DEATH TO SELF
Colossians 2:3 all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. 4 I am saying this so no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments.
8 beware that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the principles of the world, and not based on Christ (anointing).
The cross is a trading platform, the whole of the human race died on the cross, Jesus did not die- he passed through death- the tomb is empty, we died.
On the cross the father reconciled the whole human race to himself. Everybody has been made alive in Christ; the problem is people have not heard the gospel.
The gospel is news that is so good that when a person first hears it, the human brain does not believe it is possible. The brain has been programmed by religion and the traditions of men.
But as the gospel is preached under the anointing, it pierces the heart and as a person receives the revelation of God’s love for them, the eyes of their spirit open up.
People focus on the death of Jesus, Jesus passed through death; we are the ones who died. Jesus body was transfigured; there are no bones in his grave.
The gospel is a message of life. The human brain has been programmed to see death and decay all around them, when our mind is renewed all we see is life.
It is how you look at things. Christians have a view and it comes out all the time, it is preached all the time- that you must die. You must die to yourself, you must die to the world, you must die to everything around you, the flesh is bad and you must deny it. This is another lie because we do not understand what the flesh is. The flesh in a negative context is that union of soul and body that acts independent of God, which becomes a dwelling place for the enemy to manifest in. But the word flesh in the bible is also used for the human body
The body is the temple of God; the Holy Spirit has chosen to live in our physical bodies. We must make a distinction between unredeemed flesh and redeemed flesh. Have we been redeemed? Is our body the temple of the Holy Spirit? Is our human flesh the temple of the Holy Spirit? Is our flesh good? Do we have to deny it? Then why do we have to get caught up with all of this stuff of denying, denying the flesh. God works through our flesh, he works through our body and our soul, as we surrender those areas of our life to him.
2 Corinthians 11:3 I fear that, as the serpent deceived eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ (the simplicity that is in Christ).
The simplicity that is in Christ. Jesus is saying through Paul I fear, lest by any means as the serpent beguiled eve that your minds may be seduced from the simplicity- the word in the Greek means- single, not having an ulterior or double motive- Simplicity, purity, sincerity, faithfulness, plenitude.
That your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, we get so complicated in our approach to the things of God we end up with so many rules, so many things we have to do. So many things in our life we have to deal with, that in the end we really don’t know where to start and where it finishes and in the end we give up. Paul said look be careful that you are not sidetracked from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:6 knowing this that our old nature, old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be rendered powerless that henceforth we should not serve sin. That is past tense. The old man, the old nature has been (past tense) crucified.
The moment we start to get into crucifying the flesh, we are in the flesh- we are not into grace anymore. We are trying to do something which God has already done for us through Christ Jesus.
Know this, past tense. When our spirit is awakened and we become conscious of the presence of God, our spirit is joined to the Lord. But most Christians don’t really understand how to walk in the spirit, what that means, how to live that out.
We don’t have to put to death anything because we are a new creation. What does that mean? We are always dealing with death. We are always dealing with denial. We are always dealing with getting rid of sin.
Romans chapter 8 and verse nine – but you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if Gods spirit dwells within you. If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is not of him.
Once our spirit becomes conscious of God we are no longer in the flesh but we are in the spirit. Talking about the old flesh, the old carnal man, the old nature, the way we were before we experienced the life of God in our spirit.
When our spirit is quickened we have an impartation of the life of Christ, the nature of Christ, all that he is begins to be activated inside of us. You are complete in him and so it says you not in the flesh, you are in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of Christ dwells in you. So does the spirit of Christ dwell in you? If the spirit of Christ dwells in you, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if the spirit of Christ dwells in you.
Rom 8:10 if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness that is a definitive statement. If our spirit is alive to God the old nature is dead.
Romans chapter 8 and verse 13 if you live after the flesh you will die. But if through the spirit you modify the deeds of the body you shall live. What does it mean to mortify? If you live after the flesh, what kind of flesh is he talking about?
We do not have to deny the new creation, which permeates our spirit, works its way through our soul and eventually our physical body. Mortify the flesh literally means to become dead to it. In the Greek it literally means to become dead to. Another words we live in the belief that the old nature is dead. We don’t have to serve the old man, we don’t have to obey his impulses, we don’t have to put him to death- we ignore him and live a new life in Christ. The old man has been crucified for us. We do not have to put him to death, but we have to learn how to live this new life of purity.
How do you put off? In Colossians 3:9 don’t lie to each other, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds. Christians don’t lie, put off now, don’t lie to each other, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds. Colossians 3:8 but now also put off all these things, anger, wrath, malice and filthy communication out of your mouth, put these things off.
What does he mean by put them off? It’s a Greek word, it’s a word that’s used for taking off a garment, put it off, take it off, to put off, how? By simply walking in the new creation that you are.
You don’t have to start trying to die, die, die! If you go down that road there is no end to dying. There is always something else to die to. The gospel is about living not dying, life not death, it is about resurrection, it is about newness of life. And we have to learn to live out of the new man.
People who try and live a Christian life say it doesn’t work, I have tried it. We need to understand a vital element, a vital key and this might sound oversimplified but it’s not. You are what you believe you are, what you believe becomes your reality.
As God reveals to us this vital key, we are going to be changed forever. The new life which we live, it’s by faith, it’s that simple. Faith comes by hearing God speak to us; it has to be real to us by the Spirit of revelation. Once we know something is truth and we believe it to be so in our life then it becomes so.
We need to know who we are by revelation. Who is living within us? Who is the new person that we are. What is the new creation? It is made in the image and likeness of Christ – that is who we are, it is the flow of God’s Spirit in us, it is faith working by love.
How often do we hear over and over again you got to die to yourself. The Bible teaches you have to start living the new life. That dying has already taken place. If you go down the route of dying, dying to self, trying to mortify the flesh and trying to put this and that to death, there is no end to that route. 10 years from now you’ll still be trying to do it. And it leads to a dead end. It is a deception. You have to live your new life.
In Philippians 3:9 Paul says to be found in him, that is in Christ, be found in him not having your own righteousness which comes through the law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Be found in him not having your own righteousness.
We are taught we have to discipline ourselves not to do that thing which is wrong. We discipline ourselves not to do it again; we make a choice and discipline ourselves we are not going to do it. How many of us, have been down that road and we try it and try it and we still end up doing it. What’s wrong?
We are heading down the wrong road, we are dealing with death, and we are dealing with sin instead of dealing with who you are in Christ, and how that life is outworked through us.
In the Greek language there are 13 different Greek words for in. But every time it is talking about in Christ or in him which is used a lot in Scripture, being found in him ,in Christ and whenever it is used in that context, it is always the same word which means to remain at rest within. The emphasis is on rest. Stop trying to live your life for God. The emphasis is on rest, being found at rest in him.
Colossians 2: 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
We are complete in him. We have to learn how to meditate upon these things, you are complete in him. How complete are you? You are complete in him, the new creation man. You cannot be any more complete than what you are now. Think about that. Well if I fast and pray and do all of these things, I will be more complete in Christ- no you will not. You are already complete in him, right now, fasting and praying will not help.
When our spirit became alive to God, all that Christ is was placed into us, into our spirit in its completeness. His own DNA, his own genes, everything was placed in us; the incorruptible seed of God was conceived in our spirit. We cannot be any more complete.
We are complete in him by reason of his life in us. Now you can’t be any more complete than that. We can’t be any more complete, we just have to live out of what we are in Christ. We have to stop trying to change; we got to start just living the new life. All God asks of us is that we surrender our will to him .That is all he requires of us, nothing more, and nothing less. He doesn’t ask us to die, he asks us to live. All he asks is that we surrender our will to his will, in other words, we want to do the will of God that is all.
But that is an active choice, that is an act of the will, and it is a surrender of our will to him, and then simply out of that we live out the new life in Christ. When he speaks to us, we do it. When we hear his voice, we respond to it. When he speaks it to us through the word, we listen to that, and we respond in a right way to that.
The old is dead, we have to know it, but we also have to believe it. The old religious spirit that permeates so much teaching today, will try to get us to do better, strive to be good, and strive to be holy.
People think, I am not holy enough and so they will fast and pray. You have to strive to be good; you have to be disciplined in your life. Well, all that’s been done for us. We can’t be any more complete than we are right now. All we have to learn is how to start walking in the spirit and then our spirit will begin to grow.
There are two ways to do something, in our self, or in the spirit. The reason it doesn’t work is because we have been taught wrong. It is as simple as that. You have been taught that you have to make it; you have been taught that you have to strive for this thing.
It’s all been done for you, you just live in it. That’s grace. Grace is God doing for you, what you can’t do in your own natural strength, in your own natural disciplines, you cannot stop sinning. I don’t care how strong you are, you can’t do it. It takes grace; it is the grace of God. We are always dealing with dying, instead of dealing with living our new life, we are complete in it.
Walking in the spirit requires two things, it requires a sensitivity and it requires a choice. There are many aspects of walking in the spirit. But I am dealing today with one aspect only, in the area of overcoming sin.
People have got to stop trying to overcome sin. Because as long as you are trying, you are never going to make it, stop trying to overcome sin.
Well I am not going to lose my temper again! I am going to grit my teeth and count to 10 and not lose my temper again. You’ve tried all those kind of things .Stop trying to stop sinning, it doesn’t work that way.
Grace- what does that mean? You can’t do it that is simply what grace means. You can’t do it, so why try? We are either walking in the flesh or walking in the spirit.
When you are born again you are now in Christ, you don’t have to try to be good you are good, stop trying. If you start trying you are going to get into the flesh, humanism, psychology, all the other kind of self-help stuff, in the realm of the flesh.
When Jesus died you were in him. When Adam sinned you were in Adam. Jesus was the last of the Adamic race; he took mankind, past, present, future, took it into himself in the realm of spirit and died, and brought that race to an end, to those who would believe.
When you’re born-again you have a new nature (seed) that cannot sin. The question is- how do you let that new nature live through you.
Romans chapter 6 through Romans 8, those three chapters deal with this problem. How- from now on we are going to live in the spirit. How- we let our spirit man come to the fore (front, forefront- at front, having a position in the front of you, your conscious awareness).
So know this- that your old man, your old nature has been crucified with Christ- this is revelation knowledge- know this. It is a word which means knowing, it is in the active tense, it is a participation, knowing by revelation, not just head knowledge but knowing. Knowing this- know that the power of the old sinful nature has been put to death. It is a legal fact; the old nature was put to death.
The power of the old nature has been cancelled legally. You have to know that and you have to believe it. It is a legal fact in the courts of heaven. So he says in verse 11 you can count upon that, reckon. The word reckon here is to count upon. Likewise reckon unto yourselves to be dead to sin and alive unto God.
There is one little thing you have to do, choose. Who does the choosing? – you. You do the choosing. We have to choose just like Jesus had to choose. You can choose who’s going to live through you. Jesus or sin, it is our choice.
Before our spirit was enlightened we had no choice, but now we have to chose. You say I am going to try not to do this. No- you are going to choose who you are going to let live through you. That is all. If you try you will fail.
So you are confronted with a situation. Who are you going to allow to live through you? You stop, pause, there is a choice. There is a choice, you’re confronted with doing something wrong and you know it is wrong. Sin has power. And you are going to say well, the old nature; legally the power of it has been broken. I choose for my new nature, in the likeness of Christ to come forth. And that choice empowers your spirit. Just the choice, just to say no to the old and yes to the new, empowers your spirit.
Your spirit is waiting there for- which way is he going to go? And as soon as you side with Christ, you’re going to yield your hands, your mouth, your tongue, your mind, everything as an instrument of righteousness, you are going to allow your new created man to handle this situation. As soon as you make that choice, your spirit is bigger than you. It expands, it is empowered. And he automatically lives, handles that situation for you.
It is not you trying not to sin, it’s choosing who is going to live, who are you going to allow live through you-Sin or Christ ? As soon as you choose, you empower the new man. But you have to choose, it is a conscious thing. Don’t yield these things to the old nature; yield them to the new creation spirit in you, let that come forward- Dead to sin and alive unto God. Choose who’s going to live through you.