2Cor.5:17(Amp) 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 away. Behold, the fresh and new has come." Notice, this scripture doesn't use the future tense, saying, "The fresh and new will come," but says it "has come." We've been taught that this happens when we die and go to Heaven, but it happened already, when we received Jesus as our Savior and Lord. The guilt and condemnation we have from mistakes we made in our past lives, have hindered our walk with God and held us in bondage.
Heb.9:14(Amp) says, "How much more surely shall the Blood of Christ, Who by virtue of His Eternal Spirit (His Own preexistent, Divine Personality), has offered Himself as a unblemished Sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the Ever Living God." 1John3:20-21(Amp) says, "Whenever our hearts in tormenting, self accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us, for we are in God's hands; For He is Above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows, perceives, understands everything, nothing is hidden from Him. And beloved, if our consciences (our hearts) do not accuse us (if they don't make us feel guilty and condemn us), we have confidence, complete assurance and boldness before God."
When we accept the Truth of what Jesus' Sacrifice has completed for us, we can live free from the guilt and condemnation of who we were before we were created new in Him. Jesus made us new creations, new creatures altogether, who have no past lives. The Truth of what Jesus' Finished Works and what salvation holds for us, must be accepted by faith in His Sacrifice and Grace.
We must renew our minds by God's Word and Truth, in order to be free from the old man who determined who we were before being born-again. James1:22-25(Amp) tells us, "But be doers of the Word, obey the Message and not merely merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth; For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his own natural face in a mirror, For he thoughtfully observes himself and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless Law of Liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets, but an active doer who obeys, he shall be Blessed in his doing (his life of obedience)."
The faultless Law of Liberty is the covenant God has with His new creation people, and is based on our faith in the Sacrifice of Jesus Himself. James tells us in the scripture above, that being and active doer of the Word, is and act of obedience. When we receive the new creation life, we see who we've been made to be in Jesus, reflected back to us through faith in God's Word.
This Grace is an act of God's Love and is a Gift that brings complete deliverance to us, when we receive it by faith. It has nothing to do with our feelings or emotions, but is a simple act of faith in Jesus. We can't develop in this new creation man/woman by listening to our conscience or feelings. We must believe more in what God says about who we've now been made to be, rather than what our carnal mind tells us. We'll have little confidence that God will hear or fulfill the requests we've made in prayer, if we live under the condemnation of who we once were. Our conscience will burden us with the guilt, that is no longer ours.
How can we forget all the sinful things we've done? We must look into the faultless Law of Liberty and believe what God says, instead of the accusations satan makes against us. We cannot enjoy God's free Gift of Grace, when we only remember who we once were, instead of who God has made us to be in Jesus. Everything we have or enjoy, is by this free Gift of Grace. It has nothing to do with what we deserve, but comes from faith in God's Love for us and the Finished Work of Jesus. He bore what we deserve, so we can receive what we didn't deserve. We've been made God's new creation family, through God's Love and the Blood of a Perfect Lamb Sacrifice, Jesus.
We're not just forgiven sinners, when we have faith in what Jesus has done and in God's Promises, but we're brand new beings who have no past or stain of sin. We've been made righteous with His Righteousness and are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus, by faith and Grace. It must be accepted by faith in God's Word, not be feeling or emotions. In order to develop our new creation being, we must believe what God says about us, instead of what the world, religion or our consciences say. We must accept the faultless Law of Liberty.
We must silence the guilt from our condemning consciences, by renewing our minds with God's Word, according to James1:22-23(Amp), which says, "Betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth." James goes on in Verse23, saying that, "Accepting this Truth, is obedience to God." Jesus said in John8:31-32(Amp), "If you abide in My Word, hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them, you are truly My disciples And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."
Grace doesn't mean that we live in sin. God's Grace provided the cleansing of the old man/woman/s conscience, so that satan can't keep us bound with guilt and condemnation. We've been man free in Christ Jesus, by faith in God's free Gift of Grace.
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