What does the 5-2-1 mean as it pertains to me personally?
We need to have a Biblical strategy or plan of action of how I am to live as a child of God. What I have been given by God, through Christ Jesus, and what does He expect me to do with it? With that in mind, let’s take a look at some practical applications of what that looks like.
2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ (that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior), he is a new creature (reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit); the old things (the previous moral and spiritual condition) have passed away Behold, new things have come (because spiritual awakening brings a new life).”
John 15:1-11
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the Vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch that withers; and the branches are gathered up, and thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things have I spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
From this red letter word of truth, we begin the daily practice of processing those three dimensions into three applications. Use Biblical strategies; reach for Biblical possibilities, expecting Biblical outcomes.
What these two verses show us is the old selves that we were. All the sin, the shame, the hurts, the wounds and the pain caused by those have been buried with Christ. We have risen with Christ. We are new beings, because in God’s love He has saved us, and in His mercy He has justified us, in and through Christ Jesus, and by the obedience of Christ Jesus to the cross for you. If we engage in relationship with Jesus, as Lord and Savior of our lives, we walk in obedience in all the things that He has given to show us how to live and how to love. So that we will have joy in our relationship with Him and in our lives with others.
So what are some practical applications we can use for our daily lives?
This begins with daily personal time with Jesus Christ through worship, prayer and His Word. This is a relationship like no other you will have in your lifetime. In this we will find our new identity in Him and through Him. This new identity will begin to replace the old identity that we once had. This is a conscience choice by the believer to think of himself or herself as a new creation loved by God and eternally secure. Through daily-ness with Him, I begin to unlearn the ways of living and loving that my family, my friends, my society and myself have taught me. Basically, I have to unlearn what I learned. I begin to learn to respond out of the love that He has given to me and requires of me for others. We also build intimacy with Jesus Christ and He begins to reveal to us, in more detail, in our daily lives, who He is…and who we are in Him. As I begin to understand Him and know Him better, He reveals to me who I truly am and what He requires of me and empowers me, by His love and grace, to be transformed.
The transformation process takes time, as our relationship with Christ deepens, He reveals and uproots aspects of our lives that do not conform to our new identity. He confronts us with the contradictions of what we believe and how we live.
