Potential Truth or Present Reality?

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; – John 10:27

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17

and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, – Ephesians 2:6

and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. – Romans 6:18

The New Testament bursts with statements about believers in Christ. It states them as a matter of fact. It couches them in past or present tense, not putting them off into the future. These truths take place at the moment of the new birth, or in reality at the cross. We don’t grow into them. They are part of our New Creation DNA.

Take my first example.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; – John 10:27

Jesus does not say, “My sheep can hear my voice,” or “My sheep will hear my voice in the sweet by-and-by.” He says they hear me. In context, He’s actually stating it as a way to identify sheep.

We take it as a statement of potential. “I can hear the voice of God,” or a promise, “I will hear the voice of God.”

But we must renew our thinking on these statements.

And I’m not suggesting we turn it around and use it to punish ourselves. Let’s not go to the “I can’t hear God’s voice so I must not be…”

No–Let’s just take it at face value. Let’s take it by faith.

When you sit down in front of your Bible today, or tomorrow morning, say it out loud. “I am Your sheep, and I hear Your voice. Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening.”

When you come across these statements in the Word, make note of them, write them down. Say them out loud. Jot them on a piece of paper and carry them with you and meditate on what God says is currently true in your life.

When you face temptation say out loud, “I am free from sin.” How much more likely are you to resist temptation with that confession on your lips, then if your thinking, “Well, I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” (WARNING: THAT IS NOT A BIBLE VERSE. DO NOT MAKE THIS YOUR CONFESSION.)

We must stop looking at our revealed identity and putting it in the category of potential. God’s Word is TRUTH, and as such is TRUE NOW.

Think on it, won’t you?