“Sanctified In Christ Jesus”

I Corithians 1:2-5

2) Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:

3) Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

4) I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

5) That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

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he word “sanctified” means “to be set apart from the world and set aside for the service of God.” “Sanctification” is “the state of being used for the purposes of God only” and “holiness.” In the Old Testament, those who were sanctified (both people and vessels) were consecrated to God by sprinkling them with blood from the sacrifice.

It is important that we remember that “blood,” rather than possessing some “mystical” power, always indicates “death”—especially the blood of Jesus. The application of His blood meant that God would overlook the sin of the one to whose life the blood was being applied because of recognizing the covering of Jesus.

Though many would like to and profess to “manifest(ing) the life of Jesus,” we know that to be considered as belonging to Him, He must be the One “in control.” This is rare in the time in which we live because of the determination of the human being that no one (no man) will tell him “what to do.” We forget that when one says this, there is someone to whom he listens—and that person is himself! We all know that we believe that our thinking supercedes that of others because ours is purer.

In order for one to manifest the life of Jesus, he must know what is contained within that life and expected of one who would emulate that life. With the proliferation of television ministries today, Man has a means of receiving information about Jesus without having to accept any responsibility toward Him. Not only this, but the proper information is not being disseminated. You see, in that “being saved” is popular, just about everyone has come up with his own definition of what “being saved” is. Once that “definition” has been fulfilled, whether correct or not, the individual can be saved. Consequently, TV ministers are teaching a gospel of one view—that everyone is saved. By assuming this, those not saved are being given no opportunity to correct their situation.

Not that doing any differently would necessarily change what is received. It should be abundantly clear (from our own lives) that one cannot preach what is spiritual to the natural man—until he is freed from the influence of flesh.

Despite what we would be taught, or what we would like to believe of ourselves or others, if one is really not meeting the standard of God, it will show in his response to tests and trials. You see, in that tests and trials are designed to highlight what are either one’s strengths or weaknesses, we learn much about ourselves and who we are through them. Unfortunately, this does not really change anything because we attempt, within ourselves, to solve whatever problems are highlighted. The conclusion to which we are to come is that we must find another means than ourselves to help ourselves.

There is no human way for one ever to overcome his problem—no matter the scope, depth or type of problem. Our lack of power is precisely why Jesus came in a body of flesh. He came to give us the power to be as He Himself is—an overcomer. What He could not do was grant this to us and remain the way that He was: He had to die. Because of this, we can do no less in order to inherit what He is.

The “problem” of being a natural man (i.e. human being) is corrected only through “death”—not the death of the “problem,” but rather, the one with the problem. Once this is achieved, all problems are solved.

“Manifesting the life of Jesus” is what being saved is all about. Generally, we fail to understand this because of the noise that intrudes into practically everything that we do. Whether it is other people, situations or circumstances, we can allow nothing to stop us.

We allow the enemy to perpetuate many petty things in us which do nothing but deny us what is rightfully ours through belonging to Jesus. One of these is attempting to protect ourselves from others, in the mistaken attempt to keep ourselves from getting “hurt.” This wastes valuable time that could be spent on a “real,” rather than “imaginary” enemy.

In order to manifest the life of Jesus, we must be able to extract some joy from that life. The only way to do this is to learn to enjoy Him no matter what! That which is “going on” in our lives never changes Who Jesus is! This is the reason we have Him in the first place—to impart stability in a very unstable existence.

We really have no choice but to become obedient to the Lord and allow Him authority over us.

Whether we grant it to Him or not, it is His simply because we accepted salvation. You see, when we did agree to partake of His sacrifice, we become “married” to Jesus In the physical world, marriage and its contemplation, though highly desired, can cause problems. Women, particularly, identify a problem with marriage because of the mistaken belief that it allows men to “dictate” to their wives. Rather than dictation, marriage is ordained by God to illustrate His desired relationship with the Church. Through it, we are to learn that He is to instruct and “we” (His Bride, consisting of both male and female) are to listen. In return, His “blessing” to us is to “liberate” us from simply being “us.”

Through Jesus, we are blessed with a new “position”—a position of “strength” (available only through faith) dependent upon nothing and no one but Jesus for our happiness and freedom from sin and oppression. No matter how “bad” things may appear, with Jesus, nothing is too much to survive. All we need do is to look ahead to the end of any situation, for there one will always find Jesus.

As we enter this new year, we need to commit to our spirit that God is in “absolute control.” The “relaxation” (of the spirit) that comes from this will do much toward aiding us in “manifesting the life of Jesus.”