Christ does not empower us to live the Christian life, He IS the power within us. The difference between born again and those who are not born again but think they are, is that the pretender thinks he/she has the power imparted to them by God, it becomes their power, but the authentic believer knows that he/she has no power of his own not even imparted to him, but that any power he displays is the person of Christ working in him.
John 1:3 "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Hebrews 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"
Hebrews 7:25 "Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."
John 5:21 ""For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes."
John 16:33 ""These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
The Holy Spirit becomes one with our spirit when we become born again. We no longer operate on our own power as we obey, but in His power. We can disobey the Lord when He prompts us, but we suffer the consequences of disobedience, God never removes our choice to obey or disobey after our spirit becomes a new creation, He merely redirects us through life experiences to return to a place of obedience.
1 John 2:1 "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;"
Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
Becoming born again is somewhat like the marriage of a man and woman. The spirits of two people meld together to become one. A spouse can physically walk away from their marriage partner, but their spirits remain all mixed up together with their spouse. The physical body is gone, but the spirit is still entwined with the one who is gone.
Ephesians 5:31 "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh."
Mark 10:8 "8 and the two shall become one flesh’; [a] so then they are no longer two, but one flesh."
Matthew 19:4-6 ""Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
So many people cannot figure out why they are so devastated when there is a divorce, even though a part of them wants to be free. The reason someone has a sense of failure and emotional turmoil over a divorce is because a part of us is missing when the other half of our spirit is no longer present. In the physical realm we might compare the spiritual tearing to the loss of an arm or leg. Something is missing when a marriage partner is removed but still alive. A part of us dwells somewhere else, our soul yearns for the return of that other half of us. When a spouse dies, there is a sense that we are released and can move on to whatever is next for us.
Even in terrible marriages, there is a sense of loss in a divorce. I have seen time and time again a woman who is abused by her husband, continually return to him or remain with him in spite of the abuse. Sometimes the woman is even criticized and looked down upon for remaining with an abusive partner. The reason she remains is because there is a strong connection and bond with the person who is the other half of her, even though things are very rough.
God can remove us for a time from an abusive spouse, because it is a violation of God's law and of the civil law. Until the partner realizes their need for repentance and a change of attitude and actions, they cannot be in contact with their spouse.
1 Corinthians 7:5 "Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."
When we realize that our life as a believer is not completely in the physical realm but more in the spiritual, we can be more faithful to Christ in our commitments. Everything is for the glory of God rather than our own personal comfort and enjoyment. We have a purpose, an eternal purpose that drives us to love the ways of God.
Ephesians 3:11 "This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,"
When we go back and look into the context of the verses here, we realize that our physical life is only a training ground for the spiritual life and the eternal life to come. It is also a picture of our relationship with Christ, to help us to more fully understand salvation. God made an eternal commitment to us when we became born again. And, when we marry, God joins us together as a permanent union on earth until He releases us through death.
Romans 6
"6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"
6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
6:13 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.
6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."
God did not impart grace that we can get away with sin, but instead He imparted grace to give us the ability to live above sin. Cheap grace is no grace at all! Grace with power to obey is what God gave to us.
