There are many, many views on this. But always rely on the Bible. Study the Bible, for the Bible IS the Word of God. You will come to your own personal understanding and relationship with God through your reading and study of God's word.
One of the best resources is at www.e-sword.net God there and download everything our brother Rick Myers has made available.
Study everything- there is so much. At the minimum, read the daily devotions by Bob Hoekstra, F.B. Meyer, George Morrison, James Ryle and Charles Spurgeon. They will give you great insight into how to live the Christian life and be a true Christian.
For example, yesterday's and today's lessons from James Ryle:
June 12
Four Points of a Prevailing Life (Part 1)
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1, KJV)
In the earliest days of my journey with Jesus a godly man came alongside me and taught me a truth with such unrelenting resolve that it has stayed with me to this very day. Indeed, not simply stayed with with — it has powerfully swayed me from turning the wrong way on many, many occasions and kept my feet from stumbling. Yes, there have been times when I ignored the voice of the Holy Spirit, and tumbled in a ditch — but even then, it was this truth that factored in my recovery. I want to pass this truth along to you.
Paul uses four key words in his masterful argument against sin, and for righteousness; and these four words give us the bullet points of a prevailing life. Know, reckon, yield, and obey. Let's look briefly at these over the following four days.
First, there is something we are to KNOW — "our old man was crucified with Christ" (Romans 6:6). The Messages puts it this way — "Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life — no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection."
Pass by any cemetery and you will see just what the Lord has done for you on the Cross. He brought you into His own death, and thereby rendered sin's power over you as ineffective as it is upon those buried there in the ground. Your enslavement to sin's power has ended, and through Christ's resurrection you now have been raised to a new way of living — free from always having to do what sin demanded.
You will never be able to walk victorious in faith without KNOWING this truth. This may be the primary reason why Satan is so set against the preaching of the Cross, and why so many churches have veered far off course in this happy-go-lucky-day of sentimental sensationalism in song and sermon.
Take your place in humble adoration at the foot of the cross my fellow pilgrim, and rise not from that place till you KNOW that all which is within you that once lived unto sin has been executed in your Savior's death.
"When I survey the wondrous cross,
on which the Prince of glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it Lord that I should boast,
save in the cross of Christ my God.
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small!
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all."
(Isaac Watts 1748)
And,
June 13
Four Points of a Prevailing Life (Part 2)
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (Romans 6:1, KJV)
Yesterday we focused on the first of four key words used by the Apostle Paul in his classic case for the Cross presented in the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans. Today, we want to look at the second word: RECKON.
More modern translations use words like count, consider, think, or regard. All share the same essential meaning — "to take into account." In other words, this is the conclusion you are to carry in your heart once you KNOW that your were indeed crucified with Christ: "I am dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus!"
Go ahead and give it a try — say it out loud just now as you read this. "I am dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus."
Now, later on in the day when temptation comes creeping round the corner and suddly backs you against the wall — pause, take a deep breath, and then speak the truth of these words in the face of Hell's assault. You will stand, and the enemy will flee! Remember the Sienfeld episode where Jerry's dad kept yelling, "Serenity Now!" That didn't seem to work too well for him, and it won't work for you either. But THIS does work — "I am dead to sin, but alive to God through Jesus." Truth works!
Here is how The Message summarizes it — "From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did. (Romans 6:11-14).
Because Jesus did it, you and I can now do it! He conquered sin and death, and ended their supremacy over our lives. We can now walk in freedom — and will do so only as we COUNT on it; reckoning ourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God!
"In the cross of Christ I glory,
towering o'er the wrecks of time;
all the light of sacred story
gathers round its head sublime!
When the woes of life o'ertake me,
hopes deceive and fears annoy;
never shall the cross forsake me —
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.
Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure,
by the cross are sanctified;
peace is there that knows no measure,
joys that through all time abide."
(John Bowering, 1872)
I reckon so.
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