Living By Faith

I LIKE THAT “I AM” BUSINESS

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is… (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I am not trying to be, needing to be, hoping to be, or someday going to be. Right now, I am in Christ!
Mark Hankins

When I was a senior in high school, I found 130 “in Christ” scriptures, wrote them down, and began to confess them. I put them on a cassette tape. Every morning when I woke up, I heard myself saying, “I am a new creation in Christ, old things are passed away, everything has become new.”

I like that “I am” business. The world is full of people who are trying to be and used to be. Have you ever heard somebody say, “He’s a wanna be”?

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he IS a new creature.” This is present tense — right now. I am a new creation. I am the righteousness of God. I am triumphant. I am in “I AM” and so I am!

It is not something I am trying to get or something I am trying to do. It is something in my genes. I have been born again, and God’s life and nature is in me. It is in my genes; it runs in my family. I am in union with the Champion. I am in union with the righteousness of God. I am in Christ!

Confession: I am not trying to be, needing to be, hoping to be, or someday going to be. Right now, I am in Christ!

  • 0

ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR UNION WITH CHRIST

But he who is in union with the Master is one with Him in spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17 Weymouth)

A fly will not land on a hot stove! Mark Hankins

When you get born again, you get “in Christ-ed.” Your spirit joined to Christ. However, your faith will not be effectual until you start to acknowledge, confess, and declare your identity in Christ. You have to acknowledge it.

I encourage you to make a daily confession and acknowledge who you are in Christ. To “acknowledge” means more than just talking about it — to acknowledge means to go ahead and act like it. This is why people need to run, laugh, dance, shout, and daily rejoice by faith. This demonstrates our victory in Christ.

The moment you step out of the natural and out of circumstances, you step right over into who you are in Christ. Your spirit man begins to respond by taking ascendancy over your flesh, your mind, and the circumstances of your faith. The devil will mess with you all day long until you rise up in the Spirit.

Confession: I am in union with the Master and one with Him in spirit. I confess, acknowledge, and declare who I am in Christ!

  • 0

POWERFUL PREPOSITIONS

But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

The phrase, “in Christ” is never translated to mean anything else except, “in union with Christ.”
Mark Hankins

Important prepositions normally go unnoticed in Paul’s Epistles. The words for,
with, in, by, and through help us understand our identification with Christ. They are the connecting words that show the relationship of the subjects mentioned, in this case, the believer’s identification with Christ.

The preposition for shows substitution. Christ died “for” us or in our behalf. The preposition with shows identification. The preposition in shows union with Christ. The preposition through shows application. For example: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”(Philippians 4:13)

When you were born again, your spirit was joined to the Master, or joined to Christ. Like a bay of water is one with the ocean, your spirit is one with Christ. When the water rises in the ocean, it rises in the bay. The same stuff that is in Christ right now is in you — the same life, the same victory, the same joy, and the same power!

Confession: I am born again. My spirit is joined to Christ. The same life, victory, joy, and power that is in Christ Jesus is in me now!

  • 0

IN CHRIST DETERMINISM

A true Christian is not merely a man altered, but a man re-made. (2 Corinthians 5:17 Deane)

God is your Father; Jesus is your older brother, and some new things run in your family.
Mark Hankins

Psychology tells us that three factors have determined what kind of person you are. Those three factors are:
Genetic determinism (You are what you are because of your genes.)

Psychic determinism (Your identity, your behavior, and your potential are produced by your thinking.)

Environmental determinism (Your surroundings and influences limit your future.)

There is some truth to the fact that all of these factors can affect you, but God brings another factor into your life when you are born of Him. I call this factor “In Christ Determinism.” A person in Christ thinks God’s thoughts and sees himself in Him. Once you get born again, your future and your potential are radically altered as a result.
It is good news that all things are made new, but it is also good news that old things are passed away. If all you have as a Christian is something new added to you, you would still have to deal with and live with the old conditions. In Christ, your past is dead and gone!

Confession: I am not merely a man altered; I am a man re-made in Christ. Praise God my past is dead and gone!

  • 0

YOUR SPIRIT TAKES OVER

But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

When you get born again, your spirit is joined to Christ.
Mark Hankins

When you pray in the Spirit, or you get where the Spirit of God is moving, you want to jump, run, laugh, and do all kinds of things because your spirit is joined to the triumph of Christ. Sometimes your head cannot figure out why you are jumping and running, but you get so full of the Holy Spirit that you see who you are in Christ.

The actual experience begins to work out from your spirit, and you start laughing. You are blessing Him. You are redeemed in Him. You are righteous in Him. You are forgiven in Him. You are triumphant in Him. You are strong in Him. You are prosperous in Him.

Your spirit rises up and begins to take ascendancy over your mind, your reasoning, and your flesh. Your spirit starts acting like who you really are. This is what happens in a Holy Spirit meeting. The Holy Spirit begins to infuse strength into your spirit, which is your inner man. The Holy Spirit brings out the reality of redemption.

Confession: Therefore 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)

  • 0