The Biggest Step We’ll Ever Take
By Tammy Lacock
“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands.” (Ephesians 2:11 KJV)
In this week’s podcast, Warren Litzman continues to follow the Apostle Paul’s gospel of grace as he discusses “the biggest step we’ll ever take” as believers.
In Ephesians 2:11, the Apostle Paul compares uncircumcision and circumcision to the Gentiles and the Jews, respectively.
He explains here that God’s gift of grace is for everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike. Being a Jew himself, Paul tells us his message is for the Jews, who live by God’s law (circumcision), yet also for the Gentiles, everyone who does nothing of themselves to follow God’s law (uncircumcision). Paul focused on spreading his gospel to the Gentiles because the Jews rejected it.
Paul’s epistles clearly reveal that God’s grace is given to us not by anything we do (circumcision) or don’t do (uncircumcision), but by the very gift of His Son’s death, burial, and resurrection as an atonement for the curse of Adam’s sin passed down in us. We all are born into sin. Only Christ cleanses us of this sin. There is no other way to be rid of our sin-natures. The exchange is made by the cross, by just believing. As Warren puts it, God dumps a whole bucket of grace on us. In that very moment we believe, His grace is poured out. In that very moment we believe, our sin-nature is uprooted, and the Seed of Christ is planted. In that very moment, we have been given the gift of eternal life, the gift of Christ in us. He is our new life. God no longer looks at what we do or don’t do to please Him. He sees Christ and by Him, we are saved. By His Seed, we are now partakers of divine nature, bona fide children of God! No longer bound to this world! Out of law and into grace.
Through Paul’s epistles, Warren explains that Paul was the only other man, besides Moses, who was raised up by God to bring us such a great truth. Moses brought us God’s law, taking up four-fifths of the Bible. Here, God dealt with soul salvation, salvation by works. However, the Apostle Paul reveals to us a new covenant, that is God’s amazing grace, in his epistles which take up only one-fourth of the Bible. Paul’s gospel is spirit salvation by God’s grace. Christ joined to us in one spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17): Christ in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)! There is nothing we can do that will bring us salvation. Christ did the work, and He is our salvation.
Paul’s gospel of grace is for us now. We are no longer bound by law. The Cross ushered us out of God’s law and into His grace. Christ will no longer work in the law, which he abolished by His death. Only by God’s grace, His life within us, will He be glorified.
As the Apostle of grace, Paul is the only man in the Bible who explains how to live as a believer in Christ. He tells us how to live now as brand-new creations in Christ, an entirely new race of people. No more Jew or Gentile, only one body in Christ. He tells us that in order to take our first step into the fullness of God’s grace, we must have a radical mind change. We must rightly divide soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12). Christ joined to us now in our spirits, making us one spirit in Him, is our new life. Yet our souls, where our minds reside, are still gripped by our sin-nature. Most of us don’t even know Christ lives in us, that He is our new life. Paul tells us that only by revelation, can we come to this new knowledge. Once we have this knowledge, by the help of the Holy Spirit once again, we can then begin to make choices in our minds that free our souls from the grip of sin. This is where Paul tells us that the biggest step we’ll ever take is the one where we know Christ lives in us and now we’re willing to hand over our minds to Him, a gift back to Him. Once we do this, we’ve finally stepped into the fullness of God’s grace because it’s only then when we begin to truly know Him and begin to truly fall in love with Him. It’s here where we begin to love Him more than ourselves. It’s here where we begin to understand why Paul likens our relationship to Christ as a marriage, one flesh, one spirit. It’s here where our continual choices start to align with Him, who now lives in us. And it’s this step which helps us to see clearly the unconditional and boundless love God has for us and always will. It’s a love affair.
Paul tells us we are no longer bound by our old lives. We are brand-new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet if we are to fully live our new life in God’s grace, we must take the biggest step we’ll ever take. Letting go of our old lives means letting go of our our old minds as well.
Our spirits belong to Christ. Now give Him your mind, too.
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5 KJV)
