STATE and STANDING
Gary Giddings, Sand Springs, OK
Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Praise God for the truth of the teaching of the two natures of the Christian! We were born with the Old Nature that is selfish and stubborn. But when the Holy Spirit convinced us that we needed a Savior, we accepted Jesus Christ into our heart. Now we have the New Nature that loves to serve and worship God. Because of the New Nature, the Life of Christ within us, our STANDING is perfect before God. When the Father looks at us, He sees Jesus. The good news is that our STANDING is also constant because we are “accepted in the Beloved,” that is, in Jesus. He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. We are now in God’s FOREVER family.
There is no condemnation for the believer in Christ Jesus because we have been freed from the Law of Sin and Death. We WERE headed to eternal condemnation without Christ, but now that we have accepted Jesus into our heart, we are under a HIGHER LAW, the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Do the last 10 words of verse 1 belong in the original text? I don’t know, but I do know that THE NEW NATURE (our true identity) does NOT walk after the flesh, but ONLY after the Spirit.
Romans 8:31-34 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Jesus who was condemned for us. He died on the Cross and took the judgment that we deserved. When Jesus died for our sins, He died for ALL of our sins, not just part of them. Since that is true, why is Jesus interceding for us? We are not always consistent in our walk before the Lord. We may get discouraged at times because of our faults and failures. Yes, we are still human, but we would like to think that we are better than to fall back into some old sinful ways. Jesus is our advocate and lifts us up before the Father; that is why God still patiently works with us, comforting us and correcting us as needed.
We are leaning to Trust God even when we get bogged down. Sure, we want God to “fix it” and get us going again. But God allows trials to come our way so that we can grow and mature in the faith. Maybe we don’t care about that at first, because it can be slow and painful at times. But little by little, day by day, God is doing a work in us that will last for eternity! Because of Jesus, we have an ongoing RELATIONSHIP with the Father that will never end. Nothing can ever change this relationship because it is the Father’s gift to us through the Son. Because we have Jesus in our heart, our STANDING is perfect before God. That never changes, even when we sin by not doing God’s will for us.
1 John 1:3-4 “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” We were created for FELLOWSHIP with God, but He doesn’t force us. He reaches out to us and waits for us because He wants a people that chooses Him and wants to be with Him. Thank God that He works in us, persuading us to respond to His love. We wouldn’t have figured it out on our own!
Our STANDING or our RELATIONSHIP with God is fixed and cannot change. However, our STATE or our FELLOWSHIP with God can vary from time to time. How much FELLOWSHIP do we have with the Lord? When we open up to the Lord and follow His will for our lives, our STATE rises up to our STANDING. When we go our own way instead of listening to what God tells us, our STATE falls down below our STANDING. In the natural, a son or daughter born to their parents are biological children. Nothing can change that. But how close are the children to the parents, especially after the children move away? So it is in the Family of God. We may sin and be out of fellowship with the Lord, but we are still a child of God. We are always welcome before the Throne of Grace. But if we don’t call on the Lord, our STATE suffers and we will miss a blessing.
1 John 1:5-7 “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Our STATE with the Lord varies, depending on the everyday choices we make. Our STANDING is perfect because it is Christ in us who is perfect. Only as we walk in the light of God’s Word, being obedient, can enjoy His presence. Being disobedient to God, our STATE suffers. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, ALL our sins were taken away. ALL our sins were in the future when Jesus died on the Cross. Does that mean that we don’t need to confess our sins AFTER being saved? No. We need to confess our sins for our FELLOWSHIP to be restored.
Psalm 51:12 “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” David had sinned against the Lord and he had missed the JOY that he had with the Lord. David tried going on as if nothing was wrong, but the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin. David finally admitted his faults and went to the Lord for forgiveness.
When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He said, “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit” (John 13:10). We go to the Lord for our daily cleansing, because our flesh may have picked up things from the world that hinders our fellowship with the Lord. God doesn’t condemn us but He urges us to let Him clean us.
Romans 6:10-13 “For in that he [Jesus] died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Every day we are choosing WHO we serve and worship. We may get distracted by something, but if we continue in that, we will be yielding less and less to God and His will.
1 Corinthians 6:12 “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” What can hinder our fellowship with God? Anything we hold to be more important than our relationship with Him. If we are not actively following Jesus, we will find something that will occupy us. As long as we give permission to whatever hinders our walk with the Lord, it will hinder us.
1 John 5:18-21 “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” The New Man within us CANNOT sin. That is why our STANDING before God is perfect and constant. But notice the warning about idols. Can we, acting in the Old Man, sin? Yes, we can. That is why we have to be on our guard. Jesus is TRUE and that there is nothing false in Him. That is why Jesus is the One we TRUST with all of our heart, and ONLY HIM. Jesus IS our eternal life and we are learning to bring our STATE up to STANDING.
