It is a hard topic to get right without sounding like works-based legalism (which is equally disqualifying).
What is there was a path where all who truly loved God were totally secure and yet also totally assured of bearing much fruit and good works?
It was solve a lot of the confusion about faith only vs. faith plus works, wouldn’t it? The faith only camp would be satisfied! as would the faith plus works group.
is there such a place? Yes there is. It is found in our putting off our old nature by faith and putting on our new man, our armor. It is found in putting on Christ Himself as our new nature.
We do not have to try to work here. God works IN US. As we abide in Him, we discover holiness to not be an unattainable goal, but a highway that we walk upon, yoked with Christ, and with Him doing the heavy pulling, lol.
You see, we have read about the truths that when Christ did, so did our old nature, and that when Christ rose from the dead, we too received new natures. But this confuses us. We still feel old, so we set about trying to “become new”, trying to deny self, trying to defeat sin in our lives. And..... it is not working, is it?
Something is obviously out of place. True overcoming and walking in victory seems impossible, so we have resigned it to the next life. But we are called to walk in holiness and righteousness NOW. What are we missing?
Twelve years ago now, God appeared to me and showed me what I had missed, what most all of us have missed. It is the instruction Paul gave us after those two important truths I just shared.
Paul tells us in Romans 6 that we are asked to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto Him, where we actually, with our will, put off our old nature by an act of audacious faith, believing.... truly believing that the old
us, the
us we have been trying to reform, is actually not us any more. We
are dead!
Likewise, we are told to reckon by faith that we now possess new natures, natures that not only want to obey, but actually CAN obey!
We are all about to awaken to this truth, and when we do, we will understand that there is ZERO conflict between faith alone and faith plus works, because when we walk in our new natures, God actually causes us.... yes, you read that right....
causes us.... to obey!
is this scriptural? Absolutely! In Ezekiel 36, where the new covenant is revealed, God tells us after this what we are all about to do.
“I shall yet be inquired of by the House o& Israel
to do it for them” Glory
!
We are about to be awakened to the glorious truth of who we are and when we do, we... both as individuals and as His church.... will never be the same.
Blessings,
Gideon