Our Position Guarantees Our Opportunity

At the moment of salvation, we immediately become children of God. Galatians 3:26. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” That is our eternal position. We are born again into God’s family; we cannot be unborn out of it. At the same time, God the Holy Spirit enters us into union with Christ, where we share everything that Christ is and everything that Christ has (1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians 2:5-8; cf. Galatians 3:27).

In theology, the position we have in Christ is called positional sanctification. Our position is established immediately at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ. And it lasts forever. Our position is in Christ, in God’s family. We never lose that position. We never lose our family relationship with God. Romans 8:38-39. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Our position in Christ not only guarantees our eternal security, but it also presents an opportunity for development in that position. It is an opportunity to grow in that relationship. Theology calls that experiential sanctification. But that opportunity only becomes a reality through growth in the spiritual life. That growth is a progression. It occurs over time. It sets us apart from the thinking of the world. But like all opportunities in life, some recognize it and pursue it, while others do not. It is a matter of our individual volition as believers.

Every human being acquires a sin nature at birth. It is passed down from Adam by the man to all mankind. The unbeliever has nothing to offset the sin nature control of his soul. As the unbeliever progresses in life, his sin nature will develop proclivity to sin in certain ways. Some unbelievers are very moral people and so their brand of sin trends more toward mental attitude sins and sins of the tongue. Sins like arrogance, jealousy, bitterness, pettiness, maligning, judging, gossiping, etc. Other unbelievers may tend to have more visible sins like lying, adultery, criminality, drunkenness, drug abuse, and all kinds of antiauthority activities. When the unbeliever hears the gospel and believers in Jesus Christ, they are saved, nothing about their person has changed other than our position in Christ and the many irrevocable blessings that God’s grace bestows upon us at that moment. But that newly minted believer who moments earlier was an unbeliever, still has the same sin nature, they still have the same weaknesses, and they still have the propensity to sin.

They know very, very little about the God who just saved us. They are basically ignorant of the Christian life and of God’s will and purpose for their lives. In their previous status as an unbeliever, they knew nothing of the Word of God other than the gospel message. 1 Corinthians 3:1 referring to the unbeliever says, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

The point is this. We must grow up. We must take the opportunity presented by our position in Christ and develop a spiritual life that can fulfill God’s will, plan, purpose, and destiny for our lives. If we do not grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are not going think or act like a Christian should think and act.

The Bible tells us that we have the mind of Christ available to us. 2 Cor. 2:16(b). It also commands us to “have this thinking in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:5. That does not just happen. That requires consistent learning of God’s Word.

Until we learn God’s Word, until we begin to apply God’s Word to our life, we will live our lives just like the same old person we were before we were saved. Positionally everything changed at salvation. But experientially nothing has changed. Our thinking, our decisions, and actions will be the same as when we were an unbeliever. Granted we may have gratitude for our salvation. And we may be very thankful to God for that. But we do know the standards that are found in Scripture that should be the basis of our thinking going forward. We do not know the many mandates that God has given to us as believers to guide our lives. That is why Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

We all start the Christian life conformed to the world. Satan is the ruler of this world (1 John 5:19b). He has a system of thinking that is totally opposed to God. Every unbeliever is involved in Satan’s thinking in some way because he or she has nothing to counter it. Once saved, the brand-new believer still has nothing implanted in his soul to act as a defense against Satan’s cosmic system.

Once saved, the believer needs to learn God’s Word so that he or she will come to understand all the grace resources God has provided for living the spiritual life. The believer needs to learn God’s Word so he or she can understand God’s will and plan for their life. Said differently, the believer must grow up spiritually. He starts off as a baby believer, if you will, but must mature in his or her faith in the promises of God and in the care and protection that God provides for every believer.

The Corinthian church is a great example of a group of believers who were not growing and so they acted like raunchy unbelievers they were prior to salvation. The Corinthians were involved in many obvious sins like idolatry, homosexuality, adultery, drunkenness, etc. I say obvious sins because there are many mental attitude sins and sins of the tongue that are not so obvious like arrogance, anger, hatred, jealousy, gossip, maligning, slandering, and judging others. The Corinthians were not growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as we are commanded to do in 2 Peter 3:18.

In this status, Paul called the Corinthian believers NAPIOS in the Greek or babies. 1 Corinthians 3:1-3a. “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh (sin nature control), as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly (carnal in a state of sin).” Fleshly can also be translated carnal and it means in a state of sin under the control of the sin nature. The only way for the believer to move out from under the continuous control of the sin nature is by growing spiritually.

The sin nature gains control of our lives every time we sin. But God in His grace has provided a simple procedure. All we do to recover is name our sins to God the Father. He immediately forgives us of the sins we name. And He also forgives us of any sins that we have committed and forgotten or any sins that we did not realize were sins. 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Recovery from sin is critical. It is the only way to regain the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is the power for the Christian life. It is the only way to be restored to fellowship with God. It is the only way to resume the spiritual life.

So many Christians confuse the daily progression of the Christian life, which may or may not happen, with the permanent position we have in Christ. They are two separate and distinct things.

Think of marriage as an illustration. When a man and woman get married, when they accept the marriage vows and say “I do,” and the pastor pronounces them husband and wife, they are at that moment entered into the position or status of matrimony. What happens after that is the experiential aspect of the marriage. The marriage becomes either better and better, or it stagnates, or it can deteriorate over time. That depends on whether or not the relationship grows. The man and woman entered that marriage only once and that is on their wedding day. Their status is married no matter how the marriage goes. The results of the marriage depend on the day by day progression of the marriage.

Our position in Christ is a one time event that occurred on the day we believed in Jesus Christ. Marriage is a one time event that occurred on the day of the marriage vows.

Our position makes us a new creature in Christ and that guarantees our opportunity to live the Christian life. But we will never have the experience of the Christian life without the daily progression that occurs as we learn God’s Word and apply it to our lives.

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that we are new creatures in Christ. In our position as new creatures, we now have the opportunity to grow in our daily walk in the Christian life, which is described in several ways in the Bible.

1. Walking in the light. 1 John 1:7.
2. Walking in newness of life. Romans 6:4.
3. Walking in the Spirit. Galatians. 5:16.
4. Walking in love. Ephesians 5:2.
5. Walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Ephesians 4:1.

All of those indicate a believer who is growing up in the Christian life. All of those depend on being filled with God the Holy Spirit, the power for the spiritual life. All of those depend on the believer learning and utilizing God’s Word, then applying it to the circumstances that our sovereign, loving heavenly Father allows into our lives for our benefit.

Some believers never grow up. They never take advantage of the opportunity offered by their permanent position in Christ. They never take an interest in learning God’s Word. Some learn for a while and then get distracted by Satan’s cosmic system and fade away. One of the greatest distractions to the priority of learning God’s Word is the legitimate things of life. Satan knows which ones to deploy at just the right time to lead us away. And some believers outright reject God’s Word.

The Bible has some rather harsh descriptions for these believers who are not fulfilling God’s plan, purpose, and destiny for their lives. Here are just a few.

1. An enemy of God. James 4:4.
2. An enemy of the cross. Philippians 3:18.
3. Shipwrecked. 1 Timothy 1:19.
4. Not abiding in truth. 2 John 9.
5. Self-deluded. James 1:22, 24.
6. A backslider. Proverbs 14:14

All of these describe believers who have turned their backs on God and His will, plan, and purpose for their lives. They are faithless believers. Yet even when we are faithless, God remains faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.”

These descriptions are harsh because God wants such believers to wake up to their lack of progress in the Christian life so that they can change their minds and growing. As long as we are alive, it is never too late to realize that our plan will never be as great as God’s plan. When we go our own way, what the evangelist, Rick Hughes calls “my way highway,” we have life of self-induced misery and divine discipline (Hebrews 12:6). God disciplines us in love because He wants to get us back into His plan.

In eternity past, long before the universe was created, God deliberated, concentrated, and focused on each one of us individually. Knowing our personality, our traits, our skills, our abilities, our mental acumen, in short, knowing everything about us, He designed a plan for each of us. It is a perfect plan, tailor-made, and custom designed for us individually. Why would we ever consider going our own way instead?

If you are reading this and think, “I want to be in God’s plan for me. I want to live the life that He has for me,” you can change your mind and start moving in that direction now! God’s grace has made recovery and getting back on track very simple. Notice I did not say it was easy. It is not easy because it takes day-by-day-by-day consistency.

Here is the path forward: First, make sure you do not have unconfessed sin in your life. And the sneakiest of all sins is arrogant self-centeredness. Use the procedure outlined in 1 John 1:9 and name your sins to God the Father. Acknowledge to Him the sins you can think of and He immediately will forgive you those sins as well as any others that were unknown or forgotten. But don’t stop there.

Then start a daily regime of daily Bible study, preferably from a pastor who teaches accurately the Word of God. If you have the spiritual gift of pastor teacher, but have never been taught the whole realm of doctrines that are in the Bible, you need accurate Bible teaching preferably before you find a church to shepherd and teach. Look at the disciples, they had almost four years of intense Bible teaching straight from the mouth of our Lord plus they had His daily example to observe.

I find this interesting. If the disciples had only four hours of Bible teaching from the Lord every day during their time with him, that would be 5,840 hours of Bible teaching (multiply 4 hours per day with 1,460 days in four years). Assume you were to spend one hour a day under an accurate Bible teacher for 5,840 hours. That would be the equivalent of 16 years of Bible teaching. That is at least directionally close to what the disciples received, only they learned from the greatest Bible teacher ever.

The point is it takes time to grow up spiritually. And it is never too late to start. And if you are older, please do not be discouraged. God knew in eternity past that you would decide to really get with Bible teaching in your old age. His perfect plan has taken all that into consideration. Just get started, be persistent, and before long, you will have great momentum and be well on your way.

The opportunity that our position in Christ affords us is to live the greatest life imaginable.