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Study Questions

When we unite ourselves with Jesus, the reason His death and resurrected life become ours is for the same reason that the results of Adam’s sin became ours. It is because once we unite ourselves with Jesus, whatever is His is now ours; thus His death becomes our death and our sins become paid for through Jesus’ death through our uniting with Him. This also explains why, though Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, His death does not become death for our sins until after we unite ourselves with Him.^140/66 What this means is that just having an intellectual knowledge about what Jesus did for us does not save us. We must receive what Jesus did for us on the cross by receiving Him before we are saved and receive His indestructible life.

What does this have to do with receiving birth from above and a new recreated living human spirit? The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation;¹⁴¹ the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

When we receive Jesus Christ as savior from our sins and as Lord of our lives, God through The Prophet Ezekiel tells us the following takes place:

"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

When we receive Jesus Christ into our hearts we receive birth from above and the following happens:

1. We receive Jesus’ eternal indestructible life and thus eternal life ourselves.

2. We are united with His death and thus his death pays the penalty of all our sins past present and future never needing to be paid again.

3. Our spirits are recreated and made alive once again, we receive birth from above.

4. Our hearts, our wills, our souls are freed from the bondage of sin and recreated to respond in obedience to the dictates of the Holy Spirit through our spirit.

5. We have the moral righteous image of God restored in ourselves.

6. Our spirits are joined with the Holy Spirit and made one spirit with Him.

7. And as a result we enter back into unhindered communion and relationship with God.

Unfortunately, this birth from above on this side of heaven only takes place in our spirits. The full redemption of our soul and flesh does not take place until the resurrection. This is the reason why that even though our spirit is made alive with God Himself and His moral righteous nature, yet we still have conflict with sin so that Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16-17

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh with-strong-passion-fights¹⁴² against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please."

The word in the Greek for with-strong-passion-fights, ejpiqumevw (epithumeo), is a compound word meaning literally with authority and strong passion to rush against.¹⁴² In other words, a violent conflict between the flesh and the Holy Spirit.

On this side of heaven we are saved positionally in Christ. What this means is that in God’s eyes we are cleansed of our sins past, present and future (Heb 10:12, 14); therefore, there is no barrier between us and God. As a result we have free access to God’s throne and to God through our spirits. He also relates to us as if we are as holy and as righteous as his Son even though we ourselves continue to have conflict with sin in our soul and body. Paul put it this way in Romans 7:24-25 and 8:1

"Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

In this passage, first, Paul tells us that with his mind he agrees with God’s moral law that it is true and righteous; but, second, that with his body, even though he is saved, whether he wants to or not, he still struggles with sin and even serves sin; but third, that even though on this side of heaven he does not have complete continuous experiential deliverance from the power of sin over his soul and flesh, yet positionally in Christ in his relationship with God he is accepted without condemnation through Jesus Christ. This is the life and conflict of the born again Christian on this side of heaven.

When you receive Jesus into your heart as Savior and Lord, you instantly receive birth from above and your spirit is recreated alive, but on this side of heaven it only takes place in our spirit, not in our soul and body. Our new created spirit, unlike our sinful soul and flesh, is identical to Jesus’ nature and wills to do what God wants. But Paul gives us a further promise about the completion of being recreated in His image. He writes,

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (1 Cor 15:51-53).

"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." (Phil 3:20-21).

Paul further explains about this resurrected body in 1 Corinthians 15:44-46

"It is sown a body motivated-and-controlled-by-the-soul⁶¹, it is raised a body motivated-and-controlled-by-the-spirit⁶⁰. If there is a soulish body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the soulish; then the spiritual."

When God created us, He created us to be motivated and controlled by the spirit. It is through our spirits that we have relationship with God and receive from God His will and desire. We then with our souls decide whether to carry out that will or not through our bodies. In our present form the spirit has no access to the body. Our spirit cannot make our body do anything. Only the soul has control over our bodies. This is what is meant by it being sown a body motivated and controlled by the soul. In the resurrection, however, it is raised a body that is motivated and controlled by the spirit. This means that in the resurrection the spirit does have access to the body and can control the actions and behavior of the body. Our bodies in the resurrection will also be immortal. They will not be able to die and cannot die. They are sustained by the power of God through the Holy Spirit through our spirits. The eating of food in heaven will be for pleasure, not for sustaining physical life. Finally, the kingdom of God is in the spiritual realm. This present body was made for the physical realm and is not able to relate to or function in the spiritual realm. Our recreated spiritual bodies are physical bodies but they are created to operate primarily in the spiritual realm, though they are able to function in the physical realm as well.

In heaven we are not only freed from the penalty of sin and the presence of sin, but the will to sin which was the nature of our old sinful soul and flesh. In heaven you do not sin and you have no desire to sin. Heaven is the absence of sin. Heaven is "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." God’s nature is love, joy and peace continuously all the time. Because we will be one with Him in heaven forever, we will forever experience love, joy and peace. Heaven is perfect sweet communion with God because there is nothing corrupt in us to hinder our communion with God. In Heaven it is impossible for us to sin because we are born again into a nature that is identical to Jesus’ nature which is without sin and cannot sin forever. The Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:9,

"Everyone who is born of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God."

God created man to be both a physical and spiritual being, therefore the resurrection is the completion of this new birth; it is God rebirthing and recreating completely different and new our physical natures to be in complete union and harmony with our rebirthed newly created spiritual natures. The reason for the physical resurrection is because it is through our physical body that we give expression of our soul-life.

Hell is just the opposite. The bodies of souls in hell will also eventually be raised, but only to be cast into the eternal lake of fire where all opportunity and possibility of giving expression of one’s soul-life, talents and gifts are forever brought to a complete and total absolute standstill. That is what makes Hell, hell. But for those who are redeemed, until the resurrection, while still in the flesh, meaning in the presence of our old soul and flesh completely in bondage to sin, we will continue to sin and have battle with sin.

Only a born again Christian can understand this conflict. When you are born again and your relationship with God is restored, you experience the peace and joy of Heaven and the pure holiness of your new nature in Christ and in your relationship with Christ. It is for this reason that the Christian is all the more sensitive to sin, not for salvation, but because now he loves God for what he has done for him in Christ. He knows how sin hindered and hinders his pure relationship with God. As a result, he wants whatever is necessary to be freed from his old sinful flesh’s continued hold over him on this side of heaven. This is why Paul cried out, "Wretched man that I am, who will free me from the body of this death!" This is why the Christian longs for the completed manifestation of his redemption through death and the leaving of this earthly life to go to heaven and then finally through the resurrection of his physical being. That is why a Christian is not at home any longer in this world. He longs to go home to heaven where once and for all he is freed from his old sinful soul and flesh in any form or capacity and instead enjoys continually without ceasing or interruption peace, joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit.¹⁴³

To whom is this salvation available to?

"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches FOR ALL WHO CALL UPON HIM; for whoever will call upon the name of the Lord WILL BE SAVED." (Rom 10:12-13)

Jesus salvation is available to anyone who calls upon him. Let God’s WORD be found true though every man be found a liar.

We are saved by God’s righteousness alone. The Apostle Paul writes:

"What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. . . . For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." (Rom 9:30-32, 10:3-4)

In this passage the Apostle Paul tells us that the reason why the Jews rejected God’s plan of salvation through Jesus was because they were trying to come to God on the basis of their righteousness, the works of their soul. Because they did, they were not able to submit themselves to God’s righteousness through Jesus Christ, the work of His Holy Spirit through Jesus. Only God’s righteousness through Jesus Christ can save us. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:9 that he gave up his righteousness in order to attain God’s righteousness through Jesus,

". . . and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

Jesus fulfilled the righteousness of the law for us. There is NOTHING we can add to it. Romans 10:11 tells us plainly that whoever believes in Jesus and His righteousness through the cross in his place will not be disappointed.

However, as we have already said, In order for the death and life of Jesus to be ours and thus His resurrection life to be ours, we must repent of our sins and receive the very life of God into our hearts which is Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus said recorded in Revelation 3:20,

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me."

Jesus tells us in this passage that the way we receive Him into our lives is by simply opening the door and asking Him in by faith.

What do we mean by faith? It does not mean blind faith, meaning faith without proof or verification; it means knowing that once we ask Jesus to come into our heart as Savior from our sins and as Lord of our life, that He does come in and save us, not as a feeling, but because He gave us absolute proof that He will do what He promised when He came back physically from the dead. And What is Jesus’ promise? that He will come into your heart when you ask Him to. Luke, the physician, wrote in the Bible about Jesus’ Resurrection:

"To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3)

Don’t you want to be recreated into God’s image, freed from the bondage of sin and eventually the presence and power to sin and be able to enjoy God and His heaven forever? If you do want to be born again into God’s Kingdom, then pray the following prayer right now. Lets pray:

If you just prayed this prayer, you can know by faith that Jesus has come into your heart, saved you, and given you eternal life. This means you are now saved and going to heaven.

If you did just receive Jesus into Your heart for the first time, the following things are true:

 One , you have been united with Jesus in His death and thus his death has paid the penalty of all your sins past present and future never needing to be paid again. (Rom 6:3-11, Heb 10:10, 12, 14)

 Two , you have received God’s eternal indestructible life in the person of Jesus Christ and thus eternal life which means you are saved and going to Heaven. (Heb 7:15-25, Col 1:27, 1 John 5:11-12)

 Three , Your heart, your will, your soul has been freed from the bondage of sin and recreated to respond in obedience to the dictates of the Holy Spirit through your human spirit. (Galatians 5:16-18)

 Four , You have received and are sealed in the Holy Spirit which means your spirit has been brought back to life and made one spirit with the Holy Spirit which means you are born-again and have entered back into unhindered communion and relationship with God and have the moral righteous image of God restored in yourself. (Acts 10:43-44, Eph 1:13-14, 1 Cor 6:17, 2 Cor 1:21-22, 1 John 5:1)

 Five , You can now approach God’s throne boldly and without fear and talk to your heavenly Dad about whatever is on your heart. He will listen and hear you and even talk back to you through your human spirit. (1 Cor 2:9-16, Ephesians 3:11-12)

 Six , Finally, if that isn’t enough, God goes even further than that. When you receive Jesus Christ into your heart as Savior and Lord, God the Father immediately adopts you as his son or daughter into His forever family which means you inherit His kingdom. (John 1:12; Eph 1:5, 3:6; Rom 8:16-17; Gal 3:29; James 2:5)

The Apostle Paul and John wrote,

"He ordained-beforehand⁷⁹ to adopt us as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will." (Ephesians 1:5)

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)

"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:16-17)

What does it mean to be adopted as God’s sons and daughters? God has only one Son: Jesus Christ. This means that He is of the essence of God, God himself. But when you and I receive Jesus into our lives we receive the very life of God, eternal uncreated life, in ourselves and we are made one spirit with His Spirit binding us to Him forever. As a result He adopts us as His sons and daughters which means that we are co-heirs with Jesus and therefore inherit the kingdom of God with Him. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 16:11,

"You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."