Chapter 1 A Consecrated Life - Far Eastern Bible College

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ight behaviour, through direct commandments, through principles, and through the example of good and bad behaviour. The Word of God is like a mirror in which we see ourselves as we really are, revealing all the blemishes we had that we are not aware of. But not only that, it’s like a magic mirror, because if used properly, we will see not only ourselves, but the image of Christ in it, and the more time we spend looking into it, the more we are transformed into the image of Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” The idea of change here refers to the wonderful power working in our lives when we read the Word of God and behold the image of God contained in it. This divine power that accompanies the reading of God’s Word transforms us into the image we behold. This power cannot be seen, but its results become evident when our consciences are trained by it and our lives becomes more and more conformed to the likeness of Christ. This power is the power of the Holy Spirit. We must diligently feed ourselves daily with God’s Word but at the same time we must depend on God the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, direct and move us to do His will. This brings us to the next step we need for our lives to be transformed. III. Walk in the Spirit Daily The Holy Spirit already indwells us if we are truly born-again Christians. Ephesians 1:13 tells us, “In whom [Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” Therefore every true Christian already has within him the full potential to manifest the Holy Spirit’s power. But for that power to be manifested, the second condition needs to be met. We need to be constantly filled with the Spirit, or walk in the Spirit. This is commanded in Ephesians 5:18 which says, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Galatians 68 A Consecrated Life
5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” What does it mean for us to be filled with the Spirit? Now it does not mean speaking in tongues or seeking to experience ecstatic emotions. It means that we must consciously submit or surrender ourselves daily to the influence and control of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. This is an individual process that needs to be renewed again and again, because we often tend to forget to let the Spirit of God lead us, and take back the control of our own lives from Him. How do we know if we are filled with the Spirit? When we are filled with the Spirit, our conduct would have certain unmistakable characteristics—described in Galatians 5:22–23 as the fruit of the Spirit. These characteristics are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. When we are filled with the Spirit, we will also desire to pray and to obey God’s Word, living to please the Lord. But what if we find ourselves lapsing again into thoughts and actions that are worldly, sinful and unworthy of Christ? It means that we have temporarily lost the filling of the Spirit and we have fallen out of step with the Holy Spirit. Then we would need to consciously seek that filling again by confessing our sins and submitting the control of our lives once again to the Holy Spirit. The ideal situation is that we should be filled with the Spirit at all times without any lapses, but very few have succeeded in doing that. Nevertheless, it still remains our responsibility to live a Spirit-filled life. Therefore the challenge to all of us here is this: We must all commit ourselves to consistently live Spirit-filled lives from this day onward. This, together with the other two steps we saw earlier, will gradually transform our lives so that we will be perfect, always doing the “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom 12:2). Let us summarise these steps: 1. Make No Provision For the Flesh, 2. Renew Your Minds and Consciences with God’s Word, and 3. Walk in the Spirit Daily. A Transformed Life 69
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Far Eastern Bible College Press Sin
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Contents Foreword..................
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Foreword A Consecrated Life—Roman
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Chapter 1 A Consecrated Life Text:
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God rather than our bodies? After a
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elong to him. He has to bear the lo
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from now on. It means living only t
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are afraid of embarrassment, and of
Page 19 and 20: Chapter 2 The Motivation for Consec
Page 21 and 22: people, but being mocked, insulted
Page 23 and 24: cross, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthan
Page 25 and 26: how can it ever be possible to feel
Page 27 and 28: suggested. It was done by the Roman
Page 29 and 30: permission to give Jesus a proper b
Page 31 and 32: Truly we must be greatly amazed tha
Page 33 and 34: was a church leader named Stephen.
Page 35 and 36: I. Busy in Doing Whatever the Lord
Page 37 and 38: Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Ari
Page 39 and 40: As Philip came nearer the carriage
Page 41 and 42: go around boasting to others about
Page 43 and 44: Abraham showed that he was willing
Page 45 and 46: life. It was not a static faith or
Page 47 and 48: There was no law in Canaan to prote
Page 49 and 50: Lord be proud to reveal Himself to
Page 51 and 52: honest to ask yourself, “Do I hav
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 5 Hindrances to Consecratio
Page 55 and 56: leaving behind any will and his chi
Page 57 and 58: But then something quite unexpected
Page 59 and 60: How frail your life is! The news is
Page 61 and 62: three generations. All the wealth t
Page 63 and 64: III. Be Rich Toward God, and Not to
Page 65 and 66: Chapter 6 The Objective Of Consecra
Page 67 and 68: Another person whose life was wonde
Page 69: II. Renew Your Mind and Conscience
Page 73 and 74: We must maintain the desire in our
Page 75 and 76: To Be Like Him What can it mean to
Page 77 and 78: Through this Book, God has made kno
Page 79 and 80: 9. Does it come from or have the po
Page 81 and 82: from this then I must follow Him. T
Page 83 and 84: your feet; ye also ought to wash on
Page 85 and 86: But after he graduates four things
Page 87 and 88: straight furrow he must concentrate
Page 89 and 90: that we want to observe in the pass
Page 91 and 92: The reason why Basanio succeeded wh
Page 93 and 94: where Christians never faced persec
Page 95 and 96: Having seen what the motivation for
Page 97 and 98: What this passage prophesies is tha
Page 99 and 100: to even live for Christ, how then c
Page 101 and 102: My own turning point took place in
Page 103 and 104: partners had sailed back to shore e
Page 105 and 106: elievers are sometimes reluctant to
Page 107 and 108: If God calls you today to forsake a
Page 109 and 110: III. The Grace We Have Received fro
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