Page 134 - Ephesians

Studying EPHESIANS to Know God

Chapter 24 Put on the New Man 4:22

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if at the moment you said yes to God,
you were made perfect? No more passion, selfishness,
impatience, dishonesty, pride, lust of the flesh, unbelief and no
more wayward thoughts. Sound nice? Often times the Christian
gets confused, because he sees many of those things, still
dwelling in his redeemed heart. Sin is very present in his life, and
he doesn’t know what to do.

Too often he’s taught to be an overcomer, a champion! Be
victorious! He’s taught that he has an enemy in his heart. That
old sin nature, the flesh. It wars against the Spirit, so he must
always be on guard. Evil thoughts and wicked desires could
attack at any time, so don’t get caught sleeping. Be especially
careful, when you’re tired and sick. In that weak moment, the
flesh will come and overthrow you. So, he’s taught to be a
cautious, anxious, soldier at war. Remaining ever alert, and
let not the old man live. Is that what the Spirit of God means
when He says, “Put off the old and put on the new”?

Let me illustrate with this foolish illustration. If my shirt suddenly
caught on fire, and I couldn’t put it out. There’s two ways I could
have victory. I could have victory “over my shirt”. Meaning God
would give me the same kind of victory He gave Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego, when their shirts were on fire. The fire
burned. But God did a miracle, and they were kept safe. God
could give me that kind of victory “over my shirt”.

Or I could have victory “from my shirt”. That is, I could take my
shirt off and let it burn. There’s a difference between deliverance
from and deliverance over. If I had deliverance over my shirt,
God would do a miracle to keep me from harm. If I had
deliverance from my shirt, I’d be removed from it, and there would
be no battle. Here’s the question. Does God give us victory over