How To Appropriate The Advantages of Being A Christian - Rom. 8:1-8
Illustration;Salvation depends upon Christ’s work for us, while rewards depend upon our works for Christ.
Milburn Cockrell.
1. What are some of the benefits of being a genuine Christian? Few believers realize all the powerful potential that is in the truth of Romans 8:1 where Paul writes, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." As people who are alive in the Spirit we enjoy a new spiritual condition, character and immunity from eternal condemnation.
Ask the Lord to help you gain a more mature mental, attitudinal, behavioral and spiritual understanding of your potential in Christ.
Illustration:Several years ago a man and his wife were found frozen to death in their car. A blizzard had dumped tons of snow in the area, burying their vehicle. Before she died, the woman scribbled a note on a piece of paper and stuffed it in the glove compartment. The note read: "I don’t want to die this way." Tragically, less than six feet from their icy grave was a stranded bus, whose festive passengers remained warm throughout the night.
Today in the Word, October, 1990, p. 28.
2. Paul teaches us that we are given a new relationship with God through Christ. As a result of our new relationship we are able to have instant access to everything we need according to our true knowledge of the Christ. Intimacy with the Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent God gives us great cause to rejoice and be glad all day long. Our relationship with Christ frees us from thinking we have to work our way into God’s favor.
We are free to love, believe and labor for the Master out of the motivation we have in the Holy Spirit.
Ask the Lord to help you to teach others how to quit relying on anything other than their relationship with Christ.
Illustration:"The life of Christianity consists of possessive pronouns" says Martin Luther. It is one thing to say, "Christ is a Saviour"; it is quite another thing to say, "He is my Saviour and my Lord." The devil can say the first; the true Christian alone can say the second.
Resource, July/August, 1990.
3. Paul teaches us that we enjoy a new position and spiritual union with God through Christ. Being "IN Christ" we are pardoned, exonerated and acquitted of all charges of guilt and eternal condemnation. Thank God for what Jesus did in you. Because of our saving faith in Christ we have already heard the judge declare us to be "Not guilty."
Ask the Lord to help you be continually delivered from any feelings of unworthiness, blame or shame.
Illustration:A group of botanists went on an expedition into a hard-to-reach location in the Alps, searching for new varieties of flowers. One day as a scientist looked through his binoculars, he saw a beautiful, rare species growing at the bottom of a deep ravine. To reach it, someone would have to be lowered into that gorge. Noticing a local youngster standing nearby, the man asked him if he would help them get the flower. The boy was told that a rope would be tied around his waist and the men would then lower him to the floor of the canyon.
Excited yet apprehensive about the adventure, the youngster peered thoughtfully into the chasm. "Wait," he said, "I’ll be back," and off he dashed. When he returned, he was accompanied by an older man. Approaching the head botanist, the boy said, "I’ll go over the cliff now and get the flower for you, but this man must hold onto the rope. He’s my dad!"
Our Daily Bread.
4. Paul teaches us that we have new potential to change. People are genuinely in Christ are given the power of the Holy Spirit to change direction, perception and their relationships with people. What a great promise for turning difficult situations around. In Christ we are given new motivations to stop doing what pleases the flesh and begin to please God. No longer are we limited by our health, circumstance or human relationships because of what Christ did for us. We are continually given the power to effect internal and external change in our lifestyle as we seek to grow in all aspects into Christ. No longer do we have to grow discouraged about becoming stagnant in our churches.
Ask the Lord to help you teach others how they have a great potential to bring about change in their circumstances, relationships and activities.
Illustration:Deion "Prive Time" Sanders, outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, is the only athlete to have hit a Major League home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week. Sanders grew up on the mean streets of Fort Myers, Fla., where exposure to some would-be athletes spurred him to make a success of himself. He explains: "I call them Idas. ’If I’da done this, I’d be making three million today...If I’da practiced a little harder, I’d be a superstar.’ They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners. When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn’t went straight to the streets and never left. That moment after school is the moment we need to grab. We don’t need any more Idas."
Mike Lupica in Esquire.
5. Paul teaches us about the new power we have in Christ to realize our individual and church’s potential. Jesus gives us His resurrection power to overcome any obstacle through faith and obedience. Paul echoes this truth when he writes, "I have strength for all things through Christ who empowers me. I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power." (Phil. 4:13)
Thank God you have the power in Christ to have your conscience cleansed from dead works so you can accomplish all that He intends for your life.
Ask the Lord to help you live more as one who is empowered by God than one who is motivated by human impulses.
6. Paul teaches us how to appropriate our new perspective in Christ. When we know that God has both a sovereign and Biblical-absolute will, we are able to rely on the Spirit to transform our perspectives. His Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom to know the best points of intersection between the sovereign and moral will of God for each area of our life. In Christ we are given a new outlook on life and relationships. He replaces old thoughts with new ones. "Therefore if any person is IN Christ he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (Previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold the fresh and new has come." (2 Cor. 5:17)
We no longer have to feel discouraged when troubles come into our life. We are able to say, "Though sorrowful we are always rejoicing; as poor, we are making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things." (2 Cor. 6)
We can be assured that God is in charge of all things and His purposes will be accomplished through us with His power as we surrender our wills to Him. Our hopeful perspective cheers us when we are faint, inspires us when we are down and lifts our eyes to the fields that are ripe for the harvesting.
Learn to develop more of a Christ like perspective in all that you do and say. Ask the Lord to help you close the gap between what you know to be true and how you actually perceive reality.
7. Paul teaches us about our new permanent security in Christ. In the latter part of Romans 8 Paul lists the dangers and hardships that may befall us. He concludes by saying, "Nothing can separate me from God’s love in Christ." As we claim His promises we are able to experience more of the Spirit’s transformation of our mind, emotions and behavior. However, with our eternity secured we are given great assurance of His ability to carry us through the dark valleys of life – not around them, but through them.
Sometimes, God allows us to go through struggles so He can make us more like Himself. Adversity does not mean that God loves us less, but that He has confidence we are able to weather any storm as we focus on our assurances in Christ. Ask the Lord to help you become more confident as you contemplate all the rich promises given to you in Christ.
Conclusion:
Remember the words of the Fanny Crosby’s hymn, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of love, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story. This is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long!"
