My Grandparents were amazing people. My Grandfather taught me how to work on my own car; fix a tire, change oil, and rebuild solenoids. My Grandmother taught me to cook and she could repair anything with caulk, glue, duct tape or thread. From a young age, I was taught to work hard and heard phrases like “the early bird catches the worm”. That mindset formed my beginning relationship with God. It was a “work as hard as you can to please God” mentality. I thought the harder I worked, the more God would love me.
Although mankind has made huge discoveries that have totally changed the way we live, it seems like we know less about ourselves than previous generations. While our ancestors didn’t have all the modern conveniences, they had a peace and strength that eludes most today. As our knowledge of our natural world has increased, our knowledge of spiritual things has decreased. Man believes all of life’s problems can be solved by himself. But there can be no peace without if there isn’t peace within.
The key is knowledge of the spirit; not just the spiritual realm outside of us, but also the spiritual being inside of every person. We aren’t evolved animals; we were created in God’s image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). We are spirit beings. We are called as sons and daughters of the most high God to change the hearts of people one person at a time.
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
In the spirit, you became a brand-new species of being. Your spirit is totally new. There isn’t an old sin nature left in you.
Paul said that once we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3), we experience a death to our old sin nature. It’s dead. It’s gone. It doesn’t exist anymore.
Our sin nature is dead and gone, but it left behind a body. That body is the carnal mind. It will still function as programmed until we reprogram it. That’s what the Bible calls the renewing of the mind. Our lives are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2).
Therefore, victory in the Christian life is as simple as renewing our minds to who we are and what we have already received in Christ. It’s not the struggle of two natures inside of us; we are the way we think (Prov. 23:7). If we see ourselves as old sinners, saved by grace, then we will continue to struggle with sin. But when we see the total change that took place in our nature, we will manifest that change in our actions.
A spiritual realm resides inside every person. You are a spirit being who has a soul and lives in a body. Studying who we are in Christ is foundational to help unlock our identities in Jesus. It’s not about how hard we work, it’s about knowing our Father personally and having relationship with Him.
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