Two Lives to Live

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Catey Stover in Freedom Fighters

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30

“Live once, die twice, live twice, die once” is a way to explain being born again. If you live once, a natural birth, and never accept the rebirth of the spiritual life you’ll die twice, once physical and once spiritual and be forever separated from the love and presence of God. Live twice, one natural birth and then a spiritual birth you’ll only die once, a physical death. So, it would appear to me we are living two lives. After Jesus speaks to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 and explains the concept of being born again, the Apostle John then takes us to the scene where Jesus and John the Baptist are baptizing. It seems that John is giving us expository teaching and follows it with a literary example.

If we follow the message Paul gives us in Galatians 2:20 of  “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”, we see a contrast of The life which I now live in the flesh” and “Live by faith”.   We can come to terms that there is a living Spirit of God that wants to increase and a dying corpse that should be decreasing. Put the two together and we have, “and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”.

The short and practical statement that John the Baptist gave when he was being tempted to receive the glory for the work he was doing is priceless, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. If we could get that concept each time the flesh wants to rear its ugly head, we would have victory over the flesh and have a walk in the Spirit that satisfies our longing soul.

Whenever we choose to live in the flesh the weariness of dragging around a dead body will eventually catch up with us. When we’re walking in the Spirit, we are being carried with a tailwind at our back. This journey in the Spirit will also face some turbulence but with the Spirit in control, our faith in Him will see us through. This is the great mystery unfolded, “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” Colossians 1:27

So, you see, there really is only one life to live, “I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” Amen!

Written by Rob Russomano: Rob Russomano is married to Terri and serves with her as full-time staff members. He is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and is available as a speaker of the grace of God with a message of Hope for church events. You can reach him at rrussomano@americaskeswick.org

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Think About This: “All our actions, as well as our thoughts and words, should praise Him who always blesses us.” Charles Spurgeon

The Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 31-35| You can download our 2020 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here. 

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[d]for you, but you should rule over it.” -Genesis 4:7

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the doctrinal and theological views held by America’s Keswick.