The Position & Possessions of the Believer, Review (Lesson 37-38)
Mike Doyle · Jun 24, 2007
Identification (2006-07), No. 38
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492603058824

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

OK. Babies are bad. Let's since this is the last week, I'm very flexible as to what you want to do. A little bit of identification review. And then actually, I have one question that I wanted to ask. and didn't put it in there. I wanted to ask that for us to discuss. So I'll try to take about 10 minutes at the end and I'll ask the question. You won't be prepared, but I'm sure you'll have.

OK, from question number one from lesson to describe the principle of reproduction. Remember, we talked about that and the quote was from Genesis one, twenty one. 22, 23, 24, and 25 is really the key. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind, and God saw that it was good. So what is the principle of reproduction?

Like produces like. the evolutionists would have you believe otherwise, and gee, isn't it surprising that the evolutionists attack us right there? Because not only is it true in the physical realm of things, but it's true in the spiritual realm of things too. And that's why it's such an important principle, because most folks are not happy understanding that our production from Adam reproduction from Adam was just like Adam. I think most young Christians think that if they were Adam, they'd have done better than he did. But they wouldn't have, because we're just like him.

And so every creature that God made, actually it's a blessing that creatures can reproduce themselves. Isn't that cool? Angels can't do that. Creatures on the earth can reproduce themselves, but they're restricted in the sense that they can only reproduce after their own kind. Man can manipulate the reproduction of these creatures because God gave him dominion over the animals. So you can see, you know, it's like there's a thousand different varieties of dogs. They're still dogs, but they look different and they can be manipulated to some degree.

There's obviously differences in physical characteristics of human beings. You know, you come from the Far East, or you come from Africa, or you come from Indian tribes, but you're still human beings with the same characteristics. Some minor changes, but still the same being.

So, why is every being like Adam? It's such an easy question. Because we came from Adam. Because like begets like. That's why we're like Adam. Every human being that showed up on this planet was just like Adam, right? Except for one. The Lord Jesus Christ. So it's critical that the Lord Jesus Christ not have Adam as his physical biological father. That's the reason why. Because Adam is in possession of a fallen sin nature And he passes it on to all his progeny. I've said this before, but I think it's kind of humorous. When John arrived in our family, Donna was convinced he didn't have a sin nature. But he proved her wrong. In pretty short order. Because the sin nature just is there.

Now, from Lesson 3, let's talk a little bit about position and condition. Define position. There's one word that sums up position. Remember what it was? Identification. No. Pretty good. What's the one word that sums up identification? Unchangeable. Not bad. I'm sorry. Not identification, but position. Permanent. Permanent.

Ready for the word source. The one word that defines position is source. Where did it come from? Who's the source? That's right. So we have a position. You could say that all natural and spiritual life and growth is based upon the principle of position. It can be summed up in the word source. So all growth, your position is based on who the position is.

Who's the source? Just like those that aren't in Christ have a position in Adam. What's the source? It's atom. Now, the point of origin or the procurement, the beginning, one that originates, or the point of origin is what source means. So, the dictionary defines position as to lay down, to put in place, the act of placing or arranging the point or area occupied by a physical object. All men are born in their position in atom. The source was Adam.

They are positionally exactly like him in body, soul, and spirit. Really? Think so? You think Adam had ten toes? Sure he did. So every human being is exactly like him in body, soul, and spirit. He's got a body, He's got a soul infected and controlled by a sin nature, and he's spiritually dead to God. So everybody that comes from him is exactly like him, because he's the source.

Some verses, 1 Corinthians 15.22, In Adam all die, or all are dead.

Ephesians 2.3, Are by nature the children of wrath. By nature means what? Position, source.

In John 3.6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Isn't that interesting? That's what position means. Position is really important in a class like identification because the issue is going to be, what did God do about the source that I came from?

You know, the focus on most evangelical Christianity is the forgiveness or the penalty paid for your sins. But there's very little discussion about what did God do about that source? What did He do about my position in the source of Adam? Because even as a forgiven sinner with the same source, what kind of a standing do I have before God?

What do you think? What's that? No, now think about what I just said. God can say, because of your faith, I declare you righteous. But is that all? I mean, if God says, I declare you righteous, that means you've got a right standing before me, even though your source hasn't changed. So what don't you get to do? I mean, look at Moses. Moses is righteous before God, isn't he? Abraham was? How close could Moses get to intimacy with God? Behind the rocks, the closest he got. Right?

But if you change sources, change positions, now what? Righteousness is the minimum of it. Because the source is different now. The position is different. Alright, what does condition mean? By the way, the brethren, a lot of brethren refuse to read. Brethren, you'll see that instead of using position and condition, they'll use standing and state.

So if you see those words, you'll know what they mean. OK, so what's condition mean? Define the defined condition. Well, that's our physical condition here on Earth. We could still have a condition. OK. OK. Yes, we can. But let's just concentrate on condition for a minute. What is it? What is your condition? What's the easiest way to describe what your condition is? What's that? Yeah, it's your everyday walk around existence.

Yeah, so believers position, well let's put it this way. Are positions permanent? Your position in Adam is permanent, as long as you're there. Is there anything about that position in Adam that ever changes? I mean, like does Adam ever get any better? No, he doesn't. Now we have a position in Christ. Is that permanent? Does it ever change? No, it never does. But our condition is that Christians are almost like dual personalities.

Because we have this unchangeable position in Christ, but we still have to walk around on the earth. Because we have both natures in us, the condition can manifest either the life of the Lord Jesus or the life of Adam at any given time. So condition is variable, changeable, position isn't.

So along those lines, a verse to kind of back up what I'm saying, 1 Corinthians 1.20 Paul says, Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom, did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Indeed, Jews ask for a sign and Greeks search for wisdom. By the way, Jewish signs and Greek wisdom are from what man? Adam. But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jew a stumbling block, to the Gentiles foolishness. But those who are called, both Jew and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

And one more, 1 Corinthians 2.14. But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. Why not? Because they're foolishness to him. and he cannot understand them because they're spiritually discerned or appraised. So, I've often thought that that was a critical issue with believers in discussing the things of God with a non-believer.

You have to go into that environment understanding who you're talking to. When I pick up my buddy Rico in the morning, he doesn't speak very good English and I don't speak very good Spanish. Who am I talking to? And who's he talking to? We kind of figure out what I want him to do for the day and off he goes. But every once in a while I show up to see how he's doing and he didn't understand what I said.

It's a lack of communication. Well, you start speaking spiritual concepts to the natural man. You have to understand that he has no capacity to understand them. None. As an aside, what's the only thing you should ever talk to a non-believer about? The gospel. That's it. That's it. You don't need to talk to a non-believer about identification and all these other things. It's the gospel. That's it.

Because until they believe in the person and work of Christ, They don't have the capacity to understand spiritual things. They just don't. Doesn't matter if they want to or not, they just don't have it. Why? Wrong position. Wrong source. See that? Okay. What was my question that I sort of left hanging up there? Oh.

The believer, with these two natures in him, and both of them totally complete in and of themselves. Believers, I think a lot of times, and probably mostly through ignorance, attempt to, as they learn spiritual things and begin to understand, they try to get this Adam guy to act like a Christian. Adam will fool you. He'll adopt the veneer of a Christian until when? Until the real source starts to show up in your life.

A real simple one is, here comes an imperative in the Word of God. These nice little things like husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church. If you're honest about that one, right away you just went over your ability. Didn't you? or seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, or stand fast in the liberty of whatever, or reckon, or all these other things, go beyond Adam's ability to fake it as a Christian. Right? And then the believer begins to understand that God did something about that interference. God did something because God knew at the beginning That if the source was unchangeable and unfixable, then what had to happen?

You play God for a while. You're looking at man. You spend a whole entire Old Testament, you know, trying to get him to do something decent, right? And he can't do it. There's a couple of them around that sort of believe you and you and count them righteous, but I mean, come on. None of them can live up to the standard that you've set for your creature. So what's his solution, or your solution? What would it be? Change men. Right? And that's what he did.

He sent Christ, a new man, into the world to solve the sin issue. And when he's resurrected, he is the man that God deals with the whole creation from his position now. He's now the new source. Now, from that source, The game plan even changed. Because what was the game plan in Adam?

Adam sinned. The whole race goes in the bucket. And there are consequences for that, right? Adam is kicked out of the garden. He's got to sweat and toil. He's got to do all of these things because of his sinfulness. And Adam spends all of his time, in one way or another, trying to get back into his estate. The problem is the door is closed and he can't get in. Plus he isn't a creature anymore that's suitable to what he got kicked out of. So Adam can't function in a manner in which God originally designed him to be because of sin.

Some people say, well gee, God must have been a slow learner to spend all that time in the Old Testament to get this figured out. No. But his solution For the source is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Christ is on the scene. How does God intend to get persons who believe in Him to change sources? How is He going to do it? What are the mechanics of taking one of us who believe and disconnecting us from the source of Adam Reconnecting us to the source of Christ. How's he doing?

Placing us in the cross of Christ. So when he dies, we die. When he's buried, we're buried. When he's resurrected, we're resurrected into newness, kynos, newness of life. Now, every single believer's source is new. The Lord Jesus Christ himself. permanency.

A couple other differences. This old Adamic system operated under condemnation. The power over everybody was sin and death. That was the rule. How does this new life function? First of all, what's the operating principle? Grace. No condemnation, all grace. Couldn't be anything other than that because all the requirements have been met. So the function over here is totally in grace. The other thing about over here, the new source is a new source of life that operates totally different than Adam operated. Totally different. A man created to function in grace. Adam can't function in grace. He hates it because it's not what he's about. It's not from him. So here's a new man designed to function in grace. I'm jumping ahead of myself here, but that's okay.

Question four. From lesson four in Romans 5, 12 through 19, pick seven ways that Adam's sin affected the human race. Go back to your notes in lesson four and they'll be there. What's that? Sin entered into the world. Number one. The sin nature. And death spread upon all men.

Why? Because all men sinned in Adam. What's the third one? What's that? By the trespass of one, the many died. Yeah, by the trespass or the transgression of one, everybody died. It's a consequence of Adam's sin. That's number three. Number four, verse 16. Judgment. Yeah. Judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation.

So far, you're liking Adam less and less, aren't you? Number five, and this is an important one, if by the transgression of one, here's the next one, death reigned. In other words, this reigning means it's a domination from a throne through the one. So it's interesting. Because of Adam's sin, death is a reigning principle. We Americans have trouble with reigning anything. But death is a reigning principle. In other words, you cannot get out from under it.

It's the controlling factor. Number six, verse 18. Through one transgression, the effect was condemnation to all men. So one act by one man, but all of us acting in him because he's our source, all men are condemned. And the last one is verse 19, through one man's disobedience the many were made or became sinners. When did you become a sinner? That's right, you became a sinner when Adam became a sinner.

He's your source. From lesson 5, define what self is. What is self? Courtney talked about a dictionary definition of self. The essential person distinct from all other persons in identity. That was the Webster's Dictionary, right? A particular side of a person's character. Personal identification or selfishness. To, for, or towards oneself. He made a note that in the dictionary there are 126 words that are hyphenated with the word self.

Isn't that interesting? Do you think that definition reflects our identification with Adam or Christ? What do you think? Only with Adam. You think a guy who's born in Adam has all of Adam's characteristics, who sits down to write a dictionary, can write anything other than about himself or self?

He hasn't got the capacity. So what is self? What would you say it is in just common language? It's hard for you. You don't have them, right? No. What is self? Me? I'm not bad. What is self? Who I am? Is that who I am? Can I stand before God and say self? Who I am? What is self in the biblical sense? Not a good thing, is it?

Which focuses on what? That's right. And for us to come to that realization I think is really a milestone to realize that the whole Adamic environment, his whole condition, his whole position, all of his energy is focused on one thing. Self. So, no wonder it's difficult to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's got to be broken off. How long does it take a Christian to figure out it ain't about him? Long time. Long time. I mean, when I was first saved, I knew it wasn't about me, but I made it about me pretty quickly.

Don't you? I mean, you just do. You know, it's what God did for me. Self is the all-pervasive, all-encompassing, all-focusing, grab-up-all-your-energy environment in which you live and exist for gratification of me. That's what self is. No wonder God had to deal with it.

Actually, from a time standpoint, we could spend time describing what reigning and death means, but I'd rather talk about what's reigning in life. Let's talk about life reigning. Most of these questions came out of Romans 5, 12. Reigning in life, there's a kingdom before which all of the earth is dust. And who are the kings here? Who are the kings in this new thing? The reigners. Who are they?

Believers. Yeah. I mean, when we're talking about the 34 things, several of the things we talked about was the fact that you are a king. You do reign. You have dominion. Believers, those by faith who have received the abundance of grace and of the gift of God, these shall reign as kings through Jesus Christ. Not bad. God has the ages to come in which to manifest fully his mighty reigning, but it has already begun for those who are in Christ. Remember we talked about being an heir and a co-heir and a son of God and an adult son and what all of that means.

Revelation 22.5, and they shall reign forever and ever. And their reign has already in this life begun because they are in Christ the mighty victor. Now, this reigning, the reigning in life is only through Jesus Christ. Now back to the basics.

Why do those in Adam not understand? Because their source doesn't understand. Why are those in Adam under the reign of death? Because Adam is under the reign of death. Well, conversely, why are those that are in Christ able to reign as kings? Because Christ reigns as king.

Just fantasy, a bunch of nice words, platitudes. Rain over what? What do you get to rain over? I mean, if you're going to be a rainer, you've got to be raining over something. What do you rain over? Whatever Christ rains over. Which is? Everything. Nice try, but you're going to have to delineate. Give me some of the things that you rain over. How about death? How about sin? How about the sin nature? How about the earth? The world? How about our friend Beelzebub? Satan?

Do you reign over him? In Christ you do. So you are really a king, aren't you? All of this dominion that assaults you all the time, from a positional standpoint, you're a reigner over it all. Because Christ is. Source again. Whatever is true of the source is going to be true of you. From Lesson 7, what was the purpose of the law? To point out our sins. The law is given to which man? Adam. And specifically the Mosaic Law is given to which group in Adam? Only the Jews. So what did he give it to them for? Because they really wanted it. They did. But why did he give it to them?

To make sin exceedingly sinful. To catalog it, categorize it, and to inflame the sin nature. Because one of the characteristics of the sin nature is that until the restrictions come upon it, it's kind of dormant. Not that it isn't sinning, it is. But you lay a restriction or a set of rules on the sin nature, and the sin nature explodes in rebellion. That's what it was for.

From Lesson 8, by being baptized into Christ, what events in Christ's life does a believer partake in? But what's baptism mean? Placed into, and never to be taken out. Alright, you're baptized into Christ. What events in Christ's life did you get to partake in? Death. What else? Burial. How was it in that box? Resurrection, Ascension, and Seeing.

So, isn't it cool? If the source of all of our problems come from Adam, whatever Adam partakes of, so do you, well, doesn't it make spiritual sense that if you're identified or baptized into Christ, that you would also be a participant in the events of his life? Sure you would. So right now, you're seated in the heavenlies in Christ. You say, no, I'm in the basement of Holly Hills. That probably defines position and condition as well as anything.

So, all the attributes of Christ are yours. Everything that He is, other than deity, is yours. From Lesson 9, John 17, 21, Jesus talks of oneness with Him and the Father. Look up the following verses and indicate what kind of oneness is mentioned, rather than looking them up. And I gave you one, two, three, four, five, six of them.

Ephesians 4.3, the kind of oneness that he's talking about there is the unity of the Spirit. The same Spirit that indwells Christ indwells you. Oneness.

Ephesians 4.13, there's a unity of the faith. All have the same trust, hope, and confidence in Christ. All speak of the same righteousness. All plead the same blood. All are born of the same promise. And all are children of faith. All of us.

Acts 4.32. They are of one heart.

Colossians 2.2. We're knit together in love. Believers can't help but love one another. Have you ever found that to be true in your experience? I do all the time. I mean, you guys love me, I'm amazed. I love you back, I'm even more amazed.

Ephesians 4.3 again, the bond of peace.

Strangers can't interfere here. There's a bond of peace between believers because of our position in Christ that non-believers don't understand, nor can they enter in. But it's wonderful when it's on display because people get curious about it. You know, we're praying for my friends in Onesia that are going to go to funerals. There's this bond of peace with believers that's identifiable. And what you hope happens is that someone will come to you and ask you, what is this? What's going on here? That's, you know, that's what you want.

And 1 Corinthians 1.10, we are joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Question 11, from Lesson 10, connect John 17.22-26 to Romans 6.1. And the short answer is this. The Lord Jesus asked the Father that we might be one as He is one, that we might all be one in Him, Him and the Father. And the connection with Romans 6, 1 through 6 is through identification with the Lord Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection.

That's how He did it. So that was the answer. It's interesting that the mechanics were done right after right after the plea by the Lord to the Father to be one, that we were made one in Him by being identified with His cross. So it happened right away. It's pretty cool. Let's do lesson 13.

What does the word reckon mean in Romans 6.11? It's a really cool word. Somebody read 611. The word consider is the word reckon. What does it mean? Count it as truth. Expand on it some more. To take an inventory or an estimate. What's really good about that word is that it's much more than the word faith. It's verified faith. That's a good way to look at.

You're a numbers cruncher like Donna is. And when you reconcile books, what do you do? You handle every number. Every single one. You really hope that the batteries don't run out on the calculator. Every single one. And when you get to the bottom and you hit total, there it is. Reconciled. But you counted every one.

So when you get to Romans 6.11, you just don't get there and say, oh, jeez, I'm going to reckon. No, no. The supposition is that you have counted every truth, handled every one, every single one in sequence right up to then. So that when God says, Reckon yourself indeed dead unto sin, what's your response?

Okay, yeah. By His grace and His motivation, it's no problem. Absolutely. Dead unto sin and alive unto God. Hallelujah. Any struggle there? Not that I see. When you count up the numbers and you hit total and it gives you whatever the figure is, there's no struggle.

Now, of course, if the number doesn't match up with what the bank balance says in the receipt, then you go back and you re-handle the numbers. Well, look at the parallel in your life. If you add up the numbers in your life and they don't equal what the Word of God says, you've got a problem, don't you? What do you have to do? You've got to go back and handle the numbers. You know, here you go again. So that when the reconciliation time comes, there isn't any disagreement with God at all. You see that? I really can, by His grace, reckon myself dead to sin. I really am dead to sin. And I really am alive to Him in Christ Jesus.

It's not a struggle. It's a command. But is it this kind of a command? No. It's a gracious command. It's one of those things that when you've handled it all, proved it all, lived in it all, when God says, here's what I want you to do about it, it's okay. It's not hard. See that? And it ain't legal. It's gracious. See that?

Reckon. Because what's he talking about? It's the same thing in Romans 11, 37 or something. There's a kind of a list there about. right before there's the command to present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. Well, why would you do that? Because you've considered the same list of things.

And the Spirit of God has educated you and taught you so well about the grace of God that there's no issue. If you're an ignorant Christian, there always is an issue. But if you live in the torrent river of grace, there's no issue. No wonder we've got to know these things. It's interesting how God keeps us in the loop, and it's not sort of a warm fuzzy thing. If a believer is to be as wise as a serpent and as meek as a lamb, he better be pretty savvy.

Right? Savvy about spiritual things. See? And the Spirit of God knows this and is about His business all the time to fulfill the mandate that the Lord Jesus gave Him in John 14, 15, and 16. He'll remind you of all the things that I've taught you. He will teach you and reveal me to you. See? Why would He reveal me to you? Why would He reveal Christ to the believer? Christ is the source. And once the source is understood and taken in, God says, you know, I want you to do something about it. Reckon it to be true.

Any resistance there? Not that I can see. Give me your body. Hey, no problem. You know, I understand. My body is the vehicle through which you can manifest your person. You got no other vehicle through which to do that. My body is yours. Anytime, all the time, forever. To do whatever you want with it. Because your body and mind is going to do one of two things at any given moment. It's either going to manifest Adam or manifest Christ. My dog isn't going to manifest Christ. Neither is my car. But my body is the vehicle that God uses.

So what does He say? Give it to me. Okay. First bell. Alright, here's the last question. You ready for it? I've got to pull it out of my stash here. The last question is, explain how the positions and possessions we have in Christ go from positional blessings to conditional walk. Easy question, right? When we believe it. That it? And act on it. How do you act on it? Just abide in it. Abide? Okay. Everybody gets a chance to answer. But rest. OK. Now, this is a question that's not in your notes. Close the book.

How does explain how the positions and possessions, 33 or maybe 215 of them, We have in Christ go from a positional blessing to a conditional walk. How does that happen? We seek to find out what they are. That's one step. You get to know the source. How do you get to know the source? Through the word of God. That's right.

So as you're learning of the position and possessions you have in Christ, you're learning the facts, the objective facts of the position and the possession. But more important, what are you learning? You're getting to know the One who is the facts, who is the position. So there's a growing fellowship between you and Him.

How long does it take a believer to figure that one out? It's there. I mean, it's all over the place in terms of intimacy. It's everywhere. But sometimes we're too smart for our own good. Once you get that figured out, what's the next thing? I would say the next thing is this, that I become persuaded that the only place I fellowship with Him is here. That's the only source and the only place and the only location that I have. Now, granted, I can have a lot of the Word of God in me, I can fellowship, you know, but you can't depend necessarily just, well, I read a couple of verses and I've been thinking about them.

There's all of you husbands, When the bell rings at five and you go home at six, why did you go home? Because your wife told you to be there? Why did you really go home? Because you love being with her. The reason you spend time with the Lord is because you love being with Him. So He'll make the time and He'll give you the desire to spend more time with Him.

That's different than trying to be a scholar. See that? Or trying to be a theologian. It's just spending time with the Lord. What happens now that we're learning our position and our possessions, we're coming to know Christ, and we know that we're spending more and more time with Him because, boy, our hearts go there. Now, what happens? From all of that, what happens to you? You get smart. You start getting conformed. So what happens is you start taking on the characteristics of the position that you have. Right? I'll be darned. Isn't that cool? I mean the fact that God would even have a plan like that to me is really neat.

And it isn't you reach level two and you stay there forever. It's a growing thing all the time. It's an increasingly greater intimacy. It's like persons that are married 40 years have much greater intimacy than those who are married 4 days, 4 months, 4 years. Do you agree? Especially believers, because what they discover is not only the person of their spouse, but they begin to discover the person of their spouse in Christ, which is really attractive. And so there's a growing relationship with you and the Lord Jesus.

Conform to His image. Now, with the source being right, the conforming process going on, what's the result? The walk is there. You walk by faith. You walk by intimacy with Christ all the time. That's close. By the way, thank you. It's been just a wonderful class for me. I've learned so much, especially doing it back to back. It's been really exciting. We'll do it again in the future.

Dear Father, thank you for all your blessings untold towards us, you and your Son. I thank you for the opportunity to be with like-hearted and like-minded believers as we grow together in the knowledge and grace of your Son. And I ask that we all would continue to increase in the likeness of Him. I pray in His name. Amen.