Living By Faith

THE FINISHED WORK OF REDEMPTION

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit. (Zechariah 4:6)

If you are fighting everything in the natural, you are going to lose!
Mark Hankins

You give the devil the most trouble when you sit down! Take your place first of all in Christ, in the finished work of redemption, and sit down. If you are fighting everything in the natural, you are going to lose. So take your place in the Spirit in Christ and sit down.

Christ is the head, and you are in His body. You have the same righteousness, the same life, the same victory, and the same authority Christ has. Satan is far below you, and you are far above him. You had better get your binoculars out to see him because he is so far below you!

You can deal with life from a different perspective now. You can deal with your problems from a position of triumph and victory, not from a place of trying to get the victory. You are not helpless, hopeless, or trying to make something work. You should picture yourself as a believer seated at the right hand of God.

Confession: I am taking my place. I am going to sit down right now, and I am going to rest in what Jesus has already done. I do not need to fight in this battle. God fights in the battle and gives me the victory!

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SEATED WITH CHRIST

He gave us life together with Christ. And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
(Ephesians 2:5-6 Phillips)

Before you can stand against the wiles of the devil and walk the Christian walk, you must learn how to sit.
Mark Hankins

A few years ago, Watchman Nee wrote a little book called Sit, Walk, and Stand. It is a short but powerful book about the book of Ephesians. There is a very simple progression here: sit, walk, and stand. People want to stand against the devil as described in Ephesians 6. They want to learn how to walk the Christian walk as outlined in Ephesians 4, but they have never learned how to sit as described in Ephesians 2.

You must take your place in the finished work of Christ. By “finished,” I mean Jesus has already done everything He is going to do about the devil, your righteousness, and your victory in life. He has already (past tense) taken care of it. Jesus has defeated the devil, spoiled him, stripped him, disarmed him, established your righteousness, given you victory, and sat down. God has already taken care of your victory in life. You do not have to do it. All you have to do is sit down!

Confession: God has already taken care of the devil, my righteousness, and my victory in life! I am sitting down!

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THE SAME STUFF

I consider myself as having died and now enjoying a second existence, which is simply Jesus using my body. (Galatians 2:20 Distilled Bible)

You have an identical condition with Christ; He took your place in His death.
Mark Hankins

Paul understood that Christ lives in you and me. What does this mean? It means you have the same righteousness, the same life, the same power, the same triumph, the same spirit, the same stuff, and the same blessing Christ has. You are an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ. You are joined to Him. Your spirit is joined to Christ. This makes it difficult to be defeated, doesn’t it? Paul understood that Christ lives in you and me.

Jesus was made to be sin for us on the cross. He took our sin. He died our death, and He took our place. When you see the cross, you see man’s condition in Adam, which is man’s condition outside of God. Man is a sinner separated from God. Jesus died the death of the sinner; He was treated the same as a sinner would be in the sight of God.

He took the same condition you had, so when He was raised from the dead, you could have that identical condition. He took your place in His death, thereby giving you the same life He has in His resurrection.

Confession: I have the same righteousness, the same life, the same power, the same triumph, the same spirit, the same stuff, and the same blessing Christ has!

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DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS

Christ took me to the cross with Him, and I died there with Him. Now it is not my old self but Christ Himself who lives in me. (Galatians 2:20 Laubach)

Whatever is in Christ is in you.
Mark Hankins

The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ can be studied from a number of different viewpoints. Many times people see Jesus on the cross, but they identify with one of the thieves or the Roman soldiers, who were saying, “Crucify Him!” They may identify with some of the disciples who ran off or with the crowd. What God saw in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is that you were identified with Christ Himself.

What happened to Christ happened on your behalf, so you were crucified with Him. You died with Him. You descended into the grave with Him, but on the third day you were declared righteous with Him. You were made alive with Him. You triumphed with Him. You were raised with Him. You sat down with Him. You reign with Him. He is the Head and you are a member of His body. Whatever is in Him is in you!

Confession: Christ lives in me! I was declared righteous with Him! I was made alive in Him!

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UNFOLDING THE WAY GOD SEES

…the spirit of wisdom and revelation…and the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know… (Ephesians 1:17-18)

Revelations knowledge unfolds the way God sees you and what God says about you.
Mark Hankins

Revelation knowledge is different than sense knowledge. Revelation knowledge unfolds to you the way God sees you and what God says about you. It is not what your parents said about you, what you have said about yourself, what other people have said about you, or even what your own natural experience says about you. Revelation knowledge simply says, “I am who God says I am. I have what God says I have. I can do what God says I can do.”

You can have a sentimental view of the cross. You can have crosses on your wall and Bibles all over your house and still never really know your identification with Christ. But once the eyes of your heart are flooded with the light of the glorious Gospel, you see what God did in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. You see that God did everything for you.

Confession: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. (Galatians 2:20)

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