Constantly, I hear people say: "I gotta crucify the flesh every day. I gotta die to myself daily." I used to even say that! For the longest time, I thought as myself as just a "sinner saved by grace." I was prone to slip up right? My nature was bad, wasn't it? I desired to sin, like Paul says in Romans 7 didn't I? I was dirty, rotten, foolish, and blind. But something about that didn't sit right with my soul. If I was the one Jesus loved enough to die for, didn't that mean I was worth more than always being seen as an unloveable, worthless, dumb sinner?
Was my identity really: "A stupid sinner who can't do anything right but God just turns the other cheek and pretends like He can't see me because of Jesus?" Was all I ever gonna be was a loser who didn't deserve anything and couldn't seem to ever get it together? Hmmm...
What if God actually loved me more than that? What if He actually made a way for me to be made right with Him, free from sin, and born again? What if the devil was actually the one name-calling, trying to beat me up, tear me down, and disguise it as humility? What if false humility, otherwise known as pride, is the appearance of ungodliness and thinking that's okay because, well, I'm not Jesus after all. Could perhaps pride, shot out in a fiery dart from Satan himself, be the root of these lies? What if it was pride to make it all about you and your sin?
Because no, it's not all about me. And saying that: "Oh well, I'm just a sinner..." seems to make it about you and give you a free pass to keep on sinning because guess what? Jesus paid the price. No. Wrong. He did pay the price, but not so you could continue to separate yourself from Him and make the silly excuse of "Well we're just born into a sinful world and oh, woe is me. I'm destined to fall short." 1 John 3:6 says this: "Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is." Still not convinced? Read further. "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:9)" In fact, don't take it from me. Let's just look at some Scriptures together.
Romans 6 says when you get baptized in water, you bury your sins with Christ and you come up a new creation ONCE AND FOR ALL. Basically, you die...at least the old you does. In the waters of true baptism, the old you (Sin-nature) is washed away and you're resurrected as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Just read it. Really read it and pray on it. Here we go:
"Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6)
Did you catch that? YOU ARE NO LONGER A SLAVE TO SIN! If you're really a believer, baptized into Christ as the Bible says above, you are free! You belong to a good God now who sanctifies you and transforms you daily into His likeness. Yes, this part is a process but as far as being a sinner, you have made the shift from that unto Saint. Just read the Word. Paul addresses the early believers in the original Churches as "Saints." He didn't say this because they did anything super extraordinary and charitable. They weren't Mother Teresa or even Peter, but they were everyday, normal Christians with a relationship with their Maker.
You're a Saint now, if you're born again. But you must be born of water and of Spirit (John 3:5). Mark 16:16 says, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." Romans 6 above tells us why baptism's important. Yes, the thief on the cross went to Heaven because it was "a deathbed salvation" situation but for those of us not yet taking our last breathe, you must commit your life to Christ in baptism!
Baptism is the dying to your sin, process. "Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism (Romans 6:3-4a)." Read and meditate on Romans 6 for as long as you need to, but please friend, stop looking for an excuse to sin and get away with it. You can't. Yes, Jesus forgives you but it's clearly not a free pass to continue to live in sin. It hurts you.
Sin's power is broken off of you! If you need to get baptized and crucify your old nature, do it! But I think it's important to understand what you're doing. In the same book of the Bible, Romans, it says this: "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)" Yes, you will be saved but don't forget the 2nd part of the equation found above in Mark 16:16. Baptism can't be left out.
But why? Isn't faith just belief? I don't think so. James 2:17 says this, "So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead." Or what about 2 verses later in James when it says: "You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror (James 2:19). In fact, since we're looking at the word of God in the Bible, not just what I'm sharing that the Lord has shown me, let's read it.
"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." Whew!!!
"His faith was made COMPLETE by what He DID." Did you catch that? We can say we believe all day long until we're red in the face, but proof that we actually do, is found in our actions, not our words. Put your foot where your faith is and I'll believe you. In other words, show me that you have faith, don't just tell me. Talk is cheap but actions always speak louder than words. So, if you have faith in and believe the Gospel, that Jesus died to forgive you of your sins and ultimately fulfill the law for us, remove the curse that separated us from Him, and was resurrected by the Father three days later and that He alone, is Lord, that's good.
But it's not quite good enough. The cherry on top if you will, the icing on the cake even, is demonstrating your faith by burying your sins in accordance with Him in the water. His action move was being killed in a horrific way to show us that He believed in us enough still to keep us around, even when we spit on Him, mocked Him, hated Him, accused and belittled Him, and ultimately murdered Him. We didn't deserve Heaven, let alone grace, but He believes in us and never stops fighting for us, pursuing us, and reaching out to us.
Now our move? Don't reject His perfect, unearned, unstoppable love. You don't have to work for it. You don't have to prove you're worthy of it. You don't have to impress God with good behavioral skills. You don't have to be smart, talented, popular, beautiful, or accepted by society. You just have to have enough of an open-mind and open heart to let Him in.
Let Him in your heart and believe He loves you because He does. Believe He died to give you life because He did. Believe that He is good because there is no darkness in Him at all. Believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, because you need Him. You can't save your soul; don't waste your time trying. You can do some pretty cool stuff, but as far as inheriting eternal life with Him, that's only done by faith in Him. And remember, faith moves.
Faith isn't still or quiet. Faith doesn't halfheartedly believe, only enough to save your own skin. Faith shouts from the rooftops about the goodness of God. Faith, unapologetically tells the whole world about the best friend they could ever have! Faith is wild, reckless to some, unbound, unleashed, and without limits. Faith moves mountains and without it, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). But let's start at the beginning for you.
The best decision that you could ever make, next to believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confessing with your lips that Jesus Christ is Lord, is then getting in the water and doing more than just getting wet. Take it from me. I believed in Jesus my whole life pretty much, grew up in Church, and made pretty morally-sound decisions. But something was still missing. Owning a Bible wasn't enough. Being a good person wasn't either.
Then, I personally encountered Jesus for myself and His love won me over. It was much more than just religion; it was a relationship that He truly desired to have with me. His love was so forgiving, beautiful, relentless and pure that I couldn't say no. He was filled with so much compassion, grace and mercy that I gave in. I came undone, tired of living life in my own strength, constantly striving for perfection and I let Him take over. I cast my cares on Him.
I learned that when I am weak, He is strong and so then, I am too (2 Corinthians 12:10). I gave Him my heavy load and traded it in for His burden, which is light (Matthew 11:30). I released my striving, relentless hard-working, and selfish-ambition. I gave Him everything but I knew that I needed to do something else. So when the Preacher Man explained to me what baptism really is: being raised to life in Christ, I immediately knew that I needed to do that.
Holy Spirit started talking to me and told me that water baptism really is the union between you and Christ. You go from just being in a relationship with Jesus to entering into a Covenant relationship with Him. You commit your life to Christ. It's the marriage ceremony between you and the Lamb of God (Jesus). When you get baptized, you actually do become one with Him and become the Bride of Christ. For if you love someone, you want to make it legal. You want to take your relationship to the next level and seal the deal, sign the papers.
When you go under the water, you join yourself to Him, as we saw earlier in Romans 6, and just as He was buried for your sins, so too, you come into oneness with Him and bury your sins. Together, you change your life. He doesn't do it all for you. He wants you to take that next step and show the whole world your faith. For what marriage ceremony doesn't have spectators? But He gives the grace, and your job? Give faith in return. Faith in action.
And then what happens? Well, you surely don't stay under the water. You go under, drown your sins, He purifies you and washes you clean through a prophetic, symbolic act, and then you come up! Hallelujah! He raises you to life, as you raise up out of the waters! Just like He didn't stay in the grave, you don't stay down either!!! You come up, connected to Him, born of water, and you're brand new! The old has truly gone and all things have become new!!!
The transition from sinner to Saint has taken place, because you no longer are a slave to sin anymore. Your sin nature has been killed and now you live in unity with Him! You aren't the same person that you were before you went in the water. I truly wasn't. I had been in an authentic relationship with Jesus for about two years up until that point, even though I had believed in Him since I was five, but when I got water-baptized, everything changed.
I honestly felt new! That's the best way I can describe it. I felt different. I felt clean and pure. I felt washed and Holy. I really wasn't the same person. I was now joined to Christ; Jesus was my husband and what an honor that was! My whole life would change from that point forward and I would begin to see the world in a whole different way. You can have that too!
You can be free from the power of sin. You can break up with the old way of living and find new life. You can desire the things of God. You can be and have better. All you have to do is to just make that commitment to live with Him, your spirit united to His, and not turn back. Give Him everything because He gave you every good thing first. He gave you life. He gave you a 2nd chance and probably a 3rd and let's be honest, probably a million chances.
He believes in you, so will you believe in Him enough to go in the water and be born again? Friend, you don't have to continue to fight your flesh off. The sin-nature is real and it needs to be destroyed, but that isn't done through your faulty, self-righteous acts. I was the Queen of that. Listen to me, if you listen to anyone. I did everything right on the outside; I was a poster child for excellence. A hard worker, teacher's pet, top of my class, Bible-memorizing, nice, kind, smart, talented, gifted soul but I was still empty. Yes, I count that all as nothing now.
It's nothing compared to not only knowing Christ, but being joined to Him. That is true power. That is true freedom. That is true life. Now, I don't do it alone. Now, I don't wear myself out and tire my body, through constant striving to be better. I don't operate in my own human strength and try to be my own savior anymore. In fact, those who try to save their lives, will lose them, the Bible says in Luke 17:33 and Matthew 16:25. And I began to feel that way.
That's why Jesus pursued me as hard as He did, because I finally came to the end of myself. I was finally exhausted with pushing myself to the limits and trying to please everyone. People loved me, I got every job I wanted, I did just about every sport and extracurricular activity, I won beauty pageants from the time I was born, and on and on. But who cares?
That was my old life. This is my new. Yes, I still have the gifts that I was born with and perhaps I'm very gifted, but nevertheless, it's the Giver that I want more than the gifts. He's given me greatness because He is great and He is great in me. I didn't ask to be born with all the Spiritual Gifts, but He delighted in my existence and blessed me more than I deserved.
I am thankful. I am grateful. I am honored and humbled. That is the only way to be, because I know my strength comes from the Lord. I know my help comes from Him. I may have the gifts, but He supercharges them. I may have extraordinary power and abilities, but I didn't put them there. He chose me first. He gives me the anointing AND the grace to carry it out. Glory be to God alone. He loved me first. He gave me this life and the best I can do, is give my life back to Him. One of the best things I can do is use my gifts to advance His Kingdom.
Please do the same. You may have gifts and supernatural abilities too, but use it for good friend. And you can only do that with His help. And you can only have the Helper inside of you through baptism: baptism of water and the Spirit! Now is your time. Don't delay. You might look like you're doing great on the outside like I was, but on the inside, you feel empty and alone. I know what that's like. Give it to Him. Go get wet. Go get Him. Go be one with Him.
For this changes everything. And you won't have to keep beating down your flesh and neglecting yourself anymore. Because you will be somebody else, somebody strong, somebody beautiful, somebody spotless and pure, Holy and righteous: the Bride of Christ. This is perhaps, the greatest single decision of your life that you could ever make. So why wait?
You are meant to be a Child of God, the Bride of Jesus, and a light in a dark world...
I believe in you.
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