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Author Topic: What Is Victory?
Eden
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Interesting article ...

It said also
quote:
Christian service isn't what WE can do for Him, but what HE wants to do THROUGH US.
And for me it is not just about when I do Christian service, but every moment of my life has changed for the better, even when I'm doing fun things for myself God knows how to make it more wonderful, as in, life more abundantly, not just for service, but for every moment of my life.

God and Jesus, who can look down from above, can give me far better advice than I can give myself here on earth because I can only see "in part". So with the help and counsel of God, everything goes better, and not only while in Christian service.

Isaiah 28:29
This also comes forth from the LORD of hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy; but I am come that they might have life and that they might have it {life} more abundantly.

I thank God for making my life so exciting now ...

love, Eden

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Carol Swenson
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WHAT IS VICTORY AND HOW DO WE GET IT ?

Victory is not ME overcoming sin, victory is CHRIST overcoming ME. And He does that (as we surrender our SELF life) through the power of His Spirit, who resides within every saved person.

The Holy Spirit is the "energizer" or "activator" of the Word in our lives (Eph 1:19, 3:20). Unless we are filled with (controlled by) the Spirit, the knowledge of the word is a "head knowledge" and we will try and try to outwardly perform it, and it will be just that --a performance. Performance just doesn't cut it. Sooner or later, human performance fails and the mask falls off. But when we are fully surrendered to God, walking in His Spirit, studying His Word, and personally worshiping Him (which, by the way, isn't a "group" activity -- true worship takes place as we each bow our SELF before Him, and surrender our own agendas, prides and prejudices to Him, fully YIELDING to whatever He wants in our lives), we then have His power to enable us to do that which we can never successfully and consistently do in our own "human" effort.

We must be both (a) surrendered, and (b) regularly immersing ourselves in His Word. Then, His Spirit, which is resident within us to enable us to do that which we cannot do in "our own way" (flesh or self-effort), takes the Word and begins to shape us using the tool of the Word of God. In Ephesians 3:16-17, we read "strengthened with might in the inner man". The words "strengthened with might" there do not mean to be given more of what you already have. That's usually what we mean when we think of the modern word "strengthen", but that isn't the meaning in this passage. The words "strengthened with might" mean to be given an ability which you do not already possess. It is Christ within us, not we ourselves (Gal. 2:20). You see, we "must decrease" and He "must increase".

"SUPERNATURAL" POWER ?

Is this a "supernatural" power? Well, yes and no. It is not supernatural in the way most people nowadays think of the word "supernatural". They usually think of something mystical or magical like sitting in a trance, something out of an old horror movie, or perhaps a superhero movie in which the "average joe" suddenly is zapped with dazzling cosmic powers. But that isn't the real meaning of the word. Used as a prefix, "super" means "above" or "beyond". So, "supernatural" simply means "above the natural" or "beyond the natural". And in that sense, yes, this is something that God does that is beyond our own natural, human, and "fleshly" capabilities! It is beyond the natural. It is beyond anything that we ourselves can accomplish by mere obedience.

Is it extraordinary for a sinful human being to have this kind of power? You bet. It's the miracle of Christ's victory over sin on the cross (Col. 2:15)! Is it mysterious and "weird"? Or cultic? No. Is it charismatic? No, not in the sense of what we see today in the so-called "charismatic movement." It is the simple and perfectly natural outworking of the God within us. Or, put in another way, it is the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5). It is the power in which God intends for every Christian to live. But only a few are willing to do so because it requires surrender.

Does a tree have to work and strain and grunt and grind in order to bear fruit? No, it just sits there -- it "abides"-- it rests in being a natural part of something greater, and the fruit is the natural outworking of what is inside! The tree draws it's nourishment from a source outside itself (God's creation: the rain, the sun, the nutrients in the soil), and out of that source, naturally, fruit results from the growth process.

When we set about to "work for" the Lord, or to live the Christian life by mere obedience, it is usually an external process as we "try" or "strive" to perform in our own power what we see in the Scriptures. Trying to "perform" spiritual truth takes great effort and struggle, and a large dose of that very human commodity called "willpower". And, in the end, it doesn't work anyway. That's not the way the process was intended by God to work. When we try "on our own" ("our own way"!) we are like Cain, bringing the willful and rebellious sacrifice of human effort, which Cain mistakenly thought God was obligated to accept. But when we walk in intimacy with Christ, drawing our life from a source outside ourselves (Him), we can then, quite naturally, bear fruit.

WHAT IS TRUE CHRISTIAN SERVICE ?

We don't approach God by "doing things" for Him. We approach him by surrendering our will to His. We don't concentrate on what we should DO for Him, we concentrate on what we should BE for him. We concentrate on what changes He wishes to make within us. Christian service isn't what WE can do for Him, but what HE wants to do THROUGH US. We are to "abide" in Christ, filled (controlled by) the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), studied in the Word of God (2 Tim 2:15). Then, the Holy Spirit inside of us takes the Word and "energizes" it into our lives. We can then truly grow in Christ, "rooted and built up in Him" (Col. 2:7), and fruit results naturally from that growth process.

In Ephesians 3:20 we read about "the power that worketh in us". The word "worketh" ("energeo") means to "energize" or "release power". It is something that happens from the inside out.

The power that is already there (the Holy Spirit which we received at salvation) is "activated"-- He is allowed to go to work in our lives (because we are no longer relying on self, but on God; because we have gotten SELF out of "the driver's seat"). But it only happens as we are surrendered, and as we walk in the Spirit, because our life can't have two masters. Either HE is in control or WE are (i.e., our "self" or flesh). "Energeo" is also passive, meaning that it is something that is done to us, by someone else, not something done by us. That's a very important distinction.

You see, victory isn't something we achieve, victory is God's resource for us-- God's provision, already there-- from which we draw our strength!

WHAT ABOUT OBEDIENCE ?

So, you may ask, does obedience play any role in all of this? Yes, indeed! We obey when we choose God's way at those "intersections" (decisions) of everyday life. We choose to walk according to His Word. God's Spirit can then take the lead in our lives, because when we surrender we take a back seat. Our SELF is then out of His way. He can then "do the driving" as we continue to yield to Him. You see, He will never take the driver's seat by force. As long as we insist on driving, he will never force Himself on us, for God always respects the free will of man. If we insist upon driving our lives into the ditch --if we say, "I can do this! I can live this scripture!"-- He will let us try. And right into the ditch we go! (Sometimes it's the ditch of total failure, sometimes it's the ditch of sin, other times it's into the ditch of smugness or self-satisfaction with our own "performance for God". Some ditches are better looking than others, but they are all ditches nonetheless).

When we take control we are living in the flesh. (You see, living "in the flesh" isn't just fornication, adultery, and the things we often think it is. It is "going our own way" in any fashion--even one that looks biblical or "churchy" or right). But when we finally realize that "our own way" will never please God, nor will it secure for us God's best in our lives, then, and only then, are we in a position to see what God can do through the "power that worketh in us". Then, at last, we are in a position to surrender.

WHAT SURRENDER IS NOT

It's very important to note what "surrender" isn't. Surrender isn't something that's usually done at a church's "invitation" time. It isn't fleshly emotion or showy "weeping and wailing" at a revival meeting. It isn't "rededicating our lives". It isn't "coming forward at church" and, notably, it isn't even "commitment to the Lord" (yes, there is a place for commitment in the Christian life, but that's a different matter). A lot of us have misconceptions about our terms because of our own religious backgrounds or upbringing. Sometimes we have unwarranted prejudices against perfectly good terms. We often need to examine our own incorrect prejudices about our terminology. True surrender has nothing to do with "church" or "religion". True surrender is simply when we personally bow before God, give up our own agendas (what we think will make life work for us), and give Him His rightful place in our lives.

SO, WHAT ABOUT SUBMISSION?

So, what does all this have to do with submission? Everything! Submission will be the natural outworking of the Holy Spirit within the Christian who is filled with (controlled by) the Spirit, and walking in intimacy with (thoroughly yielded to) Christ. Yes, he must choose to obey God's Word, but he will not have to "work it up" or "perform" submission in his own strength. Godly submission isn't something you try to perform, it is the natural fruit of a close walk with Christ.

http://www.understandingyourbible.com/submis.htm

Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator


 
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