September 25, 2025 • 50 mins
How does the Bible describe a Christian? Pastor Lance shows us that a Christian is described as being "in Christ" and having Christ in him/her. The significance of a Christian is not primarily "knowing Christ" but being known by Him and made a new creation! Pastor Lance also provides 10 biblical distinctions of those who are a new creation.
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Thank you, Lord, that we can gather together tonight to spend
time in Your word. And our prayer, Father, is that
you'd open our eyes to be able to see the beauty of who you
are. Help us, Lord, to honor you with
our heart and mind. And pray, Father, that the
things that you teach us tonightwill enable us to live with the
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glory of Your Kingdom, not just today and this week, but until
you come again, as you most surely will.
We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
As we embark further and furtherinto the fall, we will soon be
upon the holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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And during those times, it's an opportunity for us to talk to
people about Christ, to introduce them to Christ,
whether it's friends, whether it's family, we can gather
together and talk about the reason for the season and inject
the gospel when we talk to them.The question is, will you be
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able to present the gospel clearly?
Will you be able to represent the gospel clearly?
Will those in your friend and family know that you truly are a
genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?
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So important we're looking at what is a Christian.
After we gave you a week of introduction, we talked to you
about a Christian is known by his decision.
That's Luke 923 the next week, which was last week.
A Christian is known not just byhis decision, but by his
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definition. And that's Philippians 3 verse
#3 But tonight we're going to introduce to you that a
Christian is known simply by a description.
How would you describe a Christian?
The Bible is very clear on how aChristian is described, but I
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would always be curious on how you would describe a Christian.
So many times we we think of things that are unbiblical
instead of biblical. We would say probably if someone
said, would you describe to me aChristian?
You would say, well, a Christianis described by someone who has
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a personal relationship with theliving God.
And to some degree that's absolutely true.
But what does that mean? Somebody who has a personal
relationship with the living God, How do we understand that?
You see, because as you read to you the last couple of weeks in
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Matthew Chapter 7, those people who said to the Lord, Lord,
Lord, did we not do this in yourname, believed that they had a
personal relationship with the Lord.
But Jesus said to them, I never knew you.
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So if they believed that they had a personal relationship with
the Lord, and yet the Lord says to them, I never knew you, how
do you describe then a true genuine believer?
How can someone go through life serving the Lord, speaking for
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the Lord, being a part of a church ministry, and yet the
Lord say to them, I never knew you.
How tragic would that ever be ifthat was you or if that was me?
So how do you describe a Christian?
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How is it you know the Lord knows you?
Because in Christianity it's notabout you knowing him, it's
about him knowing you. So turn with me in your Bible to
Second Timothy chapter 2. Second Timothy chapter 2.
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Listen to what Paul says in verse #19 He says.
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands having
this seal, having this sign of ownership.
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The Lord knows those who are His, The Lord knows those who
are His. You might say you know the Lord,
but does the Lord know you? That's very important.
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It says over in the book of Galatians the 4th chapter verse
#8 However at that time when youdid not know God, you were
slaves to those which by nature are no gods.
But now that you have come to know God, or rather Paul says to
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be known by God. Paul distinguishes those who who
claim to know God and those who are known by God.
Over in John chapter 10, the Lord says these words.
Verse 14 I am the Good Shepherd.I know my own, and my own know
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me even as the Father knows me and I know the Father.
Now talk about an intimate relationship.
My sheep know me, I know them, even as I know the Father, and
the Father knows me. And then it says in verse #27 My
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sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
In John 17 John chapter 17, these words are spoken verse #21
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that they all may be 1 even as You, Father, are in me, and I in
you, that they also may be in US, so that the world may
believe that You sent me the glory which You have given me.
I have given to them that they may be one, just as we are one,
I and them and You and Me, that they may be perfected in unity,
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so that the world may know that You sent me and love them even
as You have loved me. There's something unique about
the relationship between God andhis children that not only do
they know him, but he actually knows them.
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And so Paul says, here is the firm foundation of the Lord.
This is his seal. The Lord knows those who are
his. And then he says this in verse
19. He says everyone who names the
name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.
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Everyone who knows the Lord and the Lord knows are characterized
by the fact that they abstain from any kind of wickedness, any
kind of evil. They refrain from doing that
which is wrong, sinful. So the Bible says that it's
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imperative that the Lord knows who you are, that there's this
intimate relationship between you and your God.
We are the bride, He's the bridegroom.
And there's something about intimacy that's there.
The Bible says in justice said before that Cain knew his wife,
she conceived and bore Enoch. In other words, there was
something unique about that relationship that was intimate.
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Same was true about Joseph and Mary.
When Joseph knew Mary, he knew her in an intimate sense.
So to the Lord knows his own intimately.
There's this love relationship between God and his people that
goes beyond anything else that we can ever imagine.
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And so the Bible says those whomthe Lord knows are characterized
by the fact that they abstain from wickedness.
So a man says, I know the Lord, but he engages in wickedness.
The answer is the Lord doesn't know him, because if the Lord
knows him, he abstains from wickedness.
Not that you're perfect, not that you're sinless, but that
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your habit of life is to abstainfrom that which brings shame to
the Lord and is an abomination to the Lord.
The habit pattern is, I want to serve my Lord.
I want to honor my Lord. The question comes, OK, if
that's the case, how is it? If the Lord knows me, I abstain
from wickedness. How can that possibly be?
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Because here is how a Christian is described.
A Christian is described as being in Christ. 2nd Corinthians
517 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
Old things are passed away buildall things have become new.
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A Christian is described as being in Christ.
If any man be in Christ, he is anew creation.
So the Bible says that the unbeliever is without Christ.
Ephesians chapter 2 verse #12 But the believer is in Christ
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and ultimately will be with Christ.
Isn't it interesting that if if you're a you're a a Buddhist,
they're never described as beingin Buddha?
If you're a Mormon, you're neverdescribed as being in Joseph
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Smith or in Brigham Young. If you're a Christian Scientist,
you're never described as being in Mary Baker Eddie, not at all.
But a Christian is described as being in Christ.
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If you're a Muslim, you are not in Muhammad.
You are not in Allah. That is not how they're
described. So the Christian's description
is very, very unique. He is in Christ, but not only
that, not only is he in Christ, Christ is in him.
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The Bible says that we're in theFather and the Father is in us.
The Bible says that we're in theSpirit and the Spirit is in us.
There is this Trinitarian union that is in US and we are in.
That's what makes the Christian unique and distinct from any
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other religious affiliation around the world.
We simply are in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and He is in
us. He takes up residence in us.
In fact it says over in John chapter 14.
These words He says in verse 16,I will ask the Father, and he
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will give you another helper, that He may be with you forever.
That is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive
because it does not see Him or know Him.
But you know Him because He abides with you and will be in
you. Verse 20 In that day you will
know that I am in my Father, andyou in me, and I in you.
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It says in verse 23 if anyone loves me, he will keep my word
and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our
abode with him. A Christian is described as
being in Christ because Christ is in him.
He described as being in the Father because the Father's in
him. He described as being in the
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spirit because of spirits in him.
Now truly mean your Bible to thebook of Ephesians the first
chapter Ephesians chapter 1. The only way that I can obey the
Lord and abstain from wickednessis because he is in me.
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Look what it says verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in in Christ, just as he chose
us in him before the foundation of the world.
That that's an absolutely staggering thought that we were
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chosen to be in him before the world was ever created.
That's why the Bible says that our names are written in the
Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world.
This is an absolute staggering thought to realize that I was
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chosen by the Lord to be in Him before the world was even
created. That in the mind of God, God had
a plan that there would be people that He would choose to
be in Him. And that when you gave your life
to Christ and you decided to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, it
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was at that time that eternity intersected with time and you
gave your life to the Lord and everything that He had planned
came to fruition in your life. That's an absolutely staggering
thought to realize that everything that happens in your
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life and mind when it comes to the saving knowledge of Christ
was all set in motion in eternity past by the Lord God
Himself. A Christian is not someone
necessarily who believes in Christ, but as a person who has
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Christ in him and he is in Christ.
That is very, very important to understand that we as believers
are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 127.
Christ in you the hope of glory.2nd Corinthians 517 we are in
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Christ. Romans 8-9 says that we are in
the Spirit. In First Corinthians 619 says
the Spirit is in us. If any man be in Christ, he is a
new creation. In other words, let's say it
this way, Christianity is described as an invasion of the
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Triune God into your life. That is what Christianity is.
That is why you can obey the Lord.
That is why you can follow the Lord.
That is why you can serve the Lord.
That is why you love the Lord. We love Him because He first
loved us. But in all reality, Christianity
is an invasion of the Triune God, God the Father, God the
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Son, God the Holy Spirit invading your life because you
were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.
That's absolutely mind boggling to me.
And those who are who are in Christ are a new creation.
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In other words, that there's, there's not a rearranging of
your life, there's not a refurbishing of your life,
there's not a renovation of yourlife.
There's a complete overhaul of your life.
You're a new creation. All things have passed away
build. All things have become new.
You see, when you become a Christian, you're not adding
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Jesus to your existing lifestyle.
Oh no, all things have passed away.
All things have become brand new.
See that That's rooted in Old Testament theology.
In fact, go back with me, if youwould, to the the book of
Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 42, and the Lord as he is talking about
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the future for Israel, trying todescribe them, what's going to
happen in the future, He says, behold, the former things have
come to pass. Now I declare new things before
they spring forth. I proclaim them to you.
In other words, there's going tobe something brand new that's
going to take place. You go over to chapter 43 and it
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says this in verse #18 Do not call to mind the former things
or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new
now. It will spring forth.
Then when Isaiah 48 verse #6 he says this.
You have heard. Look at all this, and you will,
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and you will you not declare it?I proclaim to you new things
from this time. What are the new things?
Chapter 65 verse #17 For behold,I create new heavens and a new
earth, and the former things will not be remembered or come
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to mind, but be glad and rejoiceforever in what I create.
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and our people for
gladness. In other words, God is talking.
God is the creator of the universe.
He's the master designer and so when Paul says if any man be in
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Christ, he is a new creation, that means the Creator did
something brand new in your life.
Everything changes. It doesn't change physically.
OK, So if you didn't have an armbefore you were saved, you're
not going to get an arm after you're saved.
OK? Things don't change physically
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if you're blind before you're saved, Doesn't mean you're going
to not be able to see after you're saved.
You need to understand that. But what changes is everything
on the inside that there's a there's a metamorphosis, there's
a transformation on what's on the inside because you've been
cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and now your temple is the
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your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
So, so the Spirit of God resideswithin you.
And that's why you can live a holy life.
That's why you can aspire to righteous living.
Why? Because Christ is in you and you
want to please the Lord. You want to honor the Lord.
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You want to serve the Lord simply because He reigns supreme
in your life. You see, people don't understand
this. They think they can get saved
and still just live any way theywant to live.
Well, the problem is you can't do that.
Why? Because God lives in you and
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because God lives in you, there's a transformation that
takes place. You are now a new creation.
The old things are done away with.
All things have become new. Everything begins to change.
I don't know how many people come across and, and, and they,
they say they prayed a prayer and they gave their life to
Christ and they have a personal relationship with the Lord, but
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they're still living the same sinful life they did before they
said the prayer or before they gave their life to the Lord.
Their conversion is a sham. There was no transformation.
They're not a new creation. They're living the exact same
way they've always lived. That's not what salvation is.
We need to stop confirming people in their unbelief or
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confirming people in the fact that they believe that they're
one way when a reality they're another because if they're
living opposite of what the Bible says, you to call them
into account. Now, it doesn't mean that people
don't sin. They do sin.
They do stray away from the Lord, but when you confront
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them, you call them back and youbeg them to to repent.
They do do that because they recognize that the Spirit of God
within them and the Spirit of God is a is a convictor and
convicts us of our sin that we might learn to serve and and
follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what Romans 8 says.
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Romans chapter 8 verse #9 Paul says however, you are not in the
flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells
in you. But if anyone does not have the
Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet
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the Spirit is alive because of righteousness.
But the Spirit of Him who raisedJesus from the dead dwells in
you. He raised Christ.
Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through his Spirit who dwells inyou.
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Now think about this with me fora second.
Every Jew understands that God was above him and all around
him. That's why Jewish men wear
yarmulkes, right? They wear it on their head
because it's a reminder that God's above them and that God's
all around them. Jews are into symbols or they're
into rituals or into all those kinds of things.
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We don't need to have a yarmulkeon our head to realize that
God's all around us. We understand that or that God's
above us. We get that our Father who is in
heaven, we, we get that. The Bible says over in Psalm one
O 3 verse #19 the Lord has established his throne in the
heavens and the sovereignty rules overall.
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So if you're a Jew, you understand God above us, but if
you're a Jew you also understandthat God made us.
That's Genesis chapter one, thatwe are made in the image of God.
We understand that Jews understood that because we are
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made in God's image. So God that's above us, and that
the God that's around us is the God who made us.
But the Jews also understood that God will one day be with
them, right? Isaiah 714 The great prophecy
about the virgin shall conceive and and bear a child.
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You should call his name Emmanuel translated mean being
God with us. So the Jews lived in
anticipation of the God that wasabove them and around them, and
who made them would one day be with them.
And so when Christ was born, in Matthew chapter one, they quote
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Isaiah 714 because now Emmanuel was with them.
But what they never understood and never grasped was God in
them. That was a mystery.
That was a mystery concealed in the old and only revealed in the
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new. So the Bible says these words
God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of His
mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory, Christ being in you. The Jews to this day don't
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understand that. They can't grasp that, but
that's what the church age is all about.
That's what Christianity is, that that's what separates
Christianity from Judaism or anyother religion.
We are in Christ and Christ is in us.
So this, this God that's above us and all around us is the God
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who made us in his image, who promised to one day be with us.
So what did he do? God gave us His only beloved
Son, John 316 so that God would be in US.
And if God is in us, then we know that God is for us.
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Romans chapter 8 verse #31 says What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for us, who can be
against us? So think it through with me.
The God who is above us and the God who is around us is the God
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who made us, who made a promise to be the God who would be with
us. In order to be with us, God had
to give us his only begotten Son.
Once He gave his only begotten Son.
Now God now is in us, those who believe in his name.
And if God is in US, God is for us.
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And if God is for us, guess what?
God sends us as the Father sent me, so send I you.
You see, it's so important to understand that.
Why? Because that's what Christianity
is. Christianity is described as the
Christian being in Christ and Christ in them.
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That is the hope of glory. That is the hope of future
glorification. It's all about Christ being in
me. That's what enables me to be
able to say the firm foundation of the Lord is this.
The Lord knows those who are his.
This is his seal and those who name his name are the ones who
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abstain from wickedness. Why?
Because Christ is in them. That's why He is the the
motivation. He is the drive behind all of
that. So the question comes, if all
things are passed away, that means I've died to myself, Paul
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says in Galatians 2. I am crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I,but Christ lives in me.
OK, I've died to myself, so Christ lives in me.
In a few moments we're going to have some baptisms up here.
And why do we have people go down into the water and come
back up out of the water again? Because it's a sign.
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It's a a symbol that signifies that they had been buried in the
likeness of his death and raisedin the likeness of his
resurrection. Why?
Because we are in Christ, so oldthings pass away.
Old values, old ideas, old plans, old loves, old desires,
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old beliefs, old passions, old interests, all things that are
worldly centered, old things passed away.
Behold, all things become new, new things that accompany
salvation. God gives us new desires.
God gives us new loves. God gives us new motives, new
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plans, new values, new wisdom, new knowledge, new
understanding. In other words, the old things
that are done away with are doneaway with because you live for
self. The new things though, come
because you live for Christ. That's why Paul said for to me
to live is Christ and to die is gain a new creation.
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Let me explain to you how Spurgeon stated it.
Well over 100 years ago he said this.
If any man be in Christ, he is anew creation.
Read and the reading will be accurate.
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He is a new creation. This is a very sweeping
statement. A man in Christ is not the old
man purified, nor the old man improved, nor the old man in a
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better humor, nor the old man with additions and subtractions,
nor the old man dressed in gorgeous robes.
No, he is a new creature all together.
As for the old man, what is to be done with him?
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Can he not be sobered, reformed,and made to do us useful
service? Answer.
No, He is crucified with Christ,and bound to die by a lingering
but certain death. The capital sentences passed
upon him, for he cannot be mended, and therefore must be
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ended. The carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. You cannot change the old
nature. It is immutably bad, and the
sooner it is put away as a filthy and unclean thing, the
better. For all the believer, so far as
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he is in Christ, is a new creation.
Not the old stuff put into new fashion and the old material
worked up into an improved form,but absolutely a new creation.
To create is to make out of nothing, and that is precisely
how the newborn life came into us.
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It is not a development or an outgrowth, but a creation, a
heavenly something called into being by a power from above.
The new man in US is made out ofnothing that was in us before,
for nature does not assist grace, but as opposed to it,
Christ has not found light stored away in our darkness, nor
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life amid the corruption of our spiritual death.
The new birth is from above, andthe life produced thereby is a
completely new creation. Absolutely perfectly said.
And so many times we go through life affirming people in a non
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new creative state. We should never do that.
We should encourage them. We should move them to examine
the Scriptures. If they say they're born again,
if they say they know the Lord, if they say they're a follower
of Christ, if they say they serve the Lord, is their life a
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new creation? Is it different than it was
before they were saved? Has there been a transformation
of the inner man? Are there new desires, new
loves, new pursuits, new goals, all with Christ in mind?
Or are they the same pursuits, the same sinful goals, the same
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worldly aspirations as they werebefore?
For the man being Christ, he is a new creation.
So what changes? Let me give you 7 word.
Excuse me, let me give you 10 words.
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I had 7. I had a few more 10 words that
will help you understand a new creation.
OK, what changes? Number one, there is a new
condition, a new condition. This is what Paul says in
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Ephesians 4 verse #17 He says this.
So this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you
walk no longer. Just as the Gentiles also walk
in the futility of their mind being darkened in their
understanding, excluded from thelife of God because of the
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ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their
heart. And they have become callous,
have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of
every kind of impurity with greediness.
But you, you did not learn Christ in this way, since indeed
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you have heard Him and have beentaught in Him.
Just as truth is in Jesus. That in reference to your former
manner of life, you lay aside the old self which is being
corrupted in accordance with thelust of the sea.
And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on
the new self which in the likeness of God, has been
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created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
See, there's been a creation when it comes to righteousness
and holiness and truth. Things truly do change.
There's a brand new condition. You once in darkness, now you're
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in the light. Your condition was once the sons
of disobedience, and now your condition is the sons of
obedience. You once were taken captive by
Satan to do his will, but once saved, you've been transferred
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into the Kingdom of God's dear Son, and now you can become the
slave of God to do his will. Your whole condition changes
simply because of what God did in your life.
God does this. You don't reform yourself,
remake yourself, recreate yourself.
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No, God does this. It's the work of the Spirit of
God in the life of a soul made new.
Not only is there a new condition, there's a new
commitment, a brand new commitment.
Second Corinthians chapter 5. Second Corinthians chapter 5,
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verse #14 says, For the love of Christ controls us.
Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all
died, and he died for all, so that they who live might no
longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again
on their behalf. See that?
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So there's a brand new commitment.
You commit no longer to living for yourself.
You made a commitment to live for the one who lived and died
on your behalf. That's what a new creation is.
His commitment changes. Her commitment changes.
So Paul said for me to live is Christ.
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To die is gain. I live for Christ.
I make it my ambition to please Christ and please only Him.
Why? Because He is everything to me.
I've committed my life to Him. And when you committed your life
to Christ, that's a brand new commitment.
It's a brand new condition #3 there's a, there's a brand new
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conduct, a brand new conduct. Titus chapter 2, verse 11.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to
all men, instructing us to denying godliness, worldly
lusts, and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the
present age, looking for the blessed hope, the appearing of
the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who gave
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Himself for us to redeem us fromevery lawless deed, and to
purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for
good deeds. Everything about our conduct
changes. We are now zealous to please the
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Lord. We are now zealous to do the
right things. Why?
Because we've been bought with aprice.
We are now sons of God. We are slaves of God.
He's our master. We want to serve Him.
Our life's passion is to be not just committed to him, but to
live a life that honors Him. So there's a new condition.
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I've been transferred from the Kingdom of darkness into the
Kingdom of God's dear Son. There's a brand new commitment.
There's a brand new conduct. Here's one.
There is a brand new conversation.
Matthew, Matthew, chapter 12, verse 33.
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Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree
bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.
You brood of Vipers, how can yoube an evil?
Speak what is good, for the now speaks out of that which fills
the heart. The good man brings out of his
good treasure what is good, and the evil man brings out of his
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evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every
careless word that people speak they should give an accounting
for in the day of judgement. For by your words you will be
justified. And by your words, you will be
condemned. You see, the mouth speaks of
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that which fills the heart. And when you're a new creation,
everything about your conversation changes.
The way you say it changes. That's why the Lord could say
that every careless word that a man speaks, he'll be held
accountable for on the day of judgement.
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Why? Because your your lips are the
clearest indicator of your spiritual condition.
How do I know your heart? Just listen to your words.
Because that of the abundance ofthe heart, the mouth speaks.
So however you use your words, that will tell me the condition
of your heart. If you're a bitter, angry
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person, you have a bitter, angryheart.
Is your heart really a new creation?
If you're a person that likes toswear and cuss and use foul
language, are you really a new creation?
Because that speaks from the heart.
That's your heart manifesting itself through the mouth gate.
That's why it's so imperative that when you realize that
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someone's born again, their conversation changes because
their commitment changes, because their condition changes.
Everything changes. All things become new old things
that passed away. All things.
Your conversation, your commitment, your condition, your
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conduct, everything changes onceborn again.
Next the course of your life changes.
First Corinthians chapter 1 Paulsays this to the Church of God
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which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified or set
apart in Christ Jesus. Saints by calling with all who
in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ their
Lord and ours. And Paul goes on to describe the
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course of those who are called Saints.
Remember, you are never, ever called the Sinner.
Once you're saved in the Bible, you're only called a St.
It doesn't mean you don't sin. You do, but you're not a Sinner,
not characterized as a Sinner. That's reserved for the
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unbeliever. The unbelievers are sinners.
The believers are Saints. You're called Saints by God
himself. You've been set apart under God
for his purposes. You are sanctified.
Once saved, you are set apart, sanctified.
But there is this continual practice of sanctification as
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you move along your spiritual life where you are further and
further set apart under God for his purposes.
That's the course of action thatyou take as a believer.
That's the direction you go. You're constantly being
sanctified. You're constantly being set
apart more and more from the world unto God for His purposes.
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That's a new creation number six.
There's a new certainty, a new certainty.
First Corinthians chapter 15 verse #22 says this.
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For as an Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made
alive. There's a brand new certainty,
and that certainty is what? That I will be resurrected.
I will never die. That is, I will never be
separated from God ever again. And I am absolutely certain of
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that. The unbeliever does not have
that certainty. Top of that number 8 #7 excuse
me, a new character, a new character.
Revelation chapter 3, verse #12 The Lord gives you a brand new
name, and name refers to nature and character in the Bible,
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right? So you have a brand new
character because the saving grace of God, everything about
your character changes. How about this?
You have a new course. That's number 8, a brand new
chorus, Psalm 40, Psalm 40 verse#3 you put a new song in my
mouth, a song of praise to our God.
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Many will see in fear and will trust in the Lord.
There's a new chorus, a brand new song.
Never when we were we were growing up, of course, maybe not
you but me. When when I was growing up, they
we used to sing those old time religious hymns, right?
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And one of them was in my heart.There rings of melody.
Remember it goes like this. It says I have, I have sung
that. Excuse me, I have a song that
Jesus gave me. It was sent from heaven above.
There never was a sweeter melody.
Tis the melody of love. I love the Christ who died in
Calvary, For he washed my sins away.
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He put within my heart of melody.
And I know it's here to stay, Toobey my endless steaming glory
with the angels. I will sing to obey a song with
glorious harmony when the courtsof heaven ring.
For in my heart there rings a melody, rings a melody in
heaven's harmony. In my heart there rings a
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melody. There rings a melody of love.
There's something about the heart of the believer that sings
the chorus of the redeemed soul.There's something about being a
Christian that changes the song in your heart.
It's a chorus. You sing for the glory of God.
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What else changes? Your conflict changes.
Your conflict changes. For now you are in conflict with
Satan as you've never been in conflict before.
That's why when you get saved, things get worse.
They don't get better in your family, at work, with your
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friends because there's a spiritual battle that's going on
in Ephesians 6 talks about the the the armor of God that we are
to equip ourselves with with as we go to fight not against flesh
and blood, but it begins those principalities and powers of the
air, those things that we cannotsee.
There's a brand new conflict that takes place when you are a
new creation. And lastly #10 there's one
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that's a negative and that is there is now no condemnation.
For there is no condemnation forthose who are in Christ Jesus.
None. Those in Christ, no
condemnation. Why?
Because our sins were condemned at Calvary and Christ bore those
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sins in his body on the tree foryou and for me.
Listen, are you a new creation? Are you in Christ?
Has there been a change in your life?
Has there been a transformation from from the inside out?
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This is how a Christian is described in Bible.
In the Bible, 77 times the believer said to be in Christ 70
times he is said to be in him 45times he is said to be in the
Lord Jesus 192 times. In the New Testament, the
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Christian is described as being in Christ in the Lord.
Because that's who we are. And that's why there's a change.
And that's why my my whole life is transformed, because now
Christ is in me and I'm in him. And there is this union, there
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is this relationship that I havewith the living God that
satisfies the deepest aspects ofmy soul.
Only Christ can do that. Nobody else can.
Why do you think the world's so unsatisfied?
Why do you think the world is always searching for something?
To feel the emptiness of the soul?
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Because the things in the world can't do that.
Only the Lord Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness of your soul.
And how does he feel it? He fills it with His presence.
The Trinitarian invasion of a soul is what we describe as the
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Christian life, for we are in Christ.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for
tonight, a chance to be able to look into the Word of God for a
brief moment to examine our lives in light of what the Word
of God says. Are we in Christ?
For the Lord knows those who arehis.
And let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from
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iniquity. Well, the only way we can do
that is because of you. You're in US.
You dwell in US. You've made your abode with us.
We are in you and you are in us,as you are in the Father and the
Father is in you. Lord, that is just so mind
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boggling, but it's the reality of what Christianity is.
It sets us apart from every other system of religion around
the world. We are in the Savior of our
lives and our Savior is in US and we thank you in Jesus name,
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Amen.
Thank you, Lord, that we can gather together tonight to spend
time in Your word. And our prayer, Father, is that
you'd open our eyes to be able to see the beauty of who you
are. Help us, Lord, to honor you with
our heart and mind. And pray, Father, that the
things that you teach us tonightwill enable us to live with the
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glory of Your Kingdom, not just today and this week, but until
you come again, as you most surely will.
We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
As we embark further and furtherinto the fall, we will soon be
upon the holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
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And during those times, it's an opportunity for us to talk to
people about Christ, to introduce them to Christ,
whether it's friends, whether it's family, we can gather
together and talk about the reason for the season and inject
the gospel when we talk to them.The question is, will you be
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able to present the gospel clearly?
Will you be able to represent the gospel clearly?
Will those in your friend and family know that you truly are a
genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?
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So important we're looking at what is a Christian.
After we gave you a week of introduction, we talked to you
about a Christian is known by his decision.
That's Luke 923 the next week, which was last week.
A Christian is known not just byhis decision, but by his
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definition. And that's Philippians 3 verse
#3 But tonight we're going to introduce to you that a
Christian is known simply by a description.
How would you describe a Christian?
The Bible is very clear on how aChristian is described, but I
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would always be curious on how you would describe a Christian.
So many times we we think of things that are unbiblical
instead of biblical. We would say probably if someone
said, would you describe to me aChristian?
You would say, well, a Christianis described by someone who has
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a personal relationship with theliving God.
And to some degree that's absolutely true.
But what does that mean? Somebody who has a personal
relationship with the living God, How do we understand that?
You see, because as you read to you the last couple of weeks in
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Matthew Chapter 7, those people who said to the Lord, Lord,
Lord, did we not do this in yourname, believed that they had a
personal relationship with the Lord.
But Jesus said to them, I never knew you.
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So if they believed that they had a personal relationship with
the Lord, and yet the Lord says to them, I never knew you, how
do you describe then a true genuine believer?
How can someone go through life serving the Lord, speaking for
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the Lord, being a part of a church ministry, and yet the
Lord say to them, I never knew you.
How tragic would that ever be ifthat was you or if that was me?
So how do you describe a Christian?
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How is it you know the Lord knows you?
Because in Christianity it's notabout you knowing him, it's
about him knowing you. So turn with me in your Bible to
Second Timothy chapter 2. Second Timothy chapter 2.
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Listen to what Paul says in verse #19 He says.
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands having
this seal, having this sign of ownership.
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The Lord knows those who are His, The Lord knows those who
are His. You might say you know the Lord,
but does the Lord know you? That's very important.
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It says over in the book of Galatians the 4th chapter verse
#8 However at that time when youdid not know God, you were
slaves to those which by nature are no gods.
But now that you have come to know God, or rather Paul says to
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be known by God. Paul distinguishes those who who
claim to know God and those who are known by God.
Over in John chapter 10, the Lord says these words.
Verse 14 I am the Good Shepherd.I know my own, and my own know
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me even as the Father knows me and I know the Father.
Now talk about an intimate relationship.
My sheep know me, I know them, even as I know the Father, and
the Father knows me. And then it says in verse #27 My
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sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
In John 17 John chapter 17, these words are spoken verse #21
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that they all may be 1 even as You, Father, are in me, and I in
you, that they also may be in US, so that the world may
believe that You sent me the glory which You have given me.
I have given to them that they may be one, just as we are one,
I and them and You and Me, that they may be perfected in unity,
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so that the world may know that You sent me and love them even
as You have loved me. There's something unique about
the relationship between God andhis children that not only do
they know him, but he actually knows them.
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And so Paul says, here is the firm foundation of the Lord.
This is his seal. The Lord knows those who are
his. And then he says this in verse
19. He says everyone who names the
name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.
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Everyone who knows the Lord and the Lord knows are characterized
by the fact that they abstain from any kind of wickedness, any
kind of evil. They refrain from doing that
which is wrong, sinful. So the Bible says that it's
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imperative that the Lord knows who you are, that there's this
intimate relationship between you and your God.
We are the bride, He's the bridegroom.
And there's something about intimacy that's there.
The Bible says in justice said before that Cain knew his wife,
she conceived and bore Enoch. In other words, there was
something unique about that relationship that was intimate.
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Same was true about Joseph and Mary.
When Joseph knew Mary, he knew her in an intimate sense.
So to the Lord knows his own intimately.
There's this love relationship between God and his people that
goes beyond anything else that we can ever imagine.
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And so the Bible says those whomthe Lord knows are characterized
by the fact that they abstain from wickedness.
So a man says, I know the Lord, but he engages in wickedness.
The answer is the Lord doesn't know him, because if the Lord
knows him, he abstains from wickedness.
Not that you're perfect, not that you're sinless, but that
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your habit of life is to abstainfrom that which brings shame to
the Lord and is an abomination to the Lord.
The habit pattern is, I want to serve my Lord.
I want to honor my Lord. The question comes, OK, if
that's the case, how is it? If the Lord knows me, I abstain
from wickedness. How can that possibly be?
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Because here is how a Christian is described.
A Christian is described as being in Christ. 2nd Corinthians
517 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
Old things are passed away buildall things have become new.
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A Christian is described as being in Christ.
If any man be in Christ, he is anew creation.
So the Bible says that the unbeliever is without Christ.
Ephesians chapter 2 verse #12 But the believer is in Christ
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and ultimately will be with Christ.
Isn't it interesting that if if you're a you're a a Buddhist,
they're never described as beingin Buddha?
If you're a Mormon, you're neverdescribed as being in Joseph
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Smith or in Brigham Young. If you're a Christian Scientist,
you're never described as being in Mary Baker Eddie, not at all.
But a Christian is described as being in Christ.
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If you're a Muslim, you are not in Muhammad.
You are not in Allah. That is not how they're
described. So the Christian's description
is very, very unique. He is in Christ, but not only
that, not only is he in Christ, Christ is in him.
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The Bible says that we're in theFather and the Father is in us.
The Bible says that we're in theSpirit and the Spirit is in us.
There is this Trinitarian union that is in US and we are in.
That's what makes the Christian unique and distinct from any
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other religious affiliation around the world.
We simply are in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and He is in
us. He takes up residence in us.
In fact it says over in John chapter 14.
These words He says in verse 16,I will ask the Father, and he
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will give you another helper, that He may be with you forever.
That is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive
because it does not see Him or know Him.
But you know Him because He abides with you and will be in
you. Verse 20 In that day you will
know that I am in my Father, andyou in me, and I in you.
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It says in verse 23 if anyone loves me, he will keep my word
and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our
abode with him. A Christian is described as
being in Christ because Christ is in him.
He described as being in the Father because the Father's in
him. He described as being in the
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spirit because of spirits in him.
Now truly mean your Bible to thebook of Ephesians the first
chapter Ephesians chapter 1. The only way that I can obey the
Lord and abstain from wickednessis because he is in me.
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Look what it says verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in in Christ, just as he chose
us in him before the foundation of the world.
That that's an absolutely staggering thought that we were
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chosen to be in him before the world was ever created.
That's why the Bible says that our names are written in the
Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world.
This is an absolute staggering thought to realize that I was
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chosen by the Lord to be in Him before the world was even
created. That in the mind of God, God had
a plan that there would be people that He would choose to
be in Him. And that when you gave your life
to Christ and you decided to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, it
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was at that time that eternity intersected with time and you
gave your life to the Lord and everything that He had planned
came to fruition in your life. That's an absolutely staggering
thought to realize that everything that happens in your
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life and mind when it comes to the saving knowledge of Christ
was all set in motion in eternity past by the Lord God
Himself. A Christian is not someone
necessarily who believes in Christ, but as a person who has
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Christ in him and he is in Christ.
That is very, very important to understand that we as believers
are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 127.
Christ in you the hope of glory.2nd Corinthians 517 we are in
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Christ. Romans 8-9 says that we are in
the Spirit. In First Corinthians 619 says
the Spirit is in us. If any man be in Christ, he is a
new creation. In other words, let's say it
this way, Christianity is described as an invasion of the
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Triune God into your life. That is what Christianity is.
That is why you can obey the Lord.
That is why you can follow the Lord.
That is why you can serve the Lord.
That is why you love the Lord. We love Him because He first
loved us. But in all reality, Christianity
is an invasion of the Triune God, God the Father, God the
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Son, God the Holy Spirit invading your life because you
were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.
That's absolutely mind boggling to me.
And those who are who are in Christ are a new creation.
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In other words, that there's, there's not a rearranging of
your life, there's not a refurbishing of your life,
there's not a renovation of yourlife.
There's a complete overhaul of your life.
You're a new creation. All things have passed away
build. All things have become new.
You see, when you become a Christian, you're not adding
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Jesus to your existing lifestyle.
Oh no, all things have passed away.
All things have become brand new.
See that That's rooted in Old Testament theology.
In fact, go back with me, if youwould, to the the book of
Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 42, and the Lord as he is talking about
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the future for Israel, trying todescribe them, what's going to
happen in the future, He says, behold, the former things have
come to pass. Now I declare new things before
they spring forth. I proclaim them to you.
In other words, there's going tobe something brand new that's
going to take place. You go over to chapter 43 and it
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says this in verse #18 Do not call to mind the former things
or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new
now. It will spring forth.
Then when Isaiah 48 verse #6 he says this.
You have heard. Look at all this, and you will,
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and you will you not declare it?I proclaim to you new things
from this time. What are the new things?
Chapter 65 verse #17 For behold,I create new heavens and a new
earth, and the former things will not be remembered or come
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to mind, but be glad and rejoiceforever in what I create.
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and our people for
gladness. In other words, God is talking.
God is the creator of the universe.
He's the master designer and so when Paul says if any man be in
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Christ, he is a new creation, that means the Creator did
something brand new in your life.
Everything changes. It doesn't change physically.
OK, So if you didn't have an armbefore you were saved, you're
not going to get an arm after you're saved.
OK? Things don't change physically
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if you're blind before you're saved, Doesn't mean you're going
to not be able to see after you're saved.
You need to understand that. But what changes is everything
on the inside that there's a there's a metamorphosis, there's
a transformation on what's on the inside because you've been
cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and now your temple is the
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your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
So, so the Spirit of God resideswithin you.
And that's why you can live a holy life.
That's why you can aspire to righteous living.
Why? Because Christ is in you and you
want to please the Lord. You want to honor the Lord.
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You want to serve the Lord simply because He reigns supreme
in your life. You see, people don't understand
this. They think they can get saved
and still just live any way theywant to live.
Well, the problem is you can't do that.
Why? Because God lives in you and
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because God lives in you, there's a transformation that
takes place. You are now a new creation.
The old things are done away with.
All things have become new. Everything begins to change.
I don't know how many people come across and, and, and they,
they say they prayed a prayer and they gave their life to
Christ and they have a personal relationship with the Lord, but
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they're still living the same sinful life they did before they
said the prayer or before they gave their life to the Lord.
Their conversion is a sham. There was no transformation.
They're not a new creation. They're living the exact same
way they've always lived. That's not what salvation is.
We need to stop confirming people in their unbelief or
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confirming people in the fact that they believe that they're
one way when a reality they're another because if they're
living opposite of what the Bible says, you to call them
into account. Now, it doesn't mean that people
don't sin. They do sin.
They do stray away from the Lord, but when you confront
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them, you call them back and youbeg them to to repent.
They do do that because they recognize that the Spirit of God
within them and the Spirit of God is a is a convictor and
convicts us of our sin that we might learn to serve and and
follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what Romans 8 says.
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Romans chapter 8 verse #9 Paul says however, you are not in the
flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells
in you. But if anyone does not have the
Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.
If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet
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the Spirit is alive because of righteousness.
But the Spirit of Him who raisedJesus from the dead dwells in
you. He raised Christ.
Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through his Spirit who dwells inyou.
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Now think about this with me fora second.
Every Jew understands that God was above him and all around
him. That's why Jewish men wear
yarmulkes, right? They wear it on their head
because it's a reminder that God's above them and that God's
all around them. Jews are into symbols or they're
into rituals or into all those kinds of things.
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We don't need to have a yarmulkeon our head to realize that
God's all around us. We understand that or that God's
above us. We get that our Father who is in
heaven, we, we get that. The Bible says over in Psalm one
O 3 verse #19 the Lord has established his throne in the
heavens and the sovereignty rules overall.
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So if you're a Jew, you understand God above us, but if
you're a Jew you also understandthat God made us.
That's Genesis chapter one, thatwe are made in the image of God.
We understand that Jews understood that because we are
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made in God's image. So God that's above us, and that
the God that's around us is the God who made us.
But the Jews also understood that God will one day be with
them, right? Isaiah 714 The great prophecy
about the virgin shall conceive and and bear a child.
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You should call his name Emmanuel translated mean being
God with us. So the Jews lived in
anticipation of the God that wasabove them and around them, and
who made them would one day be with them.
And so when Christ was born, in Matthew chapter one, they quote
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Isaiah 714 because now Emmanuel was with them.
But what they never understood and never grasped was God in
them. That was a mystery.
That was a mystery concealed in the old and only revealed in the
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new. So the Bible says these words
God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of His
mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory, Christ being in you. The Jews to this day don't
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understand that. They can't grasp that, but
that's what the church age is all about.
That's what Christianity is, that that's what separates
Christianity from Judaism or anyother religion.
We are in Christ and Christ is in us.
So this, this God that's above us and all around us is the God
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who made us in his image, who promised to one day be with us.
So what did he do? God gave us His only beloved
Son, John 316 so that God would be in US.
And if God is in us, then we know that God is for us.
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Romans chapter 8 verse #31 says What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for us, who can be
against us? So think it through with me.
The God who is above us and the God who is around us is the God
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who made us, who made a promise to be the God who would be with
us. In order to be with us, God had
to give us his only begotten Son.
Once He gave his only begotten Son.
Now God now is in us, those who believe in his name.
And if God is in US, God is for us.
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And if God is for us, guess what?
God sends us as the Father sent me, so send I you.
You see, it's so important to understand that.
Why? Because that's what Christianity
is. Christianity is described as the
Christian being in Christ and Christ in them.
(27:12):
That is the hope of glory. That is the hope of future
glorification. It's all about Christ being in
me. That's what enables me to be
able to say the firm foundation of the Lord is this.
The Lord knows those who are his.
This is his seal and those who name his name are the ones who
(27:32):
abstain from wickedness. Why?
Because Christ is in them. That's why He is the the
motivation. He is the drive behind all of
that. So the question comes, if all
things are passed away, that means I've died to myself, Paul
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says in Galatians 2. I am crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I,but Christ lives in me.
OK, I've died to myself, so Christ lives in me.
In a few moments we're going to have some baptisms up here.
And why do we have people go down into the water and come
back up out of the water again? Because it's a sign.
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It's a a symbol that signifies that they had been buried in the
likeness of his death and raisedin the likeness of his
resurrection. Why?
Because we are in Christ, so oldthings pass away.
Old values, old ideas, old plans, old loves, old desires,
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old beliefs, old passions, old interests, all things that are
worldly centered, old things passed away.
Behold, all things become new, new things that accompany
salvation. God gives us new desires.
God gives us new loves. God gives us new motives, new
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plans, new values, new wisdom, new knowledge, new
understanding. In other words, the old things
that are done away with are doneaway with because you live for
self. The new things though, come
because you live for Christ. That's why Paul said for to me
to live is Christ and to die is gain a new creation.
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Let me explain to you how Spurgeon stated it.
Well over 100 years ago he said this.
If any man be in Christ, he is anew creation.
Read and the reading will be accurate.
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He is a new creation. This is a very sweeping
statement. A man in Christ is not the old
man purified, nor the old man improved, nor the old man in a
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better humor, nor the old man with additions and subtractions,
nor the old man dressed in gorgeous robes.
No, he is a new creature all together.
As for the old man, what is to be done with him?
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Can he not be sobered, reformed,and made to do us useful
service? Answer.
No, He is crucified with Christ,and bound to die by a lingering
but certain death. The capital sentences passed
upon him, for he cannot be mended, and therefore must be
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ended. The carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. You cannot change the old
nature. It is immutably bad, and the
sooner it is put away as a filthy and unclean thing, the
better. For all the believer, so far as
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he is in Christ, is a new creation.
Not the old stuff put into new fashion and the old material
worked up into an improved form,but absolutely a new creation.
To create is to make out of nothing, and that is precisely
how the newborn life came into us.
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It is not a development or an outgrowth, but a creation, a
heavenly something called into being by a power from above.
The new man in US is made out ofnothing that was in us before,
for nature does not assist grace, but as opposed to it,
Christ has not found light stored away in our darkness, nor
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life amid the corruption of our spiritual death.
The new birth is from above, andthe life produced thereby is a
completely new creation. Absolutely perfectly said.
And so many times we go through life affirming people in a non
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new creative state. We should never do that.
We should encourage them. We should move them to examine
the Scriptures. If they say they're born again,
if they say they know the Lord, if they say they're a follower
of Christ, if they say they serve the Lord, is their life a
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new creation? Is it different than it was
before they were saved? Has there been a transformation
of the inner man? Are there new desires, new
loves, new pursuits, new goals, all with Christ in mind?
Or are they the same pursuits, the same sinful goals, the same
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worldly aspirations as they werebefore?
For the man being Christ, he is a new creation.
So what changes? Let me give you 7 word.
Excuse me, let me give you 10 words.
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I had 7. I had a few more 10 words that
will help you understand a new creation.
OK, what changes? Number one, there is a new
condition, a new condition. This is what Paul says in
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Ephesians 4 verse #17 He says this.
So this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you
walk no longer. Just as the Gentiles also walk
in the futility of their mind being darkened in their
understanding, excluded from thelife of God because of the
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ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their
heart. And they have become callous,
have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of
every kind of impurity with greediness.
But you, you did not learn Christ in this way, since indeed
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you have heard Him and have beentaught in Him.
Just as truth is in Jesus. That in reference to your former
manner of life, you lay aside the old self which is being
corrupted in accordance with thelust of the sea.
And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on
the new self which in the likeness of God, has been
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created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
See, there's been a creation when it comes to righteousness
and holiness and truth. Things truly do change.
There's a brand new condition. You once in darkness, now you're
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in the light. Your condition was once the sons
of disobedience, and now your condition is the sons of
obedience. You once were taken captive by
Satan to do his will, but once saved, you've been transferred
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into the Kingdom of God's dear Son, and now you can become the
slave of God to do his will. Your whole condition changes
simply because of what God did in your life.
God does this. You don't reform yourself,
remake yourself, recreate yourself.
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No, God does this. It's the work of the Spirit of
God in the life of a soul made new.
Not only is there a new condition, there's a new
commitment, a brand new commitment.
Second Corinthians chapter 5. Second Corinthians chapter 5,
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verse #14 says, For the love of Christ controls us.
Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all
died, and he died for all, so that they who live might no
longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again
on their behalf. See that?
(37:01):
So there's a brand new commitment.
You commit no longer to living for yourself.
You made a commitment to live for the one who lived and died
on your behalf. That's what a new creation is.
His commitment changes. Her commitment changes.
So Paul said for me to live is Christ.
(37:21):
To die is gain. I live for Christ.
I make it my ambition to please Christ and please only Him.
Why? Because He is everything to me.
I've committed my life to Him. And when you committed your life
to Christ, that's a brand new commitment.
It's a brand new condition #3 there's a, there's a brand new
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conduct, a brand new conduct. Titus chapter 2, verse 11.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to
all men, instructing us to denying godliness, worldly
lusts, and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the
present age, looking for the blessed hope, the appearing of
the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who gave
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Himself for us to redeem us fromevery lawless deed, and to
purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for
good deeds. Everything about our conduct
changes. We are now zealous to please the
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Lord. We are now zealous to do the
right things. Why?
Because we've been bought with aprice.
We are now sons of God. We are slaves of God.
He's our master. We want to serve Him.
Our life's passion is to be not just committed to him, but to
live a life that honors Him. So there's a new condition.
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I've been transferred from the Kingdom of darkness into the
Kingdom of God's dear Son. There's a brand new commitment.
There's a brand new conduct. Here's one.
There is a brand new conversation.
Matthew, Matthew, chapter 12, verse 33.
(39:24):
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree
bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.
You brood of Vipers, how can yoube an evil?
Speak what is good, for the now speaks out of that which fills
the heart. The good man brings out of his
good treasure what is good, and the evil man brings out of his
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evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every
careless word that people speak they should give an accounting
for in the day of judgement. For by your words you will be
justified. And by your words, you will be
condemned. You see, the mouth speaks of
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that which fills the heart. And when you're a new creation,
everything about your conversation changes.
The way you say it changes. That's why the Lord could say
that every careless word that a man speaks, he'll be held
accountable for on the day of judgement.
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Why? Because your your lips are the
clearest indicator of your spiritual condition.
How do I know your heart? Just listen to your words.
Because that of the abundance ofthe heart, the mouth speaks.
So however you use your words, that will tell me the condition
of your heart. If you're a bitter, angry
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person, you have a bitter, angryheart.
Is your heart really a new creation?
If you're a person that likes toswear and cuss and use foul
language, are you really a new creation?
Because that speaks from the heart.
That's your heart manifesting itself through the mouth gate.
That's why it's so imperative that when you realize that
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someone's born again, their conversation changes because
their commitment changes, because their condition changes.
Everything changes. All things become new old things
that passed away. All things.
Your conversation, your commitment, your condition, your
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conduct, everything changes onceborn again.
Next the course of your life changes.
First Corinthians chapter 1 Paulsays this to the Church of God
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which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified or set
apart in Christ Jesus. Saints by calling with all who
in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ their
Lord and ours. And Paul goes on to describe the
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course of those who are called Saints.
Remember, you are never, ever called the Sinner.
Once you're saved in the Bible, you're only called a St.
It doesn't mean you don't sin. You do, but you're not a Sinner,
not characterized as a Sinner. That's reserved for the
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unbeliever. The unbelievers are sinners.
The believers are Saints. You're called Saints by God
himself. You've been set apart under God
for his purposes. You are sanctified.
Once saved, you are set apart, sanctified.
But there is this continual practice of sanctification as
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you move along your spiritual life where you are further and
further set apart under God for his purposes.
That's the course of action thatyou take as a believer.
That's the direction you go. You're constantly being
sanctified. You're constantly being set
apart more and more from the world unto God for His purposes.
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That's a new creation number six.
There's a new certainty, a new certainty.
First Corinthians chapter 15 verse #22 says this.
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For as an Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made
alive. There's a brand new certainty,
and that certainty is what? That I will be resurrected.
I will never die. That is, I will never be
separated from God ever again. And I am absolutely certain of
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that. The unbeliever does not have
that certainty. Top of that number 8 #7 excuse
me, a new character, a new character.
Revelation chapter 3, verse #12 The Lord gives you a brand new
name, and name refers to nature and character in the Bible,
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right? So you have a brand new
character because the saving grace of God, everything about
your character changes. How about this?
You have a new course. That's number 8, a brand new
chorus, Psalm 40, Psalm 40 verse#3 you put a new song in my
mouth, a song of praise to our God.
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Many will see in fear and will trust in the Lord.
There's a new chorus, a brand new song.
Never when we were we were growing up, of course, maybe not
you but me. When when I was growing up, they
we used to sing those old time religious hymns, right?
(45:21):
And one of them was in my heart.There rings of melody.
Remember it goes like this. It says I have, I have sung
that. Excuse me, I have a song that
Jesus gave me. It was sent from heaven above.
There never was a sweeter melody.
Tis the melody of love. I love the Christ who died in
Calvary, For he washed my sins away.
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He put within my heart of melody.
And I know it's here to stay, Toobey my endless steaming glory
with the angels. I will sing to obey a song with
glorious harmony when the courtsof heaven ring.
For in my heart there rings a melody, rings a melody in
heaven's harmony. In my heart there rings a
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melody. There rings a melody of love.
There's something about the heart of the believer that sings
the chorus of the redeemed soul.There's something about being a
Christian that changes the song in your heart.
It's a chorus. You sing for the glory of God.
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What else changes? Your conflict changes.
Your conflict changes. For now you are in conflict with
Satan as you've never been in conflict before.
That's why when you get saved, things get worse.
They don't get better in your family, at work, with your
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friends because there's a spiritual battle that's going on
in Ephesians 6 talks about the the the armor of God that we are
to equip ourselves with with as we go to fight not against flesh
and blood, but it begins those principalities and powers of the
air, those things that we cannotsee.
There's a brand new conflict that takes place when you are a
new creation. And lastly #10 there's one
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that's a negative and that is there is now no condemnation.
For there is no condemnation forthose who are in Christ Jesus.
None. Those in Christ, no
condemnation. Why?
Because our sins were condemned at Calvary and Christ bore those
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sins in his body on the tree foryou and for me.
Listen, are you a new creation? Are you in Christ?
Has there been a change in your life?
Has there been a transformation from from the inside out?
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This is how a Christian is described in Bible.
In the Bible, 77 times the believer said to be in Christ 70
times he is said to be in him 45times he is said to be in the
Lord Jesus 192 times. In the New Testament, the
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Christian is described as being in Christ in the Lord.
Because that's who we are. And that's why there's a change.
And that's why my my whole life is transformed, because now
Christ is in me and I'm in him. And there is this union, there
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is this relationship that I havewith the living God that
satisfies the deepest aspects ofmy soul.
Only Christ can do that. Nobody else can.
Why do you think the world's so unsatisfied?
Why do you think the world is always searching for something?
To feel the emptiness of the soul?
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Because the things in the world can't do that.
Only the Lord Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness of your soul.
And how does he feel it? He fills it with His presence.
The Trinitarian invasion of a soul is what we describe as the
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Christian life, for we are in Christ.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for
tonight, a chance to be able to look into the Word of God for a
brief moment to examine our lives in light of what the Word
of God says. Are we in Christ?
For the Lord knows those who arehis.
And let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from
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iniquity. Well, the only way we can do
that is because of you. You're in US.
You dwell in US. You've made your abode with us.
We are in you and you are in us,as you are in the Father and the
Father is in you. Lord, that is just so mind
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boggling, but it's the reality of what Christianity is.
It sets us apart from every other system of religion around
the world. We are in the Savior of our
lives and our Savior is in US and we thank you in Jesus name,
(50:38):
Amen.
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