Welcome back, my friend. As I said last month in “Whose Slave are You? Part 1”, understanding the foundational truth that you are a slave/bondservant to your Lord Jesus Christ is critical to Living Your Life through Jesus.
Your New Life of Faith
Let me remind you exactly how God’s Word describes what happened to you once you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
“You have been bought and paid for by Christ, so you belong to him—be free now from all these earthly prides and fears. 1 Corinthians 7:23 (TLB)
“And now you are free from your old master, sin; and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness.” Romans 6:18 (TLB)
My friend, God’s instruction to us can’t be any clearer. You are a different person now, “17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) Do you believe that?
Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians; So I am not the one living now—it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave himself to save me.” Galatians 2:20 (ERV) I live by faith now in the Son of God, what a profound statement. It is very clear that Jesus Christ is living in you, and that you’re living in Him.
He is now Lord of your life. Just as Satan was lord of your life before your salvation decision. “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” Ephesians 2:2-3 (NLT)
When God’s Word instructs you to become a slave/bondservant to your Lord Jesus, do you obey God and do what His Word instructs or do you ignore and disobey His instruction and continue to live the way of the world like you’ve been living?
The Poison Inside of Us
Let’s take a moment and look at your old sinful nature in a different way. Begin to think of it as a poison that has infected your body, soul and spirit.
Listen to the way Ray C. Steadman describes this poisoning of your body, soul and spirit in his commentary on the Book of Romans*.
“The Bible tells us we are spirit; we have bodies and souls, but the most essential part of ourselves is our spirit. That may sound “spooky” but that is because we can see our material bodies and we can’t see our spirits. We have been brainwashed by the world (Satan) to believe only in what we can see and feel, and who can see or feel a spirit? The Scriptures tells us that the most fundamental nature of our being is spirit (God, too, is spirit, which is why He cannot be seen.)
The Scriptures often use a metaphor to describe the human spirit: a “vessel,” like a cup or bowl. You can think of your spirit as a little cup inside of you, made to hold something. Of course, picturing the spirit as a cup is speaking in metaphors, but it is necessary to use symbols and metaphors when discussing things that cannot be seen.
The Scriptures tell us that, in the beginning, this cup was made to hold none other than God himself. All the greatness and glory of God could be poured into that tiny human cup. That is what Adam was, as he came fresh from the hand of God. But when Adam sinned and fell, that cup was emptied, and then filled again with a kind of poison. This satanic poison has sickened all our humanity.
When that poison fills the cup of the spirit, it overflows into the soul, which is the realm of the mind (reason and intelligence), the will (the power to choose) and emotion (the power to feel). The Bible tells us that all of these areas of our being have been poisoned by sin, so that we are unable to think, choose, and feel as we should. Ultimately, when the spirit and the soul have been poisoned, that harm is expressed in the functioning of the body. The poisoning power of sin always flows from the inside out.”
Joy of Living Bible Studies “Romans” commentary by Ray C. Stedman
Like a snake bite, this poison is deadly and if not treated the outcome is always the same — death and total separation from God for all eternity.
The One and Only True Cure
However, you’ve been given the only antidote known to man for this poison — your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
Your Lord Jesus Christ, the great physician, has saved your life! There is no other way to look at it. You owe your very eternal spiritual existence to him.
God the Father then placed the Holy Spirit inside of you to become your personal physical rehab therapist. He brings all of the necessary treatments and exercises to strengthen and heal your spirit from the poison Satan injected inside of you.
I understand that before Christ came into your life you were unable to think, choose, and feel the way you should as a child of God (Romans 8:14). That is why the Holy Spirit now lives inside of you. He is there to rewire your old sinful hard drive, but you have to start letting Him and stop fighting Him.
The poison of sin that still lives in you will take a life time to be cleansed entirely from your body. We will all have relapses from the poison of sin, but God is faithful and patient as we work through those episodes.
Begin by Flipping the Switch
In order to neutralize the poisonous sin that flows throughout your body you have to begin by changing the way you think. I’ve talked about this in “Rewired to Love Part 1.” In order to Live Your Life through Jesus you have to turn your thinking process over to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:5), and allow God your Father to transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind (Romans 12:2).
Another marvelous mind changing realization is who now lives His life through you. Listen to God’s Word describe this wonderful individual named Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:15-20 (NLT)
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.”
You need to make Jesus Christ supreme in your life!
Here is another marvelous mind changing realization that Peter shares with us. You’re a child of God and you belong to his heavenly family. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 1 Peter 1:14 (NLT)
Peter goes on to tell us as Christians we no longer belong to this world. Our thoughts should be focused on where we’ll live for eternity, Heaven.
Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is in heaven, I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls. Be careful how you behave among your unsaved neighbors; for then, even if they are suspicious of you and talk against you, they will end up praising God for your good works when Christ returns. 1 Peter 2:11-12 (TLB)
So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 1 Peter 1:13 (NLT)
In order to properly Live Your Life through Jesus you will need to spend the rest of your life here on earth in reverence for him.
Your Journey of Reverence
Peter tells you to prepare your mind for action and exercise self-control, and Paul tells us to allow God your Father to transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.
It is clear that your first step needs to be in your mind, which controls the emotions and will in your soul. If you haven’t started yet, listen to where God tells you to begin. “But now you must get rid of all these things: anger, passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from your lips. Do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old self with its habits and have put on the new self. This is the new being which God, its Creator, is constantly renewing in his own image, in order to bring you to a full knowledge of himself.” Colossians 3:8-10 (NLT)
Trust in the Holy Spirit to guide and help you accomplish this change and remember that your Lord Jesus Christ is with you every step of the way.
Join me next month as I discuss “How to Dress for Success.” As a Christian who has to continue to live and work in this world controlled by Satan, how should you dress before going out the door? What you put on will keep you away from the evil pleasures of this world that fight against your very soul.
Until next time my friend, may His mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.
For each microneedle length, six micropore areas were calculated get cytotec without prescription