[b][size=small]TEN KEYS TO TOTAL VICTORY[/size][/b]
[b](10 Keys To Unlock Total Victory Over Sin) [/b]
(By Robert Wurtz II)

[b]CHAPTER 1[/b]
OVERCOMING THE WORLD


[i]For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?[/i]
(I John 5:4-5)

The average Christian lives well below what that name implies. Christ died on the cross so that believers can walk and live in victory over sin experiencing the love of Christ and sharing that love one with another. Genuine Christians walk in the Spirit and in so doing fulfill the laws of God. The blood of Jesus Christ purges their conscience from dead works allowing them to approach unto God and walk with God continually without fear. God’s design for New Testament Christianity is that His Saints walk before Him full of the Holy Spirit and with a clear conscience. When Christians walk with God in accordance to what He purchased for us on the cross, they do not live from day to day with their conscience pointing out sin to them because they are in submission to the Holy Spirit and have put away those sins. They walk in victory over sin and their conscience is clear. In this state they have confidence towards God.

When we as believers ‘dabble’ in sin or entertain thoughts of sinning the conscience rises up in them like a scorpion and the sting of it can last for days or weeks- even after we have “repented.” Actually, when we really repent- the conscience will lie down and give us rest. The reason why the conscience may bother us for weeks is that we have not fully resolved to stop committing the sin. The conscience is that unaffiliated member of our being that God uses to steer us according to what is right and wrong. It speaks on God’s behalf. If it is not at rest you will have no rest. If your conscience condemns you- you will desire to flee from God. You will have no real ‘confidence’ towards God. The Holy Spirit then comes along side and turns that guilt aside to lead you back to God- through Holy Ghost conviction. If you have sinned in an area until your conscience no longer bothers you- Holy Ghost conviction can still reach you- but it generally must come about through the preaching of God’s word. The word of God will serve to ‘repair’ as it were the callous portion of the conscience with fresh truth. The Devil will also use the conscience to drive you from God through ‘feelings’ of condemnation or accusation.

_________________
Robert Wurtz II

[b]Chapter 2
WHAT GRATIFIES YOU?[/b]
(What do you 'delight' in?)


Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world that the works of the Devil would be destroyed (I John 3:8). Christ loves righteousness and hates iniquity and we ought to also. Christians need to realize that Sin at its core is rebellion against God. Breaking the commandments of Christ gratifies the carnal man; this is the carnal man’s ‘meat’ (sustenance). The spiritual man is gratified and edified by hearing the commandments of Christ and walking in them by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the spiritual man’s ‘meat’ (sustenance). It is what he/she delights in.

Christ told the disciples that His ‘meat’ was [i]to do the will of the Father that sent Him.[/i] This starts out in a newborn believer’s life as a desire for the ‘milk’ of God’s word. The milk is the simple commandments of God that serve to cause spiritual growth in those newborn believers that hear and DO them. It is not ‘meat’ (sustenance) until you are a doer of the work. Faith COMETH by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It is not until we respond rightly to the revelation of God's word that it becomes 'spiritual sustenance.'

Water baptism, for example, is the first real commandment that the Lord gives new believers. It is the first real opportunity to partake of the ‘milk’ of God’s word. When the new believer hears of water baptism and they are truly born again- they will desire, like Christ, to fulfill all righteousness and do the will of their heavenly Father. We, as Christians, were in times past gratified by rebellion against God, which was the characteristic of those who were of their father the Devil (which we once were)- but now we hunger and thirst after righteousness in harmony with the new found nature of God, that we have as a result of our born again experience. Our opportunity to grow as Christians comes when we hear the work of God and do it.

Righteousness is fulfilled when the commandment is heard and then obeyed. How much easier can a commandment be than to simply be baptized in water? This is why it is called the ‘milk’- it takes no real spiritual growth or understanding to do it; only a hunger and thirst to exercise their new found faith by believing and obeying what they hear to be God’s will. This is the first step.

When our 'meat' is to do the will of God- He can ask whatever He will and we will respond rightly. The above example is merely a sample of how a hunger and thirst for righteousness can be 'filled.' Many other commandments Christ left us that the Holy Spirit will quicken to us as we go about our lives walking in the Spirit. Feeding our appetite for righteousness will keep spiritual desires at the forefront and carnal desires pushed to the back. When we neglect our 'meat'- our hunger for other things will come to the surface. Man does not live in a mental and social vacuum. Something must dominate the mind and life. When we set our affections on things above we have added one more element to our Victory.

_________________
Robert Wurtz II

[b]Chapter 3
Nothing Less than TOTAL VICTORY![/b]

God’s Will is TOTAL VICTORY! 'Victory', as it is defined by Vine’s Expository Dictionary, means to conquer, overcome, and prevail. From Genesis 3:15 to Revelation 15:2 God has promised that the Saints will conquer, overcome, and prevail through Jesus Christ.

Some have argued that victory will not come until God raises the Saints from the grave at the first resurrection; so there is little need to be as the Apostle Paul and as he says, [i]“Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.”[/i] Some feel no real need to live a life of dedication and holiness. Freedom from the penalty of sin is all they desire, and they exert little effort in being freed from the 'power of Sin'. Although God will never take away our power TO sin, He is ready and willing to free us from the power OF sin.

God has freed us from the power of Sin in such a way that the Devil is left to seduce us into submitting our liberty back to Him again and re-entangling us in a web of sin from which we were once freed. He works on us a little at a time and on various fronts to recapture 'ground' that he had lost in our lives. Our enemy is patient and will wait for us to grow cold in the Lord and vulnerable to his schemes.

Often this is generally the result of a person refusing to change their life style and living environment because of the love for the pleasures and cares of this life. Some make radical changes to their lives as a matter of course; but then in time the enemy convinces them that they can 'handle' certain things that they 'used' to do. This is aided by devilish or lukewarm teachers and ministers that are leading the people and preaching a message that is tainted with the leaven of their personal compromise.

If the minister has sin in their life they will lack the boldness to stand for righteousness and holiness and they will pretend to sympathize with sinners in compassion when in reality it is their own conscience that is making a coward out of them. This is false love and compassion- birthed from compromise. Others highhandedly teach that a mixture of worldliness and Christianity will suffice and thus wound every soul they teach. The New Living Translation captures this in its rendering of II Peter 22:18-22. Here we read, [i]“They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them. They make these proverbs come true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A washed pig returns to the mud."[/i]

_________________
Robert Wurtz II

Amen. We are both free from the punishment and penalty of sin BUT also from the power of sin!

Quote:
"If the minister has sin in their life they will lack the boldness to stand for righteousness and holiness and they will pretend to sympathize with sinners in compassion when in reality it is their own conscience that is making a coward out of them. This is false love and compassion- birthed from compromise. Others highhandedly teach that a mixture of worldliness and Christianity will suffice and thus wound every soul they teach."

WOW. I think that hits the nail right on the head!

[b]Chapter 4
Fortifying Yourself Against Sin[/b]

[i]But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, 'and commanding' to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth.[/i] (I Timothy 4 ASV)

The latter times will be characterized by dead religious teachings that are really demonic teachings, which "have a form of godliness" but are nothing more than asceticism. In the passage we find a strange mixture of holiness and religion. Lots of things to abstain from that God has said are good. This is the enemy at work among us appealing to our vanity and pride. We must guard against this falsehood!

It sounds pious at first, but forbidding a person to marry is NOT the solution to impurity (for example). Commanding folks to fast ‘certain’ foods does nothing to make one holy. On the contrary God has laid out in scripture that eating food in of itself is certainly not a sin and marrying is honorable in all keeping the bed undefiled. Actually, forbidding “to marry” has caused much sin in our times within the Catholic Church. It is foolish to think that one can be more spiritual than God’s word. Things that are allowed within scripture should not be preached against. To do so is doctrines of devils.

Commandments of men lead to sin. They ‘create’ sin by commanding men to abstain from things that God has honored and in turn leaves them with no other option than to commit sin in order to meet certain natural wholesome needs. These are doctrines of devils masquerading as spirituality. At times even basic ‘recreation’ is preached against, but we must caution ourselves greatly here. To those who have much ministry there are times when relaxation and rest are essential. It seems spiritual in the beginning to burn out for God, but the enemy uses these psuedo spiritual practices to burn anointed and God loving people out in ministry. These people really desire to live holy and they go to extremes to make their lives miserable. Even Jesus attended a wedding celebration. This shows that God is not against 'lightening up' just a little bit. Actually, it is quite necessary to prevent 'real sin.'

What can we glean from this? Would we go to a wedding celebration or would we say; “I have more spiritual things to do…”? Getting on fire for God may cause us to go for long periods of time without any use whatsoever for rest and relaxation; but there are times when a little rest and recreation may be the wisest spiritual decision you can make. It may prevent the ‘burn out’ that leads to your stumbling into Sin.

What would it profit a person to strap themselves into legalisms until they were frustrated with life and blaming God for their misery? The DOOR to Sin comes upon when we are tired and frustrated. The enemy heaps both upon us and if we are not careful, we will help him do it! Pretty soon if you have one night a week that you are not doing 'something' for God- you are feeling guilty. We create for ourselves self-induced feelings of pressure and stress. In time, if we are not careful, even a vacation appears to us as 'sin.'

There is a certain allurement that takes place whether a person is deceived by a false teaching or a demonic spirit (early on and sometimes even in their latter stages of spiritual growth) that seeks to draw a person back into the rebellious lifestyle of sinful gratification. Sin to a genuine believer is only enticing when we have somehow stepped out of line with God's word. A dog will turn to his own vomit, but humans can't imagine a hunger great enough to drive one to do such a thing. If we make everything to be compromise except: praying, reading, preaching, or some other like thing- we open the door to the enemy and don't even realize it. We become like pharisees and don't mean to. Paul said that certain spiritual exercises we are to do [i]"with consent for [u]a time...[/u].[/i] That means that 'natural needs' must be met or the enemy will take advantage of our lack of self-control. If we are so spiritual that we need not physical gratification and our spouse does- the door is flung open for the enemy to tempt them. Spiritual selfishness is sin against God and our spouse. It is contrary to God's word and will cause more disaster in our lives than 10 revivals could hope to repair.

Sin (rebellion against God) is not natural for a Christian. Christians do not have an appetite for Sin when they are right with God; but the lukewarm soon become 'double-minded" and find themselves in a perpetual state of temptation and bondage. They are locked in a continual state of fighting with their out-of-control inner desires. A double-minded person desires Sin as much as righteousness- and the world as much as the Kingdom of God. They are halting between two opinions. Their hearts are in need of being re-purified. They have again become entangled with the snaring appetite for Sin that they were once free from. Those in this state are in great need of personal revival.

_________________
Robert Wurtz II