Last week we looked at sin and the believer. This is not a battle of the sinful nature against the new nature but the power of sin in your flesh against the new nature.

We all focus on one aspect of the cross - that we can receive forgiveness. This is never to be underestimated but proclaimed. But Christ purchased a new identity for you and he gave you his life. When you were physically born you were given more than skin and bone. You were not just forgiven for all your sin

1. You are forgiven of all your sin

2. You have been given a new identity from sinner to Christian

3. You have received a new nature that is the nature of Christ. It is his life you live in this new nature.

I have a laptop computer and predominantly use several programs. It is capable of doing so much more but unless I go to the users manual and learn for myself what it is capable of doing for me I will continually get frustrated. I could be receiving so much more help through my day if I knew what sat on my desk. A wife who is married to a man who mistreats her needs to know that the cross did far more than just forgiveness of sins. And the husband needs to know that he already possesses the power to have victory over his lousy ways. The moment he was born again:

1. He was forgiven

2. He was given a new identity from sinner to Christian

3. He was given a new nature to live from that is as Christ

A branch has no independent life of their own. Branches have no ability to produce fruit but they have the capability to bear, hold, contain, apprehend, and possess the fruit produced by the life of the vine. If a branch lived independently it would die. What if salvation is a new kind of life in addition to forgiveness? What if eternal life was not an extension of the old life but new life? What if eternal life is actually the life of Christ? What if this life gives you victory over the power of sin in your flesh? What if the Holy Spirit in you fully intends to express this life through you?

If this is the case then the husband who mistreats his wife needs to understand that when Christ died for him all he needs to be gentle and considerate with his wife can be lived out, not in the power of his flesh and willpower, but in the life of Christ in him, the vine, so he can grasp, hold and possess a marriage couples only dream of. He has an agape love in him to give.

Eternal life and everlasting life is not the same thing. Everlasting life has a beginning, birth, start or commencement and lives forever. But eternal life has no beginning and will live forever. You are an everlasting life. You had a beginning and will live forever in heaven or in hell.

It has been taught that the Christian has everlasting life. Every human being has everlasting life. The Christian has eternal life. That life is Christ that had no beginning and will have no end. This is the life that you have now. Eternal life is not phenomena or a thing but a person who is Christ.

When you gave your life to Christ he gave you his life. He did not come into your independent, rebellious, self-published life but you came into his eternal life. We are all members of his Body. Although we are all different we all have the same life. This is to be believed and acted on not explained away.

You are not a sinner saved by grace but a Christian who is capable of sinning but has the life of Christ to overcome the power of sin in your flesh. If you see yourself as just forgiven then you will see yourself as a sinner that is saved, sinner nevertheless. Your hope is that upon your death Christ will make you holy because you no longer occupy a human body. Many believe that death will be the turning point where Christ will make you completely holy. But death is an enemy of God. You are already complete in him as holy because of his blood.

Notice the difference between you and the body you live in. If the body you live in is destroyed you have another house from God. When Christ shall come again he will evict you of this human body because your body is not your identity. Christ is your identity. Does the house groan or do we groan? Paul says that we groan not the body we live in. To be absent from this body is to be present with Christ. You will not be changed at death from a sinner saved by grace to Christian child of God because you already are. The only thing to change will be the body you live in.

What will come true is that death has no hold on you, not that you will be made holy. Look at the Old Testament Israelite with me. He is unregenerate and correctly sees himself as a sinner. He regularly travels to his local church striving to fulfill the requirements of the law. Experiencing the life of Christ actually in him giving him victory over the power of sin in his flesh is just a fairytale. He brings with him a sacrifice to offer. He stands with others in line waiting to bring his sacrifice waiting to see if it will be accepted. He watches the veil where he cannot go himself, hoping. The minister emerges from behind the veil, now his sins are forgiven. He is so overjoyed he runs up to the veil and enters it wanting to express his thankfulness but as soon as he touches the Ark of the Covenant he is deep fried on the spot. Why would this man be struck dead in the presence of God? His sins were forgiven. He was a true Israelite from the chosen nation. He was committed to God and went every week to his church. He knew he had sinned and did something about it. So why did he drop dead at the pinnacle of praise? There is a difference between you and the Israelite. There is something about you that does not need to go behind the veil but enables God to go behind your veil - the life of Christ in you. The difference is that you can go beyond forgiveness:

1. You are forgiven of all your sin

2. You have been given a new identity from sinner to Christian

3. You have received a new nature that is the nature of Christ. Its his life you live in this new nature.

How can you be the temple? Because you are not only permanently forgiven but also permanently holy. To be forgiven and made holy through a new identity and life are needed before you can be the temple in which God dwells by his Spirit. Forgiveness alone does not make you the temple of the Holy Spirit and Old Testament Israel found out. You do not have to embrace this truth to be saved but if you want to have victory over the power of sin in your flesh you must embrace it.

If we just celebrate the Lord's Table because we have been forgiven why are there two element represented in the body and blood? It would just be the blood. When we take the cup and drink it we remember and show gratitude for the blood that forgave us from all our sin. Our sinful nature was not crucified in his blood but in his body. It took of Christ both body and blood to save you to the uttermost.

His blood is the means by which we are forgiven but his blood is the means by which we are given a new identity and new life.

1. You are forgiven of all your sin - His blood

2. You have been given a new identity from sinner to Christian - His body

3. You have received a new nature that is the nature of Christ. It his life you live in this new nature - his body

Do you have fellowship with Christ? Do you trust him as your teacher? Do you read his love letter to you? Do you let him touch you like the caress of your heart? Do you marvel at what he has created? Do you weep in his arms when you are hurt? Do you stand amazed on the porch watching the flashes of lightning and hearing the peels of thunder? Have you ever wondered why it was only John who rested his head on the breast of Christ? Were the others excluded? John was the only one who had the guts to try it. The miracle of having fellowship with Christ does not involve the blood or body but the Spirit of Christ - the Holy Spirit. You trust God to take you to heaven when you die but do you trust him with the same faith to keep you while you are alive? Are you trusting for living as well as dying?

'Simple Simon met a pie man going to the fair; says Simple Simon to the pie man, 'Let me taste your ware.' Says the pie man to Simple Simon, 'Show me first your penny.' Says Simple Simon to the pie man, 'Indeed I have not any.'

In medieval England there were no convenience stores or fast food so people went to the local fair to sell their wares. The origin of the rhyme 'Simple Simon' comes from an unfortunate young man who tried many things but simply could not do them. Have you ever played the game 'Simon Says?' You have to do what Simon says or you are out of the game.

Christ was playing the game 'Simon Says' with Peter. After Peter received a revelation from God that Christ was the Messiah his name was permanently changed from Simon to Peter. When Peter said 'you are the Christ' it was dramatic not casual. I have stood in the Sistine Chapel and looked at the ceiling with it painted figures and backdrop of the skies. I am limited by the rendering of the sky. Its paint is thick and hard. But if I go outside and look up I see a sky that recedes before me. The painter wants me to look at the sky inside but creation lets me look through the sky outside. This is what Peter experienced. He saw through the flesh and blood of a Jewish man born in Bethlehem to realms of glory that could only conclude he was the Messiah - Savior. Over 30 years before he was conceived in the womb of Mary but now for the first time he is conceived in the heart Peter. Simon is now called Peter in a moment that no one would forget. But just before Christ ascended he calls him Simon asking him 'what does Simon say?'

We have many cordless devices at our fingertips. Drills, shavers, telephones, flashlights, and a mountain of kitchen devices. The golden rule with all of them is 'use it until it runs out of power then recharge it.' God never intended you to live a life of independence from him but to have a day-to-day walk with him. The cordless way is in the power of your own personality. The source is yourself.

Your life is not a rechargeable battery but a life that 'abides' in Christ. The pursuit of our culture is independence and self-reliance. It comes from pulpits with expressions of 'living your life for Christ' when your life was crucified with Christ. The Body of Christ is not something to be explained but realized and lived. We are all different but have the same life that is Christ. The Christian life is lived in the same way it began - by faith.

This is the difference between trying to live your life for Christ and allowing the life of Christ to live through you. Many live through the week making it to the weekend to recharge on a Sunday through church or a recreation. But this life is no different from an Old Testament Israelite. The joy of the Lord has been supplanted with weary duty. You know you are going to heaven when you die but you do not know what it is to rest in Christ while you live.

This is not a new spin on the old story but as old as the New Testament. Christ called it abundant life. Instead of attending church to recharge through worship you come to church to discharge worship overflowing in gratitude towards God.

This explains an unexciting life, mid-life crisis, depression, boredom, anxiety attacks, being passive or dominant, abrasive or suppressed, workaholic or couch potato, legalism or license, perfectionist or sloppy are all manifestations of living in the arm of the flesh apart from Christ. How much faith did you put in yourself to be saved? Non. Then why trust in your ability, strength, talent, charisma, education, intellect, beauty and spiritual gifts after you are saved?

Christ did not give you a life, lifestyle or a type of life but his own life.

The life you have is hidden therefore can only be seen through the eyes of faith.

All of this is 'much more' than you can imagine.

We have unintentionally minimized a significant part of the finished work of the cross. We have put a doctrinal weight on his death but not his life with equal measure. After we read that we have been reconciled to God, Paul states 'much more' for the believer who is saved by his life. His death saved the believer from hell but his life will save you from hell on earth.

For example, your boss gives you a project, task or goal. The believer who is saved from hell is also saved from hell on earth. You tell your boss that he can count on you to bring the result but the burden belongs to Christ in you. You will burn the midnight oil but all the time the burden is on Christ. Believers will trust in Christ for salvation (meaning a ticket to heaven) but not for the day-to-day living. God wants you to cast all your burdens on him domestic, marital, career, financial and many more.

You are not saved to carry all that life throws at you. That would be independence, self-reliant in the arm of the flesh. You have to bring out of the metaphor into reality

1. His is the vine and you are the branch

2. He is the good shepherd and you the sheep of his pasture

3. He is the bread of life and you feast at his table

4. He is the light of the world and you walk in that light

When you became a Christian the Spirit of Christ came into you. Why did the Holy Spirit come into you? Because Christ was the only one who lived a life that was totally acceptable to God. Now that life is in you expressed as an acceptable life to God. God does not want your help anymore than he needed your help to get saved. He did it all for you before you were born again and he wants to do it all in you now that you are a Christian. This does not make us lazy but laborers together with God. We take his lead and follow through with obedience not as impotent people. God has never been proud of your strength or ability.

Independence was Adam's original sin.

It is a living hope you have not a reservation for heaven alone. Simon was the arm of the flesh with ability and talent that Christ was asking, 'do you love me?' When we can fully surrender to Christ and live his life through us we can be the most qualified feeders of God's lambs and sheep. Putting aside all our education, qualification, position, title and experience and being reliant on the life within us to raise up such a great church that gives glory to Christ.

This teaching is part of a new series The Chronicles of Christ. Other teaching series can be found by clicking the links below
The Lion, the Witch and You - Part 1.

If you would like to see previous transcripts or hear audio available in the last series Discovery.God you can find them here.:

• Promise Land to Promise Life Series
  
• Discovery.God Series