Burried With Him

Chapter Two

BURIED WITH HIM

Romans 8:14-15

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

One thing we must come to realize, understand and accept is that the spirit of Satan once lived in us. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, then Satan’s spirit still resides in you. This is a fact. A fact that many of us choose not to accept . . . but this is a reality. At one time we were the children of Satan. We once were captive by the spirit of bondage, but now that we have been born again the scripture says we did not again receive the spirit of bondage. We have been begotten by the Father.

Even though we were begotten, the terminology adoption means we once belonged to somebody else.

We were once in bondage to Satan, he was our father. We have been reborn but to be reborn we first had to die. Birth means life and we cannot come alive until we are dead.

Romans 8:9-11

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you..

St. John 8:44

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Here we are again. Just as the Spirit of God raised Christ from the dead, the same Spirit quickened, which means to be brought alive, our mortal bodies. This quickening is the life-giving power of the Holy Ghost. It is the power of the Holy Ghost that now provides life for this mortal body.

Note the differences in Adam’s creation and the new creature. The Adam man is a natural man, whose human spirit is of the substance of the earth, the natural element called wind. Whereas the new man is of God the Father. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Remember Paul told the Corinthians that the first man Adam was of the earth, earthy. That which was first was not spiritual, but natural. Now the natural man is crucified with Christ, but he also is risen with Christ. Having been created in God, he is now of the divine nature. The raising of the new creature brought life, the life of Christ. The new creature is in Christ and Christ is in him.

Being made subject to vanity, the creature remained in this body of death. However, he starts out with a clean slate and is now able to master the flesh. He is the power of the body, no longer the captive.

In His first message to Israel, Jesus states His purpose in coming to the earth.

Luke 4:18-19

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Romans 8:20

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope . . .

Adam was not spiritual, but natural.

Jesus came to bring deliverance to the captives.

Ephesians 4:7-8

7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Because of original sin, all mankind was held in captivity by sin and death, but these principalities Jesus Christ overthrew.

THE OPERATION OF SALVATION

Colossians 2:15

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Therefore by the operation of the faith of God, we were made partakers of this victory.

Romans 8:1-4

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The law of the Spirit of life has conquered the law of sin and death. Now we can have power over the motions of sin that work in the members of the flesh.

Romans 8:12-14

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

If Christ is in you, then your body is dead because of sin since the old man was crucified with Christ, which is the payment of the sin debt. Now the soul can inherit the promise of a new body. Remember, the Adam man is a living soul and it is his soul that is in jeopardy of reaping eternal damnation. It is the soul that will be lost if we obey not the truth. A study of the following passages will reveal a clearer picture of the consequences for not obeying the truth. First, we must accept that man was created a triune being. He is body, soul and spirit.

The SPIRIT is the candle of the Lord. He is the conscience. He is the knower, the inner man, and the hidden man of the heart. He is the judge of the flesh. He knew God and the will of God. However, being under the captivity of the spirit of bondage, the conscience was unable to perform the righteousness of God.

The SOUL is the spirit of the mind of the flesh. It is the expression of the thoughts and emotions of the flesh and is the seat of all desires, hopes and dreams of the flesh.

The BODY is the outer man. It is the manifestation and revelation of the thoughts and emotions of the soul. Note here that the Adam man is a living soul. Man is flesh, which means he is body and soul. The soul being the spirit of the flesh, but is also referred to as the heart, housing the conscience or hidden man of the heart.

The death of Christ was payment for our sins.

Now being in the soul, the spirit or conscience is a part of the total make-up of man. Together they form a living fleshy creature, for the body without the inward parts is dead. To separate the body from the spirit would mean death to the body. This is literally what happened at salvation. The human spirit was taken into the death of Christ and was baptized into His death. Therefore, the old man Adam (the whole man) was crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed or die.

Hebrews 2:14-15

14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

In Adam all died. This was a separation from God and death also reigned over the mortal body, destroying it daily, eventually taking it to the grave. However, we must not confuse the death that came by Adam with that which came by Jesus.

The power of Adam’s death was sin, and the strength of sin was the law, thus bringing us into the captivity of sin and death. Nevertheless, baptism into the death of Christ freed us from the bondage of sin and the law.

The flesh is corruptible and has been condemned. That has not changed. Nevertheless God slew the body, soul and spirit in the salvation process, and then regenerated the spirit in Christ Jesus, which now gives temporary life to this flesh. For the essence of our being is no longer in the flesh but sealed in the Holy Ghost.

I John 3:8-9

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Baptism into the death of Christ freed us from the bondage of sin.

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

The seed of God, the Holy Ghost remained in us, forming a new being. Therefore, the human spirit is now clothed in the righteousness of God and is the one who can bear witness that we are indeed the sons of God. He is the one who experienced the new birth. The body is not spirit it is only alive by the spirit, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

The body was simply quickened to life by the power of the birth of the spirit for servitude and is now able to bring forth fruit unto righteousness or unto unrighteousness if it so chooses.

THE FLESH WILL WAR WITH THE SPIRIT

Galatians 5:16-18

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

The flesh, which is controlled by the fleshy mind, is contrary to the Spirit of God. Listen to the implication. Christ in this body is powerful over sin and death, but here Paul admonishes us to be led by Him and not by the fleshy mind.

Remember it is the soul that is in jeopardy. The human spirit which was the life of the flesh has been empowered to subdue the lusts of the flesh. Therefore, we are to reckon the flesh as dead by bringing the fleshy mind into agreement with the operation of salvation.

Our human spirit is the one who experienced the new birth.

We must reckon our flesh as dead.

In discussing this point with my son, he likened the flesh to a corpse lying on a slab, dead to the world but the nerves of the body having not yet ceased, causing the body to sometimes lift up on the slab or the eyes to pop open. Though the man is dead, there could be movement of the flesh until the nerves cease to react.

Likewise this body is dead because of sin, having entered into the crucifixion of Christ. It is also dead to sin, because it is the members of Christ and Christ cannot be tempted with sin. This means that the inner man, who is clothed in Christ will NEVER AGREE WITH SIN. Therefore, it is the fleshy mind itself that is at war with the righteousness of God and the soul that lusts after the things of this world, not the spirit. That is why the script declares the necessity of fighting the good fight of faith to secure the soul from eternal damnation.

I Peter 2:11

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Hebrews 10:28-29

28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Hebrews 10:39

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

To believe is to obey. We are to obey until the Lord returns. This is necessary if we are going to be a partaker of deliverance from this body to that likened unto Christ.

I Timothy 6:12

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.