Category: Walking in the New Nature

Obedience

The word “obedience” can be a trigger for those raised in a law-keeping system.  Years ago, my wife was mentoring a young woman who was newly discovering grace and leaving behind a legalistic mindset and lifestyle.  One of her first requests of Rhonda was, “Don’t talk to me about obedience!”  Her rule-keeping background had turned obedience into a chain.

Our freedom in Christ sets us free from our chains, even the chain of obedience.  Does that mean a free-for-all lifestyle with no thought of obeying Jesus?  No, not at all.

Our obedience flows from an understanding of what Christ has brought to us and done in us that is not commonly taught.  Our obedience is not some allegiance to Jesus PLUS a rule-keeping system.  It is understanding that “in Christ” we are a new creation with a new nature and a new heart and a new Spirit and a new want-to; a new power over sin.  Thank you Jesus!

If the word “obedience” is a legalistic trigger from your past, let me offer you this.  I like to use the word “alignment” for expressing my new life in Christ.  The apostle Paul wrote, “I entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1).

Ephesians chapters 1, 2, and 3 summarize our calling with all kinds of powerful descriptions of who we are in Christ.  “Saints who are blessed with every spiritual blessing.  Chosen before the foundation of the world.  Holy and blameless before Him.  Adopted as sons.”  And that is just in the first 5 verses of the book!  There is so much more in these first 3 chapters; more than I can squeeze into this post.  Suffice it to say, our calling, His description of who we are in Christ, is incredible!

So when we come to Ephesians chapter 4, Paul is asking us to “align” our actions and attitudes with these amazing truths!  The theology of who we are in Christ is not difficult.  The New Testament is saturated with its explanation.  But putting it into practice, learning to live in “alignment” with our new identity, is the transformation process that God desires for us.  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

Our freedom in Christ comes with this choice that is always before us.  Our old man died at the cross with Jesus.  But we can still align ourselves with the old man way of thinking and doing; an alignment the Scripture calls “walking according to the flesh.”  But we also have the freedom to choose – and might I add that we have the power of Christ in us to make this choice – to align our actions and attitudes with the new man.  A new man “which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).  God is speaking into our new hearts, “Walk this way with Me.”

Don’t let the word obedience scare you.  It is a beautiful word because is aligns us with living according to WHO WE ARE.  Not a to-do list.  Not a drudgery.  Not a buck up and do what you don’t want to do.  In your heart of hearts – or may I say your new heart of new hearts – obedience is what you want.  It aligns your actions and attitudes with who you really are.  The freedom to obey is not a contradiction.  Obedience that derives from our being placed “in Christ” is the ultimate in living free.

Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness

We all have a deep need for love, acceptance, and forgiveness.  And that deep need is fully satisfied in our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In Christ, you are … deeply loved … fully accepted … and completely forgiven.

You are deeply loved.  “But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  When did God first love us?  Had we done anything “good” at that point to earn His love?  He loved us when we were actually His enemies.  He loved us and showed His love for us when Jesus died for us; when we were still lost on our sins.

You are fully accepted.  It is God’s deep love for you that made you His child.  “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are!” (I John 3:1).  You are a fully accepted child of God.  You can enter His room with confidence.  You can jump up on His lap.  You can cling to His neck.  He is your “Abba Father!”

You are completely forgiven.  “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).  “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).  “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.  Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer an offering required for sin” (Hebrews 10:17-18).

You are completely and forever forgiven.  Your guilt, shame, and condemnation have been removed as far as the east is from the west.  They have been washed away.  They have been replaced by the superior love, acceptance, and forgiveness of God Himself.  You are completely forgiven.

But how do we receive this incredible love, acceptance, and forgiveness?  We receive it by faith.  We express our faith in Jesus and receive all of this as a one-time gift when we acknowledge our guilt, accept the free gift of Christ’s death in our place, and believe what Jesus says is true.  If you wish to say “I’m in” with this new faith in Christ, tell God in prayer about your decision.  Then, talk to someone about it.  If you would like to know more about God’s offer or talk with us about a decision you’ve made, contact us through the “our mission” page on this site.  We would be happy to come along side you.

Come and See

The message of the kingdom is always an invitation, never an imposition.  In the Scriptures, this invitation is wrapped up in the word come.

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat.  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isaiah 55:1).

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14).

Jesus said, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.  And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.‘ “ (Luke 14:16-17).  The next few verses list the excuses as the invitees begged off.  The story continues … “Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’  And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’  And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet‘ “ (Luke 14:21-24).

Here is a miracle of Jesus that includes an invitation to come.  “He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Get up and come forward!’  And He said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?’  But they kept silent.  After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’  And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored” (Mark 3:3-5).

“Nathanael said to Philip, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’  Philip said to him, ‘Come and see’ “ (John 1:46).

The Samaritan woman extended this invitation to experience the kingdom to her neighbors.  “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” (John 4:29).

“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink’ “ (John 7:37).

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”  And let the one who hears say, “Come.”  And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Revelation 22:17).

The promise of Isaiah 55:1 has been fulfilled.  Let all who respond to the invitation come and drink from the water of life without cost.

Come and see.  The King is inviting you into His kingdom.

Arrogance or Confidence?

We wrote last time that there is no place for arrogance in our understanding of Christ making us glorious.  One of the unseen but incredible facts of our new birth is that “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5).  The love of God has so filled us that the love of God is what comes out when we share our lives together.  And the love of God is love without arrogance.

The apostle Paul explained this God-love that is to flow from us in the beautiful love chapter of I Corinthians 13.  And one of the hallmarks of that love is a very simple phrase, “Love is not arrogant” (I Corinthians 13:4).  How is it even possible to express that humble kind of love?  We can only do it because Jesus is loving through us, Jesus is living His resurrected life through us.

There is no place for arrogance in the Christian life.  The New Testament writers often compare and contrast the humility we are to practice and the selfish ambition we are to put off.  But God would not ask us to do something that He has not provided the means to do.  Our new life in Christ is what frees us from selfish ambition.

But there is a gift we receive that can sometimes look like arrogance.  That gift is confidence.  There is no room for arrogance in the Christian life, but there is a wide space opened up to us for confidence.  “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-20).

We have confidence to enter the very holy place of God.  We have confidence to enter God’s presence.  We have confidence to jump into our Abba’s lap.  We have confidence to walk with Jesus, our brother.  And all of this was provided for us by the death of Jesus; washed as we are by the blood that flowed from His flesh.

And this confidence is activated by our faith.  “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.”  Our assurance that we are even allowed to “draw near” comes from our faith in the promises of God.  God said you are His precious child.  Do you believe it?

A proper understanding of grace keeps our arrogance in check (God did it, not you!) and allows our confidence to soar (God did it for you!).  Do not let your confidence become arrogance.  But likewise, do not downplay your confidence as some show of false humility, refusing to receive the new identity He gifted to us.

You are a child of God.  “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).  “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are !!!” (I John 3:1).  This is where our confidence finds its home and its power.  You are a child of God.

You are Glorious!

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). 

This familiar verse has a clear message.  Prior to our salvation, we were all unredeemed sinners and fell short of the glory of God.  But I have always wondered, “Why did Paul make a connection between unredeemed sinners and falling short of God’s glory?  After all, even after we are saved, aren’t we always falling short of God’s glory?”

Even as a youngster, this connection confused me.  By God’s grace and later in life, He awakened me to the true connection.  And the implication of this understanding is huge.

You see, I had always seen “glory” as something only associated with God, never with us humans.  But Jesus, in His prayer to the Father, says about the disciples, “The glory that You have given Me, I have given to them” (John 17:22).  Jesus has given it, past tense.  It has happened.  Jesus gave His glory to the disciples because they believed in Him.

Likewise, this message is for all of us who would believe in the name of the Son.  God has given His glory to us!  As former sinners who have been redeemed, we carry God’s glory in us!  YOU ARE GLORIOUS!

That is the connection of Romans 3:23.  Only unredeemed sinners fall short of God’s glory.  We who have believed in the Son are enveloped with God’s glory.  The glory of God shines upon us.  In fact, God’s glory upon us is what is transforming us.  “But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror (that is you in the mirror, my friend) the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (II Corinthians 3:18).

We are carriers of God’s glory.  Have I said it yet?  YOU ARE GLORIOUS!

And finally, there is no pride or arrogance in this reality.  Only gratitude.  Only faith to believe it.  Only humility because God alone accomplished this for you and me.  YOU ARE GLORIOUS!