The Missing Piece of Our Christianity, the Key to Overcoming (Multi-part)

[greenguzzi]

We start thinking we've had a revelation and no one else has had

Exactly.
For me is was in 1976, on Parramatta Road, in a Toyota Corolla. I fair dinkum had a vision where God spoke to me. As a direct result of that experience I am now a follower of Christ.
But that experience is a personal one. I don't feel the need to share it with others, except right now as an example to show that personal revelations are not to be imposed on others.

 

[Gideons300]

Does it bother you that 1 John says no one has seen God?

Also, you're suggesting that something is missing from the gospel. I believe you're about to put yourself into Galatians 1:8-9 territory. If you're saying something is missing from the gospel, then you are trying to teach something that is not in the Bible.

I quote this quite often. But it seems always worth repeating:
"Whatever is true is not new. Whatever is new is not true."

No, not at all, lol. That night, when God appeared to me, a blinding golden light literally put me on my face. If I had eyes in the back of my neck, I might have caught a glimpse... and then died, of course.

I was bowed before His presence, never looking up, not even tempt

and ye shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you...

So.... have we? We are told that we have been delivered from the power of darkness.

If we are walking in that light, I rejoice! But if we find that to be truthful, self and sin still hold us, even after walking with Christ for years, then we may have the Holy Spirt, but it does not yet have us. Thus we have been healed only slightly, and rested content that this is the best God can do for us.

The Word tells us that we are called to be overcomers, walking in total victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. Yet, by and large, most have set their sights on simply hanging on until the rapture, or until real death to our fleshly body accomplishes what the love of Jesus within us cannot.

It is called unbelief and we all have been guilty, myself at the head of the list. But in these last days, He is restoring to us what the cankerworm has eaten, and when we finally comprehend that our God will actually do what He promised to do in Ezekiel 36:27, and CAUSE US to walk as obedient children, we will see the church shed its religious skin and be transformed into a bride prepared to meet her bridegroom.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Gideons300]

I personally just do my best to not sin and am always seeking to be better when it comes to being obedient to God.

God knows when we are honestly trying, and I think that goes a long way with him. Practice makes perfect....or close as we can get.

Kenny, if that were true, would the church not be filled with saints who have walked with him for decades, leading the way in holiness and purity, and more on fire for the Lord than when they first began? That is not the case though, is it?

I understand that some will not accept what I ahave been asked to share, but there is no doubt that this is his message to us, to ALL His children. Some, as I said will accept it. Some will do the honorable thing and seek God with their Bibles open, and some will reject it, at least at the beginning. It is what comes with the territory, I guess. Each one of us just needs to search their hearts and ask themselves if such a walk is promised in the Word, if they are living it, and if not, what they need to do to see it changed. Waiting on time alone to somehow sanctify us is simply not true.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[greenguzzi]

Kenny, if that were true, would the church not be filled with saints who have walked with him for decades, leading the way in holiness and purity, and more on fire for the Lord than when they first began? That is not the case though, is it?

Maybe you are not looking in the right places.

 

[Gideons300]

Maybe you are not looking in the right places.

Brother, when was the last time you heard someone in the world marvel at how Christians love one another? Why does it not bother us that this is so? Are God’s hands tied, or are we perhaps limiting the Holy one of Israel?

God has given us exceeding great and precious promises that by those...the promises... we are made partakers of the very nature of God. And if we are finding we are not, should we not humble ourselves and cry out as Paul did as a wretched man to set him free indeed?

I am not trying to upset any. If anyone disagrees or takes me to be crazy, so be it. I understand. I am not offended. But there are people who are hurting and who are crying out for answers, answers the church is not giving them.

Jesus has promised to set us free indeed and defined it as free from committing sins.

We have been given shields of faith that God promises us will quench ALL the fiery arrows of the enemy.

Paul tells us that we are not in the flesh and owe it nothing.

God tells us through Ezekiel that He will actually cause us to walk as obedient children, and this is backed up in the New Testament that He will cause us to will AND to do of His good pleasure.

God has assured us that He will not allow us to be tempted above our ability to resist.

So, what shall we conclude? That it is all pie in the sky because we are only human? That, brother, is simply blind unbelief. I mean no disrespect, I truly don’t. Does God overpromise and underdeliver? Are we so spiritual as His people that we think we do not need these amazing promises?

If you think I am in error, you are free to write a post exposing the errors you think I am espousing. I do not want this post to go south. I am not looking for a fight. We are called to peace, and not to subtly try to ridicule.

The bottom line. We as His people desperately NEED this. Most do not see it and are content without godliness.... at least for now. We have no real answers for those struggling with addictive sins, and instead pat them on the back and tell them we are praying for them. We counsel them to read their Bibles, pray, go to church and give them no real weapons to fight.

We can either rest content with this approach, or we can admit our lack and seek God for the answer. Either way, I want peace between us, not a war of words. May God lead both of us to the truth.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[greenguzzi]

If you think I am in error, you are free to write a post exposing the errors you think I am espousing

I don't think you are in error, I just think you can't see what God is already doing.

 

[Gideons300]

Maybe you are not looking in the right places.

And if I cannot find it, what chance to people in the world, seeking real answers, have for discovering the truth that promises that can set them free indeed?

Our churches have become thousands of bushel baskets, competing for sheep, urging others to “their truth” not to Jesus Himself. And the world simply is not interested.

We conclude they do not want Jesus. No, they do not want the Jesus they see in us. Ouch. And until we can man up and admit that, and not get sarcastic or aggressive in defending what truly is indefensible, we will walk on with blinders on.

There is an answer for even the most addicted person on the planet. But until we believe that and humble ourselves before the Lord, ashamed of our religious pride and contentment with a true lack of agape love in our hearts to where it affects our actions and reactions, we will continue to gather around the cisterns we call church, and as well, continue to reject Him as the fountain of living water.

I do not mean to sound harsh. The words I speak I speak in love. Some are hard to hear. I get that. I pray you believe that my intentions are pure.

This is in no way MY message. It is His. I did not choose the calling God has given me to share it. But neither will I walk away from it, even when the going is hard. I want nothing out of this but for people to rediscover the joy of their salvation as they walk as overcomers of anything and everything Satan throws at them.

And when they do, what will be the result? Those in the world with no desire for religion but a true love of the light found in Jesus will come to that light.

God said in Ezekiel36 that the heathen will know that He is the Lord, when He shall be sanctified IN US before their very eyes. That, dear brother, is what we are all about to witness, and it will be mind blowing.

But first, we have to be awakened and light our lamps.

Many blessings,

Gids

 

[Kenny'sID]

Gideon, entailed in the following are 4 questions, if you would please answer them after reading the full post, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Kenny, if that were true, would the church not be filled with saints who have walked with him for decades, leading the way in holiness and purity, and more on fire for the Lord than when they first began? That is not the case though, is it?

I've little doubt most sincere Christians are more on fire than when they began.

1)What exactly do you mean there by "on fire"?

I understand that some will not accept what I ahave been asked to share, but there is no doubt that this is his message to us, to ALL His children. Some, as I said will accept it. Some will do the honorable thing and seek God with their Bibles open, and some will reject it, at least at the beginning.

See, here is the problem, you have assumed we/I have not "accepted" it already, that we have not already done the "honorable thing", that we need you to show us the way, and that's the thing that worries me. Now you will say, "oh, I know some have", but that's not what you are saying in general. You're assuming most here have not done as you say and are in the state you say they are.

I asked you in post 36....

where is that biblical, please?

....you did not answer that I know of, and this is not to say you have to answer but you need to know that the lack thereof is a reason to doubt you. You made a claim and would not back it up. That is one way we often test for the truth here...understand? But lets get past that for the moment.

2) Since all through this I still don't know what it is you bring to us that most of us won't "accept", will you please give me a brief rundown of that? To be clear I'm talking about what you mention in the 2nd quoted paragraph of yours here earlier in this post, or your basic message of this thread...the short version, as much as you can anyway.

3) Also will you tell me what we need do more than simply try to be obedient to God after we accept Christ, you know the thing I mentioned earlier that you disagreed with me on as insufficient? I'm happy to be proven wrong but when you disagree without citing a reason, that does no one any good, and does not back up your claim.

And lastly, on this:

Some are not ready yet. Some never will be ready. But there are multitudes out there, many not in our churches, who truly want pure hearts. They want to see all sin eradicated from their lives, and yet they see that with the weight on their shoulders, there is no hope.

4) Have you eradicated all sin from your life?

 

[Gideons300]

Gideon, entailed in the following are 4 questions, if you would please answer them after reading the full post, I would appreciate it. Thanks.



I've little doubt most sincere Christians are more on fire than when they began.

1)What exactly do you mean there by "on fire"?



See, here is the problem, you have assumed we/I have not "accepted" it already, that we have not already done the "honorable thing" and that we need you to show us the way, and that's the thing that worries me. Now you will say, oh, I know some have, but that's not what you are saying in general. You're assuming most here have not done as you say.

I asked you in post 36....



....you did not answer that I know of, and this is not to say you have to answer but you need to know that the lack thereof is a reason to doubt you. You made a claim and would not back it up. That is one way we often test for the truth here...understand? But lets get past that for the moment.

2) Since all through this I still don't know what it is you bring to us that most of us won't "accept", will you please give me a brief rundown of that? To be clear I'm talking about what you mention in the 2nd quoted paragraph of yours here earlier in this post, or your basic message of this thread...the short version, as much as you can anyway.

3) Also will you tell me what we need do more than simply try to be obedient to God after we accept Christ, the thing you disagreed with me on as insufficient? I'm happy to be proven wrong but when you disagree without citing a reason, that does no one any good.

And lastly, on this:



4) Have you eradicated all sin from your life?

Brother, the fact that you asked the question at the end reveals what you are not seeing. God is the one who sets us free indeed, as we continue to hold up our shields of faith that we are new creatures. As our shield fo faith grows stronger, our victory grows greater. This is the “progressive” part of sanctification, but it cannot proceed as long as we think we can grow from being old natures people into new natures ones. We must reckon the old nature DEAD. It is the only way.

It is not the end. This is no ‘instant sanctification’. It is not something we do to get there. It is simply believing God’s promise to plant our feet on the highway of holiness so that He will ‘cause us’ to walk in true victory.

I am asking you kindly to bow out of the posting, and I truly pray I am not offending you. If I felt you were truly seeking an answer to the issues that have been clearly raised, I would right volumes to try to help you understand. I am sure none doubt that, LOL.

But I also know when someone is simply trying to pick it apart, and it adds nothing to the purpose of the post. It just brings contention. A counter post by you would be more beneficial and as well, allow us to walk as brothers in peace. I pray you agree.

If you are sure I am in error, feel free to submit your own OP to help others find freedom from the attacks of the devil. I wish you well, and I mean that.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Kenny'sID]

Brother, the fact that you asked the question at the end reveals what you are not seeing. God is the one who sets us free indeed, as we continue to hold up our shields of faith that we are new creatures. As our shield fo faith grows stronger, our victory grows greater. This is the “progressive” part of sanctification, but it cannot proceed as long as we think we can grow from being old natures people into new natures ones. We must reckon the old nature DEAD. It is the only way.

It is not the end. This is no ‘instant sanctification’. It is not some we do to get there. It is simply believing God’s promise to plant our feet on the highway of holiness so that He will ‘cause us’ to walk in true victory.

I am asking you kindly to bow out of the posting. If I felt you were truly seeking an answer to the issues that have been clearly raised, I would right volumes to try to help you understand. I am sure none doubt that, LOL.

But I also know when someone is simply trying to pick it apart, and it adds nothing to the purpose of the post. A counter post by you would be more beneficial and as well, allow us to walk as brothers in peace. I pray you agree.

If you are sure I am in error, feel free to submit your own OP to help others find freedom from the attacks of the devil. I wish you well, and I mean that.

Blessings,

Gideon

Let it be known the OP did not answer a single question I posed. I have not goaded him for an answer, I even told him the one that he didn't answer was fine, but that I only need him to know, when people do not answer/cannot back up that they say, it shows there is a problem.

i have now been asked by him not to post here on a public forum because I am "picking"...see it is now my fault he will not back what he is saying or answer a few simple questions...a common move under the circumstances.

Since the op would not respond to the entirety of my post, I have nothing more to say to him. I can at least do that for him, but for some of us not to post here at all? that might be a bad idea regardless if you are asked by the OP to cease or not. I'll keep reading and responding if need be as normal, at least until someone can come up with a real reason to stop me.

There is nothing missing from the Gospel as the OP seems to think. And just that comment worries me as in we must have the OP in order to know what is missing from the gospel. Hate to say it but I still don't know what that is.

We curb our sinning by curbing our sinning, there is no secret magic missing from the Gospel to help us to do that, and to claim such only confuses people.

An honest question to anyone who would please answer...what does "hold up our shield of faith" even mean, I mean in layman terms? It sounds pretty, but I've been doing this a long time, and I can only think it means to have the same faith I've always had. If not someone please straighten me out, and tell me how that will "eradicate sin in my life" as I always thought that was up to me and my free will to simply sin or not? As for the eradication of sin, that won't happen completely the very reason Jesus died and we are to continue to ask forgiveness in his name. That, or maybe I'll learn something new here on how to actually do that.

On the following, and again, I'm not addressing any of this towards the OP, best if we no longer speak.

“Am I experiencing the fulfillment of what God has promised those who follow Him? Am I victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil? Is my heart truly joyful, full of love for even my enemies? Am I walking as a stranger and pilgrim or is my life tied more to the things of this life? “ if you have to hesitate, then I pray you see that something is missing. Time alone will not fix it. Nor will study. Bible memorization. fasting. Service. Some ‘experience’. No, none is but a band-aid and our wound is festering.

Is it too much to ask for someone to just say what that fix is?

 

[Yarddog]

Thank you all for your taking the time to read my posts. I pray as you continue reading, you will see what I am proposing as the missing piece of the gospel. That in itself will most likely offend some. I get that, I do. But ask yourself a question. “Am I experiencing the fulfillment of what God has promised those who follow Him? Am I victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil? Is my heart truly joyful, full of love for even my enemies? Am I walking as a stranger and pilgrim or is my life tied more to the things of this life? “ if you have to hesitate, then I pray you see that something is missing. Time alone will not fix it. Nor will study. Bible memorization. fasting. Service. Some ‘experience’. No, none is but a band-aid and our wound is festering.

What I am about to share is not some carefully woven blending of scriptures from various parts of the Bible, interpreted to fit my narrative. Neither is it my ‘opinion’, a conclusion of long study that will take someone halfway through seminary to grasp.

Some of you, when you first hear it, will say “That’s it? You are kidding. I knew that years ago.” Well guess what? So did I, lol. And Satan still had his foot on my neck.

What I am about to share here is not something you understand with your head. It is something seen with the heart, and the heart must be first come into a state of readiness to receive it. Hungry.

Again, let me be perfectly clear. 12 years ago, at my lowest, bound by inappropriate content and an angry judgmental spirit, longing to truly please God but out of options and more things to do in my attempts to walk with self truly crucified... 38 years of trying and miserably failing... our God appeared to me.... yes, yes, physically, and He spoke to me.... yes, audibly. That miraculous night, He shared with me what I am about to share with any who has ears to hear and finds themselves longing to be truly set free from trying to live a good Christian life in their own strength and failing.... and to actually live it with joy.

So with that in mind, before I tell you what God told me, I need to say something that will most likely rub some of you the wrong way. I do not mean it to. Many of you have written here that you are in basic agreement with what I have said concerning the state of the church at present. I so appreciate that. Some have proposed different things the church needs to do to be more effective. And there is much truth there.

But what is not seen is that it is ALL of us.. We ALL have been asleep. We all have been walking off the path called the highway of holiness. And victory has its beginning with just each one of us and Jesus. Before we can help others to awaken, we have to be awakened ourselves. I pray none assume since they have great zeal for the Lord, that surely, they do not need what I am about to share. You do. I do. We ALL do.

No, we ALL have been sleeping and unless each one of us comes before the Lord admitting that need, I fear that it will become a head knowledge thing, and I so pray you will see it as far, far more than that. It is nothing less than the key to the lock of walking as God has had planned for us for the last nineteen hundred years.

Will there be exceptions? Oh, I pray so. Some have already awakened and will bear witness with what I am about to make clear. To you, I covet your prayers.

Each one of us is tasked to get the beam out of our own eye, amen? And coming from one who had an entire lumber yard in his, lol, I can assure you it is imperative.

We often hear that verse, and think it is sort of a mandate to ‘mind our own spiritual business’, but it is not. It is a call from our Heavenly Father to first get free indeed ourselves so that we CAN go out and help others to obtain that same glorious freedom.

Do we see? If we do not possess it, we cannot help anyone else. Such as I have, give I you. And if I don’t have it, I can’t give it. Ah, but with it, (and it really is a Him), you will find it almost impossible to shut up.

One last thing before I share this ‘missing piece’ that activates the gospel IN US. I am nothing. I have no idea why God chose to miraculously reveal to me what I have now been sharing for 12 straight years. In my flesh, I am worse than all here, and that is no pious humility. It is the truth, to my shame.

This next move of God, this FINAL move of God, will not be man-centered. In times past, one man was greatly used and received adulation, and people flocked to hear him. No more. God will still, of course, use men, but He will share His glory with none, an$ once you understand with your heart what is being said, it will simply be impossible to even think of taking some credit for being ‘a great man of God’. This final awakening is going to be like a field of parched straw catching fire. Grass roots revival if you will.

I love what we are told about the new covenant. No one is going to have to tell you “Know ye the Lord, for ALL will know me, from the least to the greatest.” (and coincidently, in that order, lol).

Blessings,

Gideon

More to come. The best part! And if you know another who is a struggling believer, please ask them to read what is being shared.

I must admit that I don't grasp your point about "man centered". It was never intended to be that, though the Mosaic Law may be what you mean. It was always intended to be God centered.

I too have had a few revelations from God which apply to this. I, too, had my dealings with inappropriate content but self pride was my down fall.

To skip to a few years later, God called me to be baptized into the Catholic Church. After my baptism I thought that I needed to show God that I was worthy of his love by being obedient to the 10 Commandments. Wrong.

As I tried to obey the 10 a heavy anxiety would come over me that I couldn't deal with. After trying and failing several times I cried out to God. He the spoke out and said "I didn't ask you to be perfect, Jesus has already done that for you". He then gave me a vision of the bloody cross and the wisdom to understand.

I embraced the cross and completely depend on it. I cast my sons upon it and picked it up and carry it with me, for the cross is the key which opens the gate to heaven.

I stopped trying to be obedient but instead surrendered to the Holy Spirit which God baptized in. The desire to sin began to fade away as I learned to walk in the Spirit.

I also had a vision during Mass, a few years later. I looked up at the cross and saw Jesus. I also saw the 10 commandments and heard, to paraphrase, that Jesus is "the Way" not the 10. (If you remember that the Church was first called the Way. This was because Judaism isn't. )

 

[greenguzzi]

And if I cannot find it, what chance to people in the world, seeking real answers, have for discovering the truth that promises that can set them free indeed?

Wow, what makes you so special!?
Get over yourself dude, you aren't some new age Elijah. Or maybe you think you are.
Trust me, you are not. You are just some guy with grandiose thoughts. I tried to be kind, but that wasn't enough. Get help soon.

 

[aiki]

Let me first ask each of you a question. We all suffer temptation in one or more areas of our lives, right? Temptation is not sin. It is the doorway to it. So….. how do we keep the door closed? Is it possible? Every time? Jesus promised us that we would not be tempted above our ability to resist. He even went further and promised us that He would never fail to make a way of escape, so that we may be able to bear it and not succumb to it, right? So what gives? There is a reason, and that is the crux of what we have all been missing.

At least part of the problem is that the evangelical Christian church has become very juvenile in its understanding of the faith. At one time, seventy to a hundred years ago, the identification and appropriation truths of Romans 6, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3, Hebrews 11:6, 2 Corinthians 5:7 were common knowledge. Not so, now. Discipleship, too, has largely ceased in the modern church. And by discipleship, I don't mean a twelve-week information course on basic Christian living but discipleship of the sort where a new believer gets into the discipler's life and the discipler into theirs and together - perhaps for two or three years - they walk with God, the discipler leading the way in his living, as well as his teaching.

So, again, when you are tempted, what do you do to not give into it? And….. does it work? All the time? We both know the answer to that if we are brutally honest with ourselves.

Really? Are you omniscient? Do you know the character of the life of every other believer? Or are you just inferring from your own life to everyone else's? What might have been, or is, true of you is not necessarily true of every other believer.

You see, something is badly amiss. We serve a God who cannot lie. His promises are sure. Yet we have gutted them with our reasoning that we are only human.

In my experience as a discipler over the last twenty years or so, ignorance has more to do with spiritual failure than a lack of faith. Modern Christians simply don't know about the identification truths and how to appropriate by faith.

Somewhere there is a disconnect, amen? Let us nail this down. The gospel works, every single promise. And if we discover it is not doing so, we need to examine why this is so. The problem is not with God. We have missed something…. a key element that activates all the promises of God so that we can finally walk pleasing to Him, victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil. Our birthright as children of God is to walk as true overcomers, taking the promised land He has bought for us. No more unending wandering in circles in the wilderness. God is even now awakening us to what we have all been blinded to and trust me, it is flat out glorious and within reach of even the weakest among us. In truth, these are the ones who will see it first!

You're being just a wee bit over-dramatic here...

What God revealed to me in my miraculous visitation is the missing element I am referring to. It will sound simple…. to our heads. But understand, the solution must be grasped with our hearts. And to do that, we must finally admit that we are not walking in all he fullness God has promised us, and be found desperate to find the hinderance. Hunger for walking closer to Him, pleasing Him is absolutely indispensable. So, if you are one who longs for more and is tired of Satan stealing your lunch money, read on, for you are about to have your minds blown.

Desiring a deeper, victorious walk with God is something God creates in us. It is not something we can manufacture from within ourselves. And God uses much failure, and the resulting frustration and spiritual defeat, to form such a desire in us.

But here is the problem, and there is no other way to say it than to be blunt. We have accepted this theologically with our heads, but our hearts have not believed it for us, right here, right now, this very minute. And therein is the issue in a nutshell.

Again, these days, it is (at least, in my experience) often more that a person simply doesn't know anything about Romans 6 than that they know and don't believe it. In the forty-plus years I have walked with God, I have heard preaching on Romans 6 perhaps four times. And two of those times, the preacher didn't really understand the chapter. Is it any wonder, then, that most modern Christians aren't living in the light of their death to Self? The vast majority of Christians know next to nothing about it!

Paul tells us, based upon these two truths, to reckon ourselves dead to sin, dead to the fleshly carnal nature and to reckon ourselves alive unto Him. In that one statement is hidden the secret we have all missed.

Um, I haven't missed it. My Dad taught me about Romans 6:11 when I was fifteen (that's a long time ago now). He taught me how to "walk by faith, not by sight" concerning Romans 6:6 and it has had a profound effect on my life with God. However, what is at least as important - if not more so - is the necessity of yielding, surrendering, submitting to God's will and way. In fact, standing by faith on the truth of Romans 6:6 is a kind of submitting to God, to His truth. In my experience, though, no amount of declaring one's self dead to sin makes any enduring difference if one is not also yielded to God. This is why Paul wrote Romans 6:13 along with Romans 6:11.

In the end, God must bring each of His children into the experience of Romans 6. No one can be merely talked into appropriating by faith their co-crucified position in Christ. This I know from long experience trying to do so in my role as a discipler. God has His own timing of things in the life of each believer. I hope He will use your posts to spur some to a closer look at Romans 6, 7 and 8.

By the way, I would strongly urge you and any others who are interested to pick up a copy of a book entitled "The Green Letters" by Miles J. Stanford. I think, given what you've written in this thread, that you are ready to benefit from what it contains.

 

[unfinishedclay]

But there are people who are hurting and who are crying out for answers, answers the church is not giving them.

^^This!!!!^^
And I've been a guilty part of this but didn't really realize it completely until I myself was hurt.

 

[Gideons300]

At least part of the problem is that the evangelical Christian church has become very juvenile in its understanding of the faith. At one time, seventy to a hundred years ago, the identification and appropriation truths of Romans 6, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3, Hebrews 11:6, 2 Corinthians 5:7 were common knowledge. Not so, now. Discipleship, too, has largely ceased in the modern church. And by discipleship, I don't mean a twelve-week information course on basic Christian living but discipleship of the sort where a new believer gets into the discipler's life and the discipler into theirs and together - perhaps for two or three years - they walk with God, the discipler leading the way in his living, as well as his teaching.



Really? Are you omniscient? Do you know the character of the life of every other believer? Or are you just inferring from your own life to everyone else's? What might have been, or is, true of you is not necessarily true of every other believer.



In my experience as a discipler over the last twenty years or so, ignorance has more to do with spiritual failure than a lack of faith. Modern Christians simply don't know about the identification truths and how to appropriate by faith.



You're being just a wee bit over-dramatic here...



Desiring a deeper, victorious walk with God is something God creates in us. It is not something we can manufacture from within ourselves. And God uses much failure, and the resulting frustration and spiritual defeat, to form such a desire in us.



Again, these days, it is (at least, in my experience) often more that a person simply doesn't know anything about Romans 6 than that they know and don't believe it. In the forty-plus years I have walked with God, I have heard preaching on Romans 6 perhaps four times. And two of those times, the preacher didn't really understand the chapter. Is it any wonder, then, that most modern Christians aren't living in the light of their death to Self? The vast majority of Christians know next to nothing about it!



Um, I haven't missed it. My Dad taught me about Romans 6:11 when I was fifteen (that's a long time ago now). He taught me how to "walk by faith, not by sight" concerning Romans 6:6 and it has had a profound effect on my life with God. However, what is at least as important - if not more so - is the necessity of yielding, surrendering, submitting to God's will and way. In fact, standing by faith on the truth of Romans 6:6 is a kind of submitting to God, to His truth. In my experience, though, no amount of declaring one's self dead to sin makes any enduring difference if one is not also yielded to God. This is why Paul wrote Romans 6:13 along with Romans 6:11.

In the end, God must bring each of His children into the experience of Romans 6. No one can be merely talked into appropriating by faith their co-crucified position in Christ. This I know from long experience trying to do so in my role as a discipler. God has His own timing of things in the life of each believer. I hope He will use your posts to spur some to a closer look at Romans 6, 7 and 8.

By the way, I would strongly urge you and any others who are interested to pick up a copy of a book entitled "The Green Letters" by Miles J. Stanford. I think, given what you've written in this thread, that you are ready to benefit from what it contains.

Thank you for your thoughts. I am in full agreement with what you have said. More often than not, we will not seek for more until we come to a crisis point.

God indeed is the only one who can open eyes to the full truth of Romans 6. I am simply sharing the message God asked me to share, planting seeds. He must see that they sprout, and He will.

I have read ‘The Complete Green Letters’ and highly recommend it. Another that is read-worthy is ‘The Rest of the Gospel- When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out’.
Great title, lol, and oh, so true.

May we all see what God has offered us and longs to do for us..... IN us!

Thank you for sharing. You must be as old as I am by the way!

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Gideons300]

^^This!!!!^^
And I've been a guilty part of this but didn't really realize it completely until I myself was hurt.

I have been asked to explain what I mean about holding up our shield of faith. I pray this explains it.

When Satan comes tempting, what do we do? Call our accountability partner? Promise God that this time we mean business and will not give in.... right before we give in? Do we pray? Do we rebuke Satan?

Do you know what God tells us to do? Count it all joy! But let’s get real here. If we are constantly falling when we are tempted, it is tough to get joyful and excited about it. The fear comes “Oh, no, here I go again!”. It is like telling the small boy at school to get excited when the school bully comes looking for lunch money.

Why would we be told to count it all joy? Because we are able to walk them the fire and not be burned.... every time! We are to count it all joy because God has promised to make a way of escape in the midst of the temptation, so that we do not fall! We are not called to ‘white-knuckle’ it. Oh, once in a while we can gut one out and not succumb to the urge to sin, whatever it may be. But besides being extremely rare, even if we do resist, it is certainly not joy that causes us to triumph, is it? It is self effort, and it is exhausting.

We need to understand that we have been equipped with weaponry to resist our enemy’s attacks, and the most important? Our shield of faith. We have been taught that our faith is a static thing, that we have it or we do not. But real faith is always growing faith.... trusting our Lord and savior more and more.

When Satan comes tempting, He will attack our particular weak point, and there is but one real protection.... believing that we are new creatures and that sin no longer has power over us. If our faith in this to be trith is non-existent, we must fight that battle on our own, and we all know from our past experiences how that turns out.

If we have stepped out on faith and reckoned our death and resurrection to be true, but our faith is new, and weak, we indeed can fall. One will ask how this can be if we truly are new creatures? Easy. It will always be ‘according to your faith be it unto you.’ And glory to God, as we count it all joy and stand our ground, our faith, now tested, GROWS!

Here is a great truth I had to learn the hard way. Once we have chosen to step out in faith, then IF we sin (not when but IF), it is imperative we admit the sin to God and repent of it. But there is another crucial step. We need to immediately confess again that we are new creatures and that we are no longer in the fleshly nature and that we owe it NOTHING! The longer our shield of faith is down, the more Satan will try to pry our testimony out of our mouthed.

Realize this. Satan is after our testimony. It is what He is after for that is where our victory is rooted, and a victorious Christian is a great threat to him. So IF we sin, we immediately hold back up our shield of faith and believe again. And guess what? Our shield of faith GROWS!

I have said it before but it bears repeating. Temptation is NOT sin. Yielding to it is. How often the devil has us on the ropes before the fight has even started, if we bite on his lure to think the temptation came from our flawed nature.
This is what the Bible means when it urges us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. What a difference that makes when fighting the lies of Satan. We do it with TRUTH!

Blessings to all,

Gideon

 

[aiki]

I have read ‘The Complete Green Letters’ and highly recommend it.

Well, I must say that this quite surprises me. I have met very, very few people who have heard about this book, let alone have read it! How did you discover Mr. Stanford's book?

Thank you for sharing. You must be as old as I am by the way!

I'm no spring chicken, that's for sure!

Blessings, brother.

 

[Gideons300]

Well, I must say that this quite surprises me. I have met very, very few people who have heard about this book, let alone have read it! How did you discover Mr. Stanford's book?



I'm no spring chicken, that's for sure!

Blessings, brother.

Several years ago, I met a poster on line who agreed with what I was sharing and he mentioned it. I found it on Amazon and bought it.

There are very few books that I have come across that talk about reckoning faith and its critical importance in our being changed into His likeness.

Blessings to you

Gideon

 

[aiki]

There are very few books that I have come across that talk about reckoning faith and its critical importance in our being changed into His likeness.

The crucified life is not something that strikes a chord with the self-indulgent, carnal Church of today. Denying one's self, taking up one's cross and dying upon it, is not an attractive prospect for those who are looking for their "best life now." A pastor who wants to put as many butts in the seats on a Sunday as possible and so fill the church coffers, cannot preach death to Self. Such a doctrine repels the self-centered lost and the carnally-minded believer. But those who are desperate to know God, who long for Him and the holy, abundant, joyful life of fellowship with Him that He holds out to all in Christ, know that such a life only comes through being crucified with Christ.

 

[Kenny'sID]

I have been asked to explain what I mean about holding up our shield of faith. I pray this explains it.

When Satan comes tempting, what do we do? Call our accountability partner? Promise God that this time we mean business and will not give in.... right before we give in? Do we pray? Do we rebuke Satan?

"Somebody" replied to my request for the meaning of "holding up our shield of faith" and I am grateful.

I personally do as I suggested to another poster, I make up my mind to sin or not. I imagine it could take prayer at the moment, and/or rebuking Satan, and that some need to use whatever means they deem necessary it they have a tough time stopping there sin, and they should, but in the end, as I said earlier it's up to us of we sin or not.

There is no magical power that keeps us from sinning, and if something came close, it would be the fact, I'm a terrible sinner in Gods eyes, I thank God he understands and made a way for that, so I am grateful enough I don't want to do wrong. That, and it's simply against the rules to live in sin, and if we do, we go to hell. That in itself helps a lot.

God not only gives us an ultimatum, but loves and cares for us enough to make it pretty easy to want to please him.

Same exact thing if my earthly dad treated me very well/offered me good things for the future even though I messed up on occasion, or even often, he knew I was trying and sorry when I did mess up. And because he has been do good to me, I simply want to please him.

It's just so simple to me, and I'm afraid there are way to many "dramatics" passing the lips of preachers today, so many they make the simple sound complicated, especially to the new Christian.

Aside from the magic of love there is nothing mystical magical or complicated about it.