1. Introduction

This booklet is for those who have a burden of guilt from which they want relief and for those wanting power to give up wrong habits. It is for those who feel that they are spiritually burnt out. It will also prove helpful for those suffering from mental or social burnout. So if you’re not interested in these things then you may be wasting your time reading this booklet! But if you want relief from a guilty conscience, if you want to stop being angry or addicted or lustful or bitter or cowardly or proud or selfish etc. then I have some very good news for you. This booklet will show you how to get complete relief and consistent victory!

Now I want to be completely open about the approach that this booklet is going to take. I firmly believe that this is the ONLY approach that really works. You may feel that you want to stop reading when I tell you and that’s fine. I’m a firm believer in freedom of choice. But one thing I do want to say is beware of the power of prejudice and preconceived opinion. To a large extent you and I are the product of our past experiences. But you must not let these experiences imprison you. Don’t let them prevent you from properly assessing genuine answers to your problems. Remember that there are counterfeits out there! Remember too that the more valuable a truth is, the more likely there are to be counterfeits! Don’t let a counterfeit rob you of assessing the priceless (yet free) treasure that I’m offering to share with you.

So, back to being open about my approach. I’m going to talk about spiritual things. I’m going to mention God, the Bible and Jesus Christ. Now you may not be inclined to spiritual things. You may be an evolutionist. Or you may have your own deep spiritual roots in some other faith. All I ask is that you consider trying out the approach in this booklet. Do a "taste test"! I don’t have time or space here to discuss arguments for creation or arguments for the Bible’s reliability. All I have space for is an appeal to those who have doubts and preconceived ideas to "give it a go" (except I am interested if an evolutionist could explain how caterpillar to butterfly metamorphosis evolved).

If you want to have freedom from guilt and wrongdoing then I’m going to share an approach that really works.

But first I want to discuss a common approach that does not work, namely, "the blame method".

The blame method seeks to use blame as a means of easing guilt. Most people use this method naturally without any training. In addition, this method is used in some forms of counseling. For example, "Don’t feel guilty that you can’t forgive that person. It’s because of what your father did to you". In the end the blame method only adds more guilt to your conscience or results in a hardened conscience. Guilt is one of the main causes of mental burnout. If blame is used to try and help these burnout sufferers, their mental torments will only be made more complicated and deep-seated.

There are many ways that people use blame. Sometimes God is the one blamed, for example, "Why does God allow me to suffer from this cancer?" Other times it is circumstances. Unfortunately, I do not have time here to discuss the mystery of suffering or the fact that many illnesses are our own fault because we have not followed "the manufacturers instructions". However, I will mention that a correct understanding of God reveals a Being whom we can trust and who suffers with us. A good booklet on suffering and God is "Where is God When You Hurt?" by R. Coffen, ISBN 0828009287.

Another thing I want to mention at the beginning of this booklet is that there is such a thing as false guilt. How do I know if my guilt is false? First, I must define what guilt actually is. I like to define guilt in relation to responsibility. Guilt is responsibility that I have for the results of doing something wrong. This booklet will later discuss matters relating to how to define right and wrong. But for now let me advise you to ask this question: Can I clearly outline something that I did wrong? If not, then you may have an issue with false guilt. Next you should question if you are confounding guilt with something else such as grief, fear or loss of identity. For example grief can be felt as guilt if you are the only survivor of a catastrophe. Loss of identity can be felt as guilt in cases of sexual abuse. Children can perceive fear as guilt when their parents argue.

2. Our Helper

The thing that a suffering person needs most is a helping hand and a compassionate heart. The faster the helping hand can assist and the closer the helper is, the more encouraging it is to the sufferer. Also, the stronger that helping hand is and the greater the compassion and understanding of the helper, the more comforting it is to the one in pain and torment.

Now, I want to tell you an amazing thing. There are millions in this world bowed down with grief, guilt and suffering, feeling bound in chains to bad habits and past mistakes, who have right by their side One who is infinitely compassionate and powerful and who is constantly speaking to their hearts in gentle and pleading tones, asking if they would like Him to provide the relief that He is so willing to give – and yet they continually spurn His invitations, wound His sensitive heart and refuse to admit that they need His help!

Such a thing sounds incredible and yet, sad to say, it is a fact. And that is one reason why this booklet has been written. Who is this One who is so powerful, so compassionate, so willing to help and yet so often rejected by the very ones who most need His assistance? Well, let me put it this way, the main purpose of the Bible is to introduce you to this Person.

In chapter twelve of the Gospel of John it tells us that the Old Testament prophet Isaiah "saw His glory":

But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" [Don’t worry if this sounds strange or hard to understand. Keep reading and the fog will lift]. Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him (John 12:37-41). I am going to use the New King James Version for awhile unless otherwise noted.

If you read this chapter in John you will soon realize that the One Isaiah saw the glory of so many centuries before was Jesus Christ. The words, "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" come from chapter 53 of the book of Isaiah. This is the Old Testament chapter that especially reveals the glory of Christ’s unselfish and compassionate character. It’s also the place that most clearly shows how Christ can relieve me of my burden of guilt:

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He [Jesus Christ] shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

(Isaiah 53:1-6)

John chapter 12 also quoted from another place in the book of Isaiah: "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." This interesting passage comes from the sixth chapter of Isaiah, one of the principle places in the Old Testament that describes the greatness of Christ’s power and majesty. What we read here about Christ inspires us with a realization that our Helper is indeed omnipotent. Jesus Christ is the LORD of hosts, the almighty God, in charge of the hosts of heavenly angels who are all ready and waiting to obey His command to help those in need:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim [a type of angel]; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts." Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged." Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

And He said, "Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ "Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed."

(Isaiah 6:1-10)

Does God make people’s hearts hard and their eyes blind? When God sends light and truth to people and they reject it (usually because of pride) then, by their own choice, their hearts are hardened and their spiritual eyesight darkened. But the more we understand about how compassionate, loving and kind our Helper is, the more likely we are to listen to Him and accept the help that He is so eager to give. Consider these Bible passages about Christ:

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, And saves those who are crushed in spirit. The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Ps. 34:18, NASB; 103:9-14. James 5:11.

But the Lord Jesus is not just a very compassionate and merciful King on His throne. He has stepped down from His throne, laid aside His royal crown and chosen to take upon Himself my fallen human nature. He was born of the virgin Mary and lived a life of toil, suffering and privation for my sake. He gave me an example of perfect love and then took upon Himself my guilt and died upon the cross of a broken heart. He then arose and ascended to heaven to be my merciful and all-powerful priest and Helper:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with Go [that is, it did not detract from God for Christ to be divine], but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him…(Philippians 2:5-9)

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:14-16)

You can trust someone who has suffered a lot for you. I have read the story of a ship that was sinking off the coast of South America. When the crew checked the lifeboats only one was found sea-worthy. So they all crammed into this one boat except the captain and there was just enough room and buoyancy for him to get on board. Two more passengers would have made the lifeboat critically unsafe. Then, just as the captain was going to slide down the rope, a stowaway boy came running across the deck. The captain looked at the boy and then told him to jump into the lifeboat and take his place. This the stowaway did. There was now no room for the captain and he stayed on the sinking ship until it disappeared in the foaming billows. The captain gave his life for that stowaway boy. Now, if by some miracle the captain had not died or could have been brought back from the dead, would the stowaway boy be happy to trust him? Certainly. He would know that the captain was prepared to give his life for him and knowing this, he would trust him with all his heart. Jesus died for you. He has suffered for you more than you can imagine. He arose from the dead and now stands ready to help relieve you of your guilt and give you victory in your struggles with evil. If He told you what to do in order to get relief and victory, would you trust Him, would you believe Him? I would and I have, and it works! And of course He gets all the credit.

One more point before I look at what Jesus has told us to do. I have said that Jesus is right by my side. How can He be by my side when He is in heaven as my merciful and all-powerful Helper? He can come to my side through His representative, the Holy Spirit. The technical details of how this happens are beyond my understanding. Just as an ant cannot understand how electricity can suddenly make a room become light when a switch is pressed; so I cannot understand how Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, can be by my side and your side at the same time. Creatures of time and space cannot understand omnipresence. But I can believe the word of One who does know:

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:18-20, KJV).

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:16-18).

The risen Lord is by my side

While walking in the garden.

His voice so kind speaks to my mind

"Come find in Me thy pardon".

Christ is the way the truth the life,

The LORD of hosts, Almighty.

He left His throne, came to His own

And shone with love so brightly.

He took My guilt, He died for me

Then laid within a garden.

Like flow’rs in spring He rose a king

With fragrant words of pardon.

3. Relief From Guilt

I want to share with you two momentous truths that, if properly grasped, will radically effect your life for good and solve all your problems with guilt and bad habits. These principles are so simple that a child can understand them. In fact, children can find them easier to grasp than adults. Now I must tell you that there are many people who profess to believe these truths but who don’t really believe them. They have never fully surrendered to them.

These life-changing facts are:

1. What God says is true.
2. By choosing to believe and act on God’s words you are connected with God and His creative power.

These truths are so powerful and so freeing that the enemy of souls has invented innumerable ways of preventing people from grasping them. He keeps people illiterate, he hinders Bible translations, he clouds brains with drugs, he leads people into habits that create pain and sickness, he entertains, he excites, he distracts, he creates worries, he gets people busy with the things of the world. He gets people engrossed with religious ceremonies and "good works". He is a mastermind at creating doubt. He insinuates doubts about the translation process, he gets theologians to deny miracles, he gets so-called science to deny the reliability of Genesis, he gets archeologists questioning, hypocrites sinning and skeptics scoffing. In all these ways and more he will seek to stop you from accepting the fact that what God says in the Bible is reliable. He will use these and any other way he can to stop you from realising that by choosing to believe and obey you will tap into God’s infinite power.

If you want to side-step all these traps that will hinder the power of God’s word in your life then you must do three simple things: Make the Bible a top priority, read it with sincerity and prayer and choose to believe and obey it. I invite you to taste and see for yourself!

Now I would like to show you how these two principles work in relation to being free from guilt. Our first example comes from chapter nine of the Gospel of Matthew (verses 1-8). Here we have the account of a man who was suffering from paralysis. In today’s language we would probably say that he had suffered a stroke. Not only this, but he had an intolerable burden of guilt. From reading the Bible account we can ascertain that his sickness was very likely the result of his life of sin. This man hears about Jesus and determines to bring his case before Him. However, this proves difficult as there are so many people packed in and around the house where Jesus is that the disabled man’s friends cannot carry him to Jesus. In desperation, the sick man requests his helpers to carry him up the outside steps and onto the flat roof of the house. Then, after removing some of the roofing tiles they use ropes to let the paralysed man down in front of Jesus.

Jesus’ discourse is interrupted. The sick man’s pleading eyes are fixed upon Him. The LORD of hosts understands this case. He reads the man’s thoughts. He knows his most desperate need. He has witnessed the man’s confidence in Him as His only hope, as evinced by his efforts to get to Him. The blessed words fall from Jesus’ lips, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."

God has spoken. Yahweh has pronounced. Will the paralyzed man receive the words? Will he be connected with God’s creative power? We know from what happened next that this paralysed man believed. He was not asked to act, so he just lay there in blissful peace. Peace, peace oh blessed peace! The burden of guilt had rolled away. His mind had been renewed and purified by the creative power of God.

To demonstrate what had happened, to show how believing His words of forgiveness can cleanse a person from guilt, and to illustrate His authority to forgive sins, Christ then says to the prostrate man, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." Again he believes, and this time he acts by making a conscious choice to try and obey. As he does so, he is connected with God’s creative power and arising in perfect health, he takes up his mat and walks through the astonished onlookers who are standing back in awe and making room for him to pass.

Now I want to share a very important truth. The moment that the paralysed man believed and received Christ’s words of forgiveness he was totally, absolutely, perfectly clean and guilt free. Sure, he may have sinned some time shortly after that moment. But at that moment and at least for some time afterward, he was impeccable, spotless – on account of Christ’s righteousness being credited to him. The same can be said of the next example we will mention, namely, the leper of Mark chapter 1.

The leper mentioned in Mark 1:40-42 must have heard some details of Christ’s ministry. He had come to believe that if Jesus were willing He could make him well again and cleanse Him from leprosy (Mark 1:40-42). Falling at Jesus’ feet the leper says, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. Leprosy, in the Bible, is a symbol of sin and guilt. When we come to God to ask Him for some general thing He may delay His answer or give us something different. But not when we ask Him for cleansing from sin and guilt. When we sincerely ask for this, He will answer us immediately with the words, "I am willing; be cleansed." "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." Jesus "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father" 1 John 5:14-15; Galatians 1:4, KJV.

Connecting our wills with the power of God’s word is life changing. Many of Jesus’ miracles were done to illustrate this point. Take, for example, another paralysed man described in John chapter five. He had been sick for 38 years. Jesus came to him and said, "Do you want to be made well?" The sick man looks at Jesus wearily and complains that he has no one to help him get into the nearby pool when its alleged miracle-working power is active. Jesus’ reply is a simple command: "Rise, take up your bed, and walk". God has spoken! The Creator has commanded! The man makes a conscious effort to obey and as he does so he is re-created by God’s power and stands, a new man.

Then there is the story in Luke chapter six of the man with the withered right hand. Jesus says to him, "Stretch forth your hand". As he seeks to obey, his hand is restored as whole as the other one.

Not only does the New Testament illustrate the fact that choosing to obey God’s voice leads to renewal; but there are Old Testament examples too. There is Naaman the leper who was cleansed when he obeyed God’s word given through Elisha. There was Hezekiah who was healed when God’s word, as given by Isaiah, was obeyed. Then there is the famous story of the "fiery serpents" in Numbers chapter 14. The Israelites, in their travels through the wilderness, were in the habit of murmuring and grumbling against Moses and God. They were at it again, and as a result God removed His protecting power and the desert snakes started to bite. People began to suffer and die. They saw their folly in grumbling against Yahweh and pleaded with Moses to intercede for them. When Moses prayed, the LORD said, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." So Moses made a bronze serpent and had it held up on a pole. The people were to look at the statue of the serpent and live. Yes, just to look and live. All who chose to believe and obey God’s command were connected with His power and were restored to full health. The sufferers who disbelieved died.

The incident of the fiery serpents has a direct application to you and I being relieved of guilt. Jesus, referring to this event, said "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 3:14-15; 6:40.

You are to look to Jesus and believe in Him as your personal Helper and Authority. You are to study the account of His life, death and resurrection and believe that He did this for your cleansing and renewal. You are to accept His words as applying directly to your case. The words, "Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you" are spoken to you. Will you believe them and be connected with God’s cleansing, renewing power? The blessed words "I am willing; be cleansed" are God’s words to you. Believe these words. Accept the compassionate cleansing touch of Jesus and you are spotless! On account of Christ’s goodness you are perfect. Just like the cleansed leper, you can kneel before the LORD of hosts without one sin or guilty stain, your conscience at rest. Rest, rest oh perfect rest! The impeccable righteousness of Christ has been imparted to you. The cleansing touch has changed you. The filthy garments of sin have been removed. The startlingly pure garment of Christ’s righteousness covers you.

Yes, Satan will stand by and accuse you like he did with Joshua in Zechariah chapter 3. Satan will try and make you doubt God’s word. But you are to except Jesus’ words against Satan: "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?" (Zechariah 3:2). You are the brand plucked from the fire. You have been clothed with a change of raiment (verses 3-5) and now Satan has nothing to accuse you of.

Now there are some folk who need things spelled out ever so plainly. They want to know just exactly what words to use in prayer when coming to God for cleansing. We are all different. Some, like myself, are happy to just accept God’s words to us. I like to simply receive by faith the touch of Jesus and His cleansing words, "I am willing, be cleansed". When I do this I imagine myself being washed from top to toe in His purity. I love this experience of knowing I am clean and spotless before God. I accept and experience it regularly; in fact, I aim to do it at least daily.

But some feel that they must have words to address God first. And, indeed, this can be very appropriate. Why not come to God in prayer and use the leper’s words? "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean"? Or there are the words of the humble, penitent tax collector in Luke chapter 18: "God, be merciful to me a sinner!" Actually, the original says, "God be merciful to me – the sinner!" Jesus tells us that this man went home "justified" (vs. 14). "Justified" means to make righteous or to pronounce one as just. The man was cleansed and spotless.

So, remember:

1. What God says is true.
2. By choosing to believe and act on God’s words I am connected with God and His creative power.

When you believe His words of cleansing, you are cleansed. You are free from guilt. Believe it, enjoy it and praise God for it!

"God have mercy, I’m the sinner!" Said the man who was despised.

But he was a lowly winner. He went home all justified.

So come to Christ just as you are, For His Word is always true.

Believe His Word, receive His pow’r. He’ll recreate and he’ll renew.

"Lord, I’m a sinner, I’m unclean, So I’m pleading on my knees.

"My hands are stained, My mind obscene, Holy law I cannot please.

"I feel the stings of guilt so keen And I see no other cure.

"So, if you’re willing make me clean, Touch me with Thy hand so pure."

Now blessed words fall on my ear, "I am willing, be thou clean!"

His loving touch removes my fear. Love such love I’ve never seen!

Now I’ve looked upon the Saviour, I’ve believed His word so true.

My belief need never waver! For His word will see me through.

So if rest from guilt you’re seeking, Needing peace this very hour.

Look upon the Saviour speaking Words of living truth and pow’r.

Be joyful for His words are cheering, "Thy sins be all forgiv ‘n thee".

Rise in health no longer fearing And walk away all clean and free.

4. Total Victory over Bad Habits.

Next I would like to discuss the matter of conquering bad habits.

The first important point is that victory must begin with experiencing the cleansing described in our last chapter. If you want victory over some habit that is making you feel guilty and dirty then you need to know what it’s like to be clean. You should make it a daily habit to claim Christ’s cleansing touch and to hear His powerful, compassionate words, "I am willing, be cleansed" "Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you". You need to identify daily with the repentant and sincere tax collector that said, "God be merciful to me – the sinner!" This is powerful. Whenever you need to, you can claim these promises and rest in the knowledge of being clean before God through the merits of Christ. Enjoy it! Praise God for it! Claim the power of this experience! Let the assurance of this experience be yours. It will be like a firm anchor for your soul. And remember that there is nothing that Christ wants more than for you to have purity and victory! He is your Best Friend. Don’t allow anyone to create doubts about this for you. Jesus gave His life for you.

Some will object to this idea of starting the "victory programme" with Christ’s daily cleansing touch. Such people will say "This is not victory, this is just the old round of ‘sinning and repenting, sinning and repenting’!" Well, I can tell you that it won’t be this if you consciously add the next step that I am going to describe shortly. And some may well experience the next step without consciously focussing on it because it’s bound up with the first step.

If you are sincere about asking for cleansing you will find a wonderful thing begins to happen: You will find that you hate your sins more and more. You start getting used to feeling clean and you enjoy the experience of a clear conscience. Your sensitivity to sin and wrongdoing sharpens and you feel more and more repelled by wrong things that were once attractive. You start to fear contamination with the guilt and dirt of your previous habits. These things are important for getting consistent and total victory. The Bible clearly explains that we must have a hatred for sin as well as a love for virtue: "Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate." Romans 12:9; Proverbs 8:13.

So the first step in getting victory is to regularly, daily, whenever needed, claim the words of Christ for your total and perfect cleansing. Combined with this should be an earnest prayer for Jesus to put in your mind an intense hatred for sin and specifically for any evil habit you are currently battling.

The next point to understand is that when Jesus cleanses you He also imparts to you His goodness. When you believe and receive Christ’s forgiving words your mind is not only purified but also changed. Love is implanted. The realization that you now hate the things that you once loved, that you now hunger and thirst for purity and goodness rather than for the self-gratification, entertainment and the material possessions of the world is clear evidence that this renewal, this recreation has taken place. The Bible refers to this changing of the mind as being born of the Spirit.

What if you have prayed for forgiveness and yet do not sense any hatred for sin? Don’t be discouraged. The very fact that you sincerely desire forgiveness shows that God’s Spirit is working on your heart. Just consciously surrender everything to Him and keep praying and it will happen. "Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled." Psalm 37:4. Matthew 5:6.

In chapter 3 of the Gospel of John, Jesus describes the change that takes place when you are cleansed. He refers to it as being born again: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’" (vs.5-7). How does this rebirth take place? When you look to Jesus in faith and believe in His word. As "Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (vs. 14-15). You are "born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." 1 Peter 1:23

The concept of the new birth helps us to understand the next important point, namely, that when you first believe in Christ’s word you are born as spiritual babies that need to grow! How do you grow? By continuing to believe in and receive Christ’s word, by continuing to behold the uplifted Christ. Thus, when you first believe the word and are a newborn babe you may suffer some set backs, some falls. But as you grow, you become stronger and stronger in resisting and overcoming sin. You become more and more imbued with Christ’s love. And herein is a great and sad tragedy! For, alas, many that take upon themselves the name of Jesus never grow up! They just stay malnourished, starving babies! They never get victory! And many die of starvation.

The solution to this "starving baby syndrome" I will discuss in more detail shortly. But first, let me summarise the points outlined thus far in this chapter:

1. I must learn to regularly experience being clean through believing and receiving Christ’s forgiving words.
2. I must understand that when Christ cleanses me, He also renews my mind and imbues me with His love.
3. When I first believe I am born again spiritually. The tender plant of divine love is placed in my heart. I grow spiritually by continuing to receive Christ’s word and love grows in my heart as I behold Christ and as I believe and obey His word.

So, how do I avoid the "starving baby syndrome"? I need to have an organized programme of meditating upon God’s promises in the Bible and I need a daily habit of meditating upon and studying the life of Christ.

To study the life of Christ I recommend getting familiar with all four Gospels and then studying a "harmony of the Gospels" seeking to memorise the general sequence of events in Christ’s life. If you want to accelerate spiritual growth I recommend memorising scripture portions from the Gospels especially chapters 5-7 of Matthew and chapters 14-17 of John as well as an account of the death and resurrection, such as Matthew 27-28.

Concerning God’s promises, I would like to share with you quite a few of the scores of major promises relating to Christian victory. To help accelerate your spiritual growth I highly recommend memorising some or all of these promises. The idea of memorisation can scare some people. Do you think your mind is too weak to memorise? Don’t be discouraged. You will find that your mind strengthens with exercise. Start small. Be consistent and regular at it and you will find that it works. God has commanded you to meditate upon His word day and night: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Joshua 1:8, c.f. Psalm 1:1-2. Remember that all God’s commands are promises. He will never ask you to do anything without supplying all that you need. But you must believe His word, claim the promise and choose to seek to obey.

I want to mention one more important point before ending this chapter, namely, I am not cleansed or renewed through my own works. I am not, I repeat NOT, cleansed by memorising scripture. I am not born again and given God’s love because I’ve memorised God’s promises. Not at all. Memorisation is only something to help me connect with God’s power. God’s cleansing, renewing power is given to me because of His love for me and not because of my own merit, good works, ceremonies, dietary habits, charity or Bible knowledge. I have no merit. My cleansing and renewal is zero percent my merit and one hundred percent God’s merit. The only things I can plead are my great need and God’s great kindness.

This truth that we are ineligible to claim any credit for our spiritual renovation is hard to embrace and easily misunderstood. This is perhaps due to an opposite idea being pervasive in almost every aspect of our upbringing and culture; namely, that we should be "proud" of our achievements since they are the result of "our effort". It is true, as far as our cleansing and renewal are concerned that some effort is required. But it is not meritorious effort. We must choose to surrender our wills to God. We must choose to submit to His authority. This can require effort, even agony. But this effort is, in no way, something that we can boast about. It is simply the effort of giving up self-centeredness and choosing God’s way. Let me illustrate with a parable. This parable is not a perfect illustration and probably you, like myself, can’t afford a boat. Nevertheless it will get across the main point. Imagine that you own a fancy boat and that you are relaxing on your boat as it drifts gently downstream in a wide river. You have put a lot of effort into building and owning this boat and you are proud of it. Also a lot of your most treasured belongings are stored on this boat. Furthermore, you are confident that going downstream is exactly the best way to go. Now imagine that another boat approaches yours and pulls up beside you. This boat is simple but sturdy and it’s heading upstream. The captain of the new boat requests that he may come aboard to talk with you and you let him climb on board. You then relax over a meal and get to know one another. Towards the end of the meal the captain startles you by saying "Do you know that you are going the wrong way in your boat, that there is a mighty waterfall around the next bend and that you have the wrong kind of boat to go upstream? Please jump aboard my boat and I will take you back to my home upstream." You now have a choice to make. It may take effort, major effort. You look at the captain; you study His kind face, you decide to "take Him at His word" and reply, "Okay, I’ll go with you". The captain then jumps to His feet saying, "Good, we have not a moment to lose, come with Me right now and leave everything behind!" Again, you have a choice to make. It takes effort, maybe even agonising effort. You are leaving everything behind. You have no time to take any of your "treasures" with you. But you believe the captain. So you follow the captain and jump into His boat. Now, did jumping into the rescue boat make you deserving of being rescued? Did it entitle you to a reward? Did it give you any credit? No, your rescue was wholly the work of the captain. All you did was choose to believe, surrender and obey.

Once you are on the Lord’s boat you will grow more and more like Him as long as you choose to stay on His boat and continue to listen and choose to obey. Again, you obtain no merit in doing so. All the merit is His. Nevertheless, it may take an effort. There will be temptations to leave the Lord’s boat. There will be times when you can’t understand why the captain is asking you to do something. But as long as you continue to trust and obey you will continue to grow spiritually.

Let me settle it once and for all. I cannot do good works, because I am not good. Remember, "No one is good but One, that is, God" (Luke 18:19). If only God is good then only God can do good works. If God is not in me through His Holy Spirit then no good works will appear in my life, no matter how "nice" they may look. But when I am renewed and cleansed I can let God do His good works through me when I choose to believe, claim and obey His words. And, of course, He gets all the glory.

Drifting along the stream of time I thought my boat was safe and sure.

With river wide and gentle too And all my worldly goods secure

I did not hear the pleading calls To warn me of the mighty falls.

But I would not be left to die. Another boat came by my side.

Upon my boat the Captain came And asked me if I had a guide.

Then with a voice mixed with a tear He warned me of the falls so near.

"Today you’ll make your choice," He said. "Come now, come now and choose My way."

"Your boat’s unsound, it cannot save So leave it all behind this day.

"Step on My ship and do not fear For all that’s joy you’ll find right here!"

I looked into His eyes of love and made my choice right then and there.

I took my place upon His ship. Believing in His words of cheer

I said with heart all clean and free "Yes, Jesus I will go with Thee!"

This poem can be sung to the turn of Morton, by Edwin Barnes, 1886 (SDA Hymnal no. 554)

5. Exceeding Great And Precious Promises

Now it’s time to study some of the many marvelous promises of God’s word in relation to total victory. These are promises that I should believe, receive, claim and act upon.

Let me start with Matthew 22:37-39: "Jesus said to him, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Thus God has plainly commanded me to have supreme love towards Himself and complete love toward fellow humans.

Does God ask me to do things that are impossible? No, absolutely not! Such a thing would be totally contrary to God’s nature. To claim that this command is impossible for me to obey is to deny the existence of a God of love and justice. It is to take sides with Satan, the accuser, who from the beginning has claimed that God’s word cannot be trusted (see Genesis 3:1-5). The only other way to avoid the implication of this command is to deny that the Bible is the word of God and indeed there are many that do this. They say, "I believe in God but I don’t believe in the Bible". Such persons have thrown out their map and compass. They are like a sailor in the depths of an ocean night without any chart or navigation instruments. They will drown unless they change.If I want to have freedom from guilt and true victory over bad habits then I must understand that:(1) What God says is true.(2) By choosing to believe and act on God’s words in the Bible I am connected with God and His creative power

God has asked me to have supreme love towards Himself and complete love towards others. I am to believe this command and move forward in faith trusting that as I do so God will fill my heart with love through His Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). I am to trust God’s word and seek to obey it even as the helpless paralytic believed Christ’s word and engaged His will in seeking to obey. The paralytic did this despite how he felt and I am to do the same. Yes, of course I will often feel inadequate, unworthy, weak and sinful. But nevertheless I am to believe God’s word and move forward expecting that in His good time I will experience the peaceable fruit of righteousness."But how do I love God or others?" someone will ask. The Ten Commandments and the life of Christ are given to show me how to love. I should seek to obey the Ten Commandments, believing that God will supply the love needed to obey from the heart. I should seek to copy Christ’s way of life, asking and trusting that God will fill my heart with the love of Christ.The command to love God and to love others is given throughout the Bible. It is the fundamental commandment and is essential for all that wish to have total victory in their lives. Seeking to obey without love is useless. It is drudgery. So if I find that in my efforts to obey God I have little happiness and much weariness then I have a lack of love and I need to claim these very promises that we are discussing right now. We all need an abundance of love so let us acquaint ourselves with some of the other places where this command is given. And please remember that each of these commands is a promise that God has given for you to claim as your very own antidote for unhappiness, formalism, disobedience and selfishness:

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself. Leviticus 19:18, 34

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. [T]he LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply. Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; 11:1; 13:3; 30:6, 16.

But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Joshua 22:5

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. If you love Me, keep My commandments. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. As the Father loved Me, I also have 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. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. These things I command you, that you love one another. John 13:34, 35; 14:15, 21, 23, 24; 15:9, 10, 12, 13, 17.

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us. Ephesians 5:2

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 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 has been perfected in us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 3:10; 4:7, 8, 11, 12, 20, 21; 5:2, 3.

The greatest delusion in the Christian world today is the idea that God’s moral law of love cannot be kept by Christians. Those who claim that converted Christians cannot completely obey God’s moral law are taking their stand on the side of Satan who has, from the beginning, maintained that God’s character is faulty (the moral law is a transcript of God’s character). Satan says, "Yea, hath God said…?" (Genesis 3:1), implying that there is something wrong with God. Of course, the unconverted person has no hope of obeying God’s law of love because evil still reigns on the throne of their heart and they are disconnected from the source of power. An unconverted person may agree that God’s law is good, as Paul does in Romans 7:7-24, but they are powerless to obey it. Romans 7:7-24 is not about the experience of a converted person, but about the struggles and anguish of a convicted non-Christian. A converted person has been delivered from "the body of this death" (Romans 7:24). The experience of the converted person is described in Romans chapter 8, which says, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (vs. 3, 4).

I am sure someone will object here saying, "I cannot hope to fully obey God’s moral law of love because I have to be completely perfect, not even committing sins of omission." But it is not I who am perfect. It is Christ. Did not Christ live a perfect life in human flesh? Was He not tempted far more than I will ever be? Settle it once and for all: Christ can live a perfect, sin-free life in you. Christ can live His perfect life in you. He can live a life that is free from sins of omission. If I let Him, His love will take care of every thought, word and deed of my life. If I won’t believe this, then it certainly will never happen in my life. More than this, if I don’t believe this then I am calling God a liar. God says, "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." 1 John 3:9. While Christ is in full charge of my mind I cannot sin. This thought is so foreign to many Christians that they think it to be heresy! Where is our faith as Christians? We freely admit the omnipotent power of God when it comes to talking about anything other than our sins. Why do we love our sins so much? We freely confess that God upholds the universe and we stand in awe of His miraculous works in nature. We believe in Christ’s incarnation and resurrection. We believe that God can raise the dead back to life. We gratefully acknowledge that angels can stop whole mountains from falling on us, if need be. We gasp as we try and fathom the idea that God knows everything and that He is present everywhere. But we are unwilling to confess that He can do the very thing that He is most anxious and willing to do, namely, give each Christian a victorious life of loving obedience, enabling them to fully keep His law. The infinite magnitude of Christ’s suffering upon Calvary is the measure of God’s desire for you to stop sinning. Why? Because it was your sins that made such a sacrifice necessary. We all greatly underestimate the heinousness of sin. Familiarity with evil has made sin appear less offensive than it really is.

What I am advocating here is not perfectionism. That is, I am not promoting the idea of trying to be perfect in my own supposed strength. Neither am I saying that I will have "sinless flesh" before Christ’s second coming. Further, I am not saying that I will be able to boast, "I am now perfect." I am talking about having faith in God and in His promises. Even when Christ is fully reflected in my life and totally in control of all my thoughts and deeds, I will never boast of being perfect because it is Christ’s perfection, not mine. I will not say, "I have no sin" (1 John 1:8) because this is being boastful and proud. And if I am proud I deceive myself, and the truth is not in me. (Christ is not in me). But let me tell you what I will be able to say. I will be able to say that I have a clear conscience (Acts 23:1; Romans 9:1; 1 Timothy 1:19; 2 Timothy 1:3). I will be able to say that I am abiding in Christ (John 15:4-5). I will be able to say that I am not aware of any specific sin that has dominion over me (Romans 6: 14; 1Corithians 4:4). Those who are closest to Christ will have the deepest sense of the frailty and evilness of their own sinful natures. The Christian’s goal is character perfection, but the Christian’s self-view is always one of saying with Paul, "I have not yet attained" (Philippians 3:12). And if the devil does trip me up I am not to be discouraged. God still loves me: "these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1

Notice the words "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." By praying this I am asking for God’s will, as it is performed in heaven, to be done in my life and in my community on earth. What is God’s will that is done in heaven? Psalm 103 tells me: "Bless the LORD, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word. Bless ye the LORD, all ye His hosts; ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure [will]". God’s will is expressed in His commandments, in His law of love. Thus, the testimony of the sinless angels in heaven is: "I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart." Psalm 40:8. The will of God, which is done in heaven, is perfect, loving, sinless obedience. It is sinlessness or absence of law breaking. It is perfect love. Thus, when I pray "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" I am asking that I might have perfect, loving, sinless obedience. And since Jesus has commanded me to pray this way, who am I to say that sinless, loving obedience is not possible? Why should I doubt my Lord’s promise as given in this prayer that He has put in my heart?

In fact, the Lord’s desire for me to live without sin is expressed no less than three times in "The Lord’s Prayer". I have already mentioned one of those ways. The next one is "Lead us not into temptation". What am I praying for here? I am saying "Lead us not into sin" for temptation is what leads to sin, whether it is temptation from within or from without. So I am asking God to "lead me not into sin". I am asking Him to keep me free from sin. I am asking Him to make me sin-free, sinless, perfect.

Next I pray, "but deliver us from evil". The greatest evil in the world is sin. It was my evil works that alienated me from God and made me His enemy (Colossians 1:21). If I am praying to be delivered from evil then, once again, I am praying to be kept from sin.

Jesus I thank Thee for Thy faithful promise

To come and take my stony heart from me.

Wash me and fill me with Thy Holy Spirit.

Make me a Christian!

To keep Thy holy law I must be loving.

But not with foolish sentimental feeling,

Nor with the showy colors of the peacock.

Give me Thy true love!

To have a perfect character in Jesus

Means for His kindness ever to be present,

Flowing and shining from His holy presence

Within this temple.

It means to live for Jesus’ truth and honor,

Choosing to suffer rather than to grieve Him.

Rather than sinning I will choose to perish.

Make me like Jesus!

6. Promptings and Promises

Before leaving "The Lord’s Prayer" I want to talk about "promptings". The phrase "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" is very significant. Here Jesus is dealing with a very important part of character perfection, namely, the matter of confession and forgiveness, the matter of "oneness" among brethren. Jesus emphasised this matter again in His other famous prayer: "And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me" (John 17:22-23). By the way, the "glory" that Jesus is giving to His people here is His perfect character.

There are many misunderstanding also concerning forgiveness. I don’t have space to go into things in detail here, but I want to mention the following basics. First, have a clear idea in your mind what "forgiveness" actual means. I like to define it as letting go of, or refusing, the negative emotions associated with a real of perceived offence. Negative emotions here refer to such things as hatred, envy, self-pity and anger.

One common mistake is to believe that I cannot forgive a person unless I can also trust them. The truth is that forgiveness and trust are different. Forgiveness is a choice that I can make independent of my offender. Trust involves a restored relationship, which is only possible if my offender sincerely confesses and reforms. For example, if my friend Pete steals $100 from my unlocked drawer while staying with me, I may forgive him but it would be foolishness and poor stewardship to trust him. So I decide to put a lock on my drawer. But if Pete sincerely confesses and restores the money I can say, "Pete, I’ve already forgiven you and now I’m also going to trust you again", and I can take the lock off.

Another misunderstanding is to believe that if I forgive a person then I cannot lay civil charges against them. In other words, I must be a "doormat". The truth is that forgiveness and judicial trial and punishment are different. I can forgive a person and still choose to lay appropriate charges in order to receive compensation, encourage reform or provide victim protection.

Another mistake is to make forgiveness conditional upon the size of the offence: "This offence is so big that I cannot be expected to forgive." In other words, forgiveness is like pouring water out of a bowl such that if the offence requires more forgiveness than is in the bowl then its just too bad, I cannot forgive. This false idea leads to the comparing of offences and of one’s "ability" to forgive. The truth is that forgiveness is like opening the gates of a dammed up river or stepping into the sunshine. God is the one who keeps the river running and who keeps the sun shining. We just have to open the gate or make the move into the light and warmth. Those who have been hurt the most are the very ones who will get the most relief from forgiving.

Finally, I should not claim that my forgiveness must be conditional upon the offending party repenting. This false idea can originate from thinking that human forgiveness is the same as divine forgiveness. Divine forgiveness encompasses much more than human forgiveness and involves a restored relationship. To pardon, God has to make provision for the removal of sin from the offender. He also has to change the sinner’s heart, otherwise they will continue in sin, be unfit to take to heaven and eventually face eternal death. Furthermore, God’s forgiveness is time-conditional: it must be received before our probation closes. In contrast to God, humans cannot pay the debt for another’s sin; they cannot change another’s heart; they cannot put an end to sin. This difference in parameters means that God’s forgiveness has boundaries or conditions in order to safeguard the rest of the universe (e.g. see Isaiah 55:7; 1 John 1:9; Matthew 6:14-15; John 3:16). Humans, on the other hand, have the privilege of forgiving unconditionally (Mark 11:25; Luke 11:4; 23:34). This does not mean that God forgives less than humans do; indeed, His forgiveness is infinitely greater than ours. Also, we must never forget that God’s love is unconditional.

In addition to forgiveness, God also exercises forbearance. On account of Christ’s death and ministry, God is able to extend loving forbearance or tolerance for a certain time to all sinners (Romans 2:4; 3:25). This is why Adam did not perish eternally as soon as he transgressed. However, because sin cannot be allowed to continue forever, we must come to Christ before God’s forbearance is exhausted - before our probation closes.

I need to keep this booklet short, so I’m going to finish now with a list of other Bible promises. These are promises for you and for me. They are promises that we can have full, total victory over wrong-doing in our lives. I don’t have time here to explain these promises in detail. If you are interested in more details concerning remedies for spiritual, social and mental burnout then please go to www.burnoutsolutions.com.au and click on the link to "Spiritual, mental and social burnout solutions".

The LORD bless thee and keep thee. The LORD make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The LORD life up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace.

Here are more promises for total victory over sin. And remember that, in Christ, all of the promises of God are "yes" when claimed in sincerity and a surrender to God’s will: "For all the promises of God in Him (Christ) are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." 2 Corinthians 1:20.

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21.

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:44-48.

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’" Matthew 7:21-23, NKJV. Those who are practicing lawlessness, that is, committing sin, are not doing God’s will. Thus God’s will for all that enter heaven is keeping the law, that is abstaining from all sin. It’s a promise! Claim it!

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matthew 21:21-22. What does God want more for His followers than victory over sin? Do your bad habits seem like mountains? Claim the promise and bid the mountains be cast into the depths of the sea: "He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:19.

"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." Mark 11:23-25

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." "With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible" Mark 9:23; 10:27. Do you believe that with God all things are possible? Do you believe that God can keep you from sin? Do you believe that God can fill you with His love and give you the mind of Christ? "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God" Luke 18:27.

These are the prophetic words spoken about Christ by Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist: "That He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." Luke 1:74-75. Would you like to serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness all the days of your life? Then claim the promise!

"The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master" Luke 6:40. Do you wish to be like Jesus in character? Then claim this promise as well.

A lawyer was talking to Jesus about inheriting eternal life. The lawyer "answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Now note carefully Jesus’ reply: "And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live." This is a command. This is a promise. After Jesus has told the parable of the "Good Samaritan" He added "Go, and do thou likewise." This too is a promise, a promise that we can have love in our hearts. Luke 10:27, 28, 37.

Jesus says, "Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Luke 11:28

Again, the LORD of hosts says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8:34-36. You don’t have to be the "servant of sin". The Son of God can make you free, not half "free", not three-quarters "free", not 99% "free", but 100% free. He can make you "free indeed", that is, truly and completely free from sin.

Jesus says, "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you". John 15:7. Are you abiding in Jesus? Do you want to be free from the power of sin? Then "ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you". Do you believe it? Again Jesus says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you." John 16:23.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13. In other words, there is no excuse for sin because there is always a way of escape that we can choose.

"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12.

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21. Jude 24-25

I can see there is a battle that is raging for my mind,

With that devil oh so wicked and my Savior oh so kind.

So I’ll pray, "Dear Jesus take me and within my heart please bind..."

"Thy holy law of love."

Holy, holy is the Savior! Holy, holy is the Savior!

Holy, holy is the Savior! Who saves me from all sin!

In the center of the battle is the law of God Most High,

Which is hated by the devil who attacks it with his lie.

For he says it’s much too hard and all the sinners they must die.

But grace and law have kissed!

On the cross Christ won the battle, for His love was truly great.

Now we know the devil’s charges were just lies and filthy hate.

But the tempter won’t surrender ‘til he’s laid another bait:

He claims the law has changed!

Now I see there is a final battle for the minds of men:

Will I get the mark or will I keep those holy precepts ten?

Will the seventh day be precious on that day so mighty when...

My Lord shall come again?

The accuser is a-boasting that he has the whole wide world,

And that no one will be ready when Christ’s trumpet flag’s unfurled.

But the Lord can give a power that’s immune to all that’s hurled,

And seal me for Himself!