6:11
(NKJV)
“And having been set
free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Rom. 6:18 (NKJV)
“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.”
Rom. 8:15 (NKJV)
He has set us free from sin, by having us
die to it with Jesus on the cross.
He
has given us His Spirit to use to rule our lives.
4.1.2. What
relationship do we now have to sin?
“For he who has died has been freed from
sin. Rom. 6:7 (NKJV)
“For sin shall not have dominion over you,
for you are not under law but under grace.
Rom. 6:14 (NKJV)
We are freed from it. Sin cannot have dominion over us.
We live in God’s grace.
4.1.3. Do we still sin?
“Whoever abides in Him does not sin.
Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” 1 John 3:6 (NKJV)
“Whoever
has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him;
and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” 1 John 3:9 (NKJV)
“We know that whoever is born of God does
not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked
one does not touch him.” 1 John 5:18
(NKJV)
However, if we do sin incidentally, God has made
provision
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9 (NKJV)
Christians do not sin habitually – as we
are dead to it.
However if we do incidentally sin we can
confess it
to
receive forgiveness and cleansing.
4.1.4.
What has happened to our old man (old self)? What takes his place?
“…knowing this, 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. “ Rom. 6:6 (NKJV)
“And those who are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
“ Gal. 5:24 (NKJV)
“Therefore, if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.” 2
Cor. 5:17 (NKJV)
Our old man (old nature – old self – our
flesh) was crucified with Christ.
We are created anew by God.
A necessary diversion into the meaning of
some Greek words.
Care has to be taken with some of the words in
these last few verses, otherwise wrong interpretations of words can emerge and
cause misunderstanding, which can mislead as to what is being said. The words “old man” are a case in
point. In some Bibles these words
appear as “old self”. Have you heard of
the terminology “dying to self”? As you
will see both here and later on in this study, these words have been known to
cause confusion. If our old man (or old
self) is dead, then how can there be any more dying to self as some
propose? More on this later. Here are the meanings of these words from
the Greek.
Old, from the Greek
palaios, Strongs 3820. Old here means,
”the sinful and unregenerate self previous to salvation. ( standing in contrast
to Kainos, meaning qualitatively new, regenerate man. (Zodhiates 1 pp 1090)
Man, from the Greek
anthropos, Strong's 444. Man here means,
“a human person with human infirmity and imperfection, when contrasted with
God. The old man means
man with the former un-renewed disposition of heart. (Zodhiates 1 pp 180)
In Bibles where the word self is
used instead of man, the meaning is still the same. Our old man or old self is dead, crucified
on the cross with Christ. When we are
regenerated we immediately have the benefit of our old man (old self) being
dead. No more dying to self is either required or is possible.
Please Note! The word “self” is not a common biblical word
in the original Greek. I have done some
research with my King James Bible resources, which is the only Bible where I
have all the Greek derivations. In the
KJV NT the word self is only used 5 times and never in relation to the “old
man” as usage in modern bibles tends to be.
These 5 usages are in John 5:30, John 17:5, 1 Corinthians 4:3, Philemon
1:19 and 1 Peter 2:24. In those verses
the range of Greek words is only three.
The words are Strong’s 4572 seautou (a reflexive pronoun), Strong’s 1683
emautou (reflexive pronoun), Strong’s 848 hautou . All these word meanings seem to be along the
lines of – of thyself, to thyself, myself, to myself, of myself, himself,
herself, itself. (Zodhiates 2 pp 1283, 573, 294)
Never do they relate to being the state of that
self, whether unregenerate, or newly regenerate as the original words used “old
man” do so state. It would appear that
most modern translations (NKJV excepted) may well have changed the meaning of
the text by using the word “self”. In
common usage the word self is a noun, which not only changes the word form from
the original Greek, but also the meaning.
One can easily see the confusion and misinterpretation that has
resulted.
Flesh,
from the Greek sarx, Strong's 4561. Sarx
is derived from sarkikos 4559, meaning fleshly, pertaining to flesh, carnal,
sensual, with proneness to satisfy the desires of the flesh. Flesh (4561) here implies sinfulness,
proneness to sin, the seat of carnal appetites and desires, of sinful passions
and affections whether physical or moral.
(Zodhiates 1 pp 1280)
More on flesh.
Earle adds to this description of sarx.
“Paul uses the word sarx in two distinct ways. He uses it as a classical Greek word where it
refers to flesh in the sense of the physical body. However, sarx is not synonymous with soma
(physical body) From the very context it
is obvious that Paul does not mean the physical body in this verse of Romans
6:6.” Its other very significant use by
Paul (says Earle) is that, ”the flesh would seem to be
interchangeable with the old man.” That last statement is most significant
because if we look at old man in Romans 6:6 and flesh in Galatians 5:24 we will
notice that they are both referred to as having been crucified. So our old man (unregenerate imperfect man),
and our flesh (sarx) are one and the same thing. (Earle pp 170)
Body (of sin),
from the Greek soma, Strong's 4983, here means,” believers physical body before
salvation, possessed or dominated and controlled by the sinful nature. In simpler terms, the “body of sin” means the
sinful nature. Theologians mostly do not
allow for this body of sin to be destroyed, but that the believer is delivered
from its power, whilst at the same time, the nature itself is left in him permanently. So for the body of sin “to be done away with”
renders it idle, inactive, inoperative, reduced to a position of absolute
impotence….as if it were dead Where the
word destroyed is used instead of “done away with”, it is not the body that is
destroyed but the body as the seat of sin.
(Earle pp 166)
The study of other Greek words and their meaning
will be added as they are found to be useful to understanding these things.
4.1.5
What happened to our body of sin?
“…knowing this, 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. “ Rom. 6:6
(NKJV)
We cannot now be slaves to sin, as our body
of sin has been done away with.
See discussion above in 4.1.4 for full
discussion on this body of sin
and what happened to it.
4.1.6. How does God now view us?
“..just as He chose us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before Him in love…” Eph. 1:4 (NKJV)
God now sees us as holy and blameless
before him……..in love.
4.1.7.
Who is the source of our new life?
“Likewise you also,
reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 6:11
(NKJV)
“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.: Rom. 8:11 (NKJV)
We are now alive to God through receiving
the Spirit of God.
4.1.8. To whom are we now slaves?
“And having been set
free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. “ Rom. 6:18
(NKJV)
“But now having been set
free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have
your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” Rom. 6:22 (NKJV)
Having been set free from the law of sin and
death
we can now consider ourselves slaves
(servants) of God.
4.1.9.
What is our relationship to
the law?
“But now we have
been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so
that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the
letter.” Rom. 7:6 (NKJV)
“For sin shall not
have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under
grace.” Rom. 6:14 (NKJV)
We have been delivered from the law.
The law has dominion over us no more.
4.1.10.What is our new relationship to death?
“For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of
sin and death. “ Rom. 8:2 (NKJV)
Christ defeated death, so we share with Him
in freedom from it.
We will be resurrected.
4.1.11 .Who are we and who leads us?
“Therefore, if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.” 2
Cor. 5:17 (NKJV)
“For as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. “ Rom.
8:14 (NKJV)
We are new creations, sons of God and led
by His Spirit.
4.1.11.Who is the source of our life?
“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. “ Gal. 2:20
(NKJV)
“To them God willed to make known what are the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory. “ Col. 1:27 (NKJV)
“When Christ who
is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Col. 3:4 (NKJV)
We no longer live. Christ lives in us. Christ is our life.
All
this by our faith in the Son of God.
Let
us now summarize all these aspects whereby we benefit from the dying of the
body of Christ.
4.2.
How the believer benefits from the body aspect of
the cross – a summary
All this can be received by faith
in the Son of God – Jesus
Christ.
4.1.
Comments on the body aspect of the cross
The
incredible benefits derived from the blood aspect of the cross listed earlier
in 3.1 are quite profound, as they change the status of a sinner to a saint,
providing regeneration, eternal life and salvation from eternal death, amongst
many other wonderful benefits as the sinner becomes a son of the living
God. This has enabled sinners to cross
over from death to life, to change from the power of Satan to the power of God
and receive forgiveness of sins.
Moreover, they have changed from children of wrath, to children of God,
from being sons of disobedience to obedient children. Wonderful incredible benefits which humankind
could never achieve without God!
But
now we have something at least as great.
We have freedom from sin. Imagine
it! And why don’t we sin
habitually? Because we are dead to
it! We no longer have inbuilt mechanisms
with the propensity to sin habitually.
We are dead to sin because our old man was crucified with Christ. We have been dead to sin since we were born
again and took on board the full benefits of the cross of Christ. If we do sin incidentally, we are cleansed
by our confession. Not only is the
negative gone but we also have the positive.
We are now alive to God through Christ Jesus having received the Spirit
of God in all His fullness. So we are
new creations, with Christ living in us.
Christ is now our life. We no
longer live, but Christ lives in us. Not only that, but we are also freed from
the dictates of the law and are led in our lives by the Holy Spirit of God.
What
began with the cleansing of the blood of Christ to receive forgiveness,
reconciliation and eternal life, now includes the replacement life of Christ to
exclude habitual sin from us. We
received what we needed to begin the Christian life but also to receive the
changed conditions in our beings that make it possible to live the life on
earth as Christ intended. Without
receiving the benefits of the body aspect of the cross, we do not have the power
to live the life for which God provided.
This body aspect of the cross was a significant part of the total
package all Christians need to live in the fullness that scripture describes.
4.3.1.
Blood and Body at Passover
The
reader should also be reminded of the importance of both the body and blood of
Jesus Christ. Here are two other
scriptural references to both body and blood.
The first one comes from the Passover at the Exodus of the Hebrews from
Egypt. I will now quote an excellent
summary of this from Dan Stone’s book.
”So he (God) instructed each household,
after they had smeared the blood of the lamb on the doorposts, to roast the
lamb and eat it as nourishment for the upcoming journey. That’s the body side of the cross. You take the lamb (Christ) into you as life.
God is showing us here that the lamb they had used for blood on the doorpost
was the same lamb they ate for the journey.
In other words, everything that is necessary for life comes from the
lamb…The lamb is the total answer. The lamb that gave its blood for them also
gave its life to them. They took its
meat into them, and that became their nourishment, strength and vitality for
the journey. They lived their life out
of the lamb’s life…. They killed the lamb for two purposes: for the Passover
and for the walk.”
(Stone pp 57-58)
4.3.2.
Blood and Body in Lord’s supper
The
second is that Jesus said that we should remember Him by reference to both His
body and His blood. Paul reminds us of
His words.
“For I received from
the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same
night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, £“Take,
eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In
the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new
covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s
death till He comes.” 1 Cor. 11:23-26
(NKJV)
The person or church that does not fully
consider the effects of both body and blood will not understand and will not
incorporate the full gospel of Jesus Christ into their life.
4.3.3.
The two fold message of the cross
About 100 years ago, Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis was
a prolific writer concerning the cross.
In her book The Cross of Calvary, she includes a chapter called The two
fold message of the cross. In this chapter she talks of both the peace that
comes through the blood of the cross and the reconciliation to God in the body
of Christ through death.
“The message of
“peace through the blood of His Cross” and reconciliation to God in the body of
Christ through His death, therefore includes deliverance from the power,
as well as the guilt of sin……. the deliverance from the bondage of sin,
together with the remission of past sins.”
( The Cross of Calvary p24)
She then refers to apostolic times, how
they preached what the church does not now preach.
“…incalculable loss has come to the
church of God by the severance of these two aspects of the Word of the Cross,
in the proclamation of the Gospel of Calvary.
Moreover, deliverance from the power of sin was manifestly not taught by
Paul as an advanced experience, for when he wrote to the converts in Rome he
seemed to speak of the death with Christ as an elementary stage of experience…
for their fellowship with Christ’s death was the only basis upon which they
could realize the newness of life in Him”
(The Cross of Calvary p 25)
In the context of this study, we can see
that whilst Mrs. Penn-Lewis fully acknowledges that the blood aspect of the
cross brings peace and reconciliation, she also proclaims that there is a
further factor, which delivers from the power of sin. Whilst she does not actually name this
second factor, it is fairly obvious that it can only be the body death of
Christ and its use by God in delivering from the power of sin. She also refers to this aspect of the Cross
in another book.
4.3.4.
The Cross and the Blood.
Jessie Penn-Lewis also wrote on a
comparison of the cross and the blood in her book, The Cross – The touchstone
of faith. She asks the question,
“What was the
difference between asking for the “full power of the blood” and the “full power
of the victory won over Satan…on Calvary.”
From the experience of ministering to large numbers of people who could
not gain the victory, she claimed, ”…..there are various aspects of the cross
which meet the Christian’s need, and the difference between claiming the “power
of the blood” and “all that Calvary means”. (The Cross – the touchstone of
faith p 15)
She further points out that,
”The
power of the blood does not deal with the flesh…. The flesh or old Adam life
cannot be cleansed – it must be crucified. “”.
(The Cross – the touchstone of faith p 16)
Which is, “the normal position of every believer….God consigns the old
fallen Adam to the Cross and has nothing more to say to him. (The Cross – the touchstone of faith p
17)
Also that:
“…children of
God (sometimes) ignorantly claim the ”shelter of the blood” upon the
uncrucified flesh”! Without experiential knowledge of the crucifying power of
the cross….that it is now crucified and out of action the “flesh” is not dealt
with, but remains actively existent and open to the workings of the spirits of
evil, even whilst the believer is claiming the “shelter of the blood”. It cannot be said too strongly that the
precious blood of Christ was not meant to shelter the uncrucified flesh. God
does not promise to shield or defend by the blood of His son, what He has
condemned to death in the death of His son…..the blood continually
cleansing is only for the believer who walks in the light as God is in the
light, as per 1 John 1:7…… The sixth of Romans is not an aspect of truth,
but the foundation truth upon which every believer must stand, to know anything
about victory.” (The Cross – the touchstone of faith pp 17-18)
One very important comment must be made
about this part of the above quotation. ( ie Without experiential
knowledge of the crucifying power of the cross….that it is now crucified and
out of action the “flesh” is not dealt with, but remains actively existent and
open to the workings of the spirits of evil, even whilst the believer is
claiming the “shelter of the blood”.)
In
effect she seems to be saying here that believers who have not yet
realized the experience of the
crucifying power of the cross, will be still somewhat open to the effects of
some demonic activity, even if they are saved.
This is because God did not intend that new believers benefit from just
a part of what Jesus did on the cross but requires them to benefit fully from
the spilt blood and His death and resurrection.
That would then mean that if a believers faith does not allow for the
experience of actual death of the old man, then the full resurrection life
cannot be had either. Consequently,
believers covered by the blood would not be sheltered from their uncrucified
flesh. It also would seem likely that as
a consequence of this point, that
believers who are not attacked by the demonic realm, will nevertheless find
that their own flesh will lead them into some normal sinful behaviour, until
such time as they can experience the crucifying power of the cross and the
resurrection life that can result – all and only by faith. The critical issue for each believer then is
– how to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to bring about the desired state. Other parts of this study address this issue.
She
then reminds us that:
“….there
is also a life side to the sixth of Romans, the resurrection side…..where death
has no more dominion. The negative side
of “death” should not be dwelt upon to the exclusion of the positive life side
of union with Christ…….the believer has to reckon he has died – not that he is
going to die.” (The Cross – the touchstone of faith p 19)
As the reader will
be able to see by her words, the power of the blood does not deal with the
flesh, which must be dealt a death blow -
which for believers has been done on the cross. Again, this fits with the rest of this study
which claims that both blood and body aspects of the cross must be appropriated
and experienced before any believer comes into full victory.
4.4.
The application of faith to this body aspect of
the cross
Do
you remember how we said one gains the benefits of the blood aspect of the
cross? By faith! Simple faith was what
was needed to receive full benefit from that aspect of the cross. So too with this body aspect of the
cross. It is by faith that the complete
benefits of (4.2) are received from the Lord as He does His work in response to
our standing in faith that these things are true, despite our apparent overt
inability to be the way that scripture says – dead to sin and alive to God
through Christ Jesus.
A
reminder is needed here that full salvation is the result of the shedding of
Christ’s blood, BUT ALSO OF His body death.
Salvation is not just being regenerated and receiving eternal life. It also means being enabled to live the
fullness on earth. Many, if not most
descriptions and teachings about salvation do not include this - with
disastrous consequences. People are not
taught about the body aspect of the cross and how to act in faith on those beliefs
- that freedom from sin and law are possible.
We need to know that in order to really get to know what the Christian
life is all about. Without this
knowledge, they become quite content with the limited version of provision of
fullness of life and going to heaven.
Scripture
is quite clear that we should reign in life on earth in all its fullness.
“For if by the one
man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life
through the One, Jesus Christ.)”
Rom. 5:17 (NKJV)
We cannot reign in life until the Lord has
brought His own death and resurrection life into our own beings, by the power
that only He has. Scripture says that
we are saved by His life. We first need
to know this and then wait in faith as the Lord applies it to our life. If we don’t know it in our spirits, we
cannot wait in faith.
“For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Rom. 5:10 (NKJV)
Not
only are we saved by His life, He is our life.
Our old life has gone and His life has replaced ours.
“When Christ who is our life appears,
then you also will appear with Him in glory.@ Col. 3:4 (NKJV)
The
life of Christ Himself is now within us as our very life. For us to live is Christ as Philippians
says.
“For to me, to live is Christ, and
to die is gain.” Phil. 1:21 (NKJV)
Without the full realization and acceptance of
the life of Christ within us, we cannot live in fullness of life on earth. This must be and can only be achieved by
faith in what Christ has done. We mentioned earlier that it was confession of
faith by our words that brought salvation to us by the grace of God. All believers have experienced that in some
form or another. Remember the verses
from Romans!
“if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart
that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.” Rom. 10:9-10 (NKJV)
If I were now called upon to humanly assist to
lead someone to the Lord by making a confession of faith, I would now teach and
advise them to include confessions of belief in relation to them being dead to
sin, alive to God through Christ Jesus, dead to law and being led of the Spirit
of God.
We could add for example:
I
am dead to sin.
I am alive to God through Christ Jesus.
I am dead to the law.
I am a son of God and led by the Spirit
of God.
For present day believers who have never known
these things and never confessed them in faith, this can be done at any
time. However, you should know that the
Lord is the only judge of how and when He brings about a manifestation of the
witness of these truths in our lives.
Norman Grubb once told the story that after his wife and he had made
their confession of these things on the body aspect of the cross, it took two
years before he had the witness of the Spirit that God had acted. During that
time he maintained his confession of faith.
His wife however, received this witness of the Spirit in just two weeks. Others with whom I have contact, also tell of
various lengths of time, some of them telling of many years before “the penny
dropped”.
My own experience may be of some interest. Late in 1999, after many years of study (not
perfectly directed) on the cross and its full meaning to Christianity, I came
across what I now see as well themed and directed teaching on Romans 5-8 as
well as single verses in Paul’s other writings – Galatians 2:20, Colossians
1:26-27, 3:4 and related verses, all these being included in this study. I knew immediately that it was true, even
though I did not yet understand it intellectually. That took many months of intensive study
with help from others who had walked down that path before me. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, truth about
previously obscure bible verses began to emerge. Suddenly I realized that the Holy Spirit was
indeed teaching me more of His truth.
And so the fullness of truth built up and began to be just a normal part
of life. I found I needed to be aware
of always affirming my faith for current things and any new direction. That is all any one of us has to do. Faith is the doorway. God does the rest.
The witness of the Spirit does come as
promised. The Bible teaches that the
witness of the Spirit comes for the simple basics of the faith, such as:
“If we receive the
witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the
witness of God which He has testified of His Son.” He who believes in the Son
of God has the witness in himself;.. And this is the testimony:
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. He who has the Son has
life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:9-12 (NKJV)
“The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God,..” Rom. 8:16 (NKJV)
“…the life was
manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” 1 John 1:2 (NKJV)
Just as the witness of the Spirit comes for
these simpler things in relation to the blood aspect of the cross, so it also
comes with the deeper things of the body aspect of the cross. We get to learn to see that we do not sin
habitually and that the Lord has indeed brought to death some aspects of
earlier poor behaviour. We did not know that before – now we do! Also, that we do not need to slavishly
follow laws and traditions, for the Spirit Himself provides far better and more
accurate guidance as to what we should be doing day by day, even hour by hour,
or in lesser periods of God’s time.
Although I am much stronger in faith at this
time, I can still sometimes fall back into unbelief or fear for short periods
of time, until either the Lord sovereignly delivers me out of it, or I remind
myself of Who the Lord is, and what He has done for me, and for everyone who
chooses to believe these things. In
effect, this is standing in faith – perhaps in the dark of persecution or
trouble, as I await the Lord’s deliverance. So far, it has been the most
powerful and meaningful experience of my life and will continue to be so, as I
live, write, teach and intercede for others to whom the Lord directs my
attention.
Something more needs to be said about this
process where the Lord responds to our faith, whilst also, in His sovereignty,
bringing about circumstances where our faith is put to the test. Walking in
real faith is a very active process, which brings all forms of changes and
surprises in life, some pleasing and some we would prefer had not happened,
especially if we think something that is happening is really someone else’s
fault. Normally it is something brought
by the Lord for proving that our old self, our old man, is in fact dead and
that we can respond from the life of Jesus in us. This is a new and unique experience for many
of us.
One of the key verses for understanding this
process is Paul’s statement about his own experience in gaining and knowing
Christ. He said:
“Yet indeed I also
count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count
them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not
having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that
I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may
attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or
am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which
Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. “ Phil. 3:8-12 (NKJV)
Notice that he said he suffered the loss of all
things in order to gain Christ, through faith in Him. The loss of all things
comes in various forms, through unjust persecution, through deprivation,
through actual loss (both temporary and/or permanent) of some of life’s
privileges or normalities, which one would not expect to be affected in a
Christ lived life. Not so! And if scriptures are examined it is easy to
find many examples of the suffering of the saints in order for Christ to allow
His death in them to work life in others.
Knowing Christ and living His life in and through us is serious business. The Lord, whilst maintaining
His love and grace, is lovingly relentless in bringing a willing participant
into fullness of life – His way – and not some man-centered pseudo Christian
way, of which there are and have always been many.
5.
How can this be applied to my life?
When I had reached this stage of my near final
draft I asked a friend who was also learning these things if he would review
the study to see if it was understandable.
He said it was and then asked a most significant question: “What difference in normal life does knowing
and believing in the body aspect make? I
feel there needs to be an application base.”
I had been going to write in the “how to” in
later parts of the study, but saw immediately that it was relevant right
here. As a teacher, I should have known
that to just present the doctrine, as complete as I could make it, is quite
inadequate, as we all need to know how to apply doctrine to our lives.
So, how can these scriptures about the death and
resurrection of Christ be applied to my life? Let me provide a short answer
before the detailed answer to come. It
is simply by faith! We need to
believe that each of these scriptures are true about ourselves and that if we
confess our belief in them and maintain that belief, the Lord will make it true
in us and for us.
5.1.
The Holy Spirit is the guide and teacher
The first thing to say is that the Holy Spirit
needs to reveal the truth of all that I have written here before it is relevant
or useful. This is not an intellectual
or academic exercise. The Spirit will
teach these things to each individual in a way uniquely applicable to that
person. The Spirit of God knows our
hearts, strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and wisdom and can fashion His
teaching to a way that He knows we will take notice and learn. Because of our individual natures, the
Spirit of God knows there is no single way.
So, the Holy Spirit is the teacher and guide in
our lives regarding how these things develop in our lives. This study is not the teacher, nor is the
writer. The Holy Spirit alone will
teach these things. Without Him,
anything learned is useless in practical application.
There are however, a number of useful pointers
that can be made about the application of these principles to our lives. Descriptions of these follow.
5.2.
A basic principle
Christianity has one great principle of
operation. Anything we receive must be
received by faith. Without true faith we get nothing. Jesus made it very clear in these two verses.
“Then He touched their
eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” Matt. 9:29 (NKJV) (faith being Strongs 4102 – pistis)
We receive according to the level or degree of
our faith. If we do not have faith we
get nothing. If we have faith we can ask
and expect to receive.
“Jesus said to him, “If
you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23 (NKJV)
Anything and everything is possible if we have
faith. Notice also in the following
verse that faith in God is the one primary obedience of scripture. It is the obedience of faith. To be obedient to God we must live by
faith.
“but now made
manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according
to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith..”Rom.
16:26 (NKJV)
The King James
version below supplies the better statement about faith – the obedience of
faith, not obedience to THE faith as per NKJV.
“But now is made
manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment
of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of
faith:” Rom. 16:26 (KJV)
Finally, we cannot please God if
we do not have faith, as the following verse reminds us.
“But without
faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek
Him. Heb. 11:6 (NKJV)
So, faith is absolutely necessary in all stages
of the Christian life.
In principle, faith is simple in
application. As already noted, when we believe
and repent in God in order to be regenerate, or born again, receiving the
benefit of the blood aspect of the cross, we make that act of commitment in
faith, because God has said He will receive those that come to Him in
repentance and belief. It is simple
belief and trust.
Likewise, that same faith needs to be exercised
in order to receive the benefits of the body aspect of the cross. However, my own experience, that receiving
the benefits of the body aspect of the cross through faith is far more
difficult, as it takes knowledge of doctrine and wisdom as to how God
operates. There are many confusions
associated with this aspect of scripture.
5.3.
The changes are huge - God needs time – we need faith
Let us take four of the main changes to our
lives that the death and resurrection of Christ makes possible. The Bible says :
Please note. I have just used these four important
doctrinal points as examples. There are
dozens of other points which are just as important, and the same principles
should also be applied to them.
When we first believe, can you imagine a bigger
change to life? Yesterday we were
sinners and acting in sinful ways. Alive
to sin, dead to God, alive to law and led by our Satanic sinful selves. Today, we are regenerate with the Spirit of
God operating in our heart.
Not yet knowing much about these things…….
Do we sometimes still sin? Yes.
Does that confuse us? Yes
Are we absolutely sure we are alive to God
through Christ Jesus? Not really
Are we able to set aside rules and traditions of
man and church? No
Do we really fully know that the Spirit of God
will show us the way? No
Does it all feel pretty confusing? Sometimes
This is easier to understand if we realize that
we are dealing here with the perspectives of two different realms, one visible
and another unseen. In the unseen
realm – in the heavenly realm, from the moment of our regeneration we are dead
to sin, alive to God, dead to law, led
by the Spirit and holy and blameless before Him. That is God’s perception of us. As far as we see ourselves, we are still struggling
sinners, confused and not sure who is leading who. So who are we going to choose to believe?
God and what He says? Or are we going to
rely on ourselves and what we think and feel?
In my own experience most people tend to believe
on what they think and feel themselves in the temporal realm, because that is
what they see of themselves and that is how they feel. But that is not faith! That is unbelief because the Word of God
says something different! God has said
that because we are regenerate, we are now dead to sin, alive to God, dead to
law, led by His Spirit and holy and blameless before Him. But because of our experience of ourselves,
we tend to believe our experience. We
are living by sight and not by faith.
5.4
Walking and standing in faith
Using the word “walk” as a description of the
living of the Christian life the Bible says exactly the opposite!
“For we walk by faith,
not by sight.” 2 Cor. 5:7 (NKJV)
Logically, one would expect that a babe in
Christ – a new convert – would be taught the right way to handle these things
by church elders, ministers or friends.
However, my experience of the modern church is that this does not happen,
as many Christians, many church elders and many ministers themselves do not
know these truths, nor how to apply them in their own lives, let alone guide
other people into correct usage. There
are no experts in these things, just disciples learning to live in different
ways. However, thinking and believing on
the right basis makes all the difference.
It seems to me that Christians are allowed by
too many of their elders to walk (too much) by sight, by the experiences of
living and not by the Word of God and its description of our state. Many years of my own walk with God were this
way, as no one had shown me how one must wait for the Lord whilst professing
His truth, as He brought about these truths into my life. I now believe these truths are made
practical in our lives by walking by faith, not by sight.
The Bible also uses the word “stand” to describe
our Christian life as we stand on truth as God works it out in our life. Consider the following scriptures that tell
us to stand in faith and various other aspects of the Christian life. Whilst we stand, God acts.
“Watch, stand
fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” 1 Cor. 16:13 (NKJV)
“Well said. Because of
unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be
haughty, but fear.” Rom. 11:20 (NKJV)
“Stand fast
therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do
not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
Gal. 5:1 (NKJV)
“Only let your conduct
be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am
absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit,
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,” Phil. 1:27 (NKJV)
“Epaphras, who is one
of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always labouring fervently for you
in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the
will of God.” Col. 4:12 (NKJV)
“For now we live, if
you stand fast in the Lord.”
1 Thess. 3:8 (NKJV)
“through whom also we
have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Rom.
5:2 (NKJV)
“Who are you to judge
another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be
made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. Rom. 14:4 (NKJV)
“Moreover, brethren, I
declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received and in which you stand,”
1 Cor. 15:1 (NKJV)
So whether we describe the Christian life as a
walk or as standing, we are standing or walking in faith as God does His work
in us and eventually through us. Using
these same five descriptions of the human life of being dead to sin, alive in
Christ Jesus, being dead to law, led by the Spirit of God and holy and
blameless in His sight, we can therefore say we need to stand or walk believing
those things as God brings into actuality an experience of those states within
us. They are already in the invisible
spiritual realm and by His power He can and will bring them into the visible
human realm, where they will be our normal human experience.
5.4.
Some incidental practical examples
Here are six random examples of how to learn to
operate in faith, to stand in faith and to walk in faith. Whilst they do not cover all aspects of
Christian life, they should give some idea of how to approach this new way of
living in faith.
5.5.1.
Understanding scripture correctly
When we sin, we need to believe it is not
habitual sin, but incidental sin, confess it, be forgiven and cleansed. It is quite remarkable to hear so many
otherwise sound believers refer to themselves as sinners rather than saints,
especially when the book of 1 John clearly says three times that we do not, or
cannot sin (habitually) and Romans says we are dead to sin and freed from
it. Moreover, John recognizes that if we
do sin incidentally, he provides the means of forgiveness and cleansing from
his words in 1 John 1:9.
We need to know scripture, believe it and rely on it,
standing and walking in it. We must work out our faith this way – by
understanding what scripture really says.
5.5.2
Giving God time to do His work
When we think that nothing is happening
after initially believing and standing on these things, or we consider it is
taking too long, it is quite easy to rely on feelings and thoughts rather than
relying on the Word of God and trusting that God will do His work. When we rely on thoughts and feelings,
rather than what the Spirit is saying to our spirit, then faith goes out the
window and we begin to wonder why nothing is happening. This leads to one form of unbelief.
We need to have
knowledge of separation of soul and spirit, so that soulish thoughts and
feelings that come to us, can be set aside, so that we can focus on that still
small voice that come through our spirit, through our spiritual union with God. We sometimes have to stand in faith for a
long time.
5.5.3.
Knowing where to obtain guidance
We need to take care when we hear
directions from church authorities that provide guidance that comes from church
traditions, or the various ism’s that sometimes are used to direct church
activities. Also, humanistic views are
sometimes adopted by churches, and we need to check them out against what the
Bible says.
Be a Berean and check
out what you hear before you adopt it as gospel truth.
Faith says to trust in
God that He will supply answers to every issue of life.
5.5.4.
Handling emotional hurt or rejection correctly
When we are
hurt or rejected, particularly by another believer, we can easily lapse into a
semi-permanent state of feeling this hurt or rejection. Why do we allow ourselves to bear grudges,
or want to retaliate, when scripture says not to do so? Also, it seems to me that the ways in which
adversity is handled is one of the great weaknesses of the application of the
Christian faith in the Christian church.
Right through scripture there are multitudes of saints who suffered
badly or were persecuted for some reason.
They were put there for our example and our learning. Also in scripture, there is continual advice
to count suffering or difficulty as a good thing and not a bad thing, yet most
Christians still view it in the negative as though God had nothing to do with
it. The truth is that God, in His
sovereignty has everything to do with our adversities and uses them to bring us
to the fullness of faith that He requires of us. If our lives went along
smoothly all the time we would never get to learn strong scriptural faith.
Why
not forgive and / or love / or forbear?
All things work together for good to those who love God and are called
according to His purpose. Why not
believe it is really ALL THINGS and not just some things? Faith can be hardest to hold when being
persecuted or hurt, but that is when we need it most for God to work out His
purposes in us.
5.5.5.
Handle the decisions of life correctly
We all have a
continuous stream of decisions to make in life, some of which are not specifically provided for in scripture. Scripture says that we have the mind of
Christ. Would Christ not know what to do
in each situation? Of course there is a
learning period, where we also need to rely on guidance from other trusted
people. That is why Paul wrote many of
his letters, to reply to questions his newly established churches had
asked. When it was only possible for
them in their immaturity to drink milk instead of eating meat, he did not mind
advising them in detail what to do and how to do it. But his main message to his charges was still
“Christ in you” and “Christ my life”. He
wanted all believers to learn this one fact and to learn to operate from
it. As we learn to operate from our
“mind of Christ” we will of course make mistakes, but if we do not exercise
this God given principle we will never grow and be able to operate as mature
children of God.
Have confidence
that we do have the mind of Christ, despite mistakes we might make as we learn
to operate from the scriptural fact of Christ in you. Standing in real faith and believing all of
scripture is sometimes like jumping over a cliff and hoping God is there to
catch us. If He has said He will be there
to catch us, then He will. Faith in one
sense is a real risk – but in God it is obedience.
5.5.6
Interpret scripture correctly
When we sin and
read of Paul’s struggle with sin in Romans 7:14-25 and think that there is a
constant battle with sin as he describes it in those verses, it is possible to
be confused. Two things need to be said
about that. First, those verses were a
description of Paul’s experience as the Holy Spirit taught him of his death to
sin and law. It was a temporary
experience around A.D 37 whilst in Arabia and Damascus. That it was not his life experience is
evidenced by his spiritual achievements listed in 3.1 of this study. There is no way that Paul’s apparent
confusions of Romans 7:14-24 could have continued in his life, otherwise he
would never have achieved what he did.
Second, a close examination of Chapters 6-8 of Romans reveals that there
was a change that came as he was released from his error and his wretched state
spoken of in Romans 7:24.
This is best explained
by going to Romans 8: 9. that says:
“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.”
Rom. 8:9 (NKJV)
This verse in fact dispels all the problems that Romans
7:14-24 seems to create. Notice that the
verse says, “you are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit”. Please remember that the
problem of Romans 7:14 was based on Paul saying that he was carnal, sold under
sin - carnal meaning fleshly, meaning that he was using ineffective human
effort in his attempt to live righteously.
But he is in fact now saying that he is not fleshly at all, but in the
Spirit! But our flesh has been crucified
on the cross.
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires.” Gal. 5:24 (NKJV)
This means that he has the Spirit of God dwelling in him to
empower him in all that he did. The
Spirit of God empowers him to live as he should. If we walk in faith and live by the Spirit
there is no battle between flesh and Spirit.
There is no effective human effort with which to try and attain the
law.
If as he says, he is not in the flesh, which has been
replaced by the Spirit, then the apparent sin that he talks about in Romans 7:
15-23 is no longer a relevant issue. Not
only is he dead to it, but the Spirit now controls his life. This is more evidence that Romans 7: 14-25
is a parenthesis explaining an aspect of his life that is no longer relevant,
current, or true to Paul, as he has now passed into the fullness of life
expressed in Romans 8. No wonder he
wanted to thank God through Christ Jesus his Lord!
This one verse, by saying we are not in the flesh, in effect
eliminates all the apparent problems and supposed conflict of Romans
7:14-25. It reveals that the apparent
conflict that many believe exists in this section of scripture, is Paul’s
description of a believer who has not yet appropriated by faith, the benefits of
the cross in Romans 6.
This subject of Romans 7 is difficult to deal with because
of much incorrect understanding of the relevant passage. For more detail, go to these 3 articles
written by the author.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~gnaust/life/truthgrs-02.html
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~gnaust/life/truthgr-05.html
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~gnaust/life/truthgr-08.html
At times, we all need to re-examine our
cherished beliefs or things taught to us in earlier days. Faith says that if we do, then God will
supply the answers in His time. That is
indicative of my own personal experience.
We must stand and walk, believing that God will teach us through His
Spirit.
5.5.6
The faith confession
This is the final part of
the “how to” of all this study. For the
Lord to see our faith in operation we need to confess our faith with our
mouth. That is a principle previously
mentioned as coming from Romans 10:9-10.
So, whichever of these scriptural truths
you believe - really believe, if they are confessed from the heart through our
mouth, then this tells God that we believe in what He has done through Jesus
Christ – and He will then begin to bring about the benefits of these truths to
our lives. The list is randomly
sequenced, some of the more important truths being underlined and
highlighted.
“I am born again
through the Word of God.”
“I know the truth and
the truth has set me free.”
“I am reconciled to
God through Christ Jesus.”
“I am born of God and
the wicked one does not touch me.”
“I am blessed because
I have faith.”
“I am holy and without
blame before Him.”
“I have the peace of
God which surpasses all understanding.”
“I have everlasting
life and have passed from death to life.”
“My life is hidden in
Christ with God.”
“I am delivered from
the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of God.”
“I have redemption,
forgiveness of sin and knowledge of the mystery of His will.”
“I am dead to sin and
alive to God through Christ Jesus.”
“I have been freed
from sin.”
“I have been crucified
with Christ and I no longer live; it is Christ who lives in me.”
“I have been redeemed
from the curse of the law.”
“I am in Christ as a
new creation.”
“I have put off the
body of the sins of the flesh.”
“I have been made
alive with Christ.”
“I live by the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which has freed me from the law of sin and
death.”
“I have been blessed
with every spiritual blessing”
“I am the elect of
God, holy and beloved.”
“I am the
righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”
“I am a partaker of
His divine nature.”
“I am free from
condemnation because I am in Christ Jesus and walk with His Spirit.”
“I have obtained an
inheritance in Christ.”
“I will overcome and
eat from the tree of life.”
“I am an heir of God
and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.”
“I am created in Jesus
for good works.”
“I am called according
to His holy purposes.”
“I am an ambassador
for Christ.”
“I am strong in the
Lord and in the power of His might.”
“I am being changed
into the same image as the Lord.”
“I am more than a
conqueror.”
“I have the mind of
Christ.”
“I am the temple of
the Holy Spirit.”
“I am complete in
Christ.”
Conclusion
The question I asked myself at the beginning of
this study was:
If I were now asked
to explain the Gospel and full effect of the cross of Jesus Christ,
·
How would I explain it?
·
How would I compare it with traditional descriptions and teachings
of the Gospel?
That
question can now be answered.
How would I explain it?
The gospel of Jesus Christ has both a
blood and body aspect, which together make possible forgiveness, regeneration
leading to eternal life after death, and fullness of life
on earth due to freedom from sin and law. The first aspect brings the new believer into
permanent relationship to God and the second provides the freedom from sin and
law , along with many other benefits which are needed to have the power to live
the life on earth.
How would I compare it with traditional descriptions and teachings
of the Gospel?
Traditional descriptions and teachings of the gospel
normally only include the blood aspect of the cross dealing with forgiveness of
sin, regeneration and receiving eternal life. The body aspect of the cross,
which provides for freedom from sin and law is not normally taught as a part of
the gospel and is mostly relegated to being just another bit of doctrine. Consequently, many, if not most believers, do
not have the power to live the life as God intended, simply because they do not
know the full effect of Christ’s death and resurrection, nor how to have it implemented
in their life. Alternatively, they get
involved in pseudo Christian or humanistic practices that are not scriptural.
Having included something of the “how to” in this study, I
should now add in summary that we need to expect great and unusual difficulties as we attempt to
walk in faith and stand in faith as we live and learn this experience of full
union with God. This union with God,
this relationship with the Alpha and Omega is the most incredible union ever
imaginable, and quite outside normal human experience, so we should expect
there will be many surprises and difficulties as we learn.
Bibliography.
Elliot Gren Elisabeth. A Path Through Suffering – God’s Mercy in our
Pain. OM Publishing by arrangement with Viine Books, an imprint of Servant
Publications, P.O. Box 8617, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107
Penn-Lewis, Jessie. The Cross – the
touchstone of faith. Published by
Overcomer Literature Trust Ltd. 10
Marlborough Road, Parkstone Poole, Dorset BH14 OHJ England
Penn-Lewis, Jessie. The Cross of Calvary Published by Overcomer Literature Trust
Ltd. 10 Marlborough Road, Parkstone
Poole, Dorset BH14 OHJ England.
Stone D. and Smith G. The Rest of the Gospel – When the partial
Gospel has worn you out. Published
by One Press P.O. Box 832442 Richardson, Texas 75083
Zodhiates. Th.D. Dr Spiros The Complete Word
Study Dictionary – New Testament. AMG
Publishers Chattanooga, Tn 37422 USA
Zodhiates. Th.D. Dr Spiros The Hebrew Greek Key
Study Bible. World Bible Publishers Inc
Iowa Falls, Iowa USA
Remaining Issues
What has been done so far in this study completes the basic
teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, covering both blood and body effects
resulting from the death and resurrection of Christ. In this study we covered how our sins are forgiven and how sin is
defeated so that we may reign in life.
However, there are a significant number of
related issues, which will now be addressed, in order to extend and complement
the whole study. These will be written
in the form of question and answer in brief form, with reference and resources
suggested for further study.