…As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
–Colossians 2:6

We know that on the cross Jesus has already finished all the work of our salvation, healing, deliverance and blessing with every blessing of heaven, but as believers we often don’t see God’s blessings manifested in our life, and we ask ourselves questions: “Why is that? Why health problems? Why financial difficulties? Why trouble in the family?…”

For a long time, listening to various sermons, I heard the statement: “Jesus has already done everything for you on the cross, and all you have left to do is receive it by faith!”, and receiving by faith meant all kinds of practices — proclaiming the Word of God, listening to “anointed” sermons, renewing the mind, taking communion regularly, and so on. Receiving by faith turned into some kind of process that I had to complete, since the Lord had already completed “His part”.

Glory to the Lord that when the truth comes, or more precisely when He opens our eyes to the truth, it sets us free from all kinds of works and practices and brings us into the rest of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

All Blessings Are in Him

Christ really did finish everything on the cross, but we receive all of it one single time, when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior. Paul writes to the Romans: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom.8:32) Pay attention to the words “with Him”, which are often overlooked. These very words tell us where and how we receive all things. Do we need healing? The Father has given us healing in Him, in Christ, and having received Christ, we received healing. Do we need financial blessing? God has already blessed us with financial prosperity in Christ, and having received Christ, we received material well-being.

A believer doesn’t need to receive anything or anyone else by faith, because he has already received Christ and His Spirit by faith when he heard the word preached. Paul writes to the Galatians: “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?; just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”” (Gal.3:5-6) How many times did the Lord preach the gospel to Abraham, pointing to the stars? How many times did Abraham receive righteousness from God through faith? One single time! Read Genesis chapter 15.

Paul goes on: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Gal.3:13-14) When we receive Christ as Lord, we receive by faith the promise of the Father and the blessing of Abraham. This happens one single time, when we hear the gospel. We don’t receive Christ twenty times. Either He lives in our heart or He doesn’t, and once we have received Him, He doesn’t go anywhere, for it is written: “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph.1:13) The Lord God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit once and for all, and He is not going to unseal us!

“All right, Brother Paul, I received Christ as my Lord and Savior twenty years ago, but during that time I’ve been through lots of sicknesses. How come?” Dear friend, many times I have heard testimonies from brothers and sisters who said that when they received Christ many years ago, they were overflowing with joy, miracles happened in their lives, and they were the happiest people on earth, but over time all of it went away somewhere. The joy disappeared, miracles stopped happening, peace and rest left. And do you know that in the Bible there were believers to whom something similar happened? Who also rejoiced when they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, and miracles happened among them, but then all of it evaporated somewhere. I think you’ve heard of them — they are the Galatians!

A Different Gospel

Paul writes to the Galatians: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?…Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal.3:1,3) Notice that they began in the Spirit and then continued by human effort, or by the flesh. Jewish legalists came to them and said that besides faith in Jesus you also need to keep the Ten Commandments and all the ordinances of the Old Testament, and they began to live not in faith, walking by the Spirit, but in the works of the law, walking by the flesh. The joy disappeared and problems began. Paul asks them: “What then was the blessing you enjoyed?” (Gal.4:15) They also began to say that the gospel of grace Paul preached was all untrue, so he asked them: “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (Gal.4:16) Isn’t this what happens today to preachers of the grace of God, when their own fellow believers regard them as enemies?

So what happens to a believer when he begins to live according to the flesh, according to the Law, and tries to be obedient to God through his works and deeds? Paul answers this question clearly: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse” (Gal.3:10) and also: “Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.” (Gal.5:2) Being circumcised does not necessarily mean physical circumcision. Paul wrote to the Romans: “if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?” (Rom.2:26) When a person relies on keeping the Law, he is circumcised and lives in the old covenant, not in the new, and that is why Paul goes on to write to the Galatians: “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” (Gal.5:4)

So it turns out that Christ was received, and together with Him the blessing of Abraham and the promise of the Father, but it is of no effect. (Rom.4:14) Healing has already been received, but healing is inactive. Joy, peace, rest, family well-being, freedom from the bondage of addictions, condemnation, guilt and so on — all received, but it is all inactive, and Christ profits nothing. So how do we make it work, so that Christ and all of Daddy’s blessings profit us?

Walking in the Spirit

Paul writes to the Colossians: “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col.2:6) It is often said that as we received Jesus by grace through faith, so we must keep receiving all of God’s blessings — by grace through faith. First, having received Christ, we have already received everything together with Him, and there is nothing left to receive. And second, the word “so” is not in the Greek original (the Russian Synodal translation puts it in square brackets). Paul simply says: “If you have received Christ, walk in Him.” He writes the same to the Galatians: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Gal.5:25) In other words, if we have received Christ and live by the Spirit, not by the flesh, then we must also walk in the Spirit, not in the works of the flesh.

“And how do you walk in the Spirit?” Beloved friend, walking in the Spirit does not mean that the Holy Spirit whispered to you, “Go and help the old lady cross the street,” and you obeyed, because that is again your works and your obedience to God! Walking, or living, by the Spirit is when Christ Himself works in you, and you don’t even notice it. The Spirit Himself produces the fruit — love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — and these wonderful qualities appear like clusters of grapes on a vine. Daddy tends the vine with His love, waters it with His grace, the sap, or the life of Christ, flows in the branches, and the Holy Spirit Himself produces the fruit, which everyone can see and by which others are also blessed, and most importantly — without any human effort! Isn’t that wonderful?

So, dear friend, if you keep making some efforts to please God or keep trying to receive something from Him and it doesn’t work, know that having received Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have already received salvation, healing and deliverance from any of life’s problems. Christ lives inside you, and together with Him all the blessings of heaven, and the Holy Spirit Himself manifests this in your life without the slightest effort on your part. So all glory to the Father for giving us Christ, and together with Him every blessing; glory also to our Lord Jesus Christ for obeying the Father and paying for all God’s blessings with His precious blood, redeeming us from the curses of the law; and to the Holy Spirit for manifesting Christ in our lives by the power of God, and together with Him all of God’s blessings! Amen!