Galatians
3:22-29
22)
But the scripture hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23)
But before faith came, we
were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be
revealed.
24)
Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25)
But after that faith is
come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. \
26)
For ye are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27)
For as many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28)
There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus.
29)
And if ye be Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
|
"P |
ut(ting)
on Christ" necessitates that we be united with Him. For too long,
the people of God have tried to live life as if "overshadowed" by the
Lord, but not overtaken by Him.
Only
by "assuming" His personality will we be able to manifest a change in
our lives, thereby drawing to Him through us those with whom we
have walked, talked, worked, eaten and slept.
What
too many of us hope is possibilities that we will be able to reap the
benefits and enjoy the security of salvation without having to live a spiritual
life. Unfortunately, (for those who wish otherwise), one cannot be saved and
continue in sin and this is the end result of all fleshly life.
So
how does one recognize if he has "resurrected" his old man after salvation?
He will find himself doing the same things as before salvation. We ask this
question because we find that too many come to the Lord, seem to change
"for a season," then revert to their old conduct without being aware.
Granted, if one begins smoking, drinking, fornicating or doing drugs after
salvation, he is very much aware. But, do you realize that much of what we do
is far more subtle, yet just as deadly?
What
about when we begin "thinking" for ourselves, again, as opposed to
following the leading of the Lord? What about the habit some have of
automatically slipping into "protection" mode upon feeling
threatened), rather than trusting the Lord? Are these not as dangerous and
deadly?
When
the Word speaks of one being "weak," it refers to the fact that his
understanding is not as great as that of another. In order to help such an one, we must know-and-accept that one has weak
understanding only when he does not operate by the power of God's Spirit. What
does this mean for us? It means that we have an obligation to operate by that
selfsame Spirit "24-7" that others might be able to see the benefit
of that Spirit.
Too
many pastors, teachers and evangelists teach that man is not
"perfect." It is true that one cannot expect perfection from an
unredeemed man. However, in that when the holy scriptures speak of being
"perfect," they mean "sin-free," and we know that we must
be perfect and holy (in fact, are commanded to be so), how could we ever expect
to inherit heaven if we refuse to obey the command?
Man
has a tendency to think that he will "lose" something by adhering to
Jesus. On the contrary, brighter men than ourselves
have found that the deeper one gets into the Lord, the more benefits he will
reap. Why? Because He is the Supplier. What more of a
reason do we need to go the Source of all things?
Have
you ever wondered what Jesus gets from this relationship? Well, once we come to
Him (thus, "putting on Christ"), we can be identified as belonging to
Him in two ways:
1) Through
our baptism in His name--"Jesus" and
2) Through
our baptism in the Holy Spirit (a.k.a. "Holy Ghost").
So,
"what does this do for Him," you may ask? For one thing, He knows who
is supposed to be fellowshipping with Him. He can easily identify a
"soldier" when He needs one. Perhaps most thrilling to some is that
He can point to His "prizes" and taunt the devil with the fact that
even though he tries to destroy God's program, the "casualties" are
never enough to stop the war.
No
matter what God directly asks us too or we are told that he requires us to do,
it must be as natural to us as breathing that we say "yes" to Him. This
is easy when we realize that anything He expects of us, He has equipped and
empowered us to do.
In
several examples in the scriptures of the Lord gathering and commissioning His
disciples, He instructs them to take neither "scrip" nor
"purse" with them. His purpose? That both
them and us might see that we are to depend totally and completely upon Him.
The
"key" to receiving blessings of God always has been and always will
be in believing what He has said. But, when we either do not understand or hear
this, we will try to do our own thing our own way." Obviously, we have yet
to accept that the "way" gets no easier than God's.
Some
of us have yet to be successful in the Lord because of our successful in the
Lord because of our success blocker"--our own mind. You see, the Lord
attempts to get us to master the mind of the child that we might be accepting
of Him, for He knows that only the guileless, non-suspicious, pure mind will be
able to accept all that He is.
There
is very little that He asks of us, but everyone of the
"little" things is important. If we could just master doing what He
says and nothing but what He says...
"The
Call"--must be answered. Exactly what does this "call" involve? God's holiness, righteousness, expectations (of us), His commands,
commission and His "charge." The last, many have been given,
but one can neither accept nor meet the charge unless he is willing to put
himself "out." This means being willing to serve others as well as
being obedient.
We know that Jesus was the epitome of obedience, even to the point of death. We also know that Jesus accomplished nothing that we are unable to do.
What
is "missing" from many of us that was present
in Jesus? Think about His focus and intent to please His Father. He had no
other point, purpose or goal than to serve God, win souls and glorify the
Father. With this mentality, we, too, will know that we have truly been changed
and "put on Christ."