Monday, July 30, 2012

Dying of Yeshua


As I continue from last week’s letter, I want to reiterate the importance of knowing the judicial aspects of justification and redemption.  Satan’s utter defeat at the death of Yeshua and our identity with that death is the key to victory and to spiritual maturity. 

Paul, using himself as an example of the conflict which rages with Satan and the powers of darkness, writes:   “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.   Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me (Romans 7:19-20 emphasis added).  How could the apostle state so categorically, that “it is no longer I”?  Was this some kind of an excuse, so as to avoid taking responsibility for dealing with his problems?  Certainly not! Paul believed beyond a shadow of doubt in what happened to his “old self” just as he taught in the following:  "I have been crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20), and “For I/you died, and my/your life is hidden with Messiah in Elohim…” (Colossians 3:3).  How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?  Or do you not know that as many of us as were immersed into Messiah Yeshua were immersed into His death? (Romans 6:2-3). “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to Elohim in Messiah Yeshua our Lord (Romans 6:11).

Many believers find themselves in a quandary, or worse, about the “sin that dwells within.”  The key to understanding “sin” is hidden in the word “dwells.” Inanimate objects do not inhabit a room, a house, or for that matter a person. Thus sin must be a living entity. If that is the case, then we can only approach sin according to YHVH’s definition.  Paul’s revelation insight and approach to dealing with sin was based upon his understanding of the Torah of Moses. Although he had stated that we are no longer “under law” (ref. Galatians 5:18) he did not say that we were lawless either. In view of all the above quoted scriptures, one must read the following carefully:  “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.  For I delight in the law of Elohim according to the inward man.  But I see another law in my members [flesh], warring against the law [law of Elohim in my mind] of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members [flesh].  O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank Elohim -- through Messiah Yeshua our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of Elohim, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:21-25 emphases added).  This demonstrates the fact that in every believer at least two laws are at work:  The law of Elohim in the mind of the inner man, and the law of sin in the flesh.

Let us view the above scriptural references in a judicial light, as a permanent reality for all those who believe, that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all…  Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 16), especially ourselves.  Only by the obedience of faith can we enter into such certainty of total victory.  But let’s see how this is accomplished on a day to day basis.  Paul declared: “I thank Elohim -- through Yeshua our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of Elohim…” (Romans 7:25).  What is this law of Elohim that works through Yeshua?

We hear it expressed that we are to “die daily,” but we are unable to accomplish that without an understanding of these judicial principles of redemption.  Paul coined that little phrase (“die daily”) which is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:31, but did not explain it fully until he wrote the second letter to the believers of Corinth.  He starts off by explaining to the redeemed that they have a “treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power is not from them” (2 Corinthians 4:7) (i.e. the message of the cross/dying of Yeshua…which is the power of Elohim; ref. last week’s letter).  The “dying of Yeshua” must be kept at the forefront of our faith, or the life of Yeshua will have no effect in our inner being and outward reality.  Paul further explains:  “…always carrying about in the body the dying of Yeshua, that the life of Yeshua also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are always delivered to death for Yeshua’s sake, that the life of Yeshua also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:10-11 emphasis added).  

The above quote is a very radical statement. What the apostle is actually saying is that the dying of Yeshua is a present tense reality for the believer.  As we embrace this truth/law we are in essence “dying daily” to the flesh and at the same time rendering the power of Satan of no effect.  The demonic spirits know what the dying and death of the Messiah means judicially.  Remember, the principalities and powers represent the spirits of darkness and its nature.  However, when we believe and apply the truth of the gospel, the life and light of Yeshua will be made manifest in and through our “mortal bodies.”  So what happens to the darkness when the lights are turned on?  “For it is Elohim who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of Elohim  in the face of Yeshua the Messiah” (2 Corinthians 4:6).  

“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer (being the manifested nature of the Word), he is like a man observing his  face in a mirror;  for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:23-24 emphasis added).   Since we have died and are now looking into the mirror, who should we actually see?  We should be seeing a new creation being, a “son of Elohim” who looks just like his heavenly Father. We should be looking into the face of Yeshua, but the problem arises when we walk away from His image and do not remember what we look like.  Yeshua is our righteousness (the fruit of the Spirit), thus we too have the same image.   But in order to be the manifestation of Elohim’s righteousness in Yeshua, we have to adhere to and practice obedience to the law of Elohim called “the dying of Yeshua.”  Only in this way, that is - by recognizing and taking hold of this reality and living it out, will the life and nature of Messiah mature in us unto victory over the forces of darkness, the flesh and the “law of sin and death.”  “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:12).  

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