Salvation is a result of JC's work, not mine. When God forgives my sins, they are forgiven forever. Salvation is the gift of God through JC. Maintaining that salvation is the work of God, not the believer.
But, as a B, I am responsible for maintaining my spirit-filled life. How do we maintain this life?
Galatians 5:16--So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Romans 8:14--Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.F35 And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
HS leads from within. One of HS's responsibilities is to lead us. SPL if a moment by moment of reliance on HS to guide us; to be lead by the HS. Any time I choose to sin, I choose to say no to HS. There is no way to maintain SPL and walk in disobedience.
How do I deal with sin?
I must understand what my relationship to sin is. Victory does not come through confession and repentance.
Romans 6:11--In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
We are dead to sin's appeal. Stop letting sin govern your life. JC's work on the cross changed our relationship to sin.
Romans 6:18--You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Before we received JC as our LORD and Savior, we were slaves to sin. Once we received JC as LORD and Savior, our relationship to sin is different. Satan lies to us telling us that we are weak and we can't resist him. But we are not as weak as he would want us to think because we have the power and strength of HS inside us. Therefore sin shall not be master over us. God does not intend for us to be mastered by sin. God has provided for this. We have been freed from sin. As a B, in order to sin, we have to consent to sin in order to sin. In other words, we can't be forced or compelled to sin. We have to assent, yield, relent to sin. We can submit to satan's desire for us to sin. But we have HS to instruct us and guide us away from sin.
We must recognize that our mind is the battlefield of sin.
Romans 8:5--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. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Set your mind on the things of HS (which are the things of God.) Therefore, we will develop the character of JC. The things of the flesh no longer fit who we are (in JC). If I'm sensitive to the things of God, I won't carry out the things of the flesh.
The battle does NOT start at the point of temptation. But, by that point, we're already defeated. There's a battle before the battle. We have to learn how to deal with the thoughts that come our way before the become a problem. It's not a sin that an evil thought comes our way. We have to determine whether we entertain the thought. If I'm walking in the HS, anything contrary to that is not a part of who we are. It begins with the thought itself. Once you begin to entertain the thoughts, you're then defeated. You are to begin to deal with it as soon as the thought comes. You can do that because sin is no longer our master. We are from from it.
But, as a B, I am responsible for maintaining my spirit-filled life. How do we maintain this life?
Galatians 5:16--So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Romans 8:14--Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.F35 And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
HS leads from within. One of HS's responsibilities is to lead us. SPL if a moment by moment of reliance on HS to guide us; to be lead by the HS. Any time I choose to sin, I choose to say no to HS. There is no way to maintain SPL and walk in disobedience.
How do I deal with sin?
I must understand what my relationship to sin is. Victory does not come through confession and repentance.
Romans 6:11--In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
We are dead to sin's appeal. Stop letting sin govern your life. JC's work on the cross changed our relationship to sin.
Romans 6:18--You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Before we received JC as our LORD and Savior, we were slaves to sin. Once we received JC as LORD and Savior, our relationship to sin is different. Satan lies to us telling us that we are weak and we can't resist him. But we are not as weak as he would want us to think because we have the power and strength of HS inside us. Therefore sin shall not be master over us. God does not intend for us to be mastered by sin. God has provided for this. We have been freed from sin. As a B, in order to sin, we have to consent to sin in order to sin. In other words, we can't be forced or compelled to sin. We have to assent, yield, relent to sin. We can submit to satan's desire for us to sin. But we have HS to instruct us and guide us away from sin.
We must recognize that our mind is the battlefield of sin.
Romans 8:5--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. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Set your mind on the things of HS (which are the things of God.) Therefore, we will develop the character of JC. The things of the flesh no longer fit who we are (in JC). If I'm sensitive to the things of God, I won't carry out the things of the flesh.
The battle does NOT start at the point of temptation. But, by that point, we're already defeated. There's a battle before the battle. We have to learn how to deal with the thoughts that come our way before the become a problem. It's not a sin that an evil thought comes our way. We have to determine whether we entertain the thought. If I'm walking in the HS, anything contrary to that is not a part of who we are. It begins with the thought itself. Once you begin to entertain the thoughts, you're then defeated. You are to begin to deal with it as soon as the thought comes. You can do that because sin is no longer our master. We are from from it.
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