Source: http://goserve.blogspot.com/2007/02/holiness-of-life_13.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 20:09:00+00:00

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What I am doing now is commonly called a “Bible Study”.
The study of the Bible is an exciting and rewarding exercise; but any Bible Study which does not result in a personal experience with Jesus Christ, fails in its purpose.
METHOD – study of Word of God O.T. and N.T.
“The Word of God has within it the power of its own fulfilment,” but to experience it, we must cast ourselves upon it by faith.
II Cor.7:1 Without looking at the context, see need to perfect your holiness.
But there is nowhere where that desire is as far reaching as in spiritual realm.
Ps.29:2 We see that holiness in itself is a beauty.
We are exhorted to have this holiness and then worship God in it.
II Chron.20:21 shows us that praisers of the beauty of His holiness (lit. Hebrew) were appointed.
As His holiness is beautiful, so must ours be. (Purpose is to find out how).
Instead of the beauty of holiness, we have the filth of sins (Rom. 3:10-18).
Man was in the image of God at creation (Gen.1:26,27; holiness) but in image of Satan at fall (John 8:44; sins).
Thus we see that not only is vice or crime called sin, but disobedience against God’s revealed will.
Speaks of the Facts of sin (Heb.12:22-24), (Gen. 4:11; Zech.12:10) There is sin!
Why did He have to die?
Among many other things, the blood of the cross speaks of, or reveals the wrath of God against sin (Rom.1:17-18).
– love “I’ll send my Son to bear that punishment”.
(ii) holiness – outlived righteousness, Christ-likeness in lifestyle, etc.
Righteousness comes by blood, water, and Spirit, but we are considering their application to holiness.
His blood received its power at the cross, and therefore accomplished many things for us (four of these relate to holiness).
Rom.3:25,26 Jesus died as our substitute; Christ crucified for me deals with the sins I have done.
cf. John Bapti(zer) whose ministry was to “prepare way” for the Lord’s ministry of forgiveness.
John 1:29 Bear, take away sin of the world.
John 19:18; Gal.2:20 I am crucified with Christ renders flesh inoperable, but reactivateable.
Whether you know it or not it’s true.
“Destroyed” rendered inoperable, annulled (not eradicated), but reactivateable.
Rom.12:1,2 In O.T. economy burnt offering all consumed; same with us only one difference, alive not dead.
Alive to Him and righteousness but dead to all sin.
Sin is like a master who employs a servants to work for him as a means of furthering its end or purpose.
The old man, if not denied, serves sin and commits sins. As an employee, he receives wages at the last day. The wages of sin is death.
Annulled (rendered inoperable) or sacked the employee (old nature).
In accord with Eph.4:22, we should put off the old man with his lusts; and not reactivate him.
Old man serves imputed sin and commits sins; new man serves imputed righteousness unto holiness.
When the old man has his way, sinfulness is outworked in the form of sins.
Eph.5:25-27 This may mean many things; but it has special relation to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit which are inseparable.
John 15:3 The Word of God is a cleanser.
I like to think of the blood of Christ as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but the Holy Ghost applies the Word of God daily for cleansing and also the maintenance of cleanliness. (This is in accord with John 16:8-11). Psalm 119:9,11.
How does the Word of God wash us?
John 12:47-48 The Word of God is now the final authority.
The Word reflects what we are and shows what Jesus is.
We have to get our lives in line with what Jesus is revealed as.
Lev.8 The priests were anointed after the sacrifice had been slain, and its blood applied.
The birth of Jesus, His death and burial as Christ and His resurrection and ascencion are all preliminary stages of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Having been cleansed by His blood, we can receive His Spirit.
Why was malice and wickedness included in the Feast of Pentecost?
bapto – to dip, plunge, or immerse.
iz to cause to be.
Hence, He shall immerse you in (alway “en” in Greek) the Holy Ghost and fire.
Fire is a refiner. It purges out that which is unwanted.
Purges out the leaven in us. Fire – torment, suffering.
It is a sanctifying experience initially and continuously.
Rom.7:14-25 Paul reviews his past condition, being frustrated, wipped and beaten.
The answer to his exasperating question in verse 24 is the whole of chapter eight, especially emphasize verses 1-2. (spirit, 21 times).
Rom.8 (verse 1) We are at no handicap if we walk in response to the voice of the Holy Ghost within us.
(verse 2) This law has made me free from sin.
The law of the Spirit of life sets free from the law of sin and death.
(g) Heb.6:4,5; Eph.1:13.14 Foretaste of the supernatural life promised us in our inheritance and from second coming eternity!
All these and many more relate to holiness in our bodies, souls and spirits.
Eph.5:18 says be filled with the Spirit. Gk. the tense is ongoing or continuous.
In Rom.7 Paul reviews his past condition; in Rom.6 his present condition; and in Rom.8 he reveals the means by which he experienced change.
Since our acceptance is by grace, and the measure of grace is in proportion to the measure of sin, shall we abound in sin?
from APO; “off”, or away, separation, departure, etc.
and THNAYSKO, which means, to die.
So by death, we have been separated from sin. Illust.
How can a dead person sin?
v. 3 Don’t you know that you are dead?
At conversion we die, but at water baptism that death is brought to fulfilment or completion.
Baptism into Christ (not a denomination or religious sect) = baptism into His death.
We have died to sin and so been separated from its influence.
v. 4 Because we have died, we are also buiried; because we have been buried, we also resurrect: “burial is the evidence of death and the condition of resurrection”.
Death Burial Resurrection. Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.
(a) Entire – Gk. BAPTIZO, BAPTO + IZ. To cause to be dipped, plunged or immersed.
(b) Transitional – “Never the same again”.
Cf. Russia, point of no return.
(b) Jesus, the Divinely ordained leader, opened this for us.
(d) It is the sphere of a striking, Divine revelation.
Eph.3:8-10; Lk 9:18-36; cf. Josh.4:24; Deut.28:10; see Isa.
(e) Described as a scene of conflict.
If we have died in similitude of His death, so also in similitude of His resurrection.
John 12:24 If we die (as a single person) we will resurrect as many. Cf. Abraham Isaac (Gen.22), with Jesus in N.T (John 12:32).
v. 6 Literal Gk. “this knowing, that old our man was crucified with (Him), that might be annulled the body of sin, that no longer be subservient we to sin”.
The first step is knowing.
We have to know and believe that our old man was crucified with Him, that is, that His death was your death.
It is not by struggling and striving that we gain victory over the old man but firstly by simply knowing that Jesus did all the fighting.
He gained victory through His blood for us, so that if we walk not beside or in front of but behind His blood we too can experience sinlessness without striving.
It is all past tense, and we must acquire this knowledge then act on it so that we can benefit from it.
By nature we are at enmity with God.
This nature is called the old man, flesh, old Adam, or the goat.
This old man, if let go, serves sin and commits sins.
The old man is okay provided you keep him in his place.
John 19:18 The two others were crucified with Him.
Gal.2:20 Paul was crucified with Christ, so that it was no longer he that lived, but Christ lived in him.
Heb.12:1-14 The joy that was set before Jesus caused Him to endure the cross.
Lifting up our hands makes us experience victory, cf. Exod.17:8-16 victory over Amalek ws proportional to the holding up of his hands with the rod of God.
(d) To aid us, we have Jesus Heb.7:25; not Moses (Law) but Joshua (Grace) brought promised land Heb.7:11,19.
The death of Jesus was my death.
Just as to kill a tree you strike its root, so, when the old man is brought into subjection, sin loses its effect.
Sin makes us sin. But so that we didn’t sin, sin must be rendered inoperable or annulled.
This was done when Jesus died.
The body of sin can be reactivated, and this is done by not keeping the old man in his place, and’but letting him have his own way.
The body of sin is not sin, but the expression or essence of the old nature; its active part.
– Serving as a means to further an end or purpose.
The end or purpose of sin is sins.
But we don’t have to be subservient to sin.
“We” – old man, body of sin, and hence “us”.
v. 7 Cf. v.2 Paul illustrates by saying that a dead man no longer sins and sin has no more dominion over him the fact that by subduing the old nature, we are freed from sin.
John 8:34 Everyone that practices sin is a bondman (slave, employee) of sin.
Jesus has done everything to free us from sin, now we just know this, and reckon this (v.11).
B. L. Edwards: “God has no more giving to do, but we have a lot more getting to do”.
v. 8 Do you believe that if you are dead with Christ you shall also live with Him?
You can’t believe this to the fullest until you truly are dead.
But the knowing in part motivates the dying.
v. 9 It follows logically, that if we die with Christ, seeing he also rose, we must rise also. Paul introduces the two aspects of holiness.
After Christ rose, death was no longer His, and He would never die again.
His “human life”, a life subject to death, was over.
Let’s not let our lover down.
Rev.1:18 Christ – I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forever more, amen; and have the keys of Hades and of death.
Because of the truth that He died and lives and will live forever more, He received victory over death and its results.
v. 10 He died to sin once; but lives to God forever.
Death and resurrection are the two aspects of holiness.
It may be just as sinful to neglect doing what you should although you are not doing things which you shouldn’t.
We die to sin, then we are alive (unto God only).
v. 11 In the same manner of Jesus’ resurrection so reckon ye also yourselves truly dead to sin (negative), but (positive) alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Hallelujah!
“Reckon” make it your experience by simple faith appropriation.
“Dead indeed” – 100% surety.
Sin will have no more dominion over you, but God will.
Instead of serving sin with the old man, you serve God with the new man.
Always acknowledge that this can only be “through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
v. 12 Whenever there is a therefore, find out what it’s there for.
Seeing Christ has done everything, don’t let sin be the dominator or the chief object in your physical body.
If sin reigns in your body, it is because you have let it.
I’m not ever going to let sin reign in my mortal body for as long as I have it.
If you let sin reign, you will obey your body’s lusts.
If you obey your body’s lusts, it is because you have let sin reign. II Cor.5:10 Captivate all thoughts unto the obedience of Christ.
is something calling but you don’t have to give in.
body to express itself and you get the blame.
We should yield to God as living dead people.
v. 14 This is possible because sin shall not have dominion over you.

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