Walking with Gratitude
in His Righteousness

Let’s review and reflect as
we conclude the Gospel eMoments.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning,
God created the heavens
and the earth.

God is God.
The fact that He is the God
of creation means that
He is Lord of all.

Genesis 1:27
So God created man
in his own image,
in the image of God
he created him;
male and female
he created them.

In one verse God
has repeated the word
created three times.

We have been created by
Him in His image.
Adam and Eve did not
EVOLVE.
Adam and Eve were
CREATED
by God.

Man was the crowning
work of God’s
masterful and magnificent
creation!

God saw all that He created
and called it very good.
HOWEVER,
man fell
prey to temptation
and into sin.

Not believing God
and His love
Adam and Eve
ultimately acted
in selfishness and unbelief.
They turned against,
God became His enemies
and broke their intimate
fellowship with Him.

Romans 6:23
 For the wages of sin is death. . .

Romans 5:12
…just as sin came into the
world through one man,
and death through sin,
and so death spread
to all men because all sinned.

But GOD made a way…

He so loved the world
that He offered His one
and only Son over to death
so that we could have life.
He poured out His wrath
upon Him so that
we could have
His righteousness.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him
 should not perish
but have eternal life.

The love of God.

J E S U S.
He came.
He suffered.
He was buried.
He rose again that
we might have life in Him.
This is God’s love for you.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to
be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become
 the righteousness of God.

What kind of love is this?
What kind of God is this that
would send His own Son to
suffer and die in our place?
Where would we be
if He had not made
a way?

Praise God for sending
His Son to rescue
and redeem us
by standing in our place,
taking all of our sin
upon Himself,
and receiving
the wrath of God,
the punishment
and death that
we deserved.

Praise God for the
day the Holy Spirit
opened our eyes to see
God for who He is,
and see ourselves
for who we were.

Have you trusted in Christ
and what He has done
on your behalf?

If you have
would you take a moment
now to consider His love
and His sacrifice
and give thanks for
His surpassing
mercy and grace upon you.

2 Corinthians 9:15
Thanks be to God for
his inexpressible gift!

Have you fully surrendered
all to Him?
Your heart,
your hope,
your trust,
your life,
your money,
your time,
your dreams,
your identity,
your way,
your strength,
your thoughts,
your position,
your place,
and your will,
to Him?

Colossians 1:9-14
And so, from the day we heard,
we have not ceased to pray
 for you, asking that you may
be filled with the knowledge
of his will in all spiritual wisdom
 and understanding, so as to
walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
 fully pleasing to him, bearing
fruit in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God.
May you be strengthened
with all power, according to
his glorious might, for all endurance
 and patience with joy, giving
 thanks to the Father, who has
qualified you to share in the
inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the
 domain of darkness and transferred
 us to the kingdom of
his beloved Son,
 in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.

Thanks be to God!

May the Lord bless us
as we seek to walk in a manner
worthy of all He has done for us!
May we bring glory to His
name and may we love and
enjoy Him above ALL!

In His hands for His glory,
Laurie

 

We know that our old self
was crucified with him in order
that the body of sin might be
brought to nothing, so that
we would no longer be
enslaved to sin.
For one who has died has
been set free from sin.
Romans 6:6-7

Once we have been
born again in Christ
we are no longer
“SINNERS”
according to the
New Testament
definition of sinner (hamartōlos):
“one who is devoted to sin,
not free from sin,
pre-eminently sinful,
especially wicked,
heathen.”
Strongs Dictionary

The relationship of sin
to the Christian has changed…
it is no longer a friend,
it is an enemy;
it is no longer the natural
outworking of who they are
but antithetical to who they are.

“…by the new birth a
radical break with sin takes place.
Although the character of sin
in the Christian is no different
from its character before
he became a child of God,
the status of sin has been
dramatically changed.”
~Sinclair Ferguson, The Christian Life

“[Christ] taketh away
[sin] by justification that
it should not condemn,
by sanctification that
it should not reign,
by glorification that it
should not be…”
~ John Owen

In the New Testament
every Christian is now
a SAINT,
a HOLY ONE.

Yet there is
still
SIN WITHIN:
The “old man.”
A body of death!
An earthly body.

WE MUST KEEP IN MIND
that we have not yet been
delivered from the
PRESENCE
of sin.

Sin is still
present in the world.
And the Prince of Sin himself
and his minions are still
on the warpath and will
be until Christ comes again.
AND
Sin is still present within.

In our new birth a radical break
with sin took place but
the presence and character
of sin in our members
remains. It no longer
reigns however it still remains
and it is no different from before we
became a child of God.
We have indwelling sin.
And we will still sin.
So in a different sense
we are still
“SINNERS.”

If we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.
 If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned,
we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-9

Yet despite the continued
presence of this body of death,
we have been
set free from the
POWER
of sin.
It no longer holds us captive.
We are no longer its slave.

Sooooo….
considering these things listen
to Paul as he continues in
Romans 6:

“So you also must consider yourselves
dead to sin and alive to God
in Christ Jesus.
Let not sin therefore reign
in your mortal body, to make
you obey its passions. Do not
present your members to sin
as instruments for unrighteousness,
but present yourselves
to God as those who have
been brought from death to life,
and your members to God as
instruments for righteousness.
For sin will have no dominion
over you, since you are not
under law but under grace.”
Romans 6:11-14

Paul says do not let sin
REIGN!
Do not present your members
to sin to obey it and its
passions – present them to God as
INSTRUMENTS OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!

“Put to death therefore what
is earthly in you: sexual immorality,
 impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
On account of these the
wrath of God is coming.
In these you too once walked,
when you were living in them.
But now you must put them
all away: anger, wrath, malice,
slander, and obscene talk
from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another,
seeing that you have put off
the old self with its practices and
have put on the new self,
which is being renewed in
knowledge after the image
of its creator.”
Colossians 3:5-10

It is so difficult, painful,
and even heart breaking to have
this old body of death remaining.
If it would just lie there it would
be one thing, but it is very active,
resistant, rebellious, and
self-focused.

We will be in a battle
until we go to heaven.
We have two at war within.
In essence it is our
old “sinner” self,
the flesh,
against the Spirit.

SINNER VS SPIRIT

Realizing that sin remains is
essential and in an odd way
helpful. It is that aspect
of this present earthly state
that keeps us running
to the throne of grace.
It reminds us
that we are not perfect,
that there is only ONE
who is perfect.
It is comforts us to know
that there isn’t something
wrong with us because we still sin.
We ALWAYS will be in
need of God’s mercy.
Confession and repentance
need to be a part of our
moment by moment practice.
Forgiveness is something
we will be quick to
seek and quick to give others.
(Ephesians 4:32).

“However, just as some
Christians idolize their sense
of sainthood, some idolize
their sinfulness.
When this…becomes
one’s idol, statements like
‘I know I’m not perfect, but’
become the norm, and contempt
– rather than compassion –
for fellow sinners
becomes our practice.”
~Josh Squires, Desiring God,
a ministry of John Piper

We are not to identify with
or relate to or abide in our
OLD SINNER SELF
any longer!
We are now to be the
S A I N T
we are and identify
with the Spirit,
walk in the Spirit,
and
abide in the Spirit.

Remember now that
you are a new creation!
You are a
SAINT IN CHRIST!!!

The old man sinner
has been crucified with Christ.
Yet the
SIN CORRUPT FLESH
will continue to fight
you until the end!!!
It wants what it wants
when it wants it.
It must be put to death!!!
No longer “hang out” with it.
No longer “walk and talk” with it.
No longer “give in” or “serve” it.

Will you count the cost?
Will you die to self?

Will you serve your
old sinful self — or Christ?

Close in prayer
and in the worship song
below.

In His hands for His glory,
Laurie

Heavenly Father,
I praise you for your
mercy and your grace.
I am so thankful
for all you have
given to me in Christ.
I want to live in the
light of who I am in Christ.
and put to death
the old sinner that remains.
I need your help Lord.
I want to walk according
to the Spirit yet…
“I am so slow to learn,
so prone to forget,
so weak to climb;
I am in the foothills
when I should be on the heights;
I am pained by my graceless heart,
my prayerless days,
my poverty of love,
my sloth in the heavenly race,
my sullied conscience,
my wasted hours,
my unspent opportunities.”
~Valley of Vision Prayers

Lord please have mercy!
I want to be who I have
been redeemed to be.

“Absent from Flesh”
Jamie Barnes/Isaac Watts
LINK TO AUDIO

 

 For our sake he made him
to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21

When we by grace alone
through faith alone put
our trust in Christ alone
for the forgiveness
of our sins we were given
His righteousness.

We were baptized into
His death
and buried with Him.
We no longer live.
We were crucified
with Christ.

Listen to Paul describe
himself in Galatians:
“I have been crucified
with Christ.
It is no longer I who live…”
Galatians 2:20a

And just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the
Father we were raised with Him!

Paul continues:
“…but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in
the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20b

Hear Paul explain
this in his letter to the Romans:

“Do you not know that all of us
who have been baptized
into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were buried therefore
with him by baptism into death,
in order that, just as Christ
was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might walk
in newness of life.”
Romans 6:3-4

In Christ
we are saints and as saints are now
called to live, act, think,
and love as saints.
Ephesians 1:1;
1 Corinthians 1:2, 6:11;
1 Peter 1:15-16

We are no longer
who we once were.

Therefore,
we should be
daily…
moment by moment…
thought by thought…
word by word…
deed by deed…
praising God and
thanking Him,
as we walk forward
trusting
IN CHRIST
and in
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS,
considering all the
riches of Christ in us
AND
the hope we have of glory.

Does this describe
our daily experience?

Since we have been given
Christ’s righteousness,
you would think that
this would be the norm
for us no matter what
happens….
Shouldn’t we all be
perfect now
since we have His
righteousness?
BUT
this isn’t our daily,
moment by moment
reality.

Does that mean we
are not saved?
May it never be!

We have to see the
whole picture.
When we trust in Christ,
God declares us righteous.
He gives us a new
position before Him.
This means that He
sees us and treats us
AS IF we are perfect.
It doesn’t mean that
we are actually perfect yet.

But God is also working
in us to bring us
to that place of practical
perfection.
We will not be there
till heaven
but the process begins
and continues
in this life now.

Yes, our sin still remains!
Yet we are not
under its reign any longer.
We have been set free
to sin no longer.
We are now
called to rule over
sin by grace through
the power of the
Spirit.

And–
praise be to God!–
someday that victory
will be complete.

O Lord,
thank you for the
understanding
of who we are in Christ.
Help us remember
that we were once
sinners unable to
do anything
except sin.
Now we have been saved
by grace and are therefore
SAINTS
who put their trust
in the blood of their SAVIOR
and the strength of
the NAME OF GOD
to walk forward
picking up their cross to
follow their LORD
JESUS.

We want to walk
in your way,
in your Spirit,
by your grace.
We love you Lord
please be our help.

In His hands for His glory,
Laurie