On the one hand, man finds in himself an incredible force of deceptive desire arising from his flesh and aiming at the world. But he ALSO finds in himself the stirring, moving, convicting, and calling of another desire or will that comes from a very different source. And just as walking in the flesh means following and obeying the will of the flesh that comes from self and does all for self; so walking in the Spirit means following and obeying the will of the Spirit, that comes from God and does all for God.

Spiritual growth is indeed a work of the Spirit, but there are many ways that we can work against the Spirit, and perhaps the most common have to do with the HUNDREDS of “little ways” that our heart or will does not humbly and sincerely submit to and obey the measure of spiritual understanding that we already have. I mean, the various ways that our obedience does not keep pace with our knowledge.

As strange as it sounds, one of the greatest hindrances to truly knowing the Lord can be our familiarity with biblical words and spiritual concepts. There was a time when the Lord had to show me that, though I was very acquainted with scriptural words, I was a stranger to the spiritual realities that these words described or pointed to.

There are only TWO BIRTHS in view in the whole reality of what is called predestination. And when men have not seen and felt these two births in themselves, then they always base the doctrine of predestination on something else. But there has always been only one birth that is rejected or reprobate, which is the first birth, the life or nature of the fallen fleshly man, who turned from and died to the life of God. And there has always been only one birth that is chosen or accepted, which is the new birth, or the birth of Christ’s life in the soul.

I’d like to ask you to stop for a minute and consider why it sounds so strange to you that God can overcome His enemies in man, and establish His kingdom of righteousness in the heart? I mean, what is the ground of your argument? Is it only that you haven’t yet experienced it in yourself? Is this a good reason not to believe in the possibility? I am not at all wanting to offend you, but I am wanting to expose in you the same thing that I have seen in myself, namely, an ugly desire for sinlessness to be impossible, so that the bar can stay low, and that I can justify and comfort myself in my present condition.

Scripture seems to clearly show that every man is offered a gift, measure or seed of light or grace in their soul, that testifies for God, testifies against all sin, worldliness, flesh, and evil, and invites them to be reconciled to God through the power and merit of Jesus Christ. I don't believe this is something that comes only to certain people from without, but rather something that (at times) testifies in all people from within, and is (like in the parables) a hidden treasure in a field, a lost pearl, or a seed sown and made available on every kind of soil, even on the hard road that doesn’t receive it.

The daily cross of Christ is the power of God made manifest in you to expose, to judge and to remove all that is fallen from His glory. It is not just self-denial, or ceasing to do evil. It is denial of self AND a complete subjection and resignation to the creating power, or the resurrecting power of Christ. And it is the lack of living in this way inwardly at all times before God, that keeps men and women from truly experiencing the benefit of all that Christ did outwardly for them.

Christ came TO us, and died FOR us, but He did not die INSTEAD of us. He did not die on the cross so that we didn’t have to die; but rather so that we also (by partaking of His Spirit, grace, and power) COULD die to everything that was contrary to Him. He came, obeyed the Father, suffered, died, rose, and ascended into heaven so that we could follow Him in the exact same way, in the exact same process, having received a gift of His overcoming Spirit as our light, life, and leader.