Dr Charles Stanley - Fully Alive - Part 1

0:00With verbo care, help is always ready before, during, and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twists, so support is always available. Because a great trip starts with peace of mind. God removes the old sendation. That does not mean that I am there for perfect. It does not mean that we will therefore not commit in sin and in longer. It does not mean that we will therefore not fall, but it means that we are new persons now. All things pass the way behold, all things have become new. We have a new spirit and a new heart. Once you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, it is no longer your nature to sin against God. In his letter to the Colossian Church, the Apostle Paul refers to us as dead before salvation and alive after we receive Christ as Savior. And today's message on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley,

1:00provides some foundational understanding about a believer's new life with the Lord. Our series on the Book of Colossians continues, and we'll hear what chapter 2 has to say about being fully alive. Before you trust that the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the Bible says you were dead in your trespasses and sins. That means that you had no life within you toward God. You were spiritually incomplete because you did not have the Spirit of God within you. No relationship to God. You were morally incomplete because you had no moral standard, and even if you did, you couldn't live up to it. And thirdly, you were mentally incomplete because you are incapable of understanding the truth of God until first of all, you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Then the Bible says, when you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, he made us complete in him.

2:02And having been made complete in him, God made us fully alive. And that is the title of this message, fully alive, and I want you to turn if you will to Colossians chapter 2. Because in this passage, we find why that is true. Fully alive, they are many believers who know that they're saved and yet somewhere along the way, they've never discovered the real joy, never have allowed themselves to experience the joy and the contentment and the pleasure there is in being a child of God. So in Colossians chapter 2, I want us to begin reading in verse 9 and 10 because here's where he states again, we'll complete in him. For in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And in him you have been made complete. And he is the head over all rule and authority. And in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. In the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

3:06Having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised up and with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him having forgiven us all our transgressions. Having cancelled out the certificate of death consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us. And he has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross. When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them having triumph over them through him. Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. Things which are a mere shadow of what is to come but the substance belongs to Christ.

4:06Now you look at that passage and you think what in the world is Paul talking about if we're talking about being fully alive and here he is talking about circumcision. So I want you to see this is a very important passage in our understanding, our relationship to Jesus Christ and what he has intended for all of us. So the first thing I want you to notice here is this and that is what he is saying in this passage is that you and I having received Jesus Christ as our Savior. And if you'll notice verse 9 of chapter 2, he says for in him all the fullness of Deity dwells in him, you and I have been made complete. In him we were also circumcised so he's talking about believers. So Paul is talking about the believers relationship to Jesus Christ and he says in this passage first of all that this new nature which you and I have is illustrated by two aspects here. First of all a right and secondly by an ordinance of the church.

5:10Now why would he use the right of circumcision and you recall that circumcision was a right administered to little Hebrew boys. Eight days after their birth and what he's saying here is this that for the Hebrew of course it was a symbol, a sign that that child belonged to the covenant promise which God had made to the whole nation of Israel. Set him apart as a part of the family of God, the nation of Israel. But Paul is using that right to illustrate something for us that we need to understand his believers. And that is as the cutting away of the flesh of that child symbolize something to the nation of Israel. So he says there is a circumcision that is made without hands. That is it is something that God does within the life of a person. Now what he's really saying here is this that when you and I received the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior God cut away, took away the old sinful nature we receive from our parents.

6:22That is all of us were descended of our parents who ultimately were descended from Adam all of which have been poisoned by an Adamic nature. When Adam and Eve fell in the garden of Eden the whole human race fell, the whole human race suffered the consequences of that sin. So when you and I are born of our parents we get something, we get an old sin nature that is transferred through them. And what happens is that old sin nature is that which is within us that causes us to choose very early in life as little children to disobey and rebel. God deals with that in salvation. And what he's illustrating here is this by using circumcision he says that God has taken out of us, taken away from us that which was given at birth and old sinful nature. Now somebody says you mean to tell me that my old sinful nature with which I was born has been taken away it has been taken away.

7:27And this is what he is referring to when he says a circumcision a cutting away when he says the removal of the body of the flesh that word in the Greek means a complete removal. God when Jesus Christ came into our life did not add a new nature to an old sinful nature so that we are now possessed with two natures that we have an old sin nature and a new nature. And so on Sunday when my new nature is in ascendancy I am obedient and when I'll Monday my old sinful nature is in ascendancy I am disobedient which would imply that I must go through the rest of my life in dwelt by two natures which were absolutely and totally diametrically opposed to each other always fighting and in conflict with each other. That means that I will be harassed all of my life not from without but from within with a I will have a dual nature from which I can never escape as long as I live.

8:33Now there are some notes and some bibles that agree with that. It is my personal conviction that that is not true and I want to show you why I do not believe that once you say with the grace of God you offer ever in dwelt by an old sinful nature and therefore plague with both of them the rest of your life. Now I know what you are asking you is there wait a minute now. If I have the nature of God why is it that I still sin against him? Because even though you and I have a new nature and the new nature within us is a desire for God that is if you have been saved by the grace of God and you have become a partake of his divine nature you have a desire to obey God. You love God you want to walk before him in obedience you don't have a desire to be rebellious toward God a new nature a new spirit a new perspective a new desire a whole new approach to life. You sure I know so and so God saying that is not true of them everybody who says they are saved not saying. Now here's the problem you say well if I have a new nature why do I still feel temptation and why am I still harassed at times because we have a new nature on the inside but the same old body is the same and this body has the same natural God given appetites it had in the very beginning.

9:55When you were saved on Sunday and you looked in the mirror on Monday you didn't see a whole lot of difference because the difference was internal not external now. God has given to mankind appetites for food to keep us alive and for drink he's given us appetites for sex for procreation so forth he's given us many many appetites all of which are essential now. Those appetites are a part of this life there is in this physical body of ours a disposition and because this whole body of ours when it gets hungry it wants to be fed now that's part of this human makeup of ours part of this disposition of ours that's the way the human body is made and so when you and I choose to gratify our flesh and to satisfy these natural appetites of ours our own way. We yield to this principle Paul calls this principle that is within us but to say that is the same thing as an old sinful nature is to imply that my nature is an opposition to God my nature is rebellious my nature is sinful my nature is to be an opposition to God's will for my life and that is not true.

11:12The truth is that I have and you have the nature of God living with us we have become partakers of his divine nature and that nature is on the inside of a natural body that still bleeds when it is cut still has the hunger of the appetites that God has given us that doesn't mean that I have a sinful nature because we sin against God. This is a world in rebellion toward God we live amid sin and rebellion and all kinds of evil forces but there is a person within us Jesus Christ a spirit within us the Holy Spirit the very nature within us desires holiness and righteousness and to walk obediently before God and the person whose desires are sinful and whose very nature it is to gratify the flesh needs to ask himself or herself have you ever placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Have you been born again new life new spirit new nature new whole perspective on life and what Paul is speaking of here in this comparison is he speaking about the new spirit that we have the very nature and he uses circumcision to talk about cutting away the old that which is the source of light now.

12:26He says this circumcision that you and I have experienced which is God cutting away the old life and replacing it with something new you see the truth is God didn't patch us up if he just left us the way we were and simply added something in addition to then we were what we were but we have something that made us better than we were and that's not what the Bible says. You can never be what you were you have been born again a new spirit a new heart a new nature it is no longer your inner desire to be disobedient to God because you're a brand new person now listen as long as you see within you and that you will ever be forever be plagued with this old sinful nature you'll do exactly what most people do. Well this whole sinful nature mine is going to be with the rest of my life and therefore you know I just can't help it that's my nature listen that's what the unbeliever says it is his nature to rebel against God his nature to sin against God you have been relieved and delivered and freed from that I want you to turn to Romans chapter 6 for a moment.

13:38And any one of these verses we could just get in and stay in because they're so full but listen to what he says in Romans 6 the truth is I want to state the truth of scripture then I want to explain it for just a moment in Romans 6 verse 6 he says knowing this not hoping this not thinking about it or considering but knowing this that our old self that is what we were before we were saved our old self he says was crucified with Christ that our. And our body of sin might be done away that we should no longer be slaves to sin now let me explain something the Bible says that when Jesus Christ died 2000 years ago on the cross God placed upon him not only our sin but he says he placed on that cross every single one of us that is when he died we died to our old life that when he was buried we were buried.

14:38And when he arose we arose and that together we have resurrection life living within us now that becomes an actual reality in your life and mind the moment we receive Jesus Christ as a savior we don't feel that most of us didn't even know that's what happened but that's exactly what Paul says in several ways he says we've been crucified when he died we died what we died to all light we were buried to it rose to walk in newness of life and he says here in Colossians he says we have togetherness and we have to be saved. We have to be saved in this life with him we are resurrected together with him we have his life within us all through here he says Christ is our life Christ living within us the old life is passed away behold everything is become new everything on the inside new everything on the outside just like it was because in our brain we have those pre program thoughts that were taught us from the time we were in our mother's arms things that other people said to us that

15:38we have been formed years and years and years before we ever went to school we were taught and programmed and much of that which we have been programmed is still there and so what happens is we come through life with all of these preconceived notions and ideas and thoughts Jesus Christ comes into our life we have a new nature and so what happens the struggle is that this new nature within us no longer desires what we used to want and this outward body of ours still has the same appetites but our new nature is now in the process of bringing those natural God-given appetites under rain into their proper place and into their proper expression that's why when he says the message before he said don't let anybody take you back to the old simple principles to the rudiments when you were acting like you used to live that is once you've been delivered from the power and the reign of sin in your life don't go back tampering with that tampering around with what you know is going to destroy you when you have already been delivered from that you see Paul is writing this in in order to refute the false teachers who were telling them it's all right to have Jesus but that's not enough you've got to have legalistic forms and circumcision must be a part of it for for these people who've been converted these Jewish believers and so what he's saying is listen you complete in Christ no physical rights going to make you right before God nothing you add to salvation you can't be good to do that.

17:07You can't be good to deserve it and so what he's speaking of here is that God has done something in your life and my life now I understand that many people do not understand what the Bible says when he says speaks of co crucifixion co burial co resurrection turn back to Galatians chapter 2 and it goes all of these terms are here and in each one of these Greek words the three little letters that preface these words as you in me together with listen go to verse 12 he says we were buried in the church with him in baptism co baptism co burial he says we were raised up with him co resurrection when we were dead in our trespasses our transgressions and he says we were made alive that is we were quickened together everything is with him in him Christ and us everything in relationship to him why because when you receive Jesus Christ as your personal savior I want to say again as I've said Sunday at the Sunday it is Christ coming to live his life

18:07within your life and mine in our spirit giving us a new nature and that's why he says behold all things have become new that verse would never be in the Bible if we had an old sin nature still ruling and raining listen the message of the scripture is that you are a new person you are in dwell for the living Christ he who is within us enabled us to live without submitting to that sin the message of scripture is that you have Christ living in you it is no longer your nature to dwell in these kind of activities that the world dwells in we don't think that way why don't we think that we we have a new mind we have a new nature and what Paul is saying is you're complete this is how complete you are he has replaced your old nature with a brand new nature it is the nature of God indwelling a physical human fleshly body with its natural appetites and dispositions to want its needs met immediately but raining within us is the Holy Spirit the life of the Lord Jesus Christ now

19:17so he says we have a new nature but he illustrates that a second way if you'll notice in verse 12 he says having been look at that having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised up with him through faith and the working of God who raised him for the dead now he says first of all I illustrate this new nature by the right of circumcision secondly by baptism we're talking about the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit when he says in first or in his he baptizes us into Christ that is he makes us a part of the life in the body of Christ what happens is this when a person is baptized that person is saying I have died to my old way of life buried with Christ risen to walk a new kind of life now when a person goes to the baptism of waters they are personally proclaiming what has happened that they have died to the old way of life

20:19they have been baptized the person of Jesus Christ that is they're buried with him and rising to walk a new kind of life therefore we have the right to expect that person to live a whole different lifestyle because they aren't the same person they used to be what is it that died the Bible says Jesus crucified it in just that he crucified the old life that's what you were the old sinful nature now you have a new nature new heart new spirit new outlook new perspective new desires why because you are in dwell but the very nature of God himself you're listening to in touch the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley at the moment a person accepts God's offer of salvation they receive the righteousness of Christ and the Holy Spirit lives within that person is now and forever a new creation we'll continue learning how believers are fully alive next weekend and to listen again click on today on radio at ntouch.org

21:26if you'd like a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message you can order it from our online bookstore the title is fully alive it's also included in his teaching set complete in Christ a study of Colossians our web address again is ntouch.org or call 1-800-NTouch you can also write to us at ntouch post office box 7900 Atlanta, Georgia 303-57 we'll hear a biblical perspective on baptism after salvation just ahead in today's moment with Charles Stanley trusting God each day can be a challenge but working to grow that trust brings greater joy and peace than we could ever find on our own and trusting God with today the 365 day devotional from the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley we are encouraged to believe in God's love and rest in his purpose for us available now at ntouch.org slash today

22:30in our spiritual journey we often have questions how do I know God's will for my life does God hear my prayers why do bad things happen the answers are found in the word of God but how do we know where to start the free ntouch devotional can help point you in the right direction with biblically based content from Dr. Charles Stanley you'll gain insight and wisdom through daily devotions Bible studies and more the ntouch devotional delivered monthly to your mailbox and you'll be able to write for free at ntouch.org slash daily from the pastor's heart is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley to receive in touches from the pastor's heart letter call 1-800-intouch or visit intouch.org slash pastor's heart you're listening to ntouch maybe you were baptized as an infant and then born again as an adult do you need to be baptized again here's a moment with Charles Stanley

23:31well the answer is absolutely yes baptism is for believe us for people who have made a decision the trust Jesus Christ is their savior surrender the life to him and his Paul said buried with him in baptism rising to walk on theness of life I would say to anyone having trusted Jesus Christ as your personal savior now you want to say in that statement I died to my whole life the repentance towards sin and now I've been buried in Christ that is I put my life in him and his life is in me and therefore I want to walk in theness of life stop by ntouch.org to learn more about trusting Jesus as your savior and living the Christian life next week on ntouch we'll hear what the book of Colossians says about true freedom in Christ I hope you'll join us next weekend for ntouch the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley this program is a presentation of ntouch ministries at Lata Georgia and remains on the station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts