Christian Foundations (9) - Understanding and Overcoming Sin

The Foundation for our being, character and life is the PERSON of CHRIST Himself (1Cor 3:11, Isa 28:16, Col 2:6-7). He is not just the Foundation for our eternal salvation, but for our very being and everyday living (Ro 1:16-17). "The RIGHTEOUSNESS of God is revealed from (saving) FAITH to (living) FAITH; as it is written: “(1) The JUST (by FAITH) shall (2) LIVE by FAITH” (v17). (1) First we are JUSTIFIED (made righteous) by FAITH. When we trust in Christ, His perfect RIGHTEOUSNESS is IMPUTED to us (put to our account) - a legal transaction based on the Great Exchange accomplished on the Cross. We stand before God on the basis of His perfect righteousness, so God accepts us, just as He accepts Jesus. Christ and His imputed righteousness is our forever, firm foundation for our eternal salvation, and life today, ensuring our eternal life. On this legal basis God instantly gave us the New Birth. The imparted righteousness of Christ was applied to our spirit. Now we are justified by faith, we are now to LIVE by FAITH in Christ, our living Foundation, looking to Him and leaning on Him as our Source of life, rather than trusting in our own soul. As we trust in His Life in us, He sanctifies us by His Spirit, and we receive His imparted righteousness (grace) into our souls, inspiring and empowering us to do His will (Phil 2:13). The more we submit to Him and trust in Him as our Foundation, the more He fills us with His love and empowers us with His grace. Thus He is our Foundation for our everyday life. Living by faith starts by submitting to His Lordship and opening our hearts to receive His love-gift of His Spirit and His Word to us. Then by depending on the Spirit of grace, we must put His Word into practice (Matt 7:24-25). The first 2 Foundational Doctrines are (1) REPENTANCE from dead works and (2) FAITH toward God (Heb 6:1-2). They describe the necessary attitude of our hearts, to live our lives on Christ, living from the supply of His grace, trusting in Him as our base of operation. We must REPENT from the old way of operating from our independent soul-life, trusting in self, which only produces dead works, and instead embrace the new way of trusting in Christ as our life, which produces the fruit of the Spirit (Matt 10:39, Rom 7:6, John 6:63). The new way is living under grace, by faith in Christ's life within us. He is the only One who can save us from the penalty, power and presence of sin. In the old way of living under law, we make laws and principles our basis for living, and try to live them out from our own soul. Sin is the opposite of holiness and righteousness. Life under righteousness brings life, but life under sin brings death. God designed us to be holy to God, filled with His Spirit of righteousness, empowering us to live a life of righteousness by trusting Him as our Source, and thereby producing good works. The essence of sin is rejecting this way of depending on God, and instead going our own way, living out from self as centre. Our own soul-life, rather than God’s life, becomes our base of operation (Isa 53:6). The problem of sin is on 3 dimensions. *Level 1 of SIN is the STATE of SIN (imputed sin), due to Adam's original sin, the representative head of the human race. When he sinned, we all sinned in Adam. This is IMPUTED SIN (Adam’s sin was put to our account). All men are born legally in a State of Sin, simply from being in Adam. As a result spiritual and physical death came on all men (Rom 5:12-21). *Level 2 of SIN is the SIN-NATURE or IMPARTED SIN. When Adam sinned (1) his spirit died (disconnected from God’s life), (2) he received a sin-nature in his flesh (imparted sin), replacing his spirit as the controlling power over his soul, causing his soul to operate in pride, independently from God (the independent soul-life). The sin-nature is called sin (1Jn 1:8, Rom 6:6,7,11,12,14), sin in the flesh (Rom 8:3), the body of sin (Rom 6:6). We inherited a sin-nature in our flesh from Adam by physical birth (John 3:6).We were born slaves to sin (the sin-nature), and can't set ourselves free. *Level 3 of SIN is PERSONAL SINS. We commit sins when we yield to the sin-nature in our flesh (John 8:34). By the Cross, Christ provided the answer for all 3 dimensions of SIN. Dan 9:24 predicts Christ will: "(1) finish the TRANSGRESSION (Adam’s original sin), (2) make an end of SINS (forgiveness for personal sins), (3) make atonement for INIQUITY (our sin-nature).” (1) Jesus dealt with our STATE of SIN in Adam, by coming as the righteous 2nd Adam, offering Himself to us as our new Head. When we receive Him as Lord, God takes us out of Adam and puts us into Christ, and His perfect righteousness is imputed to us as a free-gift. Instead of Adam's imputed sin, we now have Christ's imputed righteousness, and on that basis God declares us forgiven & righteous (justified by faith).