Victorious [Normal] Christian Life

[now faith]

Not to be rude,but the whole context of the passage in revelation needs to be noted.

Revelation: 3. 15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

In layman's terms : This is a rebuke with promise from Christ.
It is a example that transcends time to today's Hot Tub Christianity.

Those who make a good show of going to a polite social club Church and suppose they are righteous in works.
They warm a chair watch a big screen,making sure no one is offended by preaching against sin or being saved by the Blood of Christ.

It feels good not to feel anything but to be there, they are not cold after all they went to Church,they are not hot or on fire preaching to a lost and dying world.
It is a gross thought to be spewed out, yet the promise of Christ is if you hear His voice rather than the feel good Luke warm speaker...
You will abide with Christ and sit at his Throne.

 

[LifeThatWins]

The negative emotions which we express due to loss of control in our lives, like anger, irritation, discouragement, worry, regret etc., can all be overcome if we take proper, timely action.
All these emotions are only a reflection of our thoughts.
If our thoughts are discouraged, then our system gets impaired and we manifest discouragement.
We cannot be sad inside and express happiness. We may act for a while but truth comes out eventually.
We do not need to act.
Jesus came to give us life a wholesome life{Jn 10:10} and not a broken life.
God has called us for such a victorious life. We do not need to look like deflated tires!
So, how do I handle it?
Before our thoughts go out of control, we can maintain control over our thoughts.
This is why it says,
Prov 4:23
Guard your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
We should not let any thoughts come into our heart. We need to keep a strong watch at the gate concerning the thoughts{from the world, the flesh and the devil} that try to get into our mind and say 'No vacancy' to thoughts that make a negative impact in our lives.
Allow only thoughts such as the Word of God, concerning God's kingdom, healthy thoughts etc.,
This is why Paul exhorts us to filter every thought in
2 Cor 10:5
...bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ
Also, Paul gives us a list of thoughts to focus on...
Phil 4:8
whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--think on these things.
By taking control of our mind and the thoughts we permit, we can have complete control over our emotions especially the negative ones.
Nip it in the bud before the wrong thoughts take root. Be vigilant from the time we wake up till the time we go to bed on what thoughts we permit in our mind. Then, we can retain the anointing and the power of God on our lives 24/7. We can rejoice always and be full of His peace all the time.
Praise God! What a way to live!
In the past, I used to be perturbed by lot of these thoughts that were producing negative emotions. By His grace, I saw this truth and it brought such a richness in my life.
We are called to be kings and priests in Rev 1:6.
Greatest thing is to be a king over our own self, our mind, so we can have a spiritually rich life.
This is so that we can live as effective witnesses for Christ and build His kingdom on this earth.
God bless.

 

[Si_monfaith]

When we believe that not we but Christ lives in us, then we put him ahead of us wherein he thinks & feels in us. And we only enjoy the rest. No struggle to manage emotions.

 

[now faith]

True, but the original sin was Satan's self pride.

It seems the root of all sin is selfish pride ,and stubbornness.
If all who said they were Christians would abide in the love of Christ, and not the flesh our world would be a better place.

 

[hhodgson]

My desire is that the world sees such men & women in increasing numbers walking with such power and authority, establishing His kingdom on this earth.

What I desire is to see a lot of progress that things are becoming more and more visible in the physical realm which enable the world to see and praise the Father in heaven. An increase in the manifestation in every area of our lives and in increasing number of His children.

For me, our transformation is more in the renewing of our minds{be transformed by the renewing of your mind Romans 12:2}

Your desires ARE presently coming to pass... (maybe not "so much" in our neighborhoods yet) but can be... and (much more so), especially when the Church of Jesus Christ initially operates in (verse one) of the scripture in Romans along with (verse two), that is very much appropriate in this discussion and... in how to live a victorious life in Christ.

(Romans 12:1) "Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice--alive, holy, and pleasing to God--which is your reasonable service."

(Romans 12:2) "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."​

It would be safe to also include this promise of God...

Deuteronomy 28:1-2
"And it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all his commandments which I command you this day, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth:.. And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of your God."​

(Verse 3-14) The Blessing List is still in effect today and received by Grace through faith. We are redeemed from the curse.

(Verse 10) explains the reason for The Blessing. (To show the world).

"Then all the people in the world will see that you are called by the name of the LORD's people, and they will stand in awe of you."​

This would answer your desires that you have noted that the world sees such men & women in increasing numbers walking with such power and authority, establishing His kingdom on this earth. And to see a lot of progress that things are becoming more and more visible in the physical realm which enable the world to see and praise the Father in heaven. An increase in the manifestation in every area of our lives and in increasing number of His children (as to your quote).​

 

[hhodgson]

(duplicate)

 

[Si_monfaith]

The original sin was choosing to trust the moral law & rejecting the truth that all blessings are free gifts given only for the sake of the Son. Trying to earn blessings was the original sin & which many christians do.

 

[Si_monfaith]

Sin is dead apart from the moral law. No law then no transgression & no account of sinful activities.

 

[hhodgson]

Sin is dead apart from the moral law. No law then no transgression & no account of sinful activities.

That was then before the law. How about now when we walk in God's grace?

Blessings...

 

[now faith]

Sin is dead apart from the moral law. No law then no transgression & no account of sinful activities.

Sin existed long before moral law,if you are thinking about the law of moses.

For mankind the original sin in the Garden, was brought by Adam the first man.
The last Adam speaking figuratively was Christ who redeemed us from sin.

When his blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat, it was ,is and always will be finished.

There is no revelation of sin being conditional upon moral law.
The law was a guide or a schoolmaster, being fulfilled in Christ who made the law of none effect.


Galatians: 3. 6. Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.

Can a Christian sin?
Absolutely.

Are we forgiven?
If we confess our sins he is just to forgive us.

How do we Sin outside of moral law?
The lust of the flesh.

The law could only see the outward man, in Christ our inward man is seen by the Holy Spirit.
Being in Christ we fall under conviction even for our thoughts.

Romans: 8. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.


A religious man can abide in moral law, but he cannot hide his true self.

Matthew: 23. 27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30. And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

 

[Si_monfaith]

It is knowledge of gud& evil- kge that created guilt & fear. earlier no kge & so nudity was there but no guilt! Blessed state. Now no kge as Jesus destroyed moral law-rom3:20. Where is sin, guilt& fear now sans kge?

 

[Si_monfaith]

Living by the Flesh means to trust in moral law or kge to earn justification & blessings. Apart from moral law flesh does not exist.

Living by the Spirit means to trust in promises opened to us by Lord's death.

 

[Si_monfaith]

Kge is given by moral law -ml. When eve/adam chose kge they chose ml. No difference between kge in eden & law of moses. Kge/moses law etc produce guilt/ fear. But Jesus destroyed these to give us edenic rest.

 

[Si_monfaith]

Overcoming is not a work for us to fulfill but a blessing given to us for Christ's sake & which we have to receive as a free gift from rom 8:37. Jesus loved us & so has made us overcomers 2000 yrs back. God sees us thru His Son as overcomers.

 

[LifeThatWins]

Yeah. As I have mentioned before in my post #16, it is not by our work but by receiving what Christ has already secured for us.
Post #16: "... We are called to overcome, not by our efforts, but by His grace through faith.
This does not mean we overcome from the scratch but to enforce the victory we already have in Christ by our faith and bring it to reality in the physical realm we live in...."

 

[LifeThatWins]

Christ Himself is in us to live through us.

So, as Christians, our lives need not be lacking in anything compared to Christ’s basically because it is the same Christ living in us.

Whatever authority and power He displayed over the devil, the flesh and the world, we should be able to because He is the One living in us.

Col 1:27 God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Christ is in us.

Gal 2:20 I no longer live, but Christ lives in me

1 John 4:4 He{Christ} who is in you is greater than he who is in the world

1 John 4:17 as He{Christ} is, so are we in this world

As Christ did not buckle under anything or any pressure, when He walked on this earth 2000 years back, we do not need to buckle under any pressure today.

Just as Christ was always above only{Deut 28:13 …you shall be above only, and never be beneath}

Also, a Christian is born of God. So, he has the potential in him to overcome.

1 John 5:4-5 whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

A Christian cannot be defeated because he is born of God and His seed remains in him.

This is why we have such an authority in Christ…

Luke 10:19 I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Now, coming to the practical aspects on how to physically manifest.

It’s by faith in the Word of God.

Looking back at the verse

1 John 5:4 ….And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

It is this faith we need to grow in… the more we grow, more the manifestation will be.

Jude 20 you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit

Of course, faith needs to be built up in every aspect, not just for manifesting power but in character and other aspects too. That’s how faith also grows by following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Gal 5:16-17 Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

2 Peter 1:5-7 for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.

 

[LifeThatWins]

Jesus does not pray for us to be exempted. It is our choice. By right everyone will face trials. But because Jesus endured it (Hebrews 4: 15) & based on His merit we can be exempted from it. That is why our Lord gave to option to choose exemption in Matthew 6: 13. Again if trials were inevitable our Lord would not have spoken the way He did in Luke 22: 40, 46.

As pointed to in post #17,
if it was God's will for Peter to be exempted from trials, Jesus would have prayed for Peter to be exempted. Instead, Jesus prayed for the strengthening of Peter's faith.

Heb 4:15
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus endured and overcame so we can also overcome and this does not mean that we will be exempted from all temptations.

Luke 22:42-46
"Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
…46 Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation."

Verse 42: Jesus prays to be exempted ONLY if it’s Father’s will and not otherwise.
Verse 46: Jesus encourages the disciples to pray so they do not succumb to the temptation.

If we take the meaning that we can be exempted from all trials, it does not agree with the rest of the Scriptures like
James 1:2-3 count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience

When certain trials produce character, why would God stop that?

In fact, as it happened in Luke 8:22-25, Jesus sometimes leads us right into the storm so our faith can get strengthened!
This is not to be perceived as negative. This is so that we can storm the storm and tame{overcome} it!
[Luke 8:22 Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. 23 But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”]

Jesus Himself was led into the temptation in Matt 4:1. Jesus did not pray to be exempted.

[Matt 4:1 Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil]
Why? So, Jesus could whip the devil black and blue and show the devil who the boss is! He shredded the temptation into pieces and the devil ran away for cover! Devil must have recognized here that Jesus is the Boss but he ignorantly failed again and again before Jesus until he was made a public spectacle [Col 2:15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He{Jesus} made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it] paving way for our salvation plan to be completed on the Cross.

James 1:12
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life
Crown of life is given to those who overcome the temptation and trials which is one of the primary themes of the entire Revelation book.

The context of the following passages clearly show us that the following two verses are pointing to end time tribulation and not our everyday temptation and trials.
Luke 21:36-37 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Rev 3:10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

This interpretation agrees with the Spirit of the Bible and not violate other Scripture passages.

 

[Si_monfaith]

Lk22:40-pray that ye enter not into trials. If it was not God's will Jesus would not have desired for us to expect exemption.

 

[hhodgson]

Lk22:40-"pray that ye enter not into trials." If it was not God's will Jesus would not have desired for us to expect exemption.

All translations I checked (25) uses the word "temptations", not trials. Both have the same Greek root word, and they are often used interchangeably, though it is believed not here in this passage.

Actually, according to James we are to (more or less) welcome trials (with joy), not to pray against them. We don't welcome temptations, we endure them by resisting and not yielding to them.

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.​

Be Blessed...

 

[LifeThatWins]

Lk22:40-pray that ye enter not into trials. If it was not God's will Jesus would not have desired for us to expect exemption.

This is also like the way we interpret
Matt 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
In this, our Lord says clearly 'Ask and you shall receive and everyone who asks receives'.
It's like a blank check with no conditions.
Does this mean we can ask the Lord so He enables us to steal from someone else? And will He grant it?
100% No. Why? Because, He also says 'Do not steal'.
We cannot just run with one Scripture, take it out of context and interpret it in such a manner that it violates other Scriptures.
It goes without saying that when the promises of God are available to us, those promises will work for us subject to His will.
He Himself clarifies in another place,
John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Here, we see the condition for getting what we desire and that is, 'His Words should abide in us'.
That means, I obey His commandments. Then my desires will also not violate His Words. And when my desires do not violate His Scripture, they will be granted to us.

James 1:2-3 count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
This does not talk about the trials we encounter due to our own foolishness.
It talks about trials we encounter even when we walk according to the will of God.
And, when we encounter such trials while walking according to His will, we are to say 'Bring it on, man!' and rip the trials apart meaning we overcome them by His grace through faith and not to shy away from it just as hhodgson also mentioned it as saying 'welcome them with joy'.
Because, that's how our spiritual muscles develop and our spiritual tenacity increases.

God bless.