"We are now justified (aquitted, made righteous, and brought in right relationship with God) by Christ's blood. " Romans 5:9(AMP)[Also see Colossians 1:14 AMP]
We are made righteous through Christ's blood. One redemptive name of God (which describes His redemptive-relationship with us) is Jehovah-Tsidkenu. This means The Lord is our Righteousness.
"For our sake He made Christ {virtually} to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become {endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of} the righteousness of God {what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness}." 1 Corinthians 5:21 (AMP)
Through the redemption of Jesus we can be found In Christ (Colossians 3:3, Ephesians 2:10). Through Christ's blood (redemption) we have been made righteous.
What makes someone righteous? Christ's blood
Do works make you righteous? No (Ephesians 2:9)
Can you become unrighteous because of your works? No
You have been made righteous by the blood of Christ. Your works cannot make you any more or any less righteous.
When we die and are with God will we be more righteous than we are right now? No
Jesus does not have to die again. He made us righteous by His blood. He doesn't need to do this again.
Therefore, Jesus took care on the "sin problem" on the cross. I used to worry about the possibility of dying before I was able to ask for forgiveness for any sin that I may have forgotten to ask for. I thought that sin stood in between me and God and therefore I would be unworthy to be with Him in eternity. But, Jesus took care of the "sin problem" on the cross, my sin does not make me less righteous.
Just like an earthly parent does not need their child to ask them for forgiveness before they are able to forgive their child, God does not need us to ask for forgiveness before He is able to forgive us. He has already washed away all of our sin, past, present, and future, on the cross (Acts 5:31, Ephesians 1:7). Why would we ask for forgiveness then? Because the act of asking for forgiveness is a part of a healthy relationship. When we are in relationship with the Lord we ask for forgiveness for hurting Him, not because we think He will hold it against us if we don't.
God has made us righteous through His blood. We are in right standing with God. The only requirement is to be found In Him. You are found in Him when you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that Jesus rose from the dead for your justification (to make you right with God) (Romans 10:9). We are not unworthy anymore. We can approach God in confidence (Hebrews 4:16). We are right with God now.
"For by a single offering He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy." (Hebrews 10:14 AMP)
We are righteous, being made holy. We are made holy by renewing our mind (changing the way we think, rewiring our brain) to the truth of our righteousness. When we change our way of thinking to reflect what is already a reality in us. We are righteous in Him, live in this reality.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Old Man is Dead
Romans 7 reads, "Do you not know the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you may belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not the old way of the written code."
Our old man is dead. When we accept Christ our sinful nature dies, and no longer resides in us. "We were bound by it, but now have been released from it (v. 5-6)." The only way we can be released is through the death of the sinful nature or old man (as seen in the example right before of the woman). Why then, if we no longer have a sinful nature, do we continue to sin?
That's a good question. I have been reading a lot of neuroscience books lately and I made a great connection with Romans 7 and what is going on at the neuronal level. Page 118 of Norman Doidge's book "The Brain That Changes Itself" explains what happens in our brains when experiencing a death of a loved one.
"Often such people cannot move on because they cannot yet grieve; the thought of living without the one they love is too painful to bear. In neuroplastic terms, if the romantic or the widow is to begin a new relationship without baggage, each must first rewire billions of connections in their brains. The work of mourning is piecemeal, Freud noted; though reality tells us our loved one is gone "its orders cannot be obeyed at once." We grieve by calling up one memory at a time, reliving it, and then letting it go. At the brain level we are turning on each of the neural networks that were wired together to form our perception of the person, experiencing the memory with exceptional vividness, then saying good-bye one network at a time. In grief, we learn to live without the one we love, but the reason this lesson is so hard is that we must first unlearn the idea that the person exists and can still be relied upon."
In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds." The renewing of our minds is the rewiring of billions of connections in our brains from who we once were to who we now are In Christ. The reality is the Word of God is clear that our old man is dead, but that reality "cannot be obeyed at once" by our brains. Renewing the mind is a life long process of saying good bye to "old man" connections and hello to "New man in Christ" connections. The first step in this process is to unlearn the idea that our sinful nature or old man exists and can still be relied upon. It is dead, and although many of us may walk around as if it is alive and well, the fact is that In Christ the sinful nature is dead. If you are a believer in Christ you are in Christ. You cannot be a believer and not be In Christ.
We begin our relationship with the Lord with a lot of baggage. Thankfully our Lord is patient. It would do every believer well to start renewing their minds to their reality In Christ, instead of walking around and acting as if nothing has changed. I believe this is the biggest problem in the church right now. We have people we have accepted the Lord and stopped there. They have not rewired or renewed their mind. If our church is like this than why would anybody want to join? We would be no different from the world.
However when we renew our minds to what Jesus provided on the cross we have complete provision for our every need (Jehovah Jireh), we have health and healing (Jehovah Rapha), we have become in right standing with God (Jehovah Tsidkenu), we have complete peace (Jehovah Shalom), we have a Guide in our lives (Jehovah Ra'ah), we have victory (Jehovah Nissi), and we have a God who is always with us (Jehovah Shammah). These things may not manifest all at once, but as we rewire our brains to their truth they will begin to manifest in our lives. The way each one of these is carried out is through LOVE. When LOVE is the main ingredient and all of these benefits are available In Christ, who would not want to come and know both us and our God?
This all must start with each one of us renewing our minds to God's truth. In doing so we will allow more of Him into our lives, and therefore more of Him will leak out of us "in streams of living water" to all those around us.
Our old man is dead. When we accept Christ our sinful nature dies, and no longer resides in us. "We were bound by it, but now have been released from it (v. 5-6)." The only way we can be released is through the death of the sinful nature or old man (as seen in the example right before of the woman). Why then, if we no longer have a sinful nature, do we continue to sin?
That's a good question. I have been reading a lot of neuroscience books lately and I made a great connection with Romans 7 and what is going on at the neuronal level. Page 118 of Norman Doidge's book "The Brain That Changes Itself" explains what happens in our brains when experiencing a death of a loved one.
"Often such people cannot move on because they cannot yet grieve; the thought of living without the one they love is too painful to bear. In neuroplastic terms, if the romantic or the widow is to begin a new relationship without baggage, each must first rewire billions of connections in their brains. The work of mourning is piecemeal, Freud noted; though reality tells us our loved one is gone "its orders cannot be obeyed at once." We grieve by calling up one memory at a time, reliving it, and then letting it go. At the brain level we are turning on each of the neural networks that were wired together to form our perception of the person, experiencing the memory with exceptional vividness, then saying good-bye one network at a time. In grief, we learn to live without the one we love, but the reason this lesson is so hard is that we must first unlearn the idea that the person exists and can still be relied upon."
In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us to "be transformed by the renewing of our minds." The renewing of our minds is the rewiring of billions of connections in our brains from who we once were to who we now are In Christ. The reality is the Word of God is clear that our old man is dead, but that reality "cannot be obeyed at once" by our brains. Renewing the mind is a life long process of saying good bye to "old man" connections and hello to "New man in Christ" connections. The first step in this process is to unlearn the idea that our sinful nature or old man exists and can still be relied upon. It is dead, and although many of us may walk around as if it is alive and well, the fact is that In Christ the sinful nature is dead. If you are a believer in Christ you are in Christ. You cannot be a believer and not be In Christ.
We begin our relationship with the Lord with a lot of baggage. Thankfully our Lord is patient. It would do every believer well to start renewing their minds to their reality In Christ, instead of walking around and acting as if nothing has changed. I believe this is the biggest problem in the church right now. We have people we have accepted the Lord and stopped there. They have not rewired or renewed their mind. If our church is like this than why would anybody want to join? We would be no different from the world.
However when we renew our minds to what Jesus provided on the cross we have complete provision for our every need (Jehovah Jireh), we have health and healing (Jehovah Rapha), we have become in right standing with God (Jehovah Tsidkenu), we have complete peace (Jehovah Shalom), we have a Guide in our lives (Jehovah Ra'ah), we have victory (Jehovah Nissi), and we have a God who is always with us (Jehovah Shammah). These things may not manifest all at once, but as we rewire our brains to their truth they will begin to manifest in our lives. The way each one of these is carried out is through LOVE. When LOVE is the main ingredient and all of these benefits are available In Christ, who would not want to come and know both us and our God?
This all must start with each one of us renewing our minds to God's truth. In doing so we will allow more of Him into our lives, and therefore more of Him will leak out of us "in streams of living water" to all those around us.
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