We cannot walk in newness of life by giving ourselves a set of rules and regulations. We do not walk in newness of life just by telling the Church, “Don’t do this. Don’t do that.” We walk in newness of life by the Holy Spirit as He teaches us how to walk in God’s way. The Holy Spirit teaches us a better way to live—a way that works.

We who are born of God are a strange species of being! We are supernatural spirits living in natural bodies. We are alive in the spirit, yet live in a body of flesh that’s subject to death. We can operate in the spiritual realm and in the natural realm. We have to learn to function in both realms in God’s higher ways with this new creation in control of our flesh.

We are to know according to Romans 6:6 that the old man of sin is crucified with Him that we should no longer serve sin. “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25). (I capitalized Spirit because the King James Version does, but in the original Greek there are no capitals. The capital letters are there at the privilege of the translators. I believe this whole context of scripture is speaking about our flesh and our spirit—walking after the new reborn spirit instead of the flesh.)

We have to keep that body crucified. Paul said, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27). In this portion of scripture he is speaking of running the race and obtaining the prize. You won’t finish the race God has set before you without keeping your body in obedience to your spirit.

When we became Christians, our old man died and we were born again. We became a new man in Christ Jesus. Just as He died and was raised from death, when we were dead in trespasses and sin He raised us up from spiritual death into eternal life. Our spirit man was raised from death into life when we made Jesus the Lord over our lives.

God did not merely allow that new nature to creep into us little by little. In one powerful moment, He removed the old nature—the heart that was full of sin and dead to Him. In one instant He replaced that old nature with the likeness of Himself.

We are born of Him. We have His nature. God lives inside us. We have received His life. We call it eternal life. It is the life of God, the substance of God Himself. We are literally His children.

As we read in Romans 6:4, Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. Just as He was raised up by the glory of the Father, so we were raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. We passed from death to life. And we should walk in the power of that resurrection life.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (Romans 6:1-6).

We can walk in newness of life by the glory of the Father. This newness of life is our capacity and ability for obedience. We are not to walk like the world walks. We do not have to walk in death and defeat. We can walk in life and victory.

What is this newness of life? It is the life we received when we were born again—the life of God Himself.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

The Amplified Bible says a new creation! A new species of being that never existed before. Like a tree that never existed or a new mountain! We are not the same as we were. Now we are born of God, we have His nature and we have His Spirit. The same life God has in Himself, He imparts to us in the new birth. We don’t have to live like dead men any longer. We are alive to God. We are victorious because of the life of God that’s been imparted to us. Eternal life has already begun. We are not supposed to live according to the world’s way or according to the dictates of our natural bodies. We are to walk after the new man on the inside created in righteousness and true holiness in the image of God (Ephesians 4:24).

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

That means we stretch forward to the things in front of us. We bear down on the goal.

Paul was so intensely focused on pursuing the prize of his call in Christ that he would not allow himself to look anywhere but toward the goal. He ran, “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before…” (Philippians 3:13).

Paul never stopped stretching. When he was imprisoned, he wrote most of the New Testament. How was he able to do this? Look at Acts 20:22-24:

And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the
grace of God.

Paul could stretch toward the goal without distraction because he didn’t count his life dear to himself. He had found something worth giving his life for. One day while I was reading this scripture the Lord impressed me, Gloria, this is the key to your success spiritually. If you count your life dear unto yourself, you won’t finish your race.

Counting your life dear to yourself means that you’ve let the distractions of the age get hold of you. You concentrate on what you want and what you want to do—your happiness.

Jesus said if we would lose our lives for His sake, we would find them. That’s life worth living. There’s no peace in living like the world and going after things. But seek Him first and His righteousness, and all the other things will come to you.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

If there was ever a generation that needed to press in to the things of God, it’s our generation. I believe we are living in the last days. I believe Jesus is coming soon and that helps me to keep my life focused on Him.

In recent times, the Church has not given enough attention to Jesus’ soon return. The fact that He could come at any moment ought to be foremost in our hearts. We ought to preach it to people and share it.

The Scripture says our hope of His return purifies us (1 John 3:3). People wouldn’t pour so much energy into material things if they thought Jesus would be coming back in less than a decade. They wouldn’t be as carnal. They’d be pressing into the things of the Spirit and storing up heavenly rewards.

Now is our opportunity to do that! Our rewards, our rank, even our responsibilities in heaven will be determined by what we do here on earth. For a few brief years here, we have the opportunity to influence people around us—to let the character of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God flow out through us and reveal God to the world.

Just a few years and that opportunity will be gone. In the meantime, it’s worth living for…and dying for. It’s worth whatever sacrifices we have to make.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

What does it take to be a winner? Everyone wants to know the answer to that question. We all want to win. But when it comes right down to it, few of us are willing to pay the price.

One day I heard an Olympic athlete describe how hard she had worked for the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games. She was telling what it took for her to win the gold medal.

Olympic athletes don’t just wake up one morning and say, “Hey! I think I’ll be in the Olympics today.” They train for years to get there. Some of them train most of their lives.

They get out of bed every morning to run. They run in the cold. They run in the rain. They run no matter what—whether they want to or not. This woman said there were times when she pushed herself so hard she became physically ill. But even then, she refused to stop running.

That woman was determined to win. She had decided years earlier she was going to go for a gold medal—no matter what the cost. She was stretching and straining to win it, pushing forward with the kind of force that moves every obstacle out of the way.

That kind of force is what it takes to be a winner—not just physically but also spiritually. Jesus said this in Matthew 11:12, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

In this verse, Jesus wasn’t talking about going to heaven. He was talking about taking hold of the kingdom of God on this earth—actually possessing the promised blessings like healing, prosperity and peace.

You can have those kingdom blessings now. But it’s not easy—you have to take them by force.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries