To Be or Not to Be

In my last couple of posts I purposed to create an excitement in you regarding the liberty we have in Christ and the truth that; God intended for us all to live as liberated beings!  It is and will always be the knowing of the truth that makes us free. (John 8:32) This word  know  is ginosko which is to know, perceive, understand, and to become known, it is used as an idiom in the Greek for sexual intercourse, and is derived from the same word as ginomai, meaning to become.  So if we amplify the text in its context we see that it is the inward knowing of God’s truth that causes us to be in such communion with Christ (who alone is truth) that we are transformed into His image, truth.   The word free is eleutheroo, which means to set at liberty, one that is no longer under restraint, as if setting free from slavery.  And vs 36 literally translated says if the Son sets you at liberty then you are in fact free, there is an expectation that we exist in that freedom!    

So the obvious question is free from what?  Many of us would say free from religious rule keeping.   I would agree that in setting us free from the law of sin and death, the focus is no longer on improving our behavior in order to gain favor with God, and that God’s focus is His Son, who perfectly behaved and met every demand of the prior covenant so we could live free from the demands of it.   But I would contend that we are not fully experiencing freedom FROM because OUR focus is still on behavior.  God indwelt us with Christ not to make our flesh behave better but to free us from our flesh.  While many of us realize that we cannot behave better by trying harder, we still think that behaving better is the end game.   Many Christians live and die having never realized the power and purpose that is available by walking in the Spirit, which simply means refusing to walk preoccupied by the flesh. 

The bible is full of the promise of fruit to those who walk by faith in agreement with the Spirit, but many see these passages as discouraging stumbling blocks that signal they are nowhere near ready to move into God’s purpose for them.  Many assume (because we still see our flesh as something that needs dealt with) that God cannot possibly accomplish His will through us till we are free from these nasty little habits and behaviors.   Having hearts that are sincere toward God many beg and plead for God to “make me more like Christ!”  When all the while we ARE completely consumed in and by the living Christ, having BEEN given all things necessary for the task at hand.  II Peter 1:3&4 tells us that having called us, God fully supplied us through the epignosis (correct and accurate knowledge) of Christ, the purpose being that we would become partakers of HIS DIVINE NATURE, having escaped (past-tense) the hindrances of the old nature!  And this word for become in vs 4 is ginomai, which is not a gradual process of *becoming*, but signifies a change of condition, you WERE that and now you ARE this! The truth that HAS transformed us into the Righteousness of God dwells on the inside of us.  We behold it constantly before us; we have no choice but to be transformed. (2Cor 3:17 & 18)  All of 2 Corinthians 3 is telling us that the glory that comes from obedience to rules is temporary, it will not produce life. 

IN A NUTSHELL>> We are blinded to the transforming nature of Christ and a veil comes over our hearts when we behold His Word and discern imperatives to strive toward rather than the Spirit of the Lord which alone has the power to change us from Glory to Glory.   The power in the grace of God to transform will be of no effect to you if you discern demand instead of supply.(Gal 5:4)  The volume of The Book points to Christ, in whom every demand IS ALREADY MET.

You have become meet for the task you were preordained to perform and all that is necessary is your yielding to the truth of WHO YOU ARE!  Does it make any sense that God would predestine us to be conformed to the image of His will and preordain works to be done by us and not equip us for the task?  Why would He leave that to chance?  Is He a God of loose ends?  The completed work of Christ is just that, completed!  Rest in who He HAS MADE you, trust the truth of His Word.   Preoccupation with the flesh is carnality, no matter how you slice it. 

You are not your flesh, you no longer reside in your flesh you reside in the Spirit, there is work to be done, you have been equipped to do it, you now serve righteousness, simply yield to it!