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Romans 5:12-21
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can also download our service at Baptist-Christian at iTunes. Continued from last week: when God reconciles us, He changes us to a new standard which is Christ’s righteousness. Understanding the changes that come with our reconciliation is paramount to a proper daily life before God. We have a
- A NEW POSITION! (V.17) In a very general way God sees all people as either in the world, spiritually dead and condemned to hell; or in Christ without condemnation and spiritually alive. That is the tone of our passage today. Now go to 2 Cor. 5:17-21. In this “companion” passage we find an explanation of our new position that shows us three vital truths. First – we are in Christ. This is not merely an eschatological truth or spiritual illusion. It’s as much reality as our salvation. God sees The Holy Spirit living in us as our identification (Eph. 4:13, 14) mark that we are in Christ. Second, we are new creations. This is also a present reality. There are three reasons we don’t see ourselves as new: 1- God has not yet given us new exteriors to go with the new interior. Our bodies are still subject to the ravages of sin. The new models are coming! 2- we are still vulnerable to Satanic attack. God has chosen to allow us to be confronted with evil. It has something to do with free choice, or voluntarily choosing to serve God, not self! 3- We still have the memories of sin and sinfulness! When we are attacked we sometimes choose to revert to the old ways and in so doing we sin against God, which in turn causes us to doubt His work of reconciliation in us. To “get it” we must rely on God’s truth that we are new creations with new hearts that have a new desire to serve God.
- WE HAVE A NEW RELATIONSHIP! (V. 19) This great doctrine of reconciliation has two applications here. 1st it provides a complete change of relationship to God from being His enemy, to becoming His adopted child. 2nd it is a progressive change throughout our lives. It is interesting that because the second is true, the first is often hard to believe. Our relationship in salvation carries the potential to experience “all the power of the Godhead” in our personal lives. Because it is progressive and we are vulnerable to Satanic attack, we sometimes doubt that God’s reconciliation is actually working for us, even though it is working for others. The exciting part is that our relationship to God is truth, and therefore, so is the reality that reconciliation is working for us.
- WE HAVE A NEW ATTITUDE! (V. 20) This is also truth, but not always reality! Phil 1:21 explains Paul’s attitude because of his salvation. 2 Cor. 6:1; Eph. 6:20 tell us Paul saw himself as Christ’s ambassador (in chains). His attitude is a good model for us. He realized that because of the change in his position before God, his only possible choice in life was total dedication, service, submission, and ministry. It wasn’t nearly enough, for Paul, to thank God for saving Paul from an eternal separation from God in hell! So what’s your attitude in response to your new position and relationship to God? You know, don’t you! So does God!
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