The following is my teaching notes for the Santal Church leaders given through WhatsApp on4th April 2018. Being detailed notes it may not read as well as something written for publication. Rather than leave it for later editing I have decided to upload it in the present form since it follows on directly from the previous blog. The essence of the previous blog was to demonstrate from the verb tenses in scripture that sanctification is not progressive, but instant. See the previous blog for the texts involved and the argument.
Unlike earlier teaching notes I have written these out in some detail so that I kept on track.
This teaching is, by its very nature, very philosophical and so will need to be repeated a few times with extra effort needed to grasp it. I know this is quite different from the normal teachings I give based on story telling and concrete expressions. So it will take longer to absorb and a greater mental effort to understand. I don’t apologise for this, just to point it out. I don’t know of any other way to teach it. Maybe, once it is fully understood you will be able to express it in ways which better reflect oral methods in teaching.
There is large content here and so will need several sessions just to cover it and further sessions to reflect on it and feed back to me. The content is so important as to need this approach. In essence it is the distilled content of Paul’s teaching on the life in the Spirit. That is why I will need your feedback so that I can be sure it has been grasped clearly. This is as much a matter of revelation as of teaching, so I need to know the revelation has happened.
Even Paul found it necessary to take a very philosophical approach which many found difficult to understand. Peter recognised this in 2Pet 3:16
2 Peter 3:16 NIV
[16] He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Paul himself acknowledged it:
Hebrews 5:11 NIV
[11] We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.
Here he acknowledged that it takes effort to understand it. This is because basic human nature wants to feel as though it does something to contribute to our life, even our redeemed life. That is why he keeps emphasising that we are to continue in our life in Christ in the same way as it was begun. That is, we began in the spirit and we are to continue in the spirit,
In summary, everything is about Jesus and Him crucified. That is the way forward for all of us. Here is the only basis for our faith. We added nothing to our salvation, and we add nothing to our sanctification. It is all about Jesus.
Jesus is the Kingdom of God. Jesus is now the focus of all things. Whereas before people were looking for an earthly political kingdom, now we have a kingdom which is entirely focused on the one man, Jesus. We are citizens of that kingdom, and ambassadors of Christ since we are in Him. As He is so are we in this world.
We must keep this in mind at all times, especially when we are faced with situations which seem to remind us of our old nature.
Our faith is to be in Jesus and Him Crucified and nowhere else.
In Romans 5-8 Paul tells us of the four freedoms now have in our new identity. We are free from
• Wrath
• Sin
• Law
• Death.
1. WRATH
Romans 5:1,9-10 NIV
[1] Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
[9] Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! [10] For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
2. SIN
Romans 6:1-2,6-7 NIV
[1] What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? [2] By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
[6] For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--- [7] because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
3. LAW
Romans 7:1,4 NIV
[1] Do you not know, brothers and sisters---for I am speaking to those who know the law---that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?
[4] So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
4. DEATH
Romans 8:1-2,9-11 NIV
[1] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
[9] You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. [10] But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. [11] And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
This last freedom is the greatest one of all. The greatest enemy we all had to face was death. (1Cor 15:26).
1 Corinthians 15:26 NIV
[26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
And we are now free from death. As Jesus said to Martha, “whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” ( John 11)
John 11:25-27 NIV
[25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; [26] and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” [27] “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
We have the same problem that Martha had. She didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about either, since the common experience of mankind is death, so how can we never die? She didn’t understand this, but she did believe in Him. It was her faith in Jesus that got her past her lack of understanding.
Ever since I was a teenager I have been convinced that I will never die. It was just a sense deep within me that defied explanation. I tried to understand it by saying that I expected Jesus to return before I died and so I would meet Him in the air. That may well be the case, but it is not necessarily the case.
2 Corinthians 5:4 NIV
[4] For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Here Paul describes what we call death being swallowed up by life. At the point where I breathe my last breath I will pass from life to LIFE. This life will be swallowed up by real life. People around me at the time will think I have died, but MY experience will be LIFE.
All of these freedoms sum up our new nature “in Christ”.
But what about our perception of still having a sin nature that needs to be fought? Surely we must work hard to change our nature to come into obedience to Jesus? This mindset is saying to Jesus that He didn’t do enough and we have to add our work to His action on the cross. We might not put it so bluntly in our reactions, but our reply needs to be unequivocal as to our real position in Christ. He has done everything and our reactions must reflect this.
Since we have died with Him, we should not be surprised that we need to be broken at some point. The new nature cannot work effectively in the old nature, so it needs to be got out of the way for the new man to grow in the likeness of whom we are in, even Christ.
The problem and the solution are both described in Rom 7-8
Romans 7:15-25 NIV
[15] I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. [16] And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. [17] As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. [18] For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do---this I keep on doing. [20] Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. [21] So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. [22] For in my inner being I delight in God's law; [23] but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. [24] What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? [25] Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Romans 8:1-17 NIV
[1] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. [5] Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. [6] The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. [7] The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. [8] Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. [9] You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. [10] But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. [11] And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. [12] Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation---but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. [13] For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. [14] For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. [15] The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” [16] The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. [17] Now if we are children, then we are heirs---heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
We are also told to put off and put on, thinking that these are works that we are to carry out. This is very easy for a child to understand, but we as adults find it difficult, and even a contradiction in terms. A child just accepts who they are and grows naturally without effort.
Colossians 3:1-17 NIV
[1] Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. [3] For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. [5] Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. [6] Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. [7] You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. [8] But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. [9] Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices [10] and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. [11] Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. [12] Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. [13] Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. [14] And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. [15] Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. [16] Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. [17] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Ephesians 4:20-32 NIV
[20] That, however, is not the way of life you learned [21] when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. [22] You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; [23] to be made new in the attitude of your minds; [24] and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. [25] Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. [26] “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, [27] and do not give the devil a foothold. [28] Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. [29] Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [31] Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. [32] Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
As an example of how this is to work in practice let us look at how we resolve conflicts
Everything is a matter of
• our belief,
• where we place our faith and
• how we understand who we really are.
Continued in the next blog.
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