Category: Living Free in the Spirit

How Can We Regain a Childlike Heart?

 

Jesus said that it is necessary to have a childlike heart to enter the kingdom of God.

I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17 (NLT)

Many of us tend to idealize childhood because of its lack of adult responsibilities or worries. Although it is not true for all, children have few shadows of sadness, disappointment, and shame. No big sins, failures, dashed hopes, or betrayals should cloud their hearts. Ideally, hopefulness, happiness, carefree innocence, contentment, and joy should be the experience of children. Does this describe your memories of childhood? I hope so.

Sadly, for many others, childhood was marred by the too soon awareness of how wicked the world is and the too early exposure to adult sins, temptations, and responsibilities. Abuse, neglect, shame, fear, loneliness, abandonment, and betrayal mark the childhood memories of some. These recollections and experiences may still echo in their minds and reverberate in our souls, resulting in a kind of PTCD – post traumatic childhood disorder. When something or someone churns up these old memories, powerful negative emotions may erupt.

Not surprisingly, the way we experience childhood can powerfully impact who we are as adults. What are we supposed to take with us from childhood into a mature and healthy adulthood? What are we supposed to leave behind? Paul clues us in on this.

Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind. 1 Corinthians 14:20 (NLT)

God never intended for us to become familiar with evil. That was Satan’s idea, but now that the “cat is out of the bag,” our Lord does want us to develop in us a proper ability to discern between good and evil and to progress to an adult understanding of what is good.

But, what if we experienced a terrible childhood? Can the evil done to us be undone? Can we recover what was taken from us and get beyond the scars? Is their any way for us to receive what we should have received and missed out on as young children? As adults, is it possible to enjoy life as one who was properly loved and nurtured during childhood, even if we were not? Can childhood somehow be regained?

Sadly, many of us who were happy children in healthy families may have somewhere along the line lost our “childlikeness” because of sin and our responses to life’s pain and disappointments. We may have become cynical and find it difficult to fully trust God. We analyze first and believe secondly, if at all. Is there hope for us, too? I believe so.

Children and the Kingdom of God

Jesus loved little children and said something quite profound about them. Once when some parents were bringing infants and small children to him to receive his blessing, the disciples tried to push them away, apparently wishing to protect their master from this distraction and preserve his dignity as a teacher. Jesus became indignant and responded:

...“Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.  Luke 18:16 (NLT)

Rather than drive away the children because they were “not worth his time,” or “incapable of receiving what he had to offer,” Jesus opened the door wide for those little ones to come to him. What did Jesus mean when he said that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children? What did he intend for us to grasp when he declared that no one will even enter God’s kingdom, unless we receive it like a child? Were these merely poetic words or an invitation?

The New Covenant and Childhood Regained

No matter how old a person may be, we are always children to God.

Jesus frequently tenderly addressed his listeners as children.

Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer... John 13:33 (NLT)

When Jesus rose from the dead, far more was affected than we now comprehend. Not only were sins forgiven, but the first raindrops of a coming flood of restoration of the entire creation was set in motion by what the Bible calls the New Covenant.

Central to what Jesus accomplished was to make us God’s own children.

Instead of leaving us as hopeless orphans, Jesus made us a part of God’s family.

For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20  Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21  the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22  For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23  And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Romans 8:19-23 (NLT)

If we only understand that the New Covenant produces forgiveness for sinners, we miss so much. Sins were indeed erased by the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross, and we who believe are declared “not guilty” by our Creator through his resurrection, which is called justification. Those who put their faith and allegiance in Our Lord Jesus, the Messiah King of Israel, are set free from everything that enslaved them, even though we may not immediately experience it. This includes sin, death, disease, demons, addictions, religious legalism, and everything else that the devil uses to hold people captive. This is the meaning of redemption.

But perhaps the greatest gift of all is our reconciliation to Father God and being brought into his family through the new birth.

God forgives, justifies, sets free, and restores us to his heavenly family as fully loved and accepted blood-bought born-again children, in whom dwells God’s own Spirit, the Spirit of sonship.

We are sons (and daughters) because the Spirit of God’s Son lives inside us.

We experience Jesus’ relationship with Abba as a result.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16  For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16 (NLT) 

But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5  God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6  And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7  Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Galatians 4:4-7 (NLT)

The passages above speak of our being given full rights as adopted children. This will be fulfilled at the resurrection of the dead when we will be glorified and will manifest completely all that Jesus died to give us. This will be an expression of something that has its origin in eternity – the relationship of the Father with the Son. We who believe and receive the gospel enter into that relationship through the new birth and the indwelling Spirit.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4  Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6  So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. Ephesians 1:3-6 (NLT)
Jesus and His Abba

The eternal Son, the Logos, the Second Person of the Trinity, is “eternally begotten.” (John 3:16, John 17:5) This means his relationship with the Father has always been and will always be. When he became a human being through his miraculous virgin birth, he experienced human sonship in the family of Joseph and Mary, but his primary relationship was and is with his heavenly Abba Father. We are not sure what kind of parents Joseph and Mary were, but we assume they were good ones by human standards, providing Jesus with a safe and secure loving and nurturing environment in which to grow up. However, we actually know more about his relationship with Abba.

Jesus acknowledged his devotion to his Abba when he was very young. When he remained behind at the Temple, engaged in discussion with religious leaders, and was finally located by his distraught parents, he said the following when they remonstrated him for staying behind.

“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49 (NLT)

From a very early age, his primary allegiance was always to Abba, and he also understood Abba’s love and commitment to him.

I wonder how this made Joseph feel? Jesus knew he was adopted. He loved his adoptive father, Joseph, but his first allegiance was to his eternal Father. Jesus received from Joseph and Mary human love, discipline, education, and social and career skills – things every good parent supplies as best he or she can.

From his Abba Jesus received everything that he needed to be a fearlessly secure and loving human being.

The Bible privileges us to glimpse a beautiful impartation from Abba to his Son, when Jesus was gloriously transfigured on the mountain in front of three of his disciples. Abba said in front of those three who were there:

...“This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.” Matthew 17:5 (NLT)

What son would not want to hear his father speak these loving, affirming, and empowering words?

  • “dearly loved Son” – These words firmly set Jesus’ identity as a dearly loved son. That is our core identity. If we are not rooted in this, we will struggle mightily. It is not enough to be a son. Every one of us needs to be loved. God made us to be loved, and we need to hear it spoken.
  • “who brings me great joy” – This affirmed that Jesus was fully accepted and very much liked by his father. It is one thing to be loved and another to be liked. Being liked is perhaps an even greater affirmation than being loved, and being told that we bring joy to someone is the epitome of affirmation. If we are merely tolerated because we are family, it scars our souls. We long for deep unconditional acceptance, which is only found in God. Our acceptance by Abba is based on Christ’s total acceptance by his Father, which he was born into and subsequently earned. We all know that we fall far short of measuring up to God’s standards and wonder how God can accept us at all. The beauty of the gospel is that we get to “ride on the back” of Jesus’ relationship with Abba. He earned for us unconditional acceptance. Praise the Lord!
  • “Listen to him” – These words empowered and commissioned Jesus with the knowledge that his Abba Father gave him an important job to do. Jesus knew that he was a person to be heeded, followed, and respected. Abba gave him significance, which is one of the deepest desires of the human soul. True significance only comes from God. If we are significant to him, that should be enough. Little children are significant to God, and he calls all of us to a very great work – to be ambassadors of reconciliation who take the glorious good news to others. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Unfortunately, many fathers and mothers are unable or unwilling to properly love, rejoice in, and validate their children, which can leave them insecure, afraid, angry, and searching for these three things from others. Looking for love in the wrong places only leads to more heartache. Where is the best place for us to get what we may have missed out on from our earthly parents?

Jesus, the Doorway to Abba’s Heart

Jesus came to demonstrate a proper relationship with Abba. He died and rose again to restore us and introduce us to his Abba and explain or reveal him to us.

He did this by living and speaking as Abba would. Jesus revealed Abba continually though his lifestyle and words. The Bible says this about Jesus.

No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son— the One who is at the Father’s side— He has revealed Him. John 1:18 (HCSB)

But there is a revelational aspect to this demonstration as well. Our hearts need to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Nothing pleases Jesus more than to introduce us to his Abba and open our hearts to understand more about him and just how much he loves us; so that we can believe, receive, and enjoy that relationship with the help of God’s Spirit.

At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. 26  Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way! 27  “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Matthew 11:25-27 (NLT)

If we ask Jesus to reveal more about his Abba to us, he will!

But only the childlike will be able to receive this revelation, since they are the only ones who desire to know Abba in a greater way. Only the humble can enter the kingdom.

About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” 2  Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3  Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4  So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 18:1-4 (NLT)

Unless we become humble and repentant like little children, we cannot enter the kingdom and receive its blessings. How can we do this?

Steps to Regaining a Childlike Heart

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6) He is the doorway through which we enter into all of God’s blessings. He is the Wonderful Counselor and Great Shepherd of the Sheep. The only way to regain a humble childlike heart is to come humbly to Jesus and ask him to do this in us.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)

Humility will prompt us to let go of (repent from) our sins and receive healing for any wounds, those things that are robbing us of God’s blessings. (If you wish to read more about how God heals and sets us free, click here.) This is a very personal thing. The Spirit will show us whatever may have destroyed and still be destroying our childlike wonder and awe of God, our ability to receive and show tenderness, our ability to trust from the heart, our ability to freely express our emotions, our ability to be excited, to be angry as appropriate, to feel joy, to worship, to forgive… You get the idea.

Repentance needs to be rather ruthless. We cannot afford to coddle anything that hinders knowing, loving, and serving Abba better.

Only the Holy Spirit can do this for us and in us. He indwells us and is our Helper. He uses the Bible to direct our steps in this process. His goal is to fully transform us into the likeness of the only begotten Son, which means becoming humble and gentle in heart, like a child, like Jesus.

This is a lifelong process that will be suddenly and completely culminated at the Second Coming. John put it this way:

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2  Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 1 John 3:1-2 (NLT)

Since those of us who have declared faith and allegiance to Christ are already children of God, we have the privilege of boldly drawing near to our Abba through the wide open door that Jesus provided for us. The Holy Spirit accompanies us right into God’s throne room.

We, like Jesus, can confidently approach our Abba, knowing that he loves us beyond comprehension, that he is joyfully pleased with us, and that he has commissioned us with the infinitely important work of representing him to a world of spiritual orphans.

We should ask Abba to love on us and heal our wounded hearts. Let us come to him as little children, humbly and expectantly. Let us ask Jesus to reveal Abba’s love to us in an ever greater way. We will not regret it. God’s love is the most powerfully transforming force that exists.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you for opening the door into Abba’s loving heart. I ask you to open my understanding to comprehend his love in a greater way. Restore to me childlike humility and faith. Holy Spirit, I trust you to carry out this transformation and restoration. Show me where I need to repent and help me to ruthlessly turn away from sinful thinking and actions that are based on rebellion, hurts, and lies. I want to start thinking and behaving more like who I really am, Abba’s child. Amen.

Click here to read more of the articles in this series.

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Living in Divine Tension

 

Walking in the spirit requires us to navigate the tension between that which already is and that which is to come in God’s kingdom and our lives.

Standing in What Christ Did in the Past

The nature of our salvation requires us to live in the present while simultaneously looking backward to the past and forward to the future. We remember the once-for-all finished work of Christ (Hebrews 10:10) by which he actually completed our salvation. When he said, “It is finished,” (John 19:30) our Lord meant it. Nothing can be added to or subtracted from what Jesus accomplished. It simply must be believed and received by faith, a faith that includes our faithful allegiance to him as Lord. This is the basis of our ability to rest in God’s grace.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:4–10 (NKJV)

The immediate beneficiary of Christ’s perfect finished work is the innermost part of us – the Spirit, where we are born again, declared “not guilty,” and given a right standing with God. This is where God dwells inside us. We are united to God’s Spirit through the miracle of justification.
 

But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 13  There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14  For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. Hebrews 10:12-14 (NLT)
 
Looking forward to What Christ Will Do in the Future
We are also looking to the future when we will receive the last installment of our great salvation – the resurrection of the body. The spirit was saved over 2000 years ago at Calvary, but the body still waits in eager anticipation of the glorious day when Christ will return to raise his people from the dead.
 
For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Galatians 5:5 (NKJV)
Through justification we have already been made righteous (Romans 5 :1), but that righteousness is not yet as complete as it will be when our bodies are raised from the dead. At that point, we will be fully glorified and delivered from the power of death.
 
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—52 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. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:50–54 (NKJV)
 
At that point, we will be completely and finally saved. Nothing will remain to be done. The final link to Adam’s transgression, the body, will be transformed forever. The battle with what the Bible calls the “flesh” will be over.
 
However, in the meantime, we live in the present in a divine tension between the past and future aspects of our salvation. The present requires that we experience a daily experience of God’s grace. Our past salvation was accomplished without our participation. Christ did it for us. Our future resurrection is not something we can pull off either. God must do it.
 
The present process of our transformation or sanctification, however, is a partnership between God’s Spirit and us. As we trust and obey the Spirit of God, he applies the benefit of Christ’s finished work to our lives. Our eager anticipation of what is yet to come motivates us to live for our Lord and his kingdom.
Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3  And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (NLT)
 
The look to the past assures us that God already has done the “heavy lifting” that guarantees the final outcome.
 
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13–14 (NKJV)
The “redemption of the purchased possession” is the resurrection of the body. Until that happens, we are sealed with God’s Spirit, meaning that we belong to him.
 
The look forward comforts us with the confident expectation that we will not struggle forever with the “flesh” and sin. This motivates us to live each day by faith, drawing upon the Spirit’s life and power within. Looking backward teaches us that sin, death, disease, oppression, slavery, and the devil have already been conquered, despite any contrary outward appearances. Looking forward to the resurrection and final judgment, which include the rewards Christ will dispense to those who faithfully serve him, inspires us to make the commitment and sacrifice to serve him with our whole heart. We live in a divine tension between the past, present, and future. Those who are already made perfect in spirit are being made holy in the soul while awaiting the glorious resurrection of the body. This is a tension between the already done merging with that which is still in process and waiting completion.

The daily work of the Spirit in transformation and the future glorious promise of the resurrection are firmly rooted in the already finished work of Christ. God is working out in time what has been settled for eternity.

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Walking in the Spirit Is as Easy as Swinging

We can gain understanding of our union with God’s Spirit by considering the analogy of the pendulum action of a swing. We can apply our union in the Spirit of Christ to everyday life.

Walking in the Spirit describes our experience of the Holy Spirit’s living Christ’s life through us, enabling us to be effective and joyful representatives of him and his kingdom.

The Mechanics of a Swing

We have a tire swing in our front yard hanging from an enormous limb on a huge river birch. Over the years it has been a popular spot for our grand kids, church kids, and neighborhood children. The way a swing works is simple. The rope is attached to a stable base that serves as a fulcrum. The swing (tire) oscillates back and forth. It’s range is limited by the length of the rope. On our swing, we can push the kids back and forth or in a circular motion. We can give them a gentle ride or push really hard to get a wider and higher oscillation. We can learn a lot about walking in the Spirit from this.

The Anchor Point: God

The most important factor in making a great swing is finding the perfect anchor point. It must be high enough, strong enough, and well located. It needs to be able to support whatever weight is put on it without breaking. There needs to be plenty of room for the swing path arc. Our anchor point in the Spirit is God.

When a person is born again by placing his or her faith and allegiance in Jesus the Lord, he or she is anchored to the Lord in the Spirit.

In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18  so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20  where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:17-20 (NASB)

God is our Rock, our immovable fortress, our sure and steadfast hope. We can trust that he will never leave us or grow weary of his commitment to us.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24  Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NASB)  

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
The Connection: The Spirit

No matter what kind of anchor we have, if the connection is not adequate, the swing will fail. On our tire swing, a strong nylon rope and some chains connect the swing seat to the tree. The connection has a couple of great knots, some bolts, and some quick links. All the components are strong enough to withstand weight well beyond what might be put on it.

We all believe that God will never fail, but what can secure our connection to him so that we will never be separated from Him? The answer is simple: God uses himself to connect us to himself.

The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a mystery revealed in the Bible and clearly above our mental limits.Thankfully, truth is not dependent on my ability to figure it out. Truth is whatever God says it is, no matter what so-called experts may say. The moment we limit the meaning of the Bible to what we can comprehend is when we make ourselves out to be God.

At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way! Matthew 11:25–26 (NLT)

These doctrine of the Trinity contains three important points: (1) the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, (2) each Person is fully God, (3) there is only one God. (From Desiring God website)

The Holy Spirit becomes one with our spirit when we are born again.

But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17 (NASB)

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17 (NASB)

that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. John 17:21 (NASB)

Relating to the connection of the swing to the tree, we who believe in Christ are securely connected to God because God now lives in union with us.

The New Covenant is between Jesus and the Father.

I am the LORD; I have called you [Jesus] in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7  to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7 (ESV)

Jesus lived the perfect life, died a sacrificial death to atone for our covenant violations, and made it possible for us to benefit from it all. When he died in our place on the cross, God included us in that death.

knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7  for he who has died is freed from sin. Romans 6:6-7 (NASB)

When he rose again in perfect righteousness, power, and glory, God included us in his resurrection.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9  knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11  Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:8-11 (NASB)

At the new birth, our spirits are joined to the Holy Spirit, allowing Christ’s resurrection life to flow through us.

I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me. Galatians 2:20 (NASB)

As long as God remains faithful to himself, we have a secure connection to the anchor.

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5  that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, 6  even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, 7  so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8  who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9  God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (NASB)
 
The Seat: The Soul

Here is where we get to the most personal part of our analogy. The swing seat is the fun part of the swing. It would be no fun to sit on the anchor point because it doesn’t move. The wider and higher the arc path taken by the swing seat, the more fun we have, unless we are afraid to swing high. Little children are sometimes very timid and don’t want to go high, but the more secure they become and the more confident they are that the swing will hold, the more likely they will want to go higher. The photo on the right hilariously depicts the difference in our ride experience depending on our faith level.

Unlike with our spirits, where we are in constant peace and communion with God, our souls are prone to “swings” of emotion and varying degrees of confidence.

If we learn to depend on the state of our souls to inform us of our spiritual condition, we will be up and down in our assessment, shifting between elation and discouragement. Some days we may feel great about who we are in Christ. On “down” days, we may start to doubt if we were ever saved at all.

God gave us our souls (minds, wills, and emotions). The soul is a good thing, but it was never meant to be our guide in life. God retains that for himself.

When Adam sinned, his spirit became disconnected from God (“died”) and he became a “soulical” person.

But a natural [soulical - Greek: psychichos) man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NASB)

After the Fall, Adam, Eve, and their descendants ceased being led by God’s Spirit. We learned to rely on our own souls to guide us in life. We learn to live this way from birth onward.

It is only when we are born again that we can begin to learn how to depend on the Spirit of God instead of ourselves.

The Relationship between the Spirit and Our Souls

As we learn to depend on God’s Spirit for life, direction, and strength, we learn to look at what is going on in our souls from the proper perspective. We don’t have to be afraid of, despise, or try to quench our souls. We just need to realize that this part of our being is often a very unreliable indicator of truth and reality. For example, I may feel afraid because of something looming on the horizon over which I have no control. God wants us to learn how to somewhat disregard this fear. Instead of caving to it, we can instead focus on God and his promises, which provide the proper perspective and peace.

And here is a big key: if we want to have peace in this life, we must learn to go to that quiet place where we are anchored to God in the Spirit.

We can go there anytime we like. Jesus opened the door for us into God’s presence, and our heavenly Father is always delighted to commune with us. When we spend time in God’s presence, listening to the Spirit, we are strengthened and quieted. We gain the right perspective on our situation and we are enabled to walk in the Spirit by faith, regardless of how our soul may feel about it.

Walking in the Spirit requires us to live by faith.

Faith does not get its bearings from outward things. Its focus is on Jesus and his Word, just as when Peter walked on the water.

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7  for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9  So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (ESV)

In the above passage, Paul wrote of his determination to walk in the union of his Spirit to God, rather than allow his fears to rule his life. His fear of the Lord outweighed his fear of the unknown and death.

Paul’s security in the Lord was stronger than the insecurities he felt in his soul. This is how God wants us to live, too.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (ESV)

In fact, according to Paul, we should give thanks for the stresses and tests that come upon our souls because they force us into a tighter reliance upon the Spirit of God who indwells us.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5  and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)
 
Conclusion

The swing analogy tells us that our souls may experience swings of mood and varying degrees of feeling secure in God, but we can and should always drop back to our anchor point in God.

If we understand that our anchor point and connection are secure in God, we can live fearlessly.

Since we actually are one with God in the Spirit, let’s act like it.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 (NASB)

Click here to see other articles in this series.

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Walking in the Spirit Is as Easy as Walking on Water

Walking on water is easy, if the Lord holds us up; so is walking in the Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit describes what it is like for the Holy Spirit supernaturally to enable us to live above the downward sinful pull of the “flesh” (our body’s residual connection to Adam’s sin) and temptation in general and to experience God’s internal guidance, life, and empowerment, which allows us to be effective representatives of the kingdom of God and fulfilled as people.

Because most of us are only familiar with living out of our own strength and resources, the idea of living above the downward pull of sin seems strange and unfamiliar, maybe even impossible.

Although I no longer jog, I did for years. I was in pretty good shape and could run for miles without much problem. However, the idea that a human being could run a marathon at a sub-five-minute-per-mile pace seemed physically impossible. I could not run even one mile at that pace! It was not in the realm of possibility for me, but because people are on record for having done it, I knew it was possible. Walking in the Spirit is similar. It may not seem possible to us because we have not yet experienced it, but the Bible says it is. We may even know someone who lives that way on a regular basis.

We should never base our theology on what we have experienced. Rather, we should accept what the Bible teaches.

When we try live out of our own strength and ability, we are doomed to failure. God never intended or designed us to be able to do that. From the beginning the Creator planned for us to draw on his life and ability, but Adam and Eve chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil over the tree of life. They wanted to be self-authenticating independent beings instead of what God designed us to be, God-authenticated dependent people who experience God’s abundant life.

Sin is rooted in our stubborn desire to be independent from God.

Our pride is the reason why we try to be our own boss and life source.  Even well-intentioned people with “good morals” sin against God by refusing to surrender to Jesus’ lordship and humbly draw upon God’s resources. There is no possible way to be a “self-made” man or woman in God’s kingdom. Doing it “my way” made for a good Sinatra song, but it is a path that leads straight to hell.

All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. Isaiah 53:6 (NASB)

Therefore, a prerequisite to learning how to walk in the Spirit is to repent from trying to do life on our own.

This is the essence of repentance. God wants us to surrender ourselves to the rule of the Lord Jesus by placing our complete faith and allegiance in him. (Romans 10:9-10) When we do this, He sends his Spirit into our lives to be our Helper, the One called alongside us and dwells in us. Then we begin the lifelong process of learning to “lean not on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6), but to lean on the Spirit of God.

How to Walk on Water
Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:25–31 (NKJV)

Jesus walked on water because he needed to get to the other side of the lake without a boat, but there is more to it than that.

Our Lord demonstrated an important principle of life in the Spirit: with God’s help we can do the seemingly impossible.

The recorded fact that Peter also walked on water confronts our logical reasoning ability, as do the amazing feats of marathon racers. If Peter could do it, why not others? Could I walk on water, too? Just how does a person do that?

If God had required Peter to support himself on the surface of the water, he would have failed. It was beyond the realm of his ability. We all know that heavy objects sink because their density is greater than the water’s. But if God supernaturally overcame the natural physics of buoyancy and density, Peter could walk on water, and he did. The most challenging thing for Peter was getting up the nerve to step out of the boat onto the water, which is exactly what Jesus invited him to do.

Walking on water requires us to have faith that God will hold us up. That is the key to walking in the Spirit, too.

Peter had no previous experience of being able to walk on water. It seemed impossible; yet, he saw Jesus doing it! Because Jesus told him to come to him on the water, he had a promise from God. All he needed was to believe Jesus’ words.

Faith enables us to “step out” when we have no outward “proof,” apart from God’s promises. Some call this a “leap of faith.” In the sense that Peter had to push himself off the boat’s side, it was a leap;l however, it was not “blind” faith. Peter fixed his eyes and hope on Jesus as he took his steps in obedience to Jesus’ clear command to come to him.

Faith is never blind. It always has God and his promises in view.

In Peter’s case, the only “proof” that he could walk on water was that Jesus was doing it and told him to join him, and that was enough. So, Peter climbed up on the gunwale of the boat and then slipped or jumped onto the surface of the water. What an adventure! What a bold step! He was rewarded with experiencing God’s power to do the impossible.

Our part in the miracle of walking in the Spirit is to take “steps of faith” in obedience to God. (Romans 4:12) God’s promise is to support us when we do.

When Peter did his part, taking that first step, God did his part by holding him up.

Standing in Grace

God’s grace supports us and keeps us from being sucked under by the waves of doubt, temptation, adverse circumstances, and the downward pull of “the flesh” and sin.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2  through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2 (NASB)

We stand by faith in God’s grace. Perhaps you have seen cars apparently floating on water at some televised golf tournaments. Someone had to build an invisible platform just under the surface of the water to hold the car up.

God builds a platform of grace under us when we put our faith and allegiance in Christ and the power of the indwelling Spirit.

Walking erect requires our being able to stand first. The enemy seeks to knock us down, but God’s grace gives us the victory, if we do our part in the process.

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:13 (NASB)

Peter had to keep his eyes on Jesus to stay on the surface of the deep. As soon as he allowed fear, doubt, and adverse circumstances to distract him, he began to sink. The same thing can happen to us, if we do not keep our focus on Jesus and the grace he provides. Peter, learned this lesson well and wrote the following.

Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! 1 Peter 5:12 (NASB)

It took faith for Peter to walk on water, and it takes faith to stand in grace and walk in the Spirit.

The Difference between Trying Hard and Living by Faith

Jesus did not tell Peter to try really hard to walk on water. He merely commanded him to do it. Whatever Jesus commands us to do is possible for us, if we learn how to lean on him to perform it.

God loves to command us to do things that are beyond our natural abilities so that we can learn to live by faith in the power of the Spirit.

Trying hard to live the Christian life is called “legalism.” It always ends poorly. We get frustrated, angry, or discouraged. Sadly, we often transfer our inner turmoil to those around us. Frustrated and unhappy legalists are poor advertisements for the gospel. Why would anyone want to be like that?

Because we have never understood how to walk in the Spirit, many of us who follow Christ conclude that the Christian life is impossible and fall away from the Lord. God, in fact, does want us to give up without falling away. He wants us to finally stop trying to live out of our own resources and allow him to live through us. He wants to bring us to the same place he brought the apostle Paul, who wrote the following passages in Romans Chapters 7 and 8.

For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23  but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24  Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:22-25 (NASB)

The following chapter begins with the glorious proclamation:

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3  For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4  so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 (NASB)

Meditate on these two passages until the Spirit gives you understanding.

Until we realize that Jesus has removed us from being under the Law’s power to condemn us, we will never live in freedom.

Until we learn to lean on the Spirit’s life and power within, we will never experience the abundant life.

It’s like walking on water. God gives us the ability to do what seems impossible, if we take steps of faith.

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Walking in the Spirit Is as Easy as Flying

Walking in step with the Holy Spirit can be likened to flying in an airplane. When I fly, I like to sit by the window. It never ceases to amaze me how a jet can lift off the ground and ascend through the clouds to incredible heights. I don’t have to exert myself at all, except to purchase my ticket and jump through all the airport security hoops. The plane and pilot does the work. I simply enjoy the ride. In this article, I will attempt to help us better understand the “mechanics” of walking in the Spirit.
 
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading [literally "walk in the Spirit"] in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:25 (NLT)

Paul taught that when we walk in step with the Spirit we do the things that please God.

The indwelling Spirit is always in harmony with the will of God, is always motivated to do the will of God, and is permanently available to us to enable us to live out of this motivation and harmony.

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10  so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11  strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. Colossians 1:9-12 (NASB)

Walking in the Spirit describes the experience of the Holy Spirit demonstrating his supernatural ability to enable us to live above the downward pull of sin and the “flesh” and experience God’s guidance and empowerment to be effective representatives of the kingdom of God.

Because most people are only familiar with living out of their own strength and resources, the idea of living above the downward pull of sin seems unbelievable.

When we live out of our own strength, we are doomed to failure because we were never intended or designed to do that.

From the beginning God planned for all people to draw on his life and ability, but Adam and Eve chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil over the tree of life. The tree of life represents living out of God’s resources in the Spirit. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents living out of our own resources, knowledge, and ability. That has not worked out very well. Sin is basically the disastrous attempt to be our own boss, our own source, and our own god.

The first step in learning how to walk in the Spirit is to admit we cannot do life on our own and surrender to the Lord Jesus.

Once we take this step, he gives us his Spirit to be our Helper, the One who is called alongside and who dwells within us. At that point we begin the lifelong process of learning to “lean not on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6), but to lean on the Spirit of God.

The Law of Lift

The laws of density and buoyancy describe how objects rise if they are less dense (more buoyant) than the medium around them. When objects encounter a less dense medium they stop rising. Likewise objects fall toward the ground until they encounter something more dense. For example, a ship made of steel can float on less dense water because there is so much less dense air in its hull. If the hull is breached and fills with water, it will sink until it encounters the more dense sea floor.

Airplanes are no exception. Since they are denser than air, how is it that they can fly? The answer is that, if a plane attains enough speed, the design of the wings causes the upward lift of slower moving air under the wings to push the plane upward. If properly designed and flown, a plane overcomes gravity, as long as the necessary airspeed is maintained. The law of lift temporarily overcomes the tendency of the dense structure of the plane to fall toward the more dense ground. If airspeed drops too far, so will the plane. The law of density and buoyancy has not been suspended, but temporarily overcome by the law of lift. This is a decent analogy of what it means to walk in the Spirit.

The Downward Pull of the “Flesh”

The downward pull of the flesh does not go away when we walk in the Spirit. It is overcome by the lifting power of the Holy Spirit.

We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us [Greek: katergeo], so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6 (NET1)

I chose the New English Translation in the verse above because it properly translates the difficult Greek word, katargeo, which means either to render inoperative or to abolish. It is clear that the “flesh” or “body of sin” still can influence us after we are born again, but we no longer must obey it. We can now walk in the freedom of the Holy Spirit if we so desire.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. Galatians 5:16-17 (NASB)

Just as surely as a plane that loses speed will descend to encounter the ground; so, the “flesh” will pull us down into sin and carnality, if we do not continually overcome it by choosing to walk in the power of God’s Spirit.

God did not annihilate our “flesh.” Instead, he removed its power to dominate us, leaving us with the option to lean on him and experience victory.

This requires us to keep our focus on the Lord. It is helpful to devote ourselves to worship, prayer, Bible meditation, and whatever helps us to continually draw upon the resources of the Lord rather than our own.

The Fear of the Lord

A good pilot spends time inspecting his plane before takeoff because once in the air everything must be working properly or bad things can happen. God expects us to vigilantly look after the things that he has put under our responsibility, so that we can walk in the Spirit each day.

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16  making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17  So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19  speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20  always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21  and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.  Ephesians 5:15-21 (NASB)

A good pilot knows that attention to details can mean the difference between success and failure, life and death. You might say a good pilot has a certain good sort of fear in her or his approach to flying.

We likewise should maintain a proper fear of the Lord as we walk in the Spirit each day, realizing that we have a responsibility to make sure things are in order in our lives.

We have wicked spiritual enemies all around us who desire to sabotage our walk with the Lord, our own “flesh” being the most vile and untrustworthy.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. Acts 9:31 (ESV)
Conclusion

To conclude, I believe that it is legitimate to compare walking in step with the Spirit to flying. When everything is working properly, there is no struggle in flying. The combination of a properly working plane and a good pilot creates a stress free experience of flight. Pilots, however, must be vigilant to inspect their planes regularly and do any needed repairs or maintenance. Likewise, spiritually speaking, even though we have been given all we need for success (2 Peter 1:3), we must never presume that walking in the Spirit allows us to become slack in our devotion to the Lord. Carefulness and vigilance, coupled with complete trust in the Lord, will allow us to experience the victory of the Spirit of life within us.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:2–4 (NKJV)
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Taking Personal Responsibility for Our Own Sanctification

While it is true that only God’s Spirit can transform us, it is also certain that we must take responsibility to do our part by cooperating with God in the sanctification process. Learning to believe in and lean on his presence and power is one of our greatest challenges and adventures.

God Never Encourages Passivity
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (NASB)

Even though the Holy Spirit, our Helper, lives in and through us, our relationship with Him is a dynamic union and partnership that requires us to be active and engaged.

God wants us to actively present our bodies to him. This is necessary because our mortal bodies are the one part of our being that is still firmly linked to Adam and the judgment of death. Paul described the pre-resurrected body as a “body of death” and a “body of sin.” (See this link to read more about this.) The body is not evil, but it is linked to sin and death as a result of still being under God’s judgment against Adam’s sin. This will be rectified at the resurrection of the dead, but, until then, the “flesh” describes the Adamic body’s pull toward sin and independence from God.

In order to counter the downward pull of the flesh, we are told to actively present our bodies to God for his service.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13  and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14  For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:12-14 (NASB)

Passivity can allow sin to master us. To defeat sin and the pull of the “flesh” on a daily basis, after reckoning that we are dead to its power through justification (Romans 6:4-7), we are instructed to partner with the Spirit to fight by adopting an aggressive posture of actively offering ourselves, our bodies, our minds, and our lives to the Lord for his service and glory.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20  idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21  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. 22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-25 (NASB)

The above passage tells us to actively “walk” by the Spirit, be “led” by the Spirit, and gives us the responsibility to “crucify” the flesh.

We have already been crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6), but we must take responsibility to put the pull of the flesh to death everyday by denying ourselves the right to go our own way and by choosing to trust and rely on God’s indwelling Spirit to help us.

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13  For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:12-13 (ESV)

When we do this, we will discover that God’s grace comes alongside to empower us. God helps us as we seek to obey him and as we rely on God’s indwelling Spirit.

Grace never encourages us to be passive or idle when it comes to our sanctification. Rather it produces works of faith which validate the Christ life that indwells us.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NIV)
 
Saved by Works?

The apostle Paul clearly taught that we are saved (justified) by faith without having to keep the Law of Moses. (If you would like to read in more depth about this important doctrine, click here.) When it comes to sanctification, the ongoing daily process of transformation into Christ’s image, however, we are saved, in a limited sense, by works. Our works always originate and depend on God’s grace.

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36 (NKJV)

God works in us what we produce as good works.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)

Ultimately all praise and glory will go to him.

Jesus said that a good tree is known by its fruit. This means you can tell what is in a person by what comes out of him or her.

"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18  "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19  "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20  "So then, you will know them by their fruits. 21  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Matthew 7:17-21 (NASB)

When we stand before the Christ’s judgment seat, we will be judged in two ways.

  1. First, are we written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (justified by faith)? This is by far the most important criteria.
  2. Secondly, we will be judged according to our deeds.

For those of us who are written in the Book of Life, our deeds will determine our reward, not whether God accepts us or not. The only way to be accepted by God is on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection, his sacrifice on our behalf and his lordship.

Those written in the Book of Life will have accompanying good deeds. Who we are will be manifested in what we think, do, and say. Christ’s indwelling life will produce good fruit because good trees produce good fruit.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12  training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13  waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14 (ESV)

God’s people do good works.

For those who are not found written in the Book of Life, their deeds will conform to their sinful independence from God at the core of their being and will confirm their just condemnation to hell.

Some may believe that I am somehow mixing grace and legalism when I say our sanctification is related to our works, but I am not. We must properly understand how the two work together.

The key to understanding the interplay of faith and works is to avoid the error of thinking that our faith can be disassociated from how we live. It cannot be. According to Jesus, what we do and say clearly reveals what we believe.

James, the Lord’s brother and leader of the church in Jerusalem, understood this well. He expressed how the two combine to reveal the true grace of God in our lives.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15  If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16  and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17  So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18  But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. James 2:14-18 (ESV)
 
Taking Responsibility for How We Live

Years ago I struggled to understand how this passage from James can be harmonized with Paul’s teaching that we are saved by faith without the works (of the Law).  It’s really very simple. If we are using our performance (keeping the Law) to establish or maintain a right relationship with God, which only comes by faith in the finished work of Christ (justification), we are guilty of legalism. We cannot earn our way into God’s good graces. It is a free gift.

However, that being said, if our faith relationship with Jesus and our partnership with the indwelling Holy Spirit does not actually change us in character and behavior, it is a counterfeit.

A good tree will produce good fruit. We can say we believe, but our actions reveal the truth of the matter more perfectly. Talk is cheap. People can and will say anything that they believe will gain a benefit for them. Actions speak louder than words.

Another way to put this is that, if our doctrine about grace does not result in our being obedient to God, it is a false gospel.

The goal of the true gospel is obedience that arises from faith.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2  which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3  concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4  and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5  through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, Romans 1:1-5 (ESV)

Professing Christians who show no apparent change in their lifestyle as a result of their faith in Christ should question the reality of their conversion.

Those who do know the Lord should pursue ransformation, the lifelong process of of becoming more like Jesus which is carried out by the indwelling Spirit in cooperation with our faith and obedience.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:1-3 (NASB)

Those whose faith and hope are rooted in Christ and who know the power of the indwelling Spirit are responsible to God to purify themselves, which means we cooperate with God by actively participating in the ongoing transformation process called sanctification. We do our part, and God does his. We cannot passively expect him to do everything. That would be irresponsible.

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Sanctification: Dancing with an Invisible Partner

 

Sanctification or transformation is a partnership between God’s people and the Holy Spirit that can be thought of as dancing with an invisible partner. If we are to let God’s Spirit take the lead, it will require that we repent from our inborn propensity to rely on our own mind, strength, and ability, which we inherited from Adam and which has been reinforced by our living in our sin-filled world.

Living out of our own resources is the essence of sin and frustrates or nullifies the power of God’s grace in our lives.

"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." Galatians 2:21 (NASB)

Until we learn to lean on God’s Spirit instead of ourselves, we will live out Romans 7 and groan under the burden of frustration as did Paul.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22  For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23  but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24  Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:21-25 (NASB)

Romans 7 becomes our experience when we rely on the “flesh” instead of the Spirit. (If you are not familiar with the meaning of the word “flesh” as Paul uses it, please read my second article in this series now.) Jesus taught us that the “flesh” does not profit us in any way spiritually speaking. The only thing that helps us is what comes from and through the Spirit of God.

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63 (NKJV)

Learning how to “walk” in the Spirit means that on a daily basis we live out of the strength and power of God’s indwelling Spirit doing what he puts in our hearts.

The better we get at partnering with the Holy Spirit, the happier, more fulfilled, and more useful we are to God and other people.

Jesus called this the “abundant life.” (John 10:10)

Partnering with God Who Lives inside Us
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17  that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. 18  "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:16-18 (NASB)

Perhaps the most amazing part of the Christian life is that God chooses to live inside of us who believe forever.

The Holy Spirit is called the “helper” (Greek: paracletos – one called alongside). He is our best friend, someone who will never abandon us, the Person we always wanted to be, the One we are becoming like through the process called sanctification or transformation.

Jesus told his followers, whom he called “sheep,” that we are able to “hear his voice.”

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; John 10:27 (NASB)

He said that we will know and recognize him; yet, many followers of Christ today have little or no experience of this. Perhaps it is because of a misunderstanding or misconception of what it means to hear his voice. Since our spirits are joined to the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), our thoughts are connected to God’s thoughts (1 Cor. 2:16), and our desires are becoming more in line with God’s desires (Ezekiel 11:19-20), it is likely that we may not always be aware of when God is “speaking” to us. What God is “telling” us may seem to originate in our own minds. It may appear as if we are directing our own lives. But if we understand that God lives inside us, our desire is to live in harmony with him, and we have surrendered our lives to him as best we know how, then God’s Word teaches us something that I must accept by faith: Christ lives in me.

For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20  "I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.  Galatians 2:19-20 (NASB)

Paul learned that his life was Christ’s life and Christ’s life was his.

It was not Paul; yet, it was Paul. It was Christ; yet, it was also Paul. This same principle is echoed elsewhere.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NASB)

If we are looking for God somewhere outside us, we are still living in an Old Testament paradigm.

At times, it may seem as if I am working hard at this thing called transformation, but the reality is that it is a joint effort, as we rely on God’s Spirit and grace. Every true work of sanctification or transformation is a work of grace, no matter how it seems. The key thing is for us to maintain an attitude of rest. We do not struggle and strive to perfect ourselves. Instead, we “labor” to enter and maintain rest.

The struggle for believers, more than anything else, is to rely upon God’s ability to fulfill his promises and complete the transformative work inside us that he began. (Philippians 1:6)

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10  For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11  Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. Hebrews 4:9-11 (NASB) 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

God forgave us, justified us, reconciled us to himself, and is transforming us by his Spirit as we hold fast to his promises and keep our eyes upon the Lord.

The Law, with its demands, is external to us and speaks to us from afar. The Spirit is internal and speaks most often from within.  His voice is often so subtle that, unless we quiet our noisy minds and souls, we may miss it altogether. His voice is always in harmony with the written Word of God, but not in a legalistic sense.

The Spirit is life and makes the Word of God become life and peace to us.

But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. Romans 7:6 (NLT)

If we have learned to lean on the power of the human mind exclusively, we will have to learn to command it to be still and learn how to hear and live out of our spirits, much as a baby learns to walk.

The words of Solomon come to mind at this point.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)

God wants us to believe that he lives inside us, communicates with us, directs us, and empowers us, even when it seems as if it is only we who are doing it. Thankfully, however, God makes his voice and presence known to us. He does not leave us on our own. We do not always have to walk by faith only. King David knew the life-giving presence of God, and so can we.

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:11 (NLT)

There are times when his voice to us is so clear that it is almost as if he audibly spoke to us, but this is not the norm. Most of the time, we must learn to trust faint impressions in our minds and hearts as coming from God. It takes a while for us to learn to distinguish between God thoughts and merely human ones, but the Holy Spirit will help us, and we can lean on other more mature followers of Christ to help us grow in this area.

Walking in the Spirit can be likened to dancing with an invisible partner. As we learn to follow his lead, those watching will think that it is only we who are dancing, but we will know that is is not. We will know that it is Christ who lives in and through us.

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What Is Sanctification?

Sanctification or transformation is the ongoing process whereby the Holy Spirit is changing us on the inside on a daily basis. In my previous article, I wrote about the eternal reality of justification, which primarily concerns the innermost part of our being, the spirit. If you have not read it yet, I encourage you to do so before going any farther. It will help you better understand this article.

Still waiting…

The apostle Paul made a very interesting statement regarding salvation and hope.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23  And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Romans 8:18-25 (NASB)

I quoted the entire passage, but the key verse for my purposes is 24: “in hope we have been saved.” Paul argues that, even though we have been declared righteous in the court of heaven and have complete confidence that God will keep his promise to raise us from the dead, we are still waiting to see the completion of what God began.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
 
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24  Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NASB)

Even though Christ already completed the perfect work of justification and we are sure that God will certainly finish what he has begun at the resurrection, we must wait for it in confident expectation, which, by the way, is the actual definition of hope (Greek: elpis).

To hope is to confidently wait for what God has promised, knowing that he will keep his word.

In the above passage, our hope is the resurrection of the body at Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. At that point, all of creation will be recreated, producing what John the Revelator called a new heaven and earth. (Revelation 21:1) However, being saved in hope also refers to the present ongoing process of our being sanctified or transformed into Christ’s image in how we think, speak, and act as we continue to live in this time-space experience called life.

Even though justification is a once-for-all completed work and our glorification will also be once and for all at the resurrection, the transformative effects of God’s grace are being worked out in our lives on a daily basis.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15  And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16  “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” Hebrews 10:14-16 (ESV)

Justified people who have been declared righteous (“perfected”) in God’s sight are still undergoing a transformation process orchestrated by the Holy Spirit through grace by faith in an atmosphere of the fear of the Lord. God is actively writing his laws, his heart, and his mind upon our hearts and minds. We are becoming more and more like Jesus in how we think, speak, and act as we allow the Holy Spirit to live the Christ life in and through us.

Imagine if…

What if we had no way to measure our spiritual status or progress? How would we know how we are doing in God’s eyes? Would we have confidence toward God? Would we feel good about ourselves? Imagine if there were no way to “grade” ourselves spiritually. Are we passing, failing, acing it, barely squeaking by, or in danger of getting a failing grade? How does God mean for us to gauge our spiritual condition?

I have a friend who would often ask me and others, “Are you doing enough?” He asked this in good humor to try to point out that we cannot do enough to earn or maintain a right standing with God. Nevertheless, most believers, in spite of having a decent theology, labor under the thought that they do not measure up in God’s eyes. We know that what constitutes being good enough if found only in our Lord Jesus, but somehow we feel that we too need to attain to some level of works and holiness in order to be pleasing to God. Why are we so ambivalent? Why do we who know about grace wrestle with a works mentality? To find the answer, we need to go back to the Garden of Eden.

After Adam and Eve sinned, in shame they hid themselves from God having become aware of their nakedness, which previously was a non-issue or had not been evident for some reason. God asked them a telling question: “Who told you that you are naked?” (Genesis 3:11) The fact that they were aware of their condition indicated that someone had informed them of their deficiency. We know, as God did, that it was the devil, the accuser of the brethren, who did this. Sin exposed their nakedness about which they had previously been oblivious. Some think they had been clothed with the glory of God, which had been removed because of their sin. Just as the serpent had promised, their eyes were now opened to good and evil.

When Jesus died and rose again, those of us who believe in him are “clothed” with his right standing before God. (Isaiah 61:10, Galatians 3:27), which restore us to the Edenic bliss of not needing to know, care, or otherwise occupy ourselves with wondering if we good enough and acceptable in God’s sight. Since Jesus was good enough, so are we.

If we persist in trying to earn or maintain a right standing with God, it means we have not yet understood the New Covenant.

Why Trying Hard to Be Good Doesn’t Work

The process of transformation is a supernatural work of grace. It does not happen because we try very hard to make it happen. It is quite the contrary.

When we focus on what some call “sin management” – trying very hard to control our sinful urges and ways – we actually heighten sin’s power in our lives.

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 1 Corinthians 15:56 (NASB)

This is because we are transformed into that upon which we focus. If we fix our gaze on our own sinfulness, it gets the upper hand in our lives. Bitter people become just like the one they hate because they are mesmerized by the offense and think about it continually. When we think about how hard it is to resist temptation, we maximize temptation’s power.

Trying to oversee our own spiritual transformation is a hopeless endeavor. God promises that we will fail.

This is because the Law has no power to transform us at all. Trying to perfect ourselves is a form of legalism. This raises the question: can we trust God to do what we cannot do?

The Law’s function is to point out how sinful we are and condemn us for transgressions, thus revealing to us our utter need for a Savior.

The Law is a harsh taskmaster who castigates us when we fall short but refuses to lift a finger to help. Paul wrote that the Law actually arouses our sinfulness. It exposes our ugly rebellion against God.

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET." 8  But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9  I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10  and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11  for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. Romans 7:7-11 (NASB)

Perhaps we have honestly tried to reign in sin and temptation in an effort to be more devoted to God. When we do this, we may seem to succeed for a while, but eventually we will fail miserably. God has ordained failure for our every attempt to attain sanctification and holiness by our own strength and on our own terms. Adam’s sin was trying to live independently from God. We dare not attempt the same folly, even when its done in a noble enterprise. 

Sanctification is a work of the Spirit by grace in which we cooperate. The sooner we learn how to follow the Spirit’s lead, the better.

A New and Living Way
Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22  But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23  But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24  Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. Galatians 3:21-24 (NASB)

God designed the Law to illustrate his righteousness, point out our sinfulness, and lead us to Christ. The Greek word for tutor is paidagogos, which was a servant who escorted his master’s child to school to leave him or her with the instructor. Being with the paidagogos was not the goal. He was simply the means to help the child reach the true teacher.

The Law is not our goal: it is the means God uses to bring us to Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Law. (Romans 10:4)

Once we come to Christ, we no longer need the Law. It’s power to condemn us is removed. We are now joined to our new Master and Husband, Jesus the Lord.

Living by grace is called a new and living way (Hebrews 10:20, John 14:6), in which we are wholly dependent upon God’s living his life through us. To return to trying to serve God through our own futile efforts is a sin.

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:6 (ESV)
 
Transformation through Union and Beholding
Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Romans 7:4-6 (NASB)

Rather than being ruled by an inherited inner rebellion against God, which is ignited by the Law’s prohibitions, the spiritual transformation process begins with justification at the new birth, the subject of my previous articles in this series. God replaces the rebellious heart with a new one that loves to please God. We are joined (“married”) to God in the Spirit. His life in us replaces the “old man” inherited from Adam that formerly dominated us. Once this happens through the miracle of the new birth, we are entirely capable of living for God, as long as we do it God’s way. If we try to accomplish it on our own, the Law’s power reengages the sinful tendencies of what the Bible calls the “flesh,” which is a sinful residual connection through our yet-to-be-resurrected bodies to the sinful Adamic condition. (You can read more about that by clicking on this link.)

Real transformation takes place when we follow the Spirit’s lead to become followers of God’s Word and worshipers of God.

By focusing on our Lord and Savior and beholding his love and glory, we are silently and seamlessly changed, often without our even being aware.

God removes us from the treadmill of trying to be “good enough.” He takes away every “report card” of how we are doing and tells us to forget all that and focus on him, his promises, his grace, and his glory. He helps us to stop fighting against him and complaining of our situation. He helps us to humbly surrender everything to God in worship. If we do that, the Holy Spirit will live his life through us and transform us into Christ’s image.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NASB)

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Justification: An Eternal Reality

Justification by faith in the finished work of Christ is one of the gospel’s most important truths, which unites us who believe to the eternal reality of our Lord’s right standing with God the Father.

Jesus came to the earth in order to reverse what Adam’s rebellion against God’s rule set in motion. When Adam fell for Satan’s lie in the garden, he set humanity on a destructive sinful trajectory that has produced untold suffering, destruction, and death. To reverse this, several things had to take place.

  1. A new representative head of humanity had to do what Adam failed to accomplish– live a surrendered life of obedience to and dependence on God. This person would be a “Second Adam,” the source of a brand new edition of humanity. (1 Corinthians 15:47)
  2. To rescue humanity, someone had to take the punishment for our sin and rebellion against God. Either all of us had to be condemned, or a perfect substitute had to take on our collective sin, guilt, condemnation, and the sentence of death. Jesus came to die as God’s Lamb for the sins of the world. (John 1:29)
  3. The authority given to mankind by God, which Adam ceded to Satan by obeying him rather than the Creator, had to be recaptured, so that God’s effective rule over the earth and its people could be regained and retained by a new Lord, Jesus the Savior King.
  4. In order to prevent a repeat of Adam’s failure, a New Covenant had to be established that would guarantee that humanity would live a surrendered, dependent, and victorious life in partnership with God’s Spirit.

When Jesus died on the cross at Calvary and subsequently rose from the dead, he accomplished all these things. This article will focus on justification by faith, which is possible because Jesus did all four things mentioned above.

Justification: Eternal Reality Accomplished in Time

Justification means that Jesus put us who believe into a right relationship with his heavenly Father, from whom we had been alienated by sin.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, shed his blood to satisfy the wrath of God against sin and provide us with forgiveness. Our debt toward God was completely and forever paid! This is called propitiation. We who put our faith and allegiance in Christ not only are forgiven, however; we are declared “not guilty” in the court of heaven. Justification means that God sees us as if we had never sinned at all. It means that in God’s eyes it is as if we had already completed lives of perfect devotion and surrender to him in the face of every sort of adversity, temptation, and test, as was accomplished by our Lord Jesus on our behalf.

Justification means that Christ’s perfect right standing with God, which he earned at the cost of his life, has been given to us as a free gift!

When those who put their faith and allegiance in Christ one day stand before his judgment seat, we will be declared “Not Guilty” based on our identification with the risen Lamb of God who was slain for our sins. This is what it means to be “written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

Christ accomplished our justification by taking our place upon the cross. Since the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), we all deserved to die because of our sin, but Jesus volunteered to take our sin upon himself, even though he was completely without guilt. He fulfilled the meaning of the Passover feast by offering his innocent blood on our behalf as God’s Lamb, so that God’s judgment would “pass over” us, just as happened to the Israelites so long ago before their historic Exodus from Egypt.

According to the Bible, Jesus so identified himself with us that he actually “became sin.” In exchange, he gave us his perfect righteousness.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)

He completely paid the penalty for our sin and disobedience toward God. This payment, which was made on a particular day in Israel some 2000 years ago, extends and continues to impact people who believe backward and forward in time. It is an eternal reality.

By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11  Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12  but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13  waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14  For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Hebrews 10:10-14 (NASB)

Jesus’ death on the cross was accomplished on an historical day in the history of the world, while at the same time being an eternal reality. Only God, who is unencumbered by the restraints of time, could do this.

Slain before the Foundation of the World

Please read the following verse, which is presented from two different, yet reliable, translations and consider the implications.

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. Revelation 13:8 (NIV) 

All who dwell on the earth will worship him [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Revelation 13:8 (NASB)

Obviously the above verse poses a challenge for translators. Is the eternal aspect to be assigned to our being written in the book of life or to the crucifixion, or to both? I say both.

We know from Ephesians that God chose the “elect” (his special people) from before the creation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4) This is another way to say that the elect were written in God’s book of life before the creation of the world. Therefore, the NASB translation above fits with Ephesians 1:4 and should be accepted as a valid way to translate Revelation 13:8. But let me remind you that, even though God chose his special people before the creation, we each must encounter God in our time-space experience of life. God’s sovereign eternal choice always interfaces with our responsibility to choose at some point in time. It is a mystery in how we cooperate with God’s Spirit in the entire process, upholding both his sovereignty and our responsibility.

God’s eternal choice impacts us when it becomes part of our personal history through our participation in the process. The eternal choice and work of God must be “fleshed out” in our lives. What is eternally true must become experientially and historically true for us.

Now let us take a look at the NIV translation of Revelation 13:8. Could it be correct, too? We know from Scripture that Jesus died according to the predetermined plan of God. (Acts 2:23)

God, who dwells in the eternal now (which encompasses our past, present, and future), saw his Son crucified from all eternity. This is because in God’s eternal perspective, the most real of all, his Son was already crucified, dead, buried, risen, and glorified. The plan for him to die on a given day in the history of the earth was preset, predetermined, foreordained, and certain.  It was so sure, from God’s eternal perspective, that it was done even before it took place in history.

This is why King David, who was a prophet, could write about the crucifixion as if he were experiencing it himself. (Psalm 22) That is why the prophet Isaiah could write about Christ’s coming crucifixion using the past tense. (Isaiah 53) From God’s eternal perspective, the eternal now, something in our historical future was already completed. This is why I contend that Christ was indeed slain before the foundation of the world; even though he was also put to death on a specific historical day. Once again, eternal truth must be fleshed out in human history in order for it to become part of our reality in the time-space experience which God created for us to inhabit.

By One Offering Perfected for All Time
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12  but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13  waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14  For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Hebrews 10:11-14 (NASB)

Think about this amazing fact. When Jesus died and rose some 2000 years ago, the benefits of his sacrifice went backward and forward in time. It provided forgiveness and reconciliation for those who trusted in God before Christ’s coming to earth and provides the same for all who would come after.

In other words, God forgave past, present, and future sins by Christ’s one sacrifice.

King David was forgiven for his adultery and the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. Both sins were punishable by death; yet, God forgave David. How could a just God do that without violating his just wrath against sin? When the woman caught in adultery was dragged before Jesus in John Chapter 8, he forgave her instantly for a sin that was punishable by stoning under the Law of Moses. How could a just God do that? The answer is that Jesus’ looming sacrifice was already considered to be in effect. Jesus made “draws” from a future deposit, which from God’s eternal perspective had already been accomplished.

It is fair, then, to say that the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection are not time bound. They are eternal, complete, and finished.

Our Future Glorification Is Also a Done Deal from God’s Eternal Perspective

Not only is our justification an eternal timeless truth; so is our glorification.

This is something that should “blow our minds,” if we are honest about it. Paul taught that our glorification is inexorably linked to our justification. Anyone reading Paul’s letter to the church in Rome would believe that their justification was already accomplished through a past event, Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. Romans 8:28-30 (NASB)

Astoundingly, Paul used the same aorist past tense to describe what for them and us is still historically in the future, our glorification at the resurrection of our bodies. Our threefold salvation is all included in this passage – justification, transformation (being conformed to Christ’s image), and glorification.

Election (God’s choosing us), justification (God’s declaring us righteous in his eyes), transformation (God’s conforming us to Christ’s image in our everyday life), and glorification (God’s giving us a new resurrection body) are all described using the Greek aorist past tense, which lets us know that each of these is a once-for-all-time completed event in God’s eyes.

Think about this: God sees us already in heaven with a new resurrection body! How can this be? Obviously this is not true yet in our present historical context here on the earth, but it is true in the eternal realm of God’s Spirit. However, the eternal must become my historical experience at some point because that is where we experience the eternal for now. One day Christ will raise us who believe from the dead, and we will receive a new spiritual body. At that point in time, if time still exists, the eternal truth of glorification will be fulfilled in my experience. Until then, God expects us to believe what the Bible says is true and rest in Christ’s finished work, as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit who was sent to help us “work out” what God has put within us. (Philippians 2:12-13)

Conclusion

God’s will cannot be thwarted. His plans will come to pass. His words will be fulfilled. He says that which does not yet exist in our time-space experience already exists eternally because it does.

(as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed — the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. Romans 4:17 (NET1)

But God’s eternal perspective is not ours. We still live in a time-space restricted world. We must learn to navigate the historical present on the basis of eternal truth.

I hope that most readers who have professed faith and allegiance in Christ will have no difficulty believing that Christ accomplished our justification on the cross once for all and that our righteous standing before God depends wholly on that glorious truth. I also think that most followers of Christ believe that Jesus will certainly raise us from the dead on the Last Day.

However, not so many understand how to live in the present from an eternal perspective.

Many struggle to navigate the here and now process of sanctification or transformation by faith in the finished work of Christ combined with a complete reliance upon the Holy Spirit. I will discuss this in more detail in my next article entitled “What is Sanctification?”

Click here to access all the articles in this series.

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Understanding what it means to live by grace…

Living by grace is an essential aspect of the New Covenant. What Christ accomplished through his sacrificial death and resurrection affects our entire being – spirit, soul, and body. (1 Thes. 5:23) He alone was able to orchestrate this “great salvation (Hebrews 2:3),” being the unique God-man, born of the virgin Mary by the operation of God’s Holy Spirit in her life (Luke 1:30-35). Jesus lived a perfect life of dedication and obedience to his heavenly Father, which culminated on the cross, where he voluntarily shed his blood as God’s holy Lamb in order to provide forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to the Father. When he rose from the dead, he was designated the Son of God (Romans 1:4), the all-powerful Messianic King and Lord, who will one day return to the earth to judge the living and the dead as the divine Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14).

Jesus: The Fusion of the Eternal with the Temporal

God is not limited by any created dimension. However, God assigned us to live in a world fenced in by the dimensions of space and time. Those who put their faith and allegiance in Christ and experience the new birth also live in another reality – the eternal spiritual realm.

Human beings, by virtue of our tripartite nature (spirit, soul, and body), are uniquely and amazingly fitted to interface with both the material world and the spiritual one.

To God, all things are in the present. His revealed name, given to Moses, is the “I Am.”

Jesus, the Second Person of the Godhead, who has existed from all eternity as the Logos (John 1:1), in obedience to his Father’s will, entered into our time-space experience as a human being through a miraculous fusion of the eternal with the temporal inside Mary’s womb called the Incarnation.

He was indeed a true extra-terrestrial, being the only person who came from heaven and is truly God and truly man, the “monogenes” or only begotten Son of God. The truth of the Incarnation has been held fast by the church since its inception and is clearly stated in Scripture.

Jesus understood that his “origin” was and is divine and that he has always existed.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NASB) 

And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. John 8:23 (NASB) 

"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 57  So the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" 58  Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." John 8:56-58 (NASB)

In Jesus the Messiah, the eternal “I Am” became a human being.

As a human being, he was subject to the limitations of time and space. He entered the world as a baby and grew and developed into a man in the ordinary way. The mystery of the Incarnation produced a person who was and is truly human and truly God, thus elevating humanity beyond comprehension.

Working Out what Is Within…
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8  Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9  And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10  being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:7-10 (NASB)

When Jesus, the perfect only Son of the Father, entered the human experience, he was responsible to live out of his inward or spiritual identity in a fleshly body.

The spiritual side of our being was always meant to be the core from which we live and derive our identities, too. Adam forfeited that, plunging the world into chaos. Against all odds, Jesus came to show us that kind of life and to make it possible for us to live out of a redeemed spiritual identity.

Because of his divine birth and origin, he did not inherit a sin nature from Adam, as we do.

There was nothing in him that was “out of step” with the Holy Spirit. It was completely “natural” for him to hear his Father’s voice, see what his Father was doing, and follow his Father’s lead without hindrance.

So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. John 8:28 (NASB)

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. John 5:19 (NASB)

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. John 6:38 (NASB)

The eternally perfect Logos of God became an historically perfect human being over time through continued obedience to his Father.  He worked out in his life that which was eternally true about him on the inside.

He had to make choices along the way to obey his Father, even when it cost him supremely. He learned obedience from the things he suffered as he lived out of his union with his Father.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB)

This gives us a key to understanding how our own sanctification or spiritual transformation takes place.

In this case, I use these words to describe the process of learning obedience to God over a lifetime through which the Holy Spirit transforms our character and behavior to match what Christ already accomplished for us through his death and resurrection. By placing us in a world governed by time and space, God requires us to believe and live by faith in his promises, obey the Holy Spirit, treasure the fear of the Lord, and rely on the transforming work of grace.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 (NASB)

Living by grace is a cooperative effort between us and God in which we too learn to live out what is true spiritually on the inside through the new birth. Jesus the Messiah did the hard lifting at Calvary. However, the salvation he won for us must be actively worked out in our personal histories through belief in the truth and cooperation with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

God is not content to merely forgive us. The Spirit is committed to making what is true spiritually and eternally about us become our experience and history.

We will be judged and rewarded on how well we live out our new inward identity in Christ.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12  instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13  looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14  who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. Titus 2:11-14 (NASB)

This does not mean that we “save” ourselves by works. Our justification (being made right with God) will be the subject of the fourth installment of this series. Justification is what made us children of God. It was entirely Christ’s work. None of us can make ourselves right with God. Our glorification at the resurrection will also be Christ’s work. None of us can raise ourselves from the dead.

Our sanctification or transformation, however, is an ongoing partnership with the Holy Spirit, for which we are accountable to God.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11  For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12  Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13  each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 14  If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15  If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NASB)
Conclusion

Legalism teaches us that we must earn God’s blessings and favor by our obedience to his commands. Failure to do so will result in our bringing upon ourselves the judgments associated with disobedience. Everything is on us, and we always fail miserably, because no one can keep the Law. Its whole purpose was to reveal our desperate need for a Savior.

19 Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. ... 21  Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. 22  But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:19-22 (NLT)

The New Covenant teaches us that Christ perfectly obeyed the Law and paid in advance the penalty for our failure to measure up. When we put our faith and allegiance in Christ, we are credited with the benefits of his obedience and released from the just penalty of our disobedience. Through the new birth, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us, regenerating our spirits and living the Christ life through us. We also are given the promise of one day being raised from the dead as the final installment on this great salvation. In the meantime, we have the opportunity to glorify God by cooperating the Holy Spirit in the transformation process, whereby we learn to obey God from the heart. We will be rewarded according to how effectively we live out by faith the truth of our new inward identity with Christ and his Spirit.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 (NASB)

God has given us the responsibility to live by grace in a dynamic cooperation between us and the Holy Spirit as we steadfastly hold on to the truth of God’s Word.

Link to all the articles in this series.

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