Living By Faith

GRACE VS. LEGALISM

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace where in we stand… (Romans 5:2)

The mystery and the glory of the believer’s life is that your life is one with Him. – Mark Hankins

Salvation is the reuniting of God and man. God’s does not work on you while you are isolated from Him. He doesn’t gradually render you fit to be reunited to Him. Legalism teaches that God operates on you apart from Himself, but grace begins by uniting you to God. Through that union, He supplies the life and power necessary to bring you into His holiness.

Grace is the opposite of legalism. Legalism says that you are not good enough and will have to live in sin-consciousness for the rest of your life. Grace, however, says because of what Christ has done, your spirit is instantly joined to Christ.

God welcomes you because of faith in Christ. He takes you right in and gives you His righteousness. Consider the depth of this principle of the Gospel when it is applied: you are united with Christ!

Confession: I have access by faith into the grace of God. I rejoice in hope of the glory of God because of what Christ has done for me. I am dead to sin and alive unto God!

  • 0

SO BE IT

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, Gods Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. (2 Corinthians 1:20  Message)

You can go to church and walk out in the same condition you came in, even though you said, “Amen! Glory! Hallelujah!” in all the right places. Mark Hankins

Do you know what “Amen”means?  It means, “So be it.”  If you are in church and say, “Amen,” you are saying, “So be it.” You ought to consider what you “Amen.” Some people just say “Amen” at timed intervals. They are not even paying attention. One man was preaching and said, “You know, millions of people are going to hell every day.”  Then he said, “Amen.”  That means, “So be it. Let them go to hell, man. I don’t care.” You need to be careful when you say “Amen.”

Paul is saying, “Amen, so be it.”  Jesus is the Amen. Jesus, through His death, burial, and resurrection came and said, “So be it” to everything God has ever promised. He fulfilled it and brought the reality of it into the economy of God. It is no longer just a promise or just some theology; it is an absolute reality.

Confession: What God has promised is affirmative- no question about it!

  • 0

BE A “YES” MAN

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Anything God has ever promised in Christ is affirmative- no question about it! Mark Hankins

All the promises of God in Him are “yes.”  I have a pastor friend in Chicago who has a toy “yes man” sitting on his desk.  He is dressed nicely in a little suit, his hair is perfect, and his smile is just right.  This little “yes man” has a switch on his back and is voice-activated. Anytime my friend is having a conflict and cannot find anybody to agree with him, his “yes man” agrees with him.

Too often you put undue pressure on yourself to come up with the victory or the answer. All you need to do is agree with what God says in His Word. God is the

Genius, and you are the “yes man.”

Now look again at 2 Corinthians 1:20, “All the promises of God in him are yea.” You do not have to wonder if God might or might not want to bless you, help you, or give you what you have asked for. He said, “It is an absolute yes in Him!”

Confession: For as many as were the promises of God in Christ is the yes that fulfills them; therefore through Christ again let the Amen rise through us to the glory of God.  (2 Corinthians 1:20  Twentieth Century)

  • 0

LIVING IN THE HEAVENLY REALM

We found ourselves not only risen from death, but in Christ. In Christ who is in heaven therefore in the heavenly realm ourselves. (Ephesians 2:6  Carpenters)

When you pray and when you speak, things change in your family, your business, your body, and in nations. Mark Hankins

What is it like to be in the heavenly realm? What is it like to go beyond the veil of this earth, enter into theHoly of Holies by the blood of Jesus, and live in the heavenly realm? You not only have fellowship with the Father, but you have authority in this world. You speak and pray from this place of authority seated at the right hand of God. God is not going to do this for you; He has already done His part.

You might say, “I can’t figure this all out with my head.” That is why Paul said, “I am praying that God will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so the eyes of your heart will be flooded with light.”  The Holy Spirit will give you revelation and then you can relax and sit down!

Confession: God has raised me from death with Christ and given me a place to sit with Him in heaven. I now exercise the authority like that which Christ has in the presence of God!(Ephesians 2:6  Johnson and Cressman)

  • 0

A PLACE OF AUTHORITY

God raised us out of it all with Christ, and sat us down on the right hand of power with Him and gave us dominion. (Ephesians 2:6  Cornish)

Jesus took back the dominion that Adam lost, and you are in Him. Mark Hankins

We live so much in the flesh that our inclination is to completely focus on taking care of natural things with our reasoning alone. When you get in the Spirit, you learn to take your place by faith and the Spirit. You can sit down and say, “Devil, you have no power over me. You have no dominion over me. I have been delivered from the power of darkness. I have been translated into the kingdom of the Son of God. I am seated with Christ and now I have authority.”

By faith, climb up in the Spirit to who you are in Christ, take the Word of God, and say, “Oh, Father God, it is so good to be seated at your right hand, to call you Daddy, and to be an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. Oh, Father, it is so good to fellowship with You and enjoy the benefits of heaven. I do not have to wait until I get to heaven to be blessed. I am already seated in heavenly places. I have the same life, the same joy, the same peace, the same victory, and the same blessing.”

Confession: Jesus gave me dominion. He took back the dominion that Adam lost and I am in Him!

  • 0