Justified means “just as if I’d never sinned,” but it also means, “just as if I was never a sinner and was never under the devil’s oppression, just as if I had never lost anything, just as if I had never been sick, and just as if I don’t have to be under the curse of the law anymore!”
What is the fight of faith that all believers are called to? The fight of faith is continually choosing to think like scripture says rather than what the world is saying. It is holding onto a word from God when all else looks otherwise. It’s not getting on my knees and struggling with devils, but is rather keeping my mind and emotions focused on truth, and my words in agreement with God’s Word. It is believing what God says is the truth over what my body, my bank account or my friends may say!
When you really get it that Jesus paid the entire price for sin, you’ll understand that you’re no longer under the devil’s tyranny and oppression. Know this as confidently as you know your name—the devil has NO power over you anymore, in any area, because Jesus took your sin and permanently gave you HIS righteousness!
Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Our sins for His righteousness. Our fear for His love. Our sickness for His health. Our unbelief for His faith. Our life for His LIFE. “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).
No matter how loud the voices are that try to tell you that you’re not going to get there, that the bible isn’t true, that you’re going to be disappointed and will just have to endure what you’ve been dealing with for the rest of your life—remember, THEY ARE ALL LIES! The devil wants you to quit! If you weren’t on the right track for success, do you think he would be trying to stop you?
We declare salvation as a free gift, but it wasn’t really free. It came at a great price and cost God His best! His Son Jesus paid that price and it was NOT cheap. When you understand the magnitude of that price, it should forever settle the question of your value to God!
The Word of God is absolutely TRUE. Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the author and giver of life—has given you His Word and has declared to you, “This is the TRUTH.” That means God’s Word is what is REAL, and therefore what our reality is meant to look like as new creations in Christ. Not what the world says, not what your past experience says, and certainly not what the enemy wants you to believe!
When the Apostle Peter was put in prison, a group of Christians met to pray for his release. Later, when they were told that Peter was knocking at the door, they didn’t believe it. They were praying, but obviously not really expecting much to happen! Expect an answer! Jesus wants to show the world that He is alive and unlimited in His ability to answer prayer. “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).
Jesus took off His equality with God, so He could put on human flesh and walk on this earth demonstrating to us what God looked like in human flesh. He had no sin nature, so the devil had no ability to put anything on Him or do anything to Him until it was time for the cross. There, He took YOUR sin nature, and all the judgements that were against you because of it, and gave you His LIFE in exchange! Now you are cleansed, with the nature of Christ in you, and the devil has no more right to touch you than he did Jesus! This is how we walk in the earth as He did, and can do the works He said we can do! “… as he is so also are we in this world” 1 John 4:17.
The only way we can build our expectations upon something other than personal experiences is through exposing our hearts and minds to the “great and precious promises” of God, and believing them to be ours! (2 Peter 1:4)