Daily Bible Verses for 3/21/2016
Bible Verse
Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Reading Notes
Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us, we who have placed our faith in Jesus and accepted Him as our Lord and Savior are no longer dead in our trespasses and sins. Our sin-nature has been crucified with Christ and we share in His resurrection, as we are born a new creation into His righteousness. Therefore, it is not we who live; but Christ who lives in us by the renewing of the spirit. The renewing of the spirit is a process of spiritual growth, carried out by the Holy Spirit who indwells each and every Christian. That process is called sanctification and it’s God’s process of spiritual growth whereby the Holy Spirit changes our hearts and our character from the inside out. The Bible tells us we were all created in the image of God, that means each and every person consists of a body, soul and spirit. However, our spirit prior to salvation was dead in trespasses and sins. And because of this, before salvation, our hearts drew its influence from the things of this fallen world. However, with our salvation, we received a new spirit which is no longer dead, but alive to God and the things of God. And because of our salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells us and works with our new spirit, which we received by our faith in Jesus. And it’s through this work carried out by God, that we are built into a new creation in Christ Jesus our Lord. And it’s through this work carried out by the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds, that we become effective for the kingdom of God.
This means after our salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, our hearts no longer draw our energy and influence from a world which is fallen and at enmity with God. Because of our new spirit, we now draw our energy and influence directly from God and His word, the Bible. The new spirit which we received from God is one of the many gifts of our salvation, as a result of our faith in Christ. So we must remember in times past, we drew our strength from the world around us and from our own desires, now we draw our strength from God who indwells us. Dear child of God this is so important for us to understand, why? Because this means that our sanctification is a process brought about by God. It’s God’s process of spiritual growth, which is carried out directly by the Holy Spirit in our lives, making us more sensitive to the things of God. Through this process, we become a new person and a new creation in Christ. This process can be accomplished because Jesus has freed us from the penalty of sin which hung over us. By our faith, Jesus has forever removed the penalty of sin from us. Which means sin and darkness no longer have dominion over us, nor our lives. Therefore, we now have the ability to live our lives for Jesus, and with that comes the God given desire to seek the lost and carry out God’s will. And we do so by submitting to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our day to day lives.