Thursday, July 19, 2012

Heavenly Thinking (2): Sinful Nature


           The renewing of our minds!! What a wonderful thing.  God is adapting us to a new environment; he is aligning us with a completely different reality.  It looks illogical, seems irrational, and only makes sense once He has transformed our minds.  There is one truth that is at the very center of the saving work of Jesus Christ, and is central for us to experience the fullness of God.  This mind-shift has to do with our sinful nature that previously separated us from God, but that because of the death of Jesus, we too now share in newness of life.  Understanding ourselves to be dead to sin but alive in Christ Jesus is the foundation for heavenly thinking. 

                “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirt.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows whether it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:3, 5-8).”

                So what does this mean? How is one born again? What does that look/feel like? Jesus answers this in the following verses, which is the most well known passage in the bible.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).”  In another passage Jesus says, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).”   Jesus paved the way for us to be with God, which we were previously unable to access. 

                The thing that separates man from God is sin, or more importantly the nature of sin itself.  God’s requirement for relationship is complete holiness; or another way to look at it is to say that God is so holy that he cannot coexist with unholiness.  That means that even the ‘smallest’ most ‘minimal’ sin is in complete contradiction to the nature of God.  “We have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.”  God expresses to people what it takes to be in relationship with him through the ten commandments.  Be perfect, and enter into the kingdom.  The sinful nature that all humanity is born into means that our tendency or natural inclination is towards sin.  Even if we want to do what is right we can't because our nature is opposed to it. Romans 7 speaks of the futility of trying to obey the entire law and how it is impossible to please God because of our sinful nature.  

            We then need a savior because we are unable to achieve the standard, even with the greatest and most heartfelt intentions.  Thankfully Jesus came and did what we could not.  “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  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, 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). 

                At the beginning of Romans 7, Paul gives an analogy of marriage to to explain the transition of the old covenant to new.  Just like a woman’s husband needed to die for her to be able to marry again, so we were made to die so we could enter into a new covenant as well.  “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.  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.  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).”

                It said that we were made to die! This comes into accordance with what Jesus said  to His disciples.  “And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.  He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 10:38-39).”  This same thing is found in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself , and take up his cross and follow Me."  In Luke's account Jesus says that we must pick up our cross 'daily'.  This makes sense due to the sinful nature, for with it we are unable to please God.  But here is the kicker, not everything Jesus said was new covenant, rather he was transitioning from the old covenant to the new.  Those passages don't apply to those who are in Christ Jesus.It is just like when Jesus preached law to show how impossible it was to achieve righteousness on our own! He is saying that the requirement to follow him is to die daily, but this is just as impossible as obeying the law. 

         If I have to have a cross and die then who's cross did Jesus die on? His own? No, He was sinless.  So who's cross did he die on?  Mine!  "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)." Jesus died with my sin on the cross, he broke my covenant with the law and brought me into the new covenant.  I don't need to die daily anymore because Jesus died for me.  Jesus took what I deserved so that I could have what he deserved.  I can do nothing to add to His completed work, we do not add to the cross, it is finished.  

          "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised form the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 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; for he who has died is freed from sin (Galatians 6:1-7)."  Likewise Galatians 5:24 says, "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

         Did you catch that? Our sinful nature was put to death on the cross with Jesus!  Jesus died on the cross bearing our sin.  Just like the beginning of Romans 7 shows, only death could break the old covenant.  In that analogy the husband died, in our reality we died in Christ's death! This is the promise that is given through salvation, this is what it means to believe in Jesus!! To believe that it is finished, that we cannot add to or take away from Christs work on the cross, that he saved us 100%, and that we have been given full access into his glorious riches and presence.  God changed our very nature, we are no longer sinners but saints! 

        This is a hard reality to swallow because it is completely based on the promise of God through his mercy and grace.  It completely has to do with a renewed mind; faith. It won't match our experience right away and it definitely seems unfair and even irrational.  But it is this reason that God needs to renew our minds, to transform the way we view Him and ourselves.  "Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though e have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 6:16-17)." 

        So if this is true, That, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it  is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20)."  Then what do we do with it? God asks us to simply agree! "Even so consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11)."  "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (Colossians 3:5)."  When we align our minds with His, and correctly identify ourselves with the way he sees us we start to manifest that reality.  When God says I am righteous and I believe I am righteous then I will manifest righteousness.  If I believe I am a sinner then I will manifest that very thing.  That doesn't mean we cannot sin or that we can't be tempted, it just means we don't have to anymore; it is no longer natural for us to sin (1 John 2:1-2)."  "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32)."  What is the truth? That we are dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus, that the old is gone and the new has come, that we have crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires!!!

         Many Christians don't agree with the assertion that our sinful nature has been put to death.  They address it minimally but will not fully accept it. Peter sheds light on the consequences of not receiving the fullness of Christ's mercy and grace. 

 "To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing 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.  For 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.  Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge self control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness brother kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  For if these qualities are your and are increasing, they render you neither USELESS NOR UNFRUITFUL in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he who LACKS these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having FORGOTTEN HIS PURIFICATION FROM HIS FORMER SINS.  Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, YOU WILL NEVER STUMBLE; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you (2 Peter 1:1-11)."

          So lets agree with God and consider ourselves dead to sin, knowing that we cannot add to our salvation.  Jesus finished the work, he broke the old covenant.  He imputed His righteousness into us and removed the root of sin from our lives.  Now we get to confidently step into God's presence; no shame, guilt, condemnation, or fear.  Heavenly thinking revolves around this revelation, the saving work of Christ that killed our sinful nature and gave us access into the Kingdom.  "For the Kingdom of God is righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). " 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places with Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be HOLY AND BLAMELESS before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He FREELY bestowed on us in the beloved. In Him we have REDEMPTION through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In ALL WISDOM AND INSIGHT He made known to us the MYSTERY of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of ALL THINGS in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth (Eph. 1:1-10)."  

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Heavenly Thinking (1)

         There are many verses in scripture that talk about the way we think and the way God wants to shape those thoughts.   God is in the business of renewing our minds; "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 12:2)."  The word 'mind' in Greek means thought processes or reasoning; that means that God wants to change the way that we reason.  


         One story in Numbers illustrates this truth very well.  "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel (Numbers 13:1)."  It is important to notice that God promises the Israelites the promise land.  They send 1 leader of each of the 12 tribes as per God's instructions.  All of these leaders knew that God had promised to give them victory. . . lets read further! After visiting the promise land the 12 men return to give their report. "But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it (30)."  Two of the spies, including Caleb showed no hesitation in stepping forth into what was promised them.  But as we see, they were outnumbered and were not given heed.  The other men responded to Caleb saying, "'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.' So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, 'The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. . . . . . and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them (31-33).'"


        We see here two kinds of people, or in other words two kinds of reasoning.  Ten of the spies were using human reasoning.  They saw that the people of Canaan were bigger and that the Israelite's would not be able to overthrow them.  Caleb on the other hand was certain that they could conquer them.  what is the difference? Caleb remembered and had faith in the promise of God, whereas the other men were relying solely on their own strength.  Caleb reasoned based on God's promise rather than on their worldly circumstance.  We can see this in many other stories including Gideon and his 300 warriors (Judges 7) and David when he defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17).  Paul recognizes this reality and tries to teach it to the church at Corinth; "And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:9-10).  Paul is not saying he boasts in his sin, but he is saying that God is so much bigger than anything that he would not be able to overcome himself.


    "Set your mind on things above not on the things that are on Earth (Colossians 3:2)." "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:6-8)." Having a renewed mind means to have faith!  "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)." Paul says to the Romans that someone who has a mindset on the flesh cannot please God! In Hebrews 11:6 it says that those who do not have faith cannot please him!  Why? Because if we do not have faith then we will view the world through a lens of hopelessness and despair.  We will only do the things we are confident in ourselves to do; and just like the ten spies who came out of Canaan with unbelief int heir hearts, we too will not enter into the promises God has for us.  Having faith implies having faith that God can do the impossible and impractical!  "You know your mind has been renewed when the impossible looks logical." -Bill Johnson


        "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 12:2)."  We prove God's will when we have a renewed mind! How? We have faith in God's promises which pushes us into situations that move God to supernaturally intervene.  If God's will is not being proven, then people are not seeing Him, and that means people are not getting to know Him!  "To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through TRUE KNOWLEDGE of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and very magnificent PROMISES, sot that by them you may become partakers of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:1-4)."


        It is imperative that we take on the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), that we think from heavens perspective (2 Cor. 5:16).  The Old Covenant reality about God's thoughts being above our thoughts is over (Isaiah 55:9), now we live in the new covenant reality where God is aligning our minds with His! "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but int hose taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words (1 Cor. 2:12-13)."   Ask God to renew your mind! Ask him to give you His thoughts, His wisdom, and His heart! Heavenly breakthrough comes when  we step out with a renewed, faith filled, mind.  God's power is shown when we have faith in his promises and step out to prove them!

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21)!!