Lesson 250 The New Creation

     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 (the 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)."
     We must go to God's Word and place our faith in the picture that it paints for us, in order to understand the new creation we've become.  We are Spiritual beings and the only way of seeing the "real" us, is by faith in God's description of a "Mirror," from 2Corinthians 3:18 (Amplified) which says, "And all of us, as with unveiled face, (because we) continue to behold (in the Word of God) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His Very Own Image in ever increasing splendor, and from one degree of glory to another; (for this comes) from the Lord (Who is) the Spirit."
     As we read God's Word and place faith in what He has created this new creation to be, we will begin seeing the new creation family.  Many still see a mystery today, when reading 2Corinthians 5:16 (Amplified) which says, "Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a (purely) human point of view (in terms of natural standards of value) (No) even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a Man, yet now (we have such knowledge of Him that) we know Him no longer (in terms of the flesh)."
     The "knowledge" spoken of in the above scripture, is the Spiritual insight into the Risen Christ and not only the Physical Man, that we see in the Gospels.  This insight (knowledge), comes by revelation through the Word and the Holy Spirit.  In Matthew 16:16 (Amplified) Jesus said to His disciples, "But who do you (yourselves) say that I am? Simon Peter replies, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Then Jesus answered him; Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you Simon Bar-Jonah, For flesh and blood (men) have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in Heaven."
     In light of the many signs and wonders that Jesus performed in their midst, those around Him didn't "discern" the Truth of Who He really was.  Only Peter, by revelation, could know the Truth of the Spirit.  The only way we can understand the new creations we've become through the new birth, is to see (by faith) into the Truth of the Spirit and the Word.
     We can read the Words of the Bible and can understand those Words by our intellect, but the revelation we need only comes by the Holy Spirit.  The Truth has always been there, but natural man cannot see into the Spiritual Truth of the Word.  Jesus spoke about what we call "Communion" today, in John 6:63,65 (Amplified).  His followers had no idea what Jesus was saying, concerning His upcoming death and resurrection.  Sadly, many of us today, continue struggling with this Truth.  Jesus told the people who were present, that His Body was the Bread of Life and His Blood was the Wine, saying, 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 Jesus said that, "It is the Spirit Who gives Life," He not only spoke of the eternal life of the new creation that was to come after His crucifixion, but the Life that only the Spirit can bring to the Words He spoke.  Without the Life of the Holy Spirit, the revelation given in the Truths of His Word were only understood naturally.  Jesus went on in Verse 65, "This is why I told you that no man can come to Me, unless it is granted him (unless he is enable to do so) by the Father."
     We must learn to discern the Truth of this new creation man, by the revelation granted to us by the Father.  There's no on earth, who can tell you, "who you are now in Jesus," except the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit will convey this Truth to your spirit.
     The Holy Spirit brings insight to the Church, when He compares the Word to a "mirror" in James 1:23-25 (Amplified) which says, "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, the (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)."
     We'd do good, to remember the Holy Spirit 's teaching, concerning wisdom and being double-minded, in James 1:5-8.  You must seek God's Wisdom, concerning this teaching.  It's only when you know if this is Truth, is by having the Holy Spirit's revelation operating in your life.  If we become double-minded in this wisdom, then we will lose faith in it and "forget what we look like" in the Mirror of God's Word and the Law of Liberty.
     This is why Peter referred to the new creation being as, "the hidden man of the heart."  He is revealed to the world and us, by revelation.  Jesus said in John 14:17 (Amplified) that, "The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart) because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, For He lives with you (constantly) and will be in you."  The last Words of, "will be in you," have already come to pass, in the spirit of the new creation.  The wisdom (concerning your new identity in Christ Jesus) is already in you and for you, but you must seek it out (by faith) in the "Mirror" of the Word of Truth and the Holy Spirit.
     This "new man" (Paul calls him the inner-man) is birthed by the Holy Spirit and the Seed (the Sperm), the Word of God.  1Peter 2:23 (Amplified) says, "You have been regenerated (born-again) not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm) but from One that is Immortal by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God."  Peter also says in 1Peter 2:2 (Amplified), "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow into (completed) salvation."
     The only way to see, grow, mature and develop in this new creation man, is through God's Word and receiving revelation concerning the Word, from the Holy Spirit.  When the Holy Spirit begins to being forth the revelation Truth into your new creation spirit, growth will instantly come.
     The new man (child of God) responds to the revealed Word, like a baby does to milk.  Until it is ready for the "meat of the Word," the new creation will constantly crave and responds to the milk of the Word.  As a father, I remember the two o'clock feedings of my children.  As they grew, the milk didn't hold them for very long periods of time and they needed to be fed more and more frequently.  We began to include cereal and meat to their feeding, in order to satisfy and develop their growing bodies.
     Every born-again child of God, has already become a new creation child of God, even if some don't know it.  Only the Holy Spirit can reveal this to them.  It's through the Word and putting faith in that Word, we can begin seeing who God truly created us to be, as new creations.  Some believers will remain babies, long after their new birth.  Some will mature and grow into adulthood sooner than others.  You must first see who you are, by the Mirror of God's Word, which reflects "who you are, not who you were."  Natural man will continue reflecting who you once were, the sinful, unrighteous man of the world.  Only the revelation of the Holy Spirit, can reveal "as in a Mirror," who the truly, new creation, born-again spirit man, is in Christ Jesus.

Lesson 248 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether). Behold! the fresh and new has come."
     For most of the family of God that I know today, this Truth has yet to be revealed.  God is a Spirit, according to John 4:24 (Amplified) which says, "God is a Spirit (a Spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in Truth (reality)."  We are created new by His Word and His Spirit and we are in fact, spirit people.  God has created us in righteousness, justification, sanctification and consecration in Jesus Christ, in the Spirit realm.  He has already reckoned our body (the outward man, flesh) as dead by the same crucifixion in which Jesus died.  Romans 8:10 (Amplified) says, "But if Christ lives in you, (then although) your (natural) body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of (the) righteousness (that imputes to you)."
     Many of us have misread the Truth of the above scripture.  We've acted like, at one moment when we do something wrong, then we're in the flesh and then the next minute, we are back in the spirit.  This concept has held the Church in bondage, for centuries.  Paul was not talking about someone who goes from carnal to spirit, but one who thinks with the carnal mind and who is spiritually minded.  Thus, he writes in Romans 8:1-4 (Amplified), "Therefore, (there is) NOW no condemnation (NO ADJUDGING GUILTY OF WRONG) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live (and) walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but 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."
     Paul is saying, "If my mind hasn't been renewed by the Word my new creation being, then I will still allow the message of sin and death (guilt and flesh) to dominate me and hold me in captivity to the old man without Christ.  Even though I might be born-again, the old man (carnal mind) will still hold me in condemnation and guilt and I will not receive the Law of my new being.  This doesn't mean that you're not a new being or that you're unsaved, but that we're still listening more to the world's idea of who we are, instead of who our Father says we were created to be in Him.
     This is the same plan satan's used to hold the Church in bondage, since it's inception.  We haven't had the revelation that Paul preached, made clear to us and have fallen back into ritual and trying to establish our own righteousness through works and tradition.
     This is evident when observing religions and denominations in today's Church.  When we don't receive the righteousness that came into us as new creation beings, then the flesh sets about trying to make us righteous.  In our ignorance of God's new creation righteousness, we determine in our denomination (carnal) understanding of how to be righteous.
    Some denominations make rules about how to dress, how to worship and what time to worship.  According to these rituals in some denominations, we wouldn't be "righteous," because we don't worship the "right way."  As a matter of fact, we would be removing ourselves from the ability to enjoy our right standing with the Father, because our natural man is still setting the standard of what righteousness really is.
     We have (and still are) listening, living, and governing ourselves by the carnal standards of the flesh, instead of the new creation man.  We read God's Word and pick out all of the reasons why "prayer doesn't work."  We set our eyes and selves on the sufferings of Paul and nearly ignore the revelation that he suffered to preach and reveal to us.  We missed the revelation given in 2Corinthians 12 and concentrated our carnal minds on the hardship.  If Jesus or Paul had buckled under the pressures of preaching the revelation and preached the religion of the people, then the suffering and trails wouldn't have come against them.  Satan doesn't care if you preach, he only cares what you preach.
     We can't walk in the new creation man with confidence, if you're only hearing what the world or carnal minded men teach.  We are a new creation and made new in and by the Holy Spirit, so only the Holy Spirit knows who you really are.  In order to know who you are, you must listen to the Word (the revelation of the Word) and to the Holy Spirit.  How can the world (or carnal minds) know who you are at all?  The world and carnal minds try defining the Church by our customs, because that's all they can see.  We've allowed ourselves to be created, according to how we think others see us, rather than how the Father sees us.
     I'm writing these things in order to condemn the Church, but to awake it unto righteousness.  We can't make ourselves righteous.  We are called to only believe in what our Father has done to create us in righteousness and to walk in right relationship with Him in Jesus.  When we allow the World and the Holy Spirit to teach us who we are, instead of the world, then we will find it's easy to actually walk in the Spirit.  If we cannot walk in the Spirit, then our Father wouldn't have instructed us to do so in Romans 8:14 (Amplified), which says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."  Please, read the previous verses.
     This is maturity in the Word and in the Spirit.  Those who are led by the Spirit of God, are "mature sons of God."  You became a son or daughter of God, when you became the new creation.  It's not for when you "get to Heaven."  When you're born-again and created new by the Word and the Spirit, maturity will come from listening to the Voice of the Spirit and revelation of the Word, which is "Spirit and Life."
     We've mostly depended on the man in the pulpit to teach us, instead of taking what is ministered from them and studying what was spoken, when we return home.  I don't mean we go home and pick apart the sermon, but go home and meditate on it and allow the Holy Spirit to give it depth and Life, by His illumination of the Word.  We must learn to walk in what we hear from the Holy Spirit.  We don't always need another sermon, as much as we need to do something with the ones we've heard.
     The new creature that we've become, was created in the Spirit and by the Spirit.  He is a spirit.  We were created to know and hear the Voice of our Heavenly Father.  We can only ever hope to understand who God created us to really be, by receiving revelation from the Holy Spirit.  Jesus wasn't the Only Person to hear the Father.  Peter, Paul, Mary, John, Ananias, Phillip, Stephen (along with untold millions) have and do hear His Voice.  We were born to know our Father
     Without having the insight as to who we are in the Father's House, we simply fall into the trap of the world and become religious.  Don't allow the world or the devil, to determine who you are in Christ.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you through the Word and discover your Family Tree.  Find who your ancestors are by the Word and the Spirit, instead of the history of man.  You're born of the Super-natural and are a Super-natural being.  This is what the new creation man is called to be. The Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplications and pleads on our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings that are too deep for utterance.
     Let's continue reading what Paul wrote, now that we understand what the Spirit of God is saying in Romans 8:28,33-34 (Amplified) which says, "All these things are working together for good to and for those who love Him and are called according to His design and purpose."  He said nothing about cancer, car accidents, divorce, poverty, loss of homes or jobs, children or loved ones dying, and other such tragedies of life "working together for your good."  It's God's Word, His Spirit, His righteousness, His Son and His Sacrifice and the clear conscience because of Jesus, work together for your good.  Verses 33-34 continue, "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect (when it is God Who justifies) [that is Who put us in right relation to Himself] Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God Whom acquits us? Who is there to condemn (us) will Christ Jesus (the Messiah) Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead? Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us?"
     "All these things are working for our good."

Lesson 249 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) tells us, "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 Christ Jesus 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)."
     What is the new creation man supposed to look like and be like?  Are we really "new," or are we the same as before being born-again, changing only when we die and go to Heaven?  Are we really different than other people or are we simply carnal-minded people who are trying to stop our sinful ways?  Have we allowed the world to dictate "who we are," rather than the Very Lord Who created us?
     For centuries, the Church has struggled to be different from our old selves, by not drinking, not cussing, and being nice to others.  All of these are good things and should be things that we try to adhere to in our Christian walk.  I believe that, if we really knew who and what this new creation man is, then these old habits of the flesh wouldn't be such a struggle to abstain from.  If we developed the new creature from within, then walking in Love and forgiveness wouldn't be as difficult for us.  We're still trying to develop these spiritual forces, by natural means.
    Love is the real true nature of the new creation man and is his very Life Blood, given from the Father.  The Father's characteristics are already in us, given when we became born-again from the Spirit.  It's nearly impossible to walk in this new creation, by natural ability.  We try living the way the Father expects us to, but we try doing so by natural means and this leaves us falling short of this and leaves us under condemnation for our failures.
     We have nothing to compare or draw from, as to what this new creation man is supposed to be.  Most of what we know about the Church, has come from what we've observed from others, throughout the years.  Please, allow me to be bold enough to say this, "Jesus is and was, our only True Example of what God  says, "And those who belongcreated this new creature to be."
     Many will believe it to be "sacrilegious" to compare ourselves to the Son of God, but Jesus Himself told us to "be like He is."  Many people will react like the religious people of Jesus' day did.  I'm not saying that we're to be the Messiah.  I'm not saying that we're the Savior of the world.  This isn't what I mean.
     We've been talked out of our own birthright, by the religious minds of those around us and we've remained "mere men who are trying to live right."  Righteousness is a Gift that the Father bestowed upon us, when we were created by the Holy Spirit and His Word.  It's not something we can gain through good works, but is the Very Nature of the Father Who gave us Life.  All of the Fathers characteristics, have been born into His new creation family.  It's like the Prego commercial says, "It's in there."
     Romans 5:5 (Amplified) tells us that, "The Love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us."  This Love is a product or character of our Heavenly Father and is already in our new creation being.  We've never developed the new man, but have tried walking in this new kind of Love, by the old way of the flesh.  This struggled has caused many believers to quit trying and accept that "it's for when we get to Heaven."
     Some people are harder to love than others, in this natural world.  We must learn to develop this Love in your spirit and not in your flesh.  The only way to Love the unlovely, is by the new nature of the "born from Above child of the Father."  Galatians 5:22-25 (Amplified) says, "But the fruit of the Holy Spirit (the work which His Presence within accomplishes) is Love, joy, (gladness) peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness, (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence) against such there is no law (that can bring a charge)."  Verses 24-25 go on, "And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires. If we live by the Holy Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit, (if by the Holy Spirit we have our life in god; let us go forward, walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit)."
     The Fruit of the Spirit is the Life that only abides in the Holy Spirit of God and the new creation spirit that we've now become.  These characteristics cannot be found in or operated in the by the flesh, despite our greatest efforts.  This is why Verse 24 says, "And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires."
     The only way we can walk in line with and having our conduct controlled by the Spirit, is by becoming serious about developing the potential of our new creation man.  Then, we can move beyond the fleshly struggle to make our body perform by its old desires and do what's right.  Everything that's needed to walk in line with the Holy Spirit and God's Word, is already in the new creation man and woman.
     Trying to walk in the new creation man by managing the flesh, is foolish.  We might be able to modify certain fleshly traits in our lives, but only our new creation man can make our walk with the Father, what it should be.  Most of what we know about the new creation, hasn't come from the Holy Spirit, but from men who were carnal in their thinking.  We've tried containing and governing the old flesh by rules, regulations, rituals and man-made laws.  We came at the new man (the inner-man_ from the outside and not from the inside.
     We read how the Father dealt with the old covenant people and believed this is how He deals with us.  God had to deal with them from the outside (the flesh nature), because they weren't born-again persons.  They were still dead in trespass and sin and their spirit man wasn't alive, by the Life of the Holy Spirit.
     We sometimes forget this differentiation, between the old covenant people and the new creation people.  We aren't just covenant, we are family.  The new creation people are unlike anything or anyone else on this planet.  We are new creations.  The only Example of what this new man is, is Jesus.  Jesus was the Only Man Who was led by, controlled by and directed by the Spirit.  Some seem to believe they are "caught between two covenants," but that is not true.
     We are not under the Law, but we are in Christ Jesus.  Our new man is likened unto God, as having fulfilled the Law, in Jesus.  We've not trying to become righteous by sacrifice and self-disciplines, but we've actually been made righteous in this new creation. All that we will ever to become what the Father intends us to be, is already birthed into us by His nature in the new creation family.  We might not have developed this new man or woman, but that's because we've failed to seen who the Father created us to be, in His House.
     The Law was Spirit, but the people were not.  The flesh, carnal man couldn't walk in line with the expectations of the Spirit, because the flesh wasn't strong enough to do so in itself.  We though, are a new creation, who are are now Spirit people alive unto God.  We're a new species of being who never existed before and never seen before on earth.  We're not only "covered by blood," but we've actually died to sin with Jesus, raised up together with Him.  We're not only alive to God in our spirit, but we've been infused together with the Holy Spirit in our spirit.  We are actually one with Him.
     The new creation man that we've become, isn't just exempt from the flesh, according to Romans 6:3-5 (Amplified) which says, "Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Glorious (power) of the Father, so we too might (habitually) live and behave in newness of Life."
     Verse 5 continues describing the new creation being, saying, "For if we have become one with Him by sharing death like His, we shall also be (one with Him in sharing) His resurrection (by a new Life lived for God)."
     Jesus makes is plain, that we must be born-again in John 3:3-6 (Amplified) saying, "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born-again (anew, from above) he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him; How can a man be corn when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born? Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and (even) the Spirit, he cannot (ever) enter the Kingdom of God. What is born (from) the flesh is flesh, (of the physical is physical) and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit."  We've read this scripture before, without discerning that we've actually been "born of the Spirit" and "we are actually now Spirit."  We still see ourselves as flesh, but Jesus said that we "are Spirit living in a fleshly house."
     We've tried walking in the Spirit, by controlling the flesh with rules.  This is how the old covenant people lives.  It didn't work for them either, because the "flesh was weak."  Romans 7:14 (Amplified) tells us why they couldn't walk under the Law completely, saying, "We know that the Law is Spiritual, but I am a creature of the flesh (carnal, unspiritual) having been sold into slavery under the control of sin."
     As new creation beings, we not only died in our spirit (that death came by Adam's sin), but our old flesh remained alive and disobedient.  In this new creation man, our disobedient body has died too in Jesus and has been delivered from the body of sin by its crucifixion with Jesus.  It was buried with Jesus in His death and has been resurrected with Jesus in His resurrection, by a new Life lived for God.
     This doesn't mean that sin no longer matters and we can do whatever we want.  It means that this new creation man has the Holy Spirit living in it and thus, is made stronger than the flesh.  The spirit man is now in control of our fleshly body.  We haven't developed the potential, that the Father has breathed into our new creation man by His Spirit (which now lives in our new creation man), because we haven't fully understood what the new creation man is.  Jesus said, "It's not Me,but the Father in Me, Who does the works."  We say, "It's not us, but the Father in us, Who does the works."  Jesus is the Only Example and Pattern, we (as new creation people) have.  He was the Only Spirit filled Man on this planet, to actually be One with God.  He was the Firstborn of many brethren, us.
    
     

Lesson 247 The New Creation

     2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) tells us, "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 has 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)."
     The new creation being is the spiritual being that was born in us, at the moment we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  This Life is now the very Life of God, that's now living in our new creation spirit.  This is the same Holy Spirit, Who was living and functioning in Jesus during His earthly walk.  He is much more than just "speaking in tongues" or being religious.  God Himself fashioned us into something that never existed before Jesus' Ascension into God's Presence, on our behalf.
    This new creation man is a being that only the Father knows and understands.  1Corinthians 2:10-11, 13-16 (Amplified) says, "Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the Holy Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the Divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny) For what person perceives (knows and understands) what passes through a mans thoughts except the man's own spirit within him? Just as no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."
     According to these scriptures, only the Holy Spirit can reveal to us, who we really are as new creation family.  Let's read on in Verse 13 which says, "And we are setting these truths forth in Words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Holy Spirit; combining and interpreting Spiritual Truths with Spiritual language (to those who possess the Holy Spirit."  Even though these Words are now written in English (for those of us who understand English), they aren't merely natural Words for education, but are Spiritual Words for revelation.  Verse 14 goes on, "But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the Gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are fully (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them (of progressively better acquainted with them) because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated."
     There have been many people who've been born-again over the years, but they remain carnally minded in their understanding of the new creation.  Because we've been taught spiritual things by carnal men, we haven't received what Paul refers to in Verse 11, "Words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Holy Spirit."  This has left us in a carnal state and not knowing who we were created to be in God.  Paul says in Verse 15, "But the spiritual man tries all things (he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions and discerns all things); yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one (he can read the meanings of everything, but no one properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him)."
     These are things that the Holy Spirit is doing and revealing into a person's own spirit and others (without the Holy Spirit's showing them) do not see or understand.  These things are revealed only by and through the Holy Spirit, into your new creation spirit and no one else can get an insight into this man.  Jesus did the same thing during His earthly ministry.  No one knew what was in Jesus' Spirit, only the Holy Spirit.  1Corinthians 2:16 (Amplified) continues, " For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and DO HOLD the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart."
     Only those who will allow the Holy Spirit to reveal this new creation to them, will ever come to realize (in this age) who God has really created us to be.  We were never left in this world and in this natural body, to simply start another religion.  We are to change this system to the Kingdom relationship.
     For many, when new revelation comes to bring change, the Church fights against it, because it passed their natural ability to comprehend (just like the old covenant Jews fought the Church).  Jesus made a statement in Matthew 6:33 (Amplified), that most do not understand still today.  Thus, He said to the people, "SEEK (aim at and strive after) first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right) and then all these THINGS TAKEN TOGETHER will be given you besides."
     God's Kingdom has a "way of doing and being right."  God has a way His Kingdom functions and operate (according to the Laws of the Spirit), in which the new creation people are supposed to learn and operate in.  We're not o learn and operate in man's reasonings.
     We can no longer receive from the Spirit realm, the things that God has "laid up for us," by functioning in natural man's reasonings.  We must "seek, strive for, and listen to the Holy Spirit," in order to walk in this new creation spirit man.  This is available to all who will receive of it.  Not everyone will even make an attempt to understand, as we've become content in our own idea of what God expects and who we are.
     We witness the state of religion and the state of most of today's new creation people of God, in Romans 10:2-3 (Amplified) which says, "I bear them witness, that they have a (certain) zeal and enthusiasm for God, but it is not enlightened and according to (correct and vital) knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness that God ascribes (which makes one acceptable to Him in word, thought and deed) and seeking to establish a righteousness (a means of salvation) of their own, they did not obey or submit themselves to God's righteousness."
     One of the most quoted scriptures in the Church, is probably Romans 3:10,22 (Amplified) which says, "As it is written, None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, No not one."  The King James Version says, "None are righteous, No not one!"  Paul goes on in Verses 21- 22, ""But now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although it actually is attested by the Law and the Prophets. Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah) (and it is meant) for all who believe. There is no distinction."
     If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then God declares you "to be righteous and just, and upright, and truthful, and conscientious in His sight."  This righteousness is the Gift of God, which comes to the new creation man and woman of God, by grace.  Not receiving this righteousness by faith and declaring you're "not righteous before Him," amounts to those who have a "zeal for God, but without knowledge" and trying to establish their own righteousness by works and religion.
      

Lesson 246 The New Creation

     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 has 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)."
     Most believers have never really viewed themselves, the way God views us.  We've always thought about the new creations, as being for "when we die and go to Heaven."  For centuries, men have been born-again, but had no idea of who the new creation really is.  The only way we have of knowing who the new creation has become in Christ, is by the Holy Spirit's revealing it through God's Word.  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified), "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." 
     The only way to truly understand who we've become when receiving Jesus as our Lord, is by revelation of the Word, by the Holy Spirit.  When men use their own minds to try and reveal to God's children "who they truly are in Christ Jesus," then it's only religion.  This is why the Holy Spirit instructed what Paul and other Biblical authors were to write.  The Word was written by the Holy Spirit, to the new creation spirit, who were in the family of God.
     2Corinthians 3:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom) And all of us, as with unveiled face (because we) continued to behold (in the Word of God) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His Very Own Image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another (for this comes) from the Lord (Who is) Spirit."
     As we accept God's Word as Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit (Who is the Spirit of liberty) to reveal who we really have become in Jesus, then we'll begin being "transfigured" more into His Image "from one degree of glory to another."  Every born-again person, who has tried reading and operating his life by an unrenewed,carnal mind, will fail to understand who the new creation being is.
     Many times, when we read the Word (even from a born-again position), we still see it as laws, rules, and the outer regulations that we must do to be Christians.  We still see ourselves more from the outside and the carnal man, more than who Jesus has birthed us to be in this new creation. 
     The Apostle Paul was actually taken into the Heavenlies and into the Lord's Presence.  Paul functioned on a "new creation way of living."  Paul spoke about his being "taken into God's Presence in 2Corinthians 12:1-5 (Amplified) and how he is not the same man that he is now.  Carnal man's teachings focus on Paul's "thorn in the flesh," and has missed the whole truth of the revelation Paul preached about the new creation man.
      The carnal mind seemingly focuses on the outer-man and all man's miseries that "God has put on him."  If these teachers read the above scripture in the Light of Truth, then they would see and understand the revelation the Holy Spirit gave Paul, about who the new creation truly is.  Satan sent a thorn in the flesh to Paul, in order to try and prevent Paul's recording the Holy Spirit's revelation.  The carnal mind always centers on the outer-man and keeps the new man from excelling in who he is.
     If we could (like Paul) actually step out of our natural body for a brief moment and see ourselves as we really are, then it would change our way of seeing Christianity forever.  Unfortunately for us, we cannot do this (unless by the Spirit) until our natural body is no longer able to live here on earth.  Our new being is locked up inside this house of flesh and is limited by revelation, of the liberty we have.  Only revelation by the Word and the Holy Spirit, can elevate our new man above our same old, natural flesh and blood body.  Our new man (the inner man) has all of his capabilities, being held captive by the carnal mind, just like before our being born-again.
     For the most part, the understanding we have of being born-again, has centered on sins of the flesh.  Although it's definitely true that these things aren't allowed in the new creation man, they're not where we should focus all of our teachings and learning.  Paul wrote about sin and division, to the Church in Corinth (the new creation people in Corinth) in 1Corinthians 6:11,19(Amplified), saying, "And such [referring to Verses 1-10] were some of you once, But now you were washed clean (purified by a complete atonement for sin and made free from the guilt of sin) and you were consecrated (set apart, hallowed), and you were justified (pronounced righteous by trusting) in the Name of the Lord Jesus and in the Holy Spirit of our God." Paul speaks to the Church here, as though from God's perspective, from the new inner-man who was created apart from the old, outer-man.  He was instructing the new creation people, to live like new creation people by the spirit and not from the carnal man, any longer.
     Paul continues in Verse 19 and refers to the outer-man (the body), as now being only a place or temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in.  The flesh is no more than a house for your new creation man (spirit) to dwell in, while we're still on this earth.  When this house (dwelling place, body of flesh) dies in this natural realm, then our spirit (new creation man who is infused with the Holy Spirit) will no longer be confined, but will truly be free.
     We've allowed our old ways, thoughts and feelings to direct and govern our new creature, instead of having our new creature (or new creation man) to govern our flesh.  Our new man is supposed to govern and take dominion over the carnal way of life.  This isn't to say that we aren't to enjoy the things of this earth, but we're to govern the flesh by the Word of God and the Spirit.  We're supposed to allow God's Word and His Spirit to teach us how to live here on earth and have the spirit man control the flesh and blood body.
     As Christians, we've not made the distinction between "the world" and the earth.  The earth, with all its beauty, has been given over to Jesus and to His new creation family of God.  The "world" is the fallen system that has dominated this planet, since the fall of Adam.  1John 2:15-16 (Amplified) says, "Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh (craving for sensual gratification) and the lust of the eyes (greedy longing of the mind)and the pride of life (assurance of ones own resources of in the stability of earthly things)-these do not come from the Father but from the world (itself)."
     Notice how in the above scripture, John didn't say that we couldn't enjoy what the Father created here for His family, but only the things that the devil has done to pervert the earth.  This doesn't say that the "more miserable you live while on earth, the more holy you are."  Luke 4:5 (Amplified) says, "Then the devil took Him (Jesus) up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time (in the twinkling of an eye)."  Satan showed Jesus the world system that was in his control and not the earth with all its beauty, that God created.  In Matthew 6:28-29,33-34 (Amplified), Jesus asked His follower, "And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity,and grace) was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?"
     Jesus was telling them that the earth has beauty to be enjoyed, but they're not to allow the world's system (that has been running mankind through the demonic bondage), to run their lives.  Jesus goes on in Verses 33-34 saying that we're not to allow the world system, to dictate and control us, saying, "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and (His way of doing and being right) His righteousness. And all these things will be given to [us] besides."
     The Father isn't jealous of the things you have, but of the things that have you.  Do you have the world as your source or is the Word your Source?
     Through Jesus, the new creation man is now place in a position, where we can once again receive things from our Father through the spirit.  Since all things begain in the Spirit and are sustained by the Spirit, it is any wonder that satan would like to hold us down and keep us in only the flesh?  Jesus said in John 6:63 (Amplified) that, "The flesh benefits or has no profit in it."  If satan can hold the Church in the fleshly, carnal realm, then we would have little to work with, because "It is the Spirit Who gives Life, He is the Life-Giver."
     Jesus wasn't only speaking about the life we live in our fleshly bodies, He was referring to Life well beyond that of the natural man.  God gave us His Own Life, into our spirit man, and created people who were just like Jesus.  God intended us to be, what He created man to be in the beginning and to walk in this earth above the devil's control.  This is the Life of God being lived through us in this earth.  Jesus said, "It is not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the works."  This is the reason and purpose and function, for the new creation.  We're to bring God's Life to a dying world.  The only way we can ever hope to see who we are (like in a mirror) now in this earth, is by reading God's Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us.
    
     

Lesson 245 The New Creation

     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 has 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)."
     God has called each of us, to read His Word and to seek His wisdom.  You cannot always rely on what someone else "thinks" His Word says or what His wisdom is.  When we fail to seek these on our own, then we lose out on so many things our Father has bestowed upon us, through Jesus.  So many well-meaning persons has done like the spies in Numbers 13 did, when they returned and told the Israelites that they couldn't take the Promised Land.  These people have preached opposition to God's Word, by preaching what they believe God's Word says.  The report from the spies, caused nearly three million people to remain in the Wilderness for another forty years, instead of entering the Promised Land.  These spies didn't lie about what they saw.  They confirmed everything God said about the Land, but they saw themselves (and God) as being unable to overcome the giants who lived there.  David didn't deny that Goliath was a giant or that he was just a boy, in 1Samuel 17:26-45 (Amplified).  David did what others failed to do though, and saw his God as being BIGGER than the giant saying, "And David said to the men standing by him; What shall be done for the man who kills the Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the Living God?"
     Unlike those who went to spy out the land of Canaan, David remembered his covenant with God, which placed him higher than the giant.   Verse 45 goes on, "Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, Whom you have defied."  David remembered who he was in God and not who he was as a shepherd boy.  He had covenant with God (as did all those who were in the ranks of Israel's army), but they didn't see God, they only saw the giant.
     If you don't have your eyes on God and don't know who you are in Him,then your faith cannot go from faith to faith and disclose the way to more faith.  Your faith will stop at "Is God for us or are we on our own?"  David knew that his covenant with God, put him in a higher realm than Goliath.  Do you know that as a new creation, you've been elevated to a higher realm than those in the world?  We truly are a new creation and we've been exalted by God, into a whole different realm than natural man.
     We must understand the gift of righteousness we've been given by God, through Jesus and His Sacrifice.  When you don't "feel righteous," then go to the Word of God and do like Abraham did in Romans 4:21-22 (Amplified), "Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He had promised."  This is why Abraham's faith was "credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God)."
     We should, by faith, understand that God is "able to keep His Word and do what He has promised."  Then, we can have faith in His Word and believe we are the righteousness of God, because we are "IN CHRIST JESUS."  Someone said, "Don't forget that you are only righteous in Him!"  Well, of course you're only righteous in Him.  Do you expect to stay in Him and Him in you?  If you do, then, you're always in right standing with the Father.  We've become one with Christ Jesus and so long as you and Jesus are one, you cannot be anything else, but righteous.
     We seem to think we sometimes fade in and out of our righteousness, by being in the flesh.  This doesn't mean that we are "sometimes in Christ, and sometimes we are not."  This only means that sometimes we still say and do dumb things from an unrenewed mind and soulish realm.  You are always in Christ Jesus, even when we do these dumb things.  If we heed the words of Paul and "renew our minds by the Word of God," then we will stop doing dumb things.
     We learn how to renew our minds and walk in the new creation in 2Timothy 3:16-17 (Amplified) and guess what? It's not by trail or calamity or by God's teaching us something through sickness or hardship, but by His Word.  Thus, it says, "Every scripture is God breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof, and conviction of sin, for correction of error, and discipline in obedience, (and) for training in righteousness (in holy living in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action)."
     This is how we renew our mind (our soulish part) and "put on the Mind of Christ."  It's not by regressing into guilt and condemnation, but by using God's Word to correct and teach us "training in righteousness."  The only thing we can do about righteousness, is train ourselves by God's Word, how to live and walk in what God has already made us to be.  You cannot obtain righteousness on your own.  You cannot remove it on your own.  The only thing you can do with this righteousness, is receive it as a Gift of Grace, through Jesus and His Sacrifice.  We must learn how to walk and train ourselves in it, by the Word of God and the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
     The Holy Spirit reveals what the scripture is about, in Verse 17 saying, "So that the man of God (new creation man) may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work."  No one can do any of these things, until he knows already that "God has made you to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus."  Now that you're born into this new creation being, the Word will reveal to you "who you are" and "how you're to behave," in order to equip you for "every good work."
     Man can't teach you how do these things.  If must come to you by revelation, while being taught.  Teaching can educate your natural mind, but the Holy Spirit will take education to revelation.  Then it becomes not just mental ascent, but revelation of the Truth.  You will begin seeing yourself like the Father sees you and not as the world or religion teaches you to see yourself.
     Until we begin seeing ourselves as being in right standing with God (all the time), we will not go on with our faith into the higher realm of God's calling for our lives.  We don't lose our righteousness, every time we do something stupid.  Our righteousness is not of ourselves, but is His righteousness.  God doesn't take it away and return it as we learn and train up ourselves in it.  If was the Gift of God and is ours, as long as God is God.  Man didn't give it and man can't take it away.  It doesn't depend on whether or not you believe I'm righteous.  It only depends on my faith in Him.
     The spies unbelief and their not understanding who and what Jesus was, didn't prevent God from doing through Him, everything He said He would do.  Having some who don't believe you are what God says you are, doesn't change who God has made you to believe.  You are righteous, because He said you are righteous.  Now, we must begin to discover how a righteous man or woman lives in God's Presence.  We must allow God to be "True and every man a liar."
     Through the years, we've tried portraying righteousness by the way we dress, attend church, how we kneel or stand to pray.  We've failed to see that righteousness comes from within the born-again spirit of the new creation man and is the very nature of God.  We try manifesting these inward attributes of God, on and by, the natural outer-man's rituals.  It will never happen that way.
     The righteousness is God, just like Love is God.  Jesus said, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me" and "When you see Me, you see Him."  We must stop trying to be what God has already made us to be and start training up this new you.  You will discover that's much easier, than trying to be something you can't be.  We've tried to become a new creation, instead of already being a new creation.  The outer-man can never teach the inner-man how to function.  The best that can come from the outer-man's teaching, is to make one feel "religious," but not "alive to God."  YOU ARE A NEW CREATION.  You need to go to God's Word and let the Holy Spirit reveal how you are to walk and who the new creation really is. 
     

Lesson 244 The New Creation

     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 has 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)."
     How can we be new creations and still not be in right standing or be righteous before God?  This wouldn't be a new creation, but one that's still under the very thing that held us back from God, since Adam's fall in the Garden of Eden.  We seem to have difficulty distinguishing between the new creation family's Father and the God of the old covenant and His people.  We still expect our Father to deal with us, in the same manner He dealt with the old covenant people.
     The old covenant people weren't born-again and although they operated under the old covenant Law, they weren't considered to be righteous before God.  Their sins needed to be covered daily, by the blood of bulls and goats that were sacrificed, in order for Him to be able to do anything for them.  The blood of the bulls and goats could give Him the "right" to keep them.  If the sacrifice for covering sin wasn't made, then God was obligated to "not bless" them.
     The Blood of Jesus didn't cover our sins, but removed it completely (past, present and future).  In Isaiah 54:13-15 (Amplified) God says, "All of your (spiritual) children shall be disciples (taught by the Lord and obedient to His will) and great shall be the peace and undisturbed composure of your children. You shall establish yourself in righteousness (rightness in conformity with God's will and order), you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold! they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you."
     The above scripture tells us to "Establish ourselves in righteousness," speaking about the Blood of Jesus that not only took the sin, but restored righteousness or right standing with God.  Most of the sermons we've heard, have been directed to the soulish part of man, rather than to the new creation spirit.  We've preached more to the feelings and senses, rather than to the newborn spirit.  We've preached more to the conscious mind, instead of renewing the mind.  We've been taught we should make up for our failures, instead of meditating on what Jesus has done for us.  We've believed we've been forgiven, but not necessarily that we were cleansed from our entire past and have been elevated into the place of right standing with not only our God, but our Father.
     Many in today's Church, seem to believe it's sacrilegious to declare you're righteous before God.  When we fail to understand that we've been made to be the righteousness of God, then everything we do is hindered.  Why would the Father answer prayer, if we were still in sin?  Why would our righteousness only be for "when we die and get to Heaven?"  How could we dare to believe that God would heal, bless, indwell or deliver any of us?  Only those who are righteous or in right standing with Him, could dare to believe His Promises to His children.  How could we believe we are His children and still be considered "sinners?"
     Every believer should read Romans 1:17 (Amplified) and take it to heart.  Thus, it says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed. [Notice! It is a revelation] both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith)." [Notice that God's ascribed way of righteousness is revealed through faith and now that we understand His revelation of our being righteous, our faith can grow and continue to become stronger] "As it is written, the man who through faith is just and upright, shall live and shall live by faith."
     If you are a new creation man or woman, then you are already now living by that faith.  Without putting faith towards salvation, then one remains dead in trespass and sin.  The only life we have towards God, is the life that is now in the spirit of the new creation man.  This is God's Own Life and His Life is righteous.  You cannot be living the Life of God that was "ingrafted" in you through Jesus, and still be unrighteous in Him.  This is why God said in Isaiah 54:14 (Amplified), "You shall establish yourself in righteousness."  No one else can establish you in this righteousness, it must come by faith in your own heart.  I can show you this from the Word, but you're the only one who can now "by faith establish" this Truth in your relationship with the Father.  Some might call it "prideful," to declare you're righteous in God's eyes.  I would say, that "It's prideful for you to hold onto what you think, in the Light of what God says about you."  If God declares you are righteous before Him, because of Jesus, then who are you to say that Jesus wasn't enough to make you righteous?  There is no more sacrifice, Jesus is the Last Sacrifice to be made.  If He cannot establish this righteousness in you, then there's no hope of ever obtaining it any other way.  It is a Gift of Grace!

Lesson 243 The New Creation

     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 has 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)."
     2Corinthians 3:21 (Amplified) tells us, "For our sake He made Christ (virtually) to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become (endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of) the righteousness of God (what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness)."
     We don't seem to hold any doubts about or see any problems with the first half of the above scripture, which speaks about Jesus being our "sin sacrifice."  But, many of those who believe that Jesus "bore our sins," seem to have trouble believing the second half of that same scripture which says, "Jesus also restored us into righteousness."  The enemy has successfully deceived the Church and causing it to deny that they are NOW in right standing with the Father.  The Truth hasn't been preached the Truth and many in the Church demonstrate no difference between the world and themselves. 
     We've heard the message preached many times about how, "None are righteous,"  Romans 3:10 (Amplified) says, "As it is written, None is righteous, and just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no, not one."  It's no wonder that the new creation has very little faith, where our prayer lives and relationship with the Father is concerned.  Even though this scripture is in God's Word and was true, we need to read what the Holy Spirit reveals to Paul, in Romans 3:21-24 (Amplified) which says, "BUT NOW the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the prophets, Namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah)  (and it is meant) for all who believe. For there is no distinction. Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives."  Verse 24 continues, "(All) are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy) through the redemption which is (provided) in Christ Jesus."
     When we read these scriptures for ourselves, instead of relying on the things others tell us about "righteousness,"  we find that Jesus didn't only "take our sins, but He provided righteousness to those who believe."  The new creation man isn't only absolved from sin, but is restored into righteousness, by Jesus' Sacrifice.  The Church hasn't been taught this distinction between the world's standing with the Father and our standing in righteousness before the Father because of Jesus.  This has resulted with the Church's having little faith in our prayers or in our fellowship with the Father.  The new creation is exactly that...a new creation.
     Romans 4:5 (Amplified) says, "But to one who, not working (by the Law), trust (believes fully) in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (the standing acceptable to God)."  We've been taught and placed our faith in the fact that Jesus was and is our "sin bearer," but we haven't put our faith in His being our righteousness.  This has resulted in the Church being what James wrote about in James 1:5-8 (Amplified) where he says, "If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the Giving God (Who gives) to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly without reproach or fault finding, and it will be given him Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitation, no doubting); For the one who wavers (hesitation, no doubting) is like a billowing surge out to sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything (he asks for) from the Lord (For being as he is) a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute) (he is) unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything (he thinks, feels, decides)."  If we read Verse 9, then we find that it's an "act of humility" to believe we are elevated by His grace."  It's not being arrogant or proud, when we declare what Jesus has done for us.  Thus Verse 9 says, "Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his elevation (as a Christian) (called to the true riches and to be an heir of God)."
     Notice, that the above scripture didn't instruct us to "Deny God's wisdom and try to remain humble by not accepting His wisdom."  God's Word tells us to "ask for God's wisdom and "glory in our elevation as Christians," being "called to the true riches of heirs of God."  We must understand that having the righteousness we've been given through Jesus, is the only way we can "have boldness to enter int His Presence by faith."  If our faith remains in the wisdom of men, then we do not have the access into His Own Presence where we need to be, in order to obtain assurance to His promises for us.
     Listen to what James has to say to these Jewish brothers who were still trying to become righteous by the Law, in James 1:18 (Amplified) where he says, "And it was of His Own (free will) that He gave us birth (as sons) by (His) Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures (a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself)."
     Let's review the prophesies spoken about the new creation people, as the Lord revealed His plan for us in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 54:13-15 (Amplified) says, "All your (spiritual) children shall be disciples (taught by the Lord and obedient to His will) and great shall be the peace and undisturbed composure of your children. You shall establish yourself in righteousness (rightness in conformity with God's will and order) you shall be far from even the though of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold! they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you."
     We've been taught for so long that "It's God Who brings all the terrible things that come up against us," that it's difficult to keep our faith in His Words that, "It is not from Me."  God likens His displeasure and discipline of the old covenant to the "waters of Noah," in Isaiah 54:8-9 (Amplified) saying, "For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion and mercy I will gather (to Me) again. For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I wil not be angry with you or rebuke you."
     After the flood, God made covenant with Noah and put a rainbow in the Heavens, insuring Noah that God would never flood the earth again.  Every time Noah witnessed a rainbow in the sky, he could be at peace within himself.  Isaiah 52,53,54 and 55 prophesies about the cross being a sign to us, like the rainbow was for Noah.  Every time something arises to bring fear and strife into our lives, we are to look upon the cross of Christ, just like Noah looked at the rainbow.  We can know that God would never do these things to us again.  The cross of Christ is our assurance that God will not be angry or rebuke us again.
     We are to establish ourselves in His righteousness.  It's not our righteousness, but His.  We're not trying to be humble and deny that as new creation family, we're righteous in Him by Jesus Christ.  This might seem like a teaching that doesn't need to be said, but if we rely on man's understanding of what God's Word says and fail to understand the Truth of God's Word, then hinder the prayers and efforts of the new creation family of God.
    

Lesson 242 The New Creation

     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 has 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)."
     In these latter days, we've lost sight of the Truth about the new creation.  After Jesus' Ascension to Heaven, the early Church walked in the super-natural ability of the new creation.  We only find records of certain of these in the scriptures, there is evidence of many people who walked in miracles and super-natural works.
     Religion began controlling the teachings and function of the "called out" ones and bound those persons once again, into rituals and laws.  Paul never taught these things and was against the "renewing of the Law" and of rituals.  He wrote to the Church in Galatians 3:2-3 (Amplified) saying, "Let me ask you this one question; Did you receive the Holy Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing (the Message of the Gospel) and believing (it)? Was it from observing a law of rituals or from a Message of faith? Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun (your new life spiritually) with the Holy Spirit, are you now reaching perfection (by dependence) on the flesh?"
     Paul was seeing this new creation people being brought back under the control and the subjection to man's rules and rituals.  For some time, those who were actually walking in the new creation life were hunted down and killed, by those who opposed this new creation people.
     We find the religious leaders losing control of the people and making it impossible for them to continue in the new creation life.  In Acts 4:16-17 (Amplified) they clamored, "Saying, what are we to do with these me? For that an extraordinary miracle has been performed by (through them) is plain to all the residents of Jerusalem and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may not spread further among the people, and the nations, let us warn and forbid them with a stern threat to speak anymore to anyone in this Name (or about this Person)."
     Satan has tried stamping out the very image of these new creation people, from the very beginning.  Satan knew he couldn't keep the people from believing, so he set out to make sure of what they believed.  It didn't matter that they were simply "religious," but the degree of their faith did matter.  If he could only contain their faith to rituals and observances of laws, then satan could continue controlling mankind with his own brand of observances.  So, we fell into the bondage of man's (or satan's) way of knowing and believing.  The Church fell back into a powerless group of people and were once again under bondage and control.
     We forgot who we were created to be in this new creation and returned to walking by our own efforts and works.  Even miracles needed to be substantiated by certain people, in order to decide if they were truly miracles.  The very works of God were to be judged by mere man, to see if they were really "from God."  If what He had done failed to fit man's ideas of miracles, then it was dismissed as being fraud.  In certain places, religion teaches what we can now believe and what is no longer available from God to His people.  As a result, we've been trapped into being quiet, silent mass of people, extending limited hope for this world.
     We've not only been taught that "there is no God," but that "He is only interested in us, when we die and leave this earth."  This has resulted in the Promises for the new creation people being delayed and put aside, thus leaving us only in the realm of the flesh again.  God was once again, a Figure of Hope for only those who followed man's ruled and only for after we died.  God became a Hope, only for the life after death and not for those living here on earth.
     Since the Church's birth, even those who were caught up in the mighty moves of the Holy Spirit have been talked out of these outpourings and are only referred to as being past events, instead of enduring events.  Over the years, we've read about the mighty outpourings of the Spirit, but it seems like God has once again, left mankind on his own.
     We've never seen the new creation man in actions on the earth for very long, because these things have mostly been "swept under the rug."  We read and hear about people who got hold of their identity with Jesus, but they are mostly from history.  Even such men as Smith Wigglesworth were denied and were rejected by a great number of religious people in his time.  Rather than embracing the Super-natural, we've hid from it and allowed the Truth of it to be stolen from us. 
     In these last days, God is once again moving on the hearts of His people, calling us to step into the place He called us to be in.  Many are still opposing and fighting this Awakening, because they are comfortable in their own ideas of God.  Some are afraid to enter into this Awakening, because they fear being cast aside, but there are those will will still reveal Jesus as Lord of all.
     NOW IS THE TIME, for us to decide where we place our faith.  Is our faith truly in God's Word or in the word of the world's religions?  Is this the time that is now spoken of as "The time of the manifestation of the sons of God?"  Romans 8:19 (Amplified) says, "For (even the whole) creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known (waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their son-ship) that nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption (and gain entrance) into the glorious freedom of God's children."
     Is this about an event that happens after we die and go to Heaven?  Or is this for nature and creation, when Heaven is revealed here by God's new creation family?  I might be wrong in what I believe, but I still believe that we are on the verge of seeing the revealing of the Father (through His new creation family) and the least to the greatest on earth will have the opportunity to see God's Glory for themselves.  This age is climaxing and we will undergo the greatest unveiling of God's Presence like never before seen on earth.  Nations will see and be changed by God's Presence and we (the Church) will receive the nations as our inheritance.  Psalm 2 (Amplified) says, "Why are the nations in an uproar (in turmoil against God), And why do the people device a vain and hopeless plot? The kings of the earth take their stand; And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and His Anointed (the Davidic King, the Messiah, the Christ), saying, Let us break apart their )divine) bands (of restraint) And cast away their cords (of control) from us. He Who sits (enthroned) in the Heavens laughs (at their rebellion); The (Sovereign) Lord scoffs at them (and in supreme contempt He mocks them). Then He will speak to them in His (profound) anger And terrify them with His displeasure, saying Yet as for Me, I have anointed and firmly installed My King upon Zion, My Holy mountain. I will declare the decree of the Lord; He said to Me, You are My Son; This day (I proclaim) I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will assuredly give (You) the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall shatter them (in pieces) like earthenware. Now therefore, O kings, act wisely; Be instructed and take warning, O leader (judges, rulers) of the earth. Worship the Lord and serve Him with reverence (with awe-inspired fear and submissive wonder); Rejoice (yet do so) with trembling. Kiss (pay respect to)the Son, so that He does not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled and set aflame. How blessed (fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God) are all those who take refuge in Him!"

Lesson 241 The New Creation

     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). Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ has reconciled us to Himself (brought us into harmony, received us into favor 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)."
     We must always hold fast our new identity in Christ Jesus, in order to fully walk in this new creation being.  One of satan's favorite traps is keeping us focused on who we used to be, instead of what the Father has made us to be.  The enemy is an identity thief and doesn't work only in the world to steal someone's identity, but also works in the spirit realm to keep us from seeing our identity in Christ Jesus. 
     James 1:23-25 (Amplified) says, "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 (the 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)."
     2Corinthians 3:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom) And all of us, with unveiled face (because we) continued to behold (in the Word of God) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His Very Own Image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another (for this comes) from the Lord (Who is) the Spirit."
     The very first things satan did to seduce Adam and Eve, was getting them to see themselves as different than what God made them to be in Genesis 2:27 (Amplified) which says, "So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image and Likeness of God He created them."  Genesis 3:4-5 (Amplified) goes on, "But the serpent said to the woman, you shall not surely die For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity."
     They were already like God and only needed to know good and blessing.  God never intended "evil and calamity" for His children.  When Eve began to have her God-given identity changed, she saw herself as different than what God had created her to be.  Satan did the same with the Israelites in Numbers 13:30-33 (Amplified) which says, "But Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it [the Promised Land]. We are well able to conquer it. But his fellow scouts said, we are not able to go up against the people (of Canaan), for they are stronger than we are. So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the Land which they had scouted out, saying, The Land through which we went to spy out is a Land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim (the giants) the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
     Satan had stolen the image of their identity in God from them and reduced their identity as being "as grasshoppers."  The Israelites no longer viewed themselves as being what God made them to be, but saw themselves like satan portrayed them.  In Luke 4:3 (Amplified) Jesus was on the Mount of Temptation and, "Then the devil said to Him, If you are the Son of God, order this stone to turn into a (loaf of bread)."  Satan even tried to make Jesus question Who He was and steal His identity.
     When we read about the new creation throughout the Word, we see ourselves as we truly are in God's eyes.  We conflict the identities of the outer-man and the inner-man.  The outer-man is the flesh and bone body (or house) that our inner-man lives in, while we're on this earth.  Your inner-man, the new creation is the real you.  If you get born-again, but continue seeing only your outer-man, then you're not seeing the real you and satan will robe you of your new identity as God's Own family.  We never see ourselves as what our new creation man really is.
     The new creation man is once again made in the "Very Likeness and Image of God."  The new creation man is righteous, redeemed, sanctified, holy, consecrated and purified, by the Sacrifice of Jesus.  These aren't attributes of our new man for "when we die," but are the NOW attributes for while we remain on earth.  We have failed the Church, by identifying our true nature and preaching to the outer-man.  The Church has lost sight of who we truly are in Christ.  We've actually postponed our new identity, for being "when we get to Heaven."
     When are you made righteous?  When you die in the natural or when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  When does the things God says about you, become "true" in you?  After you die or when you were raised with Christ Jesus?  When is what God says about you going to become who you really are?  Our new creation man is identified through Jesus, not by the world or religion, but by faith in what Jesus has done for and through us.  We don't have the old sin nature in our lost spirit man.  We have the Very nature of God, Who now lives in our new creation being.
     The new creation man is the one we're supposed to see in the "perfect Law of Liberty," not the outer-man.  This mirror is supposed to reflect our new identity in Christ Jesus.  If what God did through Jesus on the cross, wasn't enough to purify you, then there is no hope left for mankind.
     We've never learned to walk in our new creation man and were taught by man, instead of God.  Natural man can only teach natural things, but the Holy Spirit will now teach the new creation man.  We've failed in the Church, because we never saw ourselves in the new creation man and taught ourselves only the outer-man.  We've tried walking in the Spirit, by the same Laws that govern the world and the outer-man.  Romans 6:11 (Amplified) says, "Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God (living in unbroken fellowship with Him) in Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:16 (Amplified) says, "The Spirit Himself (thus) testifies together with our own spirit, (assuring us) that we are children of God."
     Paul goes on in Romans 8:29 (Amplified) saying, "For those whom He fore knew (of whom He was aware and loved beforehand), He also destined from the beginning (foreordaining them) to be molded into the Image of His Son (and share inwardly His Likeness) that He might become the Firstborn among many brethren."
     Do you read the New Testament as a new creation man, who is made in "the Image of His Son" or do you read it, while identifying with the old man you were before receiving Jesus?  This identity crisis in the downfall of the Church.  Paul writes in 1Corinthians 4:4 (Amplified), "I am not conscious of anything against myself, and I feel blameless; but I am not vindicated and acquitted before God on that account. It is the Lord (Himself) Who examines and judges me."
     Jesus met all the requirements of the Law of Sin and Death, on our behalf.  He is the Total Fulfillment of our new creation being.  The Curse of the Law was placed upon Him, so that the Blessing of Abraham can be ours.  The stripes Jesus took for our healing and the chastisement needful for our obtaining peace of mind and well-being, was also placed on Him.  Jesus paid the price that was required by the Law of Sin and Death for our salvation and the new creation being has been raised by the new Law of Life.  Romans 8:2 (Amplified) says, "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."
       
    

Thanks for the prayers calling on respite from the daily torrential rains. I'm haying every time there's a break in the weather.

Lesson 240 The New Creation

     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 has 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)."
     Romans 4:16,20 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, (inheriting) the Promise is the outcome of faith and depends (entirely) on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of Grace (unmerited favor) to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants-not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is (thus) the father of faith."  Verse 20 continues, "No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the Promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God."
     In our new creation relationship with God through Jesus, we not only have the covenant made between the Father and Jesus, but we have actually been born into the family of God by our new creation birth.  The Promises made to Abraham, were the beginning of this covenant of Grace that was established by Jesus and are now ours by faith in Christ Jesus.  The covenant of Promise is carried forward in Galatians 3:16 ,29(Amplified) which says, "Now the Promises (covenants, agreements) were decreed and made to Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir)."  God does not say, "Now the Promises were decreed and made to Abraham and his seeds (descendants, heirs,)," as if referring to "many persons."  God says, "Now the Promises were decreed unto Abraham and his Seed (his Offspring, his Heir)," obviously referring to One Individual, Who is none other than Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  Verse 29 continues, "And if you belong to Christ (are in Him Who is Abraham's Seed) then are you Abraham's offspring and (spiritual) heirs according to Promise."  2Corinthians 1:20 (Amplified) says, "For as many are the Promises of God, they all find their Yes (answer) in Him (Christ). For this reason we also utter the Amen (So be it) to God through Him (in His Person and by His Agency) to the glory of God."
     Romans 4:13 (Amplified) expands on God's Promise to Abraham (that is now ours through our union with Jesus), to a place that will challenge your faith and my faith, saying, "For the Promise to Abraham or to his posterity, that he should inherit the world, did not come through (observing the commands of) the Law, but through the righteousness of faith."  This gives us a new understanding about what "faith" holds in the Promise of things we "hope for," in Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) which says, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things (we) hope for, being the proof of things (we) do not see and the conviction of their reality (faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses)."
     Many things have been taught, preached, said and written about faith.  Much of these were done by those whose faith failed them, so they determined, "If it didn't work for me, then it's not for us today."  Many taught from their own experience, instead of Abraham's experience.  The awesome thing about faith is, it will work for "whosoever will."  We've tried to work formulas and laws, in order to make faith work for us, but Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "So faith comes by hearing (what is told), and what is heard comes by the preaching (of the Message that came from the lips of Christ, the Messiah Himself)."
     Much of what we've "heard," hasn't come from "the lips of Christ, but were man's interpretation of what he believed Christ said.  A lot of our faith is based on merely human experience, instead of on God's Word.  This isn't an indictment against men and women over the years, but it's a challenge to those who believe Jesus is more than "just going to Heaven when we die."  All of God's Promises are "Yes and Amen, to the glory of God," according to 2Corinthians 1:20.  We haven't received the Promises by faith, like the Word instructs.  We continue trying to "make the Word work," instead of allowing Grace to flow into the Promises, by faith in God's Word alone.  If God said it, then He will do what He said.  We only need believe that God's Word will create what He said, as in the beginning.
     This is the so-called "problem," we've had with the new creation people we've become.  We've been trying to form our own creation image, instead of just being what God already created us to be in Christ.  An apple tree doesn't need to "try" being an apple tree.  It is an apple tree, because that is what the seed made it to be.  We are what the Seed has made us to be and must allow the Seed to mature us into what God's Image of the new creation family is supposed to be.
     We often quote Hebrews 11:6 (Amplified) without understanding it.  Thus, it says, "But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him For whoever would come near to God must (necessarily) believe that God exists and that He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (out)."  We are still depending upon our works for the Promises, instead of our faith.  This isn't an act of Grace, but is a debt that God is now obligated to pay.  This will not work in our family relationship of faith and that's why "its impossible to please God without faith."  When we try doing works to please Him, we have denied His Gift of Grace through Jesus and have decided we can gain acceptance again by works.
     The Father wants to bring all His Promises to pass and fulfillment in our lives.  This was His intent from the beginning.  He only needs for us to believe Him, by faith in His Promises. 
    
    

Lesson 239 The New Creation

     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 has 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)."
     In John 3:3 (Amplified) Jesus said, "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above) he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the Kingdom of God."  John the Baptist said this in John 3:27 (Amplified), by inspiration from the Holy Spirit, "A man can." receive nothing (he can claim nothing, he can take unto himself nothing) except it has been granted to him from Heaven (a man must be content to receive the Gift which is given him from Heaven); there is no other source."
     It's easy to forget that everything we see in this natural world, first came into being by the Spirit and Word of God. There is no other source.  We've been born-again "from above," and are like Jesus said in John 17:16 (Amplified), "Are not of this world."  Even though we "know" this and actually confess this, I'm not sure we truly understand it.  Our being born-again, doesn't just mean that we "go to Heaven when we die."  Going to Heaven is undoubtedly the greatest thing any person can imagine, but we must realize that we are citizens of Heaven now.
     Our lives, health, prosperity, citizenship and family are all "from above."  2Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified) says, "So we are Christ's ambassadors."  We are representatives of Heaven, on this earth.  We are no longer simple, natural, mere men, but we are God's family here on this earth.  Even though we claim to know this, we still walk as mere men and women.
     We are governed only by the Kingdom's Laws, while walking here on earth.  As ambassadors from a different Kingdom, we have diplomatic immunity here on earth.  In Matthew 18:18 (Amplified) Jesus stated, "Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth, must be what is already forbidden in Heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in Heaven."  The King James Version says it like this, "Whatever you bind on earth must be what is bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth must be what is already loosed in Heaven."  Luke 13:11-13 (Amplified) says, "And there was a woman there who for eighteen years had an infirmity caused by a spirit (a demon of sickness). She was bent completely forward and utterly unable to straighten herself up or to look upward . And when Jesus saw her, He called (her to Him) and said to her, Woman, you are released from your infirmity. And He laid (His) hands on her, and instantly she was made straight, and she recognized and thanked and praised God."
     The King James Version reads the above scripture, "Jesus said to her, Woman! I loose you from your infirmity."  The sickness or demon this woman had, must have been, "Whatever you loose on earth, must be what is already loosed in Heaven."  If sickness wasn't already loosed in Heaven, then what Jesus told His followers in Matthew 18:18 concerning "binding and loosing," must have been untrue.  We don't seem to understand that authority given to us, through our union with Jesus and our new birth.  We use very little of our authority in Jesus, here on earth.  Jesus said in Luke 10:19-20 (Amplified), "Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and (physical and mental strength and ability) over all the power that the enemy (possesses); and nothing shall in any way harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are enrolled in Heaven."
     When we truly understand that we are even now, citizens and family of Heaven, we can walk in this authority while on earth.  We've been taught so many things we "must do," in order to walk in this realm with God and we've overlooked the privilege of being born-again from on High.  There's nothing we need to do, in order to be His children and heirs.  The only thing we're required to do, is believe in what He has done.  The Faith Message has been misunderstood by the Church.  We're only required to believe in His Promises.
     Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote about the Father of our faith (Abraham) in Romans 4:21-22 (Amplified) saying, "Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His Word and do what He had Promised THAT IS WHY his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God)."  One might ask, "What did Abraham do that it was 'credited to him as righteousness?'"  Abraham simply believed God's Promises.  What else did he do?  Nothing!
     We are only required to believe in God's Word of Promise.  We don't need to struggle or try to be righteous before Him, we must only believe in the righteousness He gave us in Jesus.  All of God's Promises to us, depend upon our ability to believe what He said.  This isn't a list of things we must do (like in the Law), but is only believing what He said.  If one man believes, then that the Promise is his.  If another person doesn't believe, then he will not appropriate the Promise, because of his unbelief.  Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) tells us, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things (we) hope for, being the proof of things (we) do not see and the conviction of their reality (faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses)."
     We've struggled and cried for the Promises of God to be made manifest in our lives, while Hebrews 11:1 says that "Faith is our assurance of these things."  We've been told that "God uses these things to teach us," "God is holding back these things," and "Some kind of sin is preventing these things from you."  We've been fed a false gospel, in place of Truth in these matters.  We must do like Abraham did and simply believe that what God Promised, He is also able to perform.  Our inheritance is already ours, by faith in what He said.  It's not by works or crying or by Law, but simply by faith.
     The entire Promise of salvation, must be appropriated by faith in Jesus Christ.  "Those who believe, will be saved and those who do not believe, will be damned," according to Mark 16:16.  The entire Gospel of Salvation doesn't depend on God, because He has already given His Promise.  It depends on us, to either believe or not to believe His Promise.  God so Loved the world, that He gave His Son Jesus.  His part is already completed. Our part is to believe in what He has done.  This is true for every Promise God has made to us.  We must accept by faith, what His Grace already done and then to receive it by His Word.