Reigning in Life - Part 3 — Alan Martin

Experiencing God Through His Word

We're not here to study about God. You can study things in libraries. We need to experience God. And God inhabits the praises of His people. And if He's gathered people together, He's in the midst of them.

And what we're here to do is to experience God through His Word. And to do that, we need to acknowledge if you'll just join with me in that. Father, we do acknowledge that there's just not any way we can accomplish knowing You apart from Your grace and mercy and You revealing Yourself.

And we're grateful for everything that You have done so far. Everything You've made possible to be known. That You sent forth Your own Son and He literally exegeted You. He made You known so that we could understand what You were really like.

And we bless You for that revelation and we thank You that You have shown Yourself to be merciful, kind, righteous, pure, holy, powerful, full of wisdom and understanding. And we long to be made in Your image.

Because when we see You, You are awesome in Your beauty. And we long to be like You. And we know to this purpose You give Your Word and Your Spirit to guide us into all truth. You said through Your servant Paul that You chose us to be saved through the sanctification of the Spirit and the belief in the truth.

And we ask that Your Spirit would sanctify us by the Word of Truth this morning. Set us apart unto Yourself. Speak to us in the ways that we need to hear Your voice. May the ministry of exhortation and admonition and encouragement and instruction and all those things Your Spirit uses to change us in the inner man.

Strengthen us there in our innermost being with power so that Christ can dwell in our hearts through faith, Father. And being rooted and established in Your love, we can grow up in all things into Your Son.

We can grow up into Christ. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We've been... This is really kind of part three of what's been upon my heart. It's not a message in the sense of... It's not a sermon. It's a hunger.

It's a desire for reality. We begin in Romans where it talks about... If you want to see just where we started and what has been upon our hearts, it's in Romans chapter 5. You can just get a feel of it.

Grace as the Person and Power of Christ

There in the fifth chapter of Romans, Paul is speaking about grace in a way that not near enough people know grace. Most of us when we think of grace, we think of unmerited favor, but grace is so much more than a Band-Aid over a sick man that calls him to be seen as well though he's not.

Grace is the very person of Jesus Christ full of power, full of wisdom, full of glory, full of understanding, full of everything we need to be transformed from the likeness of Adam into the likeness of Christ.

That's grace. We think sin's powerful and you can see the effects of sin in the world. But we've made this very clear. Sin is not near as powerful as grace. That's what it says right here in Romans. You can see here in the 17th chapter...

Fifth chapter of Romans, verse 17. For if by the trespass of the one man death reigned through the one man... Well, you've heard that death has reigned through the one man, hasn't he? None of us are contending that, but the Scripture says how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?

And the key to this reigning in life we've talked about is not those who receive the free gift of righteousness. I'm assuming you're being here that that's taken care of. That you've received the gift of righteousness by faith.

But the key to reigning in life is stated here how much more will those receiving the abundant provision of grace... It's actual present participle in the Greek. Those receiving the abundance of grace will reign in life.

And where... Those of you who've been here, where is this grace found? It is Christ. Christ is the grace of God. Christ is in all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Christ. And it doesn't say you will be given this fullness.

It says He have been given this fullness. And the Holy Spirit is given unto us. It says, Paul says, We have not received the Spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God that we might understand those things which are freely given.

Past tense. They have been given. And they've all been given in the person of Jesus Christ. And to the extent you really know Jesus Christ you know and live in grace. Grace is not a theology. Grace is a person.

A living reality called Christ. And when you abide in Christ grace reigns. Look in the latter part of this chapter 5. The latter part. Verse 18, Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

Most of us have got that part. We do well there. We understand that justification means we're justified from our sins. And we're acquitted, we're pardoned, we're forgiven. But we need to go beyond justification into the glorification part that the Scripture speaks about because it says, just as that is a reality, verse 19, for just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners.

All of you can testify that you've known that, haven't you? You've known that you were sinners, that you were made sinners. But it goes on to say, so also through the obedience of the one man will many be made righteous.

Righteous, actual, practical, real, visible, measurable righteousness. Obedient, godly, sober, just, fair, pure in this life. In this life. This is the confidence we have in the day of judgment. First John says that as He is, so are we in this world.

Every religion believes in that world we're going to be perfect. Right? The Indians believe that. The Buddhists believe that. Now the Hindus say if you mess up in that world, or in this world, you come back.

Worse, you know. But most religions believe that over there you're going to be perfect. That's not sufficient for us. Christ says for those, for us, for those who believe in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

In this life, we conquer in tribulation, in hardship, in distress, in persecution, in difficulties, and we conquer through Him. Because in Him is the grace of God. Paul told Timothy, this grace was given us in Him.

Christ is the grace of God. You don't need to pray about receiving grace. You need to pray about receiving Christ. Christ is the grace of God. And if you're living in Christ, you're living in the grace of God.

This is the key. But you see, there has been a shallow understanding of what it means to know Christ. Christ said, he that believeth in me, we talked about this last week, he that believeth in me, something dynamic will occur.

What occurs to the person, in the person, through the person, who literally and actually believes in Jesus Christ? What happens? Rivers of living water. Rivers of living water shall flow from His innermost being.

That's the real evidence that you are believing in Christ. That you're living in Christ. John put it this way. He talked about overcoming the world by faith, and he said this, little children, let no one deceive you.

Whoever does what is righteous, is righteous because what? He is righteous. You can't claim to be in Christ and not be righteous. He says no one who lives in Him, what? Keeps on sinning. He says he that keeps on sinning, hath neither seen Him, nor known Him.

You don't live in Jesus Christ as the same old person you were. If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things have passed away, and a lot of things have become new. All things have become new.

Grace Reigning Over Sin and Producing Righteousness

Now this is where the rub is. This is the truth of Scripture. This is where the Apostle Paul said, and all the other apostles with him said, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. And he said I've learned the secret of being content in every situation.

I've learned how to be abased, and I've learned how I'm bound. What is the secret of being content in every situation you're in? What I just said. I can do all things. And it says, I'm going to let Grady quote the verse.

Grady quote Zach Toon's favorite verse here in 2 Corinthians. Because Christ is the grace of God, and Christ has already been given, God is able to do what? Make all grace abound in you, so that at all times,.

Having all sufficiency, you may abound in every good work. Okay, now say that again. God is able to make His all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all sufficiency, you may abound in every good work.

So the truth of the matter is, we don't do poorly because of where we are. Because where sin abounded, more. Grace abounds all the more. Just as sin reigned in death, the grace in Christ is to reign in righteousness.

See, that's the old law. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has done what? It set me free from the law of sin and death. But what is the key to this? This is what the Scripture says, but what if your experience says differently?

Don't interpret the Word of God by your experience, or let God's Word reform your experience. A lot of people experienced that this was not a possibility. Matter of fact, out of those that came out of Egypt, we went and looked at there.

Alright, because here's where we are. This is how we've been relating the subject. God let His people out of Egypt. Okay? Brought them to the border of Canaan. Said that there in the border of Canaan, He had provided cities already built, houses already built, filled with all kinds of good things, orchards already established, vineyards already established, fields in complete cultivation, and He says it's all yours, enter and possess.

And how many out of 603 ,050 went in? Two. So for 603 ,048, 603 ,048, it wasn't a reality. But for the two who God said were of a different spirit, and who served Me wholeheartedly, it was reality for them.

And we want this same kind of life. God, it says in 2 Corinthians 1, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, verse 20, for no matter how many promises God has made, and there's a lot of promises God has made, hasn't He?

Where are they? Yes. And Amen. In Christ, they are yes and Amen. And that's what we want to experience. We want to begin to live life experiencing the promises of God by living in Christ. Now, what was the problem the first time that Israel was at the border of Canaan?

They came there, God said to go in, but they were prohibited from going in. Why? Why did they not enter? The Scripture says they were not able to enter because of... Close. Unbelief. They were not able to enter because of unbelief.

So, follow me. The key to receiving God's abundant provision of grace is living a life of genuine, real faith in Christ. And this is the rub. Because it's what people have made faith that is so sad. We have made faith to a mystical, philosophical, non-tangible reality instead of saying faith should be measured by what comes out of your life.

Faith should be measured by your words. Faith should be measured by your actions. Faith should be actual, measurable, visible. And what does it look like? It looks like obedience. It looks like righteousness.

It looks like godliness. It looks like holiness. Because you can only be in Christ for those things to be a reality. You can claim to know Christ, but if you're living in Christ, the reality of it will be righteousness, holiness, holiness, faith, and obedience.

Faith From Faith to Faith

Now, this is where faith has been misunderstood, and this is where I want to take it this morning. Turn to Romans chapter 1. That's the introduction. No, I don't have any form. I just have a burning desire for this to be a reality.

Romans chapter 1, and let's look at the key. If you're familiar with the Scripture, and most of you here would be familiar with the Scripture, I will assume, it says in Hebrews chapter 4, who really enters the rest of God?

Who enters that rest? Those who believe enter that rest. So this is the question, because if you remember, in Hebrews chapter 4 it says, For we have had the gospel preached to us just as they, but the message they heard did not profit them, for they did not combine it with faith.

So the question is, you're going to hear what the gospel, what the apostles, and what Christ has taught. Are you going to combine it with faith? Are you going to say yes and amen in this? Because you realize, and it's a little more than a one-time act that you may have begun and done in your past.

Look with me in Romans to see this. Romans chapter 1, verse 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. When you see the expression, who believes, in most of our English translations, it is a present participle in the Greek for everyone believing in the present current act of believing.

Not someone who has claimed to have gone through an act of faith in the past. A present condition verb, an action verb, or gerund, I guess they'd call it, participle, something you are now doing, believing.

The gospel is the power of God for the ones believing. Now, there's no power for those who are not believing. See that? Now, look on down. Next verse. Verse for the Jews and for the Gentiles, verse 17.

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is, the NIV says, by faith from first to last. What does the New American Standard say? Who has the New American Standard? That's all it says?

After faith? Huh? From faith to faith. From faith to faith. Faith to faith. In the Greek, it is very interesting construction, very intentional by the Apostle Paul. It is, the righteous shall live by faith, ek pistouos, out of faith, in, ice, I mean, ice piston, out of faith, unto faith.

Now, follow me. Out unto faith. And this is where, this is where the rubber meets the road and where we are. Because I'm going to assume most everybody here has come out of faith. That's where Israel began, didn't they?

If you want to turn there, you don't have to, but in Exodus chapter 4, verse 20, when Moses came and appeared to the elders of Israel and said, the I Am, that I Am has sent me, and he threw down the rod and it became a snake and he stuck it in his hand and pulled it out of his cloak and it became, was leprous, it says, Israel believed God.

So they came out of faith. We also know they were of faith at one time, weren't they? Because what did they do when Moses told them, God is going to send a death angel through. And if you want to be spared, here is what you need to do.

You need to take the blood of a lamb, cover the doorpost on the tops and the sides, and stay in your house. And those who believed did so and were spared. So they came out of faith. The question is, did they come unto faith?

They were out of faith, okay. But on the way of unto faith, they had some real problems, didn't they? They came to the Red Sea. Did they come unto faith? They came to hunger. Did they come unto faith?

They came to thirst. Did they come unto faith? They came, you know, time and time and time again, their sinful, unbelieving hearts were revealed until finally at the day when their spies came back and gave the report that it is a great land, but the cities there are large and strong and the people there are giants and there's no way we can defeat them.

Ten out of the twelve spies agreed and the entire nation of Israel, with the exception of Moses, Joshua and Caleb agreed with them. The Lord told Moses, get out of the way of these people. I'm going to destroy them right now.

And start over with you. That's literally what happened and Moses pled for God, no Lord, then the nations around are going to say, you brought them out to the desert to kill them. I plead with you. You know, show yourself mighty like you showed me on the mountain.

The Lord showed the greatness of your name, that you were long-suffering, compassionate, gracious, willing to forgive. And so the Lord relented, but he said this, how long will these people treat me with contempt?

How long will these people refuse to believe in me? Not one man of this unbelieving generation shall ever step foot in the land I swore to give to their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

So they came out of faith, but they did not come unto faith. The righteous live by faith. Let's look at an example of a man who did though. Abraham. Did Abraham come out of faith and unto faith? He sure did.

Abraham's Persevering Faith in God's Promise

Look in Romans chapter 4 with me. Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. It says, Therefore the promise... Look in verse 16 with me. I'm sorry, Romans 4, 16. It says, Therefore the promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to Abraham's offspring, not only to those who are of the law, but to those who are of the faith of Abraham.

He's the father of us all as it is written, I have made you a father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls those things that are not as though they were.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations. Just as it is written, so shall your offspring be. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, being about a hundred years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead.

But listen to this. But he did not waver through unbelief in regard to the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith. So he came out of faith and when he was faced with difficulty, the fact that his body, he was a hundred years old, and that Sarah's womb was dead.

How would he know Sarah's womb was dead? She stopped menstruating. There was no blood flow. There was no ovulation. Her womb was dead. But he didn't waver through unbelief. He came et pistuos, ice-piston, all the way out of faith and unto faith.

He did not waver through unbelief in regard to the promise of God, but he was strengthened in his faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded God had power to do what He promised. That's why it was credited to him under righteousness, because he came out of faith and he finished in the faith.

You see that? Out of faith, unto faith. That's how the righteous live. It's not one act of faith. It's out of faith, in the faith, all your life. Matter of fact, look in Hebrews 11. I'll show you this.

There's several verses that make this very poignantly true for us. Hebrews 11. There were a lot of different men in the Old Testament, a lot of different prophets, but all of them found favor with God for the same reason.

They all did one thing that was very pleasing to God. Find that in Hebrews 11. What did all of them do that pleased God? They believed. That's what they were commended for, but do you think it was a one-time act?

No, look in verse 13. They just didn't believe God once. What does verse 13 say? Someone read that for us. All of these died in faith. So not only had they begun in faith, they finished in faith. The NIV says, all these were still living by faith when they died.

Will you still be living by faith when you die? That's the question. I don't want to know what you have believed. I want to know what you believe. Do you believe in Christ? Then is grace greater than sin?

Is the power of righteousness greater than the power of disobedience? All of us have been like Adam, right? How many of us are going to be made like Christ? It says, as we have borne the likeness of the earthly, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly.

And you want to say that that's going to be in that life. If you want to say that that's going to be in that life, you've stripped Christianity of its power. You've neutered it. You've made it no different than any other religion.

The greatest testimony that we have in the world today that though we are vessels of clay, Paul says, we have this treasure in jars of clay that it might be seen in the excellency of the power is of God.

We have the opportunity to glorify God by demonstrating that though we be in a weak and human state, the power of Christ living in us is transforming us from the inside out daily from one degree of glory to another.

And this is what we need. Now, this is out of faith and under faith. Look, just quickly, and I'll have to wrap this up so we don't stay here too long today. I could talk about this for hours literally, but I'm not going to today.

Continuing in Faith and the Sufficiency of Christ

Colossians, if you would. This is what Paul was meaning in these verses that it's not only imperative that we begin in faith, we continue in faith. Look in the first chapter of Colossians and beginning with verse 21, follow me.

Colossians 1 .21. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior, but now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight without blemish and free from accusation.

What does all of your versions in verse 23 begin with? If. If. All of your versions begin with if because that's what it is in the Greek. That's the idea. If what? He will present you holy in His sight without blemish and free from accusation if you do what?

Continue in your faith. Do you see it? You can't just be ext pastuo. You just can't be out of faith. You have to be living unto faith. It's out of faith, unto faith. If you continue in Him, it says, continue in your faith, established and firm, not to move from the hope cut out in the gospel.

Now, Paul is like a lot of good carpenters. He's hit this nail on the head in almost every letter. But you know what a good carpenter does? Even if there's no way that nail can be any lower, what's he going to do?

Wham! I mean, if the rest of my life, all I do is hit the same nail on the head that Christ is adequate, that Christ is the grace of God, that Christ has brought us to victory, that Christ can enable us to live in righteousness and godliness, then all my life, I'm going to hit that nail on the head again.

I'm not going to excuse sin because where sin abounded, grace abounds all the more. It's time to be done with sin. And it's time to talk about grace and the power of grace and the righteousness it produces and the godliness it produces and the holiness it produces in our life.

That's the power of the living grace of God. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared unto all men, teaching us to do what? Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly, finish it for me, in this present life.

And that's the nail we're going to hit again and again and again till we get it. Out of faith, unto faith. Right here in this thing, he's going to hit it again in Colossians 2. Start with verse 5. Actually, back in verse 4.

I tell you this, so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments, for though I'm absent from you in the body, I am present with you in spirit, and I'm delighted to see how orderly you are and how what?

How firm your faith is. And he doesn't even just stop there. He goes on. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him. How did you receive Christ Jesus as Lord? By faith.

So how must you continue to live in Him? By faith. You received Him by faith, you must continue in Him by faith. And it goes on. Rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught.

And this is one of the places where I disagree with the translators of the NIV. They just say, strengthened in the faith, overflowing with thankfulness. But they really missed something that was very important.

So I'd like to see how the New American Standard puts it. See, they did it too. And I don't know why it is. In language, there are pronouns that must be related in case, gender, and number. And that's how you know the two words go together.

In the original language, this is how it should be. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, abounding in it.

It's in the Greek. Abounding in it. And it is same in case, gender, and number with faith. Abounding therein, see? So that's a pretty good translation. And the therein, Roger, is abounding in faith. You see, out of faith, unto faith.

Abounding in faith with thanksgiving. Because let's just shortly state the reality. This is not the reality of all. Look what Paul said to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15. Sadly, this is a reality for some.

1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 1. Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you which you received and which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you were saved. Then all your versions probably have the same next word.

If. If what? If you hold firmly. You see, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you, how do you hold firmly to the word that you've heard? By faith. Otherwise, he said, what did Paul say? Otherwise, you believe in vain.

This is why this is a burden on my heart. It is not sufficient for me to get people saved and baptized. Justified and forgiven of their sins. The Lord blessed me with bringing me into the life of an older gentleman, some of whom you have met.

His name is John Riley. You want to get John Riley riled up. He's 87 years old I think now. I think he just turned 87. He reads the Scriptures in the original language of the Greek. When he talks about salvation, he lights up and he wants to make it clear.

It's not a one-time thing. It's everything. It's everything. It's forgiveness. It is justification. But it's more than that. It's regeneration. It's sanctification. It's growth. It's the whole process.

And if we overemphasize one part above another, we have made a man-made concept of it. And I'd just like to keep it simple. Here's how you know you're really in the faith. You're being conformed to the image of Christ.

When Paul asked the Corinthians to examine themselves to see whether they beware. By the way, what was he asking you to see whether they beware? In the faith. Oh, that's a silly question. If you want to be a Christian, you're always going to be in the faith.

That's a dumb question. Well, it wasn't a dumb question because it's the question to see if you really are in the faith. How do you know whether you really are in the faith? What did he say to see? If Christ is living in you.

See, you shouldn't ask someone, have you been born again? That's a good question. Why don't you just take them right to the reality of it. Is Christ living in you today? And if Christ is living in you, the Bible says your body's dead because of sin, your spirit's alive because of righteousness, and he who was raised from the dead, his life will be made known in you.

And he'll share literally everything of himself, he'll make it known to you. That's called living in Christ. That's out of faith and under faith. And that's what we're going to be talking about. That's what our time together is for.

It's not to study about Christ, who he was. It's to encourage one another to come and live in him. Living in him today. We have come out of faith. I believe if you're here, if you've known Christ, you've begun, you've come out of Egypt.

Joshua, Circumcision, and Cutting Away the Flesh

I want to share one last thing with you that is pertinent. I wasn't sure I was going to share it today. But I think this is kind of where a lot of us are. Turn with me to the book of Joshua 5. May the Lord help me just tie this together.

Where we are here is Israel has just begun to come into the promised land. They have crossed the Jordan. This is the second generation. The first unbelieving generation is dead. These are their children, grown up.

Grown up in the wilderness. They've come into the land of promise and they are on the verge of entering into their possession. Look in verse 2 of chapter 5. At this time, at that time, the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.

It's clearly again, in the New American Standards, it says a second time. Again, a second time. So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeah Harolot. How does that relate to today's message?

Well, these children here, it says in verse 4, this is why he did so. All those which came out of Egypt, all the men of military age, they died. We mentioned that. And all the people, it says in verse 5, that came out had been circumcised, all the ones that came out of Egypt had been circumcised, but all the people born in the desert during the journey from Egypt had not.

And this is what has dawned upon me. I don't know where your spiritual life has been in the past, but I know this. Circumcision represents something. It was a type in shadow. What is circumcised? In the physical part of it, what is actually circumcised in the act of circumcision?

What is it? It is a piece of flesh. So you're cutting away flesh. Well, it's interesting. It's just dawned upon me that unbelieving generations don't teach their children how to put away the flesh. And I'm afraid that's where we are in too many.

We've not been raised in a believing generation that told our children, you don't have to live by the flesh. You can walk by the Spirit. The flesh is not a reason you get angry. Unbelief is a reason you get angry.

The Scripture says, walk by the Spirit and what? You will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The Bible says to put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. But you see, where we are, I think we're coming to a place and many of us, God in His goodness, brings us to this place where we have been taught a lot by grace and we may be on the verge of a new and different life, but we need to be circumcised again.

Again. Now where do you get spiritual circumcision? That's where it happens. But I think we've learned this lesson. It says here, Joshua made the knives. Our Joshua is Christ. And most of us have learned this lesson.

We're not good at circumcising ourselves. A lot of us have been in this fight a long time, have been brought like Paul through Romans chapter 7. Kind of like Abraham. We've longed to see Christ fully formed in us.

We've longed to see the reality come in us, but we realize something. It's never going to happen by us. But we don't become despairing because God in His goodness has prepared us for the reality of this statement.

Those who are of Christ have done what? Have crucified the flesh. And we've experienced a circumcision, as Paul says, look in Colossians 2 here. The last Scripture. Colossians 2. Look in chapter 2 and verse 9.

And I want you to notice where the reality of this promise occurs, where location is extremely important here. Verse 9, For in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

And in Him you are also circumcised in the putting off of the sinful nature. Of course, most of your versions would say in the putting off of the flesh. Where is the flesh put off? Where is the flesh put off?