PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

Colossians 2:13
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, …

Once we are born again, we no longer reside in death (separation from God) for Jesus has forgiven us of our sin by becoming sin for us (removing what stood between us and God). We have been made alive together with Jesus Christ. You are one spirit with Him. God told Adam if he sinned he would die. Before Adam sinned all that God had made was good. After he sinned evil entered into the world through the death that came from man’s sin.

Death (all that is not good) reigned in the earth and over man. Jesus has tasted death for all so that man could be restored to life by our union with Him, and now by faith in what Christ has done, we can reign in this life over death and all the evil that came as a result of that death. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Pro. 18:21). Remove the taste of death from your mouth by speaking words of life, declaring what you now have in Christ Jesus.

As a child of God death no longer has dominion over you. See yourself as one with Christ, victorious over death, and all the evil that came as a result of that death. For you have been delivered from death and have been made alive together with Christ. Speak in line with God’s Word, declaring who you now are in Christ, speak the Words of life for you have been made alive with Him.

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Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Who is Paul referring to that was crucified? He was of course referring to his spirit man, not his soul, nor his body. The disciples in referring to themselves in the first person referred to their spirit man within, the real you. Most Christians are body or soul conscious when talking about themselves because that is what they are referring to when they say “I”.

You must become spirit conscious if you want to walk by faith in the body you live in, for faith comes from your heart (your spirit man), not your head. You are a spirit, not a body, nor a soul, you have a soul (mind, will, and emotions) and you live in a body, but the real you is a spirit being. Once born again we are to walk by faith not by sight. But if we think of ourselves as a body or a soul and we are not spirit conscious, we will walk by sight and not by faith, missing out on what God wants to do in and through us.

So as you read through the New Testament start meditating on the scriptures that reveal the real you, the “new creation” you have become once born again. These are the “in Christ” scriptures just like the one above. This will make you conscious of your spirit man, the new you. As you become more aware of the new man on the inside, it will help you to walk by faith in what Jesus has done for you, and not by sight.

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Hebrews 3:18-19
18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Unbelief is a thief that will rob us from our faith in God. There are three key things that will cause unbelief. The first is found in the verses above. Willful disobedience to God will lead to unbelief. These verses refer to the children of Israel who did not by faith enter into what God had promised was theirs. They continually disobeyed God. Disobedience will harden our heart toward God, robbing us from trusting in Him, resulting in unbelief.

In 1 Timothy 1:13, Paul talks about his life when he was persecuting the church before he had revelation of Jesus as the Messiah. He reveals he did so ignorantly through unbelief. Ignorance will cause unbelief in one’s life. Ignorance simply means we lack knowledge or understanding. When we lack knowledge or understanding of what God has done for us through Christ, we will walk in unbelief. Faith begins where the will of God is known.

The third area that can cause unbelief we find in Mark 6:4-6 where Jesus had gone to His hometown. He could not do any mighty works there and marveled at their unbelief. He reveals in verse 4 that one called to preach is without honor in his own country. A lack of honor for who God has anointed to teach the Word will cause unbelief. Because of this lack of honor, we won’t really hear what is being said. Jesus told us to take heed how you hear, for faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Avoid these three things and you can avoid the thief of unbelief.

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Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.

Is there anything a person could do to earn the salvation that God offers? The answer of course is clear, we could not. If we could, Jesus would not have needed to die for us. Not only could we not earn our salvation, we were far from perfect, for we were sinners in need of salvation. So once we are born again, why do so many believers think they must earn the promises of God we have been given through Christ Jesus?

The scripture above clearly states that if God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all to be saved, how then would He not also freely give us all things? We are the ones who think somehow after being saved we have to convince God to give us what He has already freely provided through the redeeming work of Jesus. But the same way we received salvation is the same way we receive His promises, by faith in what He has already done.

In 2 Corinthians 1:20 we are told that all the promises of God are yes and amen. We must first know the answer as to whether every promise God has given us is already ours. The answer is yes. Then we must give our “amen” to receive it. Amen simply means “so be it for me”. This is a statement of faith. When we choose to believe in our heart, confess with our mouth, and act upon His promises as already ours because they are, we can “freely” receive what has already been freely given to us through what Jesus has done for us.

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1 John 4:9
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

The word “live” in this verse is defined as, “to enjoy true life”. There is only one way you can enjoy true life. You must live your life through Jesus, not through the old you. Jesus is our example. To live through Him one must learn to walk in the love of God. Jesus told us in His Word that we now have a new commandment to follow. We are to love one another as He has loved us.

When we walk in love, we follow His example and are therefore living our life through Jesus. Scripture teaches us that faith works through love. Jesus lived a life of faith, because Jesus lived a life of love. To walk in the love of God is a choice we make, and it takes practice. The love of God is in our new recreated spirit. Walking in love is choosing to walk in the new you, instead of the old fleshly outer man, treating other people the way you want to be treated, no matter how they treat you.

We must also spend time with love Himself, our God. 1 John 4:16 tells us God is love, and when you fellowship with God He rubs off on you. When you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you. So make the choice to walk in love, treating others how you would want to be treated, and to daily fellowship with love Himself, our God, and you can live your life through Jesus Christ. In doing so we can enjoy “true life”, the kind of life Jesus lived.

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Romans 8:17
And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; . . .

Did you know once you are born again you are an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus? What does this mean exactly? Well it means you now have access to all that God has ownership of. This is important to understand because far too many believers are still being deceived in taking ownership of something that does not belong to them instead of taking ownership of what does. Let me explain.

Anything that the Bible says we are redeemed and liberated from is no longer something we should take ownership of. Satan is a deceiver, and what he continually tries to do is to get believers to accept ownership of what actually belongs to him and not to us. We need to stop falling for the deception of taking ownership of the things that do not belong to God as ours, and the things that do belong to God we need to realize that is what we now have ownership of as our inheritance.

For example, when a believer refers to a sickness or any part of the curse that came as a result of man’s sin as theirs, they are allowing those things to manifest in their life. When someone says, “My diabetes, my cancer, I’m broke, I’m afraid, etc”, they are taking ownership of something that is not God’s and therefore not theirs. Stop taking ownership through your words of that which does not belong to God. Ask yourself, “Does this belong to God?” If it doesn’t, don’t accept it as yours. Instead claim your inheritance that is yours based on what belongs to God. It will change your life.

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Hebrews 13:21
…working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

By our submission to Jesus Christ, our heavenly Father is able to work in us to do that which is pleasing in His sight. Our transformation does not take place by our ability, but God’s ability through our availability. For this to happen we must present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God. To do so we have to redeem our time, giving attention to our spiritual growth by going to the Word of God. As we do we need to renew our minds to who we now are in Christ.

The renewal of the mind involves four things.

1. Reading the Word of God and hearing the Word taught, and to do so correctly, we must give His Word our full attention.
2. Meditating on God’s Word. Taking time to ponder what is being said and how it applies to us.
3. Studying God’s Word. We need to become students of the Word so that we are rightly dividing the Word of truth.
4. Acting upon God’s Word. One’s mind is not fully renewed without acting upon what we see and hear in the Word of God.

When we are born again, that is when the work of God in us begins. When Lazarus was raised from the dead, Jesus told His disciples to go and take the grave clothes off of him. Like Lazarus we have come out of the grave, and now through us presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God, and having our minds renewed to God’s Word to who we now are in Christ, He can complete His work in us by taking off the grave clothes, the old way of living.

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Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Words – whether we want to admit it or not are powerful. They can bring forth life into every part of our existence, or they can bring forth death, the choice is up to us. The devil knows all too well the power of words, and this is why he works so hard to get people to speak words of death (disagreeing with God’s Word). In the book of James chapter three words are related to a rudder on a ship that will determine its destination, and so our words today will determine our outcome in the future.

An example of how powerful our words are is found in the story of Zacharias, the father of John. When the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him he would have a son, Zacharias did not believe him. So Gabriel told him that he would not be able to speak until the child was born. His unbelief would have kept this miracle from happening, for he and his wife were well advanced in age, and Elizabeth had not been able to have children. After the birth of this miracle son he was then able to speak.

Another example is the children of Israel who did not go into the promise land. There were twelve spies sent to check out that land. When they came back ten said they were not able to take the land, only two said with God they were able. God said the land was theirs, and those who disagreed gave what God said was an evil report, speaking unbelief. But Joshua and Caleb agreed with God and they were the only two who entered into God’s promise for them. Disagree with God and you speak death, but agree with God and you speak life. The choice is yours.

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Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

Are you a Christ follower? What is your “want to” in life? Is it to follow in the footsteps of your Savior and live a life like Him? Every believer needs to examine what their “want to” in life is. If you do not “want to” follow after Him, sadly then you will miss out on the life God has planned for you to live while here on earth. Every believer once born again has the ability to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, for a disciple as Jesus said will be like His teacher (Luke 6:40).

What was the purpose of giving your life to Jesus if not to follow after Him? Jesus said if you want to be His follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow Him. To give up your own way and take up your cross means to stop living life for you, the way you think you should live and instead follow His example, as Jesus Himself said not my will be done, but the Fathers will. In following His example the key is God wants us to “want to” follow Him, not feel like we “have to”.

If we truly are “Christ followers” then we are taking the new life He gave us and using it to bring glory to God. It begins by renewing your mind to who you have become in Christ Jesus. This needs to be your focus as a believer in Christ. Renewal of the mind requires both a new way of thinking, and also putting into practice this new way of living empowered from within. To live a life that really will mean something in the end, you must have the “want to” to follow Jesus. What is your “want to” in life.

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Philippians 4:13
I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

It is through our reliance on Jesus that we have the strength for all things because we are self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency. Don’t try to be strong, rely on His strength. When we are weak, then we are strong. We are weak when we are not trying to be strong in ourselves but draw upon His strength within us, looking to Him and not to ourselves.

Believers often say they are trying to be strong, but the Bible does not teach us to find strength in ourselves. All who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength and they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and shall not faint. When we choose to put our full trust in God, He becomes our strength. We are no longer relying on us but on Him.

As scripture teaches we need to trust in Him with all our heart by acknowledging Him in all our ways and He will direct our steps, bringing great strength to our lives (Proverbs 3:5-6). Take Him at His Word, acting upon what He has said for He cannot lie, therefore act as if the Word is true because it is. Refuse to go your own way. Believe the Word of God. Declare what His Word says about you and His strength will put you over, for all things are possible to them that believe. Just believe.

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