Putting a knife in the heart of willful sin.....

justbyfaith said:

In Psalms 51:3 it is written, For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

At what point does this scripture cease to be the truth of God's word?

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That is an easy one. When we break free from under the guilt of the old covenant and walk in the glorious liberty of the newness of life. Has our God not clearly promised us that sin shall not have dominion over us any longer?

May I ask you afew questions?

How would it ever be possible to have no more consciousness of sins that the writer of Hebrews promises us once cleansed, if we also have to feel like we are failing sinners each and every day?

Have we now not been delivered from the power of darkness, not just its guilt?

Does Paul not clearly tell us that we are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit and that we owe the flesh nothing?

Are we now not equipped with shields of faith that He assures us will quench ALL the fiery arrows of the enemy?

Are we not promised that we can abide in Him, and if we do so, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh?

How would it be possible to have the mindset you speak of and walk in victory at the same time? Our God wants us to be overcomers, not hanger-oners.

The old covenant relieved us of our guilt, year by year, as we made sacrifices with confession. But it never released us from the power of sin. And what is the power of sin? Is it not the law.... i.e. self effort? And Paul tells us there is but one way to get free of the authority the law has over us. We have to die.

And so we spend years, in my case decades, trying to die to self, an impossibility. Self cannot crucify self. What a joy it is to see that when Christ died, so did our old nature.... self.

When Christ died, so did we, our old nature. Sin’s power over us was broken and as we put on our new natures by faith, we find that we really can do all things through Him who strengthens us.

. Thus, when Satan comes tempting, as He always does, this time, he is not met with a defeated saint thinking he will always be a sinner, trying to resist him as best we can. That man has only his will power to protect him, which is not enough.

No, this time, when Satan comes tempting us, and he meets us with our shield of faith held high, believing the truth that we died (past tense) to sin’s power over us, and that we can now resist him steadfast in the faith that we no longer live, but Christ now lives in us as our new man, that shield of faith quenches all satan’s fiery arrows, every single one. Glory to God!

Brother, I know full well this is new for most people, but God is even now awakening us to our birthright. The church has floundered for 1900 years, ever since the wolves came into it after Paul’s death, reducing the power of the gospel to mere forgiveness. It has made real sanctification impossible. We have been robbed of the joy of our salvation. His manifest presence is fleeting at best, leaving our prayer life dry and difficult.

That is all changing as His bride awakes to who we truly are and clothes ourselves with our testimony of what Christ accomplished with His resurrection after the cross.

This is not some carefully woven new doctrine where men selects certain verses to make them say what they want them to say. At my lowest 12 years ago, as the poster child forcRomans 7, miserable and defeated, and with no hope of ever defeating the sins that so easily beset me, I cried out for my Jesus, the deliverer, to come and set me free indeed. And He did just that and He started by opening my eyes to Romans 6.

Here God tells us two facts we must absolutely know.
1) When Christ died, so did we. Our old nature is dead.

2) When Christ rose from the dead, so did we. We are now new creatures.

But if this is true, one may ask, why do I still struggle with sin? It is easy. These truths, as powerful as they may be, do not benefit us until we believe that they are true.... for us. Right now. Not will be true. ARE true. Until we mix the truths with faith, they profit us nothing.

That is why Paul tells us that after we know the above two facts, there is one step we need to do. And for 38 years as a follower of the Lord, I had never done it. And what is that step?

We need to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto Him.

We need to appropriate these truths as OUR truths, this very day. I must tell you, this did not come by inspiration. God actually appeared to me, face to back of neck. And He spoke to me, yes, audibly. Some doubt such a thing. I certainly can understand why. It is a big pill to swallow. But the chance it has made in my walk has been beyond my wildest dreams. What I am sharing with any who will listen is that this works. It matters not how bound you are, nor how weak you may be. In truth, it will be these who see the truth first.

It is when we arm ourselves with the truth of who we are and come into agreement with our God that we find that we really can ‘walk together’ and abide in His presence and yes, glory to God, not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

This is not sinless perfection of which I speak. Far from it. One can still fall back into sin, for when we first step out in faith, our faith starts out small. But as we fight our good fight of faith as to who we really are, and continue in the faith grounded and settled, and moved not away from the hope of the gospel, with our shield held high, our shield GROWS. It is at this point that the process of sanctification actually begins. Fruits of the Spirit begin to appear that we never thought possible in this life. And glory to God, we finally understand that self control is not what we need to abide. We need to abide to be given self control! LOL.

I pray that any reading these words take this to heart. If you are hungry for victory and tired of defeat at the hand of the devil, may God open your eyes to the truth that sets you free indeed.

If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

Blessings,

Gideon

justbyfaith said:

Also, at what point does it become okay to take on the attitude of the Pharisee rather than the publican in the parable of Luke 18:9-14?

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Brother, I understand that what I am sharing can be misconstrued, so I do not take your blow personally.

Is it humility to confess that despite the clear promises of God, we can never rise above sin, stay in the wilderness of unbelief our entire walks and give into temptation when it hits us because after all, we are only human? This may have the appearance of humility to our natural man, but in truth it is simply self wanting to remain alive and in control.

Is it pride to finally, in desperation to walk pleasing to God, cry out to Him to reveal the secret as to how to unlock His promises so that we can actually keep our bodies under and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, which is clearly His will for us?

And when He graciously shows us, so that we can, with great confidence, confess that it is no more us that live but Him that now lives in us, and to our amazement, as a result, we find we can say no to the devil when he comes tempting us, does this cause our pride to increase inside us or does it magnify the grace of God even more to see him take a wretched man and transform him into an overcomer?

Here is the real question we need to ask ourselves.

Do we really want to be made free indeed and escape the bonds of sin and self rule? God will take care of the how, but until we HATE our self life and even our little sins become exceedingly sinful to us, Heaven will be brass to our ever understanding the HOW of escaping the bonds of our old sinful nature.

There are at present multitudes accepting willful sin in their lives under their declaration, in great ‘humility’, that none is righteous, no, not one. They have indeed escaped from Egypt, but as to going in and possessing the land of promise where they actually walk in victory over the world, the flesh and the devil, they have little if any desire.

They say it is because it is impossible, but in truth they do not want to see sin totally defeated in their lives, for then the old nature would have no more place to roam free and sin when the mood strikes.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they WILL be filled. Darkness will continue to increase in the death spiral we are witnessing. Walking with one foot in the world and one in Heaven mayhave suficed until now. But God is no coming back for a worldly, sin-ridden bride. He is even now awakening us as to how to walk in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives, but for each one of us, a choice must be made.

Do we want Him to fully reign over us, causing us to will and do of His good pleasure, if it means that we lose our old nature and the sin that goes hand in hand with it?

Blessings,

Gideon

justbyfaith said:

I do not know what to say. I have preached what you are preaching in the hopes that the doctrines you are now setting forth, as I preached them, would settle down into my heart and that in preaching these doctrines I would save both myself and those that hear me.

But these things never took in my life. I always found that when the temptation to commit my besetting sin came along, I was basically helpless before the onslaught of the enemy. I recently came to the place of giving up on self-effort and trusting that the forgiveness of Christ is what I need; and that I must be forgiven as one who is a sinner saved by grace.

For in 1 John 1:8, it is clear to me that I am a sinner; and that if I deny that I am a sinner I am deceiving myself and the truth is not in me. Also Galatians 3:22. This one has convinced me, along with Galatians 6:13, that I am a sinner and that my salvation is through faith in Jesus, that I am forgiven of all my sin through faith in Jesus, even though I continue to be a sinner.

I hope you don't mind if I continue to disagree with you in a public manner in order to draw out from you more wisdom on this issue. Because in my heart and mind I am in agreement; I just don't find these things working themselves out practically in my life. So the more I talk to you concerning the things that people have spoken to me as arguments against the doctrine of entire sanctification; and the more you answer them: the more I think I will be able to grab hold of doctrines that will truly be able to set me free.

So please expound for me what you think 1 John 1:8, Galatians 3:22, and Galatians 6:13 mean in light of the doctrine that you are setting forth. This is my first question to you.

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Brother, of course I do not mind. If by our going back and forth, it helps you to come to a better understanding of what I have been called to share, I will do whatever I can to see that your faith finally comes to full fruition.

Let us rise deal with the scripture in 1 John 1:8. There are a multitude of scriptures promising victory over sin in the life of God’s children, but there are two that seem to trip people up. One is Romans7 and the other this verse in 1 John.

So as we read this verse in context, please allow me to paraphrase a bit. John is telling us that we all need forgiveness for our sins that we might be saved. So when we get to verse 8, John states “Now if any man says he has not sinned, he is deceiving himself and the truth is not in him.”

So let’s make sure we clarify who this is. It is an unsaved man saying he has not sinned and this does not need Jesus to forgive him.

How do we know this is true? Right afterwards, in 1 John 2:1, he writes “Little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not.” Whhhhaaatt?? LOL. As most read these verses, they are left with John telling us that we all have sin and if we say we do not, we are deceived, and then immediately tells us that the whole purpose of him writing is that we not sin. So, if we obey him, we are deceived??

But the real clinchers are later in 1John, where some of the most difficult verses in the entire New Testament are found. In chapter 3, for example, he tells us this “He that abidieth in Him sinners not.” Do you see the conflict this creates if we misunderstand 1John 1:8? All that verse is clarifying is that if any man says that he has not sinned and thus does not need the blood of Jesus, he deceived himself. It is in no way speaking about a man abiding in Christ.

This is critical that we understand this, for if we are left with doubts here, Satan will beat us over the head with them, and there is n way our faith in the truth that we are new creatures can take root.

One of the real problems when any discussions of overcoming sin arise is that we look at it from the perspective of what men can accomplish in their lives. And of course, the answer is.... we cannot cease from sin, amen?

BUT, let us learn the lesson taught when the Israelites had made the golden calf and God sent poisonous snakes to bite them. They were in terrible pain, and dying, and it is here that God instructed Moses to make the brazen serpent and attach it to a pole and lift it high. He then said that whoever would look away from themselves, their strength to resist the venom, or their weakness and inability to do so, would be healed.

And we are told that Jesus is our brazen serpent, yet how we have continued looking at what is possible to us as men, and not wha is clearly promised by our God if we will simply stop looking at us, and look to the God of the impossible.

Has God promised the sin will have no more power over us? Absolutely! I could list twenty. But let us start with one. God promised that in every temptation to sin, He will make sure it is never stronger than our ability to resist it, and will always make a way of escape so that we will be able to bear it and not fall.

We would argue, “Yes, but we are only human!” Indeed we are. But..... are we humans with old carnal natures now, or humans with His nature living in us? What good is a way of escape if we have a traitor living inside us, who refuses to take it? There is no safety there at all.

No, brother, we have been given shields of faith, that God promises will quench ALL the fiery arrows of the enemy.

What we have failed to see is one critical piece of the new covenant. It is found in Ezekiel 36. After God tells us He is going to give us new hearts, He says this and these are His exact words.

“....and I will CAUSE YOU to walk in my statutes..”

Glory to God! Under the old covenant, obedience was required. Ahhh, but under the new, obedience is promised!

I will be glad to address any other questions you might have. God wants you free, victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil. That is our birthright, nothing less.

I am praying for you and am thankful you continue to act as devil’s advocate for I sense in you a sincere hungry heart. God will not disappoint you, I will try to address the two scriptures in Galatians tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.

Just to encourage you a bit, 12 years ago, I was a bitter, angry, judgmental, legalistic, serving a hard God and determined to make sure ecpveryonecelse toed the line as well, lol. I was a inappropriate content addict, and there were days, to my shame, I masturbated six to seven times a day. I was joyless, impatient with others, religious but not righteous, and my “branch” had lots of leaves but no fruit .When God appeared to me, I literally had run out of things to try to walk pleasing to God. But when I saw the truth that I was already a new man, and 5hat the old me was dead, it took all the pressure of me believing hard enough to make it work.

Even if I slipped, which occasionally happened, it did not alter the truth of what Jesus accomplished for me one iota. So, I would repent, turn back to the Lord, and immediately again hold up my shield of faith that the old me was dead. It frustrated Satan to no end, lol.

And if God can set someone as bound as I was free indeed, He can and will certainly do it for any who call out to Him and will stop trying to do it themselves, or, conclude it is impossible. Either way, it is self in all its glory.

But when we finally come to the point of having NO strength, and NO confidence in the flesh, it is then we are finally prepared to ONLY believe. Even if our faith is as small as a mustard seed, it is just enough!

God has shown me that this awakening as to who we are and how we overcome will overtake the true church in the last days. But who will receive it first? Those who hunger for a pure walk with Him but who are aware of their weakness. God has an amazing walk for you, my dear friend. Of that I am certain. Hang in there and do not lower the standard. Let Your God lift you up to meet it.

Blessings,

Gideon

justbyfaith said:

I have always understood 1 John 1:8 to mean that we have sin dwelling in us as an element that has influence over our behaviour, kind of like a monster inside us that has a degree of control over what we do, because it incessantly tells us what to do and rewards us when we do what it wants and also punishes us when we don't.

I have always believed that this element of sin, this monster, can be rendered dead biblically (Romans 6:6-7, Galatians 5:24, Romans 7:8); so that it no longer has any authority over what we do or say, since it is a dead monster; and if it is dead, it has no life of its own let alone can it exert influence over my life.

But I wanted to see your take on that verse, and am thankful for your comments. However I wonder if you could answer whether you think 1 John 1:8 is saying the exact same thing as 1 John 1:10? Is John in 1 John 1:10 merely clarifying what he said in 1 John 1:8? or is he saying something slightly different?

Is he, in 1 John 1:8, saying that the element of sin dwells in us in the present tense, and in 1 John 1:10 saying that this has worked itself out practically in our past?

If sin dwells in us presently, is there a key that you find to rendering its power dead within you?

I find that even though I have sought to reckon sin dead within me, it is not as easy as one might think. Temptation comes; and when it does, I find that the reality that comes to mind is that in those moments sin is not dead within me, but is seeking to be very much alive. Is there a key to bringing that element of sin back to the place of being crucified within me? I find that it is not an easy thing to reckon sin dead within me in those moments when it is rearing its ugly head and I cannot deny that it is very much alive!

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I am so thankful we hung in there in our communications. I am praying that your faith is strengthened here.

First, regarding your question about the two verses in 1 John, you are correct in assuming that verse 10 is simply a clarification of verse 8. Verse 10 is definitely clarifying that John is talking about past sins that needed forgiveness when we came to Christ.

It is imperative that we grasp the truth that we have been delivered from the power of sin, not just its guilt. And that is what Paul clearly tells us in Colossians 1:13.

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son”.

Colossians 1:13

And in Romans 8, he declares to us that we are not in the flesh and owe it nothing.

We must understand that when we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto Him, this is NOT the same as perfection... having no character flaws such as impatience. Being freed from the authority sin has had over us is a removal of the negative, so that now a God can add the positive... fruits of the Spirit. These come as we abide by faith in Him as new creatures.

We more often than not assume we need self control to abide in Him and to resist the temptations of the devil. We are wrong. When we finally see that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit and is result of abiding in Christ, and not something we must have in order to abide, we realize how backwards we have been understanding the gospel.

So where do we start to learn how to step out from our old nature and put on our new man, created in true righteousness and holiness? With truth, for that is what we must have to be set free, amen? And what truths must we get settled on? Paul tells us in Romans 6.

1) We must nail down the truth that when Christ died, so DID we. The old us is dead, not needing to be killed.

2) Likewise, when Christ rose from the dead to newness of life, so DID we. We are new creatures right this very minute.

But even with these two truths firmly planted in our hearts, we still have one step God asks of us, and it was at this point that I stumbled for 38 years as I tried to beat myself into submission. We must take these truths and appropriate them as OUR truths, our possession.

This is not based upon feelings we may or may not have, or by emotional experience, or whether or not we feel ready or worthy. Given a thousand years, we will never be ready, nor worthy, lol. Heck, that is why we need it.
It is based solely on the fact that God said it and that settles it , for we serve a God who CANNOT lie.

That word “reckon” is a banking term as in reconciling accounts. Let’s say you wil the lottery, congrats! You are rich, right? We get the check from the Lottery Commission and that guarantees it. But in truth, all you have is a piece of printed paper. Why are you rich? Because the Lottery Commission is a trusted agency of the government. You do not really possess the money yet, but no matter. You have already added it to your assets and your worries about how you are going to pay your utility bill this month melted away the minute you realized you had won.

And that is what God wants from us.... faith. A belief that God will not mislead us or lie to us. He said the old us is dead, then..... we are dead. He says sin’s power is broken over us. Then it is.

But how many there are who feel that their faith is not or ever will be big enough to believe such a miracle. Here Satan is trying to get our eyes back on what we need to do. “You must have great faith for such a thing!” He chides. You must be more sold out, more on fire, more earnest. You, you, you.

Our eyes are on the wrong person. We do not need more faith. We need to exercise that pure nugget of faith He has already given to us. However big or minuscule it is, we have just enough!

When God showed this to me in my supernatural visitation, what did I do? I spoke. Out loud. I did not wait to see if I was worthy, I knew I was not. I needed this new nature to BE worthy! So, I claimed it as my possession. Sin’s power over me was broken.... period.

Do you remember the scripture in Revelation 17 where we are told that in the final days, His saints are going to overcome the enemy by two things.... the blood of the lamb AND the words of OUR testimony!

Faith comes by hearing truth, so speak it out. It matters not if it is our voice. It is truth and faith comes from hearing truth. And if we do not ‘feel’any different? So what? Does that change anything? Nope, not a spec.

Now, shifting gears, you say you feel that a monster still resides in you so how. An you be free from the grip of sin? You still get tempted, just like you did before. So? Is temptation sin? No. One of the most important lessons is to understand how Satan will work to try to keep us in the wilderness, and still under his control.

Listen. Not all thoughts that run though our minds are our thoughts. I have said it before, but one of satan’s most effective weapons is tempting us or accusing us in our thoughts and he does it disguised as OUR voice. Whoa.

Listen. Do not feel condemned when a lustful or evil thought comes out of nowhere trying to get us to accept it as OUR thought. Temptation is not sin. Giving into it is. An once we take our stand that we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God, how do we know it is not us? Because we know that thought or temptation used to be us, but it is us no longer.

There is no monster inside you. You still have a fleshly body but your spirit is fleshly no longer. It is no longer you, but Christ in you. This union of you and Christ IS our new nature.

Th real key to stepping out of the lie that Satan has hoisted on us is...... do we truly hate our old nature, our self that is prideful, self centered, self gratifying and thoroughly incapable of loving God completely or loving our brothers and sisters in Christcas we love ourselves.

This place must be arrived at for us to truly reach out in desperate faith to be delivered from the wretchedness of our life trapped in Romans 7. If that is you, and you are totally convinced that you do not possess what is needed to walk in holiness and righteousness without a miracle from God, then rejoice! God is about to open your eyes to the truth of what He has already accomplished for you.

Blessings,

Gideon

justbyfaith said:

I have always understood 1 John 1:8 to mean that we have sin dwelling in us as an element that has influence over our behaviour, kind of like a monster inside us that has a degree of control over what we do, because it incessantly tells us what to do and rewards us when we do what it wants and also punishes us when we don't.

I have always believed that this element of sin, this monster, can be rendered dead biblically (Romans 6:6-7, Galatians 5:24, Romans 7:8); so that it no longer has any authority over what we do or say, since it is a dead monster; and if it is dead, it has no life of its own let alone can it exert influence over my life.

But I wanted to see your take on that verse, and am thankful for your comments. However I wonder if you could answer whether you think 1 John 1:8 is saying the exact same thing as 1 John 1:10? Is John in 1 John 1:10 merely clarifying what he said in 1 John 1:8? or is he saying something slightly different?

Is he, in 1 John 1:8, saying that the element of sin dwells in us in the present tense, and in 1 John 1:10 saying that this has worked itself out practically in our past?

If sin dwells in us presently, is there a key that you find to rendering its power dead within you?

I find that even though I have sought to reckon sin dead within me, it is not as easy as one might think. Temptation comes; and when it does, I find that the reality that comes to mind is that in those moments sin is not dead within me, but is seeking to be very much alive. Is there a key to bringing that element of sin back to the place of being crucified within me? I find that it is not an easy thing to reckon sin dead within me in those moments when it is rearing its ugly head and I cannot deny that it is very much alive!

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I want to add one critical element. As we walk out of the wilderness of religious self-effort, and put on our new natures in the land of promise, we still can slip into sin. My own awakening was so powerful that Ixwas not conscious of sin in my life for almost two straight years, after having walked wherecI gave into my list multiple times a day every single day. What a miracle!

But I had a lesson to learn. As I had no one instructing me, I was slowly assuming that willful sin was simply impossible now. I had to learn that is not the case. We ALWAYS abide by faith. If our shield of faith is lowered, we will act like the same old sinners as before.

Think about Joshua leading the children of Israel into the promised land, First up? Jericho. And the walls came tumbling down. Next up? Little Ai. So Joshua assumed they only had to send only a small army there to defeat them. Boy, was he wrong. Our eyes must remain fixed upon Him as our victory. We overcome by faith. We abide by faith. The minute we presume that “we got this now”, a spanking is in our future.

Now the bigger lesson. If we fall back into sin, what do we do? Do we fear it was all a lie? That is what Satan will tempt us to do. Nope, the truth remains firm even if our faith in the truth wavers. So, IF we sin, we confess it for what it is, but see the root sin that allowed it.... unbelief. So we repent of that as well, turn our backs on it and ..... we believe again!

Satan will be beside himself. “How can you say you are free from sin’s grip??” He will scream incredulously. “You just sinned! I saw you!” But he will be staring at your raised shield of faith again, and he will know he finally is in deep doo doo, for you are learning how to fight your good fight of faith, and that, dear brother, is a fight you are destined to win.

And praise God, as we continue to grow in faith, we find that God will eventually establish us in the faith, and falling backwards will be but a distant memory. It is not that we can’t sin. Oh, we have the potential to sin, for we still have fleshly bodies. But once established in the faith, we simply do not slip. God keeps us from falling, just as He has promised us.

Blessings,

Gids

Blessings to you.

Gideon

justbyfaith said:

re #27:

That is me.

I have a question, because you said there is no monster inside me; and what I meant by that is that the element of sin dwells in every one of us (1 John 1:8).

So are you saying that as believers, we do not have sin?

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We must distinguish between our fleshly body and our carnal fleshly fallen nature.

We will not be rid of our fleshly body until the Lord returns and we received our glorified bodies. But the Word is clear, we are no longer in the flesh, meaning our nature.

We are not told by God to stop producing bad fruits. We are told to make our tree good. How? By cutting off the bad fruits as fast as they appear? No. By faith, we believe we are grafted into the vine of Christ, and the very nature of Christ now flows through us, causing spiritual fruits to be produced.

We do not set our minds that we are going to be fruitful. What spiritual exercise can we do to be more patient or more loving? It is futility as it’s best. No, we, by faith, come into agreement with God that we are in the vine and the vine is in us and as we abide, we WILL produce good fruits.

When one kills a snake by cutting off its head, does the snake immediately lie still? No, often, it moves all the more. And so it is with us. When we come into agreement with God that it is no more us that live, but Christ who now lives in us, we might not immediately see or feel different. We might still be assailed with temptations, and Satan will be trying his bets to convince us that there is no way possible that our old nature is dead.

But let me ask a question here. When did the snake die? When the body stopped moving or when the head was separated from the body? Do you see where this is leading?

We do not believe because we see ourselves more spiritual. We do not believe because we feel dead to self and sin. We believe because we KNOW those two critical truths from Romans 6 as t own at God accomplished through Jesus’ death AND His resurrection.

Until we have our doubts erased as to the intent of 1 John 1:8, even if there are 20 verses telling us that sin shall not have dominion over us and that we owe it nothing, that doubt will be like a traitor left to guard the gate to the walled city. He will let the enemy in,and we will be thrown back on a Christianity that can forgive, but has no actual power to set us free indeed as Jesus promised.

Cast out the doubt, dear brother. God has a miracle with each of our names on it, but until we hate our life without walking in it, al2ays falling back into sin and self love, all that awaits us is more laps in the wilderness unrtil we are finally ready to ONLY believe.

If we are promised victory over the world, the flesh and the devil and that God will make us overcomers, shall we settle for anything less? How much defeat must we walk in until we are sick to death of it..... of being healed only slightly, saying ‘Peace, peace’ when we have no peace?

In Ezekiel 36, God tells us that in the last days, the heathen shall know that He is the Lord when..... when we send missionaries all over the Word? When everyone gets a television set so they can watch our Sunday services?

No, God says that they will KNOW that He is the Lord, when He shall be sanctified IN US before their very eyes. For far too long have they seen us as religious hypocrites, defending our lives of weakness, worldliness and sin as the best God can do, because we are only human.

We fool ourselves. They are not fooled. There are still multitudes out there that never darken the doors of our churches, who long to see real joy in the eyes of His children, and purity of actions displayed to the world that are God’s work, not ours. A new day is dawning, and one by one, God’s elect are going to be awakened and light their lamps. Oh, we have the oil, but we have no fire burning brightly within us. What do we lack? Our testimony that makes up our shield of faith as to who we really are in Him.

If changes, amazing changes, glorious changes ar coming, and our eyes shall see them. The bride, long a laughingstock to the world, is about to be prepared for her wedding and she will be adorned with holiness and purity of heart, and the world will once again be amazed.

Live, bones, live.

Blessings,

Gideon

justbyfaith said:

The point that I have made in previous posts has been that we do have those moments when we are not living according to the new man; and for a long time in my Christian walk I considered that I was not yet saved because of that: until I discovered that forgiveness belongs to me in Christ and that this is not predicated on my walk.

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Amen to that. As I said, we can slip as we arm ourselves with our testimonies as to who we are and who we no longer are.

Think for a minute about a father who has a 16 month old who is struggling to learn how to walk. As the baby strains to get it right, and falls, does the parent sigh and believe he will never get it? Not at all. He smiles, encouraged by the child’s determination to please the dad.

If we slip, does it change anything as to the truth? Not one whit! All it means is that our faith is shaky. So, do we throw up our hands in resignation to failure? Never! We hold fast to our profession of faith, without wavering, knowing that if we will continue in His truth, and refuse to be moved away from the hope of the gospel, we KNOW that God will assuredly plant our feet in victory, for He is faithful that promised.

Blessings,

Gids

justbyfaith said:

In my own life I had a very intense experience with the Lord, and for a year afterward I was set free completely from "the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:4).

But I fell back into it in a stress-filled moment. And almost immediately, the enemy came at me with Hebrews 6:1-8 and Hebrews 10:26-31. He told me through those scriptures that I had fallen away and could never come to repentance; that I had lost my salvation and could never, ever, regain it.

So I am concerned that if I begin to walk in a freedom that I also had for that first year, that if I fall again after an extended period of time of walking in holiness, I will have as hard of a fall, or harder of a fall, than the first time. In the NIV, in Job, it says that a man comes back to the Lord once, twice, and even three times. I have come to the Lord twice in my life, and fallen twice; and if I come back a third time and then fall yet again, I fear there may be no redemption; if it be true that my salvation is dependent on whether or not I willfully sin against God (to bring us back to the OP).

So I have great motivation to believe that the blood of Jesus brings forgiveness completely apart from my performance or my walk.

Then if I fall down again, it will not be to utter condemnation.

Because I know that I am subject to weakness; and therefore I can not guarantee to myself that if I enter into a hardcore relationship with Christ wherein I eschew evil completely because of a fear of falling, that I will not fall again unto a complete and utter despair.

I prefer to believe that God has redeemed me completely on the basis of what He did for me on the Cross and not on the basis of my performance as a Christian.

That it is my faith in Christ that saves me, and not my ability to walk in holiness, i.e. according to the "new man" as opposed to the "old man".

That I can rest secure in the salvation that is the forgiveness of God to me through the blood of Jesus; given to me through faith in Jesus Christ alone and not how well I am living or will be living as a Christian.

That this assured forgiveness (1 Thessalonians 1:5, 1 John 5:13) will indeed have the effect of making me to fall in love with Jesus (Luke 7:36-50) so that I will love God and the people around me not in word or in tongue only but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:17-18).

I know that I desire to please the Lord as the result of my understanding of His unconditional forgiveness (faith in Him being the only condition).

If in falling I would be placed in a state of not being forgiven, I do not think I can do it. I know that I am too weak to be able to stand for ever in a state of holiness and victory; I need to have the knowledge that if I fall it will not be to utter condemnation.

And that is where I am right now. God has gently shown me that I am a justified sinner, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and not through any kind of powerful walk of faith.

Maybe I will enter into a powerful walk of faith as He continues to gently lead me in the understanding that if I fall it will not be to utter condemnation.

I am treading my ground carefully. I find that considering myself to be a justified sinner is right where I need to be in my understanding, even for the rest of my life.

Not that I am saying this in a rebellious attitude of resisting the process of sanctification. I welcome His work of sanctifying me in my life.

But as I said before, Psalms 51:3 has shown me that my sin is ever before me, and I will say now that this has revolutionized me in my thinking.

Whereas before, I thought that one day I would reach entire sanctification and that in that day I would be truly saved; now I know that I am saved in the present moment and that He is sanctifying me on a daily basis: and that because I am finite and He is infinite as pertains to holiness, I am always going to have room to grow when it comes to sanctification; until I get my glorified body and I will be like Him; for I shall see Him as He is.

As long as I am in this flesh, the perfect attitude for me to have is that I have not apprehended that for which Christ has apprehended me; but that I ought to press on toward the goal of the high calling of God for me in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-16).

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Brother, I respect your position and will let you walk as you think best. I would like you to bear one thing in mind.

When you fell in your moment of stress, what was the real error? Stepping out to believe Him and falling, or not getting back up, confident that God would not let you stay a fallen man.

When Peter walked on the water to Jesus and began to sink, would it have pleased the Lord more if he climbed back in the boat is defeat, but safe defeat, or if he had said, “I am sorry I doubted you Lord” and grabbed His hand to go again.

I pray that your hunger for Him and the joy that comes from walking pleasing to Him overtakes your fear of falling away. Please understand that If God tells us to forgive seven times seventy times, how much more will He forgive you far more than three times? God’s goodness is far greater than your weakness.

If ever I can be of help to you, feel free to PM me and I will do whatever I can to assist you on your walk towards full victory. Thank you for being so forthright in explaining your mindset. God has much, much more for you and I am convinced that Hecwill lead you to His fullness with gentleness but persistent gentleness.

Be blessed, my dear brother in Christ

Gideon

Sure. Let’s start with Galatians 3:22. It says:

But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Galatians 3:22

All this is saying is that under the law, which it referred to immediately preceding this verse, all failed to keep it. No one is going to appear at the judgment seat and pass with flying colors based upon their efforts. We all need a savior, which, coincidentally, is exactly what John is telling us in 1 John 1:8.

Then, in Galatians 6:13, I am not exactly sure to what you are referring, but Paul is saying again in essence, that no man can keep the law.

Why? Because we are told that if we offend in just one point, we are guilty of all.

Just to clarify however, both of these verses as well as 1John 1:8 are simply telling us that we all need Jesus as our savior. But not one of them is placing limits on what God can do to a man to keep him from sinning.

Lest we forget, Jesus was named such because He would save His people FROM their sins, not in them. We are told as plainly as can be stated, that if we abide in Him, we will not sin.

Why? Because of our great spirituality? LOL. No. BecUse of our great determination and effort? Ha! But simply because God promises to cause us to walk as obedient children under the new covenant.

That is why the verse you mentioned in Psalms “My sin is ever before me” is not a man under the new covenant but under the old. This is where rightly dividing the word of God is critical to understanding what God is saying to us.

Blessings,

Gideon