The Simplicity of Walking in Newness of Life

(10-minute read)

Once a person confesses Rom 10:9 & 10, they are born again and receive the gift of holy spirit. But that individual still has the same mind, thinking, and habits as before becoming a Christian. The next aspect and requirement is fellowship with our Heavenly Father by learning the Scripture written after the day of Pentecost and obeying His will and instruction in daily life. 

Let's take a quick look at those verses:

Rom 10:9,10:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Let me preempt the following with the reminder in Ephesians 2:8:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Our own works or goodness is not a part of salvation.

Look at the first part of Rom 10:9: confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus. Here Lord is the Greek word kurios - meaning supreme in authority, controller (one who is in control); - God, Lord, master. In this context it is not referring to God.  So here we are confessing Jesus as Lord in our lives. With the understanding that we are to give up our own sovereignty and recognize his in our lives. Jesus Christ has authority and is our master to emulate according to Scripture. 

As a Christian we are no longer under the legalism of the Mosaic law, however there are boundaries we are instructed not to cross for our own benefit and to maintain fellowship with God our Father. Sin is broken fellowship and there are many things we are instructed not to do. It is spiritually healthy to desire to maintain fellowship with God our Father. This desire is a godly motivator to do so. 

We are all going to be tempted and a new Christian may ask, how am I to know what are the wrong thoughts or actions, not knowing much of the Scripture yet? One will learn these guidelines over time, but what does one do in the meantime?

Think logically... most every individual, especially one that has a heart to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior  as we have done, know the difference between right and wrong. So even a newly born Christian can walk in fellowship with God from day one. We are to think about what we are thinking about and contemplate before taking action. 

1 Corinthians 10:13:

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer [or allow] you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

There is absolutely a way for all of us to escape temptation.

Most Christians believe that overcoming temptation takes great will power and that with each temptation there is terrible turmoil and struggle. This is not true, nor is this thinking found in the Scripture written to us.  Would you like to learn that temptation does not have to have power and authority over you? Well, motivation of heart is the key and I will show you several aspects that will release you from any power and authority of temptation in your life. The practical application is accepting and believing in your heart God's grace, His divine favor toward you, His unwavering love and forgiveness, that He looks beyond our shortcomings to the perfection of His spirit within us along with His promise of everlasting life in a new spiritual body at Christ's return. This takes humility toward God and His good, acceptable, and perfect will for our lives. 

I want you to think about a person close to you that you care about. If someone tempted you to steal from or hurt that person would it take any will power at all to overcome that temptation? No!! with double exclamation points. Why? Because the motivation here is love. How much more so when we love God from the heart to obey Him. 

1John 2:5:

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

It is the love of God that makes it joyously easy to keep His Word. When we genuinely love God temptation no longer has any power over us. Let's read the first part of that verse again.

1Jn 2:5

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:

See? It is the love of God that is the motivation and which gives us the conviction ability to keep His Word. There is no struggle or fight to do so. Where there is the love of God in our hearts, there is the will and ability to keep His Word. 

1John 4:19:

We love him, because he first loved us.

Know that even while we were sinners, God loved us and made us His children by spirit which is everlasting. So we in turn love God because we recognize the love He first had for us, even when we did not deserve it.This is motivation for us to love God in return. When we love God in return we will obey His word and overcome temptation and sin. Because for us, there is only one choice: God's Way. The desire to choose temptation and sin is now gone because it is not a viable option or choice. 

1Corinthians 2:9:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

This is speaking of our future after Christ's return.

The hope of Christ's return and future rewards are another motivation to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength which nullifies any and every temptation. Are you beginning to see the simplicity of walking in newness of life in Christ?

I am not saying that we will never make mistakes and break fellowship with the Father. We will sin at times; and because we love God we heed the following truths, which bring forgiveness and restore our fellowship with Him. 

1John 1:8,9:

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.

(Without being sin conscious) It is proper to recognize that we have sin in our lives, but verse 9 says:

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

So no worries. What another great incentive to love God from the heart and obey him implicitly. Because he has our complete salvation wholeness taken care of.

Another aspect is to have the awareness that God is ever present, with us and in us. Just speak in tongues and you have the proof in manifestation. God is closer than our very breath. Once we believe the reality of this we no longer turn away from God to obey temptation and sin. How could we, as we now walk hand in hand and heart to heart with our Father every moment of the day. 

Heb 13:5b,6:

for he [God] hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Our Heavenly Father is always with us.

Another important aspect as we learn the instruction to us in Acts through Revelation is to recognize and receive it as God's Word. We don't question it. God said it; that settles it. He is the Creator of the heavens and earth and all that is therein. We believe and know in the depth of our being that His Word reigns supreme far and above our own misguided thoughts and desires or the influences of the world.

Numbers 23:19:

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

God's Word is truth and supersedes  all sense knowledge information. This is why we trust His Word more than our own inclinations and desires, except when they are in alignment and harmony with truth.

(I felt it necessary to include the following in parenthesis:

Because God does not leave anyone to suffer in sin, so I need to share this one last route to deliverance. There are times when a Christian's past has imparted a deep seated sin and temptation to sin that may not neatly fit into one of the aspects I previously shared, one that is a genuine struggle to overcome. If that is the case, there is nothing to be ashamed of; God wants healing for everyone. 

John 8:31,32:

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Continuing  in God's Word makes one disciplined and by doing so you will know the truth and it DOES NOT JUST SET YOU FREE, IT PERMANENTLY MAKES YOU FREE. If one is only set free, he can be imprisoned again. This is God's promise even in the most difficult captivity to temptation and sin. The answer is to find the scriptures dealing with your particular circumstance and make it your own by prayer and believing until you are made free. If that is not enough it may be necessary to involve another trusted believer, seasoned in the Word to help with teaching, encouragement, prayer and possibly administering the power of God by way of the gift of holy spirit. Your Heavenly Father loves you with equally as all that are his.

End parenthesis.)

In closing, the final take-away is that overcoming temptation and sin should not be a struggle in our lives even for the newest Christian.

1. Because we love God from the heart,

2. We believe in Christ's return and our future rewards,

3. We recognize God is with us and in us,

4. We know His Word is truth and can trust its authority for our lives, and

5. If and when we do sin or give into temptation, we confess our sins and know we are forgiven.

Thus by making the reality of these truths our own we will have the Godly motivation and conviction to overcome temptation and sin. This is the simplicity of walking in newness of life in Christ. 

-Written by John Lobota