A Truth that Satan Does Not Want You to Believe

Rom 6:2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Rom 6:3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Rom 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Rom 6:7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

This is a fact, no matter what you believe, what you experience or what you feel, that you have been (past tense) baptized into his death and that your old self was crucified (past tense) with Him, if you are in Christ Jesus. It always amazes me that so many of us understand that we are saved by faith and that is where it stops...but it is faith in the finished work of Christ that has sanctified us. Now it is up to us to walk in that fact that Truth that has set us free. I love what the great bible commentator Martin Lloyd Jones had to say of these passages

"This is, to me, one of the most comforting and assuring and glorious aspects of our faith. We are never called to crucify our old man. Why? Because it has already happened - the old man was crucified with Christ on the cross. Nowhere does the Scripture call upon you to crucify your old man; nowhere does the Scripture tell you to get rid of your old man, for the obvious reason that he has already gone. Not to realize this is to allow the devil to fool you and to delude you.

What you and I are called upon to do is to cease to live as if we were still in Adam. Understand that the "old man" is not there. The only way to stop living as if we were still there is to realize that he is not there. That is the New Testament method of teaching sanctification. The whole trouble with us, says the New Testament, is that we do not realixe what we are, that we still go on thinking we are the old man, and go on trying to do things to the old man. That has been done; the old man was crucified with Christ. He is non-existent, he is no longer there. If you are a Christian, the man that you were in Adam has gone out of existence; he has no reality at all; you are in Christ."

Now if that news does not make you want to jump up out of your seat and thank Jesus Christ for the victory that we already have I don't know what will! Your identity is sealed in the savior...you are no longer bound and chained to that old sin nature. Your sentence has been nullified and your chains have been shattered...so stop today living like a bound man or woman and live in the victory that Christ has already paid for in full.

The Holy Spirit part 2

Before we look at how the Holy Spirit applies these truths to our lives let’s first look at two statements of truth that satan wants to hide from you. We have seen that satan uses deception and lies in order to keep you from Jesus who is life, abundant life. The first of the two truths almost everyone has heard yet only a few apprehend it for themselves. It is summed up in one beautiful passage in the book of John

As Jesus is speaking to His disciples, specifically Thomas, he sums up this beautiful reality

Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Joh 14:7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

The truth is not something we can sit on a mantle nor is it something that we figure out by education…the Truth is a person, the Truth is God incarnate. He alone can give life for He alone is life. He will not show you the way because He is the way. This beautiful fact comes into fullness in the only begotten Son Jesus Christ. I love how Peter sums it up as he speaks to a group of religious people.

Act 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Salvation isn’t a way or a system or even a belief…salvation is a person. One of the many misleading things being taught today is salvation by works. Many a person has come to an alter and been asked a myriad of different questions pertaining to the doctrines of Christianty and as long as the man or woman says “Yes, I believe those things” we pronounce them saved. Saved by what? Saved by a magical prayer or a saying you believe a few fundamental things about Jesus. It is backward…salvation is not only of the Lord but it is the Lord.

1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

The next truth that many well meaning Christian men and women have never come to know is essential to understanding who we are in Christ. Christ came to set us free yet many have had a sort of religious bondage when they come to Christ by the grace of God. They are saved by grace yet run right back into the “you need to’s”. Now that you are saved by grace you must read your bible, you must pray, you must give, you must evangelize and you must come to church. Yet it almost seems as if it is a bait and switch. I am not saying that the five things listed above aren’t profitable for those in Christ, no they are very profitable but we get the mindset that we have now come to Christ and must work to please Him.

The truth that satan wants to hide from you is that God is well pleased with you. When one comes to Christ and is born again the old has passed away and they are new creations in Him. Their sins are not only forgiven but they now have the righteousness of Christ. Justification is not “just as if I haven’t sinned”…it is so much more! Justification is that not only are all my sins taken away but the Lord Jesus is my righteousness because I am in Him.

1Co 1:30 But from Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption;

I love how Steve McVey put it in his book Grace Walk, pg 42

For many years I didn’t really know who I was. I knew that I had trusted Christ when I was eight years old and that I was going to heaven. But I lived my life under an assumed identity. It was a false identity that I accepted because of the power of suggestion that came to me from the world, the flesh and the devil. I knew that I was a Christian, but I really didn’t understand just how much my identity had changed when I was saved.

Understanding our identity is absolutely essential to our success in living the Christian life. No person can consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with the way he perceives himself. Next to a knowledge of God, a knowledge of who we are is by far the most important truth we can possess.

So there you have it two truths that satan does not want us to get our hearts around. The truth of Jesus and who He is and how much His love for you right now can save you, transform you and give you abundant life. And who you are in Christ…you are fully loved, fully accepted. Your identity doesn’t rest in what you do but who you are. When at once we realize who we are in Christ we will work from the point of “grace and peace”.

Stop believing the lies of who you are that satan bombards you with and start believing the gospel of who you are in Christ…and in believing and understanding you identity that will propel you to love Him and serve Him all the more.

Col 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Col 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Knowing the Holy Spirit part 1

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
Joh 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
Joh 16:9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
Joh 16:10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
Joh 16:11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Here again we see Jesus leading us into the truth. In these passages He is helping us to understand why He had to go and the truth of what will actually come to pass because of His victory. The devil’s goal it to have us follow him and give him authority thus giving him power in our lives. The devil is the father of lies and is a master of deception but he only has authority when you believe the lies that he has perpetrated on the human race and in believing the lies follow what you believe to be truth.

Most people would never follow the “Hollywood” devil, you know the one, with the pitchfork, horns and pointy tail. We would see him coming a mile away and run to Christ. But just as the devil is described in the garden of eden as more subtle, more cunning and more crafty the Bible alerts us to how he will manifest himself from time to time.

2Co 11:14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

You see it is the Truth that satan hates and it is the truth that he desires you not to know. He leads us by things that fit right into our nature…things that seem may even seem good as the 1950’s French novelist Albert Camus said

“The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.”

And since that day in the garden when we desired to know good and evil and be like God we have fallen into satan’s trap many times. And just like Simon Peter we too are at war with satan when we come to know the truth and that truth sets us free but we have an advocate…

Luk 22:31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
Luk 22:32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

So the first step in knowing the Holy Spirit is to know that He bears witness of the Truth. And in that most famous passage Jesus tells us that He is Truth (John 14:6) and now our job our purpose is to allow the truth of Jesus to save us, to sanctify us, and to satisfy us in every facet of our life and to tell that same story of the power and love of God, just as Paul did in the book of Acts

Act 26:18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, in order for them to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'

Next time we will start to look at how the Holy Spirit reveals and applies these truths to our lives and how He deals with three different groups of people; unbelievers, believers and the spiritual forces of darkness.

Where are your eyes?

This just hit me like a brick wall...our eyes are too often on our own experiences, even looking at our own Spirituality. It is time we took our eyes off of self, sin and the world and put them on the One that is worthy.

Is Jesus within or without?

There are many scriptures that we tend to funnel through our own societal norms. This is dangerous and defies all the rules of hermeneutics. It leads us into an idolatrous religious experience, just as the people in Jeremiahs day. When scripture says something it is a fact and should be weighed as just that: Truth.


Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luk 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

As we go about our lives Jesus is either at the center or He isn't. He is either the "filter" that every thought, every word and every action is brought through or He isn't. He is either the closest friend, confidant and lover that we have or He isn't. He is either the One we live for or he is at arms length.

One of the things we have been able today to do is to separate out belief and belief or intellectual assent to believing something verses believing the truth and acting upon that truth. For instance if I said you won the lottery and you believed me...would you just believe me and go on with your day or would you appropriate the winnings into your life? With Christ we have much more than any lottery could ever give us...we have God Himself.

These two statements of Jesus are fact: where your treasure is there your heart will be. The heart is the deepest part of a person and what we tend to hold most preciously. And it can be many things: cars, houses, the way you look, the way people think about you, your husband or wife, your kids, whatever it may be it cannot share the space with Jesus. To many Jesus is just a part of their life instead of the one that gives life and if this is the case you cannot (not a matter of desire but a matter of ability) share that space between Jesus Christ and things.

A.W. Tozer puts it very succinctly in his book "The Pursuit of God"

Before the Lord God made man upon the earth He first prepared for him by creating a world of useful and pleasant things for his sustenance and delight. In the Genesis account of the creation these are called simply "things." They were made for man's uses, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him. In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come. Within him was God; without, a thousand gifts which God had showered upon him.

But sin has introduced complications and has made those very gifts of God a potential source of ruin to the soul. Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and "things" were allowed to enter. Within the human heart "things" have taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned there no longer, but there in the moral dusk stubborn and aggressive usurpers fight among themselves for first place on the throne.

This is not a mere metaphor, but an accurate analysis of our real spiritual trouble.

So what should you do if this is the situation you find yourself in? Confess (agree with God) that this is and has been sin in your life and that you have put things before Him. Repent - turn away from the act of doing those things and turn to God in truth...ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what is getting in the way of living the life of victory. And persist in faith...God wants those that will love Him with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength.

A few quotes to ponder

I have collected a great deal of quotes from many different people. Here are a few to ponder from many different people that all shared a love for Christ.


"There are two sides to this Baptism: The first is, you possess the Spirit; The second is that the Spirit possesses you." -- Smith Wigglesworth

A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. --Martin Luther

I am perplexed at the stupidity of the ordinary religious being. In the most practical of all matters he will talk and speculate and try to feel, but he will not set himself to do. --George MacDonald

The human race in the course of time has taken the liberty of softening and softening Christianity until at last we have contrived to make it exactly the opposite of what it is in the New Testament... --Soren Kierkegaard

The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. --E. M. Bounds

Isn’t it strange that people place so much emphasis upon going to church when there is not one command from Jesus to do so, and yet neglect the basic duties of our ordinary life which are commanded on every page of the Gospels? —William Law

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair. --G.K. Chesterton

Are you willing to be free?

Many people look on religion as a crutch or something that enslaves the person. In fact there is a large secular movement, started in the UK, that if you were baptized you may declare and receive a statement of "debaptism". If this wasn't such a sad thing it would be almost funny. The problem is that they are caught in satans trap and are captive to do his will (2Tim 2:26), they give him authority and power (Acts 26:18) over their lives and are blind (2Cor 4:4) to the fact that they serve and do his will. Satan is not this red horned iconic hollywood devil but actually he comes as an angel of light (2Cor 11:14) deceiving you into doing things that "seem" good (like Eve in the garden of Eden) but ultimately serve his purposes.

The question is do you want to be free? Are you willing to come to Christ so that you may see clearly and be set free? Are you willing to let go of all that is of sin, self and satan and come to Christ to give you life?

Look at the difference between satan (the thief) and Jesus Christ

Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

It reminds me of the story told of the blind man in Luke:

Luk 18:35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.
Luk 18:36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant.
Luk 18:37 They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
Luk 18:38 And he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Luk 18:39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Luk 18:40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him,
Luk 18:41 "What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me recover my sight."
Luk 18:42 And Jesus said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well."
Luk 18:43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

The blind man was crying out to God even to the point of desperation. He knew he wanted to be touched by Jesus, God in the flesh, and to have his sight. Even after many "well meaning" people told him to be silent he cried all the more. But Jesus heard his cries, just as He hears us when we cry out to Him, and the blind man got an audience with God Almighty. Then the question of all questions, what do you want me to do for you? That same question is asked today to each and everyone of us...what do we want or are we willing for God to do.

It is like another blind man that Jesus healed where the man said in Joh 9:25, all I know is that I was once blind but now I see. That is one of the verses that mean so much to me. It is so true of where I once was to where I am today. I thought I could find my way but being blind I was only fumbling in darkness, led to and fro by the prince of this world, satan. Jesus still bids us to come, and in such a time as this the greatest question is are we willing.


Mat 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.