Sunday, February 12, 2017

Faith in Forgiveness.

Yesterday we studied an excerpt from The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee, yet did not discuss any of it. Truthfully the excerpt is extensive and says so incredibly much it needs slow digesting, at least for me.

We know our Savior would have us to be His.

1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ's…

1Co_15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

2Co 10:7  Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.

Gal_3:29  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Gal_5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Can you say you are Christ's?

We need to be able to say we are Christ's.

Satan would have us DOUBT that we are Christ's. If we believe that we are embroiled in a spiritual warfare  then to comprehend that Satan can accuse us and make us feel guilty of sin to suit his purpose is paramount.

These words--  'The child of God should adopt a neutral attitude towards every accusation. He should not take any action before he is assured as to the source of it. He must not be hasty, rather, he should wait quietly for assurance as to whether it is indeed the chiding of the Holy Spirit or but the charge of the evil spirit. If it originates with the Holy Spirit, he will then deal with it honestly. The believer’s present waiting is due to his uncertainty and not to rebellion. Nevertheless, he absolutely must resist making all confessions to men which are motivated by sheer force from outside, for the enemy often tries to compel him to do this. Real conviction from the Holy Spirit leads us to holiness while the aim of Satan is solely to accuse.'

This is an ACTIVE spiritual life, this duty we have to comprehend our own sins. Are they real sins? Or is Satan stirring us up to believe that we have sins that can never be forgiven? Does Satan bring to mind our past sins that have long been forgiven just to stir up our feelings to try and lead us to despair? Does Satan try to get us to doubt God's forgiveness? Why do we heed Satan and distrust God's word? If we have truly repented and confessed our sins the God has forgiven us. Do you feel a sense of disbelief because the wickedness is so great and seemingly unforgiveable? Then you are doubting Christ's sacrifice and the power of that sacrifice. If the sin keeps haunting us we need to use our shield of faith against it and as soon as the haunting begins counter it with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We need to ask ourselves if we've repented, if we've confessed, and then ask ourselves if we believe in the forgiveness our Savior offers.  If the answers are yes to all of those questions then we need to stop listening to the accusations. If we can't stop listening to them because Satan is badgering us, then when we hear the accusations we need to stop believing them.  If a person is accused of something they didn't do and someone relentlessly accuses them of it, do they ever believe they've done it? Maybe if they are tortured to that end, brain washed, they might through sheer mental and emotional distress, but otherwise you can't convince someone they've done something they haven't. We have to believe just as strongly that we are forgiven, we have to be convinced of it and nothing Satan tries to get us to believe can affect us, can get us to believe otherwise. Faith, we need that faith. And by the grace and mercy of our Lord we will have that faith.  We can't let ourselves be led by our feelings, but rather the truth as it is in our Savior Jesus Christ!

More on this tomorrow by the will of our Lord!

All in HIS amazing LOVE now and forever!

Amen.


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