Great Doctrines of the Bible
Lesson 32
The Believer’s Standing and State

Introduction
Throughout the Christian era considerable confusion has resulted from failure to distinguish between the believer’s standing and position before God and his state or actual condition.

The unsaved, particularly, are confused by the apparent weaknesses, failures, inconsistencies and sins of those who professedly are born again, not realizing the vast difference between the believer’s standing and state.

The objective of this lesson is to clarify this situation, erase any possible confusion and ease the hearts and minds of those who may be troubled over this matter.

Importance of this Lesson

• It is important to understand that while every believer is made perfect in Christ by faith, he is still subject to many temptations and prone to failure and inconsistency because his old sinful nature is still within him.
• Unless a distinction is made between the believer’s position and walk, it is simply impossible to rightly understand scripture, especially the epistles.
• The writers of the epistles make vividly clear that the moment a sinner receives Christ as Lord and Savior, he becomes a son of God and a joint-heir with Christ. His standing is complete, perfect, unchanging and eternal. Nothing can ever be improved or added to it.
• On the other hand, these same writers clearly reveal that believers are often carnal, worldly, weak, disobedient and in need of growth, exhortation and discipline.
• The unsaved rarely understand this distinction, so it is vastly important that you understand it clearly and are able to explain it. We sincerely trust that this lesson accomplishes this objective.

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The Lesson

I. OUR STANDING IN CHRIST IS PERFECT AND COMPLETE
Our “standing” relates to what we are and what we have in Christ from the moment we believe. What is our position by grace? How does God see us? That “standing” or “position” is perfect.

1. Colossians 2:10 – “And ye are complete in him.…”
2. Hebrews 10:14 – “...he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
3. 1 John 4:17 – “...because as he is, so are we in this world.” According to our position we share with Christ: who He is, where He is and what He is.
4. Ephesians 1:4 – “...chosen...that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”
5. 1 Corinthians 1:30 – “...Christ Jesus...is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” As believers, we possess all these things now and forever.
6. Ephesians 1:6 – “...of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
7. Ephesians 1:3 – God sees every believer as being “in Christ”Jesus. Paul uses the equivalent of this phrase 28 times in the book of Ephesians alone. Our perfection, acceptance, position and standing are all “in Christ” by the grace of our wonderful Lord.

II. OUR PERFECT AND COMPLETE STANDING IS BASED ENTIRELY UPON THE WORK OF CHRIST
We joyfully sing, “Naught have I gotten but what I received, grace has bestowed it since I have believed. Boasting excluded, pride I abase, I’m only a sinner, saved by grace.” These words cannot be improved upon. What we have and are in Christ is entirely by grace, a gift freely given without any regard of worth, merit or effort and based entirely on the work of Christ.

1. Hebrews 10:14 – “...he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
2. Revelation 1:5 – “...Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”
3. Galatians 3:13 – “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.…” (Read also Ephesians 1:7 and 1 Peter 1:18-19.)
4. 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For he (God) hath made him (Christ) to be sin for us...that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
5. Revelation 5:10 – “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests….”
6. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 – “God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ...not imputing their trespasses unto them.…”
7. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “...your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost...for ye are bought with a price.…”

III. WHAT DOES OUR STANDING INCLUDE?
Nothing can humble and thrill the heart of a genuine believer like the realization of what we have and are eternally, fully and perfectly by God’s infinite grace alone.

1. We are now Sons of God (1 John 3:2; Romans 8:16).
2. We are now heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
3. We are now a royal priesthood (Revelation 1:6; 1 Peter 2:9).
4. We are now accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6).
5. We are now members of Christ’s body (Ephesians 5:30).
6. We are now complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).
7. We are now perfect through the offering of Christ (Hebrews 10:14).
8. We are now elect according to the foreknowledge of God (1 Peter 1:2), and “chosen in him” (Ephesians 1:4).
9. We are now redeemed (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19); justified (Romans 3:24; 5:1); sanctified (1 Corinthians 1:30; Hebrews 10:10,14); reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:18; Colossians 1:21), and according to our position, glorified (Romans 8:30).
10. We are now “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
11. We are now viewed as righteous “in Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 3:22-23; Philippians 3:9).

IV. WHEN DOES OUR “STANDING” BEGIN?
The very moment we sinners place our faith in Christ for salvation all of the above things become instantly real. We are immediately possessed. Our standing is not a blessing to be received in heaven. We have it all right now on the basis of faith in Christ alone.

1. John 3:18 – “He that believeth on him is not condemned.”
2. John 3:36 – “He that believeth...hath everlasting life.…”
3. John 1:12 – “But as many as received him, to them gave he power (authority) to become (be) the sons (children) of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
4. Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, being justified by faith...” (in Christ).
5. 1 John 5:1 – “WHOSOVER BELIEVETH that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God.…”
6. Acts 13:39 – “...all that believe are justified.…”
7. Romans 4:5 – “But to him that worketh not, but believeth,...his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Note also Romans 3:21-22.)

V. CAN ANYTHING IMPROVE OR BE ADDED TO THIS STANDING BY SOMETHING THE BELIEVER DOES?
The answer is of course NO! A thousand times NO!

1. We are accepted “in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). Our position and perfection are in Him. He is our sanctification. He is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). Christ cannot be improved upon, and in Christ I am as He is (1 John 4:17).
2. All we have and are is by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:5,8; Romans 3:24; 2 Corinthians 8:9), and no amount of “works” of any kind can add one iota to the standing grace has provided.
   1. Galatians 5:4 – If you seek righteousness or acceptance by the works of the law, “ye are fallen from grace.”
   2. Romans 4:4 – “Now to him that worketh (for salvation) is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
   3. Romans 11:5-6 – Election is of grace, “...And if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.…”

VI. WHAT ABOUT WELL-KNOWN, ILLUSTRIOUS CHRISTIANS?

Do they not have a greater title and standing than some poor, weak, unknown, unstable, ignorant Christian?

Again, the answer is a firm and final NO! Our standing is not obtained or secured by talent, riches, education, social standing or special privilege. The weakest, most fallible man on earth has exactly the same standing before God as the most renowned saint, if he has repented toward God and sincerely placed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Read 2 Samuel 14:14; Mark 12:14; Romans 2:11; Acts 10:34; Galatians 2:6 and see that all men are sinners in the eyes of a holy God who respects no man’s person.

VII. WHAT WAS OUR STATE BEFORE WE BELIEVED?
Keep in mind that by state, we mean our spiritual condition in the eyes of God. The following verses describe our state before we had any standing with God.

1. We were lost to God (Luke 19:10), having gone astray (Isaiah 53:6).
2. We were blind to the Truth (Ephesians 4:18).
3. We were alienated from God (Ephesians 4:18).
4. We were without hope (Ephesians 2:12).
5. We possessed a nature that was rebellious and resentful toward God (Romans 8:7; Colossians 1:21).
6. We were dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1), walked according to Satan’s wishes and the desires of our flesh and were “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:2-3).
7. We were “without strength” and “ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
8. We had deceitful hearts (Jeremiah 17:9).
9. We were all unclean (Isaiah 64:6).
10. We were under the control of sin, void of God’s righteousness, without understanding, unprofitable to God, and without the fear of God in our hearts (Romans 3:9-18).
11. We were condemned, under the wrath of God and headed for judgment (John 3:18, 36; Hebrews 9:27). When we receive Christ we are born again (John 1:12, 13), Christ immediately takes up His abode in our hearts (Ephesians 3:17; Galatians 2:20), and we receive the gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:13). In other words, when we believe, we have a new life to live, and a new nature to reveal. But what about our old adamic, sinful nature? Does it simply disappear? Is it destroyed or eradicated? No! It is still there. We still possess it (Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:17-23), and herein lies the problem of the believer’s state as opposed to his standing. Every believer has two natures. The new nature is perfect in Christ, but every believer must learn to overcome the frailties of his old nature. He must constantly endeavor to bring his state up to his standing.
    Here are a few illustrations:
    • While having been “perfected forever” (Hebrews 10:14), we are to “perfect holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
    • While we have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), we are exhorted to “reckon ourselves to be dead” (Romans 6:11).
    • While we are “saints in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1), we are called upon to “walk worthy of that vocation” (Ephesians 4:1).
    • While we are “complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10), we are exhorted to “grow in grace”
    (2 Peter 3:18) and “add to our faith” (2 Peter 1:5).
    
    Seek out other illustrations. They are numerous. For a detailed discussion of the believer’s two natures, refer to Lesson 14.

VIII. BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS THAT DISTINGUISH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR STANDING AND OUR STATE

1. Matthew 5:14 – “Ye are the light of the world….”
   Matthew 5:16 – “Let your light so shine before men….”
2. Ephesians 5:8 – “...now are ye light in the Lord….”
   Ephesians 5:8 – “…walk as children of light.”
3. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 – “Ye are all the children of light.…”
   1 Thessalonians 5:6 – “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others….”
4. 1 Peter 2:9 – “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people (a people of His own).…”
   1 Peter 2:11 – “Dearly beloved, I beseech you...abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”
5. 1 Corinthians 6:11 – “...but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.…”
   1 Corinthians 6:7 – “Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you….”
6. 1 Corinthians 1:2 – “…sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints….”
   I Corinthians 1:11 – “...there are contentions among you” (and 3:3), “For ye are yet carnal....”
7. Galatians 3:26 – “For ye are all the children of God by faith….”
   Galatians 4:9 – “...how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements...?”
8. Hebrews 10:14 – “...he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
   Philippians 3:12 – “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect.…”
   • Other illustrations are plentiful. Search some out for your own edification.

Conclusion
It is vital that we not use the fact of the existence and weakness of our old nature as an excuse to sin. Paul states plainly “shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How can we that are dead to sin, live any longer in it?” Instead, we should constantly: “crucify the flesh” (Galatians 5:24), “reckon ourselves dead to sin” (Romans 6:11), “put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9), “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), “grow in grace” (2 Peter 3:18), perfecting holiness in the fear of God”(2 Corinthians 7:1). May God grant you wisdom in the understanding of His Word.

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