“For He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” 2 Cor 5:21
It is inside of Christ we become righteous before God. Hence, righteousness is not by works or any form of moral living, it is a divine status attained only through the acceptance of Christ.
A believer is no longer having any sin accredited to him. There is now a higher level to this which became a point of discussion with some believers in the last one week on not just staying at the place of saying “I am not a sinner” by the virtue of Christ’s sacrifice but also living the reality of this word living daily without sin. So, this is saying to you that I am not saying “I am not a sinner” only but also that “I cannot sin”.
How would you say you cannot sin was the expression on the faces of my listeners. Let’s look into this.
Before man fell in the Garden of Eden, there was no account of sin whatsoever recorded about man. This means to a large extent man lived in sync with God and according to how God desired for him until when man went against God’s word. (Gen 3:6).
This was the same man who had named all of the animals in existence; he demonstrated God’s ability in dominion; however, he could not exhibit God kind of life that is in contrast to sin. Man didn’t have the understanding that they were already created in the likeness of God and this brought the issue of considering going against what God had said just to become like God. Not having a full understanding of their identity in God led to their fall. The first Adam fell.
This became the order that man knew; having a difficult time living in the will of God. Sin became natural to man, it wasn’t a product of learning it but it reigns from Adam as God’s relationship with man became severed. Living without being fearful of God’s judgment as Adam and Eve lived before the fall now looked as if it was never possible, even though we read how God communed with them without fear.
“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation…” Rom5:18a
The first Adam never gave a full representation of the God kind of life which He intended for all mankind. Man was not provisioned to demonstrate God’s ability in power alone but also to live His nature.
The second Adam (Jesus) came and in the flesh also to show us that there is more to the God kind of life which we saw displayed in the Garden of Eden. He displayed the dominion power of God to us over everything that existed on earth but much more showed to us the power inherent in this life to say no to sin.
The devil came to the second Adam just as he did to the first Adam. Jesus demonstrated the life of God that can be inherent in man to say NO to sin when by the word he defeated all the craftiness of the devil. All that was at Jesus’ disposal at this time was the Holy Spirit and the word of affirmation by God that He (Jesus) is His son; He was not in any extra-ordinary spiritual form; he was completely in human form.
“And Jesus, when he was baptized went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” Matt 3: 16-17
This was the event that preceded his temptation by the devil in the wilderness. Jesus defeated the devil’s entire craftiness holding on to God’s word by God’s spirit (which the first Adam could not do). It is then this same spirit and life He is introducing to every man who receives Him as Lord. The salvation you receive is not in the class of the first Adam, it is in the order of the second Adam; not returning you to Eden, but making God at home in you.
“Therefore you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba Father”. Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” Gal 4:6-7
We become joint heirs with Christ; what this means is that we have access to all that Jesus has access to when He existed here on earth and even now. And one of the profound thing He demonstrated to us that is in this new life is the power to say NO to sin. The scriptures then makes it clearer that one of what shows that a man has been born into the family of God through Christ is the power to say NO to sin.
“Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he CANNOT sin, because he has been born of God” 1 John 3:9.
When next anyone say to you that even Adam and Eve created by God directly fell, tell them you are in the order of the second Adam (Jesus), not the first, He never fell.
There is ability in you to say NO to sin.
Is it very clear now?
P.S: One of the questions I am asked frequently on this is how then is it possible to live daily without being angry, envious, using negative words and all sorts if you say I cannot sin; is that really possible? I’d be doing justice to this next week.
Be Innovated
Olufemi Ibitoye
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