Jesus Christ, the key to right living.

We often think that people that we see as "living in sin and having no heart for Christ" love to wallow in their sins and addictions; but many are looking for the Way out. In many places of worship, people who are struggling with sins and addictions are given more and more of the Ten Commandments (the Law) and a little of Grace. This is the horrid mixture that is "neither hot nor cold," so they go and sin more. God's word tells us why sin has dominion in the lives of many: "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:14.

Try to get right with God by human effort at obeying the law and sin will multiply, but many have this verse backwards and, intentionally or otherwise, continue to feed the flock with the letter that kills. But see how we are made right with God and also get to live a righteous life too: 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 makes people sinners. People are made sinners by Adam's sin. Everyone descended from Adam is born with this sin/old nature. Having this root of sin (old nature) is what causes acts of sin that lead to death (sickness, lack, etc are "death begun") to proliferate. When people try to keep the law in order to get right with God, the old nature is activated and sin flourishes. 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."

Unfortunately in the church today, the focus is on preaching obedience to the Ten Commandments (law-keeping) as the path to attaining righteousness, when what is needful is ridding the flock of the old/sinful nature that was inherited from Adam. Christ died to rid us of this old/sinful nature. See Colossians 2:11– “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.”

In Him, we are a new creation. God made Him to be sin for us 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/sin nature. Sin will no longer have dominion over you. You are dead to the law. Old things have passed away. No more curse. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus, made righteous not by your own obedience to the law but by Christ’s obedience (Romans 5:19.) 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 the old/sin nature that can only produce acts of sin and such that lead to death, in Christ, we have His righteousness, so we get to live right! Just as the sin nature produces acts of sin, as a new creation with Christ as our righteousness, we get to "produce a harvest of good deeds for God," yet not us but Christ in us.

In essence, no matter how hard one tries to be sin-free and right with God through obedience to the letter that kills, without 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 acts of sin. He has the old (sinful) nature. Sin will multiply and the end is death.

Remember Romans 6:14- “For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace.” Sin has dominion over those who are trying to obey the law in order to be godly (be like God.)

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

The one with the old nature rejects the gift of righteousness that Christ died that we might have and strives to attain righteousness/godliness (be like God) by human effort, just like Eve did. He does not believe Romans 5:19– "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."

But Romans 3:20 says :"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

Also, Galatians 5:4 says "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

Believer, not only is the Christian life difficult to live by human effort, it is impossible to live by human effort. This is why we sing "'tis no longer I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me..."

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 self-discipline, giving, morality, evangelism, tithe payment, 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 the gift of righteousness that Christ died that we might have; it is akin to killing mosquitoes inside your house but ignoring their breeding ground. More sins will come. 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 the glory of the Lord, from glory to glory, through no effort of ours but by His Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18.) We get to live in triumph over sin, stress, sickness and every ill. We get to love proclaiming Jesus. We get to live a life of moral excellence like that which the law demands, yet not us but Christ in us.

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."

This death that is as a result of Adam’s offence is not necessarily immediate. It is a process. Fear, stress, worry, silly mistakes, working so hard only to lose it all, sickness, lack, depression, fast-tracked ageing are all death begun. God said to Adam "for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die." Psalms 90:4 says of God "A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by,"; Moses wrote this concerning God's view of the life of man (v.3.) Adam did not give up the ghost immediately after his death sentence came into effect; he lived for almost 1,000 years aka one day gone by in the sight of God.

Only by the abundance of grace and having Christ as our righteousness do we get to live in triumph over sin and death.

Sinners are made righteous by "one Man's obedience": Christ's; when we 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 believe 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 (sin nature) that produces mosquitoes (acts of sin) that cause death (disease is death begun) is gone.

There might still be some mosquitoes (acts of sin, sickness, etc) inside your house after the stagnant water is removed but they will all die off and there will be none to replace them! Remember, “The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.” Proverbs 4:18. Things will only get better because you have the only brand of righteousness that counts before God: Christ’s.

In place of the root of sin that produces acts of sin, we have Christ's righteousness so we bear fruit to righteousness. We get to produce "a harvest of good deeds for God." No more mosquitoes (acts of sin) but right living, life and every blessing of God in Christ! This is the Good News.