1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 7:23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
The Apostle Paul is saying we no longer belong to ourselves, we have been bought and paid for. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We should use them to glorify God.
As believers, whether we totally understand this or not, we belong to Christ completely. When we acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we understood the fact that there was a price that had to be paid for our redemption. We could not redeem ourselves, only God could pay the price that had to be paid. We have got to recognize this fact in order to begin walking in the light of this new creation, and everything that means.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
We must begin to become spiritually conscious of this accomplished fact. You belong to Him, you don’t have to fight to get it, you don’t have to pray to get it, and you don’t have to work to get it. We can only gratefully receive this incredible gift. In order to do that we have to learn from His Word what these great promises are.
The Apostle Paul said in Ro. 10: 8-11. But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart that is, the word of faith which we preach: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. For the Scripture says, Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.
It is the confession of this acknowledged fact of the Lordship of Jesus Christ that brings you from death into life. You are acknowledging and confessing His Lordship and turning from Satan’s lordship. We often struggle to get something that has already been given to us freely. Many will fast and pray thinking maybe God will give them something if they do enough penance or good works. I want you to please understand what I am saying, I am not in any way trying to diminish the importance of prayer or fasting. I am trying to make the point that our redemption has already happened. It is in the past tense. We have been purchased with a great price, this will not happen sometime in the future, it has already happened. Our works could never be good enough to obtain the great redemption that Jesus paid such an incredible price for. This is the whole purpose of grace.
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5. even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved,
Since this legal act of redemption has already taken place, we can not be bought again. Jesus doesn’t have to redeem us all over. When we do as Ro.10 says, we take on the life and nature of God. Believers often fail because of a clear understanding of who and what they are in Christ Jesus. This is not religion but relationship. This is not legalism, it is life. This life is ours legally as children of God to walk in, but we must come to a place where we know who and what we are in Christ Jesus, if we are ever going to walk in the light of it. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to do this. We will never do it on our own. This is also an ongoing process that really never ends. Revelation knowledge builds upon itself just as natural knowledge does. You can’t understand complex mathematics if you have not first learned the basics can you? The same is true in spiritual things. Revelation knowledge builds upon itself. The more you know, the more you can walk in the light of your redemption. What is legally ours must be comprehended and acted on in order to see the reality of this redemption manifest in our lives. As we begin to walk in this reality we begin to be transformed by the power of God.
Ephesians 3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
The more spiritual understanding we have the more we can walk in the fullness of God, and He has given us the power to do this very thing. As Paul said, according to the power that works within us.
Praise God He redeemed us and did not leave us alone to fend for ourselves. He sent the Holy Spirit to empower us and guide us, and to show us the way to victory every time.
Many Christians never stop to realize how valuable they are to God, or stop and consider how much they cost Him. We were bought with the greatest price that could be paid, the death of God’s son Jesus Christ. There was no higher price that has ever been paid or ever will be paid, His life for ours. Many Christians think they are not worthy to partake of the blessings of the Father, but they don’t understand that they have been made worthy by the blood of the spotless Lamb of God. These blessings of God didn’t come free, you were bought and paid for. Freedom has never been free, somebody has always had to pay the price for it.
Matthew 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,
46. who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are that pearl. Some teach us that we have to go out and sell all that we have to try to earn this great redemption, but it is not that way at all. God gave His best to get us.
Isaiah 52:3 For thus says the Lord: You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.
What is the worth of one life. All the money in the world could not have paid the price for one soul. We are very valuable to God. Let's start acting like it, the price He paid was enough! I’m not talking about self glorification but a real understanding of who we are in the sight of God. We have been given the greatest gift ever given and the price was paid in full, God sees this as sufficient. We have to begin to acknowledge this as well and receive this with humility. We are His by right of creation, and we are His by right of redemption.
Once received, we have to be dedicated to the Masters use.
Have you ever stopped to consider that you can not give or surrender anything to God that He already owns. You belong to Him. He owns you lock stock and barrel. You can not give Him something that is not yours to give?
Can the clay say to the potter what it wants to become? No it can not, and neither can we. It doesn’t have that choice. We were created by Him and for Him out of the clay of this Earth. The only thing we can really give Him is our will. He wants our obedience.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
We were created unto good works before the foundation of the world. God had us in mind before the world was ever created. He wants us to accomplish certain things while we are here on this Earth. He wants to bless us abundantly so that we can be a blessing to others. You can not be a blessing to others if you first haven’t learned to walk in the blessings of God yourself.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
God has a plan and a purpose for your life. You are not here by accident, or to just take up time and space on this world. You were divinely appointed before this world was formed to accomplish certain things. Maybe you have fallen short, and don’t know what your purpose really is. It’s never too late to find out. I encourage you to pick up the Word of God and start to learn of Him. Spend time with Him in fellowship and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. He will reveal Himself to you and show you the things you need to know.
He’s given us all gifts and talents that we need to learn to walk in to fulfill our purpose here. After all, our purpose is to fulfill His purpose. We can never be truly happy until we do.
Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
I encourage you to find your purpose in God and get in line with His purpose or you will never accomplish the things God has appointed for you. You are not alone in trying to fulfill God's plan for your life. He’s with you all the way, but He wants you to do it with and through Him.
Psalms 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;
You may try to do it alone and even get a house built, but you will not have accomplished God's will or purpose for your life. There have been many great houses built without God, and when it was all said and done, it was all vanity. What a waste. Let’s get direction and by the power of the Holy Spirit accomplish what God has for us.
We must be always mindful of not only the great cost but for the real reason for that great cost being paid.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
He had to become our sin for a reason, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. We could not become righteous in the sight of God if the Lord Jesus had not first paid the price. As the Word of God say, so that we might become. He wanted us to become or He wouldn’t have paid the price would He? This was so much more than just a get out of jail for free card.
Romans 8:29 For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren: 30. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Brothers and sisters we have been destined to glory.
John 17:20 I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21. that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
All I can say is thank you Lord. We were created and then redeemed for a purpose, so that the glory that Jesus had with the Father from the beginning, we can have also. Let us be aware if we won’t believe this or receive it as truth it will never do us any good. We either are the righteousness of God in Christ or we are not, we can't have it both ways. If we are not, then at least for us, the price that was paid was not sufficient, however it doesn’t have to be that way. We can learn to take advantage of this great redemption and begin to walk in it. We are all at different levels of our spiritual growth, so wherever you are begin to seek more. There is always more with God. We will never stop learning and growing.
The price Jesus paid was indeed sufficient. I would like to encourage you to let this mindset begin to grow in you. It has to develop and grow. Understanding can only come by a revelation of the Holy Spirit, we must study and meditate in God’s Word.
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
We have to let it, it won’t happen any other way.
I would like to close with this --
1 Peter 1:17-19 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear;
knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Amen
