Gal 4:19
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
John 3:30
"He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Matt 16:24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Is there a relationship between these scriptures?
We know Christ comes to live in us however the whole Christ takes up residence in our hearts when we believe in Him, not part of Christ. So, how can He be formed in us if He is already here?
The literal meaning of Christ being formed in us is:
“Until a mind and life in complete harmony with the mind and life of Christ shall be formed in you”.
How does our mind and life come into complete harmony with the mind and life of Christ? The recent blog entitlted, “Renewing the Mind” describes one way our minds become in harmony with the mind of Christ. When our minds are renewed they are in harmony with the mind of Christ. So, the renewing process is one way Christ is formed in us.
As we decrease, He increases. As we deny ourselves, He increases. When we yield to Him, He increases. When we submit our will for His, He increases and we decrease.
As we follow the leading of the Spirit, giving up our will for His, depending on His strength and grace, we are coming into harmony with the mind of Christ and His life is being expressed through us.
The spiritual reality is we have been born again, born of His Spirit and our spirit is now one with His Spirit. The Son of God lives in us through His Holy Spirit. As we decrease, He increases and we become more in harmony with this reality. People begin seeing more of Him and less of us until this becomes the normal occurrence in our lives. Not only was this Paul’s desire for the Galatians, it is God’s desire for our lives.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Renewing the Mind
Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
We can either conform to the world or be transformed. How are we conformed to this world?
Conforming to the world is pretty easy. We do not have to work hard at having carnal minds since we are born with them. The world does a pretty good job, along with our DNA at conforming us to its standards. Conforming to this world is as simple as jumping in a raft and floating down the river.
The mind is an amazing thing. Each of our minds are the same but also different. The mind contains our personality, memory, fleshly desire, ambition, fear, identity, confidence or lack thereof, attitude and so much more as well as common functions of the brain.
The human mind at its best has accomplished much and at its worst, destroyed much. Why should we be concerned with transforming our minds? Why not enjoy the natural mind and go with the worldly flow of the river currents?
Romans 8:7
because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able {to do so,}
Gal 5:17
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
Also note in Romans 12:2: it says we are transformed so we can prove the will of God. The opposite is also true, if we are not transformed, we do not prove the will of God. By proving the will of God, we learn that His will is always best, much better than our will.
Galatians 5:17 says our flesh is in opposition to God and does not want to please God. It is actually at war with the Spirit living in us. The flesh is not able to do the will of God. What are we to do? We are transformed by the renewing of the mind. As the renewing occurs the will of God is done in our lives. Renewing is a crucial aspect of our Christian walk and growth. Of course, God understands this dynamic and wants to lead us in the renewing process.
Eph 4:23
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
This is the part of the mind that contains the capacity for spiritual truth and the faculty of perceiving things: recognizing good from evil. He is constantly revealing new truths in His word, showing us His glory and grace, illuminating the light vs dark and good vs evil in our daily walk.
2 Cor 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
The renewed used in this 2 Cor scripture is one of new strength and life. We are receiving new life each day, even though our bodies grow older.
He will lead us through His indwelling Spirit in setting our minds on Him, on things above with renewing thoughts and activities. He wants to lead us into His presence that we might learn to enjoy and trust in the reality of our oneness with Him. During these times of basking in the refreshing of His presence, a transformation takes place as new strength and life are imparted each day.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
We can either conform to the world or be transformed. How are we conformed to this world?
Conforming to the world is pretty easy. We do not have to work hard at having carnal minds since we are born with them. The world does a pretty good job, along with our DNA at conforming us to its standards. Conforming to this world is as simple as jumping in a raft and floating down the river.
The mind is an amazing thing. Each of our minds are the same but also different. The mind contains our personality, memory, fleshly desire, ambition, fear, identity, confidence or lack thereof, attitude and so much more as well as common functions of the brain.
The human mind at its best has accomplished much and at its worst, destroyed much. Why should we be concerned with transforming our minds? Why not enjoy the natural mind and go with the worldly flow of the river currents?
Romans 8:7
because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able {to do so,}
Gal 5:17
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
Also note in Romans 12:2: it says we are transformed so we can prove the will of God. The opposite is also true, if we are not transformed, we do not prove the will of God. By proving the will of God, we learn that His will is always best, much better than our will.
Galatians 5:17 says our flesh is in opposition to God and does not want to please God. It is actually at war with the Spirit living in us. The flesh is not able to do the will of God. What are we to do? We are transformed by the renewing of the mind. As the renewing occurs the will of God is done in our lives. Renewing is a crucial aspect of our Christian walk and growth. Of course, God understands this dynamic and wants to lead us in the renewing process.
Eph 4:23
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
This is the part of the mind that contains the capacity for spiritual truth and the faculty of perceiving things: recognizing good from evil. He is constantly revealing new truths in His word, showing us His glory and grace, illuminating the light vs dark and good vs evil in our daily walk.
2 Cor 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
The renewed used in this 2 Cor scripture is one of new strength and life. We are receiving new life each day, even though our bodies grow older.
He will lead us through His indwelling Spirit in setting our minds on Him, on things above with renewing thoughts and activities. He wants to lead us into His presence that we might learn to enjoy and trust in the reality of our oneness with Him. During these times of basking in the refreshing of His presence, a transformation takes place as new strength and life are imparted each day.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
My Power is Perfected in Weakness
There seems to be a connection between weakness and power, our weakness and His power. How do we know when Jesus is living through us as opposed to us trying to be spiritual or Christ-like? When we try, we can be a pretty good Christians. There is one small problem, though, when we succeed at living the Christian life on our own efforts, pride springs up. We start feeling proud and yes, even somewhat better than other Christians who may not be doing as well.
There is a connection between His life in us and our weakness. Paul had an encounter with God. Somehow Paul was transported to heaven and heard some unspeakable things. God revealed truths to Paul that most of us do not get to hear on this earth. Paul was probably feeling pretty special, one of God’s favorites. Of course, he had to suffer much and these visions gave him strength in time of need. However, this heaven-transporting experience was a cause of pride for Paul. God knows our flesh and how we struggle with temptations. He helped Paul by giving Him a special anti-pride gift to avoid boasting of his trip to heaven.
2 Corinthians 12:7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!
God knew Paul would need some help with his pride, so He gave him a thorn in the flesh. Paul needed something special to keep him from feeling proud about his heavenly experiences.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Paul asked God three times. But God spoke an amazing word to Paul. We usually focus on the part about His grace being sufficient, which is a comforting word. He also said power is perfected in weakness. Is there power in weakness? We, here on earth, think just the opposite. Obviously, Paul received this word and believed it, as we can see from his response, “I will rather boast about my weaknesses…” The last part of the verse is intriguing. He wants to boast about weakness so that the power of Christ may dwell in him. Weakness is connected to power which is connected to Jesus dwelling in us.
Have you ever wondered about God’s power? How is His power manifested in the church today? How is His power manifested in our lives? This scripture seems to indicate that His power is manifested in weakness. What a strange concept. It is when we are weak that we are strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
God will express His power in our lives through our weaknesses. We do not like to admit our weaknesses. We spend a lot of good time and energy trying to hide them.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
There seems to be a cutting line dividing His power in us and our human power. In other words, Jesus will manifest His life and power through our weaknesses. Why? So we and others will know the difference between us and God, us and Jesus living in us. When it is His power being manifested in our daily lives, we cannot take any of the credit, any of the glory because we know we are weak and could not have done whatever He did in our lives.
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as {coming} from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,
Does God need our strengths to do His will? Paul had quite a resume he quoted describing his education and Jewish pedigree but he said he counted all of that as rubbish for the sake of knowing Christ. Jesus did not bring His strengths to this earth. Jesus emptied Himself. He became poor that we might be rich.
There is a connection between His life in us and our weakness. Paul had an encounter with God. Somehow Paul was transported to heaven and heard some unspeakable things. God revealed truths to Paul that most of us do not get to hear on this earth. Paul was probably feeling pretty special, one of God’s favorites. Of course, he had to suffer much and these visions gave him strength in time of need. However, this heaven-transporting experience was a cause of pride for Paul. God knows our flesh and how we struggle with temptations. He helped Paul by giving Him a special anti-pride gift to avoid boasting of his trip to heaven.
2 Corinthians 12:7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!
God knew Paul would need some help with his pride, so He gave him a thorn in the flesh. Paul needed something special to keep him from feeling proud about his heavenly experiences.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Paul asked God three times. But God spoke an amazing word to Paul. We usually focus on the part about His grace being sufficient, which is a comforting word. He also said power is perfected in weakness. Is there power in weakness? We, here on earth, think just the opposite. Obviously, Paul received this word and believed it, as we can see from his response, “I will rather boast about my weaknesses…” The last part of the verse is intriguing. He wants to boast about weakness so that the power of Christ may dwell in him. Weakness is connected to power which is connected to Jesus dwelling in us.
Have you ever wondered about God’s power? How is His power manifested in the church today? How is His power manifested in our lives? This scripture seems to indicate that His power is manifested in weakness. What a strange concept. It is when we are weak that we are strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
God will express His power in our lives through our weaknesses. We do not like to admit our weaknesses. We spend a lot of good time and energy trying to hide them.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
There seems to be a cutting line dividing His power in us and our human power. In other words, Jesus will manifest His life and power through our weaknesses. Why? So we and others will know the difference between us and God, us and Jesus living in us. When it is His power being manifested in our daily lives, we cannot take any of the credit, any of the glory because we know we are weak and could not have done whatever He did in our lives.
2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as {coming} from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,
Does God need our strengths to do His will? Paul had quite a resume he quoted describing his education and Jewish pedigree but he said he counted all of that as rubbish for the sake of knowing Christ. Jesus did not bring His strengths to this earth. Jesus emptied Himself. He became poor that we might be rich.
What is Jesus Doing?
WIJD? (What Is Jesus Doing?)
We have all heard about the Christian fad question: What would Jesus do? A more relevant question is: What is Jesus doing? Jesus is now living in us. We do not have to play a guessing game to try to figure out what Jesus would do. He wants to live His life through us.
Another familiar Christian question we hear is: What can we do for Jesus? Or: How can we win the world for Jesus? This question seems to ignore the fact that Jesus is living in us. The question should be: What does Jesus want to do through us? Or: How does Jesus want to win the world through us?
How did Jesus handle this same question when He was here on earth? Did they have bumper stickers on the chariots that said: WWGD? Or: what would God do? Did Jesus have to play the guessing game to figure out what God would do in certain circumstances?
We can look at the way Jesus lived while He was here as an example for our lives. He was/is a role model for the way we should live our lives. Let us take a look at how He lived.
John 5:19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless {it is} something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
How extraordinary. The Son of God cannot do anything of Himself. Here is another version of the same verse:
John 5:19 only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.
Jesus could do nothing of His own accord. He would only do what He saw His Father doing.
John 5:30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Jesus, the Son of God could do nothing on His own initiative. He only did what He heard God leading Him to do. He did not seek His own will. This tells us He had a will. Interesting. And, His will was not always God’s will but He did not seek His will rather gave up His will for His Father’s will.
Jesus says the same thing in another verse:
John 8:28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am {He,} and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
To underscore the way Jesus lived His life on this earth: He did nothing on His own initiative. The Father taught Him what to do and say. Jesus wanted to be remembered by this characteristic. When you lift me up is when He was going to be crucified. He could have said a lot of things that would have captured who He was, but He wanted to be remembered as one who did nothing on His own initiative. He was helping His disciples, and us, learn to distinguish between God at work in us and our own efforts.
John 12:49 "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment {as to} what to say and what to speak.
John 12:50 "I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me."
John 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Jesus was not taking glory for Himself but was teaching His disciples about how to live. We see a Jesus that was totally dependent on His Father, dependent on Him for everything, what to say and what to do. In fact, we see in this scripture that all of the works Jesus did were really the works of the Father. Jesus did His Father’s works, not His own. He was clarifying a truth, drawing a dividing line between Him and God, letting people know who was doing the works, not Jesus but God.
If Jesus did not take the initiative in His walk with God, are we to do more or less? Does God want us to do everything we can for Him? Or, does He want to do everything He can through us? In light of these scriptures, what would Jesus have said to that question?
What would Jesus do? He would do whatever the Father was telling Him to do. Why would we live our life differently than Jesus?
God lived in Jesus. Jesus lives in us. He wants us to have the same type of total dependency on Him that He had on the Father. This type of walk requires a relationship, a close, intimate relationship with Him. Without this relationship, we are going to be trying to guess what He would do rather than letting Him live His life through us.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the {life} which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Jesus is now living in us. This scripture depicts a life of total dependence on Him who now lives in us and wants to live His life through us.
Jesus spoke of the abundant life. When we let Him take the initiative as we live a life of total dependence on Him, abundant life flows through us. So, WIJD in your life?
We have all heard about the Christian fad question: What would Jesus do? A more relevant question is: What is Jesus doing? Jesus is now living in us. We do not have to play a guessing game to try to figure out what Jesus would do. He wants to live His life through us.
Another familiar Christian question we hear is: What can we do for Jesus? Or: How can we win the world for Jesus? This question seems to ignore the fact that Jesus is living in us. The question should be: What does Jesus want to do through us? Or: How does Jesus want to win the world through us?
How did Jesus handle this same question when He was here on earth? Did they have bumper stickers on the chariots that said: WWGD? Or: what would God do? Did Jesus have to play the guessing game to figure out what God would do in certain circumstances?
We can look at the way Jesus lived while He was here as an example for our lives. He was/is a role model for the way we should live our lives. Let us take a look at how He lived.
John 5:19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless {it is} something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
How extraordinary. The Son of God cannot do anything of Himself. Here is another version of the same verse:
John 5:19 only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.
Jesus could do nothing of His own accord. He would only do what He saw His Father doing.
John 5:30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Jesus, the Son of God could do nothing on His own initiative. He only did what He heard God leading Him to do. He did not seek His own will. This tells us He had a will. Interesting. And, His will was not always God’s will but He did not seek His will rather gave up His will for His Father’s will.
Jesus says the same thing in another verse:
John 8:28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am {He,} and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
To underscore the way Jesus lived His life on this earth: He did nothing on His own initiative. The Father taught Him what to do and say. Jesus wanted to be remembered by this characteristic. When you lift me up is when He was going to be crucified. He could have said a lot of things that would have captured who He was, but He wanted to be remembered as one who did nothing on His own initiative. He was helping His disciples, and us, learn to distinguish between God at work in us and our own efforts.
John 12:49 "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment {as to} what to say and what to speak.
John 12:50 "I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me."
John 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Jesus was not taking glory for Himself but was teaching His disciples about how to live. We see a Jesus that was totally dependent on His Father, dependent on Him for everything, what to say and what to do. In fact, we see in this scripture that all of the works Jesus did were really the works of the Father. Jesus did His Father’s works, not His own. He was clarifying a truth, drawing a dividing line between Him and God, letting people know who was doing the works, not Jesus but God.
If Jesus did not take the initiative in His walk with God, are we to do more or less? Does God want us to do everything we can for Him? Or, does He want to do everything He can through us? In light of these scriptures, what would Jesus have said to that question?
What would Jesus do? He would do whatever the Father was telling Him to do. Why would we live our life differently than Jesus?
God lived in Jesus. Jesus lives in us. He wants us to have the same type of total dependency on Him that He had on the Father. This type of walk requires a relationship, a close, intimate relationship with Him. Without this relationship, we are going to be trying to guess what He would do rather than letting Him live His life through us.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the {life} which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Jesus is now living in us. This scripture depicts a life of total dependence on Him who now lives in us and wants to live His life through us.
Jesus spoke of the abundant life. When we let Him take the initiative as we live a life of total dependence on Him, abundant life flows through us. So, WIJD in your life?
Dead to Sin
Romans 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Romans 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:5 For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be {in the likeness} of His resurrection,
Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,}
Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ.
How could we have died with Christ on the cross? We were not alive back then. If we died with Him on the cross, what are the implications for our daily walk with Him?
Adam and Eve were lured into temptation by the god of this world and disobeyed their Creator. As a result of this fall, man developed a sin nature. We inherited this sin nature from our father, Adam, this nature that causes us to sin, from whence sin is born.
This death of the sin nature was an important aspect of the cross. The god of this world had a ball and chain around our ankles from the time of the fall, keeping us in bondage to sin. Jesus won our freedom as He died and allowed our sin nature to die with him on the cross. The second part of verse 6 in Romans 6 says: “in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin”.
Our old man had to die with Jesus so we would no longer be slaves to sin. Our freedom from sin comes through His and our death with Him. But, how could we have possibly have died with Jesus, 2000 years ago.
Hbr 7:9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, Hbr 7:10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
Levi was not born yet but he paid tithes to Melchizedek because he was in the loins of his father, Abraham. Likewise, we were in the loins of Jesus on the cross. Jesus took all of His children, born of the Spirit children, with Him to the cross so that we all died, our old sin nature died with Jesus and thus He freed us from sin through this death. Without this understanding imparted from the Lord, we walk as if our sin nature is alive, powerful and in control, living a defeated Christian walk, up and down with brief periods of freedom achieved through our self-efforts.
2 Corinthians 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, {he is} a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:5 For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be {in the likeness} of His resurrection,
Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,}
Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ.
How could we have died with Christ on the cross? We were not alive back then. If we died with Him on the cross, what are the implications for our daily walk with Him?
Adam and Eve were lured into temptation by the god of this world and disobeyed their Creator. As a result of this fall, man developed a sin nature. We inherited this sin nature from our father, Adam, this nature that causes us to sin, from whence sin is born.
This death of the sin nature was an important aspect of the cross. The god of this world had a ball and chain around our ankles from the time of the fall, keeping us in bondage to sin. Jesus won our freedom as He died and allowed our sin nature to die with him on the cross. The second part of verse 6 in Romans 6 says: “in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin”.
Our old man had to die with Jesus so we would no longer be slaves to sin. Our freedom from sin comes through His and our death with Him. But, how could we have possibly have died with Jesus, 2000 years ago.
Hbr 7:9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, Hbr 7:10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
Levi was not born yet but he paid tithes to Melchizedek because he was in the loins of his father, Abraham. Likewise, we were in the loins of Jesus on the cross. Jesus took all of His children, born of the Spirit children, with Him to the cross so that we all died, our old sin nature died with Jesus and thus He freed us from sin through this death. Without this understanding imparted from the Lord, we walk as if our sin nature is alive, powerful and in control, living a defeated Christian walk, up and down with brief periods of freedom achieved through our self-efforts.
2 Corinthians 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, {he is} a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Acceptance Through Performance
We all want to be accepted. Many of us rely on performance to achieve acceptance. As young children we try to win the approval of our parents. As students, we work hard to win the approval of our teachers. We want the acceptance of our peers so we conform our behavior accordingly. As employees, we want our employers to accept us so we work hard to please them.
Depending on which denomination we belong to, we conform to denominational practices to win the approval of fellow church members and God’s approval. All of these and many other examples are part of the reality of living in this world and in our society. We live in a performance based society. There is a direct correlation between our performance and our acceptance. Even the rebels of society, the drop-outs or nonconformists have their own performance criteria for winning acceptance from their fellow rebels or peers.
The Old Law was also based on performance. But, Jesus came and died on the cross. He put an end to winning acceptance through performance. Jesus paid the price through His shed blood for all of our sins. He paid the price for our acceptance. We have been justified through His blood. God accepts us because of what Jesus did. We cannot add to that acceptance or improve on it. We no longer have to perform to be accepted by God. He wants us to trust in Him and His Son’s death for us for our acceptance.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Galatians 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Philippians 3:9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from {the} Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which {comes} from God on the basis of faith,
This righteousness is not based on our performance, rather our faith in Jesus and His life and death for us, His performance for us. We are now accepted by God through our faith in Jesus.
This Godly and grace-based acceptance goes against our grain, against our nature, against our society. Our minds are programmed to win acceptance through performance. We are born into the Kingdom of God but still live in the world. We live in this world but are not of this world. We live in a performance based world but do not depend on our performance for God’s acceptance.
However, this strong tendency towards performance for acceptance easily slips into our relationship with God and the church. The reality of our world is largely based on performance. We cannot change this and have to walk in it every day. Even though God now accepts us because of His Son, we still have to please our boss, our teacher, our friends and so on. But, at the core of our being, we now find an acceptance from the almighty God, the creator of the world and universe. He loves us just as we are. He has made us into new creations and we have been justified, right now, just as we are. We have been cleansed by His blood. His Son lives in our hearts.
God knows and understands that a performance for acceptance system is in our veins, deeply ingrained in our society and world. He wants to deliver us from this superficial means of gaining acceptance to His Kingdom’s perspective on acceptance. This requires a major paradigm shift, one that is beyond our natural ability to change. Even though we still have to work and perform for worldly acceptance in our every day lives, He wants to impart His acceptance in the inner most core of our being. He wants us to know, where it really counts, that we are totally acceptable to Him because of His Son’s sacrifice.
As He makes this core acceptance real to us, we gradually become free from depending on the world around us for acceptance. We still live and work in the world, but our dependence for acceptance is shifted from our performance to Him and His Son’s death. Only God can deliver us from the performance forces at work around us.
Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; {and} that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Ephesians 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
Ephesians 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
We begin to see evidence of a paradigm shift towards His acceptance and away from a performance based acceptance when we accept others because Jesus accepts them. When we stop judging others based on their performance is when we know we are beginning to have faith in His acceptance of us. As His love and acceptance becomes more real, that love begins to permeate our being and flow from us to others. When we are able, through His Spirit, to comprehend His acceptance of us, we begin accepting others and imparting this wonderful, unearned, love to those around us.
Depending on which denomination we belong to, we conform to denominational practices to win the approval of fellow church members and God’s approval. All of these and many other examples are part of the reality of living in this world and in our society. We live in a performance based society. There is a direct correlation between our performance and our acceptance. Even the rebels of society, the drop-outs or nonconformists have their own performance criteria for winning acceptance from their fellow rebels or peers.
The Old Law was also based on performance. But, Jesus came and died on the cross. He put an end to winning acceptance through performance. Jesus paid the price through His shed blood for all of our sins. He paid the price for our acceptance. We have been justified through His blood. God accepts us because of what Jesus did. We cannot add to that acceptance or improve on it. We no longer have to perform to be accepted by God. He wants us to trust in Him and His Son’s death for us for our acceptance.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Galatians 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Philippians 3:9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from {the} Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which {comes} from God on the basis of faith,
This righteousness is not based on our performance, rather our faith in Jesus and His life and death for us, His performance for us. We are now accepted by God through our faith in Jesus.
This Godly and grace-based acceptance goes against our grain, against our nature, against our society. Our minds are programmed to win acceptance through performance. We are born into the Kingdom of God but still live in the world. We live in this world but are not of this world. We live in a performance based world but do not depend on our performance for God’s acceptance.
However, this strong tendency towards performance for acceptance easily slips into our relationship with God and the church. The reality of our world is largely based on performance. We cannot change this and have to walk in it every day. Even though God now accepts us because of His Son, we still have to please our boss, our teacher, our friends and so on. But, at the core of our being, we now find an acceptance from the almighty God, the creator of the world and universe. He loves us just as we are. He has made us into new creations and we have been justified, right now, just as we are. We have been cleansed by His blood. His Son lives in our hearts.
God knows and understands that a performance for acceptance system is in our veins, deeply ingrained in our society and world. He wants to deliver us from this superficial means of gaining acceptance to His Kingdom’s perspective on acceptance. This requires a major paradigm shift, one that is beyond our natural ability to change. Even though we still have to work and perform for worldly acceptance in our every day lives, He wants to impart His acceptance in the inner most core of our being. He wants us to know, where it really counts, that we are totally acceptable to Him because of His Son’s sacrifice.
As He makes this core acceptance real to us, we gradually become free from depending on the world around us for acceptance. We still live and work in the world, but our dependence for acceptance is shifted from our performance to Him and His Son’s death. Only God can deliver us from the performance forces at work around us.
Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; {and} that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Ephesians 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
Ephesians 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
We begin to see evidence of a paradigm shift towards His acceptance and away from a performance based acceptance when we accept others because Jesus accepts them. When we stop judging others based on their performance is when we know we are beginning to have faith in His acceptance of us. As His love and acceptance becomes more real, that love begins to permeate our being and flow from us to others. When we are able, through His Spirit, to comprehend His acceptance of us, we begin accepting others and imparting this wonderful, unearned, love to those around us.
Abide in Me
John 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither {can} you unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Jesus is telling us to abide in Him. The example He gives is the same way a branch is connected to the vine. A branch is totally dependent on the vine for everything.
Jesus is calling us into a vine/branch type of relationship. The word “abide” means to live in, to dwell, to stay or remain. Jesus is talking about us living in Him, always, every day in a constant state of dependence. The vine is not dependent on the branch but the branch is dependent on the vine.
The vine/branch relationship is a close, intimate relationship. Jesus desires this close personal relationship with us. He, as the vine, desires an intimate relationship more than we do. He wants to supply all of our needs, to be the source of our life, our hope, our strength.
John 17:21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, {are} in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Jesus is describing something incredible. He is talking about His oneness with the Father. He says the Father is in Him and He is in the Father. This is a special kind of oneness He and the Father enjoy. Jesus asked the Father for us to be included in their special oneness. He is asking that we be made part of their intimate union: …”that they also may be in Us”. This request goes beyond our ability to comprehend. Is it possible for us to be one with Jesus and God the same way Jesus was one with the Father?
It must be possible because Jesus prayed for this oneness to occur. Not only is it is possible, He wants it to be a way of life for us.
We become connected to the vine when we accept Jesus as our savior. Some pretty amazing things happened on the cross. Our sins were forgiven, our old nature was crucified with Him, we were justified, accepted by God, made into new creations, born into the kingdom of God and grafted into the vine (Jesus). He gives us power to live this vine/branch relationship.
2 Peter 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
2 Peter 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of {the} divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
His divine power has granted to us everything we need. We have become partakers of His divine nature. His divine nature is the vine. Everything we need is in the vine as His nature flows through us, the branches. In place of the old sinful nature, we now have the divine nature flowing through us. He has made us one with His nature the same way Jesus is one with God’s nature.
There is a reason Jesus said, …”apart from Me you can do nothing”. He knows this is our tendency, to try to live for Him, apart from Him. He is constantly drawing us towards Him, towards this intimate union so we can dwell in Him, daily. He wants to teach us to live in Him. He wants to teach us about this vine/branch relationship. He wants us to be totally dependent on Him for everything. Jesus was very clear in defining who we are. “I am the vine, you are the branches”. There is no room for misinterpretation. He is making it clear about how dependent we are on Him. “Apart from Me you can do nothing”: pretty clear. How do we relate to Jesus? The same way a branch relates to the vine.
What is the result of abiding in Him? We will produce much fruit. Fruit is mentioned early on in these verses. He said the branch cannot bear fruit by itself. However, our focus is on abiding, not producing fruit. As hard as a branch may try, it cannot produce fruit on its own. Producing fruit is an important part of our relationship with Jesus. But, He does not say, “Produce fruit, then you will abide in Me”. The abiding comes first.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
When we try to live for Him, apart from Him, on our own efforts, in the flesh, focusing on the fruit, away from the intimacy He wants, we are not living in Him but in ourselves. There is an incredible, mysterious, miraculous way of life available to us each day as we learn to abide in the same oneness Jesus and the Father share. Why would we want to live apart from Him? Mostly it is because we do not understand this abiding, branch/vine relationship that is available. He is calling us into a place of dependent intimacy with Him to partake of His nature, to be one with Him so His life can flow through us and produce everlasting fruit. During this intimate, dependent relationship, He will be leading and guiding us in following Him each day. As we follow, fruit grows and develops because we are one with Him in this branch/vine relationship.
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Jesus is telling us to abide in Him. The example He gives is the same way a branch is connected to the vine. A branch is totally dependent on the vine for everything.
Jesus is calling us into a vine/branch type of relationship. The word “abide” means to live in, to dwell, to stay or remain. Jesus is talking about us living in Him, always, every day in a constant state of dependence. The vine is not dependent on the branch but the branch is dependent on the vine.
The vine/branch relationship is a close, intimate relationship. Jesus desires this close personal relationship with us. He, as the vine, desires an intimate relationship more than we do. He wants to supply all of our needs, to be the source of our life, our hope, our strength.
John 17:21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, {are} in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Jesus is describing something incredible. He is talking about His oneness with the Father. He says the Father is in Him and He is in the Father. This is a special kind of oneness He and the Father enjoy. Jesus asked the Father for us to be included in their special oneness. He is asking that we be made part of their intimate union: …”that they also may be in Us”. This request goes beyond our ability to comprehend. Is it possible for us to be one with Jesus and God the same way Jesus was one with the Father?
It must be possible because Jesus prayed for this oneness to occur. Not only is it is possible, He wants it to be a way of life for us.
We become connected to the vine when we accept Jesus as our savior. Some pretty amazing things happened on the cross. Our sins were forgiven, our old nature was crucified with Him, we were justified, accepted by God, made into new creations, born into the kingdom of God and grafted into the vine (Jesus). He gives us power to live this vine/branch relationship.
2 Peter 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
2 Peter 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of {the} divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
His divine power has granted to us everything we need. We have become partakers of His divine nature. His divine nature is the vine. Everything we need is in the vine as His nature flows through us, the branches. In place of the old sinful nature, we now have the divine nature flowing through us. He has made us one with His nature the same way Jesus is one with God’s nature.
There is a reason Jesus said, …”apart from Me you can do nothing”. He knows this is our tendency, to try to live for Him, apart from Him. He is constantly drawing us towards Him, towards this intimate union so we can dwell in Him, daily. He wants to teach us to live in Him. He wants to teach us about this vine/branch relationship. He wants us to be totally dependent on Him for everything. Jesus was very clear in defining who we are. “I am the vine, you are the branches”. There is no room for misinterpretation. He is making it clear about how dependent we are on Him. “Apart from Me you can do nothing”: pretty clear. How do we relate to Jesus? The same way a branch relates to the vine.
What is the result of abiding in Him? We will produce much fruit. Fruit is mentioned early on in these verses. He said the branch cannot bear fruit by itself. However, our focus is on abiding, not producing fruit. As hard as a branch may try, it cannot produce fruit on its own. Producing fruit is an important part of our relationship with Jesus. But, He does not say, “Produce fruit, then you will abide in Me”. The abiding comes first.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
When we try to live for Him, apart from Him, on our own efforts, in the flesh, focusing on the fruit, away from the intimacy He wants, we are not living in Him but in ourselves. There is an incredible, mysterious, miraculous way of life available to us each day as we learn to abide in the same oneness Jesus and the Father share. Why would we want to live apart from Him? Mostly it is because we do not understand this abiding, branch/vine relationship that is available. He is calling us into a place of dependent intimacy with Him to partake of His nature, to be one with Him so His life can flow through us and produce everlasting fruit. During this intimate, dependent relationship, He will be leading and guiding us in following Him each day. As we follow, fruit grows and develops because we are one with Him in this branch/vine relationship.
Apart from Jesus
In the last section, we touched upon the wonder and mystery of the vine/branch relationship we have with Jesus. He was very clear in communicating our role: we are the branch, totally dependent on Him, the vine. This vine/branch picture is also calling us into an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus.
In the same scripture, Jesus makes the statement that we can do nothing apart from Him.
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Our tendency is to forgo the vine/branch relationship and try following Him on our own, apart from Him. To side step or ignore the dependent relationship is to miss the heart of the Christian walk. In fact, all of the New Testament can be read through the prism of this vine/branch relationship. When we leave the vine/branch relationship out of our walk, and out of the application of the Word for our lives, we are trying to live the Christian life apart from Him.
Approaching this from another direction, we can say that if we are walking in this vine/branch type of relationship with Jesus, we are going to be doing His will. He will reveal His word and will for our lives through the relationship. When we are walking in the vine/branch relation, He will be living His life through us.
If we circumvent the relationship, we are going to miss His will for our daily lives. Jesus is calling us into a total dependency on Him the same way a branch is dependent on the vine. Why would we place so many other Christian things higher on the priority list and forget the relationship? We can miss this truth because we do not understand the importance that Jesus places on the nature of our relationship with Him.
For instance, look at one of the most quoted scriptures in the New Testament:
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
This has been called the “Great Commandment”. In all sincerity and enthusiasm to please the Lord, we often read this scripture and feel immediate pressure to obey the great command. How many times have you heard someone say, “God will honor our efforts to evangelize through this program or that mission trip because we are obeying this command”? Are our efforts to obey this scripture a result of a close, intimate relationship with the vine? Has the Lord been speaking to us through this dependent relationship? Or, are we trying to obey this scripture apart from Him? If it is not happening through the relationship it is apart from Him, no matter how well intentioned.
When we are walking in the vine/branch relationship, He will be using us to live out this scripture. This scripture will be fulfilled through the relationship we have with Jesus. It may not be fulfilled in the way we would devise, but He will produce the fruit of leading people to Him through our vine/branch type of relationship. When we try accomplishing this scripture apart from the relationship, we can produce fruit but it is imitation fruit, plastic fruit.
As we read through the book of Acts, we will see the hand of the Spirit leading the apostles on their evangelistic trips. Jesus taught them first hand about their relationship to the vine. Many converts were led to the Lord through the apostle’s dependent relationship with Jesus. To miss out on this aspect of evangelism is to attempt evangelizing apart from Him. Our dependency on Jesus is the basis for all of our actions and works. To engage in spiritual activity outside of the relationship is to act apart from Him. When our focus is on the vine, letting the vine pour forth His life through us, leading us, empowering us, He will accomplish His works, fulfilling His word and His will.
Paul understood the vine/branch relationship:
Philippians 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
Philippians 3:9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from {the} Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which {comes} from God on the basis of faith,
Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
He counted all things as loss for the surpassing value of knowing Jesus. All things he accomplished, apart from Him, were counted as rubbish. Apart from Him, he could do nothing, abiding in Him, he could do all things.
Jesus did nothing on His own initiative. He is our role model. He lived a vine/branch dependent relationship with the Father.
We are an initiative taking people, it is part of our DNA. An aspect of our total dependence on the vine is to let the vine (Jesus) take the initiative in everything the same way He let His Father take the initiative. When we take the initiative, no matter how well intentioned or scripturally based, if He is not the initiator, then we are acting apart from Him. When we take the initiative in starting some type of program or ministry to fulfill the Great Command or any other scripture, on our own initiative, we are trying to accomplish the task or work on our own power, apart from Him.
To rely on Jesus or the vine to take the initiative puts great emphasis on the relationship. It is through this intimacy and dependency that we understand His leading, His will for our daily lives. It says in Romans that the children of God are led by His Spirit. He leads, we follow. This puts us in a very dependent mode which goes against our pride, our desire to get things done. To allow Him to lead, to take the initiative is a very humble way of life and is probably one of the most difficult lessons we continually learn.
In the same scripture, Jesus makes the statement that we can do nothing apart from Him.
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Our tendency is to forgo the vine/branch relationship and try following Him on our own, apart from Him. To side step or ignore the dependent relationship is to miss the heart of the Christian walk. In fact, all of the New Testament can be read through the prism of this vine/branch relationship. When we leave the vine/branch relationship out of our walk, and out of the application of the Word for our lives, we are trying to live the Christian life apart from Him.
Approaching this from another direction, we can say that if we are walking in this vine/branch type of relationship with Jesus, we are going to be doing His will. He will reveal His word and will for our lives through the relationship. When we are walking in the vine/branch relation, He will be living His life through us.
If we circumvent the relationship, we are going to miss His will for our daily lives. Jesus is calling us into a total dependency on Him the same way a branch is dependent on the vine. Why would we place so many other Christian things higher on the priority list and forget the relationship? We can miss this truth because we do not understand the importance that Jesus places on the nature of our relationship with Him.
For instance, look at one of the most quoted scriptures in the New Testament:
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
This has been called the “Great Commandment”. In all sincerity and enthusiasm to please the Lord, we often read this scripture and feel immediate pressure to obey the great command. How many times have you heard someone say, “God will honor our efforts to evangelize through this program or that mission trip because we are obeying this command”? Are our efforts to obey this scripture a result of a close, intimate relationship with the vine? Has the Lord been speaking to us through this dependent relationship? Or, are we trying to obey this scripture apart from Him? If it is not happening through the relationship it is apart from Him, no matter how well intentioned.
When we are walking in the vine/branch relationship, He will be using us to live out this scripture. This scripture will be fulfilled through the relationship we have with Jesus. It may not be fulfilled in the way we would devise, but He will produce the fruit of leading people to Him through our vine/branch type of relationship. When we try accomplishing this scripture apart from the relationship, we can produce fruit but it is imitation fruit, plastic fruit.
As we read through the book of Acts, we will see the hand of the Spirit leading the apostles on their evangelistic trips. Jesus taught them first hand about their relationship to the vine. Many converts were led to the Lord through the apostle’s dependent relationship with Jesus. To miss out on this aspect of evangelism is to attempt evangelizing apart from Him. Our dependency on Jesus is the basis for all of our actions and works. To engage in spiritual activity outside of the relationship is to act apart from Him. When our focus is on the vine, letting the vine pour forth His life through us, leading us, empowering us, He will accomplish His works, fulfilling His word and His will.
Paul understood the vine/branch relationship:
Philippians 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
Philippians 3:9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from {the} Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which {comes} from God on the basis of faith,
Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
He counted all things as loss for the surpassing value of knowing Jesus. All things he accomplished, apart from Him, were counted as rubbish. Apart from Him, he could do nothing, abiding in Him, he could do all things.
Jesus did nothing on His own initiative. He is our role model. He lived a vine/branch dependent relationship with the Father.
We are an initiative taking people, it is part of our DNA. An aspect of our total dependence on the vine is to let the vine (Jesus) take the initiative in everything the same way He let His Father take the initiative. When we take the initiative, no matter how well intentioned or scripturally based, if He is not the initiator, then we are acting apart from Him. When we take the initiative in starting some type of program or ministry to fulfill the Great Command or any other scripture, on our own initiative, we are trying to accomplish the task or work on our own power, apart from Him.
To rely on Jesus or the vine to take the initiative puts great emphasis on the relationship. It is through this intimacy and dependency that we understand His leading, His will for our daily lives. It says in Romans that the children of God are led by His Spirit. He leads, we follow. This puts us in a very dependent mode which goes against our pride, our desire to get things done. To allow Him to lead, to take the initiative is a very humble way of life and is probably one of the most difficult lessons we continually learn.
Did Jesus Have a Will?
God wants His will to be accomplished in our daily lives. He expresses His will for us through His Spirit and through the vine/branch relationship. When we yield to His will in a situation, we are obeying His command, we are following His Spirit. As we yield to His will, He is being expressed through us, His life is being expressed through us, His love is being expressed through us. His will is for us to be in a vine/branch relationship with His Son. His will is for us to be totally dependent on His Son. His will is for us to follow His Spirit each day, thus obeying His command. When we yield to His will, His love is expressed through us.
We have a free will. God has given us the ability to choose to decide if we will follow Him or not. Adam and Eve decided not to obey God. Satan and his angels decided not to obey God. Jesus decided to obey God.
Our will has one priority; us and our survival. It usually runs counter to God’s will. Jesus lived 33 years. He lived a perfect life in that He did not sin and obeyed God in every aspect of His life on earth. Jesus had a will. His will was not in line with God’s will. You would think that after 33 years of walking with His Father, His will would have been the same as God’s will. Even up to the last hours, His will was not the same as God’s will.
Matthew 26:39 And He went a little beyond {them,} and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."
It was not His will to be crucified. He submitted to God’s will. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He was also human and had a human will just like we do. Jesus knew His crucifixion was near and yet His will struggled with God’s will. He told His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him. This is what Jesus was doing in the garden. He was denying His will and submitting to God’s will. To follow Him, we must deny ourselves, our will.
Matthew 16:25 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Losing our lives goes against our will but this is a way of life in the Spirit. When we obey His will, we will be denying our will, denying ourselves, losing our life to find His. When we obey His commands, we will be giving up our will for His. We give up our lives for His to flow through us. A Godly love is one that puts others first, one that lays down its life for others, one that values the needs of others before our needs. This type of love goes against our will.
Our focus is not on giving up our will rather our focus is on Him, the vine, on following the Spirit each day and in doing so, we will be denying ourselves, yielding our will for His. We do not have to fret over distinguishing His will from ours. He will teach us to discern through the vine/branch relationship.
We have a free will. God has given us the ability to choose to decide if we will follow Him or not. Adam and Eve decided not to obey God. Satan and his angels decided not to obey God. Jesus decided to obey God.
Our will has one priority; us and our survival. It usually runs counter to God’s will. Jesus lived 33 years. He lived a perfect life in that He did not sin and obeyed God in every aspect of His life on earth. Jesus had a will. His will was not in line with God’s will. You would think that after 33 years of walking with His Father, His will would have been the same as God’s will. Even up to the last hours, His will was not the same as God’s will.
Matthew 26:39 And He went a little beyond {them,} and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."
It was not His will to be crucified. He submitted to God’s will. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, He was also human and had a human will just like we do. Jesus knew His crucifixion was near and yet His will struggled with God’s will. He told His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him. This is what Jesus was doing in the garden. He was denying His will and submitting to God’s will. To follow Him, we must deny ourselves, our will.
Matthew 16:25 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Losing our lives goes against our will but this is a way of life in the Spirit. When we obey His will, we will be denying our will, denying ourselves, losing our life to find His. When we obey His commands, we will be giving up our will for His. We give up our lives for His to flow through us. A Godly love is one that puts others first, one that lays down its life for others, one that values the needs of others before our needs. This type of love goes against our will.
Our focus is not on giving up our will rather our focus is on Him, the vine, on following the Spirit each day and in doing so, we will be denying ourselves, yielding our will for His. We do not have to fret over distinguishing His will from ours. He will teach us to discern through the vine/branch relationship.
His Will Is Our Spiritual Food
John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
God’s love and commandments go hand in hand, they are not a burden to follow. Walking in His will is the same as walking in His commandments. We do not follow Him through our will power but rather, we submit our will, we deny ourselves and follow Him. We follow Him through the Spirit that lives in us. We follow Him through the vine/branch relationship. We follow Him as He leads. He is not going to lead us into a place we are not able to follow for He is love. Following Him and abiding in His love are one in the same.
What is God’s will? It is simply what God wants, what He wants for us and in our lives. Our wills are used to being in charge, the commander-in-chief. We, however, no longer belong to ourselves, to our will. We have been bought with a price, have been redeemed and now belong to God. His will is now the commander-in-chief. This is not an easy thing for our wills to accept. In fact, it is a daily struggle. Our will is constantly trying to regain the commander position. It is not like our will finally gets the message and submits, willingly giving up control. No, it daily tries to command us and does so for the rest of our lives.
John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Something incredible and amazing happens when we give up our will, daily, and follow God’s will for us. His life is expressed through us as His will is followed. Eternal life, and the amazing love of God, are expressed through us as we follow His daily commands.
God’s will is full of wisdom and love for us. We follow His will daily in faith. Sometimes we may have insight into the wisdom of His will for a particular leading in our daily circumstance. At other times, we may not understand why He is leading us but we follow in faith, believing He knows best. We may even reason with ourselves that there are 20 better pathways we could take rather than the one we believe He wants us to take. At times, we will get it wrong and mistake our will for His. Or, we may stubbornly refuse to go His way. He will teach us about walking in His will through the vine/branch relationship.
We now belong to Him and walking in His will is our number one priority. If it is not, He will lovingly bring us to the place of yielding to His will daily. It is through our obedience to His commands that His life and love are expressed through us to others. As we walk in these commands, through the guidance of His Spirit, fruit will be produced in our lives and in those around us.
Now that we are born again into the kingdom of God, born of the Spirit with Jesus living in us through the Holy Spirit, partakers of His divine nature, we need a different type of food. We need spiritual food for our sustenance. What is this new food? How do we eat of this new, spiritual food?
John 6:48 "I am the bread of life.
John 6:56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
Compare John 6:56 with John 15:10:
“If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love…”
Eating His flesh and drinking His blood are the same as keeping His commandments. When we eat His flesh we abide in Him. When we keep His commandments, we abide in Him. He is our bread. We partake of Him when we follow Him, when we keep His commandments, when we walk in His Spirit. His words are spirit and life. When we keep His words, as He speaks them to us daily, we are eating this bread of life.
John 4:31-34 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." 32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33 So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him {anything} to eat, did he?" 34 Jesus *said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
When we follow His commands, follow His leading, we are eating of the bread of life, we are eating His flesh and blood. This is now our food, to do His will and in doing so, His words abide in us. When we eat food in the natural, we swallow the food, it then becomes part of us. When we do His will, daily, we eat of Him, His words or commands and He abides in us.
Just as a branch takes nourishment from the vine, our nourishment or food comes from doing His will which is the same as eating of the bread of life, Jesus.
God’s love and commandments go hand in hand, they are not a burden to follow. Walking in His will is the same as walking in His commandments. We do not follow Him through our will power but rather, we submit our will, we deny ourselves and follow Him. We follow Him through the Spirit that lives in us. We follow Him through the vine/branch relationship. We follow Him as He leads. He is not going to lead us into a place we are not able to follow for He is love. Following Him and abiding in His love are one in the same.
What is God’s will? It is simply what God wants, what He wants for us and in our lives. Our wills are used to being in charge, the commander-in-chief. We, however, no longer belong to ourselves, to our will. We have been bought with a price, have been redeemed and now belong to God. His will is now the commander-in-chief. This is not an easy thing for our wills to accept. In fact, it is a daily struggle. Our will is constantly trying to regain the commander position. It is not like our will finally gets the message and submits, willingly giving up control. No, it daily tries to command us and does so for the rest of our lives.
John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Something incredible and amazing happens when we give up our will, daily, and follow God’s will for us. His life is expressed through us as His will is followed. Eternal life, and the amazing love of God, are expressed through us as we follow His daily commands.
God’s will is full of wisdom and love for us. We follow His will daily in faith. Sometimes we may have insight into the wisdom of His will for a particular leading in our daily circumstance. At other times, we may not understand why He is leading us but we follow in faith, believing He knows best. We may even reason with ourselves that there are 20 better pathways we could take rather than the one we believe He wants us to take. At times, we will get it wrong and mistake our will for His. Or, we may stubbornly refuse to go His way. He will teach us about walking in His will through the vine/branch relationship.
We now belong to Him and walking in His will is our number one priority. If it is not, He will lovingly bring us to the place of yielding to His will daily. It is through our obedience to His commands that His life and love are expressed through us to others. As we walk in these commands, through the guidance of His Spirit, fruit will be produced in our lives and in those around us.
Now that we are born again into the kingdom of God, born of the Spirit with Jesus living in us through the Holy Spirit, partakers of His divine nature, we need a different type of food. We need spiritual food for our sustenance. What is this new food? How do we eat of this new, spiritual food?
John 6:48 "I am the bread of life.
John 6:56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
Compare John 6:56 with John 15:10:
“If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love…”
Eating His flesh and drinking His blood are the same as keeping His commandments. When we eat His flesh we abide in Him. When we keep His commandments, we abide in Him. He is our bread. We partake of Him when we follow Him, when we keep His commandments, when we walk in His Spirit. His words are spirit and life. When we keep His words, as He speaks them to us daily, we are eating this bread of life.
John 4:31-34 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." 32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33 So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him {anything} to eat, did he?" 34 Jesus *said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
When we follow His commands, follow His leading, we are eating of the bread of life, we are eating His flesh and blood. This is now our food, to do His will and in doing so, His words abide in us. When we eat food in the natural, we swallow the food, it then becomes part of us. When we do His will, daily, we eat of Him, His words or commands and He abides in us.
Just as a branch takes nourishment from the vine, our nourishment or food comes from doing His will which is the same as eating of the bread of life, Jesus.
Praying in His Name
How does prayer fit in this vine/branch relationship? Jesus said He did nothing on His own initiative so He did not pray on His own initiative. His number one priority was to do His Father’s will. Jesus did not pray for His will to be accomplished, rather, He prayed for His Father’s will to be accomplished.
1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
He wants us to ask according to His will, not according to our will. He will hear our prayer as we pray according to His will.
We can pray according to our will. Or, we can pray according to His will.
Romans 8:26-27 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for {us} with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to {the will of} God.
We do not know how to pray. This truth can be very humbling. We are dependent on the Spirit to teach us how to pray. In fact, the Spirit intercedes for us. The Spirit has an advantage, He knows the mind of God.
The goal for our prayer is to pray according to the will of God. How do we know the will of God? We know and learn of His will through the vine/branch relationship. As we follow Him, obey His commands, trust Him, we get to know Him. As we walk in His Spirit and obey His leading, then His life and love are expressed through us. This is where our prayers should be centered, on His will being done in our lives so His life and love can be expressed through us. Spiritual fruit is then produced and God is glorified.
How do we know how to pray for our needs and the needs of others? We don’t know. We are dependent on Him to lead us and teach us how to pray, how to seek His will in the midst of needs.
He will use our prayers to accomplish His will. He wants us to pray according to His will so He can work and minister.
John 14:13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Jesus lives in us through His Spirit. We abide in Him as a branch abides in the vine. When we ask something in the name of Jesus, it is the same as if Jesus is asking of the Father. When we pray according to the way He wants us to pray, with Him taking the initiative, leading us, He will answer the prayer. It is the same as if Jesus were asking the request and the Father is not going to deny a request from His Son.
The result of prayer in His name, God is glorified in the Son. He is glorified in the Son because the prayer was prayed in His name. The prayer was not in our name or in our will or according to our will. The prayer is according to His will and He is glorified. If it were according to our will, we would be glorified.
John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
If we are abiding in Him and He is abiding in us, our wish is going to be His will. We are not going to be wishing something selfish. If we are abiding in Him and Him in us, we are not going to be praying according to our will but His. The abiding Jesus is describing in John 15:7 is oneness that comes from the vine/branch relationship. We are totally dependent on Him as His divine nature flows through us and will be in tune with His wishes. His wishes become our wishes. We submit our will for His and pray according to His will.
Jesus did not come down to this earth to do His will but rather, He came to do His Father’s will. He is a role model for us. Jesus did not pray for His will but prayed for His Father’s will to be done.
John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
The Spirit in us is interceding for us according to the will of God. When we pray a prayer led by the Spirit, in Jesus’ name, it is the same as Jesus praying to the Father. How do we know what the Spirit wants to pray? We know through the close, dependent relationship with Jesus. We learn to recognize His voice, His leading in prayer. He wants us to have the same kind of dependent, close prayer-relationship with Him that He had with the Father.
To attempt to pray on our own understanding is to pray apart from Him. Romans 8:26 says we do not know how to pray as we should. We need help. When we pray according to His will, in the name of Jesus, He is going to answer our prayer and He will be glorified. Our number one priority is for His will to be done in our lives and He wants to teach us to pray for His will in every circumstance.
1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
He wants us to ask according to His will, not according to our will. He will hear our prayer as we pray according to His will.
We can pray according to our will. Or, we can pray according to His will.
Romans 8:26-27 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for {us} with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to {the will of} God.
We do not know how to pray. This truth can be very humbling. We are dependent on the Spirit to teach us how to pray. In fact, the Spirit intercedes for us. The Spirit has an advantage, He knows the mind of God.
The goal for our prayer is to pray according to the will of God. How do we know the will of God? We know and learn of His will through the vine/branch relationship. As we follow Him, obey His commands, trust Him, we get to know Him. As we walk in His Spirit and obey His leading, then His life and love are expressed through us. This is where our prayers should be centered, on His will being done in our lives so His life and love can be expressed through us. Spiritual fruit is then produced and God is glorified.
How do we know how to pray for our needs and the needs of others? We don’t know. We are dependent on Him to lead us and teach us how to pray, how to seek His will in the midst of needs.
He will use our prayers to accomplish His will. He wants us to pray according to His will so He can work and minister.
John 14:13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Jesus lives in us through His Spirit. We abide in Him as a branch abides in the vine. When we ask something in the name of Jesus, it is the same as if Jesus is asking of the Father. When we pray according to the way He wants us to pray, with Him taking the initiative, leading us, He will answer the prayer. It is the same as if Jesus were asking the request and the Father is not going to deny a request from His Son.
The result of prayer in His name, God is glorified in the Son. He is glorified in the Son because the prayer was prayed in His name. The prayer was not in our name or in our will or according to our will. The prayer is according to His will and He is glorified. If it were according to our will, we would be glorified.
John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
If we are abiding in Him and He is abiding in us, our wish is going to be His will. We are not going to be wishing something selfish. If we are abiding in Him and Him in us, we are not going to be praying according to our will but His. The abiding Jesus is describing in John 15:7 is oneness that comes from the vine/branch relationship. We are totally dependent on Him as His divine nature flows through us and will be in tune with His wishes. His wishes become our wishes. We submit our will for His and pray according to His will.
Jesus did not come down to this earth to do His will but rather, He came to do His Father’s will. He is a role model for us. Jesus did not pray for His will but prayed for His Father’s will to be done.
John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
The Spirit in us is interceding for us according to the will of God. When we pray a prayer led by the Spirit, in Jesus’ name, it is the same as Jesus praying to the Father. How do we know what the Spirit wants to pray? We know through the close, dependent relationship with Jesus. We learn to recognize His voice, His leading in prayer. He wants us to have the same kind of dependent, close prayer-relationship with Him that He had with the Father.
To attempt to pray on our own understanding is to pray apart from Him. Romans 8:26 says we do not know how to pray as we should. We need help. When we pray according to His will, in the name of Jesus, He is going to answer our prayer and He will be glorified. Our number one priority is for His will to be done in our lives and He wants to teach us to pray for His will in every circumstance.
The Deeds of the Flesh
Joshua 10
25 Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight." 26 Then Joshua struck and killed the kings and hung them on five trees, and they were left hanging on the trees until evening.
28 That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho.
40 So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. 41 Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. 42 All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
The Lord gave the promised land to Israel. Their victory was assured. However, they had many enemies to overcome. They were delivered from bondage in Egypt, spent 40 years wandering in the desert; now they were entering the promised land under the leadership of Joshua.
Even though they had many battles left to fight they were assured victory from the Lord. Similarly, Jesus now leads us into the promised land of eternal life in the Spirit. Likewise, He has delivered us from bondage to sin. And, just as with Israel, we have many battles to fight but have the assurance of His victory.
Gal 5 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. Rom 8 13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. He has given us victory but we are still in a war.
His Spirit will lead us in battle and there is only one result He will accept of our enemy, the flesh—death.
The Lord gave the promised land to Israel. Their victory was assured. However, they had many enemies to overcome. They were delivered from bondage in Egypt, spent 40 years wandering in the desert; now they were entering the promised land under the leadership of Joshua.
Even though they had many battles left to fight they were assured victory from the Lord. Similarly, Jesus now leads us into the promised land of eternal life in the Spirit. Likewise, He has delivered us from bondage to sin. And, just as with Israel, we have many battles to fight but have the assurance of His victory.
Gal 5 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. Rom 8 13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. He has given us victory but we are still in a war.
His Spirit will lead us in battle and there is only one result He will accept of our enemy, the flesh—death.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
In Christ
In Christ
Made Alive
Established and Anointed
Triumphant
Able to see Him
A New Creation
Reconciled
Free
One
Full of His Grace
His Workmanship
22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
21Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
14But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.
17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
4But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.
28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
7so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
In Christ we are:
Made Alive
Established and Anointed
Triumphant
Able to see Him
A New Creation
Reconciled
Free
One
Full of His Grace
His Workmanship
What an amazing thing to be in Christ!
Made Alive
Established and Anointed
Triumphant
Able to see Him
A New Creation
Reconciled
Free
One
Full of His Grace
His Workmanship
22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
21Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.
14But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.
17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
4But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.
28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
7so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
In Christ we are:
Made Alive
Established and Anointed
Triumphant
Able to see Him
A New Creation
Reconciled
Free
One
Full of His Grace
His Workmanship
What an amazing thing to be in Christ!
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