When Jesus created us in Himself, He put inside of us our spiritual DNA, our destiny, and every good work that He prepared for us. Today we just flow in our identity in Him. The progressive aspect of our lives on earth is just a progressive expression of what already IS: we have already been made holy. We are not being slowly sanctified. Outwardly it appears that we’re getting more holy, more pure, more righteous because our lives are changing. The seed of God is already in us, and now we are just bearing fruit from who we are.
…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)1
It is the life of Jesus in us performing the good that is His nature to perform. We set our mind on Him, we attend to His word, and we will start acting like Him. There are no more “have to’s”! We’re now under the “want to’s” of our new nature in Christ! Yet it’s only when we let go of the “have to’s” that the “want to’s” have a chance to be released.
You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness [the gift of Christ’s righteousness!]. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9-11)
Our flesh is affected by the resurrection power of the Spirit within us. His glory transforms our bodies and our minds and gives us life. We are joined as one spirit with the Lord, but residing in these earthen vessels. God left us in these earthen vessels of flesh so that His life flowing through us is seen to be of Him and not of us.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)
If the power was seen as being from us, it would only be fig leaves that would attract others to our own goodness (self-righteousness) and ultimately bring condemnation and a sense of unworthiness on them as they compare themselves to us. God’s goodness never brings condemnation. It only brings joy and peace and gratefulness. We are utterly dependent on His life in us because He allowed the new to remain in the frame of the old.
When we live from the inside out, people will look at us and glorify HIM. Why? Because they will see that it’s His power and not our own. They would be drawn to HIM, not to us. That way they too will be saved! These bodies can be a means to glorify God as His power in us comes out. This body with its members will become a “sieve” for the glory to go forth from within!
(from pages 164-165 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
