Moving on in the Word
The Word of God has been the biggest thing in my life since I met Jesus. In 1979 when I first met Him I was in several desperate situations. The only time I had any relief and peace in my life was when I was taking in the Word. I was like an addict who had to have more of the Word all the time. I could not get enough of the Word. It spoke to my heart, it understood me, it gave me hope in hopeless situations, and best of all it was not an "it," it was a "He." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1,2).
As I mentioned, I met the Lord while reading the Book of Revelation and studying Bible prophecy. After that day of salvation, I studied Revelation with vigor for almost two years. I was amazed at the way the Word of God was so perfect. I noticed that the Old Testament lined up perfectly with the New Testament. I saw hundreds of prophecies fulfilled to the very date, as foretold hundreds, even thousands of years earlier. It amazed me the way God inspired the Bible and left it for us. What a treasure I had found!
One of the most amazing things I discovered was that not only could I read the Bible, but also the Bible could read me. It told me things about myself that only God could have known. When I would cry out for answers, The Holy Spirit would open an Old Testament story that fit my situation perfectly. I believe that there is a Scripture in the Bible for every moment in our lives. All we have to do is ask, seek and knock.
If you are a new believer, you must learn to make the Word of God first place in your life! There is no other way to have a deep, personal relationship with God and find His victory in every situation.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible has been given to mankind by the breath of God, which is the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who takes the words of Scripture and makes them alive for you in your life.
There are two meanings for "word" in Scripture: one is logos, and the other is rhema. Logos means the Word of God in general. Rhema means the Word of God coming directly from the lips of Jesus to you. It is a personal Word to you. The Holy Spirit takes logos and makes it rhema!
Some people can actually memorize the Bible and remain atheists. "…not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:6b).
What is the Bible all about? When I first met the Lord, I kept asking ministers to give me a brief outline of what the Bible is all about. I never got it from them. I really do not have space to do it here. I do, however, wish to give you a basic outline from which you may build as you study for yourself.
The Bible is about God creating everything from nothing with His Word. It tells about Him creating man. Then it tells the story of man. It tells how he rebelled against God’s authority and put himself under Satan’s authority. It tells how God’s wonderful redemption plan was executed so that man could be restored to a right relationship with God.
The Old Testament goes into great depth describing God’s acts in creating a family for Himself in the race of Israel starting with Abraham. Much of the Old Testament focuses on the story of Israel. That is important because Jesus was the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel. Jesus was God’s plan to redeem man back to God, and Israel played a big part in that. The Israelites kept the Scriptures in tact, and Jesus came as an Israelite. Jesus said, "You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22).
Not only is the Old Testament the history of Israel, it also serves to give us shadows and types in its stories that we may apply to our lives today. "Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did" (1 Corinthians 10:6).
"These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfilment of the ages has come" (1 Corinthians 10:11).
For example, look at 1 Kings 18:8-16. Read the story about the woman giving away her last morsel of food during the famine, and how God wonderfully supplied food for her and Ellijah. You may apply this personally for your life as I have to mine. God can use supernatural means to supply your needs.
The four Gospels are partial historical accounts of the birth and life of Jesus and of some of the things that our Lord did while He walked this earth. They reveal to us the character of God. The religious people during that time, and our time also, thought that God was a cold hearted, hard to please old man. Jesus revealed God as a God of mercy and grace. God is revealed as a friend to the poor, the sick, the sinners and the helpless. He taught us many lessons about the Kingdom of God in the Gospels.
The Gospels explain how Jesus died for our sins, was raised from the dead on the third day, and how He sent His disciples into the world to preach the Good News.
The Epistles have various messages. Paul, who wrote two thirds of the New Testament, had a special revelation from the Lord regarding what happened between the Cross where Jesus died, and when He sat down at His Father’s right hand. He had a revelation of the defeat of Satan and who God made us to be in Him. Paul had a revelation of the Bride of Christ, the Church. Peter, James, and Paul give good practical advice on living the Christian life.
Paul wrote a very special message to the Galatians. He emphasizes that not only were we saved by grace and grace alone, but that we can only live out our lives by grace and not by works or legalism. Our old nature, the flesh, continually tries to take control by any means possible. Two common means for the flesh is legalism and self-righteousness. Let us never forget that everything starts and ends with the grace of God.
The Epistles talk about the Second Coming of Jesus. This is a subject that has been misunderstood by believers and non-believers alike for centuries. We will cover this subject more in later chapters.
The epistle to the Hebrews emphasizes the Blood Covenant and compares the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. It reveals Jesus in a wonderful way.
The Book of Acts is in a class by itself. On the surface, it is the history of the first several years of the Church after the ascension of Jesus. It shows the Holy Spirit being poured out on all mankind starting with the Day of Pentecost. It shows God including the Gentiles in salvation. It shows the start of the early church, and the missionary trips made by the first century believers for church planting. It shows the ministry of The Holy Spirit working through ordinary men as if Jesus Himself was doing the work (in the Name of Jesus). The Book of Acts is without end. Technically, it is still happening.
The Book of Revelation is probably the most misunderstood book in the Bible. While I believe there is a lot to be learned about end times in Revelation, I believe that too many believers limit Revelation to future history and do not make personal a application of it in their present day lives. We will cover this more in later chapters.
Can I trust the Word of God? There is really nothing in this world that can be trusted except the Word of God. People come and go, ministers come and go, institutions, schools, children, parents come and go, everything changes.
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). "For ever, O LORD, your word is settled in heaven" (Psalms 119:89). "I will worship toward your holy temple, and praise your name for your lovingkindness and for your truth: for you have magnified your word above all your name" (Psalms 138:2).
How can you know the above Scriptures which testify about the Word are true?
We need to be able to trust The Word of God no matter what comes our way! If there is one thing that The Word of God dares to do that no other book in the world does, it is to accurately predict the future. This proves beyond argument that only God could have authored the Bible.
Prophecy proves beyond argument that only God could have authored the Bible. There are 8,352 verses directly or indirectly concerned with prophecy in Scripture. About one verse in six tells of future events. God’s challenge to the world is that we might prove Him. "I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass" (Ezekiel 12:25a).
Buddhists, Confucianists and the followers of Mohammed have their sacred writings, but in them the element of prophecy is conspicuous by its absence. The destruction of Tyre, the invasion of Jerusalem, the fall of Babylon and Rome were all accurately predicted in the Bible and fulfilled to the smallest of details. The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was foretold hundreds of years before it happened by the prophet Daniel - TO THE VERY DAY. The forming of Israel as a new state in 1948 was foretold to the day and month in the Old Testament.
Prophecies about Jesus
There are over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in His birth, life, death, and resurrection, but consider as an example only the seventeen most prominent ones.
The combined probability against these seventeen predictions occurring is equal to:
1 chance in 480,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. (480 billion x 1 billion x 1 trillion).
Isaiah 42:9 says, "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they happen, I cause you to hear."
I highly recommend that you study the many lessons in the ISOB curriculum, such as lessons 110 through 114 about the Word of God.
I submit that it is impossible the Bible is not the inspired Word of God! Doubt will certainly come to you, especially as a new believer. Keep these facts in your mind to fall back on in times of trial, and God will see you through. The Word of God is true and perfect. You can trust it!
Most Christians do not give enough value to the Word of God. They feel that it is strictly intellectual and cognitive. Also, many feel that it contains errors or at least simple stories.
Isaiah foretold that people would not give any value to Jesus when He came. Too many people are still not giving enough value to Jesus, who is the Word of God.
"He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:2,3).
How the Word works.
The Word of God is a seed. Seeds do not make noise, nor is their growth activity obvious. The Word of God contains life, as do seeds. It contains the very race and spirit of the speaker.
This is the mystery of the Kingdom of God!
I strongly suggest that you meditate on Mark chapter 4, the parable of the sower and the seed, the Word of God. It is one of the most important teachings of Jesus.
Jesus said that the mystery of the Kingdom of God is embedded in this parable: "And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables" (Mark 4:11).
The Kingdom of God may seem like a far off place to you, but Jesus said that it is within your reach right now. He said that if you turned (repented) that you would find the Kingdom of God within your reach.
Jesus was telling us to change, to repent from struggling to get our needs met, and to become fruit bearers with the Word of God.
"From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’" (Matthew 4:17). That is to turn and change directions. When you do, you will find the Kingdom of God so close that you can take hold of it.
You may ask, what did He mean? Turn from what? What is the Kingdom of God? I believe that we are to turn from the world’s way of living life to the Kingdom’s way of living life. I believe that this applies to our entire life. I also believe that Jesus was not simply saying to these people, "Stop sinning and repent from your immoral ways." No, Jesus was giving us the plan for living life.
Mark chapter 4 tells us about the Word. The Word is sown in our hearts and the Devil comes to steal it. How? He does it by taking advantage of the various conditions of our heart.
a. The hard heart, the wayside or hard road, Mark 4:15. At once Satan takes away the message that is sown in them. Some people are just shallow and don’t care.
b. The stony ground, Mark 4:16. They receive and accept at first. But they have no real root. When trouble and persecution arise for the Word’s sake, they become offended, displeased, indignant, and resentful; they stumble and fall away. The Word is lost. Some people can’t stand the pressure. They can’t see anything growing right away, so they give up.
c. Thorns, Mark 4:18. The Word is implanted as a seed and grows, however cares, anxieties, distractions, pleasures, delights and false glamours choke it. Deceit of riches, craving and passionate desires for other things creep in and choke the Word. Some people give in to peer pressure and their desire to be popular and materialistic.
One of the reasons we do not believe others and do not believe God’s Word is because of the condition of our heart. The reason we think others are lying when they are being honest is because it is our nature. The reason we have a hard time believing God is because we cannot believe ourselves.
d. Good soil brings forth fruit, Mark 4:20. Growth does not depend on good weather, but good soil. Luke 8, the same parable, says good soil is an honest, virtuous, just, noble and worthy heart. It produces thirty, sixty, one hundred times the amount sown. The word "one hundred" means, according to Strongs Concordance, an uncertain amount of the same origin.
God has given us His Word to supply all of our needs. Our three basic needs are love, security and significance. If we will receive the Word into our hearts and resist the devil as he tries to steal the Word, God will cause fruit to grow in our lives that will supply all of our needs. This is not empty theology. I can personally testify that the Word of God does indeed work this way. The devil knows it, God knows it, now we need to know it!
I challenge you to make a continual study of Psalm 119 as a testimony of what the Word of God will do.
Some examples of what Psalms 119 says about the Word:
God commanded you to keep it in your heart; The Word directs your ways; You will not be put to shame; God will not forsake you; You keep your way cleansed with the Word; The Word will become more to you than all the riches; You will see wondrous things in the Word; God gave you His Word so you would not feel like a stranger on the earth; God rebukes the proud and arrogant who wander from The Word; The Word counsels you and delights you; The Word revives and stimulates you (vs. 25); When you meditate in the Word you understand God’s wonders; The Word will strengthen you when your life seems like it is dissolving and hopeless; The Word will remove you from the way of falsehood; You have to choose the way of truth and set the Word before you; God will give you a heart willing to run the way of the Word; The Word will keep you safe from idols; The Word is only for those that fear and worship God; The Word will turn away your reproach; The Word will renew your life; The Word will bring you God’s salvation, keep you safe and heal you; It will give an answer to those who taunt and reproach you (vs. 42); The Word will give you liberty and freedom (vs. 45); It will keep you from being put to shame; The Word brings hope and, God’s will to your life; The Word will comfort and console you in your affliction; The Word will heal and deliver from danger, it will provide for your needs, it will comfort and speak to you, it will be you with in danger, it will keep you from danger; When enemies attack the Word keeps you safe; God’s favor and grace comes through the Word; It teaches you good judgment, wise discernment and knowledge; It will keep you from going astray; It will keep you safe when the wicked lie about you (vs. 69); The Word is better than gold and silver; You were made to hear the Word; The Word gives hope, but sometimes you have to wait and be still for it; The Word is hidden for those that seek; God’s tender mercies come though the Word; It will make your heart blameless, sincere and wholehearted; Even though you suffer sometimes, that is when you know to turn to the Word; The Word is faithful and sure; Forever, the Word is settled in Heaven (vs. 89); Unless you had been in the Word you would have perished; It kept you safe when the wicked came after you; Everything has its limits expect for The Word (vs. 96); It makes you wiser than your enemies; It gives you more insight than even your teachers; You can keep that Word only when you stay honest; The Word is sweet; The Word is a lamp unto your feet and light to your path; The Word heals and gives you life; The Word gives you joy; The Word is a hiding place; You need to stay in good company of friends so that you may keep the Word; The Word is better than anything conceived by man (vs. 129 ); It gives understanding and comprehension to the simple; The Word keeps evil from overtaking you; The Word is pure and you love it; Even when you are in trouble The Word brings you delight; The Word binds you to eternity [It transfers the Life of God to you.]; You have childlike trust in the Word; The Word brings God near to you, nearer than your foes; It seems that when the writer was in trouble the Word meant more to him; The wicked cannot work things out because they are far from The Word; All of God’s Word endures forever; You rejoice at The Word as one who has found a treasure; The Word causes you to praise Him; The Word causes God to hear you and deliver you; It causes God’s hand to be ready to help; Even when you go astray like a lost sheep, The Word stays in you to bring you back to God; Since the Word of God is the only stable thing, then you need to measure all other words against God’s or their character against God’s character.
What will the Word do?
When Satan heard the Word in the Garden of Eden, he was defeated. When Pharaoh heard the Word, he let God’s people go. When Moses heard the Word, the Red Sea Split. When the walls of Jericho heard the Word, they fell. When Gideon heard the Word, his outnumbered forces slaughtered the enemy. When Samuel heard the Word, he wasn’t sure who it was. When Ellijah heard the Word, he raised the dead, stopped the rain, and started it again. When Naaman obeyed the Word, his leprosy was cleansed. When Goliath heard the Word, he was felled by a stone and a youth. When Jehoshaphat heard the Word, his enemies defeated themselves with a battle. When Nehemiah heard the Word, the temple and the wall were rebuilt in record time. When Esther heard the Word, she saved an entire nation. When Job heard the Word, even his suffering was worth it: He saw God and his fortune was restored. When David heard the Word, he was comforted, made safe and forgiven from the worst crimes a man could commit. When Solomon heard the Word, it was worth more than all the silver and gold. When the maiden in Song of Solomon heard the Word, she fell in love with her eternal lover. When Isaiah heard the Word, his lips were cleansed and he foretold of a Savior who would die for our sins. When Jeremiah heard the Word, Israel had to become slaves due to their sin; but later their slave masters were overthrown. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego saw the Word, He was with them in the fiery furnaces of life. When Daniel saw the Word, He had shut the lion’s mouths. When Ezekiel and the other prophets heard the Word, they saw the coming King who would save them from their enemies.
When the Blind man was touched by the Word, he saw. When the Word touched the leper, he was clean. When demons saw the Word, they fled. When the Centurion heard the Word, his servant was healed. When the adulterous woman saw the Word, she was forgiven. When the prostitute touched the Word, she was made clean and loved much. When John the Baptist saw the Word, he saw the Lamb who would take away our sins. When John saw the Word the first time, he saw God’s Word become flesh. When the religious people saw the Word, they argued with Him and called Him demon possessed. When the crowds saw the Word, they considered Him to be of no value, traded his life for a thief’s, and executed Him with the punishment of a criminal. Although He spoke this world into being, they did not recognize him. They only saw Him as that "bloody mess" on the Cross.
When John saw the Word in the Book of Revelation, he saw a victorious One who conquered death, hell and the grave; the One who was raised from the dead, and clothed with a robe which reached to His feet and a girdle of gold about His breast. His head and His hair were white as snow (white as in fire) and His eyes flashed like a flame of fire. His feet glowed like burnished bright bronze as it is refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. John saw the Ruler and Judge of the Universe!
When Satan sees the resurrected Word, he sees that He, The Word, is The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His eyes blaze like a flame of fire and on His head are many kingly crowns. At every one of our "final battles" in this life, Satan sees him with a sword in His mouth on a white horse, dressed in a robe dyed in blood. "And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:16).
You need to continue in the Word with a consistent Bible Study. There are many good ones you may purchase, or you may design one for yourself. ISOB has a free discipleship course available on the Internet or on CD-ROM for use with your personal computer.
Moving on with being changed.
Some things are changed instantly, some take time.
I can remember one of the first things God revealed to me when I first met Him was how the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died on the Cross (Mark 15:38). The Holy Spirit used that to reveal to me that what Jesus did on the Cross gave me entrance to the presence of God. There was nothing I could do to earn or deserve this, it was totally something that He had done. In the King James Bible the word used for torn is "rent." I used to go around telling everyone, "The veil is rent, the veil is rent!" They looked at me like I was on some drug trip or something. But I knew what I meant.
I owned a neighborhood grocery store when I first met Jesus. Hundreds of people saw me change overnight! I remember someone asking me, "Now that you are a Christian, do you have to stop doing this or that?" I would say, "I can do whatever I like." They would look at me in amazement. Discerning the question in their minds I said, "The thing is, what I like has changed. The only things that I like to do now are those which please God." Now when my desires are improper, the Holy Spirit makes me miserable.
I was a "social drinker" when I met Jesus. I know this is a controversial subject in some cultures, but what I am telling you is not my opinion or argument, it is the way the Lord dealt with me; it is testimony. One unforgettable day a few months after I met Jesus, I reached into my refrigerator for a beer and I heard the Holy Spirit say, "That will grieve Me." I asked Him why and He said, "Because it replaces what I am supposed to do for you." I have never regretted not drinking alcohol since then. For me, alcohol is one of the "other gods." Ask the witch doctors in Africa and Haiti about alcohol.
God changed my likes and dislikes immediately. However, I had no idea how lost I really was and how much of a struggle I was facing. I had no idea of how far my life had strayed from the original blueprint God had for me. I thought God had really received a prize when He got me! He very gently changed my mind, letting me realize that I was very valuable to Him, but that I needed to change.
I can honestly tell you after walking with God since 1979, the closer I get to Him, the more I see how far I had really strayed from His original blueprint for me. You need to approach this subject with great humility and purpose in order to drop your pride and self-righteousness.
God’s eternal purpose for your life is stated in Romans 8:29, which says, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."
It took you less than one minute to receive the eternal life of God into your spirit and to make Jesus Lord, but it will take you a lifetime to be changed into His image. True, you have the life of God living in your spirit, and you have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20). Actually, you obtained perfect righteousness when you received the life of God into your life. Do not let anyone take that truth away from you. Compromising on that truth will neutralize your walk with God. However, there is another truth for you to realize.
I went through much agony seeking God as to how this whole thing worked. I kept asking Him, "If it is all of grace, then why do I have to perform? Is it really grace, or is it mixed with my works and performance also?"
I have been emphasizing the grace of God and the mercy of God. I have been emphasizing that there was nothing that we could do to earn God’s favor or earn our way into Heaven. This is true, and please do not let anyone take that away from you. Read the book of Galatians and discover the message that Paul was trying to give to the church in Galatia.
However, there is another side of the coin that we need to see. Now that you are a believer in the Lord, you should have a passion and desire to live a life worthy of the Lord. "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1). Here the apostle Paul urges the Ephesian believers to live a life worthy of the Lord. This means that they have a choice to live a life unworthy of the Lord.
Before I pursue that too far, I need to set a foundation. God created man in His own image. One of those attributes is having a free will or an independent volition. Man is the only created being who has a free will. True, angels did rebel against God with Satan, but that is still not the same as man’s free will. I believe that God probably gave angels one free choice to follow Satan’s rebellion or to stay with Him. The fallen angels can never choose redemption as a human can.
Dogs can choose to go left or right, but they must always act like dogs. They are pre-programmed. However, a believer can choose to act like an unbeliever even though he has received a transplanted spirit in the nature of God, Himself. True, the life of God dwells in the believer, but the believer’s free choice is still active and he can choose to act as he did before he became a believer.
I am not proposing that one must just act like a believer or imitate God. That is ridiculous, no one can imitate God successfully. God’s life must be in that person and that person must choose to allow God’s life to be manifested through His strength and His power by the Holy Spirit.
This chapter discusses your responsibility as a believer. In no way am I suggesting any form of legalism or "works program" in order to find favor with God. God’s grace has never been "cheap." God paid the highest ransom price to rescue you from the world and Satan.
If you feel that you may live your life as a believer the same way you lived your old life, it may be that you have never really made Jesus Lord, and possibly you have never been born again. No one can make that judgment about you, however please take this as a merciful warning. Don’t be deceived, you are not a healthy Christian unless you have a passion to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Notice, I did not say that you were not healthy if you were not perfect. I said you should have a passion to be changed into His likeness. Make sure that you are not going to "other gods" for your needs. That is often the root cause of an unhealthy attitude. Be honest with God on this issue. It is a matter of eternal life and death.
You can take a lesson from the apostle Paul who had a passion to be conformed to the image of Jesus, however he kept falling short. Paul said in Romans 7:15-25, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."
You are not two people dwelling in one body! Some Christians actually believe that. No, you are a new creation in Christ Jesus and your old nature has been put to death. Paul did not say he had two natures. He said that there was the "law of sin" at work in the members of his body, which waged war against the law of his mind.
I believe that your old nature is like a tree that has been cut down, but still has live branches that have not yet died. You still have old memory tapes in your brain that want to play. Most of your struggle will be with your mind. You may, however, have to deal with spiritual strongholds and/or demonic strongholds. We will discuss those in later chapters.
So how do we please God, and what is our responsibility? Follow Paul’s example of how he solved his dilemma expressed in Romans 7. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires" (Romans 8:1-5).
First, we need to know that we have already been set free. Paul used a description in Romans 7 of a Roman torture when he said, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24). There was a Roman custom of strapping the dead victim’s body to the murderer’s body. The murderer would have to try to live his life in this manner. It would not be long, however, until the death spread into his body and killed him also. But notice Paul said, "Thanks be to God [He did set me free]--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25).
In other words, Paul knew that his dead body had been legally released, and what he was dealing with was residual in his mind and in his members. If you keep this in mind, you will live in victory.
Next, you need to heed Paul’s words in Romans 8:1-5 stated above. That is, to live "in accordance with the Spirit, and have your mind set on what the Spirit desires."
You must then learn to walk in the Spirit, or live in accordance with the Spirit. What does that mean?
Galatians 5:16 says, "I say, then, Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."
Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
Walking in the Spirit is a simple, but different way to live. It is the easiest way I know to be right with God on a daily basis. The process that goes like this:
1. You continue to look into the Word of God (mirror) and ask God to show you how to live. Ask Him, and seek what His standards are for your life. For instance, He says to not lie, to treat your friends with love, to submit to your parents and teachers, to treat your brothers and sisters with kindness, to not get drunk, to not be selfish, to not be angry, to always forgive no matter what, etc.
2. You determine to live the way God wants you to live, knowing that you can walk a life worthy of the Lord only through Jesus living His life in you.
3. When you fail, and you will, be totally honest with yourself, God, and others around you. Repent (turn) quickly. The promise is that when you repent (turn) the Kingdom of God is "at hand", or within your reach.
4. Confess your sin to God. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
5. Confess what the Word of God says about your situation in a positive way. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf."
6. As you continue to live this way, those old habits and old sinful ways begin to disappear. The grace of God takes over and gives you the character of God instead of your old character.
7. Grace "kicks in" for your sin. You did not become righteous by the things you did. Therefore your righteousness is still there; it just has some dirt on it. While you walk in the Spirit, God gives you grace for your mistakes. He takes the penalty of the sin that you would normally suffer, and He gives you a blessing that you do not deserve.
"Walking in the Spirit" can also be defined as what Jesus called "taking up your cross daily." "And He said to all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me’" (Luke 9:23). Remember that your relationship with God is based upon a blood covenant. Two thousand years ago He took up His cross in order to shed His blood for the covenant. Now, in order to activate the covenant and make it a reality in your own life, you must take up your cross, which is your act of "shedding your blood."
Notice that Jesus said "deny himself." Those two words taken together simply mean to say no to the "old nature" that rises up to take control of your daily decisions. You must say no to your own will, intellect and emotions, and replace them with God’s will, God’s mind and the emotions of the Holy Spirit living in you. I guarantee you that this does not make you a machine or a robot, but it mixes the character of God with your own unique personality and makes you a whole person.
One of the rules I keep in mind is to not live by rules. It is found in Colossians 2:20-23 which says, "Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."
If you have ever tried to break a habit, like overeating, you will understand this Scripture. The more attention you pay to your bad habit or even sin, the stronger it becomes. Instead, we should replace our concentration on the sin or habit with concentration on something or Someone else. This is stated in Colossians 3:1-5 which says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death [put to death literally means to kill by ignoring], therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."
You will tend to become like whatever your eyes are fixed upon!
Do you have a passion and desire to live a life worthy of the Lord? If not, be real with God. Tell Him about it and He will give it to you. If you do have such a passion, remember, live your life without condemnation and "walk in the Spirit."