Be Yourself

by Richard Zenith

"Be yourself" is a central aspect in the whole concept of what I would like to call "unity life" (rather than "union life"). When we realize our unity with Christ, we begin to see ourselves as forms of Christ, as other-lovers, Then we simply live and be ourselves, for it is not ourselves but Christ in us. But the phrase "be yourself" is also a central aspect of today's generally godless humanism and psychology. For all the problems of tenseness, guilt, feelings of inferiority, indecisiveness, pressures, and so on down the line, the world's philosophy has frequently sounded the cry: "Be yourself" And so when I sound the same cry to my Christian friends who are uptight with themselves and dissatisfied with their lives, there is a natural reaction against what seems to be a worldly philosophy that excludes the need of Christ. "No!" they say. "What does 'being yourself' have to do with Christ? I don't want to be myself; I want to be like Christ."

"Be yourself" may be a philosophy of many who deny Christ, as well as a philosophy that is impossible to follow without faith in Jesus Christ! In order to be myself I must first discover who my real self is, and this I cannot do without Christ. Most people have a totally wrong idea of Who their real self is. A person looks at his personality, his likes and dislikes, his moods and feelings, his physical appearance - and he says: "This is me". But is it? While all these characteristics may be unique to that person, they are nonetheless very changeable characteristics. A person's personality and physical appearance never stop developing as he grows older. Likes and dislikes and feelings change from day to day. I know a woman who is; now eighty-seven and quite senile. I remember ten years ago when this friend had a strong and definite personality; but I have watched it deteriorate to the point where it is almost Impossible to hold a coherent conversation with her. All her outer characteristics have faded away. Who is my friend? What is her true self?

Someone will say: "What about your talents? Don't they remain the same?" No, talents do not remain the same either, though I will admit that there is a greater sense of permanency about our talents than Our personality. But talents are only a means to expressing my real self; talents in themselves cannot define who I am. I have a musical talent, but I can't "be myself" by "being musical". Now I may practice and perform music, but that is only an action, an expression of Who I am. If by "be yourself" a humanist means "develop your talents, follow your heart, go after your goals", then It is no longer a philosophy of being but a philosophy of doing.' "Go out and do something to become someone". But to strive to change myself is a direct contradiction of being who I am. To be myself requires that I am already perfectly satisfied with myself.

Personality, talents, past experiences, and feelings are all outer characteristics and cannot define who we are as persons. "Be yourself" Is a popular phrase, but The truth is that man does not really know who he is. That is why everyone is so busy conforming to standards. Everyone needs something to hold onto; everyone is seeking some way to assert himself and to give himself an identity. The standard of many is the typical American dream - a wife, two kids, a nice house, hard work and $20,000 a year. Others conform to a standard which rejected the American dream - ragged jeans, pot-smoking, "take it easy"., Everyone has to have an image so that he can say, "This is me".

For three years as a believer in Jesus Christ, I was conforming to the standards of what a "good Christian" is supposed to be, but I had not discovered who I am. I read ten to twenty chapters of the Bible each day; I prayed for at least one hour a day; I went out street witnessing twice a week; and I attended several fellowships. All this activity did bear some fruit. I led a number of people to Christ and discipled them as well. However, after these three years, I began to realize that something was still very wrong, that all my activities were merely an outer display which had not been motivated by other-love. I began to see that my outer man (personality, feelings, and so forth) was not the real me, but only the container of my true self, the inner man.

Every single action that a man performs is motivated by love - either self-love or other-love. As a result of the Fall, the spirit of man is a spirit of self-love. Take any area of life, and you will see that self-love is the reigning force. It is quite apparent that most Americans live by the golden rule - "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". It's a great system. I give you a compliment so that you'll give me one back. I put up with your idiosyncrasies so that you'll put up with mine. I send you a birthday card with hope that you'll send me one. The golden rule makes life more pleasant and, besides, it gives us a feeling of doing the right thing - all from a very selfish motivation. To be sure there is a human love which can be very passionate and lead a person to great sacrifice for another, yet human love is so vacillating. People "love" each other so intensely that they spend all their time together, think nothing of hopping right into bed because it's a "meaningful relationship", and yet after six months they no longer are speaking to each other. Is this love? Human love is very possessive (my girlfriend) and, as a result, very jealous; it tends to care more about the friendship than the friend.

Made in the image of God, man has the inner witness of conscience which says that heought to love others, and yet man seldom admits that he loves only himself. He works for charity, has good manners, smiles, and says polite things - not so much to convince others but to convince himself that he loves. One of man's favorite games is "Playing the Martyr". Someone says something or does something which he finds irritating. He feels that this person is treating him unfairly or discourteously. But will he say anything? No! He'll play the martyr and let himself be walked on, while inside he will seethe with an anger that multiplies as he meditates on what a horrible injustice the other person has committed. He smiles politely, while he is dying in his heart.

So man's life is a paradox between an outward appearance that he loves others and the inward truth that he loves only himself. Though this paradox leads to temporary frustration and despair, here's the wonderful fact: all of this is part of God's perfect plan! Paul wrote in Romans 8:20, "For the creation was subjected to futility . . . Though we lack the power to love, God gives us the knowledge that we ought to love. Thus we find ourselves in a place of need, which causes us to seek the answer. This, in turn, leads us to Christ, in whom we become "children of God", with an inheritance of glorious freedom. We are free at last to be ourselves!

For when we meet Jesus Christ, a glorious thing happens. In Christ, self-seeking love is replaced by the spirit of self-giving love. "God's love has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us". Now it is no longer we loving, but Christ loving through and in us, for He is one spirit with us (1 Cor. 6:7). Christ is our love, our patience, our goodness, our peace, and our faith. We no longer labor according to our own strength but according to the power which works within us (Col. 1:29), and Christ is that power. Christ is the Son, we are sons. He is the Light, we are lights. He is the Lover, we are lovers. For as He is, so also are we in this world (1 Jo. 4:1 7). We are seated in Christ at the right hand of God (Eph. 2:4-6), blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3), for He has called us spirits of righteous men made perfect (Heb. 1 2:23). Could we desire to be any other place than in this glorious Oneness with our Lord?

All of this I received in Christ, yet for three years I was blind and had no familiarity with these riches of the glory of His inheritance and greatness of His power toward us who believe (Eph. 1:18-19). Many are living in Satan's illusion that God has nothing to do with them and that they make all their own decisions with God having no part. Others of us have believed God and are no longer blind. We see that we are in Him and that He has always been working in our lives, bringing us to Himself. We came to a point where we realized the futility of our own efforts to put meaning and fulfillment into our lives, and we accepted Christ's forgiveness and salvation which He accomplished 2000 years ago.

But just as there are those who do not accept His finished redemption, there are those Christians who do not accept His finished sanctification. Satan had me believing in the ghost of my old self. I was striving to conform my outward actions to, the perfect man which Christ described in the Sermon on the Mount, but the old-man ghost would not leave me alone. Of course I could not get anywhere in my fight, for the fight was already won, the old man was already dead. Still I kept fighting. How perfect again are His ways. Just as God brought about frustration in my life to cause me to seek and find Christ, so again as a Christian He used frustration to show me the futility of all my own efforts, When I had my fill of trying, I finally let go. I let go of my arrogance which presumed that I could become like Jesus. I saw that I was only a vessel and that I would never be anything more.

The light began to dawn, I am forever the nothing. I am he who is not, Christ is He who is; I am the eternal negative, He the eternal positive. But then there is this glorious fact of unity. He is the vine and I am the branch, though it is one tree. The Holy Spirit is inseparably joined to my spirit, so I can not only say that He loves through me, but I can also truly say that I love. I had believed that Christ would live my life if I cooperated with Him. "No! No! No!" said the Lord. "Get the idea out of your mind that you can ever do anything to help or cooperate with Me. I, who am for others, have replaced your self-centered old man". Finally I heard Him. Now I stand on the fact of our unity not that I become Christ, but that He comes to be me, to live His life through me. Standing on this fact, I do nothing but live. I don't try to be loving. I just be myself, for now I know who I am, I know that I am love because I am a form of Christ.

Some honest Christian will say, "Oh really? Well, you certainly don't seem very loving at times. It all sounds good on paper, but what about living it?" But I pay no attention to the outer. I live by the Spirit. When I find myself apparently hating someone, I say to the Lord: "I feel very hateful toward so-and-so because of this-and-this, but I know that You are limitless Love and I know that You are the real me". So be Yourself through me", And He does come through! I find myself loving. You ask: "But what If you still find yourself hating a person?" I don't worry about it! It's God's business, not mine. I will believe truth and let God take care of the outward manifestation

After fifteen years of being a self loving person, I have naturally developed very negative outward reactions and feelings (hates, envies, fears and so forth), and they will never change. The outer man is decaying (2 Cor, 4:16); but God is not concerned about it, because we are spirit people (Heb. 12:9). Instead, I praise God for all my negative reactions. They are a friendly reminder to me that I am only a vessel - Christ is the living water. If I had only positive reactions, if I never got angry or felt unloving or depressed, then I could not relate to other people. I could not empathize with any of their depressions or problems. Because I experience all the common human frustrations and get angry and upset, other people see that I am no different than they are. But then they see God's strength through my weakness; they see that love coming through - a love with no strings attached, and they say, "Oh Richard has problems just as we do. But look at this love coming through. Richard's nothing, so where is this love coming from? Could this be God?" So, people are drawn to Love, and God is glorified.

What is the outcome? In Christ we are free - free from our outer feelings, free from past condemnations, free from all the "I should's" in life, free from all the standards of society and religion, free from the slavery of self-love. We have entered the glory of the children of God. We have reached the top and yet there is no top, for we travel from glory to glory, until at last we shall see Him face to face. We are perfect! Perfect in our spirits which are nothing but love, and perfect in our outer negatives, because we no longer live in the outer negatives. We live in the spirit. We are free - not to sin, but to be love, for that is who we are. Sin is no longer an issue. We occasionally slip (or even blow out), but we need not bother ourselves about it, for He uses even our slip-ups to accomplish good. Be yourself and you will not be able to contain the flood. The Living Water will break through the dam of unbelief, and all life that you touch will be drenched with Love unmeasured.

Much-More, Resurrection "Life"

"We must see beyond the historicity of the empty tomb on that first Easter day,and understand the extension of the resurrection-life and resurrection-power of Jesus Christ in every Christian. Christianity is not just the remembrance of an historical resurrection, but is comprised of the vital dynamic of the risen Lord Jesus functioning in the activity of the Holy Spirit of God by enlivening Christians with the "saving life of Christ" (Rom. 5:10). Christianity is Christ ­ the resurrected Lord Jesus living out His life in Christians every day, to the glory of God."



Excerpt taken from: The Extension of the Resurrection

The historical resurrection of Jesus is extended for the benefit of all men
as the resurrection-life of Jesus Christ by the Spirit causes men to have life out of death spiritually.

©1999 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved.

Christ In You: The Apostle's Secret

By: A. B. Simpson

Ancient mythology recognized some union of God with man, but it was a union which only degraded the gods and did not lift mankind. It still left a great gulf between the earthly and the heavenly.

It is this Paul refers to when he exclaims: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him" (I Corinthians 2:9).

The apostle's secret of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27) is one which the world cannot grasp. Think of it and try to realize it. God is not only a God who mercifully pardons our guilt and saves us from its consequences, not only a God who gives to us a new nature that loves to do the right which once we hated, not only a God who comes to our aid in temptation and trial and interposes His strength and His providence for our deliverance, but above all this He is a God who comes Himself to live His own life in us.

He takes us into the divine family, makes us partakers of the divine nature, undertakes our life for us, becomes the Author and Finisher of our faith, and works in us "to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). This is incomprehensible to our finite minds.

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(The Bible text in this publication, except where otherwise indicated, is from the King James Version. This article appears on the site: http://www.posword.org/.)

"All" and "Everything"

"God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating. We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels--everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment."
(Col. 1:13-17) msg

"..........From now on everyone(All) is defined by Christ, everyone(All) is included in Christ." (Col.3: 11) msg

I sometimes wonder how we interpret "All" and "Everything" as "Partially" and "Most Things."

Oh! The Glory of God........
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BEING AND DOING

By: Major W. Ian Thomas

This is divine vocation into which you have been redeemed, as "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that you should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10) can only be fulfilled in the energy and power of the One who indwells you now by His Spirit, as He walked once only in the energy and power of the Father who indwelt Him through the Spirit. Of Himself He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:19), and of you He says, in John 15:5, "Without me you can do nothing."

How much can you do without Him? Nothing!

It is amazing how busy you can be doing nothing! Did you ever find that out? "The flesh ­ everything that you do apart from Him ­ "profiteth nothing" (John 6:63), and there is always the awful possibility, if you do not discover this principle, that you may spend a lifetime in the service of Jesus Christ doing nothing! You would not be the first, and you would not be the last ­ but that, above everything else, we must seek to avoid!

So you discover that the life which you possess as a born-again Christian is of Him, and it is to Him, and every moment that you are here on earth it must be through Him ­ of Him, through Him, to Him all things! "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1).

The Lord Jesus Christ claims the use of your body, your whole being, your complete personality so that as you give yourself to Him through the eternal Spirit, He may give Himself to you through the eternal Spirit, that all your activity as a human being on earth may be His activity in and through you; that every step you take, every word you speak, everything you do, everything you are, may be an expression of the Son of God, in you as man.

If it is of Him and through Him and to Him, where do you come in? You do not! That is just where you go out! That is what Paul meant when he said, "For me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). The only Person whom God credits with the right to live in you is Jesus Christ; so reckon yourself to be dead to all that you are apart from what He is, and alive unto God only in all that you are because of what He is (Romans 6:1 1).

It is for you to BE ­ it is for Him to DO! Rest fully available to the Saving Life of Christ.

From: The Saving Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1961.

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DIGGIN'THE LIFE!

You will not be Disappointed!

The Mystery of Godliness

By: Jim Minker "By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory." (1 Timothy 3:16) "The mystery of godliness"? I didn't get it ... had Paul left something out here? I would read this verse and wonder what it had to do with "godly living"? Did he just assume that Timothy would know what this "mystery" was? Well, it seemed to give me no clue whatsoever as how I was supposed to live as a "Christian"!! But there it was staring at me the whole time. And it was so simple that I tripped over it time and time again. How about you? HE who was revealed in the flesh HE who was vindicated in the Spirit HE who was seen by angels HE who was proclaimed among the nations HE who was believed on in the world HE who was taken up in glory The mystery of godliness = Christ Jesus No, no, not a formula ... please do NOT settle for that!! The mystery IS Christ, which means that it is only unknown OUTSIDE of Christ. HE is the "secret" of life and NO ONE has ever found it outside of HIM. But don't stop there! For GREAT is the mystery of godliness. "REVEALED IN THE FLESH": The Creator was joined together with the creation. The life of this MAN was none other than the life of GOD! "VINDICATED IN THE SPIRIT": His Father made it known that He was "well-pleased" with His Son. When Jesus hung on that cross God condemned sin in the flesh through this TRULY RIGHTEOUS MAN. It was the Spirit of LIFE in HIM that prevailed as WE became the righteousness of God through HIM! "SEEN BY ANGELS": How could they SEE Him? Because His true life was found in the realm outside of the "seen" realm of man. "PROCLAIMED AMONG THE NATIONS": His true life is found outside of the designation of His human birth ... it is outside the realm of human circumstance, culture, nationality, race, gender, status, etc. The only way He could be proclaimed "across the board" is to have His true life not found in who He was or what He did in this world. "BELIEVED ON IN THE WORLD": He was "believed on" beyond what could be seen with the eyes and/or heard with the ears. "More blessed are they who believe WITHOUT SEEING!" The substance of things believed is beyond the senses, and is actually hindered by such. Always has been, always will. Faith in HIM attests to faith in the invisible God who was IN Him. It is His Father who reveals the reality of Christ to man. "TAKEN UP IN GLORY": They saw His body taken up, but they didn't understanding this glory until Christ sent His Spirit to them. The Spirit reminded them of all Jesus had spoken to them, not in the sense of repeated words, but in the true substance BEHIND the words ... for He was the WORD OF GOD. They had been given insight into the fact that GOD had lived among them through the MAN they had known as JESUS. It changed everything as they looked back upon their experiences with Him. "The mystery of godliness" is the simple reality of the life of GOD being the life of the man through Christ. No one had to tell HIM how to live and what to do for He lived from the very life of the SPIRIT in Him. * Are you STILL looking for some OTHER KIND of godliness? * Are you STILL hoping to find some "principles" to follow that might finally set you free? * Are you STILL looking for the right "formula" to give you "power"? Do you not understand that the power of those who are born of God through Christ is the very same power of the life that is in CHRIST ... the same power of God that raised Him from the dead? God IN man = the mystery of godliness. Is He in you? Then what else are you looking for? LIVE!!

“The Problem With Portraying Jesus”

(Galatians 2:20)

Our friend Lance was faced with the dramatic challenge of a lifetime – his church was putting on an outdoor drama, and he was asked to portray Jesus. Well, for four nights, he was supposed to be Jesus. Now Lance had been in enough productions to know you have to really get into the person that you’re playing – and even stay in that character all day long. He tried to do that with Jesus. He couldn’t.

Which led to an exciting discovery. Here’s what he told me - he said, “Ron, I discovered I could not get into the person of Jesus. He would have to get into me. I can’t be Jesus”, he said, “No human being can. Only JESUS can be Jesus – and I would have to let Him be Jesus through me.” Lance tried it that way and the people who know him said, “That wasn’t you up there, Lance.” They were right.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about “The Problem With Portraying Jesus.”

All of us who love Jesus have struggled to portray Him. And like my friend Lance, we’ve all failed. There’s a reason. This isn’t about you displaying the characteristics of Jesus – it’s about you getting out of the way and letting Jesus display His characteristics through you.

You’re the branch, not the vine. No branch can produce fruit by itself – it just has to stay so bonded to the vine that the life of the vine comes through the branch. Jesus said He’s the vine. So what are you doing trying to make fruit happen like some frustrated little branch?

Paul discovered the secret that you may need some 2,000 years ago and he talks about it in our word for today from the Word of God, Galatians 2:20. He says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Key words – “Not I . . . but Christ.”

The heroic missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, discovered what he called “the exchanged life” well into his ministry, and these words from “Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret” may help liberate you from a lifetime of trying to perform spiritually. Listen to Hudson Taylor’s insightful words:

“I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for meditation – but all without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me . . . I would begin the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye off Him for a moment, but pressure of duties . . . and constant interruptions. . . caused me to forget Him. There was nothing I so much desired as holiness . . . but the more I strove after it, the more it eluded my grasp.”

And then he tells about his breakthrough: “I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I’ll strive no more. For has not He promised to abide with Me – never to leave me, never to fail me? . . . Abiding, not striving nor struggling . . . trusting Him for present power . . . resting in the love of an Almighty Savior, in the joy of a complete salvation.. . . thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us . . . not a striving to have faith, but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need.”

Or as Paul said, “Not I, but Christ.” Or as my friend Lance said, “Only Jesus can be Jesus – and I would have to let Jesus be Jesus through me.” Maybe it’s time for you to give up trying to portray Jesus . . . to admit you can’t . . . to bring down the curtain on your frustrating performance. And to let Jesus play Himself – through you.

Excerpts are from Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, Moody Press, 1932, pp. 157-161.

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc. Permission to reproduce this material is automatically granted on the condition it will be used for non-commercial purposes, will not be sold, and will be distributed for the sole purpose of expanding the Gospel.

Jesus Christ, "The Way" Avoiding The Ditches

The Privilege of Sons

Galatians 4:1-20

Paul explains to the Galatian Christians the privilege of being full-fledged adult sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

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Paul continues his extended argument documenting that the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ was God's intent from the beginning. Presenting his argument in response to the reasonings of the infiltrating Judaizers in Galatia, Paul has explained that the promise to Abraham preceded the Law (3:15-29), and the promises of blessing are received by faith rather than by the performance of law-observances (3:1-14).

The legalistic Judaizers advocated that the neophyte Galatian Christians needed to connect with the legacy of Abraham and become "sons of Abraham" by the performance of the demands of the Law, thus achieving a full status and stature of spiritual maturity as "sons of God." Paul, on the other hand, wanted to reiterate to the Galatian Christians that by God's grace in Jesus Christ received by faith they were already "sons of God" (3:26), Abraham's spiritual progeny (3:7,29), and heirs of all the blessings and promises of God (3:9,14,22,29). The period of immature childhood and adolescence was historically past. As Christians, the Galatians were "complete in Christ" (Col. 2:10), having received "all the things of God" (I Cor. 3:21-23), including "every spiritual blessing" (Eph. 1:3) and "everything pertaining to life and godliness" (II Pet. 1:3). Paul wanted the Galatians to recognize how spiritually rich (Eph. 3:8,16) they were as the heirs of God's promised blessings, so that they might enjoy their privileges as mature sons of God in Christ. That did not mean that they could not "grow in grace" (II Pet. 3:18), allowing for a more adequate representation of Christ's character in their behavior by faithful receptivity of His activity, but the maturity of sonship could not be meritoriously achieved through performance. Employing slightly altered metaphors comparing sons and heirs with slaves, Paul emphasizes the privilege of being full-fledged, adult sons of God in Jesus Christ.

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©1999 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved.

You are free to download this article provided it remains intact without alteration. You are also free to transmit this article and quote this article provided that proper citation of authorship is included.

LOVED AND ACCEPTED

By: Bob George

"If you are a true Christian, then you are as righteous and acceptable in the sight of God as Jesus Christ!"

What's your reaction? If you are shocked..., then it may be that you just don't know who you are in Christ. It may be that you know a great deal of doctrine, but your daily Christian life is still more a burden than a blessing. You may have tried and tried to change your life without success, in spite of all the seminars, books, and tapes you have searched. Whatever your situation, I have great news to share with you.

Most Christians, I find, understand the general idea behind forgiveness: God took our sins and gave them to Jesus. But that's only half the message! God also took Christ's perfect righteousness and gave it to us! Second Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." How could I stand up and declare that in the sight of God I am as righteous and acceptable as Jesus Christ? Because of what I do? No way! It's because of who I am in Christ.

The Bible goes to great lengths to declare that righteousness is a free gift that a man receives by faith.

"For if, by the trespass of the one man (Adam), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17)

Righteousness (a right standing of total acceptability before God) is a gift. You don't work for it. You don't earn it. You don't deserve it. Like any gift, all you can do is accept it or reject it. And once you have it, it's yours.

Galatians 3:27 says, "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Because we are in Him we are totally acceptable to God!

Now realize that I am talking about ourselves being acceptable to God, not necessarily our actions. In my identity I am eternally acceptable to Him, but that doesn't mean that everything I do is all right. He may put His arm around me, so to speak, and show me the truth about something in my life that is out of line: an attitude, action, or habit. Why? So He can change my attitude that is out of line, resulting in a change of action. But at no time is His acceptance of me ever in question.

From: Classic Christianity. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers. ©1989.

Another wonderful Q&A from The Shovel!

Q&A SIN & JUDGMENT : Sin-Conscious

Using my freedom to do what I want



"Christ is my life. Question: How should Christ's life look? Is He just my life as I go about everyday life doing everyday things? We all know how religious life "looks." Church 3 times per week, outreaches, tithes, witnessing, etc. etc.We know that "true" religion should consist of taking care of widows and orphans (which I don't do) How do I know that I am allowing Christ to actually be my life? A part of me "gets it" - but another part cries out - There must be something I have to do! And I know that's not true either." Nancy

Hi again!

How should Christ's life look, eh? :) It looks like YOU as you walk in freedom! He indeed is your life as you go about your everyday life doing everyday things. How do you know? Just live ... and listen. Listen to your own heart in the midst of your struggles so that you hear the pure desire of God's spirit show itself despite all the opposition from the world around you as well as from many of your own crazy thoughts. Listen with the ears of life to those you come in contact with and you will come to realize that you hear beyond the facade created by words and actions.

Also realize that Christ is your life whether you "allow" him to be your life or not. It's not about him getting your permission. No doubt you will experience times of great and joyful willingness and times where it all seems to go away, but don't let yourself be fooled into false assumptions based upon what seems to be. For the times of trial are just as "spiritual" as the times we wish we always experienced.

The "true religion" written of by James that you mentioned has been horribly ripped out of James' letter. It was not a formula on to "how to live the Christian life" but a rebuke to those who pretend they can keep the law. If you follow the flow of his writing you will see that he divides his statements to reflect the pretentiousness of those who glory in keeping principles (but don't) as well as the reality of those who have been made alive by the Spirit. These are the same distinctions you and I have been referring to regarding the pretension of "church things" vs miraculous life in Christ. Those who judge by appearances will despise that which they believe is beneath them ... and quote Scripture to support themselves. During that time in their religious history those who paraded themselves as "spiritual" had learned how to Scripturally get around the menial tasks of taking care of their parents (remember Jesus' criticism on this as well). They also found it less than "spiritual" to deal with children, which definitely ruled out somebody else's abandoned kids. I think James may have used a well-known scriptural quote in his letter about widows and orphans to present the contrast (as did his half-brother, Jesus) to show how hypocritical it was to build a self-righteous case upon Scripture. The point is that REAL life, which James called "TRUE religion" - you know, the everyday kind of stuff we deal with in relation to others that we often wish we could get away from - is what the Spirit of God leads us into. It is only our assumptions and expectations of what we think it OUGHT to be that makes it all seems so much less than the stuff of God.

It's not that doing is unimportant, but that true doing comes from true LIFE. In the flesh we put "doing" up on a platform so that we could rate ourselves according to how we fared. This is the mind of the world. When we think in terms of what we have to do we are thinking after the flesh. The religious mind has only taken the stuff of the world and made it "holy" by forcing a divine justification upon it. We've done it in our Churches for years and years. Fleshly religious logic takes its stand upon activities because that is the only way it can comprehend true life. It will do everything it can to convince those who truly live that they are not, and it will do so by using stated duties to make its case.

The life of God that has been put within our hearts has made us truly alive. We live. Funny thing is that those who are alive - those who come to realize they have no "doing" upon with to stand and boast - are the only ones who truly "do". Never let religious logic convince you that "activities" and "duties" will ever cause true doing. God's life in us is what truly "does". Stand in his life and his freedom!

Love, Jim

In Christ Alone.

IN CHRIST ALONE my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, What depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, When strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones he came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied
For ev’ry sin on him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground his body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain
The bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as he stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am his and he is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till he returns or calls me home,
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand!

© Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty.

Sons!

by: Tripp Campbell

If you feel like you are on the back side of a desert and just Wasting away. Consider how God looks at the word Waste. So many times we Identify ourselves and others by what we Do, instead of Who we Are. Naturally this begs a question! Who are we?

Listen to Paul in Romans 8:14-15:
"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!"

Wow! what a glorious truth. We are Sons! We are Sons! We are Sons and Daughters of God!

Characteristics of a Slave:
1.) Hireling, obligation to serve for reward.
2.) Performance oriented.
3.) Slaves leave at the end of the day, Sons stay.
4.) Motivated by Fear.
5.) In Bondage

Characteristics of a Son:
1.) Motivated to do the Father's will.
2.) Enjoys Intimacy with Daddy.
3.) Sons have ears to Hear.
4.) Listens to Abba (Daddy) and does what He tells us to do.
5.) Does not fear. Free!

Now read the story of Mary who Lavished, Worshipped, Jesus in loving devotion, with an alabaster vial of costly perfume.
Matthew 26: 6-13

"Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,
a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table.
But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste?
"For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor."
But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me.
"For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.
"For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.
"Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her." "

The Disciples believed Mary's act of Worship was a Waste. No! Why? Because the Disciples had a different idea of waste to God's idea of waste. Waste is determined by value. Value is determined by purpose or placing value in the things we do. The Disciples believed the perfume should had been sold and given to the poor. (Doing Ministry) Mary understood, Enjoyed, Being with the Father. (Intimacy) The Lord did not consider this act of worship a Waste.


You see, we have bought into this idea that our purpose is Doing, (i.e.. to win the lost). No. Our purpose should be, to do the Father's will. Our purpose is to "be" Sons and Daughters of God. Many of us have determined that doing things for the Father is better than just being with the Father. So the next time you believe you are just wasting away on the backside of a desert. Just remember who you are! Sons and Daughters of God!

"Thank you Lord for the Glorious Truth that we are no longer slaves, but Sons and Daughters. Lord, root out any slave mentality and give us a greater understanding of Sonship. Thank you Lord that we are adopted by the shed blood of your Son and not by anything we have done. Help us this day to Cry Out, Shout, "Abba! Father!" In Jesus name. Amen"

1 John 1:9

By: Paul Rupe

One of the most common responses I get when I tell believers they are forgiven of all sin is "What about 1 John 1:9?" Let's look at 1 John 1:9 and then we'll explain how this verse actually teaches that God has removed our sins completely through Christ.

1 John 1:9 says

If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I feel that what many Christians don't understand is that 1 John 1:9 was never written about believers. 1 John 1:9 was written to believers but it was written about Gnostic teachers who had infiltrated their ranks. In the letter of 1 John, I see two particular Gnostic teachings addressed, there are more but we will use these two for our study. Gnostics taught that Jesus did not have a physical body but rather that He was a spirit or a phantom.

This is why John writes in 1 John chapter 4 verses 1-4

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

John was refuting the Gnostic belief that Jesus did not have a body and that He did not physically die on the cross for sin. John called this Gnostic belief an anti-Christ teaching. In addition to this teaching, Gnostics also believed and taught that they did not have or share a part in the sin of Adam. Gnostics did not believe that they were sinners. Not believing themselves sinful they did not believe that Jesus came to pay the penalty of mans’ sin by His death on the cross, much less theirs. They believed that Jesus was the way-shower, but not the way.

Therefore, John writes addressing this issue in 1 John chapter 1 verses 8-10

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

John was saying that if they would admit that they had a sinful nature and trust in Jesus' final sacrifice for sin, then God would be faithful to have forgiven them and cleansed them from all unrighteousness. If a person does not believe they are a sinner, they see no need to come to Christ for salvation. This is exactly what the Gnostics believed. To the Gnostics Jesus was not a Savior who died on the cross for their sins, but rather a way-shower to God.

A certain believer, wanting to make sure he was reading this chapter correctly, contacted a professor of Greek at a well-known seminary. This professor told this believer that he, for the longest time, had believed the traditional teaching about 1 John 1:9 but that as He was reading the passage in Greek, he had come to an altogether different conclusion. He now was certain that John meant it for unbelieving Gnostics rather than believers in Christ Jesus.

We also see from looking into the Greek text that the words "To forgive" are the Greek words "Hina Alphei" which are a second aorist subjunctive. This implies a "one time forgiveness with ongoing results."

In addition, we must consider the following questions: How many of your sins did Jesus die for? All of them, of course. How many sins had you committed when Jesus died? You hadn't committed any. You weren't born yet. Friend, all of your sins were in the future when Christ died, that was when He forgave you; He forgave you all of your sins!

We also must consider the Apostle Paul and his writings. There is only one verse after the cross that teaches confession of sins in order to be forgiven - 1 John 1:9. Why did not the Apostle Paul, the man that God used to write thirteen different epistles, mention anything at all about confessing sins in any of his epistles? Paul’s message was that God had forgiven believers all trespasses!

Think about this: Why, in the Old Testament, did the Hebrews confess their sins to have all their sins covered for one full year when, under the New Covenant, many Christians confess their sins daily? Is not the blood of Jesus better than that of bulls and goats?

What about the word "confess"? The word "confess" is the Greek word "Homologeo" which means, "To say the same thing as another." I had always thought that to confess sins meant to ask God to forgive you, but this word means nothing of the sort. To confess is to agree with God. Agree with God about what? Agree with Him that you’ve sinned and then agree with Him that He took your sin away when He died on the cross.

Again, John was writing this about Gnostics, and was simply saying that if they would turn from unbelief and agree with God that they were born sinners, and that Jesus died to take away their sins on the cross, then God would be faithful and just to forgive them and cleanse them from all unrighteousness.

Jesus did not miss one ounce of unrighteousness when He saved you! He cleansed you from all of it! 1 John 1:9 actually teaches that you have been cleansed from all unrighteousness!

Believer be free from sin-consciousness. Realize that you have been cleansed from all unrighteousness! Jesus has finished the work and He has forgiven you!

RELIGIOUS OR CHRISTIAN?

By: Major W. Ian Thomas

There are few things quite so boring as being religious, but there is nothing quite so exciting as being a Christian!

Most folks have never discovered the difference between the one and the other, so that there are those who sincerely try to live a life they do not have, substituting religion for
God, Christianity for Christ, and their own noble endeavors for the energy, joy, and power of the Holy Spirit. In the absence of reality, they can only grasp at rituals, stubbornly defending the latter in the absence of the former, lest they be found with neither!

They are lamps without oil, cars without gas, and pens without ink, baffled at their own impotence in the absence of all that alone can make man functional; for man was so engineered by God that the presence of the Creator within the creature is indispensable to His humanity. Christ gave Himself for us to give Himself to us! His presence puts God back into the man! He came that we might have life - God's life!

There are those who have a life they never live. They have come to Christ and thanked Him only for what He did, but do not live in the power of who He is. Between the Jesus who "was" and the Jesus who "will be" they live in a spiritual vacuum, trying with no little zeal to live for Christ a life that only He can live in and through them, perpetually begging for what in Him they already have!

From the foreword of Classic Christianity by Bob George, Eugene: Harvest House Publishers. ©1989.

Christ has set us free to live a free life!

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law. I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace.Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love. (msg)
Gal 5:1-6

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