Angelic Conflict part 279: Defeater of death – Rom 5:12-21; 8:1-11; Amo 4:4-5; 5:21-24.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 279: Defeater of death - ROM 5:12-21; 8:1-11; AMO 4:4-5; 5:21-24.  

 

 

ROM 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned [as king] through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign [as kings] in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

 

There is but one ritual for the Church, and that is the Lord's Supper. Through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness we will come to see that every detail of Christian living is a divinely royal calling and it has great importance and value, from the little details of life to the greatest tests.

 

Reigning in life is not automatic for believers. The believer must reign by choosing to apply doctrines that he knows through the influencing witness of God the Holy Spirit. The greatest gift that one can give to the Lord is the prosperity of living the resurrection life.

 

EPH 2:4-6

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus

 

HEB 10:19-20

Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh

 

ROM 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

 

grace = kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved. [Joseph Thayer]

 

Yet the word grace, as it often is in the NT, is found with a modifier; abundance.

 

"abundance" - perissei,a[perisseia] = an exceeding measure, spread forth with excess. Used in MAR 8:8 of the leftover bread [7 large baskets] after feeding 4000.

 

We received an exceeding measure of grace and the gift of righteousness. We have more grace than we'll ever use and the gift of a perfectly holy righteousness that can never be improved upon. What else do we need in order to reign in this life?

 

ROM 5:18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

 

Condemnation is the verdict or sentence = death. Christ's act of righteousness resulted in justification of life.

 

Justification of life reveals that justification is not only justification in regard to sin or the removal from the ledger of our debts, but also a life to be lived out or walked in time. Our position in Christ, our understanding of it, and our faith in it will result in a reigning life.

 

If you were to walk into a courthouse convinced of a guilty verdict and life in prison and if you were found not-guilty, would you be walking out of the courthouse in the same way that you walked in? Would your countenance be the same, would your energy be the same, would your gait be the same?

 

ROM 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

ROM 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death [life and liberty].

 

ROM 8:3 For what the Law could not do [make one righteous], weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

 

ROM 8:4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us [living in righteousness], who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit [pursuit of happiness].

 

The full impression of the phrase "walk according to the Spirit" is somewhat lost in our day of high tech transport. At the time of writing people walked everywhere. Neither did they have the sedentary lifestyle that we have today. That's why heavy people were wealthy people and few. They were constantly walking, working, walking some more. When the Jews journeyed to Jerusalem, which was required from three feasts, they walked much of the way, if not all the way.

 

Walking is one step at a time and methodical. If the journey is long it often seems that we will never get there. Maybe you can see the place from a distance and after walking some hours it still looks just as far away. Like a marathon, the middle part is often the most grueling and difficult. But then after some time you suddenly look up and see your destination looking larger and closer. Your step quickens and your feet seem lighter. Walking according to the Spirit is a journey of the Christian way of life, step by step, sometimes stumbling, but picking yourself up in grace, and walking again, through His power, His guidance, and unable to find your way to your destination without Him. Sometimes it seems we will never get there, sometimes it seems grueling, but in time we will begin to see that we are drawing closer to our destination of love, happiness, and peace. This brings hope and our pace seems to quicken and our feet seem lighter.

 

EPH 3:19

to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

 

We are never to turn around and go back, but to be comforted to know that certain things will be left behind, and that we are to reach out to the things before us and forget the things that lie behind.

 

PHI 3:13-14

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

To walk by the Spirit is to be led by the Spirit and the goal is to come to know beyond a doubt that we are children of God and if children, heirs also, and fellow heirs with Christ, ROM 8:14-17.

 

There will be a lot of memories on this road to glory, some sweet and wonderful, and some will consist of our falls, but with the sweet memory that Christ picked us up in grace and set us on our feet again.

 

We will remember how He cleansed us when we were spattered with dirt and mud; how He cheered us on when we were faint; how He held us when we were weary. We will remember how He fed us when we were hungry and how He led us to quiet waters when we were thirsty. He is our Shepherd, leading us through His Spirit so we are not only conquering sheep but walking sheep.

 

But since He is with us at the present moment, we will discover that it is more wonderful to look at Him and see Him as He reveals Himself to us in today's mile of the road. Today is the day of deliverance, and not yesterday or tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself and yesterday cannot be relived. Walk by means of the Spirit, clothed with Christ, reveling in His indwelling presence today. Today is the day the Lord has made. I cannot reign tomorrow from today's vantage, nor can I relive the reigning of yesterday.

 

PSA 90:12

So teach us to number our days,

That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.

 

As we walk with Him we become Spirit-determined men and women, Spirit-led men and women as distinguished from carnal men, that is, men under the dominance of their own weak vicious selves. We do not want to walk after the flesh; we earnestly desire to walk to our Christ given destination, and to walk after the Spirit.

 

ROM 8:2 - life and liberty; ROM 8:4 - the pursuit of happiness by means of God the Holy Spirit.

 

The legalist tries to obey God in his own strength and fails to measure up to the righteousness that God demands.

 

The Spirit-led Christian, as he yields his will to the Lord, experiences the results of the sanctifying work of the Spirit in his life.

 

We do not feel the work of the Spirit, but we certainly experience its results.

 

PHI 2:12-13

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

 

So in verses 1-3 we have life and liberty, which are ours through our new creation. We are made alive in the Spirit and we are no longer under the death sentence of the Adamic nature.

 

Verses 1-3 refer to our position in Christ and verse 4 we have the life or the experience or the walk from that position. There are some wonderful examples of this position/experience relationship in the NT.

 

GAL 3:27

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

 

ROM 13:14

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

 

God tells us that we have the amazing blessing of being clothed with Christ and then He exhorts us to exercise that blessing by walking in the Royal Family Honor Code.