Biblical Position and Personal Practice
Your position in Christ is something that does not change. It is a permanent state of being brought about by the merits of Jesus, and has to do with how you are viewed by God. It is a heavenly reality and a heavenly state of being.
In order to grow as disciples as we become who we already are and possessing what we already own.
A. That is a pretty heady statement. Let me illustrate it with a story about William Randolph Hearst, the late newspaper publisher. Hearst invested a fortune in collecting great works of art. One day he read about some valuable pieces of art and decided that he must add them to his collection. He sent his agent abroad to locate and purchase them. Months went by before the agent returned and reported to Hearst that the items had at last been found – they were stored in his own warehouse. Hearst had purchased them years before! He had owned them all along and was still seeking them, because they were hidden away, out of sight and out of his collection.
i. That is a parallel to the alarming number of Christians today who are on a desperate search for spiritual resources they already possess.
ii. Justification has to do with your Position in Christ while Sanctification has to do with your Practice or process.
1. Too often we see holiness as our work, and as a result, become preoccupied with performance and failure!
2. Look up the following verses and determine which passage is positional and which one is practical: Type in the scroll box the key words from the verse which make it either positional or practical.
B.. The bible makes a distinction between POSITION and PRACTICE.
i. If you don’t understand the difference and cannot recognize which statements are which as you read your bible, you will struggle in your interpretation of the bible.
ii. Not only that, but I believe that you will live a very frustrated life, because your focus will be on performance rather than discipleship.
iii. For example, in 1 Cor 3:17, Paul tells the Corinthians that they are holy. But a few chapters later he tells them to “cleanse yourselves from all filthiness.”(1 Cor 7:1).
1. On the surface, it probably looks like they are holy some of the time and not very holy other times. We probably can all see the inconsistencies in our lives in that kind of example.
2. But that isn’t what he is saying!
3. Paul is telling them in the first passage that they are holy in their position before God in Christ.
4. In the second passage, he is reminding them that while their position is secure their earthly practice doesn’t match their positional reality in heaven.
d. “Many Christians are not living free and productive lives because they don’t understand who they are and why they are here. Who they are is rooted in their identity and position in Christ. If they don’t see themselves the way God sees them, to that degree they suffer from a false identity and poor sense of worth. They don’t full understand the gospel and the dramatic change that occurred in them the moment they trusted in Christ.” (Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkness, p. 43)
i. When you were saved, and placed in Christ, all of your sins were forgiven and you received the righteousness of Christ as your own.
1. That is your position before God.
ii. But many Christians think that their growth and maturity will make them more liked by God. And that when they fail, that God is going to love them less.
1. God is not like that!
2. What you do or don’t do doesn’t change your position before God.; you cannot do anything to make Him love you more or less because He loves you solely because of what Jesus did for you at Calvary.
iii. Your practice is determined by your position!
iv. Your position is a permanent heavenly reality!
v. As I said earlier, being a disciple is learning to become what we already are and possess what we already own.
1. So often, we waste time and energy asking God for things that we already have.
a. We ask for strength, but the bible says, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Ph 4:13)
b. We ask for love, but the bible says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.” (Ro 5:5)
c. We ask for grace, but God says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Cor 12:9)
d. We ask for peace but the Bible says, “The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Ph. 4;7)
2. Consider the difference between a tadpole and a baby. A tadpole is born as a shapeless mass with a tail. After a while it sprouts legs and then takes the form of a frog. But a human baby is born with all the necessary parts…they simply need to grow. The same thing is true of a Christian. When you became a Christian, you were not a tadpole. You were complete. You have all the parts of a Christian. All you need is to mature.
3. Our maturing process, which we will study next week, deals with how God helps to make our PRACTICE match our POSITION.
a. In other words, how to make the heavenly reality that is ours in Christ become a reality in our life here on earth.
b. Your life and mine is a process of learning how to use all the parts that we have been given.
e. Understanding what we have in Christ will enable us to exercise it. Not unlike the Israelites who were told that the land of Palestine was there’s.
i. But they had to possess it.
ii. They had to make it theirs.
iii. It was theirs in title.
1. But it had to become theirs in practice.
iv. God desires to change your life and mine so that it will ultimately reflect His glory in such a way that people will not be able to deny His love for them.
1. You can’t do it.
2. But you can believe it.
3. You can make the choice to believe what God says about you.
4. And you can give Him PERMISSION to do His work and unleash His power in your life.
v. Won’t you do that today?
Please give us your feedback on this bible principle and study. Write to us at PastorBob@hereshopechurch.org.