Angelic Conflict part 292: Reigning in life – Rom 5:12-21; 8:1-11; 1Jo 3:17-24; Joh 21:17; Psa 103:13-14.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 292: Reigning in life - ROM 5:12-21; 8:1-11; 1JO 3:17-24; JOH 21:17; PSA 103:13-14.

 

 

ROM 8:10 And if Christ is in you [first class condition - "and He is"], though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

 

We are to know that in spite of our inner conflict and imperfection that we are, nevertheless, alive in Christ.

 

Don't define truth by your experience but only as declared by God. When we desire perfect good and we see that evil is present within us, we must always remember that the Spirit is in us, the very One who raised Christ from the dead, and Christ is in us, the very One who died for us and is now seated at the right hand of God in victory. So we take heart and look to our high position in Christ. The absence of guilt and condemnation allows us to grow faster and more efficiently. We don't look at ourselves to define truth but we look to the facts as declared by God.
 

1CO 2:4-5

And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

 

Often, when we look to ourselves for the truth, we find the evil present and self-condemn. Yet after this, when we look to the truth as declared by God, we find that God is greater than our condemnation and our position in Christ restores our peace.

 

1JO 3:17 But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

 

1JO 3:18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

 

1JO 3:19 We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure [to prevail over, to win over, to persuade] our heart before Him,

 

"assure" - pei,qw[peitho] = to prevail over, to win over, to persuade.

 

Something is going to persuade or win over or assure our hearts that we are on the right way and that is agape love, not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth. Truth here would refer to the reality of what agape love really is, as God states its reality in His word and not what some people erroneously say that it is. This "way" is Christ's way.

 

As we have defined agapan love: A mental attitude love from mature virtue that recognizes the value of an object, which produces a preference and a regard for its benefit, even if hated, without sin, nor motivated by any affection or attraction.

 

Your agape love in application (deed and truth) will persuade your heart before God that you are on the right way.

 

JOH 14:6; 13:34

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life ... "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you

 

1CO 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails [is eternal]

 

You and you alone know your own heart. The flesh cannot do any of this because the flesh can do nothing to please God. A believer whose mind is set on the flesh may appear patient and kind overtly, but he knows in his own heart that he is not and that his thoughts, words, and actions are only self-interested. If you are these things and know in your heart that you are, without self-interest, then you are persuaded or assured that you have a mind on the things of the Spirit, these very things, and you have chosen them through the power of the HS and doctrine, and are assured that you are on the right way.

 

When I set my mind on a chemical procedure that I desire to perform flawlessly, my mind is on pure reagents, do I have them or do I have to prepare them? My mind is on the proper concentrations of reagents, the right glassware or equipment, the right and calibrated measuring devices such as a pH meter or thermometer, the cleanliness of the equipment to prevent contamination, the proper workspace, ventilation if needed, the proper safety equipment, and having everything set up and ready to go, within reach, all clamps and connections checked and double checked and then and only then do I proceed. I don't set my mind on the reaction only but on everything that goes into it. The greatest "thing" of the Spirit is agape love, set your mind on agape love, but not only that, but on all the things that make up agape love. Set your mind on these things.

 

1JO 3:20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

 

We often self condemn and sometimes wrongly. Whether rightly or wrongly are often very harsh on ourselves, but God is greater than our heart and knows every thought in that heart, and His word penetrates the heart and reveals its errors.

 

In grace our self-condemnation is turned to peace as we claim the finished work and repent [change of mind] of wrong thinking concerning ourselves.

 

Why did I not love in deed and truth? It was because my mind was set on the things of the flesh. I ignored the guidance and power of the Spirit (I quenched Him) and/or I sinned (I grieved Him) and it was to my dead flesh that I turned again. A believer with even a little knowledge understands the echo of condemnation in his heart when he is loving in word and tongue only and not in deed and truth. But through the love of Christ that self-condemnation will turn to confidence in the Lord and a restored peace through the intervention of the Lord, and in the Church's case, the mind of Christ through the filling of the Spirit.

 

Peter loved in word and tongue:

 

LUK 22:33-34

And he said to Him, "Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!" And He said, "I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me."

 

Peter condemned himself after he denied the Lord three times, but the Lord restored peace to his heart through grace and strengthened him.

 

MAT 26:74-75

Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know the man!" And immediately a cock crowed. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, "Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

 

But the Lord, in resurrection body, intervened in person and in prayer for Peter. None of us recover from sin, evil, guilt, or condemnation without this intervention by our Lord. For Peter it was a personal appearance, but for us in the CA it is the appearance of His word through the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

 

1CO 15:5

and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

 

After this initial visit Peter along with 6 other disciples was visited by the Lord again while they were fishing in Galilee. The Lord spent some alone time with Peter as the others pulled in the boat and the nets, for Peter jumped in the water and swam to shore to see the Lord. After this time the Lord asked Peter three times if he loved Him.  

 

JOH 21:17

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him," Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. "Jesus said to him," Tend My sheep.

 

1JO 3:20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

 

Peter is no longer self-condemning. The Lord makes sure of this by asking him three times. Do you love Me Peter, yes, are you sure, yes, are you sure, yes! If there was any doubt in Peter's heart, especially when confessing this to the Lord who knows all things, then Peter wouldn't have confidently asserted his love three times. In fear he denied Him three times, and in restoration and confidence he professed his love three times. The Lord knows that Peter loves Him and He also knows that Peter fell in fear, the one who proclaimed publically that he would give his life for the Lord. That's loving in word or tongue and not in deed and truth.

 

In John 21 our Lord uses agapao in verses 15 and 16, and phileo in verse 17. Peter uses phileo all three times.

 

/Phileo arises from a sense of pleasure found in the object loved. Agapao is a love springing from a sense of the preciousness of the object loved.\

 

 Agapao is nobler but both are legitimate when the object of love correctly fits the definition. When the Lord switches to phileo the third time He is legitimizing Peter's phileo love of Him, but also indicating that Peter will not only need to receive pleasure from the Lord but will also have to see the preciousness of the Lord if he is to succeed in the ministry that the Lord has ordained for him; and this he does.

 

Peter has recovered from self-condemnation because of the intervention of the Lord, and because of that only. He would have died with guilt if the Lord didn't come to him and intervene, not only in person but in prayer.

 

LUK 22:31-32

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you [a ministry that He continues now], that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

 

"Turn again" is literally turn towards someone or something. Peter will get his eyes off himself and back onto the Lord. 

 

[as a side note] The humble, who know their flaws and know that they only could turn from them through Christ's infinite love, are those that are ready to lead.

 

JOH 21:17

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him," Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. "Jesus said to him," Tend My sheep.

 

The Lord knows all things. When we are self-condemning in our hearts we are not knowing all things because during those times there are some things, some very important things, that we have forgotten. We've forgotten our position, that we are forever children of God and that the One who gives life lives in us and the one who gave us death has been cut off and crucified. Turn to Him and then you will have the power to even strengthen your brethren.

 

2CO 1:3-4

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

 

1JO 3:20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

 

Christ in resurrection body doesn't have to visit you in order to restore your peace, for we have His mind in the word of God.

 

When we self-condemn we must look to the mind of Christ, the word of God, and interpret truth through Him and not through our failures or flaws.

 

If Christ condemned the flesh in crucifixion in Himself then when we set our minds on the things of the flesh we are not condemned, for that occurred in full on Cavalry. We interpret truths just like this from the word of God and not our experience and we find our peace restored and our minds on the things of the Spirit and of Christ because His gentleness, His grace, His finished work, His love leads us to repentance. This with continued growth, yielding to His will, and separating yourself from the flesh and the world are going to make you reign in life through Him.

 

God knows our love, our reverence for Him, and He knows our frame.