Walking in the Spirit

[marks]

@Tong2020 wrote,

I agree with @Behold that "walking in the Spirit" is not anything to do with trying to be a good Christian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I agree completely.

Trying to be a good Christian will incorporate times of walking in the Spirit, but "trying" is human effort, not spiritual life.

It's the difference between "I want to be" and "I am".

I've given a lot of thought in how to express this, and find I fall short, at least in my own eyes.

On the one hand, we recognize within our minds, I know God. On the other hand, there is addressing Him, the One Who is with me, as He addresses me, and we have relationship.

On the one hand, I can know that God has set me free from sin. On the other hand, there is recognizing that this feeling is lying to me about what I should do, and not doing that, instead, Dad, It's happening again! And not go that direction, because I know I don't have to, and I don't want to. Even if I feel a draw towards it, I know that's just flesh, so ignore it.

Trying to be a good Christian is attempting to do something I don't know if I can do. Trying to be a good Christian is to adopt a value judgment upon myself that God isn't.

Trying to be a good Christian is to define myself according to my perceptions of myself instead of what God says.

Trying to be a good Christian is attempting to be something I think I'm not.

Am I a good Christian? Is that even a valid question?

Am I a mature Christian? Am I fruitful Christian? Am I a loving Christian?

Personally, I'd say a "good Christian" is the one that is more interested in being with Jesus than in working out whether I'm a "good Christian".

Being with Jesus . . . when we see Him, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. I say, begin now. See Jesus. In His Word. In His works, which He does in you, and through you.

Walking in the Spirit isn't trying, it's doing, not from wistful hope, but from faith.

What are your thoughts?

Much love!

 

[GracePeace]

@Tong2020 wrote,

I agree with @Behold that "walking in the Spirit" is not anything to do with trying to be a good Christian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I agree completely.

Trying to be a good Christian will incorporate times of walking in the Spirit, but "trying" is human effort, not spiritual life.

It's the difference between "I want to be" and "I am".

I've given a lot of thought in how to express this, and find I fall short, at least in my own eyes.

On the one hand, we recognize within our minds, I know God. On the other hand, there is addressing Him, the One Who is with me, as He addresses me, and we have relationship.

On the one hand, I can know that God has set me free from sin. On the other hand, there is recognizing that this feeling is lying to me about what I should do, and not doing that, instead, Dad, It's happening again! And not go that direction, because I know I don't have to, and I don't want to. Even if I feel a draw towards it, I know that's just flesh, so ignore it.

Trying to be a good Christian is attempting to do something I don't know if I can do. Trying to be a good Christian is to adopt a value judgment upon myself that God isn't.

Trying to be a good Christian is to define myself according to my perceptions of myself instead of what God says.

Trying to be a good Christian is attempting to be something I think I'm not.

Am I a good Christian? Is that even a valid question?

Am I a mature Christian? Am I fruitful Christian? Am I a loving Christian?

Personally, I'd say a "good Christian" is the one that is more interested in being with Jesus than in working out whether I'm a "good Christian".

Being with Jesus . . . when we see Him, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. I say, begin now. See Jesus. In His Word. In His works, which He does in you, and through you.

Walking in the Spirit isn't trying, it's doing, not from wistful hope, but from faith.

What are your thoughts?

Much love!

I'd like to know more about this.

I've had "victory" over sin just by grace through faith, and I would say that that is "by the Spirit [of Grace] mortifying the deeds of the flesh", and I would now look at "trying to be good" (ie, resisting sin by the "strength" of the flesh, the will) as abominable demonic and actually completely un-Christian. Perhaps antichrist.

That said, I've also experienced great power in intentionally doing good (obeying various Biblical dictates), even when driven in part by fear, trying to earn salvation, even though it seems like that may have been technically "wrong". I guess it shows God's mercy?

So, grace and faith has delivered me from the power of sins (negative), but I don't know how to make grace and faith actually do the work for me (positive works). LOL

Just one time I would be able to say "God is Our Righteousness" was real to me--I was not consciously trying to be righteous, but God's mere nearness increased my holiness.

Can anyone relate?

 

[GracePeace]

@Tong2020Being with Jesus . . . when we see Him, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

2 Corinthians 3
18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,e are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.f For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

 

[marks]

I was not consciously trying to be righteous, but God's mere nearness increased my holiness.

Can anyone relate?

Yeah. That's it exactly.

I don't discount trying to be good. I think of that as the normal "building up a better character" that anyone on earth should be doing. I think that's what they could do before Jesus' resurrection. I am awed by the lives of those in the OT, who seemed so much better people than I am, and I am reborn!!

So I think 'trying to be good' is a good thing. We produce in ourselves a better character, which means to me better habits, better bounderies, greater self-awareness, things like that. To me this is part of my tool box.

CS Lewis wrote about a ship and it's captain, Mere Christianity, I think. You can have the greatest captain in the world, but if he's piloting a wrecked ship, or, you can have the greatest ship in the world, but it the captain knows nothing about ships, in either case it's more difficult to get from here to there.

I think God comes in as Captain, and we start to work with Him in piloting our ship, our bodies, our brains, and building a better character is giving ourselves a better ship.

That said, I've also experienced great power in intentionally doing good (obeying various Biblical dictates), even when driven in part by fear, trying to earn salvation, even though it seems like that may have been technically "wrong". I guess it shows God's mercy?

For me this shows that even when we are such a mixture, yet still God's power is there. You mention fear, or trying to earn, these are works of the flesh, and simply don't count towards how God treats you, other than He's training you to have mastery over them. To stop being afraid, for instance.

But the part of you that's trusting, even though there's another part, by you are believing the passage, and doing what it says, that's faith, that's spirit/Spirit, and that causes you to triumph. Yes, God's mercy given you, and not having to do with the things of the flesh. Based entirely on His promises, our reconcilation in Christ, and not on how we feel or act in a given moment.

Much love!

 

[GracePeace]

Yeah. That's it exactly.

I don't discount trying to be good. I think of that as the normal "building up a better character" that anyone on earth should be doing. I think that's what they could do before Jesus' resurrection. I am awed by the lives of those in the OT, who seemed so much better people than I am, and I am reborn!!

So I think 'trying to be good' is a good thing. We produce in ourselves a better character, which means to me better habits, better bounderies, greater self-awareness, things like that. To me this is part of my tool box.

CS Lewis wrote about a ship and it's captain, Mere Christianity, I think. You can have the greatest captain in the world, but if he's piloting a wrecked ship, or, you can have the greatest ship in the world, but it the captain knows nothing about ships, in either case it's more difficult to get from here to there.

I think God comes in as Captain, and we start to work with Him in piloting our ship, our bodies, our brains, and building a better character is giving ourselves a better ship.



For me this shows that even when we are such a mixture, yet still God's power is there. You mention fear, or trying to earn, these are works of the flesh, and simply don't count towards how God treats you, other than He's training you to have mastery over them. To stop being afraid, for instance.

But the part of you that's trusting, even though there's another part, by you are believing the passage, and doing what it says, that's faith, that's spirit/Spirit, and that causes you to triumph. Yes, God's mercy given you, and not having to do with the things of the flesh. Based entirely on His promises, our reconcilation in Christ, and not on how we feel or act in a given moment.

Much love!

There is something to "not trying", but I don't know how to make it work, it's just happened by accident. I don't really understand it, but it may have something to do with being "peaceful" whereas when you're "trying" you're likely to be disturbed or fearful like a slave. "You have not received a spirit of slavery unto fear..."
Interestingly, the Torah has strict rules about slavery for a Jew (corresponding to Christians today) :

"Hebrew slaves serve six years only and must be freed in the seventh (Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12). 'And when thou lettest him go free from thee, thou shalt not let him go empty; thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing floor, and out of thy wine-press; of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee' (Deut. 15:13–14; and see *Ha'anakah ). This short period of bondage conditioned the price of slaves: there is some indication of their market value in the provision that if an ox killed a slave, the owner of the ox must pay 30 shekels of silver to the master of the slave (Ex. 21:32). Whatever the master may have paid for the slave, 'It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou lettest him go free from thee; for to the double of the hire of a hireling hath he served thee six years' (Deut. 15:18). If the slave refuses to go free and wishes to stay on in his master's service, then the master pierces his ear with an awl and in this way the slave is bonded to him forever (Ex. 21:5–6; Deut. 15:16–17). If a Hebrew slave has been sold to an alien, he must be redeemed at once; he then enters into the redeemer's service, which terminates with the jubilee year (Lev. 25:47–54)."​

The Jews had been saved out of "slavery", so it seems like there was a carefulness to prevent them from being put back in that position under the Law (it was part of the "curse" that they would return to slavery--the Law would not want to, otherwise, put them in that position).
Slavery is looked at negatively. Slavery has to do with fear--"spirit of slavery unto fear"--because the slave would obey his master out of fear of being beaten, possibly to death. Would this have to do with fearing going to hell? The son, on the other hand, still obeys (both the slave and the son are expected to "obey"), but his motivation is different. The master does not feel about his slave the way a father feels about his child--the person who relates to God as a slave thinks God doesn't care about them, and obeys to avoid a beating, but the person who relates to God as a son thinks God cares very much for them and obeys out of a different motivation.
Galatians warns that there is a way Christians can try to serve God which effectively repudiates their saving faith--one would want to avert that if they wished to "by the Spirit mortify the deeds of the flesh".

Just some thoughts on what is expected of us after salvation.

 

[marks]

2 Corinthians 3
18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,e are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.f For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

That's a foundational verse to me.

This unveiled face, that's what I finally came to realize, from this and other places.

There is nothing to separate me from God any longer. Sin has been condemned in the flesh, and I've been made spirit. Once I was alive and 'me' being a someone who lived in a body that was born from Adam's race. Now I'm alive and 'me' being someone who lives a celestial life that springs from my connection with my Creator. His Spirit now lives in me supplying me life. So when my body dies, my life is already with Christ in heaven.

In the meantime, speaking of veils, we live in bodies of flesh, so we see what we see with those eyes.

Being born again, we have Christ living in us, joined to us. We're said to have the mind of Christ, yet we don't always think according to that mind. Other times, it's the old flesh mind with it's thoughts and feelings and all that stuff, the old man, still echoing inside my head.

Developing my character is to me chasing after this old man, to support what I think is good, to subdue what I think is bad, Paul talked about that, "I beat my body to keep it in subjection".

But then walking in the Spirit is to me something different, which kind of makes the rest moot, to the extent I can consistenly walk that way.

When I am mindful that God is right here with me, that He loves me, as only He can, that He made me because He wants me, and as messed up as I am, He wants to fix me, because this is what He delights in,

When I'm mindful of this, my heart just seems to blossom open to Him, and peace floods through me, and the pressure and tension goes away,

"Run into wide open spaces, grace is waiting for you, dance like the weight has been lifted, grace is waiting . . ."

Life is about now, and who is in front of me, or what task is in front of me, and love dictates what to do. Are you receiving my love? More importantly, are you receiving from me God's gift of love for you?

Finish this moment, and repeat. God is here, you are here, His love to you.

The impediment for me, that has so long been for me, is/was feelings of condemnation. This is too good to be true, and I'm too messed up to really have the fullness! Maybe part.

I'm pretty messed up. But it all goes away as I trust in Jesus living in me, with no reservation, not double minded, the double minded man shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord!

We've been reconciled. Reconciliation leads to justification. Justification is being made innocent, having died, but then being raised to new life. No longer the corrupt line of Adam, now from the Eternally Righteous God.

So we no longer have to do anything the flesh wants, which leaves us completely free to walk in those good works. We learn what those works are by first trusting Jesus to lead us, and then looking to fulfill love towards all others.

This is who we are. Believing you are a biped, you walk. Believing you are the spirit child of the God Who Is Love, you love.

Much love!

 

[GracePeace]

The impediment for me, that has so long been for me, is/was feelings of condemnation. This is too good to be true, and I'm too messed up to really have the fullness! Maybe part.

I know what you mean about condemnation.
I had a great practice of focusing on "bringing all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ" with respect to this issue, using the Book of Romans, but since I started going to dialysis (I had a TIA and my kidneys shut down 4+ years ago), I've not been able to focus, and I have been pretty miserable. I used to get so much joy from being in direct contact with God that I would lose control and jump around. Better to lose control in God than lose control in sin.

 

[marks]

There is something to "not trying", but I don't know how to make it work, it's just happened by accident. I don't really understand it, but it may have something to do with being "peaceful" whereas when you're "trying" you're likely to be disturbed or fearful like a slave. "You have not received a spirit of slavery unto fear..."

I really like your words before, His nearness produces holiness in us.

2 Corinthians 5, talking about our desire for resurrection, Paul wrote that God made us to be that way.

God made us in our new creation to be that person. Romans 5 says that as we've been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, it's also by that same faith that we have access into the grace in which we stand.

The faith by which we are saved is in Jesus death and resurrection. So by trusting in the full efficacy of Jesus' death and resurrection to reconcile me to God is the faith by which I stand in His grace. The spiritual armor paints a good picture of those things that try to knock us down from standing.

I think we tend to walk like this for moments, minutes, maybe longer, and I'm not saying I'm some super saint who is always holy. But what I've been learning is to be sensitive to those things that indicate activity of the flesh, fear, wrong desires, envy, rebelliousness, even very slight amounts can pull my focus away from God.

I guess I used to be more focused on the things I would do, or not do, and would push myself to do or not do them. I'm learning to be more focused on just participating in and enjoying my relationship with God, and when I'm doing that, the rest all happens too. I won't say always without effort, but it's different.

Much love!

 

[GracePeace]

I really like your words before, His nearness produces holiness in us.

2 Corinthians 5, talking about our desire for resurrection, Paul wrote that God made us to be that way.

God made us in our new creation to be that person. Romans 5 says that as we've been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, it's also by that same faith that we have access into the grace in which we stand.

The faith by which we are saved is in Jesus death and resurrection. So by trusting in the full efficacy of Jesus' death and resurrection to reconcile me to God is the faith by which I stand in His grace. The spiritual armor paints a good picture of those things that try to knock us down from standing.

I think we tend to walk like this for moments, minutes, maybe longer, and I'm not saying I'm some super saint who is always holy. But what I've been learning is to be sensitive to those things that indicate activity of the flesh, fear, wrong desires, envy, rebelliousness, even very slight amounts can pull my focus away from God.

I guess I used to be more focused on the things I would do, or not do, and would push myself to do or not do them. I'm learning to be more focused on just participating in and enjoying my relationship with God, and when I'm doing that, the rest all happens too. I won't say always without effort, but it's different.

Much love!

I like this.

These are the kinds of conversations we should have.

As far as "His nearness increased my holiness", I don't even know how to explain how I got there. I wish I knew. That was a completely different experience than I'd ever had before or since. It seemed completely "other" than me--God Himself was my righteousness, as the Scripture says of Jesus Jeremiah 23:6. I really wish I understood this more.

 

[marks]

I know what you mean about condemnation.
I had a great practice of focusing on "bringing all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ" with respect to this issue, using the Book of Romans, but since I started going to dialysis (I had a TIA and my kidneys shut down 4+ years ago), I've not been able to focus, and I have been pretty miserable. I used to get so much joy from being in direct contact with God that I would lose control and jump around. Better to lose control in God than lose control in sin.

Your flesh is yelling louder than it used to, it sounds. Mine does that too. I have an idea it's going to take more great practice.

I don't know whether this will help you or not. I don't always necessarily try to stop the unwanted thoughts, if they just keep streaming, screaming in. Even while that's going on in my mind, I'll more focus on God, and I'll find almost as if 2 minds going at the same time, one grousing about some perceived whatever, or whatever it is, the other singing a hymn, or praying, or just saying Jesus Jesus Jesus waiting for the bad thoughts to go away.

For me it's about enduring through whatever is happening, patiently waiting for God to guide, provide, deliver, endeavoring to do go, looking to see the gift. And in the good times, that just continues as the flesh fades away, or just stops, and we overcome.

Much love!

 

[marks]

As far as "His nearness increased my holiness", I don't even know how to explain how I got there. I wish I knew.

So, you ARE there. I'm assuming you are in fact reborn. I write to the redeemed.

You ARE there. Or, more to the point, God is there, with you, your Creator. His is in fact more with you than anything in this world. He is more real in your life than anyone else.

I remember a pastor told a story of the boyfriend and girlfriend, and she says to him, "just lay the phone next to you on the pillow. When we fall asleep, we'll still be connected. And when we wake up, we'll still be connected." He said, "that's how it is with God, you just never hang up the phone.

Another story I've loved,

A pastor is making hospital visits, when he sees a man in a room, alone, but with a chair pulled up by the bed. He comes in, and starts talking to the man, quickly seeing he was a faithfilled Christian. They spend a few minutes together, as the man shares with him, he doesn't have long. The pastor shares with him, and prays with him. And he nods toward the chair, and says to the man, "Well, I guess you have someone else visiting, so I don't want to get in the way."

The man tells him, no, stay, Years ago, someone told me I can talk to Jesus, just like he was sitting right there in that chair. Ever since, I've always just liked to pull up an empty chair. A few day later, the pastor was by, and glancing into the room, the bed was empty, made, the empty chair still there, a young lady gathering things into a box.

"Is he . . .?" "He died this morning . . ." and they met, and he consoled the man's daughter. "Was he peaceful?" "Yes," she replied, "only, the strangest thing . . ." she trailed off. "What was it?", he asked her. She was staring at the chair. "Well, they told me, just before he died, he must have pulled himself half off the bed! They found him with his head laying on that chair! Now isn't that the strangest thing?"

~~~~~~~~~~

That's how God is with us. He's right here, He's listening, moving within us, trying to catch our eye, knowing that His love just floods us. Knowing that as He is able to open our minds to accept that He is here in love and acceptance and help in time of need.

Freedom from fear, that's a big part for me.

Much love!

 

[Behold]

@Tong2020 wrote,

I agree with @Behold that "walking in the Spirit" is not anything to do with trying to be a good Christian.

Much love!

Reader....Look at the Phrase........like this....

walking.....................IN...........THE Spirit.

So, whose Spirit?

Yours?
It can't be yours, as your Spirit is already always ON. Its ALIVE, and made so by God.

See, you dont learn to walk in THAT, as that is already, constantly in process = born again.

So, that means, you are to walk in someone else's.
How do you walk there?
You walk there the same way you are "seated in Heavenly places in Christ".
You walk there the same way you the born again have become...."As Jesus IS< so are the born again IN THIS WORLD".
You walk there the exact same way you are in the world but not OF It, because you have been "translated From Darkness.....TO LIGHT".
So...
This is why the verse tells you to walk in THE Spirit.
The verse is talking to you, spiritually, and not just as words on a page.

And remember, ....when you are learning how to see the light in the word, and not just the words on the page, there are keys, to notice.
And one of them is to notice = "THE". As often the NT will be talking about something SPECIFIC and not in the general sense, and so, it will say....."THE"....>"THE"......"THE".........as in Jesus is THE Way, and not just a way. And Christ hung on THE Cross, and not just a cross.
See that?
Notice the "THE's.
So, when you are told to walk in THE Spirit, then that is a Specific direction and not just a random or general idea.
And the "walking" in this verse, is not you trying to be good, or you trying to live right, or you trying to present your body as a living sacrifice, as all that is just generic discipleship.

So, what is "THE Spirit"?.... = Its Jesus's MIND of Faith and Belief.
Its this....>"the MIND of Christ".
Its this, > "God's Perspective, regarding all things".
And for you to get THERE, within your Spirituality, you have to "Put on the new man", and "renew your mind".
And that means, you have to understand HOW to align your mind with God's perspective of YOU, so that you only SEE yourself, as God's has recreated you to be, as a "new Creation in Christ".
And Saint, that is not a saved sinner.
God does not see you as a saved sinner. God sees you as a HEIR of God and a Joint Heir with Jesus.
God sees you as a SAINT, as a Temple of the Holy Spirit.
Do you see you like that?
Then you are not yet in the "right mind" or the "renewed" mind.

And once you do come to this understanding, and stay there, you are walking in the Spirit, which is to REST in God's Grace.
And in THERE, is where you find this.....>"Christ always GIVES ME = The Victory".

So, how do you put on and renew? How do you put on the New Man and Renew your mind?
You must learn to only see yourself as God has recreated you to be, as "ONE WITH GOD", "In Christ".
That is who you are, in GOD's eyes.
And when you get those same enlightened spirituality inner eyes, you are then "walking in THE Spirit", but not until.

 

[Nancy]

That's a foundational verse to me.

This unveiled face, that's what I finally came to realize, from this and other places.

There is nothing to separate me from God any longer. Sin has been condemned in the flesh, and I've been made spirit. Once I was alive and 'me' being a someone who lived in a body that was born from Adam's race. Now I'm alive and 'me' being someone who lives a celestial life that springs from my connection with my Creator. His Spirit now lives in me supplying me life. So when my body dies, my life is already with Christ in heaven.

In the meantime, speaking of veils, we live in bodies of flesh, so we see what we see with those eyes.

Being born again, we have Christ living in us, joined to us. We're said to have the mind of Christ, yet we don't always think according to that mind. Other times, it's the old flesh mind with it's thoughts and feelings and all that stuff, the old man, still echoing inside my head.

Developing my character is to me chasing after this old man, to support what I think is good, to subdue what I think is bad, Paul talked about that, "I beat my body to keep it in subjection".

But then walking in the Spirit is to me something different, which kind of makes the rest moot, to the extent I can consistenly walk that way.

When I am mindful that God is right here with me, that He loves me, as only He can, that He made me because He wants me, and as messed up as I am, He wants to fix me, because this is what He delights in,

When I'm mindful of this, my heart just seems to blossom open to Him, and peace floods through me, and the pressure and tension goes away,

"Run into wide open spaces, grace is waiting for you, dance like the weight has been lifted, grace is waiting . . ."

Life is about now, and who is in front of me, or what task is in front of me, and love dictates what to do. Are you receiving my love? More importantly, are you receiving from me God's gift of love for you?

Finish this moment, and repeat. God is here, you are here, His love to you.

The impediment for me, that has so long been for me, is/was feelings of condemnation. This is too good to be true, and I'm too messed up to really have the fullness! Maybe part.

I'm pretty messed up. But it all goes away as I trust in Jesus living in me, with no reservation, not double minded, the double minded man shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord!

We've been reconciled. Reconciliation leads to justification. Justification is being made innocent, having died, but then being raised to new life. No longer the corrupt line of Adam, now from the Eternally Righteous God.

So we no longer have to do anything the flesh wants, which leaves us completely free to walk in those good works. We learn what those works are by first trusting Jesus to lead us, and then looking to fulfill love towards all others.

This is who we are. Believing you are a biped, you walk. Believing you are the spirit child of the God Who Is Love, you love.

Much love!

And His Spirit IS freedom.
Good post Marks

Christ is our Life line, for sure bro! We can do not a thing on our own.

John 15:4
"4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."

If we do not remain walking in His ways, we will wither away...

"Love dictates what to do."
It truly does. Just like His chastisement, because He only chastises those He loves!


"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
Hebrews 12:6


"The impediment for me, that has so long been for me, is/was feelings of condemnation. This is too good to be true, and I'm too messed up to really have the fullness! Maybe part."

I do relate to you here Marks...it is when our eyes are on ourselves, and Satan's usual attack is to self condemn for me too. If our eyes are not on Jesus ALWAYS...that is where we will create an opening for attack. Praise God for "continuing the work He began in us..."!!! Cannot even imagine having His FULL fullness until the day we see Him face to face...yet...we grow more all the time as we are willing to seek, praise and worship Him.


"I'm pretty messed up. But it all goes away as I trust in Jesus living in me, with no reservation, not double minded, the double minded man shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord!"

We probably all are in one way or another Marks, messed up. Each one of us comes from different backgrounds and experiences (so, should never judge where one has come from, Amen!)
With our God it is all or nothing...no more fence sitting, there is no other way! Trusting that He really IS living in you is truly no different than trusting Him for anything else as...without faith and trust, expect nothing from Him. Love how He works!


"We've been reconciled. Reconciliation leads to justification. Justification is being made innocent, having died, but then being raised to new life. No longer the corrupt line of Adam, now from the Eternally Righteous God."

For sure, not only do we have newness of life and a new citizenship but, we also have new DNA bro! And...how good is our God??!! Worthy to be praised!

"So we no longer have to do anything the flesh wants, which leaves us completely free to walk in those good works. We learn what those works are by first trusting Jesus to lead us, and then looking to fulfill love towards all others."

Giving it ALL to Him is vital, submission of ALL things. That is when He will fill our empty hands with His what He sees fit and, who's plans do we think is not just better but, perfect? If anyone got that one wrong, I'd have to ask you a few questions, lol!

Yes, He put's all kinds of "good works" right in our paths We "walk" right into them" as per Ephesians 2:10
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

"This is who we are. Believing you are a biped, you walk. Believing you are the spirit child of the God Who Is Love, you love."

Um..."biped?"

Love should be our "output" as we take in His Word and obey it, then live it. Amen.

Gods blessings brother!

 

[marks]

I like this.

These are the kinds of conversations we should have.

As far as "His nearness increased my holiness", I don't even know how to explain how I got there. I wish I knew. That was a completely different experience than I'd ever had before or since. It seemed completely "other" than me--God Himself was my righteousness, as the Scripture says of Jesus Jeremiah 23:6. I really wish I understood this more.

I think God gave you a taste of what it is like, kind of, this is what it looks like, feels like, and now you want this. You've seen it. Now you know.

And you can't unring that bell! You were there because it's a real place.

Jesus is unto us wisdom and sanctification and righteousness and redemption. That righteousness is given to you, and in faith, you can stand in it.

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!

Much love!

 

[GracePeace]

So, you ARE there. I'm assuming you are in fact reborn. I write to the redeemed.

Well, no, I don't know how it works. I really wish I did. Jesus appeared to me and was totally happy with me, and not angry, and it just seemed like the closer He got the holier I became. No intention to "become" anything or "perfect" this or that attitude, deed, belief, etc.

I think God gave you a taste of what it is like, kind of, this is what it looks like, feels like, and now you want this. You've seen it. Now you know.

And you can't unring that bell! You were there because it's a real place.

Jesus is unto us wisdom and sanctification and righteousness and redemption. That righteousness is given to you, and in faith, you can stand in it.

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!

Much love!

Right, I can't forget that experience. LOL Yeah, Jesus is our wisdom and sanctification and righteousness and redemption. It's Him. "The Name of the King will be 'God is Our Righteousness'"--He Himself is our righteousness. I am convinced this is related to "not under Law" but "under Grace". Jesus being our righteousness is "under Grace" and "not under Law". "Under Law" you have to produce the righteousness, "under Grace" it is not you it is God. It is so mysterious.

 

[marks]

Well, no, I don't know how it works. I really wish I did.

I'm sorry, what I meant was, you are in His presence. He has that nearness to you now.

Under Grace means I'm not "on the hook" to be righteous. I agree, this is mysterious.

I've going to give myself some thought time . . .

Much love!

 

[marks]

Um..."biped?"

OK. I almost didn't use it. But then I did.

 

[marks]

 

[marks]

Well, no, I don't know how it works. I really wish I did. Jesus appeared to me and was totally happy with me, and not angry, and it just seemed like the closer He got the holier I became. No intention to "become" anything or "perfect" this or that attitude, deed, belief, etc.

Whether visible of invisible, I believe this describes our relationship with Jesus.

When we are that focused on Him, our intention is to remain with Him in that way. And then God . . . @Nancy said something,

He put's all kinds of "good works" right in our paths We "walk" right into them"

I like that!

Much love!

 

[GracePeace]

I'm sorry, what I meant was, you are in His presence. He has that nearness to you now.

Under Grace means I'm not "on the hook" to be righteous. I agree, this is mysterious.

I've going to give myself some thought time . . .

Much love!

Yes, I agree I am in His presence.

"Not under Law but under Grace" literally means "not under the jurisdiction of Law but under the jurisdiction of Grace"--that means that Grace is the authority for how I live in righteousness before God.
The Law corresponds to "sinful flesh" Romans 8:3 and "flesh" Galatians 3:3 but Grace is God acting--"God Is Our Righteousness". It is mysterious how to make this my reality always.