Yep...still New!

"When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins." {Colossians 2:11-13}

I want to continue in what we started yesterday because it is so important for us to understand what God has accomplished in our lives. As I come to grips with what God is teaching me, I'm also starting to understand what the writer of Hebrews means when he said that we should be moving out of the elementary principles. While this should be basic knowledge for the believer, there is a lot of misunderstanding about our new life in Christ. Unfortunately, most of this misunderstanding has come from the pulpit of our churches. Is it any wonder that many Christians struggle with the freedoms they have in Christ, struggle to live in victory, and struggle to feel secure in their salvation? While we would all love to go deeper, we must have a solid foundation.

Notice what Paul stated in his Colossians letter: You were circumcised. This was to answer the argument that was being spread throughout the new churches. Enemies of grace came in to bring up the issue of circumcision (which was a sign of Abraham's covenant with God). Paul's answers to the critics and those who were curious is simple - you were circumcised but it wasn't a physical act. Christ circumcised every new believer by cutting away their sinful nature. The "mark" (if you will) of our new covenant with God is that our sinful nature has been cut away and we have put on Christ's nature. Water baptism is our prophetic declaration of what happened in our confession of Christ as Lord. We were buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. Our old sinful nature was buried in the water and we came up in a new sinless nature. Paul's answer: If it's cutting away that you want, then it's cutting away that you will get. You just need to put down the knife!

Would you like to take it a little further? We can go deeper in this. 2 Peter 1:3-4, "By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who has called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His Divine Nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires." Not only have we lost our old sinful nature, we have been allowed to be partakers of His divine nature!!!

The fact of the matter is that there is MUCH MORE proof of what I'm teaching you from Scripture than trying to say that we actually live out of two natures. God is in the business of making all things new. The problem is that people struggle in their mind with this type of teaching because they need to understand why they still sin. It's much easier to blame it on an old dead sinful nature than it is to blame it on the work of the enemy (demonic activity) or a lack of walking in Christ.

Remember me telling you about John's letter to the church and how he was writing them so they would not sin? Just the statement alone teaches us that we can live without sin. He also tells us that those who abide in Christ do not sin. What you and I have to learn is how to abide in Christ in every circumstance and situation. Abiding in Christ is what keeps us from following after the things that are in this world (lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life). If the enemy can keep you in the mindset of possessing a sinful nature when you don't then you will continue to struggle with sin. Our behavior always follows our beliefs. When you believe you are sinful, you will sin. When you believe that your are righteous, then you will live in righteousness. It's that simple.

When we grab a hold of this understanding, we find that we truly live from victory. Jesus made a public spectacle of spiritual rulers and authorities by His victory over them on the cross (Read Colossians 2:15). Not only did he shame them publicly but he disarmed them. They have absolutely not authority in your life except for what you give them. Therefore, you should never live in anything less than what God has allowed you to live in. Don't settle for less than victory, power, and a new nature in Christ.

Galatians 5:25 says that since we are living by the Spirit, we should follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. This is they key to abiding in Christ. When we allow the Spirit of God to guide us then we will never walk outside of truth. Walk in your new nature. Take part of the freedom that the Spirit of God is guiding you into. AND reckon yourself dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Jesus Christ!