January 1, 2012

Happy New Year

First I want to ring in the new year with a very warm and sincere wish that you all had a great night and hope for the best in health, happiness and power in Christ. I happen to have seen a New Year's eve costume, last night, that said R.I.P. 2011. This death of an old year brings us to a new year. A year that can be a clean slate, a redo, a mulligan, a new start and fresh beginning. All this will depend on how you want to start your new year. I want us to look the resolutions, that we are promising in our lives, and see if they work in the will of God. I want us to turn to my favorite of all the biblical writes and really look at a new beginning in our lives.

Grab your Bibles and turn with me, if you will, to Romans 6:1-13, "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?" Why did Paul pose this question? Paul is showing us that both Jew and Gentile, alike, have sinful ways and that it is only by the grace of God that we can be set free from sin. The question was asked because salvation from sin is a free gift and apart from any works and the more heinous the sin, the more grace it would take to pardon that sin. If we use that way of thinking then we would think that the more or worse that we sin the more grace we would receive. How ridiculous is this way of thinking. Did we not just state that salvation was a free gift and apart from our works? If that is the case, then no works we do, sin or righteous will gain us more grace.

Let us continue on to see what Paul had to say.

(2)"Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? (3)Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?" This is a conception that most folks really overlook. I am asked this question more times than I can count. How is it that we die but still be alive? Do we physically go out and die a physical death because Jesus died a physical death? Most definitely not. Jesus died a physical death so that we could die a spiritual death. We died to sin, not to life. How many of us physically joined Christ in baptism? I would dare say none since none of us are over two thousand years old. In the same since that we joined Jesus in baptism and we joined Him in His death it was in our spiritual form and not our physical form. Jesus physically was baptized to fulfill the will of His Father and physically died for that same reason, but also for the reason that we would not have to die a spiritual death. We will all eventually die a physical death but Christ created a way for us not to have to die a spiritual death. There are 20 main reasons, listed in the Bible, for not living in sin. Death to sin nullifies it, resurrection from spiritual death, we walk in newness of life, death to sin and resurrection from sin means walking in Christ, the old man is crucified and dead to sin, the body of sin is destroyed, that henceforth we should not sin, we are freed from sin, faith counts sin dead, sin has no dominion over us, sin not to reign in our body, body must not yeild to sin, married to Christ, not sin, we walk in the spirit, made free from the law of sin, we are spiritually minded, Christ is in us, not sin, we are not debtors to sin, spirit mortifies sin in us, we have spirit of freedom and intercession of Christ and the Holy Spirit keeps us. If you want the related scriptures associated with those reasons please let me know. Now that we have discovered we are dead to sin, now what? Let us read on.

(4)"For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives." This is the whole point of this message. We can start off our new year by living new lives. This will be completely dependant on how we handle the first three verses we have read. Do you want to kill yourself and become alive? This message is something that is so hard for me to make most folks understand. You have heard the old saying that one hand washes another. All that means is that by doing something for someone they in turn do something for you. This is the same thing. If you would be willig to die to sin and live for God, you would be utterly amazed at the change that would happen in your lives. I understand it is a hard piece of information to swallow because it can not be that easy. Let us read on.

(5)"Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. (6)We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. (7)For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. (8)And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. (9)We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. (10)When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. (11)So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus." Can you understand that we were once slaves to sin? We, often, do not see sin as hold us captive as slaves because, let us admit it, some sin is hard to resist because it is fun or enjoyable. Even though a sin may be enjoyable, it is still sin and that particular sin really holds us captive. The harder it is to stop doing a particular sin the more enslaved we are to that sin. If we can see the rest of those passages, we have all the power to defeat sin because of the Holy Spirit that lives within each and every one of us. Christ died to break that power of sin and now He lives for the glory of God. If we choose to leave sin behind then we can live for the glory of God. See what was just stated? It should have just hit you. Once you die to the old life you now live for the glory of God. If you have a life full of the glory of God, the one that created all things and gives all things, then your life becomes nothing but glory. Sounds nuts rigth? I can tell you it is very true, I know, I live it and am blessed beyond my wildest dreams. You see all these televangelists that beg for donations and tithes and are really living life to the fullest because of those donations, I honestly do live like that but without the donations. You can live the same way just by living in His glory. It is all in His glory, NOT in the money raised because of His glory, but we can not allow sin to control our lives, but allow His glory to control it. Continuing on.

(12)"Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. (13)Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God." We have made this claim and the oath of this church, "what did Jesus do". We say this because we want you to understand that it is the whole body, the complete giving and the total trust in God that causes us to do what it was that Jesus did do and not continue in our sinful lives.

Once we fully understand that allowing God that total control then we can understand Romans 7:6, when it says, "But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit." Does this mean that we are to omit the old laws of the Old Testament? Not at all. Jesus stated that He came not to eliminate the law but to fulfill it. Yes, there is a new covenant because of the death and resurrection of Christ, but we still must obey the laws that God set forth. The remission for breaking the laws is now different is all. Before you were dead to God because of sin and now you can be forgiven because of the resurrection of Christ.

If you can fully believe that God has control and you can live 100% for Him then you will also believe Romans 12:2, when it says, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Look at the last part of that verse. God's will, for us, is good and pleasing and perfect. If this past year, or even years, were not good years, then why not allow God control for a while and see if this good, pleasing and perfect life is something that would be better for you.

Give God a chance and understand 1Corinthians 5:8, that claims, "So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth." Not only do we have to believe but also we have to be completely sincere and truthful in our ways, our thinking and our lives.

As we close, yet another chapter in our lives with, the past year and open the blank pages of the new, up coming, year, let us use our pens wisely to write on those pages and direct our lives in the path of God's will, dying to sin and being reborn to the glory of God that is, honestly, good, pleasing and perfect. Amen?

If you are looking for a change, a new way of life, a break from the old rut we have been bogged down in, all we have to do is turn our focus on the one that created all things good and wants only good for us. To get started on this new year journey, all you have to do, to get started, is to say a simple prayer with me.

Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.

If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.

With Love in Christ,

Pastor Stone