There is therefore now no condemnation. Yeah, right!

[Gideons300]

Many believers who truly love the Lord have found themselves trapped in a Romans 7 existence. They truly want to do good. They hate the sins that drag them down, yet as hard as they may try, failure is still their inevitable result.

They read the words Paul writes in Romans 8 where he tells us there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in a Christ Jesus, but sadly, that is all they are..... words. In my own case, for almost 38 years, I lived in abject failure, bound by an addiction to inappropriate contentography and masturbation. This was no ‘every once in a while’ slip. It was a daily battle to try to resist, but the harder I resisted, the more it tightened around my brain. I was the poster boy for Romans 7, a man most miserable.

Sound familiar? Are you battling a sin that you hate, but with no success, and with each failure, the hope that you will never get free fades a little more. If that is you, no matter the sin, you can identify with me in that there is PLENTY of condemnation. Oh, maybe not from God, but from my own heart? I breathed it like air. Drank it like water. And condemnation will suck the life right out of your walk with God. No joy, except perhaps in an occasional gulp of oxygen in an extraordinary worship service. It truly does make you view yourself as a ‘wretched man’ just as Paul did.

So many have tread this road before, but have been detoured by the enemy in order to smile and get some relief. What is the detour? Simply lowering the standard that the Lord gives us... victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.

The vast majority of modern preachers have led this detour, telling us that no one is perfect, we are only human, and despite the fact we may be committing vile sins, there is STILL no condemnation, so why sweat it? Chill. Relax. Don’t be sin conscious. And for millions it has worked.

You see, the real danger of sin continuing in our lives is that it hardens our hearts to the Lord. Oh, we may still go to church, read our Bibles, tithe, and do some volunteering. But you see, all those are not Christianity. They are simply fruits of walking in Christ.

The great danger is that once we lower the standard of ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’, we let our consciences become hardened, our joyful contact and fellowship with Christ Himself is shut down, ever so slowly, until we are just going through the motions. If God took a trip and was unable to meet with us, we would never know it. Religious activity has replaced relationship. The living Word has been replaced by dead letter.

We are told that if we are sons and daughters of God, we WILL occasionally be chastened for wrong actions. And if we are not, we are bastards.... illegitimate children. Ouch. God never condemns us, but He most certainly convicts us. Our problem is that we do not know what to do with the conviction. We sin, we get convicted about the wrongness of our action, whatever it may be, we confess it, we repent and ........ and what? We vow to do better next time, right? And we all know what the result is, don’t we? It happens again... and again.

And if we do this enough, and our failures begin to clog our arteries of trust in God, condemnation replaces conviction. That voice comes from Satan, our enemy, but listen. This is critical. When he accuses, he does not whisper in our ear “You are a terrible Christian.” Oh, no, he has a much more effective weapon up His sleeve. He whispers ‘I am a terrible Christian’.... and he does it in OUR voice. Whoa.

Listen, dear friends. If you find your walk strangely following the above path, you are not alone. If you love the Lord, get this deep down in your heart. Our God NEVER condemns us. Ever. BUT, and this is huge that we get this. He does convict. He does chasten. He does so because sin hardens our hearts, to where we no longer truly believe Him. Instead we believe IN Him, and the difference is monumental.

Look. Think for a minute. If it is as we have been told from our pulpits, that sin truly cannot be overcome, then why would God convict us in the first place. We would only be doing what is natural, right? There is but one reason He would convict us. Because there is a way to get victory over it!

If you have fallen into the trap of religion, or if you have resisted the temptation to lower the standard but it has made you flat out miserable and joyless, either way I want you to know something. God has a way out. He longs to show us the HOW of living an obedient, holy life, but first, we must admit to Him that despite our best efforts, we are failing. And we need help, big time.

The hardest part of the message of victory God has given me to share with any who will put up with my incessant ramblings is to finally stop and say ‘Yes, that’s me, Lord”. I need to be set free from this prison called self, and I cannot, or will not do it without a miracle from You.”

Without this step, there is no point reading further, for brokenness and honesty must reign supreme in any dealing we have with our Father. Ahhh, but WITH this step, if you are sincere, may I tell you to buckle your seatbelts, because God is about to do something for you, to you, IN you that will boggle your mind.

In these last days, God is going to awaken every true child of God. no matter how far they have strayed, no matter how deep and disgusting their sin has become, no matter how cold their heart has grown toward God. It matters not. We have a wedding forthcoming and our God is going to make darned sure we are perfectly prepared to meet Him..... as overcomers.

Are you ready to experience the walk with the Lord He died to give you. Where condemnation is literally a thing of the past? Is it truly possible? It is not only possible. It is assured! Glory to God!!

More to come....

Blessings,

Gids

 

[Lost4words]

Good post.

 

[Tempura]

He whispers ‘I am a terrible Christian’.... and he does it in OUR voice.

Or better yet, "I am doomed. I cannot be saved." It's the filthiest lie I've ever believed.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Many believers who truly love the Lord have found themselves trapped in a Romans 7 existence. They truly want to do good. They hate the sins that drag them down, yet as hard as they may try, failure is still their inevitable result.

They read the words Paul writes in Romans 8 where he tells us there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in a Christ Jesus, but sadly, that is all they are..... words. In my own case, for almost 38 years, I lived in abject failure, bound by an addiction to inappropriate contentography and masturbation. This was no ‘every once in a while’ slip. It was a daily battle to try to resist, but the harder I resisted, the more it tightened around my brain. I was the poster boy for Romans 7, a man most miserable.

Sound familiar? Are you battling a sin that you hate, but with no success, and with each failure, the hope that you will never get free fades a little more. If that is you, no matter the sin, you can identify with me in that there is PLENTY of condemnation. Oh, maybe not from God, but from my own heart? I breathed it like air. Drank it like water. And condemnation will suck the life right out of your walk with God. No joy, except perhaps in an occasional gulp of oxygen in an extraordinary worship service. It truly does make you view yourself as a ‘wretched man’ just as Paul did.

So many have tread this road before, but have been detoured by the enemy in order to smile and get some relief. What is the detour? Simply lowering the standard that the Lord gives us... victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.

The vast majority of modern preachers have led this detour, telling us that no one is perfect, we are only human, and despite the fact we may be committing vile sins, there is STILL no condemnation, so why sweat it? Chill. Relax. Don’t be sin conscious. And for millions it has worked.

You see, the real danger of sin continuing in our lives is that it hardens our hearts to the Lord. Oh, we may still go to church, read our Bibles, tithe, and do some volunteering. But you see, all those are not Christianity. They are simply fruits of walking in Christ.

The great danger is that once we lower the standard of ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’, we let our consciences become hardened, our joyful contact and fellowship with Christ Himself is shut down, ever so slowly, until we are just going through the motions. If God took a trip and was unable to meet with us, we would never know it. Religious activity has replaced relationship. The living Word has been replaced by dead letter.

We are told that if we are sons and daughters of God, we WILL occasionally be chastened for wrong actions. And if we are not, we are bastards.... illegitimate children. Ouch. God never condemns us, but He most certainly convicts us. Our problem is that we do not know what to do with the conviction. We sin, we get convicted about the wrongness of our action, whatever it may be, we confess it, we repent and ........ and what? We vow to do better next time, right? And we all know what the result is, don’t we? It happens again... and again.

And if we do this enough, and our failures begin to clog our arteries of trust in God, condemnation replaces conviction. That voice comes from Satan, our enemy, but listen. This is critical. When he accuses, he does not whisper in our ear “You are a terrible Christian.” Oh, no, he has a much more effective weapon up His sleeve. He whispers ‘I am a terrible Christian’.... and he does it in OUR voice. Whoa.

Listen, dear friends. If you find your walk strangely following the above path, you are not alone. If you love the Lord, get this deep down in your heart. Our God NEVER condemns us. Ever. BUT, and this is huge that we get this. He does convict. He does chasten. He does so because sin hardens our hearts, to where we no longer truly believe Him. Instead we believe IN Him, and the difference is monumental.

Look. Think for a minute. If it is as we have been told from our pulpits, that sin truly cannot be overcome, then why would God convict us in the first place. We would only be doing what is natural, right? There is but one reason He would convict us. Because there is a way to get victory over it!

If you have fallen into the trap of religion, or if you have resisted the temptation to lower the standard but it has made you flat out miserable and joyless, either way I want you to know something. God has a way out. He longs to show us the HOW of living an obedient, holy life, but first, we must admit to Him that despite our best efforts, we are failing. And we need help, big time.

The hardest part of the message of victory God has given me to share with any who will put up with my incessant ramblings is to finally stop and say ‘Yes, that’s me, Lord”. I need to be set free from this prison called self, and I cannot, or will not do it without a miracle from You.”

Without this step, there is no point reading further, for brokenness and honesty must reign supreme in any dealing we have with our Father. Ahhh, but WITH this step, if you are sincere, may I tell you to buckle your seatbelts, because God is about to do something for you, to you, IN you that will boggle your mind.

In these last days, God is going to awaken every true child of God. no matter how far they have strayed, no matter how deep and disgusting their sin has become, no matter how cold their heart has grown toward God. It matters not. We have a wedding forthcoming and our God is going to make darned sure we are perfectly prepared to meet Him..... as overcomers.

Are you ready to experience the walk with the Lord He died to give you. Where condemnation is literally a thing of the past? Is it truly possible? It is not only possible. It is assured! Glory to God!!

More to come....

Blessings,

Gids

The reason why there is no condemnation for us, is that Jesus was condemned in our place. This means that we go absolutely free. If we think that we are still condemned in any way, we are saying that Jesus is not a complete Saviour, and that He did not take upon Himself the total wrath and anger of God for sinners.

The truth is that God poured out all His anger and wrath and condemnation on Jesus, so that there is no more anger for sin, only intense love for the sinner who receives Christ.

Our sins deserve condemnation and hell, including our past, present, and future sins. Part of the conversion process is our full acceptance of that, and that there is absolutely nothing that makes us acceptable to God not matter how hard we try to be moral and to reform ourselves.

But, Jesus died for us and took our condemnation away. He was condemned for all our sins, and our continuing sinfulness in our flesh.

Having Jesus and allowing condemnation as well is like having Him as just one slice of the pie instead of the whole pie. But the true gospel says that when we receive Christ we receive the whole pie. Jesus was either condemned for all our sin from birth to death, or He was not condemned at all. It is all or nothing with Jesus.

This is the wonderful truth that sets us free. "The just shall live by faith", and "Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more", and "because Jesus became sin for us, we have become the righteousness of God in Him."

That last reference is a really liberating one, because He actually became sin for us. Not just taking our past sins on the cross, but every sin we have and will ever commit. He took out the whole root of sinfulness from us so that God sees as nothing but righteous in Christ.

Some might say, "Well, if that is so, I can live as I please and things will be okay between me and God". In actual experience, those who accept that Jesus is their complete Saviour where all sin, past, present and future is totally cleansed, will hunger and thirst after holiness and will want to eradicate every known sinful habit pattern from their lives, and will deeply mourn over what remains, and will plead for the Holy Spirit to deal with those areas as well. That is the mark of a true conversion to Christ.

 

[Sabertooth]

Not everyone condemns masturbation (minus the inappropriate content or other adulterous fantasy).

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Not everyone condemns masturbation (minus the inappropriate content or other adulterous fantasy).

the most encouraging Scripture for those who are in conflict with themselves over sin and holiness is"
"My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Notice that the Lord did not say to Paul, "My grace will be sufficient for you if you are able to resolve your conflict". He said that His grace was sufficient for him in the midst of his conflict with the thorn in the flesh. Jesus settles the grace aspect first and gets the person looking to Him and basing the foundation of his faith in Him and His finished work on Calvary. Then he realises that God is dealing with him on the basis of grace and not condemnation.

Then God and he are in unity and fellowship and together they work through the issue to come to the resolution. God knows that condemnation and judgment will crush the believer's spirit, and that alienates him from the very Person who can work with him to resolve the conflict. Grace and power puts him right at God's throne of grace and puts him in close fellowship with God and links him with the power of the Holy Spirit to work within him to achieve holiness in that area of his life.

There is no conflict too deep, or sin too great for God to defeat in a person. All that person has to do is to set his sights on Christ, His finished work and His love, mercy and grace. The rest will be history.

 

[Gideons300]

The reason why there is no condemnation for us, is that Jesus was condemned in our place. This means that we go absolutely free. If we think that we are still condemned in any way, we are saying that Jesus is not a complete Saviour, and that He did not take upon Himself the total wrath and anger of God for sinners.

The truth is that God poured out all His anger and wrath and condemnation on Jesus, so that there is no more anger for sin, only intense love for the sinner who receives Christ.

Our sins deserve condemnation and hell, including our past, present, and future sins. Part of the conversion process is our full acceptance of that, and that there is absolutely nothing that makes us acceptable to God not matter how hard we try to be moral and to reform ourselves.

But, Jesus died for us and took our condemnation away. He was condemned for all our sins, and our continuing sinfulness in our flesh.

Having Jesus and allowing condemnation as well is like having Him as just one slice of the pie instead of the whole pie. But the true gospel says that when we receive Christ we receive the whole pie. Jesus was either condemned for all our sin from birth to death, or He was not condemned at all. It is all or nothing with Jesus.

This is the wonderful truth that sets us free. "The just shall live by faith", and "Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more", and "because Jesus became sin for us, we have become the righteousness of God in Him."

That last reference is a really liberating one, because He actually became sin for us. Not just taking our past sins on the cross, but every sin we have and will ever commit. He took out the whole root of sinfulness from us so that God sees as nothing but righteous in Christ.

Some might say, "Well, if that is so, I can live as I please and things will be okay between me and God". In actual experience, those who accept that Jesus is their complete Saviour where all sin, past, present and future is totally cleansed, will hunger and thirst after holiness and will want to eradicate every known sinful habit pattern from their lives, and will deeply mourn over what remains, and will plead for the Holy Spirit to deal with those areas as well. That is the mark of a true conversion to Christ.

Oscar, what you say is true. But there is a problem. In your last statement, you state that a true Christian “will hunger and thirst after holiness and will want to eradicate every known sinful habit pattern from their lives”.

Indeed they will.. at the beginning. But what happens when, as the days pass, they fail to do so? What happens when, year after year, they struggle to gain the victory, to cooperate with the convictions of the Holy Spirit, yet find that it is all to no avail? They are still fleshly, self centered, lacking the love we are told is the real mark of God working in one’s life?

Their shield of faith, the one God promises will quench all the fiery arrows of the enemy, lies gathering dust, for long ago they succumbed to the doubt that there was really no way to truly walk in holiness.

This is not a rare thing, dear brother. In fact, it is the norm in our churches. Whether we can admit it or not, as a whole, we as His body are healed only slightly, “saying ‘peace, peace’ when there is no peace.” Few if any pastors see the problem, because they have no clue how to do so themselves, so they lower the standard to make their own walks seem okay, and as blind men, lead others into the ditch of powerless, flesh-driven Christianity.

The result? The result is that we are left drawing near Him with our lips, but our hearts are really far from Him. The sheep have been scattered over every high hill, left with a form of godliness, but their very lives denying the power of it.

Jesus promised us FREE INDEED, freedom from committing sin. Our Father has promised to never allow us to be tempted above our ability to resist it, and that He would in every temptation make a way of escape so we will continue walking as overcomers, victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil. Yet we hear those words, and immediately protest! Why? Because unbelief has long ago replaced faith in our hearts.

The modern church is left religious, not righteous, yet do we mourn? Do we weep? Even if we ourselves are walking in victory, should we not be on our knees for others.... our brothers.... our sisters.... who are left defeated, struggling, going through the motions, but with the well of joy of our abiding in Him long ago dried up.

Intercessory prayer is needed, but unless it is mingled with our tears, it is simply well intended, but totally powerless, words. And words are not going to cut it against the darkness that is about to descend upon the earth.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Gideons300]

the most encouraging Scripture for those who are in conflict with themselves over sin and holiness is"
"My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Notice that the Lord did not say to Paul, "My grace will be sufficient for you if you are able to resolve your conflict". He said that His grace was sufficient for him in the midst of his conflict with the thorn in the flesh. Jesus settles the grace aspect first and gets the person looking to Him and basing the foundation of his faith in Him and His finished work on Calvary. Then he realises that God is dealing with him on the basis of grace and not condemnation.

Then God and he are in unity and fellowship and together they work through the issue to come to the resolution. God knows that condemnation and judgment will crush the believer's spirit, and that alienates him from the very Person who can work with him to resolve the conflict. Grace and power puts him right at God's throne of grace and puts him in close fellowship with God and links him with the power of the Holy Spirit to work within him to achieve holiness in that area of his life.

There is no conflict too deep, or sin too great for God to defeat in a person. All that person has to do is to set his sights on Christ, His finished work and His love, mercy and grace. The rest will be history.

Again, great theory, but why is it not working? Do you not hear the cries of those sheep struggling, yet with the church, the pastors, the pulpits woefully silent on how to get free from the snares of the devil?

If we do not give actual practical instruction in holiness, and arm the saints with weapons of war, weapons that WORK, again, they are nice sounding words, and yes, even true words, but do nothing to bring the sheep into an overcoming walk with the Lord.

If and when the church can admit that, there is truly hope. But my fear is that we have duplicated the error of the Pharisees. Jesus said “Do as they say, but do not do as they do.”

Will God be forced to surge past organized Christianity in these last days, in order to raise up the victorious army of free indeed saints, walking with their arms raised and their feet on the neck of the devil? Time will tell, but there is going to have to be a breaking in the priests and prophets, who have turned the house of God into a business. And that, although possible, is a large order to be filled.

God WILL have a people, a people who long for freedom, a people who long to love God with ALL their hearts, who are desperate to love one another as they love themselves, a people who know that unless they tap into the miracle of Christ IN THEM, all hope is lost. And praise a god, these... the elect.... WILL have their heart cries answers.... in spades. Glory!

Our God is awakening us to who we really are.... who we have always been.... new creatures, overcomers, dead to self not because of rigorous effort but because of weak, desperate faith in the God who cannot lie, who awaits our cry for Him to do it for us.... in us. Praise you Lord!

Live, bones, live

Blessings, dear brother

Gids

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Oscar, what you say is true. But there is a problem. In your last statement, you state that a true Christian “will hunger and thirst after holiness and will want to eradicate every known sinful habit pattern from their lives”.

Indeed they will.. at the beginning. But what happens when, as the days pass, they fail to do so? What happens when, year after year, they struggle to gain the victory, to cooperate with the convictions of the Holy Spirit, yet find that it is all to no avail? They are still fleshly, self centered, lacking the love we are told is the real mark of God working in one’s life?

Their shield of faith, the one God promises will quench all the fiery arrows of the enemy, lies gathering dust, for long ago they succumbed to the doubt that there was really no way to truly walk in holiness.

This is not a rare thing, dear brother. In fact, it is the norm in our churches. Whether we can admit it or not, as a whole, we as His body are healed only slightly, “saying ‘peace, peace’ when there is no peace.” Few if any pastors see the problem, because they have no clue how to do so themselves, so they lower the standard to make their own walks seem okay, and as blind men, lead others into the ditch of powerless, flesh-driven Christianity.

The result? The result is that we are left drawing near Him with our lips, but our hearts are really far from Him. The sheep have been scattered over every high hill, left with a form of godliness, but their very lives denying the power of it.

Jesus promised us FREE INDEED, freedom from committing sin. Our Father has promised to never allow us to be tempted above our ability to resist it, and that He would in every temptation make a way of escape so we will continue walking as overcomers, victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil. Yet we hear those words, and immediately protest! Why? Because unbelief has long ago replaced faith in our hearts.

The modern church is left religious, not righteous, yet do we mourn? Do we weep? Even if we ourselves are walking in victory, should we not be on our knees for others.... our brothers.... our sisters.... who are left defeated, struggling, going through the motions, but with the well of joy of our abiding in Him long ago dried up.

Intercessory prayer is needed, but unless it is mingled with our tears, it is simply well intended, but totally powerless, words. And words are not going to cut it against the darkness that is about to descend upon the earth.

Blessings,

Gideon

The desire for holiness is a sign that the person has already been genuinely converted and is not under any condemnation at all. This means that he is as right with God as he ever will be whether he has total victory over his sinful habit patterns or not.

The path to true conversion is the realisation and acknowledgment that we are totally helpless and hopeless and there is no way we can change ourselves now or for ever. It has to be all of Christ or none of Him.

True conversion consists in a change of heart and attitude. We want to be holy and to glorify Christ in our lives. This makes us pray that Christ will work in us to make us the people He wants us to be. Not necessarily what we want to be.

If we put conditions on ourselves that we will not accept that we are right with God unless we reach a certain standard of holiness, then we are putting ourselves before God and denying that God has the right to mold us in any way He pleases.

The fact is that He allows certain things to remain in us to remind us that we are totally dependent upon Christ for our standing with God. If we think that we can get ourselves to a certain stage of holiness, then we move into self-righteousness and pride, and in so doing, we are telling God that Christ is not enough for us.

Paul said that in whatever state he was in, he was content. Why? Because he trusted Christ for his standing with God, and not any success in his own quest for holiness.

The desire for holiness is because we already have our new heart in us. We don't hide our faults from God. Because we know that Christ is our sufficiency, we openly declare our shortcomings and faults to Him, and that is all God requires.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Again, great theory, but why is it not working? Do you not hear the cries of those sheep struggling, yet with the church, the pastors, the pulpits woefully silent on how to get free from the snares of the devil?

If we do not give actual practical instruction in holiness, and arm the saints with weapons of war, weapons that WORK, again, they are nice sounding words, and yes, even true words, but do nothing to bring the sheep into an overcoming walk with the Lord.

If and when the church can admit that, there is truly hope. But my fear is that we have duplicated the error of the Pharisees. Jesus said “Do as they say, but do not do as they do.”

Will God be forced to surge past organized Christianity in these last days, in order to raise up the victorious army of free indeed saints, walking with their arms raised and their feet on the neck of the devil? Time will tell, but there is going to have to be a breaking in the priests and prophets, who have turned the house of God into a business. And that, although possible, is a large order to be filled.

God WILL have a people, a people who long for freedom, a people who long to love God with ALL their hearts, who are desperate to love one another as they love themselves, a people who know that unless they tap into the miracle of Christ IN THEM, all hope is lost. And praise a god, these... the elect.... WILL have their heart cries answers.... in spades. Glory!

Our God is awakening us to who we really are.... who we have always been.... new creatures, overcomers, dead to self not because of rigorous effort but because of weak, desperate faith in the God who cannot lie, who awaits our cry for Him to do it for us.... in us. Praise you Lord!

Live, bones, live

Blessings, dear brother

Gids

You say the Scripture is just theory. I say it is the Word of God. If you think it is not working in your life then it is because you don't actually believe the Scripture to be true. You don't actually believe that God's grace is actually sufficient for you no matter what your state of holiness is.

What you are saying is that God's grace is not sufficient for you because you have not attained the level of holiness that you desire.

The fact is, you either believe the Scripture, or you continue working toward self-righteousness. If you are telling God that you will only have confidence in His mercy and grace if you get to a certain stage of holiness, then grace is no longer grace for you and your continuing confidence in your standing with Christ is based on your own efforts to achieve holiness.

The Scripture is true. God's grace is entirely sufficient for you, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to add to it in any way.

You may have been brainwashed with sin-consciousness teaching and you cannot get your head around that Christ has done it all for you and there is nothing you can add to what His finished work as done for you.

Will you downgrade the complete work that Christ has done for you? Did He suffer and die on the cross for nothing in your case? Or, when He said "It is finished", He meant that your whole sin issue was resolved in His death on the cross.

All you have to do is believe it! You need to live by faith in Christ, that no matter what happens in your flesh, your sin issue is a non issue because of your faith in Christ.

 

[Gideons300]

The desire for holiness is a sign that the person has already been genuinely converted and is not under any condemnation at all. This means that he is as right with God as he ever will be whether he has total victory over his sinful habit patterns or not.

The path to true conversion is the realisation and acknowledgment that we are totally helpless and hopeless and there is no way we can change ourselves now or for ever. It has to be all of Christ or none of Him.

True conversion consists in a change of heart and attitude. We want to be holy and to glorify Christ in our lives. This makes us pray that Christ will work in us to make us the people He wants us to be. Not necessarily what we want to be.

If we put conditions on ourselves that we will not accept that we are right with God unless we reach a certain standard of holiness, then we are putting ourselves before God and denying that God has the right to mold us in any way He pleases.

The fact is that He allows certain things to remain in us to remind us that we are totally dependent upon Christ for our standing with God. If we think that we can get ourselves to a certain stage of holiness, then we move into self-righteousness and pride, and in so doing, we are telling God that Christ is not enough for us.

Paul said that in whatever state he was in, he was content. Why? Because he trusted Christ for his standing with God, and not any success in his own quest for holiness.

The desire for holiness is because we already have our new heart in us. We don't hide our faults from God. Because we know that Christ is our sufficiency, we openly declare our shortcomings and faults to Him, and that is all God requires.

And this is the crux of the problem. Indeed we have been healed ‘slightly’. If God is the potter, and He is, and if His will is our complete sanctification, body, soul and spirit, and it is, and yet year after year we do not see all things put under His feet in our lives, something is wrong... bad wrong.

Our preachers tell us that we are all okay if we have said our salvation prayer, but all we have to do is read God’s words to His church in Laodecia to realize our theology is off. God said that their attitude of “I’m saved, and have need of nothing” made God ill.

What is now beginning to happen before our eyes is the awakening that was foretold in Ezekiel 36. Saints desperately hungry to lead lives of overflowing victory so that they would stop dishonoring God with their shallowness, their lukewarm acceptance of sin in their lives, their worldliness, their hypocrisy, are going t awake to the HOW of holiness.

And the world, who has for far too long looked at us and scoffed at our double-mindedness, are going to finally KNOW that Jesus is Lord. How will this miracle occur?

“And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God , when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.”

Ezekiel 36:23

That, brother is the future of every true saint of God, and we shall see it with our own eyes. A separation is beginning to occur in what we term “the church”. They righteous wheat will be separated from the religious tares. One will lean upon religion, tradition and head knowledge of God to save them, and a perverted grace that tells them that God winks at their continued sin.

But the redeemed of the Lord will hold their God to His promises to ‘cause us’ to walk as obedient children. He is not a man that He should lie, and when we finally get that, and stand on those promises as OUR promises, all Heaven is going to break loose!

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

And this is the crux of the problem. Indeed we have been healed ‘slightly’. If God is the potter, and He is, and if His will is our complete sanctification, body, soul and spirit, and it is, and yet year after year we do not see all things put under His feet in our lives, something is wrong... bad wrong.

Our preachers tell us that we are all okay if we have said our salvation prayer, but all we have to do is read God’s words to His church in Laodecia to realize our theology is off. God said that their attitude of “I’m saved, and have need of nothing” made God ill.

What is now beginning to happen before our eyes is the awakening that was foretold in Ezekiel 36. Saints desperately hungry to lead lives of overflowing victory so that they would stop dishonoring God with their shallowness, their lukewarm acceptance of sin in their lives, their worldliness, their hypocrisy, are going t awake to the HOW of holiness.

And the world, who has for far too long looked at us and scoffed at our double-mindedness, are going to finally KNOW that Jesus is Lord. How will this miracle occur?

“And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God , when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.”

Ezekiel 36:23

That, brother is the future of every true saint of God, and we shall see it with our own eyes. A separation is beginning to occur in what we term “the church”. They righteous wheat will be separated from the religious tares. One will lean upon religion, tradition and head knowledge of God to save them, and a perverted grace that tells them that God winks at their continued sin.

But the redeemed of the Lord will hold their God to His promises to ‘cause us’ to walk as obedient children. He is not a man that He should lie, and when we finally get that, and stand on those promises as OUR promises, all Heaven is going to break loose!

Blessings,

Gideon

There are two Scriptures that you don't believe are true:
"My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
and
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Those two Scriptures deal with the sin issue in every genuine believer.

You can believe what you like and quote preachers ad infinitum, but if you don't believe the two above Scriptures, then you will struggle with sin and unbelief for the rest of your life, and you will never achieve the potential that God has designed for you.

 

[Gideons300]

You say the Scripture is just theory. I say it is the Word of God. If you think it is not working in your life then it is because you don't actually believe the Scripture to be true. You don't actually believe that God's grace is actually sufficient for you no matter what your state of holiness is.

What you are saying is that God's grace is not sufficient for you because you have not attained the level of holiness that you desire.

The fact is, you either believe the Scripture, or you continue working toward self-righteousness. If you are telling God that you will only have confidence in His mercy and grace if you get to a certain stage of holiness, then grace is no longer grace for you and your continuing confidence in your standing with Christ is based on your own efforts to achieve holiness.

The Scripture is true. God's grace is entirely sufficient for you, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to add to it in any way.

You may have been brainwashed with sin-consciousness teaching and you cannot get your head around that Christ has done it all for you and there is nothing you can add to what His finished work as done for you.

Will you downgrade the complete work that Christ has done for you? Did He suffer and die on the cross for nothing in your case? Or, when He said "It is finished", He meant that your whole sin issue was resolved in His death on the cross.

All you have to do is believe it! You need to live by faith in Christ, that no matter what happens in your flesh, your sin issue is a non issue because of your faith in Christ.

I am in no way saying scripture is theory. I am saying scripture WORKS! And if we find it is not working in our lives, is it not time to fall to our knees and beseech God to give eyes to see and ears to hear why it is not working in our lives and what we need to do in order to stop displeasing Him with our lukewarm acceptance of sin still residing in our hearts?

The church as we know it prides itself on standing on the scriptures as the ultimate truth. Do we no hear the scriptures? We are told that if we abide in Him, we will not fulfill the lists of the flesh. Period.

Will we let that verse judge us as not knowing the how of walking in such a place. Or will we rest content with our clinging to forgiveness while having little if any heart for actually overcoming those sins that still rule over us?

God is not mocked. Either we are content to let our flesh continue to rule over us as we continue our empty religious show, or we will found admitting to God our hearts are far from Him, that we do NOT love Him with our whole hearts, and give Him no rest until He does what He promises to do for us.... cause us to walk as overcomers
full of agape love for both God and our fellow man.

The valley of decision approaches, and quickly. The choice is clear. Us still reigning with our bus pass to Heaven tucked into our back pocket to be used only in emergencies, or us finally hating our self life so much that we step out in bodacious faith and reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto Him.

At present, we try to yield ourselves to God as messed up sinners who are forgiven, and in our spiritual infancy, this is totally normal and right. But in these coming days, saints will come to the faith where we yield ourselves to God ‘as those who are alive from the dead’.

When we finally couple the blood of the Lamb with the words of OUR testimony, believing that it is no more us rhatlove, but Christ who now lives in us, we will do exactly what the Word promises us in Revelation. We will overcome the enemy and lead multitudes to the God who can save us ‘to the uttermost’.

Blessings,

Gideon

 

[Gideons300]

There are two Scriptures that you don't believe are true:
"My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
and
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Those two Scriptures deal with the sin issue in every genuine believer.

You can believe what you like and quote preachers ad infinitum, but if you don't believe the two above Scriptures, then you will struggle with sin and unbelief for the rest of your life, and you will never achieve the potential that God has designed for you.

I fear you do not understand what you are saying. If we are truly cleansed, will we not walk in victory over what once ruled over us?

Brother, God has called us to peace. Debate and arguing will not bring glory to God. You have made your position perfectly clear. I pray so have done the same. May God lead us all into the truth that sets us free indeed.

Be blessed,

Gideon

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I fear you do not understand what you are saying. If we are truly cleansed, will we not walk in victory over what once ruled over us?

Brother, God has called us to peace. Debate and arguing will not bring glory to God. You have made your position perfectly clear. I pray so have done the same. May God lead us all into the truth that sets us free indeed.

Be blessed,

Gideon

We live in a sinful body that will die. If being converted made us sinless in the flesh, or that we could achieve sinlessness in the flesh, our bodies would be immortal and not subject to decay and death. We will only be perfectly holy when we are resurrected to glory.

But the peace that we have is peace with God. He has nothing more against us because He put all our guilt and punishment for sin on Christ. The Scripture says that the just shall live by faith, not by achieving any standard of holiness.

Even so, if our standing with Christ depended on our ability to become holy enough, we will never get there. There will always be a shortcoming in the flesh until the day we die.

Paul says, "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God". If you don't feel at peace with God then it may be that you don't believe this Scripture. This was what Martin Luther, who was afraid of God, sin conscious to the point where he spent hours confessing all his sins to his priest until the priest had a nervous breakdown. Then Luther discovered the Scripture, "The just shall live by faith" and then realised that he is justified by faith in Christ alone.

Peace with God is not the same as the peace of God that passes all understanding. Peace with God means that we are restored into complete fellowship with Him and Christ through faith alone. We must not combine justification with sanctification. But we cannot have justification without sanctification. The latter is a life-long process through growth in grace. See, it is a growth in grace through the working of the Holy Spirit. It is not a growth in self effort toward self righteousness.

 

[ace of hearts]

Many believers who truly love the Lord have found themselves trapped in a Romans 7 existence. They truly want to do good. They hate the sins that drag them down, yet as hard as they may try, failure is still their inevitable result.

They read the words Paul writes in Romans 8 where he tells us there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in a Christ Jesus, but sadly, that is all they are..... words. In my own case, for almost 38 years, I lived in abject failure, bound by an addiction to inappropriate contentography and masturbation. This was no ‘every once in a while’ slip. It was a daily battle to try to resist, but the harder I resisted, the more it tightened around my brain. I was the poster boy for Romans 7, a man most miserable.

Sound familiar? Are you battling a sin that you hate, but with no success, and with each failure, the hope that you will never get free fades a little more. If that is you, no matter the sin, you can identify with me in that there is PLENTY of condemnation. Oh, maybe not from God, but from my own heart? I breathed it like air. Drank it like water. And condemnation will suck the life right out of your walk with God. No joy, except perhaps in an occasional gulp of oxygen in an extraordinary worship service. It truly does make you view yourself as a ‘wretched man’ just as Paul did.

So many have tread this road before, but have been detoured by the enemy in order to smile and get some relief. What is the detour? Simply lowering the standard that the Lord gives us... victory over the world, the flesh and the devil.

The vast majority of modern preachers have led this detour, telling us that no one is perfect, we are only human, and despite the fact we may be committing vile sins, there is STILL no condemnation, so why sweat it? Chill. Relax. Don’t be sin conscious. And for millions it has worked.

You see, the real danger of sin continuing in our lives is that it hardens our hearts to the Lord. Oh, we may still go to church, read our Bibles, tithe, and do some volunteering. But you see, all those are not Christianity. They are simply fruits of walking in Christ.

The great danger is that once we lower the standard of ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’, we let our consciences become hardened, our joyful contact and fellowship with Christ Himself is shut down, ever so slowly, until we are just going through the motions. If God took a trip and was unable to meet with us, we would never know it. Religious activity has replaced relationship. The living Word has been replaced by dead letter.

We are told that if we are sons and daughters of God, we WILL occasionally be chastened for wrong actions. And if we are not, we are bastards.... illegitimate children. Ouch. God never condemns us, but He most certainly convicts us. Our problem is that we do not know what to do with the conviction. We sin, we get convicted about the wrongness of our action, whatever it may be, we confess it, we repent and ........ and what? We vow to do better next time, right? And we all know what the result is, don’t we? It happens again... and again.

And if we do this enough, and our failures begin to clog our arteries of trust in God, condemnation replaces conviction. That voice comes from Satan, our enemy, but listen. This is critical. When he accuses, he does not whisper in our ear “You are a terrible Christian.” Oh, no, he has a much more effective weapon up His sleeve. He whispers ‘I am a terrible Christian’.... and he does it in OUR voice. Whoa.

Listen, dear friends. If you find your walk strangely following the above path, you are not alone. If you love the Lord, get this deep down in your heart. Our God NEVER condemns us. Ever. BUT, and this is huge that we get this. He does convict. He does chasten. He does so because sin hardens our hearts, to where we no longer truly believe Him. Instead we believe IN Him, and the difference is monumental.

Look. Think for a minute. If it is as we have been told from our pulpits, that sin truly cannot be overcome, then why would God convict us in the first place. We would only be doing what is natural, right? There is but one reason He would convict us. Because there is a way to get victory over it!

If you have fallen into the trap of religion, or if you have resisted the temptation to lower the standard but it has made you flat out miserable and joyless, either way I want you to know something. God has a way out. He longs to show us the HOW of living an obedient, holy life, but first, we must admit to Him that despite our best efforts, we are failing. And we need help, big time.

The hardest part of the message of victory God has given me to share with any who will put up with my incessant ramblings is to finally stop and say ‘Yes, that’s me, Lord”. I need to be set free from this prison called self, and I cannot, or will not do it without a miracle from You.”

Without this step, there is no point reading further, for brokenness and honesty must reign supreme in any dealing we have with our Father. Ahhh, but WITH this step, if you are sincere, may I tell you to buckle your seatbelts, because God is about to do something for you, to you, IN you that will boggle your mind.

In these last days, God is going to awaken every true child of God. no matter how far they have strayed, no matter how deep and disgusting their sin has become, no matter how cold their heart has grown toward God. It matters not. We have a wedding forthcoming and our God is going to make darned sure we are perfectly prepared to meet Him..... as overcomers.

Are you ready to experience the walk with the Lord He died to give you. Where condemnation is literally a thing of the past? Is it truly possible? It is not only possible. It is assured! Glory to God!!

More to come....

Blessings,

Gids

For me I just got tired of the weekly dose of condemnation for things I haven't done and the requiring of following an amended law from the OT. This didn't only come from the bully pulpit but also from adherents of bully. Doing it or trying to got me nowhere in every aspect of my life.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

For me I just got tired of the weekly dose of condemnation for things I haven't done and the requiring of following an amended law from the OT. This didn't only come from the bully pulpit but also from adherents of bully. Doing it or trying to got me nowhere in every aspect of my life.

Using 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness".

That deals with any issue between you and God concerning your sins.

Also, "Your sins and iniquities, I will remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12).

What this means is that the instant you confess your sin to God, He has forgotten it. He suspends His omnicience in regard to confessed sin. We don't even have to get the victory over it, and we might need to confess the same sin over and over again; and over and over again, He will forgive and forget.

When you have done that, there is no one in the world who has the right to bring it up with you. If God has forgiven, cleansed, and forgotten the sin, then you don't have to listen to any words of condemnation from anyone, no matter who they are. God is the final authority, and He has spoken in His Word, and that is that!

 

[ace of hearts]

Using 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness".

That deals with any issue between you and God concerning your sins.

Also, "Your sins and iniquities, I will remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12).

What this means is that the instant you confess your sin to God, He has forgotten it. He suspends His omnicience in regard to confessed sin. We don't even have to get the victory over it, and we might need to confess the same sin over and over again; and over and over again, He will forgive and forget.

When you have done that, there is no one in the world who has the right to bring it up with you. If God has forgiven, cleansed, and forgotten the sin, then you don't have to listen to any words of condemnation from anyone, no matter who they are. God is the final authority, and He has spoken in His Word, and that is that!

I don't think you read my post by your response. IOW I can't relate what you say to my post. Sorry.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

For me I just got tired of the weekly dose of condemnation for things I haven't done and the requiring of following an amended law from the OT. This didn't only come from the bully pulpit but also from adherents of bully. Doing it or trying to got me nowhere in every aspect of my life.

I will add that Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He will come and try to shame you and make you feel condemned over sin that you have already confessed to the Lord. He will use even your fellow church members to bring the guilt and shame of forgiven sin on you. You can tell those members, "I am a child of God, forgiven and cleansed, and the devil can't come anywhere near me!" You will be surprised at how quickly those folk will back off you.

You can also tell that accusing spirit, and spirit of condemnation to get on its bike and depart from you, and because you are resisting it, it has to flee from you.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I don't think you read my post by your response. IOW I can't relate what you say to my post. Sorry.

Oh! I see! But my comment about you saying to anyone who accuses you of anything whether true or false, 'I am a child of God, forgiven and cleansed, and the devil cannot come anywhere near me!" is just as applicable.

And you don't have to say it loudly to them. True authority is assertive but very quiet.