The Four Loves: Sexual Love Pt.6 Sanctified Sexuality Pt.4 (Crucified With Christ)
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Galatians 2:20
In this edition of our study we will look at what it means to be dead to sin. We will explore why this is such vital fact that we need to remember as believers.
Before we got saved we were slaves to sin. We were slaves to every lust of our sinful human nature. But when we came to Christ putting our trust in Him for salvation, we died with Him on His cross. Literally what happened is our old nature was put to death and we have been given a new nature that glorifies God. Yet we still live in these sinful bodies. This is where the battle is, our flesh. While we have been freed from sin, we still inhabit a fallen body. It is a body that craves things, which are at odds with God.
“ 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. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Romans 6:6-13
You and I no longer have to obey these urges to commit these acts. We are no longer slaves to sin. Now through the saving work of Messiah we have the power to not obey sin. We have the responsibility to take authority over it. Before when we had urges to obey lust in its various forms we were in fact helpless to fight against it. Now thanks to the work that Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection we don’t. When these temptations and urges present themselves we can say “no!”
But this life that we now enjoy is not our own. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:15 that, “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Because of this God has deemed us as “New Creations” with our past lives having passed away under the blood of Jesus. Our past has no power! Because ALL things have become NEW. We have been reconciled to God through Jesus and have been declared the righteousness of God in Christ.
We now enjoy life in a new dimension. The same power that raised Messiah Jesus from the dead lives inside of us. Your past is gone. It doesn’t matter where you have been. You are not the same person! God freed you with the sacrifice of His Son. You are now righteous in His eyes because when He looks at you He sees you in Christ. Our challenge as we will see is to remain in Him (Christ).
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all matters of truth. He also said that the Holy Spirit would glorify Him. How this happens is that the Holy Spirit bears witness to us that we ARE children of God. He leads us through the maturing process with His anointing that teaches us the truth about all things. The maturing process takes one from merely being a child to a level of maturity called being a “Son” or “daughter.”
“As many as are lead by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God.” Romans 8:14
This involves listening to the Holy Spirit and learning that it is only through His power that we can truly put to death the (sinful) deeds of the flesh. Remember that what we are talking about is practicing sin. We all sin. But the Christian’s duty is to not practice it. You may do or say something inappropriate. But the goal is not to continually do it. To not make excuses for it and to admit what it is, going to God asking for help in that area. We are called to walk after the Spirit. We know the truth and He has made us free.
There are things that we may engage in that feed our sin nature. Music, television, movies and other activities and entertainments that tantalize our sinful natures. Now already Paul tells us that the new created spirit of ours “desires against the flesh”. What he means is that our flesh (sinful nature) has desires that are completely against God’s wishes. While our new created nature in Christ desires only those things that are pleasing to God. It is the sinful nature that Paul tells us that wars against our spirit and vice versa.
When we obey the desires of our sinful nature rather than follow the leading of the Spirit we are tearing ourselves in two. Paul tells us in Romans not to use our carnal mind (natural mind of our sin nature) because it is at odds with God. This is the mind that justifies our sins. This is the mind that deceives us and leads us astray causing us to make a “mockery” of the cross when we go after and practice sin.
Allow me to readdress the issue here. We all sin as believers. This is not the issue. The issue is our practice of sin that leads to the following:” Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
But when we follow after the Holy Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Notice that it does not say “fruits” but rather fruit. Beloved, this is how we know that we are walking in the Spirit. This is how we know how we are walking properly. Remember Jesus said, “ every good tree bears good fruit.” This does not mean that you don’t ever mess up but it does mean that this is what you should be chasing after.
Let us look at what God says we are in closing:
“You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…” 1 Peter 2:5
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10
Beloved, we have been set free. Praise His name with your life.
In this edition of our study we will look at what it means to be dead to sin. We will explore why this is such vital fact that we need to remember as believers.
Before we got saved we were slaves to sin. We were slaves to every lust of our sinful human nature. But when we came to Christ putting our trust in Him for salvation, we died with Him on His cross. Literally what happened is our old nature was put to death and we have been given a new nature that glorifies God. Yet we still live in these sinful bodies. This is where the battle is, our flesh. While we have been freed from sin, we still inhabit a fallen body. It is a body that craves things, which are at odds with God.
“ 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. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Romans 6:6-13
You and I no longer have to obey these urges to commit these acts. We are no longer slaves to sin. Now through the saving work of Messiah we have the power to not obey sin. We have the responsibility to take authority over it. Before when we had urges to obey lust in its various forms we were in fact helpless to fight against it. Now thanks to the work that Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection we don’t. When these temptations and urges present themselves we can say “no!”
But this life that we now enjoy is not our own. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:15 that, “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Because of this God has deemed us as “New Creations” with our past lives having passed away under the blood of Jesus. Our past has no power! Because ALL things have become NEW. We have been reconciled to God through Jesus and have been declared the righteousness of God in Christ.
We now enjoy life in a new dimension. The same power that raised Messiah Jesus from the dead lives inside of us. Your past is gone. It doesn’t matter where you have been. You are not the same person! God freed you with the sacrifice of His Son. You are now righteous in His eyes because when He looks at you He sees you in Christ. Our challenge as we will see is to remain in Him (Christ).
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all matters of truth. He also said that the Holy Spirit would glorify Him. How this happens is that the Holy Spirit bears witness to us that we ARE children of God. He leads us through the maturing process with His anointing that teaches us the truth about all things. The maturing process takes one from merely being a child to a level of maturity called being a “Son” or “daughter.”
“As many as are lead by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God.” Romans 8:14
This involves listening to the Holy Spirit and learning that it is only through His power that we can truly put to death the (sinful) deeds of the flesh. Remember that what we are talking about is practicing sin. We all sin. But the Christian’s duty is to not practice it. You may do or say something inappropriate. But the goal is not to continually do it. To not make excuses for it and to admit what it is, going to God asking for help in that area. We are called to walk after the Spirit. We know the truth and He has made us free.
There are things that we may engage in that feed our sin nature. Music, television, movies and other activities and entertainments that tantalize our sinful natures. Now already Paul tells us that the new created spirit of ours “desires against the flesh”. What he means is that our flesh (sinful nature) has desires that are completely against God’s wishes. While our new created nature in Christ desires only those things that are pleasing to God. It is the sinful nature that Paul tells us that wars against our spirit and vice versa.
When we obey the desires of our sinful nature rather than follow the leading of the Spirit we are tearing ourselves in two. Paul tells us in Romans not to use our carnal mind (natural mind of our sin nature) because it is at odds with God. This is the mind that justifies our sins. This is the mind that deceives us and leads us astray causing us to make a “mockery” of the cross when we go after and practice sin.
Allow me to readdress the issue here. We all sin as believers. This is not the issue. The issue is our practice of sin that leads to the following:” Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
But when we follow after the Holy Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Notice that it does not say “fruits” but rather fruit. Beloved, this is how we know that we are walking in the Spirit. This is how we know how we are walking properly. Remember Jesus said, “ every good tree bears good fruit.” This does not mean that you don’t ever mess up but it does mean that this is what you should be chasing after.
Let us look at what God says we are in closing:
“You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…” 1 Peter 2:5
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10
Beloved, we have been set free. Praise His name with your life.
posted by lazarus da new creation at 1:14 PM
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Hi! Just want to say what a nice site. Bye, see you soon.
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