I AM

"Unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24).

These precious words of our Lord Jesus are a fact, not a threat.

"I AM”.

Only the Lord Jesus IS.

All else ARE NOT.

Only the Lord Jesus IS life.

All else die.

Sin is turning away from the Lord Jesus, who alone IS, to all things that ARE NOT.

The sinner turns away from the Lord Jesus, who alone IS life, and dies.

"ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS,
AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS.
THE GRASS WITHERS,
AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,
BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.” (1 Peter 1:24-25, NASB)

Man’s sin breaks our Heavenly Father’s heart.

God is Love!

"I don't want you to die, says the Sovereign LORD” (Ezekiel 18:32, NLT)

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says to everyone, "Come to Me that you may have life and have it in all its fullness.” (John 5:40, 10:10)

"For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55:12,13 NKJV)

(To be continued)

Thank you, tuc. Agree!

The sum of God’s word is truth, is Christ. (Psalm 119:160; John 17:17, 14:6, 1:1).

We are born of the Word of God and to grow by the Word till Christ is formed in us. (1 Peter 1:23, 2:2; Gal. 4:19)

By the Spirit and the Word, I am, in Christ alone. (John 16:13-15).

I am a Christian, by the Spirit and the Word, yes, I am, in Christ alone.
I am made new, by the Spirit and the Word, yes, I am, in Christ alone.
I am a son, by the Spirit and the Word, yes, I am, in Christ alone.
…………
I am, yes, I am, by the Spirit and the Word, in Christ alone.

I am saying the same thing as you, just saying it a little differently.

If the Lord says, and we believe, that is enough for it is according to our faith that it is given to us. (Matt. 9:29)

The Spirit is in the Word (John 6:63) and works mightily behind the scenes.

Then Moses said to God, "Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you.' Now they may say to me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14 NASB)

Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." (John 8:58 NASB)

I AM

- the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty

- Life eternal

- Love that surpasses knowledge

- Peace which surpasses all comprehension

- Power

- Great in lovingkindness

- Wisdom and Righteousness

- Provision for all needs

- Healer

- Rest from all toil

- All comfort

- Fullness of joy and pleasures forever
.
.
.
.
.

The list is beyond enumeration.

The riches of Christ are unfathomable! (Eph. 3:8)

In Him all the fullness of God dwell. (Col. 1:19)

"Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalms 145:3)

"… Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2 NASB)

The Lord’s joy is that He may be in us.

He prayed to His Father as the time for His crucifixion approached:

"Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:24-26 NASB)

And His joy is to be our joy.

"Abide in Me, and I in you…… that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:4,11 NASB).

We are to have the exceedingly great joy of Christ in us and being filled with all the riches and glory of His Name. This is the Lord’s desire and this must be our desire too.

We are a house for His Name.
(2 Sam.7:12-13; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:22)

"O how marvellous! O how wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!”

"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” (Phil.3:12 NASB)

What has Christ Jesus laid hold of me for?

To be a house for His Name!

What am I to lay hold of?

To be His house filled with all the riches of His Name!

"For God so loved …… He gave His only begotten Son……” (John 3:16)

"…… because of His great love with which He loved us, …… He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:4-7)

"…… to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:19 NASB)

God’s love is like the physical heart which every moment, unceasingly, beats to pump out blood that carries nutrients to every cell in the body to keep them nourished, healthy and alive.

God’s great love works every moment, unceasingly, to give Christ to us by the Spirit, through our faith.

The physical heart eventually fails but God’s love is an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3). It is a great love that will never cease, never diminish, never grow weary, never die.

Our riches in Christ are certain. Guaranteed by God’s great love.

God’s Great Love is God’s Great Heart of which the physical heart is a small picture.

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (Rom. 1:20)

God’s Great Love may fill us with immense joy and happiness.

But God’s Great Love is also a mighty working and living power.

"Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” (Psalm 90:1)

God is Love! The Lord Jesus and His Father are One and One in love. And we too are to be in God, in His love. (John 17:21, 23, 26; 1 John 4:16)

God’s Great Love is our secure and eternal dwelling place.

I am already there. God has already put me in Christ. (1 Cor. 1:30)

I believe!

According to my faith it has already been done for me. (Matthew 9:29; Rom. 5:2, 5)

Now I must not wander away because apart from Him I can do nothing. (John 15:5)

"Remain in me,” the Lord says, "and I will remain in you.” (John 15:4 NLT)

Just by remaining in my Savior, in His Great Love, I will surely bear much fruit. (John 15:5; 1 John 4:16)).

In God’s Great Love and by God’s Great Love, the riches of Christ will surely fill me as I believe. (Eph. 3:17-19)

"May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love and joy of God’s presence.” - Andrew Murray

The human heart finds it incredibly hard to simply believe God.

"Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?” (Psalms 78:19 KJV)

Listen! God says:

"Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14)

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

I am the true vine. (John 15:1)

"All earthly things are the shadows of heavenly realities””the expression, in created, visible forms, of the invisible glory of God. The Life and the Truth are in Heaven; on earth we have figures and shadows of the heavenly truths. When Jesus says: "I am the true Vine,” He tells us that all the vines of earth are pictures and emblems of Himself. He is the divine reality, of which they are the created expression. They all point to Him, and preach Him, and reveal Him. If you would know Jesus, study the vine.”

"He speaks””oh, listen, not to His words only, but to Himself, as He whispers secretly day by day: "I am the true Vine! All that the Vine can ever be to its branch, ‘I will be to you.’”

(Andrew Murray (1828”“1917) was a pastor and writer from the towns and villages of South Africa. His writings have richly blessed countless Christians through the years.)

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

"… and my Father is the husbandman.” (John 15:1 KJV)

("Husbandman” has also been translated as "keeper of vineyard” (BSB).)

"Christ ever lived in the spirit of what He once said: ‘The Son can do nothing of himself.’ As dependent as a vine is on a husbandman for the place where it is to grow, for its fencing in and watering and pruning, Christ felt Himself entirely dependent on the Father every day for the wisdom and the strength to do the Father’s will.”

"This absolute dependence had as its blessed counterpart the most blessed confidence that He had nothing to fear: the Father could not disappoint Him. With such a Husbandman as His Father, He could enter death and the grave. He could trust God to raise Him up. All that Christ is and has, He has, not in Himself, but from the Father.”

"Before He ever uses the word, or speaks at all of abiding in Him or bearing fruit, He turns their eyes heavenward to the Father watching over them, and working all in them. At the very root of all Christian life lies the thought that God is to do all, that our work is to give and leave ourselves in His hands, in the confession of utter helplessness and dependence, in the assured confidence that He gives all we need. The great lack of the Christian life is that, even where we trust Christ, we leave God out of the count. Christ came to bring us to God. Christ lived the life of a man exactly as we have to live it. Christ the Vine points to God the Husbandman. As He trusted God, let us trust God, that everything we ought to be and have, as those who belong to the Vine, will be given us from above.”

"As surely as the Husbandman made the Vine what it was to be, will He make each branch what it is to be. Our Father is our Husbandman, the Surety for our growth and fruit.”

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

I am the vine, you are the branches. (John 15:5)

"A branch is simply a bit of wood, brought forth by the vine for the one purpose of serving it in bearing its fruit. It is of the very same nature as the vine, and has one life and one spirit with it. Just think a moment of the lessons this suggests.”

"The branch has but one object for which it exists, one purpose to which it is entirely given up. That is, to bear the fruit the vine wishes to bring forth. And so the believer has but one reason for his being a branch””but one reason for his existence on earth ””that the heavenly Vine may through him bring forth His fruit.”

"The branch is exactly like the vine in every aspect””the same nature, the same life, the same place, the same work. In all this they are inseparably one. And so the believer needs to know that he is partaker of the divine nature, and has the very nature and spirit of Christ in him, and that his one calling is to yield himself to a perfect conformity to Christ. The branch is a perfect likeness of the vine; the only difference is, the one is great and strong, and the source of strength, the other little and feeble, ever needing and receiving strength. Even so the believer is, and is to be, the perfect likeness of Christ.”

"The vine has its stores of life and sap and strength, not for itself, but for the branches. The branches are and have nothing but what the vine provides and imparts. The believer is called to, and it is his highest blessedness to enter upon, a life of entire and unceasing dependence upon Christ. Day and night, every moment, Christ is to work in him all he needs.”

"The branch has no cure; the vine provides all; it has but to yield itself and receive. It is the sight of this truth that leads to the blessed rest of faith, the true secret of growth and strength: ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’”

"You have but one thing to do: Only be a branch””nothing more, nothing less! Just be a branch; Christ will be the Vine that gives all. And the Husbandman, the mighty God, who made the Vine what it is, will as surely make the branch what it ought to be.”

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

"… and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2 NASB)

"The vine is the glory of the husbandman; the branch is the glory of the vine; the fruit is the glory of the branch;”

"The branches, sometimes eight and ten feet long, are cut down close to the stem, and nothing is left but just one or two inches of wood, enough to bear the grapes. It is when everything that is not needful for fruit-bearing has been relentlessly cut down, and just as little of the branches as possible has been left, that full, rich fruit may be expected.”

"God has to bring us to the end of ourselves, to the consciousness of the helplessness and the danger of all that is of man, to feel that we are nothing. All that is to be left of us is just enough to receive the power of the life-giving sap of the Holy Spirit. What is of man must be reduced to its very lowest measure.”

"This is the true circumcision of the heart, the circumcision of Christ. This is the true crucifixion with Christ, bearing about the dying of the Lord Jesus in the body.”

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

Abide in me, and I in you. (John 15:4)

"The graft shoots its little roots and fibers down into the stem, and the stem grows up into the graft, and what has been called the structural union is effected. The graft abides and becomes one with the vine, and even though the vine were to die, would still be one wood with it. Then there is the second process, in which the sap of the vine enters the new structure, and uses it as a passage through which sap can flow up to show itself in young shoots and leaves and fruit. Here is the vital union. Into the graft which abides in the stock, the stock enters with sap to abide in it.”

"We have to trust and obey, to detach ourselves from all else, to reach out after Him and cling to Him, to sink ourselves into Him. As we do this, through the grace He gives, a character is formed, and a heart prepared for the fuller experience: ‘I in you,’ God strengthens us with might by the Spirit in the inner man, and Christ dwells in the heart by faith.”

"The work enjoined on us: ‘Abide in me,’ will prepare us for the work undertaken by Him: ‘I in you.’”

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:4 NASB)

"There is but one way for the branch to bear fruit, there is no other possibility, it must abide in unbroken communion with the vine. Not of itself, but only of the vine, does the fruit come. Christ had already said: ‘Abide in me’; in nature the branch teaches us the lesson so clearly;”

"Our blessed Lord desires to call us away from ourselves and our own strength, to Himself and His strength.”

"Abiding in the Vine then comes to be nothing more nor less than the restful surrender of the soul to let Christ have all and work all, as completely as in nature the branch knows and seeks nothing but the vine.”

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

I am the vine, you are the branches (John 15:5)

"study this holy mystery until you see Christ as the true Vine, bearing, strengthening, supplying, inspiring all His branches, being and doing in each branch all it needs, and the abiding will come of itself.”

"How much weary labor there has been in striving to understand what abiding is, how much fruitless effort in trying to attain it! Why was this? Because the attention was turned to the abiding as a work we have to do, instead of the living Christ, in whom we were to be kept abiding, who Himself was to hold and keep us. we thought of abiding as a continual strain and effort””we forget that it means rest from effort to one who has found the place of his abode.”

"Abide in Me, rest in Me, and let Me do My work”.

"I am the Vine, only consent and yield thy all to Me, I will do all in thee.”

"Come out of every other place, and every other trust and occupation, come out of self with its reasonings and efforts, come and rest in what I shall do. Live out of thyself; abide in Me. Know that thou art in Me; thou needest no more; remain there in Me.”

"Let each day, in our quiet time, in the inner chamber with Him and His Word, our chief thought and aim be to get the heart fixed on Him, in the assurance: all that a vine ever can do for its branches, my Lord Jesus will do, is doing, for me. Give Him time, give Him your ear, that He may whisper and explain the divine secret: ‘I am the vine.’”

"Above all, remember, Christ is the Vine of God’s planting, and you are a branch of God’s grafting. Ever stand before God, in Christ; ever wait for all grace from God, in Christ; ever yield yourself to bear the more fruit the Husbandman asks, in Christ. And pray much for the revelation of the mystery that all the love and power of God that rested on Christ is working in you too. ‘I am God’s Vine,’ Jesus says; ‘all I am I have from Him; all I am is for you; God will work it in you.’

"I am the Vine. Blessed Lord, speak Thou that word into my soul. Then shall I know that all Thy fullness is for me. And that I can count upon Thee to stream it into me, and that my abiding is so easy and so sure when I forget and lose myself in the adoring faith that the Vine holds the branch and supplies its every need.”

"A branch, nothing in myself, and yet resting and rejoicing in the faith that knows that He will provide for all. Yes, by His grace, I will be nothing less than a branch, and all He means it to be, that through me, He may bring forth His fruit.”

"You need be nothing more. You need not for one single moment of the day take upon you the responsibility of the Vine.”

"Your life and strength and fruit depend upon what your Lord Jesus is! Therefore worship and trust Him; let Him be your one desire and the one occupation of your heart.”

"The Vine reveals itself within the branch; thence comes the growth and fruit, Christ dwells and works within His branch; only be a branch, waiting on Him to do all.”

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

Apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5)

"As little as I can give it myself, can I maintain or increase it: every motion is the work of God through Christ and His Spirit. It is as a man believes this, that he will take up that position of entire and continual dependence which is the very essence of the life of faith. With the spiritual eye he sees Christ every moment supplying grace for every breathing and every deepening of the spiritual life. His whole heart says Amen to the word: You can do nothing. And just because he does so, he can also say: "I can do all things in Christ who strengtheneth me.” The sense of helplessness, and the abiding to which it compels, leads to true fruitfulness and diligence in good works.”

"all that is self must be brought low, that our confidence may be in Christ alone.”

Excerpts from Andrew Murray’s book "The True Vine”:

Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. (John 15:9 NASB)

"Abide in My love””We speak of a man’s home as his abode. Our abode, the home of our soul, is to be the love of Christ. We are to live our life there, to be at home there all the day: this is what Christ means our life to be, and really can make it. Our continuous abiding in the Vine is to be an abiding in His love.”

"The love of the Father to the Son is not a sentiment””it is a divine life, an infinite energy, an irresistible power. It carried Christ through life and death and the grave. The Father loved Him and dwelt in Him, and did all for Him. So the love of Christ to us too is an infinite living power that will work in us all He delights to give us. The feebleness of our Christian life is that we do not take time to believe that this divine love does really delight in us, and will possess and work all in us. We do not take time to look at the Vine bearing the branch so entirely, working all in it so completely. We strive to do for ourselves what Christ alone can, what Christ, oh, so lovingly, longs to do for us.”

"Occupy yourself with that love, worship it, wait for it. You may be sure it will reach out to you, and by its power take you up into itself as your abode and your home.”

"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:8 NASB)

The fruits we, the branches, bear glorify God. These fruits are to the glory of God. These fruits declare the glory of God.

The glory of God is in Christ, is Christ.

Christ is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s nature (Heb. 1:3). The knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).

The riches of Christ are the glorious fruits of the branch.

"And my God will fill up all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19 BLB)

Christ in us is the hope of glory! (Col. 1:27)

The fruits of the Spirt are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). These are all riches in the Lord Jesus’ Name, I AM.

So, let us all "with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18 NASB)

Yes! Till all the unsearchable riches and fullness of God in Christ, in His glorious Name, fill us and we are exactly like Him in glory and our Heavenly Father can say to each one of us as He says of His Beloved Son (Luke 3:22), "You are My beloved son, in you I am well-pleased!”

"Behold, I bring you good news of great joy!” (Luke 2:10)

Let us repent. It is a JOYFUL thing to do.

Repentance is turning away from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). It is to be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of God’s Beloved Son (Col. 1:13).

Repentance is turning away from all things outside of Christ that ARE NOT to all things that ARE in Christ alone.

Repentance is turning away from all things that bind us to sorrow, toil, failure and misery to boundless joy and abundance and freedom in Christ.

Repentance is leaving the place of utter lack and poverty and famine and running back into our Heavenly Father’s widely open arms of Love and Compassion and to the Great Banquet He has for us.

"‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight…….”’ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.” (Luke 15:18 , 20-24 NASB)

"He has brought me to his banquet hall, And his banner over me is love.” (Song of Solomon 2:4 NASB)

Repentance is detaching ourselves from everything else to be attached to Christ alone, to be that fruitful branch in the Great Vine.

The Lord is my Vine. I am His branch. All His riches are for me and my Heavenly Father’s Great Love will unfailingly and eternally make it all real for me. According to my faith it will be done for me.

Do we still sin? Of course not. How can we when Christ who is Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption is in me?

His yoke is very easy. His burden is amazingly light. And He gives us complete and joyful rest. (Matt. 11:28-30)

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25 NASB)

Excerpts and Quotes from "Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret”:

(Taylor, Dr & Mrs. Howard 1989 "Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret”, Moody Press, Chicago)

"We thank Thee, Lord, for pilgrim days
When desert springs were dry,
When first we knew what depths of need
Thy love could satisfy.” ”“ Selected

"Hudson Taylor had many secrets, for he was always going on with God, yet there were but one ”“ the simple, profound secret of drawing for every need, temporal or spiritual, upon the ‘fathomless wealth of Christ’”.

"Faith is not an option but the basis by which God’s power and resources are made available to His servants. Our generation needs to hear afresh that God does answer prayer, that He is utterly faithful to His Word.” ”“ Daniel W. Bacon

"Bear not a single care thyself,
One is too much for thee;
The work is Mine, and Mine alone;
Thy work ”“ to rest in Me.” ”“ Selected

"Nothing before, nothing behind;
The steps of faith
Fall on seeming void, and find
The rock beneath.” - J. G. Whittier

"But Hudson Taylor, young though he was, had learned to know God in a very real way. He had seen Him, as he wrote, quell the raging of a storm at sea, in answer to definite prayer, alter the direction of the wind, and give rain in a time of drought. He had seen Him, in answer to prayer, stay the hand of would-be murderers and quell the violence of enraged men. He had seen Him rebuke sickness in answer to prayer and raise up the dying, when all hope of recovery seemed gone. For more than eight years He had proved His faithfulness in supplying the needs of his family and work in answer to prayer, unforeseen as many of those needs had been. How could he but encourage others to put their trust in the love that cannot forget, the faithfulness that cannot fail?”

"We have to do with One (he reminded his hearers) who is Lord of all power and might, whose arm is not shortened that it cannot save, nor His ear heavy that it cannot hear; with One whose unchanging Word directs us to ask and receive that our joy may be full, to open our mouths wide, that He may fill them.”

"Human nothingness, divine sufficiency”

"Against me earth and hell combine;
But on my side is Power Divine;
Jesus is all, and He is mine.” ”“ W.T. Matson

________________________________________________________

J. Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) was an English missionary to China. He founded the China Inland Mission which at his death included 205 mission stations with over 800 missionaries, and 125,000 Chinese Christians.

Excerpts and Quotes from "Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret”:

(Taylor, Dr & Mrs. Howard 1989 "Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret”, Moody Press, Chicago)

(THE EXCHANGED LIFE)

"Yes, in me, in me He dwelleth””
I in Him and He in me!
And my empty soul He filleth
Now and through eternity.” ”“ H. Bonar

"How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself as revealed to us in His Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith ….. but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity.”

"It was resting in Jesus now, and letting Him do the work ”“ which make all the difference.”

"I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for meditation ”“ but all without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me.”

"I knew if only I could abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not. I would begin the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye off Him for a moment, but pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, and constant interruptions apt to be so wearing, caused me to forget Him. Then one’s nerves get so fretted in this climate that temptations to irritability, hard thoughts and sometimes unkind words were all the more difficult to control. Each day brought its register of sin and failure, of lack of power. To will was indeed ‘present with me,’ but how to perform I found not.”

"I thought that holiness, practical holiness, was to be gradually attained by a diligent use of the means of grace. There was nothing I so much desired as holiness, nothing I so much needed; but far from in any measure attaining it, the more I strove after it, the more it eluded my grasp, until hope itself almost died out, and I began to think that ”“ perhaps to make heaven the sweeter ”“ God would not give it down here. I do not think that I was striving to attain it in my own strength. I knew I was powerless. I told the Lord so, and asked Him to give me help and strength. Sometimes I almost believed that He would keep and uphold me; but on looking back in the evening ”“ alas! There was but sin and failure to confess and mourn before God.”

"…sometimes there were seasons not only of peace but of joy in the Lord; but there were transitory, and at best there was a lack of power. Oh, how good the Lord has been in bringing this conflict to an end!”

"All the time I felt assured that there was in Christ all I needed, but the practical question was ”“ how to get it out. He was rich truly, but I was poor; He was strong, but I was weak. I knew full well that there was in the root, the stem, abundant fatness, but how to get it into my puny little branch was the question. As gradually light dawned, I saw that faith was the only requisite ”“ was the hand to lay hold on His fullness and make it mine. But I had not this faith.”

"I strove for faith, but it would not come; I tried to exercise it, but in vain. Seeing more and more the wondrous supply of grace laid up in Jesus, the fullness of our precious Savior, my guilt and helplessness seemed to increase. Sins committed appeared but as trifles compared with the sin of unbelief which was their cause, which could not or would not take God at His word, but rather made Him a liar! Unbelief was I felt the damning sin of the world; yet I indulged in it. I prayed for faith but it came not. What was I to do?”

"But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One.”

"….I saw it all! ‘If we believe not, he abideth faithful.’ I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed!) that He had said, ‘I will never leave thee.’”

"Nor was this all. He showed me, nor one half. As I thought of the Vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured direct into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in wishing to get the sap, the fullness out of Him! I saw not only that Jesus will never leave me, but that I am a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine is not the root merely, but all ”“ root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit. And Jesus is not that alone ”“ He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for or needed. Oh, the joy of seeing this truth! I do pray that the eyes of your understanding too may be enlightened that you may know and enjoy the riches freely given us in Christ.”

"… it is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ!.”

"The sweetest part, if one may speak of one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine.”

"No fear that His resources will prove unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine, for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.”

"And since Christ has thus dwelt in my heart by faith, how happy I have been! I wish I could tell you about it instead of writing. I am no better than before. In a sense I do not wish to be, nor am I striving to be. But I am dead and buried with Christ ”“ ay, and risen too! And now Christ lives in me, and ‘the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.’”

".. do not consider Him as far off, when God has made us one with Him, members of His very body. Nor should we look upon this experience, these truths as for the few. They are the birthright of every child of God, and no one can dispense with them without dishonouring our Lord. The only power for deliverance from sin or for true service is Christ.”

"’But are you always conscious of abiding in Christ?’ Mr Taylor was asked many years later.
‘While sleeping last night,’ he replied, ‘did I cease to abide in your home because I was unconscious of the fact? We should never be conscious of not abiding in Christ.’”

"I change, He changes not;
The Christ can never die:
His truth, not mine, the resting place;
His love, not mine, the tie.”

Excerpts and Quotes from "Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret”:

(Taylor, Dr & Mrs. Howard 1989 "Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret”, Moody Press, Chicago)

"I used to try to keep my own heart right, but it would always seem to be going wrong. So at last I had to give up trying myself, and to accept the Lord’s offer to keep it for me.”

"Once I used to try to think very much and very often about Jesus, but I often forget Him. Now I trust Jesus to keep my heart remembering Him, and He does so. This is the best way.”

"Oh, it is a joy to feel Jesus living in you; to find your heart all taken up by Him; to be reminded of His love by His seeking communion with you at all times, not by your painful attempts to abide in Him. He is our life, our strength, our salvation. He is our ‘wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.’ He is our power for service and fruit-bearing, and His bosom is our resting place now and forever.”

"My path is far from easy. I never was more happy in Jesus, and I am very sure He will not fail us; but never from the foundation of the Mission have we been more cast upon God. It is well, doubtless, that it should be so. Difficulties afford a platform upon which He can show Himself. Without them we could never know how tender, faithful and almighty our God is… The change about Mr and Mrs Berger has tried me not a little. I love them so dearly! And it seems another link severed with the past in which my precious departed one, who is seldom absent from my thoughts, had a part. But His word is, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”

"Now that this work has grown, more helpers are needed at home, as abroad, but the principles of action remain the same. We shall seek pecuniary aid from God by prayer, as heretofore. He will put it into the hearts of those He sees fit to use to act as His channels. When there is money in hand it will be remitted to China; when there is none, none will be sent; and we shall not draw upon home, so that there can be no going into debt. Should our faith be tried as it has been before, the Lord will prove Himself faithful as He has ever done. Nay, should our faith fail, His faithfulness will not --- for it is written, ‘If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful.’”

‘Long after, when prayer had been fully answered and the pioneers of the Mission were preaching Christ far and wide throughout those inland provinces, a leader of the Church of Scotland said to Mr Taylor:
‘You must sometimes be tempted to be proud because of the wonderful way God has used you. I doubt if any man living has had greater honour.’
‘On the contrary,’ was the earnest reply, ‘I often think that God must have been looking for someone small enough and weak enough for Him to use, and He found me.”

"I do feel more and more the blessedness of real trust in God. Faith, He tries, but sustains. And when our faithfulness fails, His remains unshaken. ‘He cannot deny Himself.’”

"The Lord Jesus, this year of very peculiar trial from almost every quarter, does make my heart well up and overflow with His love. … and He so wonderfully makes all loss to be gain!”

"Flesh and heart often fail: let them fail! He faileth not. Pray very much, pray constantly, for Satan rages against us …”

"Here was a man almost sixty years of age, bearing tremendous burdens, yet absolutely calm and untroubled. Oh, the pile of letters! Any one of which might contain news of death, of lack of funds, of riots or serious trouble. Yet all were opened, read and answered with the same tranquillity ”“ Christ his reason for peace, his power for calm. Dwelling in Christ, he drew upon His very being and resources, in the midst of and concerning the matters in question. And this he did by an attitude of faith as simple as it was continuous.”

"Yet he was delightfully free and natural. I can find no words to describe it save the scriptural expression ‘in God.’ He was in God all the time and God in him. It was the true abiding of John fifteenth”

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Early in my Christian life, the Lord showed me a truth about faith.

It was a very hot summer day. Our air-conditioner had died. It was a really old unit that needed to be replaced as they did not sell spare parts for it anymore. The temperature had exceeded 40 degree C and was still rising. The heat was unbearable so I asked the Lord to make the air-con work. A short while later I switched it on and ... it worked!! And it worked perfectly. And it continued to work most efficiently for about a couple more years!

Soon after that, the lock on our rear security door failed to work. Encouraged by the Lord’s answer to my prayer for the air-con, I asked the Lord to make the lock work. A few days passed. Nothing happened. My faith failed. So I told the Lord I am so sorry I didn’t have the faith that works. I told Him I was sure it was not a problem for Him to fix the lock but I just didn’t have the faith for that.

So we made arrangements to replace the lock.

Just before the lock was about to be replaced, however, I tried the lock again and ... it worked! And it worked like new! And it is still working today.

I was perplexed. How can God work when my faith had failed?

Then the Lord put the strong word in my heart that it is not about me but about Him. It is not I but Christ. God does not work according to our striving to have faith but by His own great faithfulness.

So today, I see Jesus only. I don’t focus on my weak faith anymore. But I hold on to the Lord’s great faithfulness to His unchanging Word.

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
(Isa. 55:10-11 NASB)

"By wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
And by knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.”
(Proverbs 24:3-4 NAS 1977)

The knowledge that will fill us with all the treasures and riches of eternal life is the knowledge of God our Father and of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3 NASB)

In Christ are all the unsearchable riches and fullness of God (Eph. 3:8, Col. 1:19). "….. all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine” (John 17:10 NASB)

"the same Lord of all is rich to all those calling upon Him” (Rom. 10:12 YLT).

And we receive Him by believing in His Name.

"… as many as did receive him to them he gave authority to become sons of God -- to those believing in his name” (John 1:12 YLT)

But how can we believe in Him if we have not heard about Him? (Rom. 10:14)

Scriptures reveal Christ (Luke 24:27, 44-45; John 20:30-31, 5:39; 1 John 5:13).

Therefore we study the Bible to see Christ and to know Him so that we can receive Him by believing in His Name.

How beautiful also are the feet of those who bring good news of good things, who bring the word of Christ (Rom. 10:15,17)! How good are the messages of preachers who determine to know nothing among us except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2)!

"The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” (Psalm 118:14 NASB)

I have great joy in Bible Study. There is great joy in discovering and knowing WHO the Lord Jesus IS, what HE IS for me, and what HE can and will do for me. In the pages of His Word, from Genesis to Revelation, I will know Him, "I AM”. "I AM” … HE IS everything that I desire, everything that I need. By simply seeing Him, remembering Him, and believing in His Name, He has been real to me and in me.

This earth and this world is not my home.

On this earth, the ground is cursed and men toil all the days of their life, amidst thorns and thistle, for their meagre bread of life (Gen. 3:17-19). Moths and rust destroy men’s prized possessions and thieves break in and steal them away (Matt. 6:19).

"Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” the Lord says, "where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal” (Matt. 6:20).

And the Lord says:

"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” (1 John 2:15-17 NLT)

We are in the world but not of the world so the world will hate us (John 17:14) and persecute us (John 15:20) and we will have tribulation (John 16:33).

But for every fear and every lack and every need in our life’s journey on this earth and in this world, the Lord is able to comfort us and give to us "far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20 NASB).

The name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run into it and is safe (Prov. 18:10). The Lord will keep in perfect peace all who trust in Him, all whose thoughts are fixed on Him! (Isa. 26:3 NLT)

As I live my life in this world, I rest in the knowledge that every moment in every step of the way, the Lord is carrying me as a father carries his son (Deut. 1:31 NASB) and underneath me are His everlasting arms (Deut. 33:27 NLT).

In the storms of life and in troubled times, I have remembered that HE IS the Master of every storm and HE IS Peace and He lives in me and I have had peace in my heart. (Luke 8:22-25; John 14:27; Phil. 4:6-7)

He tells me not to worry about everyday life--whether I have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. (Matt.6:25 NLT). He says: "Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?” (Matt. 6:26, 28-30 NLT)

I rest in His Word. I believe in His Name. "I AM” the Mighty One who takes wondrously good care of me!

God is Love! And I rejoice in His Love. I live in His Great Love that tells me:

"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”
"You parents--if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?
Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!
So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him." (Matt. 7:7-11 NLT)

The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love!
(Psalm 145:8 NIV)

He is not the stern and harsh taskmaster who is always looking to find faults in me and punish me and demanding of me what I am unable to give. Christ has died for me and as far as the east is from the west, He has removed my transgressions from me (Psalm 103:12). Now He carries me in His bosom (Isa. 40:11) and His precious blood eternally cleanses me from all sin. Now it is not by my own futile struggling (and inevitable failing) but by the new heart that He graciously gives me that I am enabled and empowered to easily and victoriously and perfectly live a life free from sin (Ezek. 11:19-20). Now He keeps me and protects me under His soft comfortable feathery wings (Luke 13:34; Ps. 57:1, 61:3-4, 63:7, 91:2-4) and surrounds me with favor as with a shield (Ps. 5:11-12) and He dearly loves me (John 17:23,26; 21:20). Now He tells me to approach His throne of grace for my every need (Heb. 4:16).

God’s own infallible Word tells me these are so!!

"’…..I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,’ declares the LORD." (Ezek. 37:14 NASB)

Don’t disbelieve! For "… He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” (Matt. 13:58 NASB)

Sometimes I become my own shepherd and I wander away from Him and become lost and starved and hurt in desert places and my joy is gone. But the Lord is my Good Shepherd and He looks for me and I hear His voice and return to Him and He brings me back to His green pastures and feeds me and heals me and strengthens me (Matt. 18:12-14, Psalms 23, Ezek.34). Because the Lord is my Good Shepherd I will never perish and no one can snatch me away from Him (John 10:27-28).

Have we been defeated by our enemies (i.e. all things that take us out of Christ) because we have fought them on our own by our own weaknesses or have we victoriously conquered them in the name of the Lord? (1 Sam. 17:45-47)

Have we failed because we tried by ourselves to live righteously when we should be looking to the Lord and totally abandoning ourselves to Him to keep our feet out of the net? (Psalm 25:15)

Have we been oppressed and depressed because we did not know that He is with us in our trouble (Ps. 91:15), that He is a stronghold for the oppressed (Ps. 9:9-10)? Had He been unable to deliver us and set us on high because we did not know His name? (Ps. 91:14 NASB)

All that the Lord Jesus can be and can do for me, "if they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” But what is written in the Bible has been written so that by believing we can have life in His name. (John 20:30, 21:25)

As we journey through this life, we do not lose heart, for "though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:16-17 NASB)

And we who are in Christ live in a peaceful habitation, in a secure dwelling and in a quiet resting place (Isa. 32:18).

God is making all things new and our true and eternal riches are in Christ and in the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem (Rev.21).

Now we have a deposit. In timeless eternity, we will fully know the boundless heights and depths of the fullness of joy in our Lord’s presence (Ps. 16:11) and God will show us the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:7).

"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Ps. 34:8 KJV)

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14 NASB)

I will fight the good fight, I will finish the race, I will keep the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7)

It is so important to correctly see and know the Lord Jesus for "we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18 NASB)

According to our faith it is done for us (Matt. 9:29) and we can only believe according to what we see and know. So, if our vision and our knowledge of Christ are flawed, what we believe in would be incorrect and according to our incorrect belief it will sadly be so for us.

For example:

God is Love and God’s Great Love fills the pages of His precious Word. If we will delightfully read the Bible through the eyes of God’s Great Love and hear His Word through the voice of His Great Love, then we will be able to know and see the vast treasures that God in His Great love has given to us in Christ and by faith receive them as our own.

But if we see God as a stern and harsh Judge, we ourselves will become a stern and harsh judge and we will read the Bible, not to see the treasures in Christ that God’s Great Love has for us, but to draw up a list of things to do or not to do to impose on ourselves and others and the Bible says by works are no man saved (Eph. 2:8-9).

If we do not see and believe that Christ IS Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption, and He lives in us, we will remain sinful.

If we do not see and believe that Christ IS Provider, and He lives in us, we will not have His provisions.

If we do not see and believe that Christ IS Protector, and He lives in us, we will not have His protection.

If we do not see and believe that Christ IS Healer, and He lives in us, we will not have His healing.

If we do not see and believe that Christ IS Peace, and He lives in us, we will not have His peace.

If we do not see and believe that Christ IS the Mighty One fighting for us, and He lives in us, we will not have His victories.

If we do not see and believe that Christ IS ALL, and He lives in us, He cannot be all in us

If we do not see and believe that it is by various trials that God perfects us, then we will reject the trials to our great loss (James 1:2-4, 12).

And if we can see and believe that the new creation is wholly God’s own workmanship (Eph. 2:8-10) and not our own, we would understand that only God Himself is qualified to examine and perfect His own workmanship and we would fully trust Him to do so and keep our own hands out and at the end of the day God Himself will surely be able declare of each one of us, "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” If we miss this, then we would make the grave mistake of unworthily inspecting GOD’S workmanship (in ourselves and others) by our own knowledge of good and evil and by our own work mar God’s image in ourselves and others too. We may self-righteously pursue and hunt down others to judge them and denounce them, and try to take the speck out of their eye when behold the log is in our own. (Matt. 7:4).

We must see what Jesus sees which may be very different from what we see. For where Simon the Pharisee saw a sinful woman to be ostracized, the Lord Jesus saw a much forgiven woman who loved Him very much. (Luke 7:36-50)

May the Holy Spirit lead us into all Truth and disclose Christ to us that we may all be filled with all the riches in His Name.

God is Love!

I have utmost reverence for God’s Love. It is most precious to me.

And our Lord Jesus’ Love Story for us is the greatest, most beautiful, sweetest and most romantic Love Story ever told! (Song of Songs; the whole Bible).

Lord Jesus, I love You!

"May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine.” (Song of Songs 1:2 NASB)

"… We will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." (Song of Songs 1:4 NASB)

God’s Love is greatest. If we do not have God’s Love we are nothing (1 Cor. 13)

"God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. " (John 4:16 NASB)

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.” (Psalm 115:1 NASB)

HERE IS LOVE HYMN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZJmTVdDyLY

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

"Peace to the brethren, and love, with faith, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ!
The grace with all those loving our Lord Jesus Christ -- undecayingly! Amen.”
(Eph. 6:23-24 YLT)

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS

"To the messenger of the Ephesian assembly write: These things saith he who is holding the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the midst of the seven lamp-stands -- the golden:
I have known thy works, and thy labour, and thy endurance, and that thou art not able to bear evil ones, and that thou hast tried those saying themselves to be apostles and are not, and hast found them liars,
and thou didst bear, and hast endurance, and because of my name hast toiled, and hast not been weary.
`But I have against thee: That thy first love thou didst leave!
remember, then, whence thou hast fallen, and reform, and the first works do; and if not, I come to thee quickly, and will remove thy lamp-stand from its place -- if thou mayest not reform;
but this thou hast, that thou dost hate the works of the Nicolaitans, that I also hate.
He who is having an ear -- let him hear what the Spirit saith to the assemblies: To him who is overcoming -- I will give to him to eat of the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise of God”
(Revelation 2:1-7, Young’s Literal Translation)

The church in Ephesus seemed praiseworthy in many things. They were wholeheartedly serving the Lord. They were dedicated, worked very hard and did many things. They patiently endured all things and remained steadfast and unwavering through difficulties and hardships. Also, they did not tolerate evil men, men who scoffed at the righteousness of God. They stood for the infallibility of God’s Word, searched the Scriptures for truth, tested the messages of other preachers and rejected all falsehood. They endured persecutions and tirelessly laboured for the Lord Jesus’ Name.

Yet for all these there was no true Light in their lampstand and the Lord was coming to remove it out of its place (Rev. 2:5).

"In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.” (John 1:4 NASB)

For all the sincere and noteworthy endeavour of the church in Ephesus, the life of Christ was not shining out through them. Christ was not living in them.

And the reason was that they had left their "first love” (Rev. 2:4).

Such dedication and perseverance and toil most certainly must have been motivated by a deep and strong love for the Lord. How could they be faulted? But it was a love that could not produce the light the Lord was looking for in their lampstand. The love that is unable to bear good fruits for the Lord is "human” love, the love that flows out of "self”, the love that is of "flesh”. All our righteous deeds are like a "filthy garment” (Isa. 64:6) or "rubbish” as Paul said (Phil. 3:8).

All our springs must be in God. (Ps. 87:7 (KJV), 36:9)

"We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

"First” (Strong’s #4413, used in both Rev. 2:4 & 1 John 4:19) is that which is foremost (in time, place, order or importance).

First love MUST be GOD’S Love, not our own human love. God’s Love must be the beginning, must come first, must be the most important, must be the chief. Only the Love of Christ which is the Love of God is of surpassing value (Eph. 3:19; Phil. 3:8).

Our own striving to love God will fail. Our earnest desire, "All that the Lord requires of us we will do!” will be fruitless. It is only by acknowledging that all that the Lord requires of us we cannot do and let God's Love fill us and mightily work in us that all of God’s Will will done in us by grace through faith.

What great things God’s Love does for us!

It is God’s Great Love that gives His only begotten Son to us. (John 3:16)

It is through God’s Great Love that we are children of God. (1 John 3:1; Eph. 1:4-5).

It is "God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:4-7 NASB)

"Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Eph. 3:17-19 NLT)

And this is good news of great joy: We do not have to labour for God’s Love. It is a gift from God to us.

The "love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom. 5:5 NASB)

God’s Love lifts us to heavenly heights, renews our hearts to desire to do all things pleasing to God and mightily enables us to do so. When we are filled with God’s Love, we will be able to supernaturally love God and do His commands and love others as Christ loves us (Eph. 4,5). And God’s Great Love in us and through us will bestow joy, peace, life and blessings on the ones loved.

The church in Ephesus was also admonished to return to the first (Strong’s #4413) works (Rev. 2:5). This must be God first working in us by His love (Eph. 2:8-10). We must only work as God works in us, as the Lord Jesus did when He was on earth in the flesh.

"Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19 NASB)

"… I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.” (John 8:28 NASB)

"Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father” (John 10:32 NASB)

"For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.” (John 12:49 NASB)

Because of the Lord Jesus’ absolute surrender to His Father to work in Him and through Him, what a totally sinless life He lived! He was able to say, "… for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30). What power He had! What mighty works and miracles He did! And what compassion He showed!

Our own works are "rubbish” but we will live and work mightily when Christ is living in us and working mightily through us.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous runs into it and is safe (Prov. 18:10). To the church in Ephesus, the Lord Jesus says:

I AM

"The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands." (Rev. 2:1 NASB)

The Lord Jesus Himself must be the One holding us, sustaining us, empowering us. The Lord Jesus Himself must be with us, in us.

The church in Ephesus needed to eat again from the tree of life (Rev. 2:7). They needed to live and work, not by their own power and might but by the Holy Spirit (Zech. 4:6). For the tree of life is the tree that grows by the side of the river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1-2) and he who believes in Christ "as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive” (John 7:38-39 NASB). Only by the Holy Spirit can we have the true power to live and work for the Lord (Acts 1:8). Only the Holy Spirit can make us know Christ as our life and sanctification as a living reality in us (John 16:14-15 NASB).

"But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7 NASB)

God is Love! (1 John 4:16). If we do not have God’s Love, we are nothing (1 Cor. 13). God’s Love is the greatest treasure to have in us.

Hymn: THE LOVE OF GOD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWnvmKoLWUU

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race””
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

At the very beginning of creation, God’s eternal command for the obedience that gives LIFE was laid down:

"The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:8-9 NASB)

"Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; BUT FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL YOU SHALL NOT EAT, FOR IN THE DAY THAT YOU EAT FROM IT YOU WILL SURELY DIE.’” (Gen. 2:15-17 NASB, caps mine)

This is a FACT: When man eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he dies.

Not, as some say, God testing man to see if man will obey Him or not.

THE FIRST MAN IS A LIVING SOUL_1

"So also it has been written: ‘The first man Adam became into a living soul; the last Adam into a life-giving spirit.’” (1 Cor.15:45 Berean Literal Bible)

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7 KJV)

What happens when we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and are saved? His Spirit is birthed in us. What happened when Adam chose not to obey God and believe Satan. The spirit of Satan became Adams spirit, now serving Satan.

"You are of your Father the devil" is very strong that Satan is the Ruler over the power of the air on this earth. "prince"

Satan still rules over those that don't believe Who Jesus Christ is, it is the "spirit of the devil your father" that rules the person.

So Adam chose the spirit that would be in him. Now if we choose Christ, it is His Spirit that is in us plus The Holy Spirit promise of Christ being in us also, and yet the Father and the Son now make their abode with us.

Our spirit and soul are closely knit together in us but the spirit must come from spirit. What is flesh is living soulful air breathing with a soulful mind will and emotions
what is spirit is spirit now ruling over body and soul that will be in the Fathers house as body, soul/mind and Spirit of Christ who is now our eternal life and gives us sonship with His and our Father. He that chooses Jesus Christ will live by His Spirit that is in us.

OR: Isaiah 65:12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

In Christ: Phillip

Phillip, thank you. Good contribution!

THE FIRST MAN IS A LIVING SOUL_2

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7 KJV)

The Hebrew word translated "living” in the KJV is "chay” (Strongs# 2416) and the Hebrew word translated "soul” in the KJV is "nephesh” (Strongs# 5315).

NASB translates these 2 words as "living being” while the Young’s Literal Translation translates them as "living creature”.

So man became a "living soul” or "living being” or "living creature”.

This living being that is man has two constituent parts:

FIRSTLY, he is formed of the "dust of the ground”.

Man’s physical body is made up of 28 different atomic elements that can be found in the stars and the earth’s crust. Of these 28 elements, 6 elements viz. oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus, constitute about 99% of the physical human body. About 0.85% of the body is made up of another 5 elements viz. potassium, sulphur, sodium, chlorine and magnesium. The rest of the body contains small amounts of the elements copper, zinc, selenium, molybdenum, fluorine, manganese, cobalt and iron, and, trace amounts of lithium, strontium, aluminium, silicon, lead, vanadium, arsenic and bromine.

Man’s physical body is wonderfully made. He is made out of trillions of cells. Cells are building blocks of the body just like bricks are the building blocks of a brick house. Cells are also amazing nanomachines that are able to carry out all of the body’s extremely complex life”“giving work. Different cells are assembled together and built up to form different tissues which are fashioned into different organs. There are about 78 organs in the human body each designed to perform specialised functions for the physical life. Some of these organs are the brain, the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, the skin, skeletal muscles, bones, the heart, the stomach, the liver and the lungs.

Man’s physical body is a complete and amazing life system of its own. But only God has life and God is the Giver of all life, so,

SECONDLY, God breathed into man’s nostrils the vital "breath of life”

And man became a LIVING BEING! (or, living creature; or, living soul).

(Thought: Man does not have a "soul”. He IS the living soul.)

THE FIRST MAN IS A LIVING SOUL_3

Animals are also "living souls” (or, "living beings”).

"Then God said, ‘Let the waters teem with swarms of living ("chay”, Strongs# 2416) creatures ("nephesh”, Strongs# 5315), and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.’” (Gen. 1:20, NASB)

"God created the great sea monsters and every living ("chay”, Strongs# 2416) creature ("nephesh”, Strongs# 5315) that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.” (Gen. 1:21, NASB)

"and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life ("nephesh”, Strongs# 5315), I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.” (Gen. 1:30, NASB)

THE FIRST MAN IS A LIVING SOUL_4

Man and animals are all "living souls” with a "breath of life”.

"For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.
All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.” (Eccl. 3:19-20 NASB)

But men are not animals. Man is made in the image of God.

"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Gen. 1:26,27 NASB)

And man’s "breath of life” is unique to man.

"Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 3:9,10 KJV)

What man can do vastly transcends what animals can do.

Man has a higher intellect and greater emotional depth and can make decisions, make choices, create, analyse, organise, plan, design, accumulate knowledge, acquire skills, build cities, define values, judge, have aspirations, pursue goals, run after dreams .......

THE FIRST MAN IS A LIVING SOUL_5

MAN THE LIVING SOUL (LIVING BEING) MUST HAVE A NAME

God had given man rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Gen. 1:28).

And God brought every beast of the field and every bird of the sky to man to see what he would call them and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name (Gen. 2:19).

"And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field ....” (Gen. 2:20 KJV).

But Adam...... What is your name? Who are you? What do you do? What are you living for? You have helped the animals and the birds to have a name, an identity and raison d'etre. But who will help you find a name, to show you what is the meaning for your existence, what is the hope of your glory and what is the way for your life?

"... but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:20).

(Thought: In the context of Gen. 2:19-20, Adam needed a helper to give him a name.)

THE FIRST MAN IS A LIVING SOUL_6

A "HELPER” FOR MAN THE LIVING SOUL

"And Jehovah God saith, 'Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper -- as his counterpart.” (Gen. 2:18 Young’s Literal Translation).

"So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said,
‘This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.’
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” (Gen. 2:21-24 NASB)

SOME THOUGHTS:

Gen. 2:19-20 (Adam naming the animals and birds and he had no helper for himself) is embedded within the account of the creation of man’s helper (Gen. 2:18 and Gen. 2:21-24). Therefore, a helper to give Adam a name would be the heart of the matter for the creation of a helper for Adam.

Gen. 2:18 ”“ Gen. 3:7 presents woman as a picture of man’s "helper”. In the Bible, woman is also a picture of bride, wife and mother. I will not discuss the marital union between man and woman here. We will just be concerned with the INDIVIDUAL man.

Applied to the INDIVIDUAL man (male and female, Gen. 1:27), man’s helper is essentially HIMSELF for the helper was taken out of man, was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, was joined back to man and man and his helper are "one flesh”.

Therefore man the living soul has a SELF helper, an integral part of himself, who will lead him and help him find his name, identity and values for life and help make these real in him. The life in the living soul is a SELF life.

FURTHER THOUGHT:

In the new creation in Christ, the Holy Spirit is man’s Helper to lead us into all truth and reveal Christ in us (John 14:16, 26; John 16:13-15). The life in the new creation in Christ is CHRIST’S life.

EDITED TO ADD:

The word "flesh” used in Paul’s epistles has a variety of meanings.

The word "flesh” in Gal. 3:3, in my view, may be regarded as man’s "self helper”.

"Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

Comment:
Do we yield to the Holy Spirit (Helper God gives us) to perfect us in Christ or do we by our own self (self-helper and self-works) strive to be perfect?

THE FIRST MAN IS A LIVING SOUL_7

BLOOD IS IDENTIFIED WITH SOUL OR LIVING BEING ("NEPHESH”) FOR THE SOUL OR LIVING BEING ("NEPHESH”) OF ALL FLESH IS ITS BLOOD

"For as for the life (Lit. soul. Hebrew "nephesh”; Strong’s 5315) of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life (Lit. soul. Hebrew "nephesh”, Strong’s 5315). Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, 'You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life (Lit. soul. Hebrew "nephesh”; Strong’s 5315) of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.' (Lev. 17:14 NASB)

SOME THOUGHTS:

Blood carries in it all the necessities for life.

It carries nutrients (extracted from food) that are needed to build, repair and nourish cells.

It carries oxygen that is needed in the production of energy to power life.

It carries water that is needed in every one of the thousands of life-giving chemical reactions that are continually taking place in the body and also needed to release energy to power life.

Blood also carries hormones, the body’s chemical messengers, which transfer information and instructions from one set of cells to another. It carries white blood cells that fight infection. And it also carries away wastes produced by the cells for removal.

There is life in the blood.

Because blood is identified with the soul or living being, then as blood is the soul or living being would be. As blood carries in it all the necessities for life, then the soul or living being would also be carrying in it all the necessities for its life.

The soul or living has inherent SELF life.

FURTHER THOUGHT:

The new man is a life-giving Spirit, not a living soul and therefore has no self life in it.

EDITED TO ADD:

When Christ was on earth at His first coming, He lived a life that was wholly Holy Spirit-led and Holy Spirit-given.

He came in the likeness of a living soul but none of the self-life of the living soul could be found in Him (John 5:19, 8:28, 12:49).

He was the spotless and unblemished Lamb of God (1 Pet. 1:19).

"...Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God...” (Heb. 9:14).

In accordance with Lev. 17:14 then, the blood of Christ would be identified with a life that was totally free from the self-life of the living soul.

The blood of Christ is precious. It conquered the grave (Heb. 13:20) and opened heaven (Heb. 9:12).

Only the blood of Christ can give us forgiveness of sin, cleanse us and sanctify us. Only by the blood of Christ can we be in Christ and He in us (John 6:56). And we have victory over Satan by the precious blood of Christ (Rev. 12:11).

THE FIRST MAN IS A LIVING SOUL_8

"And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Gen. 2:25 NASB)

SOME THOUGHTS:

Adam the living being (or living soul) had been created.

He was made out of the dust of the earth and had in him God’s breath of life.

He needed a name and for this purpose God made a helper for him. The helper was an indwelling helper and is actually part of Adam himself.

At the time of creation, Adam’s helper had no name for him. The helper had not yet found a source for a name for Adam so Adam had no name.

Till the helper gives a name to Adam, Adam was not clothed with righteousness or unrighteousness, not clothed with glory or with shame.

Thus they were both "naked” but not ashamed.

ADAM’S DISOBEDIENCE_1

ENTER THE ADVERSARY

Adam was dependant on his helper for his name so the way to corrupt Adam was to corrupt his helper (the woman). So,

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, "You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.”’” (Gen.3:1-3 NASB)

The serpent is the adversary, the devil, Satan.
He is the ruler and god of the world and his is the kingdom of darkness.

"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8 NASB)

"And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…..” (Rev. 12:9)

"I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; (John 14:30)

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:12 KJV)

"….. the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor. 4:4 NASB)

EDITED TO ADD:

The "world” is Satan’s territory, Satan’s domain. All the kingdoms of the world and their glory are his. (Matt. 4:8-9)

ADAM’S DISOBEDIENCE_1

ENTER THE ADVERSARY_2

Further Thought:

Satan is still prowling around seeking to devour Christians through the "helper". He is constantly seeking to move Christians away from the sure and mighty work of the Holy Spirit, our true Helper, and turn us back to the old corrupted helper, "self" or "flesh" (Gal. 3:3) which is our guarantee of failure.

ADAM’S DISOBEDIENCE_1

ENTER THE ADVERSARY_3

More thoughts:

In my view, I do not see the Christian as having two "natures”. I see the Christian as having the choice of either one of two "helpers”, the Holy Spirit OR self-helper/”flesh” (Gal. 3:3). If we live by the Holy Spirit, we will be the fruitful branch in Christ. If we live by the "flesh” we will become the "withered branch”. Life or death is continually being imparted to us according to which helper we turn to.

tuc said in another thread:

"The old man went out in Rom. 6; the real new man (Christ in us) is in action in Rom. 8; the pseudo-new man is active in Rom. 7.”

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=57665&forum=34

I agree! But where tuc captioned his thread "Trying to do good is the worst sin of the believer”, I would say: "Trying to live the Christian life by the corrupted old helper (i.e. self-helper/”flesh”) is the sure failure of the believer.”

In Romans 7, the Christian is wretched because "I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing” (NIV) and that is because the corrupted self-helper/”flesh” is operating in him. This does not have to be so.

In Romans 8, the Christian is victorious because he has the new Helper, the Holy Spirit, working in him. This can be so for every believer.

tuc also said: "I am not saying that doing good is evil, but trying to do good by self-effort is where the real evil lies hidden, posing itself as Christian goodness. Self-effort is an expression of Satan.”

If we replace "self-effort” with "corrupted self-helper/’flesh’”, I also say that that is so.

EDITED TO ADD:

The self-helper/"flesh" loves the law. "All that the Lord requires I will do!" But the law exposes him: All that the Lord requires you CANNOT do!

FURTHER EDITED TO AMEND:

The believer aided by the self-helper/"flesh" loves the law. "All that the Lord requires I will do!" But the law exposes him: All that the Lord requires you CANNOT do!

Paul says he delights in the law with the inward man ....

rather the flesh hates the law it is foolish to him Paul said the natural carnal man is not subject to the law of god neither can he be...

edit we know the that the law is spirtual

im not saying i disagree with with your general perspective....

my country man

through one mans sin all died ..............

The one man Adam was our federal head so to speak and because of his original sin judgment came to all men resulting in death because Adam represented all of us ,all sinned resulting in the condemnation of death the first and the seconded death,,,

regardless of that Adam was made pure sinned once and was judged in hope of choosing life , we were made corrupt sinned countless times in hope of choosing life in hope of not suppressing the the knowledge of god .. according to his good pleasure gods rules and ways are above our way.

and i can not counsel god and say why have you made me like this ,this broken pot speaks not back to the potter ......

Flesh loves to DO the law but CANNOT do.

In Christ we love the law BUT know that we can only be righteous by grace through FAITH and let the Holy Spirit work in us to make us righteous.

The old man loves to work by self.

The new man delights to rest in Christ. "My grace is sufficient for you." According to our faith it is given to us.

EDITED TO ADD:

The carnal mind is hostile to God THEREFORE it CANNOT do God's laws and THEREFORE the law exposes him. Therefore it is futile for the Christian to try to be righteous by works (i.e. by the corrupted self-helper/flesh which must be DONE AWAY with!).

(Brothagary....Daylight saving has started here in Sydney today so it is now 1.25am! So this might not be the best reply as I am tired. Will re-visit this tomorrow.)

6The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s Law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.

those in the flesh natural hate the holy laws of god,because it brings conviction and condemnation ,

preaching the gospel and the word of god would not result in persecution if the flesh loved the law ,,

the carnal man rebels against the law of god lest the spirit brings conviction ,and supernaturally draws men to Christ

the mind of Satan hates doing gods will ...

no dramas its time for my bed now ,may god give you a good sleap with godly dreams.......

Brothagary,

If you are also in NSW or SA hope you had a good Labour Day today!

Anyway.....

We are talking about Romans 6-8.

We are talking about BELIEVERS.

The old man went out in ROMANS 6. We are now baptized into Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:3), "buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4-5)). So now we are instructed to "present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification” (Rom. 6:19).

But in ROMANS 7, the believer is in a quandary. He has a new mind now (Rom. 7:25) that wants to serve the law of God which is spiritual, holy and good (Rom. 7:12,14) but a fleshly counterpart (Rom.7:14,25)(I see this as the self-helper/”flesh”) dwelling in him overthrows this mind and replaces it with a mind that makes him do the evil he does not wish to do (Rom. 7:19, Rom. 8:7-8). Man is led and controlled by his "helper”. The helper is the "boss”. And the self-helper/”flesh” has been so utterly corrupted it will ALWAYS only impart to man "sin and death” (Rom. 7:25, 8:2). So that even if the new man wants to do good he just cannot because of this corrupted helper.

How can the believer be delivered from this bondage?

Cast out the self-helper/”flesh”!

How?

By FAITH in the cross of Christ......"I have been crucified with Christ”.

God has given believers the gift of the Holy Spirit to indwell them (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16). He is our new and mighty Helper who will lead us into all truth and reveal Christ in us (John 14:16,26 (NASB),16:13-15). Our new Helper, the Holy Spirit, will NEVER lead us into "sin and death” but will ALWAYS only impart Christ’s life to us (Rom. 8:2). He is the Boss so even when we fail He will uphold us and unfailingly give Christ's life to us. So now "we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness” (Gal. 5:5). (Hope is a SURE hope in the Bible).

The victorious life in Christ through the Holy Spirit by God’s grace through our faith is for us all. Faith is all-important.

"However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh”” for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Rom. 8:9-13 NASB)

EDITED TO ADD:

Brothagary....Thanks for your comments. What I said certainly needed clarification.

These were God's people in the flesh who declared:

"All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!" (Exodus 24:3)

These same people almost immediately after abandoned God to worship a golden calf.

ADAM’S DISOBEDIENCE_2

THE LIE:

"The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!” (Gen.3:4 NASB)

The devil "... does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44 NASB)

TRUTH:

GOD SAYS:

"The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it YOU WILL SURELY DIE." (Gen. 2:16-17 NASB, caps mine)

THE BIBLE SAYS:

Of Man:

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezek. 18:20 KJV)

"Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths,
And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight;
Surely every man at his best is a mere breath.” Selah. (Psalm 39:5 NASB)

"Thus He remembered that they were but flesh,
A wind that passes and does not return.” (Psalm 78:39 NASB)

"ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS,
AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS.
THE GRASS WITHERS,
AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF…” (1 PETER 1:24 NASB)

Of Eternal Life:

"Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” (John 14:6 NASB)

"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. HE WHO HAS THE SON HAS THE LIFE; HE WHO DOES NOT HAVE THE SON OF GOD DOES NOT HAVE THE LIFE.” (1 John 5:11-12 NASB, caps mine)

ADAM’S DISOBEDIENCE_3

THE TREE OF LIFE

LIFE is the great message of the Bible.

Eternal life is God’s promise to us:
"This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.” (1 John 2:25 NASB)

The Tree of Life was there in the middle of the Garden at the beginning of creation (Gen. 2:9). And it stood there in glory and victory at the end of the Bible in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:1-2).

The Tree of Life is a type and symbol of Christ as the Life:

"Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life...’” (John 14:6)

"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1 John 5:11-12 NASB).

"I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." (John 6:51)
"So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.’” (John 6:53-54)

"They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life” (Psalms 36:8-9).

Death is not God’s desire for man:
"I don't want you to die, says the Sovereign LORD” (Ezekiel 18:32, NLT)

God warned man and his helper:
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17 KJV)

Adam and his helper had this same choice:
"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil…….. therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deut. 30:15,19 KJV),