If we don't die to the world and everything that is of the world, how can we prove we belong to Him? Yes, God knows and examine our hearts but when our heart is not dead to the world, we can never prove ourselves to be His. And now I very much understand what it really meant that we need to die with Christ in baptism (a symbolic commitment to acknowledge our faith that Jesus is the Saviour born to us).
We need to die to the law that was given to rule us so that we can live by grace in the power of Christ.
We struggle a lot in our earthly life because of the control that the world and the Holy Spirit wanted in us. Every time when we give in to sin, the world gets stronger in us. Each time when we sin, we allow the world to live again in us. We were supposed to be dead. Each time we sin the world grows back stronger because our decision to sin give life to it. When we continue to live in sin, we walk backwards to Adam instead of moving forward to Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Let us study and ask the Holy Spirit to grant us understanding of God's word in Roman's 6:2-4 and then read the entire chapter 6. We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We share his death in our baptism. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can have a new life.
Galatians 2:20 speaks to us even more clearly when it says, I was put to death on the cross with Christ and I do not live anymore....it is Christ who now lives in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself to save me. Rightfully we are supposed to be dead to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our earthly life. When we accepted Christ as the Saviour, we gave ourselves to God....we returned ourselves to God. Our baptism means we sent the sinful man back to dust and live a new life in our Saviour, sharing His ressurrection.
Yes, we must be dead to our old life so that we can be alive in the new life. The Holy Spirit is in the new life, and that is on provision we have given up our old life. The Holy Spirit do not share his indwelling in us with other spirits. The glory belongs to God and we are His creations which make us rightfully His. God will never share us with anyone because our God is a jealous God. We either belong to Him or we are not! There's no two ways about this ownership rights. The only way is to die to everything that is of this present earthly life to prove purselves that we really desire to be exclusively His.
When we submit obedience to the Holy Spirit, gifted by God to help us with our earthly lives, Jesus grows a little in each with each obedience. In due time, we will experience total transformation from Adam to Christ. Every obedience from us in the power of the Holy Spirit brings honor and glory to our heavenly Father in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
In conclusion, you need to be dead to be alive. This may not be the desirable terms and conditions of man, but they are God's conditions.
May your choice be wise.......
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