Mick Turner
Only a modicum of spiritual discernment is needed to affirm the fact that many Christians are living far beneath the standards of excellence called for by Christ in his teachings and exemplified by the manner in which he lived. This unfortunate reality points to yet another tragic fact: many Christians are not appropriating their reborn status as new creations in Christ and, as a result, are not bearing fruit.
This is quite understandable when we recall Christ’s teaching about the vine and the branches. If Christ is indeed the vine from which we draw our sustenance and our power, we need to be more firmly attached to him and one of the primary ways we strengthen that connection is through understanding and appropriating our reborn, justified, and sanctified status as children of the Father of Lights.
The renowned Evangelical Bible teacher and scholar Francis Schaeffer states that among the reasons that many Christians fail to bear the fruit of justification and sanctification in their lives is nothing less than ignorance. Schaeffer isn’t saying that non-productive Christians are stupid. He is, rather, saying that they just don’t have the knowledge they need to begin to walk in the ways in which they have been called by Christ. In his book True Spirituality Schaeffer, in his characteristically brilliant and cogent way, describes five sources of this ignorance:
The Christian may have been taught how to be justified but never taught the present meaning of the work of Christ for him.
He may have been taught to become a Christian through the instrumentality of faith, but then he may have been left, as though from that point on the Christian life has to be lived in his own strength.
He may have been taught the opposite; that is, he may have been taught that, having accepted Christ, in some antinomian way it does not now matter how he lives.
He may have been taught some kind of second blessing, which would make him perfect in this life when he receives it. This the Bible does not teach. And therefore, he just waits hopelessly or tries to act upon that which is not.
He may never have been taught that there is a reality of faith to be acted on consciously after justification. This last point is the point of ignorance of many who stand in the orthodox and historic stream of the Reformation.
When I first encountered Schaeffer’s quintet of reasons that might lead to a believer’s ignorance of who and what they are in Christ, I recognized many of my Christian friends who, during candid conversations, had made statements that would place them in one of the five categories. And, needless to say, I found myself in residence there as well.
The point is, when we wander about in a fog of confused identity we waste not only precious time, but also abort chances to use the gifts God has given to us to help establish his kingdom on earth. More depressing, as our sense of frustration and aimlessness deepens, we become vulnerable to the enemy toying with our thoughts and our feelings and more than a few of us drift into a spiritual malaise from which escape is impossible without divine intervention. Schaeffer describes this lack of awareness of our true identity as a constituting a Christian who does not “possess his possessions.” As a result, he or she misses out on the blessings God has intended for his children. The key to unlock this prison of despondency is first of all, knowledge. Schaeffer continues:
But when a man does learn the meaning of the work of Christ in the present life, a new door is open to him. And this new door then seems to be so wonderful that often it gives the Christian, as he begins to act upon the knowledge of faith, the sense of something that is as new as was his conversion. And it has been true for many of us that at a certain point, after we have been Christians for a long time, suddenly through the teaching of the Bible – directly or through someone teaching us – we have seen the meaning of the work of Christ and the blood of Jesus Christ for our present life, and a new door opens for us. So what is needed is the knowledge of the meaning of the work of Christ in our present life, for our present life, and then for us to act upon it in faith.
The “knowledge” Schaeffer is getting at here is the biblical revelation that there are at least two sides to the gospel – justification and sanctification. We are placed in right standing with God through the blood of Christ and further, we are given the power and the mechanisms to live the Christian life by Christ’s work on the cross. And then, Schaeffer points out the real crux of the issue for the prospective Christian. If we want to be able to walk the walk that Christ calls us to, we have to have more than intellectual information here. No, that kind of knowledge does not have the octane needed to propel the Christian life in all of its fruit-producing glory. We must have knowledge that we accept, take into our lives, and live according to by faith. It is a knowledge that spawns action.
The kind of knowledge that is called for is revealed knowledge, accepted in faith and wed to action that brings about transformation into Christ-likeness. Doctrine, important as it is, is never enough to bring about personal change and renewal of the mind. Let’s listen again to Schaeffer:
In the last analysis it is never doctrine alone that is important. It is doctrine appropriated that counts. We can see this in the case of justification. There are many men, unhappily, who have heard the gospel and know the gospel but do not take Christ as their Savior. In such a case a man has the knowledge, but it means nothing to him because he has not taken it in. It may be so with us in this matter of our present life. We may know the truth, we may have the knowledge, but it has not been appropriated, and so it will not mean anything to us in practice, and the fruit will not be born.
One other reason why we continue to walk in our old ways, even though scripture screams we are new creations, stems from the fact that either we don’t realize that we are new creations or we don’t believe it. Perhaps this needs a bit of clarification.
The Church as a whole has been expert at preaching the gospel of the blood and forgiveness of sin. Christ died as a ransom for many and, even though we don’t deserve it, we can now come into God’s presence as if we were spotless. As great a message as this is, it only half the story. Yes, Christ won our forgiveness but he also did something else. He won our victory over our sin and our sinful nature. Go back and review Romans 5-8 to get a true picture of all this.
By his resurrection and his ascension Christ has made possible, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our sanctification, meaning, we are now operating under a new set of circumstances, with the Holy Spirit working inside of us. Many Christians are unaware of this reality for two primary reasons: first, the vast majority of believers are biblically illiterate. Recent studies by George Barna more than bear this out; and second, pastors typically preach more about the blood than they do the resurrection, the ascension, and our subsequent empowerment.
Other Christians are aware of the fact that they are new creations in Christ, but just don’t believe it. This is a tragedy because just the act of believing what scripture says about us goes a long way toward helping us to manifest this new reality in our lives. Look at it like this: we receive salvation by accepting Christ’s atonement by faith; why don’t we also accept the second half of the gospel by faith? Why don’t we, using our faith in all that Christ has accomplished, accept the gift of our own progressive movement toward receiving the “fullness of Christ?”
In essence, a big part of our problem as Christians is the fact that we sell ourselves short. We don’t understand who we are and what we are in Christ. Even more devastating, we don’t accept and apply our new identity to daily living and we end up only being marginally effective. Like the Tibetan Bear, we pace back and forth in the same old ruts, the same old worn out ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. If we continue to do this and expect results any different than what we have experienced in the past, we are sadly mistaken.
No, my friends, it is time for a change and that change begins with recognizing, understanding, accepting, and applying the blessed gifts of being “in Christ.” I encourage you to not put this off another day. Start today by taking a few minutes out of your schedule, sitting down and getting quiet and centered, and ask God to reveal to you the full understanding of your status as his child. Ask God to show you, especially in scripture, just what Christ accomplished for you in his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, and his successful mission into this world.
Begin a personal Bible study in which you explore this whole business of being “in Christ.” Keep a notebook handy and jot down your thoughts, insights, and ideas. They may be useful reminders as you move forward in the process of appropriating your new identity.
In my own walk of faith, the breakthrough on these issues finally came when I realized that the same principles involved in my justification were also critical in my sanctification. The only seeming difference was that my justification was instantaneous whereas my sanctification, at least in the physical world, is an ongoing moment-by-moment process. Some would say that my sanctification is also instantaneous in the spiritual world. That may be so and Peter tells us that God has provided everything we need to live a godly life already. Still, making this spiritual reality a manifested reality in the physical, day-to-day world remains a process that occurs across time.
Through the teaching of the Holy Spirit it was if I saw a collection of key scriptures in a new and life-giving way. In either case, justification and sanctification, I realized that the key ingredient was faith. Just as I had accepted Christ into my life by faith, I should also accept his gift of personal transformation by faith. It really is as simple as that. So simple in conceptual terms, it is hard to put into words the actual experience that I had. It was, and remains, a personal epiphany. In terms of the mechanics of the process, I will again acquiesce to Francis Schaeffer:
In justification, we must see, acknowledge, and act upon the fact that we cannot save ourselves. In sanctification, we must see, acknowledge, and act upon the fact that we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength, or in our own goodness….In justification the instrument by which we receive the free gift of God is faith, which believes God as he has given us his promises in the Bible; in sanctification the instrument by which we receive the fee gift of God is faith, which believes God as he has given us his promises in the Bible. It is exactly the same thing. There is one difference between the practice of justification and sanctification. As justification deals with our guilt, and sanctification deals with the problem of the power of sin in our lives as Christians, justification is once for all, and the Christian life is moment by moment. There is a difference in that one deals with the guilt of my sin and the other deals with the power of sin in my life….Let me repeat: the only difference in the practice is that in justification it is once and for all, and the Christian life is live moment by moment. The Christian life is acting moment by moment on the same principle, and in the same way, as I acted at the moment of my justification.
As I became increasingly aware of the need to apply these spiritual truths to my life it was as if I had been sailing on a ship that had suddenly cleared a fog bank. Whereas before things were dark and murky, all of a sudden, by the grace and work of the Holy Spirit, I had eyes to see. As I applied these principles to my life I also began to see more clearly what Christ meant when he uttered those words about his yoke being light.
In closing, let me say that you can never underestimate the significance, the blessings, and the power that is unleashed when you accept the fullness of the gospel message, especially as it applies to you. In actuality, you become a point of spiritual light and potency. As you are gradually changed by the Holy Spirit your focus shifts from what God can do, and has done, for you and is directed more toward what you can do for God and for others. In a very real and tangible way, the more your life is inundated with the Holy Spirit and his work, you become a point of blessing for others.
There is no higher calling, privilege, and honor.
In its most fundamental sense, the process of fully appropriating your new identity in Christ is the greatest gift you can give to the world. Operating under you old identity, you were spiritually dead, cut off from the source of your true life. You were under the control of your lower nature, what Paul referred to as “the flesh.” Furthermore, you were held under the sway of both the world and the enemy. Living under the burdensome limitations of your old self, there was no way you could possibly approach the dynamic creativity and productivity of your God-given potential.
Now, however, by taking possession of who and what you are “in Christ,” you can discover your divine potential, find your spiritual calling, develop you personal vision, and grow into the best version of yourself. In Christ, you are reborn – you are spiritually alive and capable of making your own unique contribution to the world. When you become the best version of yourself, when you walk in your glory, you are in reality a gift of God to a hurting world.
© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved
