Positional Truth

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KUWN

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More than two thousand years ago, a blacksmith was

forging and shaping some iron with his anvil and hammer. It was a father and

son business, not that that mattered. One afternoon, while whacking away on

some hot iron that was being fashioned into a sword, the son placed the

heated end of the iron into a bucket of water to cool it down quickly. Don’t

ask me why he did that, but that’s what he did alright. A few weeks later

a local writer/historian wanted to write a short story on how blacksmiths

work. He went to this father and son business and asked if he could write

about them. They were honored.



When this writer described how the blacksmith would place the tip of this

piece of hot iron into the bucket of water, he did so similarly to the way I

just did above, except he wrote in Greek. In a round-a-bout way, I said that

the iron was ‘placed into’ the bucket, but the Greek guy, when he wrote

about this same procedure, wrote that the iron was “baptized” into the

bucket. This story should give you a good feel for what the word BAPTISMOS

(in English, that’s Baptism) means. It simply means to place one thing into

another. With this in mind, let’s turn to a passage in the New Testament.



1 Cor. 12:13



“For by means of one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether we

are Jews or Greeks or slaves or free we were all made to drink of the one

Spirit.”



This verse draws an incredible picture of what happens to us at the point of

salvation. Known as Positional Truth, this doctrine forms the basis for our

salvation, as well as for every spiritual blessing and asset we will ever

receive. It begins with this Baptism of the Holy Spirit, a baptism that is

reserved for Church Age believers only. This unique event is why we are

called the Bride of Christ. Old Testament believers are not part of this

privileged position to which we have been called by the grace of God. (Just as Gentiles were not part of Israel’s privileged position in the OT.)



Positional Truth is one of Paul’s favorite doctrines and is developed rather

extensively throughout the New Testament. Its implications reach beyond time

and space… literally?!



Hold on as Paul takes us on a ride. Destination: out of this world :eek: )



First, would everyone please get out a sheet of paper. For this article, I

would like to reference a visual aid (if you are real right brainy, you may

be able to envision this without drawing it). On that sheet of paper, draw a

large circle right in the middle. Let’s pretend that this large circle is

completely black inside. That means that you now have a very large, black

ball right smack dab in the middle of your paper. This circle represents the

created universe.



The reason we are pretending (are you still doing that?) that this circle or

ball is completely black is because it represents the domain of Satan. As

Paul tells us in Colossians:



“He has delivered us from the power of darkness”



Or this one in Ephesians:



“we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,

against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age”



And concerning Satan, Paul states that he is:



“the god of this world.” (2 Cor. 4:4)



The dark (Satan’s domain) versus light (God’s domain) motif is prominent

throughout Scripture, especially in the writings of John.



Remember, all of creation is groaning (Romans 8:22); the entire created

universe has been affected by sin. And because Satan and this world are

associated with darkness, we have colored the inside of this circle black.



Now, about an inch or two above this black circle draw a relatively tiny

circle. Do not color inside this one, though. What you should have now is a

large, black circle, and somewhere above that a very small “white” circle.

(If this tiny circle is not white, just pretend it is.) This small, outer

circle represents Christ.



Roughly, this is how your paper should look:





o



O







That’s the best I can simulate my visual aid with this word processor.

Sorry. Assume the lower circle is much bigger and black; the one above it is

about the right size and of course is white inside. What separates these two

circles are the same thing that separates this universe from heaven. So, the

little circle is outside time and space, where Christ is currently

(physically) located.



I could actually add a line to separate the two spheres. In fact, I think I

will.



o



--------



O





I like that a little better because now we can “see” the separation between

this world and heaven. Below that line is time and space; in other words,

that’s where we live. Above it, the infinite regions of heaven; this is

where ‘eternity’ exists. And as we all know, that is where Christ is sitting

at the right side of the Father right now.



Now back to Positional Truth. At the moment of salvation, all Church Age

believers are baptized, or placed into, the body of Christ. That is, they

are “spiritually” taken from the lower, black circle and placed into the

circle that is in heaven, where we are said to be “positionally in Christ.”

The phrase most commonly used to express this idea in the New Testament is

“in Christ.”



For example:



“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”

(Romans 8:1)



That’s the expression we see everywhere throughout the New Testament. Being

“in Christ” is a technical term used to describe our position in Christ

(Positional Truth). By virtue of this position in Christ, our eternal

destiny has already been determined, since nothing in time or space can

affect it. When Paul describes the implications of this, he does so in terms

that at first seem inconceivable.



Briefly, by our position in Christ, we share His righteousness. The

righteousness of God is imputed to us. That’s why this baptism is so

incredible. Let’s continue. Christ is the Son of God, we share sonship with

Christ; hence, we are called sons of God. Christ is holy. We share His

holiness; hence, we are called saints (holy ones). You can see that the

implications of Positional Truth are staggering. It basically explains

salvation.



By the way, Christ is called the Elect (Isa. 42:1, 1 Peter 2:6). By virtue

of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we are placed into union with Christ. In

Christ, we share His election; hence, we are called the elect of God. As you

can see, the concept of Positional Truth explains much of Scripture. The

next time you hear someone say that Election is impossible to understand,

just smile.



OK, where were we. Oh yeah, the small, outer circle represents Christ. And

Christ is in heaven. Therefore, the small, outer, white circle is actually

located in heaven. Also, important to note is the fact that this small, outer

circle is unaffected by anything inside the large, black circle. This is why

Positional Truth is so fantastic. Your position in Christ can not be altered

by anything that happens in this life (the large, black circle). Your

eternal destiny was forever settled at the very moment you accepted Christ

as your Savior. Because this baptism removed us from time and space, Paul

draws a conclusion that is beyond incredible.



continued....
 

KUWN

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It’s now time to tighten your seat belts. Notice what Paul says in Romans 8:



“those whom He justified, these (same ones) He also glorified.”



“Glorified” is in the PAST TENSE. That is, according to Paul, if you are

justified (saved) you are also glorified. In other words, by virtue of our

position in Christ, Paul describes what would ordinarily be thought of as a

future event (our being glorified) as an event that has already happened.

The certainty of our actually being glorified is in Paul’s mind a done deal.

This concept of Positional Truth can take some getting used to. We think of

the future as something that happens at a later “time.” But Paul transcends (created, finite) time.



Let me try this. The large, black circle represents the created universe.

Because we are finite creatures, we are restricted by time and space. We

have no idea how God measures time. He is infinite. I would think it odd,

however, for the Father to turn to the Son and say, “We sure have been

around for a long time.” Time, as we know it, has a beginning and end. Time was something created by God. It can be referred to as Finite Time.



Concerning these ideas as they relate to Positional Truth, here is what I

suspect happened. As an Apostle, Paul was given special knowledge. He

understood Positional Truth far better than anyone. What Paul communicates

is that our Position in Christ is unrelated to time? This he brings out by

our being placed into (baptized) the body of Christ, which is located

outside of time (where Christ currently resides). Because of this, Paul uses

the past tense when describing our glorification. In other words, we have

already been glorified using God’s clock. If that doesn’t excite you, check

for a pulse!



Are you aware that your eternal destiny was settled at the exact moment you

accepted Christ?



Paul also alludes to this concept of Positional Truth, i. e., not being

related to time (as we know it), in his letter to the Ephesians:



“and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly region

in Christ Jesus”



There he goes again. Paul pictures us already seated with Christ in the

heavenly region. Now quite naturally we are not actually there, not physically anyway. But as far as Paul is concerned, we have already been baptized (placed) into the body of Christ; we are in Christ now, so in Paul’s mind, he is completely comfortable telling us that we are currently seated with Christ in the heavenly region. Remember, this concept relates to our being in Christ Who is outside of time and space. So, we have to make a slight adjustment in our thinking, and that’s exactly what Positional Truth helps us do. (You have to sit back sometimes and marvel at Paul’s genius). Just in passing, this is why I don’t argue the concept of losing one’s salvation. This idea of losing one’s salvation is so foreign to the doctrines of Scripture that to hold that position is a willful rejection of Positional Truth and about a thousand other concepts of the Bible. I would be humiliated if I ever engaged in such a discussion.



Right now, we are in Christ! Right now, we are glorified by virtue of our

position in Christ.



I scarce can take it in!



Borrowing this concept of being “in Christ,” several New Testament writers

give it a temporal twist. This concept is unmistakably brilliant.



Here are a few of those passages:



“He who says he abides in Him (there’s the expression) ought himself also to

walk just as He (Christ) walked.”



“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (here

it is again).”



“If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one

another.“



If we understand Positional Truth as it relates to our permanent position in

Christ, we can easily make a slight adjustment to understand these verses.



It’s time to return to our drawing. We need to add another small circle in

order to understand this secondary dimension to Positional Truth. Here’s all

you have to do: Place a very small, white circle INSIDE the large, black

circle. Put in anywhere inside, it doesn’t really matter where.



The drawing is now complete.



The permanent position in Christ, which is represented by the outer circle,

has a temporal counterpart located inside the black circle, which the New

Testament writers describe as “abiding in Him” or “walking in the light.”

The outer circle corresponds to our Relationship with Christ; the inner

circle corresponds to our Fellowship with Christ.



When we walk in fellowship with Christ, we are said to be abiding in Him.

You might recall a somewhat famous passage regarding this:



“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch can not bear fruit of itself,

unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

(Notice that the fruit of the Spirit is only produced while in fellowship

with Christ. Your relationship alone does not guarantee this.)



I have mentioned, very briefly, this temporal aspect to Positional Truth

(fellowship) in order to close with a very controversial verse written by

John. If you return to the drawing, you now have all the pieces of the

puzzle to solve this “most difficult” verse:



“Whoever abides in Him does not sin.” (1 John 3:6)



(Before reading below, take a few minutes to figure this out. It’s right

there in front of you! Look at your drawing.)









Answer:

We can not sin while in fellowship with Christ. That is, we can not sin

inside the inner circle. Sin waits for you OUTSIDE the safety and security

of “walking in Him.” While in fellowship, you can not sin. Now, reread 1

John 3:6. Not so hard after all!



Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Remember the ELK. Once again, that ELK helps us

understand this idea of being drawn out of fellowship and into sin.





Here is how James describes our being drawn out of the small, inner circle

into the large, black one:



“But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.“ There is nothing in Christ that would lure or entice us to sin, that is in the large, black circle, where sin lures us out of our walking in the light.





Positional Truth… what a doctrine!!



God Bless!