How to Prevent Spiritual Identity Theft (Part 2)
By Jay Wegter
Six “access points” whereby the gospel feeds our souls are:
- The Gospel is the VOICE of Christ’s love to His sheep
- The Gospel is the VERDICT of God’s justice at the cross
- The Gospel is the VALUE of justification by faith through grace
- The Gospel is the VIEW of God’s glory in the face of Christ
- The Gospel is the VANTAGE point whereby we see the kingdom
- The Gospel is the VICTORY won by Christ at Calvary
IV. The Gospel is the VIEW of God’s glory in the face of Christ
To receive the good news of the gospel is NOT merely the acceptance of the historical facts of Jesus’ life. No, to become saved is to have ‘seen’ the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:4-6). It is to behold by faith the divine identity of the Good Shepherd. A saved person has Christ revealed to him as the Lord of Glory, the Jehovah of the O.T.—for no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit’ (1 Cor 12:3). Even the Apostle Peter could not say “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” apart from the revelation of the Father (Mt 16:16-17). Paul’s own testimony extolled God as the One who ‘revealed Christ in me’ (Gal 1:16).
I want you to understand that salvation restores our ability to behold the glory of God and to be captivated by His majesty. We are all familiar with the verse, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). But what often goes unnoticed in this verse is the fact that by our sin we have forfeited not only our ability to reflect God’s glory, but also our capacity to see (behold) God’s glory. The glorious gospel restores our ability to see, by faith the glory of God (Heb 1:1-3).
The new birth gives God’s glory back to us; the glory to which we had become blind by the fall—it is a miracle of revelation and restoration. By the Spirit’s regenerating work, we are given a revelation of Christ seeing who He really is; seeing the glory of God in Christ (2 Cor 4:4-6).
Jonathan Edwards, in his work on the infinite merits of Christ opens up aspects of the glory of Christ to our understanding. For, the glory of Christ is our Savior’s ‘equipment to save to the uttermost’ (the equipment He earned by His obedience to the Father). Christ’s mission in His incarnation, atonement, resurrection, ascension and exaltation, was to earn that equipment (Acts 2:36; Phil 2:5-11). God’s wisdom is Christ, and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2). Concerning His glory:
“The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever’ so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. The former priests, on the other hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore, He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens” (Heb 7:21-26).
“After saying above, ‘Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them’ (offered according to the Law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.’ He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:8-10). Every believer a priest (1 Pet 1:9; Rev 1:6), offering praise and thanks (Heb 13:15).
At the new birth, believers receive a new faculty of perception by the Holy Spirit known as “the eyes of the heart,” in order to perceive these spiritual realities. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph 1:18).
The eyes of the heart allow us to grasp spiritual realities and be rocked and staggered by them. “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God [by His grace], which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (1 Cor 2:10-13, 15-16).
While we were spiritually dead we could not see the Lord’s glory and His beauty. We did not love His glory or live for His glory—we had zero passion for His glory—no sentiment for His ultimate purpose to extend His glory. Therefore, we worshipped and served the creature and the creation (infatuated by world’s promises). Our hearts were not the temple of God—they were idol factories (a veritable ‘zoo’ of lusts, producing coveting of every kind as the Apostle Paul says—Romans 7:8). We had no problem letting our flesh set the standard for our behavior. “. . .The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God” (Rom 8:7). Made alive in Christ—loving Him and the way He saves (Rom 8:3).
APPLICATION: Now, through the miracle of the new birth, believers have become the ‘unveiled ones’ able to behold the glory of the Lord. Our new identity is that of an unveiled one, and our new vocation is to behold His glory. “But whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Cor 3:16). God’s glory of course is the outshining of His perfections made manifest in Christ, and revealed in the wonderful plan of redemption. God’s majesty and excellence is put on display in our redemption (Rom 3:24-26). Beholding the glory of the Lord is now the vocation of the church that we might proclaim His excellencies (1 Pet 2:9-10).
To behold the glory of the Lord is to be ravished by the sight of His glory. The reason why is stunning—to begin to understand the vastness and supremacy and dignity of the Person who gave His life for us is to be rocked and staggered at His majesty. He lavished grace on believers for His Name’s sake. To take delight in God is to be ‘calibrated’ afresh to Who He is—and that activity has a rectifying effect; curing our lukewarm-ness, our double-mindedness, and our spiritual slothfulness.
By His saving work, Christ is fulfilling God’s plan to reveal the divine perfections in an awesome manner—by the redemption of sinners. Let this sink in and it will blast you out of the ‘blahs.’ It will fill you with passion for the glory of the Lord. For in Christ, God’s glory and your eternal good are eternally joined (Eph 2:6-7). (The 2 prongs of God’s character: justice and mercy.)
V. The Gospel is the VANTAGE point whereby we see the kingdom
The gospel brings Christ’s kingdom into our hearts. Only through the gospel can we reach a vantage point high and lofty enough to see the grandeur, wealth, and scope of the Kingdom of God. That’s when the Lord’s Prayer is fully answered: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10). When the Lord saves a man, He brings him into His story—into His ‘kingdom plot’ (this is the polar opposite of thinking that we can add Christ to our lives).
The glory of the Lord’s kingdom will fill the universe someday. Our hunger for an immutable family will be eternally satisfied. There is more here than we can imagine. With Christ as their ‘Head’ this new humanity is being fashioned for life in the Father’s house and in a restored planetary paradise (Jn 14:2-3; 2 Pet 3:10-13ff.; Rev 21:1-7).
We saw under view of glory that believers are transformed into Christ’s likeness by beholding the glory of the Lord. In a very similar manner meditating on the gospel of the Kingdom instills in us a ‘kingdom consciousness’ which deepens our hope of glory. The gospel feeds our kingdom awareness, causing us to be controlled by an eagerness to see the Lord face to face, and to live with Him, and to finally be free of personal sin (1 Cor 13:12-13; Rom 8:23-25; Titus 2:13; 1 Jn 2:28).
Kingdom consciousness is a kind of ‘lens’ through which the believer sees all of life. But, those who love the world are warned that they will pass away with it (1 Jn 2:15-17). For, they have never seen the infinite value of the Kingdom of God. By contrast, the saints are controlled by their hope of glory; I love what the Lord says of those who have this Kingdom hope: “For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” (Heb 11:14-16; 12:25-29).
Those who love the world will lose their treasure, their glory, and their souls. The rulers of this world and their wisdom are passing away (1Cor 2:6-8). The cruelty of the devil’s lie is that since we were created to serve—those who refuse to serve their Creator serve Satan by default (Jn 8:38-47). Satan is the default god of this world’s inhabitants (2 Cor 4:4; 1 Jn 5:18-19; Eph 2:1-3).
By blessed contrast, the child of God has undergone a ‘kingdom transfer’—he has been moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (Col 1:13-14). This change in kingdoms is a change in masters. As a child of the King, the Christian is willing to suffer with Christ his King (Rom 8:18-23). The believer is willing to suffer for the sake of inheriting the Kingdom of God (Acts 5:39-42; 14:22; 9:16; 2 Thess 1:5; 2 Tim 3:12).
As a result of being ‘transferred’ into Christ’s kingdom, the redeemed are able to perceive the infinite value of the kingdom (treasure in a field, priceless pearl—Matthew 13:44-46). Jesus described this perception of the preciousness of the kingdom in a most unusual manner: “. . . violent men seize it by force” (Matt 11:12). In other words, once a person has seen the infinite preciousness of the kingdom—that man or woman has to have it! As Jesus said, ‘they are forcing their way into it’. They are making whatever sacrifices necessary to have it. How opposite this is from the world, the natural man is lethargic and complacent about eternal issues.
APPLICATION: Kingdom hope is more than just comfort and eternal values. Kingdom hope sanctifies us. “Whoever has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself just as He is pure” (1 Jn 3:2). Hope is part of our spiritual armor. It lets us see the world for what it is—a mirage of stimuli that cannot offer a crumb of nutrition to our hungry souls, or a speck of hope (1 Thess 5:8; Rom 13:12).
Kingdom consciousness is an essential habit of godliness—it helps drive our victory because it reminds us that we are locked in a combat to the death in a battle between temporal and eternal values. When Christ came to earth He did not find one square foot of real estate completely devoted to the knowledge and glory of God. The coming Kingdom of God will change all of that. “[Someday] the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9). The Lord’s prayer will be answered someday, “His kingdom will come and His will is going to be done on earth as in heaven. God’s great gift to His people IS the kingdom.
“And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Lu 12:29-34).
VI. The Gospel is the VICTORY won by Christ at Calvary
Because of Christ’s substitutionary death for us, sin’s dominion is broken for God’s people. “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Rom 6:6-7). Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn 3:8). Christ as Creator and Ruler of all did not need personal victory over sin and the world. He came to earth to be an overcomer for the sake of His bride. He gained the victory over sin, death, and hell in order to give it to His church.
Everything Christ endured from His birth to His ascension was for His people. His vicarious life had one great aim for His people—to give them life, righteousness, sonship, pardon, holiness, adoption, and victory—all of grace (Rom 6:23). He gave His life to make you an overcomer. His conquest over the enemies of our souls was not merely an example to follow—His conquest and victory is ours. By faith and obedience, we participate in His conquests. We enter into His conquest by faith—it is a conquering of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Victory was gained by our Christ, our mighty Champion. We are to daily appropriate that victory through faith and obedience.
The only possible way we can live our lives for God is to ‘die with Christ’. This is exactly what happened—our sin natures were judged in the body and soul of our Savior 2000 years ago so that we would ‘no longer live for self, but for Him who died and rose on our behalf’ (2 Cor 5:14-15). By reckoning these truths (or spiritual realities) by faith, the reality of ‘co-crucifixion’ is worked into our daily walk so that this victory over sin becomes inseparable from our Christian experience.
The victory Christ won is the rightful property of His church. But it is not a victory that is enjoyed passively. The saint is commanded to enter into Christ’s victory by feeding the mind upon gospel realities. We are commanded to reckon, to count, to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (by means of His cross). Appropriation: “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom 6:11-13).
All that Christ has accomplished at the cross is ours by virtue of being in union with Him. When the Spirit placed us in Christ, all of the benefits of Christ’s ‘cross-work’ became our possession. But this is a ‘positional truth’ that it not immediately experiential. You may not wake up tomorrow morning and ‘feel’ dead to sin. In fact, if you allow yourself to be gripped by fear, anger, resentment, or lust, you may ‘feel’ very alive to sin!
Paul’s point is that true believers are to reckon themselves dead to sin regardless of how they feel. This reckoning is not an attempt to make something fictional into something real. It is an appropriation of Christ’s victory by faith. The Lord accomplished a mighty conquest of our enemies. Our part is to believe it. That is how we participate in victory that Christ has purchased for us.
We must be convinced (by counting God’s promises about us in Christ as fact) that we are dead to sin before we can fight sin successfully. The gospel order is, reckon yourselves dead to sin; then say ‘no’ to sin’s overtures. That is the gospel order—this is the means whereby we enter into Christ’s conquest. Christ has killed the sin that defiled us, separated us from God, and brought judgment upon us. Therefore, we are to ‘take to the morgue’ the sin that Christ has slain.
“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them” (Col 3:2-7).
APPLICATION: Victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil is not an option, it is the condition necessary to finish the race. The citizens of heaven are said to be overcomers. “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev 21:7). Those who live obediently by faith in Christ are overcomers (1 Jn 5:4-5).
Overcoming is set up in stark contrast to those who are overcome by the world instead. Scripture refers to them as ‘cowardly and unbelieving’ and not heirs of eternal life. What a cause for sober reflection! Those who do not overcome; but instead are overcome by sin and the world, will not enter heaven (Rev 21:8; 2 Pet 2:18-22). One cannot have his sin and heaven too.
We must constantly keep in mind that Christ is our ‘sphere’ of life. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Rom 13:14). There is the gospel order again; ‘put on Christ’ then ‘make no provision for the lusts of the flesh.’ Co-crucifixion with Christ is the ‘staging area’ from which the practical work of mortifying sin takes place. I reckon who I am and what I am in Christ—a child of God who is dead to sin—THEN from that fact, or perspective of co-crucifixion, I make my forays against temptation and indwelling sin.
Defining myself as crucified with Christ (a positional truth) is an act of obedient faith. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit set me apart in Christ as belonging to God. Set apart to Him is an accomplished fact that allows me to live the rest of my earthly life as God’s own possession (Heb 10:10, 14). The more I trust in this fact that I am set apart from sin unto God as His child devoted to Him, the more I will understand why Christ does not want to share my heart with idols (Eph 3:14-17).
CONCLUSION: We have seen that feeding upon Christ as He is displayed and offered in the gospel is the spiritual discipline of the godly. Our part in preaching the gospel to self is to view these treasures by faith and then meditate on them until we are able to explain them to our own souls. We should always be matching His all-sufficient Savior-hood with our sinner-ship—always dwelling upon how His redeeming work is a perfect fit for our ruin by sin (Heb 7:25-27).
Preaching the gospel to self is to grow in our knowledge of the Lord. To deal with the wealth of the gospel is to deal directly with Christ’s Person. For the benefits He has won for us are not ‘commodities’ that have an existence apart from Him. Our wealth is in Him—we are sons in Him; overcomers through Him, heirs in Him. As we meditate upon our union with Christ, all that is ours through Him tends to put our Savior into more clear focus. Our hearts are drawn out in love and adoration to Him—our affection deepened, our loyalty to Him becomes more stable and firm.
We must always remember that Christ’s work in His atonement was a purchase—not only a purchase of eternal life, but also a purchase of ourselves as well. To have received God’s free gift of redemption is also to have become God’s own possession. It is to be owned by the Lord as His possession (1 Cor 6:19-20). It is to be Christ’s ‘slave’ who is ruled by His Word. The Lord has an absolute right to control all aspects of the life of His child. What follows the rest of our lives (in time and eternity) is giving our selves back to God in overflowing gratitude (Rom 6:12-23).
Grace is commonly defined by professing Christians as boundless kindness but not as absolute obligation. Paul, in Titus 2:11-14, corrects this misnomer by declaring that grace instructs us in holiness. Grace fits us and motivates us to live our entire lives as an answer to God’s calling—to present ourselves back to God without reservation as our daily privilege (Rom 6:11-13).
In this life, you will never outgrow your need for the gospel. The word of grace provides the foundation, the formation, and the motivation for loving obedience to Christ—which is the reason He called us to Himself. “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace [the gospel], which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
Preaching the gospel to ourselves is the key to thinking spiritually, it is the chief spiritual habit which the Lord utilizes to form Christ in us. It is essential to doing all from grace-driven motives. When we are gospel-centered, it is normal for us to experience fruitfulness and as well as victory over the world and its idolatrous offers.
Questions for Discussion:
- Why is the glory of God only made sensible to us ‘in the face of Christ’?
- How did Christ’s obedience in His atoning death make Him perfectly equipped to be the all-sufficient High Priest and Savior of sinners?
- What do the ‘eyes of the heart’ enable believers to perceive?
- The church is not the Kingdom of God, but an ‘outpost’ of the coming Kingdom. What are some of the ways that a believer in the gospel is to ‘seek first the Kingdom of God’?
- Why does a vigorous Kingdom hope have such a purifying effect on the believer?
- How are we to daily appropriate the victory over sin that Christ has won for His people?
- Explain what it means to put sin to death, how does a believer mortify sin.
- What is an overcomer? Is heaven promised only to overcomers?