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Part 4 - The Application of Faith
Sanctified: In the Heavenly Dwelling Place of Christ
Another aspect of the sanctifying work of Christ is the separation of the
believer into the heavenly places with Christ (See
Part 2: Separated in the Heavenly Dwelling Place of Christ).
When one comes to Christ he is born a second time, not into the world but
into the spiritual realm and into God's kingdom. The believer is made alive
in the spirit and dwells with Christ in the presence of the Father. Applying
faith by reckoning this position and abiding in it is another important
element in being fruitful in Christ.
The new creature
Nicodemus wondered when Jesus told him that one must be born again to see
the kingdom of God. Scripture records, "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I
say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be
born again." The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it,
but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is
born of the Spirit' " (John 3:5-8).
This position that one has in Christ is not visible to the eye: "you . . .
cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes." This is a realm that is
foreign and unknown to the natural and unregenerate man. It is also a realm
that that part of the believer, the flesh, cannot see. "That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The
term "the flesh" refers to all that is descended from fallen Adam. This
is primarily the nature and mind of man who is alienated from God and who
lives according to his bodily appetites. Paul the
Apostle uses this term frequently to show that natural man is opposed to
God, is self-serving and bound in sin, and cannot serve and please God.
Instead of reforming the flesh, God creates in the believer a new nature
that is after God's Spirit. Man's spirit is made alive in Christ. This "new
creature" desires the things of God and is grieved by sin. These two
opposing natures make for warfare in the life of the believer.
Life in the spiritual realm
"Experiential" sanctification involves the recognition of this warfare and
learning to abide in that position in Christ that He has already delivered
the believer into: the spiritual realm instead of the fleshly realm. Paul
writes to the Galatians, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). To battle the flesh and try
to improve or reform it is a losing battle. Paul writes, "I find then a law,
that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in
the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom. 7:21-23). By calling sin a
"law" that is in his members (the carnal man), Paul is saying that it is an
inviolable principle that the flesh follows after sin. Paul further shows
that the flesh is totally unprofitable toward the things of God: "Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of
God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please
God" (Rom. 8:7-8).
God's provision for the believer regarding the flesh is for the believer to
live with Christ in the "heavenly places," the spiritual realm. Although the
"law of sin" cannot be broken, there is another law that can override it,
the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." Paul writes, "For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin
and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on
account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:2-4). In a similar way the
law of gravity cannot be broken but the law of aerodynamics allows a person
to fly in a plane and not fall. Gravity is still present and can pull one
down but another law overrides it. Such is walking in the Spirit. Leave this
place and one will immediately fall in sin.
Set apart by Christ: into spiritual life
Because of the heavenly position that the believer has in Christ, "There is
therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not
walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1). This
is a position of faith, not of works. Christ did the work of sanctification,
and now the Holy Spirit is available to bring fruitfulness. "And if Christ
is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you" (Rom. 8:10-11).
Attaining to spiritual life apart from Christ is an impossibility. For this
Jesus Christ is the Way. He has risen to the Father and is seated with Him.
Those who rest in the work of Christ have risen with Him and are seated with
Christ in the heavenly places. The place of spiritual life in Christ is the
place of victory over the flesh. By
reckoning that one has been delivered into the spiritual realm with Christ,
and abiding in Christ through the Spirit, the believer can be fruitful in
the sanctified position he has in Jesus Christ.
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