When we think about our walk with God, it is important to remember both our position in Christ and our relationship with Christ.\u00a0 Salvation makes us secure in our position: \u201cWe are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once for all\u201d (Heb. 10:10).\u00a0 But our walk with God is a matter of our ongoing relationship with Him: \u201cFor this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication\u201d (1 Thes. 4:3).\u00a0 So our walk with God will center largely on how we respond to His instructions as believers.\u00a0 John said to the elect lady, \u201cAnd this is love, that we walk after his commandments.\u00a0 This is his commandment, that, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it\u201d (2 Jn. 6).<\/p>\n
Our walk with Christ is set in a larger theological picture in Scripture.\u00a0 Human beings were the only creatures made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26).\u00a0 When Adam and Eve fell into sin, though they retained their image of God as human beings, they were separated from God and became dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).\u00a0 This deathly separation is passed on to all of their posterity, even to you and me (Rom. 5:12).\u00a0 Unless our sins are forgiven, we will be separated from God forever in the lake of fire.\u00a0 But the wonderful good news (i.e., the \u201cgospel\u201d) is that through faith in Christ and His righteousness we can be born again and have our standing with God restored (John 3:1-5).<\/p>\n
But the problem with our walk with God is that we still must pay our last debt to sin and die in this flesh, even though we are alive in our spirit to God.\u00a0 Therefore though we are made right with Him, we are still broken until resurrection day when we will be raised incorruptible.\u00a0 The walk that we seek in our lives takes place during this time of having a secure position in Christ while also needing a progressive relationship with Him, \u201cFor we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them\u201d (Eph. 2:10).<\/p>\n
An analogy<\/span><\/p>\n We still live in an industrial age.\u00a0 We are used to having machines of various sorts that do things for us, even if that is a computer or smart phone that gives us information.\u00a0 The last hundred years and more have been an amazing time to be alive and see what man can do and build.\u00a0 The danger, of course, is that man also built the tower of Babel as a monument to himself rather than to his Creator.\u00a0 Machines, however, do not run themselves.\u00a0 They need power.\u00a0 (As a note, seeds, which only God can make, receive power from their Creator and grow on their own, so to speak).\u00a0 The wheel might be called the first machine.\u00a0 But without power the wheel is just an odd shaped hunk of material.\u00a0 One might as well make a square wheel if there is no power to make it move.\u00a0 A wagon with wheels needs someone or something to pull or push it.\u00a0 Now a so-called self-powered mobile machine like a car (an \u201cauto-mobile\u201d) is also a hunk of material unless it has a powerful battery to start it and gasoline to maintain it.\u00a0 An electric motor must also have a power source for its plug or it is of no use.<\/p>\n So it is with human beings.\u00a0 Because we are made in the image and likeness of God, we need to be powered by Him or we are spiritually dead. But even if we have been made alive in Him, we also need a maintenance schedule or we will run down and stop.<\/p>\n The power to run<\/span><\/p>\n Human beings are amazing creatures.\u00a0 Even people who are not born again have been able to accomplish magnificent things because God has made all of us to \u201chave dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth\u201d\u00a0 (Gen. 1:26).\u00a0 God has even allowed us to make machines that fly like birds, that swim like fish, that soar into outer space, that climb into the human body and repair the tiniest things that are broken.\u00a0 We are amazing creatures.<\/p>\n But God says that these human beings are \u201cdead.\u201d\u00a0 They are doing all of this while \u201cdead.\u201d\u00a0 The day Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree they \u201cdied.\u201d\u00a0 How is this so?\u00a0 Death is always a separation.\u00a0 On that day Adam died spiritually.\u00a0 He was separated from his fellowship with God and became \u201cdead in trespasses and sins.\u201d\u00a0 This kind of death can only be remedied by a new birth, a new creation created in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 Adam also began to die physically because of sin. This is why every person who lives will also die.\u00a0 This death is a separation of the spirit from the body.\u00a0 \u201cThen shall the dust return unto the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it\u201d (Ecc. 12:7).\u00a0 The only remedy for this kind of death will be resurrection.\u00a0 The final death is an eternal separation from God in the lake of fire.\u00a0 This separation can never be undone.<\/p>\n The human being who is unsaved and dead spiritually, has not yet died physically or eternally.\u00a0 Therefore he is capable of doing many wonderful things, even with his spiritual deadness.\u00a0 What he cannot do is worship God.\u00a0 He cannot experience fellowship with his Creator.\u00a0 He cannot enjoy Christian fellowship, prayer, singing, or even contemplation.\u00a0 He is unplugged from his spiritual power source.\u00a0 He can appear to have spiritual power for a short time but this will not last.\u00a0 It is hypocritical.\u00a0 The true state of powerlessness will eventually be made plain.\u00a0 He is like a man-made wind-up toy that can be wound up on its own, but it will only go so far and then have no ability to go further.<\/p>\n Looks can be deceiving<\/span><\/p>\n We are left on earth with two kinds of people:\u00a0 the natural man (1 Cor. 2:14) who is lost and without God\u2019s power; and the spiritual man (1 Cor. 2:15) who is saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The natural man lives in the flesh but can occasionally appear to be a spiritual man.\u00a0 The spiritual man lives in the Spirit but can occasionally appear to be a natural man.\u00a0 Of course, the natural man (a lost man) only appears to be spiritual but is a hypocrite.\u00a0 We cannot help this man by trying to encourage him to live spiritually.\u00a0 He has no power to do that because he is dead to that kind of life.\u00a0 When he attempts to be spiritual, this is a manifestation of true legalism, a working of the flesh to be spiritual.\u00a0 At the same time, the spiritual man (a true believer) can be carnal because he still lives in the fleshly body which has not died and been resurrected.\u00a0 However, because he possesses the Spirit of God he can be encouraged to repent of his carnality and walk with God.\u00a0 A sign of a true believer is remorse for sin and repentance of known sin.<\/p>\n Looks can be deceiving because the natural man and the carnal Christian look exactly alike.\u00a0 They both have moments of spiritual works but they also have moments of carnality.\u00a0 Some natural people believe they are Christians and will say so, but many will not.\u00a0 We may preach godliness to both men for we are not sure which is which.\u00a0 But we know that the natural man who is playing the hypocrite will not be able to hear and the spiritual man can and should because he has God\u2019s Spirit.\u00a0 Often the Spirit of God will use this kind of preaching to begin the conviction process toward salvation in the natural man.<\/p>\n I have two cars in my driveway.\u00a0 One has a battery in it and the other does not but my wife doesn\u2019t know which is which.\u00a0 They are both beautiful machines and, if powered, are capable of wonderful things.\u00a0 I have keys to both and I let her choose which one she wants to drive and go out to start it.\u00a0 I could even laugh if she takes the wrong key because I know what will, or rather what will not, happen when she turns the key and expects it to run (If this were a true scenario the result might be my early demise!).\u00a0 The moral of the story is clear:\u00a0 we are fearfully and wonderfully made but without life from God, though we may look wonderful, we are dead in trespasses and sins.\u00a0 Yet with God\u2019s power we can do great things.<\/p>\n Time to learn to drive<\/span><\/p>\n The true believer, our spiritual man, is secure in Christ because of his positional sanctification.\u00a0 But because he is capable of carnality he needs to practice ongoing or progressive sanctification.\u00a0 He looks forward to resurrection day when he will be made complete physically as well as spiritually, and he should because the Bible is full of such encouragements.\u00a0 Yet for the rest of his time on earth, living in an unresurrected body, though a secure child of God, he must work, war, and wait.<\/p>\n Our day of salvation is like the first day we get our driver\u2019s license and we get into the driver\u2019s seat of dad\u2019s car.\u00a0 The car has power and we are legally ready to operate it, but it is a brand new experience for us.\u00a0 It takes some time to learn how to drive a car!\u00a0 (I know, we should have had driver\u2019s education by now, but you get the point.)\u00a0 An accident could happen the first time we attempt to drive because we aren\u2019t familiar with such a powerful machine.<\/p>\n In a believer\u2019s life, tragic things can happen from bad theology or bad advice.\u00a0 A new believer has not had the time and experience necessary to walk the Christian life.\u00a0 He has all the power and the legal right to do it but he knows little or nothing of what the Bible says or how the Spirit works in his life.\u00a0 It is critical that he lives around spiritually minded and biblically grounded Christians and not around carnally minded\u00a0 ones.\u00a0 Seeing a new believer have an \u201caccident\u201d that could have been avoided is a sad thing.\u00a0 Learning to walk with God is not an instantaneous act.\u00a0 We start slowly, observe all the warning signs, and proceed with caution knowing that we are operating a wonderful life that God has given.<\/p>\n Time for maintenance<\/span><\/p>\n All machines need maintenance because man-made things wear down, grow old, and eventually quit.\u00a0 We eventually learn that we can slow this process down with added care and proper use of the machine.\u00a0 We\u2019ve all seen an old \u201832 Ford, or some such car, sitting out in a farmer\u2019s field red from rust but having the shape or resemblance of its glory days.\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of beautiful but kind of sad.\u00a0 At the same time we may walk into a car museum and see a perfectly restored (or preserved) \u201832 Ford still in all its glory.\u00a0 What is the difference between the two?\u00a0 Maintenance!\u00a0 They were both made of the same material at the same time, they both had the same potential for long life but one got proper care and one did not.<\/p>\n An automobile will run for a long time without maintenance and can appear to be invincible.\u00a0 Gasoline is necessary but you can go hundreds of miles without worrying about it.\u00a0 Gas is the most constant form of maintenance and must be tended to on a regular basis. There is even a gauge on the dash and you ignore it to your own peril.\u00a0 In the Christian life we have those things that take constant maintenance.\u00a0 We must have fellowship with other believers who are in the body of Christ, the local church.\u00a0 We must begin to read our Bible and to go to God in prayer daily.\u00a0 Without these we will run out of spiritual gas.<\/p>\n Some things in a car take longer range maintenance.\u00a0 Oil, lubricants, and coolant will last a lot longer than a tank of gas, but they won\u2019t last the length of the car\u2019s life without updating.\u00a0 In fact, if the oil light or heat light comes on you may have already ruined the engine.\u00a0 One of the first things Jesus taught His disciples was the importance of the Lord\u2019s Supper.\u00a0 We don\u2019t do this on a daily basis like prayer and Bible reading, but it is absolutely necessary for our Christian life and longevity.\u00a0 We are only baptized once to show our faith in Christ but we cannot live in fellowship with God without that one-time action.\u00a0 There may be times of surrender to God that change your whole life\u2019s direction.\u00a0 There are levels of learning that we pass and go on to higher things.<\/p>\n Some forms of maintenance may or may not come.\u00a0 These are repairs that must be made when something breaks.\u00a0 Unlike the other forms of maintenance, one car may break down while another never does.\u00a0 There are some breakdowns that could have been prevented with proper maintenance, and there are some breakdowns that we just couldn\u2019t see coming.\u00a0 In the Christian life we are all prone to breakdowns.\u00a0 Proper maintenance on the periodic level will prevent most if not all of these.\u00a0 We are constantly attacked by Satan and his demons but constant fellowship with God will overcome that.\u00a0 We are continually lured away by the lusts of our flesh but constant Bible reading and prayer will give us strength to overcome them.\u00a0 The pride of life is built into our system and listening to the Holy Spirit will keep us humble.<\/p>\n The final restoration<\/span><\/p>\n The new believer needs to learn how to walk with God.\u00a0 Walking with God is an experience for the whole man, body and soul, the outside material person, and the inside immaterial person.\u00a0 Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19-20) and belong to God.\u00a0 God will one day reclaim even the body and resurrect it to incorruptible and immortal life (1 Cor. 15:42-44).\u00a0 Our spirits are also God\u2019s (Col. 3:3-4) and we possess the Holy Spirit Who guides, convicts, warns, and teaches us on our way.\u00a0 When the body returns to the dust (at physical death), our spirits will go to be with God.\u00a0 This \u201cintermediate state,\u201d as it is called, will be a blessed experience also because we will be alive (Jesus said, \u201cI am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob\u201d) and enjoying the presence of the Lord though absent from the body (2 Cor. 5:8).\u00a0 Until then we must take care of the life that we have on this earth.<\/p>\n All people, lost or saved, will one day be reunited with a resurrected body and will live forever in heaven or hell.\u00a0 For the believer, this will be an existence with indescribable joy and blessedness.\u00a0 All of the difficulties of maintaining our walk with God in this life will be more than worth while.<\/p>\n And so . . . <\/b><\/p>\n We are fallible creatures.\u00a0 We are made in God\u2019s image but fallen in sin and susceptible to all kinds of problems in this world.\u00a0 We do not work at walking with God in order to gain eternal life.\u00a0 We have that in Christ. Rather we learn that there is no greater joy for the believer than to maintain close fellowship with his Lord.\u00a0 John wrote, \u201cThat 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\u201d (1 John 1:4).<\/p>\n This fellowship requires regular maintenance on our part.\u00a0 This is not a legalistic work but a willing and rewarding work that results in the sweet fellowship with our Creator.\u00a0 May we continue in this great work of walking with God.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When we think about our walk with God, it is important to remember both our position in Christ and our relationship with Christ.\u00a0 Salvation makes us secure in our position: \u201cWe are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once for all\u201d (Heb. 10:10).\u00a0 But our walk with God is a matter of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[167],"class_list":["post-7286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-christian-living-cross-discipleship"],"yoast_head":"\n