he victory of Christ is our victory.
Jesus Christ in you is your Hope of Glory. The promise of reconciliation
with God is the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Jesus wants to
exchange our strength for His Life. We exchange our ‘self-life’ for life
walking in the Spirit. The reason is clearly seen in Gal 5:17 that Paul
wrote to Christians, ‘For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that
you do not do the things that you wish.’ God wants to set us free and
give us control of our life-body, soul, and spirit in the power of His
resurrection. He is our God and wants us to draw our life from Him
through the Holy Spirit. Gal. 6:8 states, ‘For he who sows to his flesh
will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of
the Spirit reap everlasting life.’
There is truly nothing to fear
for the Christian who understands his birthright. We know the truth about
our 'self'; we are dead to the power of sin and death. There is nothing
to fear in death because God unites us in Christ's eternal life.
God wants us to exchange our
‘self’ life for a life with Christ at the center and on the throne of our
heart. This is God’s solution to the self-life. He promises to: work all
things out for our good, give us the fruit of the Spirit, the peace of
God, strength and meet all of our needs. These promises we see in the
following Scriptures:
And we know that all things work together
for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to
His purpose. -- Rom 8:28
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law.- Gal 5:22-23
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me. -- Phil 4:6-7, 13
And my God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. -- Phil 4:19
‘For you were called to freedom, brethren;
only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but
through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one
word, in the statement, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’-
Galatians 5:13-14
God set us free from the bondage
of necessity for approval from men. Do not let anyone or anything
persuade you into thinking that the prison we escaped from still holds any
power over us. Since we are in Christ we are free to obey and serve God
with all our heart, soul, body, and spirit. God's passionate love for us
should lead us to obedience through gratefulness. We can always have a
thankful heart and reason to praise God if we see the true light of the
gospel and refuse to deviate from the stunning inherent freedom in it. It
is for freedom’s sake that Christ set us free, Gal. 5:1..
Our freedom in Christ is
the result of understanding that faith alone in the work of Christ is the
source of salvation. This knowledge should result in a thankful
attitude, gratefulness, and freedom. Knowing that nothing can add or
detract from our standing ‘in Christ’, we finally understand the heart of
the Gospel, the Good News.
The simplicity of the Gospel of
Christ is that God transforms us. God gives us a renewed heart and
spirit. The new birth and Christian life is the result of the work of the
Holy Spirit. Our spirit is complete; our new life ‘in Christ’ begins when
the Holy Spirit brings us direction for our new found liberty and freedom
from the power of sin. We do not need anything else; God completes the
work in us ‘in Christ’ through the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work. We
cannot improve on something that is finished. ‘It is finished!’ The
atonement for sin is already complete!
Jesus bought us with a price and
our life is not our own. We see the truth in 1Cor 6:20, ‘For you were
bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.’ Again God's
Word declares that we are to allow Jesus to live through us, Col 3:1-4,
‘So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on
things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life
is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.’
Walking in the Spirit is a
direct result of trusting Christ Jesus to live through us with power from
the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is the result of directing our conscious
minds unto Jesus, the Spirit stirring up our praise and worship, and
allowing the Word of God to be engrafted into our hearts and minds. The
will and purpose of God for His children are simply to find their identity
and life in the power and authority of Christ Jesus.
We rarely view our needs through
the eyes of God. God's answer to the human condition was to give the
person of His Son as a sacrifice. Religion and psychology can only treat
the symptoms. Through the death of God's only begotten Son He provided
the divine solution for sin which is a change of heart and a renewed
spirit.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth,
and the Life. The life that is in Christ Jesus is eternal. Our
eternal life became a reality when we accepted God’s offering of His Son,
Jesus Christ as our Savior. As we stay connected to the vine, His
Spirit in us will produce the abundant life. The fruit of the Spirit will
be spontaneous to fulfill the will of the Father as we walk in Him. As He
abides in us and we abide in Him, Jesus promises that we will bring forth
much fruit. When we trust Christ to be our life and give up on our own
strength and efforts, the life of Christ in us will cause fruit to be
produced in our lives. Are you ready to give up on yourself? God's will
for your life is to allow His Son
to live through you!
The Word directs us to look unto
Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. The focus of our
everyday lives is to actually encounter Jesus Christ through the gospels
as the indwelling Holy Spirit enlightens our understanding. Our lives
should always center upon our relationship with Christ. When we look unto
Jesus, we discover a life of righteousness and peace. When we look at our
relationship in Christ, we discover the new creation in us and the Cross
that delivers us unto the death of our self-life, the flesh.
While the law accuses us of sin,
the gospel directs us away from ourselves and unto Christ who is able to
set us free, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Therefore,
if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. --Jn 8:31-32, 36
The Christian who wants an
intimate relationship with Jesus Christ grows by daily communion and
revelation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit relates the person of
Jesus Christ in our day to day existence.
n order to experience a Victorious Life
let’s take a look at what God has done. God gave us the gift of eternal
life in Christ Jesus. Eternal life is life in Christ since He is the
beginning and the end. The victory is being placed in Christ by God, 1
Cor.1:30. What the term ‘eternal life’ means is that our existence is
totally of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We know this since Christ
is eternal and He has an eternal life, without beginning or end, ‘He is
the way the truth and the life!’ The meaning of eternal life is simply
the life of Christ, the Son of God. He is God, and is eternal life in
Himself, and therefore we are eternal, since we are in Christ by God’s
doing.
Jesus Christ came into the world
having an eternal life before He became the Son of Man. He died and then
returned to heaven at His ascension to continue that eternal life as Lord
of Lords and King of Kings, at the right hand of God the Father. These
Scriptures give testimony to the eternal life we receive ‘in Christ’:
That which was from the beginning, which
we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked
upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life; the life
was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you
that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us; -- 1
Jn 1:1-2
And this is the testimony: that God has
given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has
life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These
things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God,
that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to
believe in the name of the Son of God. -- 1 John 5:11-13
And we know that the Son of God has come
and has given us an understanding, that we
may know Him who is true; and we are in
Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. -- 1 John 5:20
The current meaning of the Cross
to most people is that Jesus died for our sins. Since Christ paid for
your sins, are you aware that God will never punish you for your sins? So
your life will never change, since God has placed you ‘in Christ’. Yes,
God placed you and I in Christ and we have become part of the eternal
unchanging Christ. ‘Jesus Christ is the same Yesterday, Today, and
Forever’.– Heb 13:8. Do you understand that when Jesus died for your sins
you are guilty of in your past as well as every sin that is in the
future? It is absolutely necessary that you know in your heart that your
relationship cannot be jeopardized by sin anymore since you have entrusted
your life to the Lord Jesus Christ! No one can pluck you out of His
hand. Amen!
After Jesus died, they buried Him. Then
Jesus rose from the dead, and His existence continues forever in the
future. God also created you and me, placing us in Him according to the
Scriptures. Therefore our existence continues ‘in Christ’ into the
eternal future. Although Christ's life never changes, your soul
(feelings, thinking, choosing) may change, or your body will change, yet
your life ‘in Christ’ will never change. God created us ‘in Christ’ in
the Eternal Past to live through Him into the Eternal Future. We see
God’s testimony of our eternal existence ‘in Christ’ in the following
Scriptures.
For by Him all things were created that
are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created
through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all
things consist. -- Col 1:16-17
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him
and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth,
and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. -- Phil 2:9-11
Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery
to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form
of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point
of death, even the death of the Cross. -- Phil 2:5-8
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. -- John 1:14
For I delivered to you first of all that
which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day
according to the Scriptures, -- 1 Cor. 15:3
Therefore I also, after I heard of your
faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to
give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of
His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the
saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who
believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in
Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand
in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in
that which is to come.- Eph 1:15-19
o practice Christianity takes an endless
commitment to change and growth. The journey is a continuum; an apparent
headlong venture into the thoughts and intents of the heart. I am guided
by reason, logic, and intuitive recollections from countless scriptural
studies to living consciously and with integrity before God and to know
Him as I am known. By the grace of God, I will live in Him.
There is an art to living passionately.
To know the master of our soul, the helmsman of a sacred trust, and His
purpose for our life imposes a responsibility upon our shoulders. We are
to live out our vision to the fullness of God’s mercy, grace, and truth.
Our previous existence without Him is mediocrity; knowing His will is
going to take our new existence to magnificence. In the eyes of the one
true God and Father of us all, I am His child.
The work of conversion for our soul
brought an awareness of our being that caused the spirit within to be
stirred from a slumber near to death. Suddenly, almost instantaneously,
there are choices to be made in the light of revelation shown upon the
once darkened corridors of a dead consciousness. Awake from the passivity
to take control of the journey. Prepare to depart and give your life for
these purposes. 1) to bring glory to God; 2) to live a life that will
bring glory to His name; 3) by living for God’s purposes in life; 4) to
live within the known will of God with integrity; to be conscious of the
world and the impact upon it; 5) to take responsibility; 6) to accept
myself and let people know my inner self; 7) and, to love myself and
experience God’s grace toward myself.
The Spirit of Christ within is undaunted
by the selfish nature of man. God’s purpose is to bring man to the throne
of grace and freely submit to the Lord of Glory. We need to know God
since we are to worship Him in spirit and truth. We cannot worship He
whom we do not comprehend nor understand. Thus, the revelation of God to
the inner man is the beginning of spiritual truth and understanding. In
that God reveals Himself to man is the revelation of the nature or
character of God. As us our consciousness of God one of His works for
there is little reason to believe mankind would seek the creator of His
own volition. As disobedient children we ran from our parents and so we
run from God.
The edifice to man’s intellectualism is
seen the degenerative effects of his own self-destructive nature, the
inherent carnal nature referred to as the flesh. Whether the progenitors
live good moral lives or are culpable they provide a dysfunctional
atmosphere to rear children in. The offspring are not innocent either,
nor willing to serve anyone besides the false identity of the carnal
nature until they are regenerated by God.
The corrupt nature or flesh is problematic
to the counseling professions, secular and Christian. From a Christian
counselor’s point of view, the secular professions that deal with behavior
modification, cannot and do not address the root cause of a client’s
problem. The problem is the nature of the client. Until their spiritual
death is undone by addressing their human nature there can be no
transformation. The counselor cannot take someone where they have never
been. The only knowledge that the secular world may convey is empirical,
where experiential knowledge is required, and the Holy Spirit empowers the
encounter by active intervention to change the nature of the client and
create a suitable habitat within for the Holy Spirit’s everlasting
presence. For in the inwrought working of the Holy Spirit at conversion,
the spirit of man is regenerated unto a holy estate, which is fulfillment
of the prophetic promise. In one intimate moment the unholy becomes holy,
a vessel approved of by God, worthy of His everlasting residence. We are
the chosen ones, the sons and daughters of God, to be led unto heavenly
battlefields for the souls of the lost and downtrodden. We are to be the
emancipators, to declare liberty to those who were once captive to the
fear of death and hell.
The Holy Spirit empowers Scriptural
counseling. The encounter is a Sovereign act. The Holy Spirit is an
active participant in the intervention. God changes the nature of the
believer and creates a suitable habitat within for the Holy Spirit’s
everlasting presence. In the inwrought work of the Holy Spirit at
conversion, the spirit of man is regenerated unto a holy estate, which is
fulfillment of the prophetic promise.
In one intimate moment the unholy becomes
holy, a vessel approved of by God, worthy of His everlasting residence.
We are the chosen ones, the sons and daughters of God, to be led unto
heavenly battlefields for the souls of the lost and downtrodden. We are
to be the emancipators, to declare liberty to those who were once captive
to the fear of death and hell. We have overcome the world and the devil
'in Christ'.
![[Under Construction]](http://abundantprofitclub.com/undercon.gif){kind=small}