Obedience. The word conjures up images and thought of behavior and performance for many people. Legalistic pastors and leaders often teach on obedience in an effort to spur people on in their works – trying to make people fall in line and follow rules and regulations; leading many people into guilt, despair, confusion and fear when they fail… wondering how they could ever measure up, “be good enough” or be accepted and approved-of by God.
New Covenant obedience as defined in the scriptures, however, shows us a different kind of obedience. One not founded on the works or self-effort of man, but one based on the perfect work of Jesus Christ. This kind of obedience is backwards to man’s idea, and the thinking of the world. The world says that we must perform to become… we must perform properly to become accepted. However the scriptures tell us that in the New Covenant, we believe that through Christ, we have become accepted already, and we perform because we are New Creations through the Spirit. In reality, our belief is our obedience. We are obedient to the truth. And this is what we will be studying today.
How clean are you? This question is often posed to congregations of believers in an attempt to motivate them to good works. However I am posing this question to you today for an entirely different reason... Not to expose your perceived failings or shortcomings, but instead to show you how completely clean you are in Christ Jesus today. You see, many believers are living life with the belief that they are clean one-moment (when they think they are behaving well) and then dirty the next moment (when they fail), so they are on some sort of spiritual teeter-totter – up one moment and down the next moment.
This however is not how God wants us to live. This shifting-sand, roller-coaster mentality is not the abundant life which Christ died to give us. So today we will be examining the truth of how completely clean you are in Christ (in every way) and how by seeing this truth, you will be on the unshakable foundation of Jesus Christ, instead of the shifting sand of emotions, feelings and your own performance.
All across the globe, believers are struggling, striving, working, sweating screaming and shouting, they are doing these things in desperation as they try to receive the blessings and miracles into their lives that they need so much. Every day they try, and every day ends with another disappointment as the sun sets and they still are no better off… all their struggling was in vain. Perhaps you can identify with this scenario. Perhaps you need a miracle in your life right now, whether it is healing, or financial, or even a miracle in your mind or your spirit. Whatever it is, you have been fighting for it, but you just can't seem to lay hold on the thing that you are reaching for.
That’s why, in this study today we will be examining the truth of the completed work of Jesus Christ, as it applies to receiving the blessings that He has paid for you to have. As you meditate on these scriptural truths, you will be able to receive what is already yours in Christ.