Resurrection: Jesus is Risen and So Are You!

This week, Christians all over the world will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Savior and Life, Jesus Christ.  This is something worth celebrating for sure.  But what about Monday, the day after?  Will we celebrate then too?

Yes, we will when we are confident that we, too, have been resurrected!  Our resurrection is not a physical one, yet.  It is a spiritual one, which is just as real.  Read and embrace this with joy!

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."  Ephesians 2:4-6

Please notice, the phrase "raised us up" is past tense.  God has already raised you with Christ. Remember, the old nature, your identity which defined you as a sinner in Adam, no longer exists.  Your flesh does, but not the old nature. It was put to death.  Just read Romans 6-8 and it is right there, plain as day.

Because of your resurrection, you are a new creation.  You are a child of God.  You are a saint.  You are complete.  You are righteous.  You are holy.  You are beloved.

On Easter, celebrate Jesus' resurrection and yours.  Then celebrate it again on Monday and every day after by remembering who you are in Christ.  What a glorious identity we have in Him!

  

Believe it!  This is the Gospel! 

Live Free In Christ, Mark Maulding

President and Founder 

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding but feel free to share it!

Buried: The Old Man No Longer Exists!

In one of my favorite movies, The Princess Bride, the hero is Westley.  In his exploit to rescue his true love, Buttercup, he is captured and tortured by the infamous, Prince Humperdink.  Then he dies...or so it seems.  But when he is taken to Miracle Max, he says an amazing thing.  "He is mostly dead." 

It is a humorous scene which illustrates the way many Christians think about their old nature, that is, their identity in Adam.  They believe that it is not really dead but mostly dead.  Yet, the complete Gospel tells us the real story.

Romans 6:4 says, "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."

We were spiritually immersed into Christ the moment we believed in Him.  At that very moment, God put the old nature to death and put him in the tomb with Jesus and LEFT HIM THERE.  He is not "mostly dead".  He is "dead, dead."  He will not be resurrected from the grave to bother us again.   He, no longer exists.   Just make sure you don't confuse the old nature with the flesh.  They are not the same.  We still have the flesh.

We have one nature, our new creation identity in Christ.  1 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come." (HCSB)  We don't have an internal civil war between two natures.  We only have the new nature.  This is who you really are, no matter what the flesh does or whether you feel like it or behave like it. 

Believe it!  This is the Gospel!

If you want to learn more, come to one of our Grace Life Conferences or order the cd and syllabus by calling us at 704-522-9026.  Or, to really go in depth, come to our verse by verse study of Romans 5-8.

Live Free In Christ, 

Mark Maulding, President and Founder www.GraceLifeInternational.com
All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding but sharing is encouraged!

Crucified - Dead to Mr. Law

Which of these two different types of marriage would you like to be in?  (Men – imagine you are the bride here.)

Marriage to Mr. Law – Every morning you wake up he says to you, “There are some things you have to do today.  I will follow you around all day to remind you of what you must do.  If you make a mistake, I will point it out to you in detail.  Oh, and by the way, I will not help you in any way.  You are on your own.  And don’t forget, my only reason for being in this marriage is to tell you what to do and to point out when you blow it!”

Marriage to Mr. Grace - Every morning you wake up he says to you, “I love you!  I can’t wait to spend the day together.  Let’s go get some coffee and spend some time talking.”  You share your hearts with each other and you tell him how wonderful he is and he tells you how wonderful you are.  He also says, “There are some things I want you to do today but I don’t want you to feel stressed by them, because I am going to go with you to help you.  Remember, you and I are “one”, so I will do all of these things through you, if you will depend on me.  When you make a mistake, please don’t run and hide from me.  Instead, run to me and tell me what you did. I so want you to share with me!   Be mindful that I completely accept you, even with your mistakes and struggles.  And no matter what, don’t forget I love you!”

For all Christ-followers, aren’t you glad we are in the marriage to Mr. Grace, meaning Jesus!  We died to our marriage to Mr. Law and are now married (united) to Jesus.  Romans 7:4, “So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”

Yet many of us live as though we are under the law, i.e. are married to Mr. Law.  Let’s all stop committing spiritual adultery and listen only to Jesus, the lover of our souls!  Marriage to Jesus is so much more enjoyable! 

Live Free In Christ, Mark Maulding, President and Founder www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2014 Mark Maulding  (But please share it with others!)