A New Species
Before you begin your Bible study, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, be
sure you have named your sins privately to God the Father.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(Known, Unknown and Forgotten sins) (1Jn 1:9)
You will then be in fellowship with God, Filled with the Holy Spirit and ready
to learn Truth from the Word of God.
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth,"
(John 4:24)
A New Species
(Doctrine of Positional Truth)
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things
passed away; behold, new things have come! (2Co 5:17)
This is a very familiar passage, which is frequently quoted but often
distorted. The implications of being a new person are usually associated with
some experiential change. When many believers first accept Jesus Christ as
Savior, they become the recipients of some type of legalistic bullying; or they
may simply be impressed with certain Christian types, and as a result want to
do what that person does . . . they want to imitate. So they are led or
inspired or bullied or coerced or shamed or pressurized into giving up
something. Now, anything that the Word of God causes you to give up is fine;
but to give up something simply because of some other pressure is definitely
not a bona fide part of the Christian life. No one ever gives up something or
anything, in the energy of the flesh, by the strength of the old sin nature
without wanting to boast about it at some time, some place, somewhere!
(And boasting is a sin)
DISTORTIONS
I have attended many young peoples’ camps, and they all wind up in the
same sad way: inspirational singing around a campfire, a few glowing
testimonies, an inspirational message on discipleship; then the faggot-[Bundle
of sticks]-on-the-fire ceremony with the “what-will-you-give-up?” pitch.
When the young people come down from the mountain, they give a
glowing testimony in their churches about how they gave up their girlfriend or
boyfriend, and now they have a closer walk with the Lord. Then they quote,
(2Co 5:17) implying that they are new creatures because they have given up
something for God!
Their unsaved counterparts are doing the same thing. They are giving up
things in order to go to heaven; they are giving up things because they are
unhealthy; they are giving up things because of the disapproval from
"society." The idea of making some sort of sacrifice has had appeal to the
human race almost since the fall in the Garden of Eden. (Gen 3:7)
Unfortunately and tragically, it is almost impossible to approach this verse
without remembering some of the distortions to which it has been exposed.
It is fixed in most of our minds, erroneously so, that we are new creatures
because we have changed our lives; because we have changed our behavior
pattern; because we have changed our routine; because we have made a
supreme sacrifice. Once we were having fun; now we are not having fun
because we are doing this for God and because we are new creatures. And
frankly, it just doesn’t sound like fun to become a new creature, when, as a
matter of fact, it is the most wonderful thing in the world when you
understand it in the light of its context.
So the interpretation of this passage causes us a great deal of trouble,
because we associate it with what we are doing for God rather than with
what God is doing for us. It is one of those passages which, by itself, is
difficult to begin because it draws a conclusion. But let’s start with the word
“therefore.”
GRACE ORIENTATION
The Greek word, “hoste,” actually brings us to our first conclusion in this
passage. While it is translated “therefore,” it would be better translated “so
that.” It is the conclusion of the previous sixteen verses of this chapter in
which all of the marvelous provisions of the grace of God have been defined.
We have now come to the ultimate in the field of grace Principles . . . Grace
Orientation. “Conclusion” is the best translation here.
“Conclusion: if, (First-class condition ‘if, and it is true’) any man. . .” “Man”
is a generic term, (“Tis”) meaning “anyone,” any believer-priest. “If anyone in
Christ.” (There is no verb here in the original text)
Before I go any further, I want you to notice an important point: a new
creature is IN CHRIST! You don’t have a “new Creature” first; you have
CHRIST FIRST! “In Christ” is referring to positional Truth. The only sense in
this passage in which we are new creatures is through our union with Christ.
(Gal 3:28) The reason for that becomes quite obvious in the Greek: the word
“new” is an adjective, (Kainos) and it is a word for a NEW SPECIES! There is
another Greek word for “new” — “neos,” which means “new in time.” But this
latter word is not used in this passage.
In the Devil’s world, there is a BRAND NEW SPECIES that has only
existed since the ascension of Christ. (The New Covenant Spiritual life) The
new species came into being with the baptism of the Spirit, which did not
occur until after Jesus Christ was glorified.
But this spoke he of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to
receive; for the Spirit [The New Covenant Spiritual life] was not yet given;
because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:39) cf. (Acts 1:5)
Although (2Co 5:17) does not contain the word “Salvation,” it includes it.
In the Old Testament, billions of people were saved by believing in Christ as
He was then revealed. The pattern is Abraham. “And he believed in the Lord;
(Jesus Christ) and he counted it to him (It was credited to his account) for
righteousness.” (Gen 15:6 cf. Rom 4:3)
When people were saved in the Old Testament, they were born again just
as we are; they were justified just as we are; they had the TEMPORARY
ministry of God the Holy Spirit, (Prov 1:23) they were given eternal life just as
we are. BUT . . . they were not “kainos,” Why? Because never before in
history had anyone been put into UNION WITH CHRIST. Not until the Day of
Pentecost, (30 A.D.) did the PERMANENT baptism of the Holy Spirit occur.
Old Testament saints are just as much saved as we; but there is a
difference between Old Testament RITUAL saints and New Testament
REALITY saints, and that is that Christ had not yet been glorified. Up to that
time, Christ was the target of Satan and the angelic conflict; but now that
Christ is glorified at the right hand of the Father, the target is the believer.
Since Christ is present in the New Covenant Church Age believer, the angelic
conflict is intensified. (Gal 4:19) Why? Because the plan of God is moving
rapidly, and Satan sees the time is getting short. (Rev 12:12)
Since Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, “Operation
Footstool” (Psa 110:1; Heb 1:13) is becoming a Reality; when the demons
will be removed from the earth. (Zec 13:2) Christ, the First-fruits,
(1Co 15:23) is a "New Species" and is the only One at present with a
resurrection body. But we are a new species in Christ!
We are not a new species because we have given up bubble gum or
changed our behavior pattern or cut our hair or whatever we do that we say
makes us different. We are a new species because at the moment of
salvation, when we were born again, we were “picked up” by God the Holy
Spirit and entered into union with Jesus Christ. This is the baptism of the
Spirit.
The word “new” is important here. We are new creatures — “a new
species of creation” actually. The word “ktisis” means “a creature or a new
creation.” We are a new species in creation. We have been made that by
what God did. WE ARE NOT A NEW SPECIES BECAUSE OF ANYTHING
WE HAVE EVER DONE! Whatever great triumphs you have in the Christian
life, whatever you give up, (Whether it is bona fide or not) if you give it up in
the power of the Spirit and as a result of growth, that is fine; (Rom 8:13) BUT
DON’T EVER QUOTE, (2Co 5:17) IN CONNECTION WITH IT! This verse
has nothing to do with what you have done or what you are going to do by
way of victorious living. It has to do with one thing only — a thing God did for
you at the point of Salvation. There are approximately forty things that
constitute the believer a brand new species.
Now I emphasize this, not to give you a sense of fat-headedness,
(For certainly, you must recognize that this is God’s grace) but to cause you
to realize that you are in the most unusual, the most exciting and the most
difficult place in history . . . that you personally are in an unseen conflict.
There are many observable, known conflicts in history at the present time;
but you are a part of a conflict that is so fantastic and so amazing, and yet so
difficult, because so powerful is the pressure from demons, to make life look
"normal" that we are to try and get all we can! to think and talk as if we just
had or did not have; a Job, food, girl, clothing, man, money, power, fame,
social life, sexual life, house, family; (Matt 6:31-34) that we would be happy.
This angelic conflict has reached an intensified stage never known before in
history; and we are in that battle and a part of that conflict. Everything we
see and hear on television, in the news, at work, at school describes life as if
it really depended on the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of
life! (To be proud of our abilities, thoughts, and or ourselves; instead of God
and His) (1Jn 2:16) One of the first Doctrines you must understand in order to
withstand the satanic onslaught is Positional Truth; and this Doctrine is also
the key to understanding, (2Co 5:17).
“Therefore (Conclusion) if any man (Anyone, believer-priest, male or
female) is in Christ, (Positional Truth) he is a new creature.” (A new Spiritual
species with a new Spiritual nature, that needs new Spiritual Food; Matt 4:4;
(1Co 2:12-13; 2Pe 1:4) You have been created a new Spiritual species by
the baptism of the Holy Spirit. No wonder the baptism is under so much
attack! No wonder we have people who think that the baptism of the Spirit is
an experience! No wonder, when the “holiness” crowd and the “tongues”
crowd and all of the cult and ism crowds, have an emotional experience, they
call it the baptism of the Spirit! Let us take a look at the Doctrine of Positional
Truth, or Positional Sanctification, as it is the basis for orientation to the
grace of God.
POSITIONAL TRUTH
(1) THE MECHANICS OF POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION
(1Co 12:13) says that “by means of One Spirit we are all baptized into One
body.” (The Body of Christ) Most know there are eight baptism illustrations;
(The baptism of Noah, Moses, John, Christ, the Cross, God the Holy Spirit,
the pre-canon New Covenant believer and fire) but only One baptism that
saves. (Eph 4:5; Col 2:12; (1Pe 3:21) Here the word (‘Baptized’) refers to the
moment of Salvation a point in time which is perpetuated forever. At that
moment, God the Holy Spirit enters every believer into union with Christ.
(cf. John 14:20; Acts 1:5; Eph 4:5)
(2) POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION BELONGS TO THE CARNAL AS
WELL AS THE SPIRITUAL BELIEVER. (1Co 3:1)
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom
from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption (1Co 1:30)
Let’s take a look at TOP AND BOTTOM circles. Illustration
The Spiritual believer is in the bottom circle as well as in the top circle. The
carnal believer is out of fellowship, and out of the bottom circle: but he is in
the top circle, One is in the bottom circle and one is out; but both are in the
top circle. One is a SPIRITUAL believer and one a CARNAL believer; but
BOTH are in union with Christ and in the top circle.
They are called in, (1Co 1:2) “sanctified in Christ Jesus,” And this is really
something, because when you read on through the book and see how all
those Corinthian believers were out of line . . . the ones who committed
mental attitude sins, the ones guilty of sins of the tongue, the ones who were
guilty of lasciviousness, the ones who were spending their time in court suing
other believers, and all the rest … you wonder how they could be classified
as “sanctified in Christ Jesus.” Yet, carnal or Spiritual, it is true of every
believer today, just as it was then. All are in Christ Jesus; all are sanctified in
Him. (1Co 6:11)
Remember, those believers you glare at are also in Christ Jesus. The
worst believer, the best believer, the greatest believer, the inferior believer,
the believer who is just in by the skin of his teeth, the believer who is a
Spiritual giant — all are in union with Christ, sanctified in Christ. Sanctification
means “to be set apart.” All believers are set apart unto God at the point of
Salvation; they have a permanent relationship with Him. You are no more in
union with Christ than any other believer; you are no less in union with Christ
than any other believer! Positional sanctification is an absolute. That belongs
to every believer, regardless of his failure or success in the Christian life! This
is another grace orientation Principle.
(3) POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION PROTECTS THE BELIEVER
One of the marvelous things about positional Truth is that it carries with it
some guarantees. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new
Spiritual species.” Now, as a member of the new creation, as a new Spiritual
species, you are protected from the last judgment: “It is appointed unto man
once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Heb 9:27) There is a judgment
coming after death for the unbeliever. But…
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been
judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. (John 3:18)
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus. (Rom 8:1)
There is just ONE WAY to go to the Lake of Fire as a believer! The
ONLY way, is to be a believer living in the Tribulation period who takes the
mark of the beast; (Rev 14:6-12) if an unbeliever takes the mark of the beast
or does not take the mark — DOES NOT send him to the Lake of Fire. NOT
believing in Jesus Christ DOES! (Joh 3:18; Rev 14:6-7) A Believer who is
given the GRACE, to see and hear an angel tell him NOT to worship the
beast and take his mark; AND DOES! ...HE ALSO WILL... Go to the Lake of
Fire. (Rev 14:9-12)
This should give you some idea about God’s plan. God’s plan is perfect
because God is perfect. God’s plan is perfect, not only because a perfect
Person devised it, but because He also did the work.
So you have perfect planning; (God the Father) perfect revelation; (God
the Holy Spirit) and perfect work. (God the Son) Where does that leave you
and me? It leaves us out in the cold when it comes to work. That’s why some
Christians are always “working” — they feel so left out. Now it is important to
realize that you have a perfect security.
(4) POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION QUALIFIES THE BELIEVER TO
LIVE WITH GOD FOREVER
There are three things which are necessary in order for a believer to live
with God. First of all, his sins have to be taken care of — and they were —
at the cross. Every sin of everyone who has ever lived or ever will live was
poured out on Christ and judged. But, even with your sins forgiven, you still
haven’t everything necessary to live with God forever. That’s only part of the
package. You must also have the same kind of life that He has. Could you be
happy living with a “zombie” if you are a person who has a lot of life? Our
lives must also be compatible with God’s life. We must be given His life and
we have been. Jesus Christ is eternal life; we are in union with Christ; we
share His life; and therefore, we have eternal life.
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son
of God does not have the life. (1Jn 5:11-12)
Now that is not all. Even with eternal life and your sins forgiven, you
couldn’t be in heaven. Why? God says that heaven is one place where
everyone who is there has to be as good as He is good. Well, let’s all give up
right now, because there is no way! BUT THERE IS! Jesus Christ is PLUS R.
He has God’s perfect righteousness, both in His humanity and in His Deity.
We are in union with Christ, and therefore, we share His righteousness. That
is all it takes. “The sin question” That was settled at the cross. It is now the
“Son question.” Are you a new creation in Christ Jesus? “If any man be in
Christ, he is a new species of creation.” Why? Because he has eternal life
and because he has the righteousness of God! “He made Him who knew no
sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of
God in Him.” (2Co 5:21) So positional sanctification qualifies the believer to
live with God forever!
(5) POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION DEFINES BOTH ELECTION AND
PREDESTINATION
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us with every Spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just
as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be
holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as
sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His
will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in
the Beloved. (Eph 1:3-6)
The word for predestination, “proorizo,” is usually translated
“predestined”; but that isn’t what it actually means. It means “to be pre-
planned.” The point is that God the Father planned a future for Jesus Christ,
and Christ was therefore “called” or “elected.” Since we are in union with
Christ, we share His election; and we were elected before the foundation of
the world. In other words, there never was a time when Christ didn’t exist. He
lived in eternity past with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. During
some period in eternity past, some planning occurred. In that planning Christ
was given an eternal destiny; and since it was planned in the past, we call
that “election.” Since it was designed in the past, we call it “predestination.”
So we share His election and we share His destiny.
(6) POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION PRODUCES A NEW SPIRITUAL
SPECIES ON THE EARTH
(2Co 5:17) This is a “species” which had never existed before — a species
which started on the Day of Pentecost, the day the New Covenant Church
Age began. It is the “missing link” in the Old Testament. Moses, Abraham,
Elijah — none of the great believers of the Old Testament were included in
this new Spiritual species, the Jews started as a new racial and Spiritual
species, later a new nation, with laws of Divine establishment. (Free will,
marriage, family and nationalism) They had a ritual plan through hands on
illustrations, looking to the judgment of the Lamb of God. (John 1:29)
We have THE PROTOCOL PLAN. Exact correct precise procedure, just
as Jesus submitted to this system so must we. (Heb 12:1-2)
By staying in fellowship and Thinking with God’s Thoughts every day;
taking in a maximum amount of Truth and reading every book! If we never
quit, we will reach maturity; and beyond! (Isa 57:10; Jer 17:13; Jer 18:12)
(7) POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION GUARANTEES ETERNAL
SECURITY.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39).
You are in union with Christ, and nothing or no one can remove you from
that position.
(8) POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION EXISTS IN TWO CATEGORIES:
Category One — retroactive; (Rom 6:1-4) Category Two — current
(Col 3:1-2). Retroactive positional Truth is identification with Christ in His
death. In His death, He bore our sins but rejected human old sin nature good.
(Sin nature production) Therefore retroactive positional Truth excludes sin
nature production from having any part in the plan of God. Since we are
identified with Christ in His death, and since in His death Christ rejected sin
nature production; positionally we have rejected sin nature production. “For
you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is
our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Col 3:3)
Current positional Truth is identification with Christ in His resurrection. In
His resurrection body, Christ ascended and was seated at the right hand of
the Father, (Heb 1:13) the place of ultimate glory as well as the place of
superiority to all angelic creation. (Heb 1:4) In union with Christ, believers are
positionally at the right hand of the Father and therefore positionally superior
to angelic creatures at the present time. Under ultimate sanctification in the
future, the believer with a resurrection body will be physically superior to
angelic creatures. (Heb 1:14) “For if we have become united with Him in the
likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His
resurrection.” (Now and in eternity) (Rom 6:5)
(9) THE IMPLICATIONS OF POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION
First, the believer shares the life of Christ. (1Jn 5:11-12) There is eternal
life again! Second, the believer shares the righteousness of Christ.
(2Co 5:21) Third, the believer shares the election of Christ. (Eph 1:4) Fourth,
the believer shares the destiny of Christ. (Eph 1:5) Fifth, the believer shares
the Son-ship of Christ. (Gal 3:26) Sixth, the believer shares the heir-ship of
Christ. (Rom 8:16-17; (1Pe 1:4-5) Seventh, the believer shares the
sanctification of Christ. (1Co 1:30) Eighth, the believer shares the kingdom of
Christ. (2Pe 1:11)
You can take any one of them, or any combination of them, and no
matter how you slice it, you are in a plan which won’t quit! YOU may quit, but
the plan won’t. That is the beauty about being in the plan: you can quit, yet
you are still in the plan. The plan moves on; it just picks you up and carries
you along as though you were riding the surf on a big wave. There is no way
to get around it — the plan is going to go right on; it is going to carry you; so
you might as well get with it!
You may think you have been “carrying God on your back.” Then one
day you “drop Him,” and you go around saying that it is all over. I am not
being blasphemous I am just describing the way a lot of people feel. Where
you made your mistake is in thinking you did anything in the first place. If you
start out with grace, you can’t do anything but win; if you start out with
legalism, you can’t do anything but lose. But God’s plan is still going to win
because grace is still there, even when you are legalistic. When you take a
look at some of the characteristics of positional Truth, however you line them
up, it all comes out the same: God did all the work! There is no way for you
to slip in even one ounce of glory — even with a verse like! (2Co 5:17)
(10) CHARACTERISTICS OF POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION
First of all, positional Truth is NOT an experience. It is neither emotion nor
ecstatics. It is not an emotional experience.
Secondly, it is not progressive. Since positional sanctification is perfect
at the moment of salvation, it cannot get better and better. The moment you
accept Christ, you enter into union with Him; you have a perfect position, and
you always will have. It cannot be improved in time or in eternity. It will be just
as perfect a million years from now as it was the moment you entered into
union with Christ.
Thirdly, positional Truth is not related to human merit. It is neither human
old sin nature good nor energy of the flesh. Here are the implications of
retroactive positional Truth. There is no place in the plan of God for human
power. Grace amplifies Divine Thinking and excludes old sin nature and
satanic thinking. (Matt 16:22-23) (Isa 55:8-9)
Fourthly, positional Truth is eternal in nature. It will last forever!
Fifthly, positional Truth is known only through the Word of God, by the
teaching of the Word, by understanding the Word. (Col 2:2-3) In other words,
anything you learn or know about positional Truth, you get out of the Bible! No
one taps you on the shoulder and whispers it in your ear. You don’t get the
whole thing laid out for you in a dream. You get it only from the Word of God!
Sixthly, positional Truth is obtained in toto — completely — at the
moment of Salvation. This is accomplished by means of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, which is one of the 40 things God does for us at the moment of
Salvation. “Therefore, (A conclusion) if anyone in Christ, (Positional
sanctification) you are a new Spiritual species of Creation!” And you are a
new Spiritual species of creation because of the work of the Holy Spirit at the
moment of Salvation.
SPIRITUAL DEATH
OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY . . . You may have followed along
this far, but now you think, “Old things are passed away? That means my
fifteen cases of gin which went down the drain . . . the girl friends I said good-
bye to . . . the monastic type of life I’ve led since I’ve been saved . . . the
places to which I no longer go . . . I now go to church!”
But that is not what it means at all. I know you are not going to take my
word for it, and I don’t intend for you to do so. We’ll take it up in the Greek.
“Old things’ is one word in the Greek. Although it is in the plural, I will give you
the singular form — “archaios.” Now let’s see what has passed away. You’re
going to love this: “that which existed in the beginning.” The word “archaios”
means, “Archaeology.”
The reason it was given a plural translation is that you cannot give it a
one-word translation and have it make sense in the English. To what do
“things which existed in the beginning” refer? (Satan’s thinking and His nature)
(John 8:44-45) Here it goes back to the original sin in the Garden. By their
own negative volition, Adam and Eve entered into a condition called “Spiritual
death.”(2Co 11:3) They died Spiritually the moment they sinned. They had
started out having fellowship with God. God the Son, (Jesus Christ) came
into the Garden every day to see them. (Gen 3:8)
When God breathed into them the “breath of lives,”
(Literally — Gen 2:7) He gave them a soul and a human spirit. The human
spirit enabled them to understand Spiritual phenomena and to store and utilize
Divine Thinking. whereby Adam and Eve could inhale and exhale Truth. The
human spirit was designed for relationship with God, the soul for relationship
with man. When the first man and woman sinned, they lost the human spirit
and picked up an old sin nature, (Relationship with Satan and the demons)
which immediately cut them off from God; thus they were Spiritually dead.
Where once they were trichotomous, (Body, soul and spirit) they were
now dichotomous body and soul only. The sin nature is in the soul and the cell
structure; therefore, Spiritual death is in the soul. That’s why it is the soul
which must be saved; and in these Scriptures, delivered from the control of
the old sin nature. (Heb 10:39; Jas 1:21) The soul is composed of self-
consciousness; mentality, which has two frontal lobes — the mind, or the
staging area, and the heart where knowledge resides; volition; emotion; and
conscience, which is in the right or dominant lobe. Add to that an old sin
nature, and that is all they had!
Now, in their mentality, they got a good case of pride going. Secondly,
their conscience began to fire up. They put on fig leaves — “operation fig
leaves” (Self- righteousness — socialism — the first thought of evil after the
fall; that if we are right with each other; we will be right with God) followed by
“operation patsy” (“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me
from the tree, and I ate.”) In other words, it’s all God’s fault. Whenever a
temptation becomes a sin, sin is produced, in Reality the sin is then
evacuated through the old sin nature; and whenever there is a guilt reaction,
human good comes through the old sin nature. So both sin and human good
are produced from the old sin nature. The sin nature is the enemy of the soul.
(John 2:24-25; Matt 12:34-37)
How does this look in the soul? “Scar tissue” forms on the left bank of
the soul through negative volition toward Divine Thinking — the Bible. You’re
too busy, you’re antagonistic, you’re occupied with other things! That opens
up a vacuum, (“Mataiotes” in the Greek) into which is sucked Satanic,
(Demonic and or human false) thinking. (1Ti 4:1) On the right bank of the
soul, the lust pattern of the old sin nature gets a mental attitude sin going.
The mental attitude sin is expressed in gossiping, maligning, nit-picking,
various types of revenge tactics, etc., and these sins are ejected through the
old sin nature.
Then, terrible guilt complexes start up in the conscience; so what
happens now? Well, you go back to church and try to make it all up. You
crank out human old sin nature works like mad; but it’s only ejecting human
good through your old sin nature. And that is not good! The scar tissue must
first be removed. Through the “rebound” technique (1Jn 1:9) and the resultant
filling of God the Holy Spirit, Truth is inhaled into the left lobe of the mind,
transferred into the human spirit by faith; where it becomes “epignosis —
Spiritual Thinking,” (The Mind of Christ) and is exhaled through the left bank
of the soul toward God and out the right bank toward self, people, things and
circumstances, producing Spiritual growth. This process shaves off the scar
tissue in the soul. (Jer 15:19)
Illustration
What are the “old things” which are passed away? Something archaic,
something older than you are. Do you know what is older than you and I?
The old sin nature and Satan’s thinking. It isn’t literally passed away as yet;
but by the daily intake and Thinking with the Word of Truth; the old sin nature’
s thinking can be removed! (Rom 6:17-18) Since you are born with them, you
are born Spiritually dead. Spiritual death is the Principle of no relationship
with God; and the “old things,” the archaic things, is Spiritual death, the old
sin nature, and false thinking, — no relationship with God.
Before you can commit one sin, before you can perform an act of
human good, before you can crank up and do anything, your old sin nature is
there, and you are Spiritually dead. (Eph 2:1) Spiritual death is as old as,
(Gen 2:17). Spiritual death as a Promise, as an anticipated judgment, came
before sin. God warned the first parents: “...For in the day that you eat from
it you will surely die.” But once the sin came, then the condition which had
been Promised — about which they had been warned — came into existence.
It is the old sin nature which causes us to be born Spiritually dead:
“Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin (The old sin nature) entered into the
world, and death by sin; and so death (Spiritual death — and there’s the point
at which the picture changes) passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
(Aorist tense, in a point of time) The aorist tense is important in. (Rom 5:12)
“All have sinned” means that all sinned when Adam sinned. Adam is archaic.
The word “sin” in the singular refers to the old sin nature. When it says that
“all sinned,” it means that we are born with Spiritual death, because we are
born with his nature. (Rom 5:12) is rarely understood. Spiritual death passed
upon the entire human race because the entire human race sinned when
Adam sinned.
A NEW RELATIONSHIP
But here is the beautiful thing: “Old things are PASSED AWAY.” The
moment you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, “archaios” — Spiritual death
— passes away, and you enter into a relationship with God. There is another
way of saying this: (1Co 15:22) “In Adam (We are born ‘in Adam’) all die...”
How do they die? Spiritually! We died the moment we were born; we died
Spiritually. We had no relationship with God. BUT, “even so in Christ shall all
be made alive.” Jesus Christ is eternal life; we share His eternal life. “Old
things are passed away!”
“Passed away” is “parerchomai” in the Greek, which means several
things: “to go,” “to pass, “to come to an end.” The latter is the meaning in
context. Spiritual death has come to an end. It has come to an abrupt stop!
The moment you accept Christ as Savior, Spiritual death comes to its end;
you are IN CHRIST!
“Parerchomai” also means “to be neutralized” and “to disappear.” We
could translate this: “The ancient things, (Pertaining to Spiritual death) have
vanished, disappeared,” Spiritual death is gone. There is one thing you can
say about yourself as of the moment you accepted Christ, and you can say it
with certainty, with conviction and confidence: it is now impossible for you to
be Spiritually dead. Never again will you know anything about Spiritual death.
You may die physically but you have a relationship with God, and no matter
how sorry you are or how good, that relationship will always exist in time. The
“old things” — the “archaios” are passed away. They have come to an abrupt
halt!
GRACE IN POSITIONAL TRUTH
Finally, (2Co 5:17) concludes, “behold, all things are become new.”
“All things” is not found in the original text. It is literally, behold, THEY have
become new.” “Behold, (Focus on this; concentrate on this) they have
become (“Ginomai” in the perfect tense) NEW. (In the past, with the result
that they will always be new)” “New,” again, is “kainos” — new in species.
You are now an absolutely new Spiritual species, one who will never again be
subject to Spiritual death.
And now this is the important thing: all of this is the work of God every
bit of it! There is no way that YOU can make YOURSELF a new creature.
But this new creature needs a new way of Thinking.(1Co 2:12-16) new
"things" must be learned and Thought and remembered; but we have a lot of
help! (John 14:23-26) There is no manufacturing on your part; there is nothing
you can give up; there is no change you can make in your behavior pattern;
there is no new morality, no intensification of your life, no system of
asceticism nothing you have done makes you a new creature. God did it all,
AND THAT IS GRACE! He starts that way with us, and He ends up that way
with us. In between, we may get off base, but He will never stop treating us
in grace. (Jas 1:18; Jas 1:21-25)
Grace always finds a way; never has grace failed even once. Grace is
the character of God; grace is the glory of God; grace is the Personality of
God; grace is Who and What God IS! God the Father planned it this way for
this dispensation. Jesus Christ went to the cross and ascended. Positional
sanctification could not occur until the ascension. God the Holy Spirit takes us
at the moment of Salvation and enters us into union with Jesus Christ, and we
are positionally sanctified. The only Persons who can receive glory from this
plan are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, [The Father] and
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (2Co 13:14)
End
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