Look at these scriptural examples to understand what I am saying.
Phip. 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
1 Thes. 5:23-24, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”
Eph. 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”
Look at what Paul was saying here. His CONFIDENCE was not in his own ability to believe but in what God had already accomplished and would continue to accomplish.
You may make this verse personal to you by saying “I am confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in ME will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Now Paul had NO confidence in his own efforts to produce the necessary faith. He knew that Jesus Christ is the ONLY true source of faith possible. He did not have any faith in his own faith!
The Holy Spirit was showing Paul what God in Christ had already accomplished through Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Then he saw and realized THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TOWARD HIM!!!
Now this Gospel contains and supplies us with all the necessary faith, love, obedience, surrender and repentance. Do not forget that salvation is IMPOSSIBLE by anything a person can do. Salvation is the work of God.
Mark 10:26-27, “And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”
It was God in Christ who has reconciled us to Him, made us one with Him, justified us, made us holy, sanctified us, forgiven all of our sins, crucified us with Him, and then raised us from the dead in Him. He has given us HIS divine nature and HE is our LIFE. He has made us a NEW CREATION. Heb. 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
Heb. 10:16-18, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.”
Christ, the LAST ADAM came to rescue us from sin and totally undo ALL the consequences of what the 1st Adam did.
God in Christ has now made us ONE with Him and we have been fully justified and born again BY CHRIST"S RESURRECTION from the dead. NOT by our OWN EFFORTS!!
Romans 4:3-5, "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
Gal, 3:8, “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”
Now look at this part closely - GOD JUSTIFIETH THE UNGODLY AND THE HEATHENS!
Are you shocked and surprised that God justifies the ungodly and the heathens? It is by the Cross that God has saved wicked men and received to Himself the vilest of the sinners. See how this Scripture plainly states it. God makes those just who are unjust, forgives those who deserve to be punished, and favors those who deserve no favor.
God did all this in Christ BEFORE you where even born, before you could repent and before you could believe. He did this without your permission or consent. You had NO PART in what God did in Christ.
Have you ever tried to Love and Obey God and totally failed? Look at and examine all you failures that you have made.
Have you been defeated over and over again? Are you hopeless? Have you found it impossible to ever Love and Obey God correctly?
I hope that when you look back on all your defeats and failures that you now know the reason why you failed. It was that you were trusting in your own abilities to believe. Your faith was in your faith and your confidence was in your efforts.
Do you now realize the fact that you have been on the throne attempting to use your own will power and desires to get archive freedom but self can never dethrone self? Self can NEVER dethrone self - IT IS IMPOSSIBLE.
If you do not realize this fact you will continue to keep trying and failing over and over again.
Now you have a choice to make to make if you want to enjoy His VICTORY and be an active participant in what God has already accomplished for you in Christ. Will you put your confidence in HIS FAITHFULNESS TOWARD YOU or in your faithfulness toward Him?
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