You Are Not Your Own
by Ivan Maddox
West End Bible Fellowship
Atlanta, GA
Because of the greatness of who God is, it is natural for us to approach Him in a hesitant, cringing manner. But this is not how we are instructed to come before God in His Word. What He tells us to do is so far removed from this as to be almost unbelievable.
4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Where is the "throne of grace"? In the Tabernacle and the Temple, this would be represented by the Holy of Holies, into which only one man, the High Priest was allowed, only once a year, and not without blood. For him to enter at any other time, or for anyone else to enter at any time, was death.
We are instructed by God to do what was forbidden even to the High Priest in Israel -- and to do it boldly, that is, fearlessly, openly, speaking freely. What gives us the right to do this?
The secret, of course is Jesus Christ, our High Priest. Like the High Priests in Israel, he represents the people of God before God; only he does not do this in an earthly Temple which is the image of the real thing, but in the very presence of God. And it is here that he who has run the race before us, and has gone successfully through the struggles we are going through now, has invited ut.
4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Through Jesus Christ we have access to the Father. He is the only way into the presence of God. But our boldness depends in large part on our knowing who God has made us to be in Christ. Once we understand what God has done for us in Christ, and who He has made us to be, we will realize that when we come before Him, we are not interrupting the Ruler of the Universe with our own petty, personal concerns; instead, we are coming before our loving Father, asking His provision so that we can do the work that He has given us to do.
So who are we?
1. We are God's property.
We belong to God, not to ourselves. We were purchased by God with something far more valuable than silver and gold: the blood of Christ. We are not our own.
1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Even our bodies are not our own. We don’t own even our own flesh! We are stewards, trustees, managing that which God has given us for the purpose of doing what He has called us to do. Because of this, we are to glorify God in all we do, and to carry out His will, not our own.
6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
This means that when we go to God with our needs, we are going to Him with matters that concern His property. We are not going to him about just our personal business, but about His business. He has a very personal interest in what happens to us. We belong to Him.
This also means that when Satan attacks us, he is attacking God's property. This means that he has already run afoul of God and gotten God involved in what's happening to us before we ever go to God in prayer. Satan cannot touch us without messing with what belongs to God.
This means, too, that whatever we do, we're doing it with what belongs to God. Thus God is involved in a special way in whatever we do, whether good or evil. If I borrow your car and use it to rob a bank, I've involved you in the robbery, even though you had no intention of getting involved, because I used your property to commit my crime. In the same way, there is no way that you or I can commit even the smallest sin without using what belongs to God to do it.
2. We are the living stones that make up the Temple of God.
In the Old Testament, God's dwelling place was the Holy of Holies, located first in the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple. During Christ's ministry on earth, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, so that Jesus could say of his body, "Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Now we, collectively, are the Temple of God, God's dwelling place.
2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, all evil speakings,
2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
2:3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
2:7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Just as Christ is the living cornerstone of the Temple of God, so also we individually are the living stones that make up God’s Temple. Together, we are God’s dwelling place. God lives in us by means of Christ, just as He lived in Christ in the days of his flesh. When we come to God in prayer, when we enter into His presence, we are coming to Him about the care and upkeep of His home, His dwelling place. The care and upkeep of His home is very much God’s business.
When Satan attacks us, he is making an assault on the house of God, the very dwelling place of God. This means that God is brought into the picture even before we come to Him in prayer, because of what it is that Satan has attacked.
We need to live our lives with a constant awareness of this truth. We don’t go to church; we are Church! Wherever we go, and whatever we do, we carry the House of God around with us. What we do, and what we say, we do and say within the confines of the Temple of God -- even if we’re in the very midst of the bowels of hell at the time; and our words and our actions reflect on the House of God.
3. We are God's children.
God deals with us as with sons, and we are to give Him the honor and obedience due to a Father. Like Christ, we are to be about our Father's business. When we go to Him with our needs, we are going to Him about family business. That makes our business priority business with God.
3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
When Satan attacks us, he is attacking God's family. That makes this a very personal attack against God. No father who is worth anything will sit back passively while his children are being attacked by a dangerous enemy, and God is the perfect Father.
What a child does reflects on his parents. God wants His children to make Him look good by their words and actions. He wants us to be "chips off the old block". He wants people to look at us and see Christ, just as people were able to look at Christ and see God.
8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
The reverse is also true. When we do evil, it reflects badly on God. We can cause others to speak evil of God because of what we, as His children, do. We need to keep this in mind and walk, talk and live in a manner appropriate for children of God.
4. We are God's heirs.
8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
God has not only made us His children; He has made us His heirs. This is so staggering as to be unbelievable. Everything belongs to God, and He has purposed to give it to us!
God’s primary heir is, of course, Jesus Christ. What did Jesus Christ inherit from God? Everything.
16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
What God has done with us is made us joint-heirs with Christ. It is for this reason that Paul the apostle could say to us, "All things are yours."
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's;
22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's;
23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
When we come to God in prayer, we are coming as those whom He has appointed to be His heirs.
We generally think of an heir as one who receives his inheritance after the one who leaves him the inheritance is dead. Since God will never die, it seems reasonable to conclude that we will never inherit; but the parable of the Prodigal Son paints a different picture.
15:25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
15:26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
15:27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
15:28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
15:29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
15:30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
15:31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
15:32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
At the end of this parable, older son is told by his father (after complaining that he had never been given a party in his honor like the one his younger brother was receiving, in spite of his faithfulness), "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." The elder son was reminded that he was his Father's companion as well as son and heir, and encouraged to enjoy his inheritance now. The son was trying to work hard to earn that which was already his. When we go to God with our needs, we are going to Him as His companions and heirs.
As we go through life, need to remember that we are not beggars, or deprived, regardless of our circumstances. We are the wealthiest people in the world. We are God’s heirs, and as we walk in our Father’s will, we can begin enjoying our inheritance now.
5. We are God's inheritance.
God has purchased us for Himself, as His own inheritance, and we are to be "a peculiar people", a special treasure set apart for Him.
1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
1 Peter 2:9.
2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
We are what God gets out of this whole plan of redemption. When we go to God with our needs, we are going to Him with matters pertaining to His inheritance. And when Satan attacks us, he is attacking God's inheritance.
As God’s inheritance, we need to live our lives in such a way that we bring glory to Him, and show forth His praises. We need to walk worthy of the calling with which He has called us.
6. We are the body of Christ.
12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
As the body of Christ, we are to subject ourselves to Christ, the head of the body. When we come to God with our needs, we are coming as Christ's body, and the needs we present to God are Christ's needs. When Satan attacks us, he is attacking Christ's body.
Because we are members of the body of Christ, whatever we do involves Christ also. As Paul pointed out to the Corintians, this can have serious implications.
6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
When a man’s hand steals something, do we say that his hand stole? Or do we blame the whole man? In the same way what one member of the body of Christ does can give the whole body a bad name -- or it can bring honor to Christ and glory to God. We need to live our lives with an awareness of the intimacy of our relationship with Christ, and behave as is appropriate for a limb or an organ of Christ’s body.
7. Our new legal identity is Christ.
Our salvation is based on our death. Whoever we were when we received Christ as our Lord died at that very moment.
6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Our old man was crucified with Christ. Our new man is the Christ in us. Legally, our identity now is Jesus Christ.
2:20 I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Everything we say and do, we are to do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we do now, we are doing under the identity of Jesus Christ. When we go to God with our needs, we are going to Him with Jesus Christ's needs, and in Jesus Christ’s name. Needless to say, what Jesus Christ needs has priority with God. And when Satan attacks us, legally He is attacking Jesus Christ.
3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
How are we to live our lives in light of this? We are to do everything we do, and say everything we say, as if we were signing Jesus’ name to it; as if Jesus is getting the credit -- or the blame -- for each individual act that we do.
8. We are laborers together with God.
When it comes to the work of building up the Temple of God, of which we are the living stones, God has entrusted us with part of the work. In this, we are co-workers with God.
3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
Needless to say, God is the managing partner. When we come to God in prayer, we are coming to Him as His co-workers in the building of His Temple; we are requisitioning supplies for the work He has assigned to us. When Satan attacks us, he is attacking God’s work crew.
How should we live our lives in light of this? This same passage warns us that our work will be judged by fire by God, and that we will be rewarded based on what survives the fire. In light of this, we need to work for God in such a way that our work will meet His approval, and we will receive the reward He wants us to have.
Conclusion
Clearly there is more to us than meets the eye; but we are supposed to be looking at Christ, ourselves, and the world in a whole new light now.
5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
God has made us a new creation in Christ Jesus. The better we understand what He has done in us, and who He has made us to be, the more confident we will be to come boldly into His presence in time of need, so that we can receive His favor to help us. Jesus Christ has opened the door for us into the presence of God, and made us welcome there. Let’s not be strangers to the throne of grace. And let us endeavor to walk worthy of the great grace God has given to us, and the great calling with which He has called us.