Principle and Experience
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| Several parts of a person's previous life due to decisions they made may well continue to be part of their daily existence. |
Not only are there things mentioned under the New Covenant that are not true of their practical lives, they seem to find contradictions in portions of the Epistles. Though they may not share these feelings with others, they silently set aside the relevance of the books in their daily lives.
They choose instead to give dutiful mental assent to its contents without pursuing any deeper personal application. If you have had this struggle in your walk, then you are in the right place.
There are feelings of despondency upon realizing even after years of being saved that several fleshly habits are still with strong within them and wearing them out day by day. In their hearts, they know concerning the new identity they have received from God, but there is a problem when it comes to manifesting it practically in their day to day lives.
Efforts seem hopeless as they daily battle with temptations and though they may not show it openly, deep inside, they find it hard to really believe what the scriptures declare concerning the new man when almost everything else life seems to contradict this truth.
There is a view that once someone is born again, everything in their life matches up to the standard of the New Testament. All the promises it contains apply to the life of that person instantly. Yet the practical situation, during the times we had individual and group counselling sessions for example, is that most of the people who required deliverance came from mainstream denominations and a significant group were well-known leaders.
Efforts seem hopeless as they daily battle with temptations and though they may not show it openly, deep inside, they find it hard to really believe what the scriptures declare concerning the new man when almost everything else life seems to contradict this truth.
In order to resolve this conflict we need to carefully examine the Word of God for answers based on truth. One key principle that we need to have when we approach the New Testament is we need to distinguish between two things: position on the one hand and experience on the other. There are several scriptures that deal with the believer’s position by virtue of him being in Christ through the rebirth of his spirit. So what is true of Christ is taken to be positionally true of him as well as a result of this union. This remains true of him regardless of his material state at the time.
The second set of scriptures in the New Testament discuss his experience as a result of having this position. We will soon see that much of what is contained in the New Testament falls under either one of these or the other. The position is the principle and the experience is the practice.
In order to enter or appropriate the full work of the new nature we have received in Christ, we need to see how principle relates with practice. Failure to distinguish between these two has been the cause of numerous differences of opinion in spiritual teaching and has led to many questions among believers. It is important to note that spiritual experience must follow position for the true manifestation of the new man to be complete.
Whenever they are viewed as separate and not related to each other, there is dissatisfaction among those who expect a lot they have been promised, yet do not see it at all in their daily living. This can also lead to backsliding as was the case in the Corinthian church, among those who hold onto the positions we have in Christ and do not eventually mature into the spiritual experience of what it means.
To grasp this, it is needful to go back and examine the process of regeneration, its meaning and implications.
The second set of scriptures in the New Testament discuss his experience as a result of having this position. We will soon see that much of what is contained in the New Testament falls under either one of these or the other. The position is the principle and the experience is the practice.
In order to enter or appropriate the full work of the new nature we have received in Christ, we need to see how principle relates with practice. Failure to distinguish between these two has been the cause of numerous differences of opinion in spiritual teaching and has led to many questions among believers. It is important to note that spiritual experience must follow position for the true manifestation of the new man to be complete.
Whenever they are viewed as separate and not related to each other, there is dissatisfaction among those who expect a lot they have been promised, yet do not see it at all in their daily living. This can also lead to backsliding as was the case in the Corinthian church, among those who hold onto the positions we have in Christ and do not eventually mature into the spiritual experience of what it means.
To grasp this, it is needful to go back and examine the process of regeneration, its meaning and implications.
Two Worlds
The human experience takes place in the context of two worlds - the physical world and the spiritual world. The invisible spiritual realm bears much more significance than the physical or material realm. Apostle Paul wrote that the things which are not, came from the things which are, in other words, the material realm which we live in came about as a result of the spiritual world. What happens in the spirit, determines and affects what will happen in the physical. Hence, whenever something happens in this unseen realm, the impact is greater than any of us can conceive in the natural. That’s why we read in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Amp):
Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day. For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!], Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.
The spirit world contains what is invisible and determines the events and happenings on the physical realm - a relationship that cannot be ignored or taken for granted. In the Genesis of life, man was created as a spirit being and the events that led to his downfall were therefore events that altered his spiritual status foremost, before anything else changed. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was placed in the garden of Eden not to trap him, but so that he could have grounds to exercise his will - his ability to make choices.
This ability is always necessary if there is going to be a genuine love for God, something He seeks from man. In order to pursue a real love relationship with God, there must be an alternative that man chooses to reject. This alternative today is not the tree, but the evil propagated by the sinful nature and by the kingdom of darkness. This is one reason why when God allows all what is happening on earth today to proceed before He judges it, it is really for the genuine and complete restoration of man, not for his destruction. He does not wish that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Therefore in the Garden of Eden, the choice was not just between the fruit of the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was a choice between two kingdoms; between two causative factors. It was a choice between eternal death and the real lifeline.
We must understand the lesson here. In eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the first Adam did not just go against God’s command and was therefore punished for it as a result. By partaking the forbidden fruit as a faultless human, he violated the principle of life and so went through a total transformation. He was affected to the very core, his entire being went through a dramatic change - a metamorphosis. It is likened to the fall of Lucifer from heaven when that once glorious being of beauty and grandeur, that anointed cherub, was suddenly converted into a horrific, twisted and corrupted fiend.
This ability is always necessary if there is going to be a genuine love for God, something He seeks from man. In order to pursue a real love relationship with God, there must be an alternative that man chooses to reject. This alternative today is not the tree, but the evil propagated by the sinful nature and by the kingdom of darkness. This is one reason why when God allows all what is happening on earth today to proceed before He judges it, it is really for the genuine and complete restoration of man, not for his destruction. He does not wish that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Therefore in the Garden of Eden, the choice was not just between the fruit of the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was a choice between two kingdoms; between two causative factors. It was a choice between eternal death and the real lifeline.
We must understand the lesson here. In eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the first Adam did not just go against God’s command and was therefore punished for it as a result. By partaking the forbidden fruit as a faultless human, he violated the principle of life and so went through a total transformation. He was affected to the very core, his entire being went through a dramatic change - a metamorphosis. It is likened to the fall of Lucifer from heaven when that once glorious being of beauty and grandeur, that anointed cherub, was suddenly converted into a horrific, twisted and corrupted fiend.
Originally, man had been created with his spirit being the dominant entity over his body and soul. The fellowship he enjoyed with God in the garden was possible because there was direct access between him and his Creator who is Himself Spirit. Thousands of years later, the Last Adam would teach in John 4, that there was no other way of worshipping the Father except in Spirit and in truth.
Analogy
The understanding of these two realms can be likened to a telecast. When a television set is tuned to a particular channel and is displaying say, an urgent announcement, its viewers are able to receive it as audio and visual input.
However, though the electromagnetic waves being transmitted from the broadcasting station may be covering the entire nation not everyone will be accessed to them. Why? Because there will be those who have their television sets tuned to the channel at that particular moment and some will not. All who do not have their sets tuned to that telecast will miss out on the announcement just as though it was not being transmitted at all. It will be as though the broadcasting station did not exist.
The person with their set not tuned in to the channel fails to connect with the telecast and the quality of their lives changes at that moment in regard to the subject matter of the telecast. It is not really a matter of whether they are lucky, philosophical, wealthy, religious, talented or influential. It is not even that they own what is different from others. The real issue is that their sets are not tuned to the right frequency.
However, though the electromagnetic waves being transmitted from the broadcasting station may be covering the entire nation not everyone will be accessed to them. Why? Because there will be those who have their television sets tuned to the channel at that particular moment and some will not. All who do not have their sets tuned to that telecast will miss out on the announcement just as though it was not being transmitted at all. It will be as though the broadcasting station did not exist.
The person with their set not tuned in to the channel fails to connect with the telecast and the quality of their lives changes at that moment in regard to the subject matter of the telecast. It is not really a matter of whether they are lucky, philosophical, wealthy, religious, talented or influential. It is not even that they own what is different from others. The real issue is that their sets are not tuned to the right frequency.
Does this make something familiar?
Now there was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews, who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God [as] a Teacher; for no one can do these signs (these wonderworks, these miracles--and produce the proofs) that You do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born?
Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is physical]; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not [do not be surprised, astonished] at My telling you, You must all be born anew (from above).
The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered by asking, How can all this be possible? Jesus replied, Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet do not know nor understand these things? [Are they strange to you?] (John 3:1-10, Amp)
Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is physical]; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not [do not be surprised, astonished] at My telling you, You must all be born anew (from above).
The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered by asking, How can all this be possible? Jesus replied, Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet do not know nor understand these things? [Are they strange to you?] (John 3:1-10, Amp)
In the above text, Jesus expounds this teaching to one, a religious leader, a Pharisee named Nicodemus. What He was saying in effect was “Nicodemus, it does not really matter what Jewish titles or credentials you have in the natural. As a spirit being who is bound to live forever in eternity, the condition of your spirit is what actually determines everything about you.”
Becoming New
The issue discussed above now bring us to the verse that is so commonly quoted:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17).
These words have oft been misunderstood and taken to mean something different. According to one argument, there is no need to unearth what has and is taking place spiritually in the life of a born again believer since already these things were once and for all dealt with in on the cross when Jesus died. To do this would be to violate the principle of walking by faith.
This argument bases its ideal only on the fact that everything in the past and present state of the believer has been once and for all removed by the sacrifice of Christ. Hence all things spoken about here literally are taken to mean everything in the past of someone who raised his hand in a crusade meeting, repeated a sinner's prayer or responded to an altar call.
This argument bases its ideal only on the fact that everything in the past and present state of the believer has been once and for all removed by the sacrifice of Christ. Hence all things spoken about here literally are taken to mean everything in the past of someone who raised his hand in a crusade meeting, repeated a sinner's prayer or responded to an altar call.
But this line of argument also raises some other deeper questions. For example, how do we then explain the issue of the prisoner in jail who has been convicted of the crimes he has committed in the past? If we are to take it that all things here means literally everything, then we would expect the person to be emancipated as soon as he has repented.
The jail that now holds him captive is a direct result of the sins he committed before he got saved. The sentence he is serving in jail is placed upon him because of the life he lived before regardless of how he is now. According to the argument propounded above, where all things means literally everything, then the prison should vapourize as soon as his prayer is over. No, the jail is still there when he opens his eyes. He thereafter has to learn by faith, how to grow in salvation within the context of punishment meted out to him of things he did before he got saved, even if he is now serving life.
The jail that now holds him captive is a direct result of the sins he committed before he got saved. The sentence he is serving in jail is placed upon him because of the life he lived before regardless of how he is now. According to the argument propounded above, where all things means literally everything, then the prison should vapourize as soon as his prayer is over. No, the jail is still there when he opens his eyes. He thereafter has to learn by faith, how to grow in salvation within the context of punishment meted out to him of things he did before he got saved, even if he is now serving life.
Or consider another example of a lady who had illicit relationships with men years ago and is now with children. Based on the argument that all things literally means everything, we would then expect the children to somehow vanish the instant the lady is born again. Why? Because the children came about as a result of sins she committed before she got converted which have now been forgiven and blotted out.
However, the reality is the children are still there even after her new found faith and she is still the mother. She must now learn to grow in salvation within the context of a relationship with her children who came as a result of affairs she had before salvation, and bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
However, the reality is the children are still there even after her new found faith and she is still the mother. She must now learn to grow in salvation within the context of a relationship with her children who came as a result of affairs she had before salvation, and bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Being Renewed
Through salvation, we receive forgiveness of our sins, but this does not necessarily remove the consequences of our actions. The person who wasted a loan he borrowed from the bank, will still be expected to pay back that loan after his salvation. Several parts of a person's previous life due to decisions they made may well continue to be part of their daily existence. Living by trying to assume these parts are not there and calling it faith (it is actually presumption) will only lead to frustration.
And there are those who become frustrated to the point of turning away from their initial commitment after seeing that they are still having to deal with things they expected to be removed supernaturally from their lives. Others sink into self-condemnation, listening to the voice of the accuser who lies to them that their case is unique and God does not love them the same way He loves others who had dramatic experiences when they got converted.
The truth is that even with those who receive such dramatic experiences, e.g. instant healing or material blessing, there are still battles to be fought to stay the course and a process to go through with their background before they become mature.
Notice again the word usage and the context in 2 Corinthians 5:17. The apostle uses the term be which is present tense. It is time-specific. If the change in the person is taking place now, then all things have become new for that person in the present moment. The present spiritual reality is that the person has become a new creation and by virtue of their new position, everything has changed. The change is something that has taken place in the unseen spirit, regardless of how deposed the person might be in the natural.
And there are those who become frustrated to the point of turning away from their initial commitment after seeing that they are still having to deal with things they expected to be removed supernaturally from their lives. Others sink into self-condemnation, listening to the voice of the accuser who lies to them that their case is unique and God does not love them the same way He loves others who had dramatic experiences when they got converted.
The truth is that even with those who receive such dramatic experiences, e.g. instant healing or material blessing, there are still battles to be fought to stay the course and a process to go through with their background before they become mature.
Notice again the word usage and the context in 2 Corinthians 5:17. The apostle uses the term be which is present tense. It is time-specific. If the change in the person is taking place now, then all things have become new for that person in the present moment. The present spiritual reality is that the person has become a new creation and by virtue of their new position, everything has changed. The change is something that has taken place in the unseen spirit, regardless of how deposed the person might be in the natural.
The person's spirit has received new life that was not there before and so the change has taken place first and foremost within him or her. Now, that person is a new creature, old things for him have passed away and all things have become new.
This verse is speaking of a spiritual position that he has received. Before he or she got converted, they had their spiritual position in the kingdom of darkness regardless of how good or ethical they were. Now, they have crossed over from darkness to light. This is what has now been changed in their lives through the new birth.
So what happens ten months or five years from the present moment? Time has moved on, so now a new situation applies. Compare the above with what is written in 2 Corinthians 4:16,
This verse is speaking of a spiritual position that he has received. Before he or she got converted, they had their spiritual position in the kingdom of darkness regardless of how good or ethical they were. Now, they have crossed over from darkness to light. This is what has now been changed in their lives through the new birth.
So what happens ten months or five years from the present moment? Time has moved on, so now a new situation applies. Compare the above with what is written in 2 Corinthians 4:16,
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
"Made new every day?" we may interject, "What does this mean? We thought this renewal happened once and for all when we got saved?" The scripture renders this sentence in the present continuous tense.
This renewing of the inward man is now something that ought to be taking place on a daily basis. It is the practice that follows the position that the person received when they became born again. We need to see this balance in everything to do with salvation otherwise we will only be dealing with half of the message of the Gospel and fail to enter fully into the other half and fully experience the depths of the New Covenant.
Here is another example: Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. (Colossians 3:9-10)
This renewing of the inward man is now something that ought to be taking place on a daily basis. It is the practice that follows the position that the person received when they became born again. We need to see this balance in everything to do with salvation otherwise we will only be dealing with half of the message of the Gospel and fail to enter fully into the other half and fully experience the depths of the New Covenant.
The New Man
The new man whom we put on when we were born again is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. When we put on this new man, this became true of us positionally. Again, the above is speaking of a position we received in the past.
Now, see the language that is used here: But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20-24)
Now, see the language that is used here: But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20-24)
Sometimes, to even well-meaning believers, such verses seem to contradict each other. Yet the infallibility of the Word of God removes the very idea of contradiction. Whenever we find ourselves conflicted over biblical statements, the difference lies is within ourselves and the degree of revelation we presently have.
The same word that tells you that you have put on the new man, now admonishes you to put him on. Are we going to only embrace the former and reject the latter? To do so will result in our emphasizing our position (the benefits we have received by virtue of the cross) at the expense of the practice. This will bring us back to a dead-end.
No, this verse is now talking of the experience. The principle does not erase the experience. Both go together. When you pick up one end of the stick, you pick the other. The position validates the practice. The principle forms the foundation for the experience. So the choice we have is not to hold on to one and assume we have the other automatically, but to enter into both. The first refers to the position you have as a believer in the Lord Jesus. The latter refers to your daily experience as a result of that position. The same Spirit who ushers you into your position, now inspires and empowers you to walk obediently in its reality so that you may become perfect and complete.
The same word that tells you that you have put on the new man, now admonishes you to put him on. Are we going to only embrace the former and reject the latter? To do so will result in our emphasizing our position (the benefits we have received by virtue of the cross) at the expense of the practice. This will bring us back to a dead-end.
No, this verse is now talking of the experience. The principle does not erase the experience. Both go together. When you pick up one end of the stick, you pick the other. The position validates the practice. The principle forms the foundation for the experience. So the choice we have is not to hold on to one and assume we have the other automatically, but to enter into both. The first refers to the position you have as a believer in the Lord Jesus. The latter refers to your daily experience as a result of that position. The same Spirit who ushers you into your position, now inspires and empowers you to walk obediently in its reality so that you may become perfect and complete.
