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God’s Plan on How We Grow Into the Likeness of Christ


Gideon

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We as the church have sort of hit  a wall theologically. We have identified legalism as something bad, and it is. Salvation is a free gift, as is sanctification. But we have assumed that if we do anything, it is trying to earn or to keep our salvation and so we have come to the point of Spiritual paralysis. We have been forced to simply assume we can do nothing, so deep is our fear of becoming modern legalist. So.... here we have sat. 

It has sort of left us like the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. If we can’t do anything, then we are left waiting on God to do it for us. So we have been left to sort of simply ‘exist’,  mark time, and have been told that only  time is what is needed to see us sanctified and purified, and to begin reflecting the character of Jesus. We are left like the lame man who had been there for almost four decades, waiting for God to stir the waters so we can be set free from the old us and begin to actually begin our metamorphosis  to look like Jesus. 

And like him, we too are left to wait, week after week, sermon after sermon, year after yearand before long we find that we get into a religious rut, going through the motions, but we never actually see ourselves being changed, never truly tasting freedom. The lame man was asked by our Lord “Would you be made whole?” And  the man simply spoke the truth. He had no man to carry him quickly to the stirred waters fist so He could get healed. After all, he was lame. Even the blind had a better chance of stumbling into the water than he did. He simply had no way to see it done and get the healing he longed for. 

Guess what? We are in the same boat, aren’t we? We are, in ourselves, spiritually crippled. We cannot make ourselves like Christ no matter how hard we try? Defeat sin in our lives? Who are we kidding? And what exercise does one do if they are impatient? We laugh and say you better not pray for it, for God will send us things to ‘test’ our patience,  as if that will do it. It does not, amen?

Like that lame man, we too are paralyzed, forced to wait on God to move on us, and we believe there is nothing we can do to speed things along. Listen. We have been lied to by the enemy of our souls. We need to realize that God wants us whole, victorious, free indeed , and filled with joy and praise, and He has given us clear instruction as to how to do it, and the best part?  It involves NO work. :)

Let’s look at an amazing verse found in 2 Peter 1:3  Here it is:

“ According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.”

Peter begins by saying, in essence, “Let’s  get one thing  nailed down. We are not prisoners of time, where we simply have to wait on God to move. He already HAS moved. Right now, today, we have what we need to walk in freedom and victory. We have everything that we need to walk in victory, and everything we need to bear fruits that are Christ’s very nature grown in us by the Holy Spirit.”  Now that, brothers, is good news! 

But it is the very next verse, 1 Peter 1:4, that is the revelation as to HOW we go about getting our transformation kicked into gear in our lives. 

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Do you see it? Oh, I pray you do. What can we DO without doing? We can believe His promises.  Not hope for. That is future .Believe is always present tense. NOW faith. 

Guys, I understand the hesitancy of many here as to what I have been asked to share. The promises of God are meant to stretch us. They are meant to be hard to believe. Heck, we serve a supernatural God! Nothing is too hard for Him, even setting us free for our carnal nature we have assumed we are saddled with til He takes us home!  

That is the first promise we need to claim. What did Peter say? That we have... past tense.... escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But getting freed from the grip of sin by putting off our old nature is not the end of our walk of victory as we have thought, it is the beginning! 

What comes next after being fully grafted into Him? Fruitfulness! Christ’s character flowing through us till we begin to bear fruits.... Christ’s very character... grown in us for all to see and for us to marvel at. And how do we get those fruits to begin to sprout? Exactly the same way we got saved. Exactly the same way we put off our ol$ nature and put on our new man. We use the promises of God as stepping stones into His likeness. 

Look. I have a long way to go in my own transformation, But God has taken an angry man, laden with sin, with harsh judgmentalism , with impatience and mean spiritedness, with self love ruling the roost and in these past eleven years He has and continues to change me from the inside out. Thank you, Lord.

His promises are not meant to just be printed on motivational Christian posters to decorate our church walls. They are meant for us to believe them!  This is HOW we are called to grow into His likeness! We DO nothing. But we BELIEVE everything God has promised us! And as we do and add to our faith... through our faith.... patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, a servant’s spirit, then to our amazement we discover how amazing and full and sure our salvation really is. 

And lest we forget,there is an amazing and critically important fruit of the Spirit we nd to claim through faith. What is it? Self control! Satan has taught us we need self control to grow and to become Christlike. Ha! It is virtually the direct opposite. When we finally discover we can claim self control, because the old us is truly dead and gone, to our amazement, those sins that before slew us, we can now literally set aside. Glory to God! 

Blessings, 

Gideon

 

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3 minutes ago, Yowm said:

A strawman argument. I have said (and others here) that sanctification involves a cooperation/submission on our part although God is still the initiator, (pictured as being yoked to Christ)...

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(Mat 11:28-30)
 

Brother, there is no straw man, as you would have everyone believe. What we have all supposed as to be the way is simply not working, despite one having served God for not years, but decades, as I did. The church, especially in the west, is still a shallow, worldly, divided mess, with everyone bickering, claiming they know the right way, but with few if any  actually displaying it though full victory over their fleshly nature and the sin that goes with it. The world sees us as hypocrites for our words and our lives have never matched up and spiritual fruits have been woefully lacking, even in those who are leaders in the church. Any with eyes and an honest heart can see that. 

What God asks us to do in cooperation with Him is to believe His promises. And when we finally hate our self loving,pride-filled natures, with our flesh still clinging to sins, even if they be the little fox variety, our eyes will be opened to how to walk as overcomers. When we are finally found willing to lose our lives completely, submitting ourselves fully to Him,to our joy and amazement, we will find that believing His promises is not hard, but as easy as saying “Yes, Lord!”

blessings, 

Gideon

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Let us be sure we read all the verses that accompany this truly amazing revelation as to how we can really see ourselves changed into can His likeness. Here are the next verses found in 2 Peter 1: 5-10

As wonderful as the promises of God are, the Word of God is a two edged sword. Immediately following being told that it is through our believing the glorious promises that our God will not fail us in freeing us from the grip of the world, the flesh and the devil, a warning is added, and it is a sobering one.

I will add no commentary here. We simply need to let the words of the apostle Peter sink into our hearts and not flee conviction if the Spirit brings it. God only wants to bless us. 

 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

            2 Peter 1:5-10

Blessings, 

Gideon

 

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17 minutes ago, Yowm said:

Sure it is a strawman, you have raised up a caricature of something that is not necessarily so. At least it is broad brushing the Church. That's how sales people work, make a claim/ build a case of 'need' (even though it is needed or not) and then 'sell' the  product. I agree the promises are instrumental in our walk, I just don't agree that ...

...as I already said, 

 "I have said (and others here) that sanctification involves a cooperation/submission on our part although God is still the initiator, (pictured as being yoked to Christ)...

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(Mat 11:28-30)"

Maybe, if you made your target audience a bit more specific than, "We as the church" it would help.

All slept. Might as well get out the really broad brush, amen? :)

blessings dear brother

Gids

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Brother Yowm, what exactly is your issue with what I have been asked to share? Are you denying the truth of what just about everyone else clearly sees, that the church is for the most part, especially here in the west, going trough the motions, with few if any one walking in real victory over the grip of sin, and  with us still battling our old fleshly nature, but never truly gaining the upper hand? 

When so many are struggling, would it not be more productive and pleasing to the Father for you to share with them how to overcome, according to your understanding, than to simply try to constantly discredit what I share, and what I have found that really works, even for a chief of sinners like I was?

Why does it not concern you more to help those so bound with heavy burdens to where they cannot get up and walk in true victory with joy in their hearts? If you have an answer, one that works, preach it, and I will cheer you on.

Blessings, 

Gideon

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15 minutes ago, Yowm said:

The truth is not all the Church is struggling or lethargic or going through the motions. That is your opinion.

Do my challenges to your broad brushing offend you that you'd rather not deal with them?

I have shared. There is no quick growth formula as we walk by faith in His grace trusting Him through thick and thin. 

I try to help struggling Christians who ask for my help; I don't just assume they need it.

Am I offended by your attacks? Not at all. It allows me opportunity to share more clearly to other readers. If you were walking by a house late at night and saw flames coming from one of the windows, would you wait until they asked for you help before you offered it? 

We are told clearly by the word that God’s will is that we walk in victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. Are you saying that you believe that  most Christians are doing so at present? Nd if you have the answer, until they actually ask you, you will be silent?

I am simply offering what God shared with me that changed my life. He has asked me to share it, and I am and will continue to do so to the best of my ability for any that see the need in their own walks to reach out in faith to believe their God. 

Are you  disagreeing with the Word that tells us that God can indeed keep us from falling? Or that if we hold up our shield of faith, we will not find all the fiery arrows of the enemy quenched? These are promises God has made to us. He is not a man that He might lie. Can we believe His words without any alterations or should we take them with a grain of salt and  assume that God did not exactly mean what he plainly said? 

You keep saying there is no easy and quick way to walk in victory. It seems in the book of Acts, they might have disagreed with you. We have created a Christianity that sets few if any free, and makes us religious as we cling to our positional holiness and yet,outwardly, that holiness never comes to the surface, even after decades of serving God that best we can. Is this what God intended? I do not believe it is. 

Blessings, 

Gideon

 

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2 hours ago, Yowm said:

It allows me to express my views as well, :)as a matter of fact, I'm not good at getting up on a soapbox and sounding off.

Sure, with unbelievers. Believers aren't in a burning building. 

If they have Jesus, they have the victory. Maybe they are not looking to Him. I don't assume a Christian doesn't have Jesus or is not walking with Him until I get to know him better...and even then, I go by a hunch.

Yeah, you've shared your experience over and over and...but that is your prerogative

I believe them.

In the Book of Acts they taught a quick and easy way to walk in victory? Please educate me. 

Jesus has set me free. I don't bother any more with man made religion.

Positional holiness? His Spirit in me is not 'positional', neither is His death at Calvary. (the former sanctifies me, the latter has sanctified me). Positional?, where is that in scripture?

Brother, if you simply want to debate, feel free to continue it one sided but it benefits no one. If someone has a genuine question, I think I have shown that I will spend as much time as is necessary to help them through any confusion. But that is not the case with you.

You simply are trying your best to make this a fight.and for what reason, I cannot figure out, But that is not my goal or my intent to “win” arguments. I simply want to help people that do not  know how to walk in the victory  that He has purchased for them. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Love you, brother

 me

Blessimgs,

 

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The Lord will perfect what concerns me. {Ps 138:8 } 

Most obviously the confidence which the psalmist here expressed was a divine confidence. He did not say, “I have grace enough to perfect what concerns me — my faith is so steady that it will not stagger — my love is so warm that it will never grow cold — my resolution is so firm that nothing can move it”; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we indulge in any confidence which is not firmly resting on the Rock of Ages, our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall on us, and cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. All that nature spins time will unravel, to the eternal confusion of all who are clothed in it. The psalmist was wise, he rested on nothing short of the Lord’s work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is he who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be complete. If there is one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates, “You will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that come on you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray.” Oh! yes, we would indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had to navigate our frail vessels alone over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, he will perfect what concerns us, and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in him alone, and never too much concerned to have such a trust.

The above commentary comprised my morning devotion today, written by Charles Spurgeon. It referenced also  2Ch 19:1-20:37 The passage in Chronicles is one of the most uplifting and encouraging passages of OT scripture. It reveals that in those battles of life that we must face, particularly those in which we have no power or strength to fight, such as that battle over sin, the battle is the Lord's. He promises us victory. This is not just a positional victory where our victory is merely imputed unto us...a victory recorded in heaven while on earth the Midianites and Edomites walk all over us, no. This is a practical experiential victory where we must leave our comfort zones,  and face the enemy head-on. Our confidence is not in our own strength or power, nor in our own righteousness. The result also is not our righteousness. But it is a righteousness in which we have been clothed and arrayed...a righteousness that reflects true glory and light and joy. And it is as we step out in faith; as we by fronting up to the enemy with confidence and faith in a God who cannot lie...a God who promises to fight our battles for us...then victory is assured. 

The Levites did not challenge Jehosaphat by charging him with legalism. They did not make remarks such as "Oh, so you think you are perfect do you?", or comments such as "Your righteousness is like filthy rags, you will never win this battle until you are in heaven". No, God's promise, and Israel's confidence was for victory todaySo much so that after the battle, all Israel needed to do was pick up the spoils.  

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