"Death no longer has dominion over Him.…the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God…" —Romans 6:9-11
“Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is THE (my emphasis) gift of God. The energy and the power which was so very evident in Jesus will be exhibited in us by an act of the absolute sovereign grace of God, once we have made that complete and effective decision about sin. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8)— not power as a gift from the Holy Spirit; the power is the Holy Spirit, not something that He gives us. The life that was in Jesus becomes ours because of His Cross, once we make the decision to be identified with Him. If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we refuse to make this moral decision about sin. […] Even the weakest saint can experience the power of the deity of the Son of God, when he is willing to “let go.” […] Then Jesus will have complete and effective dominion in us, and people will take notice that we have been with Him.” - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” - Acts 4:13
The difference in Peter and John was that they had the Spirit of God in them. Peter had just been with Jesus when Peter denied Jesus. But Peter was operating out of his flesh – his old nature when that happened. But in Acts, they, both, were speaking with power, confidence, authority and wisdom that could not be explained except that these men had been with Jesus. They reflected Jesus in their words and with the authority by which they spoke. It is the same with us. The power of our new life is totally, 100%, dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Imagine that you are driving down the road and someone reached over and turns the ignition key to the off position. The engine stops .. the power steering is gone .. the car is unresponsive – dead if you will. Well, that is how it is when we attempt to live the Christian life on our terms … without the Holy Spirit.
“Do not quench the Spirit” - 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Like turning the key to off, we can disregard the Holy Spirit … trust in ourselves … and fail. Are you having trouble being the Christian you know you should be? Most probably it is because you are not walking in the power of your new nature.
“So I [Paul] say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” - Galatians 5:16-18
And how do you do that? By making your pursuit of God and your submission to the leading of the Spirit a daily priority. The Christian life is intentional - not accidental.
And that, my friend, is the truth!
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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