Living By Faith

ACT LIKE THE BIBLE IS TRUE

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
(Ephesians 4:23-24)

The power of the blood of Jesus washes away all of the guilty stains and we can stand in God’s presence confidently.
Mark Hankins

You can know that the Bible says these things about you, but they may not seem real to you. You have a part to play. You did not make the new man; God did that. You must put on the new man. One translation says, “put on the new person that you are.” This new man is created in righteousness and true holiness. God would not make an unrighteous new creature. You have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

God sees you through the blood of Jesus. He looks at you as though you never did anything wrong. We can face life confidently. We can pray confidently. In Christ we have right standing with God. It is not only right standing with God; it is the identical standing with the Father that Jesus has. Dare to see yourself this way!

Confession: In Christ I am delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Son of God. In Christ I have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

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GOD SEES YOU IN CHRIST

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. (John 16:13)

If you are not impressed with who you are and what you have in Christ, you have not seen Him lately!
Mark Hankins

A man in Christ is a man with the life of God. You are not deity, but you are not only human. You have been born of God. God has given you His very own life. You are not the same person you used to be.

God sees you in Christ, but you must also see yourself in Him. You will never be different until you see yourself differently. The Holy Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. He is able to project the image of Christ from the Word to the screen of our minds, so we can live in the reality of our redemption.

Take time to renew your mind every day with the reality of redemption. Dare to act like the Bible is true, and it will become real in your life. Allow God to introduce you to your new self!

Confession: I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. I have God’s very own life and nature in me. The life of God is in me now. I know I have eternal life. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. In Christ, I am redeemed, blessed, and victorious!

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SEEING WHAT GOD SEES

I pray that you new Christians will understand the mighty position with Christ which your congregations occupy. (Ephesians 1:16 The Distilled Bible)

You are such a new creature in Christ you will have to let God introduce you to your new self!
Mark Hankins

Paul’s prayer for believers in Ephesians 1:16-23 is very important for us today. We have a mighty position with Christ. Few Christians have understood the authority we have as believers. The same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead was released “towards us.” We were the targets for that power. God was focusing on us. He was looking at us. God saw us there in Christ. He was working on us. We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:10) What God did in Christ, He did in us.

In 2 Corinthians 12:2, the Apostle Paul refers to himself as, “a man in Christ.” He could not tell whether he was in the body or out of the body. Paul even ascended into the third heaven. A man in Christ is not just of this world, but he also has access to heaven. Paul’s prayer is our prayer today: that we can see and enjoy the life God has given us in Christ!

Confession: I have a mighty position with Christ. The same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead was released towards me. I am God’s workmanship in Christ!

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LIFE AS GOD HAS IT

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

A man in Christ is a man with the life of God. Mark Hankins

The Greek word in the New Testament that is translated life or eternal life is zoe. I like W.E. Vine’s definition of the word zoe (eternal life, everlasting life, or life):

“It is life as a principle…life in the absolute sense, as God has it, that which the Father has in Himself and which He gave to the incarnate Son to have in Himself. (John5: 26) Eternal life is the present actual possession of the believer because of his relationship with Christ.”

God has given us a new quality of life in Christ. He has given us His own life — the very same life that raised Jesus from the dead. (Ephesians 2:4-6) God wants us to know that we have eternal life now. We are not trying to get it or some day in the sweet by-and-by going to get it. The gift of God is eternal life. (Romans 6:23) What a great gift God has given us in Christ!

Confession: Eternal life is my present actual possession because of my relationship with Christ!

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THE GOD-KIND OF LIFE

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38)

Eternal life is not simply life that goes on forever; it is the coming into human life something of the life of God. William Barclay

I like how James Stewart said that the life that flows from God to man was “a sudden emergence of an entirely new and original element.” We become partakers of the life of God–suddenly! Through simple faith in Jesus Christ, the miracle of the new birth takes place in the spirit of the believer. Eternal life is a spiritual substance from heaven that is imparted in the spirit of a man.

This life flows in heaven from the throne of God; it flows like a river. (John 7:37-39) God is overflowing with this life. You and I can have more and more of this life flowing in us. We can have this life in ever-increasing measures as we are filled with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. We can walk in the light of this life and in the consciousness of what we have in Christ as we learn more and more of the “words of this life.” (Acts 5:20)

Confession: I am a partaker of the life of God. I have eternal life. I have the life of God flowing in me. I am walking in the consciousness of what I have in Christ as I learn more and more of the words of this life!

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