Dead to My Former Self, Alive in Jesus, and Free to Serve You, Father God, Instead of Sin
Dear Father-God, I agree with Your revelation that I am no longer my own[i] because You bought me with Jesus’ Holy Blood.[ii] By your grace, You saved me through faith (believing, trusting, relying, resting) in Jesus’ finished work of Your divine exchange with me on Calvary. In Him I was justified/righteous apart from the law[iii] when the old me died by being crucified with Him on Calvary and the new me rose with Him out of the grave by faith.
Now I live, yet no longer I but Jesus, who loves me and died on my behalf, lives in me.[iv] And since to live is Christ and to die is gain,[v] the life I now live in my body I live by faith in Him and He lives is me by faith.[vi] For through the law I died to the law so that I now live for You instead of for myself.[vii] I was made dead to the law through Jesus’ body to become His possession and You raised me with Him from the dead so that I may bear fruit to You through the Holy Spirit.[viii] Now, nothing can separate me from Your love because I am accepted and approved by You, in and through Jesus.[ix]
I now know that my old man was crucified with Christ Jesus to annul the “body of sin” – my Adamic sin nature. Because my former self is dead and gone, the new me is now free from the slavery of Darkness so that I do not have to serve that old sin nature any longer.[x] In obedience to Your word, I reckon the new me truly dead to my former Adamic sin nature and now alive to You in Christ Jesus, my new Lord.[xi]
And Jesus also redeemed me from the curse of the law having become a curse for me.[xii] He abolished the enmity in His flesh, the law of commandments and decrees,[xiii] thus becoming the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes in Him.[xiv]
So, by faith, I have been set free from the law principle, having died to that which held me captive so that I can serve You in the newness of my regenerated spirit rather than in the oldness of the obsolete written code.[xv]* By being found in Jesus Christ, I have Your righteousness through faith in You rather than through keeping the law.[xvi] For the higher law of the Spirit of life, based on faith, love and liberty in Christ Jesus, set me free from the law of sin and death.[xvii]**
I now have access to one Spirit unto you, Father-God,[xviii] and I am now convinced of this very thing, that You, Who have begun this good work in my outer man, will complete it.[xix]
Now, thanks to You through Jesus Christ, my former sin nature cannot lord it over me because I am no longer under the demands of the “law principle” but under the riches of Your grace in Christ Jesus which You lavished on me with all wisdom and understanding.[xx] And I choose not to set this grace aside but abide in confidence at Your throne of grace to receive Your mercy and grace for help at all times.[xxi] I refuse to fall from grace by going back under the law principle.[xxii]
Dearest Jesus, because of the excellency of knowing You personally and intimately as a new creation, the things that were gain to the old me I now count as loss.[xxiii] I now have a new past, present and future in You as an overcomer.[xxiv] I choose to live my natural life worthy of the call I have in You[xxv] by taking hold of that for which You took hold of me.[xxvi]***
Therefore, I refuse to let sin rule in my mortal body to obey its lusts or to yield my members as instruments of unrighteousness to sinning. Instead, I willingly and intentionally yield myself to You as now living from the dead and I place my members (all the parts, processes and appetites of my soul and body – my outer man) under Your Lordship and service as weapons of righteousness.[xxvii]****
Now, as a new creation, alive because of You and through You and to You,[xxviii] I no longer have to sin. But if and when I do sin (by letting my flesh and/or outer man dictate my walk instead of walking according to my spirit abiding in You)[xxix]* I have You, the propitiation of all my sins, as my Advocate with Father-God.[xxx] Also, I now know that You have totally forgiven all my sins – past present and future sins – because of Your finished work of Your cross on my behalf 2000 years ago.[xxxi] Thank you, Jesus. I freely choose to be conformed to Your perfect plan for my whole being[xxxii] by being mastered only and always by You, my Master and Lord.[xxxiii]
[i] Romans 7:4 “So that, my brothers, you were also made dead to the law through the body of Christ, (for) you to become Another’s, to (One) raised from (the) dead, that we may bear fruit to God.”
[ii] 1 Corinthians 2:23 “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.”
[iii] Romans 3:21 “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been revealed to which the Law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Also see Galatians 2:16.
[iv] Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I live (yet) no longer I, but Christ lives in me. But that (life) I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, He loving me and giving Himself over on my behalf.” Also see Colossians 3:3 and 2 Corinthians 5:15
[v] Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live (is) Christ, and to die is gain.”
[vi] Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and I live (yet) no longer I, but Christ lives in me. But that (life) I now live in the flesh, I live by faith to the Son of God, He loving me and giving Himself over on my behalf.”
[vii] Galatians 2:19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I now live for God.”
[viii] Romans 7:4 “So that, my brothers, you were also made dead to the law through the body of Christ, (for) you to become Another’s, to (One) raised from (the) dead, that we may bear fruit to God.”
[ix] Romans 8:38-39 “For I have been persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor powers nor things present nor things coming nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” Also see Colossians 3:12
[x] Romans 6:6-7 “…knowing this, that our old man was crucified with (Him), that the body of sin might be annulled, so that we no longer serve sin. For the one that died has been freed (justified, rendered innocent), from sin.”
[xi] Romans 6:11 “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
[xii] Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us ….”
[xiii] Ephesians 2:14-15 “For He (Jesus) is our peace, the (one) making both one, having broken the middle wall of partition, having abolished the enmity in His flesh, the law of commandments in decrees, that He might create in Himself the two into one new man, making peace”
[xiv] Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.”
[xv] Romans 7:6 “But now we have been set free from the law, having died (to that) in which we were held, so as (for) us to serve in newness of spirit,* and not (in) oldness of (the) letter.” See note on “spirit” below under Romans 2:8.
*Note: Romans Chapter Seven was written to the Jews who were under the Law of Moses. God never included the Gentiles in the Law Covenant. However all humans were under the “law principle” after Adam’s fall for he ate off the Law Tree – the knowledge of good and evil. So, in Christ, who fulfilled all the demands of all former laws upon mankind, believers are now under the Law of the (Holy) Spirit of life, according to Romans 8:1-2, which is the higher law of faith in God and His love for us and the freedom that makes available to all those alive in Christ Jesus, as summarized in Galatians 5:1-6. I present this, and so much more, in my book on Amazon entitled “Is There An Elephant In YOUR Church?” It exposes how and why Galatianism is so prevalent in the church today and what is God’s glorious alternative – “walking according to the Holy Spirit.” It is Jesus’ whole Gospel of radical grace, which He revealed primarily to Paul.
[xvi] Philippians 3:7-9 “But what things that were gain to me, these I have counted loss because of Christ. But, nay, rather I also count all things to be loss because of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count (them) to be trash, that I might gain Christ, and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness of law, but through faith of Christ, (having) the righteousness of God (based) on faith.”
[xvii] Romans 8:2 “For the (higher) law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus set me free from the (Mosaic) law of sin and death.”
**Note: The following quotation comes from Capitalization in the Original Greek Text Regarding the word “spirit” which the reader can find at www.ntgreek.totalserve.co.uk/greeknt.
Greek was originally written as an uncial script, which means there was not the differentiation between small and capital letters that we are now familiar with. The oldest papyri show a cursive script which was later formalized into what have now become the Greek capital letters of today. But this was very difficult to write quickly and so, from about the 9th century, a cursive script was introduced which has now evolved into the present day Greek lower case letters.
The trouble with using capitals in accordance with our modern conventions is that they imply value judgments about the text. Is a particular word a reference to God or a god, a spirit or the Spirit? Why raise these difficulties at all in an edition of a Greek text that had no such difficulties? Isn’t it better to leave such matters to our English translations rather than apply modern conventions to an ancient text?
The above quotation points out the cause of potential confusion when depending on modern Greek texts that use capital Greek letters at the whim of the text copier. The uncial script Paul used leaves open the question of when he was referencing the Holy Spirit or a reborn human spirit. To complicate matters, most translations ignore these (possibly valid) distinctions between lower and capital case letters and often assume Paul was speaking of the Holy Spirit when, in fact, he could have specifically meant the reborn human spirit which is united with the Holy Spirit in Christ. This distinction is important because it would indicate the extent of the power of the finished work of Jesus Christ’s divine exchange, imparted to the spirit of a believer at rebirth from which he can function and direct his soul and body (outer man).
[xviii] Ephesians 2:14 “For He (Jesus) is our peace, the (one) making both one, having broken the middle wall of partition, having abolished the enmity in His flesh, the law of commandments in decrees, that He create in Himself the two into one man, making peace, and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, slaying the enmity in Himself, and coming, (He) preached peace to you, those far off, and to the (ones) near, for through Him we have access to one Spirit unto the Father.”
[xix] Philippians 1:6 “… being convinced of this very thing, that the (One) having begun a good work in you will complete (it) until (the) day of Jesus Christ….”
[xx] Romans 6:14 and Ephesians 1:7 “For sin shall not lord it over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” “In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”
[xxi] Galatians 2:21 and Hebrews 4:16 “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.” “Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and we may find grace for help in time of need.”
[xxii] Galatians 5:4 “You who are trying to be justified by keeping the Law have been alienated from Christ for you have fallen from grace.”
[xxiii] Philippians 3:7-9 “But what things that were gain to me, these I have counted loss because of Christ. But, nay, rather I also count all things to be loss because of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count (them) to be trash, that I might gain Christ, and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness of law, but through faith of Christ, (having) the righteousness of God (based) on faith.”
[xxiv] 1 John 4:4 “Little children, you are of God and have overcome them (evil spirits), because He in you is greater than he in the world.”
[xxv] Ephesians 4:1 “… I, Paul, exhort you to walk worthily of the call in which you were called.”
[xxvi] Philippians 3:12 “Not that I already obtained or have already been perfected, but I press on, if I also may eagerly take hold (captive), in as much as I also was laid hold of (captured, rescued) by Jesus Christ.”
***Note: While this passage seems to contradict other revelations of our perfected position in Christ, given the total context of “His gospel,” I believe Saint Paul is referring to the progress of the outer man, still being sanctified, unto the Day of full redemption. We are a “finished work in progress.” Also see “Note” in Chapter Seven under Footnote #256 in reference to John 17:17.
[xxvii] Romans 6:12-13 “Then do not let sin rule in your mortal body, to obey it in its lusts. Neither present your members (as) instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as (one) living from (the) dead, and your members instruments of righteousness to God.” See also Notes in the footnotes of Chapter Three, # 117 and #118 explaining the term outer man and in Chapter Three footnote #134 explaining the term flesh.
****Note: It is very important to understand that the believer’s physical body is now God‘s holy temple so is not “evil.” Therefore, Paul exhorts the believer to not let sinning control his mortal body but submit it to the rule of one’s new spirit-self that is now in unity with the Holy Spirit.
[xxviii] Romans 11:36 “Because of Him (Jesus), and through Him and to Him (are) all things. To Him be glory to the ages. Amen.”
[xxix] Romans 8:1 “(There is) therefore no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus.” Also see “Note” for Romans 7:6 under Footnote # 314.
[xxx] 1 John 1:1-2 “My little children, I write these things to you so that you do not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ (the) righteous. And He is (the) propitiation relating to our sins, and not relating to ours only, but also relating to all the world.”
[xxxi] 2 Corinthians 5:19 “God was reconciling the whole world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” Also see the terms of the New Covenant listed in Hebrews 8:12-13 and 10:17-18.
[xxxii] Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, brothers, I call on you through the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, (which is) your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind in order to demonstrate by you what (is) the good and pleasing and perfect will of God.”
[xxxiii] John 13:13 “‘You call me the Master, and the Lord and you say well, for I am.’”
Coming next week – Chapter 10: Sealed and Secure in Christ Jesus, I Am Becoming Who I Am in Him by Yielding to the Holy Spirit Who Manifests Christ’s Likeness Through Me
life, that is, Jesus himself.