Living the Victorious Christian Life

"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"(Romans 7:24)

Paul was awakened to this sinful nature in him.He referred to it as something dead that he was carrying around.It was warring against him.When he desired to do what was good,this evil nature was there warring against him and trying to bring him into captivity of sin that was in his members.
We shouldn't be surprised by what this flesh,this sinful nature thinks,say's or even does.What should concern us is how easily we yield to it's desires.Roman's 7 should awaken us to this flesh and to the power of this law of sin in our members.

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."(Romans 8:2)

The Law of the Spirit.Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit now in us delivers us from the power of the law of sin in our members.But first we have to recognize this law of sin in us and our total helplessness in overcoming it ourselves.When we come to the point and realize that it is there and through all our attempts and efforts to overcome it's power we find ourselves defeated,then we by faith take God at His Word that we are free from it by the power of God in us.

The victory of Romans 7 is for those who have experienced the defeats of Romans 7.All progress starts with dissatisfaction.The starting point for each victory is at that moment we began to hate our defeat.Paul experienced this himself and shared it with us.

It's not my purpose to try and convince this flesh the truth's of God's word.God has no purpose for the sinful nature,so let the flesh think and believe what it wants.Let the Spirit handle the warfare with the flesh.It would consume all my time to try and teach this flesh right and wrong.It already knows everything that is wrong and could care less about what is right.We don't owe the flesh anything.

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." (Romans 8:5)

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh." (Romans 8:12)

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)

Before I was saved I new I wasn't right with God.I knew I had done wrong things in my life but I truly didn't understand my alienation from God.I didn't understand my total condemnation before God then,I learned that later after I believed and was saved.
I didn't fully understand my justification before God and that I was totally righteous before God for a long time after I was saved.I was told I was declared righteous and was justified immediately after I was saved but it didn't register with me until I began to really see the sinfulness of sin and the awful condition I had been delivered from.
Then I begin to see this sinful nature for what it was and the desires it still had in me.Then I begin to see why God had to do something about this sinful state the human race was in and why He had to go to the cross,because there was nothing in me that could have delivered me from that state and as I began to grow in my Christian life I was seeing the total helplessness of me trying to overcome the desires of this sinful nature in me.
If we're not careful we can spend our whole Christian life trying to quit sinning and putting sins in category's and trying to get this sinful nature to quit committing sins and end up living a miserable,doubtful, insecure life.
We can continually deal with sins and miss the whole point.The problem is sin not sins.This is the problem that Paul was having and he explains it in Romans chapter 7.He realized this power of sin in him and his total helplessness in overcoming it in his own power.He realized he had to depend on the power of God's Spirit in him to deal with this power of sin.
We have to come to that same point that Paul did,"oh wretched man that I am"before we will yield ourselves to the power of God in us to overcome this power of sin in us.
This is a continual process with me.It seems the more I yield to the power of God to overcome,the more this sinful nature is revealed and then I have to yield more and so forth.I don't believe we will ever come to the point in this life of totally seeing the sinfulness of this nature and the total power of God working in our lives.It's a continual process.
If you are seeing sins in your life,then praise the Lord.You probably won't become self-righteous.
Yes the Word identifies sins and we can see them in ourselves and in others and it effects our fellowship with our Savior and with one another and we know we want that fellowship with our Savior right and I believe He gives us that privilege of making that fellowship continually right by just admitting that we have yielded to this flesh and didn't allow His power in us to help us not to have yielded.
I truly believe that the more we see the sinfulness of sin and the more we see the power of this sin nature,the more we will realize that God had to do it all and has to do it all.We should never doubt the power of God in us through His Spirit.
Our justification is by faith and our sanctification or our living the Christian life is by faith also.It was His power that justified us and we are declared righteous because Christ is our righteousness and it is through His power that we will live this Christian life,our sanctification.And also it is through His power that we will be changed or resurrected and glorified.
This is why to me Christianity is not a religion,but a life and that life is the power of God working through us and glorifying His Son in the process as He works in us the power to overcome this power of sin in ourselves and not trying to make it quit committing sins and trying to dress it up and make it appear religious.His process is to overcome it's power and not try to clean it up.This is where we get side-tracked and I believe that is Satan's purpose and through people that help him.
It really comes down to just being honest with ourselves about this power of sin in us and our total helplessness of dealing with it ourselves in our power and just taking God at His Word and allow Him to strengthen us to overcome and He will.

Just as it is through the power of Christ's work on the cross and His victory over death that we are saved and belong to Him and have been delivered from the penalty of sin,it is also through His work that we can be delivered from the power of sin in this life now.It is an on going process in this life of our continually recognizing our helplessness and His power to deliver in this warfare with our flesh.And we should be continually reminding ourselves that it is He that will deliver us from the presence of sin at death or when He comes in the air for us and we will drop this sinful nature and go to meet Him in a resurrected glorified body like unto His Glorious body. (Philippians 3:20,21)

"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."