Creflo Dollar - Sinning After Being Born Again, Part 2
See, there's a difference between, get this, sin and the sinner. Write that down. There's a difference between sin and sinner. We do not become a sinner again just because we committed a sin. So when you're born again and you're the righteousness of God and you receive the gift, you don't become a sinner again, because you sinned. No, please get that now. You do not become a sinner again because you sinned. We don't do that. What Jesus did on the cross is stronger than that. You don't become a sinner again because you sinned.
Now, I know there are some people listening to me, just gonna try to use this to find a loophole and do what pleases you rather than doing what pleases God. That's not what I'm saying. I'm trying to get you to get to a position where you can accept your identity in Christ Jesus and then the Holy Spirit comes in and he takes the desire away from you to do stupid stuff. What Jesus did on the cross is much stronger than the sin in your life. What Jesus did on the cross is much stronger than the sin in your life. What Jesus did on the cross is much stronger than the sin in your life. This is about our nature. This whole thing is about our nature. You keep making it about your behavior and this whole thing is about your nature. If you change the root, you change the fruit.
Listen to me now. Jesus dealt with sin and the sinner. Let's go to Romans chapter 6, verses 5 through 7. Jesus dealt with the sin and the sinner at the same time. Now watch this. Romans chapter 6, verses 5 through 7: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection". How so? Verse 6: "Knowing this," here's what you gotta know: "that our old man," now the old man is that old sinful nature you had before you got born again and you received the new creation. The old man, that old sinful man, the old man. He says, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him".
So when you got born again, the old man was crucified to death. You got rid of the old man and you now have a new creation. He says, "the old man was crucified with him," comma, "that the body of sin might be destroyed". So now, the next phrase describes the old man. The old man is the body of sin. The old man is the body of sin. Now, watch this. He says "that the body of sin might be destroyed". So the day you got born again, that old man, that body of sin, was destroyed. "That henceforth we should not serve sin".
Now, he's not saying that henceforth we should not serve sinning. He is calling the body of sin, sin. He is calling the old man, sin. The word "sin" in verse 6 is a noun. He's referring to the man, to sinful man. He is saying, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified, and that the body of sin is destroyed, henceforth we should not serve the old man or the body of sin". That's what he's saying. This is about you being set free from the old man. This is about the nature that you used to carry. You keep making it about how you behave and you gotta understand if the old man, the old sinful man, the body of sin, if that has been destroyed, and if it has been crucified, then you have the new creation, you've got to understand the day you believe you're the new creation, then you're gonna produce new behavior.
But the reason why people produce the same sinful behavior is because they still think they're just the same sinful man. They don't think anything happened to the sinful nature. They don't believe that they are the righteousness of God and the day you believe you're righteous is the day you're gonna do right. It's about the nature. It's about the old man. Are you allowing yourself to refuse to believe that you are a new creation? It's about you believing who you are. Your identity determines your behavior. But you've been allowing your bad behavior to tell you that you're bad. And so when you do something bad, then you say, "That's who I am". When you're doing crazy things, you say, "Well, I'm crazy. I'm a bad person". And what you need to be saying is, "I'm the righteousness of God. I'm a new creation in Christ".
The day, in the middle of junk, you can declare, "I am the righteousness of God," is the day you're gonna produce righteous fruit. This is about identity, ladies and gentlemen. This is about your nature. Look at verse 7: "For he that is dead," well, who's dead? Who was he talking about in verse 6? That old man. That sinful man. "He that is dead is freed from that old man". Not sinning. He says, "If you're dead, you're free from that old man". You're free from that sinful man. You're free from that old nature. You're free from it. In other words, that old nature, since you're free from it, you're not gonna be obeying the dictates of that old nature. Since you're free from that old man, that old man can't make you sin like it used to.
See, when before you were born again, you sinned, you had to sin because that was your nature. It was your nature to sin. But now that you've been set free from that old man, that old nature, and you now have a new creation, you now bring forth the fruit of the new creation: love, joy, peace. Something happened on the inside so we're gonna see the fruit of it on the outside. You are dead to that old man. Now, how can we continue in sin? How can we continue to follow the dictates of the sinful man when he is dead? He is dead. But if you don't believe it, if you're still in Adam, and if you're still walking around, "That's just who I am, that's just how I am, it is what it is," and you just won't let that old man go, then you're gonna continue to follow the dictates of that old man.
And here's another thing, for a lot of Christians, you're born again and you're free from that old man, but you know what happened? That old man left his residue in your thinking. And if you don't renew your mind with the Word of God, if you don't get a new software up here, even though the old man is gone and the new creation is there, you gotta renew your mind with the new software. See, you're still thinking in line with the old man, you're still acting in line with the old man. And so what's gotta happen is you gotta renew your mind. You gotta exchange your thoughts and your ideas for God's thoughts and his ideas, and the world's going, I mean, sin has increased like crazy, so we've got to increase in the Word like we've never done before. We gotta renew our mind to all of the junk that's out there, all of the temptation that pulls at us, all of the temptation that just wants us, and we just gotta renew our mind and when you fall, don't stay there.
When you mess up, don't stay there. Just like, "Okay, I did that. Let me get up. I'm a new creation in Christ, I'm the righteousness of God. Let me go and renew my mind against that way of thinking that I had that moved me to this place". But don't quit. Who gave you that idea that you're perfect and you don't need God? You need God. And he's there to help you. Now unto him who's able to keep you from falling. God is able to keep you from falling. The life was designed to be lived with him, not for you to try to do it on your own 'cause you can't. Are you listening to me? C'mon, let's get in this a little bit more, praise God.
In the same way we couldn't become righteous by works, we don't lose our righteousness by works. We could not become righteous by our works; we do not lose our righteousness by our works. I know people disagree with that but I didn't become righteous by my works. I became righteous because of my faith in Jesus Christ. I don't lose my righteousness by my works. I don't lose my righteousness by my works. I am still the righteousness of God. When I made a dumb decision, at least I recognized it was a dumb decision and I went to God and said, "God, I just thank you I'm delivered for that," and then I go and renew my mind and I'm still righteous. I'm still the righteousness of God and I know, you know, these Christian people, they just love to beat up and get entangled with the affairs of the world and just, you know, what a lot of Christians don't understand, they're willing to lie on you, dog you out, slander you, talk about you, use you, because that's coming from a place of brokenness, it's coming from a place of hurt.
When you are hurt and when you are broken, you are mean. You are jealous. You are envious. You go after people because that place of brokenness, that place of hurt, that place of disappointment, has not been healed. And that's why you need to let Jesus in, so you can get that new creation working on the inside of you so you can bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. But when you're broken on the inside, then the fruit of brokenness is gonna come out: meanness and slander and hate and all that is coming from a place of brokenness. When somebody cusses you out and say mean things to you, just pause. That's language coming out of a place of brokenness.
You know, this is the time. Jesus is coming back. And I know people don't preach that anymore, but I'm telling you Jesus is coming back. He started a commitment. He's gonna finish that commitment. He is coming back. "Well, when is he coming back"? I don't know, don't nobody know. Jesus is coming back but we don't know when. Don't nobody know but the Father. Not even the Son knows. Jesus is coming back. I said, Jesus is coming back, Jesus is coming back. "Well, I don't believe that. They said that 2000 years ago". See, there you go again. You don't even know how to read the Bible. The Bible says a day with the Lord is 1000 years. And so when the Bible talks two days, he's talking about 2000 years. When he talks 1 day, he's talking about 1000 years.
So you gotta understand how to read this Word. Oh, I'm just gonna cry aloud like a trumpet. I'm never going to stop. I am going to preach this gospel until I leave the planet, and I don't plan on leaving for a long, long time. So you're stuck with me for a long time, preaching this thing, preaching this thing, preaching it, preaching it, preaching it, preaching it until something wakes up in you. I'm telling you Jesus is the answer for our world today. He's the answer for the situations in life today. And Jesus said, "Tell them what I said so they'll know I said it, so when it happens they know I said it before it happened". And I'm telling you, you don't want to be left behind because you chose all of this tomfoolery that's going on right now. You don't wanna be left behind. He's coming, he's coming, church, he's coming, he's coming, Jesus is coming back.
I feel like, you know, over the holidays I got a command from God to begin to shout loud to the church and to remind them that he's coming back, he's coming back. That's not old wives' tale, that's not a fable, he's coming back. He's coming back. Are you ready? Get your house in order. Are you ready? Recognize who you are. Recognize what he gave you. Think about this. He did all of this for you and you just ignore it? He died and went to hell, took on your sin, was crucified, and whipped with the cat-o-nine-tails for your sin, so you could have a right to be a new creation and to receive the gift of righteousness, and you pimp away with your finite knowledge, have the audacity to try to make a commentary on a God you don't even know? Dude, wake up. You're talking about being woke, you ain't woke. You gotta be woke to this Word. You gotta wake up.
We didn't lose our righteousness by works, we didn't gain it by works. It's a matter of faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Please listen to me. Committing a sin doesn't make you partly unrighteous as a Christian. Question about having if you... and I've got questions. People have asked questions about having some dirty spots and needing to be cleansed. If you have that attitude that you got dirty spots and you need to be cleansed and you no longer think you're 100% righteous, you know what you are? Self-righteous. Self-righteousness is based on ourselves. Self-righteousness is based on our good works and our right lifestyle. And that's what most of the church has become: self-righteous. Think of that. Think of a self-righteous church, a self-righteous church that thinks that they're righteous based on their good works, a self-righteous church that thinks they're righteous based on their right lifestyle. God's righteousness is simply based on God himself. It's his righteousness, and his righteousness is based on him. It's not based on me. It's not based on you. God's righteousness is based on him. It's based on God.
Here's the question. If you've raised or, excuse me, if you've missed the mark somehow, by doing something against God's will, did that affect the righteousness of Jesus? That's the question. Well, let me answer it by saying this. Did Jesus get some dirty spot that needs to be cleansed when you did something? No, Jesus didn't get no dirty spot needs to be cleansed. Jesus has always and will always, he has always, and will always remain fully righteous. And since our righteousness is based on him, he will always remain and be fully righteous. And so if he's always gonna be righteous, and my faith is in his righteousness, I'm not gonna lose my righteousness. And the only way I can lose my righteousness is if Jesus lose his righteousness. 'Cause my righteousness is a gift. He gave me his righteousness. I can't lose my righteousness unless Jesus lose his righteousness, and he's not gonna do that.
And this is the good news: Jesus Christ himself has become our righteousness, that's the good news. The good news is Jesus Christ himself has become our righteousness. This is the gospel. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and 30. The good news is just Jesus has become our righteousness. I am righteous because of him. I have faith in him, therefore I am righteous. I've been made righteous. Notice what he says here. He says, "But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God," Christ Jesus of God, "is made unto us," what? "Wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification," or holiness, "and redemption". He's been made that. And so when I believe Jesus and receive him, I receive his righteousness. He's been made righteousness and when I make Jesus my Lord and my Savior, I receive him, I receive his righteousness. I receive him, I receive his holiness and sanctification. I receive him, I receive his wisdom.
Please understand it's not about you. And religion and self-righteousness go hand in hand. You got somebody says, "How do I know if I'm religious"? If you're self-righteous. Self-righteousness and religion goes hand in hand. Satan has deceived people into thinking that what Jesus did was not enough for us. He's deceived people in thinking that what Jesus did is not enough for us. It's always gotta be Jesus plus something else. I mean, we don't even believe that Jesus can, you know, by receiving Jesus he can help us with our thought life and our mind.
Look at this in 2 Corinthians 11:2. Let's look at it in the New Living Translations. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 2 through 4, I believe. 2 Corinthians 11:2 through 4. Let me show you what I mean. He says, "For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband," now he's not calling us the bride. He is saying I promised you just like this example of a pure bride to one husband, Christ Jesus. 'Cause please understand something. I wanna say something. I'll teach on it later, but the church is not the bride. I know you've heard that all your life. The church is not the bride. Revelations makes it very clear that the bride is the New Jerusalem. In Revelations, I believe it's chapter 21, it says, you know, "I saw the bride coming from heaven, the New Jerusalem".
So it makes it clear. But for some reason, we don't read the Bible no more and we say the church is the bride. You know, the bride of Christ came from Catholicism, dealing with people who marry the church and it's just a whole teaching we need to do and I know I'm freaking people out because all your life, I'm just giving you an example of how church folks listen to stuff and don't go and investigate it. There's no Scripture in the Bible that says that the church is the bride of Christ. There's a very clear Scripture in Revelations that says that the bride of Christ is the New Jerusalem.
And see, this is what I'm gonna do until I'm 100. I'm gonna keep going into the Word, I'm gonna keep confronting the fables that have been preached and say, "Wake up. You've heard it wrong. You're mad at God 'cause you heard it wrong. You left Jesus 'cause you heard it wrong. You left the church because of church hurt, and you heard it wrong. And you're upset and you're mad and you're full of shame and guilt and condemnation and you got all of that by coming to church". Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Come back to God. Come back to Jesus and before it's too late. He's coming back. He's coming back. He says, "For I'm jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband, Christ".
And notice what he says: "But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just like Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent". So, you know, even here it's like you're fearing that your devotion to God is gonna be corrupted and don't even believe that Jesus is enough to stop you from being corrupted, to stop you from being misled with your devotion to God. Jesus is gonna handle that. Look at verse 4: "You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you," ha, ha, ha, ha, "even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach," you put up with it, "or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believe".
He says you put up with that. You happily put up with that. You let people come and they preach all kinds of deception and stuff. It's all to try to attack your devotion to God, but I'm telling you God's about to show out. God's about to show you who God is, hallelujah. You're gonna know it's God. He gonna do what nobody else can do. He gonna do what no religion can do. He gonna do what somebody told you that this is the Christ and this is the gospel. He gonna contradict everybody that cursed Jesus. There are people cursing Jesus. He gonna contradict everybody that say it didn't work. He's gonna contradict all that. He's just gonna stand up and be God, just so you can know that he's God. Let's believe him, man, let's believe it, let's believe it.
You know, sometimes I can hardly teach the gospel for people who think they just know more than everybody, and you've got to be humble enough to listen to somebody teach you something. I mean, I've been doing this for 40 years. To listen to somebody to teach you something, to say something to you, to learn something, instead of you keep pulling up your old traditional belief that's wrong and just wanna debate, debate, debate, debate. Okay, if you don't believe, then just don't believe. But don't try to put yourself in a position where you think you know God.
Are you satisfied with the amount of time you spent with God and his Word or are you just an echo, a parrot repeating what somebody else said? That's what he's saying in this verse of Scripture. You just sit there and just listen to anything. And then you say it like it's fact 'cause you heard it from somebody else who said it like it was fact. And they heard it from somebody else who said it like it was fact, and there you go, a fable going around in church, as if it was actually something that God said or meant, and it's not that at all.
I will defend the gospel. I will remain a student of grace. I will be humble enough that when I have taught something that's wrong, to go back and correct it. And those of you in our church and the World Changers' nation, you've seen me do that. You've seen me come out the pulpit and say, "Hey, guys, I taught this, that wasn't quite right. Let's go at it again, I believe I got it this time. And if I don't have it all this time, I'm gonna keep going at it until we get it". But there's one thing I do know. There's one thing I'm sure аbout: Jesus loves me, he died for me, he defeated and removed that old man from me, and he has given me grace that is greater than anything that I could have ever had while in Adam. That's what I do know.