| Poster | Thread | PaulWest
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| | Covet God's Strict Dealings With You | | God deals very strictly with His children in matters of mortification. The more mature a believer becomes, the more ruthless God is in detecting unchristlikeness within the believer's vessel. His strictness begins to require immediate resolve. This is because there is a war going on that you and I cannot afford to lose. God has placed us in this war for our perfecting, but very often that which was meant for perfection becomes tragic when the battle is not fought within God's order of fire. To maintain field sobriety and a readiness to be tactically instant in any season, God begins dealing with our sin in a ruthless way. There is a divine purpose behind His inflexibility: we have much glorious things to do in His strength and for His glory...but we are only here on earth for a brief period. In a vapor's time we will be gone.
In the meantime, there is a battle raging, the field of which is your mind. Fiery darts bombard our minds each day from the camp of Satan and our fleshly nature, seeking to enter our hearts for embracement by way of temptation. The discernment of the Holy Spirit exposes each flaming dart as it attempts to lodge into our minds. Mortification prevents this entry from beginning in the mind. God tells us that a person without mortification in this regard is like a city broken down and without walls (Proverbs 25:28). Every suggestion, every impulse needs to be discerned before we let it into our minds for rumination. The Spirit of God works in us the will to withstand evil and the enabling grace necessary to win the victory. Our task in the battle is to simply answer amen to His instruction and to keep looking onto Jesus Christ.
We are told to keep our minds strong and tight (I Peter 1:13); to keep our minds occupied by pure and wholesome things which are approved by God (Philippians 3:13-14); to scrutinize and arrest any and all unauthorized thoughts (II Corinthians 10:3-5); to keep our hearts and minds in peace by not worrying (Philippians 4:6-7); to diligently keep our hearts from being subverted (Proverbs 4:23); to protect our hearts by taking on the very mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5); to be renewed in the spirit of our minds (Ephesians 4:23); to be transformed by the renewing of our minds to know the perfect will of God (Romans 12:2); to have rule over our own spirits (Proverbs 16:32; 25:28); to not allow past failings to torment us (Philippians 3:13,14); to mortify by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14), so that by failing to provide the flesh with substance, the lusts of body will not be fulfilled; and to "arm" ourselves with the same mind Jesus Christ had, unto suffering in the flesh to the ceasing of sin (I Peter 4:1-2).
All these verses and many others speak in some way of mortification and the subsequent guardianship of the mind and heart. By the Word of God and faith, make it your business to put to death the deeds of the body and thus keep the gates of your mind girded and heart pure. This is an area of teaching in Christianity which remains conspicuously silent in the pulpits, because of what it involves and what it demands. Mortification is often considered legalistic because so very few believers actually understand and enter into the true experience. To those, however, who have been brought to the place of relinquishing all they have at the feet of Jesus Christ, mortification is a quiet, hidden death that begets a life of tremendous power and victory.
Dear saint, if you would be an ambassador of Christ and a fragrance of life to the world around you, make it your lifes ambition to mortify by the Holy Spirit any trace of unchristlikeness found in your members as soon as God graciously shines His light upon it. Covet God's unswerving ruthlessness in your life in revealing any risings of the flesh against the inner man of your heart. This is the mark of sonship! Die daily to your fleshs nature, deny yourself, accept the resulting pain as high honor, suffer temporarily in the flesh and thus cease from sin. Your Heavenly Father will reward you openly for that which you give in private. He will establish your heart in holiness and lead your feet in paths of righteousness for His glory. Render unto Him therefore truth in the inward parts; turn away from all inner idols and wait upon His strength to fill your spirit. Offer up sacrifices through Christ, and His high honor and pleasure will be upon your life.
- Brother Paul
http://understandingmortification.wordpress.com/
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Paul Frederick West
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|  2012/1/11 11:20 | Profile | murrcolr
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| | Re: Covet God's Strict Dealings With You | | Covet God's unswerving ruthlessness in your life in revealing any risings of the flesh against the inner man of your heart. This is the mark of sonship! Die daily to your fleshs nature, deny yourself, accept the resulting pain as high honor, suffer temporarily in the flesh and thus cease from sin. Your Heavenly Father will reward you openly for that which you give in private. He will establish your heart in holiness and lead your feet in paths of righteousness for His glory. Render unto Him therefore truth in the inward parts; turn away from all inner idols and wait upon His strength to fill your spirit.
Could you clarify a few points
the inner man of your heart
What do you mean are you implying that there are two parts to the heart inner and outer?
fleshs nature
can you define the flesh and its nature?
He will establish your heart in holiness
..Which part of the heart are you referring to and what do mean by heart are you saying that there is a part of the heart unholy?
turn away from all inner idols and wait upon His strength to fill your spirit........where are these inner idols located at in your spirit, or beside the inner man of your heart, in the outer part of heart.
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Colin Murray
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| | 2012/1/11 13:29 | Profile | PaulWest
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Joined: 2006/6/28
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Dallas, Texas
| | Re: | | Quote:
Could you clarify a few points
Friend, I've clarified all these points already in other posts with you. I wish you would at least go over the previous articles of mine you've found fault with and address my answers.
Paul
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Paul Frederick West
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| | 2012/1/11 17:57 | Profile | PaulWest
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Joined: 2006/6/28
Posts: 3405
Dallas, Texas
| | Re: | | Perhaps this might help somewhat in clarification to Murrcol's questions:
Quote:
the inner man of your heart
What do you mean are you implying that there are two parts to the heart inner and outer?
As far as I know, the only part of the heart is the one Peter spoke of: "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." (I Peter 3:4)
Quote:
fleshs nature
can you define the flesh and its nature?
Why not let scripture define it? "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." (Galatians 5:17); "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like..."(Galatians 5:19-21). As far as the nature of the flesh: "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" (Romans 7:23).
Quote:
He will establish your heart in holiness
..Which part of the heart are you referring to and what do mean by heart are you saying that there is a part of the heart unholy?
Well, I believe it's the same part Paul meant when he said: "To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints" (I Thessalonians 3:13).
Quote:
turn away from all inner idols and wait upon His strength to fill your spirit........where are these inner idols located at in your spirit, or beside the inner man of your heart, in the outer part of heart.
Where do you think idolatry reigns in these verses: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5); "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry" (I Corinthians 10:14). An idol is a earthly thing according to Colossians 3:5, and therefore of the flesh. Paul told the Corinthians to "flee" from it, in the same way he told Timothy to "flee" from sexual immorality in II Timothy 2:22. So, in the same hidden place sexual impurity exists in man, there you will also find idolatry. Scripturally speaking.
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Paul Frederick West
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| | 2012/1/11 18:28 | Profile | murrcolr
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Joined: 2007/4/25
Posts: 1839
Scotland, UK
| | Re: | | least go over the previous articles of mine you've found fault with and address my answers.
I did go over your reply in the other article and did type up a reply but did post it as I felt it would distract from the theme of the article
Quote: As far as the nature of the flesh: "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" Romans 7:23
That which is born of the flesh is flesh
.John 3:6
1. Everything a man naturally inherits from his parents belongs to the flesh
2. The Lord Jesus emphatically declared that as soon as a man is born he is fleshly
The nature of the flesh the law of sin in your members was inherited from Adam we are born flesh
Flesh sarx in Greek at first glance it is confusing. This is because the word "flesh" is used in at least four different ways:
The first three are morally neutral:
1. Physical matter that makes up human bodies.
2. The human body itself.
3. A human being, the human race.
But perhaps Paul's most characteristic use of sarx is with reference to
4. The rebellious human nature, human value systems that stand in opposition to God's value system. Here flesh is "the body which is dominated by sin" ...
Roms 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
The body of sin (sin in the flesh) has be done away with
"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" Rom. 6:18 We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Rom 6:2
Quote: Die daily to your fleshs nature, deny yourself, accept the resulting pain as high honor, suffer temporarily in the flesh and thus cease from sin.
Why would we have to die daily to the fleshs nature and thus cease from sin, when Christ the last Adam put to death the old man so that the body of death might be done away with? No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him" I John 3:6
Look at what Jesus says to those Jews who believed Him
John 8:31 you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free John 8:33 The Jews who believed Him replied We are Abrahams descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, You will be made free? John 8:33
Here is the point I want to make Jesus answered them, Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. John 8:34
Paul our adversary the Devil would like you to believe that I only trying to fault find this is not the case all I want to know the truth as it will set you free
and when I find truth I will let others know
The truth of the matter is what God is leading me to see is that I and most other Christains have not accepted God's provision to overcome sin in the flesh
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Colin Murray
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| | 2012/1/15 11:58 | Profile | PaulWest
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Joined: 2006/6/28
Posts: 3405
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| | Re: | | Quote:
Why would we have to die daily to the fleshs nature and thus cease from sin, when Christ the last Adam put to death the old man so that the body of death might be done away with? No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him" I John 3:6
Dear friend, I appreciate this question. Dying daily, to me, signifies being led by the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the flesh, which is exhorted throughout the New Testament to believers already regenerated in Christ. I see this daily "dying" as being accomplished by a spiritual dynamic activated by faith. If it makes you feel better, we can replace the phrase "dying to the flesh's nature" with "daily resisting the tempation of the flesh"; for to me, they are one and the same.
We are able to put to death the deeds of our body through the Spirit because of the body of sin's destruction via our actual deaths in Christ. That is what separates the regenerate from the unregenerate. The unregenerate can only fall back on willpower to repress the outward workings of the flesh, i.e. cussing, drinking, physical intimacy, violence. Inside him, though, the body of sin is untouched on account of his "old man" still being alive in Adam. His heart is in bondage to the power of Satan's nature; his spirit dead in trespasses and sins. He has no power over the body of sin until the axe is laid to the root of his adamic ingrafting.
When a person becomes regenerated, the axe is laid to the root and the believer is taken from the tree of death in Adam and engrafted into the Tree of Life in Christ. The "old man" is crucified with Christ so that he can be made free from the body and power of sin. But if this is true, how then do believers find themselves getting mixed up with the former lusts of their fleshly, unregenerate states, i.e. viweing internet porn, losing their temper, lying, wrathful cussing, etc.? According to simple scripture, the lusts of the flesh are manifest because of a failure to walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16).
We need to understand that our flesh was not crucified with Christ, neither were the Satanic influences of the world system, nor the "file cabinet" reserve of our minds which remember the pleasures of our former sinlife with detail and, if unrenewed by the Spirit, seek to be realigned with the lust and self-gratification that once ruled us.
The Lord could have spiritually lobomoized us at rebirth, I suppose, and reprogrammed our flesh to be allied with the Holy Spirit, but then we would be robots. Instead, He tests our love for Him by gauging our willingness to suffer volunatarily in the flesh in the example of Christ (I Peter 4:1-2), by collaborating through the leading of His Spirit. This collaboration is called "walking in Spirit", and we have our part in it. Only I can make a decision on whether I will humble myself today to receive the grace to put to death the lusts of the flesh; God will not make that decision for me. I can choose to view internet porn, and to let my mind wander down the many dangerous, flesh-inciting paths each day brings, or I can choose to resist ungodliness due to the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ setting me free from the other law that wars against the Holy Spirit and seeks to exact its uncrucified influence upon me: the law of sin and death. I like to think of this as darkness warring against light. Two powers, two laws. Light always vanquishes darkness as long as it remains a light. Take away the light - even for a moment - and darkness is immediately there to fill the void.
Acknowledging the existing darkness is not sin; yielding to the darkness is. Experiencing temptation is not sinful, otherwise Jesus Christ sinned on all points. The law of sin and death is like darkness being held at bay by the power of the law light. Take away the light and at once the darkness again encroaches. As long as you and I walk in the grace of the Spirit of Life - that is, walk in the Spirit - we through Christ can overcome the world, the allurements of flesh, all Satanic atheistic arguments, the love of money, depression, the pride of life, anger, the lusts of the eyes - in short, the intransibly opportunistic (albeit surpassable through God's Spirit) flesh nature Paul, Peter, John and James all exhort us to mortify (put off, resist, deny, put to death, yield not to).
The real fantastic news, however, is not that we can merely supress the outward workings of sin (for AA twelve-step progs, Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons can do this too); but that God can change our inner wirings as well, to where we no longer have actual pleasure in doing them...and are even loathe to consider them! This is where unregenerate religious people and the psychological systems of men are at a fatal disadvantage to the real Christian.
The expulsive power of the Holy Spirit's influence upon the soul of man is like a blinding light. Flesh is banished in an instant, the things of earth grow dim, Satan runs for his life from the man or woman whose resistance of him comes from walking in God's Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is everything. Now, how "walking in the Spirit" is accomplished and maintained is a different conversation, but one I'd love to talk about and compare scripture with scripture if you or anyone else is interested! Real meat!
God bless you brother.
Paul
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Paul Frederick West
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| | 2012/1/15 13:15 | Profile | brothagary
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| | Re: | | amen paul amen purely bibilical post, refreshing to read compared to the pride exerted in some of the other threds ,,,thanks brother |
| | 2012/1/15 14:34 | Profile | murrcolr
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Joined: 2007/4/25
Posts: 1839
Scotland, UK
| | Re: | | Quote: When a person becomes regenerated, the axe is laid to the root and the believer is taken from the tree of death in Adam and engrafted into the Tree of Life in Christ. The "old man" is crucified with Christ so that he can be made free from the body and power of sin.
Should a person believe and receive full salvation at the very outset, he will experience less failure battling with sin and more success battling with self but rarely are such believers found.
Quote: But if this is true, how then do believers find themselves getting mixed up with the former lusts of their fleshly, unregenerate states, i.e. viweing internet porn, losing their temper, lying, wrathful cussing, etc.? According to simple scripture, the lusts of the flesh are manifest because of a failure to walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16).
Most enter upon only half their salvation and in include myself in the most
I include myself because of the dealings of God in my life
What the Holy Spirit let me know was basically in me there was sin
Reading of several verses in Romans 7 14, 17-18 can make it clear that the components of the flesh are mainly "sin" and "me": "sin that dwells in me . . , that is, in my flesh" The "sin" here is the power of sin, and the "me" here is "self." If a believer would understand spiritual life he must not be confused about these two elements of the flesh.
Quote: We need to understand that our flesh was not crucified with Christ, neither were the Satanic influences of the world system, nor the "file cabinet" reserve of our minds which remember the pleasures of our former sinlife with detail and, if unrenewed by the Spirit, seek to be realigned with the lust and self-gratification that once ruled us.
I see that what you mean by flesh here is self and you are correct in saying that we must collaborate with the leading of His Spirit.
What I mean by flesh is sin and self and what the Spirit is showing me there is deliverance from sin in the flesh. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires Gal. 5.24
The sermon/testimony that helped me was by a preacher called Derek Prince
http://www.dpmuk.org/Mobile/default.aspx?article_id=109310
All I have to do is believe it
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
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Colin Murray
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| | 2012/1/15 17:58 | Profile |
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