Living to God by faith….

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Not me

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Galatians 2:17-18 (NKJV)
“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, [is] Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! “For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The truth that is being put forth in the above two verses, is a most freeing truth about one’s walk with God, which walk, is only by faith… For Paul had already destroyed any hope of being justified before God by anything one could do by their own strength… Therefore, faith in God was that which was put forth, that being, being justified by believing into the free gift of God..

Paul is saying that as one is trusting God, and one still finds themselves with sin in their life, Paul says that this sin does not come from Christ, meaning, that one is not to accept this sin in their life… Then Paul puts forth in so many words, if one reverts back to what they can do by the strength of their will to be set free from that sin, they will find themselves once again, being in bondage to that sin…. For our salvation comes through a whole different venue, and that venue is by trusting God to manifest it in the life…

If this than is the state of things, how then is one to proceed?… Paul answers the how and why of this in the next verse..

Galatians 2:19 (NKJV)
“For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.

For the law says, that the soul that sins shall die, the fulfilling of this law is the meaning of the scripture that says, ‘I through the law died to the law’, for by dying with Christ, one has fulfilled the requirement of the law towards the sinner, that being, the death of that sinner… This is the freedom all Christian’s have in Christ, they have died with Christ from all things of this world… Scripture then says, but use not this freedom for the fulfilling of the desires of the flesh, but rather, give oneself up by faith to God, to become a slave of righteousness..

That is why in another place, scripture says, to examine oneself to see if one is in the faith, meaning, that because of this freedom found by being joined with Christ in His death, is one actively trusting Christ to manifest righteousness in all of one’s doings, or is one just going on their merry way and doing whatever their heart desires to do?

For the freedom one has in Christ is an absolute freedom from all things of this world, but than too, it is an absolute slavery to the faith that would live by trusting Christ to live His life of righteousness through one…

For living to God is the reason for Christ’s death on the cross, and anything other, is not fulfilling the purpose for which Christ died… And if one would go on with God to experience the fullness of the salvation offered in Christ, one must absolutely live to God…

As He works the experiencing of these truths in the heart will the heart know the love, the joy, the peace, and the freedom from sin which Christ’s death purchased for mankind… For Jesus did die, and we with Him, so we might live to God by faith….

Be blessed in the freedom there is in living to Him by faith….


A fellow believer, Not me
 

Wynona

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So do you believe that death to sin happens all at once in the believers life? Or is it by degrees?

When battling sin, I find the armor of God passage of Scripture helpful.

The temptation will come, and Ill fight it with God's Word, the Sword of the Spirit. It helps me quite a bit to say, "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee."


 
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Karl Peters

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I really loved the OP.

I am still not sure many really understand the real meaning though.

Before I knew the Lord personally, I understood that I made some mistakes. Nobody can really think they have done everything right if they are at all honest with themselves. Still, I felt I often did the right thing and tried to the right thing, at least for the most part. and so I felt I was an ok person.

Then the Lord came into my life and I figured out that I could talk with Him; meaning that we could have conversations back and forth. So I took time to reason with Him. There of course was a problem I encountered when reasoning with Him - that problem being that He is always right - not me. And the more I reasoned with Him and actually took the time to listen to Him - and not just pretend - I found that I was almost always wrong in some way or another! It was not that I wanted to be wrong, but much of it had to do with my perspective and ability to think things through correctly! There is a lot to know and even more to our extremely poor thinking (as humans and not God) and our human perspective is almost always wrong. We just can't see things from all perspectives, much less have that ability to analyze things from every perspective!

There is really only One who can analyze things from every perspective and One who has the ability to consider all things from all perspectives. The One of course is God!

So I found out that the only real way to do everything right, or even anything right, is to do what the Lord our God (Jesus Christ) tells you to do, via His Holy Spirit talking to your spirit. Of course we are not all that great and hearing Him, and the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit around. So what now? Well, I have to believe He is God and can overcome all things (my poor hearing with my spiritual ears, the efforts of Satan and those who follow evil ways as opposed to Jesus Christ0. So I have to put my faith in Him - but what does that mean???

It mean trying to turn back to Him and seeking what He has to say to me. Oh - I can't just be foolish (or can I?), but I mean I must put some effort according to my belief to seek Him (according to the abilities He made me with). So because I believe (have faith) that He is (The Great I Am), and the all powerful, all knowledgeable, all powerful, I do seek Him and listen to Him. OH - not perfectly - because I am not perfect but a sinner (all unrighteousness is sin meaning I make mistakes) Yet I am save (have come to know Him) because I believe He is there with me.

According to the Bible (and more important to me) according to what He tells me; I am counted as being righteous simply because I believe He is there and talks to me. I hear Him talking to me in words, in my spirit! And that because I believe in Him (that He is there)

All the above really means is that Him and I talk, because I hear Him talking to me in my spirit. That faith is counted to me as righteousness - and I am righteous because He counts me as righteous, and certainly not because I am right. I have never been right when Him and I disagree when we talk, and as mentioned, He never sees things exactly like me. Perhaps the most understated verse in the Bible is about who His thoughts are not our thoughts.

Walking by faith - means listening to Him who we say we believe in - and do we not not that He is always with us? So today is obviously the day we should have heard from Him. Today is the day that I always hear from Him! Even if Today I get upset with Him and tell my self that I will not listen to Him Today - because of my faith and His love for Me I still hear from Him "Today". That is what it is like to have faith in Him - the Great I AM who stands at the door and knocks (with His voice)

Because I hear from Him "Today" - it trouble me to talk to so many who say they believe in Him but also don't seem to understand about hearing form Him "Today". He is there for them, just as much as He is there for me! So I try to make it clear - even if I use lots of words - to make people understanding that walking by faith means listening to Him "Today"!! He leads us with Him voice - in words that we pick up in our spirit! He explained that, right?

Jn 10:4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Jn 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

Jn 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

Just FYI - I did not want to come and post "Today" but He started bugging me about doing so about 30 minutes ago. What was I to do? I am certain I made many mistake in quickly explaining this. It is obviously too long. But I followed what He told me to do.
 
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Not me

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So do you believe that death to sin happens all at once in the believers life? Or is it by degrees?

When battling sin, I find the armor of God passage of Scripture helpful.

The temptation will come, and Ill fight it with God's Word, the Sword of the Spirit. It helps me quite a bit to say, "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee."


Hi, yes, I believe by degrees…

That is because it only becomes real in life by the experiencing, this denying of self, which is the experiencing of one’s death in Christ…. And as one sees and embraces this truth deeper, it brings in a deeper degree of experiencing Christ as one’s life..

Which is also the same truth as Christ being formed in one, just put forth with different words….

Yes, any turning to God with any scripture works, if the heart believes into the truth the scripture is pointing to.. For it comes down to experiencing the truths of scripture, the more and deeper, gives one more ammunition to use against the fiery darts when they come.

Hope it helps and be blessed as we learn to walk in newness of life…

A fellow walker, Not me
 
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Karl Peters

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Hi, yes, I believe by degrees…

That is because it only becomes real in life by the experiencing, this denying of self, which is the experiencing of one’s death in Christ…. And as one sees and embraces this truth deeper, it brings in a deeper degree of experiencing Christ as one’s life..

Which is also the same truth as Christ being formed in one, just put forth with different words….

Yes, any turning to God with any scripture works, if the heart believes into the truth the scripture is pointing to.. For it comes down to experiencing the truths of scripture, the more and deeper, gives one more ammunition to use against the fiery darts when they come.

Hope it helps and be blessed as we learn to walk in newness of life…

A fellow walker, Not me

The Holy Spirit once told me "Karl , We don't use the Lord to preach the Scriptures we use the Scriptures to preach the Lord."

Is that what we do? Are we leading people to the Scriptures that God gave us to lead them to the Scriptures or are we using the Scriptures God gave us to lead people to Jesus Christ?????

People - you don't have to turn to God with the Scriptures, but you do need to turn to our Lord Jesus Christ just like the Scriptures explain!!!!


Try talking to Him why shopping in the grocery store! He will talk to you.

Or perhaps turn to Him with your problems in your job! He will talk to you - but will we believe that?

How about turning to Him with your problems in your relationships? You have to listen and be open to Him?

Abram ask Him about not having any kids with his wife - and the Lord answered! Isn't that what you read?

Is not Jesus Christ the "Truth" the scriptures are pointing to?????

So the truth of the Scriptures is Jesus Christ and that He is there for you!!!

But who really listens to Him? Who asks Him about the next step to take, the next item to put in their shopping cart, the next thing to do at work??

Who really walks by faith?
 

Not me

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I really loved the OP.

I am still not sure many really understand the real meaning though.

Before I knew the Lord personally, I understood that I made some mistakes. Nobody can really think they have done everything right if they are at all honest with themselves. Still, I felt I often did the right thing and tried to the right thing, at least for the most part. and so I felt I was an ok person.

Then the Lord came into my life and I figured out that I could talk with Him; meaning that we could have conversations back and forth. So I took time to reason with Him. There of course was a problem I encountered when reasoning with Him - that problem being that He is always right - not me. And the more I reasoned with Him and actually took the time to listen to Him - and not just pretend - I found that I was almost always wrong in some way or another! It was not that I wanted to be wrong, but much of it had to do with my perspective and ability to think things through correctly! There is a lot to know and even more to our extremely poor thinking (as humans and not God) and our human perspective is almost always wrong. We just can't see things from all perspectives, much less have that ability to analyze things from every perspective!

There is really only One who can analyze things from every perspective and One who has the ability to consider all things from all perspectives. The One of course is God!

So I found out that the only real way to do everything right, or even anything right, is to do what the Lord our God (Jesus Christ) tells you to do, via His Holy Spirit talking to your spirit. Of course we are not all that great and hearing Him, and the Holy Spirit is not the only spirit around. So what now? Well, I have to believe He is God and can overcome all things (my poor hearing with my spiritual ears, the efforts of Satan and those who follow evil ways as opposed to Jesus Christ0. So I have to put my faith in Him - but what does that mean???

It mean trying to turn back to Him and seeking what He has to say to me. Oh - I can't just be foolish (or can I?), but I mean I must put some effort according to my belief to seek Him (according to the abilities He made me with). So because I believe (have faith) that He is (The Great I Am), and the all powerful, all knowledgeable, all powerful, I do seek Him and listen to Him. OH - not perfectly - because I am not perfect but a sinner (all unrighteousness is sin meaning I make mistakes) Yet I am save (have come to know Him) because I believe He is there with me.

According to the Bible (and more important to me) according to what He tells me; I am counted as being righteous simply because I believe He is there and talks to me. I hear Him talking to me in words, in my spirit! And that because I believe in Him (that He is there)

All the above really means is that Him and I talk, because I hear Him talking to me in my spirit. That faith is counted to me as righteousness - and I am righteous because He counts me as righteous, and certainly not because I am right. I have never been right when Him and I disagree when we talk, and as mentioned, He never sees things exactly like me. Perhaps the most understated verse in the Bible is about who His thoughts are not our thoughts.

Walking by faith - means listening to Him who we say we believe in - and do we not not that He is always with us? So today is obviously the day we should have heard from Him. Today is the day that I always hear from Him! Even if Today I get upset with Him and tell my self that I will not listen to Him Today - because of my faith and His love for Me I still hear from Him "Today". That is what it is like to have faith in Him - the Great I AM who stands at the door and knocks (with His voice)

Because I hear from Him "Today" - it trouble me to talk to so many who say they believe in Him but also don't seem to understand about hearing form Him "Today". He is there for them, just as much as He is there for me! So I try to make it clear - even if I use lots of words - to make people understanding that walking by faith means listening to Him "Today"!! He leads us with Him voice - in words that we pick up in our spirit! He explained that, right?

Jn 10:4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Jn 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

Jn 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

Just FYI - I did not want to come and post "Today" but He started bugging me about doing so about 30 minutes ago. What was I to do? I am certain I made many mistake in quickly explaining this. It is obviously too long. But I followed what He told me to do.

Blessings and what a heart after God expressed!

Keep that heart, and above all, keep that truth that all things come through faith and listening to His Spirit in you...

Keep on keeping on, for of a certainty, one is on their course…

Be blessed in Him…

A fellow believer, Not me
 

Not me

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The Holy Spirit once told me "Karl , We don't use the Lord to preach the Scriptures we use the Scriptures to preach the Lord."

Is that what we do? Are we leading people to the Scriptures that God gave us to lead them to the Scriptures or are we using the Scriptures God gave us to lead people to Jesus Christ?????

People - you don't have to turn to God with the Scriptures, but you do need to turn to our Lord Jesus Christ just like the Scriptures explain!!!!


Try talking to Him why shopping in the grocery store! He will talk to you.

Or perhaps turn to Him with your problems in your job! He will talk to you - but will we believe that?

How about turning to Him with your problems in your relationships? You have to listen and be open to Him?

Abram ask Him about not having any kids with his wife - and the Lord answered! Isn't that what you read?

Is not Jesus Christ the "Truth" the scriptures are pointing to?????

So the truth of the Scriptures is Jesus Christ and that He is there for you!!!

But who really listens to Him? Who asks Him about the next step to take, the next item to put in their shopping cart, the next thing to do at work??

Who really walks by faith?

Be blessed in your relationship with Him, Not me