” And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32,
As a youth God taught me the that I was not worthy, or righteous by anything that I did but by the very blood of Christ that he gave freely. I was in prayer about a thing that was vexing me on a daily basis. So when I prayed and actually say that thing destroyed in the exact way I saw in prayer God remided me that the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much… John 8:32, I said yes, but I am not a righteous man. God corrected me immediately saying, “don’t tread underfoot the very blood that was shed for you to be righteous. It is not what you do or do not do that makes you righteous, it is the sacrifice of Christ that makes you righteous. If you claim to be unworthy after the Blood of Christ has made you worthy, then you are denying the work of Christ in your life!
I want you to say to yourself, “I am worthy, because JESUS’ blood has made me worthy. Nothing I can do, Nothing I can Say, Nothing I have ever done can separate me from the Love God has for me in Christ Jesus.”
You are loved by God the Father
Dd you know God loves you just the same as he loved Jesus his only begotten Son? Yes bear with me here, lets look at what the word has to say or better yet what Christ himself had to say John 17:23, “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
Jesus said that the greatest love a man can show for his friends, is when he lays down his life for them. Jesus laid down His life for us John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
You were purchased at a steep price
The wages of your sin is death (see Romans 6:23), but Jesus paid that price for you. God’s Word tells us that we were purchased by the precious Blood of the Lamb:
1 Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Revelations 5:9, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed (meaning purchased) us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;”
Why did Jesus purchase us with His own Blood? Because of His deep love for us, and He deeply desires to have a loving relationship with you and I.
Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
We are justified and declared innocent
If you have repented of your sins and accepted the gift of God, referring to the forgiveness of sins through the precious shed Blood of Christ, then God’s Word tells us that we are justified:
Galatians 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
The word justified in the above passage is derived from the Greek word dikaioo, which means, “to render (that is, show or regard as) just or innocent: – free, justify (-ier), be righteous.” If a person is justified, it means they are made innocent or made just as if they have never sinned!
We are free from a sin conscience
Since our sins have been put away and removed from us, and we are justified, that is, made right with God, you and I are entitled to a clean and un-defiled conscience!
Hebrews 9:14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
My friend, if you are still beating yourself up over your past failures which have been nailed to the cross, you are denying the work that Christ has done for you! A clean conscience before the Lord agrees with what Christ has done in removing their sin and declaring them as justified or innocent before the Lord.
Your sins no longer claim you.
The truth is that your sins have not simply been covered, but actually removed from your account. This was not possible in the Old Testament, but through the precious Blood of Christ, the removal of sins is a reality.
John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Matthew 26:28, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
And if forgiving us wasn’t enough, God Himself chose to FORGET our failures for His own sake. When He sees us, He doesn’t want to remember our failures, He wants to see us as His precious child who stands blameless before Him:
Hebrews 10:17, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
We are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus
As believers in Christ, there is a great exchange that has taken place. One of the things exchanged is our sin for Jesus’ own righteousness. Let’s take a look at a few scriptures:
Romans 3:22, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”
Romans 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”
Romans 5:17, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousnessshall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”
Jesus received what we deserved (punishment for our sins), and He gave us His righteousness in exchange!
You are made new in Christ – Born of God!
The old saying, “We’re just sinners saved by grace” that statement actually denies the very work that God has done in us. We are not just forgiven, God’s Word tells us that we are new creatures in Christ, old things having passed away and all things have became new:
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
When you accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior and believed upon Him, you became a new creation in Christ. God’s Word tells us that this new man is created in righteousness and true holiness:
Ephesians 4:24, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
We aren’t just born again, but we have also become sons (and daughters) of God:
John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
So what happened to the old-you? The old you was crucified with Christ. God didn’t repair the old-you, He created a new-you in Christ, which is what the Bible refers to when talking about being born again:
John 3:5-7, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
You are seated with Christ – a position of authority
Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, and God’s Word tells us that we are seated with Christ:
Ephesians 2:6, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Because of our position in Christ, we are seated in a place of authority over all sickness, diseases and demons. Jesus said that signs and wonders would follow them who believe, including casting out demons (which requires authority – see Luke 10:17-20). Look at this passage:
Mark 16:15-18, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Who shall these signs follow? Them that BELIEVE. That includes all true followers of Christ that are alive on the earth right now. Take a look at this passage in Revelations:
Revelations 5:9-10, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”
The truth is, we don’t need to ‘ask’ God to heal somebody.. we can speak with authority over that sickness and command it to flee in Jesus’ name… we can command those broken bones to grow… we can command, because we have authority. This is the standard practice in the early church when the followers of Christ were going out and healing the sick! The same is true when it comes to demons. We don’t need to ask God to remove the demons, but we rather take up the authority that Christ has given us, and exercise it through faith using Jesus’ name.
Did you know that the only reference to prayer for healing in the NT is found in James 5:15? The rest of the NT tells us of how Jesus, His disciples and the early church would exercise their faith when they went forth to heal the sick. They weren’t asking the Father to heal the sick, they were saying things like, “Be healed in Jesus’ name” or “Rise and walk!”
Jesus made it clear that we have authority here on earth, which is naturally ours through our position in being seated with Christ. Jesus demonstrated this when he cursed the fig tree:
Matthew 21:18-22
“Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Concluding thoughts
When we don’t realize who we are in Christ, our faith will be crippled. If you don’t feel worthy to exercise your authority in Christ, then you won’t be doing it in the fullness of faith and will lack assurance. Satan works diligently to program people’s minds to feel unworthy and unable to walk in power of God here on earth. This is one of the most popular strongholds in existence today in the body of Christ! The truth is that we, by our own power and effort, are unworthy, but it is the Blood of Christ that makes us worthy. If we say we are unworthy when the Blood says we are, then we are denying the work that Christ did for us on the cross!