Expounding the More Perfect Way….Jesus Christ and Him Crucified Acts 18:24-28

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therefore being justified by Faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).

What did Paul mean when he said, “We are justified by Faith”?
First of all, we must look at Faith. The definition of Faith is to simply believe something. In this case, it refers to having Faith in Christ and what Christ has done for us at the Cross. The Faith of which Paul speaks always must be in this capacity. We must ever understand that Christ is the Source, and the Cross is the means. In no way is Christ to be separated from the Cross, or the Cross separated from Christ.
That’s the reason the Apostle said, “We preach Christ Crucified” (I Cor. 1:23).
Paul wasn’t meaning that Christ is still on a Cross; in fact, Christ is seated by the Right Hand of the Father, meaning that His task of Redemption is complete (Heb. 1:3). Instead, Paul is speaking of the benefits of the Cross, benefits, incidentally, which will never, never end. For this reason, the Holy Spirit through Paul referred to these benefits as “The Everlasting Covenant” (Heb. 13:20).
The Believer must understand that every single thing we receive from the Lord, and in every capacity, is made possible solely by the Cross. That is the Gospel. The story of the Bible is the story of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, and the story of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified is the story of the Bible.
Once Faith is properly understood and established, now we turn to Justification. The Greek word used by Paul is “dikaioo,” which means “to show or regard as innocent.” In layman’s terms, it means the following:
1. It means that every sin—past, present, and future—is forgiven.
2. It means that God looks at the one so forgiven as never having committed the sin or sins in question.
3. It means that one is declared innocent, not guilty, and free of all charges, all made possible by Faith in Christ and what He did for us at the Cross.
Justification cannot be earned or purchased, at least not by the individual. It is given freely upon Faith in Christ and His Finished Work.
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what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that Grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Rom. 6:1–2).

Some seventeen times the word “sin” is mentioned in the Sixth Chapter of Romans. Fifteen of those times the original Text, in other words, as it was originally written by the Apostle Paul, contains what is referred to as the “definite article.” That is, in these fifteen times, the Text reads “the sin.” It refers to the sin nature.
Some claim that Believers no longer have a sin nature; however, considering that Paul is writing to Believers here, if that is the case, i.e., if Believers no longer have a sin nature, then the Holy Spirit went to a lot of trouble to explain something that doesn’t exist.
No! Every Believer has a sin nature; however, we are supposed to be dead to the sin nature, even though the sin nature is not dead (Rom. 6:11).
In truth, the sin nature is supposed to be dormant in the heart and life of the Believer; at the time of Salvation, the sin nature is, in fact, rendered dormant. But if the Believer does not know how to maintain a victorious life, sin will be the result, which then brings the sin nature to life, and then such a Believer can find the sin nature ruling and reigning in his life, even as it did before he was saved.
That’s why Paul said, “Let not the sin therefore reign (rule) in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof” (Rom. 6:12). The sin nature will reside in us until the Resurrection, but it’s not supposed to reign. The manner and way that we can have victory over the sin nature, the only way, in fact, and on a perpetual basis, is that the Cross of Christ ever be the Object of our Faith. That being the case, the Holy Spirit, Who Alone can make us what we ought to be, can effectually work within our hearts and lives, bringing about the Fruit of the Spirit, which develops Christlikeness in our life and living (Rom. 8:1–2,11).
That is the way, and the only way, that the sin nature in the heart and life of the Believer can be subdued and remain subdued.
We find here, graphically so, that “sin” is the problem with the Christian. No matter how many claims are made to the contrary, sin is the problem. And there is only one way that victory over sin can be obtained, and that is through Faith in Christ and what Christ has done for us at the Cross.
Man may devise many ways and claim that victory will be the result, but God has only one way, and that is the Way of the Cross!
Swaggart, J. (2005). 

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