Things to Keep in Mind – God's Pathway to Peace - Purity 510

 Things to Keep in Mind  – God’s Pathway to Peace                                                                                          

Purity 510 08/30/2021   Purity 510 Podcast

Good morning

Today’s photo of blue skies over Lake Lanier comes to us from a friend who enjoyed a boating excursion over the weekend with friends near Cumming, Georgia. As someone who had the opportunity to go boating with friends earlier this summer I know what great fun and peace can be experienced when you get out upon the waters.   

Reflecting on this photo last night, I thought of Ray Charles’ version of “Georgia on my Mind” that “old sweet song” that tells of a man who can find “No peace” but keeps his beloved Georgia on His mind.  The song has been interpreted as either a man reflecting on His home state of Georgia or of a woman named Georgia.  I like to cover all the bases and think of the song being about a woman named Georgia, who also lives in Georgia, the singer’s home state. 

But seriously, the key to the song is that while the singer has “No peace”, he is comforted by his thoughts of, and his musical homage to, Georgia.  He has no peace but finds some through his remembrance of Georgia.

I think we all hope the singer of the song will see His beloved Georgia again. But those of us familiar with heartache, the consequences of the choices we make, or the circumstances we are forced to accept in life sometimes, know that returning to Georgia may not be in the cards. The overall tone of the song isn’t particularly hopeful, and the singer’s lyrics admit that its “just an old sweet song” that keeps Georgia on his mind.  

But the thing I wanted to point out is not how we can be separated from the things we love and left in a state of depression and nostalgia, I wanted to point out the power that God has given us to find a measure of peace by directing our thoughts to determine our emotions.   

While we can find some peace in remembering old loves, familiar haunts of yester year, or things we once had, scripture repeatedly directs us to look forward, not back, and to look at the Lord and not things of this earth. Why? 

We are to look forward because we can’t change the past.  One of the things I stress to people that I disciple is that “It’s not where you start that matters, it’s how you finish that counts.” Yeah, things may have gone wrong but how can we find peace in the days ahead? What can we do now to make a better tomorrow?  I advise to look forward, make plans, and take actions today that will bring you closer to where you want to go. 

Also we must be realists, we only have so much time to live our lives so our greatest concern should be the contemplation of eternity and finding peace with God.  The good news is that I have done a lot of spiritual legwork in my life, and I can assure you that what scripture says about Jesus being “the way, the truth, and the life” is true. John 14:6 is the verse if you want to look it up and see its implications.

Placing your faith in Christ is the key to eternity but it also is the answer to life here and now.  While thinking back to dear old Georgia may give us some peace, reflecting on and actively following and communing with God gives an infinite amount of peace because there are no limits to His wisdom and love for you to receive.  

So look ahead and look to the Lord, you will find that when you do that the depression you have over the tragedies of the past lifts.  As you begin to trust the Lord, you discover He has a purpose for your life and that no matter where your road takes you He will guide you along on your journey, will bring you to a good place, and will show you amazing things along the way.  

Well it’s Monday again, and its August 30^th, I don’t mean to bum you out, but I hope you accomplished what you were hoping to accomplish this summer because September is a couple days away and the season is going fast. 

But guess what, you still have time. You can make plans and take action to create milestone moments for the summer of ’21.  Just turn your thoughts from the days gone by and look forward to the days ahead. Draw close to the Lord and find the peace and joy of life that He has for you.  He wants you find some happiness in this world and believe me when I tell you that your happiness is elevated to joy when you continually walk and talk with Him.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

2 Timothy 1:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰  but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

Today’s verse points to what has been revealed by Jesus Christ coming to earth, dying for our sins, being raised to life, and ascending to heaven.   

The context of the preceding verses in this passage refers to the gospel – the good news.  What’s the good news? What has been revealed by Christ’s appearing? 

Well, Jesus’ atoning work on the cross, and the confirmation of His deity through His resurrection has abolished death and revealed that immortality comes through the “gospel”, the amazing news about Jesus that tells us that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” as Jesus said in John 3:16.     

As I often have stated, the most important question of life is “Who is Jesus to you?” 

While we are free to hold what ever opinions we want and can choose to believe or not,  the historicity of Christ can not be denied. He lived on earth and died on the cross. People testified that He was resurrected and ascended to heaven.  You can believe that or not. 

But whether we “believe” those reports to be true or not, it doesn’t matter unless you take the next step and personally put your faith in Christ as your Lord and Savior.  We must not only “swallow” the hard to believe reports that come to us from the pages of scripture, we also must come into a relationship with God by confessing the truth of those events and by asking for God’s mercy and grace and proclaiming that we belong to God by placing our faith in Jesus.

Immortality certainly is worth seriously investigating and contemplating putting your faith in Christ. For anyone unsure and who hasn’t made Christ their Lord, I would you to encourage you to honestly seek the truth concerning Christ.  Lee Strobel’s documentary “The Case for Christ” is good place to start (https://youtu.be/rbTSyqbUz1A) .   

But our faith in Christ isn’t about getting a “ticket to heaven” it is about coming into a relationship with the living God of all creation and discovering the new life and purpose that He has for you.  

So for those on the path of Christian discipleship already, rejoice over your salvation, share the good news, and keep walking to where the Lord leads you.    

For those not there yet,  open your eyes, minds, and hearts to the possibility that God is real, alive, and is calling you to Him. If you seek Him, you will find Him, and I pray that you find Him today. 

 

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

 

Today we continue with Dr. Neil Anderson’s Victory Over the Darkness, continuing  Chapter 13.

 

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work. If you need this title you can find it online at several sites for less than $15.00:

Designs for Discipleship

Level II: Built Up in Christ (Colossians 2:7)

Building up people in Christ begins in the spiritual dimension by helping them distinguish between walking according to the flesh and walking according to the Spirit. The more they choose to walk according to the flesh, the longer they will remain immature. The more they choose to walk according to the Spirit, the faster they will grow. Fundamental to this truth is the believers' understanding that outside circumstances do not determine who they are, how they walk or what they will someday become. Only God and our response to Him determine that.

Rationally, when Christians buy into Satan's lies or worldly philosophies, they will not be able to grow (see Col. 2:8, 18, 19). The battle is for the mind, and we must learn to take "every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). Discipleship requires mental discipline. People who will not assume responsibility for their thoughts cannot be discipled.

Emotions are a product of our thoughts. If our thoughts and beliefs are wrong, we will struggle with negative emotions. Persistent anger, anxiety and depression reveal a faulty belief system. The greatest determinants of mental and emotional health are a true knowledge of God, an acceptance of His ways and the assurance of His forgiveness.

Volitionally, Christians need to exercise the spiritual fruit of self-control instead of succumbing to the fleshly impulses.

Relationally, forgiveness is the key to freedom in Christ. It is the glue that holds families and churches together. Satan uses unforgiveness more than any other human deficiency to stop the growth of individuals and ministries. The unforgiving person is yoked to the past and is not free to move on in Christ.

The second goal of discipleship is to accept God's goal of sanctification and grow in the likeness of Christ. This entails the following:

• Helping people learn to walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit
• Guiding them to discipline their minds to believe the truth
• Helping them get off the emotional roller coaster by focusing their thoughts on God instead of on their circumstances
• Encouraging them to develop self-control
• Challenging them to resolve personal problems by forgiving others and seeking forgiveness

Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

God bless you all!

 

Join our “Victory over the Darkness” or “The Bondage Breaker” series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

Finding Peace – God’s Power in us - Purity 487

Finding Peace – God’s Power in us            

Purity 487 08/03/2021   Purity 487 Podcast

Good morning

Today’s photo comes to us from a friend’s morning glide across Prospect Lake where they spent a few days camping at Prospect Lake Park in North Egremont, Massachusetts last week.   Today’s photo isn’t very flashy, but I love the reflected stillness of the waters and the sense of symmetry that comes as the early morning light shows us a mirror image of our world upside down.  

It's summer and many of my friends regularly take to the nature areas of our world to get away from it all when they want to decompress from the stress of their normal routines or want to seek a few moments of refuge as unexpected changes or losses have made them feel like their worlds have been turned upside down.   

If we are observant the one thing we can never honestly say is that “nothing ever changes”. While some patterns seem to be a constant part of our lives, every day is new and each one brings us closer to the ultimate reality where we will know the truth about God when we see Him face to face. 

But in the meantime we have to make it through today while trying to prepare for a future that we can never be certain of.  

Now that I no longer garage at home, every discordant sound from my Honda CRV has me concerned as it is my sole means of transportation, and I don’t want to suffer any breakdowns that will derail my travels or disrupt the flow of my otherwise peaceful days.  So I made an appointment to have my brakes and exhaust checked suspecting that one if not both of those systems are in need of some regular maintenance.  

My concern over my car is indicative of the fact that we must be self-aware and attempt to establish and maintain good health or balance in all the aspects of our lives if we want to maintain peace.  

Life will change on its own, sometimes with little warning, so I try and encourage my children to try to avoid problems by being diligent to perform regular maintenance with the things in their lives and to fix problems as soon as they come up because the impermanent nature of our world almost guarantees that another problem is just around the bend.  

In the transition of having to commute again, I have less time in the morning at home, so I was a little anxiety ridden over getting to work on time and maintaining my morning practices of prayer, Bible study, and journaling/blogging.  

I was happy to see that, as long as I maintained a degree of focus, I could indeed do it all in a timely manner.  

I was also thrilled to rediscover my practice of worshipping the Lord in song on my morning commute.  When I garaged at home, it was all business from the moment I left my driveway as I would immediately dispatch on my first job. 

While I would have worship music playing on route to my first job, my preoccupation with work and the fact that I was in a company vehicle inhibited my joyful expression of praise significantly.  

Yesterday, in my own vehicle, I was free again to enjoy a half hour of praising the Lord in song without reservations as I raced my way to the garage.   

So what could have been a continuation of my anxiety of getting to work on time was magically transformed to a rich part of my daily spiritual practice as my mind, will, and emotions were directed toward God and all who He is and all He has done in my life.  

So, when I got out of my car and walked onto the grounds at work, I was positively beaming with joy and took delight in greeting some of my fellow workers that I hadn’t seen in quite some time. 

Again, this is how we walk in the Spirit, while I could have been angry or annoyed at this unwanted change, because I focused on the Lord and my relationship with Him my morning and day was defined by peace and joy.   

God has given us the power to find peace regardless of our circumstances.  He gives us the ability to adapt to all the situations that life brings to our doorstep. So much so that some of us enjoy “roughing it” by retreating from our homes with all their modern conveniences and going to His creation to find peace and tranquility in a place where the world system is diminished, and His presence is more apparent.  

But please realize that we don’t have to pack up our tents and sleeping bags to find that peace.  God is omnipresent so if we simply turn our attention to Him, He will be there to give us strength, wisdom, joy, peace, and love.  So keep walking and talking with God, for me it’s the only way to go.  

                                                                  

(There is more content to help you walk out your journey of faith at MT4Christ dot org. You can also subscribe to the mt4christ247 podcast to hear this message, our discipleship classes, and our weekly Bible Study, on Apple, Google, and Amazon Podcasts, as well as Audible and Podbean).

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This morning’s meditation verse is:

Luke 9:26 (NKJV)
²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.

 

Today’s verse directs us to be open and to identify ourselves as Christians for all the world to see.   

Being a Christian in this world isn’t easy.  In our modern society, Christians are viewed with skepticism and contempt which is reflected by the fact that tolerance for other religious systems of belief is preached but the attitude toward evangelical Christianity seems to not be so tolerant as accommodations are being made for other systems of faith but the ability to openly practice evangelical Christianity is being increasingly regulated and legislated against.  

This hostile environment that would call Christianity hateful and the religion of bigots may cause those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ to not be so vocal about the exclusivity of Jesus Christ to save or about their identity in Christ.  These loud voices from an immoral world may cause some Christians to be silent about their faith as they don’t wish to judge their fellow man or be perceived to be unloving.   

But today’s verse tells us that we are not to be ashamed our Savior, Jesus Christ, or the Word of God, the Holy Bible.  Some Christians fearing the opinions of man try to put an emphasis on Jesus but choose to distance themselves from the Bible which reveals their ignorance and immaturity because it is from the Bible that we learn everything we know about Jesus.

So inseparable is Jesus from the Word of God that the Apostle John referred to Jesus as the “Word became flesh” (John 1:14), “the Word was God” (John 1:1), and “his name is the Word of God” (Rev 19:13). These verses indicate that Jesus is the personification of the written and spoken word of God.   You don’t get one without the other.  

So we are to not be ashamed of our faith in Christ, for on the contrary, Christ commanded his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations”, teaching them to “obey all the commands” that Christ has given us (Matt 28:18-20).   

Today’s verse is pointing to an authentic Christian faith that involves living our lives as disciples. But it also warns of the consequences of the possibility that one could deceive themselves by having a “form of godliness but denying its power”, meaning that some will believe they are Christians but will not truly put their faith in Christ with their lives and will be horribly surprised when at the hour of their death they are told “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23).     

So seek out your salvation with fear and trembling, God calls you to repentance and a new abundant life. So don’t be ashamed of the One who gives you all things. Speak the truth in love and give yourself as a living sacrifice to His kingdom.

The fruit of the Spirit grows when we practice our faith. Its not about perfection but it is about continually following the ways of the Lord and identifying ourselves publicly as His children.    

 

 

 

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

 

Today we continue with Dr. Neil Anderson’s Victory Over the Darkness, beginning Chapter 10.

 

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support his work. If you need this title you can find it online at several sites for less than $15.00:

Chapter 10

You Must Be Real to Be Right

I met Judy when I was fresh out of seminary and ministering in the college department of a very large church. She was a 26-year-old university graduate who had a teaching credential, but she looked like a flower child from the '60s. She wore tattered jeans and no shoes, and she carried a well-used Bible.

Judy was a church hopper and attended a women's Bible study class that met in our church. She had sought counseling from the leader of the class several times about her many problems. When the leader learned that Judy had been institutionalized three times in the previous five years as a paranoid schizophrenic, she felt totally inadequate to counsel her. So she asked if I would see Judy. Although I had no formal training in this area of counseling, I agreed to talk to her.

When Judy told me her story, she had difficulty remembering the details of the last several years. I tried to give her a few simple psychological tests, but she couldn't handle them. As we neared the end of our appointment, I felt frustrated because I was clueless about how to help her.

I said, "I want to meet with you again, but in the meantime I would like you to submit to the authority of this church."

As soon as I said that, Judy jumped up and headed for the door. "I've got to get out of here," she said.

I believe the Lord prompted me to ask, "Judy, is Jesus your Lord?"

She wheeled around abruptly at the door and snarled through clenched teeth, "You ask Jesus who my lord is." Then she stormed out.

I followed her down the hall and continued to ask her if Jesus was her Lord. Each time she responded by telling me to ask Jesus who her lord was. Finally I caught up with her and asked her again, "Judy, is Jesus your Lord?"

This time when she faced me her countenance had completely changed. "Yes," she said.

"Can we go back to my office and talk about it?" I asked, not really sure what I was going to say.

"Sure," she responded.

When we were back in my office I said, "Judy, do you know that there is a battle going on for your mind?" She nodded. "Has anybody ever talked with you about this before?"

"No one I've talked to has brought it up. Either they didn't know what's going on inside me or they were afraid to deal with it," she confessed.

"Well, we're going to talk about it and we're going to deal with it," I assured her. "Are you willing to do that with me?" Judy agreed.

We began to meet weekly. I assumed that her problems were either the result of a moral failure in her life or a history of exposure to or participation in the occult. So I quizzed her about the moral area and found no basis for her problems. I asked her if she had ever been involved in the occult. She had never even read a book on the subject. By this time I was really scratching my head because I couldn't figure out the source of her severe and obvious spiritual conflict.

Then one day we began talking about her family. She described how her father, a noted pediatrician, had divorced her mother and run off with a nurse. Judy's mother and other family members had vented their hatred and frustration openly. Judy, the only Christian in the family, thought she had to be a good witness. She was determined to be the loving, conciliatory daughter. So she kept silent while her emotions tore her insides to shreds.

"Let's talk about your dad," I suggested.

"I'm not going to talk about my dad," she snapped. "If you talk about my dad, I'm out of here."

"Wait a minute, Judy. If you can't talk about your father here, where can you talk about him? If you don't deal with those emotional issues here, where will you deal with them?"

I discovered two passages of Scripture that added significant insight to Judy's problem-plagued life. The first one is Ephes. 4:26, 27: "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." Judy's unresolved anger toward her father was never confessed, and because she had been repressing her anger instead of confronting it, she had given the devil an opportunity, a "foothold" (NIV)—literally, a place in her life.

The second passage is 1 Peter 5:7, 8 (NIV): "Cast all your anxiety on him [God] because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Instead of casting her anxieties about her father upon the Lord, Judy tried to be spiritual by covering them up. By not being emotionally honest, Judy became spiritually vulnerable.

Judy began to face her unresolved feelings toward her father and work through the problem of forgiveness, which was the crux of her problem. Within a few months, this young woman, whom psychiatrists had given up as hopeless, made significant progress and became involved in the children's ministry at our church.

Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

God bless you all!

 

Join our “Victory over the Darkness” or “The Bondage Breaker” series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship 

Going to the Son: The Pathway to Peace - Purity 453

 Going to the Son: The Pathway to Peace 

Purity 453 06/24/2021   Purity 453 Podcast

Good morning

Today’s photo of a rushing stream beneath the peaks of mountains, possibly Heaven’s peak, at Lake MacDonald’s Glacier Park in Montana is brought to us from a friend’s extensive wilderness vacation out west.  A quick peak at Google Maps causes me to believe this is McDonald Creek that runs parallel to the “Going-to-the-Sun Road” that flows from the Glacier Park and pours into Lake MacDonald. 

I share it because it is an awesome photo but also because I love to share pictures of pathways on Thursdays to invite people to join me on the path of Christian Discipleship by attending our Community Freedom Discipleship Class tonight at Rock Solid Church at 6:30 pm, or by joining the class remotely via the mt4christ247 podcast.   We are currently teaching from Dr Neil Anderson’s the Bondage Breaker, and I feel it is a valuable teaching for experiencing your freedom in Christ.

As for our photo, McDonald Creek isn’t your typical pathway in that it is water, but I have recently made more friends who are kayak enthusiasts and had to admit that this creek would be a pathway for some.  Even though there are rapids, and many wouldn’t have the equipment, opportunity, or motivation to follow this particular pathway, some would approach it and follow its twists and turns with zeal.  

Likewise the pathway of Christian discipleship isn’t for everyone.  When you decide to follow the Lord’s call and leadings for your life, it usually doesn’t take long to discover that there will be twists and turns and it won’t always be smooth sailing.  

Christ said that the world hated Him so it will hate His followers as well. Christians are promised persecution because they have no choice but to stand upon the rock of Jesus Christ and proclaim Him as the sole means of salvation.   

Regardless of the plethora of other spiritual pathways available to choose from, Christ said that He was the way, the truth, and the life and that no one goes to the Father except through Him.  

So we are guaranteed to face some resistance on Christ’s path, but like the Apostles who walked it before us, we know that Jesus is the Son of God and that His way leads to eternal life, and we simply have no where else to go.   

We know this truth in our hearts because God has revealed Himself to us and we follow this path not out of some perceived obligation to follow the rules, but we follow where the Lord would lead us because of our love for Him and because we know His way is not just the only way, it’s the best way.  

His path doesn’t just lead to eternal life. His pathway gives us the power to experience heaven on earth by giving us increasing freedom from the dark ways of the world as we cultivate the fruit of the Spirit and know the peace that comes from living in harmony with God.

So go to the Son. Trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and follow the path that God puts before you.  The Lord is always there to hear you and to guide you, but you have to ask for His help and come along side Him by agreeing that He knows best and by trusting that He will never lead you astray.

 

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
³ You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

Today’s verse encourages us and instructs us in how we are to experience perfect peace.  If we trust in the Lord and keep our minds on Him, the Lord will keep us in perfect peace!   

That shouldn’t be a surprise to us for the promises of the peace that goes beyond all understanding are presented throughout scripture to be contingent on our harmonious relationship with the Lord which begins when we make Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  

That’s the thing that those who are screaming for peace in our society and in the church seem to forget. There is no true peace without having peace with God. And not only that but those who have peace with God must keep the peace! 

So we must introduce those who don’t know Him to the way of peace: Jesus Christ.  Unfortunately, I know from my personal history and from my efforts to evangelize how hardened, resistant, and blind those outside of God’s grace can be.  So don’t just present a gospel message, present yourself and the way you live your life as an enduring testimony of God’s abundant mercy, kindness, and love.  

Those who are perishing need to know that we care. So speak the truth in love and be sure to share what you were like before you knew the Lord so that they will understand that the kingdom of God is for them too.

As for those in the church who are without peace, encourage them to surrender some of their worldly ways for God’s ways and to draw close to Him in regular Bible Study, prayer, and worship.  It’s hard to say our mind is stayed on the Lord if we are living the way we used to before coming to faith.  Our relationship with the Lord calls us to repent of the world’s course ways and to seek a righteous and holy life.  

I advise caution in your attempts to transform because we can’t live the Christian life by the sweat of our brows with forced obedience. We must love the Lord and willingly decided to give more of ourselves to Him.  It’s not easy and I would say not to do everything all at once and instead go in prayer and ask the Lord what He can help you with. 

The chances are that you already know the problems to address. They usually have been a negative influence or ongoing dilemma of your life that you feel powerless to change.  But with God all things are possible, but we might have to take the slow road to get there by experiencing and claiming our freedom and victory each new day.   

When we surrender to the Lord there may be seasons of turmoil but when we keep our minds on Him and trust Him some how we have peace in the midst of the storm and find even more when the rain finally stops.   

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

 

Today we continue with Dr. Neil Anderson’s Victory Over the Darkness, continuing in Chapter 4.

 

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Anderson’s books for your own private study and to support His work. If you need this title you can find it online at several sites for less than $15.00:

A New Master

Because we are identified with Christ in His death and resurrection, we have become new and are part of the new humanity. In this change, we have a new power of dominion in our lives. This is clearly expressed in Romans 6:5-7 (NIV): "If we have been united with him . . . in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." "Old self" in this passage literally means old man. The old man in relation to the believer has been crucified in Christ and he has put on the new man (see Col. 3:10).

Paul says, "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). We don't consider it so to make it so. We are to continuously believe we are alive in Christ and dead to sin because it is so. Believing anything doesn't make it true. God said it is true; therefore we believe it. Death is the ending of a relationship, not an existence. Sin is still present, appealing and powerful; but when you are tempted to sin, you can say, "I don't have to do that. By the grace of God I can live a righteous life."

To illustrate, look at Romans 8:1, 2: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." Is the law of sin and of death still operative? Yes, that is why Paul calls it a law. You can't do away with a law, but you can overcome it by a greater law, which is the "law . . . of life in Christ Jesus."

For instance, as mortals we can't fly in our own strength, but we can fly in an airplane because an airplane has a power greater than the law of gravity. If you don't think the law of gravity is still in effect, then flip the switch at 30,000 feet. You will crash and burn. If we walk by faith according to what God says is true in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will "not carry out the desire of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). If we believe a lie and walk according to the flesh, we will crash and burn.

Saved and Sanctified by Faith

Paul says in Romans 6:6, "our old self was crucified" (past tense). We try and try to put the old man to death and we can't do it. Why not? Because he is already dead. Because many Christians are not living the abundant life, they incorrectly reason, "What experience has to occur for this to be true?" The only thing that had to happen for that to be true happened nearly two thousand years ago, and the only way you can enter into that experience is by faith.

A dear pastor who heard of my ministry asked for an appointment with me. He said, "I have struggled for 22 years in ministry and I finally think I know what the answer is. In my devotions I read the following passage in Col. 3:3 (NIV), 'For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.' That's it, isn't it?"

I assured him it was, then he asked, "How do I do that?"

I suggested he read the passage just a little bit slower. This dear man for 22 years had been desperately trying to become somebody he already was, and so do many other believers. We cannot do for ourselves what Christ has already accomplished for us.

Too many Christians are trying to show that the Bible is true by the way they live. It will never work for them. We accept what God says is true and live accordingly by faith, and this abundant life works out in our experience. If we try to make it true by the way we live, we will never get there. Paul points out the futility of that thinking in Galatians 3:2 (NIV): "I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"

We are saved by faith and we walk or live by faith. We have been sanctified by faith and we are being sanctified by faith and by faith alone. We are neither saved nor sanctified by how we behave, but by how we believe.

God's work of atonement changes sinners to saints. The radical change, regeneration, is effected at the moment of salvation. The ongoing change in the believer's daily walk continues throughout life. The progressive work of sanctification, however, is only fully effective when the radical, inner transformation by regeneration is realized and appropriated by faith.

As a new Christian you were like a lump of coal: unattractive, somewhat fragile and messy to work with. After time and pressure, however, coal becomes hardened and beautiful. Although the original lump of coal is not a diamond, it consists of the right substance to become a diamond. Right now, you are a diamond in the rough, but given enough time and pressure, you will be like a diamond, revealing the glory of God.

Anthony Hoekema comments, "You are new creatures now! Not totally new, to be sure, but genuinely new. And we who are believers should see ourselves in this way: no longer as depraved and helpless slaves of sin, but as those who have been created anew in Christ Jesus."

Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

 

God bless you all!

 

Join our “Victory over the Darkness” or “The Bondage Breaker” series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Audible.com. 

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship