As with a lot of things in life, you have a standing, whether it is a credit account or even a membership to some sort of a group, you may or may not be in “good” standing based on whether you have paid your dues or not.

As a born-again Christian you have standing with the Lord, but you also have a state or you might say condition that you are in as well.  First, we will look at your standing in the Lord.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

Your Standing in Christ

Your standing is un-changing, once you come to saving faith and knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved.  You have eternal security when the Lord

died on the cross of calvary, he said “it is finished”, he did not say, okay, I started it and it’s now up to you to finish it.

Your standing in Christ is fixed at the moment that you are born-again, we see in John 3:36 that if you believe on the Son, you have everlasting life. Everlasting life isn’t something that you will get some-day, but it is a current possession for the believer.

Your standing is un-changing, once you come to saving faith and knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved.  You have eternal security, when the Lord died on the cross of calvary, he said “it is finished”, he did not say, okay, I started it and it’s now up to you to finish it.

Your standing as a Christian is that of a son, you become a son of God immediately upon receiving Jesus as your savior.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

– John 1:12

 The Christian is redeemed when he gets in Christ, and after you are redeemed you receive the adoption of sons and as a son, you are a joint heir with Christ

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

– Galatians 4:5-7

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.  

– Romans 8:17

As a joint heir with Christ, you also get a share of the inheritance that the bible promises is reserved in heaven for you, in other words it is already in heaven waiting for you. If you were to reserve a table in a fancy restaurant, the table is there with your name on it, before you arrive, the same is true for the inheritance that is reserved in heaven for you, it is already there, just waiting on your arrival:

in whom ye also trusted, after that, ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

   Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

– Ephesians 1:13-14

After you trust and accept the gospel, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of your inheritance that is reserved in heaven for you:

To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

– 1 Peter 1:4-5

As you can see from the above, the Christians standing is settled and unchanged regardless of anything else.  You have the sure mercies of David, you are now bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, you are in his body (Ephesians 5:30) and nothing or no-one can change that fact.

Associated Benefits

Following are a few of the benefits that are associated with your standing in the Lord, as I stated before, if you are in good standing, either with an account or group membership or anything else, there are typically benefits associated with that standing that are not accessible to those who are not in good standing. As a believer, you are in good standing with the Lord, and therefore, you have access to these additional benefits:

• You are in Christ (Ephesians 2:13)
• You receive Spiritual regeneration (Titus 3:5-6)
• You are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10)
• The new man in you is sinless (1 John 3:9)
• You have liberty in Christ (Galatians 2:4)
• You have (current possession) eternal life (1 John 5:13)

State

Your state, on the other hand, is an ever-changing situation.  Your standing was fixed by what Jesus did, but your state is determined by what you do. Whereas your standing is fixed, your state is variable as a result of the dual nature of the believer.

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

   If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

   If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

– 1 John 1:5-9

Your actions determine your state with the Lord.  This is a result of the two natures of the believer.  First John was written by the beloved disciple, there is no doubt that he was a saved man when he wrote that epistle, but notice that he states that if “we” walk in darkness, and if “we” say that we have no sin, and if “we” fail to ask for forgiveness for those sins, even though we are already saved, the result is a broken relationship with the Lord.  State deals with your relationship and level of fellowship that you enjoy with the Lord.  John reminds us that our joy cannot be full without that fellowship.  When we sin, our fellowship is broken, but we are not kicked out of the family.

Things associated with your state

With your standing in the Lord, we discussed some associated benefits. Your state also has some characteristics that are associated, though I would not call them benefits.

• You are in Adam (Romans 5:12)
• You are incomplete (Philippians 1:6)
• You are sinful (Romans 7:14-18)

As a believer your fellowship with the Lord can be altered, based on whether you are allowing the new nature or the old nature to take control of your life, but your relationship will never change. This is the battle that every Christian must face on a daily basis.

Fight the Good Fight

As a Christian, you cannot opt-out of this battle, you cannot be a conscientious objector, you must fight this battle every single day, therefore we need a good strategy to fight this battle

Dead to Sin

Step number one is to reckon yourself dead to sin, dead men do not have an issue with sin. We are told by the Apostle Paul that we are to reckon or consider ourselves dead to sin. We are not technically dead to sin, we still have the sin nature in the old man, but we can consider ourselves dead to sin

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Romans 6:11-12

Reckoning yourself dead to sin, in simple terms, is to make the decision that you are not going to sit by idly and allow sin to reign in your body. You do not have to allow sin to take control of your body any longer, you can make the decision to allow the Lord to reign instead, which brings us to our second step.

Yield yourself

Instead of yielding to sin, as you did before you became a believer, you should now yield yourself to God, you need to ask yourself this simple question before every action and or decision that you make. Who rules your life? Does God rule and reign in your life, or are you still in control?

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Romans 6:13

Starve the Flesh

The third strategy for a successful campaign in this battle is to starve your flesh. Simply put, don’t give your flesh what it wants. Most everything that your flesh wants, is not any good for you. Stop giving your flesh nutrition, but instead starve it out by not giving it even an inch. Do your best to avoid temptation, don’t fool around with temptation by hanging around the fringes, completely separate yourself from it and starve it out.

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Romans 13:14

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

James 1:14-15

Be Transformed

The final strategy that we will look at today, is the strategy of transformation. We are not supposed to be conformed to the world but be transformed by the Lord. Things are conformed by outside influences, but they are transformed from within. We are not supposed to allow outside influences to conform us, but rather we are to allow the Lord to transform us from within, and only then can we be successful in this daily battle.

As stated above, as a believer, your fellowship with the Lord can be altered, base on whether you are allowing the new nature or if you are allowing the old nature to control your actions.

Who is reigning in your life?

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.