Being in union with Christ means that we share HIS Eternal life and Righteousness which means it is impossible for us to be judged at The Great White Throne Judgment.
John 15:1-2, “I [Jesus Christ] am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” Every branch [a reference to every believer] in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away [a reference to divine discipline]; and every branch [believer] that bears fruit, He prunes it [suffering for blessing], that it may bear more fruit.”
We began with the phrase “Every branch in Me” referring to the fact that every believer is said to be in our LORD called in me which is in the Greek “en moi” correctly translated “in me” or “located in me.”
A quick review of our subject on being in union with our LORD or living in Positional truth which belongs to the carnal as well as the spiritual believer, to the supergrace believer and the reversionist; 1Co 1:2, 30; 3:1.
One of the most popular passages in the book of Romans, it is a fantastic reminder of all that we possess because of our being in union with HIM. For example, positional truth or literally the doctrine that allows our LORD to look upon us in our position and not our condition, is what really keeps the believer from Divine judgement in eternity; Rom 8:38-39.
Rom 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, shall be able to separate us from the love of GOD, which is in Christ Jesus our LORD.
In Christ Jesus is the prepositional phrase “en Christoo Ieesou’ too’ kurio heemoon which is correctly translated is “in Christ Jesus our LORD” or “located in Christ Jesus our LORD.
Being in union with Christ also means that we share HIS life [eternal], HIS righteousness [+R], which means it is impossible for us to be judged at The Great White Throne Judgment].
Being in union with Christ also means that we share HIS sonship, HIS heirship, HIS priesthood, HIS election, HIS destiny, HIS kingship; all of these are involved in our positional truth; Rom 8:1. Positional truth also qualifies the believer to live with GOD forever because we are all sanctified or set aside for our LORD for the purpose of honoring Him and respecting Him as we should; 1Co 1:2,30. That is because if we are going to live with GOD forever there are certain things we must have: for example, we must all have eternal life, not everlasting life but eternal life; 1Jo 5:11-12. Positional truth also explains both election and predestination.
For example, concerning election, in Isa 42:1 our LORD is called the Elect One or the Chosen One; Isa 42:1, “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him;
Then we are told in Matt 3:17, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “THIS is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Then we are told that we are accepted in the beloved; Eph 1:6, to the praise of the glory of HIS grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
The whole point of understanding the doctrine of positional truth is that whatever is said about our LORD is the positive realm is also said about us.
It is vital in our understanding and recognizing that positional truth also exists in two categories: known as retroactive and current. Retroactive means something that began in the past and has present results that benefit the believer whereas current positional truth refers to the truth one is living in presently.
For example, let me illustrate HIS principle to you, when our LORD Jesus Christ died on the cross, the sins of the OSN were poured out on Him and judged, however, human good, which is also a manifestation of the sin nature was not judged, it was rejected.
What is the difference?
The difference was the fact that all the sins of the human race were judged on the Cross as per John 1:29, The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of GOD who takes away the sin of the world!
The payment for sin is called death, that is spiritual death; Rom 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of GOD is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD.
And, who was this gift offered to? The gift was offered to all members of the human race because of Rom 3:10-20.
For we read, Rom 3:10-18, as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for GOD; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps is under their lips”; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of GOD before their eyes.”
Not only are all these principles true, but when we believe in Christ as Savior, we also enter into union with Christ as He is seated at the right hand of the Father.
Eph 2:4-6, But GOD, being rich in mercy, because of HIS great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, 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,
All of this took place after we were entered into union with Christ as HE was upon the Cross. For example, when it comes to positional truth, when was positional truth offered to the believer according to the book of Romans.
In Rom 5:8 we read: But GOD demonstrates HIS own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
When it comes to positional truth, when was positional truth related to the believer according to the book of Romans chapter 6? Notice, in
Rom 6:3-7, Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into HIS death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of HIS death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of HIS resurrection, knowing tHIS, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.
Notice we are identified with Christ in HIS death, we are identified with Christ in HIS Resurrection, Ascension, and Session. And so, I hope that you’re beginning to see, that the implications of positional truth have to do with the fact that we share what Christ has. hrist is seated at the right hand of the Father, we share everything that Christ has and is.
For example:
1. Christ is eternal life; 1Jo 5:11-12.
2. Christ is absolute righteousness (+R); 2Co 5:21.
3. Christ is elected, we share HIS election; Eph 1:4.
4. Christ has a destiny; we share HIS destiny; Eph 1:5.
Eph 1:2-3, Grace to you and peace and prosperity from GOD our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ. Blessed {be} the GOD and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly {places} in Christ, = en Christoo
In Eph 1:4, we have the Doctrine of Election in view; just as He chose or elected us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. (Not in love, which is really the first two words in verse 5.
In Verse 5, we have the Doctrine of Pre-destination or what we also refer to as the PPOG and your very own spiritual niche in life which is called your PSD.
Eph 1:5, (In love) He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of HIS will,
5. Christ is a Son to the Father, we are in union with Christ, we share HIS sonship; 2Ti 2:1.
6. Christ is the heir; we share HIS heirship; Rom 8:16-17.
Rom 8:16-17, The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of GOD, and if children, heirs also, heirs of GOD and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
7. Christ is sanctified, we share HIS sanctification; 1Co 1:2.
8. Christ is a King; we share HIS kingdom; 2Pe 1:11.
9. Christ is a Royal priest; we share HIS priesthood; Heb 10:10-14.
10. Christ is an ambassador; we share HIS ambassadorship; 2Co 5:20.
Because of positional truth, our union with Christ and the grace provision of the filling of the Spirit, makes it possible for the believer to produce divine good. The phrase “in Me” is a reference to the believer in union with Christ.
THIS is a vital passage which is identified for us by the apostle Paul when he describes both the position and the condition of the average believer, Rom 7:14-21.
Rom 7:14, “Certainly, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of [belonging to the realm of] the flesh [sin nature], sold in bondage to sin [sin nature].”
As a reminder of what we are all capable of at any time look at, 1Co 3:1 3, And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men [believers in the PPOG], but as to men of the flesh [carnal believers controlled by the sin nature], as to babes in Christ [childish believers]. I gave you milk to drink, and not solid food [advanced doctrine], for you were not yet able to receive it; in fact, even now you are not yet able. For you are still fleshly [or belonging to the sin nature]. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not belonging to the sin nature, and are you not walking like mere men?”
The Corinthians believers were still not able to learn advanced doctrine because they were under the control of the OSN, which limits what you can learn. And the fact that they are still carnal means they don’t use recovery to get back into Fellowship.
And notice what Paul mentions as an example of carnality. He mentions one of the mental attitude sins of arrogance: jealousy. The Corinthian believers are therefore “of the sin nature”, which is carnal, and walking as unbelievers. Another biblical description of the sin nature is “our body of sin” in Rom 6:6, which emphasizes the Old Sin Nature’s (OSN) headquarters where it resides in the cell structure of the body.
The “corruptible man” refers to the sin nature in Rom 1:23. Corruptions means the OSN and the result of the OSN. Man is corrupted physically, spiritually, and therefore morally.
Now, there are also passages which describe sin, good or evil as coming from the “heart.” However, the heart, or right lobe of the soul, has nothing to do with the OSN. But the OSN always gets to the soul of man by attacking the heart. This is the OSN influencing thought so that sin, good and evil are motivated in the thinking, being programmed in the brain. This principle is found in such passages as Jer 17:9; Matt 12:34-35, 15:19; Mark 7:21 23.
Jer 17:9, The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?
Rom 7:14, “for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of [or belonging to the realm of] the flesh [sin nature], sold in bondage to sin [sin nature].”
Every one of us were born into slavery. We were born slaves to the O.S.N. [old sin nature] and the only time that we will ever be free from slavery to the O.S.N. is not at salvation but when we enter into perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine. Salvation is an opportunity to become free, however only truth can set us free.
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