The story of our salvation in Christ Jesus.

I'd been doing my best to resolve the mosquito issues we'd been experiencing at my home (especially in our living room) for months. This breed of mosquitoes seemed to laugh off Mortein when I used it on them. I'd "Baygon" the whole place and see their dead bodies on the floor afterwards but our relief was always shortlived; they'd be humming all over the place again within hours! But then, I remembered Integrated Science or was it Home Economics😊: mosquitoes need stagnant water to breed! I rushed outside: close to our living room windows were two buckets, both of them half-filled with rain/tap water, and with all sorts floating thereon. Mosquitoes everywhere! The point being no matter how often I Baygon-ed the house, our respite from mosquitoes would always be temporary; unless their breeding places got destroyed. Plus insecticides have their own discomforts and side-effects and the mosquitoes would eventually become resistant to them too. How does this relate to us in Christ today? Romans 5:19 says- 

"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous"

From the above verse, we see that committing acts of sin is not what make people sinners. People are made sinners by Adam's sin. Everyone is born with this sin/old nature. Acts of sin are simply products of having the old nature that is inherited from Adam. The mosquitoes that bothered me represent acts of sin that lead to death (sickness, anxiety, lack, stress, depression and all earthly ills are "death begun.") Remember Adam did not drop dead physically on the day his death sentence came into effect. This death came to be as a result of Adam's sin: Romans 5:17- "For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many...." 

The stagnant water in the buckets represents man having the old nature inherited from Adam. This root of sin is what causes the mosquitoes (acts of sin) that lead to death (sickness, depression, lack, etc) to proliferate. We see this in Romans 7:5- 

"When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death." 

Notice that it is the introduction of the law that arouses evil desires....

Unfortunately in the church today, the focus is on preaching the killing of mosquitoes (sinful desires/acts of sin) with harmful insecticide (law-keeping; the letter kills) as the path to attaining righteousness, when what is needful is ridding the flock of the old nature that was inherited from Adam. What is needful is preaching Righteousness as God's gift to us that we receive freely and only because of obedience of Christ. Christ died to rid us of this old/sin nature: 

"When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature." Colossians 2:11.

Romans 5:9 says- "And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

But the one with the old nature inherited from Adam  does not believe that he has perfect right-standing with God through the blood of Jesus. He is constantly afraid of God's wrath (punishment,) the same wrath that God's word says believers will never experience because of Jesus' sacrifice. The old nature strives to be godly (be like God) by human effort at obeying the law, just as Adam and Eve did- see Paul's typology of the "forbidden fruit" as a picture of the law that many are trying to obey in order to be godly (be like God) in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)- 

"Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me..."

Satan, through many "men of God," is still seducing churchgoers into believing that the way to be godly and saved is by human effort (at obeying the law.) The one with the old nature strives to be like God (godly/righteous in God's sight) by human effort, thus rejecting God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ. There is only condemnation here.

But in Christ, we are a new creation. God put our sin on Him so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, as it is written in 2 Cor. 5:21- "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

When you receive the abundance of grace and believe that you are saved and made righteous by the obedience of Christ (Romans 5:19) and not your own obedience or your self-discipline and law-keeping prowess, you no longer have the old nature. You are dead to the law. Old things have passed away. No more curse. No more condemnation; made righteous in God's sight even though we are guilty of many sins. This is what stumps many, but believer, see it in Romans 5:16-

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins." 

In  Christ, we are a new creation in Christ Jesus, united with Christ. And this is the result according to Romans 7:4-

"So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God."

Instead of stagnant water in vessels that can only produce acts of sin and such that lead to death, in Christ, we have rivers of living water that give life! Just as the sin/old nature produces acts of sin that lead to death, as a new creation with Christ as our righteousness, we get to bear fruit to righteousness, yet not us but Christ in us. 

In essence, no matter how many canisters of insecticide one expends in a bid to kill the mosquitoes (trying hard by one's power to obey the law and be sin-free,) without getting rid of the stagnant water (rejecting the old nature that was inherited from Adam and receiving our Lord Jesus' blood-bought righteousness which is given as a gift to all who believe Him,) he can never be free from mosquitoes (acts of sin.) He has the old (sinner) nature. Sin will multiply and the end is death, "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14.

This is why many in the church today are trapped in an endless cycle of attending deliverance and curse-breaking sessions all in a bid to be free from one bondage or the other that Christ died to free us from. Like my Baygon and mosquitoes experience, any results will be short-lived. The old nature is still intact so no matter how much such do to be free from their "mosquitoes" of acts of sin and death in the form of sickness, lack, depression, etc, more will come.

Grace is undeserved, unmerited favour. If one iota of our strength is in it, it is no longer Grace (Romans 11:6,) and only by grace through faith are we saved, so we have nothing to boast of in ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9,) not our own law-keeping, fasts, self-discipline, giving, morality, evangelism, dedication or right-living prowess. Wonderful as these things are, they cannot save anybody. Doing them in order to gain God's favour and acceptance is rejecting what Christ did to save us; it is akin to killing mosquitoes inside your house but ignoring their breeding ground. Only in the Beloved are we accepted. Ephesians 1:6.

With the Lord as our righteousness, the old nature is no more; "all these things shall be added unto you." We get to be transformed to the image of His glory, from glory to glory, through no effort of ours but by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18.) We  get to live in triumph over sin and death, including death's symptoms such as stress, sickness and every ill. We get to love proclaiming Jesus.

Romans 5:17 says: "For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Only with Christ as our righteousness do we get to live in triumph over sin. And mosquitoes too😊

Sinners are made righteous by "one Man's obedience," Christ's; when they believe that God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21. Here, we are a new creation in Christ. When you realise that your right-standing with God and His blessings upon you have got nothing to do with what you did or did not do but have ALL to do with what Christ has done, the old (sinner) nature is no more. The stagnant water is gone. 

There might still be some mosquitoes (acts of sin) and symptoms of death (lack, sickness, depression) inside your house after this but they will all die off and there will be none to replace them because our root is now Christ's righteousness.

In place of the root of sin (old nature) that produces a "harvest of sinful deeds that lead to death", we have Christ's righteousness (new creation) so we bear fruit to righteousness. We get to produce "a harvest of good deeds for God." No more mosquitoes of sins that lead to death but faith works according to God's will and every blessing of God in Christ! This is the Good News.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.