Saturday, May 14, 2016

No Longer a Sinner - Changed into His Glory



Free stock photo of landscape, mountains, nature, fog


We are not only in Christ positionally, but we are in Christ practically and experientially as well. We are set free now from the bondage to the flesh that Paul describes in Romans 7.

We do not have to wait to go to heaven in order to walk in the freedom from sin that Paul found through the power of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ; because at salvation, this law sets us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

Whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). We enjoy this freedom now, not just in eternity. The veil is removed from our eyes at salvation, and we see and reflect the glory of the Lord as we walk in the Spirit.

God's Spirit makes us more like Jesus every day as we mature spiritually, pray without ceasing and walk continually in obedience to the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).

We are predestined to be conformed the His image (Romans 8:29). We no longer allow Satan to squeeze us into the mold of this world, but are transformed by renewing our mind by the washing of the water of the Word (Romans 12:12; Ephesians 5:26).

If we sin, we break God's heart; and we would never want to break the heart of the One who loved us enough to die for us. Therefore, we make no provision for our flesh and the flesh loses its desire to sin (Romans 13:14).

As we used to live in the image of the world and the flesh, we now live like Christ, in the image of the spiritual man (1 Corinthians 15:49). The old flesh died, and we are now a new creature in Christ (Colossians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22-24).

We are renewed in the knowledge of Christ who dwells within us (Colossians 3:10). Jesus gave us the glory, which our Father gave to Him; so that we may live in union with the Father and the Son (John 17:22). We are filled with Him through our entire being (Ephesians 3:16).

Prayer:
Father God, You created us in the image of Jesus and gave us His divine nature by Your Spirit (2 Peter 1:4). We are no longer sinners, but Saints who are free to walk in the fruit of Your Spirit and to choose life rather than sin and death. Do not allow us to fall under the lie of Satan that we will never be free from sin on this side of heaven.

Remind us that Christ in all of His divinity abides within us and we have His nature now as our own. A nature that is free from the power and the practice of sin as we walk in the Spirit and do not fulfill the lusts of that old, dead carnal nature (Galatians 2:20, 5:15-25).

Thought for the Day:
We are already crucified and risen with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us; and the life which we now live in this mortal body is accomplished through the faith of Christ in us. - Galatians 2:20