Born From Above!

(Repost)

By Tripp Campbell

"We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him."
1Jo 5:18

Lately, I have been in many discussions with those who are still eclipsed within the confines of "sin/death." What they have failed to realize is that those who are born from above sinneth not. Somehow, many have bought into a mentality that they can please/displease God by their actions/inaction. Generally,what so many have missed, is that by their beliefs/understanding, they have now raised an illusionary Standard, something that can be measured, in order to relate to God.

I have found that in my personal walk every time I begin to relate to God by "Doing", within a short period of time my energy and ability begin to wane and I find myself devoid of Hope/Life. You see, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life........" Moreover, as I have begun to rest in the Finished work of the Cross, everything begins to abound. It is not that my "life" is without challenges, it has many, but now it is centered in the only "Life" available to a believer, Jesus Christ. No longer do I live in the illusion of Doing for God, by the works of the Law which ultimately leads to death, but I continue to embrace "fullness" which already has been so gloriously provided for, In-Christ Jesus!

Rom 5:17-21 "If death got the upper hand through one man's wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grandsetting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides? Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right. All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life--a life that goes on and on and on, world without end." (msg)