In Christ, Part 2 - Sin Is No Longer A Factor
The Gospel of Christ is a powerful thing!
It proclaims what Jesus did for us. It tells us Who Jesus is in us. And it declares who we are in Him.
It's the Gospel of Christ that carries the power to save.
When you begin to understand who you are in Christ, I promise you that you'll see your life change! You'll see chains break off!
You'll see limits shattered!
You'll see healing become an everyday reality!
You'll see miraculous provision become your normal!
Why? Is this going to happen because of you....because of how good you are or how strong your faith is? Not at all! These changes will occur in your life when you realize one thing: You're not by yourself anymore! You are now IN CHRIST!
Let's start by taking a look at three points that define your life now....in Christ.
If you feel this way, I've got good news for you! (It's THE Good News, actually.) None of the things you've done wrong will ever be brought up again! In fact, in God's mind, they don't even exist anymore.
Look at this truth from God's Word about who you are in Christ - out of Colossians 1:14 - "In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." You, my friend, are redeemed from the sins you've committed!
"Redeem" means to buy back. Historically, this is the idea of setting someone free from prison or from a debt-born slavery. Someone would redeem a slave by purchasing them from their master and then letting them go free. This is what Jesus did for us! We were slaves to sin - prisoners because of what we did wrong. But He spent His own blood to buy us out of that bondage! And then, when He had every right to continue holding our sin against us (thus making us into His slaves)...He set us free instead! He forgave us of that sin.
"Forgiveness" is an accounting term. It means that we owed a debt, but then we were released from the obligation to pay it. Jesus wiped all that sin-debt off of our account. Nothing that we did wrong will EVER be an issue again!
We see this very clearly in Romans 3:23-24 - "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..."
In Christ, you are redeemed from all of the sins you committed.
It proclaims what Jesus did for us. It tells us Who Jesus is in us. And it declares who we are in Him.
It's the Gospel of Christ that carries the power to save.
When you begin to understand who you are in Christ, I promise you that you'll see your life change! You'll see chains break off!
You'll see limits shattered!
You'll see healing become an everyday reality!
You'll see miraculous provision become your normal!
Why? Is this going to happen because of you....because of how good you are or how strong your faith is? Not at all! These changes will occur in your life when you realize one thing: You're not by yourself anymore! You are now IN CHRIST!
Let's start by taking a look at three points that define your life now....in Christ.
#1 - You are Redeemed
If you're like me, you've struggled with the guilt of what you've done in the past. You may feel like God grudgingly allowed you into the family when you were saved...but still left your sins hanging over your head. You may feel like God is just waiting for you to mess up one more time, and then He'll bring up everything in your past again and charge it all to your account.If you feel this way, I've got good news for you! (It's THE Good News, actually.) None of the things you've done wrong will ever be brought up again! In fact, in God's mind, they don't even exist anymore.
Look at this truth from God's Word about who you are in Christ - out of Colossians 1:14 - "In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." You, my friend, are redeemed from the sins you've committed!
"Redeem" means to buy back. Historically, this is the idea of setting someone free from prison or from a debt-born slavery. Someone would redeem a slave by purchasing them from their master and then letting them go free. This is what Jesus did for us! We were slaves to sin - prisoners because of what we did wrong. But He spent His own blood to buy us out of that bondage! And then, when He had every right to continue holding our sin against us (thus making us into His slaves)...He set us free instead! He forgave us of that sin.
"Forgiveness" is an accounting term. It means that we owed a debt, but then we were released from the obligation to pay it. Jesus wiped all that sin-debt off of our account. Nothing that we did wrong will EVER be an issue again!
We see this very clearly in Romans 3:23-24 - "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..."
In Christ, you are redeemed from all of the sins you committed.
#2 - You are Righteous
Once that sin is forgiven (removed from your account)....what's left to feel guilty of? Nothing at all! This is why Romans 8:1 tells us, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ." In Christ, there is nothing being held against you. God will never say, "...but look at what you did!" You are NOT condemned!
If our past sins have been wiped away, then what's left for you and I? Righteousness! With sin out of the way, we can boldly say that we are right with God!
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For [the Father] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Jesus took our sin out of the way when He died for us. In exchange for our sin, He gave us His righteousness. In Christ, we are righteous!
Remember this, the righteousness you have didn't come from anything you did right! This is what Paul said in Philippians 3:9, "...and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law [that is, from doing or not doing something], but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith..."
You didn't do anything to become righteous - this came when you believed that you've been forgiven.
You still don't do anything to remain righteous - this continues by faith in Christ Jesus.
And even when you sin after salvation - God still offers a works-free righteousness. This is why 1 John 1:9 promises "...if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us...and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
In Christ, you are permanently righteous.
If our past sins have been wiped away, then what's left for you and I? Righteousness! With sin out of the way, we can boldly say that we are right with God!
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For [the Father] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Jesus took our sin out of the way when He died for us. In exchange for our sin, He gave us His righteousness. In Christ, we are righteous!
Remember this, the righteousness you have didn't come from anything you did right! This is what Paul said in Philippians 3:9, "...and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law [that is, from doing or not doing something], but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith..."
You didn't do anything to become righteous - this came when you believed that you've been forgiven.
You still don't do anything to remain righteous - this continues by faith in Christ Jesus.
And even when you sin after salvation - God still offers a works-free righteousness. This is why 1 John 1:9 promises "...if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us...and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
In Christ, you are permanently righteous.
#3 - You are 100% Free From Sin's Power
Romans 8:2 "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."
But what about that bad behavior? Does the fact that we're permanently righteous now mean we're able to to "get away" with doing whatever we want?
That, my friends, is the wrong question....and it should never be in the heart of a believer!
In response to the free gift of forgiveness and right-standing that we've been given, our primary question should be: Now how can I live to please my Savior?
Once you ask the right question, you get an amazing answer: It's all by grace!
Now that you're in Christ, you've been set free from the power of sin and death. You don't have to sin any more...you are now free to obey God!
Paul says this over and over again in Romans chapter 6:
Verse 2 - "How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"
Verse 6 - "...that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."
Verse 7 - "For he who has died has been freed from sin."
Verse 11 - "...reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Verse 14 - "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace."
Verse 18 - "And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
Verse 22 - "But now having been set free from sin..."
Do you see this? YOU ARE FREE from sin! You're no longer bound to it. You no longer have to do the things you're ashamed of. You no longer have to struggle with "addictions", or "habits", or "mistakes"....whatever pet name you call that sin. No, any power that thing had over your life was completely broken when you were saved.
In Christ, you are now free from the power of sin
But what about that bad behavior? Does the fact that we're permanently righteous now mean we're able to to "get away" with doing whatever we want?
That, my friends, is the wrong question....and it should never be in the heart of a believer!
In response to the free gift of forgiveness and right-standing that we've been given, our primary question should be: Now how can I live to please my Savior?
Once you ask the right question, you get an amazing answer: It's all by grace!
Now that you're in Christ, you've been set free from the power of sin and death. You don't have to sin any more...you are now free to obey God!
Paul says this over and over again in Romans chapter 6:
Verse 2 - "How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"
Verse 6 - "...that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."
Verse 7 - "For he who has died has been freed from sin."
Verse 11 - "...reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Verse 14 - "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace."
Verse 18 - "And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
Verse 22 - "But now having been set free from sin..."
Do you see this? YOU ARE FREE from sin! You're no longer bound to it. You no longer have to do the things you're ashamed of. You no longer have to struggle with "addictions", or "habits", or "mistakes"....whatever pet name you call that sin. No, any power that thing had over your life was completely broken when you were saved.
In Christ, you are now free from the power of sin
Stop Focusing On Sin!
So what have we discovered in Christ?
#1 - I'm no longer guilty of what I did!
#2 - I have complete and permanent right standing with God!
#3 - I'm 100% free to live a sinless life!
If these three things are true - and we know they are, because they come from God Himself - then why are we focusing so much of our attention on sin? If Jesus died to set me free from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and the very presence of sin in my life....who am I to keep holding onto it? Why should I disagree with Him when He calls me righteous?
Let me leave you with one more passage, from Matthew 1:21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
Jesus' mission was to save you from your sin. He came to obliterate every trace of sin from your life. So will you stop fighting Him? Will you (by faith) just let Him do His job?
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