The redemption of fallen man, through the perfect redemptive work of Jesus Christ, is not the final destination but the beginning of a new life. When you become a partaker of the grace of God, you can no longer live the way you lived before your repentance and before you became born again. Because grace without repentance doesn’t exist. The grace of God not only contains salvation for the house of Israel and the Gentiles, but the grace of God also contains the process of sanctification, to teach the sons of God (baik pria maupun wanita) to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, selayaknya, and godly in this world. Let’s look at what the Bible says about the grace of God and the process of sanctification.
Melalui kasih karunia Tuhan, Anda menjadi kreasi baru
Melalui iman kepada Yesus Kristus dan melalui kelahiran kembali; the death of the flesh and the resurrection of the spirit, Anda menjadi kreasi baru (Pria Baru). You no longer belong to the generation of fallen man, who has the corrupt nature of his father the devil and belongs to the darkness. But through regeneration in Christ, you are restored (sembuh) dan berdamai dengan Tuhan. You belong to the generation of the new man, who has the holy and righteous nature of his Father God and lives in His Kingdom.
Your spirit is raised from the dead and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you’ve received God’s nature. Karena itu, kamu akan hidup secara berbeda.
You shall no longer walk as fallen man, who is led by the flesh and walks after the lusts and desires of the flesh in ungodliness in darkness.
Alih-alih, you shall walk as the new man, who is led by the Word and the Spirit and walks by faith after God’s will in righteousness in the Light.
When someone repents and becomes born again a total change takes place.
Orang -orang, who repent on the basis of the conviction of sin and the revelation of their corrupt and filthy fallen state as sinner, through the holiness of God, shall immediately live another life.
On what basis have you repented?
When people repent on another basis than the conviction of sin and the revelation of their sinful state as fallen man, many times a radical change doesn’t take place in their lives.
Misalnya, if people repent on the basis of the traditions of man and because they were raised in a Christian family, or because their spouse believes, or out of fear for hell, or for healing, or for the deliverance of demons, dll..
In most cases, their lives remain the same as before their repentance. Satu-satunya perbedaan adalah, that they go to church, membaca Alkitab sesekali, berdoa, and maybe become more humanistic.
Has faith become your life or is faith an addition to your life?
Berkali-kali, faith is considered an addition to someone’s life, instead of faith becoming the person’s life. People often consider faith as something that you practice besides your daily life and occupation. Karena itu, a true repentance and regeneration don’t happen. People keep walking after the flesh, Sama seperti dunia.
Banyak orang, Siapa yang pergi ke gereja, don’t consider the works of the flesh evil. Therefore they don’t see the necessity of becoming born again and put off the flesh.
You will only be able to see the perlunya regenerasi and to put off the works of the flesh, when you have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and are confronted with the holiness of God that exposes the darkness in your life and your sinful state.
Not until, you had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and are confronted with your sinful state, and are tired of living your life as a sinner and no longer want to live that way, only then will you be ready to give your life to Jesus Christ and to lay down your flesh in Him. (Baca juga: ‘Count the cost').
A spiritual baby
When you become born again and become a new creation, you are a spiritual baby. Although you are complete in Christ and received everything in Him to walk as a son of God, you have to spiritually mature.
This happens through the renewing of your mind with the Word of God. So that you will get to know the will of God and be able to discern God’s will and His truth from the will of the devil and his lies. (Baca juga: ‘The will of God versus the will of the devil')
Tapi itu belum semua! When you renew your mind with the Word, you also have to put the words of God into practice, so that you become a pelaku Firman.
Sebagai pelaku Firman, you shall walk by faith in holiness (terpisah dari dunia dan mengabdi kepada Tuhan) dan kebenaran.
You shall no longer act by what the flesh and the world say. But you shall act by what the words of God and the Spirit say.
The Word and the Spirit diametrically oppose the words of the world and the flesh. Therefore this shall be quite difficult at first.
But Jesus commanded to take up your cross and carry your cross daily. This means that you daily have to crucify the flesh and submit to the Word and the Spirit. It isn’t the easiest way. But it is the way of joy, damai, kebenaran, and life and leads to eternal life.
the process of sanctification
In the beginning of the process of sanctification, there shall be remainders of your old life. The Holy Spirit shall teach you in the Bible and reveal the truth. The Holy Spirit shall confront you with the remainders of your old life; dagingmu. Then it’s up to you to remove them from your life.
During the process of sanctification to spiritual maturity, you shall make mistakes. You shall unconsciously do things, which are not good.
The Holy Spirit and the Word shall confront you and reveal to you that it was wrong and not according to God’s will.
After the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit, you can ask forgiveness, menyesali, and remove it from your life.
If you truly repent during the process of regeneration, you shall be forgiven by the grace of God.
Namun, the grace of God is not meant to rebel against the Word and the Holy Spirit.
The grace of God is not meant to keep doing those things, which oppose God’s will, and consciously persevere in sin and live after your will. (Baca juga: What is sin unto death and sin not unto death?)
If you know that something isn’t good and opposes the will of God, but you ignore the will of God and keep doing it, then you still love your flesh and that work of the flesh, and don’t want to remove it from your life.
You don’t really regret and repent of what you have done. Therefore you shall not remove it from your life, but shall keep doing it, lagi dan lagi, because you love doing it.
Who do you love more, Jesus or your flesh?
Jika kamu terus berbuat dosa, it proves that your love for what you do (dosa) and for your flesh is greater than your love for Jesus Christ. (Baca juga: Apakah kamu mengasihi Tuhan dengan segenap hatimu??)
You can ask forgiveness over and over again out of habit or a religious ordinance, because that’s what you’ve been taught. But it doesn’t work like that.
The grace of God is not a license to persevere in sin.
If you see no harm in doing the works of the flesh. If you don’t consider the works of the flesh evil, but keep doing them and keep walking after the flesh, it proves to whom you belong and siapa yang kamu layani.
The grace of God during the proces of sanctification
The grace of God during the process of sanctification is the time that God gives to lay down the old man and put on the new man. Sehingga, the new man grows up in the sonship of God and walks as a mature son of God in righteousness according to His will.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Mengajarkan kita hal itu, menyangkal kefasikan dan nafsu duniawi, kita harus hidup dengan bijaksana, selayaknya, dan saleh, di dunia sekarang ini; Mencari harapan yang diberkati itu, dan penampakan kemuliaan Allah yang agung dan Juruselamat kita Yesus Kristus; Yang menyerahkan diri-Nya bagi kita, agar Dia dapat menebus kita dari segala kejahatan, dan menyucikan bagi dirinya suatu kaum yang istimewa, bersemangat melakukan perbuatan baik (Titus 2:11-14)
When your life remains unchanged, it proves that you have not repented and are not born again in the spirit. It proves that you are still trapped in the sinful flesh and do what the flesh commands you to do.
Because you are trapped in the sinful flesh and led by the flesh, you shall also continue to sin.
Since the flesh reigns as king in your life, the flesh shall consistently command you to do those things that are conformed to the world, but oppose the will of God. Karena itu, you shall not enter the place that God has prepared for you. Alih-alih, you shall stay camping at the cross. (Baca juga: ‘Salib tempat mati, tempat berbuat dosa?‘)
many Christians camp at the cross
Many Christians stay camping at the cross. They don’t live from their new healed and holy position in Christ as a son of God (baik pria maupun wanita). They proclaim the grace of God but the process of sanctification is not part of their lives. Instead they stay carnal and live as the old man, yang terjebak dalam daging, sebagai slaves of sin.
This is mainly because of their love for the flesh and/or the process of sanctification is no longer preached in the church. Instead of entering the process of sanctification, the church uses the grace of God to embrace and accept sin.
Oleh karena itu persiapkanlah pikiranmu, Sadarlah, dan berharap sampai akhir atas rahmat yang akan diberikan kepadamu pada wahyu Yesus Kristus; Sebagai anak yang taat, tidak membentuk diri Anda sendiri menurut mantan nafsu dalam ketidaktahuan Anda: Tetapi karena Dia yang memanggil kamu adalah kudus, jadi jadilah kamu suci dalam segala percakapan; Karena tertulis, Jadilah kamu suci; karena aku suci (1 Petrus 1:13-16)
Many Christians don’t read and study the Bible themselves. They listen to preachers and believe their words above the words of God and act upon their words and build their faith upon them.
Since they don’t read and study the Bible, they stay ignorant about the truth and holy position in Christ. They don’t walk in the power of God and rule over sin and death. Instead they live as slaves to sin and death in ungodliness and the worldly lusts.
But the process of sanctification (put off the old man and put on the new man and live a holy and righteous life after God’s will) is necessary. Because without holiness, no one shall see the Lord (Ibrani 12:14).
Justified by the blood of Jesus
Yang benar adalah, itu karena rahmat Tuhan, melalui iman kepada Yesus Kristus, you have been saved. The blood of Jesus cleansed you from all your sins and unrighteousness and justified you. Melalui regenerasi di dalam Dia, you became a son of God and have peace with God.
For God has not called us unto uncleanness, tetapi menuju kekudusan. He therefore that despises, tidak membenci manusia, tapi Tuhan, Who has also given unto us His Holy Spirit (1 Tesalonika 4:7-8)
You have received His Word and His Holy Spirit. Sekarang terserah Anda, what you do with the grace of God, with everything that you received from God by faith in Christ.
It’s your turn to get started and do what He commanded you to do. Ini berarti, ke., menunda orang tua itu Dan mengenakan pria baru, walking after God’s will in righteousness and being His witness.
As God is holy, His children are holy and walk in holiness and righteousness
Karena Tuhan itu suci, dan itu, who are born of Him are holy, you should live a holy life. This means that you no longer walk after your own will and the lusts and desires of your flesh and the world in ungodliness and keep sinning. But it means that you walk after the Spirit according to God’s will. You do what the Word and the Spirit command you to do.
Sebagai anak Allah, you shall no longer be led by the devil and his will, which dwell in your flesh and caused you to sin. But you shall be led by the Holy Spirit, who works in your spirit and makes you do the will of God and His righteous works
Ini berarti, that from time to time you will struggle. But everything depends upon your love for Jesus Christ and how much time you spend on the things which are above and how much time you spend on the things on earth.
“Set your mind on things above, bukan pada hal-hal di bumi”
The more time you spend with Jesus Christ; Firman, the better you will get to know the Father. Semakin banyak kamu perbarui pikiranmu dengan Firman, the more you will love the Father and His Word. You shall hate evil and the works of the flesh.
Misalnya, if you used to tell lies in your former life and didn’t mind telling a white lie, then now you shall feel uncomfortable. That’s because the Word and the Holy Spirit confront you with the truth.
They will show you, that lying is a characteristic from the devil, your former father, who is liar. Lying is a work of the flesh. Lying belongs to your old carnal nature and not to your new godly nature.
If you yield to Jesus Christ (Firman yang hidup) you obey Him and hate lies, sama seperti Tuhan. You shall remove lying from your life. Because as a son of God you walk in the truth and speak the truth. Just like Jesus Christ, Putra Tuhan, walked in the truth of His Father and spoke the truth.
god gave you power to resist the temptations of the devil
Dan sekarang, saudara laki-laki, Aku menyerahkanmu kepada Tuhan, dan pada firman rahmat-Nya, yang mampu membangunmu, dan untuk memberimu warisan di antara semua yang disucikan itu (Tindakan 20:32)
Oleh karena itu, milikilah janji-janji ini, sangat dicintai, marilah kita menyucikan diri kita dari segala kenajisan daging dan roh, menyempurnakan kesucian dalam takut akan Tuhan (2 Korintus 7:1)
By His grace, Tuhan anointed you as a son of God in Christ and gave you power during the process of sanctification. God gave you all the spiritual weapons to stand against the whiles of the devil and fight against sin.
God gave you all power to resist the temptations of the devil and the lusts and desires of the flesh. He gave you power to live a holy live in obedience to God after His will.
What is the secret of the process of sanctification?
The secret of the process of sanctification (the transformation of the old man into the new man and walk as a mature son of God) sedang, that when you fear God and love God with all your heart, jiwa, pikiran, dan kekuatan, you don’t focus on yourself and not give into the cry and demands of the flesh.
Alih-alih, you walk after the Spirit and focus on the things above, tempat Yesus Kristus duduk, dan mewakili, berkhotbah, dan menghadirkan Kerajaan-Nya di bumi.
'Jadilah garam dunia’
