Page 10 - lifeandgrace
P. 10
Life of Grace in Jesus
(A letter written to a brother in Asia.)
Dear Brother in Christ,
I have no plans to travel to Asia or anywhere in your part of the world at this time. However, I have
attached several of our current teachings to this e-mail.
Frankly speaking, the gospel being preached around the world is frequently only a part of the total
gospel which Paul preached. Paul preached a gospel of liberty in Christ. Our re-birth (being born again of
the Spirit) provides much more than we normally preach. We really are changed inside - our inmost self
is totally renewed. It is alive in Christ and Christ lives in us in reality - not just some Christian thought
and not just “positionally” or “legally.” Jesus will live out His life through us just as His heavenly Father
lived out His life through Jesus. Jesus never did anything except what the Father was doing nor said
anything other than what the Father was saying. When you saw Jesus, you saw the Father. This was not
because He was God, though He was. It was in His total manhood. Though God, he really was one of us
(fully man) though without sin.
Many people think Jesus did what He did because He was God, and we cannot do it. But this is not
true. He is indeed our example. He did His miracles with the same spiritual gifts listed in the bible that
were given to the church. We can do likewise. More importantly, each and every Christian can learn to
hear the indwelling Jesus and be guided by Jesus - day by day, moment by moment - just as Jesus was
guided by the Father day after day.
Paul teaches us in the book of Romans that we are dead to sin and dead to the law. We do not relate to
God by trying to keep the law. Telling new Christians they must keep the law of God is setting them up
for failure just as the Jews could not keep the laws God gave them. The law is intended only for
unbelievers to show them they are sinners. [(1 Tim 1:8-11 NKJV) "But we know that the law is good if
one uses it lawfully, 9knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the
lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of
fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for
liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11according to the
glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust."] But we are no longer identified
as "sinners". That is not who we are. We are saints of God.
Do we sin? Yes, most of us sin from time to time. But that does not change our identity and that must
not be the focus of our life. Just as you were born into a certain family and can never change that, so
Christians are born into the kingdom - they are now "in Christ" and no amount of sinning will change
that. They are still "saints" as the bible teaches over and over.
We can never succeed to overcome if we do not know who we are in Christ. But when we begin to
understand who we are, we can begin to act like our true identity. You, brother, are a saint. You, brother,
are now "in Christ". You were crucified with Christ. (Gal 2:20 NKJV) "I have been crucified with
Christ; 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 for me."
You died and went to the grave with Christ just as the bible teaches. (But in the eternal, spirit realm
and not in the natural or temporal realm.) When He arose, you arose from the grave - an entirely new
person inside. Paul says we are holy and righteous and complete in Christ in various scriptures. No, we
do not always act like it. I can make a barking sound like a dog but I will never be a dog. The way I
sound or look does not determine my identity. Our identity is determined by birth and not by our actions.
If I am “in Christ”, that is my identity and no amount of sinning will change that. But when we are “in
(A letter written to a brother in Asia.)
Dear Brother in Christ,
I have no plans to travel to Asia or anywhere in your part of the world at this time. However, I have
attached several of our current teachings to this e-mail.
Frankly speaking, the gospel being preached around the world is frequently only a part of the total
gospel which Paul preached. Paul preached a gospel of liberty in Christ. Our re-birth (being born again of
the Spirit) provides much more than we normally preach. We really are changed inside - our inmost self
is totally renewed. It is alive in Christ and Christ lives in us in reality - not just some Christian thought
and not just “positionally” or “legally.” Jesus will live out His life through us just as His heavenly Father
lived out His life through Jesus. Jesus never did anything except what the Father was doing nor said
anything other than what the Father was saying. When you saw Jesus, you saw the Father. This was not
because He was God, though He was. It was in His total manhood. Though God, he really was one of us
(fully man) though without sin.
Many people think Jesus did what He did because He was God, and we cannot do it. But this is not
true. He is indeed our example. He did His miracles with the same spiritual gifts listed in the bible that
were given to the church. We can do likewise. More importantly, each and every Christian can learn to
hear the indwelling Jesus and be guided by Jesus - day by day, moment by moment - just as Jesus was
guided by the Father day after day.
Paul teaches us in the book of Romans that we are dead to sin and dead to the law. We do not relate to
God by trying to keep the law. Telling new Christians they must keep the law of God is setting them up
for failure just as the Jews could not keep the laws God gave them. The law is intended only for
unbelievers to show them they are sinners. [(1 Tim 1:8-11 NKJV) "But we know that the law is good if
one uses it lawfully, 9knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the
lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of
fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for
liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11according to the
glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust."] But we are no longer identified
as "sinners". That is not who we are. We are saints of God.
Do we sin? Yes, most of us sin from time to time. But that does not change our identity and that must
not be the focus of our life. Just as you were born into a certain family and can never change that, so
Christians are born into the kingdom - they are now "in Christ" and no amount of sinning will change
that. They are still "saints" as the bible teaches over and over.
We can never succeed to overcome if we do not know who we are in Christ. But when we begin to
understand who we are, we can begin to act like our true identity. You, brother, are a saint. You, brother,
are now "in Christ". You were crucified with Christ. (Gal 2:20 NKJV) "I have been crucified with
Christ; 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 for me."
You died and went to the grave with Christ just as the bible teaches. (But in the eternal, spirit realm
and not in the natural or temporal realm.) When He arose, you arose from the grave - an entirely new
person inside. Paul says we are holy and righteous and complete in Christ in various scriptures. No, we
do not always act like it. I can make a barking sound like a dog but I will never be a dog. The way I
sound or look does not determine my identity. Our identity is determined by birth and not by our actions.
If I am “in Christ”, that is my identity and no amount of sinning will change that. But when we are “in
