All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
From Death into Life
John 5:24: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
So far we have examined from the Scriptures the truth that all human beings are born in a state of spiritual death which involves separation from the life of God and enslavement to sin and corruption. We now move on to the role of grace in delivering us from this condition, which Paul described as the body of this death, and raising us into life.
Death and Life are two completely contrasting conditions. One cannot be in both conditions at the same time. One can either be dead or alive. Salvation in bringing us deliverance from spiritual death brings us into spiritual life. Jesus earnestly assures us, “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life … and has passed from death into life.”
You will recall Paul under the wretched bondage of the body of this death crying out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” and in a flash of revelation and hope he declares the answer, “I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).
What a revelation of hope this must have been to Paul! Jesus Christ our Lord stood before him as the deliverer from the body of this death that had bound him to sin and corruption.
No one can deliver or raise himself from death into life. The Holy Spirit describes our condition before we are saved as spiritually dead. We cannot make ourselves spiritually alive. Dead in sin, the sinner must depend on the grace of God.
And this is exactly what Jesus Christ came to be – the fullness of grace to freely bring spiritually dead humanity into life. We read in John 1:16-17: “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
It was this revelation of the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord that Paul saw as the glorious hope for his rescue from the body of this death. This is described quite plainly in Ephesians 2:4-7: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Father, cause me to behold the fullness of your grace in Jesus Christ as the only means provided by You for my deliverance from spiritual death into spiritual life. Amen.
So far we have examined from the Scriptures the truth that all human beings are born in a state of spiritual death which involves separation from the life of God and enslavement to sin and corruption. We now move on to the role of grace in delivering us from this condition, which Paul described as the body of this death, and raising us into life.
Death and Life are two completely contrasting conditions. One cannot be in both conditions at the same time. One can either be dead or alive. Salvation in bringing us deliverance from spiritual death brings us into spiritual life. Jesus earnestly assures us, “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life … and has passed from death into life.”
You will recall Paul under the wretched bondage of the body of this death crying out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” and in a flash of revelation and hope he declares the answer, “I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).
What a revelation of hope this must have been to Paul! Jesus Christ our Lord stood before him as the deliverer from the body of this death that had bound him to sin and corruption.
No one can deliver or raise himself from death into life. The Holy Spirit describes our condition before we are saved as spiritually dead. We cannot make ourselves spiritually alive. Dead in sin, the sinner must depend on the grace of God.
And this is exactly what Jesus Christ came to be – the fullness of grace to freely bring spiritually dead humanity into life. We read in John 1:16-17: “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
It was this revelation of the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord that Paul saw as the glorious hope for his rescue from the body of this death. This is described quite plainly in Ephesians 2:4-7: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Father, cause me to behold the fullness of your grace in Jesus Christ as the only means provided by You for my deliverance from spiritual death into spiritual life. Amen.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Pastor Bob B on
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This is so important to understand because the enemy would try to get us to think that God saved us because of something we were doing that made us redeemable. We could not deliver ourselves from body of death, only through the Grace of God we are saved through Jesus Christ and it is not a result of good works we do,(Eph 2:8-9) but his mercy and grace. God's grace gives us hearts to repent, to believe, and to receive the free gift of salvation.
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Permalink Reply by PoiemaDei on
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That's a good summary of it, Bob. And I would add grace enables us to live the Christian life after being saved. But it's recognizing the reality of this death that leads us to appreciate the grace of God in our salvation and to sincerely give God the glory for our salvation. I think the devil constantly seeks to blur this truth in order to make the Cross and Christ appear dispensable in the salvation of souls. One prominent TV talk show host recently declared there are many ways to God besides Christ. We as Christians must be on guard of these subtle denial of Christ and the grace of God in these nice sounding religious ideas and philosophies; and let us contend for the true faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Permalink Reply by Wally on
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This is a fundamental concept to the understanding of Grace, we are, due to Adam's sin, already dead. It is by the sacrifice of Christ that we are lifted out of death and into life through our faith that He is raised from the dead. As long as we live under the delusion that we have to be good enough or do something good enough before we can be saved then we can never reach the goal. It is only in our desperation, humbling ourselves before God and accepting His "free" gift that we are lifted up and raised to life with Jesus.
Rom 5:16 There is a lot of difference between Adam's sin and God's gift. That one sin led to punishment (the judgment of 'Guilty'). But God's gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him (the undeserved gift of Not Guilty!), even though we have sinned many times.
Rom 5:17 Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.
Rom 5:18 Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life. -
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Myheart, as I know yours too, is rejoicing to see the stirring of this fundamental truth in our midst. I have been so weary of the way some have watered down or really complicated the Gospel of grace into human self-help motivational talks or self-righteous religious legalism.
To me it is a virtual wile of the devil to make the saving grace of our Lord Jesus brought to us by His shed blood of no significance or of just a partial remedy to be complemented by man's efforts. Either way, it desecrates the finished work of Christ for our salvation.
I am convinced when the true Gospel is preached, it will produce true faith, which will result in true salvation and transformation. We have a form of Christianity that has been generated by this distorted Gospel that is a mockery to the effectiveness of the atoning work of Christ to "take away" the sins of the world.
But Paul calls it spiritual foolishness for any one to think they can save or sanctify themselves by their own efforts and not by faith, which is absolute reliance on God - grace. An acronym contributed here by Bob is GRACE = God's Riches At Christ's Expense!
Galatians 3:2-3: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? -- Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" -
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