I want to share something amazing, but first, I need to quickly reference some grammar from grade school that you may or may not remember.
There are two types of verbs. Action verbs and state of being verbs. Action verbs indicate action, while state of being verbs simply indicate that something is. They indicate a state of existence. It’s almost as if you are saying “this equals that.” They are words like are, is, were, have been, and so on.
For example, if I say that Jane made herself pretty, made is an action verb and the sentence indicates actions that she was doing. However, if I say that Jane ispretty, I am simply stating a fact about her existence. She doesn’t need to do anything to become pretty. She simply is.
Why does this matter when it comes to scripture? Because there are many verses where God, through His Word, talks about our state of being. And yet, the devil tries to twist those verses into actions that we must somehow perform in order to earn the state of being – the state of existence – that God is talking about.
Let’s look at some of these verses. I’m going to continue underlining the state of being verbs in the scriptures below, and I’ll italicize the action verbs. Pay close attention to how all these verses use state of being verbs to talk about US, and action verbs to talk about what GOD has done. It’s amazing!
.~*~.,.~*~.,.~*~.,.~*~...~*~.
Romans 1 through 7 talk about the problem of sin and how the law could not give people victory over sin. It talks about how even in the Old Testament, faith was at work, and it talks about how Jesus fulfilled the law. Then we come to Romans 8 which starts with this familiar verse.
1 Therefore, there isnow no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…
The words “is” and “are” are state of being verbs. In other words, this is our state of existence! This is not something we have to attain through our actions.
But look at how the verse continues.
…because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has setyou free from the law of sin and death.
Now what type of verbs are these? They are action verbs, because Jesus did the action on the cross and the Spirit does the action in our lives now.
Let’s jump down to verse nine.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.
We see the same thing happening here! We are in the spirit. That is our state of existence, not something we have to attain through our actions. The Spirit of God is doing the action. He lives in us.
Verse ten:
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body issubject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
In this verse, the state of our existence is that Christ is in us, even though our body will die. But again, the Spirit is doing the action, giving us life!
Let’s go down to verse 28 which I know you are familiar with. Look at how God is doing the action, and we are simply in a state of existence that He has determined because of His actions.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 29 For those God foreknewHe also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
Look at that! Isn’t it amazing? We simply have been called. That is our state of existence. That is our state of being. Everything else in that passage is God working. Working and working and working and working. He is the one doing all the action!
Finally, Paul says this in verses 35 and 37, because of all of this work that God is doing…
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?… 37 No, in all these things we aremore than conquerors through Him who loved us.
And there we have it. Our state of existence is that we are more than conquerors. We simply are. He is the one doing all the action and all the work, because He loves us.
Remember that this entire section of the Bible is talking about sin. All problems in the earth find their root in sin. How wonderful then that we are more than conquerors over sin because everything that Jesus did for us!
Are you thinking about something in your own life that you don’t feel like you have the victory over? I want to tell you that your victory is in the revelation of who you are in Jesus Christ! No matter how much action and effort you try to throw against your struggle, it will never be enough. It can’t, otherwise Jesus would not have had to come as a human and livea perfect life and die and rise again.
But He did doall of that! For you! So that you can be more than a conqueror! Seek Him for the revelation that He knows you need for whatever situation you are facing.
For Jesus said,
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
That is one expression of His state of existence throughout all eternity.
Praise the Lord!