2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
When you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you were made a new creation in Him. We don't need to struggle, in order to become a new creation, you have already become one. We've spent many years trying to become that which we already are. We now must learn what this new creation is designed to be and how to function in it. When my children were born into the world, they were already human beings and were already my children. They didn't need to try to become my children, because they were born into that. They didn't need to try to become human beings, because they were born human beings.
As Christians, we are already new creations, already the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, already sons and daughters of God, already citizens of the Kingdom of God, already in unbroken fellowship with God, and already heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. We no longer need to struggle to become what the Lord has made us to be already, but we need to do like babies in the natural life and learn how to live in our new creation life.
We didn't need to learn how to be human beings, but we did need to learn how to walk, talk, dress, eat, listen, learn and grow up into the knowledge of adulthood. We needed to learn responsibility for the liberty we received when we were born. I didn't have to reestablish my liberties, but I needed to learn what they were and then to walk in what was already mine by birth.
We've already been made free from the Law of sin and death, by the liberty which is in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Therefore (there is) NOW no condemnation (adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the Spirit. For the Law of the Spirit of Life (which is) in Christ Jesus (the Law of our new being) has freed me from the Law of sin and of death." We cannot walk in who we are, by trying to remain who we were. You were dead before receiving Jesus as your Savior and now in Him, is your new life.
Can you imagine how ridiculous it would be, if you believed you came from the family of apes and then, because you believed that was your lineage, you tried becoming one? Can you imagine how ridiculous it would seem if you climbed trees, lived in the branches, swung from tree branch to tree branch, picked bugs off yourself, wore no clothes and only spoke "monkey speak." You could never enjoy being a human and could never master being an ape (no matter how hard you tried). You would live in a frustrating manner, by trying to live a dual lifestyle and not living either one very well.
Many have never accepted our identity as Spirit beings and new creations. We've lived under the world's confines and have never allowed our true identity to be made manifest in us. We've tried to live like apes, even though we were born humans. In a sense, this is what we've done in the new birth, too. We've been born of the Spirit of God and been made in His Image and Likeness, but we try developing our identity by the flesh we live in.
We cannot truly enjoy who we are in Christ, because we continue trying to live like someone else says we should be. Our true identity, the spirit man, is limited in his life withing us, by our trying to make him live like a flesh and blood being. He cannot do what he is born to do and the flesh can't accomplish what it was subjected to be, which is the servant to the spirit. The spirit man doesn't take charge and the body of flesh has no ability to do what it should. We've ended up with a war between the two, because we have no knowledge of who we really are in Him.
We must be in God's Word on a daily basis, because that is the only thing that can correctly separate the soul, flesh, and spirit. When we listen to a man preach what he may think is God's Word, we must weigh it by our new creation spirit and then judged according to God's Word. If we don't know what God's Word actually says, then we have no way to judge what is being said. We must remember that, until we were born-again, our spirits were dead and our souls had been taught and trained by a fallen world. Your soul couldn't teach your brain or flesh how, to do anything it hadn't learned from the world.
We've have devised many things that don't pertain to our new creation man, because we haven't listened to the true Voice of God's Word. It's like believing in evolution and trying to walk in creationism. One belief mistakenly claims that you evolved from a lower animal form and that you still maintain animal instincts, while the Truth of God's Word says that God designed and formed us and that we can bring the animal instincts under the subjection of God's Word and His Spirit.
So, we've been trapped in this dual life-role, with no way of separating the two, other than God's Word. His Word can separate and divide the spirit, soul, and body, into their different ways of functioning in our lives. Our brain can only record the information we put into it and only what we allow to be put into it, because it has no mind of its own. Our soul can only receive truth from our spirit and then transfer it to the brain. Our body can only function in what the brain directs it to do. The flesh can only do what we have taught and allowed it to do. The body cannot go and do what it wants , without first receiving direction from the brain This is why a person who is brain dead and put on a ventilator to keep the body alive, cannot walk or talk or move their body.
There are people saying that we are to do this or that, and we know they're saying the correct thing. When we're born-again, we also know that some of the things we do, are wrong. We live in guilt and condemnation for our wrongdoings, but we still don't seem to have the victory we were given through Christ.
We find both the wrongdoing and the answer to bringing the body and soul, back under subjection to our new living spirit man in Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified) which says, "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power (making it active, operative, energizing, and effective) it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and (the immortal) spirit, and the joints and marrow (of the deepest parts of our nature) natural man exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart." Remember, Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified) that, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life-Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it) The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
When we allow God's Word to enter into our spirit, it will "judge, analyze, and expose: the things we learned before we were born-again and reveal what it was we've learned before knowing Jesus as our Lord. It will show those thoughts and deeds to be "wrong" and will reveal the new thoughts and purposes of our heart (new creation man).
Change doesn't come, without having every person making this a priority in their individual lives. I know other Christians who do these things and stop the voice of the accuser of the brethren. Those who simply accept these things and don't at least attempt to put them away, are those who spend absolutely no time in God's Word. Or, they read it, but don't allow God's Spirit to show them "Truth and Spirit" by these words.
We hear God's Word from someone who doesn't have the Truth of it in their spirit, thus making them unable to minister the Truth of it, to your spirit either. We must read God's Word with a personal direction from the Holy Spirit and allow Him to reveal the Truth to us. We've allowed others to "chew" our food for us, so that we only need to swallow. There is no effort on our part to eat for ourselves. Only babies should require their food to be processed for them. We should grow some spiritual teeth and eat the "Strong Meat of the Word" for ourselves.
Nothing in the life of the new creation, can replace seeking the Spirit and Truth of God's Word for himself. We are each required to seek God on our own. When you attend church, then you should bring your own Bible, in order to read along and learn the Word. Then, you do not need to take the word of someone else, because you will have firsthand knowledge of what the Word says. This isn't meant to have something to argue over, but to have Truth and Life from the Spirit of God feeding your spirit.
Simply reading the Words from natural intellect, doesn't always feed your spirit. We must meditate on what the Spirit meant when He proclaimed the Word and then, draw strength and Life from the Meat of the Word and process it into our spirit. It's better to read one chapter of scripture, meditate on it throughout the day and then allow the Holy Spirit to speak this Truth into your spirit, than it is to read ten chapters just to fulfill your "Godly duty to read His Word." It doesn't matter how many chapters are read, but how much Truth and Life are gleaned from what it read.
Many times, we pray the problem (as if God doesn't already know the problem) at prayer time. God doesn't need us to tell Him the problem, He needs us to stand united with His Word in the answer to the problem. After all, God's Word tells us that, "God watches over His Word to perform it"---not my words. When my words are His Words, He can bring it to pass by our faith in His Word. Thankfully, God doesn't bring "all words" to pass in our lives or most of us would be dead (and have taken many others with us). Read Matthew 12:33-37 (Amplified where Jesus tells where the good things and evil things come from in our lives. People who foolishly say, "God put these things on you," wouldn't say that if they read these Verses and learned that hard times come out of their own hearts and mouths.
We are a new creation, we come from a new Kingdom and we are required to speak the language of this New Kingdom and our King, instead of the old words of the enemy's fallen kingdom and the words he taught us, in order to keep us in bondage. God's Words are Spirit and Life; speak them. The Word tells us that, "From the abundance of your heart, your mouth speaks." We must put the Word of God into our hearts in abundance.
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