Our Identity | The New Man "in Christ"

What does it mean to be “in Christ”? In this message, Pastor Blade teaches from 1 Corinthians 15:22 and Romans 8:8–9 that without a new identity in Christ, no one can please God.

All humanity is either in Adam (unrighteous) or in Christ (righteousness). Being “in Christ” is a complete change of identity from unrighteousness to righteousness before God.

This is seen in three major components of salvation:

• Justification – Forgiven of all sins, imputed with Christ’s righteousness, and permanently reconciled to God (Eph. 1:7; Rom. 3:20–26; Rom. 5:1).
• Sanctification – Dead to sin, alive unto God, and made sons of God (Rom. 6:2, 11; Rom. 8:14–15).
• Glorification – The one new man in Christ, citizens of His heavenly kingdom, and a heavenly vocation and impact (Eph. 2:15; Phil. 3:20; Eph. 4:1).

Salvation through the gospel of the grace of God is complete: justification in a moment, sanctification in the present life, and glorification in the future, all grounded in our identity in Christ.

Thanks for listening to the Living Faith St. Louis podcast. This episode is part of our weekly sermon ministry from Pastor Blade Sbisa, with occasional guest speakers and special series.
 For more information, visit the LFSTL website.

Transcript

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Are true of us. You are complete in him, the Bible says, according to Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10. You are loved, you are washed, you are justified, you are given certainty of eternal life, to believe and therefore know that you have eternal life. First John chapter 5 and verse 13. You are accepted in the beloved, Ephesians chapter 1. You are quickened, that is, taken from a state of deadness, raised to new life, made a citizen of heaven, not just to have new life now, a promise of heaven, but to be made a citizen with him. Ephesians chapter 2. You are sealed. You are baptized. You are sealed. Sorry, I'm gonna have to figure this clicker out. It's a little laggy. There we go. You are sealed. You are baptized. You are circumcised from your flesh. You are made kings and priests. You are made the temple of the Holy Ghost. You have passed from death to life, according to John chapter 5 and verse 24. I mean, that verse alone tells you that salvation is in a moment, doesn't it? It's not something you're waiting on, but Jesus says if you believe, you can pass from death to life and be born again, having a completely new identity in God. The Bible says, You're given power to be called the sons of God. You're made a new creature in Christ, that old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. You're forgiven. You're purchased by the blood of the Lamb. You've been translated from a kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son, Colossians 1 13. You've been made the righteousness of God. And that's really what we're camped out on this morning. We're made the righteousness of God. Really, one of these points. The list could go on and on and on and on, plus on and on, and on and plus and on, on. Keep going. We could just go through the Bible and see all the ways that God has blessed us. Why? Well, because in the New Testament we learn that we've been given all blessings in heavenly places. Here's the phrase, in Christ. You say, I don't know, I kind of feel discontent. That's fine. I you know, I kind of feel lacking. That's also fine that you feel that way. The Bible has something else to declare to you. This whole idea of us getting our mind renewed according to the scriptures or transformed is the process uh process of us looking at our circumstances and navigating our emotions and our feelings and our thoughts, and then setting all of those things we think about ourselves up against what God says is true. And then saying, what do I believe more? How I feel, how I think, what I what the culture tells me, what if I'm I don't know, your friends, your family, your the devil, who knows? Those thoughts against what God says plainly. And then us just saying, Lord, I see what you say, I don't understand it, but I believe you, and I'm gonna take you at your word. One of those realities is this who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. If I can just for a moment call out this word. All, I know that's small. You probably can't see it from from way back. All not some, not a few, not a spattering. Every spiritual blessing you could possibly receive for all of eternity, you already have. You say, I don't know if I I don't know about that. I don't know. You're gonna have to argue with the Bible, not me. God says you've already received those things. Here's that verse I wanted to share with you earlier. Psalm 68 and verses 19 through 20 says, Blessed be the Lord. Same type of language here, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Say la. Verse 20. And rain, right? He brings good crops, amen. Hope your windows are up. Um verse twenty. He that is our God is the God of salvation, and unto God the Lord belongeth the issues of death. Okay. I've just given you on the front end of this message a ton of Bible verses, haven't I? And what I think the the difficulty is in talking about our identity in Christ is we just we have a bunch of verses that we know are true, or we have this body of information that is dumped on us in the pulpit and Bible study in our own reading. And though we know that God says there are some truths about us, we we wrestle to make sense of those realities with any like structure or order or framework. And so we're left with just a big dump truck load of Bible verses, right? And so that's I don't want to do that. You know, rather than just like dumping a bunch of Bible on you and saying your identity in Jesus is all of these different things. Look at all of them. Wow, God's done so much, and He He has done so so much, like in impossible for me to articulate. And so the question at hand is is there a clear way to understand what the gospel gave, like past tense already got accomplished if we've believed? And the rhetorical question is answered with a resounding yes. Yes, there is a way to clarify these things. And so that's what I want to talk to you about this morning, is the second part of our identity series, and that is our identity in Christ. Two weeks ago we talked about our identity in Adam. Now, a few reasons we're talking about this topic, our identity. The first is what I just mentioned, to bring clarity to a large body of verses in the New Testament that are hard to make sense of. You ever feel that way? You just look at the Bible, you think, God has said so much I don't get it. I don't know what he's trying to communicate to me. Like, it looks like some good stuff. But I just I don't really I don't get it. Like he says I'm washed, but I don't feel washed. Sometimes I feel kinda dirty. He says I'm justified, but man, I just I f this body of death is pretty frustrating, and on and on. So I want to bring clarity and and order to a big body of information. I also want to help you understand your own identity, not just again, for you to know a thing about the Bible, but for you to live out of the new identity you've been given. But more than that, I think in understanding what Christ has done, and in believing who you are in Jesus, you will be motivated and freed to share that good news with others. I think a lot of times people don't share the gospel because they they don't actually view the gospel as good. They view the message of the gospel as one of condemnation. And while it's true that we have to go out and share that people are at risk of hell if they don't believe, the message of the gospel is not condemnation, it is deliverance, it is justification to eternal life in the Lord Jesus and daily blessings and benefits that he loadeth upon us. That's the good news. Jesus Christ in John chapter three said, I came not into this world to condemn the world, but that the world was already condemned, and I call I I've come to call men out of condemnation. That's what we do. But how can we do that if we don't know how that gets done or what actually has been accomplished for us? Let me read a few verses to you, and then I want to talk to you about last week. Uh the first thing I want to uh mention here is Psalm 51 and verses 12 through 13. Now, this is an interesting context. It's after David ascended with Bathsheba. But this is his prayer to the Lord in verse 12. He says, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Verse 13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Restore the joy of my salvation, and the result of that is sinners will be converted. And I think that's a natural response. We finally are filled with the joy of the Lord, which is our strength, and then we go and we share and we're bold in ways that we're not. In all of our weakness, God closes the gap through the gospel. First Peter chapter 3 in verse 15 it says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you. Really difficult questions about science and the foundation of the universe. No. Asketh you the reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. The Christian is not needing to be prepared by having all of the right answers intellectually for anybody who may come against them. They they don't need a perfect apologetic, they just need to know why they have hope. And so that's the basic question for evangelism and your own life. Like, you think, why why do I struggle to be bold in my faith? Maybe you aren't filled with the joy of the Holy Ghost. You need to have the joy of your salvation restored. Maybe you don't know how to articulate why you have hope. I mean that's a that's a fair reason why you wouldn't be ready to give an answer always when people ask. So why do you have hope? James chapter 5 and verses 19 through 20, it says, Brethren, if any of you do err or turn from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the air of his way shall save his soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. That's what we want to do. We want to have joy and we want to have hope so that we can see people converted from death to life. Translated. And so that their sins can be covered. And that's ultimately why we're talking about this topic of how God takes us from being in Adam to in Christ. We want to help people see that God in this time is offering for people to have a completely new identity. So that's what we looked at. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 22. It says, For as in Adam all die. Everyone that's born into this world and has a physical birth is in Adam. They're children of wrath by nature, Ephesians chapter 2 says. Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. In Christ shall all be made alive. Man, this is frustrating. I paid like fifty bucks for this thing. And I was like, I'm gonna buy the best one so it doesn't give me trouble. Patience? I don't know if I have patience. Lord give Lord give me patience this morning. Maybe it'll it'll work. Watch, he's gonna load me with benefits. Alright. For an Adam I'll die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. This is a great promise to us. And if you remember, last week we we looked at a verse in Romans chapter eight, and verses eight and nine, it says, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. There's the same language, in the flesh. In Adam's nature. Romans chapter 5 says, All those that are in Adam have died because sin has passed upon all men, and death by sin. Okay, and so in verse 9 it says, but, listen, this this is so critical. The Apostle Paul is writing to Christians in Rome, and he's saying, But ye are not in the flesh. And what I want you to understand is that when you become a Christian and you're born again, the Bible says this is a status change, it's an identity change. Being in the flesh is not something that you choose to do. Once you're saved, you can't be in the flesh. It's impossible to be in the flesh. You can walk after the flesh, but you're not in the flesh. God has changed you entirely. And I know that's a difficult concept to kind of get your head around. But what I want you to see is that when you're born again, God is identifying with you differently, he's looking at you differently because of his grace. It means that you can live like Adam, you can live like your old nature, but God is not dealing with you in that relationship in that way anymore. And so here's the condition. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. In the spirit, in Christ, in the spirit of Christ, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Okay, so to be in Christ means to have the Spirit of Christ. You are in him, and he is in you. And and that is something we'll talk about next week as we talk about the operation of God. The operation of God. Forgive me, y'all. I'm gonna just lose my mind with this clicker. I'm gonna probably walk over here and and do it this way. Let me see. Alright, so the key thought here is this without a new identity in Jesus Christ, you will never be able to please God. And so this is what we looked at last week, and this is what we're looking at this morning. Our new nature in Christ. Oh, so painful. And this is the question, right? What does it mean to be in Christ? What does it mean to be in Christ? We spent all of our time last, uh, two weeks ago, looking at what it meant to be in Adam. And the question, right, here, is what does it what does it mean? How could we go to describe what we get in being in Christ? And ultimately, what it means is that you have been changed from an unrighteous state before God to being in righteousness before God. And and this is what we I kind of presented to you initially. Um I apologize. We will get this resolved. This is what we talked about last week, okay? Being in Adam. And the conditions that are describing our nature in Adam, right? So, first, we are in Adam, in our natural birth, we are condemned before God. We are under the condemnation of God and are deserving of hell. That's where we're headed. And that is because we're all under sin. And we're condemned before God because we have no righteousness to offer God. And we looked at all the verses that pertain to these things, and we are condemned before God because we're his enemy. Because of our sinful nature, we are actually the enemies of God. That's Romans chapter 5 and verses 8 through 12. Okay, but not only that, it doesn't just mean we're condemned before God, but it means we're an abomination to him. That's the actual language the scriptures use to teach us about our condition. And what it means is God not only looks at us and says, You're condemned before me, but it also means we have no way to live for him. Being an abomination before God means that you are in your nature bound to sin. So that even if you were to do good things, your good deeds are being offered from a a body, a host that is corruptible. And so even an uncorruptible or a corrupt thing offering to God a righteous service makes it abominable to him. He says, I don't want that. I don't want that from a body of death. I only want to receive things that are that are true holiness. And there's no way you can offer that without him. And so we are abominable before God because we're servants to sin. All we could ever do was serve sin. It was a part of our nature. It's what we wanted, it's what we went back to, it's what we longed for, and even in our good deeds, we did it to try to escape God's judgment. So the thing that was motivating our good deeds was actually self-righteous works to try to earn favor with God. Rather than doing good deeds because we know we've been given all favor with God. Do you see the difference? I know these concepts are a little difficult. We're going to nuance them. I'm going to try to help explain some of these things. We're servants to sin, we're dead to perfect righteousness, meaning we have we had no way to perfectly offer God anything righteous. And we followed the course of this world. We were Gentiles in the flesh. We had no affiliation with the promises that God made Israel. We were strangers from the covenants of promise, and we were afar off, having no hope in the world. That's what Ephesians chapter 2 says. Okay, we belong to Satan's family. Jesus in the Gospels, he looks at the Pharisees, he says, You are of your father the devil. That's what Colossians chapter 1 says. God's translated you from a kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. In other words, before Christ, you were in darkness, and you had to be delivered from that. Yeah? And then lastly, you were you were alienated because you were citizens ultimately of Satan's kingdom. You actually, in your efforts to be a good religious person to try to please God, or maybe you were just off in the world, you actually helped Satan minister darkness into this world and conceal the light. And before God, you are condemned. And the reason we're talking about all this is because this is the whole book of Romans outlined for you. Now we're going to unpack this here in a few weeks, but but this section here is Romans chapter 1 through 5. Paul giving you five chapters to talk to you about that doctrine. I mean, a whole book dedicated to you to learn all of this, but five chapters to talk to you about how God's moved you from a state of being condemned to being justified. The first three chapters are about excuses people make for why they shouldn't have to be condemned. And Paul saying, Nope, that's a bad excuse. You're still guilty before God. And so you you remember chapter three, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, there's none righteous, no not one. And then the conclusion of the whole matter, he says that every mouth may be stopped, and all would become guilty before God. Paul, for three chapters, is trying to get people lost. He's trying to help them see they're in need of God. And then for two chapters, he talks to them about their security in Christ. He gives two examples the life of David, the life of Abraham, and how God imputed righteousness to them, and we learn about how we're secure in Christ through justification. Then, the top of Romans chapter six, I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I think the more you hear this stuff, it'll help you settle it in your mind for you to understand the Christian life. Do you remember chapter six and verse one? Anybody that's been around the Bible for a while? What's the verse say? What then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Okay, so here's the conclusion of five. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And so the natural thought is does that mean if I have salvation through God's grace, I can just go live however I want? Paul's like, here, let me now talk to you about your Christian life and your living. That's sanctification. And that's really the rest of the book of Romans, but focused on chapters 6, 7, and 8. That's this section. And Paul begins to talk to you about not only how God is seeing you different because of the gospel, but how you can live different because of the gospel. And then Romans 8. We're going to talk about these verses. Romans 8 is all about our glorification. Then he talks about Israel and how all these doctrines pertain to the promises given to Israel. Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11. And then chap can you guys hear me alright? I can't hear myself, so is it okay? This is the first time it's been this rainy. I like it, but it's loud. Can everyone hear me? Okay. And then okay. Romans 12 onward is about practical Christian living. How all of this concept and all of this doctrine actually applies to our life in the Church of God. Alright. I hope that all makes sense as a little bit of an overview. This is what we're talking about this morning, that whole right side. And if you can see that section, I want to just continue to articulate what we mean by these words. What we mean by these words. Justification. This is God, the eternal God, looking at your life and judicially declaring you as righteous before him. It's in a moment. This is what happens when you're born again. In a moment, you have a new identity, a new creature in Christ, you're given power to be called the sons of God, and God begins to see you differently. So that when he looks at your life, he doesn't see Frank or Donna Speiser, Blade Speiser, or Sean. I always forget your last name, bro. Meyer? Yeah. He doesn't look at Sean. But because Sean has believed on the gospel, when Jesus died and rose again and Sean found his life hid in Christ, when the father looks at Sean, he says, I see my son. Sean's in the Son. He's in Christ. And so his righteousness is as the righteousness of my son. It's a beautiful thing. But sanctification is the ongoing process of us reckon, reckoning, the Bible uses that word, reconciling what God has done in salvation. So something happened. You got saved. You were born again. And now you've got to figure out how to live a life in agreement with that. And you know what you're going to do? You're going to fail at that. Why? Because it's the first time you've ever heard things declared about you that aren't brokenness and, you know, filth and dirtiness. It's the first time that you've actually been given ideas that are contrary to the way you've always thought. And so it's confusing. It's really confusing. You got saved by the grace of God, but now because of that, you want to go live for God. I'm going to be awesome for God. I got to please God because He's been so wonderful to me. The problem is you can't live your Christian life that way. Because you're still just as broken as when you got saved. And so you've got to daily operate learning how to yield to grace. You say, I don't want to do that. Well, you're going to be really frustrated. You're going to end up like Paul in Romans 7. And then glorification. This is the beautiful promise of the gospel that is hard to make sense of. When you're in Christ and the Spirit of Christ is in you, Ephesians chapter 1 says you've been sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Another phrase that the Bible gives for that same spirit is the spirit of adoption. We're going to talk about these things today. The spirit of adoption doesn't bring you into God's family, it gives you a new body. That word is distinctly in reference to your body. And so it's a future thing. I know that when I die, I'm going to have a glorified body because God already gave me the spirit that rose Christ from the dead. So when I'm dead, I have confidence because when I got saved and born again, God, day one, gave me the thing that allows me to live forever. I'm not waiting for it in a day to come. This would be another way of expressing these same doctrines. Justification is us being rescued from the wrath of God. Paul actually never uses the word hell. Do you believe that? It's kind of a weird thought. Jesus uses the word hell more than everyone else in all of Scripture. Okay, so hell does exist. But the way that the Apostle Paul actually describes this doctrine is wrath, the wrath of God. Sanctification is God by his grace empowering us to live holy. We were unable to live holy without the gospel. So when you get saved, God actually gives you sanctification. The opportunity, that is, to be sanctified. And then daily you're learning how to actually like live out of that power. And then glorification. God's going to give you a new body. Here's another way to say it. And justification, you're made righteous. It's in a moment. It's in a moment. God imputes you righteousness. But then again, sanctification is God giving you the ability to live righteous. Before, in Adam, you were a servant to sin. You were, in other words, a slave to sin. A slave to sin. It's all you could do. But in your new identity, in Romans chapter 6 and verse 2, it says something different about you. And then lastly, glorification. You're exalted to give be given a new body to live righteous forever. To live righteous forever. And that is the fullness of salvation. Okay, so when we talk about salvation, that is the all-encompassing word that's describing what the gospel does to get you born again, to also give you the power you need to live a life of holiness, that the righteousness of the law would be fulfilled in us, Romans 8.4, and to also have a promise today of a body that you'll be given in the future. I know. So this is what I want to first talk about. Alright, we're just going to move through some of these sections, okay? The first is justification and what God gave you in justification. The first verse I want to call to your attention is Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, starting in verse 16 and then 18. It says, And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift, for the judgment was by one to condemnation. That is Adam. Adam brought us condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. Verse 18. So there's the overarching thought. The Bible teaches us we can move from a state of condemnation before God to justification before Him. How? Well, that happens through the forgiveness of sins, and specifically all sin. Every sin, even the sins you'll do tomorrow, have already been paid for at the cross. Ephesians chapter one. In verse 7 it says, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Now let me ask you how rich are God's graces? I don't know, you just think about that one. Ephesians three has something to say about it. They're unmeasurable. They're enough, is my point. You're forgiven according to God Himself dying on a cross for you. I don't know what m I don't know how you could get any more grace than that. Colossians chapter 2, in verse 13, it says, And you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having having forgiven you just a few trespasses. Only the trespasses that you give to a priest in a confessional booth. Only some of your sins that you ask for confession for on your bed at night. Just the sins of yesterday. No, all trespasses. Every single one of them. That's what Jesus Christ gets you. And that's what then motivates us into a life of righteousness. Alright, Romans chapter three. Let's just look at some sections of Scripture considering how God has moved us from unrighteousness to righteousness, from condemned before Him to justified before his heavenly throne. And we'll just read the scripture and see what it says. I think that's the easiest way to do it. The reason I've presented that chart is to bring order to a big body of information. And I hope, and vi for me, I'm a visual person, and I I really begin to make sense of what God has done in salvation by seeing something like that. This is the way salvation is actually going to begin operating in my life. In a moment, day to day, and a day to come. Alright, Romans chapter 3 and verse 20, it says, Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. If that's not clear regarding your salvation not being by works, I don't know what is. The Bible tells you a man cannot be justified by the flesh, by the deeds of the law. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. That's what the law was given. In the old test, the Ten Commandments are not for you and I to live good, perfect lives so that we can be accepted by God, hopefully, maybe possibly if he's loving enough in a future day. The law was given to us to show us I need God. It was given to Israel ultimately to show them they were unrighteous. Verse 21. But now the righteousness of God, without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith, of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe. Unto all and upon all them that believe. The first phrase I'm calling your attention to is that this righteousness is offered to all, but then it's applied to all when they believe. So there's not an elect group of people that God is uniquely selected to receive salvation. God has la allowed that righteousness to go unto everyone, and then it's applied unto those that believe. For there is no difference. Verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It cost you nothing, it's free gift. It cost him everything. I mean, like I don't know what's better than that. Like I there's no gift you could ever receive that's better than that. Verse 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, and that is a payment through faith in his blood. The payment is applied when you have faith in his blood and what it accomplished. Why didn't if Jesus already died and the payment was made, why doesn't that just already cover everyone's sin? Because the propitiation is made through faith and his blood. It's applied, the payment is applied whenever that bail in the courtroom of God's justice is received and accepted. It goes on again in this verse, it says to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. So the gospel is what allows God to be perfectly just and perfectly loving. A lot of people ask, you know, if God is so loving, why doesn't he just send everyone to heaven? I mean it's like that's that's a fair question. The reason God doesn't do that is because he's also just and he has to judge sin. And so this verse is declaring to us God is just, and he did deal with sin, and oh by the way, he dealt with it on himself. He took the judgment, and so he's able to now be just, remain just, but also forgive you on the basis of his sacrifice, justifying all those that believe in Jesus. Look at the next chapter, Romans chapter four, Romans four, and verses twenty through twenty-five. Goes on and says, and he, speaking of Abraham, staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that he had uh what he had promised, he was able to perform. Now, if you remember the details of Abraham's life here, I want to call to your attention that he was a hundred years old, and Sarah was also very old and unable to have a a child, and the Bible says that there was deadness in her womb. And so what was it that Abraham was believing when he believed that God could bring a promised son through a dead womb? That God could bring life from a place of deadness. In other words, Paul is saying here, you believe the same thing when you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the grave. Abraham was imputed righteousness when he believed that God could create life from something that was dead, so too you will be imputed righteousness if you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the grave. Your faith is in the same thing, therefore you have imputed righteousness just as Abraham had. Verse 22, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness, that is Abraham. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it was imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus, our Lord, from the dead. Okay, so you want imputed righteousness, you want God to make you righteous in a moment? Believe that Jesus was risen from the dead. Romans chapter ten tells you the same thing, and confess with your mouth that he is Lord. Verse 25, who was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. There's your word, justification. Condemned before God, Romans chapter 3, justified by faith because of imputed righteousness, by believing that Jesus rose from the grave. Okay, so so again, we've been forgiven all sins, we've been imputed the righteousness of Christ, but we also have permanent atonement. This word atonement in the Bible means like at one-ment, perfect reconciliation with God. Romans chapter 5 and verse 1. You can see it in the scriptures before you. It says, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You were an enemy of God. Remember the last point under condemnation? You were an enemy of God. Now you're at perfect peace with God because of the gospel. When you were lost, you were afraid, deep down, even if you didn't acknowledge it or confess it, you were deep down afraid that you might be condemned before God. If you died, you just you were uncertain whether or not you would be you'd be saved. But now that you're saved and justified, your soul is finally at peace with God. It's not that God is at peace with us. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. That's a different story. Without justification, all we have is bondage to fear of judgment. And that's what Romans chapter 8 says. Here continue. Verse 6 through 11. It says, For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, for scarcely for a righteous man, one will die. Yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die, but God commended his love toward us, and that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. There again is the doctrine of condemnation. Justified by his blood, saved from his wrath. Verse ten for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. So not only are we not condemned and we're justified because of the blood, but we've also received the atonement. In other words, you can never lose your salvation. God has given you a permanent status of oneness with Himself because of His Spirit. That is a radical idea that we often don't believe. Perfect fellowship with God. Perfect. It's absolutely amazing. Okay, so permanent atonement or reconciliation with God. If you could see in verse 11 it says, But we also joy in God through our salvation because of this truth. Just as David said when he would have his sal you know the joy of his salvation restored, he would convert sinners. Okay, so three major aspects now of our sanctification. I'll move a little bit more quickly because we'll spend a lot of our time in Romans uh really nuancing the doctrine and talking about the words of Scripture here. But three major aspects of our sanctification, and that that is first that we are dead to sin. Dead to sin. Now I know this is a strange idea, but I think one that's important. Look at Romans chapter six. Romans chapter six and verses one and two. I think I have this on the screen. I do. Alright, it says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound, God forbid? Ha here's the verse. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Now I want to ask you, in your Christian life, for those that have accepted Christ, do you ever feel like sin is something you could enter into on a daily basis? Is sin dead? Sin certainly isn't dead, right? This doctrine is teaching us that we are dead to it. If I was in a really good friendship with Sean, and I feel like we're getting there, bro, like we're in a good friend. And I all of a sudden I go, dude, you're dead to me. Is Sean dead? Am I dead? No, we're both very much alive. But what I'm saying is relationally, something's been cut off. Relationally, I have no intimacy with with Sean. I have no communication with Sean. I don't have any fellowship with Sean. So too, Paul is saying, How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? In Adam, you were a servant to sin. That's the specific language the Bible uses. You were a servant to sin. It's all you could do, but now the language changes because you've been justified, and Paul says you are dead to sin. It's why Paul in Romans 7 says, It is no more I that sinneth, but sin that dwelleth in me. Yes, sin is present. Yes, we can give ourselves to sin. Yes, we have to live a life of holiness, but Paul is saying that relationally, I don't, I'm not like forcibly every day when I wake up, it's not the only thing that I do. I'm now left with a choice. I can either walk after the flesh, but while I'm in the spirit, I can't give myself to sin. It's a very nuanced doctrine to help us understand ultimately that while we have a new identity and we're righteous before God, we can live like the old man, but God's never going to actually see us that way. And you say, well, then that means I can just live however I want. Yeah, read verse one. God forbid. Stop thinking that way. Liberty is not license to sin, it is liberty to finally live for God. Finally live for God. You could never do that when you were lost. But now because you've been liberated from being a servant to sin, you can serve God in newness of spirit. And that gets accomplished because it's not just that you're dead to sin, but you're alive unto God. Likewise, reckon ye yourselves dead indeed unto sin. This is the process of sanctification for the Christian. I wake up and I reconcile what God accomplished for me at Calvary, and I account that all my sin has already been paid for, and in that reckoning or acceptance of this truth, that I'm dead to sin, I'm not just left in a state of uncertainty. The Bible says I'm also alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. For the first time in my life, God moved me from a state of deadness, where I had no ability to be in relationship with Him, to being in a state of aliveness, alive to the things of God. I finally can see righteousness for what it is. I finally understand God. He's opened my eyes to see him. I I long to agree with what he says. I'm just trying to figure out how that whole thing works. And so all of this is possible because we are sons of God. Dead to sin, alive unto God, sons of God. Sons of God. John chapter 1, in verses 12 through 13, it says, But as many as have received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. We also find this same language in Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, in verses 14 through 15 it says, But as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Remember, if you don't have the Spirit of God, you're none of his. But as many as are led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, for ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father. Okay, so presently. Paul is telling the Christians in Rome, you presently have been given this spirit of adoption. You think, well, I'm a child of God, I'm a son of God. True. But I want you to see the context in Romans chapter 8, and these are doctrines we'll unpack again. But Romans chapter 8, just a few verses later, in verses 23, it says, regarding this is the creature and creation, everything that God's made. It says, and as many as are led of the Spirit of God, I'm sorry, in verse 23, and not only they, speaking of creation and the creature, outer space, says, but also ourselves, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our bodies. You see how the Bible defines language that's kind of strange? When we think of adoption in our context, and we we get a working definition in our head, what we want to do is impose our ideas of adoption onto the scripture. Adopting somebody is bringing somebody into your family. And so God must be talking to me about bringing me into his family. Well, not according to the scriptures. Because adoption is the redemption of our body. It's our glorification. You see? So at salvation, I know. At salvation, God gives you his spirit. He seals you with his spirit. He gives you the spirit of adoption. And now in our sanctifying life, we wait for that adoption. What is that? To wit, let me tell you, Paul says, the redemption of our body. Okay, so we've been given in advance that future promise to be glorified. And that's the third part of our change of status before God. Condemned to justified, abominable before God to sanctified, and given like functional life in Jesus, to live righteously for the first time. And then finally, we're moved from being aliens from everything that God ever was doing. And we're finally brought into glory in a day to come. I mean, we know these doctrines, we've heard these doctrines. I hope I'm not speaking to. Again, this is one of those conversations that can either be viewed as like really shallow, be like, yeah, I've heard this message of the gospel 10,000 times. Or it can be really overwhelming. But I hope it's clear, right? God is in the gospel made us completely new. And he's glorified us by making us one new man. I I want to show you this language, I think it's important. And Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 12 through 15. I'll read here verses 12 through 14, and then you'll find 15 on the screen. It says, That at the time ye were without Christ, being aliens. There's the word. Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world. Okay, but now, that's what what was true of you. You were an alien to all of those things. Okay, but now in Christ Jesus, ye who were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Salvation isn't something that you're waiting for. It's something that's already happened if you've believed the gospel. Verse 14, for he is our peace, who hath made us both one, speaking of Jew and Gentile, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself, there's the language again, in himself, of twain, of two, one new man, so making peace. And we'll talk about the importance of this doctrine, but the church, the body of Christ, that we learn about in the Pauline epistles, is a completely different group of people than Jew and Gentile. Right? So there's there's two, Jew and Gentile. That all of the scriptures, scriptures are about Jew and Gentile, Jew and Gentile. Jew and Gentile. The church, once the church comes on the scene in the New Testament, it's not believers and then everyone else. God doesn't see a difference between Israel or the Gentiles. Now he just sees everyone is lost, and then there are some saved people who believe. That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches there are Jews and Gentiles, and of these two groups, God completely makes a new thing. It's a mystery that was hidden for all of the Bible. Paul says that he was called out of due time as an apostle to speak of this mystery that in ages past was hid from everyone, but it was revealed to him. And it was that God was going to do something completely new. And why I'm I'm emphasizing this, and it's so important, is because there are many people today who say Israel doesn't matter at all. God's completely done with Israel. All that matters is there's people that believe in Jesus, Gentile and Jew alike, and then there's lost people. But God's not done with Israel. And so there's Israel, the Jews, and of twain, one new man, one complete new thing. And God has a purpose. And this is ultimately the purpose. God is redeeming for all of eternity spiritual things through the church and physical things on earth through Israel. And so you see those doctrines play out in all of the scriptures. And we'll unpack those things. That's why. Okay, listen closely. That's why, right after Romans 8, Paul goes into Romans 9 and says, Hey, by the way, this adoption and these covenants, these also pertain to Israel. And he spends three chapters making sure people understand not to write off Israel. And then he hops back in 12 and he says, Alright, now let me talk to you about how to do things and operate in the church. I know these are big discussions, but in understanding them, they'll keep you from doctrines that will make your Bible very confusing. Okay, if you begin reading Jewish teaching onto your Christian life, you will be very confused. Okay? So I just want to kind of set that and let it brew in your mind while we head into these texts. Ephesians chapter 2, here again, in verse 15, making in himself of twain of two different groups one new man altogether, so making peace. We are now, because of that, citizens of heaven. Citizens of heaven. Mind you, when you look at the Christian life and everything Paul writes, it's always spiritual. Every one of his prayers, with the exception of two, that Paul makes in all of the letters, are spiritual. It's not that God doesn't care about the physical, it's just that he's trying to get something spiritually accomplished in the Christian's life. And there are glory, glories, and crowns and rewards that are related to how we're going to steward those promises. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 19, it says, Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. Fellow citizens. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 20, it says, For our conversation, or that is our lifestyle, is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians chapter 1 and verses 10 through 12 it says, That ye may walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long suffering and joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Okay, so citizens now of Christ's heavenly kingdom, which is in us. It's a heavenly kingdom, but it is in us. The kingdom of God is something in us that we get to participate in. And thirdly, here, regarding our glorification, it doesn't just pertain to the one new man, the body of Christ. It doesn't just pertain to our citizenship and Christ's heavenly kingdom, but also our heavenly vocation, or that is how God's wanting to partner with us so that we can labor with him and impact eternity. And the thing that God set out for the church that he's hid from all ages prior is one of the most magnificent realities that nobody knew about, that we get invited into. It's so ridiculously special. And uh I just want to say it's hard to believe at times. And that's why we we uh get discouraged in our Christian life. We think, why am I struggling or suffering as a Christian? Because God's more interested in what you can accomplish in a spiritual place or spiritual realm, and he's gonna reward you for suffering in this life, that some glory could be produced in you. Didn't Paul say in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 that it you know it was a light affliction that that worketh some greater glory and in Romans 8, you know, that there's no suffering of this present time that should be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you're called. Now in some aspect that's your Christian life, and you walk literally walking in this life. But there's a spiritual application, right? Because our conversation is in heaven. And this is what I want to end on this morning, and that is Ephesians chapter 3 and verses 9 through 11. 9 through 11. And this is what I've been alluding to and talking to you about. It says in Ephesians 3, starting in verse 9, Paul's describing the purpose for why God made him an apostle and why he's preaching to Christians and to the world. He says, to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath God I'm sorry, hath been hidden God. So just think about this. Paul is saying there's something that was in God's heart before in the beginning God created the heaven and earth, Genesis chapter one, verse one. It was hidden him. It says this, who created all things by Jesus Christ, verse 10, for the purpose, to the intent, that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. God hid something in his heart before the foundation of the world, before hitting go, because he could foresee that people would reject him, that Israel would reject him, and he was willing to actually deviate from the plan. Deviate. And it was also a way for us, the Gentiles, to see that we don't belong and we are completely undeserving of God's grace. So why is God still going to deal with the the uh nation of Israel? Because he's gracious. They don't deserve it, you're right. What about you, though? An enemy of God, a foreigner, stranger from the covenants of you also I also did not deserve the grace of God. And God's using both people to actually use those that would receive his grace to bring glory unto his name forever, showing and expressing the manifold wisdom of God. A manifold. In other words, a way in which multi-inputs are brought into something. There's a a lot of different examples I could use here describing a manifold. For a car guy, you wouldn't it would make a lot of sense. But you have, you know, a manifold uh witness, right? It means multiple inputs. In other words, the church are those multiple inputs. We are all showing the angels that God's grace can accomplish something that the law could never. And so there's the beauty of what we get to be invited into in our heavenly vocation is to ultimately steward the grace of God on our day, you know, in our daily life. And so this morning we talked about what does it mean to be in Christ, right? What does it mean to be in Christ? Oh man. Alright? But but we still haven't really answered this question. How? How do I get in Christ? We talked about what we get by being in Christ. We talked about how much we were saved from in Adam, but there's this whole other section, right, that we we still really haven't talked about, and that's that middle chasm. This that confuses literally every denomination. Whoever picks up the Bible and tries to make sense of the text. How does God move us from being in Adam to in Christ? The Bible says it's an operation of God. How, though? What do I need to do? Do I need to do anything? Do I have the capacity to do anything? Do I need to be baptized? Is baptism a work? God says I do have to be baptized. What does that mean? Is it water baptism? Is it baptism into his death? These are the things we're going to talk about next week. God moving us from a state in Adam to in Christ. Now, you got a lot of the verses this morning that talk to us about how we're justified by faith. But I want to talk to you about that faith and the nature of that faith and what that faith actually allows God to do in moving us from one to the other.