A New Me – The Real Me (Part 2)

Written by John Culbertson

Jun 2, 2022

When we look at circumstances of life, sometimes we think we’re getting an F grade with God. But the Real Me (which is A New Me!) knows differently.

The Real Me knows it’s not all about what’s happening TO us in life; it’s about what God has done FOR us, IN us. We get so focused on what’s happening TO us that we forget what He’s done IN us, and what Jesus went through to make that occur.

Jesus took our F so we could live His A+.

We really need to understand the consequences of what took place with the resurrection, Jesus rising from the dead. Here’s our core scripture:

“So here I am dead and alive at the same time. I’m dead to the old me I was trying to be and alive to the real me which is Christ in me. Co-crucified, now co-alive. What a glorious entanglement. I was in him in his death; now I discover that he is infused in me, in my life. For the first time, I’m free to be me in my skin, immersed in his faith in our joint-sonship. He loves me and believes in me. He is God’s gift to me.” – GALATIANS 2:20 (MIRROR)

God says He has faith in us! He knows what He put inside us and what it took to bring it out.  And now, He believes we’re going to live it out because of what His Son did for us.

He died; we died! He lives; we live!

It’s new life. It’s not a remanufactured life that still has the old parts. Our spirit has been 100% transformed to look just like Jesus. That said, our soul – our mind, our emotions, etc. – is being changed. The more we get into the Word of God and renew our mind, the more that transformation’s pace will happen.

Our bodies will be changed too. “So, why do I still do stupid things?” It’s because your body still has those earthly desires that keep pulling you towards doing the wrong thing. But, your spirit keeps pointing you back towards Jesus, Who says, “That’s not who you really are. Follow Me.”

When you get saved, on the outside everything still looks the same. But inside, the real you changed from eternally dying to eternally living. It’s a new you. We need to say that and understand that. “Thank You, Father, for making me new!”

God’s grace provided us righteousness. It’s not because of my righteousness and what I’ve done, but because of what He’s done.

Here’s the truth about sin: People think it’s our sin that makes God mad, but it’s Adam’s sin. It’s what’s brought on the issue initially. We were born with a sin nature because of Adam.

“18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. 20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – ROMANS 5:18-21 (NLT)

God, through Jesus, supersedes everything that Adam failed in.

So many people think God gave humanity the Law to help us out. But in fact, the Law was given to point out how sinful we were so we’d see that we couldn’t obtain righteousness through our works.  It was so we’d see we needed mercy, a Savior, Someone to obtain righteousness for us.

Adam’s sin – his fallen mindset and the way he saw himself – is what began the death-spiral for humanity. But Jesus’ resurrection, and righteous mindset – is what began life in us. See, Adam’s one act of sin doomed humanity while Jesus’ one act of faith redeemed humanity!

The price has been paid for the redemption of everyone, whether they’re born-again or not; it’s available to them! The way you apply that redemption is by faith. Ephesians 2:8 says “For by grace you have been saved through FAITH…” If faith wasn’t a part of that verse, then everyone would be saved and they could act any way they wanted. That’s not the case. We have to apply faith to what God has done.

It takes God’s grace and our faith; it’s when we appropriate our faith with God’s grace and then act out what He says to be. That’s the life He’s put in you.

But it’s about your position, not your actions; it’s about how you see yourself. Stop looking at what you’ve done; instead, see what Jesus did and gave you to place you where you’re seated and positioned as someone righteous, not a sinner.  Then, action follows belief. If you believe you’re righteous, righteous actions will follow in your life.

It’s not karma or “what goes around, comes around.” It’s grace! What goes around stops and dies and is buried (baptism’s symbolism), and we get righteous living through Christ!

I see what He’s done for me and I accept it as mine. I put my faith in His Word and I apply His grace to my life. When I do that, I see who the real me really is.

Repent

What did Jesus tell people “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand”?  What religion says the word “repent” means is to stop doing what you’re doing and stop sinning. But, that’s not what the repent means. It means to have a radical change of mindset, to see things from a different perspective (to see things from God’s point of view). True repentance is to stop thinking about how you thought about everything and start thinking about how God thinks about it.

It’s turning away from sin, but not by sheer willpower. It’s the new perspective and realizing, “That’s not good…I don’t need that anymore. I need God. I need to follow Him.”  Because of that, you turn away from sin. He’s empowered and graced us to do that. When sin abound, grace abounds even more.

I don’t need to be worried and shamed and condemned about the sins that I’ve done in the past; I need to focus on Him and pursue Him and His life in me.

We’re supposed to have one teacher, the Messiah (Matthew 23:10), not the world and life.  If anything we’re being taught in life doesn’t line up with what Jesus taught, we’re supposed to reject it. False teachings lead to death, but the teachings of Jesus lead to life.

Ask yourself who has taught you the most in your life? Life or the Messiah?  When we started our walk with God, life may have had 95%; but today, it’s about 50%-50%. So, what is our mindset?  We don’t beat ourselves because we have a 50% F grade; instead, we thank God we’ve improved 45%!  “Thank you, God, the way I see myself is changing! The old choices and desires are dead and dying and decaying! I’m not a failure! I’m your child; you see me as I am and you’ve called me to a closer walk with you!”

We proclaim the righteousness in our life instead of the failures that keep us held back. “It’ll be 60%-40%, then 70%-30%, then it will be 100%-0% when I see You face to face! Thank You so much, God, for what You’re doing in my life so I can tell people how awesome YOU are!”

Romans 6:1-11 continues the discussion of grace and sin. Jesus died for our sins. Every benefit provided through His death and resurrection are available to us and we’re now alive to God through Jesus! His life equals our life!

But some Christians still dwell on failures; they get into a mindset, “I’m just going to be real. I’m not going to put on a fake front and smile when life’s treating me bad.” You’re deceived. If you’re a born-again Christian, you’re living in deception because the real you (your spirit) is excited, dancing, joyful, peaceful and loving God in seamless oneness with Christ.

If you had a real revelation of who you are, you’d be rejoicing because you’d realize what’s happening on the outside can’t impact what’s on the inside (in your spirit).

Your spirit is celebrating! Why not make the outside line up with that?

We were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death. We died and were buried with Christ by baptism, and just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives! The real me is created to be like God, righteous and holy!

 

Watch the May 29, 2022 service on which this post is based by CLICKING HERE.

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