If you were enlisted during wartime as important as the war would be, it would not be the priority during your basic training. Basic training or Boot Camp would be the first order of business.
Yes there’s a war going on and you are going to be involved sooner rather than later but there are some things you must understand first.
In the same way God’s gift of grace credits righteousness to the children of God. Before you step out into the battle, you must understand the manner in which Grace has changed you and given you a new identity and new authority and power over the enemy. Simply put, you must understand your equipment. How you are designed and by what authority you are able to operate in.
So Grace then affords us our “right standing” with God through Christ Jesus. And that right standing with God affords us our victory over the kingdom of darkness, and that victory has already been accomplished and secured in Christ Jesus!
So these are the truths that you and I need to know prior to ever stepping on the battlefield. Often times the body of Christ looks at grace as a cover-up. But grace — this gift of God is not a cover-up of sin but a power-up over sin, in other words, we must understand that grace is a gift that doesn’t end with salvation,but rather begins there.
This is why the apostle Paul when teaching about Grace has to correct his listeners to help them to understand that this lesson that I’m teaching you it’s the beginning it’s the start. It’s the most important part of the battle that you’re getting ready to go into your victory is dependent upon you and I rightly understanding our identity. And Paul is cautioning is listeners. I’m explaining grace so that you can understand by what is the power you have been given that enables you to enter into a right relationship with God, which is your victory. This relationship is the key to your success on the battlefield (as we have an adversary and our next encounter is fast approaching).
This relationship through grace grants you your authority which in turn grants you access to kingdom power which assures your victory! Scripture says it this way:
“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”
Romans 5:20 KJV
This right relationship has made you free from the power of the enemy and all of that is secured through the completed work of Christ Jesus — not my work and not your work, not my behavior or yours but rather the behavior and obedience of Christ!
But then Paul has to caution his listeners that this doesn’t give us liberty to sin as if it doesn’t matter (there is a war going on and sin matters) but right now in this moment in this Boot Camp you must understand some basic truths are before you ever set foot on that battlefield!
David similarly refused to go into battle with King Saul’s armor — David knew his success was dependent on his understanding his weaponry and even his identity. David’s entire motivation to fight was who is this uncircumcised Philistine who defies the army of the Lord. This was a blatant attack on the identity of the people of God. I hope you’re beginning to see how essential our new God given identity (2 Cor. 5:17) to our kingdom success on earth.
The Bible says the weapons…what you have what your weapons of warfare are knowing that your right identity has secured, the resources that you need to be victorious in your walk.
When we define ourselves by our shortcomings, or our old sin nature we call God a liar, strong statement but what else do we say when God tells us we are one thing and we insist that He’s wrong based on our current circumstances or past experience. The word says rather let God be true and every man a liar Romans 3:4 (you know if you’re not sure who’s telling the truth).
I believe this mistaken identity starts when we fail to understanding the difference between the three part being that we are our spirit, our soul and our body. We are spirit beings who have a soul (mind, will and emotions) and live in a body. When we don’t comprehend or understand maybe never even introduced to the truth that upon receiving Christ your spirit is 100% in right standing with God it has been re-created and made new (2 Corinthians 5:17) but that the soul is not saved, which is the seat of your mind will emotions. Therefore, the mind part of you has to be renewed (Romans 12:2) to this victory. In other words salvation is what qualifies believers for transformation!
Therein lies the problem that’s not the way we think and before you head out into battle you’ve got to start thinking like kingdom citizens with renewed minds as it relates to your identity, renewed to who you are in Christ Jesus, and what authority and power you have by way of Christ completed work on the cross.
Understanding that the flesh part of you is unrenewed scripture says that the flesh is at war with the spirit (Galatians 5:17).
As a result we have to die to that side of us daily, which means that I cannot be defined by that side of me and this is why Paul makes the statement That the life I now live the life that I live now through the person of Jesus Christ. It is Christ in me and not me not my own efforts not my own ability not my old identity but my new identity. Christ in me the hope of glory!
Grace changes our identity and our identity is the catalyst for our victory. God didn’t save to leave us in bondage to sin. We therefore can’t walk as prisoners to sin and somehow call that the victorious life in Christ. That’s just crazy talk!
In order to walk on our freedom so that we can demonstrate the kingdom of God in our lives, we must understand how grace provides us the power to walk in victory.
You will never walk in victory when you are defining yourself, wrongly defining yourself by your sins and by your shortcomings and refusing to believe God’s assessment of you.
Yes our behavior is important — God says be ye holy for I am holy but your behavior is not your identity and until you accept your right identity in faith you’ll never successfully change your behavior. That is a spiritual work that happens in the transformation and sanctification of all believers which is accomplished by God based on the renewing of your mind. Mind renewal is to be familiar with these truths it goes much further to an acceptance oaf these truths that results in acting on these truths.
So here’s the takeaway accepting by faith that every word spoken by God to us is true. This is non-negotiable. If he says you are righteous through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) then you are. If the word says whom the Son sets free is free indeed then you’re free. If he says no one born of God continues in sin (1 John 3:9) then you don’t have to live in continuous bondage to sin.
It is accepting by faith the power to walk right by grace and my right to that power through the authority given to us through Christ is what enables us to walk on victory over sin and escape the snare of seeing grace as the liberty to continue in sin.
Let’s endeavor to demonstrate the kingdom even in our daily walk of victory!