E-15. CHRISTIANS ARE GOD'S NEW CREATION!

SPELLING EDITED

E-15. CHRISTIANS ARE GOD’S NEW CREATION!

Do you know that God has a NEW creation? And if you are a Christian do you know that YOU are God’s NEW creation created IN Jesus Christ in this present world being given the promise of eternal life in the world to come? And for those of you who are not a true born-again Christian do you know that you can become one of God’s NEW creations to have this same promise of eternal life abiding in you?

Sometimes, we, as Christian, have what is called “head” knowledge where we have heard different things that the Bible teaches and because we know what those things mean with our HEAD we think we understand their true intended meaning but in some cases, some Christians do not truly understand with their HEART. Some call this “head” knowledge having “religion” and not true sound Biblical Christianity. One form of head knowledge is doing things the way they have always been done in the past in the “traditional way” as being the only way.

For example, you have a small child who loves playing with toy cars and you showed him or her how to push the car across the floor with his or her hand. Then one day you buy your child a new car that is a remote control and you give it to them BUT you do NOT explain how this new car works so your child pushes it across the floor like his old car. You see your child has an understanding of the OLD way but he has not yet learned how to operate his or her NEW car the way it is INTENDED to be operated.

An example of this in the Bible is God’s NEW COVENANT is not intended by God to be operated, so to speak, as the OLD Covenant. God is doing a NEW THING in the earth. God is creating himself a NEW CREATION that will be his ETERNAL creation in RIGHTEOUSNESS.

So then, what does the Bible ITSELF mean when it says that we are a NEW creature created in Jesus Christ? Let us read all the related verses pertaining to God’s NEW creation to learn the true meaning of being one of God’s NEW creations directly from the word of God. Please read 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:15.

2 Corinthians 5:17.

“Therefore IF any man be IN Christ, he is a NEW creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW.”

Galatians 6:15.

“For IN Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a NEW CREATURE.”

From these verses, we learn several things but let us bring into focus just one of these many things at a time by pointing out that the ONLY WAY to become a NEW creature is to be IN Jesus Christ. So what does it mean to be IN Jesus Christ? And how does a person come to be IN Jesus Christ?

Please read Ephesians 2:10.

“For we are HIS workmanship, CREATED IN Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Here we see in God’s word that in order to become a NEW creation IN Jesus Christ a person must be CREATED IN Jesus Christ. In other words, Almighty God ALONE is the creator and thus it is impossible for anyone to create themselves to be IN Jesus Christ.

However, there are some church denominations that teach what has come to be called a “WORKS” based salvation where Christians in those church denominations are wrongly being taught that they must obey all the commandments of God under the Old Covenant written in the Old Testament in order to be SAVED. In other words, some church denominations teach that before a person can be saved they must do all they can do in their own strength BEFORE they can be saved. Well, that is NOT what the Bible ITSELF teaches us.

So then, what does the word of truth, the Holy Bible, teach us. Well, the Bible ITSELF teaches us that we are to be FIRST CREATED IN Jesus Christ and THEN comes the works of obeying the commandments of God. And even THEN the works we do are NOT our OWN good works being done by us in our OWN strength lest there be boasting. I will explain all of this in more detail shortly but let us take things one step at a time. For now, at this moment let our focus be on the first thing we need to see and understand with our HEART which is that true born-again Christians are GOD’S CREATION, we are HIS workmanship and NOT our own workmanship. We did NOT create ourselves to become true born-again Christians. Let us read some context of this verse 10 in Ephesians chapter 2 to gain some more understanding.

Please read Ephesians 2:2-10.

“For BY grace you ARE saved THROUGH faith, and THAT NOT of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God:

9. NOT of WORKS, lest any man should BOAST. (In other words, if the works are YOUR works then there is room for BOASTING, but if the works are God’s works then there is NO boasting)

10. FOR (or because) we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”

So then, if you truly want to know what the Bible itself means by being a NEW CREATION of God then you must renew your mind and not be conformed to what “religion” has taught you in your church denomination. Over the past few weeks, God laid it on my heart to study Mormonism which is taught in the church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints also known as the LDS church and the Mormon church.

And while listening to the testimonies on many different Mormons I could see very plainly that they have a sincere love and zeal for God. I mean if you did not know that they were Mormons you would see them as true born again Christians. If you ask a Mormon if they are a Christian they will say absolutely they are a Christian. They will tell you that they believe that Jesus is their savior. But the more you talk to them you come to realize that they do NOT believe and follow the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ. They believe in a different gospel than the Gospel that is taught in the Bible itself.

I also see that same thing with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Roman Catholic church, the Seventh Day Adventist church, and all the seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping churches. In truth, none of these church denominations are truly RESTING IN Jesus as their RIGHTEOUSNESS and they are going about to establish their OWN righteousness. They are living in fear and doubt wondering and hoping that they are good enough to receive eternal life in the world to come. Some have NO assurance that they will go to heaven when they die. They have no true understanding and HEART faith that they ARE saved the very moment they accepted the gospel message that Jesus died for their sins. It is just HEAD knowledge to them.

To me, what they are being taught by their church denominations, is NOT the good news or Gospel of Jesus Christ taught to us in the Bible itself. The TRUE Gospel does not say do the best you can and then if YOU are good enough in your own strength then God will give you eternal life. But rather it is God HIMSELF who FIRST makes us RIGHTEOUS by GIVING us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS and then EMPOWERING us with HIS strength with HIS eternal Holy Spirit dwelling in us as true born-again believers IN Jesus Christ.

Please read Romans 5:17.

“For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

The first thing I want you to see from this verse is that righteousness is God’s GIFT to whosoever will RECEIVE his love, mercy, and abundant GRACE. We will come back and read the context of this verse after we look at another verse that teaches us that the gift of righteousness we receive from God by faith is the END of the law FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. I implore my Mormon readers, my Jehovah’s Witness readers, my Roman Catholic readers, my Seventh Day Adventist readers, my seventh day of the week Sabbath keeping readers, and all my readers who never knew that RIGHTEOUSNESS is a GIFT from God to read the study “WHAT IS THE TRUE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST?” For you see, we receive God’s free gift or RIGHTEOUSNESS the moment we believe IN Jesus as the atonement for our sins. We ENTER into RESTING from our own works of righteousness done the OLD way under the OLD Covenant written in the OLD Testament the very moment we BELIEVE in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Please read Romans 10:2-4.

“For I bear them record that they have a ZEAL of God, but NOT according to knowledge. (Or NOT according to a true understanding of the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ to know the true sound Biblical meaning of being a true born again Christian to be created in Jesus Christ to be GOD’S NEW CREATION.)

3. FOR (Or because) they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their OWN righteousness, have NOT submitted themselves unto the righteousness OF God.

4. For Christ is the END of the law FOR righteousness to everyone that BELIEVES.”

In Hosea 4:6 we learn about how God rejected the children of Israel for not keeping the Old Covenant law of Moses that was given to them. So while this verse was written ONLY to the children of Israel the core message of REJECTING God's WAY also applies to us as Christ who forget or who are not keeping the New Covenant law, which is the LAW of FAITH. In other words, God will reject every person who does not believe, follow and obey God’s NEW COVENANT written in the New Testament. Even IF the children of Isreal of today were to keep the Old Covenant written in the Old Testament perfectly God still REJECTS them because they reject his NEW COVENANT.

Please read Hosea 4:6.

“MY people are destroyed for (Or because of the individual person's) lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.”

Under the OLD covenant written in the Old Testament God gave the children of Israel the law of Moses for them to keep throughout their generation and also promised to give them a NEW Covenant which we learn in the New Testament is a BETTER Covenant established on BETTER promises. Kind of like the example I gave earlier about the NEW remote control car that was a GIFT to a child that is a better car. We, as Christians are under the NEW Covenant written in the New Testament which has NEW commandments or NEW teachings and being under the NEW Covenant we, who are RESTING IN Jesus as our atonement for our sins, are under the LAW OF FAITH.

Please read Romans 3:21-28.

“But NOW (Under the NEW Covenant) the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; (Meaning that this NEW Covenant was prophesied to come and NOW it is manifested or established to REPLACE the Old Covenant)

22. Even the righteousness OF God (The KIND of righteousness the Almighty God himself commands us to have if we want to be his eternal children) which is BY FAITH faith of Jesus Christ (Or by faith of Jesus ANOINTED) unto all and upon all them that BELIEVE: for there is no difference: (Meaning that GOD’S free gift of HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS has been made available unto the whole world. And WHOSOEVER of any person in all the world who BELIEVES that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God shall be saved. In other words, if you believe that Jesus suffered and died on the cross for your sins than all your past sins are forgiven. The very moment you BELIEVE in Jesus as the atonement for your sins you RECEIVE God’s free GIFT of righteous WITHOUT any WORKS of the Old Testament law. When Paul says there is no difference, he is saying that it does not matter if a person is keeping the Law of Moses to the letter of the law or if a person is a heathen sinner there is no difference between them because God has concluded ALL of mankind to be under sin so that Almighty God can GIVE us HIS so great a salvation as HIS free GIFT to eliminate BOASTING. Even if there are those who think that they have no sin, they have the sin of pride and boasting thinking that they are better than others,)

23. For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (I think every person will agree and admit that they have committed at least one sin at some point in their life no matter how good they may think that they are.)

24. Being JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE through the redemption that is IN Christ Jesus:

25. Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through FAITH IN his blood, to declare HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS for the remission of sins that are PAST, through the forbearance of God; (Or through the long-suffering and patience of God)

26. To declare, I say, at this time HIS righteousness: that HE might be just, and the justifier of him which BELIEVES in Jesus. (ALL the glory is to the Father. Even the praise, thanksgiving, honor, and worship we give to Jesus are TO the GLORY of Almighty God the Father.)

27. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the LAW of FAITH.

28. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith WITHOUT the deeds of the law.”

So then, THROUGH the GRACE of Almighty God the Father that is FREELY given to all mankind. God has provided and offered the FREE GIFT of HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS to every person in the entire world. And God's free gift of righteousness is WITHOUT even the remotest possibility of boasting in ourselves because all we have to do to receive God free gift of righteousness is to BELEIVE the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For you see, WHOSOEVER BELIEVES the true gospel of Jesus Christ RECEIVES God’s FREE GIFT of RIGHTEOUSNESS the very moment that they first BELIEVE. When we first believe God forgives us of all our past sins. We are washed in the blood of the Lamb to be cleansed of all our past sins to be JUSTIFIED before Almighty God. And we placed in a RIGHT relationship with him.

And at the very moment in which a person BELIEVES that God has forgiven them of all their sin God creates in the one BELIEVING a NEW HEART to be created IN Jesus Christ as a NEW creature to become a part of God’s NEW CREATION. Those of us who believe in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ ARE saved and justified just as if they had never sinned the very moment we BELIEVE. We are PERFECT in the eyes of Almighty God the Father.

And if we sin AFTER we are born of God to become a NEW CREATION IN Jesus Christ we have an advocate with the Lord and his faithful promise that if we CONFESS our sin he is FAITHFUL and JUST to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness and thus we are made PERFECT in the eyes of our heavenly Father once again.

Please read 1 John 1:5-10 through 1 John 2:1-6.

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7. But if we walk in the light, as HE is in the light, (Or if we are Holy AS HE, speaking of Almighty God the Father is holy and be you perfect even as HE is perfect like Jesus said, then) we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ HIS Son cleanses us from all sin. (Or AS we keep ourselves PERFECT by walking after the Spirit and NOT after the flesh then we have no condemnation of sin. And IF we sin the only way to be restored to God's PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS is to repent and confess our sin. And when we obey the Holy Spirit to repent and confess our sin every time we sin after we are born-again then God forgives us of those sins and we are made PERFECT in the eyes of God once again because the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.)

8. If we say that we have no sin, (In other words, if we sin but then we try and reason away our sin to say that it is not sinning and we do not confess our sins) we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9. If we CONFESS our sins, he is FAITHFUL and just to FORGIVE us our sins, and to CLEANSE us from ALL unrighteousness. (And thus we are made PERFECT again each time we confess our sins after becoming a new creature created in Jesus Christ.)

10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (Or but if the carnal mind of the old man of the flesh tries to reason in ourselves to EXCUSE our sin when our heart or our new inner man is convicted by the Holy Spirit when we have sinned, then we make God a liar by denying his word. And his word of truth is not abiding in our HEART. For if it were abiding in our heart then our inner man would put off the old man and we would obey the Spirit is us and confess our sin if we sin)

1 John chapter 2 the same context.

1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin NOT. And (Or but) IF any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (The man Jesus Christ is our mediator, our lawyer, our advocate, our intercessor and our high priest between us and Almighty God the Father)

2. And he is the propitiation for our sins: (The atonement for all our sins including every sin a believer may commit after they become a new creature in Jesus Christ) and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

3. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. (This new desire IN us makes us to NOT want to sin anymore. And that desire to not want to sin anymore is one of the WITNESSES in us whereby we KNOW that we ARE a NEW creature created in Jesus Christ. God places in us a LOVE to keep his moral commandments and to walk in love toward one another as his witness and assurance to us that we ARE forgiven of all our past sins to become his adopted children)

4. He that says, I know him, and keeps NOT his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (Now while those who teach the doctrine of eternal security or the once saved always saved doctrine do not intend their teaching to lead Christians astray their doctrine has led some to wrongly believe that a Christian can do whatever their flesh desires to do and they can never lose their salvation. Please read the study “IS ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED BIBLICAL?” for a deeper understanding of the FULL Gospel of Jesus Christ)

5. But whoso keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God PERFECTED: hereby know we that we are in him.

6. He that says he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

So then, what does walking in the light as he is in the light truly mean? I believe that the context itself should be sufficient for most Christians. But there are some Christians who have wrongly been taught that the very moment that a person accepts Jesus as their Savior they are eternally saved. And the once saved always saved Christians mishandle 1 John 1:7 to say that when we are born-again we are translated into the kingdom of light. And, therefore, to THEM, once you are in the kingdom of light you are always walking in the light.

But the CONTEXT itself teaches us that IF we SIN then was have an advocate with the Father. And IF we CONFESS our sin then he is faithful to forgive us of our sin. The whole context is about KEEPING the commandments of God under the New Covenant written in the New Testament. And IF we sin by disobeying any of the MORAL commandments of Almighty God then we MUST repent and CONFESS those sins in order to be forgiven and cleansed from those sins. So do NOT believe the teaching from the eternal security Christians that claim that we are eternally saved no matter what we do or do not do. They have been DECEIVED by Satan to wrongly believe that they do NOT need to repent and confess of ANY sin after they first believed. Now, if that were true then WHY would the Holy Spirit inspire the Apostle John to write 1 John 1:8-10 through 1 John 2:1-6? Let us read through these verses again.

1 John 1:8-10 through 1 John 2:1-6.

“If we say that we have no sin, (In other words, if we sin but then we try and reason away our sin to say that it is not sinning and we do not confess our sins) we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (Or but if the carnal mind of the old man of the flesh tries to reason in ourselves to EXCUSE our sin when our heart or our new inner man is convicted by the Holy Spirit when we have sinned, then we make God a liar by denying his word. And his word of truth is not abiding in our HEART. For if it were abiding in our heart then our inner man would put off the old man and we would obey the Spirit is us and confess our sin if we sin)

1 John chapter 2 the same context.

“1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin NOT. And (Or but) IF any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (The man Jesus Christ is our mediator, our lawyer, our advocate, our intercessor and our high priest between us and Almighty God the Father)

3. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. (This new desire IN us makes us to NOT want to sin anymore. And this new desire in us to not want to sin anymore is one of the WITNESSES in us whereby we KNOW that we ARE a NEW creature created in Jesus Christ. God places in us a LOVE to keep his moral commandments and to walk in love toward one another as his witness and assurance to us that we ARE forgiven of all our past sins to become his adopted children)

4. He that says, I know him, and keeps NOT his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (Now while those who teach the doctrine of eternal security or the once saved always saved doctrine do not intend their teaching to lead Christians astray, their doctrine has led some to wrongly believe that a Christian can do whatever their flesh desires to do and they can never lose their salvation. Please read the study “IS ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED BIBLICAL?” for a deeper understanding of the FULL Gospel of Jesus Christ)

5. But whoso keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God PERFECTED: hereby know we that we are in him.

6. He that says he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

I believe that this is what Jesus means when he said, be you PERFECT even AS your Father which is in heaven is PERFECT. The only way to be as perfect as Almighty God the Father is for Almighty God the Father HIMSELF to CREATE us to be HIS NEW creation in HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS that HE GIVES to us by HIS grace through our faith IN his Son Jesus, the Son of MAN, who was our forerunner who has gone before us. And because Jesus, the Son of MAN LIVES we shall LIVE also. See John 14:19.

It is when we BALANCE the GRACE of God that it becomes clear to us by the WHOLE word of God that God has foreordained before the foundation of the world to save mankind IN his chosen vessel that HE would raise up from among the people to save the people from their sins. In other words, what God has predestined is that SALVATION is IN the chosen one whom God prophesied that he would raise up from among the people.

This is first prophesied to us in Genesis 1:26,27.

“And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27. So God (Alone and by himself) created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

The “US” here in Genesis 1:26 is speaking of Almighty God the Father, who is the creator of ALL things, talking TO the Son of MAN Jesus saying TO him as the Son of MAN during the days of his flesh while Jesus was reading the Scriptures, “Let US make man in OUR IMAGE”. Jesus was taught by the Holy Spirit morning by morning and he learned that the Scripture spoke of him. The Bible teaches us that God gave the Son of man, Jesus, the OPTION, if you will, to lay down his life for the sins of the people or call a legion of angels to protect him from being crucified. The Greek word translated as commandment also means teaching. It was in the power of Jesus, OWN will to obey the WILL of the Father.

The Son of MAN agonized over his Father’s WILL in the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus got the victory over the enemy by putting aside his OWN will and submitted himself to do all the WILL of his God and Father by becoming obedience to the death on the cross to help his God and Father make mankind in God’s IMAGE.

And FOR the very reason of the Son of MAN’S obedience to do all of his Father’s WILL even to suffer and die a cruel death on the cross NOT for himself but for SINNERS Almighty God the Father HIGHLY EXALTED the Son of MAN and gave him his very own divine nature of immortality to be having in himself even as the Father has always possessed immortality in himself.

Jesus was the first human to be made the IMAGE of God and THROUGH Jesus all who BELIEVE are being conformed into the IMAGE of God’s dear Son to be made into the IMAGE of Almighty God the Father to fulfill the prophecy of Genesis 1:26 that is God asking the Son of man Jesus to help him make man in their image. But it was first needed for the Son of MAN to become the FIRSTBORN of every NEW creation of God to become the FIRSTBORN among many brethren.

Please read Colossians 1:15.

“Who is the IMAGE of the invisible God, the FIRSTBORN of every creature:”

Despite what the mainstream church denominations, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Mormons teach this verse according to the context and the rest of God’s word means that the Son of MAN was made the IMAGE of God after the cross to BECOME the FIRSTBORN of every NEW CREATION of God. We will come back and read the context after we read Revelation 3:14.

Revelation 3:14.

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the BEGINNING OF the CREATION of God;”

Jesus is the BEGINNING of God’s creation by being God’s FIRSTBORN of every NEW creation, the firstborn from the dead to become the firstborn among many brethren who are predestined to be conformed into the IMAGE of Jesus who has been made the IMAGE of God to fulfill the prophecy in Genesis 1:26 where God says, Let US make man in OUR IMAGE. Jesus said that the Scriptures spoke of him. See John 5:38-40. In other words, the prophecies in the Scripture not only spoke of Jesus but they also spoke TO Jesus so the Son of MAN could know that he is the one prophesied to come. Here is a prophecy TO Jesus that God will give him a vision so that he would know that the vision was of God.

Please read Psalm 89:19-27.

“Then you (Yahweh) spoke in a vision to your holy one (The Son of MAN, Jesus whom you anointed), and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen OUT of the people.

20. I have found David my servant (David is a type or figure of Jesus. See Acts 2:22-36 and Acts 13:22-41 which teach us that it was not King David but JESUS who was EXALTED out of the people); with my holy oil have I ANOINTED HIM:

21. With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

22. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

24. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

26. He shall cry unto me, You are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

27. Also, I WILL MAKE him MY FIRSTBORN, higher than the kings of the earth.”

God did not make King David his FIRSTBORN of every creature. King David is not made to be God’s King of kings and Lord of lords. It is the Son of MAN, Jesus whom God made to be both Lord and Christ. Again read Acts 2:22-36 and Acts 13:22-41 which teach us that it was not King David but JESUS who was EXALTED out of the people.

Hebrews 11:23 teaches us that we who have believed and are IN Jesus Christ are the church OF the FIRSTBORN.

Hebrews 11:23.

“To the general assembly and church of the FIRSTBORN, which are written in heaven, (In the Lamb’s book of life when a person receives the grace of God to receive his free gift of righteousness to become a part of the body of Jesus Christ the firstborn among many brethren) and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,”

We who are born of God through our faith in the word of God to be born again of the Spirit and are baptized into the body of Jesus Christ his church which is the church of the FIRSTBORN.

Jesus was BORN AGAIN from the dead to become the begotten Son of God. The Son of MAN, Jesus was called the Son of God during the days of his FLESH but he was not yet the ETERNAL Son of God. We, as Christians, are called the sons of God now in this present world but we do not actually become God’s ETERNAL sons and daughter until the first resurrection to be begotten of God from mortality to immortality.

Please read Revelation 21:7.

“He that OVERCOMES shall inherit all things, and I WILL be his God, and he SHALL BE my son.”

Please read Romans 8:13-19.

“For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but IF you THROUGH the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.

14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (So long as they CONTINUE to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit)

15. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; IF SO BE that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (This is speaking about suffering or rather ENDURING temptations unto the end to NOT give in to the temptations of the enemy. And IF we sin, then obey the leading of the Holy Spirit to repent quickly to be restored to a right relationship with God We also suffer persecutions being hated of the world as our Lord was hated of the world.)

18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which SHALL be revealed in us.

19. For the earnest expectation of the CREATURE (God’s NEW creature created IN Jesus Christ) waits for the MANIFESTATION of the sons of God.”

Please read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

“Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15. And what concord has Christ with Belial? or what part has he that believes with an infidel?

16. And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17. Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

18. And WILL be a Father unto you, and you SHALL be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

We ARE adopted sons and daughters of Almighty God now in this present world but if we are to receive our inheritance as God’s ETERNAL sons and daughters then we must OVERCOME even as Jesus overcame THROUGH the eternal Spirit. Please read Hebrew 9:14,15 and Revelation 3:21,22.

Hebrews 9:13,15.

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who THROUGH the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15. And for this cause (Or for this reason of OVERCOMING SIN THROUGH the eternal Holy Spirit dwelling in him) he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

We have not yet RECEIVED our INHERITANCE of eternal life to become God’s ETERNAL sons and daughters. In the same way, the Son of MAN Jesus was not God’s ETERNAL Son until AFTER the cross or after the Son of man OVERCAME God’s enemy by OBEYING all the WILL of his God and Father.

Revelation 3:21,22.

“To him that OVERCOMES will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also OVERCAME, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

22. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.”

So then, what IF an adopted son or daughter of God does NOT ENDURE unto the END and does NOT OVERCOME?

Revelation 2:2-6.

“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have NOT found your works PERFECT before God. (Remember that the only way to remain PERFECT even as the Father is PERFECT is to NOT make excuses about your sin and CONFESS your sins quickly to keep HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS that God gave to you when you first believed in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Also, no matter how good one’s OWN good works are, they can never be perfect because they are being done in one’s OWN strength wherein there are boasting and pride of looking down on others comparing your OWN good works with others)

3. Remember therefore how you have received and heard, (or remember and obey the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ of HOW to be PERFECT even as your heavenly Father is PERFECT and to be Holy even as God is Holy) and hold fast, and repent. IF therefore you shalt NOT watch,(Or IF a true born again Christ created in Jesus Christ to become a NEW CREATION chooses to NOT watch or keep themselves free from sin in the WAY taught to us in the TRUE and FULL Gospel of Jesus Christ, then Jesus is saying THEM) I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come upon you.

4. You have a few names even in Sardis which have NOT defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

5. He that OVERCOMES, the SAME shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will NOT blot OUT his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

6. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.”

Keep in mind that the WORKS we are CREATED IN Jesus Christ to DO are NOT our OWN good works that we do in our OWN strength but rather they are God’s good works that we do in HIS strength THROUGH the eternal Spirit who dwells in us, the SAME eternal Spirit who dwelt in the Son of MAN, Jesus. And the only way we can overcome sin is through FAITH. We must BELIEVE the promises of God first and then God will perform his word.

Please read Galatians 2:16-21.

“KNOWING that a man is NOT justified by the works of the law, but BY the FAITH of Jesus Christ, even we have BELIEVED IN Jesus Christ, that we might be JUSTIFIED BY FAITH of Christ, and NOT by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall NO flesh be justified.

17. But IF, WHILE we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is, therefore, Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

18. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

19. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

20. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet NOT I, but Christ lives IN me:(Meaning that the SAME eternal Spirit who dwelt in Jesus now dwells in us) and the life which I NOW live in the flesh I live BY the FAITH of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

21. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

Paul is teaching us that we are to CRUCIFY our flesh daily THROUGH the POWER of the Holy Spirit by BELIEVING the promise of God written in his word. We are to CONSIDER our old man of the flesh as being DEAD to us. And if the old man of the flesh rises up to beg us to do the lust of the flesh that we once did we are to crucify our flesh and KEEP it BURIED. And when we are first learning how to overcome sin it can be a daily resurrection of the old man of our flesh not wanting to say DEAD.

Please read Romans 6:1-18.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

3. Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized INTO Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (We are NOT baptized into any church denomination but rather we are baptized INTO Jesus Christ or into the BODY of Jesus Christ the ONLY true church, the church of the FIRSTBORN. There is NO church denomination that can save you. It is the message of the gospel that is the power of God that saves. Rather it is your FAITH in the TRUE and FULL Gospel of Jesus Christ that saves you by placing you in the true and only WAY that leads to eternal life in the world to come. And Jesus is the only WAY to eternal life in the world to come. So by OBEYING the words of Jesus under the NEW COVENANT written in the New Testament is the only WAY to the Father. We cannot pick and choose which words we want to believe and obey. We must believe and obey ALL the words of Jesus written in the New Testament.)

4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:(The death of our OLD man of the flesh) that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in NEWNESS of life. (This is what being a NEW CREATION IN Jesus Christ means. BELIEVING and allowing God to WORK IN us to conform us into the IMAGE of his dear Son. we are HIS workmanship and NOT our OWN workmanship.)

5. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (Or because of the Son of man, Jesus, lives, we shall live also. John 14:19.)

6. KNOWING this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be DESTROYED, that henceforth we should NOT serve sin.

7. For he that is dead is FREED FROM sin.

8. Now if we are dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

9. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death has no more dominion over him.

10. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he lives, he lives unto God.

11. Likewise, reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

12 Let NOT sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Do NOT allow sin to rule over you to return to a lifestyle of sin being brought back under the bondage and addiction of sin)

13. Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:(And also do NOT yield to those temporary temptations to give into them to sin every now and then) but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

14. For sin shall NOT have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.

15. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

16. Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you ARE to whom you OBEY; whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? (1 John 3:7-11 teaches us that when a true born-again Christian yields their self to obey the lies of the devil that they are the child of the devil while they are in that sin. So this means that IF a Christian were to DIE while they are yielding their self to live in the pleasure of the lust of the flesh even if that sin has not become a lifestyle of sin then they are the child of Satan, the Devil and Jesus will blot their name out of the Lamb’s book of life. 1 John 3:7-11 “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

8. He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

9. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:(you will know a tree BY its fruit) whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother.

11. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” which is the TRUE and FULL Gospel of Jesus Christ)

17. But God be thanked, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the HEART that form of doctrine (Speaking of the TRUE and FULL Gospel of Jesus Christ taught to us in the NEW Testament under the NEW Covenant) which was delivered you.

18. Being then made FREE from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.”

So then, do you TRULY BELIEVE that YOU have been made FREE for sin to live your life free from any and all sin? If not please read the study “HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE FREE FROM SIN!” But, for now, he who works righteousness BY FAITH is righteous even as he is righteous. The JUST shall live by FAITH.

Romans 1:17.

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed FROM faith TO faith: as it is written, The JUST shall LIVE BY faith.”

In other words, every day BELIEVE that you ARE the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God, a NEW CREATURE created IN Jesus Christ and IF you sin confess your sin quickly and BELIEVE that God is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness to make you PERFECT in the eyes of God. Also with every temptation BELIEVE the promises in God’s word unto the end of that temptation and your FAITH IN God’s WORD will deliver you from that temptation one temptation at a time, or from FAITH to overcome that temptation TO the FAITH to overcome the next temptation. Satan will eventually leave off tempting you in a continual manner and only come back every now and then once you learn to REST in the PROMISES of God.

Again, please read the study “HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE FREE FROM SIN!” but for now let us continue this study in God’s word.

Ephesians 4:17-32.

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth (Or from here on out or from now to the coming of our Lord) walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

18. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

19. Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20. But you have not so learned Christ; (Now not all church denominations teach the TRUE and FULL Gospel of Jesus Christ and thus some Christians are having their understanding DARKEN to wrongly believe that they ARE SINNERS saved by grace and that it is their human NATURE to sin. That is NOT what Jesus Christ teaches us in the New Testament. The word of TRUTH teaches us that we are NEW creatures CREATE IN Jesus Christ UNTO good works and we are GOD’S workmanship. The Bible ITSELF teaches us that we WERE sinners but now we are FREED for sin and that sin shall NOT have dominion over us anymore. Jesus teaches us that if we do NOT overcome as he overcame then we shall NOT rule and reign with Jesus in the world to come. We will NOT receive eternal life. But thanks be to God that we WERE sinners but NOW we are made FREE from sin)

21. If so be that ye have heard HIM, and have been taught by HIM, as the truth is in Jesus:

22. That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (God is our HELPER and so we first obey the leading of his Holy Spirit then HE will perform his word. My dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, there are only 52 weeks in a year. And the way the mainstream church denominations are structured to gather together on just one day a week then that means that some Christians receive on the average of about 52 hours of teaching or hearing God’s word a YEAR. So then, the Christians who do NOT read and study God’s word on their OWN are in starvation mode so to speak. They are suffering a FAMINE of God’s word. And at times, even what little of the word of God they do receive is so watered down that it has no real spiritual nutrient to help them grow and become strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

For you see, the Devil has sown so many false teachers and traditions of men in the many church denominations that some of the pastors, leaders, and Bible teachers of those church denominations seem to merely “parrot” ONLY what their particular church denomination teaches. What I mean by this is that instead of resting and trusting in the teachings of Jesus under the New Covenant written in the New Testament some in the mainstream church denominations including the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are trusting in ONLY what THIER particular church DENOMINATION teaches. To say this another way some Christians are trusting their very eternal life in the hands of their church DENOMINATION or organization.

The Bible itself teaches us that we are to read and study the WORD of Almighty God and NOT church doctrine, the traditions of the church, revelations from angels and the teachings of self-proclaimed prophets. We are to renew our mind to the WORD of God and trust our eternal life in the teachings of Jesus under the New Covenant written in the New Testament)

23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24. And that you put on the new man, which after God is CREATED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUE holiness. (So then we as GOD'S NEW creation created IN Jesus Christ are created in the IMAGE of God or after God but we have not yet received his DIVINE NATURE of IMMORTALITY as the Son of MAN Jesus has received after he overcame by becoming obedient to do all the will of his God and Father even to lay down his life.)

25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. (Revelation 21:8 and Revelation 22:14,15 teaches us that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire)

26. Be you angry, and sin not:(Anger itself is not sin. But rather losing control of one’s anger can become sin) let not the sun go down upon your wrath: (Also, holding onto anger is not healthy for the inner man)

27. Neither give place to the devil.

28. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs.

29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

32. And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.”

So then, it is our job to OBEY the leading of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to PUT OF the deeds of the OLD man of the flesh THROUGH the power of the Holy Spirit who is our HELPER and not our slave who does all the work for us while we go off and do whatever our flesh begs us to do and make excuses that it is our NATURE to sin and only Jesus lived without sin.

Please read Colossians 3:5-10.

“Mortify (Or crucify) therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

6. For which things' sake the WRATH of God COMES on the children of DISOBEDIENCE:

7. In the which you also walked some time, when you lived in them.

8. But NOW you also PUT OFF all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

9. Lie not one to another, seeing that you have PUT OFF the old man with his deeds;

10. And have put on the NEW MAN, which is RENEWED in knowledge after the image of him (Speaking of Jesus being the IMAGE of Almighty God) that created him:”

The IMAGE of Almighty God is to be PERFECT with TRUE HOLINESS and we are being conformed into the IMAGE of God’s dear Son who is the IMAGE of Almighty God who made HIM become both Lord and Christ.

Romans 8:29.

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the IMAGE of his Son, that he might be the FIRSTBORN among many brethren.”

Now during the days of his FLESH, Jesus as the mortal Son of MAN, was in the image of his God and Father, in that, the ANOINTED Son of MAN lived his life without sin. Then AFTER the cross, the Son of MAN Jesus was GIVEN the DIVINE NATURE of IMMORTALITY. So NOW, after the cross, the Son of MAN bears the express IMAGE of his God and Father which is the DIVINE NATURE of IMMORTALITY. The Son of MAN, Jesus is the FIRSTBORN of every creature so he might be the FIRSTBORN of many brethren. And because the Son of MAN, Jesus suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world, Almighty God HIGHLY EXALTED him to have the preeminence above his fellow brethren. In other words, Almighty God the Father MADE the Son of MAN become the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And in the world to come Jesus will be called God of the whole earth.

Please read Hebrews 1:3-6.

“Who being the brightness of his glory, (The Son of MAN Jesus was not glorified until after the cross and that is WHEN the Son of MAN Jesus became God’s FIRSTBORN of every NEW creature to become God’s ETERNAL Son) and the express image of his person, and upholding all things (The word “things” is not in the original text and that it should read that Jesus is upholding the ALL speaking of ALL of God’s NEW CREATION created IN Jesus Christ) by the word of his (Almighty God’s) power, when he had by himself purged our sins, (meaning that we cannot purge our OWN sins) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

4. Being MADE so much better than the angels, (“I WILL make my FIRSTBORN higher than the kings of the earth” Psalm 89:27) as he has BY INHERITANCE OBTAINED a more excellent name than they. (The first state of Jesus was a little LOWER than the angels and NOW he will JUDGE the angels)

5. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, THIS DAY have I begotten you? And again, I WILL BE to him a Father, and he SHALL BE to me a Son?

6. And again, WHEN he brings in the FIRST begotten into the world, (Speaking of the second coming of Jesus) he says, And let all the angels of God worship him.”

The Son of MAN Jesus is the FIRST begotten human being to ever be given the DIVINE NATURE of IMMORTALITY to be having in himself even as the Father has always had immortality in himself. And right NOW Jesus is the ONLY BEGOTTEN Son of MAN to become God ETERNAL Son. But we have God’s SURE word of promise that our brother Jesus is the FIRSTBORN among MANY brethren and we who BELIEVE will be made partakers of the DIVINE NATURE of IMMORTALITY at his coming again.

Any believer can become fully persuaded in his or her OWN mind and heart that they will never be separated from the love of God but this does NOT mean that true born again NEW CREATURES created IN Jesus Christ cannot be deceived and fall away from serving God in RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The grace of God is far more than unmerited favor. The grace of God is POWER to overcome the enemy of our soul. But if one does not receive and USE God’s grace then his grace profits them nothing. God’s GRACE is SUFFICIENT for you.

The GRACE of Almighty God was upon Jesus when he was a child.

Luke 2:40.

“And the child grew, and waxed (Or grew) strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the GRACE of God was upon him.”

Jesus was FULL of God’s GRACE and truth.

John 1:14.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Again, Jesus was not glorified as God only begotten Son until after the cross and resurrection when Jesus descended back down from heaven to show himself alive for forty days. And that is WHEN the disciples of Jesus beheld his GLORY as the only begotten Son of God. And when Jesus returns there will be MANY begotten sons and daughters of God. But the FIRSTBORN of every creature will have PREEMINENCE over the ALL meaning over every NEW CREATION of God in the world to come.

Acts 4:33.

“And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great GRACE was UPON them all.”

2 Corinthians 9:8

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:”

2 Corinthians 12:9.

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

When a believer comes to the place where they truly understand that they cannot live a holy and righteous life in their OWN strength and they come to God’s throne of GRACE to ask for or to find GRACE to help in time of need that is when God’s GRACE become SUFFICIENT and we OVERCOME sin not in our OWN strength but rather by faith in HIS strength. And we are to give all the GLORY to the Father. Any time we praise and give thanks to Jesus we are giving glory to our heavenly Father. Even a human father receives glory and honor when someone gives praises and compliments to his children and he hears about it.

Hebrew 4:16.

“Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

That is what it means to be a NEW CREATION created IN Jesus Christ. I pray that you are blessed by this study in God’s word and may God bless you richly as you continue in his GRACE unto the end to EMPOWER you to endure and overcome the enemy of your soul.

Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

AMatterOfTruth.com

A Matter of Truth

Navigation

Navigation

E-15. CHRISTIANS ARE GOD'S NEW CREATION!