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Return to the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.
 I pray that the Lord give you understanding and the grace to apply it and it will change your life. Some of us reading this have been Christians for quite a few years. For some others, perhaps they are just a few months old. However, what has Christ meant to you? Who is He to you? For most Christians, He is our Savior and our Lord. He is the one who died for our sins, rose from the dead and gave us eternal life. That is true indeed and that’s who He is. But there is more to it than just that. In 1 Cor 1:30, God explicitly mentions what Christ has been made unto us.
To completely understand this verse and experience it in our lives, we need to understand the fundamentals of our salvation. Just because some people who have been Christians for a very long time and have chosen to adopt a certain kind of Christian life style and have decided that that is Christianity, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. True Christianity is based on the bible, the Word of God. Or in other words, a true Christian’s life will simply reflect the Word of God as in a mirror. As a fundamental foundation, it is necessary that every Christian MUST believe that the bible is the infallible and absolute word of God. Literally like as if God Himself were speaking. As studied about Truth in the blog post “What is truth?”, there can be only one truth and if Jesus said “I am the truth” and if He was the Word, then the Word must be the truth. If you don’t believe this, then you already are on the wrong foundation. Every Christian believes, accepts and confesses that the bible is absolutely the word of God. Christians MUST believe that Jesus came in the flesh, died for us as a Savior, rose from the dead and is alive TODAY and that He is coming back again. Christians MUST believe this and MUST confess this, else you cannot know God the way you should and therefore will fail to practically experience the abundant life the bible talks about. All the promises of God and the guilt free righteous and abundant life the bible talks about are only applicable to those who believe. Now “Believe” in the bible means firstly to accept the truthfulness of something and then also to confess it. Romans 10:9 – “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.. If you will confess with your mouth and believe in your heart – This is how you and I got saved. Confess with your mouth means say it, speak it out. Why is this so? Why can’t I just believe the gospel in my mind? I believe that Jesus died for me. I do. I also believe He rose from the dead. Why should I confess or speak it out? Read ver 10: For…(it starts with the word “For”, or Because) with the heart man believes unto righteousness – This means God has made man in such a way that when our heart believes, we then come into agreement or oneness with God. In that instance, God and man are on the same page. Both now think alike. Believing what God says brings you into union with God Himself. The verse goes on to say” and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And with the mouth…confession is made unto salvation. Here the greek word for confession is homologia. Homologia means to say the same thing in agreement or consent. In this instance, you say the same thing as God says. You are not just reciting the verse, but you actually agree in your heart what it says. For eg: I tell you, if you jumped down from the third floor, you will fall down because of gravity and you could hurt yourself badly. You will actually agree with me and repeat “Ofcourse if I jump down, I’m going to hurt myself”. That is confession or homologia. You say the same thing as I do, because you actually agree. Eg: Romans 4:3 – Abraham believed God and it was counted unto Him for righteousness. You don’t believe with your mind. You believe with your spirit which the bible calls heart. Out of the fullness of your heart, the mouth speaks. So, when you make that confession because you believe it in your heart, you are catapulted into salvation. This is the way, everything in God’s word works. The bible calls this “faith”. You believe God’s word and then you speak. You see what God sees. You get revelation and understanding of the things of God and you speak the same things, not because you are in a faith battle or because you are trying to be religious quoting scriptures, but because you truly believe it and know that this is the TRUTH. When you speak that way, it begins to manifest in your life. You already know that God made us in His own image. God Himself functions this way. When He speaks something, it becomes. He created the entire universe that way. He spoke things into existence. When God says it, it comes into existence. It’s the same with us. But it won’t work if we are confessing our own thoughts and our own ideas or philosophies. When you are in agreement with God and when God and you are on the same page, then when you speak it out or homologia (confess in agreement), then it manifests in your life. If God said you are something and you believed it, then you are on the same page with Him and in right standing with Him. Now let us look at the 4 things Christ has been made unto us. Christ has been made unto us WISDOM The bible on multiple occasions (in over 20 verses) talks about “Christ in us”. So, If Christ be in us, and if He has been made wisdom unto us, then we have the wisdom of God isn’t it? That’s the truth. So confess it when you need to take wise decisions. Don’t be confused or anxious. Don’t question yourself. Most often we come across situations in life where we need to take a decision and we are so confused. God, am I doing this right? God, what should I do? I don’t know what to do, etc.. Some Christians cry out “Lord help me…” and that is fine. All of that is fine because all of us are growing. And the Lord knows those who are growing and will certainly help them with direction and guidance. But there will come a time when the Lord will want you to walk as a mature child. A time will come when despite all your crying and praying, nothing seems to happen. So, instead of crying out, Confess!! Say “I have the wisdom of God in me because Christ has been made unto me wisdom”. I have the wisdom to make the right decision. I have the wisdom to be at the right place at the right time. And when you say it, don’t be anxious or doubtful. Why? Because you have only confessed what is THE TRUTH. You did not make it up and you are not trying to muster up faith. You are just repeating the truth because you believe it. Now you and your Father God are on the same page and as you keep on confessing it, before long it will MANIFEST. You will have the wisdom and you will make the right decision. Remember what Jesus said in Mark 11:23-24 – “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Verse 23 says “does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to take place,” and then in verse 24; “whatsoever things you ask for in prayer, when you pray; BELIEVE you have received it and it shall be yours”. Wow! You can believe and not doubt ONLY when you are on the same page with God. Because it is written and it is the TRUTH. There is no ambiguity there. So say, I am quick of mind with divine wisdom. Confess that I have the wisdom of God in me and keep on saying this and wisdom will manifest in your life. Christ is my RIGHTEOUSNESS God made it as so. He had to give us the ability to stand before Him in His Holy presence without fear, without guilt and without condemnation. Without righteousness, we would not qualify to stand in His holy presence. We would die. Righteousness is right standing or the rightness of God. When we say “we are the righteousness of God in Christ”, we are saying we have the rightness of God. The same nature of God is in us. Like when Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” How could Jesus make such a statement? Because He was righteous and had the same nature of His Father in Him. Today, we are the righteousness of God too and this not by ourselves, but was given to us as a gift. We could never stand before God without dying on our own. It would only be possible if God gave us this ability. He had to gift it to us. Otherwise, we would die because no amount of our good deeds can make up for our sin. If we even saw God in our unrighteous state, we would die. Once He gives us the ability to stand in His mighty presence as a gift, then there is no fear, no guilt, no condemnation or not even inferiority. Have you observed, you are not afraid to go to your prayer seat and get into the presence of God? You are not trembling with fear. You are not afraid to close your eye and pray. You quietly and confidently go, close your eyes and start talking to God. How is that possible? Even if you didn’t know how you did it, it is because God Himself gave you that ability when you were born again. He imparted that right standing to you. You became bold in His presence and now you say to Him what is in your heart. You speak to Him without hesitation and share your thoughts with Him. You even dare to call Him “Father”!!! Christ has become that righteousness for you. This is why we say I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. No man can have this ability on their own. God has to impart it and He did so through Christ Jesus. As awesome as He is, I am not afraid of Him. That’s righteousness. Confess this: Speak it out and it will manifest. Say I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Right living is a result of your righteousness. This is the answer to addictions. Any bad habit that keeps lingering on and on can be kicked out by exercising righteousness. And you exercise righteousness by “confession”, by speaking. You have the inherent ability to be righteous. You have the inherent ability to do what is right. Now, how do you make it manifest in your life? By speaking….by saying. Keep saying it. Keep talking the word. Remember…With the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made. James 3:1 – 2 – If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man and able also to control the whole body. Christian perfection is found in your mouth. This is why we need to be careful about what we speak. What you think shapes your character, but what you speak becomes your life. See how important this is. Don’t talk vain words even jokingly. Don’t say things like Oh! I am a poor man, Oh! I can never get anything right, Oh! I am so confused, Oh! I just can’t get rid of this habit…Oh! I’m so ugly, nobody likes me. No, No…confess the word of God; the TRUTH. Make sure you are on the same page with God and it will manifest in your life. Say I’m a child of God. I’m wonderfully made. I’m righteous. I have the same nature of God my Father in me. I am abundantly supplied. I have the life of God the Father in me because I am born of Him. His word abides in me. Keep saying the same thing God says about you and watch it change your life. Joshua 1:8 – This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night….Meditate, meditate means muttering. Keep saying it, Keep talking it. In 2 Cor 4:13 – Paul says “We believe and therefore we speak…” Christ is my SANCTIFICATION Here it is not particularly the doctrine of sanctification. There are 2 types of sanctification in the bible. It basically means set apart. But there is one sanctification where we are separated from the world and translated into the kingdom of God. Then there is separation of worldliness from the children of God. But in this verse, it is meaning that we are simply set apart for God. Christ is my set apartness. He is in me and I in Him. It is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me. We are a peculiar people. Special people. Separated from the world unto God. We belong to God. Read 1 Peter 2:9 Amplified : But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Why do some people suffer for so long? Whether it is their health or job or family issues or finances….why do some people suffer for so long? They keep praying or getting other people to pray for them, but nothing changes. Often times, it is because the word of God (God speaking through the bible) has meant little to them. They have looked at the bible as a religious book. They haven’t comprehended that the bible is THE TRUTH and it is as if God is speaking. God spoke and said Christ is made unto us Wisdom. He said Christ is your righteousness, the rightness of God Himself. What is your response? God has said in 1 Peter 2:9 that we are a special people. What is your response? Saying the same things God say is a principle for manifesting the God kind of life in you. This is what confession is. Philippians 2:12 says Work out your own salvation. Work out what is already in you. You got saved. The Lord saved you. You now are separated from this world. You belong to Him. You are special to Him. He has given you ALL things pertaining to life and godliness. You are now a Christian. So what has Christianity done for you? How are you working out your Christianity? If nothing has changed or if nothing is changing, then this blog post is going to start changing situations in your life. Your life should be moving from glory to glory according to the word of God. We need to learn to see things as God sees them. When you get upset with someone, think if God is angry at that person. If God is not angry, then why should you be angry? We are supposed to be the exact representation of Him. We become slaves to doubt, anger, fear, etc unnecessarily simply because we are not on the same page with God. Christ is my REDEMPTION Here redemption can also mean deliverance or riddance. This means that Christ is my riddance. No matter what trouble I am in, Christ will rid me of it. This means, we are free, we are delivered. We need to believe this. This is God speaking and He says Christ is my deliverance. So what is my response? I need to confess the same thing. I am free in Christ. It’s impossible for me to be oppressed by any evil. Christ is my riddance. Christ is my redemption. Even when you are in trouble due to your own mistakes, you need to confess “Christ is my deliverance” and He will deliver you. When you confess what God’s word says (Homologia – saying the same thing in agreement), then the word of God WILL manifest in your life.
This is why Jesus said in John 15:7 – If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. In conclusion dear friends, the power of believing and confessing is the key to the actual manifestation of the God kind of life in you. Be blessed. |