Already
A brother in Christ, Ps Ashok RK, wrote this previously - spiritual warfare is nothing but the devil’s attempt to draw us out of our position in Christ so that he can bring death in some form to us.
When I read this, I caught a glimpse of the many other aspects of this truth.
Apart from spiritual warfare, there are so many other things in life that will attempt to (and can) draw us out of our position in Christ.
And when that happens (when we are drawn out of our position), it will result in some form of death.
And today, I felt prompted to delve deeper into what this mean.
Our Position in Christ
First, let us define our "position in Christ”.
I would like to define that as a place of “already”, as the Holy Spirit gave me revelation in this post.
Of course, when we are in Christ, we are forgiven, redeemed, reconciled, saved and loved everlastingly.
AND we are also already whole, already cleansed, already healed, already victorious, already righteous, already blessed in Christ.
All that we are, all that we have, all that we do are in Christ. And therefore, all that we are, we have, we do are from a place of "already".
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Don’t believe what you just read? Let's get to the Bible, shall we?
(As I couldn't possibly list down all the verses that pertain to all aspects of life, I'm going to just list down a few key things that one needs or seeks after in life. And I will be quoting only the very famous verses which all of us will know very well. The rest are for your homework 😁)
1) Are you already loved?
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (This is a verse that even non-believers know. 😄)
Has God given His Son? If the answer is yes, then there is little doubt that “God so loved the world”.
A bonus verse for you: Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
2) Are you already saved?
John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Read John 3:17 together with 3:16 and pay attention to the grammar.
Has God sent His son? Have you believed in Jesus? Then are you already saved?
3) Do you already have power?
Eph 3:20 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.
This is a two-fold 'already'. Do you have exceedingly abundantly above what you ask Him for? And do you have power? The answer is obviously yes. It is a power that 'works in us'. A present tense power.
And let's see what this power is, as described few chapters before in Eph 1:20.
which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
You know we sometimes sing songs that carry this meaning - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that is in me. Yes, let us sing it, knowing that that IS the truth!
4) Are you already righteous?
2 Cor 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.
Has God made Jesus to be sin for us? If the answer is yes, then we have already become the righteousness of God in Christ.
Bonus verse: Rom 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Note the grammar - having been set free from sin.
5) Are you already healed?
1 Pet 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
Note the grammar - you were healed.
6) Do you already have all that you need for life and for godliness?
2 Pet 1:3 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,
Again, note the grammar - it has been given to us.
I will stop here as I believe you already get the idea. You see, in every situation and in every need that we face, we need only go to the Word and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what we are and what we have in Christ.
Drawn Out of Position
Now that we have established the means to find out what our position in Christ is, let's look at the opposite side - the things that draw us out of our positions.
1) Like we saw in the beginning of my post, it could be a spiritual attack.
The enemy uses his schemes on us and seek to draw us out. We all know how the Bible describes the devil - like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet 5:8). I'm sure no one wants to be devoured.
2) Or it can be trials and hardships that one faces.
You know the saying "when the going gets tough, the tough gets going". It means that when the condition (going) becomes difficult (tough), the strong people (tough) take action (gets going).
And it doesn't matter whether we take the right or wrong action or don't take any action at all, the thing is that if we're not careful and put our emphasis on the "tough going", trials and hardships can draw us out of our position.
3) Or it can be a temptation or lust.
1 John 2:16 tells us that the lust of the flesh, the lush of the eyes and the pride of life are of the world (not of the Father). James 1:15 further tells us that when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Putting these two verses together, you don't need further explanation on how temptation/ lust can draw us out of our position in Christ.
4) Or it can be worries or cares of this world.
In the Parable of the Sower, Mark 4:19 speaks about the thorns - the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Sometimes, you may not be facing any difficulties or hardships, but the worry and the cares for the things of this world holds our whole attention. And thereby, drawing us out of our position.
5) Or it can be just mundane daily living.
There is no denying that while in our earthly tent, there are things that we will need - basic needs (food to eat, house to live in, clothes to wear etc.), emotional needs and all that.
I remember learning about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in school. It categorizes the 5 elements of human needs, as the world defines it.
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Of course, Christians are in the world but not of the world. It is true that we are not of the world and therefore, not defined by the above pyramid, but sometimes, when we are not careful, we may go through life day by day going about our routine and schedules and appointments and tasks, drifting further and further away from our position in Christ, without realizing it.
There must be more than what I've just listed above that could draw us out of our position in Christ. And most times, these distractions will appear and enter in subtly, drawing us out without us realizing it.
So, we need to be diligent and careful not to allow anything to distract us/ draw us/ lure us to step out of our position.
How to Stay in Position?
Having said that, let's look at how we can stay in position.
1) Through the knowledge of Jesus, the Word
As we saw just now from 2 Pet 1:3, His divine power has given to us all things that we need for life and godliness. (And I'm sure you would agree that staying in our position in Christ falls under this category.)
How are this 'all things' given to us? It is through the knowledge of Him. So, as we get ourselves deeply rooted in the Word, we live out this truth of our "already" position in Christ everyday.
2) With the help of the Helper
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
In any given situation, when we may seemingly be drawn away, the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance the Word. And John 16:13 assures us that the Spirit of truth will guide us into all truth; whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell us things to come.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, staying in position in Christ is not that hard at all!
Beloved in Christ, what I've reflected here is nothing new. This is something you and I already know. All the verses that we have looked at are scriptures that you may even be able to quote by memory.
And so, I pray that in every need that we have, we will know what is our "already'" in Christ.
I pray that we will be so led by the Spirit that we will be able to recognize the things that tries to draw us out of our position. And with a strong foundation in the Word and with the Holy Spirit's help, we will stay our "already" position in our Lord Jesus.
