Ephesians 4:23-24 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.
The Apostle Paul encourages every believer to live out the new life in Christ. Because this new creation in Christ is found in the spirit of man, we need to identify ourselves with the spirit being.
The spirit of man is righteous and holy in God’s sight because we are hidden in Christ. The Apostle Paul was referring to this when he asked us to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Even though we are still imperfect and have flaws, we need to see ourselves as how God sees us in Christ.
We need to start agreeing with what the word of God says about us: “I am born again. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. The new creation is created in righteousness and holiness. I can righteously do things. I can live in holiness.” We need to have faith to believe that since we are born again, seen to be righteous and holy, we can walk in victory over those temptations that used to hold us in bondage if we choose to yield ourselves to righteousness instead of sin; we can be people of integrity because we are made in righteousness and holiness, and we can be trustworthy people because we will deliver what we have promised.
2 Peter 1:3-4 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
We have God’s nature in us, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Therefore, we can exercise self-control over anger by allowing love, patience, and compassion to flow out of our hearts; our speech can be gracious, kind, and gentle towards others, especially when offended or unjustly treated; we can have self-control and victory over gambling, smoking, sensuality, and other vices that used to hold us in bondage; greed will not have a stronghold over our lives because we are confident that God will never leave us nor forsake us and we trust that He shall supply all we need in life.
There is a “new man” in us after being born again, which has happened in our hearts. While we live on earth, we have a heavenly identity, but we need to know where this new identity comes from and how to apply it daily. This new identity is in Christ, and through faith in the new creation realities, we can enjoy a transformed life.
Sermon Series: Faith in the New Creation Realities
在基督里认定自己
以弗所书 4:23-24 “又要将你们的心志改换一新，並且穿上新人，这新人是照着 神的形像造的，有真理的仁义和圣洁。”
使徒保罗鼓励每一位信徒活出在基督里的新生命。因为这种新造的生命是在人的灵里，我们需要与我们的灵的本质认同。
人的灵在神面前是义、是圣洁，因为我们被基督所遮盖。使徒保罗提到这一点时，他要求我们在心灵的意念里得以更新。虽然我们仍然不完美并且有缺点，但我们需要以神在基督里看待我们的眼光来看自己。
我们需要开始认同神的话语对我们的描述：“我已经重生。我在基督耶稣里是新造的人。这个新造是按着义和圣洁造的。我能行义事，我能活出圣洁。”我们需要有信心，相信既然我们已经重生，神看我们为义、圣洁，我们就能够在曾经束缚我们的试探面前得胜，只要我们选择顺服义，而不是顺从罪；我们可以成为有正直的人，因为我们是按义和圣洁所造；我们也可以成为可信赖的人，因为我们会履行我们所承诺的。
彼得后书 1:3-4 “神的 神能已经将一切关乎生命和敬虔的事赐给我们，皆因我们认识那用自己荣耀和美德召我们的主；因此，祂已将又宝贵又极大的应许赐给我们，叫我们既脱离世上从情欲来的败坏，就得与神的性情。”
我们里面有神的性情，圣灵的果子就是爱、喜乐、平安、忍耐、恩慈、良善、信实和节制。因此，我们可以通过让爱、忍耐和怜悯从心中流露出来，来控制怒气；我们的言语可以对他人温和、亲切、谦和，特别是在受到冒犯或不公正待遇时；我们可以对赌博、吸烟、纵欲和其他曾经束缚我们的恶习有节制并得胜；贪婪不再掌控我们的生命，因为我们确信神永远不会离开我们或抛弃我们，我们相信祂必供应我们生命中所需的一切。
在重生之后，我们里面有一个“新人”，这是发生在我们心里的事。虽然我们在地上生活，但我们拥有天上的身份，我们需要明白这个新身份的来源，并学会如何在日常生活中应用它。这个新身份是在基督里，凭着对新造之现实的信心，我们可以享受一个改变的生命。
讲章系列：信心与新造的现实
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