At Calvary Jesus paid the penalty for man’s sin. Due to Adam’s fall, all who are born of water (natural child birth) must be born again (born of the Spirit).
“3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus said unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again.” John 3:3-7
We are now all born with a sin nature under the Government of Law. This sin nature rules and reigns in our hearts and our flesh easily obeys. Our sin nature is quickened by these laws; any laws, not just the “Mosaic Law”, as it brings us deeper and deeper into captivity.
The penalty of sin is death and once again, we are all born with sin due to Adam’s fall. At Calvary, Jesus Christ paid the penalty of sin for whosoever will believe. When the believing sinner accepts Jesus Christ as His Lord and Saviour, we are “born again”. The Holy Spirit comes into our heart, dethrones the sin nature that has ruled in our hearts and isolates it. We are now dead to it. Baptized into Jesus’ Death (Romans 6:3-5), there where sin was defeated and it’s penalty paid, sin’s dominion is laid waste.
“8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over Him.
10 For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He lives, He lives unto God.
11 Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:8-11
Reckoning ourselves daily to be dead unto sin is not getting Saved again. No, not at all. Jesus died unto sin once and it is only as we are IN HIM, that we too are dead unto our sin nature. Spiritual adultery comes when Believers are married to Christ for our Salvation but fornicate with worldly precepts (namely, humanistic psychology) for our Sanctification. The many rules and methods given to overcome sin, all with sincere intentions, invokes the very sin nature we would be dead to if we had simply remained IN Christ by faith in the sufficiency of HIS shed Blood.
Committing spiritual adultery does not strip one of their Salvation. If they believe in the atoning work of Christ Jesus for their Salvation, they are Saved…but they are miserably Saved if they are fornicating with other methods to overcome the sin which so easily besets them. The very purpose of spiritual adultery is to get the Believer to turn away from Christ as their Lord and can certainly lead to one losing their Salvation. Sadly, there are many whose faith has been utterly destroyed because of fornicating with the laws of man which were presented to them as Biblical doctrine and they were deceived. The Word of God is full of warnings about false teachers yet so many refuse to believe they are among us.
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under Grace.” Romans 6:14
Remaining IN Jesus, under His Blood with our faith squarely in HIS redeeming work, we remain under Grace; Grace which IS sufficient, Grace which exposes and expels our unbelief when we are brought daily to a point of decision in whom we are going to submit.
Jesus Christ and Him crucified is God’s Plan for Salvation and God’s Plan for Sanctification. The same people who will staunchly (and rightly) declare that we are Saved through the finished work of Christ Jesus and His work alone will turn right around and declare another method for Sanctification. We cannot add to or take from God’s Plan for Salvation OR Sanctification. In fact, the moment we do such, we make God’s Plan of no effect in our lives. To be sure, this also means that if one believes they must be water baptized to be Saved, they are in fact not Saved. Those who believe such have added to God’s Plan of Redemption.
The good fight of faith is a daily fight of denying ourselves and submitting to the Cross of Christ for all that we need for life and living so that we may follow Him (Luke 9:23). It is knowing the Cross of Christ not only Saves us but will Sanctify us as we continue looking only to Jesus to author and finish our faith. This fight of faith is knowing that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. In our weakness HE is glorified and not ourselves. Signs and wonders follow those who believe as the sufficiency of the Cross of Christ is proven time and time again.
At Calvary, there is a double cure. Sin’s penalty is paid and it’s power broken. Jesus is the Source and His Cross is the means. It is there that we will find our victory is in the power of God and the power of God alone. Jesus Christ and Him crucified…be determined to know nothing else among you.
-Donna Clark Warren
Living in The Spirit 