THERE IS A PATH(IV)

Text: Romans 6:6-9

“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. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him”. KJV

In the last study we emphasized that there is a consciousness you have exercised longer than the spirit life that makes the path of spiritual progress difficult to find.

In order for God to help us out, He did something significant; that is where the core of our study begins in Romans 6 – Our inclusion with Christ; the elements of the Christian faith or syllabus of the Christian life. Our goal is that at the end of this study you will be able to judge prophecies, utterances and even certain actions, whether they are from the soul or the Spirit. The consciousness will reveal it.

In Romans 6, there are three times that we are admonished to know things, verses 6, 9 and 19.
The words used in Romans 6:6 and Romans 6:9 are different.

Romans 6:6 says “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”. KJV

Romans 6:9 says, “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him”. KJV

Verse 6 talks about knowing through your senses, teaching, instruction, and education. That is natural knowing.
Verse 9 talks about a knowing that is deeper than that which you get from the lecture room. This knowing is a function of the operation of the SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION.

If we don’t go through this path, it will be difficult for you to understand your Christian life. So we are going to the root of Christianity to draw up a process.

The first step on the path of spiritual progress is called the KNOWING OF REVELATION. It is the sign of spiritual health. If the experience of the knowing of revelation is not something that is sustained in your life, you may not be able to maintain a consistent walk on the path of spiritual progress.

In Romans 6:6, the bible says, “knowing this” – This is a knowing you can acquire when you are taught.
Paul is saying in order for us to advance in our spiritual life there is a knowledge that we must receive. First, the Bible says we must be empowered with the knowledge that our old man was crucified. Why was our old man crucified? It was so that the body of sin might be destroyed.
Before we proceed, it is important we understand what it means for the old man to be crucified. The easier theological name for old man is the soul life. It is operating in that soul life that makes one operate like Adam. As long as a man operate from the consciousness that comes because of the life in the soul; taking decisions from there; and options that comes out of the intellect. He said as long as one functions that way he is functioning like Adam.
Meanwhile in the book of Romans, especially Romans chapter 5 & 6, you will see two men, two things they did and two consequences. The two men are Adam and Christ. The two things: Adam rebelled against God and Christ submitted to God. And Christ’s submission to God was unto the ultimate demand of submission which was submission to the point of death. Adam created a race out of his disobedience and Christ also created a race out of his obedience.
So you are either of Adam or of Christ. You can be born again and still be of Adam. It means you are born again but you don’t function from Christ, you function from Adam and the results you are going to get are the results that Adam got which is separation from God.

Separation from God is not just physical death, which will happen eventually. There is a separation from the anointing of God because such a person functions from the soul life. So he is not in touch with the resources that God has made available in his spirit with which God intends to accomplish His agenda on his life.

In order for us to be spared from that possibility, God did something that we could not do. He crucified the old man. Our soul life was nailed to the cross. The reason why that soul life had to be crucified, brought into death, is to give the Spirit life the advantage to grow, so the path of spiritual progress can be in view. As long as you function from the technology of your soul, access into spirit life is not in view.

Jesus said in John 12:24 that “except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…"
When you harvest wheat or rice, it has protecting the seed. Jesus used that to illustrate the spirit life that except a corn of wheat fall to the ground and dies, the grain experiences what we call the abiding alone syndrome.

Jesus did not promise us just life; He promised us abundant life (John 10:10). If you are not operating from the realm of abundant life, you are living short of what Jesus promised.

This illustration that Jesus gave is to give us insight into the soul and the spirit. The husk is the soul and the grain is the spirit. And so Jesus said except we release this grain and it falls to the ground so that the moisture in the earth and the minerals in the earth can react with the husk and kill it, the grain can never spring forth with life.

There is a battle here; the battle for the death of the grain. That is why God said the old man or the soul life was crucified to give a passage way for the spirit life to germinate so that you can be delivered from the abiding alone syndrome.

The challenge is this, the soul covers the spirit totally because you are used to operating by the soul. If the soul life is still held in place, it will hinder any expression of spirit life. Have you not seen some people that are born again but there is no evidence of it and their character does not reveal it? Why? It is because the soul covers the reality that the spirit has captured and it does not allow it any form of expression. And so Jesus said except the corn of wheat falls to the ground and dies, the abiding alone syndrome occurs. It means Christ cannot move from that person’s life to shed His glory through that life on another life; he abides alone. He can’t go beyond himself because the self-principle is still intact in that life. So that life cannot manifest the glory of God because that life will only manifest the glory of self.

When that soul life dies, that coat dies, that covering dies; loses its ability to influence; loses its ability to manipulate your decision making processes, you come to a point where spirit life can now find a room; ventilation sufficient for it to begin to sprout out.

At this point you know you are set on the path of spiritual progress.

We shall continue from here next time. Rem