Imputation, Chapter Six
The Apostle Paul made a very interesting statement in Gal. 2:15-21
(NIV)
"We who are
Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law,
but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ
Jesus that we may be
justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing
the law no one will be justified.
"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we
ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely
not!
If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through
the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with
Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in
the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me. I do not set
aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,
Christ died for nothing!"
Not only
does Paul destroy the idea of living our lives according to Law but he also
destroys the arrogance of the carnal mind that he says has been put to death
because we are now no longer living according to Law. The life we now live is
the natural outpouring of the Spirit of God through our spirit. I want to share
with you this week something that the Apostle John said that most preachers and
teachers have no idea what he is talking about because it is contrary to their
doctrine which they teach. If you are living your life with the concept that we
are now living under the New Law of Jesus Christ and you consider it to be just
like the Old Testament Law then you are going to have trouble with what John is
saying in 1 Jn. 3:4-10,
"Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother."
Wow!!!! What a powerful statement! At first glance at reading this we would conclude that their is non righteous, no not one! Just as the Apostle Paul said in Rom. 3:10,
"As it is written, There is
none righteous, no, not one!"
We would also conclude that there is no one living today
that is born of God because we know that everyone sins. In many churches, sin
is talked about more than any other subject because they teach the awareness of
sin and the terrible consequences of sinning. In many churches every prayer
offered will ask God to forgive them of their sins and also their unforgiven
sins. With that mindset we would conclude that it is impossible for one to not
sin. Yet, John said that the one that is born of God does not sin. This just
doesn't compute with what we have been taught. This is why most preachers and
teachers avoid this teaching of John's because they have no understanding of
what he is saying.
What, then, is the meaning of what John is saying here.
Well, to understand what he is saying you will have to have an understanding of
who we really are. If your understanding is that our spirit, soul, and body are
all the same thing, you will never understand this passage of scripture. If you
don't understand some of what I will now share with you, just ask our Father to
reveal to you who you really are.
We are spirit and we live at this present time in a body of
flesh which is our home in this life so we can be seen by others. We also have
a soul which consists of a mind which controls this body and by it we
experience emotions and it also has a will. Our spirit came from God our Father
and when we are born again our spirit is awaken to God our Father and His life
begins to flow through us and out of our spirits. Jesus said in Jn. 7:37,
"If any man thirst,
let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture
hath said, out of his belly (his inter most being or spirit) shall flow rivers
of living water."
The New Covenant that God promised is stated by Him in Heb. 8:10-13,
"For
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, saith the Lord; I
will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be
to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. I will be merciful to
their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the
first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish
away."
We are spirit and we came from God who is our Father and His life flows through us and as our carnal mind is renewed and made to understand the will of our father we will manifest His life and the world will see His love being revealed in us. This manifestation of His life is something that grows within us as our minds are being written on by His spirit and we grow in righteousness and love and peace and joy.
What does this have to do with what John was saying here? If our spirit has been born again, or awakened to the Spirit of the Lord, we will never sin!!!! Our spirit does not sin and can't sin because it is of the same spirit that Jesus has. Our origin is God and we have been born of the same spirit as Jesus was.
Someone will say, "But David you know that we all sin and John also said in 1 Jn. 1:8-10,
"If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have
not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
Yes, he did say that and he also said in the above quoted
verse of 1 Jn. 3:5,
".....in
him is no sin."
If you
are in Christ today you are free from sin because sin cannot live in Him. If
you are a sinner today you cannot be in Him!!! You might say, "Well, I am
in Him but I sin most every day!" NO YOU DON'T!!! Your body of flesh might
sin every day but your spirit does not!!!
You say, "Well, I don't
understand how this can be!!!" You do not sin because there is no Law that
you have broken! Jesus took the Law and nailed it to the cross. In the above
scripture of Heb. 8:13 God said,
"In that he said, A
new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decayeth and
waxeth old is ready to vanish away."
By taking away the Law, Jesus defeated and destroyed the works of the devil because the devil now has no ground on which to accuse us. The Law was and is a pure and just covenant but because of the weakness of our flesh it can not cause us to be righteous in the eyes of our Father. The devil (sin) took advantage of the Law to accuse us of our failure to obey it. Jesus came and introduced us to the grace of our Father and we no longer live according to Law but according to the grace of our Father and He gives us everything we need to stand before Him in righteousness, even our ability to have faith in Him.
The New
Covenant that we are living under is stated in Heb. 8:10-12,
"For this is the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people:
And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the
greatest. For I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will
I remember no more."
If you
are living in the reality of Christ, your spirit has been delivered from the
Law of Sin and Death! No longer is there any law whatsoever that we have to
conform to in an outward way. Instead, the law of life, the nature, the
character of almighty God is written within our hearts, and that which comes
forth and is manifested through us is the life of God. In your spirit which is the very core
and the very essence of your being,
dwells the great I AM! You are the
individualized expression of God on this earth. As a spiritual corporate man,
we are here to express and display all the glorious, wondrous works of our
Father, and reveal to all of creation the magnificence of His love and to
release all creation from the bondage of corruption, ushering them into the
liberty of the sons of God. Oh hallelujah! We have been delivered!
God's
love has been revealed to you, within you, and you know that God loves you
unconditionally. You know that nothing can separate you from the love of God.
You know that no sin, no act of disobedience, nothing you can do can separate
you from that love. When you really understand this, it will set you free from
the bondage of human religious thinking. When your flesh does get the best of
you, you will know as the apostle Paul said, Rom 7:18-20, (Amp)
"For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that
is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the
intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.] For I
fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do
not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing. Now if I do what I do not desire
to do, it is no longer I
doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells
within me [fixed and operating in my soul]."
It is
crucial for us to understand it
is not our spirit that sins but it is the sin principle that dwells in our
soul. (mind, will, emotions) There is no such thing as "I" sinning,
because it is not "I"; it
is still the residue of that old carnal thinking, the old un-renewed mind.
The only place the law of sin and death operates is in the carnal mind. In our spirit we are whole and
complete. It is our soul that is the problem. As we are unveiled
to the reality of our being we begin to function from our spirit and then the
sin principle begins to be dealt with. Paul said in Rom. 12:2,
"Be not conformed to this world: but be
ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Once we
are unveiled to the reality of Christ within us, once the mind of Christ begins
to be formed within us we begin to change from the inside out. Remember the
apostle Paul cried out how he labored and travailed until Christ be formed in
them? Because when Christ is formed within us, and begins to manifest within
us, there will no longer be those divisive attitudes; there will no longer be
those who pray against their enemies, but there will only be the unconditional
love of God that cries from deep within the recesses of our being to open the
eyes of the blind.
Instead of hating and resenting our enemies we will
find from deep within us will come intercession something like this. Oh Father,
open the eyes of the blind. Father, that one who would come against me, that
one who would persecute me, that one who would say all manner of evil against
me, oh Father, open their eyes that they might see. Father, open their eyes
that they might see that the only desire in my heart is to love and to have
compassion on those who are ignorant and out of the way.
I know
that this is not what you have been taught and neither was I but this is what
the great Apostle Paul taught through the inspiration of the Lord. I encourage
you to meditate on these things and ask our Father to reveal Himself to you.
You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! You are a son of the Most
High God who is our Father. Eternal life is dwelling within you where the
Kingdom of God rules and reigns in your life. You are the manifestation of God
here on this earth because you have been born of Him and His Spirit dwells
within your spirit to both will and do His good pleasure.
Awaken to
these truths this week and enjoy your time here on this earth as God's
ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.