Buzzwords! by Andrew Farley

– It all sounds good, but it sounds good before salvation. It doesn’t respect the finished work of Jesus Christ, simply because while we may still sin, we are no longer sinners.

The Bible teaches that we were born sinners – in other words, we aren’t sinners because we sin, rather, we sin because we were sinners. After salvation, we were given new identities, which means that we are no longer sinners.

We are saints, not because of our works, but because of Christ’s righteousness alive in us. We don’t have 2 identities. Our works do not define who we are.

– We are definitely learning and our minds are constantly being renewed. We are growing. There are things to come, such as the new resurrection body which reflects what we already have on the inside. These are the ‘Not Yets’ we should be knowing.

People try to twist this in the sense that they say ‘we are now saints, but not yet saints’; ‘we are now righteous, but not yet righteous’; and while this may help people to sound somewhat intelligent (and not yet intelligent), this cannot be further away from the truth.

Simply put, Christ’s finished work guaranteed our righteousness NOW. We are saints NOW. We are saved NOW.

– The original greek word which was ‘translated’ to ‘sinful nature’ is ‘sarx’, which is literally, ‘flesh’.

For the longest time, the words ‘sinful nature’ have been keeping people in bondage, giving people the lie that though we have been saved, we still have work to do to get rid of or to suppress our ‘sinful nature’.

Fortunately, this ‘sinful nature’, which was eventually associated to our ‘old self’ – ALL this has been crucified with Christ, and we are ONLY the new creation, the new self, as Christ was raised new, NOW.

You may think according to the flesh, but the truth is you are a new creation. That encompasses everything about you.

– Here’s another term that promotes nothing more than exclusivity.. However, if Jesus Christ is alive in you, then you should already know that you do not just have the Spirit, but you are always filled with the Spirit!

The feeling we seek which is associated with what the world calls ‘spirit-filled’ is already with you, when you know that Christ is alive in you, and that you are alive in Christ.

Have an overflowing joy associated with the indwelling of the Spirit by knowing the love of God has already been poured out, soaking and filling you, because of Christ’s finished work!

– Jesus Christ is Savior AND Lord. There is NO way for you to have Jesus Christ as Savior, but not Lord – don’t separate His roles, because He is all of these things, and more!

Instead of picking and choosing as if that was an option, let us lovingly understand more about his roles, and let us grow more and more in the fullness of who Christ is.

– Not that this is a bad word, but it’s just been so misused and abused.. In the case of Christ’s finished work, we need to know and dwell on the fact that we have been made obedient in the heart.

Paul also mentions the obedience of faith – He puts these two terms together by saying that believing is obeying. The unbeliever has an unbelieving heart, but because of Christ, we have an established faith, and consequently an obedient heart.

Faith is obedience, obedience is faith.

– Perhaps we’ve misjudged this term. Do you believe that God is trying to break you?

The only thing that God wants broken in us is our dependency in the the fleshy way of thinking. He wants my confidence in the flesh to be broken… but He is absolutely NOT breaking you – you have been made a new creation in Christ, and He is NOT about to break the new creation!

If you are in Christ, then God is not breaking you down – in fact, He’s building you up.

– ‘You need to surrender to God’; Now, if the context here is to say ‘You need to trust God’, then that’s perfectly in Christ..

..but if you’re saying you surrender as if you and God were on warring sides, then you need to know, again, that you have already died and were raised in Christ, and this means that you are in God’s team.

– ‘Don’t worry about your sins because they’re under the blood’ – false. Your sins are not just soaked in the blood of Christ, but they have been washed away!

Christ is the Lamb of God who TOOK AWAY your sins.

– Some people take this statement and put the focus back on you and your performance to somehow get physically nearer to God.. and when it’s said that way, you’ve missed the point.

The fact is, it’s God who got as close as He could be to you, because of Christ’s finished work.

Christ guaranteed that you are as close to God as you could ever be.

– There was a time that it was pretty prominent that people would say that there were times they would feel close to God, and other times they would feel disconnected and out of fellowship…

…and obviously, what follows is pressure for you to read the Bible more, and for you to sing out louder, pray more, and more, and more…

The truth is that sin cannot take you away from God’s presence. You are no longer made for sin.

– There ARE consequences to our actions, but if we already have Jesus Christ, these sorts of ‘curses’ – well, we are no longer under the curse of the Law, and Christ is the end of the Law – We are, in fact, BLESSED with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Don’t believe this fake news of curses! Why be fixated on curses and trying to be ‘free’, when you have already been freed in Jesus Christ! Count yourself free and liberated.

Live free! Fix your eyes on Christ!

– That just sounds so spiritual, doesn’t it? It makes you feel so humble and good…

…but if you’re saying that, what did God need with you in the first place, if you’re saying it’s all of Him? Why are you here?

The truth is that God has invited you to the table; He wants you to participate; like an excited Father, God wants you involved, for you to celebrate with Him; that it’s ALL of GOD, with ALL of YOU.

What about ‘dying daily’? Paul mentions this simply because he was literally under mortal threat each and every day in Ephesus. He knows very well that he already died once, and that He is already a new creation – and that’s what we should know and believe!

It’s all of God, and all of you in a beautiful union.