Forever Free
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be gin Christ, ||he is ha new creature: iold things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, kwho hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us lthe ministry of mreconciliation; 19 To wit, that nGod was in Christ, kreconciling nnthe world unto himself, not oimputing their trespasses unto them; and hath †committed unto us the word of mreconciliation.” [1]
I. New
A. If
B. In
II. Now
A. Identified
B. Imputed
III. Not
A. Indicted
B. Indented
Introduction: This old preacher was not the first to realize that Paul’s writings are sometimes hard to comprehend. This is from 2 Peter 3:15-16, “15 And account that qthe longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, rspeaking in them of these things; in which are some things shard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and tunstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” [2] Some of Paul’s writings are hard to understand but with much prayer and fasting the Holy Spirit will lead us to comprehend. Fasting, by the way, means to put all your dependence on the one thing that you are concentrating on. Otherwise the other things will distract you.
Peter compared people who are unlearned and unstable with others such as Paul who are saved. There are those who use scripture that they don’t understand as a basis for argument. Peter was insisting that we can understand as long as we continue in faith. The world today is full of people who have decided to discount the Bible because of their own refusal to accept Jesus.
Just because a thing in the Bible is hard to understand the first time you read it does not mean you should jump across the idea. What it means is that you have been led to a place where more study will bring you peace. Otherwise quitting on that which you have been led to will result in your destruction.
Peter wrapped it up this way, 2 Peter 3:17-18, “Ye therefore, beloved, useeing ye know these things before, vbeware lest ye also, being led away with the error of wthe wicked, xfall from your own stedfastness. 18 yBut grow in grace, and in the zknowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. aTo him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” [3]
This is why reading the Bible without ceasing is so important. We will cross paths with people who are confused. If we are not careful to study until we are sure, we will not be armed with the armor that will protect us from being led back into confusion. Know this, even the devil knows Jesus on a personal basis. The devil is the author of confusion.
Be careful! God will make you a new person and He will prepare you even to speak to the one deceived by a cult if you are truly saved. Be careful but do not be afraid.
Scripture: Today’s focal text is 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
Prayer: Let us pray. Be seated.
Message: 2 Corinthians five is a chapter with several interconnected points. Carrying over from chapter four; Paul is explaining that the things we see here are temporary but the things we expect and only realize through faith are permanent. There was apparently some controversy in Corinth about Jesus’ returning. Some were growing impatient and were leading the faithful away. Pressures from outside the church were making some feel that their wait was useless.
In the beginning of chapter five Paul explains that when all this here which we can see goes away, we have a place waiting in heaven and we will never lose that. The reason we groan here is because we long so much for what we know is coming. We groan because we know that being here in these earthly bodies means that we are absent from the Lord. In verse seven Paul reminds that walking by faith proves that seeing is not always believing.
There are patterns in grammar in the Bible; especially in the 1900 KJV. We find that in the wherefore, therefore pattern. The first half or wherefore means; for that reason. An example of that might be, wherefore I pledge because I was born in the USA. So the reason that I pledge is because of some other thing.
The other half of the grammatical pattern is therefore. For the reason or wherefore I am an American, therefore I feel compelled to pledge. Wherefore is the reason, therefore is the result. Wherefore I am an American, therefore if I don’t stand to pledge I feel ashamed.
So yes, some of Paul’s writings of are difficult. The wherefore, therefore pattern can be found all over the KJV though. Not only in Paul’s writing. It is worth studying to understand what the Bible is saying to you. It says the same thing to everybody but the interpretation that The Holy Spirit brings to the individual Christian each time he / she reads a passage; that is very often very personal.
Paul goes on to explain why it is so important that we instruct other Christians about appearing before The Judgement Seat of Christ. Then Paul explains why we look like fools to men when sometimes we are absolutely clear of thought to Jesus. If we are truly saved then we are not of this life anymore and that is confusing to those who are of this life still. Wherefore without dying to this life it is impossible to understand how we cannot know people after they are dead and yet we do know Jesus.
Our focal text begins with the word, therefore; as a result of being a Christian in other words. If that is true, then that person is not the old person they were before. That person is not an improved person. That person is a new person.
If that person is in Christ; in other words if Jesus has received that person then that person is a new person. All you must do for Jesus to accept you is to sincerely ask Him. You cannot be a Christian and not be a new person. Revelation 21:5, “And ohe that sat upon the throne said, Behold, pI make all things new. And he said unto me, qWrite: for rthese words are true and faithful.” [4]
How does that make you feel? We have all been through some hard times. Many of us have been brought to a place of awareness about just how vulnerable we are here in this life. With each passing day we understand that we will never be as new again as we were yesterday. How does is make you feel to know that one day you can be new again to never age again? To be absent from the body is to be present from the Lord. No wonder those in Corinth were growing impatient. Lord thank you for bringing me to a place of understanding about how I feel. Do you know how it feels to want to be in two places at the same time? God doesn’t need to know, God is everywhere all the time. You can rest in that truth.
Verse eighteen; all things are of God. Last week we discussed that truth. Everything is His. We once decided that we did not want to be His so God sent Jesus to bring those of us who wanted to come back the only way that we could come back. Jesus came!
So now if you have once and for all decided to accept Jesus you are in Christ. You are identified as a Christian. You have a new identity. Now you have a ministry. There is now something here and now which you have been selected and prepared for you to do. The big word here is imputed. To attempt something which you have not been gifted for or imputed with to do means that you will not be able to do it. On the other side; if you have been imputed by God for a ministry and you attempt to refuse to do that it will cause you trouble until you finally give up and give in to doing that for which you have been imputed.
So what is it that we have been imputed for? Verse 19; God was and is in Christ. Unless a person decides to be reconciled to the truth that they must accept Jesus there is no reconciliation. Whose ministry is it to tell the lost? It is our ministry to tell others that it was not God who imputed sin into mankind. God is not the one who indicted me when I chose to live apart from Him.
It was me who acted like the indentured servant to sin. Can a person be freed and fall back into servitude? People do it every day. New Christians do it every day. What does it mean to be indented? Another variant of that word indented is indentured. Slaves who were freed after the so-called American Civil War often hired themselves back to those who were once their masters. They had no evident means to support themselves so some became share croppers working the fields that they once worked as slaves. In their minds they were still stuck.
Christians do that! We’re free but we’re still here. How do we once and for all finally live free forever? Believe it or not if you are a Christian you are forever free. We have been studying the prophecy of Daniel in our evening services and have discussed those who were living in a foreign land. They were told what to do but that did not stop them from being whose they were.
We are watching some of the most disruptive times for us that I have seen in my lifetime. I would like to think that I can escape by rejecting that which I refuse to agree with. Then God allows that physical ailment to come and there is no choice except to accept that which is my only choice. Do I jump into the fiery furnace? Those three had no choice. But then there were four and even the politicians had to see Him. Tell that!
Prayer:
Invitation: Wherefore I am a Christian, therefore I must preach. What is it that you must do? The invitation today is not that you read the Bible through this year just so that you can tell someone else how many times you have read it. The invitation is that you will not let a day pass that you have not let God speak to you through His written word. Read it every day.
We are hearing people quote the Bible who don’t believe what they know to be true that is in the Bible. We will hear this more as time goes by. The only way to allow God’s protection from those who Satan uses to distort the Truth is to read the Truth.
Have you been faithful to that or are you satisfied with what others tell you on the electronic doo dads? It is fine to read the Bible from the doo dads but it’s not fine to not know when someone is attempting to deceive you. If you are in Christ, you are new and you will never be old again. Live the new life now and forever Amen.
g Rom. 16:7. ch. 12:2. Gal. 1:22.
|| Or, let him be.
h Gal. 6:15. See Rom. 6:4.
i Isai. 43:18, 19. Rev. 21:5. So Eph. 2:15. & 4:24.
k See Rom. 5:10. So 1 John 2:2. & 4:10.
l See ch. 3:6.
m See Rom. 5:11 [marg.].
n Rom. 3:24, 25.
k See Rom. 5:10. So 1 John 2:2. & 4:10.
nn See Gal. 6:14.
o See 1 Cor. 13:5.
† Gr. put in us. Comp. ch. 4:7.
m See Rom. 5:11 [marg.].
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 2 Co 5:17–19). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
q See Rom. 2:4. So ver. 9.
r Comp. Rom. 8:19? 1 Cor. 15:24? 1 Thess. 4:15?
s So Heb. 5:11.
t See ch. 2:14.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 2 Pe 3:15–16). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
u So Mark 13:23. ch. 1:12.
v So Eph. 4:14. ch. 2:14, 18.
w ch. 2:7.
x Gal. 5:4. So ch. 1:10, 11.
y So Eph. 4:15. Col. 1:10. & 2:19. 1 Pet. 2:2.
z See ch. 1:5.
a See Rom. 11:36.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 2 Pe 3:17–18). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
o ch. 4:2, 9. & 5:1, &c. & 20:11.
p See 2 Cor. 5:17.
q See ch. 14:13.
r See ch. 22:6.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Re 21:5). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
