We
have many words and phrases that we use to refer to a person dying. One of
those phrases is passed away.
In
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Paul
says that if we are in Jesus, we are a new creation and the old has passed
away, the old is dead. The old does not exist anymore.
Romans
6:4 says, “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we
too might walk in newness of life.”
Again,
Paul says that we died to our old life of sin and have been raised to a new
life and that we have the power now in Jesus to walk daily in that newness.
What
are the old things that have died and the new things that have come to life?
An
old thing that must die.
James
4:6 says, “But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.’”
Pride
has to die. Pride exalts us in a very ungodly way, and it puts us in opposition
to God.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is killing the pride that puts us in
opposition to God.
A
new thing that must come to life.
Being
humble allows God to pour out more grace on us. Being humble means as Peter
says in 1 Peter 5:6, putting ourselves under God’s authority. When we do that,
it allows God to exalt us by His grace and when God exalts us, we will not
fall.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing God’s grace to make us humble and
letting God rule in our lives.
An
old thing that must die.
Ephesians
4:31-32 says, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be
put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you.”
Unrighteous
anger. Any form of unrighteous anger.
Unrighteous
anger does not allow us to experience the love of Jesus because we are so
focused on our anger, and it stops us from showing the love of Jesus.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is turning our anger over to Jesus and not
letting it control our lives.
A
new thing that must come to life
The
desire and ability to forgive.
We
in Jesus have the power to forgive others just as God through Jesus has forgiven
us. Jesus forgave us unconditionally, completely, and when we asked. We are to forgive
others like that.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is forgiving those who have hurt us in the same
why that God has forgiven us through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Mark
9:23-24 says, “And Jesus said to him, ‘If you can! All things are possible for
one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘I
believe; help my unbelief.’”
An
old thing that must die.
Unbelief
must die.
Unbelief
stops the work of God through the Holy Spirit in a person’s life. When we don’t
believe God, we don’t let God work because we don’t believe God is or that God
is willing or that God cannot.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Wall is
letting any doubt about Jesus’ power or love die.
A
thing that must come to live.
Belief
must come to life.
Belief
allows Jesus to do things in our lives that go beyond anything we could hope or
imagine. It allows Jesus to be truly Lord of your life.
Raise
the Roof and Remove the Walls is putting complete trust in Jesus as the
Lord.
Letting
the Old Die and the New Live
by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,
Joe
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