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Chapter 52 - Position and Condition |
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The New Testament church was created to exist both on earth and in heaven. Although established to function conditionally in the temporal realm on the fallen earth, it exists concurrently without condition in the eternal realm at the right hand of the Father.
The temporal realm is physical, mutable, and imperfect. In contrast, the eternal realm is spiritual, immutable, and perfect. Concordant with its conditional state on the physical, mutable, and imperfect earth, the New Testament church remains an unfinished work. In contrast, its spiritual, immutable, and perfect position in the eternal realm is a finished work of God. The fallen environment of the degenerated earth is characterized by conditions that are subject to variation, insecure, and unpredictable. As a result, they can be contrary to the well-being of the New Testament church. Thus, the Apostle Paul exhorted the New Testament church to make the continual choice to practice or “walk in a manner worthy” of its calling. (Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12) The “worthy walk” of the New Testament church is not founded on its temporal, physical, mutable, imperfect condition on the fallen earth. Such a “walk” is by default law-bound and lifeless (zoe) and therefore, only produces failure and misery. (Romans 7:24) Instead, the “worthy walk” of the New Testament church is anchored in its position “in Christ.” Therefore, forever secured under His protective headship, its walk is eternal, spiritual, immutable, unconditional, and perfect. Pauline Emphasis The epistles of the Apostle Paul emphasized the difference between the New Testament church’s eternal position and temporal condition. He often referred to them in terms of doctrine and practice. In his epistles, Paul commonly discussed doctrine before practice and thus, position before condition. For example: |
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By discussing doctrine before practice, position before condition, Paul revealed the simple but profound truth: right doctrine leads to right practice.
Consequently, he clarified the foundation for church practice and a worthy walk is not its temporal, physical, mutable, imperfect condition on the degenerated earth but its eternal, spiritual, immutable, perfect position in heaven. As a result, the foundation for church practice on the degenerated earth is not earthly, temporal, and human but heavenly, eternal, and divine. Position and Condition “Baptized into Christ,” the New Testament church was “identified with” the fullness of His person and work. As a result, it became one with Jesus, both legally and organically. Forever positioned in an intimate union of shared law and life, the New Testament church “abides” (lives) in Him and is “clothed” with Him. (Galatians 3:27; 1 John 2:24; 4:15-16) The position of the New Testament church “in Christ” does not change. It is eternally perfect. Consequently, the position of the New Testament church “in Christ” serves as the foundation for the church on earth to “walk in a manner worthy of its calling.” The position and condition of the New Testament church on earth can be contrasted as follows: |
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The position and condition of the New Testament church on earth can be described as follows:
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The position of the New Testament church “in Christ” at the right hand of the Father in heaven is spiritual, immutable, and perfect. It is very different from its temporal, physical, mutable, imperfect condition on earth.
Miles Stanford not only explained the heavenly position of the New Testament church like few others, but also its earthly condition. He said, “Our condition is what we are in our Christian walk, in which we develop from infancy to maturity. Although our position remains immutable, our condition is variable. Through the exercise of faith, our eternal position (source) affects our daily condition, but in no way does our condition affect that heavenly position. ‘Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.’ (Colossians 3:1) ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.’ (Ephesians 6:10) When we concentrate on our condition, we are not living by faith but by feelings and appearances. The inevitable result is that we become increasingly self-conscious and self-centered. Our prime responsibility is to pay attention to the Lord Jesus, to rest (abide) in him as our position. There will then be growth, and He will be more and more manifested in our condition. ‘But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.’ (2 Corinthians 3:18) If the believer does not know of his position in the Lord Jesus, and how to abide in Him as his very life, there will be but one result. He will struggle in this un-Christlike condition rather than rest in his Christ-centered position. In most cases, a believer is more aware of his condition than of his position. This is the reason for so much failure and stagnation. If we are to grow and become fruitful, our faith must be anchored in the finished work of our position in Christ. There is no basis for faith in our changeable, unfinished condition. ‘… so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.’” (1 Corinthians 2:5)[1] Sanctification As indicated by Miles Stanford, the position and condition of the New Testament church are important to its sanctification or spiritual growth. The word “sanctification” is derived from the root word “sanctify” (hagios; hag'-ee-os). It means “to make holy” or to “set apart.” The New Testament church in heaven is fully sanctified or “set apart.” Its concurrent existence on earth, however, is not yet fully sanctified or “set apart.” Fully sanctified in heaven, the New Testament church in spiritual form exists in an unconditional state that is immutable and perfect. Not yet fully sanctified in physical form on earth, however, it remains subject to conditions that are mutable and imperfect. Consequently, the sanctification of the church on the degenerated earth is a progressive work of God to set it apart so that its imperfect condition is brought into agreement with its perfect position in heaven. Cooperation Relative to the spiritual growth of the New Testament church, it was common for the Apostle Paul to emphasize the importance of agreement between earthly condition and heavenly position. For example, the first 11 chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans contain mostly foundational church doctrine and consequently, important positional truth. In chapters 12-15 he explained how to cooperate with God and make church doctrine a reality in daily practice. According to Paul, the New Testament church is confronted daily with two opposing paths on which to walk; life (zoe) and death. The path of life (zoe) is a path of transformation. The path of death is a path of conformation to this world. The path of life (zoe) and transformation begins with fellowship. It involves the emphasis of intimate, shared life fellowship with God. In Romans 6-11 Paul explained the plan for the divine, progressive sanctification of the New Testament church. Starting with chapter 12 he unveiled the cooperative role of the church. In Romans 12:1, Paul said, “… present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” The Greek word translated “present” is paristemi (par-is'-tay-mee). It means to “make available.”[2] The specific manner in which Paul uses the word is indicative of a recurrent presentation, not only of the body (soma (so'-mah)) but the whole person. It is inclusive of the totality of life and activity. Paul exhorted the New Testament church to cooperate with its progressive sanctification by the practice of intimate, shared life fellowship with God. By grace through faith alone, it necessitated the recurrent presentation of all of life and activity to God. According to Paul, the result was the renewal of the mind and the discernment of the will of God. They provided the foundation for reaching agreement between the position and condition of the New Testament church. (Romans 12:2) Appropriation Miles Stanford said, “Scriptural, fact centered faith in the Lord Jesus as our position before the Father is the one means of experiencing that finished work in the growth of our daily condition. Spiritual birth placed us in our accepted position, from which our spiritual condition is being completed, by faith. “… created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) Every Christian has been positioned forever in the risen Lord by spiritual birth. But only the believer who knows, grows. It is faith in the facts of our position that gives us the daily benefits of growth in our condition. If the believer is not clearly aware of the specific truths of the Word, he cannot exercise the necessary faith for growth and service. He can only seek his resources in the realm of self.”[3] The appropriation of the benefit of positional truth was designed to be simple. First, by the grace of God alone, the New Testament church needs to understand the positional truth of the New Testament. Second, by faith alone, it must “stand firm” on its position “in Christ” regardless of earthly condition. (1 Corinthians 16:13; Ephesians 6:11, 13, 14; Philippians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 3:8; 1 Timothy 1:18; 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7) Thus, in regard to positional truth the New Testament church must be resolute in mind. It must fight the “good fight of faith.” “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete …” (Colossians 2:9-10) |
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© 2025 James Hiatt |
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