The Bible calls born
again believers to both a high and a low view of ourselves.
First, let us consider
the high view. Throughout the New
Testament, we find affirmations of Christians that are true at all times,
regardless of whether we think, feel, speak, act and relate accordingly. Unto the Corinthians he declared to be
“carnal,” for example, the Apostle Paul nevertheless wrote, “Such were some of
you: but ye are washed,
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and
by the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:11). Paul also told this company of the
wayward, “In everything ye are
enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end,
that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians
1:5-8).
When we consider that Paul’s
first epistle to the Corinthians largely involves an indictment of fleshly and
devilish attitudes and behaviors, the Apostle’s affirmation might seem strange
upon first consideration. We must
remember, however, that God views “being” as separate and distinct from
“doing.”
“If we live in the
Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).
Every born again
believer does, in fact, live in the
Spirit. “Ye are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of His” (Romans 8:9).
Every believer, however (as
exemplified by the Corinthians), does not
consistently walk in the
Spirit. “Ye are yet carnal, for
whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not
carnal, and walk as men?” (I Corinthians 3:3). Clearly, therefore, God differentiates
between being and doing, or between the person we are in Christ, and the
thoughts, attitudes, words and deeds that may or may not reflect our spiritual
union with Him.
The “high view” of
ourselves involves our being. When we believed, God constituted our
innermost selves as a “new man, created in righteousness and true holiness”
(Ephesians 4:24). Solely as a gift
of grace, our Lord changed who and what we most deeply are by uniting our
spirits with the Spirit of the Lord Jesus.
“He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit” (I Corinthians
6:17). Multitudes of New Testament
declarations reference this gift of a “new creature” (II Corinthians 5:17). Most importantly, nothing ever changes
the fact of who and what we are in Christ because our grace-birthed being as
“the habitations of God through the Spirit is inviolable – “Ye were sealed with
that Holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 2:22; 1:13).
In order to think
Biblically, and thus, more and more consistently walk in accordance with being,
we must more and more think in these plainly and often-stated Biblical
terms. Our tendency is to gauge
being by walking, however, a process that does not accord with Scripture, and
which can never lead to a consistent walk in the Spirit. We are not what we do, although what we
do should certainly exhibit what we are.
We are who we are, and in the
most amazing miracle of grace, “Ye are the temple of the living God” (II
Corinthians 6:16).
Note that this high
view of ourselves actually involves a high view of the God who spiritually
reconstituted us as a free gift of grace when we believed. We did nothing to make ourselves who we
are, nor do we maintain our being in Christ. We will consider this necessary truth in
tomorrow’s message, emphasizing that failure to hold the Biblical high view of
ourselves actually reveals a deficit in our understanding and perception of God
Himself.
“He hath made Him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him.”
(II Corinthians 5:21)
No comments:
Post a Comment