by Jacob Ninan
Many people seem to assume that all they have to do is to come to Jesus, and that once they come to Him, He will take care of all their earthly needs and also provide a place for them in eternity! Another thing that happens when someone has come to Jesus is that some preachers emphasise his 'position in Christ' so much that it seems as if there is nothing for him to do from his side! Both these approaches have an element of truth in them, and that is why they get accepted by people. But they don't convey the full picture, and that is how people can get deceived.
It is the most important decision we can take in life to come to Jesus. But many are told to come to Jesus in order get healed, to become rich and have Jesus take care of everything for them. If we do not go to Jesus recognising ourselves as sinners, repenting from our sins, He cannot be our Saviour! Also, if we have come to Jesus but we have not turned our mind from being occupied with earthly things to heavenly things, it shows that no real change has come into our life (Col.3:1,2).
Our position 'in Christ' is a judicial stance God takes towards us who have been born again through repentance from sin and faith in Jesus as our Saviour. God clothes us with a robe of righteousness – the righteousness of Jesus which is credited to us (Isa.61:10). If God were to look at us as we actually are in a practical sense, He will not be able to accept us because of His holiness and our sinfulness. But when He looks at us 'in Christ' the demands of His righteousness and justice are met, and He can deal with us as His children.
In our practical life, we are on a journey from our actual level of righteousness towards the perfect level of righteousness that is Christ's. If we look honestly at Jesus we can see that we are far from His righteousness in our practical life. There is a huge amount of transformation that needs to take place in our life. It is not that we live any way we like here, and then, suddenly, when we meet with Jesus on the final day, we will be transformed instantaneously into His image. What we will be changed instantaneously at that time is only into a glorified body like His, and not His character. That is why we have to 'work out' our salvation (Php.2:12,13). God is working in us to show us how we ought to live and to give us strength to walk in that way. Then we have to deny ourselves and do His will daily. But imagine what would happen if we were not denying ourselves and we were continuing to live in the same way as we have always been doing! Imagine a preacher at this time telling us about what all we are 'in Christ' – seated in the heavenly places in Christ, called saints, with all the record of our sins having been cleansed away, etc.! We would think all is fine, and we would be relaxing, instead of moving towards partaking of the righteousness of Christ!
Let us look at how verses are misinterpreted in this context. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2Cor.5:17). This verse seems to indicate that what all I have been saying is wrong! No. We need to understand what exactly has become new already and what is yet to be changed.
When we are born again, God gives us a new heart and new spirit (Ezek.36:26). Now we are expected to deny ourselves and put to death what we feel like doing, in the power of the Holy Spirit working in us (Rom.8:13). This does not mean that the Holy Spirit will do this for us and we just have to thank and praise God! No, it is we who have to put the deeds of our body to death in the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not force us to change against our will. This is the process of sanctification by which are going to be changed, little by little, into the character of Jesus. If we imagine we are already like that because we are 'in Christ' we are living in a delusion! We need to take up our cross and put our fleshly desires to death daily if we want to make real progress in this life-long journey (Lk.9:23).
It is also foolish to imagine that this transformation will take place through any special event such as water baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit or any act of consecration on our part. No. This is a lifelong journey.
When we sincerely start on this journey of sanctification, we will find that it is not only our sinful desires in our flesh that hinder us, but also a whole lot of baggage we have accumulated in our past. This baggage may be described as the result of our own sins, the effect of the sins of others towards us, or all the wrong ideas and values we have accumulated in the past. Let us look now at some of the common ways we gather this kind of baggage.
1. Family upbringing
When we look around we can see that more and more families can be described as dysfunctional in many ways. But we must not just assume that our own family upbringing was perfect! Just as we are not perfect, our parents were also not perfect, and either through abuse or neglect, or through wrong values they have passed on to us, we have all developed different types of sinful approaches towards life. Perhaps our parents have not taught us obedience, or corrected us when we misbehaved or told lies.Sometimes we may have misunderstood our parents and developed wrong attitudes towards them. For example, when the parents were struggling to work hard and provide what their children needed, the children may have imagined that the parents did not love them because of the little time they had together! Or sometimes the children were upset because the parents did not give them what they asked for. Sometimes this leads to rebellion or hatred in the children's minds.
Now that we have grown up, don't we carry baggages from this past? Now we may be working, but we don't know how to behave with our boss or colleagues. Or this baggage shows up in our marriage relationship. Can we put all the blame on our spouse or the in-laws? We may be self-centred and not inclined to think of the others' needs. We may not know how to take responsibility if our parents have never given us any responsibility but they have done everything for us. Etc.
2. Defects in our personality
We all have our strengths and weakness. Not only we have acquired certain personality traits from our genes, but we have also accumulated different (wrong) strategies and tactics as we have grown up and faced different experiences in life. None of us can imagine that we have the perfect personality or approach to life. The way to deal with this kind of baggage is to identify our strengths and weaknesses, and use our strengths to serve God and people, and to overcome our weaknesses.3. Bad habits
We may have picked up different kinds of bad habits depending on how we were brought up and the experiences we have gone through. Those whose parents did everything for them may now be lazy to do anything except what they enjoy. Some may expect others to do things for them, some may want to spend all their time with friends and partying even after they have got married, some may be addicted to pornography, drinking, gambling, gaming, watching videos, chatting on the phone, etc. What is lacking in many cases is self-discipline. If only they could examine where their present lifestyle would lead them to, they could get a desire to get rid of this type of baggage.4. Demonisation
We know that if we have been born again, the Holy Spirit owns us as His temple, and we cannot be possessed by demons which would amount to owning full control over us. But we should not therefore imagine that demons can have no power over us. They can get control over specific areas of our life where we have given them access. If anyone thinks that such things cannot happen to believers in Christ, all we can say that they do not have sufficient knowledge or experience.If we have been continuing in any sin without repentance or seeking forgiveness, that would be a way demons can find a place in us (Eph.4:26,27). It is obvious that if we have been dabbling in any occult routines knowingly or even not knowing that these involved contacts with demons, we may have provided them an open door. Those who have worshipped idols or gone through idolatrous rituals must know that it is demons who give lifeless idols the power they seem to have (1Cor.10:20). It is also possible that demons have access in our lives if our parents have involved us in such idolatrous rituals, witchcraft or black magic even without our knowledge, or we may have participated with them before we came to Jesus. If we have given access to demons, they will not automatically leave us when we come to Jesus, but we will have to deliberately drive them away using the authority of the name of Jesus (Lk.10:19). We need to examine if any demons may be working in our life if we notice any area of our life we cannot control.
Let me reiterate the point that all the baggage we carry in this way from the past will not automatically disappear when we are born again. Jesus takes away our guilt and shame and gives us the privilege to be sons and daughters of God. But we will have to personally deal with each piece of baggage and get rid of them in order to get to experience the freedom God has provided for us.
I would like to suggest some steps we can take in order to deal with baggage we have brought from our past. Be humble and honest before God as you go through them. Some people will also find it helpful to go through them along with someone else, such as a Christian counsellor.
1. Make sure we have repented and received forgiveness
This is important to ensure that we have a right relationship with God. Unfortunately, many preachers these days do not talk about sin, its punishment, the coming judgment, etc., and have not led people to repentance and faith in Jesus as their Saviour. If we assume we have become Christians even though we have not come through this route, we will be actually deceiving ourselves. Take time to sit before God, confess your sins and receive forgiveness as a free gift on the basis of Jesus paying their price on the cross.2. Recognise and acknowledge our brokenness
Let us not imagine that we are good in every way, but let us recognise and acknowledge that we are defective in many ways. There are many things wrong with all of us, and if we think otherwise we are blind or deluded, and do not know much about ourselves. Salvation begins with the acknowledgement of our brokenness and our seeking God for healing. At the same time, let us not get into guilt or shame – God has taken away our guilt and shame, and accepted us as His children with full knowledge of what we are and where we have come from.3. Forgive everyone who has hurt us
A lot of our brokenness is the result of the hurt from other people, including our parents. When we want to get right with God, the first thing we need is forgiveness. This is something we don't deserve, and God gives it to us purely as a gift of unmerited favour towards us. But if we will not forgive anyone else after receiving this, saying they don't deservve it, we will be playing a double game. Jesus has made it clear in the parable of the king and two servants (Matt.18), that God can even take back His forgiveness from us. But once we forgive everyone who has hurt us, the grace of God can come in more powerfully than ever before.4. Accept others with their brokenness
Much of our baggage makes it difficult for us to deal with others with mercy and kindness, because their areas of brokenness cause us difficulties. But when we realise how God has accepted us with all our baggage, it makes it easier to accept others with their baggage too. After all, we are all in similar boats. Let us remember that just as we have to bear with the weaknesses we have to face in others, these others are having to bear with our weaknesses! Let us not grow weary in showing mercy.5. Get into the habit of working out our own salvation
We have a natural tendency to want others to change so that our life will become more comfortable. But we cannot really change others. The only ones we can change are ourselves! Also, we are the ones we are directly responsible for. In order to become more and more like Jesus, we have to be always in the habit of discovering what all is wrong with us, in our deeds, speech, thoughts and attitudes, and working out our salvation in those areas. God will show us increasingly more and more areas in our lives that need to be changed. Can we imagine the increasing amount of peace and joy we can experience as we become more like Jesus?6. Don't sit back and assume we are already in the position God has planned for us
If we keep listening to the 'in Christ' preachers, we may come to believe that everything is fine for us, and forget that there is a lot of salvation we need to experience before we can get there! Even when we are aiming for a heavenly life, let us not forget that we are still on this sinful earth and carrying with us a sinful old nature (flesh) with all its passions and desires.7. Constantly compare ourselves with the life of Jesus
It is a most foolish habit to compare ourselves with other people who are less fortunate than us and feel good about ourselves. The Pharisee who went to pray in the temple looked at the tax-collector who was also there, and thanked God that he was not like other people including the tax-collector (Lk.18:11). Why don't we start comparing our life with that of Jesus? Then we can see a picture of ourselves and learn to work out our salvation.8. Make way for continual repentance
9. Accept continual acceptance and love from God
Repentance is not something we have to do only when we come to Jesus the first time. Afterwards too, whenever we realise that we have fallen into sin or come short of the life of Jesus, it is time for us to repent, ask God for forgiveness and move forward. We may have started backsliding if the frequency of repentance has come down!
Remember, when the prodigal son came back to his father in repentance, what he expected was only some work for his sustenance. But what he received from the father were acceptance and a loving welcome. We must not think of our heavenly Father as a taskmaster waiting to judge us, but as One waiting to get us back with Him. Every time we return to God, there is great rejoicing in God's heart. Let us not allow fear or discouragement to hinder us from coming back to God.10. Accept correction and teaching continually
As long as we are in this world, there will be some baggage we still have to deal with. Sometimes God corrects us as we read His word, pray or listen to a message. But many other times, God sends us correction through other people. If we are truly interested in salvation, we must be open to correction from all sides and from everyone. Sometimes, if our heart is in the right direction, a poor, uneducated man may have a word of wisdom to pass on to us. Let us never come to the place where we think we don't need any more correction.The more free we get from these baggages, the closer we get to God and the more we can partake of the nature of Christ. We can enjoy this blessing from God even while we are still in this world.