i give up! i can't live up to what chrisitans expect, unless

I GIVE UP!I CAN’T LIVE UP TOWHAT CHRISTIANSEXPECT, UNLESS…

Carl H. Stevens Jr.

Grace PublicationsP.O. Box 18715

Baltimore, Maryland 21206

GRACE PUBLICATIONS

P.O. BOX 18715

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21206

PRINTED IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, U.S.A.

COPYRIGHT © 2004

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version.

Italics for emphasis are ours.

INTRODUCTION

When confronted with the truth of our humandepravity in the light of divine perfection, many Chris-tians today are not transparent before God. On theother hand, many find it difficult to accept their perfec-tion in Christ through the Cross as the absolute truthabout themselves.

As a pastor, I deal with people all the time who donot, and cannot, change. Their lives are characterizedby a feeble spirit of helplessness and hopelessness thatstunts their spiritual growth. Just as we expect our chil-dren to grow physically, mentally, emotionally, andspiritually, God also expects His children to grow ingrace (2 Peter 3:18; John 3:30). Yet, many of God’s chil-dren do not grow because they have been woundedand damaged by personal failure, by being hurt byothers, or by legalism, which is perhaps the most destruc-tive force in the Church today. These wounds lodgedeep within the subconscious and unconscious mindsof these precious people (Jeremiah 4:14). They live inthe mystery of iniquity—reacting to truth in their emo-tions, because of negative volition towards truth(2 Thessalonians 2:7)—then they put the blame on peo-ple and circumstances.

It is time that we address this dilemma with a bal-anced approach to what the Scriptures say about livingthe Christian life. The title of this book expresses what

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most Christians would like to say but do not dare to saybecause they fear what others might think of them.

This book does not suggest a life of antinomianism—professing to know God but denying Him in ourworks (Titus 1:16). It does not promote a life of lascivi-ousness—continuing in sin that grace may abound(Romans 6:2; Jude 4). I am not encouraging carelessnessor lawlessness. Neither am I saying that we should livewithout responsibility or accountability. I believe inpractical holiness and in living a pure life before God.But I also have a strong conviction that trying to con-form to standards and striving to “do better” is notgoing to produce holiness. That kind of sincere effortonly produces sincerely frustrated, perplexed believerswho are ready to quit rather than keep trying, only tofail again.

My prayer is that as you read this book, a greatweight will be lifted off your shoulders so you canfinally have fun living the Christian life. As you yokeup with Jesus, you will find rest for your soul, and dis-cover that His burden is light.

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PART 1

“With men this is impossible.”

(Matthew 19:26a)

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Chapter OneLEARNED BEHAVIOR

“All that the Lord hath spoken we will do” (Exodus19:8b).

“As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh…”(Galatians 6:12a).

Exodus 24:3 records the words of a sincerepeople who not only had a desire to keepGod’s commandments but also felt that they

could keep them. Yet, they would soon realize that theirgood intentions were nothing more than a fair show inthe flesh—man in his best state without the power ofGod (Psalm 39:5).

Christians today enter into a similar struggle to dowhat is right, or what they feel God and others expectof them. They are consistently occupied with change.They run to every seminar they can find hoping that“this” will finally be the one that changes them. Theylisten to radio programs that are widely accepted, yetmany are not biblical because they fail to communicatethe transforming power of God.

These Christians are victims of “self-help” programs.Though they study Scripture, memorize Scripture, andquote Scripture, they live in what I call “learned behav-

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ior.” Because of their love for the Word of God, they areunaware of the subtle attack on their lives.

When we live in learned behavior we are trying toconform to an outward pattern of behavior withoutexperiencing the transforming power of the Word ofGod and the Holy Spirit in our inner man. God did notsave us so we could learn how to behave better. Wemay be able to learn how to behave better in our Adamnature, but that does not glorify Christ, and it does notchange us inwardly. At best, we become educated to“do better.”

If you go into any Christian bookstore today, youwill find plenty of “self-help” books (i.e., books on“How To…” or “Ten Steps To…”). Of course, if you fail atstep seven, you have to go back to step one. Contrary towhat many people are saying, that is not biblical teach-ing. All it amounts to is trying to be spiritual. You can-not solve your problems nor change your ways simplyby learning how to behave.

Over the years, I have counseled hundreds of believ-ers. I have walked with them, read their letters, andtalked with them on the phone. I know they love God,and the best they know how they try to apply theScriptures to their lives. But often, what they are reallysaying is, “I’m going to change. I’m going to learn howto do that.”

Self help seminars are extremely popular in Chris-tian circles today. But herein lies the problem. Often, thewhole seminar is focused on improving behavior. Theseminar speaker may begin by teaching the man to be a


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good husband, or by teaching the woman how she canlearn to submit to her husband. You might hear ques-tions like, “Have you talked much with your spouselately? Do you spend time together? Do you communi-cate? Do you spend enough time with your children?”Certainly these issues are important. But spendingmore time together is not the solution to the problems inrelationships.

At the end of the session, the pastor may have analtar call. His invitation goes something like this: “Ifyou want to rededicate your life to Christ and make anew commitment to your spouse, come down and kneelat the altar right now.” Sadly, these people will facegreat frustration in the days ahead, because they willdiscover that no one can change in their flesh. It hasnever happened before, and it is not about to happenthis time. Still, Christians keep going to the altar againand again. They know how to “put on their best face”and be sincere about changing—they even go awaythinking they have changed.

When the seminar is over, the couple leaves, hold-ing hands. The man has learned that he should be thehead over his wife and love her as Christ loves theChurch. She has learned that she should submit to herhusband and be his help mate. And they say to eachother, “What a great seminar that was.” But it was not agreat seminar. It only succeeded in getting their atten-tion on what they should do and how to behave bettertoward each other, but it did not change their hearts.

Christians do not need another seminar to teach

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them how to behave better. It does no good to get a manto think that he can be a better head, or a woman tothink that she can learn to submit by going to a semi-nar. Sarah was ninety-eight years old before she livedin submission to her husband Abraham, calling himlord. Indeed, God can and does do a deep work inChristian’s lives through marriage seminars. The prob-lem is not the seminar; it is the approach that is taken atthe seminar—instead of being transformed by thepower of the Living God, people are being told to con-form or live up to a standard that even God doesn’texpect them to live up to.

In the home, we expect a lot from our children. Weteach them how to behave properly, which is good. Butwe need to realize that they have the same old sin natureinside of them that we have carried with us for years.When they do something wrong, they hear from us in ahundred different ways how they should change. Wesay, “This is what you should do,” or “You won’t dothat again will you?” And they answer, “No,” fearingthe consequences if they fail to comply.

See if the following scenarios sound familiar:John comes home from school with a note from the

teacher. It seems he misbehaved again in class. So youask him, “Why did you do that today, John?”

“I don’t know,” he replies.So you say, “You do know it was wrong, don’t

you?”“Yes.”“What are you going to do about it?” you ask.


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“I’m gonna change.”Who are you kidding? The truth is, John is not

going to change.A teenage girl who struggles with rebellion goes to

Christian youth camp. She returns home after oneweek, seemingly a different girl. She kisses her motheron the cheek and whispers, “Mom, will you forgive mefor how I have treated you? I’m sorry.” But after beingback in her familiar environment for a few days, she isback to her old self. She won’t pray or read her Bible.Her mother tries to talk to her, but she does not want tobe bothered.

What can we learn from these two situations? Wemust face the truth that we cannot teach young peoplehow to behave. Yes, we need to teach them the Word ofGod and impart proper spiritual and moral values.Many times, however, we do to our children the samething the seminar leader does to adults—we addresstheir outward behavior while their inner man languishes.

In a sincere effort to please us as parents, childrenmay put on a fair show in the flesh. For a season, theybecome like models of perfection, fooling everyonearound them. But there is just one problem. Thoughthey may be doing much better, they are still not spiri-tual. When they become teenagers, they may rebelbecause they are sick of restraining their flesh—whichnow is demanding that certain cravings be fulfilled.

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“I’ll Do Better”God’s plan for us has never been that we would “do

better” by striving in our flesh. The Word of God saysthat even if we do our best, it is altogether vanity (seePsalm 39:5b). He does not want us to do our best; Hewants us to receive God’s best through Jesus Christ.Someone has said, “Every day is better, and I’m gettingbetter every day.” This is true for us as Christians. Weare growing in the grace of God’s eternal purpose—notbecause of anything we do to get better, but because weare under grace (see Romans 6:14; 2 Peter 3:18; 2 Tim-othy 1:9).

Anxious to see God’s promise fulfilled, Abrahamhad sex with Sarah’s handmaid, Hagar, and Ishmaelthe “wild man” was born. Later, after the promised son,Isaac, was born, Abraham had to put up with Ishmael’smocking, rebellious spirit. Also he had to live in thesame house with Hagar, after they had become oneflesh. Now, no one gets out of a terrible situation likethat by trying to do better or learning how to behave.

Someone could have said to Abraham, “Don’t lookat Hagar. What you did was wrong.” But that wouldnot do a single thing to change Abraham. He alreadyknew that what he did was wrong. We may “know” alot of things we do are wrong, and we “know” weshouldn’t do them. But just knowing doesn’t change us.

For example, a pastor cannot teach his people to bemoral. He can only give them definition from theScriptures. But once the congregation has definition, itrequires God in each one to make them moral. They


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must not try to make it happen by striving in theirflesh.

I hear Christians say, “Oh, that message really spoketo me.” Then they go out and try to implement it andfall flat on their face. What is the problem? The messagedid not stay with them for more than twenty-four hours.They were sincerely trying to change their outwardbehavior based on the letter of the message they heard.

The truth is, we will go crazy trying to change. If ithas not worked for the last ten or twenty years, thenwhy would it work today? We may be sincere, but inour effort to change, we are also very cunning. Wequote a few Scriptures hoping that this time, by God’sgrace, our sincerity will be a little more sincere. We maysay, “I even was broken and cried about it this time.Doesn’t that make me spiritual?” Oh, we have suchgood feelings at first when we start performing forGod! We think, “I’m doing so much better now.”

But a few days later you turn on the television andsee something you shouldn’t see and your flesh is stim-ulated. Your brokenness was only the sincerity of yourflesh deceiving you into thinking you could do better.

Consider a Christian who tries to get victory overjealousy. He confesses, “I don’t want to be jealous, andI don’t want people to know I’m jealous either. But Ijust can’t stop. It’s a part of who I am.” So what does hedo? He tries hard—in his flesh—to stop being jealous.He buys a book in his local Christian bookstore on get-ting victory over jealousy. He talks to his best friendabout his problem.

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Do you think he will ever be able to learn not to bejealous? Of course not! And he should not even try. Heshould just look in the mirror, have a big laugh, and say,“That’s me. And that is going to be me forever, unless Ido it God’s way.” You see, we do not have to remain thesame in Adam forever. Still, we have the potential tostay that way for the rest of our lives, unless we choosethe options God gives us to be changed. If we refuseGod’s options, we will always struggle with man’soptions.

Man’s Options1) Self-analysis: The natural man has a propensity to

look within himself to discover what is wrong. This isself-analysis. There is not one verse in the Bible thattells us to analyze ourselves. If we want to be honest,we already know what we are like. Proverbs 18:2 says,“A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that hisheart may discover itself.” But the Word of God hasalready told us what the human heart is like: “The heartis deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). This verse is sayingthat if you have been a Christian for thirty years andyou walk in your flesh on any given day, you will dis-cover that Adam has not changed one bit in those years—in fact, he is worse. You can analyze him all youwant, but he will not change.

If you think you have changed, then wait untilsomeone says something to insult you and you getoffended. Wait until your best friend acts weird around


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you with no explanation and see how it affects you. Youwill discover that you have not really changed at all.Adam has just become more educated to cover up howhe feels and what he is really like. Maybe you can mod-ify your behavior for awhile—Adam has plenty ofexperience doing that. But when you fail, you still feelguilty and shameful. Why? Because Adam is a con-demned man (see John 3:18; 5:24).

2) Legalism: “The letter killeth, but the spirit givethlife” (2 Corinthians 3:6b). “It is the spirit that quickeneth;the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak untoyou, they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).

In an effort to change and do better, many Chris-tians find themselves under the spirit of legalism.Legalism is a system of trying to live the Christian life inthe energy of the flesh; trying to “live up” to the letterof the Word of God. Legalism also legislates man-madestandards that others must conform to. This does awayentirely with grace, unconditional love, and personalcommunion with God.

Legalism has done more to kill the spirit of Chris-tianity than any movement or false doctrine. Manypeople mistake legalism for holiness. But legalism hasnothing to do with true holiness. Legalistic Christiansonly pretend to be spiritual while failing to see that intheir experience, they cannot even begin to live up totheir own standards. Though they may be saved andsincere in their efforts, they are caught in the trap oflegalism without even knowing it.

In God’s eyes, a legalistic Christian is no better off

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than a prostitute, because neither one of them knowsGod. Actually, the prostitute probably has a betterchance of getting to know God. At least she knows inher heart she is doing wrong, but the legalist thinks healready knows God!

3) Relative Righteousness: “Wilt thou condemn me,that thou mayest be righteous?” (Job 40:8b). “For wedare not make ourselves of the number, or compareourselves with some that commend themselves: but theymeasuring themselves by themselves, and comparingthemselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinth-ians 10:12).

These verses speak of relative or comparative right-eousness—measuring others against our own man-made standards. All of us have done this at one time oranother, even if it was in ignorance. Maybe we werefrustrated with our own efforts to change or to live upto our own concept of Christianity. In an attempt todivert our attention from our own shortcomings, weevaluated others, exalting ourselves above them. Thisattitude is revealed in our dealings with people inchurch, at home, or on the job. We might say, “That’snot how you do that!” or “What are you doing that for?”Even though that person may be doing something thewrong way, the spirit we approach them with revealsthat we are living in relative righteousness.

Sometimes, an entire church will not have anythingto do with another Bible-believing church because of aspirit of relative righteousness. One group thinks theyare better or more spiritual, and the other group thinks


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they are better. From God’s divine viewpoint, He seesboth groups as the same. One is not better than theother. Some may have learned how to behave betterthan the others, but that doesn’t make them better. Atthe Cross, we all stand in an even place (see Psalm 26:12).

It is impossible to have any kind of change in ourlives apart from the work of the Cross today. We couldcry about our failures and make a new commitmentevery night of the week. But that would not change us.We could live in religious austerity, separated unto our-selves with a “holier than thou” attitude. But that wouldnot make us any better. We might be able to abstainfrom certain things for a season, but the change wouldnot be lasting. After coming to the end of ourselves, wewould cry out as so many who have gone before us, “Ican’t live the Christian life!” And, do you know? Theywere right.

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Chapter TwoI CAN'T LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: itis not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah10:23).

“Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians2:16b).

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anythingas of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians3:5).

“For they do not know how to do right” (Amos 3:10a,Amplified Translation)

These verses all communicate one basic truth:We cannot live the Christian life, regardlessof how much we “know” how to live it. Only

God in a man can live the Christian life. The apostlePaul had a revelation of this when he wrote, “…Not I,but Christ liveth in me…” in Galatians 2:20.

Peter thought he could live the Christian life. Hemade a bold confession of it in Luke 22:33—“Lord, I amready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.”In Matthew 26:33, he said to Jesus, “Though all men

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shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never beoffended.” Again in John 13:37, Peter said, “Lord, whycannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life forthy sake.” Yet, before the night was over, Jesus wouldbe arrested and taken to trial, and Peter would deny theLord three times. Twice Peter said, “I know not the man”(Matthew 26:72,74). Why did Peter’s confession changeso quickly under pressure? The answer is simple. “Theway of man is not in himself.”

Peter did not yet understand the truth set forth bythe apostle Paul in Romans 7:18—“I know that in me(that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to willis present with me; but how to perform that which isgood I find not.” Paul went on to say, “O wretched manthat I am! who shall deliver me from the body of thisdeath?” (Romans 7:24). Moses felt the same way whenhe said to God, “Let me not see my wretchedness”(Numbers 11:15b).

All of us have sensed our own wretchedness. Pauldid not say, “O wretched man that I was before I gotsaved.” He said, “O wretched man that I am.” Wheredoes this sense of our own wretchedness come from? Itcomes from something that is innately a part of all us,something that is God’s enemy: the old sin nature (or,Adam). Adam does not just have problems; he is theproblem. According to Isaiah 1:5-6, Adam’s whole headis sick and his whole heart is faint. There is no sound-ness in him. He is filled with wounds, bruises, and putri-fying sores.

Adam is incurable. Jeremiah 30:12-13 tells us that


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his bruises are incurable and there is no healing medi-cine for his condition. “The heart is deceitful above allthings, and desperately wicked (i.e., sick unto death):who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). No one knows hisown heart. God says that my heart is deceitful—not justmy neighbor’s heart. God is talking to me. Therefore,we need pastor-teachers who speak the truth in love.We need true friends in the Body of Christ, becausesometimes we do not know when we may be off in anarea.

In Jeremiah 2:23, God addressed the nation of Israel,asking them, “How canst thou say, I am not polluted, Ihave not gone after Baalam?” None of us can deny thatwe are polluted, or that we have followed after othergods. Job 14:4 says, “Who can bring a clean thing out ofan unclean? Not one.” No wonder Ecclesiastes 5:2 saysto let our words on earth be few. We do not know ourown hearts. Deuteronomy 29:19 speaks of a man who“…blesses himself in his heart, saying, I shall havepeace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart.”Our hearts can deceive us into thinking everything isokay while we continue to walk in our own imagina-tions.

In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus spoke a parable to those who“trusted in themselves that they were righteous, anddespised others.” This is the ultimate in the depravityand deception of the heart. This is the spirit behindlegalism and relative righteousness. Here was a groupof Pharisees who lived and spoke as if their hearts werenot deceitful. They trusted in themselves. They thought

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that the way was in them and that they could directtheir own steps.

At one time in his life, Paul felt this way too. Writingthe book of Philippians from prison, he recalled hispast. “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh.If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof hemight trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighthday, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, anHebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Phari-see; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touchingthe righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Phil-ippians 3:4-6). This illustrates the deception of thehuman heart.

But Paul’s present confession as he wrote this epis-tle was, “For we are the circumcision, which worshipGod in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and haveno confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).

God’s Indictment on the Human RaceBecause of Adam’s incurable condition, God indict-

ed him, found him guilty, and condemned him todeath. Romans 3:10-18 records God’s fourteen-foldindictment. Verse 19 records God’s verdict: guilty.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, notone: There is none that understandeth, there is nonethat seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way,they are together become unprofitable; there is nonethat doeth good, no, not one.

“Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tonguesthey have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their


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lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and mis-ery are in their ways: And the way of peace have theynot known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

“Now we know that what things soever the lawsaith, it saith to them who are under the law: that everymouth may be stopped, and all the world may becomeguilty before God” (Romans 3:10-19).

This is what God says about every one of us. Needwe say any more? No wonder we cannot live theChristian life. There is nothing in us—in our flesh—thatcan do it.

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Chapter ThreeI QUIT!

“Iquit.” This may seem like a strange confes-sion for a Christian to make. On the con-trary, it is exactly what God is waiting for

us to say to Him. God is waiting to be gracious (Isaiah30:18). He is waiting for us to give Him an opportunityto live the Christian life in us. A dear friend of minewho has gone home to be with the Lord once quoted1 Thessalonians 5:24: “Faithful is he that calleth you,who also will do it”—and then he added, “God can’t doit until we are done.” Done with what? Until we aredone with trying to live the Christian life, struggling tochange, preserving our life in Adam.

Jesus’ disciples struggled to live the Christian lifebut without power. They were with Him for threeyears. They walked with Him, ate with Him, and sawHis miracles and signs. They saw His tears. They sawthe dead raised and demons cast out. And still, therewas not a single change in any of them. In the end, theyall forsook Jesus at the Cross (Matthew 26:56).

Even after Jesus was resurrected and had appearedto His disciples twice, they still could not change.Weary of his Christian life, Peter said in John 21:3, “I goa fishing.” According to the Greek tense used here, inessence Peter was saying, “I quit. I can’t live the

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Christian life.” And he was right. The other discipleswho were with Peter agreed with him saying, “We alsogo with thee.” John was one of them. Five times in theGospel of John, he made reference to himself as “theone whom Jesus loved.” Yet he still followed backslid-den Peter into the boat to go fishing. John too wasready to quit. The disciples would not be changed untilthe day of Pentecost when the resurrection power ofChrist would fill them through the indwelling of theHoly Spirit.

TransparencyThere are two ways in the Bible: Satan’s way and

God’s way. Satan lies; God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Satansends an evil spirit; God sends His Holy Spirit. Satanaccuses; God edifies. Satan builds up Adam; God cruci-fies Adam. Satan causes us to have total recall of every-thing we are in Adam while blinding us to the provisionso that we will eventually give up in despair; God for-gives and forgets everything we have ever done inAdam and opens our eyes to a better way. Satan says,“God will never answer your prayer, because you areno good, and God knows you will never change”; Godsays, “Just keep believing; the answer is on the way.”Satan constantly changes his approach in his attackagainst us so he can bring confusion; God operates inperfect integrity and immutability toward us, no matterwhat state we are in.

God has a way for us to be changed and to live avictorious Christian life. God’s way begins with trans-


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parency and honesty at the Cross, not a sincere desireto do better. An honest heart is one that accepts the pro-visions of God’s Word and then brings forth fruit withpatience—patience toward yourself.

I counseled a young girl one day who is like manyother girls her age. She did some things she should nothave done. Though she does not have a rebellious heart,she did not have the power to change herself. So insteadof speaking harsh words of correction, I spoke softwords from my heart. She needed to be surroundedwith the love of Jesus Christ, and I said to her, “You willmake it.”

During our counseling session, she made a verymature statement. After being honest about what hap-pened, she said, “I hope I don’t do it again.” That con-fession revealed integrity and transparency. She said, “Ihope I don’t do it again” not, “I won’t do it again. Peoplewith legalistic backgrounds are more likely to say, “Iwill never do that again,” and then they go out and doit within twenty-four hours. They may sincerely meanwhat they say, but they do not have any power orstrength to make it happen.

The opposite of transparency is self-preservation inthe flesh. In the hundreds of hours that I have spentcounseling Christians, more than anything, I have seenpeople trying to preserve their life in Adam. They justifythemselves and defend their right to be right. Theyoverreact to what others say about them and want meto know it isn’t true. My question is, who cares? Whatare we defending? Our right to live in a fallen nature

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that is filled with bruises and running sores? But oncewe become transparent with what God says about ourcondition in Adam (Romans 3:10-19; Isaiah 1:5-6; Jere-miah 17:9) and honest with what God did to Adam onthe Cross (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20), then what isthere left to preserve? Nothing.

Every Christian stands in an even place—crucified,buried, and resurrected with Christ. Once we acceptthat truth, self-preservation ceases. The Finished Workmeans that the Cross took me out and put Christ in. Itis wonderful to get up in the morning without a singlething to preserve for that day, no matter how we feel.

Stop TryingI discovered a long time ago that there is not one

verse in the Bible that tells me to try to change or to bea better Christian. I could feel sorry and cry a bucket oftears, but that kind of sorrow does not transform me. Itjust causes more shame, frustration, defeat, and guilt.In my best state, I may be able to do a little better for aseason through self-righteousness, but that is not trans-formation.

The more we try to change, the more we will findourselves going through the same thing the apostlePaul did in Romans 7. Paul said, “…To will is presentwith me, but how to perform that which is good I findnot. For the good that I would I do not: but the evilwhich I would not, that I do…when I would do good,evil is present with me” (Romans 7:18b,19,21b). Paulwas saying, “I have tried to change, but every time I do,


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I fall flat on my face and Satan’s government of evil isright there to condemn me.”

Paul finally came to the conclusion that he was notgoing to try anymore, and that was the greatest revela-tion of his life. It was Paul who later wrote, “Faithful ishe that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians5:24). But he was not the only one to discover this truth.When Job was going through his trial, he said, “For Heperforms that which He has planned for me, and ofmany such matters He is mindful” (Job 23:14, Ampli-fied Translation). The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Lord, youwill ordain peace for us, for You have also wrought inus and for us all our works” (Isaiah 26:12, AmplifiedTranslation).

The secret of life is this: Never strive, never try, andnever worry about your last failure. Going to anotherseminar or counseling session is not the answer if it willonly put you in the frame of mind to try again or to con-form to another way of behavior—only to fail againand become more frustrated. We must stop trying toconform to anything. Romans 12:2 instructs us, “Be notconformed to this world: but be ye transformed by therenewing of your mind….” Many think that being“conformed to the world” means going back to the bar-room or into a life of immorality. But conforming to theworld means going back to trying to be better, using theScriptures to reinforce your efforts. This is the mostsubtle form of worldliness.

God wants us to come to the place where we say, “Ican’t change, I’m not going to try to change, and I don’t

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even care!” When we can say that, we are finally beinghonest—with God and with ourselves. We have cometo our “wit’s end” (Psalm 107:27), or to the place whereour human efforts are exhausted. Our confession is nolonger, “I’ll do better,” but, “Faithful is He who callsme, and I know He will do it.” Now we are ready toaccept God’s way, God’s provision, and God’s power tobe changed. We finally believe that “with God, all thingsare possible.”


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PART 2

“With God all things are possible.”

(Mark 10:27)

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Chapter FourCHANGE YOUR FOCUS

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of ourfaith…” (Hebrews 12:2a).

“The Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent,and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. AndMoses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and itcame to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when hebeheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Numbers 21:8-9).

We read in Isaiah 55:8-9, “My thoughts arenot your thoughts, neither are your waysmy ways, saith the Lord. For as the heav-

ens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higherthan your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”God’s thoughts about change and our thoughts aboutchange are worlds apart. His ways of changing us arehigh above man’s ways. Man’s ways are complex.God’s ways, however, are simple. That is why Satan,the serpent, works full-time to corrupt our minds from“the simplicity that is in Christ” (see 2 Corinthians 11:3).Part two of this book sets forth the simplicity of God’sways.

“As ye therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord,

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so walk ye in him” (Colossians 2:6). We did not getsaved by learning how to behave properly, but bybelieving in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now that we areHis children, we are instructed to “walk” in Him thesame way we got saved—by believing in the FinishedWork, the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says, “As newborn babes, desire the sin-cere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if sobe ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:2-3). “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of ourLord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory bothnow and for ever” (2 Peter 3:18). These verses do nottell us to grow by changing our behavior, but to growin grace and knowledge of a Person—Jesus Christ.

If the apostle Paul were to give a testimony today,he might say, “I’ll tell you how I finally changed. It waswhen the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus over-came the law of sin and death in me. It was a graceprocess. And when I discovered that God would notcondemn me in the process, it was then that I changed.I found that the law of righteousness—which I tried sodesperately to keep—had already been fulfilled in me.I realized that in Matthew 5:17, Christ said He came tofulfill the law, and that in Romans 10:4, He was the endof the law for righteousness to all who believe.”

Paul would later write four epistles while impris-oned in Rome. Why was he in prison? Paul had wantedto minister to his Jewish brethren in Jerusalem, but hisdesire was motivated by sentimentality. He waswarned by the disciples through the Holy Spirit not to


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go, but he disregarded the warning (see Acts 20:22 and21:4). After he arrived, he was arrested, taken to Rome,and put in prison.

One of the epistles he wrote in prison was to thePhilippian church. In that letter, he made a beautifulconfession, “Brethren, I count not myself to have appre-hended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those thingswhich are behind, and reaching forth unto those thingswhich are before, I press toward the mark for the prizeof the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians3:13-14). Knowing there was nothing he could do abouthis past failure, Paul was determined that he would for-get the things that were behind him. He did not try tobehave differently; he just forgot it all through the HolySpirit, and reached forth unto the things that were beforehim. Paul did not try to change himself; rather, hechanged his focus. He did not look back and live inregret; he did not look within himself and live in con-demnation; instead, he looked unto Jesus and lived,having an expectation from God. Through his experi-ence, Paul learned the value of living a derived life.

When Jesus was on the earth, He derived His lifefrom the Father. Though He was perfect in His human-ity, He never tried to be good. He drew near to fellow-ship with His Father every day. He said, “The Lord Godhath given me the tongue of the learned, that I shouldknow how to speak a word in season to him that isweary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakenethmine ear to hear as the learned” (Isaiah 50:4). Everymorning, Jesus was taught by His heavenly Father. He

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would not do or say a thing without consulting withHis Father (see John 5:19,30; 8:29; 14:10-11; Romans 15:3).

Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered(Hebrews 5:8). He testified of Himself in Isaiah 50:5-6,“The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was notrebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back tothe smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off thehair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” JesusChrist did not go through the Cross in His own strength,but through a life derived from His Father. The secret ofHis life was His continual focus on the Father.

Turn to the LordChange is the work of God, not the work of man.

The first step is to realize that even in our worst condi-tion, we are only one decision away from being themost spiritual people in the world. That decision is sim-ply to turn to the Lord. Second Corinthians 3:16 saysthat when we turn to the Lord, the veil of the flesh istaken away from our heart. “Now the Lord is that Spirit:and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”(2 Corinthians 3:17)—liberty to be changed as we lookinto the mirror of God’s Word. “But we all, with openface beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, arechanged into the same image from glory to glory, evenas by the Spirit of the Lord” (verse 18).

Notice that 2 Corinthians 3:18 says we are changed.God does the work of changing us. All we do is lookunto Jesus Christ through His Word. This verse saysnothing about focusing on ourselves, or about confess-


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ing our need to change. It does not tell us to be coun-seled again and again. It says, “Take your eyes off your-self, focus on Jesus Christ through the mirror of HisWord, and let the Spirit change you. Leave your sinsbehind you, forget the things that are past, think ofChrist, and reach toward the prize.”

The Greek word for the phrase “are changed” in2 Corinthians 3:18 is a present passive indicative ofmetamorphoo, “to transform.” The passive voice meansthat God does all the changing! God does it all. Ouronly part is to look unto Jesus.

In Psalm 16:8, David wrote, “I have set the Lordalways before me.” He was looking unto Jesus, with nopressure, no stress, no shame, no guilt, and no fear.

The secret to victory in the Christian life is changingour focus. The secret to helping others is to help themchange their focus. For example, if a husband is tryingto help his wife through a problem, he should not dealwith her in legalism or self-righteousness. In certainareas, he is just as needy as she is. She may be moreblunt about her failure and more emotional in showingit, but the best thing he can do for his wife is to prayer-fully and lovingly help her to change her focus. It doesno good to analyze her past to try and figure out whatcaused her behavior. The past has nothing to do withour present problems. That may have been true beforewe were saved, but not anymore. We are brand-newcreatures in Christ. Old things are passed away (2 Cor-inthians 5:17).

Instead of analyzing the past, we can say in trans-

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parency before God, “I am guilty.” The whole world isguilty. No one is righteous, no one understands God,and no one seeks after God. We have all gone out of theway and become unprofitable. None of us can do good.Once we have settled that issue in our hearts, we real-ize that we do not have to try to change Adam. Wedon’t have to dress up Adam, conform Adam, worryabout Adam, become guilty about Adam, or even talkabout him. We know that we still have Adam’s natureinside of us, but now he is having a more difficult timethan ever controlling us. We have not learned to behavebetter but to change our focus and look unto Jesus, theauthor and finisher of our faith. As we grow in gracemore and more, we find that we are content in whateverstate we are in (Philippians 4:11). Instead of always try-ing, we are just having fun. We could be singing a songin the car, or just looking up at the sky on a starry night.Everything is fun.

Often, when people have serious problems, theybecome tense and overreactionary, though they may tryto pretend that they are not. When this happens,instead of identifying with the stress, a spiritual friendor counselor can meet that tension relaxed in the Spirit,filled with faith-rest and joy, and handle the problemobjectively. The Holy Spirit will speak to us in a stillsmall voice and guide us into the truth that sets peoplefree. All we do is help them to change their focus fromthe problem to the provision.


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Look and Be HealedIn Numbers 21:1-3, God gave Israel victory in a

battle with the Canaanites. After, as they journeyed onin the wilderness, “the soul of the people was muchdiscouraged because of the way. And the people spakeagainst God, and against Moses, Wherefore have yebrought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?For there is no bread, neither is there any water; andour soul loatheth this light bread” (Numbers 21:4-5). Iwill never understand why Israel murmured whenGod had just given them grace—something they didnot deserve—in a victory over their enemies.

Because Israel murmured, God sent fiery serpentsto bite them. It was a serpent that deceived Eve inGenesis 3. Revelation 12:9 refers to Satan as “that oldserpent.”

How would the children of Israel deal with the ser-pent bites? Was there anything they could do? Maybethey could have manufactured a miraculous healingointment from special herbs. But they did not, and fur-thermore, they did not have time. They could havegone on a good works program, hoping that if theyblessed those around them, somehow they would alsobe healed. They could have tried to fight the serpents—just as so many Christians try to fight the devil—butthere were too many of them. They could have justlooked at themselves, staring at their bites in a helpless,hopeless condition. This is what thousands of Christiansdo every day, never realizing that it constitutes theirgreatest failure.

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Imagine the horror of seeing serpent bites all overyour body. Think of how frightened you would be. Youwould feel so weak and helpless. Yet, it would do nogood to just sit, in fear, staring at your bites. Similarly,when you live in self-analysis and you are honest withyourself, you will say, “I hate what I see.” You can hearsermons and continue to analyze yourself, but you willnever be healed by confessing how devastating the ser-pent bites are. The truth is, God does not want us tolook at ourselves any more than He wanted the chil-dren of Israel to look at themselves. He had a betterway for them, and for us too.

The Lord told Moses to make a serpent of brass andput it upon a pole. The children of Israel were not topray to the serpent, but to simply have faith in what itrepresented. According to John 3:14-15, the serpent ofbrass represents Jesus Christ on the Cross. “And asMoses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even somust the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish, but have eternallife.” Brass speaks of judgment. Therefore, the serpentof brass on the pole represents Jesus Christ beingjudged for our sins on the Cross.

In Exodus 27:1-8, the altar for the tabernacle and allits utensils were made of brass. Every offering placedon the brass altar was a picture of Jesus Christ beingjudged for the sins of the world. In Exodus 30:17-21,God also instructed Moses to make a brass laver, orbasin, where the priests would wash their hands andfeet when they came into the tabernacle or when they


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came to the altar of brass to offer a sacrifice. God saidthat if they did not wash their hands and feet, theywould die. The brass laver speaks of rebound for theChristian (see 1 John 1:9 and John 13:10). Not only hasJesus Christ judged all of our sins and given us eternalsecurity when we believe on Him (John 3:16), but Hehas also provided a brass laver. Just as the priestswould die physically if they did not wash their handsand feet before entering the tabernacle, we also die spir-itually when we do not rebound from our sins.

The serpent of brass was not a real serpent, but itwas like a real serpent. Romans 8:3 says, “For what thelaw could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,God sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, andfor sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Jesus did not havesin in Him, but He was like us inasmuch as He bore oursins in His own body on a tree (1 Peter 2:24).

The children of Israel were not to look at them-selves, fight the serpents, or even pray to the brazenserpent. They were to do one thing. They were to lookat it. And the minute they looked, they were totallyhealed from all the serpent bites. Oh, it is hard tounderstand the power of grace. It is hard to receive thelove of God when you are covered with serpent bites.The children of Israel could have looked at the woundsall over their bodies. They could have screamed andcried as they looked at their children and their littlebabies. But it would not have done any good. They hadto look at the brazen serpent.

Adam and Eve were defeated because they looked at

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the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Even beforethey partook of the tree, they—especially Eve—had tolook at it. By the same token, every single person can besaved just by looking, “Look unto me, and be ye saved,all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is noneelse” (Isaiah 45:22).

All of us have suffered from the bites of sin. We maynot go out on our spouse, go to barrooms, or stealmoney; but when we grieve the Spirit by saying some-thing hurtful to someone, our heart is wounded.Nevertheless, being occupied with what we have donewill not heal the wounds. We need to turn and look atJesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We need tolook into the mirror of God’s Word so we can bechanged into His image from glory to glory (2 Corinth-ians 3:18).

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed aboutwith so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside everyweight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, andlet us run with patience the race that is set before us,looking unto Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1-2a). We are run-ning the Christian race to become faith heroes (seeHebrews 11). As we run this race, we lay aside theweights first, then the besetting sin. The weight repre-sents the provision we make to sin (Romans 13:14). Thesin is what we do because we made a provision to do it.For example, the weight may be the fact that we hangaround the wrong people, and the sin is what we dobecause we exposed ourselves to that crowd and theirways. Hebrews 12:1-2 is telling us to lay aside the


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weight so we will not be tempted to sin in an area ofweakness. And as we look unto Jesus, He will providethe power to run the race.

One night many years ago when I was soulwin-ning, I witnessed to a prostitute on the street. She wassaying, “I feel so unclean.” So I said to her, “I know youfeel unclean, but your uncleanness is no more of a sinthan a proud man’s self-righteousness.” She said, “Idon’t understand.” And I said, “You don’t have to. AllI’m saying is that if you just believe on Jesus, you canbe healed instantly.” In tears, she prayed and acceptedChrist.

Today, that woman is happily married. When sheweeps, it is not because she is guilty, but because she isfree. God accepted her just as she was and transformedher life. Now she is a magnificant soul winner—and allshe did was look. She doesn’t try to analyze the old ser-pent bites to understand why she did the things shedid. She just looks unto Jesus, the author and finisher ofher faith.

Do not look at your wounds. Do not be occupiedwith the effects of the serpent bites. No matter what sinyou commit, what day you sin, or how many times youdo it, I plead with you to look unto Jesus and believeHim. And as you look, you go from faith to faith,rebounding whenever you fail. Righteousness is impart-ed to your soul, and your faith becomes substance. Nowyou are clean through the Word that Jesus has spokento you (John 15:3).

As you learn to look unto Jesus, you will experience

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the miracles of grace in your life. He will take awayeven the thought of sin. You will be so thankful thatyou will never want to do anything to grieve the HolySpirit. You know that if you fail, God will take you backin a moment, but you do not make a provision to fail.You no longer have a need to do certain things.

A precious young lady told a friend, “I love my dadand I know he loves me. But we never seem to have anytime together. He never invests in me, but I’m not blam-ing him. I know he’s busy.” What she was trying to saywas, “I just want to get to know daddy.” As a teenager,she had a deep need to know her father beyond justsaying “hi” or “bye” because of busy schedules. Insteadof having a relationship of love, she hears harsh wordsof correction when she rebels in a area. Jesus says,“Look unto Me; come unto Me; I am meek and lowly inheart; I will give you rest.” But this father gives hisdaughter harsh words.

When someone fails and comes into my office forhelp, I handle the problem by saying, “We both knowthat what you did was wrong. And I know you aresorry. I know you don’t want to do it again. You areweak and frail and you’re being tempted by your oldsin nature, and by demons that you can’t see or hear.But I am not asking you to do any great thing. All I amasking you to do is look unto Jesus. That is my onlyrecipe for your inspiration and for your new motiva-tion—just look.”

When we continue to look at Jesus, hide the Wordof God in our hearts, and receive the filling of the Spirit,


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then He will keep us from falling (Jude 24). While weglory in His forgiveness, we can also glory that Hekeeps us from falling. We only need to keep looking.But we need to do more than just give Him a glance;we need to gaze upon Him.

Change Your Garments“That ye put off concerning the former conversa-

tion the old man, which is corrupt according to thedeceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of youmind; And that ye put on the new man, which afterGod is created in righteousness and true holiness”(Ephesians 4:22-24).

“Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not pro-vision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans13:14).

The Word of God speaks often about changing ourgarments. In Genesis 41:14, Joseph was taken fromprison and brought before Pharaoh to interpret a dream.But before coming into Pharaoh’s presence, Josephchanged his garments. Leviticus 6:11-12 says that thehigh priest had to change his garments before he tookthe ashes of the burnt offering out of the tabernacle intoa clean place. After David recovered from his failurewith Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 12:20 says that he “arosefrom the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, andchanged his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord,and worshipped.” In Zechariah 3, Joshua the high priestwas guilty of sin. But when Satan stood up to resisthim, the Lord rebuked Satan and would not let him

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speak. Verse 3 says that Joshua was clothed with filthygarments, but in verse 4, the Lord commanded an angelto take away the filthy garments and clothe Joshua witha change of raiment.

God never said anything in these verses about try-ing to do better. He never said to Joshua, “You are notbehaving right. What’s wrong with you? You know bet-ter than that. You need to go for some counseling.” No,in every case, it was just, “Change your garments.”

Changing our garments means we put away ouridentification with the past and with our wounds.When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we make noprovision for the flesh. Many people put the emphasison making “no provision for the flesh” instead of “put-ting on the Lord Jesus Christ.” God’s emphasis is to puton the Lord Jesus Christ, and when we do that, weautomatically make no provision for the flesh.

After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden,they were self-conscious of their nakedness, so theysewed fig leaves together and covered themselves. Figleaves represent a system of religious works—trying todo something to change ourselves.

When God came in the “cool of the day” (probablyearly evening) to teach Adam and Eve, they were notthere. (According to the Hebrew tenses, God came atthe same time each day to teach them doctrine). Godcalled to Adam, “Where are you?” Of course, God,being omnipresent and omniscient, knew where Adamwas. Adam answered, “I was afraid, because I wasnaked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10b).


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What did God do for Adam and Eve? Tell them tochange? No, He killed an animal, made coats of skin,and covered them (Genesis 3:21). Their provision camethrough the shedding of blood, not through self-madegarments without the shedding of blood. Likewise, ourprovision to change comes through the shed Blood ofthe Lord Jesus Christ, not through a religious system ofworks.

Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us how to change our gar-ments. We put off the old man (verse 22), and put onthe new man (verse 24). But how do we put on the newman? The key is in verse 23. “And be renewed in thespirit of your mind.” “Be renewed” is a passive voice inthe Greek. God is not telling us to renew our mind. Heis telling us to be renewed—by continually receivingsomething from God through the Word and the Spirit.Romans 12:2 sheds more light on this truth: “And benot conformed to this world: but be ye transformed bythe renewing of your mind….” Notice again that Goddoes not say we are to transform ourselves, but to betransformed by receiving something. This is the gloryof the Finished Work.

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Chapter FivePARTAKE OF GOD’S DIVINE NATURE

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through theknowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as hisdivine power hath given unto us all things that pertain untolife and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hathcalled us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto usexceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye mightbe partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corrup-tion that is in the world through lust.

“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faithvirtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temper-ance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kind-ness charity.

“For if these things be in you, and abound, they make youthat ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledgeof our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:2-8).

As we look unto Jesus, the author and finisherof our faith, grace and peace are multipliedinside our soul through the “knowledge of

God,” or, doctrine. Multiplication of grace and peacetakes us way beyond mere knowledge of the letter intoan experience of the Living Word. In 2 Peter 3:18 it iscalled “the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus

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Christ.” According to 2 Peter 1:3, through this knowl-edge, God’s divine power has given us “all things thatpertain unto life and godliness.”

The key to this entire passage is found in verse 4:“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and pre-cious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of thedivine nature, having escaped the corruption that is inthe world through lust.” Many Christians try to escapethe corruption in the world by learning how to behavebetter or by rededicating themselves at the altar. Butthis is not God’s way. God causes us to escape corrup-tion as we receive His exceeding great and preciouspromises and become partakers (sharers) of His divinenature. There is nothing in this passage about trying tobehave better or about changing ourselves, but onlyabout receiving promises, adding to our faith, and mul-tiplying grace and peace.

Sometimes I hear women say, “I come to church andhear all the messages, but I just can’t seem to be thekind of wife I should be.” My answer to that is, “Stoptrying to be the wife you should be. Don’t let it troubleyou. Don’t even give it a thought. Stop analyzing your-self. I don’t see a single thing in the Bible that tells youto be introspective. That is not God’s approach.

It is futile for a wife to look at her husband and say,“I wish you would change. You’re a lousy husband,” orfor a husband to say to his wife, “I wish you would bea better housekeeper.” Neither of them will ever changeuntil they become partakers of God’s divine naturethrough exceeding great and precious promises. Only


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then will they be able to “escape” the way they havealways been, which is the way they will always beunless God does the changing.

Just as we cannot be saved unless God does the sav-ing, so we cannot be transformed unless God does thetransforming. We can read twenty-five books abouthow to be transformed, feel better for a while after weread them, and still never change a bit. At best, we mayenjoy talking about the possibililties of changing, butwhat we need is simply to let God change us.

Add to Your Faith“And beside this, giving all diligence, add…”

(2 Peter 1:5a). The Greek word for “giving” (pareisphero)means to “to bring in alongside, to introduce simulta-neously.”* The word for “add” is epichoregeo, “to furnishbesides, to fully supply.”** Instead of trying to correctourselves in an area, we bring in seven divine charac-teristics alongside the promises and we “add” them toour faith. Remember, in verse 4 we become partakers ofGod’s divine nature, and that nature working inside ofus will enable us in the adding process.

The first thing we add to our faith is “virtue”—spir-itual excellence through grace. To virtue we add “know-ledge” (gnosis). Gnosis is a growing relationship withGod, who is the object of our knowledge. Here, itimplies experiential knowledge. Doctrine has nowbecome our experience through the virtue of grace and

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*STRONG’S CONCORDANCE, GREEK DICTIONARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, P. 55.**IBID, P. 32.

the power of the Holy Spirit. After knowledge, we add“temperance,” which is self-control through the HolySpirit. Then comes “patience.” Because we can exerciseself-control through the Holy Spirit, we have a newability to be patient toward others.

To our patience we add “godliness,” that is, spiritu-ality. Godliness means that we can now execute thespiritual life just like God, because He is the One doingit in us. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will doit” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Next, we add “brotherly kind-ness.” This speaks of godly friendships. Finally, we add“charity”—the love of God in the heart, motivating usto love others unconditionally.

2 Peter 1:2-8 concludes by saying that if “thesethings” are abounding in us, then we will never have atime when we are barren or unfruitful in the experien-tial knowledge (epignosis) of God. Now, we no longertry to live the Christian life. We simply walk in whatGod has made us to be through what we have received.We are inspired by the truth that dwells richly in us,motivated by its essence. We fellowship with the attrib-utes of God’s nature in us, and God gets all the glorybecause it is all Him.

God never brings up where we have been, or whatwe have done. He is not concerned with what we thinkof ourselves or what others think of us. All He wants todo is to multiply grace and peace through the LivingWord and to supply, through His divine power, allthings that pertain unto life and godliness. He wants usto be partakers of His divine nature by receiving His


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exceeding great and precious promises. Then He saysthat if we add seven characteristics to our faith—virtue,knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherlykindness, and charity—then we will have more thanwe need to take on the next thing in His plan for us.This is what Christianity is all about.

The Bible never says, “Faithful is he who will stopyou from being the way you are.” God does not prom-ise to change Adam. Furthermore, can a leopard changehis spots? Certainly not. John 3:6 says, “That which isborn of the flesh is flesh.” In other words, Adam cannever change. So God crucified him (Romans 6:6; Gala-tians 2:20).

The apostle Paul made a beautiful confession in1 Corinthians 15:10. He said, “By the grace of God I amwhat I am.” The same is true for us. This does not meanthat we can be careless and do evil, but it simply meansthat we realize we can never change ourselves. Yet, inour weakest moment, God is waiting to pour into oursoul an ocean of mercy, grace, and love that goes beyondour limited understanding and our natural concepts.God does the transforming. God does the renewing. Weare relaxed because it is all by grace. And if we fail, werebound instantly so that we do not give a place to thedevil.

We never have to wonder what we are going to belike tomorrow or next week. We are what we are by thegrace of God. True faith never analyzes our ability inAdam to be good tomorrow. True faith looks at tomor-row as Joshua did when he was preparing the children

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of Israel to cross over the Jordan River. He told the peo-ple, “Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord willdo wonders among you” (Joshua 3:5). We know thatthe Lord Jesus Christ is ready to reveal His righteous-ness to us tomorrow through our faith today in His liv-ing promises.


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Chapter SixCOME AND KNOW THE FATHER’S HEART

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn ofme; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find restunto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”(Matthew 11:28-30).

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let himthat heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. Andwhosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”(Revelation 22:17).

Consider some of the times in the Scriptureswhere the Lord asks His people questions.For example, in Isaiah 1:5, after addressing

the sinful condition of the nation of Israel, the Lordasks, “Why should you be stricken and punished anymore [since it brings no correction]?” (Amplified Trans-lation). He went on to say, “Ye will revolt more andmore: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart isfaint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head thereis no soundness in it: but wounds, and bruises, andputrifying sores: they have not been closed, neitherbound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Isaiah1:5b-6). God is saying to the nation of Israel, and to us,

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“I know your condition in Adam, and I know you can’tchange. So why should you be punished any more?You will only continue to do the same things.”

God asks another question in Jeremiah 2:5, “Whatiniquity have your fathers found in me, that they aregone far from me, and have walked after vanity, andare become vain?”

Perhaps one of God’s most revealing questions isfound in Isaiah 5:4, “What could have been done moreto my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” In NewTestament application, this verse speaks of the FinishedWork of Jesus Christ. He bore all of our sins—past,present, and future—on His own body on the Cross(1 Peter 2:24). He became sin for us that we might bemade the righteousness of God in Him the moment webelieve (2 Corinthians 5:21). Now God says, “Whoso-ever will may come and drink of the water of life freely.Whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will besaved” (see Revelation 22:17; Romans 10:13).

Jesus Christ paid it all, and now He has one invita-tion: Come. No matter what state you are in, no matterhow many times you have failed, just come. It does notmatter how much you have labored, or how weigheddown you are with heavy burdens. Just come. InMatthew 11:28, Jesus said, “Come.” When Peter and thedisciples were on a boat in a terrible storm, they sawJesus walking on the water. Frightened, Peter said, “If itbe thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And hesaid, Come” (Matthew 14:28b-29a).

God is saying to us, “What more could I do for you


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than I have already done? I have not asked you toredeem yourself (Psalm 49:7). By grace you are savedthrough faith, not of yourself. It is my gift to you so youhave nothing to boast of (Ephesians 2:8-9). I have notasked you to go on a works program. I have not askedyou to perform or do better. I have not asked you tochange yourself. All I have asked you to do is come.”

One Saturday night many years ago, I shared thegospel with a man who was very arrogant. His responsewas, “I don’t like what you’re saying. I’m not going tolisten to that stuff.” He totally rejected the gospel. Thenext morning, I heard on the radio that this same manwas killed in a high speed car crash. He had an oppor-tunity to receive Christ, but now he was dead—andprobably in hell. He would not come and drink of thewater of eternal life.

Once, I led an eighteen-year-old boy to Christ. Hewas delivered from drugs but later started using themagain. I tried to help him, but he did not want help. Theday before his nineteenth birthday, he took an overdoseand never completely recovered. When I visited him inthe hospital, he did not know me. He just sat in a chair,unable to do anything for himself. It was so sad. Iremembered telling him the day I first witnessed to himthat the church would provide a loving atmospherethat would allow him to grow in grace. But instead, hewent back into the world. Though he would still go toheaven, now his life on earth was destroyed, all becausehe would not come unto Jesus.

COME AND KNOW THE FATHER’S HEART

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Welcome Home SonIn Luke 15:11-32, Jesus spoke a parable of a father

and his two sons. The younger son did not know hisfather’s heart. He did not understand his father’s loveor the purpose that God had for him with his dad. Thisis the problem many Christians have. They never get toknow the Father’s heart of love toward them.

The younger son in this parable is most oftenreferred to as the “prodigal son.” The word “prodigal”means “exceedingly or recklessly wasteful; a personwho wastes his means.”* Because he did not under-stand his purpose at home, the prodigal son went to hisfather and said, “Father, give me the portion of goodsthat falleth to me” (Luke 15:12). A few days later, theprodigal “gathered all together, and took his journeyinto a far country, and there wasted his substance withriotous living” (verse 13).

Verse 14 says, “When he had spent all, there arose amighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.”Sooner or later, everyone who gets into sin spends allthat they have—spiritually, physically, or even financ-ially. In Ruth 1:21, Naomi said, “I went out full, and theLord hath brought me home again empty.” After theprodigal son spent all his substance, the Word of Godsays that a mighty famine arose in the land. Christianswho take the sinful road have never been able to escapethe spiritual famine that inevitably comes, bringingwith it emptiness and discontentment.


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*WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD DICTIONARY, SECOND COLLEGE EDITION, P. 1134.

The last part of verse 14 says that the prodigal son“began to be in want.” The next verse says, “He wentand joined himself to a citizen of that country; and hesent him into his fields to feed swine. And he wouldfain have filled his belly with the husks that the swinedid eat: and no man gave unto him.”

Verse 17, the turning point in this parable, beginswith the words, “When he came to himself….” Thisdoes not mean that the Christian comes to his sensesand makes a positive decision to do something abouthis life. It means that he finally realizes there is nothinghe can do to change his present state. All he can do iscome to Jesus, believe His Word and receive grace andpower to be changed.

The prodigal son was simply saying, “I am bankruptand I’m going home to my father.” He rehearsed in hisheart what he would say to his father when he gothome. He thought, “How many hired servants of myfather’s have bread enough to spare, and I perish withhunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will sayunto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, andbefore thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son:make me as one of thy hired servants” (verses 17-19).

In verse 20, the son arose and set off on his journeyhome. “But when he was yet a great way off, his fathersaw him….” No matter what state we are in, our heav-enly Father always sees us—even while we are still faraway from Him. No matter what we have done, wecannot sin our way out of God’s grace. He is patientlywaiting to be gracious to us. “And therefore will the


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Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and there-fore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy uponyou: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are allthey that wait for him” (Isaiah 30:18). The Lord is notexalted by condemning or punishing us, but by givingus mercy.

When the father saw his son, he was moved withcompassion and ran to meet him. Some scholars saythat the father was singing as he ran toward his son. Itreminds me of Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord thy God inthe midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoiceover thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy overthee with singing.”

Upon reaching his son, the father fell on his neck,and began to kiss him repeatedly. I do not think that theson expected that kind of treatment, because when heleft home he did not really know his father’s heart. Henever comprehended his father’s nature of love andcompassion or the depth of his father’s purpose for himin his daily work.

As the father smothered him with kisses, the prodi-gal son tried to confess his sin. He said, “Father, I havesinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am nomore worthy to be called thy son” (verse 21). But thefather was not on the same train of thought as his son.While the son was thinking of what he had done, thefather was thinking of what he was going to do for hisson now that he was home again. This parable does notsay whether or not the father acknowledged the son’sconfession. Instead, the father addressed his servants


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and said, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him;and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: andbring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat andbe merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again;he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry”(Luke 15:22-24).

The father had waited all this time to be gracious tohis son, not to condemn him. His first expression ofgrace was in running to meet his son with compassionand smothering him with kisses. Then he put on a spe-cial party to honor the prodigal’s return home. Thefather gave him a robe, speaking of a covering of right-eousness. He gave him a ring, which served as a creditcard in those days. With the ring, the son could pur-chase anything he wanted. Then the father gave him apair of shoes, meaning he was restored in his walk.Finally, the fatted calf was killed so they could eattogether and be merry. Once again, they enjoyed theintimacy of fellowship.

This is what the “glorious gospel” is all about. Iknow that in my flesh dwells no good thing. I knowthat when I try to do good, evil is present with me. I cryout, “Who shall deliver me from the body of thisdeath?” At that moment, the glorious gospel of theFinished Work says, “No condemnation!” Stop strivingand trying to change. Just turn to the Lord, look uponHim, receive His mercy, grace, and unconditional love,and you will be transformed.

In the parable in Luke 15, the father was not occu-pied with the sin of his son, because Jesus Christ had


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paid for it. The father’s one desire was that his sonwould receive the gift of forgiveness, mercy, andunconditional love so that his life could be changed.When the prodigal received it, a new freedom enteredhis heart. He was a brand-new person. He would notcome back to his father as a hired servant but as a sonwith a full inheritance. There would be no punishmentand no probation.

The God we know is not waiting to hurt or woundpeople when they fail. He is a compassionate Fatherwaiting to forgive and forget, to run to us and smotherus with kisses of unconditional love. He embraces us.“His left hand is under my head, and his right handdoth embrace me” (Song of Solomon 2:6). Won’t youcome to Him by faith and get to know His heart, Hispurpose, and His personal love for you? If you havefailed, you may hear the still, small voice of the HolySpirit whisper, “Welcome home, son.”


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