Christianity Oasis Forum

[Netchaplain]

The Christian life is not living by what Christ can do but by what He has already done. There is nothing we do not already possess in order to ever increasingly be conformed (Rom 8:29--by the Spirit through the Cross) to the Christ-life. “Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ” (Eph 1:3). Nothing can be added to that which “is finished” (John 19:30) and makes us “complete in God’s will” (Col 4:12).

This first involves realizing we work from and not towards God’s spiritual blessings, by appropriating--through reckoning. Paul’s pressing toward the prize was in reference to the resurrection of his body (Phil 3:11) because his spirit had formally been regenerated and this was due to already possessing God’s blessings. As the Holy Spirit increases our understanding of the written Word, the presence of all of God’s blessings in our lives will become more evident.

We reckon--by faith, and to reckon on God’s written Word is to be convinced it is always true. I believe the most crucial issue concerning reckoning, faith and God’s written Word is to know that God’s blessings are in our lives “through the faith of the operation of God” (Col 2:12), esp. when at times (some call it a “pause”) our faith may seem weak (2 Cor 12:9, 10).

Regardless whether or not we think we deserve His blessings, He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph 1:11), not according to the performance of our lives. For Christians this means we do not receive something good because we do good, nor do we receive something bad because we did something bad.

Everything is foreknown by God and is being used to teach us of Himself. A Christian’s desire is always toward pleasing God and therefore, in spite of mistakes, is sowing to the good. The totality or summation of everything a person does is toward good or evil and only “He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God” (3 John 1:11).
-NC


4-13. DUAL RECKONING

"For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9).

"Reckoning" on the work of the Cross is the only relief from the carnal burden of self. Then comes the spiritual burden of Christ--to be more like Him. "Reckoning" is the answer there, too. "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through [in] Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6.11). If we seek to escape the death, we will not experience the life.

"We are not to try to crucify self, but we are to agree (reckon) with what God has said and done. In the lives of most believers self has usurped the place belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a criminal worthy of death, but the trouble is that they do not realize that this self-life has been crucified on the Cross. They do not believe the facts of the Word, and sin therefore reigns in their lives; they live in bondage to sin, praying for deliverance, praying that they may die to sin, but refusing to believe what God says He has already done." -L.L.L.

"The constant tendency is to try to improve the manner of one's life here below by adopting Christian principles, whereas you will never arrive at it unless you start from 'crucified with Christ.' Then it is not thinking of what I am, but of what He is, 'Christ liveth in me.'" -J.B.S.

"And ye are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10).

-MJS/WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

After being saved, the next most significant issue is our worship to God, which involves everything we do (John 4:23, 24) and it is how we glorify Him (Mat 5:16). The next most significant issue after our worship to God is our witness to others. After all, outreach to others is how everyone comes to Christ, by God using those who are His to draw them to Christ, beginning with the twelve.

So, this is a list of three pillars in the faith: personal salvation; worship to God; outreach to others. Is anything missing from the list? What could be your next item? How about personal growth in our salvation? Yes, this concludes the pillars of faith to be four and this last element is as significant as the first because it will determine the effectiveness of the second and third elements.

As we know, God uses His Spirit to conform us to the life of Christ and the Spirit’s primary item of use is the written Word of God. Just as the more Sun we’re exposed to, the more tanned we get; the more Word we’re exposed to, the more Son we get. Concerning God’s word, our primary responsibility is to continue to expose ourselves to it and it is God’s responsibility to cause it to mature us in His Son’s image (Rom 8:29).

“All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim 3:16, 17). “It is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).

The quickest and most effective growth in the life of Christ involves direct Son-light, which is by the written Word of God because it is the only source unfiltered.
-NC

4-14. APPRECIATION, NOT DEPRECIATION

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Colossians 3:16).

As believers we rejoice in the fact that the Lord Jesus died for us, but few are affected by the fact that He arose for us. Fewer still realize that we died and arose with Him. Learn the facts! There will be continual struggle and failure until we gain adequate understanding of the liberating truth.

"The Lord Jesus on the Cross removed the barriers which separated me from God--my guilt, my sin, the law; and He dealt with my enemies--the world, the flesh, the devil. These six things were dealt with, so that we need no longer be in bondage through fear and that we may come boldly to the throne of grace.

"Have we given a hearty assent to these things which the Lord Jesus did for us? Or have we, as we read the Word, drifted by them, taking it all for granted? Let us lay hold of that for which God has laid hold of us. Let us gird up the loins of our mind and consent to that which He did for us. Let us enter into all that which being united to Christ as our Life means. Let us rejoice in all that was accomplished for us on Calvary." -L.L.L.

"It is necessary that the truth conferred by grace should be known as a possession and the virtue of it apprehended, before there can be any walk in keeping with it. For if there be ignorance or misapprehension, the truer the conscience, the more defective is the practice." -J.B.S.

"Set your affection on things above" (Colossians 3:2)

-MJS/WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

The Father in His mercy has been teaching you that there is no solid advancement in growth apart from personal fellowship with Himself. It is not only His infinite love that you need, but it is your own heart-love that He longs for. Think of it, the Creator yearning for the love and companionship of the re-created.

Ponder the infinite pathos of the Lord Jesus’ plea to the Twelve, while many of His disciples were forsaking Him: “Will you also go away?” (John 6:67). Does not your heart all but break as He asks the same of you? Surely your loving response can be no less than that of Peter’s: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:88). –MJS/Person to Person/withchrist.org

4-15. PURPOSE, PROVISION, PROCESS

"I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory" (Exodus 33:18).

There are three vital factors that will keep us on the path, and in the power, of spiritual growth: (1) study to know that God's purpose in saving us is to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28, 29); (2) learn to reckon upon the finished work of the Cross as His provision for that purpose (Romans 6:11); (3) yield to the Holy Spirit as He carries out the daily process of that purpose (2 Corinthians 4:11).

"Christ Jesus' earthly life showed the path, His heavenly life gives the power, in which we are to walk. What God hath joined together no man may separate. Whosoever does not stand in the full faith of the Redemption, has not the strength to follow the Example. And whosoever does not seek conformity to the Image as the great purpose of Redemption, cannot fully enter its power. Christ lived on earth that He might show forth the image of God in His life; He lives in heaven that we may show forth the image of God in our lives." -A.M.

"God has but one way of revealing Himself, it is 'Christ in you.' He has no other way of showing Himself to men except as Christ lives in us; not by the Shekinah glory in the temple built with hands of men, but in lives redeemed and freed and cleansed as they walk about in this dark world with Christ living in them." -L.L.L.

"And we all, while with face unveiled we behold in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are ourselves transformed continually into the same likeness; and the glory which shines upon us is reflected by us, even as it proceeds from the Lord, the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18, Cony.).

mjs/withchrist.org

[Netchaplain]

I believe the most applicable word to describe everything in our life as a Christian and our fellowship with God could be “vicarious”, because nothing we do or have (esp. salvation) of God originates from us.
Everything which has to do with God in our life precedes forth from the Holy Spirit through our regenerated self--by way of the “new man” because this new nature within us is created after the image of Christ (Col 3:10) and Christ is the image of the Father (2 Cor 4:4; Heb 1:3).

“Yielding ourselves unto God” (Rom 6:13) means presenting our new self to Him, not the old self. When we are discouraged it’s because we’ve yielded our old self, which He cannot use (Rom 8:7). It bears repeating that when we are disappointed it’s because we’ve based our support on human strength (Eph 6:10) and not on God, because He never disappoints.

Therefore, it is a refreshing thing to realize that “he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works” (“own works” which are apart from God--Heb 4:10). It’s God’s works and not ours which “keeps us from falling” (Jude 1:24).
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4-16. HANDICAPPED FOR CHRIST

"My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in [your] weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In self we are crippled; in Christ we conquer. The secret is to face up to the former, and rest in the latter. The disadvantaged believer has all the advantage--he knows it must be "not I, but Christ."

"It is a great step when the believer fully consents to his own weakness, and the abiding consciousness of it, and so works faithfully on, fully assured that his Lord is working through him. He rejoices that the excellence of the power is of God, and not of us. Realizing his oneness with his Lord, he considers no longer his own weakness, but counts on the power of Him of whose hidden working within him is assured.

"It is this secret assurance that gives a brightness to his look, and a gentle firmness to his tone, and a perseverance to all his efforts, which of themselves are great means of influencing those he is seeking to win. He goes forth in the spirit of one to whom victory is assured; for this is the victory that overcometh, even our faith. He no longer counts it humility to say that God cannot bless his unworthy efforts. He claims and expects a blessing, because it is not he, but Christ in him, that worketh. The great secret of abiding in Christ is the deep conviction that we are nothing, and He is everything." -A.M.

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God". (2 Corinthians 3:5).
-MJS/withchrist.org

[Netchaplain]

Until we learn to “labor to enter His rest” (Heb 4:11) much of our work will be unnecessary because instead of it being “Not I, but Christ” it will be “Not Christ, but I”. Continuing in our “own works” delays, but not inhibits, God’s work in our life. Our old man-related works are to be shunned in order to yield to God to work through us—“by His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph 3:16). It is the Spirit of God who causes us to avoid many wrongs in our lives which we would otherwise encounter (Gal 5:17).

As God rested from His works of creation (Gen 2:2, 3) and never needing to repeat it, He will progressively reduce in our life works which derive from our "old man" which, by law of displacement, will allow more works which derive from the "new man"--through the Spirit.. “For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His” (Heb 4:10).
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4-17. REST AND RECEIVE

"I long to know Christ and the power which is in His resurrection" (Philippians 3:10, Wey.).

The difficult thing for most hungry-hearted believers is to wait in dependence upon the Lord for everything. Truth is not to be grasped, but received--received by faith, mainly through study. How true this is concerning reckoning! Many seek to reckon before they understand the scriptural facts upon which to count, and that adds up to failure. The secret is to learn the truth of our identification with the Lord Jesus so thoroughly that reckoning and its resultant growth will come as a matter of course, just as in our justification.

"The death of our Lord on the Cross has depths of meaning that can only be plumbed by way of discovered need, but then reveals 'unsearchable riches.' To the believer who still has hopes of 'attaining' in the Christian life, a verse such as Romans 6:11 is a rather meaningless jargon used by those who give messages on the 'deepening of the spiritual life.'

"To the believer who has been taught by the Holy Spirit something of his own utter, inbred sinfulness, it comes as a message from God full of hope and encouragement. He grasps the rescue rope flung to him by the right hand of Omnipotence, and with humble thankfulness sets out to learn how he can reckon himself dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord. When he looks at the Cross he sees there the fact that not only did the Lord Jesus die for him, but that he himself was taken down into His death, in order that the practical reality of His resurrection life might transform him into the divine likeness." -J.C.M.

"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).

-MJS/withchrist.org

[Netchaplain]

4-18. ABIDING LIBERATION

"For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:5).
Our Father took the old fleshly life into death at the Cross (Romans 6:6). He gave us new spiritual life in Christ at the resurrection (Romans 6:4, 5). As we keep our eyes upon the Cross for the old, and upon the Lord Jesus Christ for the new, all that will remain for others to see will be "not I, but Christ."

"In Romans Seven, the personal pronouns 'I,' 'me,' 'my,' are used 47 times in 18 verses. This is the way in which believers live who do not know or who do not recognize the fact of their union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

"To be occupied with self is to be defeated and to have failure and live in sin; but to be occupied with the Lord Jesus will mean victory. He must be the center, He must be everything to me. In Him is liberation; apart from abiding in Him is defeat and failure. Are you trying to please God, or trusting the One to whom you are united, the One who did 'always the things that are pleasing to Him'?" -L.L.L.

"In our Position (union) in Him we are made manifest to God; we are holy and complete in Him. In our Possession of Him He is manifested to men; He lives out His life through us. As we are accepted in Him, so may He be manifested in us." -N.B.H.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Corinthians 4:7).

[realtmg]

Just want say thanks for your post as I and others enjoy them.

GBU BRO

Real

[Netchaplain]

Hi Realtmg and thanks for letting me know that you're blessed by this material as I am too!
G'sB's2U2!
_________________________________________________________________________
Due to the potentially excessive controversy which can be generated concerning Israel and the Church, I chose not to comment but rather suggest a link which I have found to be the most helpful on this issue.
http://withchrist.org/newcovenant.htm. I would gladly welcome any comments or questions concerning this material, but only in the spirit of neighborly love (Eph 4:15). Blessed Be God!
-NC


4-19. LAW OF LIFE

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
We need not submit to the law, nor do we need to struggle against it. It is now a matter of our standing on heavenly ground in our risen Lord, free from the influence and demands of the entire principle of law. In Christ Jesus we are motivated by a higher law, 'the law of the Spirit of life' (Romans 8:2).

"There is no way of deliverance from the law and its bondage, into that liberty for which Christ set us free except to believe, and to keep reckoning, that we died to the law with Him, and are now risen, and joined to Another, the Risen One--even as Romans 7:4 asserts: 'Ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.'" -W.R.N.

"In man the law and the flesh always go together. The Cross was the end for both in the sight of God. The flesh was judged and condemned there; it was treated as a dead thing before God--dead and buried; and the law which deals with the flesh we are dead to. We have passed out of both; we are not in the flesh (Romans 8:9), and we are not under the law (Gal; 2:19). -W.K.

"But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you--directs and controls you" (Romans 8:9, Amp.).

MJS/withchrist.org

[Netchaplain]

Previously I posted a thread entitled “That Inadequate Feeling” which I claimed that the Christian will at times feel like there’s something wrong but can’t put a finger on it. I stated that I believe it comes from the still indwelling of our old nature because we cannot still have it and not notice it.

I’ve learned there is such a thing referred to as “the pause” and I also briefly mentioned it in another post but now I would like to expound a little on it. The pause is that time in a Christian’s life that all can seem temporarily neutral, not good or bad, happy or sad, but empty. This is unavoidable as it eventually occurs to all in the Body of Christ and I believe its purpose, as any other thing, is to cause us to learn to not be moved by adversity, regardless the type.

Justice is receiving what we deserve. Mercy is not receiving what we deserve and Grace is receiving what we do not deserve. As we know, the last mentioned here is the crux of it all and the more we center and draw on it, the more we are learning to know God, which develops our desirous love for God into more practical love for Him.

Our Position is our place with Christ where He is and our Condition is Christ’s place in us where we are. In our Position, regardless of what we think, God “Hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). In our Condition, regardless of what we feel, Christ’s presence in us eventually overcomes our hardships, “For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” and “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul concluded, as we should too, “For when I am weak, then am I strong” (Heb 13:5 ;1 Cor 12:9, 10). The weaker we are in ourselves, the stronger He is in us. The more we rely in our Position, the less we’re moved by our Condition.
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4-20. SOLID GOLD TRIALS

"For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 4:15).

Since He is both my God and my Father, and since all of the hardships He takes me through are specifically designed to conform me to the image of the Lord Jesus, how can I help but trust Him and rejoice in His faithfulness?

"It is well to remember that the deepest and truest spiritual qualities are not learnt or established in us by our happy or enjoyable times, but in the difficult ones! There is nothing wrong in times of great joy and spiritual blessing; in fact we long for more of them, and look back perhaps to some days of much blessing in our lives or in the work of the Lord; but in the securing of Christ in greater measure in our lives, we find that it is by the things which we suffer that we learn most. So let us give thanks for the joyful days, and learn all that the Lord intends by the days of waiting and difficulty." -C.J.B.H.

"Faith asks for no props from the men and things around it; it finds 'all its springs' in God; and hence it is that faith never shines so brightly as when all around is dark. It is when nature's horizon is overcast with the blackest clouds, that faith basks in the sunshine of the divine favor and faithfulness." -C.H.M.

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

MJS/withchrist.org

[Netchaplain]

4-21. TRINITY-TRAINED

"He comforts us in our every affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction by means of the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Corinthians 1:4, Wey.).

It is a great comfort to know that everything our Father takes us through--much of which may be hard and heartbreaking--has a dual purpose. That which He utilizes to cause us to grow spiritually is at the same time designed to prepare us for His service. He does nothing in vain; He wastes nothing.

"In the very service itself God makes the servant fit to carry it out. A person is first disciplined for service, and then in the
service he is made fit by it for the character of it. God has not servants ready made. He makes them fit for His own service in connection with the race they have to run. The word 'chasten' is the same as that used in Ephesians with respect to bringing up the children: it is nurture. We attach too much the idea of severity, or retribution, to it." -J.B.S.

"Why does God take some through such deep and trying experiences? Why is it that He does not allow some of His children to have an easy way and to be satisfied and gratified with elementary things? The needs of others--that is why.

"We know quite well if any have been able really to help others, it is because they have gone through deep experience, they have pioneered this way, they have paid a great price for this freedom. It has been costly, but worthwhile if others can be really helped."

"But to God be the thanks who in Christ ever heads our triumphal procession, and by our hands waves in every place that sweet incense, the knowledge of Him" (2 Corinthians 2:14, Wey.).

[Netchaplain]

Why we do what we do is superior to what we do and how we do it. Motive, message and method are involved in all we do, esp. in our outreach which is our ongoing witness and example.

It is a restful thing to know there is nothing required for us to remain saved, for it is retained in the same manner it is given—by Christ. If we feel it is up to us to remain in God’s Grace, we haven’t understood how we have received it. We do not keep God, He keeps us (John 10:29; Rom 8:35, 38, 39), because it is He who drew (John 6:44) us to receive and it is He who “keeps us from falling” (Jude 1:24).

Working to keep our salvation would be the same as working for it because fearing its loss if we think we’re not up to an acceptable performance would mean regaining it upon an acceptable performance.
We work, not for salvation but from or out of it. The design in “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” is modeled to intended "work about your salvation"; employ yourselves in things which accompany salvation (Phil 2:12).

If we do not depend upon the Spirit to work in and by us, we are trusting our treasures to the frailty of self and will gain no ground of spiritual growth. Self does not possess the required ability concerning the things of God because they must be worked into us, “For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). We’re working but it’s Him doing the work!
-NC

4-22. GUIDING COMFORTER

"If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under bondage of effort to please God by works of the law" (Galatians 5:18).

The motivating principle of the old life is the law; the motivating principle of the new life is "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." The one produces "the works of the flesh"; the other, "the fruit of the Spirit."

"To be guided by the Holy Spirit is to be moved through the most delicate relationships the heart can know. The 'bit and bridle' of the law must give way to the glance of the eye of grace (Psalm 32:8, 9). At this point Satan, appearing as 'an angel of light,' will seek to misdirect the believer's life by making use of a morbid conscience, a mistaken impression as to duty, or a lack of understanding as to the exact teaching of God's Word. However, Satan's leadings are to be detected since they are irksome, painful, and disagreeable. The leading of the Holy Spirit is sweet and satisfying to the heart of the one who is yielded to God. We must remember that the will of God is said to be 'good,' 'acceptable,' and 'perfect' (Romans 12:2)." -L.S.C.

"The believer has an all-engaging responsibility of continuing in an attitude of reliance ('by means of the Spirit be walking') upon the Holy Spirit. This is the believer's divinely appointed task and place of cooperation in the mighty undertakings of God. Thus, and only thus, can the Holy Spirit possess and vitalize every human faculty, emotion, and choice." -L.S.C.

"If we are living in the Spirit's power, let our conduct also be governed by the Spirit's power" (Galatians 5:25, Wey.).

MJS/withchrist.org

[Netchaplain]

Everything operates within a principle or law, i.e. law of gravity, law of thermal dynamics, etc. Society must live within “the law” or be punished. Ancient Israel was instructed by God to live within “the Law” which He revealed to them by Moses. Paul said the Gentiles live by “a law which is unto themselves” (Rom 2:14) which was similar to “the things contained in the Law” which “showed the work of the Law written in their hearts” (v 15), because “the matter and substance of the moral law of Moses agrees with the law and light of nature” (John Gill).

The purposes of any law, upper or lower case L is not to make a bad person good but to restrain him. A Christian requires no restraint of any law (Gal 5:23), except “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” because he is no longer restrained by “the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2). The sole restraint of the Christian is the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:17)!!
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4-23. FULFILLED LAW

"For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law but under grace" (Romans 6:14)

The believer's attitude toward the law is that it is "holy...and just, and good" (Romans 7:12). He does not belittle it by refusing to be under it; he honors it by acknowledging its fulfillment. "For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God" (Galatians 2:19).

"If I say I am under law, and stop there, I am left in spiritual anarchy. If I say I am under law and under grace, I am in the current Galatian heresy which seeks to combine law and grace. But if I say I am not under the law but under grace, I am giving a biblical and Christian testimony." -C.I.S.

"Our identification with Christ in His death places us in perfect reconciliation to a violated law. God has said, 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die.' The believer has sinned, and has died in Christ's death. The law has said, 'Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.' None have continued in obedience. But Christ has been 'made a curse for us'; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.' Hence, crucified with Christ, we have been accursed in Him. Not one jot or tittle has then passed away from the law, but all has been fulfilled." -A.J.G.

"If, then, when you died with Christ, you put away the childish lessons of outward things, why, as though you still lived in outward things, do you submit yourselves to decrees?" (Colossians 2:20, Wey.).

MJS/withchrist.org