“By Faith Ye Stand”

II Corinthians 1:19-24

19) For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

20) For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

21) Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;

22) Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

23) Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.

24) Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

Introduction

M

any people desire victory, but few will be obedient to the Word of God in order to achieve that victory. If one believes that victory is to be won over the devil, then he must realize that the devil’s “weapon” is flesh. Consequently, being willing to “rob” the devil of his “nutrition” (through dealing with all things spiritually) is the only way to gain victory.

Main Thought

We must all accept that our human understanding is “bypassed” when we come into salvation. A lack of acceptance of this is what causes most of us to believe that salvation is “difficult.”

You seem when we will not accept this, we find ourselves attempting to live a spiritual life as human beings—which is impossible. Our “failure” is assured through the fact that as human beings, we have no power but that of “human effort”—which is no power at all. By requiring that we accept all that He has already done, the Lord ensures that if we are able to gain any victory, it will be only through Him.

Scripture makes it clear to us that one will be able to “stand” in the Lord only “by faith,” rather than “intelligence.” In fact, all that the Lord does in our lives, from the moment of salvation, is done that we will be unable to deny that “something” has “happened.” The change that we undergo is as drastic as it is that we may be free to enter into the “new life” required of us.

The Lord knows better than anyone else that for anything “productive” to come of an unproductive being or “thing,” that being or thing must die. Even Jesus had to undergo death in order to give rise to a new, unique, heretofore inexistent being—the “firstborn of the dead.”

Once we become “new creatures,” it becomes necessary for us to follow the One Who knows how to live the life of one raised from the dead—and that being is Jesus. We can no more continue to use the “rules” of the “dead life” any more than one who is determined to live refuse to breathe!

Contrary to our “inclination” though it may be, God never says anything to which we can say “no.” Whatever He requires, whatever He requests, is a small thing for us to do compared t all that He has given us.

His “plan” for us all is that we might have our faith and confidence in Him developed to such a degree that we never, again, impede ourselves!

Part of our problem comes from a basic fear of being “responsible.” Therefore, if we pretend ignorance as to what is expected from us, we feel as if we might be excused from doing it. However, right behind this, we want to tell others, and convince ourselves, that we are doing what the Lord is requiring of us. How could that possibly be if we don’t know what it is that we are supposed to be doing?

Perhaps never before has the world been in such dire need of “hope,” and never before have its inhabitants realized that it is they who are in need of the hope. But just think: those who need to be able to convince others to have faith and confidence in the Lord have a hard time, themselves! The “short and the long” of it is that we are not doing and have not done the job that we have been called to do.

The only “stability” to be had in this world is available only through Jesus. Everything in this world is unstable and is at the mercy of the whims of Man. Unfortunately, before salvation, this included us, but perhaps the greatest benefit that we enjoy is freedom from bondage to all things that bind the “ordinary” man.

There is one way and one way only to recap the maximum benefit from our union with Christ and that is that rather than continuing to depend upon ourselves, we accept all that He died for us to have. Once we allow ourselves to accept that we are totally dependent upon Him, we will then realize that it is only “by faith (that we) stand.”