Your Standing vs. Your State

2 Corinthians 5:21 (AMP)
21 For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].

Is it possible to be in two places at once?  For a believer the answer is yes.  One well-known minister of the gospel identifies those two places as your “standing” and your “state”.  Your standing is who you are according to the Word.  Whatever the Lord has to say about you in the Word refers to your eternal position in Christ.  It is what God sees when He looks at you. What does He see? He sees that you are forgiven, righteous, healed, and prosperous, among other things. When God looks at you He sees you perfected by the Blood of Jesus. He sees the great divine exchange that took place on the Cross – Jesus took Man’s unrighteousness, so that Man could have His righteousness. Your standing is not dependent on your behavior; it is dependent on the behavior of Jesus, when He willingly went to the Cross on your behalf.

Your “state” on the other hand, refers to your earthly, temporal condition; the circumstances surrounding your life. Your “state” may find you harboring feelings of unforgiveness or bitterness, being sick or struggling financially.  These things will never affect your standing before God.  Hebrews 9:12 states clearly that Jesus secured our redemption “once for all time.” Does that mean that your attitude/actions don’t matter? Absolutely not!  While your state will never affect your standing with the Father, your state will have a direct impact on your ability to receive all the Kingdom of God has provided for you here on earth. Your state will affect your being able to enjoy the standing you have with the Father. The consequences of acting contrary to the Word of God is a distancing that occurs because of the condemnation you “feel” in your soulish (soul = mind, will, emotions) realm. The Father never looks at you in disapproval (does He ever look at Jesus with disapproval???). He never finds fault with you!

The key to keeping your “standing” and your “state” in line with one another is to continually behold Jesus, meditating on all He has done for you. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (New Spirit-Filled Life Bible) says, “¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Jesus has done it all for you and the only thing that remains is for you to receive His unfailing Love.

When you take your eyes off all that you are not and fix them on all that Jesus is, you will be able to receive all the wonderful blessings God has for you. It’s all about Him; it has always been and it will always be!!

 2 Corinthians 5:21 (The Message)
²¹… God put the wrong on him {Christ} who never did anything wrong,
so we could be put right with God.