“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

For Christian believers, to “be in Christ” first means being in relationship with God by having been justified, or if you will, reconciled unto God through faith in the shed blood of Christ for the remission of our sins provided for us through the atonement of Christ’s cross. For those of us who have experienced this grace through faith, the scriptures declare that we “live in the Spirit.”

Of equal importance for Christian believers, to “be in Christ” also means being in fellowship with God through sanctification by continuing, or if you will, abiding in Christ and His words abiding in us. For those of us who are experiencing this grace through faith, the scriptures declare that we “walk in the Spirit” and therefore “do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” Remember Jesus promised, “If a man loves Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make our abode with him.” John 14:23 - Now, that’s fellowship! This kind of divine fellowship is both the reason for and the result of our present sanctification in Christ.

In order for 2 Corinthians 4:17 to be realized in our lives, both a relationship with God through our past justification in Christ, and a fellowship with God through our present sanctification in Christ is required. If both justification and sanctification are ours at Christ’s second coming, then we will partake of the first out resurrection from the dead and glorification will be ours also. I might add, whereas Christ has provided justification, sanctification, and glorification for us by grace through faith, we are responsible for appropriating this great salvation through our chosen consecration unto Him. This requires our consistent yielding to the directives of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures, as well as our continual separation from the defilements of the flesh (sin nature) and the corruption of this present evil age. “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; And I will receive you. And be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, said the Lord all mighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:17-18

It is not enough to hear the word of God; we must trust and obey the word of God if we expect to experience the benefits of being “new creatures in Christ!” And remember Jesus said, “When you pray,” “when you fast,” and “when you give,” not “if you do!” A good test as to whether or not we are “doers of God’s word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves,” is to “examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith,” or if you will, “in Christ.” It is a wonderful thing for Christ to be in us; it is indeed “the hope of glory.” But it is an equally important thing for us to “remain in Christ and His words to remain in us, because in so doing, we will bear much fruit unto eternal life. Herein is the Father glorified!” In other words, it is not just our goal and aspiration to be glorified after a fashion now, and in the fullest sense at Christ’s second coming; it is our supreme goal and aspiration to see our Heavenly Father glorified in the earth today!

So, after careful inspection of our lives and lifestyles, if “old things have not passed away” and “all things become new,” it is a pretty good sign that we are not in fellowship with God through sanctification, even though we may be in relationship with Him through justification. You see my brothers and sisters, my wife and children and I are in relationship with each other, but unless we spend intimate time together, we will not enjoy the benefits of fellowship with each other. The same is true of God and the Christian believer.

It is communing fellowship with God around His Word and in His Spirit that will cause us to experience the practical realities of 2 Corinthians 4:17 in our lives. This means “staying awake and drawing near to God, because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” It means, “praying with the spirit and with the understanding and singing with the spirit and with the understanding.” This is a good way to remain filled with the Holy Spirit and overcome the weakness of our flesh. We must “worship God in Spirit and in truth.” We must “continue in His word through meditating in the scriptures both day and night so that we might observe to do all that is written therein.” We must “mortify the misdeeds of the body through the Spirit.” “For those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts.” Jesus declared, “My words are Spiri,t and they are life” and “apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Question: Why do we try to live the Christian life apart from Christ, when doing so only leads to fruitless frustration and moral failure?
Answer: The independence of Adam.
Question: What is the solution to this problem?
Answer: Training ourselves to utterly depend on Christ!

It is only through our “remaining in Christ, and His words remaining in us,” that we will experience the triumphant victory that He, through His great personal sacrifice, has so graciously provided for us.

It is not only Hell that Christ has come to save us from. It is also our pleasurable, habitual, highhanded, willful, and deliberate sins, as well as all other sins and works of the flesh. If we choose to continue in sin instead of continuing in Him, it will keep us from inheriting the kingdom of God that is within us, and the kingdom of Heaven that is coming to this earth when Christ returns. With this in mind, it is imperative that we do what is necessary to be rid of our sins, once and for all. And again, it is only our communing fellowship with God through Spirit-filled prayer and meditation in His Word in order to do His will that makes us free from the sins that so easily entangle us! In the same way that God the Father turned his back on His Son when He became sin on the cross for our salvation, we must also turn our backs on our sins and utterly forsake them!

Jesus said, “If you continue in My words, then are you my disciples indeed, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” “Truly, Truly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a servant to sin, and the servant does not abide in the house forever, the Son does abide forever. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:31-32 & 34-36

Paul said, “As you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.” Romans 16:19

James said, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” James 4:7-10

Now it important to understand that such affliction, mourning, and weeping for our sins is the result of genuine heartfelt godly sorrow leading to repentance. This kind of repentance will cause us to truly enjoy our new life in Christ. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5. After all, our present and continuing inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven is “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus asked a rather pointed question to His followers. “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?” Luke 6:46 - Another word for “Lord” could be “boss,” or in television production terms, “director.” Having worked in television production for the last thirty years, I’m sure I know something about this subject. A television director sits in the control room and over a microphone, calls the shots for the camera operators to perform. It would be completely unimaginable for a camera operator to disregard or ignore the commands of the director. If he were to do so, he would not keep his job for very long. If a camera operator tried to sit in the director’s chair and call the shots, the only way he could do that is by pushing the director out of his chair and taking over the production.

Does any of this sound familiar?

We must allow God to direct the action of our lives, not ourselves. We must allow Him to sit in the control room of our hearts and tell us what He wants, and then, promptly do it without hesitation and without question! In the world of television production, a crew that follows the instructions of their director could enjoy a national Emmy award winning performance. In the realm of the kingdom of God the Christian believers who follow the directives of the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit will most assuredly win Heaven’s eternal rewards, not only in this life, but far more importantly, in the life to come!