Advancing Life From Within

By Stephen R. Phinney

Based on the textbook:

IDENTITY MATTERS®

77 Truths for the Seven Areas of Life By Dr. Stephen R. Phinney

I THE WORKBOOK & CONFERENCE GUIDE

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My Beloved Daughter, Jessica (Kiwi)

It has been one of my greatest delights to see God advance you in the Truths of knowing who you are in Christ!

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THE HOLY WORD OF GOD

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Identity Matters®

Copyright © 1999, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 by IOM America. Author: Dr. Stephen R. Phinney

ISBN: 978-1-312-01216-5 Printed in the United States of America LuLu Press, Inc. IOM America P.O. Box 71 Sterling, Kansas 67579 (602) 292-2982 www.iomamerica.org ChristAsLife@iomamerica.org Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Phinney, Stephen Ray Identity Matters® Workbook & Conference Guide: Advancing Life From Within © 2014 Exchanging Life Publishing Cover Design: Inphinnety Designs Editing: Kathy Hill (Colorado Springs, CO)

Jane Phinney, Melissa Jaquez, Jess Phinney (Sterling, KS)

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My Deepest Appreciation: A special thank you goes out to numerous family members, friends, and colleagues. I will be forever grateful:

To my wife, Jane: “The lady who makes her home in my heart”. Her love and commitment to

me over the years has been a source of strength, stability, wisdom, insight, and character. Without her, I don’t think I would have ever grasped the reality of the power of the indwelling life of Christ and having a deep love for the Word of God. Thank you my beloved!

To my family: I am grateful to each member for allowing me to trip and stumble until the

indwelling Life of Christ became a reality!

To my dear mentor and friend Dr. Charles Solomon: I thank you for your dedication in devoting your life to the personal discoveries of the Exchanging Life of Christ. Each of the diagrams and written content within this workbook and conference guide was influenced by the Lord using you, your ministry, and product design. Thank you!

To Victorious Christian Living International: It is through my 10 years of service with this

organization that God revealed the practical elements of living out the Exchanged Life. It was through my daily responsibilities of designing and implementing diagrams for this ministry that became the basis of this project.

To my teachers and mentors: My heart will be forever grateful for Nick Harrison, Oswald

Chambers, Andrew Murray, David Needham, Jack Taylor, Stephen Olford, John Woodward, Bill Gillham, Ian Thomas, F.B. Meyer, Watchman Nee, Hannah Whitall Smith, Miles Stanford, Charles Trumbull, Mike Wells, Bob George, Randy Alcon, and Greg Burts.

To all of our trainees and students: I thank each of you for not only attending training events,

but presenting questions that challenge me to explore the Word of God for His answers and cause me to look deeper at the indwelling Life of Christ. And thank you to the donors, readers, and printers who God used to put this study into the hands of all those desiring to be workers, teachers, and Bridal members willing to live out the Exchanged Life.

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Section Page Preface (Exchanged Life Workers)…….……………..…………………….… 9 Conference Topics…………………………………..………………………….. 15 Exchanged Life Dictionary…………………..……..………………………….. 17 Note Page……………………………………………………………………….. 28

LESSONS:

INTRODUCTION: Discipleship In The Making……………….…………..… 29 Note Page…………………………………………..…………………………… 38

LESSON ONE: GODSHIP – Playing God……..…………..……………….... 39 Godship Action Page……….…………………….……………………………. 47 Note Page………………………………..…..………………..……………….. 48 LESSON TWO: REJECTION…………….………………….…………….….. 49 Rejection Action Page…..……………….…………………………………….. 57 Note Page…………….………………………………………………….….…... 58

LESSON THREE: EXTERNAL/INTERNAL….…………………….………... 59 External/Internal Action Page…….….……………………......……………... 65 Note Page…………..………………………....………………....…………….. 66 LESSON FOUR: PROBLEMS…………………………………….………..… 67 Problems Action Page…….………………………...................................... 74 Note Page ………….…………………………....……………………………… 74 LESSON FIVE: MY FLESH - GOD’S ENEMY………………….…………… 75 My Flesh Action Page ……………..………………………............................. 81 Note Page…………………..………….…………………………....…………... 82 LESSON SIX: REPENTANCE ………………………………………….….…. 83 The U-Turn of Repentance Action Page ……………..……………………… 89 Note Page…………………..………….…………………………....………….. 90 LESSON SEVEN: KNOWING WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST………………. 91 Identity Matters Action Page……………..………………………................. 103 Note Page…………………..………….…………………………....………….. 104 LESSON EIGHT: RIGHTEOUSNESS………..……………………………... 105 The Truest Things About Me Action Page ……………..………………….... 112 Phinney Poem………….……..………………………………………………… Note Page…………….…………………………....…………………………….

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LESSON NINE: EXTENDING FORGIVENESS…………….……………….. 115 Test of Forgiveness Action Page ……………..…………………………........ 126 Note Page…………………..………….…………………………....………….. 128

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LESSON TEN: SEEKING FORGIVENESS………………….……………… 129 Knowing How To Seek Forgiveness Action Page ………….……………..... 135 Note Page……………………………………………………………………….. 137-8

LESSON ELEVEN: REST, ABIDE, AND WALK………..…………..…….. 139 Rest, Abide, and Walk Action Page……………..……………………………. 147 Note Page ………….……………………………………….……....………….. 148 LESSON TWELVE: LOVE LIFE – GIVING LIFE TO OTHERS……..…..… 149 Note Page…………………………………..…………….…………………....... 155-6 APPENDIX………………………….………………………..…………..……… 157 Important Prayers…………………………..…………….……………………..

Extending Forgiveness Prayer Repentance Prayer

Identity Prayer Salvation Prayer

158 158 158 159 159

Important Scriptures…………………………………………………………… Faith

The Love of God Eternity

Praising His Holy Name Serving the Lord

Obedience The Fleshly Mind

Grace of God The Holy Spirit

Faithfulness The Bride of Christ

Being A Steward

160 160 161 162 163 165 166 168 169 171 174 177

Dr. Phinney’s Life Mission……………………………………………………... 179 Recommended Reading……………………………………………………….. 181 Note Pages……………………………………………………………………… 182-5

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Exchanged Life Workers

I am the kind of man who enjoys having a tool in my toolbox for all kinds of projects – not to say that I do “projects,” but it is certainly a goal. Tools have their true value when they are obviously used for their intended purpose. Just as you would not use a pair of pliers to hammer in a nail, you wouldn’t use an unbiblical “Christian counselor” to disciple a hurting soul with the Exchanged Life. Personally, I believe that a Truth-trained Exchanged Life preacher, teacher, or counselor is a choice tool in the Master Craftsman’s (God’s) toolbox.

Owning a library filled with Bibles and Exchanged Life books does not make one a dynamic Exchanged Life worker, any more than owning a $1,200 toolbox filled with $7,000 worth of great tools makes one a great mechanic. The goal and purpose of this writing project is to put at the disposal of the Exchanged Life worker inspiration, information, Scriptural insights, and resources. These will, when used through the indwelling power of Christ, enable the reader to minister meaningfully, purposefully, and deliberately regarding any of the seven areas of life.

This series is one of hope and renewal. It is aimed at equipping individuals and families to stand and walk free in completeness, in the indwelling life of Jesus Christ, by the miraculous mystery of the Holy Spirit within us. This is the key to renewal in the Church, as well. The Identity Truths Workbook and Conference Guide is offered to assist all indwelt Christians to be better equipped in communicating the Exchanged Life – from the beginner to the advanced believer.

As a teacher of the Word, I see human life being divided into seven primary areas: physical, spiritual, psychological, social, financial, marital, and parental. These areas address and apply to every person – past, present, and future. Effectual living has seven primary requirements, assuming one is indwelt by the life of Christ: Repentance (misusing the vessel of God), Identification in Christ (putting away old self), Disciplines (learning to walk), Obedience (accepting the ways of God), Fruit of the Spirit (manifestation of the indwelling life of Christ), Victory (walking out the Truth), and Vision (our calling). Relating these seven “requirements” within each of the seven areas of life produces a miraculous formula for living out the Exchanged Life.

The Exchanged Life Worker

When I use the term “exchanged life worker,” I am addressing each and every indwelt Christian who has a desire to learn more about how to allow the life of Christ to minister (or live) through their mortal being.

“And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another” (Romans 15:14).

God gave us the ability, through the life of Christ within us, to admonish (put in the mind) one another in order to assist our Groom in keeping each of His Bridal members on the same road. The question begging to be asked is, “What exactly are we to be putting into each other’s mind?” That is the question this series will continuously address.

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The commission to admonish one another does come with some restrictions and guidelines. For example: “And not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6). A worker who is brand new in faith should not be given spiritual responsibility for others. The person who has not grown through obedience to the Word is not one who has been given wisdom of competence to minister to others (Heb. 5:12-14). Also keep in mind that an indwelt Christian who is aged as a believer, but has walked after their flesh most of their Christian journey, is still to be classified as “new in their faith.” The reason for this is the wisdom of obedience has not settled into experience. The worker we should consider as a candidate for overseeing another soul, first, needs to be well-groomed in experiential knowledge of Truth. The life of a worker is to be characterized by the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Does this mean a worker must be “perfect” in function and order? Absolutely not! It means that to be effective as an exchanged life worker, one must show a record of a consistent and lengthy ability to walk after the Spirit. This person needs historical genuineness, authenticity, and evidence of the overflow of Christ flowing through him/her. This is where we get the idea of a dynamic view of ministry being an overflow of one life into another. The obvious is a life that is not full, cannot function when overfilled – overflow, walking by the Spirit in obedience to God’s Truth. The evidence is seen in the believer’s day-to-day response to Christ within, to what the Holy Scriptures say, and certainly, the ability to withstand reproofs of life that come from the hand of God. After the many years of counseling and discipling God’s hurting souls, I have come to embrace one clear factor in determining a candidate’s measurement of grace in understanding the Exchanged Life – How does the believer respond to the reproofs of life? Is he/she willing to be involved in confessing, confronting, and/or forgiveness? Is he/she willing to do whatever is necessary for their healing, in order to make their life more at rest and peace? These seven “requirements” for victorious living need to be evidenced in the qualified worker in order to step into a life of overflow. This way, the worker will not minister to others because he/she “must” or “has to.” Each worker will minister because he is compelled to manifest the overflowing Life of Christ into another. In our present era of the post-modern church (everything is pointless), most minister to others because they are paid to, or minimally want something in return. What Christ Jesus is hunting for is urgency in the worker to minister because of what He said: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38). This is the most desired description of an Exchanged Life worker. The apostle Paul described a Christ as Life worker as “filled with knowledge.” The type of knowledge he is referencing here is not what he learned by the wisdom of men, in the institutions of men; but rather, from the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:2). In our post-modern times, we lead people to Christ, require them to pay a minimum of $80,000 for a degree in ministry, negotiate a salary, and then commission them to work. In the days of Jesus, He oftentimes would pick men of higher education, but then He would “dumb them down.” Why? So He could fill them with the purity of the knowledge of the mind of Christ. The Scripture quoted below is my life passage as an Exchanged Life worker. Please read it carefully:

“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of

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the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, ‘THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:1-14, emphasis added).

I consider the above passage to be the absolute key to all believers who have a desire to minister to others. For the sake of illustration, I want to write a paraphrase depicting the post-modern version of ministry we are faced with today. Post-Modern Incorrect View of 1 Corinthians 2:1-14:

When I came to minister to my counselees, I did so in superiority of speech and wisdom, proclaiming to you what I learned in school. For I determine to know as much as I can from my studies, even how to add Jesus Christ and Him crucified to my method. I counseled you in strength and confidence and in much stability, and my message and counseling were in persuasive words and methods of wisdom I learned in school, not by an uneducated view of laymen. And because of this, I implore you to grow in your faith; but trust your counseling process to me, since I am credentialed to help you psychologically. For I speak a wisdom among those who are mature and degreed to assist the hurting. As for the wisdom of God, He uses the positions of the world to assist in His children’s recovery progress. As for me, the good Lord revealed the root reasons for your troubles through a skill I learned as a qualified counselor. I have learned to search out your social history and the very depths of your mind through the methods I have learned. For how can I know your thoughts unless I ask the right questions and test you accordingly? Much like my walk with God, how can I know Him unless I memorize and study His Word. I have received degrees from the world and the Spirit of God, so that I can deliberate on the wisdom I gained in school and those taught me by the Bible, combining my degreed knowledge and Bible reflections.

It sounds like I am down on information and education. Actually, I am – at least when it comes to using it as a qualification to minister to others. Shame on us for implanting a covert and hidden sense for the need of educating Jesus within us once we become born-again! Nowhere in Scripture does God even hint at sending converts back into the world

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to be educated to counsel, teach, or preach to the souls of His hurting children – nowhere. Why has the Church gone emergent or Laodician? It is a very short walk in the park for that answer. “The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecc. 12:10-14, emphasis added). The totality of the world’s knowledge at the time of Christ, we are told, doubled by about AD 1750. It doubled again in 1900, again by 1950, again by 1960, and another by 1963. Upon the introduction of the information age (internet), I am told, it is presently immeasurable as to how much knowledge humanity is exposed to daily. What that means is knowledge has gone exponential (transcendently immeasurable). If our above passage is true, the more knowledge we take in, the sicker we and our society will become. Every ounce of knowledge requires a pound of actions. If a believer in Jesus Christ is to counsel/disciple, he must know the life of Christ from the inside out. A believer is to know Jesus as Savior and Lord in “thought.” But he is also to have experiential knowledge of embracing Christ’s life within, which will give the believer the source of all wisdom, knowledge, and manifestations of the works of God. Each believer must be willing to grow in that Truth! It is only as much as a believer knows God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, as the Source of ALL power and wisdom, that he will be able to point others in the way, the Truth, and the life of Jesus, Himself. “For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power” (1 Corinthians 4:20). Since our goal is not to be degreed, qualified, or accepted by the standards and words of man or their institutions, what must a believer do to have this power? “Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge; for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, that they may be ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have taught you today, even you. Have I not written to you excellent things of counsels and knowledge, to make you know the certainty of the words of truth that you may correctly answer him who sent you?” (Proverbs 22:17-21). First of all, a believer who has a desire to help others must accept the fact that unless a worker is born-again (received Jesus Christ into his mortal body through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit), he has no ability or power to help others. Anyone who helps outside this requirement is simply putting a Band-Aid® on a victim who is bleeding to death. A person cannot have overflow unless he is filled. Secondly, workers must not only know what the Bible says, but also be able to apply truth to life situations. While it is valuable and critically important to know the theology of the Word, it is even more critical to know the application of Scriptural truth to daily living. Jesus Himself demonstrated this on many occasions, by lifting statements out of the Old Testament Law and prophecy to explain His own actions or to correct another’s wrong thinking. Not only did He do a refined job of this during His walk on earth, He uses the same technique and method in and through the believer, by making use of His overflowing Life and the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling each believer. Jesus often referred to this process as the “key of knowledge.” He was quick to correct the educated theologians of

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His day for their ivory-tower schooled arrogance, which led them to “know the truth” by book, but not by heart. "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering" (Luke 11:52). So many post-modern churches, today, suffer with this acute dilemma: “Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

Seven Points of Competence: 1. Must be indwelt by the life of Jesus Christ – born-again. 2. Demonstrates a lifestyle of obedience and victorious living. 3. Growing in the grace of the key of knowledge, by being teachable and correctable. 4. A true and honest listener who fears not correcting in Truth. 5. A believer of the power of faith and the supernatural gifts of the Spirit. 6. Secure in one’s identity in Christ. 7. Confident in the authority of Christ and authoritive structure of the Church.

There is a massive difference between a “Christian Counselor,” a counselor who is a Christian, and a Christ as Life counselor. The Christian counselor, and most dangerous type, could define any worker who systematically, or not, applies biblical principles to their model. The second is the least threatening, because counselors who are Christian are not making claims to be “Christian” about their field of work. They are classically admitting to being a counselor who happens to have Jesus in their life. They give counsel that is humanistic in orientation, having been based in the presuppositions of secular models and teachings from a “Christian” school of thought, or not. The third, and truest, is the Christ as Life counselor – a believer who not only wants to make it known he is a born-again indwelt Christian, but also desires to have Christ in him doing the counseling through him. All can have a “pure” motive in helping others, but only one allows the Power (indwelt Christ) to do so. People helpers, who fail to embrace the Exchanging Life of Christ and/or don’t allow the great Counselor within to do the work through them, NOT only lead those they are assisting away from help, but away from Christ, Himself. To truly offer transformation in Christ, a helper in Christ must know the source of real life, the practical application of that life, and most importantly, who offers this life. A helper will be more effective by embracing and understanding how to use the Exchanging Life of Christ in its most practical way.

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Terms & Definitions

Introduction, Discipleship in the Making: Many self-proclaimed “Christians” put their entire Christian experience in the day of their Salvation. Once saved, they continue to function by making use of their own mind, will, and emotions. This weakness sets all indwelt Christians in a position of needing discipleship, thus needing a Christ as Life Discipleship method. Godship: A simple term to describe what the Word defines as the number one problem in life — mankind attempting to function as their own god in the lives of self, others, and even God. This includes suffering with divorce, suicide, eating problems, depression, or any other common problem with the self-life. Most of the time, it falls under the category of Godship -- finding ways to fix the fix that God has fixed on you to stop fixing life through self-effort. Our ministry has learned that the act of “playing God” helps us to identify the real problem in each of the lives to whom we reach out. We have also learned that the most common consequence of Godship is “rejection” (Gen. 3:5). Rejection is withholding love from self, others, and God. There are two types of rejection: overt and covert. Overt rejection is “obvious or known” rejection -- for example, I hate you! Covert rejection is “subtle or unknown” rejection -- for example, smiling on the outside while judging on the inside. Both of these forms of rejection are consequences of Godship applied, either by self or from others. Without question, we believe that rejection leads to individuals attempting to find life “externally” (Romans 15:7). External/Internal is an individual attempting to gain love, acceptance, and significance from external resources -- idolatry. Since Godship sets up “self-rule,” the individual works to turn negative externals into positive ones, by making use of self-effort. Problems are direct consequences of self-life efforts. God then uses these problems to bring the believer to the end of their own resources, or self-life, in order to create a dependence on Christ’s Life from within. We believe that suffering is the key component to learning obedience to Christ Jesus, who actually lives in the born-again believer. It is these problems that reveal the person’s flesh (Heb. 5:8). My Flesh exhibits patterns, reactions, and/or sinful actions that reveal (my) an individual’s self-life -- trash left behind by the old nature. These fleshly reactions lead the believer to Life (Christ) or death (flesh) decisions. If the believer continues to choose self-life decisions, we believe God will bring this person to the end of himself through consequences formed by their own flesh. This, without question, leads the person to repentance (Luke 9:23). Repentance is the process of confessing one’s sins, turning away from the self-life, and returning to a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ from the inside out. This cannot be done effectively unless the Holy Spirit brings revelation to specific areas of the flesh that rise up against Jesus Christ. Once true repentance has occurred, the indwelt Christian can begin to apply their identity in Christ to all of life’s situations and circumstances (Psalm 119:59). Identity Matters is an experiential embrace and understanding of the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension -- in daily living. This is what we call the Exchanged Life. When an individual has a born-again experience by faith, it means the Life of Christ comes and indwells the believer through the

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personhood of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ Jesus). The reality of this transformation allows for a true exchange of our old nature, or Adamic history, for that of the Nature of God through Christ. In knowing this, we become partakers of all that is true about Christ through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Now the believer is in a position to appropriate their true identity in Christ and begin to live out that he is literally the righteousness of Christ (Galatians 2:20). Righteousness is an indwelt believer’s expression, function, and lifestyle of releasing the Life of Christ from within. Once a born-again believer begins to appropriate their position in Christ, their condition is soon to change, simply by watching the evidence of His Life being manifested through their mind, will, and emotions. This means that when life’s circumstances are put before him, he can choose to release the Life of Christ to do the doing through him. This is a perfect setup for learning how to extend forgiveness to others (2 Corinthians 5:21). Extending Forgiveness before God, in prayer, is forgiving anyone who has hurt you. Once an indwelt believer gets to this point, he is usually quick to release all anger and pain before God, extending forgiveness to those who initially hurt him, and in many cases, is ready to seek forgiveness from others whom he has hurt (Matt. 5:22-24). Seeking Forgiveness is the process of going to an individual whom you have offended by action or reaction, seeking their forgiveness, and restoring the relationship when possible. Once the believer has extended forgiveness before God on how he was hurt, he usually is released to go and seek the forgiveness for his part in the offense. It is in this process that we explain to the indwelt believer how to do this in detail. We find that when a believer reaches this stage of discipleship, he begins to rest, abide, and walk in the Spirit in the truest sense. Resting, Abiding, and Walking are the result of appropriating true forgiveness in all areas of life. It is living in the present, releasing the Life of Christ in you to be obedient to the Father through your mind, will, and emotions. When an indwelt believer gets to this point in growth, he is able to confront the self-centered view of life and to embrace the challenge of releasing the mind of Christ from within. Resting in Christ is a perfect place to be in showing the Love Life of Jesus (Matt. 11:28). Love Life is the pinnacle of the Christian Life. Once appropriating the above 11 steps, the indwelt believer begins to reveal the two primary commandments Christ spoke: love the Lord with your whole heart and secondly, love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 1:30-31). The result is when we obey, we have no condemnation. When we have no condemnation, we have confidence toward God. Then, whatever we ask through Christ, we receive (1 John 3:21-22).

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Terms & Definitions of the Exchanged Life

HUDSON TAYLOR father of the term: “Exchanged Life” "God has made me a new man! God has made me a new man!" “Do you know, I now think that this striving, longing, hoping for better days to come is not the true way to holiness, happiness or usefulness. It is better, no doubt, far better than being satisfied with poor attainments, but not the best way after all. I have been struck with a passage from a book... entitled Christ is All It says, ‘The Lord Jesus received is holiness begun; the Lord Jesus cherished is holiness advancing; the Lord Jesus counted upon as never absent would be holiness complete. He is most holy who has most of Christ within, and joys most fully in the finished work...’” “How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself as revealed to us in the Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith... but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and eternity.” “... I looked to Jesus, and when I saw – oh, how joy flowed!” “It was resting in Jesus now, and letting Him do the work – which makes all the difference. Whenever he spoke in meetings after that, a new power seemed to flow from him, and in the practical things of life a new peace possessed him. Troubles did not worry him as before. He cast everything on God in a new way, and gave more time to prayer.” “It was the exchanged life that had come to me – the life that is indeed "No longer I"... It was a blessed reality ‘Christ liveth in me.’ And how great the difference! – instead of bondage, liberty; instead of failure, quiet victories within; instead of fear and weakness, a restful sense of sufficiency in Another.” -Hudson Taylor Excerpts from: Chapter 14 (The Exchanged Life) by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor. Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009). Book first published in 1932.

Terms Used in Sharing the Exchanged Life

Abiding Life

An indwelt Christian resting, trusting, and continually yielding to the Life of Christ living inside (Romans 6:13).

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Abundant Living

A lifestyle of walking after the indwelling Spirit of Christ through a consistent, yielding process within the mind, will, and emotions.

Acceptance in Christ

Complete and unmerited favor offered to those who are in Christ through the forgiveness of sins – past, present, and future. Acceptance is the fluid act of Grace demonstrated by Jesus Christ in relationship and position, as Bridal members of Christ (Ephesians 1:13).

Adamic Nature (Old Man, Old Nature, Sin Nature, Unregenerate Nature, Old Self)

This is the condition of Adam after he chose to sin and eat from the tree that God commanded him not to eat from, or touch. Before his “fall,” his nature/spirit was in complete harmony to his Father’s – God. After his “fall,” Adam’s spirit became separated from that of God’s, resulting in spiritual death and being replaced by old man, old nature, sin nature, unregenerate nature, old self, or Adamic nature.

Admonish

This is the action of correcting, rebuking, reproving, and warning believers of their wrong beliefs in order to bring them in line with Christ doing the living through them. Being admonished has the appearance of being negative, but is positive when used by Christ.

Appropriation

This is an active faith decision of taking what God says as Truth and bringing it into daily living. It is through appropriation that an indwelt believer begins to walk after the Spirit.

Baptism (Water, Spirit, and Fire)

Just as with the earth, three baptisms are offered to all of humanity. The earth’s water baptism was the flood, its Spirit baptism was the first coming of our Lord, and the earth’s fire baptism will be the burning of it stated in Revelation 8:7. For those who are unsaved and never become born-again, they will only go through one baptism – fire (Rev. 21:8). Although, many unsaved insert the water baptism as a ritual, rather than a testimony of their Salvation and being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. The born-again, indwelt Christian is strongly encouraged to be water baptized (testimony of Salvation) shortly after their Spirit baptism [receiving the Holy Spirit into their mortal bodies and being baptized into Christ] (Rom. 6:3). The indwelt Christian’s fire baptism (purification) entails the trials and sufferings while waiting to join their Savior and Husband in Heaven.

Birth (First and Second)

The first birth is physical and comes by way of being born of woman. The second birth offered to us is called, “born-again” (John 3:3). Being born-again is the experience of Salvation – being regenerated and connected back to God. This is accomplished by the “old man/nature” being crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). The first birth places us “in Adam” and the second birth transfers us from being in Adam to that of being “in Christ” (Col. 3:3).

Blood (Christ and Of Man)

The blood of Christ is the washing element of our redemption/Salvation. It is in and through the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the Cross (by shedding His innocent blood)

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that we have redemption, forgiveness, and Salvation, which is made real to us by His everlasting Grace (Eph. 1:7). In order for blood to be redemptive and cleansing – it must be free of sin – as was the single case of Jesus. Man’s blood became defiled (filled with sin) as a result of the seed of Adam. It is through Christ, that all are made new (1 Cor. 15:22). Body (Of Man, Sin, and Christ)

“Born of woman” is the first form of body. It is by “being born of woman” that the “body of sin” is given to us through the defiled seed of man. This is what made us unsaved/unregenerate and gave us an “old man/nature.” This is also why our old self had to be crucified with Christ, so that the body of sin might be done away with – in order that we would no longer be slaves to sin (Rom. 6:6). As for Christ, He was born without sin in His body (1 John 3:9). This was possible because the seed placed in Mary came directly from God through the Holy Spirit. Sin travels through the seed – not the blood. Therefore, Christ could be born of a normal human woman without having sin pass into His body. Today, we know through science, that the mother’s blood never mixes with that of her baby. * * “Health & Pregnancy: Fetal Blood Flow,” WebMD – Medical Reference from Healthwise, Inc., eds. J. Pope, MD and L. A. Latson, MD, http://www.webmd.com/fetal-blood-flow (updated Oct. 11, 2011).

Bride (Of Christ and Man)

Human marriages are the physical representation of the marriage of the Lamb to the Bride of Christ – the indwelt believers (Rev. 19:7; 21:9; 22:17). Men are to represent Christ’s headship over the Church, as heads of the home in and through their marriages. Women are to reveal the practical workings of the Bride of Christ through their acts of service to their husbands, children, and community. Brokenness

Brokenness is a term frequently used to describe the state of mind that a believer is in shortly before they embrace the Truths of being brought to the end of their self-life. Brokenness communicates a loss of will and identity in one’s own self – resulting in a dependence on Christ from within for life and identity. Christ (Real and the Antichrist)

The Hebrew root for Christ is “Messias” and the most popular Greek meaning is “Messiah” – highest of all priests. Christ is not Jesus’ last name; rather, it is a statement of position, power, and privilege. Jesus Christ is the total deity (God position) within the Trinity as the Father’s Son. He is the manifestation of God in the flesh. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit by the direct orders of God, and born of the Virgin Mary. He is both true God and true man (John 1:1, 14, 18; 14:8-9; 1 Timothy 3:16). The Antichrist is Satan. He will come to project himself as the “true Christ” or Messiah. He will work to replicate the real, in order to deceive the people into following the fake – himself. Christ’s Life and Christ as Life

The life of Christ Jesus while on the earth was in the form of man, emptying Himself out as being equal to God (Phil. 2:6). After His resurrection, and then ascension, He gave to all those who accepted Him as Lord and Savior a special gift – His Life, by placing the Holy

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Spirit to indwell us (James 4:5). When we read about the life of Christ living within us (Gal. 2:20), be assured it is His actual Life, which is eternal Life. The term “Christ as Life” is used to explain believers walking after the Spirit, by allowing the Life of Christ to “do” the walking in and through them. Crucifixion and Co-crucifixion

Crucifixion is the form of death thrown upon Jesus in His appointed time of death. It is described as nailing a person’s hands and feet to a cross and allowing the natural processes occur to produce death – such as, suffocation. Romans 6:6 reveals a very powerful reality of freedom: “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” Galatians 2:20 also reveals a life alliterating reality: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Both passages reveal the fact that those of us, who have the indwelling life of Christ within us, experienced the believer’s co-crucifixion. What got crucified: the old-man, nature, Adamic nature, or old-self. Co-death, Burial, and Resurrection

The reality of true Salvation states that the believer has been baptized into Jesus, as an actual sharing in His death, burial, and resurrection. This is a Truth that takes the Spirit of life within the believer to understand and embrace (Rom. 6:3-7). People who are not born-again have no ability to understand the mystery of co-death, burial, and resurrection, as they are spiritually appraised/discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). Communion

This term is used to define the unity and unblocked fellowship with the Life of Christ from within. The word comes from “commune” or oneness, which is operative for any believer who walks after the Spirit and not after the flesh (self-life). Conscience

The conscience is the part of the mind that enables a person to discern the difference between “right” and “wrong.” It is either seared by the Adamic nature (the unregenerate spirit of an unsaved person), or once saved, it is generated by the indwelling life of Christ. Conscious and Subconscious

The term conscious is the part of the human brain that is awake, aware, intentional, informed, and conducts active thinking. The term subconscious is a modern word used to define the memories filed away by the mind as we sleep at night, or are purposely and/or unintentionally forgotten. The brain is designed by God to hold only a certain amount of data while awake. All “unnecessary” data/memories are filled either through time or sleep. This is why we can remember things from our past if we contemplate on them or dream about them. Cross (Christ and Man)

Cross is one of the most common words used in the world of Christianity and classically has two common references. First, it is the word used to define the form of death Jesus experienced. Secondly, it is used to define an indwelt believer’s description of their co-crucifixion with Christ and all the eternal benefits of understanding their identification with

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Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension in their walk with Him. This Truth makes way for each indwelt believer to share in the experience of the Cross and actually, to have their own Cross to bear (Luke 14:27). Death

There are three forms of death: physical, spiritual, and eternal. But since all mankind is born spiritually dead, it is said that the participatory deaths are just two: physical and eternal, by way of the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8). Those who become indwelt by Christ only experience one death – passing from this life to the eternal life. The Salvation experience is for that reason, to deliver the individual from experiencing eternal death. Die Daily

It is clearly noted in the Scriptures that all believers must die daily (1 Cor. 15:31). This “dying daily” is for the strict purpose of considering ourselves dead to sin and alive to and in Christ. The enemy throws sins before us by appealing to our flesh (trash left behind by the Adamic nature). The dying daily is the process of appropriating the Truth that we are dead to this mortal flesh. Discipleship

This term is used to describe the process of equipping an indwelt believer in Christ with the Truth and understanding of what it means to walk in and through the Holy Spirit as a believer. This is accomplished through the written Word and the Life of Christ (Internal Word) that lives and functions within the believer. Emotions and Feelings

Even though the Scriptures do not put much of an emphasis on “feelings,” our materials will use this term to define the human soul’s response and/or reaction to Truth and lies. Physiologically, emotions are the hormonal part of the human body which alarm, awaken, or celebrate what the mind chooses to believe. Eternal Life and Everlasting Life

Eternal life is the life of Christ – past, present, and future (Heb. 13:8). Jesus has always been and always will be. When indwelt believers receive Christ Jesus into their lives, they are placed into the Life of Christ (Eternal Life) – making us one with Him. Everlasting life is the life we receive from the point of our Salvation forward. It must be known, the believer is given a new past, present, and future due to being placed in Christ. Therefore, whatever is true about Christ becomes true for every Bridal member. Exchanged Life

This term was originally used by Hudson Taylor to define the exchange that takes place upon Salvation – we exchange our life for His. Many teachers of the Cross also use this term to explain an indwelt believer appropriating their co-death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. One of the most common Scriptures used in this exchange is Galatians 2:20, “Not I, but Christ.” All believers in Christ receive the exchanged life upon the moment of their Salvation.

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Experiential Living

Many speak Truths without living it in daily experience. Experiential living is a believer walking in and after the Spirit as a lifestyle. It is their experience to partake in the release of the mind of Christ within as their norm. Faith in Christ

Faith is often subjective and overused as an expression of the firmness of what someone believes. To have faith in Christ is much different (Rom. 4:14). For those who have faith in Christ separate themselves from all forms of faith (Rom. 3:22). Any faith that is not in Christ is classically bound by the Law and no justification exists for them. Those who believe in Christ Jesus are not only justified (just as if I never sinned), but they have a clear understanding and belief that what is in the eternal unseen world can be brought into their own lives through the indwelling faith of Christ from within (Gal. 2:16). Flesh and Fleshly Self-life

There are two primary forms of flesh: the human body, which is where sin houses itself (Rom. 7:17) and flesh or fleshly self-life, which is the trash left behind by the old nature. Indwelt Christians have had their flesh (selfish passions) crucified (Gal. 5:24). But since sin remains in our human flesh (not the old nature), we are positioned to reckon ourselves dead to it (Rom. 6:11). We are called by our Savior not to continue presenting our bodies to sin as if we are slaves to it, for it will produce unrighteousness (Rom. 6:13). Gifting vs. Personality

The pop culture of psychology has adopted the term “personality” to describe the differences between people. This word does not exist in the Bible -- there are no Hebrew or Greek words making use of this fable -- although, many culturally accepted translations are using this term. The description used in the Bible is “gifting” or “spiritual gifts.” All believers are given a minimum of one occupational gift and each believer is blessed with all of the manifestation gifts. Manifestation gifts are actual manifestations of the Holy Spirit within the believer upon the command of the Father and Christ Himself. Occupational gifts are for exactly that – an occupation. Each occupational gift is given at birth and made alive in Christ upon Salvation. Each gift carries traits the world has now defined as “personality types.” Grace

The unmerited favor of Christ without works is the easiest way to define Grace. Grace is the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life of the indwelt through the mind (Life) of Christ inside the believer. People who appropriate grace have manifestations of forgiveness, acceptance, favor, liberty in the Spirit, and peace in all circumstances. People NOT of grace use the Law to change internal and external behavior. Guilt (Real and False)

It is said that for indwelt believers, “guilt is the fuel of satanic condemnation.” Once saved, God no longer uses guilt to motivate His children – only conviction. Conviction is a gentle reminder of an action that is not of Christ Jesus; whereas, guilt involves punishment, fear, and condemnation. Unsaved people not only continue to live in guilt, but they are supposed to be living in guilt. God uses guilt as a condemning factor to press upon unbelievers in order for them to realize they will be condemned and go to Hell if they do

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not accept the life of Christ. Real guilt is pre-salvation and false guilt is a believer who does not embrace the grace of conviction. Heart

The Greek word “kar” and the Hebrew word “leb” are used to define the core of an individual’s thoughts and feelings. Heavenlies

The word “heavenlies” is a derivative of “heavens.” When this term is used within the exchanged life teachings, it is directly referring to the place where Christ is seated at the right hand of His Father (Col. 3:1). Holy Spirit and Spirit of Christ

The ministry of the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Christ) is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:14). The Holy Spirit regenerates the sinner upon belief and confession in Christ, and baptizes the believer into one body, of which Christ is the head. The Holy Spirit indwells, guides, instructs, fills, comforts, and empowers the believer for Godly and righteous living (Mark 13:11; John 14:26; 16:13; Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 3:16). The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, God's righteousness, and coming judgment (John 16:8-11). While I believe the Scriptures do not teach that certain gifts have ceased, they do indicate use of the gifts varies according to the need and movement of the Holy Spirit within each believer. We do NOT encourage the Body of Christ to focus upon the gifts, or their manifestations; but rather, the Giver. Instead, we teach and focus on the transformational life principles of the indwelling life of Christ – which emphasizes the more excellent way of love, as well as, zeal (John 13:15; 16:8; Titus 3:5; Eph. 1:22; 4:11-12; Romans 8:9-17; 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 3:16; 12:4-5, 11-13, 19; Galatians 5:25; Hebrews 4:1-4; 2 Cor. 12:12). Identification

This is one of the most common terms used to describe the exchanged life. Since behavior comes from identity, what one believes to be their identity (Christ or self) makes a significant impact on daily living. It is of utmost importance that the indwelt believer places their identity in the message of identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. In Christ

When the term “in Christ” is used, it should define the finality of the great exchange – “Not I, but Christ.” Upon Salvation, the old nature is crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20) and a new nature (that of Christ) is placed in the new believer. Upon this exchange, the indwelt Christian is placed in Christ and then hidden in God (Col. 3:3). Indwelling Life

This term references the indwelling life of Christ in the true born-again believer.

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Justification by Faith

This is probably one of the most difficult identity Truths to believe. Justification is a free gift of having our sins forgiven – past, present, and future – all at one time. Justification is often explained as “just as if I never sinned,” which is an accurate way to view this term. The only way this can be embraced by the believer is through faith, for human logic cannot accept the things of God. Law vs. Law of Spirit of Life

The Law given to us by God through Moses is for the strict purpose of revealing that no man can fulfill the Law. Therefore, it must be fulfilled by someone who can – Jesus Christ. The Law must stay in position and continue to place people under its condemnation, in order for them to be led to the Law of the Spirit of Life and become accountable to God (Rom. 3:19). As Rom. 8:1 states, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (emphasis added). But outside of Christ, condemnation is alive and well. The Law of the Spirit of Life is only found in Christ; this is why the new convert must be placed in Christ. In fact, the convert cannot be set free from the Law of sin and death unless this exchange takes place (Rom. 8:2). Lordship vs. Life

Lordship is not a biblical word, but it does refer to a release in the believer to count Jesus Christ as their Lord (owner). This is a critical doctrinal belief each indwelt believer must embrace. Without the appropriation of Christ being the owner of His Bride, the convert will continue to manage his life as if he owned himself – thus, fleshly behavior. If the believer does not move forward from personal lordship into the release of the Life of Christ, legalism will manifest. Mind, Will, and Emotions

These terms are used to define the trichotomy of man’s soul. The mind is what Christ renews by revealing the mind of Christ within the believer (1 Cor. 2:16). The will is what chooses to receive renewal. The emotions support what man believes to be or perceives as Truth. New Man, New Nature, and New Life

The new man / new nature / new life is the result of a regenerate spirit in Christ. This consists of a new Spirit – the Holy Spirit or Spirit of Christ – containing the literal mind of Christ (Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 5:17). It is also known that our pre-saved condition houses a broken and dead spirit; this spirit is made new and alive through the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer, and the two becoming one. Old Man, Old Nature, and Old Self

The old man / old nature / old self is the unregenerate spirit dead to Christ, which makes up the Adamic nature, which is in need of being crucified with Christ (the process of making it new and regenerate). This clearly describes unsaved persons and why they go to Hell if they do not receive new life upon Salvation (Rom. 6:6; Col. 3:9).

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Perfection vs. Sinless Perfection

Perfection can only come from the One who is perfect – Jesus Christ. Once the convert receives Christ into their mortal being, the perfection of God is revealed through the Life of Christ housed within the convert, thus making the new man (spirit) perfect (Heb. 10:1; 11:40; 12:23). This makes one third (1/3) of man perfect, holy, and blameless; the other two thirds (2/3) [soul and body] are imperfect. The soul of man is what is sanctified, whereas the body remains in a dying state. This is why our body remains in the grave, for it houses the sin left behind by the Adamic nature. Once the believer dies a physical death, their perfect spirit and sanctified soul are joined with a new and perfect body on Heaven’s side. The false teaching of “sinless perfection” is a belief that once saved – the Spirit, soul, and body become perfect and cannot sin. Position vs. Condition

The term “position” references the indwelt believer’s new position in Christ by way of their new life/spirit seated at the right hand of God; place in the Bride of Christ; being a holy, child of God; and all the other identity statements given to us through Christ (Eph. 1). Condition is the soul’s reflection of the measurement of appropriated belief of what is true about the new convert. This is why the soul must be sanctified and renewed by the Spirit (Phil. 1:6; Heb. 5:12-14). Power of Sin

This is an unrighteous force and power within all humans, saved or not. This power of sin was birthed into each of us due to the consequences of a single sin Adam and Eve committed (1 Cor. 15:22). This sin is in us, but it is NOT us. Any convert who finds identity in this indwelling power of sin will appear and function as an unbeliever – one who is not saved (Rom. 7:20). Reckoning

The term “reckoning” is used frequently within the community of the Cross. It means to “calculate,” to sum up, or “to summarize.” When the term is used Scripturally, it becomes a mandate for all believers to consider and calculate what Christ said about us, as Truth (Col. 3:5). Regeneration and Regenerate

This is the process of Christ placing the Holy Spirit within the convert and making him new or regenerate – as in turning on the generator. Righteousness vs. Self-righteousness

True righteousness can only be found in the One who is Righteous – Jesus Christ. Once converts receives Christ into their lives, they become the Righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). Self-righteousness is a fleshly and ungodly form of humans mustering up their own rightness before God and man (Rom. 10:3). Self and Self-life

Self is another term for “flesh” or “selfishness” – those who practice having their own way. An unsaved person lives in and functions out of an identity of selfishness/flesh. Unbelievers choose to be selfish, by walking after the flesh and continuing to perfect themselves by self-effort (Gal. 3:3).

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Self-Control vs. Christ Control

There are two forms of “self-control” – by flesh or by the indwelling Holy Spirit. In fact, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is self-control. But this kind of control is Christ’s control through the Holy Spirit in the believer. One puts an emphasis on “self” control and the other is a result of walking in and after the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Sin, Sin Nature, and Sins

The most common definition of sin is “falling short of the mark.” This mark is the standard of the Law. Since no one can fulfill the Law except Christ, all who are not saved are in, of, and find their meaning and purpose in sin. This is clearly a result of being born with a “sin nature” (Adamic nature) and is why humans commit sins – deeds that don’t measure up to the standards [Law] of God (Rom. 3:23). Soul, Body and Spirit

This is the trichotomy of man. The mission of our Lord is to preserve the body, soul, and spirit of all believers through daily sanctification (1 Thess. 5:23). Subjective and Suffering

Subjecting oneself to the Life of Christ actually produces suffering (1 Pet. 2:21). It is through suffering that Christ Himself learned obedience (Heb. 5:8). Believers who typically avoid suffering are oftentimes disobedient to Christ. Surrender, Total Commitment, and Obedience

The Hebrew word for “surrender” is “charaph,” which means “to betroth.” Betroth is a marital term used to describe the engagement period of a marriage. When an indwelt believer surrenders their life to Christ, it is a willful agreement of acceptance of His invite to be the Bride of Christ. Total commitment is the action of the Bride to remain pure and true to their Husband – Jesus Christ. Obedience then becomes the result of the appropriation of the first two (Rev. 21:9). Trichotomy (God and Man)

The trichotomy of man is body, soul, and spirit; the trichotomy of God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Man was created in this image. Many theologians attempt to reduce man’s design into dichotomy – two parts of man (soul and body). Not only is this an insult to God’s design, but rubs in the face of all teachings hinging around 1 Thess. 5:23 and the message of co-death, burial, resurrection, and ascension (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20). Truth

Truth in the Hebrew means “to betroth.” Remember that betroth is a marital term describing the engagement phase of marriage. To know Truth is to know and accept one’s engagement with Christ. When Christ said that He was the Truth – it literally translates out in the Hebrew as “He is the betrothed One.” Even though we are accustomed to believe that Truth is fact backed by the Holy Bible, it means much more to Christ. The Church is the Bride of Christ. We can find great comfort and security in whatever our Husband tells us is right and righteous – for you shall know the Christ, and Christ will set you free (John 8:32).

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Works (Christ and Man)

There are only two kinds of works stated in the Holy Scriptures – self and that of Christ. Works of man produces sin unto death; whereas works of Christ through the believer produces Life and Life Abundantly (Rom. 6:16; John 10:10). Worship

The act of worship is the indwelt Christian’s willingness to join in on the fellowship happening between the Holy Spirit from within and Christ Himself. Jesus Christ is clear about how He jealously desires the Spirit that He has made to dwell within us (James 4:5). All Bridal members of Christ are given the gift of partaking in this divine, holy fellowship and intimacy that exists between God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what it means to share in His holiness (Heb. 12:10). Worthy (Christ and Man)

The term “worthy” means to inherit what one deserves due to His worth. The only being of eternity that deserves this kind of label is that of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When converts shout out, “Worthy are You, Lord,” they are saying there is none other that has deserving worth. Yield and Yielded

The term “yielded” literally means, “generated.” To yield is to open the passageway of generation. If we understand the significance of being born-again, we will know that the unsaved person has an unregenerate spirit before God. Once a person becomes saved, their spirit is re-generated. Yielding is critical for this process. An individual cannot become yielded (generated) until this happens.

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Discipleship in the Making

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77 Truths for the 7 Areas of Life Seeing the big picture is necessary in order to understand the small details. The chart below will give an overview of the content of the textbook (77 Truths for the Seven Areas of Life by Dr. Stephen Phinney). This workbook was designed to highlight the textbook. List five of the topics (listed in the chart below) you consider yourself to be most needy in learning:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Now list the five top topics you consider yourself strong in presenting to others:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

NOTES:

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The Exchanged Life

This term was originally used by Hudson Taylor to define the exchange that takes place upon Salvation; we exchange our life for His. Many teachers of the Cross also use this term to explain an indwelt believer appropriating their co-death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. One of the most common Scriptures used in this exchange is Galatians 2:20, “Not I, but Christ.” Truth being said, all believers in Christ receive the exchanged life upon the moment of their Salvation.

Please describe what you have heard, or have been taught, about the meaning of the Exchanged Life.

Generational Gospel The goal, or it should be the goal, for all indwelt Christians, is to train and equip others in discipling a fresh generation of believers. Why would this be important?

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What Is Discipleship? Please describe what you have been taught about the meaning of discipleship.

Components of Discipleship

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Look up 2 Timothy 3:16 and write it out.

Why are sound doctrines so important in discipling others?

Why do you believe most “Christians” struggle with being corrected?

List four of the most important instructions you can give a hurting disciple.

1.

2.

3.

4.

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Profile of Man

After reviewing the diagram below (Profile of Man), which pathway would you say you are on right now?

In your own words, please describe an “unsaved emergent Laodician.”

How can you discern between a “true Christian, but walking after the flesh” versus an unsaved person?

Law versus Grace

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Carefully review the diagram below and place a check in the appropriate box that best describes your daily living.

Without using the definitions in the diagram, in your own words, describe each of the following categories according to your understanding.

Category Always Often At Times Doesn’t Apply

Permissive

Neglectful

Controlling

Victorious

Category Description

Permissive

Neglectful

Controlling

Victorious

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Task Versus Relationship

Carefully review the diagram below and place a check in the appropriate box that best describes your daily living.

In reviewing the diagram below, which category would be the toughest “Christian” to motivate in the discipleship process – and why?

Where Are You?

Look up and read Exodus 11-12 & Joshua 1:

Yes, I read the these passages

Category Always Often At Times Doesn’t Apply

People Pleasing

Lazy Christian

Doing Christian

Active Christian

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After carefully reviewing each column in the diagram below, are you in Egypt, the Wilderness, or in Canaan?

________________________________

Please make a summary statement of the following.

Egypt

Red Sea

Wilderness

Jordon

Canaan

Notes:

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Godship: Playing God

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Please list the key words in the purpose statement above.

Why do you believe it would be important to uncover the ways you “play God” in the lives of others?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Start making a list of sins you commit that question the sovereignty of God.

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What is Godship, in your own terms?

Whose idea was it to be like God? _________________________________

What actions of Godship do you see in Gen. 3:6-7?

Which of these eight expressions of Godship are most common in your life?

Do you see these actions as sin? __________________________________

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Why is it God’s right to perform all these actions?

How much of life does God control? ______________________________

Summarize Job 12:13-25.

Why is it foolish for us to try to play God in our lives or someone else’s life?

How do you know when you are exercising Godship?

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What things have you decided are good based on your own benefit, without considering what God says?

Summarize John 7:24.

How do God’s values differ from society’s values?

How does Proverbs 16:25 apply to you?

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Are you in a relationship where there is a conflict? With whom? What is the conflict?

Explain how you have been judging this person(s).

State how you have attempted to change this person(s).

Study Matthew 7:1-5 and state the key Truths in this passage.

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In the Garden of Eden, did God make fruit of the trees for Adam and Eve’s enjoyment? ___________________ What boundaries did He put on them?

What did God say would happen if they went outside this boundary?

Did God put a boundary on what was good? ______________ Why or why not?

Do you agree that crossing the boundaries of God is deciding for yourself what is good and evil? ________ Do you see this as Godship? _______

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What is the difference between Godship and Christ as Life living?

Study Gal. 5:16-23 and state what these verses mean in light of this study.

Explain the role Jesus desires to function in regarding releasing the fruit of the Spirit in your daily living.

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GODSHIP ACTION PAGE

ACTION DONE

1. Pray before you go any further with this action page.

2. Go back to the “Standard Setting” diagram and list your most common expressions of Godship.

3. Go to “God’s Prerogatives” diagram and pray aloud each item. Example: “Lord, I agree that it is You alone who has the prerogative to determine standards and conduct for mankind.”

4. In reference to diagram G-103, list out the ways that you decide what is good and evil.

5. Now list all relationships in which you have conflict and the ways that you tend to control these individuals.

6. List each and every way that you step outside the boundaries of God.

7. Go to God in prayer and admit the following:

Admit your sin of trying to play God

Confess your “standard” expressions

Confess the list of ways in which you attempt to decide what is “good” and “evil”

Confess the ways you attempt to control people

Confess the ways you step outside of the boundaries of God

Accept His forgiveness for you and then spend some time praising Him for your healing

Study these verses: Gen. 2:17; 3:6; 18:25; 22:1-12; Ex. 20:1-17; Psalms 94:1; 135:5-6; Isa. 42:8; John 4:23; Acts 17:24, 31; Rom. 11:33-34; 12:17-19; Gal. 5:22-23.

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Rejection: Withholding Love

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Please list the key words in the purpose statement above.

Why is rejection the most common consequence of Godship?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

What do you think of the idea of “growing into inviting rejection into our lives and learning to turn the other cheek?”

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Study Gen. 4:1-16 and then make a summary statement.

Share a time when you were severely rejected.

How did you think, feel, and react?

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List three ways you were overtly rejected growing up.

List three ways you were covertly rejected growing up.

Human rejection is withholding love and relationship. List those whom you, today, reject in such a manner?

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A person who is rejected usually has inward and outward reactions. The above diagram is a list of the inward reactions. Look down the list and write down the ones that apply to you.

Estimate a percentage of your day that you are controlled by your thoughts or feelings of rejection. ______________%

Look up John 12:25 and then answer this question. If you love your life, are you more or less likely to experience rejection from God and man? How?

If you are controlled by those thoughts and feelings, is it because you love your life? ____

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Thoughts and feelings of rejection believed to be true, sooner or later, are brought to the surface. The above diagram shows the reactions toward others when you are being controlled by those thoughts and feelings. People living in rejection as a lifestyle may even reject those who have not rejected them. It creates as vicious pattern of rejection. Keep in mind that all of these reactions are a form of revenge and Godship.

Look up Hebrews 12:15 and then summarize the verse in your own words.

Look down the list and write down the ones that apply to you.

Review Matthew 5:11-12, 39-42 and answer: What is to be our attitude toward those who reject us?

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God loves us and proved it by sending Jesus. He is not rejecting us; yet at times, we think He is joining in on the rejection of others. The above diagram shows us how a person reacting to rejection ultimately ends up rejecting God and the church for the rejection of others. People actually reject God when He doesn’t measure up to their standards. This is why we call it Godship.

Review 1 John 4:20-21 and answer this question. How has your relationship with God been affected by your negative feelings toward another person who has rejected you?

Look up Isaiah 65:2 and state what God is saying about a “rebellious people.”

Note: People who reject God as a lifestyle need to double-check their Salvation and/or their beliefs about a loving God. Rejecting God comes from setting standards on God – again, Godship. All indwelt Christians need to ask themselves why they reject the One who gives hope, deliverance, and forgiveness - the very things for which they blame others.

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When we are rejected, we have a choice. We can choose to allow the rejection to control us or choose to believe what God says about us. The above diagram explains how to break the rejection cycle, by choosing to believe: our True identity in Christ and identity really does matter. The truest things about us are what God says about us. No rejecters can change who we are in Christ, no matter what they do to us or say about us. The reactions in the past three diagrams are from believing what other people say or do. If rejecters can have that much power over us, how much more can God have in our lives if we believe Him?

The last time you were rejected, which choice did you make – 2A or 2B? ___________

Look up Ephesians 1:3-8 and mark “agree,” “disagree,” or “doesn’t apply.”

Agree Disagree Doesn’t Apply

What does 2 Corinthians 5:17 say about how God sees you?

What speaks louder to you, the voice of your rejecter or the voice of God? _________

Study Acts 7:54-60 and state where Stephen put his focus:_______________________

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REJECTION ACTION PAGE

ACTION DONE

1. Pray before you go any further with this action page.

2. Write out a statement as to your thoughts and feelings about the rejection cycle.

3. List the items on diagram R-103 that apply to you.

4. List the items on diagram R-104 that express how you tend to reject others.

5. List the items on diagram R-105 that reveals how you tend to reject God.

6. Take all three lists, bring them before God, and repent for: believing what others and self say is true vs. God; how you reject others; and finally, how you tend to reject God. Accept His forgiveness and release Him to use the rejection to grow you in Christ.

Study these verses: Gen. 4:1-16; Job 40:1, 4-8; Jonah 1:6-15; John 12:25; 13:34-35; Rom. 9:20-21; 12:17; Eph. 1:3-8; 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 Thess. 5:15; 1 Peter 3:9.

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External/Internal: Finding Life

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One of the most common deceptions for indwelt Christians is seeking to find life in people, places, or things. We, believers, are “earthly minded,” which is of little value to the goals and aspirations God has for us. Being busy and serving the Lord is the primary proof that “self-effort Christians” use to “think” they are yielded. This is why our Lord will actually allow selfish believers to achieve external goals, in order for them to experience a lack of satisfaction. Once this happens, they can be led to go to God for satisfaction in Christ Jesus.

What person, place, or thing do you find significance in? ________________________

Write out your personal definition of “idolatry.”

Write out your personal definition of “adultery.”

What similarities do you see? _____________________________________________

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The above diagram is a picture of a person’s life. Central to this life is a crown showing self-rule and personal ownership of one’s life. The Word is clear that life cannot be found in people, places, or things. When believers attempt to do so, they will direct their worship toward those items considered to be motivating them. The arrows pointed inward are a pictorial of the believer attempting to draw life from that source, thus being deceived into thinking that fulfillment can be found in that particular idol. Self-rule is an attempt to make the external things positive (+), in order to overcome the big negative (-) on the outside. The result is failure and disappointment, which results in an action of Godship.

List the areas you have attempted to find fulfillment in over the past 5 years.

List from these areas, what you consider to be the positives and negatives in your life?

POSITIVE NEGATIVE

Look up Luke 12:15 and state where Jesus says life is found. _____________________

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All of the items noted in diagram E/I-101 can be worthwhile activities. The problem is that the focus is still on external fulfillment and self is still ruling. Just as “busy” as the diagram looks, the same becomes true for the believer. All of this busyness can overtake the person’s life. Many are encouraged to “get busy” serving the Lord by the Church – family, friends, counselors, pastors, etc. This does not make it right; in fact, it makes them just as wrong as the believer who is falling for such deception. Satan wants us to focus on the externals because that is where he lives - for he is the “god” of the external world. Thus, practicing externals to find fulfillment actually fulfills the enemy’s goal – do to be.

Do you believe “doing good things” will gain the favor of God? ____________________

Review Luke 10:38-42 and explain the rebuke Martha received from Jesus.

Can “Christian service” become an idol? ____________ If so, when?

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One way Christians play god (Godship) is trying to solve problems without tapping into Christ within them, or for the unsaved – calling out to God. Most believers act like nonbelievers by turning to worldly ways of coping, rather than turning to Christ living within them. People want to be god of their own lives and live independently of God. Satan will for certain provide fascinating diversions to keep a person from experiencing intimacy with Christ internally. As for the unsaved – the enemy will keep them distracted from reaching out to a Savior, Jesus Christ. We must take up Jesus’ example and look to the Father for everything.

Look at this diagram and list which actions apply to you.

Why do you suppose that believers won’t consider Christ in them, first?

Look up Jeremiah 2:13 and list the two sins you see.

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This diagram illustrates that an indwelt Christian’s fulfillment is based internally on the very life of Christ – who literally lives in the believer. The fruit of the Spirit has completely surrounded all elements of life. As the Lord rules from within, every aspect of life is an outlet for the world to see the Life of Christ being released through the believer into the external. “Doing to be” has been replaced by “BEING in Christ.” Now, this believer is a human “being” (resting in Christ) and not a human “doing” (trying to please Christ, self, or others). “Being” is resting in God and precedes doing.

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Many put the emphasis on “I can do all things” and forget or neglect the “through Him.” The key to the victorious indwelling Christian life is the through Christ. As the believer abides, Christ produces the “doing,” which is the fruit of the Spirit. Once this happens, the focus will become “giving” instead of “getting.” This, in turn, will accomplish Christ’s goal of equipping the Saints for the work of service (Eph. 4:12) – resulting in Christ ruling on the inside and the believer living in victory, even while experiencing negative in the external area of life.

Carefully review all the diagrams and write a summary statement of this lesson.

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EXTERNAL/ INTERNAL ACTION PAGE

ACTION DONE

1. Pray before you go any further with this action page.

2. Make a list of all the externals noted in diagram E/I-100 in which you tend to find fulfillment.

3. Now make a list of all the noted externals by placing them in two columns – negative (problem areas) and positive (not a problem).

4. List the items on diagram E/I-101 by which you tend to stay busy, in order to distract you from the release of Christ in you.

5. Take all three lists, bring them before God, and repent for attempting to find fulfillment or significance in each of these items. Accept His forgiveness for such acts of idolatry, and ask for the sweet release of the Life of Christ in and through you, by means of the representation of the Holy Spirit.

6. For the next 10 days, meditate on these identity statements:

† God does not honor or support self-effort

† Christ desires to work through me

† There is no life in external people, places, or things

† Christ can live through me in spite of the external

† Looking internally to Christ is the way, Truth, and life

† The fruits of the Spirit are the manifestations of Christ

† Fruit is a result – not an action to practice

† Releasing Christ to wear the crown is life

† Studying the Word is essential to growth in Christ

Study these verses: Eccl. 1:14; 2:1-11; Jer. 2:13; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Gal. 5:22-23; Col. 3:1-4.

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Problems: Why Problems?

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Many, if not most, body members of Christ find it difficult to “consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

By intently studying this lesson, we should discover the following benefits:

1. Help in understanding God’s purpose in problems. 2. Learn what to do when overwhelmed by problems and not looking to Christ within. 3. Understand the need to die to self on a daily basis. 4. Have an opportunity to work through the process of freedom. 5. Learn what to do when someone tries to prevent me from coming to the end. 6. Learn how to embrace problems, in order to release thanksgiving.

Clearly, and honestly, describe the most difficult problem you are faced with today.

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Our first diagram shows two separate truths: the first shows how an unbeliever (unsaved) is led to Salvation and the second, shows the pathway for a ‘worldly” indwelt Christian who needs to be brought to the end of self. The left wedge reveals the elements used to actually accomplish these goals: the world, the flesh, and Satan, himself. Notice how the wedge closes in on the individual the closer he gets to the Cross. This is to produce the death of self. The wedge on the right has a narrow gate by the Cross and opens up as time passes. This symbolizes the growth in Christ of the believer. The more a believer walks in the Spirit – the easier and freer life becomes, spiritually that is.

Study Luke 15:11-32 and state what appealed to the prodigal son that started out easy? How did it get hard and lead to death? What hard thing did the son have to do that led to life?

Describe a problem you had that started out appealing or easy and ended in misery and death.

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This diagram clearly reveals the truths contained in Romans 8:28 – God uses all that happens to us to bring about His eternal purposes. He uses both desirable things and difficult things to bring us to the end of the self-life. Christ’s life within us is the wonderful result of us dying to our self-life.

Look up Romans 8:28-29 and answer the questions.

1. What does God say is the good that He predestined for us?

2. How have you denied what would be good for you?

3. Who’s good is guaranteed?

Look up 2 Corinthians 4:8-11 and answer the questions.

1. How are your problems being used to bring you to death?

2. How can Christ’s life within you be seen as you walk through this process?

3. What area of your self-life (Godship) does God want to bring to death?

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God, through Christ, allows WHAT we go through; we choose HOW we go through it. Detours can be set by each of us, as well by those who love us (or don’t, for that matter). We can set up our own detours in an attempt to avoid the inevitable, being brought to the Cross. Every situation, even by our foolish choice, God has the power and prerogative to use them to draw us to Christ within or if not saved, to the Cross for the first time – Salvation. These detours, or escape routes, may look good to the self-life, but the greater value is what the Lord wants to accomplish. As my old friend says – “Don’t try to fix the fix that God has fixed on you to fix you from fixing self, others, and God.”

After reviewing James 1:2-4, how are we told to consider trials? What do trials produce in us?

List the common methods (detours) you use to get out of trials and difficult circumstances.

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The above diagram communicates how to move a person to Christ as Life actions concerning a problem. Problems can cause us to become bitter or better. This requires us to go against our fears and instead, choose to trust God. When we turn our focus away from the circumstances and focus our mind on the Christ mind within us, victory is sure to come. Seeing God’s purpose is more important than solving the situation that rubs against us. God is sovereign, so it would behoove us to stop arguing and allow Him to reign in and through us. Trusting in His sovereign plan requires us not to base our decisions on feelings, but on the reliable character of our loving Father. Does seeing God, thanking God, trusting and obeying Him lead to success and fulfillment? No. They lead us to the Cross - either for surrender (as indwelt believers) or for those unsaved – for Salvation.

Carefully study Philippians 3:8-11 and answer the question: What would it take to bring me to the point where I could say with Paul, “I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ” (vs 8)?

Now look up Jeremiah 29:11-12. According to this passage, why can you trust and thank God?

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The Lord tells us in Matthew 5:37: "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.” Victorious living is based upon choices. Above all, God knows that people who are of the “yes” are easily managed and grown. He also knows that people of the “no” can be disciplined and brought back to a “yes” decision through the downward process involved in brokenness, or being brought to the end of themselves. But people who are indecisive and won’t respond with a “yes” or “no” fall into a category that Christ Himself calls evil. The more “yes’s” a believer makes, the further he walks into a lifestyle of RIGHTEOUSNESS. The more “no’s” made, the further he walks into a lifestyle of UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. The KEY is to repent, accept your consequences, make a “yes” decision, and continue on the pathway of the “yes” until a new lifestyle is formed.

As a believer, when looking at the entirety of your lifestyle, do you make more “yes” decisions, “no” decisions, or tend to fall into indecisiveness? ______________________

Look up Matthew 5:39-42 and summarize what Christ is asking the believer to do with difficult problems, people, and circumstances.

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PROBLEMS ACTION PAGE

ACTION DONE

1. Pray before you go any further with this action page.

2. Make a list of all the “PROBLEMS” in your life that come to mind.

3. Write a summary statement regarding diagram PP-101.

4. Now write a summary statement for PP-102 and PP-103.

5. Make a list of each and every item that comes to mind, which you are able to thank God for – PP-104.

6. Write out a detailed explanation for PP-105.

Study these verses: Prov. 14:12; Matt. 7:13-14; 11:28-30; 16:24-26; John 5:24; 10:1; Rom. 8:1-4, 12-13, 28-29; 2 Cor. 4:8-11; Gal. 2:20; 6:7-8; Eph. 5:20; Col. 2:8; 1 Thess. 5:18; James 1:2-4, 13-15.

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My Flesh: God’s Enemy

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Making life or death decisions are a critical part of a believer understanding the self-life and more importantly, their identity in Christ. This lesson will show the following crucial points of starting the exchange.

1. The destructive patterns of making decisions based on the self-life. 2. Explanation of the seven areas of life. 3. Show the consequences of walking a “living death.” 4. Reveal how to test your motives to see if you are walking after the flesh or the

Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. 5. The steps how to break the pattern of making decisions based on the self-life.

Look up Proverbs 14:12 and write out the verse in your own words.

What is the primary principle of Matthew 16:25?

What is your favorite sin to commit? _______________________________________

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This diagram shows that all decisions will reap life or death, depending upon whether the indwelt Christian chooses Christ from within or their own way. It also points out that the seven areas of life will lead to problems, needs, and questions forcing a decision. Decisions are made either through me being me (self-life) or through releasing the mind of Christ to make the decision (by making use of our mind, will, and emotions). Each decision is either a life or death, depending on how it is made (Deut. 30:19-20). Many make the decision based on their own fleshly thoughts, while giving no opportunity to allow Christ to do so – this is why they experience “living death.”

After studying Deut. 30:19-20, answer these questions. What is God’s desire for you? Is He interested in every decision you make? Why or why not?

State a decision you need to make in one of the seven areas of life.

_____________________________________________________________________

Describe the “normal” process you go through in making a decision.

Study John 6:38. How can you know what God’s will is regarding decisions? ________

______________________________________________________________________

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This diagram reveals the cause and process of death brought about through the self-life being in control of the indwelt believer. This individual focuses on himself (the self-life), which produces a downward spiral - the path leading away from the will of Christ within him (the believer). It shows the natural conclusion of believers who choose death decisions – a consistent choosing of self-life. The self-life starts with commendations, producing an occupation with self. Self-occupation is a lifestyle of self-pleasing ultimately leading to self-condemnation, due to the guilt of the believer’s selfishness. If you confront this individual, he usually becomes defensive and filled with self-pity. This happens shortly before he self-destructs. God uses this process to bring him to the end of self.

Look up Matthew 16:25. Have you been seeking your own way as a lifestyle? Have your decisions reflected this mindset? Explain.

According to James 3:16, how might your selfish ambition lead to every evil thing?

Where would you place yourself on the downward spiral? _______________________

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This illustration helps us understand how it is possible for Christ’s Life to be manifested in us, as believers. This diagram shows that after the downward spiral takes us into the denial of self (coming to the end of oneself), it picks us up on the brokenness of daily dying to ourselves, and we watch the release of the Spirit from within who does the living. This process cannot happen until there is repentance, which takes place in that dark place. Repentance grants us the freedom to look inward to the Life of Christ for daily cross-bearing. This puts our focus and expectations on and from God – not self. Once this occurs, ministry is certain to be born from within. Outreach is a result of this brokenness process, not something to practice.

Study Acts 16:22-31. How does our diagram illustrate this passage? _________________

Study Luke 9:23. Explain what denying yourself looks like.

How do you see yourself ministering to others? __________________________________

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This illustration helps us understand the means of determining if motives are of the Spirit of Life from within or of walking after the flesh. Motives are crucial in our walk. It’s not so much what we do, but who is doing it – Christ or the flesh. It is possible to do a good thing without Christ conducting the doing through us. People look at our actions, whereas God looks at “the who” in the doing.

Do you have doubts that your decisions are based on Christ in you? _________________

Look up Galatians 5:16-21. Are your decisions or actions found in this list? ____________

Do you feel angry, frustrated, fearful, or discontent in most of your decisions? __________ What do these feelings show you?

If you acknowledge that your life belongs to God, how would this affect your decisions?

Look up each verse on this diagram. Did you do this? _________________________

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MY FLESH ACTION PAGE

ACTION DONE

1. Pray before you go any further with this action page.

2. Make a list of all decisions, coming to mind, you know lead to self-life results.

3. Now make a list of all the decisions that produced a release of Christ Life from within.

4. In your own words, write out a summary statement of the downward spiral.

5. Look up all the verses listed in the downward spiral diagram.

6. Write a summary statement regarding the upward spiral of the Christ’s Life diagram.

7. Look up all the verses listed in the upward spiral diagram.

Study these verses: Gen. 3:11-13; Deut. 30:19-20; Psalm 50:23; 62:5; 119:11; Isaiah 53:6; Jonah 4:8; Hosea 10:13; Matt. 16:24; 28:19-20; Luke 9:23; John 15:16; Rom. 8:1, 5-8, 28; 13:1; 15:1-3; 2 Cor. 5:15; 10:17-18; Gal. 5:1, 16-21; 6:7-8; Phil. 2:3-4; 3:19; 1 Tim. 6:6; Heb. 13:17; James 3:16; 1 John 4:11-12.

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Repentance: Natural Man/Spiritual Man

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This teaching can and should be used to evaluate the spiritual status of a person. The lesson will point disciples to areas they have chosen to sin. When disciples of Jesus are confused about living a victorious life, understanding the power of the Cross becomes critical in their discovery of victory. God has asked us to consider our ways and turn our feet toward His testimonies. Look up Psalm 119:59 and re-write it in your own words.

Look up James 1:13-15. Pick out the key principles in this passage and write them out.

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This diagram illustrates the utter hopelessness of the person who is not born-again (unsaved). The spirit is dead and dominated by sin. This causes the mind, will, emotions, and body to be enslaved to sin. This is the natural state into which we are all born - we are ALL born into sin. The natural man cannot understand spiritual things and must walk in and after the flesh. The natural man is not only IN the flesh because he is in Adam; but his identity is sin, and therefore, is obligated to walk after it. Note: God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are on the OUTSIDE of man. This puts the natural man in a desperate need for life that only Christ can give through Salvation. No matter how well-adjusted or nice the person might be – death still reigns, because there is no real life or relationship with Christ. Read Ephesians 2:1-3. Where is God in this illustration of man? ____________________

Do you believe you are an indwelt Christian? ____________ If so, how did you become a believer? Do you ever have any doubts that you are a true indwelt Christian?

Look up Ephesians 4:17-19. How would you describe your heart regarding the things of God?

If you are unclear as to your Salvation, see the Appendix – Important Prayers.

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This is an illustration of a person who has accepted Jesus Christ and is walking after the Spirit. Please note that the “old self” or “old man” have been removed and placed on the Cross with Christ Jesus (Gal. 2:20). It is no longer the individual living life, but Christ living it through him. Satan can only influence the person through external temptation; whereas, in the first illustration – he ruled from within, as well as externally. The Spiritual Man has the very nature of Christ living in him. This gives him a new identity - an identity that will clean the conscious mind and ultimately renew the trash the old man left behind in the deep recesses of the mind. The hand that blocks Satan from influencing the mind is a direct act of the will to submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). Temptation can still come from the devil; however, sin’s power is broken and this person is no longer a slave to the devil’s sin (Romans 6:14).The body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). The Holy Spirit, who is in this person, is freely controlling every part of this person: mind, will, emotions, and body (Gal. 5; 16-17). Look up Romans 8:11. According to this verse, where is Christ now? What did He offer our mortal bodies?

Read Romans 6:6, 14. Where is the “old self?” What happened to sin’s power?

Does this diagram accurately describe your walk with Christ today? ____If not, why not?

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This diagram clearly shows us how the spiritual man can make sinful choices and function as if he were still unsaved. We call this spiritual man functioning carnally (fleshly). Notice the hand is gone and the believer is allowing the external influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Christ is still in the believer – wanting to influence, but the believer has chosen to allow temptation to fill his conscious mind with sins. Even though the identity of Christ is readily available, the person is re-focused on their old identity – that of sin. These sins continue to fill the mind, both consciously and subconsciously. In order for the person to enjoy internal fellowship with Christ again – repentance is in order. Repentance helps the person move from functioning carnally to spiritually, walking after and in the indwelling Holy Spirit. Keep in mind that nothing has changed in the person’s position in Christ; but conditionally, sin begins to take over once again. Read James 1:13-15. How do you presently handle temptation?

Does Satan tempt through appealing to your mind, will, or emotions? ______________ Look up 1 John 2:15. How are your thoughts and emotions being influenced by the devil and the world? List the things in the world that he uses.

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The above diagram is one of the most critical in our study on Identity Matters – illustrating repentance and the Spirit causing a U-turn in the believer. Repentance starts with a person considering their own way, which requires an honest appraisal. [The following diagram on the next page will offer a step-by-step outline.] Repentance is not just feeling sorry (2 Cor. 7:8-10). It is a complete alteration of the basic motivation and direction for the believer’s life. Note the arrow of My Way leading to an Honest Appraisal, which starts the renewal of mind (Luke 15:17). Once the mind is renewed by the mind of Christ from within, the will makes the choice to believe Christ’s renewal (Luke 15:18). As with all choices, the feelings will automatically follow and support the choice of the will (Luke 15:19). Conduct (or change of behavior) will follow the mind, will, and emotions, as they line up with the Spirit’s conviction (Luke 15:20). Confession and restitution are the results of the exchange of the believer’s own way with that of God’s way (Luke 15:21). [Restitution is detailed in a future lesson on Extending and Seeking Forgiveness of others.] Carefully review Psalm 119:59. What two steps do you see in this passage?

List the ways you think you have been living according to your own way.

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HONEST APPRAISAL leads to as clear a statement as possible for us to make about “WHAT IS.” That is, what the TRUTH is about our own purpose, motives, methods, and patterns – without the varnish of self-protection, without enhancing or guarding our reputation, and without using devious means to maintain personal objectives. One difficulty encountered is that of avoiding procrastination. Honest appraisal must be undertaken in obedience to Christ within, without waiting for the feelings to line up. Honesty requires facing the Truth. The purpose of HONEST APPRAISAL is to bring about in ourselves a heart of cooperation in-line with the Holy Spirit, by whom change of MIND, change of WILL, and change of feelings may follow.

Go to the Lord, ask Him to reveal any and all ways you have been choosing to walk after the flesh – “my own way.” Write down what He says below.

Now take the list and confess them before God as choices of sin, embrace His forgiveness, state before Him you are willing to follow the list outlined in the “Turning” section on the diagram, and then begin doing so. Once you have completed this, study these verses: Luke 15:11-24; Rom. 6:6, 12-13; 7:22-24; 8:9; 13:14; ; 1 Cor. 2:14; 3:3; 6:15; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 2:1; 4:17-19; Col. 3:9-10; Titus 3:3.

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Identity Matters: Knowing Who You Are In Christ

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If there is anything in which indwelt believers should praise God, it should be our new-found identity in Christ. This lesson could be used to lead someone to Christ for Salvation, or simply to lead them to the Cross for appropriation of identification in Christ. Most believers wander around in Christianity - like the children of God in the wilderness – not experiencing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in and through them. When we walk after the flesh, it becomes our most critical moment of understanding who we are in Him. Most of the time, it is a simple case of the believer just not knowing the Truth.

Our old life is gone, but our condition does not always line up with this truth. The believer seems to fall back on the trash left behind by the “old nature” and thus, produces fruit unto death. Meaning and purpose in life flow from identity. By faith in Jesus Christ, God has transferred us into Christ very life – eternal life. Our purpose is to demonstrate, or live out, the very life of Christ by having an intimate, obedient, dependent, love relationship with Him.

Look up 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. Write a summary statement covering all the key principles you discover in this passage.

Look up Galatians 2:20. What does this verse communicate to you?

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In this diagram, we explain the unsaved fallen nature of man as a spiritual, psychological, physical being, and introduce the significance of the formation of the self-life. Please note the following:

1. Every person is born into sin through the Adamic nature – fallen man. 2. All humans are born with a body, soul (mind, will, and emotions) and a spirit. 3. Due to being born into sin, the spirit of man is dead (detached) to God. We call

this the un-regenerate man (the spirit is not generated or empowered with life). Like a broken generator that should power a building, man has no power source to live life.

4. Every person IS a spirit, HAS a soul, and LIVES IN a body. 5. Meaning and purpose for life flows from the spirit of man – dead or alive. This is

how the self-life is formed. 6. God designed man to be born dead, in order that each human would seek to

experience life and fulfilment from His Son. [In the above illustration, Christ is on the outside of man.]

7. All humans will build their lives upon their identity. In this case, it is the old nature – fallen man. The old nature is owned and empowered by Satan. This is why unsaved people go to Hell if Christ does not come to indwell them.

8. Fallen man has no other choice but to build and expand their identity upon their dead state: seek gods, a darkened mind, choices of sin, emotions damaged by their fallen state, and attempts to find identity in how their body looks.

9. The primary place of identity formation is in the mind, will, and emotions. 10. The person can associate with Christ and His teachings, but until the spirit is

generated by Christ indwelling him – it is all for NOT.

Do you think of yourself as a body? Examples: I am fat, I am in great shape, I am beautiful, etc. If so, explain.

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Do you spend a lot of time, money, or energy to improve your body or appearance? This could include clothes, exercise, diets, surgery, etc. If so, explain.

Do you think of your intellect (what you think) as who you are? Example: I am smart, I am decisive, I am stupid, I am a deep thinker, or maybe even, I am slow and ignorant. If so, explain.

Do you spend large amounts of time trying to figure things out - think situations or circumstances through? If so, explain.

Do you define yourself by what you are feeling? Example: I feel happy, so I have joy. I feel guilty, so I must be guilty. If so, explain.

Do your emotions or how you are feeling determine whether or not you are having a good day? If so, explain.

If you could believe your true identity was spiritual through the indwelling mind of Christ, how would that change your daily routine and behavior? Explain.

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In the previous diagram (ID-100), we learned about the model of fallen man. The above illustration gives us understanding as to how all persons became sinners – through their descent from Adam. Sin travels through the seed of man, NOT the blood. This why there was NO sin found in Jesus’ mortal body, for He had been conceived through the seed of God by way of the Holy Spirit. Man is born with sin and in sin, due to the seed of Adam becoming corrupt after The Fall. Therefore, all mankind is born dead to God and alive to the enemy – Satan. This is why people go to Hell if they don’t receive Christ. Note the following:

1. This line diagram can be used to lead others to Christ. 2. We are all born “IN” Adam and received his nature and consequences. 3. The dash line next to the pathway line to Hell is illustrative of our grandparents dating back

to Adam – seed to seed. 4. Being in Adam means: receiving spiritual death, receiving his nature to sin, and having the

identity of a sinner. 5. By birth, we are related spiritually and physically to Adam and under the sentence of death

spiritually, psychologically and physically. 6. All are on their way to Hell and go past eternal life (Life of Christ), unless they are

transferred over into the Life of Christ through Salvation.

Look up Romans 5:12. What did you learn from this passage?

Study Romans 3:23; 6:23. What did you learn about sin?

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Did you know that people do NOT choose Christ, but rather Christ chooses them (John 15:16). This is an impossible thought to embrace without the power of the Holy Spirit revealing it to the person. As stated before, all are born in Adam and doomed to Hell. In this illustration, we see that the pathway is interrupted by Christ introducing Himself to the candidate of Christ. Colossians 1:13-14 tells us: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” This action of being transferred is the greatest act of exchange in all eternity. We are not only put in the Life of Christ, but He puts our Adamic nature to death through co-crucifixion with Him (Gal. 2:20). Once the transference is complete (born-again), we are given a brand new past, present, and future - that of Jesus’ past, present, and future. This is why it is possible and a reality to be crucified, buried, resurrected, and raised with Him. Note the following:

1. Christ chooses us, but we respond to His touch. 2. Christ’s Life and heritage is the believer’s by spiritual re-birth (1 Cor. 15:22). 3. Jesus did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people alive. 4. Christ’s Life is eternal and never changes - past, present, and future (Heb. 13:8). 5. The chosen believer is actually removed from being “in Adam” and placed “into

Christ” for eternity – the key word is “transferred.” 6. In the Greek, the word “transferred” emphasizes removal – permanently taken out.

God removed us from Adam and graft us into Christ’s very life. 7. Once transferred from Adam into Christ, “Everything is new about the believer.” 8. The only thing that carries over with our bodies is the sin, or trash - the Adamic

heritage left behind. That, too, will be renewed upon our physical death. 9. The flesh (trash left behind) resides in our mortal bodies, but God has use for it.

By choosing righteousness from within, against the desires of the flesh, the believer experiences the power of the Cross (Phil. 2:12).

10. The believer’s eternal life began when he was graft into Christ’s Life. Being born-again IN Christ means: receiving the Holy Spirit (His Life), being sanctified by His Life, and functioning in and through the identity of Jesus.

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Study Romans 5:12, 17-19. What does the natural man receive because of Adam’s sin?

What does the believer receive because of Christ’s obedience?

Look up Romans 10:9-10. Does man have to end up in spiritual death? Why, or why not?

Study 1 Corinthians 1:30. Whose work was it to move you from the old path to the new, which is eternal life?

Read Colossians 1:13. How did you get into Christ, if you are truly a born-again believer? Whose life do you have now?

If you have become born-again, write out your story of being transferred.

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This illustration further explains the position of the believer’s identity in Christ. As depicted, the Romans 6:6 passage speaks of the “old self” being crucified with Jesus. The diagram goes on to reveal that the indwelt believer is buried and raised with Him. The most significant principle being revealed here is the believer’s position – seated at the right hand of God in Christ. When behavior comes from position and not condition, victory is sure to be experienced. There are three ways converts can view life: “hanging on the Cross” (poor me), sitting in the tomb (darkness and despair), and seated at the right hand of God (seeing all of life from God’s perspective). Many teach this passage as if it is something to come, once we go to Heaven. The Truth being said: it is a position the indwelt believer is given upon the moment of Salvation.

List the primary principles of Truth you see being conveyed in this illustration.

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This diagram has become the clearest and most used in explaining what it looks like to walk in and after the Holy Spirit. It all starts with Christ placing Himself at the very core of the believer. Our Lord purified, redeemed, and perfected one third (1/3) of our being. Jesus, through representation of the Holy Spirit, is able to live and function in righteousness in and through the believer. Walking after the flesh is choosing to believe that our thoughts, feelings, and appearance define who we are. In our next diagram, ID-105, we will see the details of a believer walking after their flesh. We will discover it truly is possible to walk after and in the Spirit, by choosing to believe the renewal of MIND that Christ provides, as He flows from the Spirit and into the human mind. Once that happens, the WILL then chooses to process the thoughts of Christ as Truth. Since the EMOTIONS always support what the will decides, excitement of renewal flows into the BODY. This is how we get Christ as Life behavior.

Look up Ephesians 1:13 and state what Truth(s) is/are being revealed.

Read Romans 12:1-2 and write down what Paul is telling us about the mind.

Look up 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and state what must happen to every believer.

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All the things God says are true about us, and come from the Life and mind of Christ from within. Unless we use our mind, will, and emotions to “allow” or release the Spirit, we end up living off of our own thoughts, choosing our own way, having defiled emotions, and fulfilling the desires that are embedded in our body. What Paul said to the Romans (in chapter 7), left them with a deep understanding and clarity about what is really going on within us when we do things we really don’t want to do.

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good” (Romans 7:15-16).

What does Paul mean by, “I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good” for the person doing what they hate?

The simple fact is: when we put our hand up in resistance (by not allowing the Spirit of Life to renew our minds), we begin doing the things that we “hate.” These things we do not want to do, are seeds of sin leftover from the Adamic nature that was crucified with Christ on the Cross.

“So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (Romans 7:17-18).

The doctrines of identity within this passage are critical for the indwelt believer to embrace. Paul is actually telling us that he isn’t the one doing the things that he hates, but sin that is housed in his mortal body (flesh). He is revealing a clear understanding of his identity (who he really is), as well as the nature of sin dwelling within his body. He is separating himself from his sin in the most literal way possible. God has revealed to him that there is nothing good in his flesh – trash left behind by the old nature. Even though it sounds like Paul

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refuses to take responsibility for his choosing sin, he is actually confessing one of the most profound Truths of identity – I am not my sin.

Fill in the blanks of the following passage.

“I find then the principle that ____________ is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the ________ of God in the___________ man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my ________ and making me a ________________ of the law of sin which is ________ my members” (Romans 7:21-23, NASB).

The law of sin (in our mortal bodies) constantly pushes up through the body into our emotions, forces into our will, and ultimately, wages war against the law of our mortal minds. By resisting the Holy Spirit (who resides in our spirit), we thus agree that the law of sin has more power than that of Christ within. This is why it is such a horrific sin to submit to the law of sin and death over the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

To be able to say that the reality of two-thirds of our earthly triune is mastered by sin, is actually the principle which leads us to being thankful to and through Jesus Christ for understanding the identity war within the true believer.

Fill in the blanks of the following passage.

“Thanks be to God ________________ Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my ____________ am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of ___________” (Romans 7:25, NASB).

Once the hand of resistance goes up between the Spirit and the mind of man, the human mind will default to inferiority, insecurity, inadequacy, guilt, worries, doubts, fears, which are quick to dump into the mortal body as “selfish behavior.”

List out the beliefs of your own mind that do not agree with the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus – for example: inferiority, insecurity, fears, etc.

Look up Romans 8:1-4. What are the answers stated in this passage?

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It is the believer’s choice to walk after the flesh or to live in their true identity in Christ! Notice the differences between the soul and body walking after the flesh and the free flowing Life of Christ by those who choose to walk in and after the Spirit. Walking after the flesh is choosing to believe that our thoughts, feelings, and appearance define who we are – behavior flows from identity. On the other hand, walking in and after the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus is choosing to believe God’s indwelling Word (Life of Christ) to direct the soul and body in living righteousness. Changes need to take place in the mind and then, in the choosing. Then, they will affect the body.

Look up Romans 8:5-6. What do these verses say about the importance of what we set our minds upon?

Read John 8:32. How does the believer change from walking after the flesh to walking in and after the Spirit? Where is your focus now?

What is more true – Christ in you, or your feelings? ____________________________

Are you ready to choose to believe what God’s says is true about you? _______ If so, follow the guidelines in the Identity Matters Action list (next page).

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IDENTITY MATTERS ACTION PAGE

ACTION DONE

1. Pray before you go any further with this action page.

2. Write out a statement about how your emotions determine whether or not you are having a good day.

3. Write out a summary statement how your life experience would change if you lived according to Christ’s Life within you. Also, write out what He says is true about you vs. what your flesh continues to say.

4. In your own words, answer these questions: What did you learn about yourself, what does it mean to be “IN” Adam, what did you learn about sin, are you a sinner or a saint, and what does it mean to be “IN” Christ?

5. Re-write Galatians 2:20, replacing the “I” with your name.

6. Write a summary statement why what Christ says about you will affect your soul and body.

7. Pray the “Self-Life Prayer” in the appendix section of this workbook.

Study these verses: Prov. 3:7-8; John 5:24; 8:32; 10:28; Rom. 5:12; 6:6; 10:13; 12:1; 1 Cor. 1:30; 6:13; 9:27; 2 Cor. 4:10; 5:17-2; Gal. 2:20; 5:1; Eph. 1:4, 6; 4:17-18; Phil. 4:6-7; Col. 1:13; 2:10; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 4:12; 13:8; 1 John 5:13; Rev. 3:20.

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Righteousness: Accepting What Is Right About You

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One of the main drives of all humans is to seek out love, acceptance, and forgiveness – saved or not. Acceptance produces rest. And rest precedes ceasing from our works by self-effort (Heb. 4:3). When a believer is living in performance-based acceptance as a lifestyle, he will soon come to realize that every effort applied outside of Christ doing the doing through him – is sin. Any and all drive or motivation for acceptance outside of Christ is what we call “Godship” – being god of your own life. Any indwelt Christian who walks in this form of selfish acceptance will find himself rejecting, criticizing, and putting self, others, and God under their judgment/standards. Knowing where our acceptance is found (as a believer) is at the core of accepting who we are IN Christ.

Write a detailed paragraph explaining your style of attempting to gain acceptance from others.

What do you see as the average church’s view of acceptance and performance?

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People who react to a difficult incident in their lives are not in touch with their RIGHTEOUSNESS in Christ – In fact, they are proving they do NOT know their identity in Christ, thus making wrong choices. This diagram illustrates an indwelt believer being unaware of their true identity. This person moves along through life until “something happens” (temptation, failure, a rebuke, or a rejection), perceive it to be “negative,” and then explode in anger, bitterness, or revenge with an attitude of “I will not change.” This person is confessing that they live by circumstances, not by Truth. Due to their lack of awareness of their true identity, the person’s attitudes are unforgiving, begrudging, detached, vengeful, rejecting, full of pride and thus, having to fake their Christianity.

What is a negative incident that has confronted you recently?

Did you react after your flesh? If so, how?

Look up Galatians 5:16 and 2 Peter 1:9. What does it mean to carry out the desires of your flesh?

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This simple illustration shows how wrong choices are made through the influence of Satan, the world, and the believer’s flesh. Look up Romans 8:5-8 and fill in the blanks. “For those who are according to the ____________ set their minds on the things of the

___________, but those who are according to the ___________, the things of the Spirit.

For the mind set on the flesh is ______________, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and

______________, because the mind set on the flesh is _______________ toward God; for

it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who

are in the flesh cannot _______________ God” (Romans 8:5-8, NASB).

Satan, the ruler of the world, wants to set the believer’s mind on their flesh by stirring up sin that dwells within their mortal body (Rom. 7:20). “For momentary, light _____________________ is producing for us an _____________

weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we _____________ not at the things

which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are

________________, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18, NASB).

Initially, the appeal is made through physical stimuli exciting the sin inside, moving a person to a decision. The mind and the spirit might not be involved in the decision, but will probably end up following the will’s decision. Continuing to make wrong choices is most likely going to develop a stronghold - sinful habits. Whatever controls the will, controls the person. How are you feeling right now? ______________________________________________

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It would be great if all indwelt Christians would choose the TRUTH at the very moment an incident occurred in their daily lives, but that simply is not the case. When an unpleasant or sinful incident occurs, believers do not have to react after their flesh; but, instead, can respond after the Spirit by allowing Christ in them to do the responding. Look up John 8:32 and state the importance of Truth. Keep in mind that only after Truth is applied can right choices be made.

Read 1 Cor. 4:1-4 and state why Paul was unaffected by popular opinion.

When the Truth of the believer’s identity in Christ is in place prior to an incident, he is free to respond after and in the Spirit. The two choices detailed in the diagram above show us: 1) a believer’s perfect acceptance in Christ and 2) a demonstration of how Jesus actually does the responding through a believer. Read 2 Cor. 5:21. Explain how the believer came to be the righteousness of Christ.

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Right choices are made through the indwelling influence of God, through Christ in the form of the Holy Spirit – who is the Word. God wants to influence the believer’s decisions through His Spirit bearing witness with the written Word. The believer’s job is to set their mind on the Spirit. Once that occurs, Christ is released to do the thinking, choosing, and feeling through the believer, which will perfectly match the written Word. Look up 2 Cor. 5:14-15. What does God say should motivate the believer’s choices?

What is the most practical way you can listen to God?

Read Psalm 119:11. How might you get God’s Word in your heart?

Carefully review Phil. 4:8-9. What mandate is being presented in this passage?

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Faith is one of those words thrown around in classic Christendom, like it is some kind of emergent description of one’s religious beliefs. True faith is only found in Christ! It is the fuel needed to release Christ in us, in order to appropriate our co-death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. True faith is defined within the Greek as “truthfulness of God.” Since Christ is that “truthfulness,” then it would behoove us to ONLY put our faith in Jesus. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20, emphasis added). Faith in what God says is pleasing to Him. Our feelings may not join in believing what He says, but it doesn’t change the fact. Our feelings don’t change the Truth, not even God would do that. It doesn’t please God if the believer chooses circumstances and feelings over the Truth of Christ, whom He has made to dwell within the believer. The best part is when a believer daily chooses, by faith, in what He says is True. Then the Lord’s joy, peace, and contentment will be evidence of the believer’s walk with God. Read Ephesians 4:24. How often do your feelings support this proclamation?

Look up Philippians 3:20. If you didn’t feel like a citizen of your country, would it change the truth of your citizenship? ___________ Can you be a citizen of Heaven even though you don’t feel like it? ______________ Do you want to believe what God says about you or what your feelings scream out through you? ________________ Make a faith statement about what you believe about this passage.

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THE TRUEST THINGS ABOUT ME: ACTION PAGE

Actions: † Read each verse aloud.

† After each reading, say to God, “I believe.”

† Thank Christ for each of these gifts.

† Repeat this as often as your heart is in need.

† Copy this action page and hand it out to others.

† Considering memorizing some or all of these passages.

† Hang this page on the refrigerator – we call it our “refrigerator page”

In Christ I am a child of God – born of God. John 1:12-13

In Christ I am being saved by His Life. Romans 5:10

In Christ I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1

In Christ I am an heir of God, joint heir with Christ. Romans 8:17

In Christ I am a Saint. Romans 8:27

In Christ I am accepted. Romans 15:17

In Christ I am a possessor of the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16

In Christ I am a new creature. 2 Corinthians 5:17

In Christ I am the Righteousness of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21

In Christ I am blessed with every spiritual blessing. Ephesians 1:3

In Christ I am adopted as God’s child. Ephesians 1:5

In Christ I am God’s workmanship created for good works. Ephesians 2:10

In Christ I am a member of God’s household. Ephesians 2:19

In Christ I am a citizen of Heaven. Philippians 3:20

In Christ I am holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Colossians 1:22

In Christ I am complete [perfect]. Colossians 2:10

In Christ I am alive and forgiven of all my sins. Colossians 2:13

In Christ I am a member of a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9

In Christ I am a partaker of God’s divine nature. 2 Peter 1:4

In Christ I am given eternal life today. 1 John 5:11-13

In Christ I am released from my sins. Revelation 1:5

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Extending Forgiveness Releasing Others to God

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When we have been hurt by someone (intentionally or unintentionally), and are continuing to be bothered by it – it is time to extend forgiveness in prayer, even if that person is deceased. One of the most common manifestations of someone NOT extending forgiveness, at the moment of being hurt, is the nasty habit of grudge carrying. Anger is another classic symptom of not forgiving. An indwelt believer’s growth in Christ is immediately affected when unforgiveness clouds the heart. Look up Ephesians 4:26-27, 32. There are seven powerful mandates given to us in this passage. Please list them.

Read James 4:12. To what does Jesus’ half-brother compare those who will not forgive?

Make a list of individuals you tend NOT to forgive when they hurt you.

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The above illustration reveals the process of achieving oneness in a relationship. This process fits any voluntary relationship; for example: marriage, business partners, or friends. Relationships begin with an attraction of some type, leading to openness. The “C” placed right after EXPOSURE stands for commitment, or a test thereof. When EXPOSURE comes, we tend to see things in ourselves and the other person we don’t like…and sometimes hate. Exposure brings about conflict, which – if not dealt with through Christ, will bring about CONFLICT. If conflict is not resolved, according to the ways of Christ, SEPARATION will develop in both parties. Separation starts in the spiritual area of life and regressively goes down the list one at a time - until, in many instances, legal problems. List the individuals with whom you are presently experiencing some form of separation.

The only way to bridge the gap between the two, removing the sin of separation, is to bring about reconciliation. This won’t happen until there is REPENTANCE by one or both individuals. It is sad to say, but most people cannot be moved to repentance until the separation has broken them into a pile of humility. There are three parts to reconciliation: extending forgiveness, seeking forgiveness, and rebuilding the relationship. Mature love happens once repentance and reconciliation have had its perfect way. God desires oneness in all relationships, even if only one member is willing to go through these steps. Who is the most difficult person you have found hard to forgive? ___________________

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Read John 17:21-23. What was Jesus praying for? _____________________________

Since God desires oneness, what area of Godship (Diagram G-101) is keeping you from moving past this separation?

Do you tend to withdraw from people to avoid conflict? _________ Can you see that this

withdrawal is another form of separation? ___________

Repentance is the first step back toward achieving ONENESS. Please list out the persons who hurt you, how they hurt you, and your sinful reaction.

WHO HURT YOU HOW THEY HURT YOU YOUR SINFUL REACTION

Assignment: We will return to this list later in the study.

Please take a few moments to write a paragraph explaining your pattern of extending forgiveness, or lack of it.

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The diagram above (EF-101) illustrates the effects of unresolved conflicts. What do most people do with conflict? Nothing! When a conflict happens, an emotional explosion often- times erupts. It is through this explosion that hurt, silence, anger, hate, resentment, and a multitude of other fleshly reactions separate the two in conflict. The dash lines represent time passing – hours, days, weeks, months, or years. When you are hurt, you don’t want to forgive immediately – few do. Gradually, the intensity of the emotions subsides; but without forgiveness, oneness no longer exits. Choosing NOT to forgive someone who has hurt you will eat at you like a slow growing cancer.

One of the most common deceptions is “time heals all things.” Boy, what a lie that is! Time heals nothing; in fact, it makes things worst. What time and distance does is put both parties into a position of faking it until they make it, which normally never happens. Since time does not heal, what does? Forgiveness!

Look up Hebrews 12:15. The grace of God is powerful. What does Paul reveal to us in this passage?

Can you relate to the above diagram? If so, how?

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This illustration is to show the effect of unresolved conflict when time is allowed to pass without forgiveness. Without forgiveness, conflicts tend to escalate (at least in the mind of the individual who is getting hurt). Notice that the conflicts and the emotional distance are getting larger, because the two people aren’t coming come back together by forgiveness. Pride is a major barrier to the forgiveness process. When you look up each of the verses out of Proverbs, you will notice how each refers to PRIDE. Another barrier to extending forgiveness is a desire to protect ourselves. Trusting in self-protection is a form of control, which is Godship. We are not trusting God; we are trusting in ourselves.

Which of the four explosions best describes you with the main person who has hurt you?

A B C D

Look up Ephesians 4:32. What is the command in this verse?

If you have proof of unforgiveness, what is keeping you from obeying God’s command?

Carefully read Proverbs 16:18. What does this passage say could be the reason why believers do not obey God in extending forgiveness?

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FORGIVING OTHERS

Purpose Statement

Offering forgiveness to those who have hurt you, in and through Christ, is one of the most freeing actions you can demonstrate here on earth. This homework assignment will include listing the act, your hurt, the ramifications, and your sinful reactions to the way the offender hurt you. Once you have done this, you will need to depend upon the eternal forgiver who lives and indwells you – Christ. If you are not a Christian (never have asked Christ into your life) these actions will be temporary and not eternal.

Offering Forgiveness Is Not . . .

Forgiveness is not “acting” as if it does not bother you anymore. It is not disregarding, tolerating, excusing, overlooking, or closing your eyes to the wrong another person has done against you. It is not “letting time pass” after the offense has been committed. It is not “forgetting” that the offense happened – or “pretending” that it did not happen. It is not “resigning” yourself to the other person’s actions by saying, “Oh well, that’s just the way he/she is.”

Key Statement:

Forgiveness is functioning with another, as if they never committed the offense in the first place. Without true forgiveness, you will stay resentful, lack in joy and act offended any time you see, hear of, or meet someone who reminds you of this offender.

Process of Offering Forgiveness

Make four lists. Column 1: how the offender hurt you, Column 2: how you felt regarding the hurt. Column 3: list the ramifications. Column 4: list your sinful reactions to the offense.

1. Admit to God how you felt regarding the offense.

2. Admit to God that you have been holding this person guilty for this act.

3. Admit to God that your reactions to this offense, and the person, are sin.

4. Claim God’s forgiveness for your reactions (sin).

5. Extend forgiveness, in prayer before God, for the hurt this person has caused you.

6. Put the offender in God’s hands and join Him in doing what He wants to bring healing.

7. Your feelings most likely will not match. By choice, live each day as a free man.

8. Agree with God that you are willing to be reconciled to the offender and allow Him to love the offender through you.

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This diagram helps us see how an offended person acts like a judge. James 4:12 says there is only one judge - God the Father - not us. The fact is He is sinless, which gives Him the prerogative and ability to judge righteously. We must be in agreement that God is the Judge. Those who try to act as a judge are demonstrating Godship – playing God. Common judgmental statements might be: “I deserve better than this” or “After all I’ve done for them, this is what I get in return.”

Where do you see yourself in this diagram? ___________________________________

Read James 4:12. What is God’s message to you from this passage?

Now look up Psalm 9:7-8 and Acts 17:31. Who is the only One qualified to be the judge? What ways have you tried to “play God” by judging others?

What does 1 Peter 2:23 communicate? _____________________________________

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All of us who decide to judge another end up in jail – that is, “emotion jail.” When we think, react, or treat someone as “guilty,” we need a judge to put that person in jail. The truth is: the one who is acting as the judge is the one who ends up in jail. Although the offended person judged the offender as “guilty” because of lack of forgiveness, the offended person continues to live in turmoil. Unforgiveness results in a person living in a prison of their own making. The bars of the prison are actually the offended person’s anger, resentment, etc. The offended person tries to use anger, bitterness, and spite for protection – even though he knows it doesn’t work. But the bars actually become the offended person’s own ongoing turmoil. This study will offer the steps of forgiveness, by revealing that the keys to freedom are actually in the hands of the indwelt believer.

Study Ephesians 4:31-32. Which of the jail cell bars apply to you?

Now review Ephesians 4:26-27. What ways are you giving the devil opportunities?

Look up 1 Peter 5:8-9. What does Satan want to do to you?

Do you want a “get out of jail free” card? ____________________________________

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This model will offer specific steps (keys) to freedom gained only through forgiveness. For many people, forgiveness has not been clearly understood and, therefore, ineffectively applied. The goal of this process is to fully consider all the aspects of extending forgiveness. To prepare to extend forgiveness, one should make four lists. First, list the offenses (what the person did or didn’t do). Second, list the feelings you had/have as a result of being hurt. Third, list the ramifications of the offense. Fourth, list your own sinful reactions to this person (even though you may have been wronged, your sinful reactions are not justified). See the sample chart below.

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This is the true effect of forgiveness - through Christ doing the forgiving, through the believer. Conflicts diminish in size and frequency when both parties give and receive forgiveness. Forgiveness removes hidden anger and facilitates harmony. God commands that all wrath, anger, etc., “be put away from you” (Eph. 4:31). According to Matt. 18:21-22, we are to forgive, as often as it takes. Forgiveness is a lifestyle that Jesus is ready and willing to offer through the believer. When a person stops playing god by setting standards, he is not offended as often – it’s miraculous! This completes the first part of the reconciliation process. The next chapter offers helpful tools on how to seek forgiveness from others.

Review the Matt. 18:21-22 passage stated on the diagram and answer the following questions.

What principle regarding forgiveness do you see in these passages?

Write out a brief story of an occasion when you held a grudge and then were led by Christ to forgive – state the results as well.

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TEST OF FORGIVENESS

1. Do you still see the offender as not guilty?

2. Are you sincerely thanking God for the lessons learned during the pain? (Romans 8:28-29)

3. Can you talk about your hurt without getting angry, without feeling resentful, and without the slightest thought of revenge? (Ephesians 4:31)

4. Do you have a willingness to accept your part of the blame for what happened?

5. Can you revisit the scene or the person(s) involved in your hurt without experiencing a negative reaction?

6. Are you rewarding with good those who have hurt you? (Romans 12:20-21)

SAMPLE PRAYERS:

Extending Forgiveness – Offense and Hurt

“Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow” (2 Corinthians 2:6-7).

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I have sinned against You, the Heavenly Father, and _____________ (person you are bitter towards) by harboring resentment, hurt, and bitterness, for their offense against me. Please cleanse me from this sin. I now unconditionally forgive ____________ for the wrong (list out before God) that ________has committed against me. I ask that You would reclaim all ground in my life, which Satan’s kingdom has claimed against me, because of my unforgiveness and bitterness. In the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit, I stand against any lies and powers of darkness that were assigned against me because of my unforgiving ways. I submit myself to You and ask that You turn me into a vessel of forgiveness.

I choose now to love ________with Your love, acceptance, and forgiveness. I offer myself up to You as a living sacrifice to be used by You to rebuild the relationship, if you deem it necessary. I pray You would empower me with the strength I need to go to ______ and seek their forgiveness for my part of the offense, and/or for my reactions. I ask that You would cover me with the power of Your grace and mercy. It is in the Forgiver’s name (Jesus Christ) I pray – Amen.

REPENTANCE – Ramifications and Reactions

“When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life’" (Acts 11:18).

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, I praise Your name for the grace that has come to me through the Lord, Jesus Christ. I rejoice in the victory, which You have provided for me to live above sin and failure. I come before You in confession and to plead Your mercy over my own sins. I

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confess my sins of lukewarmness, apathy, and worldliness. I specifically confess my sin of ___________ (list all the known sins that have bound you – adultery, drug abuse, etc.). I acknowledge before You the wickedness of the worldly environment by which I have allowed myself to be influenced. I accept Your forgiveness and mercy for the sins I have committed against You. I plead the sufficiency of the blood of Christ to meet the full penalty of what my sins deserve. I claim back the ground in my life, which I have given over to Satan by believing the enemy’s deception. In the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I resist all of Satan’s activity to hold me blind and cause me to function in darkness. Exercising my authority (given to me in my union with the Lord Jesus Christ), I pull down the strongholds, which the kingdom of darkness has formed against me. I smash, break, and destroy all those plans formed against my mind, will, emotions, and body. I destroy in prayer the spiritual blindness and deafness Satan has kept upon me. I invite the Holy Spirit of God to bring the fullness of His power to convict, to bring me to further repentance, and to lead me into faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. I claim the Truth that Satan has no power to blind me from Your Truth.

I thank You for bringing me under conviction, leading me to pray this prayer of repentance, and for answering my prayer of deliverance. In the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I joyfully lay this prayer before You, in the worthiness of Christ and the completed work on the Cross. Amen.

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Seeking Forgiveness Reconciling With Others

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“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (Galatians 6:7-9).

When true extending forgiveness occurs, the believer is aware of the need to seek forgiveness from the person he forgave. This is why it is important to make a list of those the believer has hurt (either by direct action or a reaction to the offender hurting him). If this does not happen, estrangements will plague the relationships. One thing is certain: the Holy Spirit will bring conviction to all children of God who have offended another – in any shape and form. Christ, in the believer, wants seeking forgiveness to be a normal part of our Christianity. This way, He can rebuild relationships for ministry purposes.

Look up Romans 12:18. In your own words, reveal what this passage mandates.

Summarize Matthew 5:23-24.

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The above illustration shows how God’s forgiveness is the foundation for human forgiveness through Christ. Total forgiveness for the believer has been accomplished by the shedding of Christ’s blood on the Cross (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22; Ephesians 1:7). God’s forgiveness to us is the foundation on which each of us is able to forgive and seek forgiveness from each other. Christ is doing the forgiving through the indwelt believer. In Acts 24:16, Paul desired to have a conscience clear before God and man. Seeking forgiveness is a way to have that clear conscience. In Romans 12:18, Paul encourages the believer to be at peace with all men. We were sought out by God, even though we were the offenders against His own Son. How much more should we seek out those we have offended to ask for their forgiveness?

From whom would God want you to seek forgiveness?

Study these verses: Acts 24:16; Romans 12:18; and 1John 1:7. What do these verses say to you?

Are you ready to do your part to bring about reconciliation? ______________________

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Sowing to the flesh reaps corruption. There are four main points to Sowing and Reaping:

1. You reap what you sow. (Gal. 6:7) 2. You reap more than you sow. (Hosea 8:7) 3. You reap in proportion to what you sow. (2 Cor. 9:6) 4. You reap in a different season. (Gal. 6:9)

Sowing to the flesh violates God’s Word – internally and externally - for example: judging, lying, or abusing people violates God’s Holy Word. Not resolving these conflicts, by seeking forgiveness, is worse sowing. Corruption will come, but will come in a different season [as shown by the lines and the darkening of the segments]. Sowing to the flesh and reaping corruption lead to actions, such as: withdrawal, fear, anxiety, and even physical problems [see box in diagram].

How have you chosen to sow to the flesh by violating God’s Word? Examples: lying, deceiving, sexual immorality, judging another person, etc.

Study Galatians 6:7-9. Are you trying to avoid reaping what you have sown? How?

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As for indwelt believers, there is nothing like sowing to the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Galatians 6:8 says that a person who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life. Sowing to the Spirit will produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit, lasting for seasons. Don’t give up sowing to the Spirit, even though you don’t see immediate results (Galatians 6:9). Sowing to the Life of Christ in the believer – reconciling past or new conflicts as a way of life – will result in positive responses [in the box at the right]. Keep in mind: when you start sowing, you start out in darkness (consequences of past fleshly reaping). But in due time, it will become less dark, with more light of Christ.

Are you frustrated because you have sown to the Spirit and not seen positive fruit yet? State or describe those frustrations.

What might be stopping you from seeking forgiveness from those you have offended?

Study 2 Samuel 11:1-17, 12:18. What should David have done when he saw Uriah?

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There are two directions of extending and seeking forgiveness. Matthew 5:23-24 emphasizes the importance in being reconciled with others. The Lord desires uncluttered worship. Knowing someone has something against you will hinder your worship. You may not have intended to offend, but the other person may be hurt. The solution is to go to the person you have offended and seek forgiveness for your part in the conflict. Truly seeking forgiveness makes it easy for the offended person to forgive – most do. The offender’s obedience in seeking forgiveness sets him free from the burden of the offense, even if the other person doesn’t forgive. Now free and uncluttered worship can occur.

Carefully study Matt. 5:23-24. What does Jesus say to do when you remember someone has something against you?

From your perspective, how would NOT going to another to seek forgiveness affect your worship with Christ within you?

If you seek forgiveness from someone, does that person have to forgive? __________ In fact, if that person is an unbeliever, he/she has no power to forgive you. It will be a kind gesture to them.

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KNOWING HOW TO SEEK FORGIVENESS Purpose Statement Humility breeds freedom. When someone chooses to seek the forgiveness of someone he has hurt, he provides an opportunity to demonstrate the power of Christ’s forgiveness. It is a great way to reveal the Gospel. Seeking forgiveness is simply this: honestly reviewing how you hurt another by words, actions, or lack of action. It is going to that person (preferably in person) and saying, “I was wrong” for whatever you did to create pain in their lives – then asking for their forgiveness. Forgiveness is “giving freedom before the offended has the opportunity to unveil bitterness.”

Seeking Forgiveness Is Not . . . Forgiveness is not going to another to “put things behind you” or to “get the monkey off your back.” It is not “smoothing over” what you did. It is certainly not bringing up their actions, which “caused” you to hurt him. It is humbling yourself before that person, confessing your sin, and not considering their sin (or hurt) done unto you.

Process of Seeking Forgiveness

1. Make three lists. Column 1: list whom you hurt. Column 2: how you hurt that person. Column 3: how you acted toward that person after you hurt him/her. See example:

Who I Hurt How I Hurt Them How I “Act” Toward Them

Mom Told her to “bite a rock”

† Avoided her † Gossiped about her † Skipped over birthdays † Refused to return calls † Etc.

2. Make sure you “extend forgiveness” before God if that person hurt you. 3. Pray through the “Seeking Forgiveness” list. 4. Rehearse what and how you are going to say it. 5. Reject any defense, excuses, or blame. 6. Pray and get counsel for the “right timing.” 7. Call the person to set a time. The phone conversation should go something like

this: “Mom, I am calling to find a time to get with you regarding seeking your forgiveness for some things I believe I have done to hurt you. What is the best time for you?”

8. If the person wants to do it on the phone, delay. Plead to do this in person. If the individual refuses to meet with you in person or circumstances dictate you can’t, ask for a phone time that is best for him/her.

9. When the meeting starts, thank him/her for allowing you to do this. 10. Go down column two and three and say “I was wrong for _________________,

would you forgive me for this?” Wait for the answer and repeat this process until you have completed the list.

11. At the end of the meeting, thank him again. Now ask if there anything you can do to assist in restoring the relationship. If the request is reasonable, do what is asked ask of you.

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The reward of seeking forgiveness is oftentimes in the rebuilding of the relationship. Both parties tend to be more careful and gracious in communications. Unity is the goal for Christ in the believer. The fighting is over and both parties are working together (hopefully) for the Lord’s glory – unless the other is unsaved. Both the offender and the offended have a responsibility to rebuild the relationship. Trust is often a roadblock, having to be yielded to Christ continuously. Beyond seeking forgiveness, the offender needs to minister to and serve the offended, as Christ desires to do this through the one seeking forgiveness/offender. Beyond extending forgiveness, the offended needs to give up his/her standards (Godship) that the offender does not meet. Remember, it was Godship that got you in this trouble to start with. Only when the offended recognizes that his life is not his own, will he be able to be vulnerable to the offender again (2 Cor. 5:15). Both, if saved, need to pray for each other and be willing to spend time together.

Study Psalm 133:1. What does God desire in relationships?

What normally keeps people from wanting to rebuild relationships after reconciliation?

Review 1 Peter 2:23. Who is the protector? Explain why this might be hard to believe.

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Rest, Abide, and Walk Walking By The Spirit

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After reading our “Purpose of This Teaching” statement, it is easy to see that resting in Christ is crucial for the believer’s daily living. All believers get overwhelmed by life’s situations and circumstances. All need to see life from God’s perspective, through Christ in the believer. Anytime an indwelt believer is stressed-out or uptight, he is walking after the flesh and needs to be brought back to the basics of Christ within. When we get stressed, we are living either in the past or the future. Trusting Christ with the present is an impossible task. This is why it takes Christ in us - living in the present.

Look up John 15:1-5. This passage is filled with principles of Truth – find them and write them out.

Review Galatians 5:16-17. What does this passage reveal about how to continue in rest?

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Christ lived and lives a life of rest. Becoming weary is the result of trying to stand in God’s “shoes” without His resources. We cannot rest when we have taken on God’s responsibilities. Coming to Him means to abandon what was taking His place in our life before (Matt. 11:28-30). Learning from Him means allowing Him to live life through us, which is a completely different way of thinking than to how we are used to living. Christ has a lowly heart - a selfless life. Self-interest literally destroys the believer’s life. Loving others above self - breeds life and frees us to rest. It is the pursuit of self-interest that prevents us from resting in Christ (Phil. 2:3-4). Jesus chose to give up His reputation and humbled Himself. No one could destroy His reputation or humiliate Him. The KEY to a restful life is allowing Him to make the same choice through us. Then we won’t have to live trying to maintain our reputations and/or protect ourselves.

What is keeping you from coming to Christ and resting? Do you demand a visual security He will not give?

Make a statement about your defense of your reputation – how do you protect it?

Review Matt. 11:28-30. What does God command you to do?

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Believers can rest because God is in control. God wants His children to rest and makes His rest available to them through the indwelling Life of Christ from within. Worry, anger, or frustration will steal Christ’s rest in the believer (Heb. 4:9-11). When indwelt Christians rest, they cease from their own labors because Christ has finished all the work. He didn’t leave a single action for us to complete. Those who worry still believe there is work to be done. What an illusion that is! Laboring to rest is done by accepting the Truth, which is accepting Christ within to do the work. The believer’s life belongs to our Husband – Jesus Christ. Once we truly embrace this, we can choose to receive all circumstances as from God, rather than just enduring or fighting them. God possesses all strength (through Christ), all wisdom, and all knowledge. He is more than willing to manifest these through the believer. Anytime believers choose to rest, they stop exhausting themselves by trying to have control.

What kinds of things are you doing that show you are not resting in Christ?

What type of justifications do you use for NOT resting?

Look up Isaiah 40:28-31. Pray over this passage and ask the Lord to make it an experiential reality to your soul.

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Abiding is one of those words many indwelt Christians do not understand. Whenever we find Jesus using the simplest illustrations, like the Vine and the branches, we know He is presenting a Truth impossible for humans to get their heads around. This is why it takes the mind of Christ from within to conceptualize the Truth. Notice there is an intimate relationship (abiding) between the Vine (Jesus), the Vinedresser (the Father), and the branch (believers). The Vine and the Vinedresser pour their Life into the branch, by way of the sap (Holy Spirit), for the purpose of bearing fruit. Why fruit? For the same reason He gave us fruit trees, to feed others. The vineyard is not complete unless all four elements are doing their part. This puts the believers in a very significant and needed position (John 15:1-2). Take one piece out and no grapes.

It is absolutely impossible to be fruitful outside of intimacy (abiding) in the Vine. Keep in mind that the fruit is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit – not ours. The juice of Life is in the sap. Without this sap, life cannot flow from one part to the other (John 15:2-9). This illustration is the perfect picture of how Christianity works. Allowing Christ to fulfill the Law of the Spirit of Life in us is the result of abiding in Christ, being dedicated to His pleasure out of pure intimacy, and a desire to submit to Him from the inside out.

Abiding in His Love is like the glue that attaches, and keeps us attached, to the Vine.

List the things you desire to produce in your life, which the Vine (Jesus) has no intention of producing through you.

Is it possible to produce fruit on your own? _____________ Look up Rom. 7:5 to answer

what kind. _____________________________________________________________

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Many teachers use the phrase “walking after the Spirit” to describe true Christian living. The Truth being said, we are commanded to “walk after and in the Spirit.” The “after” portion is how we see the Holy Spirit working in and around us; we are to go with that flow. Walking “in” the Spirit is a confession of how we do that. It must be Christ in the believer doing the work for the production of the fruit. The key to life is “whoever is in the driver’s seat.” The areas of life directed by the Spirit (Life of Christ within) will produce righteousness. The areas of life directed by the flesh (substance of the branch) produce sin and death. Why? Because any branch that does not do its part by restfully abiding will die, and the Vinedresser will have to prune and throw it into the fire.

Walking in and after the Spirit means the Holy Spirit actually becomes the One doing the living, supplying, and the working of Christ from the inside out, as long as the believer does their part – stays yielded. Every choice believers make, from what we eat to ministering to others, involves a Life or flesh decision (Joshua 24:15). The one doing the living can be identified by which type of fruit is produced – fruit of the Spirit or fruit unto death.

Read Galatians 5:16-17. What areas of your life do you find difficult to yield to the Lord?

What are you afraid will happen if Christ is making the choices through you? What is the purpose of your branch (life)? What are the resources available to you to accomplish this purpose?

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Resting not only applies to the present, but to the past and future as well. Living in the past drags yesterday’s problems forward into today, adding to the responsibilities of today, and sabotaging our rest. Plus, Satan is a god of the past, which is where he enjoys binding and deceiving body members into believing they are still enslaved to sin. The person, who drags yesterday’s troubles into the present, is the same person who drags future worries into the present as well. Both are acts of Godship, but those spending time manipulating future worries are openly displaying their want in playing god.

THE PAST: Regarding our past: we can only repent of our sinful choices, reconcile relationships we have damaged, and thank God for all He has been doing in our lives. The past is the only place the devil can play. God will not allow him to manipulate present or future events. This is why God calls to us, “Do not call to mind former things or ponder things of the past” (Isa. 43:18). When we do this, we call the devil to the forefront. The enemy’s deception of getting believers to think that past things are present problems is probably his most effective tool of destruction. It gives the grave appearance that he (Satan) has control of the present – NOT!

THE FUTURE: Trying to control, manipulate, or avoid the future only causes anxiety. Mainly, because we are guessing what might be there that can hurt us. Unbelievable amounts of resources are required to manipulate. You can be assured that Christ will NOT give you one ounce of His resources to play Godship with the future. There is ONE thing we can do about the future – trust Christ with it (He purposes only good for those who love Him) and choose to live in the present with Christ’s perfect obedience.

THE PRESENT Believers can only rest in the Life of Christ in the present – for He will not join them

in the past or in the future. It is critical the body of Christ focuses on obedience to

Christ within. This obedience flows from the believer’s intimacy and Love Life with

Jesus. To live in the past is a life of regret; to live in the future is a life of despair; but

to live in the present is Christ as Life!

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As they say, worldview is everything – at least when it comes to humans. The way an indwelt believer views God is as critical as embracing Christ within. Human focus of view is the key to perception. But an eternal view requires the One who is called “Eternal” - Jesus Christ - who does the viewing through the heart of man. Did you know you can cover the sun with a penny? It’s true, if you hold it close enough to your eye. It seems as though it has covered the sun even though there is no comparison in their actual size. This is the exact illustration concept that is being revealed in our diagram. If believers choose to look at life with human eyes, they are doomed for despair. If they look at life from an eternal view [positioned at the right hand of the Most High], they are destined to live a victorious life here on earth.

The intensity of our response to problems, circumstances, and feelings is a measure of our self-life (flesh). The more the believer cares about himself, the more he has at stake in any circumstances. I hope you got that statement. When believers evaluate life based on how they are affected by life, they are forced to “play god.” We must remember that focusing on God, or on our circumstances, is a choice God gives us. We can admit we are helpless in changing this poor habit. It is in admission that His Son steps up to provide all the resources to view His Father through His eyes.

When God is our primary worldview: problems, circumstances, and feelings become rather small. You choose – the penny or the Son.

Study Hebrews 12:1-3. Which worldview of life is most often yours? Explain.

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REST, ABIDE, AND WALK ACTION PAGE

ACTION DONE

1. Pray before you go any further with this action page.

2. Write out a paragraph stating your summary of the message of Rest, Abide, and Walk.

3. List the “people, places, and things” that get in the way of you choosing to rest in Christ.

4. Now list direct actions of rebellion (purposeful resistance) you use to avoid doing what God says. After doing this, take the list to the Lord and appropriate His forgiveness and restitution.

5. Look up Isa. 43:18. List the memories you tend to call to mind and ponder. Once doing this, give it to the Lord in prayer. Tell Him you join Christ in His commitment not to make a habit of this in the future.

6. Write a summary statement why Christ’s worldview will affect every area of your life.

7. If you haven’t already, consider praying the “Self-Life Prayer” in the appendix section of this workbook.

Study these verses: Psalm 119:59; Isaiah 40:28-31; Jer. 29:11-12; Matt. 5:23-24; 6:25-34; 11:28-30; John 14:21; 15:1-11; 2 Cor. 4:17-18; Galatians 5:16-17; Eph. 4:32; 5:20; Phil. 2:2-8; Heb. 4:9-11; 12:2.

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Love Life Giving Life to Others

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The Love Life with Christ is the pinnacle of a believer’s life. If each Truth represented in this workbook has been appropriated, completing the process will involve participants (who are believers) embracing their fullness in Christ Jesus. There are three aspects of a Love Life with Christ, which will be explained in this lesson. Keep in mind: the primary flesh act that gets in the way of a believer enjoying their Love Life with Christ is disobedience. In fact, disobedience will affect their prayer life and its effectiveness. When each of those issues is reconciled unto the Lord, the believer will be able to release Christ to love others in His perfect way.

What is the primary mandate set before us in John 14:15?

There are multiple principles offered to us in 1 John 3:16-18, 21-22. What are they?

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For whatever reason the Lord has, there is a love relationship between love and obedience. It is probably because obedience to authority is the greatest evidence of love. Simply put: loving God is obeying Him. Jesus actually summarizes all the Law and the prophets into these two commands: love God and love others. This kind of love is not worldly, natural, or of man – it is God. We find in the truest definition of love in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.”

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).

The proof of Salvation is that we will know if someone is an indwelt believer by their love. God told us to love one another. He also knew that since love came from Him, we had no human ability to love another. So, what is up with that? This is the reason and purpose of God, the Father, placing His Son inside the born-again believer. So the believer could love. Our Love Life with Christ within is our evidence of knowing Him from within.

Love is essential in the life of an indwelt Christian. God is the source of love. With the inheritance of receiving that love comes a condition – IF you love Me, you WILL keep My commandments (John 14:15).

“The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:8-9).

Study Matthew 22:36-40. Why is loving God the most important thing to do?

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This illustration shows the roots of love, and the life and fruit produced as a result of such love (1 Tim. 1:5; 1 Cor. 13:4-5). Most talk about love today like it is some kind of beloved acceptance of all forms of emergent lifestyles. Real love comes from God’s heart. Whatever is NOT in His heart will never be a part of His everlasting love. So why does God send 90% of the world’s population (past, present, and future) to Hell? Because, He is very particular about His love. Love comes from a pure heart – the heart of God. The same love that is in God’s heart is in Christ. God’s love is the only kind of love that will manifest in the believer, since Christ is within the believer. God’s love has many conditions attached to it, so it takes the Life of Christ to fulfill these requirements – in the believer. In the Old Testament, love was proven by the letter of the Law. I the New Testament, it is proven by the Law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus.

A person with a pure heart considers others more important than himself (Phil. 2:3). Love comes from a good conscience – the mind of Christ. This means no unreconciled relationships between God and man. Our wrong choices can damage the flow of God’s love though us. Love comes from a genuine faith that can only be found in His Son. This genuine faith is what gives the believer the prerogative to trust in what He says.

Look up 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Which of these characteristics of love are found in your life?

Does the tree describe your life? Why or why not?

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Loving God is expressed by obedience. Luke 22:42 tells how Jesus was obedient to God even though He didn’t want to go to the Cross. He always obeyed His Father (John 6:38). His obedience demonstrated His love for God. We love God because His first loved us (1 John 4:19). We demonstrate our love for God through Christ as listening and obeying His voice from the inside out.

Look up 1 John 3:21-22. This passage clearly reveals that when we obey God, we will not experience any condemnation. Condemnation comes from the heart of the one who is making fleshly decisions, not from God (Rom. 8:1). These are two different kinds of condemnation being represented. The first type of condemnation comes from ourselves, when we don’t obey God. The second type of condemnation comes from God. The only people who receive this kind of condemnation are those who have never received the Life of Christ through a born-again experience. Christ is the only one who can remove the condemnation placed upon mankind by God.

In your own words, write out what you learned by reviewing the 1 John 3:21-2 passage.

A person can harden their heart to God by knowing what He wants done, yet refusing to do it. This person will have little confidence toward God. He (God) doesn’t shut the windows of Heaven; we just don’t think they are open to us. Explain your confidence level with God.

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The final result of our study on love is to give it away. Loving people is expressed by giving the Life of Christ away to others. Love toward mankind is expressed as believers offer themselves to others as a living sacrifice. This is agape love, God’s love flowing from the inward life of Christ outward to mankind. This kind of love has a motive which is right and righteous. Agape love comes only by a decision of the will – a deed with a motive from its source, God.

Read John 15:12-13. Who has God brought to you for whom you can lay down your life to meet that person’s needs?

Study Luke 9:23. How do you see your self-life not wanting to lay down and die to love others?

Make a proclamation statement of what you plan to do differently now that you have completed this study?

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Important Prayers

Extending Forgiveness – Offense and Hurt “Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow” ( 2 Corinthians 2:6-7).

PRAYER Lord Jesus, I have sinned against You, the Heavenly Father and _____ (person to whom you are bitter) by harboring resentment, hurt, and bitterness for their offense against me. Please cleanse me from this sin. I now unconditionally forgive _____ for the wrong (list out before God) _____has committed against me. I ask that You would reclaim all ground in my life, which Satan’s kingdom has claimed against me because of my unforgiveness and bitterness. In the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit, I stand against any lies and powers of darkness that were assigned against me because of my unforgiving ways. I submit myself to You and ask that You turn me into a vessel of forgiveness. I choose now to love _____with Your love, acceptance, and forgiveness. I offer myself up to You as a living sacrifice, to be used by You to rebuild the relationship if you deem it necessary. I pray You would empower me with the strength I need to go to _____ and seek their forgiveness for my part of the offense, or for my reactions. I ask that You would cover me with the power of Your grace and mercy. It is in the Forgiver’s name (Jesus Christ) I pray – Amen.

REPENTANCE – Ramifications and Reactions “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life’" (Acts 11:18, NASB).

PRAYER Heavenly Father, I praise Your name for the grace that has come to me through the Lord, Jesus Christ. I rejoice in the victory, which You have provided for me to live above sin and failure. I come before You in confession and to plead Your mercy over my own sins. I confess my sins of lukewarmness, apathy, and worldliness. I specifically confess my sin of _____ (list all the known sins that have bound you – adultery, drug abuse, etc.). I acknowledge before You the wickedness of the worldly environment by which I have allowed myself to be influenced. I accept Your forgiveness and mercy for the sins I have committed against You. I plead the sufficiency of the blood of Christ to meet the full penalty of what my sins deserve. I claim back the ground in my life, which I have given over to Satan by believing the enemy’s deception. In the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I resist all of Satan’s activity to hold me blind and cause me to function in darkness. Exercising my authority, which is given to me in my union with the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pull down the strongholds, which the kingdom of darkness has formed against me. I smash, break, and destroy all those plans formed against my mind, will, emotions, and body. I destroy, in prayer, the spiritual blindness and deafness Satan has kept upon me. I invite the Holy Spirit of God to bring the fullness of His power to convict, to bring me to further repentance, and to lead me into faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. I claim the Truth that Satan has no power to blind me from Your Truth. I thank you for bringing me under conviction, for leading me to pray this prayer of repentance, and for answering my prayer of deliverance. In the name of the Lord, Jesus

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Christ, I joyfully lay this prayer before You in the worthiness of Christ and the completed work on the Cross. Amen.

The Identity Prayer Father, I confess to You the sin of walking after my old identity. I realize who I am is not who I was before I accepted Jesus Christ into my life. I choose now to embrace the Truth that will set me free. I agree with your stated Truth that my True identity is the Life of Christ who lives in me. I willingly walk after the Spirit within me, instead of walking after my flesh. I thank You today for showing me the Truth that sets me free. I ask that as You remind me of Your divine Truth each day, that I would hear You and obey. I pray in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Salvation Prayer Loving Heavenly Father, I take by faith the helmet of Salvation. I recognize that my Salvation is the Person of Your Son, the Lord, Jesus Christ. I cover my mind with Him. I desire He places His mind within me. Let my thoughts be His thoughts. I open my mind fully and only to the control of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I replace my own selfish and sinful thoughts with His. I reject every projected thought of Satan and his demons and request, instead, the mind of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I ask that You grant me the wisdom to discern thoughts which are from the world, my FLESH, and Satan’s kingdom. I believe Jesus is Your Son, He died on the Cross for my sins, and Jesus is God. I believe in the Trinity: You, as the Father; Jesus, as the Son; and the Holy Spirit. I confess I have been a sinner – totally separated from You. I choose to accept Your forgiveness for my sins, through the power of the blood of Jesus that was shed for me on the Cross. I now ask that You send the Holy Spirit to live inside my mortal body. (Pause for a moment) I praise You, heavenly Father, that I may know the mind of Christ as I hide Your Word within my heart and mind. Open my heart to love Your Word. Grant to me the ability and capacity to memorize large portions of it. May Your Word be ever over my mind like a helmet of strength, which Satan’s projected thoughts cannot penetrate. Cause me to allow the Holy Spirit (the Life of Christ) within me to fulfill the discipline of daily living to appropriate Your Salvation. These things I lay before You, in the precious name of my new Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

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Important Scriptures Most people find it challenging to figure out where to start in studying the Scriptures. This section offers topical Scriptures to help get you started in getting to know the Word of God. Faith “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 “And a woman, who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, ‘If I only touch His garment, I will get well.’ But Jesus turning and seeing her said, ‘Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.’ At once, the woman was made well.” Matthew 9:20-22 “And He (Jesus) said to them (the disciples), ‘Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.’” Matthew 17:20, clarification added “And Jesus said to him (the father of the demon-possessed mute son), ‘”If You can?” All things are possible to him who believes.’" Mark 9:23, clarification added “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.’” Romans 1:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” James 5:14-15

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The Love of God “The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.’” Jeremiah 31:3 “‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.’” John 13:34-35 “‘He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.’” John 14:21 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.’” John 15:9-10 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son {to be} the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:10-12 “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also”. 1 John 4:16, 21

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Eternity “The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!” Psalm 22:26 “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23:6 “‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.’” John 3:16 “‘But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’” John 4:14 “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.’” John 5:24 “‘Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.’” John 6:27 “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.’” John 6:47 “‘I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.’” John 6:51 “And the testimony is this that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” 1 John 5:11 “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20 Praising His Holy Name “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Psalm 34:1 “O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy. For the LORD Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth. He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet. He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah. God has ascended with a shout, The LORD, with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm.” Psalm 47:1-7

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“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain.” Psalm 48:1 “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.” Psalm 50:23 “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.” Psalm 63:3-5 “My mouth is filled with Your praise and with Your glory all day long. But as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.” Psalm 71:8, 14 “It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High.” Psalm 92:1 “For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.” Psalm 96:4 “Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!” Psalm 107:8 “‘The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise.’” Isaiah 43:21 “But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18 “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” Hebrews 13:15 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 Serving the Living God “But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.” Exodus 23:25-26

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“Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 10:12 “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul” Deuteronomy 11:13 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.” Deuteronomy 13:4 “Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Joshua 22:5 “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15 “Samuel said to the people, ‘Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver, because they are futile. For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.’” 1 Samuel 12:20-22 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9 “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go, Satan! For it is written, “YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.”’” Matthew 4:10 "’No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’” Matthew 6:24 “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:6

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“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may see what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” Romans 12:10-13 Obedience “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “Samuel said, ‘Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.’” 1 Samuel 15:22 “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” Isaiah 48:18 “But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.'” Jeremiah 7:23 “‘If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. He who has My commandments and keep them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.’” John 14:15, 21 “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” Acts 5:29 “Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” Colossians 3:20-24

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“Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond slaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.” 1 Peter 2:13-20 “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keep His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this, we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” 1 John 2:2-6 The Fleshly Mind “A man will be praised according to his insight, but one of perverse mind will be despised.” Proverbs 12:8 “The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on folly.” Proverbs 15:14 “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 “He who has a crooked mind finds no good, and he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.” Proverbs 17:20 “A fool does not delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own mind.” Proverbs 18:2 “The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” Proverbs 18:15 “And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.” Ecclesiastes 1:13 “I said to myself, ‘Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge. And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind.’” Ecclesiastes 1:16-17

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“I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.” Ecclesiastes 2:3 “Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 2:23 “The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure.” Ecclesiastes 7:4 “I directed my mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.” Ecclesiastes 7:25 “‘I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.’” Jeremiah 17:10 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things, which are not proper.” Romans 1:28 “But I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members.” Romans 7:23 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:25 “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:6-8 “For you are still fleshly. For since, there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” 1 Corinthians 3:3 “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.” 2 Corinthians 1:12 “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:8 “Yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.” Colossians 1:22

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“Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.” Colossians 2:18 “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” Colossians 2:23 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2:11 “For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error.” 2 Peter 2:18 Grace Of God “But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little living in our bondage.” Ezra 9:8 “You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever.” Psalm 45:2 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11 “Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.” Proverbs 3:34 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” John 1:16-17 “And with great power, the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.” Acts 4:33 “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.” Acts 6:8 "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are." Acts 15:11

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“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!” Romans 6:14-15 “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Rom 11:6 “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 “To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:6 “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 2:9 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.’” James 4:6 “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries.” 1 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13 “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 1:4 The Holy Spirit “‘If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?’” Luke 11:13 “‘And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.’” Luke 12:10 “‘For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.’” Luke 12:12

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“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” Acts 2:4 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.” Acts 2:33 “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” Acts 2:38 “And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.’” Acts 4:31 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.” Acts 7:51 “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5 “To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:16 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is accursed;’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3 “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain--for He says, ‘AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.’ Behold, now is ‘THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,’ behold, now is ‘THE DAY OF SALVATION’-- giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

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“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6 “So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.” 1 Thessalonians 4:8 “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5 “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” 2 Peter 1:21 “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” Jude 1:20 “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” Revelation 21:10 Faithfulness “The LORD will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the LORD'S anointed.” 1 Samuel 26:23 “For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness.” Psalm 33:4 “Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” Psalm 36:5 “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” Psalm 37:3 “I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.” Psalm 40:10 “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings, you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.” Psalm 91:4 “To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night.” Psalm 92:2

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“For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:5 “I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” Psalm 119:75 “Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands.” Psalm 119:90 “You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness And exceeding faithfulness.” Psalm 119:138 “Hear my prayer, O LORD, Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!” Psalm 143:1 “O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; for You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.” Isaiah 25:1 “For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; a father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.” Isaiah 38:18-19 “They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:23 “And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the LORD.” Hosea 2:20 “Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness.” John 2:8 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23:23 “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” Romans 3:3 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...” Galatians 5:22 “And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?.” Luke 12:42

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“‘He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?’” Luke 16:10-12 “‘And he said to him, “Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.”’” Luke 19:17 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24 “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service.” 1 Timothy 1:12 “Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.” 1 Timothy 3:11 “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13 “Holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” Titus 1:9 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:17 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

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The Bride of Christ – The Church “’Lift up your eyes and look around; all of them gather together, they come to you. As I live,’ declares the LORD, ‘You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride.’” Isaiah 49:18 “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10 “For as a young man marries a virgin, So your sons will marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So your God will rejoice over you.” Isaiah 62:5 “‘Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me Days without number.’” Jeremiah 2:32 “‘Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin.’” Jeremiah 7:34 “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.’” Jeremiah 16:9 “‘Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.’” Jeremiah 25:10 “‘The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the LORD of hosts, For the LORD is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting;” and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the LORD.” Jeremiah 33:11 “Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, and Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride out of her bridal chamber.” Joel 2:16 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.” John 3:29

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“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 “And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you;’ or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, there as our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:21-28 “So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:12 “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.” Galatians 1:13 “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church.” Ephesians 1:22 “So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 3:10 “To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:21 “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” Ephesians 5:23-25

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“That He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:27 “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church.” Ephesians 5:29 “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:32 “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” Colossians 1:18 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God.” Colossians 1:24-25 “But in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15 “And the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.” Revelation 18:23 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” Revelation 19:7 “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” Revelation 21:2 “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’” Revelation 21:9 “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” Revelation 22:17

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Being A Steward “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you. The LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.” Deuteronomy 28:2-8, 11, 12 “‘Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, “How have we robbed You?” In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,’ says the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 3:8-12 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:20-21 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33 “’Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.’” Matthew 10:8 “‘And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.’” Matthew 19:29 “Jesus said, ‘Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.’” Mark 10:29, 30 “‘Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.’” Luke 6:38

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“And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?’” Luke 12:42 “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.’” 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” Colossians 3:23-24 “For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain.” Titus 1:7 “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 1:2 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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Dr. Phinney is the Founder and Ministry Host of the Institute Of Ministry

(IOM America), founder of the Exchanged Life Global Initiative, as well as the International

Fellowship of Exchanged Life (IFEL). Stephen is also the co-founder of the Men

Mapping™ Outreach Ministries, a ministry dedicated to equipping men to be protectors of

women, children, community, and nation.

Stephen and Jane have been married for over 35 years and have three grown children:

Abigail (husband, Quintin Eason), Elizabeth (husband, Nathan Ford) and Jessica. Jane

and Steve have also been blessed with multiple grandchildren. They are dedicated to the

institution of marriage, multigenerational family development, and local multigenerational

family church development. They are conference speakers on topics relating to core

marriage, multigenerational family, leadership values, and the Exchanged Life (Not I, but

Christ).

Stephen has authored multiple books/teaching series on spiritual growth and has

published over 200 online articles/booklets assisting others in obtaining a Transformational

Biblical Worldview. Even though he does NOT put much stock in these degrees, he has

earned: Bachelor of Psychology, Master of Counseling Psychology, and a Doctorate of

Ministry. He also holds the status of Doctor of Philosophy Candidate at Oxford Graduate

School.

Mission

Truth is under attack in our culture. “Christians” believe ideas, concepts, values, and/or

supposed facts that are true only because their ideologies demand it – NOT because it is

written in the Word of God. Our ministry often hears one of the most popular clichés in our

culture today, “That may be true for you, but it is not necessarily true for me.” Gone are the

days when right and wrong were black and white. Today’s morality is painted in shades of

gray to match the faces of morbid belief. Steve is focused on providing not just a biblical

worldview, but a Transformational Biblical Worldview – one that emphasizes changing

lives.

Worldview Development

It is his confession that worldview is birthed through personal identity! This is why it is

critical for workers to first understand who they are in Christ before they can lead another

in such a discovery. With this in mind, he aims to gently message the identification truths

of co-death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into all aspects of ministry communication.

It is his experience that if any ministry, or its workers, focus on worldview issues before

experimentally understanding the power of the Cross, these workers could actually lead

the Church away from the Truth that will set them free.

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His primary objective is to equip individuals for the purpose of building up the Body of

Christ and to assist in empowering men, women, children, and families to have a greater

impact on the communities they serve. This is accomplished by providing Christ-centered,

Bible-based guidance and training that focuses on issues pertaining to the indwelt

Christian’s identity in Christ.

He presses forward to show individuals their freedom from enslaving mental, emotional,

and spiritual conflicts by placing a special emphasis on IDENTITY MATTERS. The

ministry style is direct, honest, and truly biblical.

Exchanged Life Global Initiative

Dr. Phinney has adopted the proposal of the Exchanged Life Global Initiative, which has

provided his mission with a proactive pro-vision, in order to revitalize the worldview of

uniting Exchanged Life workers throughout the entire world. In addition to our existing

strong partnerships, we welcome partnerships with other ministries that focus on the

message of the Exchanged Life to join our efforts!

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Recommended Reading Drawing Near Devotional Boa, Ken/Anders, Max Review

His Victorious

Indwelling Devotional Harrison, Nick Review

My Utmost For His

Highest Devotional Chambers, Oswald Review

Practicing the Presence

of God Devotional Lawrence, Brother Review

God’s Best Secrets Devotional Murray, Andrew Review

Close to His Majesty Devotional Needham, David Review

The Book of Prayers Prayer Phinney, Stephen Review

The Prayer Life Prayer Murray, Andrew Review

Prayer, Life’s Limitless

Reach Prayer Taylor, Jack Review

Not I But Christ Indwelling Life Olford, Stephen Review

Man As Spirit, Soul &

Body Indwelling Life Woodward, John Review

Lifetime Guarantee Indwelling Life Gillham, Bill Review

Born Crucified Indwelling Life Thomas, Ian Review

The Christ Life for Your

Life Indwelling Life Meyer, F.B. Review

Abide in Christ Indwelling Life Murray, Andrew Review

The Two Covenants Indwelling Life Murray, Andrew Review

Absolute Surrender Indwelling Life Murray, Andrew Review

Normal Christian Life Indwelling Life Nee, Watchman Review

Release of the Spirit Indwelling Life Nee, Watchman Review

The Christian’s Secret

of a Happy Life Indwelling Life Smith, Hannah Whitall Review

Handbook to Happiness Indwelling Life Solomon, Charles Review

The Ins and Out of

Rejection Indwelling Life Solomon, Charles Review

Sit, Walk, Stand Indwelling Life Nee, Watchman Review

Finances and the End

Times Indwelling Life Phinney, Stephen Review

Green Letters Indwelling Life Stanford, Miles Review

Victory in Christ Indwelling Life Trumbull, Charles Review

Sidetracked in the

Wilderness Indwelling Life Wells, Michael Review

Men & Warfare Spiritual Warfare Phinney, Stephen Review

The Adversary Spiritual Warfare Bubeck, Mark Review

The Principled Patriarch General Studies Phinney, Stephen Review

Hudson Taylor’s

Spiritual Secret General Studies Taylor, Howard Review

Completing the

Reformation General Studies Solomon, Charles Review

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