Good afternoon Church family,
I thought we might look in more details at a couple of verses relating to what it means to be alive in Christ after my sermon on Sunday. Romans 8:10-15 is such a passage, it says “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!””
This is fascinating! Basically we begin with our identity. We are no longer dead because of sin we are alive because we have been made righteous before God. We have an eternal future. Once we know who we are, we realise how we should work out our lives. Not according to the flesh which is condemned to death but we want to choose life, to live life according to the Spirit. We need to know who we are before we can be. We are Sons and Daughters of God not slaves to sin. Next time you are involved with doing or saying something ask yourself first are those the deeds or words of a son or daughter of God or am I still in the old slave mentality that results from fear. Sons and Daughters of God can overcome their fear because their identity is secure in Christ and not in their own or others people’s hands. There is nothing more solid then having your identity in Christ.
Blessings
Laurie
Rimutaka Baptist Church 