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Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:6) |
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The blood of Jesus delivers us from the guilt of sin and provides the continuing authority for the process of delivering us from the power of sin. However, when we are not following on to know the Lord we come under the judgment of God. |
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To maintain we go to live forever in Paradise on the basis of making a statement of belief in Christ, regardless of whether we obey the commandments of the Lord, is to be in direct opposition to the clear teaching of the Scripture. It is to bring one's self and one's hearers to destruction. |
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How much easier it would be to teach people concerning the forming of the new creation if they had been told when they were baptized in water that they were going down into the death of the Lord Jesus, and that when they came out of the water they left their adamic nature on the cross with the Lord. |
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The believers of today have been presented with such a "cheap" gospel that they are not prepared for the teaching of discipleship. The concept of presenting their body a living sacrifice to God is foreign to them. They imagine Jesus is forgiving them as long as they attend church and make some attempt to behave righteously (some do not do even this much). They suppose they are to live much the same as other people. |
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When they are challenged to not be so involved in the things of the world they protest, "I am saved by grace and not by works." |
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When they are informed they must put to death the deeds of the old man they cheerfully announce, "As long as I am in the world I have to sin. Nobody's perfect!" |
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When they are told they must surrender their self-will and self-love, take up their cross, and follow Jesus, they say, "I've got to be me. The Gospel is supposed to be good news and you are making it unpleasant!" |
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They are bent on saving their life. Thus they remain barren of the fruit of righteousness. No growth takes place. They are unchanged after fifty years of attending church. |
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This is the American Christian in many instances! |
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Such a believer never comes to know the joy of salvation. His or her joy is the joy of the flesh. It vanishes when enough trouble appears. |
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The true joy of the Lord is found when we abandon our life to the Lord, counting ourselves as dead to the adamic nature and alive in the resurrection Life of the Lord Jesus. When this is true of us we have no problem with coming out of the world, not being conformed to its values and ways. We rejoice as the Lord delivers us from the lusts and passions of the carnal nature. We keep on following the Lord, even when He calls for our "Isaac." |
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This is the true Christian. |
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It is only as we reckon ourselves to be dead to our first personality and alive in Jesus that the work of salvation can proceed in our life. (from Eternal Judgment) |
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What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1) |
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If only Evangelical teachers and preachers had put sufficient weight on Romans 6:1 we would not be in the moral mess in the churches that is true of today. |
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In the previous chapters of Romans Paul argues against those who preferred the Law of Moses over Christ or who were trying to mix the Law of Moses with Christ. |
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Paul argues so vehemently against the Law, understanding clearly that grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ, that he gives the impression God no longer is interested in righteous behavior. |
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There is evidence both in Romans and in Galatians that the believers of those days were picking up on this warped interpretation. Some were arguing that if we are saved by grace, and grace abounds where sin abounds, let us do evil that good may come. |
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In Galatians Paul defends himself against those who would accuse him of being a sinner. Paul's answer is, in so many words, "even though I am not adding the Law to the Christian faith I still am not living in sin. I am crucified with Christ and Christ is living in me. My old personality is on the cross with Jesus. My new personality lives by faith in Christ." |
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The sixth chapter of Romans was written to prevent the conclusion, from Paul's earlier comments in Romans, that having been saved by grace we now are free to sin. |
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We Gentiles have missed the point royally. We are teaching it doesn't truly matter whether or not we gain victory over sin because we are saved by grace. Oh, we say we shouldn't sin but everyone does and so God saves us by grace. |
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There is tremendous demonic pressure on us today. How many people do you think are going to be able to stand against fornication and pornography if you tell them they really shouldn't sin but if they do they stand in grace so don't get overly concerned. |
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The answer is, very, very few believers will have the strength to resist immorality, violence, covetousness, unforgiveness, bitterness, gossip, slander, and the rest of the evil that fills the churches. |
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We have misunderstood Paul, and the Christian churches are weak morally, giving a dim light to the world as a result. God wants His commandments kept! He impressed this on me as we considered going on the Internet. |
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God is giving His churches in America a space of time in which to repent of our lawlessness and immorality. If we are willing to turn away from the lawless-grace doctrine found in so many assemblings and begin to live righteously by Christ's power, we will save ourselves, our families, and those who will hear us. |
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If enough of us repent we might spare our nation the Gentile holocaust that is in the wings. |
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What then, shall we continue in sin that the Divine grace in Jesus Christ may be abundant in our life? To believe such an abomination is to reveal a total ignorance of the purpose of grace under the new covenant. |
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God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:2) |
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What does it mean to be dead to sin? There are at least three explanations given currently. |
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Perhaps the most popular version is that we have a sinful nature but we are to count it as dead and forget about it because we are saved by grace. If we are really saved we are not going to sin because saved people don't sin. You see this explanation frequently in the footnotes of Evangelical editions. |
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The idea here is we are free to do anything we please. All things are lawful to us but we choose to do good. Our sins were all judged on the cross and we can never experience condemnation. This sounds right but it is dead wrong! |
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People have accused us of being legalists or Pharisees because we teach that some things are wrong and we are not to do them. For example, we teach that going to X-rated movies is sinful and we shouldn't do it. Some of our Charismatic brothers and sisters tell us we are legalists because in Christ we are free to do as we please including attending X-rated movies. A favorite verse is, "To him who esteems something to be unclean it is unclean." Since they do not hold X-rated movies to be unclean they can gorge themselves on moral filth without condemnation. |
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We teach that spending considerable time and energy on entertainment, such as professional sports, is entanglement with the world and therefore sinful. You should hear the uproar over this! It seems we have attacked a household God. |
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Athletics can be a valuable part of life for young and old. But the American preoccupation with professional football, baseball, and basketball is definitely a part of the world culture. We Christians view the present world as passing away and are to do all in our power to bear a true witness of God and His desires until the Kingdom comes. We are not to settle down as part of the American worldly culture as though we did not realize it all is to pass away. We are called to be disciples of Jesus of Nazareth! |
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We teach it is sinful to curse or use filthy language. Our grace-full opponents counter with, "To the pure all things are pure." |
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While this popular view of "salvation" which keeps the believers from being "condemned" (whatever happened to convicted?) seems so scriptural and reasonable, let us point out that it is completely discredited by the verses that follow in the sixth chapter of Romans. |
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What does the Scripture say about our "freedom?" |
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Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1) |
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All things are lawful. All things are not expedient! If we are going to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness then a decision must be made as to what is filthy and the believers must be taught what is filthy. |
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Brother, this isn't legalism it's Christianity! |
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At present (1997) there are numerous revivals taking place throughout the world. Thousands of Christian people are repenting of their sins under the direction of the Holy Spirit. |
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If a Christian is not answerable to the commandments of Christ and His Apostles, of what sins are they repenting? |
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To be continued. |
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Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. (I John 3:7) |
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Is fornication pure and lawful as long as we have faith for it? Is murderous rage pure and lawful as long as we have faith for it? Are gossip and slander pure and lawful as long as we have faith for them? |
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Paul says those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God and are worthy of death. |
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What do you say? |
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It is clear that the Apostle Paul has been grievously misunderstood. It is time that Christian people repent of their disobedience to Christ and His Apostles. The Holy Spirit is revealing God's attitude toward our doctrine by the repentance He is calling for in the revivals He is sponsoring. |
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Another way of looking at Romans 6:2 is that once we accept Christ we no longer have a sin nature. Sometimes this is incorporated in a special experience of "sanctification" in which sin is removed from us root and branch. This results in a kind of spiritual schizophrenia. "It looks like I'm sinning but I'm really not because having been sanctified I can't sin." |
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We favor a third viewpoint, which is that we are not to practice sinful behavior because this would be inconsistent with the position we have taken in water baptism. We have counted ourselves crucified with Christ and alive with Christ. To continue in sinful behavior doesn't fit the program of salvation we have entered. |
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What does it mean when it says "we, that are dead to sin"? It means that at one time we were under the Law of Moses. It is the Law that defines sin. Now we have taken our place on the cross with the One who kept the Law of Moses perfectly. Since we have died on the cross we no longer are under the Law of Moses because the Law of Moses governs only those who are alive. |
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We now are free, not to live any way we please but as one who is married to Christ, in union with His Divine Life. |
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In water baptism we declare our life to be over, having died on the cross. This is the death of our entire first personality, not just the "bad part." |
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What has come forth from the waters of baptism is a new creation, having been born of Christ and having ascended with Him to the right hand of the Father. |
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This is the position we are to take by faith. |
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Is it a fact that our natural man is dead and our new man is alive in Christ and seated at the right hand of the Father? |
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Yes, and no. No in the sense that our natural man is very much alive and our new man is still an infant although seated spiritually with Christ in the heavens. |
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Yes, in the sense we have declared this to be true by faith and God has accepted our declaration and treats us from henceforth as though it is actually true which indeed itis in the mind of God. |
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The true Christian life is one in which we maintain our death and resurrection by faith in what God has stated, and yet deal realistically with our sinful nature from day to day as the Holy Spirit brings the vision to reality. |
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Can you see now why continuing to sin is not at all compatible with the profession of faith we have made by being baptized in water? |
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Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3) |
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When we were baptized into Jesus Christ we were baptized into His death. As we go down under the water we are taking our place on the cross. |
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Death and resurrection are the mainspring of the Christian salvation. God is not in the business of saving our adamic nature, of bringing us to Heaven as we are. Today the Gospel is preached as though God's intention is to bring people to Heaven to reside there forever, but there is nothing like this in the Scriptures. |
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The purpose of God under every covenant is to cause people to behave righteously, to be holy, and to obey God implicitly. No covenant has as its purpose to bring people to the spirit Paradise to live forever. |
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God produced righteous behavior under the Law of Moses by commanding people to obey various laws and ordinances. |
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God produces righteous behavior under grace by crucifying our natural man and creating Christ in us. The goal is the same, the method is different. |
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God has "totaled" our first personality, to use a current term. He is not saving anything of it. Every human being has at least some good in him or her. But God is saving none of it. All must be crucified with Christ. The first creation was finished on the cross of Calvary. |
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The fact that God is not saving us but crucifying us is difficult for modern Americans to handle. They want God to help them perpetuate their adamic nature. This He never will do. |
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Is the first personality beyond redemption? Absolutely! Our best traits will prove to be corruptible if placed under enough pressure or temptation. |
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The reason people resist the preaching of righteous, holy behavior is that they never have declared themselves dead with Christ. |
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Every farmer knows that before you pluck a chicken you must cut off the chicken's head. If you do not there will be a commotion in the barnyard. |
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This is true of Christians. If we try to pluck the feathers of sin off them before they reckon themselves dead to sin you will hear all kinds of angry clucking. |
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The program of salvation is one of death and resurrection. We have been crucified with Christ. Therefore we are to act like we have been crucified with Christ. Every day we are to go to the Throne of Grace to get help so we can keep an upper hand over our worldliness, lust, and self-will and keep these sinful traits on the cross. |
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The battle against our sinful first personality is called the good fight of faith. During the time we fight the good fight of faith Christ is being formed in us. You can see from this that things get easier as you go along. Through the Spirit we keep putting our sinful nature to death. The new man of the heart, that which has been born of the Spirit, loves righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God and he is growing ever stronger if we are diligent in putting to death the deeds of our body. |
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Sometimes God leads older saints through severe trials. If they pray and don't quit the product is a jewel in the hand of God. |
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The only limitation on what God can do in our life is our willingness to be pruned. Pruning is death to the old nature but it results in a multiplication of Christ in the believer. |
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If we love the Lord let us glory in the cross by which the world is crucified to us and we to the world. Then each day will bring a working out of that death and also an ever increasing Presence of Christ in us. |
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Let's not try to save our life but lose it in Christ so we may bring forth a rich harvest of Christ in our personality. |
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Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) |
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We did not descend into death with Christ so we could remain there. Christ did not remain in death and we are not to remain in death. |
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The Christian salvation is not an endless struggle against sin, although it seems that way at times. Rather it is the substitution of one form of life for another. |
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There is the biologic life of the flesh. Then there is the eternal Life of God. Biologic life is one kind of life, having an energy and wisdom of its own. Eternal life is another kind of life, having an energy and wisdom of its own. |
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Death, and life! Death, and life! Death, and life! This is the true program of salvation. As we have stated, death and resurrection are the mainspring of the Christian salvation. |
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Whenever the Christian salvation begins to emphasize some other facet of Christianity there is a danger we will move away from the guiding principle and regenerative force of death and resurrection. |
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"We should walk in newness of life," the Bible says. What kind of newness of life? We know from the letters of the Apostles that the newness of life means righteous behavior, holiness of personality, stern obedience to the Father. |
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Our newness of life should reveal in itself the personality of Jesus Christ. |
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Our newness of life comes from the Glory of the Father, the same glory that raised Christ from the dead. Satan cannot overcome that glory. We know this is true because Satan was unable to prevent the resurrection of Jesus. |
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Your natural personality is more sinful, more corrupt, more rebellious than you understand. Your heart (as well as my heart) is deceitful and desperately wicked. There is no way your first personality can be made acceptable to God. It drinks sin like water. It is proud, stubborn, and essentially hostile toward God. |
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Take your first personality and put it on the cross by faith. Then each day the Holy Spirit will bring about circumstances in your life that force you to a decision. "Should I leave myself on the cross and experience the denial of my desires or should I come down from the cross and take care of my needs?" |
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If you stay on the cross and look to God until Christ's life lifts you above the darkness that is seeking to tear you down, a part of your personality will die and in its place will be formed the Nature of Christ. |
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If you come down (temporarily of course!) to satisfy your cravings, the spiritual death in you will be strengthened and no growth in Christ's nature will occur. And the next test will be more difficult to pass. |
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You can tell when Christ is growing in you. You are becoming better able to distinguish between good and evil and have more desire and power to reject the evil and choose the good. This is the only reliable evidence that Christ indeed is maturing in you. |
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How are you now compared with last year at this time? Ask God for a report card. |
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If you view salvation as the transformation of your personality you will grow in Christ. If you view salvation as a ticket to Heaven you probably won't make much progress while you are waiting to get there. |
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For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (Romans 6:5) |
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The issue of the Christian life is, are we willing to be united with Christ in His death on the cross? Our success in leading the victorious life depends almost entirely on this. |
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There is no doubt that the philosophy of humanism has made tremendous inroads into Christian thinking. Today the Gospel is presented as a method of making our human life more comfortable, more successful, more productive, more peaceful, more healthy, more entertaining, more joyful. |
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The Gospel is presented to the unsaved as their guarantee of escaping Hell and living forever in Heaven and the means of solving all of their problems. |
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"Christ is the answer. Get a life!" |
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Anyone who departs from this viewpoint had better be prepared to enjoy his few friends. |
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Let me tell you something. Christ not only is the answer, He is the big problem! For the most part you are not contending with the devil, you are contending with Christ. The name Israel means "he struggles with God." |
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Christ has volcanoes for eyes. He has a sword coming from His mouth. To walk with Him is to walk with the Consuming Fire of Israel. Did you know that? |
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What an idea we have of God and His Christ! |
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It is time someone awakened the American believers. They do not understand that Christ is the Furnaceof Israel. He holds all the believers in His mouth and spits out those that are lukewarm. Honest! |
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What kind of a Christ are you presenting, Brother Thompson? The One who is seated at the right hand of the Father. Where did you get yours? |
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If we are to live the life as God wants it lived, if we are to be transformed into the image of His Son, we must be joined to Christ's death. We must share His sufferings |
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It is only as we are willing to share His sufferings that we can experience the power of His resurrection; and it is only as we experience the power of His resurrection that we are able to share His sufferings. |
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As we experience His resurrection and His sufferings on the cross we attain the early resurrection from the dead. This is what Paul taught so it must be right. |
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"Does Christ want me to live or die?" you may ask. The answer is, "He wants you to die so you may live." |
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If God tells a horse He wants him to go to Heaven to roam in acres of clover, that is one matter. Just be a good horse and you'll get there. |
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But if God informs the horse He wants him to play the piano, then the horse must be born again a piano player must be born in him. |
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Your natural man can no more inherit the Kingdom of God than a horse can play the piano. You must be born again. This doesn't mean you "have made a decision for Christ," it means Christ has been born in you. The old "you" has got to go. He can't "play the piano" like God wants it played. |
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Christ can play any piece of music you put in front of Him. Get Christ formed in you. You'll be able to play any piece put in front of you. And the music will make the angels sing! |
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