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CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

Yes, I have shared Messiah’s crucifixion. I am living indeed, but it is not I that live, it is Messiah whose life is in me. (Galatians 2:20; Arthur S. Way)

There is only one escape from sin, and that is an empty tomb!
Mark Hankins

You inherited sin through your genetics. The psalmist David said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” This is why everyone has to be born again.

The only way you can get out of Adam and into Christ is to receive Him. Salvation comes through the death and resurrection of Christ. Your old man (or your old genetic self) was crucified with Christ.

Crucifixion was common punishment for criminals in the Roman Empire in New Testament times. How could you be crucified as a criminal in the Roman Empire? The answer is this: you have to get rid of “I” and let Christ live in you. It can be quite difficult to get little “I” to move out because he really likes to run things. But when “I” moves out and Christ moves in, sin will no longer dominate you! There is only one escape from sin, and that is an empty tomb!

Confession: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. (Galatians 2:20)

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THE GOOD NEWS

Not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses, but [canceling them] (2 Corinthians 5:19 AMP)

Jesus wants you to stand up on your feet and look Him in the eye.
Mark Hankins

People struggle with a sense of sin and condemnation throughout the religions of the world. There is a bronze statue of Peter in Rome that has the toe worn off by millions of religious people who think they will get blessed if they kiss Peter’s toe. In various nations, people crawl for miles on holy days to certain shrines because they think their sins will be forgiven if they can crawl far enough.

The good news of the Gospel is that 2,000 years ago on the cross, God was in Christ reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself. You have been cleansed through the blood of Jesus. Your right standing with God is so secure that He has given you a seat at His right hand. God Himself can look at you with the most penetrating gaze and cannot find one thing wrong with you. How can that be? Because you are in Christ! God sees you in Christ.

Confession: I have been born again. I am a new creation. I have been made righteous now. I am forgiven. I am redeemed.

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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)

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CONNECTED WITH CHRIST

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

The center of our redemption is what God did for us in Christ.
Mark Hankins

Our identification is revealed at the beginning of Galatians 2:20. The King James Version uses “I am” to connect the believer’s crucifixion directly to Christ’s crucifixion. Every other translation of Galatians 2:20 uses the past tense: “I was” or “I have been.”
I have been crucified with Christ…Noli
I have been crucified with Christ…Jerusalem Bible
I have been crucified with Christ…Barclay

According to Romans 6:6, the old man is crucified with Him so that we could be free from the dominion and control of sin. This is not a spiritual state we are attaining; it is something God did for us in Christ. It is an absolute fact that Galatians 2:20 applies to us right now, today. We don’t need to wait until we have thirty years of spiritual maturity before we can apply this scripture to our lives.

Confession: I have been crucified with Christ, and I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me. (Galatians 2:20 Jerusalem Bible)

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A CHOSEN GENERATION

But ye are a chosen generation…(1 Peter 2:9)

Your genetic makeup no longer comes from Adam or your past; it comes from Almighty God.
Mark Hankins

When you get born again, you get regenerated, and there is a champion in your genetic line. His name is Jesus. He passed on that champion, thoroughbred blood- line. If you have mule in your bloodline, you will never be a racehorse, but if you can trace your lineage back to the champion, you can say, “I am not a mule. I am a racehorse. I am a thoroughbred. I have been re-bred by God.”

Even though you are born again, the devil will do everything he can to keep you from walking in the light of who you are in Christ. The key is to declare continually who you are in Christ.

Do you have any natural influences? Your emotions, your soul, your past, your anger, your temper, your poverty, and your habits say, “Oh, that is just the way I am.” But when you know who you are in Christ, your spirit man rises up and says, “I have some new genes and I am going to wear my new genes!”

Confession: I am in Christ. I am redeemed. I am righteous. I am saved. I am triumphant. I am blessed. I am healed. I have a new champion bloodline! I have been born of God!

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