You Are Robed In Righteousness- Lavish Day 9

I apologize for the break in transmission. I was at a church camp meeting and it was really intense.

You are robed in righteousness by God. He has clothed you in the garments of righteousness. God Himself has made you like him by reason of his death on the cross. You are righteous and holy. You are perfect and lacking nothing. God dwells inside of you. His fullness is pleased to dwell within you. You are Imago Dei, the express image of God.

'I say, ‘You are gods; you are all children of the Most High. '

Psalms 82:6

You’re not trying to be like God. You are already like Him. His Spirit dwells within you. It’s not a feeling, it’s a fact. Just like a baby is born and grows without necessary feeling anything, so it is with you. God’s Spirit takes residence in you once you place your faith in Christ for salvation and you become a new creation. You begin to function as you were originally made to, and your nature is changed from one that is by default prone to sin to one that is by default prone to righteousness. This is not about self effort. Just as you put no effort into inheriting Adam’s curse of death, so it is with inheriting Christ’s blessing of life. All you need to do is consciously believe.

The God-Life gives you POWER to overcome sin.

Again,

'I say, ‘You are gods; you are all children of the Most High. '

Psalms 82:6

'Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.'

Galatians 2:16-21

Christ died and erased every record of sin against you forever. Not only did He do that, He gave you the POWER by HIS SPIRIT, to overcome sin.

Just like common sense gives you the power not to eat shit when you see it, so the life giving Spirit gives you the power to overcome sin. However, just like with common sense, you can choose to override the Spirit by your own will. This doesn’t mean that you’re not saved or you don’t have the Spirit of God in you, it means that you haven’t feasted on God’s word enough for your mind to be renewed to the level where you can begin to exhibit the life of God in you.

A baby has a brain. However without the parents and other members of society teaching the baby how to distinguish between right and wrong, the baby can eat shit without caring. It is the same thing with life in Christ. When you are born again, you must submit yourself to a process of mind renewal so you can grow in the faith and become more like Christ. The primary way this is carried out is by the consistent reading, studying and meditation of the word of God. This is the reason you’re struggling to overcome sin. Your mind is not renewed. You’re not aware of who you are and the POWER that you have through God’s Spirit (not your own strength), to live above sin.

'You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. '

Hebrews 5:12-13

My personal testimony is that when I accepted Christ and became his disciple, as I read a single chapter of the Bible everyday consistently, I watched myself transform! I understood what Christ had done for me and I believed His word and placed a demand on it through faith for it to become a reality in my life. Bad habits I was engaging in before then, simply just stopped. I had zero interest in indulging in them anymore. I began to understand just how evil sin was and I started to exercise my authority to live above it. Before I came to Christ, I really used to enjoy reading erotica and watching porn. From the day I accepted Christ to this day, I have never read it. Not because I was trying so hard to change but because MY EYES WERE OPENED. There was a greater glory, I was clothed in righteousness. I realised that I had become the Child of the God who created the whole world, why would I want to keep eating shit?

I would read about the power and authority that I had in Christ and get so excited! Like wow! You mean I can tread on snakes and scorpions and not be hurt? You mean nothing can harm me and I don’t have to be afraid of Satan because I have authority over him through Christ?

I read about how the Spirit came upon the disciples and they started speaking in tongues. My logic was simple, if the Spirit came upon them and they got a special prayer language and the same Spirit dwells in me, then I have the capacity to speak in tongues. So I played a worship song. Right there in my school hostel, I started to pray in tongues. No it wasn’t dramatic. Nobody was there to lay hands on me. It began with a stammer, but as I continued to exercise it, it flowed more. If I wasn’t reading the Bible, I wouldn’t have understood what I had access to by accepting Christ. Not only did my character transform and my love for God grow, l also began to flow in the gifts of the Spirit.

One Spirit made all of this possible for me and that same Spirit dwells in you! All you have to do is believe! There is nothing that is impossible for me to do by virtue of the Spirit of God that dwells within me. If the occasion calls for me to lift up a house, I FIRMLY believe that the Spirit of God will supply me the strength to do so. It is not about me. It is all about the limitless power of the Holy Spirit. So when I lay hands on the sick and they are healed, or when I cast out devils from people, it’s not because I am perfect, special or more spiritual, it is simply because I am aware of the power of the life giving Spirit that dwells in me. I believe in Christ, and His Spirit dwells in me. I am beyond human. I am a new creation and I am really enjoying exploring all the possibilities that exist to me because of life in the Spirit. Guess what? You can too. EVERYTHING IS REPLICABLE. It is a pattern. You cannot be the exception to something that has worked in the lives of millions of people for millennia.

In conclusion,

'Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. '

Romans 8:12-14

Will the temptations come? Yes. You don’t want to know how many times I’m tempted to do what I know to be clearly wrong. The good news is that, by the power of the Spirit, you have the capacity to choose life and overcome sin. You can say no. You are not powerless or helpless against sin.