“Entering into the victory of Christ over sin & darkness”
Sin is a product of one’s spiritual state. In the garden of Eden, God created man sinless, and Adam remained free of sin until he was separated from God, which is what the Bible calls spiritual death. ~ “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2.16,17). We know that God meant both spiritual death (first) followed by physical death. Adam immediately died in spirit, but he did not die physical death for several hundred years.
What Sin Is
Once Adam had become spiritually separated from God (dead), everything he did was sin because he now lived in a perpetual state of sin, living separated from God. This is the root of all of man´s problems: he has been removed from his original state of oneness with God. As long as one is spiritually separated from God, he is in reality dead, and lives in a perpetual state of sin. The word ‘sin’ does not necessarily mean evil. The definition of the ‘sin’ means to “miss the mark” or to “error” (Strongs, 264). In other words, sin is evidence that you are not one with God and have left your fist state of, as Jesus said, ‘abiding in Him.’ In the Old Testament, pork was sinful to eat; however, in the New Testament pork is received and blessed. Why? ― because like eating pork, all sin is simply symbolic of the only one and true sin of living separated from God.
The Estate of Sin
To this end Jesus commanded us to ‘Abide in God.’ ~ “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw [them] into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15.4,6). The fountainhead of all sin has never changed. All sin and evil proceed from man’s spiritual state of corruption, being separated from God. Separation from God is the great sin from which all wrong-doing proceed. This is what Jesus was referring to when He said ~ “You are of [your] father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do” (John 8.44).
God’s Workmanship
Those who are born of the Spirit of God are the children of God and by nature want to and will do His will, completing all of the Law of Moses and much more, simply by growing in the Spirit and learning how to walk in the light (zoe, Gr.) of the life of Christ. ~ “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (Ephesians 2.10,1John 3.8-9). Now one can clearly understand what Jesus meant when the young ruler asked Him ~ “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him… if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew 19.16-17).
Putting Off the Sin Nature
In the New Testament, we can and must KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS via the ministry of the Holy Spirit in us. Jesus responded that it was necessary ‘TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS’ in order to “have eternal life.” Now that we have been ~ “…circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2.11). This expression here, “…putting off the body of the sins of the flesh,” refers to our complete liberation from the sinful nature, inherited from Adam’s sin in the Garden. Now, through the new birth (re-creation), we are conceived and born of the Holy Spirit, having received the nature of God ~ “…the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4.24).
Victory over Sin
The Old Testament Saints could only attain to righteousness through faith in the sacrifices for their sinful nature. ~ “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1John 3.8-9).
A Sinless Life
Thus, Christ boldly declares — “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches [them], he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5.17-20). Like Adam before the serpent, we abide in Christ first by the new birth and then by abiding in the Spirit through prioritizing the anointed word of God, giving it first place, by which we are liberated from sin and all of its consequences, including sickness, weakness, suffering and spiritual darkness.
John 15.7
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
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© L. Jonathan Blais 2023 All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission