Did He Really Say?

Dearly beloved of God, we are the called of Jesus Christ; he paid for this call with his life. From the moment we confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead we have the certainty that we will be saved as the result of that call.

From that time forward, the Father sees us “in Christ,” which means that we are united with Christ in his accomplishments; we are as he is. Jesus Christ identified with us so that we could identify with him in his accomplishments. He became one with us as a human being, so we could be one with him as a son of God.

Now we stand before God “in Christ.” God seated us in His presence “in Christ” as holy, and without blame and unimpeachable in His sight.

God determined beforehand that we would be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover, whom He determined beforehand to be conformed to the image of His Son, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified!

The Father sees us through His Son’s accomplishments, and we are partakers with him of all that he accomplished. The Father freely gives us all things with Christ!

Furthermore, God judged that there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus – not now, not ever. Jesus Christ delivered us from the wrath to come. Now nothing can separate us from His love for us in Christ – nothing!

Jesus Christ always did His Father’s will; he did all of the work to make all of this possible, and the Father freely gave us all of it by His grace because of His great love for us.

You can see why He calls us His beloved children, His dear children, His saints or holy ones, sanctified ones in Christ Jesus. We have the spirit of sonship born within us. We are born again.

Dearly beloved, it doesn’t matter who we were; it only matters who we are in Christ Jesus.

If anyone is in Christ Jesus, he is God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus on the basis of the good works that God prepared for him to do so that we could walk in what he accomplished in them.

In Christ Jesus we are new creations! New things have come and all of them are of God. Today we have this treasure in earthen vessels, but the day is coming we will obtain the inheritance and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

All that God prepared and planned for his saints was “according to the good pleasure of His will;” “according to His good pleasure that He purposed in Himself,” “according to the purpose of Him Who works all things after the counsel of His own will.”

These were not my ideas, or yours; they are His! Don’t get talked out of them.

Why is it so hard to habitually think of ourselves as the Father thinks about us? He wants the eyes of our understanding enlightened by His Word and Will, while the so-called god of this world, satan or the devil, wants to blind our eyes to the truth of God’s Word. It has been thus since the times in the garden. The old serpent whispers, “Did God really say?” That is why it is so hard to think and believe this way day after day.

Our response to his daily attacks that try to get us to doubt who we are in Christ, what we have in him, and what we can do, should be, “Yes, dammit; it is written! God did say it!”

God says, “When he [Jesus Christ] ascended on high, he took captive those who captivate, {and} he gave gifts to people,” while the adversary says, “Remain infants, immature, and tossed about with every wind of deceptive doctrine taught by crafty men that do my bidding.”

If we are to grow up in Christ and become mature sons and daughters of God, walking in His power, we must renew our minds to who we are in Christ, and then boldly walk out as sons of God being and having and doing what God says we are and have and can do.

We must believe what God says, not the adversary; believing as we boldly approach the throne of grace, believing His Word to the end we confess who we are in Christ, having believing confidence when we go to the Father in prayer, believing God to lead us to who He calls as we witness, believing Him to work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure as we minister to people by the spirit of God. Take Him at His Word.

Dearly beloved saints, our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; we wrestle against the rulers, the authorities, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly realm. They want us to believe their lies.

Therefore, beloved, we must take up the whole armor of God so that we are able to resist them in this evil day, and having done all in the wrestling match that deserves our all, to stand at the bema when Christ returns.

Read Ephesians 6:10-20; the whole armor deals with putting on the Word of God, the truth, and how it enables us to stand in the fight.

Put on the breastplate of righteousness, which is how we stand before God in Christ. We stand there clothed in his righteousness without any sense of sin, guilt, or condemnation: believe it!

Have your feet shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace as you go forth to serve the bread of life.

Above all, take up the shield of the right way of believing so that you are able to extinguish ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one. You might want to read that again.

Take the head covering of salvation, which is deliverance in the arena of the spiritual fight spoken of in the context, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

“It is written” worked pretty good for Jesus Christ when he was tempted by the devil; he had to flee. It will work for us, too.

Pray always with all prayer in the spirit and stay on watch in this with all perseverance for all the saints.

These were not Paul’s ideas, nor mine; they are God’s Words, dearly beloved. This is the Word of God that God wants us to know and apply with believing so that we can stand against the wicked spirits from on high. Put on the whole armor He has supplied us with and wrestle with all you have. You have Christ in you, dearly beloved.

Dearly beloved, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his ability. You are dearly beloved by him and you are highly favored by the Father. Believe it!