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we give satan the power he did have on earth ,JESUS CHRIST came here to give it back to us .really the LORD ,went farther ,than before .Because HE now will be with us forever more ,where once ,HE came to visit .Also we will be like HIm and NO longer walk in the flesh .but walk in the spirit .We will no longer as we should now ?desire the things of the flesh .That is why HE will change the earth and heavens to match our new thinkings and beings .We can not see this yet .As far as satan and the fallen angels .they were made perfect they choose to sin .sin causes there minds to become evil and sick .as even man kind does when sin takes control .but since man knows not of such evil .satan puts these evil thoughts in our minds to do such evil as we do .because man would not do the evil he now does ,if not for satan and demons .we are creatures of habit .we would do the same things over and over if left to ourselves ..What ever habits we get into .we keep doing them bad or good .We are made different than the angels ,look different act different ..But when born of GOD or born again .We will desire to please our LORD jESUS CHRIST and feel bad if we fail in anyway .Not knowing that we would not fail if walking in the spirit .thinking this dum flesh is us ,in any full truth .Understand who we are is the key .Then demons will not temp us .because the inner man ,has no desire for the things of the earth .as GOD does not and we are in HIS image .We are tricked indeed.The outward man is still used and decieved .But the inward man will not be .as HE is not of this world .NOR DESIRE the things of this world . I believe this is the biggest trick of all ?Once we see this .demons can no longer cause us to sin or fail our lORD JESUS CHRIST .THE LIVING WORD OF GOD IS VERY SIMPLE ,this is why our LORD said even a child can understand and we must come to HIM as a child .We make things so hard .searching for deeper meanings ,Yet it is our inner man that needs feed ,then our walk with HIM is automatic ,without effort .THE desires are already in place .The kingdom of GOD is with in us .and it is POWER .THis POWER is automatic .But yet we think we MUST do somthing .ALL we need to is feed the hidden man .and he will yeild to the HOLY SPIRIT .Then we will be led by HIM .Then we will hear the voice of JESUS CHRIST and follow .
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Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

gary cook,
Thanks for your encouraging words. May I add that God who dwells in our spirit would fill our soul and body as well. Be filled with the Spirit. I like this verse in proverbs:

20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of his being.

Candle is a lamp that holds light. Our spirit is a lamp that holds the Spirit of the Lord.

1 Cor 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

This verse is life-changing once you grasp it!

The Lord Jesus be with your spirit!

asaph

   

Amen Brother Asaph and Brother Gary,

I enjoyed your messages. I was just thinking about the spiritual application of these posts. God has already provided spiritual food for us beyond measure. What we partake of and eat is up to us.

If we eat and partake of the things of this world, we will reap the harvest of our iniquity. We eat food for the nourishment of our bodies, and that food has been provided for us by God. We should hunger for the spiritual food God has also provided to build us up and strengthen us in Christ. Our spirit has needs that God wants to fulfill. I would simply say that our spirit is much more important than our stomach, and eating the spiritual food that God has provided for us will greatly benefit not just us, but everyone around us. We are being spiritually fed, and we should have a burning desire to let God use us in the feeding of others.

Brothers, I pray that we all have a never ending hunger for the things of the LORD and yield to HIM for HIS use.

Love In Christ,
Tom

I Peter 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

I believe the verses "I was hungery and you fed me, i was naked and you clothed me" come to mind. So often we see Christians going around and being holy in the sight of men, but when are they going to be holy in the sight of God almighty? I'm not saying some aren't, but isn't Holiness what we strive for. The song that comes to mind goes like this: "Holiness, Holiness, Holiness, this is what I long for" This is part of our worship of God and our worship calls us to sacrifice ourselves to God. Worship isn't about what rewards we will recieve, but it is in fact what can we give to God. the answer? ALL OF OURSELVES! Get it? Got it? Now go live it? The Lord says clearly in His word that we are new creations in Christ. So we must live according to Christ's example. For He was the most perfect thing to ever walk this earth. The verse from paul comes to mind. "Imitate my example for I imitate the example of Christ' and also "Be ye not hearers of the Word, but instead doers of the Word" I wish some could see that the previous verses describe our service to GOD!. Anywho, i figured i'd write on this. Gary good writing. Tom, thanks for the opportunity to add my meager two cents worth to what you have said brother. Well said. God Bless

Joshua

AMEN!!  And I'll just add a little thought here...we are not only commanded to be holy, we are holy.  God doesn't call us to be what we cannot be.  He calls us to be what He has made us.  Good messages!   :)

We've not attained the holiness in the sense that i was speaking about. I was talking about holiness as being perfection, meaning without sin, being with the suseptibility of sin, and in heaven with our new glorified bodies. Figured I'd clarify. Scripture still tells us to be holy. I believe God gave the commandment to the Hebrews. "Be Holy for I am Holy" Anywho. And I counter...while we're in these bodies of flesh, we're not perfect...that's what i was driving at. God Bless!

Joshua

AMEN!!! But then we're not talking about sinless perfection.  We're talking about being holy...


...and...


My point, to clarify, is that we are holy, just as we are being made holy.  It's not a matter of being more holy.  It's a matter of being more obedient, hence, being what God made us.  You shall be holy, for I am holy.  :)

Ok. Ok...i see your point...i hope you saw mine...lol...anywho, i got a headache...so this is the last reply for today on this. God Bless...lol

Joshua

Brothers Joshua and Kevin,

I think that we have the makings of another excellent discussion that is a companion topic to this one.

What do we have IN CHRIST?

As opposed to:

What do we have in and of ourselves ONLY?

I guess that one could extend the discussion to compare what we have now in this short life and what we will be given IN CHRIST for eternity.

Example:  Righteousness

I, alone, have none.

But, I am in CHRIST and will yield to HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS working in or through me according to His Will.

Example:  Perfection

I have none, but I am IN CHRIST who is absolute perfection and holiness.

I love the writings of Paul that clearly state that everything good in us is from HIM who made us, and all GLORY GOES TO GOD, not man. Alone and without HIM, we are nothing and have nothing. IN HIM, we have all spiritual blessings in and through our precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 116:13  I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

This is what I believe I see ?You dom not have to believe this ?
When born of GOD .We are given a perfect spirit ,by GOD .it is white as snow ,no sin .because it is born of GOD . This spirit is protected for ever ,BY the BLOOD of JESUS CHRIST .it will never sin .because it is not of this world .it is of new jerusalem .
JESUS CHRIST said ?When we see HIm ?We will be like HIm .!
We can not see this new creature we are . We know HE is there and we know it is us ?We know when we die .it goes to be with the LORD . We also know .The HOLY SPIRIT could not dwell any where unclean or sin full .
I know a good arguement here ? we are in the flesh ,the flesh is full of sin . But I do not believe the flesh touches the HOLY SPIRIT ,nor our new spirit .
As you know ?JESUS CHRIST was born of GOD  He was not touched by marys flesh
nor are we when born of GOD .
You may think this is evil .comparing our spiritual birth with OUR HOLY JESUS CHRIST ?
BUT I DO NOT ! because we are one with the son .
and also the perfect bride .without spot or wrinkle .
I have many others thoughts in this walking in our spirit led by HIS spirit ?But think on this ?Pray ,ask our FATHER if this could be truth or not ?

ok, i think i'll jumpstart the conv. on what we have IN CHRIST. Here are a few things considering i have a limited amount of time to type.

We have in Christ:

No condemnation: Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ, Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit"

We have in Christ:

The Truth:

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father except through Me"

We have in Christ:

Our Salvation:

Acts 4:12

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved"

Acts 3:19

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord, and He shall send Jesus Chist, which before was preached unto you"

Hebrews 3:14 "For we are mad epartakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.

We have in Christ:

Our Hope: the Blessed Hope of our salvation, eternal life and His return:

1 Thesselonians 5:8

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, puttin on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

1 Timothy 1:1

Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our Hope"

Titus 2:13 "Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ: who gave himself for us, that he might redeems us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works"

We have in Christ: Freedom from the law!

Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son, in th elikeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit...And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

We have in Christ: Justification

Romans 5:8-9 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved by the wrath through Him."

Ephesians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are found as sinners, is therefor Christ the minister of sin? God Forbid!"

We have in Christ: Grace

Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace through faith ye have been saved, and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, lest any man should boast.

We have in Christ: Sanctification

Hebrews 10:10

"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all!"

1 Peter 1:2

"Elect according to the forknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace be unto you, and peace, be multiplied"

We have in Christ: Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses upon them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. For He made himself to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."


We have in Christ: A New creation and Eternal Life

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefor if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: hold things are passed away and behold all things are mad new.

JOhn 3:16

For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotton son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting Life"

We have in Christ: Our needs met

John 6:33-36

"For the bread of God is He which comes down from heaven, and gives life unto the world. Then they said unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said to them. I am the bread of life: He that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst."

Also, In Christ "I CAN DO ALL THINGS"

Phillipians 4:13

"I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me"

The above statements are all the Lord's brought to my rememberance at the moment. The lunch bell just rang so i'm going to cut it short here. May God Bless you and may you find something for what i've posted to enrich your life and your walk.

In Christ,
Joshua

Thank you for taking the time to pull these scriptures out. they are very strengthening and remind us of how grateful we are for Christ Jesus.

We have many wonderful promises through Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of all and through Him, all things exist.

Yup!  And it was a very good point you made as well.  

:) people say i make a few every now and then, but i'm not so sure i wanna believe them :P Just a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joshua

Just to throw in my shekel's worth, and to hopefully clarify a couple of terms.

In terms of salvation, sanctification, righteousness, and justification, we can observe from both reality and scripture two distinct aspects.

1. Positional.

IN Christ, we have already been saved (fully), sanctified (completely), made righteous (absolutely) and justified (without recall) before God.

2. Reality.
IN this mortal body, we are BEING saved, sanctified, becoming more righteous in action, and justifying the sacrifice made by our obedience.  Romans 7 deals specifically with this.  Generally, I (and some others) refer to this as "progressive" sanctification....that on-going process of becoming more attuned to God, more responsive to His leading and will, and more adept at overcoming the fleshly nature.

One of the reasons Paul said "I have not YET attained" was his understanding of the positional and real aspects....IN Christ, we have everything, and everything is ALREADY complete and perfect, but IN this body, we have not YET attained that granted state of perfection.

I'll creep back into the shadows, now, and lurk a little longer.

AMEN BROTHER JOSHUA!!

I enjoyed your post tremendously.

AMEN BROTHER HANK!!

I was just thinking about how much I look forward to getting free of this broken body of mine and given a glorified body to spend eternity with JESUS. I also give thanks that God is still working on me here in this life. I really do want to yield and let HIM mold me for HIS purpose. Any progress is HIM in me, not me.

Love In Christ,
Tom

I Corinthians 1:9  God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hi Gary,
        I enjoyed your post, but I am confused about something you said, I highlighted it, are you saying we aren't temped, and won't sin if we have Christ living in us and feed only on the things of God?  
 I'm guess I'm not doing something right then, well, I know I'm not alot of things right. My walk has been a struggle. There were days several years ago that I could spend on my knees praying and reading. I miss those days. But still I had to stuggle in my ownself, fight the demons with in so to speak. I guess we all do that to some degree. There isn't a day that goes by that some kind of temptation does come my way.
     In a perfect world, after the Lord comes the struggle will be gone. Maybe struggle isn't a good word, but for me it takes alot of work sometimes to hold on to what faith I have. Its through the trial and temtations that we are made strong, What kind of Christians would we be if we didn't have to practice what we believed one in a while.
By the time the Good Lord comes I should be the Arnold Swartzi....lol.......how ever you spell it for God.
peace and blessings,
musicllover
   

what gary says is very profound.

Musiclover, I think what is being said here is:
"We must learn to walk by the Spirit and live by the Spirit." In this way we can conquer the desires of our flesh. It is the desires of the flesh that cause us to sin. We must understand what we truly are: we are Spirits.

The things of this world is what causes us to sin. But if we can recognize that we live by the Spirit, then we will not have the desires of the flesh. Thus, the devil cant tempt us anymore because we walk not by the flesh, but by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.


Read Romans 8:1-15

"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code"
romans 7:6

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."
romans 8:2

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
romans 8:5


1 Corinthians 2:13
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.



Father in Heaven

I pray that you may let us know that that we live in you and you in us. Father, may we understand the Spirit you have given us. Make it known to us who have made Jesus Christ our Lord.

In Jesus's name
Amen

SEE:
General Theology, I found my answer was vering away from this thread so I posted on the General Theology board, title
Walking In the Spirit? HOW

Felix,
I completely agree, I was just saying that for me, walking in the Spirit has been a struggle, even with a foundation of CHristian fellowhsip, praying and reading that we have talked about here. IT just much said than done for me.
musicllover

HERE is what ?I believe paul knew ?Paul had received the born of GOD experiance ,But His mind or soul had not yet taken on the thoughts or mind of JESUS CHRIST YET ,too its fullness .I don"t think in this life ,We ever full have the full thoughts or mind of OUR LORD ? but we are in a battle always between the perfect spirit and the evil or sin full flesh .These 2 battle always for control . And when we fail ?We hate ourselfs for sinning . We feel really hurt in side .Because deep in our heart or spirit .We know we want to live perfect in the LORD .As we LOVE HIM MORE THAN OUR OWN LIFE .And hate to hurt HIM ,in any way .
You see ?We have one more problem here ?The closer we come to taken on MORE of the thoughts of our LORD .The more power we see ?it can make us think ,more of ourselfs than is true .Because we must get more humble ,not above any .Really we should be greater foot washers . We know our LORD said ?The greatest among you ?Serve the others .We aLL have the same desire ?Be like JESUS CHRIST