I know that I can not put any confidence in my trust in Him - it can NOT depend on that.
My confidence is in HIM and not my trust in Him.
If my trust is in my own confidence I am back in the Old Covenant
My confidence is in HIS faithfulness to me - I trust in HIS HOLD on me - not my hold on Him.
This is important - remember that Abraham believed in what God told him and not in his own ability to believe. It was God and His message that he believed in. He just heard what God was telling him and just took God at His word by believing it and embracing it.
Gen. 15:4-6, "And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."
Rom. 4:16-25, "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."
Here is the key "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” Abraham considered his body dead and knew that he had no hope in his own abilities or faith to make this promise happen. His confidence was not in his flesh or anything thing he could do. All of his confidence was palled in God and his message being fully persuaded that, what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
So where is your confidence? Is it in your own abilities to trust or somehow work up faith or love that is required? You must realize that you are completely dead to your own efforts and you can never place any hope in yourself whatsoever.
The Old Covenant has finished its work. It has put me on my face - empty, helpless, wounded, weak - and now it can fade away. I am fully persuaded that I cannot by human strength and will obey or please God. I have no plea of holiness. I am without strength, and I can do nothing in my own ability. My sin is too powerful, the chains too heavy. I am too wicked to free myself.
God in Christ has Justified you, Made you holy, made you righteous, and you are a new creation in Him.
What is your part in this? Simply believe in this message of God to you.
God in Christ did what the law and you could have never done!
Under the old Covenant God DEMANDED man to be faithful - man failed.
Under the new Covenant, It no longer depends on our faithfulness to Him. but only on Christ's FAITHFULNESS TO US!
Are you very confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ?
Do you see His faithfulness to you?
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."
2 Thes. 3:3. "But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil."
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!!!
2 Tim. 2:13, "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."
Even if we believe not HE REMAINS FAITHFUL TO US!!
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 and 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. Do you have all your confidence and trust in what God has promised you just because He was the one who promised it? Will you put your confidence in HIS FAITHFULNESS TOWARD YOU or in your faithfulness toward Him?
Now look, see and hear this message from God to you.
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." Ezekiel 36:25-27
This message was almost too good to be true. God is saying, "I am going to put My very own Spirit in sin-bound people, and My Spirit will cause them to fulfill every command I have ever given them. They have come to the end of themselves. They are dead to any ability to overcome. But My Spirit is going to empower them to turn away from their sin."
It is simple - do believe the message of God to you or not? This message contains the necessary faith that is needed.
You NOW can be fully persuaded that, what He has promised, He is able also to perform in you. Look closely at His promise to you. Simply believe that He will do what He says. Place all of your confidence entirely on Him TO PERFORM what He says.
This is a very active faith that counts entirely on God and expects God minute by minute to fulfill His part.
You can do this NOW!!
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