the good news ..it is what GOSPEL means .. is that jesus came to set us free from sin and the death it results in.
the law is that which proves that we were sinners .
God has said in his word .. that if we turn away from our sin and unto him.. he will forgive us
that if we obey him and are baptised into the death of christ by being buried with him by baptism in water .., we will recieve the remission of our sin..
it is written he makes us a new creation
it is written he makes us the righteousness god in Christ JEsus
it is written the past ordinance of record against us is wiped away
it is written that sin ,that had dominion over us .., now shall not have dominion over us ..we are set free and thus told to NOT LET IT have dominion over us any more . it resides over only that which is now dead ..
but we, are made alive by the spirit of God .
the good news of Jesus is the message which tells us what to do to be saved ..
it tells us to repent ,be baptised and receive the holy Spirit .., it tells us to then endure in that repentant state and we will receive the end of our faith , even the salvation of our souls .it tel us that we will recieve that salvation when Chrsit is revealed at his coming .
it tells us that if we are not found enduring and abiding in obedience to him that we will not be among those he comes .
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.
so we see that the grace is not yet brought to us .. we must endure until it is brought to us at his coming .
then there is this interesting sentence ... "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth" .... so we see that since our sin is forgiven we then go on to purify ourselves ... (from our old way of life ) not go back into the filth of our sin . and how do we achieve that purifying of self ? as stated in the scripture .. 'by our obedience "-- there is no way nor form to ever escape obedience to God ..
He has set us free from sin for the very purpose that we do not live IN IT any more but live in righteousness .
the willful continuance of sin is a sign or an unrepentant heart .
as the scriptures state .. one who is born of god ( a new creation in chrsit ) does NOT continue in the practice of sin .. as they listen to and obey the holy spirit he leads them OUT for his nature in them cannot sin and so as we walk in him we too wil not continue to sin ,, but s=cease from it .
it has been argued with the misuse of the verse for all have sinned and go astray etc .. but that is speaking to those who had not yet heard the gospel or those who refused to obey it .
for this is what is said of those that hear and beleive and respond obediently to the good news of Jesus and are there by born a new ...
to these he says .. -"For “you were like sheep going astray,”[f] but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."
that which was .. is no longer .. the old is gone the new has come .
just as the law of sin and death no longer applies to us -it is done away with for those that have died in christ .
so enslavement to sin no longer applies to us . for the one that was slave t sin had died in chrsit .
and the one now living is the one created new by the living Spirit of God who is perfect, holy ,righteous and cannot sin.
for this reason it is written ..
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
these things are plainly written .. so it is so . because the word of god is truth.
when our reality does not match his word then our reality is a lie .. his word is NEVER a lie .
if we say it can't be so because of the reality we perceive around us ,, then we call god a liar and the truth is not in us .the very fact that the reality we knew before we came t chrsit does not match the word of God is proof that we were in sin and had sin.. and had gone astray ...every one of us .
but if our reality has not ,and is not ,ever changing to align with the truth of god's WORD ..then we remain in our sin .
for if we say" all continue to sin "which is in opposition to the word of god ..then we display our sin by opposing the word of god . but if we grasp by faith that which he has done for us then the sinful reality of lie and opposition is transformed to match the word of god and be trusting us as it is true in himself .
the carnal mind will never grasp these things . but our reality in sin is based upon a lie .. our reality in god is based upon truth himself .
and it remains true --No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
the good news remains very good news .. obey the gospel .. and you will be set absolutely free from sin in utterly every respect . you are not to .. and do not ever HAVE to sin.. .you are already made the righteousness of god in chrsit jesus when you believed and were buried with him into his death by baptism and raised again a new creation on christ , ....
so from here on if .. if you will not harden your heart by unbelief .. the nest time this world the devil and the desires of your OWN sinful flesh try to coerce you to do an act you KNOW is sinful - you can say .. NO for it is written i am a new creation in chrsit and i dont have to do that any more .. it would hurt the lord jesus whom i love i wil obey him and not you ... in chrsit the choice is returned to you ..the choice is yours and we will all be judges for what we DO.
whether we abide in him to obey him and thus show our love .. or whether we resist him and serve the flesh unto righteousness which leads to death .
such obedience is nothing to do with the law .. for the works of the law are listed .. they include slaughtering bulls and sheep and goats and doves and cutting the foreskin .. the works of the law are listed in exodus and deuteronomy .. but love and living for jesus .. doing good giving instead of coveting ,being faithful instead of committing adultery ,being trustworthy instead of stealing ets .. against these things there is no law . and these are the things the holy Spirit leads us to do .. so if we listen to abide in and obey the holy spirit we do things which have no law against them .. and we are thence forth .. no longer law breakers . no longer sinners ..
this is what the lord jesus has accomplished for is .. and it is good news .. we must obey the good news . it has been delivered to us so that we can obey it . for before it was given - we had no hope .
but now it has been given we have hope.. if we heed it .
