Is walking as overcomers in real victory a promise or an unattainable "goal"?

[Gideons300]

Hi guys. Some of you know me from my years of posting here. To others of you, the messages I share are brand new. Either way, what God has asked me to share is..... well, different. You will not hear it from your pulpit, not yet at least. It is GREAT news, but it will not, at least at first, be accepted by many, and I suspect few pastors will agree with it. In truth, it will actually be resisted, for it threatens our status quo, Sunday-go-to-meeting Western style Christianity. Why? Because it exposes what we are trying to pass off as the fullness of what God can do for us, as simply not true. Our shallowness, our lack of reality, our lack of burden, our compromise with the world are exposed for all to see. So, if you follow along as I try to share what God began to reveal to me now ten years ago, understand that most of your Christian friends will not be joining you, LOL. Later though? You bet.

Here are some main points that will come out in all my messages.

1) Our current Christianity is not only not cutting it, it is actually detrimental to the seekers of the world listening to what we have to say. We have settled for a gospel that can forgive us by faith (true), but cannot change us, liberate us, free us from the POWER of sin by faith as well. When a man comes to Christ, here are the instructions he basically is given.

a. Read your Bible
b. Go to church
c. Pray
d. God will do the rest.
e. And when you are still not changing, and still sinning, you are universally forgiven
anyway so don't sweat it.

We are promised by God that He will transform us, fill us with spiritual fruit, set us FREE INDEED. And yet it is not happening, is it? Our theory of progressive sanctification is a lie. After decades of walking as Christians, men still struggle with the power sin has on them. I sure did, and more than most! Holiness is looked at as a "goal" we shoot for, but in truth can never attain. Thus we settle in for the long haul. No one is instructed as to HOW to get free. We simply do not believe it possible in this life. And we are wrong.

As a result of this "half gospel", the world sees us as hypocrites, essentially pretty much just like other "good" people in the world, but we get to go to heaven, and them? Uh-oh, bad news. Guys, it is called hypocrisy. Laodecian lukewarmness. Content without truly abiding in Him, and worse with no real burning desire to get free of sins in our lives. Our faith stops at forgiveness and as a result, our continuing to sin is hardening our hearts, and that is a dangerous thing.

2) Ten years ago, God appeared to me and shared with me what was holding me up. It works. It is not hard, and in truth it is actually amazingly easy. No spiritual strength is needed. Actually, those who are weak and defeated have a great advantage over those who the Bible says "can make a fair show of it in the flesh". Why? We KNOW we need a miracle to be truly Christians inside and out. It is to them who have NO strength who will become overcomers. So if you are reading these words and somewhere deep inside, it is resonating with your spirit, you are blessed.

3) The core of what I share is that when we are born again, it is not just spiritual jargon. We really do become new. The old us, called the old man, dies, because Jesus took us with Him in His death. And when Jesus rose from the dead, praise God, He brought us up with Him, as brand new people. Our sin nature was replaced by God in us. That is the new man. The power of sin, of willful disobedience, was broken. So now the logical question. Why aren't I different? Why do I still fall, when God said He will keep me from falling?

It's is simple. We have not mixed truth with our faith. We have not been taught what Paul clearly shares in Romans 6. We must take that truth and apply it to us as DONE. If we believe we are still just sinners, saved by grace, guess what? We will still sin. Ah, but if we reckon, add to our spiritual assets, that we are no longer sinners but children of God, and believe the promises of God, guess what? We walk there. God tells us to yield ourselves to Him, but how? As miserable failing children? NO! We are told to yield ourselves to Gim as those who has risen from the dead! Our faith is not the power, but it truly plugs into God's promises and we suddenly find we can... no, no... we DO say no to the devil when temptations come. How? Because God causes us to do so.

Is this not what God has promised? Has He not told us that our shields of faith will quench EVERY arrow Satan casts at us? Has He not said the sin shall no longer have dominion over us? Has He not assured us that we have been delivered from the POWER of darkness. Yes! And He cannot lie! BUT..... these promises only work when we stop trying to wrestle our old nature into submission, and KILL it by faith. We put off the old nature, put on the new, and then the processs of being changed into His likeness truly kicks into gear. Guys, from one who was miserably bound by the devil ten years ago, I can attest with all honesty. It works. Why? Because allGod's promises to us are yea and amen. God cannot lie.

This is getting long, so I will continue in a second post but listen with your heart to these two scriptures.

Peter said:

"Where are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these (the promises), we might be changed into His image."

And John in Revelations tells us of the saints in the latter days.... our days:

"......and they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the lamb AND the word of THEIR testimony."

Is the light beginning to come on? The church is about to be awakened as to who we really are. You..... we all..... are about to be blessed beyond our imaginations to even conceive. Real revival, book of Acts type Christianity, is about to make its return on planet earth, and we are to be integral parts. And the world, scorning us for our shallow religious hypocrisy, will soon say "Look! That which bore only briars and thorns has become again like the garden of Eden!"

Stay tuned for more. A second post is coming revealing God's overall plan for His church and we are to have a HzUGE part in it. So buckle your spiritual seatbelts. It is about to get mind- blowingly exciting.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Greg J.]

A lot of Christians agree with you, so you won't find the kind of resistance you imagine. From what you wrote it seems you have discovered the difference between acting like a Christian and being a Christian. Lots of people don't know the difference, and that is probably the group of people your message is best suited to.

we DO say no to the devil when temptations come. How? Because God causes us to do so.

God doesn't cause us to do anything. God already finish the work so we have the power in Him to say "no" to temptation. We can choose to let Christ live through us or not. We can try to be like we really are (the new man) or not. We can seek God for help or not. We can be obedient or not.

It works.

There is no technique that just "works." There is only a person (Jesus) that "works." Having faith is quite different than having a knowledge of faith. We can teach about faith, but we can't convey our faith in any direct sense (such as with an explanation). Fortunately we are partners with God in growing other people's faith, but it isn't by talking about faith, it is by them seeing us act on our belief and trust in God.

 

[Gideons300]

A lot of Christians agree with you, so you won't find the kind of resistance you imagine. From what you wrote it seems you have discovered the difference between acting like a Christian and being a Christian. Lots of people don't know the difference, and that is probably the group of people your message is best suited to.

God doesn't cause us to do anything. God already finish the work so we have the power in Him to say "no" to temptation. We can choose to let Christ live through us or not. We can try to be like we really are (the new man) or not. We can seek God for help or not. We can be obedient or not.

There is no technique that just "works." There is only a person (Jesus) that "works." Having faith is quite different than having a knowledge of faith. We can teach about faith, but we can't convey our faith in any direct sense (such as with an explanation). Fortunately we are partners with God in growing other people's faith, but it isn't by talking about faith, it is by them seeing us act on our belief and trust in God.

Thank you so much for your reply. My own story is that for thirty eight years, I truly loved God but battled porn. I was the poster boy for Ronans chapter 7. The things I wanted to do, I didn't do, and the things I wanted to avoid were the very things I did. I had free will. And with that free will, I chose things I hated.

You mentioned that God does not cause us to do anything. May I respectfully disagree?

In Ezekiel 36, God outlines the coming new covenant and what it will accomplish in our lives. Here are the verses out of the KJV.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. "

We read that and picture God somehow making us robots with no choice in the matter. But think about it. We are picturing God there and us here. Separated. Two. And that is how it was before. But what if God is inside us, with His Spirit and our spirits becoming ONE? When He makes the choice, I too am making the same choice. The is the amazing glory of our putting on our new natures.

When we were under the law, we had free choices and yet failed. Even as believers, we have seen the same dynamic. Why? We have tried to yield ourselves to God as those who are just sinners saved by grace. We have not yielded ourselves as the Word tells us to... as those who are alive from the dead!

But as our eyes are becoming opened to the truth of who we are, then under the fullness of the New Covenant, God changes our "want to"!

Does this amazing benefit line up with other verses given to us? Absolutely! Has He not told.us that He is the God who is able to keep us from falling?

If we commit our care to Him as new creatures, is He not the God who can and will keep that which was committed unto Him until that day He returns?

Has He not told us that we have not only been forgiven, but we have in truth been delivered from the POWER of darkness?

What good is the whole armor of God if a part of us inside the armor wants to disobey? The shield of faith He has given us works! We simply have to raise it.

How can God assure us that we will not be tempted above that which we are able to bear, if, when given the prmised way of escape, we choose not to take it?

Here is the deal. When we, by faith, put on the new nature, having reckoned that our old fleshly nature is dead, and thus we are indeed DEAD to sin, the only way we can slip is if we doubt.

So when we first put our hope in the promise He gives us that it is no more us that live, but Him who lives in us, if we are dead,really dead, how could we possibly disobey? There is but one way. Our faith falters and we doubt. Then our shield is down and satan's arrows find their mark.

But praise God, He has ordained that we will continue in the truth, we WILL become established in the faith. Like children learning to walk, yes, we can slip at the beginning of our walk of faith. But as we continue to fight our good fight of faith, believing God will keep us from falling, and cause us to obey, we see to our joy and amazement that we quench the fiery darts of the enemy every time! Do we see adults, having learned how to walk slipping back into falling down again? Of course not!

I can testify that this is not religious "theory", something I cooked up by linking different scriptures together to make them say what I want. The truth is, as undeserving as I was, God gave me these truths face to face (well, actually face to back of trembling neck, LOL) in a miraculous visitation ten years ago. I was ready to quit, for I was so tired of disappointing and disobeying my Lord. I had run out of possible answers, having NO hope that I would ever choose to not disobey. Wretched.

I needed the God that keeps me from falling or I was doomed And I can testify to any and all who will listen, that as I have trusted Him to keep me, and to deliver me from evil, and to make a way of escape in each and every temptation, He has done exactly as He promised, and CAUSED ME to obey Him.

Our salvation is far more wonderful than we have imagined and in these last days, He is even now awakening us to who we are and who we no longer are. And what is He asking us to do with this understanding?

Light our lamps!

We have heard the story to the black dog and the white dog fighting in our hearts. Which one wins, we are asked? The one we feed the most! It sounds so logical, but why do we keep insisting to feed the black one?? The truth is it is simply not scriptural. And why?

The black dog is dead.

And once we truly get that, our world is going to be turned upside down, and wonderfully change, in ways we cannot yet even imagine.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Greg J.]

we DO say no to the devil when temptations come. How? Because God causes us to do so.

God doesn't force us to do anything. He may lead us, tell us, or influence us, but doesn't force us. That would be overriding our free will. He gave us free will and didn't make any mistakes in doing so. He never wants to or needs to alter what he has already finished. He already did it perfectly.

What happens is that God is with us and we benefit if we choose what is in line with his will. If what you wrote was true, then everyone who is saved could no longer sin. If what you wrote was true, then God would not reward us for resisting sin, because it was him doing it for us. The language in Scripture can be confusing because sometimes it refers to what Jesus does in or through us, what we do, and we the "new man" (a union of us and Christ) does. But a ton of the New Testament is written for people who are in Christ but are still choosing to sin instead of choosing to act according to their new nature.

 

[Gideons300]

God doesn't force us to do anything. He may lead us, tell us, or influence us, but doesn't force us. That would be overriding our free will. He gave us free will and didn't make any mistakes in doing so. He never wants to or needs to alter what he has already finished. He already did it perfectly.

What happens is that God is with us and we benefit if we choose what is in line with his will. If what you wrote was true, then everyone who is saved could no longer sin. If what you wrote was true, then God would not reward us for resisting sin, because it was him doing it for us. The language in Scripture can be confusing because sometimes it refers to what Jesus does in or through us, what we do, and we the "new man" (a union of us and Christ) does. But a ton of the New Testament is written for people who are in Christ but are still choosing to sin instead of choosing to act according to their new nature.

Brother, you are entitled to your opinion, but I have shared with you clear scriptures showing what I share to be true.

The path you are describing is what we have all been taught. Has it led its followers into walking deeper and deeper into holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives?

No, the sad truth is that because we have remained with our free will intact, and sinning when we feel like it when we are tempted, we have seen our hearts hardened, and our testimonies compromised. The Christianity we have presented to the world is half hearted, lukewarm and we are seen as hypocrites, and sadly, here the children of the world are wiser then the children of light. But praise God, all that is fixing to change. We are about to be taught how to make our tree good, and escape our double-mindedness.


On the path you present, who can ever be holy, or know how to possess their body in sanctifation and honor?

Here is what you are missing. We as the church are the prodigal son. We have exercised our free will and it has led us far from the heart of God. At some point, we will realize that unless our free will is somehow swallowed up, melted into His will, we will remain with our faces into our religious hog triughs, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

But a new day is dawning. We have all slept, but soon, one by one, believers will awake to righteousness, return in brokenness to the Father and offer up to Him our ultimate offering. And what is that? Brother, it is our free will. We are humbled, and say to Him, just as the prodigal did. What will we be doing? We will be lighting our lamps. We will say, often in tears:

"I am unworthy to be your son. Just let me serve and obey you."

And to our amazement, it is then that the miracle happens. We discover that in giving that ultimate sacrifice, choosing to give up our ability to choose evil, we become bond servants, lifetime servants, and to our delight, we find our God open up our path to become real sons and daughters of the Lord..... and finally discover what FREE INDEED really means.

I appreciate your comments.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Greg J.]

If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. (John 7:17, 1984 NIV)

Our goal should be to understand the core of what God has been revealing to theologians and pastors for two thousand years and obey the living person, Jesus Christ. Scripture leads us to living by the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit. Don't listen to anyone, including yourself, if something new comes to mind that contradicts the Word as understood by mainstream Christian missionaries who have sacrificed forty years of their lives and suffered to bring the Good News to others. It is only through the experiences that come from obedience and suffering that we can know God. If a person has not suffered as Jesus did, she cannot know God like Jesus did.

In Christ we are completed in spirit, but not in the physical realm. Romans 7 is in the present tense. When Paul wrote it he was still doing what he didn't want to do. We are commanded to resist sin. Accepting that in Christ you are already the way God wants in this life is a denial of 90% of God's Word.

You have misunderstood the verses you quoted because you have yet to assimilate what God does vs. what we are commanded to strive to do vs. what results from each and why. You would benefit from finding a mainstream preacher you like listening to and learn from him. There's plenty that broadcast their sermons. If you disagree with a few mainstream preachers, it's not they who are in spiritual trouble. A person that continues down his own path leaves a trail of footholds for the devil.

 

[Gideons300]

If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. (John 7:17, 1984 NIV)

Our goal should be to understand the core of what God has been revealing to theologians and pastors for two thousand years and obey the living person, Jesus Christ. Scripture leads us to living by the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit. Don't listen to anyone, including yourself, if something new comes to mind that contradicts the Word as understood by mainstream Christian missionaries who have sacrificed forty years of their lives and suffered to bring the Good News to others. It is only through the experiences that come from obedience and suffering that we can know God. If a person has not suffered as Jesus did, she cannot know God like Jesus did.

In Christ we are completed in spirit, but not in the physical realm. Romans 7 is in the present tense. When Paul wrote it he was still doing what he didn't want to do. We are commanded to resist sin. Accepting that in Christ you are already the way God wants in this life is a denial of 90% of God's Word.

You have misunderstood the verses you quoted because you have yet to assimilate what God does vs. what we are commanded to strive to do vs. what results from each and why. You would benefit from finding a mainstream preacher you like listening to and learn from him. There's plenty that broadcast their sermons. If you disagree with a few mainstream preachers, it's not they who are in spiritual trouble. A person that continues down his own path leaves a trail of footholds for the devil.

Brother , I do appreciate your concerns, I truly do. And to an extent, I understand why you feel as you do.cI fully realize that what I share is not commonly heard, and thus, being new to us, naturally our defenses come up.

However, if you will bear with me, I would to address a few of the points you brought up.

1) The argument that we must follow the teachings of those who have gone before us is in itself dangerous. We would not be Protestants today if Martin Luther had followed that line of thinking, correct? Paul himself could be looked at in error as well, as he turned his back on his Jewish heritage and left the Jewish faith to follow the Lord who revealed Himself.

Are we not counseled to look at fruits produced as the real way to spot error?If we look at the fruits of our present Christianity, warning signs go off. How does our brand of Christianity stack up with those of the early church? The sad but undeniable truth is that the church today, especially in the west, is lukewarm at best. Our pastors are "employed", not burdened. Oir people walk with one foot in the world, and divorce, porn, worldliness, envy all plague the vast majority. And what do we give the people to combat this onslaught of Satan? The assurance that Paul was a captive to sin as well? No wonder so many have lost hope. We give them no weapons with.which to fight!

2) That brings me to the second objection I have. Paul, in Romas, is no way was speaking of himself in the present tense. The entire chapter 7 was written to portray a particular group of people....revealed in the very first verse.

"I write to them that know the law....."

What Paul shares, he shares of his walk in trying to obey under the law. But the strength of sin is the law, and there is but one escape- death.

And praise God, that is why we died with Christ. The hold the law had on us was forever broken. So when Paul says that the things he wanted to do, he did nor, and the rights he longed to be free from, these he did, can we honestly think that Paul was conveying his Christian experience? When we are told that ministers must be holy men, was Paul himself exempt?

The one who cried out "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?", did He not answer that question Immediately by saying "Thank God, through Kesus Christ my Lord"? He did indeed.

If what you say is true, the contradictions it cause in the Word makes ones head spin. Romans 8 itself proves it. He tells us that we are no longer in the flesh and owe it nothing!

How could we be told that we will not be allowed to be tempted above that which we are able to bear if we refuse to take the way of escape He provides? What earthly benefit is there for armor to resist Satan if the person inside is part traitor?

How can we be delivered from the POWER of darkness, and told that sin has no more dominion over us, if both are actually lies? Do you see the problem?

Are we not told that if we sin willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth, that great danger lies in wait? When we are told that we are to know how to possess our vessels in sanctification and honor, how exactly is this even possible if we are still captives to Romans 7? The truth is, it is not. We are set free to live in Romas 8, dear brother.

When Jesus addressed the sin issue, found in John 8, He promised that the path He offered is would make us free, and the hearers chaffed at him, saying that they were already free men. And Jesus replied...

"Whosoever committeth sin is a servant to sin, but whom the Son sets free is FREE INDEED.

3) The fact that this is new to our hearing in no way makes it wrong. The truth is, this is what powered the early church to turn the world upside down in a single generation. This is what caused men to exclaim, "Behold how they love one another!" If we we filled with the same passion and joy they had, if we loved not the world nor the things in the worlds they did, if our hearts beat solely for Jesus and we loved our brothers and sisters with purity and passion as the early saints did, perhaps I would agree with you. But we do not, do we? Instead we are looked at as religious hypocrites, and guess what? By and large, we have been.

4) What I share is scriptural. I have offered many examples to show that this is true. You have offered the value of honoring tradition, tradition that has led us into lukewarmness and compromise. The truth is, that Jesus said that in the last days, ALL would be asleep, both wheat and tares, growing together. Is that not what we find, men content with nice worship services, a not-to-long sermon, a closing prayer, and back into the world where we really find our hearts?This is Christianity? This is men running their race as if there is but one prize? You know the answer to this as well as I do.

I can convince no one that what I share is the truth. God himself is even now awakening saints to who they are, as they put off their old nature and light their lamps.

I did not come up with this as theory and weave together verses to back it up. I did not have to. The truth is, it is there is scripture plainly to be seen, but up till now, we have all been blinded, just as the Laodecian church was told. But God appeared to me, miraculously, ten years ago, when I was ready to give up, for sin had me by the neck. Praise God, this chief of sinners found out that what I was told works. God is faithful. How can I deny it if it is both effectual and scriptural and also was given to me in a fade to face encounter by the Lord himself? I cannot.

Ultimately, there will be a battle in each man's heart here. Those who truly love the Lord will have a deep unquenchable desire to stop disobeying their savior. Those are wheat. That desire is given by the Holy Speit, the oil. And in the end, every true sheep will be awakened to the glory of our salvation and reckon themselves dead to sin, and alive unto God. And by the act of reckoning themselves dead unto sin, they will light their lamps, and in doing so, trade religion in for righteousness.

The tares, content with tradition and with no real desire to learn how to possess their vessels in sanctification and honor, will resist and eventually persecute those who disagree. It is coming, and in our generation. This is the beginning of that time, brother. We are seeing a miracle begin and are being asked to be a part of it.

I am nothing. Men ought not listen to me But let them search the scriptures to see if what is shared is true! Amen? Let them seek God in prayer for leading. And let them listen to the still small voice of the indwelling Spirit within and follow the path He is leading us all on.

It is called the highway OF holiness, where a man can be a fool, weak and unlearned, and still walk in real victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. It is time we stop being overcome with evil and instead be transformed into overcomers. And how is this to be accomplished? Simple. We do so by combining the blood of the lamb with the words of OUR testimony that it is no longer us that live, but Christ who now lives in us as new men.

I accept if you currently disagree, and as I said, I do understand how difficult it can be to hear something that sounds so 'radical', but may I assure you, it is radically wonderful and if you truly long to be free of willful disobedience, your heart and walk will never be the same if you but seek God for the truth, and believe Him as He speaks.

Blessings,

Gideon