Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
"Walk not after the flesh" Notes from Pastor Len's message
"Walk not after the flesh" Notes from Pastor Len's message
These are notes from a message I listen to that my husband did on Romans 8:1-6. (Partial notes)
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh...
Who walk not after the flesh...
Flesh: Depending on ones personal strength or great religious efforts in order to overcome sin. We don’t try to overcome sin in our own power. We do not have any power in ourselves. This is why Christians are failing today.
2 Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)...
The weapon: The Blood of Jesus, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus, the word of God, the name of Jesus, all of it ties into the Cross.
The weapons of the believer’s warfare comes from the Cross.
Great religious efforts will not overcome sin. Great religious efforts will not pull us back from condemnation. What do you mean by that? Going to church, in and of itself. Reading the bible, in and of itself. Having a prayer life, in and of itself. Giving money to the work of God, in and of itself. None of these things will guarantee you victory over sin. Fasting, as wonderful and needed as it is. Prayer, as wonderful and needed as it is.
All of those things I just mentioned are good things. And as a Christian you should and you will do them. But not to get victory over sin. You will do them because victory has already been won for you by Jesus Christ. And that will bring the Holy Spirit into your life and the Holy Spirit will always lead you to pay your tithes. The Holy Spirit will always lead you to not forsake the assembly of yourselves together with the Body of Believers. The Holy Spirit will lead you into obedience so you will pay your tithes, you will go to church, and you will have a prayer life. The Holy Spirit will birth in you a prayer life. You will be a man and women of the word of God because the Holy Spirit will take you to the word, time and time again. The Holy Spirit will convict you when you don’t put time in the word. He will convict you when you are not doing right.
But we don’t do those things to be over-comers. In Christ we are over-comers.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will work exclusively within the confines of the Finished work of Christ. Our faith in that finished work, our faith in the Cross of Christ guarantees the help of the Holy Spirit and that guarantees us the victory.
If the believer attempts to live for God by any manner other than faith in Christ and the Cross that person is doomed to failure.
God help us today to heed your warnings. God is Holy and He tells us to be Holy. But how we do that is where we run in to problems. We try to do that so often through the energy and efforts of self. We try to walk after the flesh to become holy and it guarantees us failure every time. We will fail, we will fall short in the efforts of self. Because there is no power. There is only human power, which satan has power over, BUT the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is more powerful than the Law of sin and death.
So when we properly place our faith in what Jesus did for us at Calvary, realizing He alone tread the wine press, Jesus alone is powerful to defeat sin and He did it legally. He hung on the Cross and became our sacrifice, our substitute, we should have been on that Cross. Praise God He was our substitute.
We don’t walk after the flesh... We place our faith in what Jesus did at the Cross and Praise God that gives us the help of the Holy Spirit and that gives us victory.
"Walk not after the flesh" PT 2 Notes from Pastor Len's message
These are notes from a message I listen to that my husband did on Romans 8:1-6. (Partial notes)
Why did Jesus come?
Now there is a question that the modern church needs to ask itself today. Jesus did not come to perform miracles alone. As wonderful and as needed as that is. Jesus came to atone for sin and to destroy the power of sin. And to save and sanctify the victims of sin. The Lamb of God came, the Savor came, not to start a new fad or a new gimmick. He did not say show me the money and I will save your soul. Jesus came to atone for sin and to destroy sins power. And to save and sanctify the victims of sin. And that is You and that is me today. Praise God for Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:3-4 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:...
He destroyed the power of sin by giving His perfect body as a sacrifice for sin. This made it possible for sin to be defeated in our flesh. It was all through the Cross. It was all for us. He condemned sin in the Flesh. Because of what He did in His flesh we can have victory in our flesh.
The work of Christ on the Cross can do what our own efforts and abilities could never do. We could never do it in our strength. But Jesus did it. He did not do it for himself, He did it all for you.
There are many gospels out there today. The church needs to come back to the truth of the bible, Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.
When we understand that all things come by & from God to us by the means of the Cross. We are to make the Cross the object of our faith and then the Holy Spirit works mighty in us. Praise God!!
No true Christian wants to do the wrong thing or to sin.
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
What is carnally minded? It is thinking that we can achieve apart from the help of the Holy Spirit. When we think that we can accomplish these great victories apart from the help of the Holy Spirit, we are carnally minded. When we think we are strong enough to make it on our own, we are carnally minded. When we think that we have got to perform and jump through hoops to be accepted to God, we are carnally minded. Carnally minded is more than watching too much television or something like that. Carnally minded is when you try to go outside the prescribed order and that is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.
We are saved because Jesus hung on a Cross.
So As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him...Colossians 2:6
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
No Secret Here By Len Paxton
No Secret Here
Recently I have heard it said, “Those who are preaching the Cross as the only way of sanctification think they have some secret truth that no one else has.”
This is my response to that statement in retrospect.
We could go all the way back to the book of beginnings; the book of Genesis, to see that the sacrifice; the blood sacrifice, was the means that dealt with sin, restored fellowship, and it was also the way to approach God, walk with God, worship God etc… In OT times of course it was in type, pointing to the coming redeemer. Jesus Christ; God in the flesh, becoming man and being the perfect sacrifice, fullfilled in totality these types. Now in NT times, in this church age, we look back to the Cross as a finished work. Upon us placing our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the Cross 100% and adding nothing to it, we are then partakers of all the benefits and blessings of that Finished work. This is, in reality how the believer “walks in the Spirt.” (Gal 5:16-26)
Romans 6,7,and 8 are the prolific chapters that detail the great truth of “Sanctification by Faith”, although it is found in the entirety of the Bible. All throughout the NT it is the main theme:” How the believer is to live for God. “
The New Testament is the same in everybodies Bibles, so how do you say it is “secret truth.”? No secret here. One needs to simply read the Word of God and listen to and obey the Holy Spirit. Truthfully, the ones who really claim secret truth and secret knowledge are those who are mainly in the word of faith and modern prophetic movements, who are often heard to say things like, “you just haven’t had a revelation of it yet.” and “their faith is not up to this level yet.” etc and so on. These type of statements are intended to imply and portray a subtle superiority to the rest of the body of Christ. The fact that the word of faith and modern prophetic movements doctrine is false and spurious is the real reason that most of us “just don’t get it.”
On the issue of sanctification, the Scripture is very clear, ” As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” (Col 2:6) This is as plain as the nose on your face: Nope, no secret here.
The real reason that some get so angry, so furious, so indignant, is because they want to follow a “mixture gospel” that is so popular nowadays. The Holy Spirit convicts their heart about the truth of the message of the Cross; and, listen, the Holy Spirit will always convict one about the Cross because that is the true message, BUT they simply do not want to hear it. They do not want to give up their fair works of the flesh. They do not want to give up living by law,(which totally blows my mind because they can never live it or keep the law). The reason for their anger and animosity against us is UNBELIEF… They do not believe that the cross is the answer and they feel they must add to it. Therein lies the problem in a nutshell.
When they, (whosoever “they” might be) grow angry; they will accuse the messenger(s) first. They will try to kill those who preach faith and faith alone. (see Genesis 4) Then, with truth silenced and the messenger out of the way, they can continue on their merry path of destruction with no interruptions, or so they think. But thank God, God has always got a voice.. There is always a remnant who are holding to the truth. Today, that remnant are those of us who hold to the truth of Christ and Him Crucified for Salvation AND Sanctification. For that matter, the Cross meets EVERY need we have and ever will have.. Glory to God..
I challenge my reader today: read the word of God. I mean really read it. Not just your favorite verses. Let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart and show you the real truth of the message of the Cross. The message of the Cross is the message of the Bible.. Yes, the Cross is there on every page. No secret about God’s true message..
Turn loose of all your preconceived notions and ideas. Turn loose of your religious traditions. Embrace the message of the Cross. It is the clear message of the Bible and the ONLY message of the Bible.
Like the words to the old, old song says: It is no secret what our God can do……
And He did it all through and by THE CROSS
Posts
