The reality of the new and living way

The new and living way is as literal and practical as that of the old way; it is the practical way of living by which one has access and relationship with the Father. The comparison between the old way and the new way is identical to a good tree and a bad tree as illustrated by Jesus Christ who said; “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33).

The irony of truth is, since the resurrection of Jesus Christ humanity stemmed from the tree of life which is Jesus Christ who is eternal life as we have been duly instructed saying; “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life’…And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1John 5: 11, 12, 20).

 

Jesus Christ said quite explicitly; “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2).

The stark reality is that, “in Him (Jesus Christ) we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17: 28-30).

It is therefore incumbent on everyone to start examining ourselves to see whether we are living in the spirit and bearing the fruits of the Spirit and so the admonition is; “Examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith. Test ourselves. Do we not know ourselves that Jesus Christ is in us? --- Unless indeed we are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5-6).

It is important that we continually reminding ourselves that, from now on, meaning, from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17).

Unfortunately, not too many people have been taught the way of life in the Spirit which is diametrically opposite to the way of life in the flesh, or the way of the inward man as compared to the way of the outward man, for which we have been duly forewarned saying; “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:16-17).

We should all therefore echo the sentiment of the apostle who wrote; “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Unfortunately, our society, education and religious system have all failed to educate us about the struggle the exist between the outer man and the inward man or between the natural man and the spirit man as we have been duly admonished saying; “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24).

And so although it is right to say that, “I have only one life to live” It is also important to know how we should live this life, whether we should live it in accordance to the flesh, the outward man, or whether we are going to live it in accordance to the Spirit which is the inward man. For we have been duly instructed saying; “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians 6:7-8).

So you see, our success depends on how we spend our lives whether it is living to gratify the outward man and reap the benefit of corruption or, living to gratify the inward man and reap the benefit of everlasting life which is the immortality of the human body. The choice is ours.

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To be continued with brotherly love

Lucius Joseph