DM#18: Our spiritual position and physical condition

Doctrine of the Mysteries #18

Our spiritual position and physical condition

Read the five verses below slowly and carefully and then compare the first two verses to the last three. There is a HUGE difference in how Paul describes the believers at Corinth.

1 Cor 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are SANCTIFIED in Christ Jesus, CALLED SAINTS, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,

1 Cor 1:30 But of Him YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, who became for us wisdom from God —and RIGHTEOUSNESS and SANCTIFICATION and redemption—

1 Cor 3:3 ...for YOU ARE STILL CARNAL. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

1 Cor 5:1 It is actually reported that THERE IS FORNICATION AMONG YOU, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father's wife!

1 Cor 5:2 And YOU ARE PUFFED UP, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Do you notice a difference? Paul is writing to the Christians at Corinth, a city infamous for its immorality. The last three verses reveal the low spiritual condition of the Corinthians, the fact that they were still carnal Christians, full of pride and still babes in the understanding of spiritual things. BUT, Paul calls them 'saints' in the first verse! Did you get that!

People talk about Saint Peter or Saint John or Saint Paul, but Paul said that the carnal, proud, envious, argumentative, immoral Corinthians were saints too.  How can this be?

The first two verses listed above explains that it was in Christ that the Corinthians were righteous and sanctified (made saints). Positionally they were saints; conditionally they had many carnal characteristics.

It is imperative to recognize the difference between the believer's position and condition. There is a lot of ignorance about this in the Church today, resulting in a lot of confusion. Our position in Christ is perfect and unchangeable; Christ's own righteousness having been imputed to us. Our condition is quite another matter; our behaviour is often far from perfect.

Dealing with our condition

God understands that we still have a flesh nature, and we are prone to temptations and weakness. However, we are not to ignore sins in our life. God does not want us to sin, but it can, and DOES still happen, and this is where His Word works deep within us. The truth of God's Word will shine a light on sin, but it also provides the wisdom to overcome it. Meditate on the Word which is truth. Let it permeate your thoughts. Let it become your default pattern of living. Let it provide you with the strength to choose right from wrong.

Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The road of sanctification is a lifelong journey! God does not expect us to overcome ALL our old habits and bad behaviours instantaneously! We grow in God daily. Small things get shed off our lives over time as the convictions of Christ's Spirit works within us. Eventually people start to see a change in us, in the lifestyle we live, in our mannerisms, in our kindness and humility. It takes time, but the Spirit is relentless in sanctification. This is all to the glory of Christ within us.

Thanks to the cross work of Christ, positionally (in spirit and right now before God), we are dead to sin. God does not count sin against us (2 Cor 5:19) because of Christ’s completed work. It cannot affect our right standing with God in Christ. But we should be mindful of sins and avoid them by allowing the word of God to renew our thinking. As we grow in the knowledge of the written Word and allow it to influence our thoughts, our choices, our speech, our behaviour, and our actions, we will find ourselves walking after the Spirit and mortifying the deeds of the flesh, Rom 8:13; Gal 5:16. It should be our goal in life, by means of the Word of God in us, to bring our physical condition in line with our spiritual position in Christ.