Category: Walking in the New Nature

Spiritual Amnesia

Check out this beautiful passage from II Peter chapter 1,

1Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

2Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  4For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

5Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins (II Peter 1:1-9).

In this introduction to his second letter, Peter commends the qualities of faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love as of great value in leading a fruitful Christian life.  He then makes an interesting observation in verse 9 regarding those who lack these qualities.  What does Peter conclude?  Are they not working hard enough?  Do the slackers need more teaching, more education, more knowledge in regard to what God expects in the quality of character department?

Peter attributes their lack to spiritual amnesia.  Look again at verse 9, “For he who lacks these qualities is blind or shortsighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”  Our number one problem with sin may not be the power of the flesh, nor the lure of temptation, nor our lack of effort.  Our number one problem might be forgetting the precious and magnificent promises of God regarding all that became new at our new birth, especially our new found cleansing and freedom from the power of sin in our life.

Forgetfulness in daily life has been an increasing challenge for me, usually attributed to my current stage of life (think theater discounts, junk mail from AARP, and a closer parking space at church).  I don’t like it and have not been adapting well to it.  My young wife has already increased her penchant for lists.  She is the queen of lists.  She has lists of lists.  As for me, I just keep it all in my head, a stubborn attempt to live in the past.  Whenever I forget something, Rhonda gently asks, “Where is your list?”  I tap my temple and reply, “Right in here, Baby, with all the other lists.  Right here in this steel trap brain.”  She sighs, “That’s what I was afraid of.”

I know what she is thinking but is too nice to say it.  “That steel trap has been left out in the rain a few times too often and is starting to rust.  It might also have a loose spring.”  We can laugh about our forgetfulness after failed trips to the grocery or hardware store.  But in the spiritual life, forgetfulness drains us of our spiritual power and energy.

Remembering is so important that Peter returns to this theme further down the page in verse 12.  “Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present in you.  And I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder.” (II Peter 1:12-13)

We cannot be reminded too often that “God’s divine power has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (vs 3).  May we never forget the promises of God regarding our new birth.  May we always find our spiritual energy in the resurrection power God has bestowed upon us.  May we embrace and live into all that God has promised when He literally “created us anew.”

The Old Good News

The grace movement that is on fire across the globe is not a new fad, a passing fancy, a new twist on Scripture.  It is actually very old – but wonderfully good – news.  The message of our new identity in Christ and the power of living into our new righteous self has been around for a long time.  I believe when we let the Bible speak for itself, the grace message we preach is the message of the New Testament; as attested to by many throughout the history of the church.

The passage below is from the book He That is Spiritual.  It was written in 1918 by Lewis Sperry Chafer, founder of Dallas Theological Seminary.  If you take the time to process through the English of that day, the excerpt reads like it came straight from your favorite grace teacher today.  Listen to Chafer’s explanation, written over 100 years ago, of our freedom from the PENALTY and the POWER of sin.

 

The theme under consideration is concerned with the death of Christ as that death is related to the divine judgment of the sin nature in the child of God.  The necessity of such judgments and the sublime revelation that these judgments are now fully accomplished for us is unfolded in Romans 6:1-10.  This passage is the foundation as well as the key to the possibility of a “walk by the Spirit.”  By the death of Christ, the penalty for sins committed was paid for all men, and the power of sin was judged and broken for the children of God.

Herein it is declared that Christians need not “continue in sin,” but may “walk in newness of life.”  “Sin shall not have dominion over you,” and we need no longer to be “slaves to sin.”  This was all brought about through the cross.  How important in His eyes, then, is the quality of our daily life; for His death not only procured our eternal blessedness in glory, but empowers our present “walk” as well.

The old nature was judged in order that God may be free to work in the believer’s daily life and apart from all judgments.  How great is His mercy!  He has already taken up the sin question and solved it for all men in the death of Christ, our Substitute.  Because of this, He can now save from the penalty of sin.  Even so, to what lengths His mercy has gone since He has also entered into righteous judgment of our “old man”!  And because of this, He is now able to deliver His child from the power of sin.

The “old man” is said to have been “crucified with Him,” and we are “dead with Him,” “buried with Him” and are partaking in His resurrection life.  All this, it is revealed, was to one great purpose, that “we should walk in newness of life,” even as Christ “was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father.”

What a deliverance and walk may be experienced since it is according to the power and glory of the resurrection!  Resurrection, it may be added, is not the mere reversal of death; it is the introduction into the power and limitless boundaries of eternal life.  In that new sphere and by that new power the Christian may now “walk.”

Excerpt from He That is Spiritual by Lewis Sperry Chafer

Running the Race

In a few of his letters, the apostle Paul compared the Christian life to running a race.  It is a metaphor we often hear in sermons and devotionals.  The writer of the book of Hebrews probably made the clearest connection in Hebrews chapter 12.  “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Yes, the Christian life can be compared to running a race.  But here is a revelation you may not have thought about.  YOU STARTED THIS RACE WITH THE FINISH LINE BEHIND YOU!

Yes, the finish line is behind you.  The finish line was crossed by Jesus in your place at the cross.  Look at what He has already accomplished in you when you believed the gospel.

You are holy, “So as those who have been chosen by God, holy and beloved” (Colossians 3:12).

You are blameless, “Yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Colossians 1:22).

You are righteous, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

You are forgiven, “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us ALL our transgressions” (Colossians 2:13).

You are perfected, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

You are pure, “And God made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9).

Simply put, the work is finished.  The cross worked to accomplish all that God promised in the arrangement of the new covenant.

So what race are we running now?  You are running a race of rest.  You are called to run from a place of rest.  The same Hebrews author also wrote, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.  For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.  Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:9-11).

It may seem counterintuitive to have “diligent” and “rest” in the same sentence of instruction for us.  But that is our race.  To run to His rest.  To be diligent to enter His rest.  To run from a place of rest.  Our rest is resting in the finished work of the cross; the finished work of Jesus.

Jesus proclaimed His accomplishment from the cross.  “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’  And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (John 19:30).  We are the recipients of that work.

Yes, stay the course.  Say with the apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7).

But remember in whose power you are running.  It is the wind of the Holy Spirit, the wind of Christ in you, that carries you along in the race.  And it empowers you to run the race from a place of trust, assurance, and rest.

The Storm on the Outside / Inside

Here is one more thought to add to yesterday’s post about the promise of Jesus’ “I’m here” in the midst of your storm.  We talked about the importance of our faith in believing Jesus’ “I’m here” when the storm is swirling around us.

I think it is significant that Jesus was asleep in the storm.  It wasn’t to appear not to care.  I think it was to demonstrate that there was no storm in Him.  He was perfectly calm and restful.  And in a miracle of incredible dimension, He spoke that calm over the wind and the waves.

The lesson for us is that Jesus can speak that same calm to our storm inside, the wind and waves in our heart.  Can Jesus calm the storm on the outside, the trial we are going through?  Yes, He can!  But when He allows the storm on the outside to rage, His promise to us is still His calm and His presence.

Or said another way, the storm on the outside does not need to become a storm on your inside.  Is that even possible?  Yes, the storm on the outside does not need to become a storm on your inside.  Your inside can experience the peace and calm of the presence of Jesus no matter what is swirling around us.  Will it always be easy?  No, it requires us to exercise our faith, believe that He is here, and to call out to Him in our prayers.

May our answer to Jesus’ question, “Where is your faith?” be, “My faith is in the promise and the presence of my dear Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Calms the Storm … in You

We have all heard the story in the gospels where Jesus calms the storm.  But let’s dig a bit below the surface and unpack what it means for not just His first-century disciples, but what it means for us and the storms we face.

“When Jesus got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.  And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, ‘Save us, Lord; we are perishing!’  He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?’ ” (Matthew 8:23-26).

Because we know the rest of the story; because we know what Jesus is going to do next; because we know Jesus as the all-powerful Son of God, we often just zip past the first part of Jesus’ question, “Why are you afraid?”  But in the context of its time and place, it really is borderline absurd.

They are in a huge storm.  The boat is about to be swamped.  Experienced sailors are thinking they are about to perish.  And Jesus calmly asks, “Why are you afraid?”

The disciples, who are slowly discovering who this teacher truly is, had to be thinking, “Are you crazy Jesus?  Have you gone mad?  Look at the storm.  We are about to die.  I think it is pretty obvious why we are afraid.”

But Jesus wasn’t crazy.  The disciples had just witnessed tremendous acts of supernatural healing recorded in the previous verses of Matthew chapter 8.  And Jesus is calmly asking them to have faith in the person and presence of the healer.  Jesus calms the storm without further comment from the disciples and then turns to them with one more question, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25).

And this is where we fit into the story.  As we face the storms of life, where is our faith?  Is our faith in the presence and promise of Jesus?  What I think Jesus is really saying to His disciples in His discussion of fear and faith is, “In the midst of the storm, you have nothing to fear because I am here.”

“I am here” is the powerful promise of Christ to us in the midst of our storms.  “I am here” is the message of Christ in about a hundred places in the New Testament.

  • “I will never leave or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
  • “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
  • “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
  • “Your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3)
  • “He abides in you and you in Him” (I John 4:15).
  • “I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:20).
  • and a bunch of other places.

Please hear this: the promised presence of Jesus, the “I’m here” of Jesus, is yours the minute you believe.  Jesus’ “I’m here” is NOT based on your behavior.  It is based on His secure promise.  He will never leave you because of your failures, challenges, doubts, sins, or anything else.

In the midst of your storm; hear, embrace, and believe the comforting words of your Deliverer, “I’m here.”  This is not wishful or positive thinking to get you through the pain.  It is the secure and beautiful and powerful promise of Jesus to you.