THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE The Law was addressed to men in the flesh, and was tailored for the ungodly and unrighteous. As it is written, "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust" (1 Tim 1:9-11). --Tomorrow:
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Col 3:1-4)
Devotion 17 of 25
This is not the manner of the New Covenant. In Christ Jesus, LIFE has changed our whole situation. We are not motivated by Law, but by the love of Christ, which is the constraining factor. As it is written, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead" (2 Cor 5:14). When the love of Christ is truly perceived, it moves us to gladly do what the Lord requires of us. Those under the Law ask, "What is it that I CANNOT do?" Those influenced by Divine love ask, "Lord, what do You want me to do?"
THE CHURCH AND SIN
In view of these things, how can any person with an honest and good heart be tolerant of sin within the church? When sin is present among the people of God it is because someone is not "dead with Christ." Sin is committed when men are alive to it, thereby contradicting the statement of our text: "ye are dead."
It is our connection with Christ that has induced death to sin and the world. We can no longer tolerate a religion that nails our heads to the earth like Jael nailed Sisera's head to the floor of her tent (Judges 4:21-22). For those who have died with Christ, sin is unreasonable. They know that fleshly regimens cannot take away the appetite for sin. Therefore they have no real value in the kingdom, even though they appear to be wise. In Jesus there is a higher law that compels us.
THE PRINCIPLE OF AFFIRMATION
Do not miss the power of this text. The Spirit has made an affirmation: "ye ARE dead." He does not say that we OUGHT to be dead, but that we ARE dead. He does not declare that we CAN BE dead, but that we ARE dead. This is a statement upon which faith can lay hold – and "the just shall live by faith" (Heb 10:38).
It is principle in the New Covenant that men are primarily motivated by the truth, for it is the truth that "makes" us free (John 8:32). Power comes to us on the wings of a message, not on the tablets of a law. The Gospel is essentially a message, not a system. It is an affirmation, not a procedural outline. Paul knows the Spirit will empower this word: "ye are dead." He knows that when we realize the truth, it will move us.
YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD
" . . . and your life is hid with Christ in God."
In Christ, death is in order to life. We enter into a special kind of death in order that we might experience a special kind of life. As it is written, "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection" (Rom 6:5). "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him" (Rom 6:8). "It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him" (2 Tim 2:11). If there is not corresponding life with Christ – no sensitivity and commitment toward Him – then the person is not "dead with Christ." God raises the dead – those who are "dead with Christ." It simply is not possible to be buried into Christ's death and not be raised by the glory of the Father.
It was impossible for death to keep its hold upon Jesus. This is a matter of Gospel affirmation. "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: BECAUSE IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE that He should be holden of it" (Acts 2:24). Just so, it is not possible for those who have died with Jesus to remain dead. God raises them that they may "walk in newness of life" (Rom 6:4). That is why a sinning Christian is a walking contradiction. Such a person is blasphemy being lived out, for they are suggesting that God does not, in fact, raise the dead.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the superiority of Jesus, the new covenant, and newness of life.