SPIRITUAL WEAPONS OF WARFARE 12

SPIRITUAL WEAPONS OF WARFARE 12
Yesterday, we started looking at RIGHTEOUSNESS. I said that Righteousness is the nature of God imparted into our spirits when we gave our lives to Christ. The Sin nature/gene passed down to all humanity is responsible for all the evils in the world today. The solution first of all is not a change of behaviour but A CHANGE OF NATURE. This is what God has done for us through Christ.
But, what we observe in the Body of Christ is that even though MANY OF US HAVE HAD A NEW NATURE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, YET, OUR CHARACTERS DO NOT MATCH UP WITH OUR NATURE. What is the solution? What will stop the manifestations of sin in a believer?
                  DEATH
Paul the Apostle has given us the solution by the Spirit. The same way Jesus died to sin is the same way we must die(not physically but spiritually) to sin.
Please,  I implore everyone of us to study Romans 6 again and again until this truth dawns on us.

Rom  6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
6:11 Likewise reckon ye also Notice  to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Notice Verse 7. He that is dead is FREE FROM SIN. It means all of us commit sin now to the degree of our death to it.
To be dead to sin means to have nothing to do with it or to be totally separated from it. Having our OLD MAN crucified means to have no further dealings with him.
Reckon/impute/consign yourself to be DEAD indeed to sin but ALIVE TO GOD. In the New Testament, SINNING IS BY CHOICE. It means you can do something about it.
Paul says to the thief  that he/she can stop stealing, you can put away lies. Eph. 5:22-32.
THROUGH THE SPIRIT MORTIFY THE DEEDS OF THE FLESH. Rom. 8:13.
Mortify/Crucify/Consign/Put to Death/Reckon body to be dead indeed to sin. Gal. 5:26, Col.3:1-5, 1 Cor. 9:27.
 Sin shall not LORD IT OVER/DOMINATE/RULE you. You are not a slave to sin.

SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS VS. CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS
Self righteousness is when a person  is trying to please God/obey God's commandments through the energy of the flesh. The best form of righteousness obtainable from this practice is A FILTHY RAG BEFORE GOD. Is. 64:6, Phi. 3:9. The righteousness that we have in Christ has been given to us FREELY. We didn't work for it. Our fellowship with Christ through the Holy Spirit makes us to bear FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Phi. 1:11, Heb. 12:11, James 3:18.


ROMANS 3 VS. 23 SAGA
Rom. 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

There are a lot of Church denominations that are fond of quoting this verse especially when they want to lead prayers of forgiveness. This is wrong in many ways:
1. A close look at the passage reveals that the statement is INCOMPLETE. A complete sentence ends with a FULL STOP. The FULL STOP came in the TWENTY-SIXTH verse.

2. Paul's emphasis wasn't on Vs 23. Rather, it was on the salvation that  came to us by grace through faith in Jesus.

3. The whole book of Romans was dedicated to defending that SALVATION IS BY GRACE AND NOT BY THE LAW.
If you stop in ROM. 3:23, it will seems as if God has not solved the problem stated there. God has solved the sin problem.


OTHER THINGS ABOUT RIGHTEOUSNESS

Righteousness enables a believer to stand FEARLESSLY before the Devil.
When the consciousness of righteousness get a hold of a believer, he/she will be able to boldly claim his/her redemptive rights and privileges. When the devil comes against you, you will stand fast in the liberty that Christ has given to you. Faith will become an unconscious response because you know who you are. You will be able to resist the Devil and put to flight the armies of the aliens that want to encroach into your territory.
 The first thing the Devil attacks in the life of a believer IS YOUR STAND WITH GOD. He will whip you a thousand times over if he is successful at convincing/deceiving you that you are not in good terms with God.
He does this by making you to fall into sin or bringing your past against you. He magnifies your weaknesses, flaws and failures until he gets you to the place of depression. When this aggravates, it will tell on every areas of your life.
The Devil is a liar.
Righteousness is your defense against every onslaught of the Devil. Stand fast and enforce your redemptive rights.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A WEAPON OF WARFARE
The staff of rulership in this Kingdom is RIGHTEOUSNESS.  Heb. 1:8, Ps. 45:6.
It is the RECEIPT OF OUR PARDON AND FREEDOM FROM SIN. It is on the basis of righteousness that we can stand against the devil. Listen to me, righteousness is your last weapon of defense. If you look at the armour that a Roman Soldier puts on, the last thing to defend his heart is THE BREASTPLATE. In the same vane, the last defense for your heart(spirit) is THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. If it is taken away, then, your spirit is now completely opened to the Devil's assault. May this not be your lot in Jesus' name.

DO YOU LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS?

Heb  1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Two things are noteworthy in the above scriptures:
We can weird the authority in the name of Jesus today because of RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Again, notice a SPECIAL ANOINTING that came upon Jesus because of His love for righteousness and His hatred for iniquity. There are many believers today that claimed to love righteousness but THEY DON'T HATE INIQUITY.
May you get there. There is an HATRED FOR INIQUITY. There is an acceptable anger against ungodliness.  Elijah so much hated the wayward life people are living in his days that he petitioned Heaven against them. Thus was how he got the authority to shut the Heaven against Israel.

 You see, the first step to change things is dissatisfaction with the statuo squo. People are messing up around you and it doesn't really bother. I say the truth, something is sincerely wrong with you. Have you read 2 Cor. 2:14 before?

2 Cor  2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
  2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

Paul is saying to us here that THERE IS A FRAGRANCE OF GOD THAT SHOULD BE OOZING OUT OF US AS BELIEVERS THAT SHOULD EITHER REPEL PEOPLE THAT DON'T WANT TO BE SAVED OR ATTRACT PEOPLE THAT WANTS TO BE SAVED.

This is one GOOD LITMUS TEST OF A TRUE BELIEVER.
You must LOVE righteousness and HATE iniquity. If everyone around you are not living right with God and nothing about you is convicting (NOT CONDEMNING) them of their sins, you are wrong. At least, part of the ministry of the Holy Ghost is that He will convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment... John 16:7-15.

THE SKILLFULNESS IN THE WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Heb. 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

The skillfulness in the WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS differentiate between a babe and an adult believer. By the reason of use, you can become proficient in the word of righteousness. Skillfulness in the word of righteousness goes beyond all these mere mouth confessions that people do nowadays without experience. We are talking about an experiential knowledge in righteousness. We are talking about the stage where:

RIGHT STANDING IS PRODUCING RIGHT DOING,

A STAGE WHERE YOU CAN FULLY LAY CLAIM ON YOUR ON YOUR REDEMPTIVE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES,

A STAGE WHERE YOU ARE FREE FROM SIN CONSCIOUSNESS,

A STAGE WHERE YOUR LOVE FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS REPELS INIQUITIES FROM YOU.
This is the noble call of all believers.
We have become THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST. Let our words and CONDUCTS show it. Thank you very much.
Tomorrow's topic is THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.

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