Slavery in the United States was abolished by the 13th amendment on December 18th, 1865. How many slaves were there on December 19th? In reality, none, but many still lived like slaves. Many did, because they never learned the truth, others knew and even believed that they were free but chose to live as they had been taught.
Several plantation owners were devastated by this proclamation of emancipation. "We're ruined! Slavery has been abolished. We've lost the battle to keep our slaves." But their chief spokesman slyly responded, "Not necessarily, as long as these people think they're still slaves, the proclamation of emancipation will have no practical effect. We don't have a legal right over them anymore, but many of them don't know it. Keep your slaves from learning the truth, and your control over them will not even be challenged."
"But what if the news spreads?"
"Don't panic. We have another barrel in our gun. We may not be able to keep them from hearing the news, but we can still
keep them from understanding it. They don't call me the
father of lies for nothing. We still have the potential to
deceive the WHOLE WORLD. Just tell them that they
misunderstood the 13th amendment. Tell them that they are going to be free, but they
aren't free yet. Tell them that the truth they heard is just positional truth, not actual truth.
Someday they may receive the benefits,
but not now."
"But they'll expect me to say that. They won't believe me."
"Then
pick out a few persuasive ones who are convinced that they're still slaves and let them do the talking for you. Remember, most of these free people were born as slaves and have lived like slaves. All we have to do is
deceive them so that they still
think like slaves. As long as they continue to do what slaves do, it will not be hard to convince them that they must still be slaves. They will maintain their slave identity because of the things they do. The moment they try to profess that they are no longer slaves, just
whisper in their ear, 'How can you even think you are no longer a slave when you are still doing things that slaves do?' After all, we have the
capacity to accuse the brethren day and night."
Years later, many have still not heard the wonderful news that they have been freed, so naturally they continue to live the way they have always lived. Some have heard the good news, but evaulated it by what they are presently doing and feeling. They reason, "I'm still living in bondage, doing the same things I have always done. My experience tells me that I must not be free. I'm feeling the same way I was before the proclamation, so it must not be true. After all, your feelings always tell the truth." So they continue to live according to how they feel, not wanting to be hypocrites!
One former slave hears the good news, and receives it with great joy. He checks out the validity of the proclamation, and finds out that the HIGHEST of all authorities has originated the decree. Not only that, but it personally cost the authority a tremendous price which He willingly paid, so that he could be free. His life is transformed. He correctly reasons that it would be hypocritical to believe his feelings, and not believe the truth. Determined to live by what he knows to be true, his experiences began to change rather dramatically. He realizes that his old master has no authority over him and does not need to be obeyed. He gladly serves the one who set him free.
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEWThe above story is to illustrate the way we as believers still think of ourselves as sinners instead of saints. If you were to attend any Bible-believing church and ask the congregation, "How many believe that you are a sinner?" They will all raise their hands. Then ask, "How many believe you are a saint?" Few, if any, would raise their hands. Why is that?
Possibly because some have never been taught different. Others tend to think it would be prideful to identify themselves as saints. Many believe the label "sinner" best fits their present condition. They sin, so therefore they must be sinners. Even if you told them they are both saint and sinner, they will believe the latter and probably not the former because of their experiences.
Like the story, this way of thinking is from Satan. He is the Father of Lies. He has been studying us since the beginning of creation and he knows that even though Jesus has now proclaimed that we are the very children of God, and we are redeemed saints, he continues to try to and deceive us into thinking that this cannot be true because of our actions, our past, our experiences, our temptations, our thoughts.
The first thing we need to understand is that our minds, unfortunately, do not have a mental delete button. We were born into this world as slaves to sin, allowing Satan to rule over our hearts and minds. We learned how to live independently of God. And now that we are Christians, we must renew our minds. Jesus came, died, and rose so that we may have new life, true life. Well, new life brings new identity. It is not what you do as a Christian that determines who you are, it is what you are that determines what you do.
Start seeing yourself for who you really are. We're not trying to become children of God; we are already children of God who are becoming like Christ. If you want to defeat fear, failure, rejection, lust, porn, anger, depression, selfishness or anything else you must get right with God. Getting right with God always begins with settling once and for all that God is your loving Father and you are His accepted child. That is the foundational truth from which you live.
You are child of God, you are created in His image, you have been justified already and already declared righteous by Him because of Christ's finished work and your faith in him. As long as you believe that and walk accordingly, your daily experience of practical Christianity will result in growth. I promise that if you question this finished work of Christ, you will struggle, because you are trying to become somebody that you already are.
We don't serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted, so we serve God. We don't follow Him to be loved; we are loved, so we follow Him. It is not what we do that determines who we are; it is who we are that determines what we do.
Beloved, you are a child of God. To live the victorious Christian life you will have to believe what is already true about you. Will you have opposition to believing this truth? Of course! The father of lies has deceived the whole world, and he accuses us day and night. And if that isn't enough, others will put you down. We have to keep reminding ourselves of these positional truths.
We are neither saved nor sanctified by how we behave but by how we believe.Stop trying to do for yourself what God has already done for you. Stop trying to earn a title of saint; it is already true about you! We just need to worship God for all he has done and rest in the finished work of Christ. We need to hear again and again the wonderful identity and position that we already have in Christ; then we will be better prepared to receive the instructions and assume our responsibility for living the Christian life.
Next time you become dominated by the flesh or deceived by the devil, remind yourself.
"I am a saint by the grace of God and I intend to live my life as His child in the way He intended me to live by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit."
