How ‘trying to be like Christ’ can keep you from Truth-
Why are people NOT ILLUMINATED by the evangel of the glory of Christ? Why does Christ, the Image of the invisible God, not irradiate them (2 Corinthians 4:4)?
Could it be because too many Christians and religious people are focused on the flesh of Jesus? Is it because too many people are trying to make their flesh like His flesh?
Well relatively, the god of this eon (Satan) blinds the apprehensions of the unbelieving, according to the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 4:4). Ultimately, we know that it is only God that can open the eyes of the spirtually blind. But again, how are these people blind…how do they not see the truth of Christ’s accomplishment?
It is because they are heralding ‘themselves’ by comparing ‘themselves’ to the flesh of Christ.
3 Now, if our evangel is covered, also, it is covered in those who are perishing,
4 in whom the god of this eon blinds the apprehensions of the unbelieving so that the illumination of the evangel of the glory of Christ, Who is the Image of the invisible God, does not irradiate them.
5 For we are not heralding ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, yet ourselves your slaves because of Jesus,
6 for the God Who says that, out of darkness light shall be shining, is He Who shines in our hearts, with a view to the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. – 2 Corinthians 4: 3-6
In verse 5, Paul makes the point that believers are not heralding ‘ourselves’ and therefore by association, unbelievers ARE heralding ‘themselves.’ How? Christians and religious people herald ‘themselves’ by claiming that it is their free-will choice, their works, their faith that saves them. They herald themselves by claiming to do something of themselves (apart from God) that makes them acceptable to God.
Others, that do not do this thing are not acceptable to God, according to the religious. Therefore, nevermind that Christ reconciled all creation to God through the cross (Colossians 1: 15-20), the Christian makes salvation all about ‘self’ attainment. Paul teaches that salvation is all about the cross. That is the difference.
Paul sheds glorious light on the folly of the Christian ‘born again, fleshly’ religion in verses completely ignored by the religious jokers that run society. These verses are 2 Corinthians 5: 14-21.
First, I want to focus on verses 16 and 17:
16 So that we, from now on, are acquainted with no one according to flesh. Yet even if we have known Christ according to flesh, nevertheless now we know Him so no longer. 17 So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new! – 2 Corinthians 5:16-17
There it is! WE ARE NOT BORN AGAIN! We are a NEW CREATION. ‘again’ and ‘new’ are two very different words and concepts. Oh, if the ‘born again’ christian would understand this…they don’t.
I am going to quote John 3:3 from the KJV which says:
King James Bible
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Oh, the confusion this causes. Jesus, here, is speaking to those of Israel seeking to enter the 1000 year Kingdom to rule on earth with Christ. The nation of Israel has to be ‘born again’ in order to accept their Messiah. However, this is not what the apostle Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 5: 16-17. Paul is talking about becoming a ‘new creation’ which is very different than being ‘born again.’
The proof is in the pudding…or the scriptures.
Paul says to be acquainted with no one according to the flesh, including JESUS! He says, “Yet even if we have known Christ according to flesh, nevertheless now we know Him so no longer.” I think A.E. Knoch sums these verses up best, so I will quote from his commentary:
Paul had been proclaiming the kingdom, with Christ and the nation which is related to Him by physical ties at its head. Entrance into that kingdom was by a birth from above. But now the figure of birth is not radical enough to denote the great change. Just as, after the day of the Lord, heaven and earth will be re-created, so is the spiritual change which took place at this juncture. There is a new creation. Paul never connects the new birth with his teaching to the nations. It suffices to figure the change necessary for the sons of Israel and their proselytes, fitting them for the earthly millennial sphere. For us, far more is needed. Like Adam, we are not a mere renewal of kind, but an entirely new creation.
– A.E. Knoch, Concordant Commentary on the New Testament, page 271
The Christian religion and its adherents are all about following Jesus in the flesh and living a life of ‘What would Jesus do’ in order to impress God. However, this message of flesh and Israel distinction, is for the 1000 year earthly kingdom. Paul here, is speaking of something beyond that. He is talking about the full accomplishment and application of the cross. An entirely new creation!
Its not about following Jesus in the flesh but understanding that through His death for sin, His entombment, and His resurrection, God is at peace with all creation. Its about what Christ has completed in Spirit and not about what we accomplish in the flesh.
We are NOT with Christ, in flesh. We are with Christ, in spirit. For the Christian, Jesus made it possible for them to be righteous (or so they say). For the believer, Christ IS our righteousness. Do you see the difference?
One more time…the Christian’s righteousness is separate from Christ in that they must believe, act right, make the correct choice apart from Christ in order to be in Christ. The believer, on the other hand, is not separate from Christ at all. Everything Christ has, they have. Righteousness is not something that needs to be attained nor maintained because Christ attained it and therefore, it is attained for us.
We simply await the deliverence of our body!
Grace and peace to you all.
Saved ignoble 
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