Fundamentals Of Victorious Christian Living Part 20

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24

We have been discussing the nature of man. A person who is born again has received a new nature and is like Jesus spiritually speaking (1 John 4:17).

God has given the Christian a new spirit with His nature. No human being will ever be able to approach God from their natural being based on what they have accomplished. Our relationship with Him must be from the spirit based on the work Jesus has accomplished inside of us. 

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Romans 6:3

Paul is not discussing water baptism in this verse. There are several baptisms that are spoken of in Scripture. 

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Hebrews 6:1-2

These verses speak of the “doctrine of baptisms” but we seem to only focus on water baptism.

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13

The Holy Spirit “baptizes” a person into the body of Christ when they become a Christian. This is another baptism spoken of in Scripture.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.
Matthew 3:11

John baptized people in water. The Holy Spirit baptizes people into Jesus. Jesus baptizes the Christian with “the Holy Ghost, and with fire”. These are three baptisms and we have not even spoken of water baptism!

The word baptism simply means “immersion”. It is a total saturation. Water baptism is a ritual rite that is symbolic of our identification with the death and burial of Jesus Christ.

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4

Paul tells us that “we are buried”. The terminology of this verse is important. A person dies spiritually and is immersed into Jesus when they invite Him into their heart and become a Christian. This is not conditional on our understanding what happened!

We are dead to sin but do not automatically walk in “newness of life”. This is evident by Paul’s usage of the word “should”. God has given us the ability to do so but He also leaves the choice with us.

Our death with Christ to the old sin nature is an accomplished fact. If you are a Christian, you are dead to your old sin nature. You will not experience the benefits of this though without a knowledge of what has been accomplished in our spirit.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Romans 6:5-6

A person is “planted” into Jesus’ death when the Holy Spirit “baptized” us at the moment they accept Christ into their hearts. Paul tells us that it is possible for that person to then not “serve sin” if the “know this”. Christians struggle with sin as a result of their lack of knowledge!

In my experience I’ve found that most Christians do not know these truths. Our death to the sin nature is an accomplished fact in Christ. This does not mean we will rule over our lives through righteousness (Romans 5:21) because that is conditional on our receiving knowledge.

So what do we have to know in order to reign in life? 

In Romans 6:6 we are told that it is the fact that our old man (i.e., nature) has been buried with Jesus. This is an accomplished fact. We are not in the process of being buried with Him. Our old nature is not being crucified. It is dead, buried, and gone! This is the knowledge most Christians are missing which is why they are not reigning in life as has been promised in Scripture.

We do not have an old spirit!

We do not have a sinful nature!

I have heard many ministers talk about the dual nature of mankind. The implication is that a Christian has God’s nature and their old sin nature. This does not line up with Scripture. The Christian had a sin nature but that has been buried with Jesus and we now have a new nature. 

A person who believes part of their spirit is of God and part of Satan will not reign in life. They will continue to struggle with sin and remain in bondage to Satan. 

We will find freedom only to the level we are able to grasp the truth that our core nature has been changed. This will not happen without a revelation of our position in Christ which will require us to spend time meditating on these truths.

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