The Will SO LONG AS
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. 1 John 3:6.
As we are growing in our Christian lives, at any time that we are depending totally of God's power, instead of our own, we experience victory. At any time we depend on our own power, we fall and fail. There is no middle ground. Either we are 100 percent surrendered, or we are 0 percent surrendered. The part-of-the-time victory, and the part-of-the-time defeat, is not a result of being partly surrendered, but rather of being 100 percent surrendered only part of the time.
This is what 1 John 3:6 is saying: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." So long as we are abiding in Him, we are new creatures. So long as we are in the stance of abiding dependence upon His power, we do not commit sin. In order for the enemy to cause us to fall or fail, he first has to get us to break from the abiding dependence upon God.
Steps to Christ, page 62, describes the experience of justification. "If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned." That's justification. Then it continues, "More than this..." (You mean there's something more than justification? Yes!) "More than this, Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure." (Italics supplied.) So long as! Three key words. Don't miss that phrase! Have you been so-long-as-ing it lately? "So long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure....With Christ working in you, you will manifest the same spirit and do the same good works--works of righteousness, obedience."
This obedience and victory for the Christian is not reserved for just before he dies or is translated. It is available the first week of the baby Christian. As we look away from our performance, to Christ, we are given the victory; and we continue to have victory so long as we continue to abide in dependence upon His power.
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. 1 John 3:6.
As we are growing in our Christian lives, at any time that we are depending totally of God's power, instead of our own, we experience victory. At any time we depend on our own power, we fall and fail. There is no middle ground. Either we are 100 percent surrendered, or we are 0 percent surrendered. The part-of-the-time victory, and the part-of-the-time defeat, is not a result of being partly surrendered, but rather of being 100 percent surrendered only part of the time.
This is what 1 John 3:6 is saying: "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." So long as we are abiding in Him, we are new creatures. So long as we are in the stance of abiding dependence upon His power, we do not commit sin. In order for the enemy to cause us to fall or fail, he first has to get us to break from the abiding dependence upon God.
Steps to Christ, page 62, describes the experience of justification. "If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned." That's justification. Then it continues, "More than this..." (You mean there's something more than justification? Yes!) "More than this, Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure." (Italics supplied.) So long as! Three key words. Don't miss that phrase! Have you been so-long-as-ing it lately? "So long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure....With Christ working in you, you will manifest the same spirit and do the same good works--works of righteousness, obedience."
This obedience and victory for the Christian is not reserved for just before he dies or is translated. It is available the first week of the baby Christian. As we look away from our performance, to Christ, we are given the victory; and we continue to have victory so long as we continue to abide in dependence upon His power.
RSS Feed
