Growth There remains very much land (sin) yet to be possessed. We can't coexist with sin.

[iLOVE]

We aren't what we ought to be. We aren't what we're going to be. We aren't what we want to be. But, thank God, we aren't what we were.

Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed...Joshua 13:1-12 NKJV

Nevertheless the children of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maachathites, but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day (Gal. 5:19-21). Joshua 13:13 NKJV

But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. (the works of the flesh must go, or else we will find that they will cause us tremendous problems [2 Cor. 6:14-18; 7:1]). 56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them. (sin in the Believer, if left unaddressed, can be condoned by the Lord no more than sin in the unbeliever - even less). Numbers 33:55-56

God's prescribed order of victory over sin, the world, the flesh, and the Devil is to place your Faith exclusively in who Jesus is, and what Jesus has done. By doing so this glorifies Christ that gives the Holy Spirit the legal means to drive out the enemy. The Holy Spirit, He Works strictly within the parameters of the "Finished Work" i.e., "the Cross of Christ", which demands that our Faith be exclusively in the Cross of Christ. The reason is simple, that's were the price was paid, and the victory was forever won (Romans 6:1-14; 1 Cor. 2:2; Gal. 5; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:13-18; Col. 2:14-15). The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier for the Christian; we cannot sanctify ourselves.

And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee (Deuteronomy 7:22). The beasts of the field represent pride and self righteousness.

We learn from Deuteronomy 7:21-23, Exodus 23:30 (Type and Shadow), little by little will He remove the sin nature that is made dormant in our lives. Isaiah 28:10 says, "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:"

How does a Believer maintain Faith exclusively in Christ and the Cross? By just believing in Jesus (who He is) and what He accomplished at Calvary Cross. Romans 4:5 - Galatians 2:19-21 NKJV - 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 NKJV - Colossians 2:11-15 NKJV

Romans 8:13 says, "If you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live." Paul warns the Believer, he said, "For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, (the) sin (nature) revived, and I died (failed God by sinning, using the flesh) (Romans 7:9)." Zechariah 4:6

The sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit mortifies the deed of the flesh by changing my condition into my position which is perfect and Holy because God has declared us justified (not guilt and innocent).

As a Christian we were "set free" the moment we are saved - "made free" speaks of a process. "Set Free," i.e., instantaneous - "Made Free, " i.e., You should know the truth and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32, John 14:6). "Made Free" = sanctification.

Two kinds of peace
1. Justifying Peace - This is Peace with God, a legal standing. Rom. 8:7; Eph. 2:14-15

2. Sanctifying Peace - This is the Peace of God in the heart. Rom. 8:6; 14:19; 15:13; Gal. 1:3

The first is the result of a legal standing. The second is the result of the Work of the Holy Spirit. The first is static, never fluctuates, the second changes almost from hour to hour. The first, every Christian has, the second, every Christian may have.

JSM

 

[iLOVE]

For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow. Ecclesiastes 1:18
("Wisdom" without God only brings "griefs." "Knowledge" without God only brings "sorrow."
This is not to say that these attributes are disapproved of by the Lord. The meaning is that even these lofty ideals will bring no satisfaction without Christ.)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21
(Christians who constantly talk doubt, in effect, talk "death." These who speak the Word of God speak "life.")

The "Tree of Life" (Psalm 1:3)
The Way Of The Spirit
Focus: The Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6)
Object Of Faith: The Cross of Christ (Romans 6:1-14)
Power Source: The Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-2, 11)
Results: Victory (Romans 6:14)

The "Tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:17)
Man's Way
Focus: Works.
Object Of Faith: Performance.
Power Source: Self.
Results: Defeat!

Everything that mans does dies; everything Jesus does lives forever and is blessed. Psalm 1:3

JSM

 

[Jim Parker]

The "Tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:17)
Man's Way
Focus: Works.
Object Of Faith: Performance.
Power Source: Self.
Results: Defeat!

God's way
Focus: Obedience to Jesus. (Jhn 14:15) The believer does the good works for which he was created in Christ Jesus which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10)
Object of Faith: Bringing glory to God by doing God's will instead of our will. (Mat 5:16)
Power Source: Co-operation with the Holy Spirit
Results: Eternal life

John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life;
he who does not obey the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God rests upon him.

John 5:28-29 (NKJV) … the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth
—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life,
and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

John 8:51 Most assuredly, I say to you,
if anyone keeps (obeys) My word he shall never see death
Jas 2:20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

So, by discouraging good works, which God created us to do, you discourage people from doing what is necessary for eternal life.
By telling people that they do not need to do good works, you tell them to follow the broad path which leads to hell.
By telling people that works are not only not necessary, but also sinful, you contradict Jesus' teaching that those who love him will obey His commandments. (Jhn 14:15)
By telling people that good works are not necessary to enter into eternal life you are telling them that they can be justified by dead faith. (Jas 2:17. 20, 24, 26)

When Jesus comes, he will judge all of mankind by their works.

Mat 25:31-35
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.

Mat 25:41-43
Then He will also say to those on the left hand, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.”

 

[K2CHRIST]

Paul went to cast out the messenger from Satan (the torn in his side) God told him that His grace was sufficient!

There is something written about the battle being the Lord's.

We need to try and do what the Lord asks, which means listening to Him and taking action on it. So Joshua did what the Lord personally asked Him, but there was still much land not taken. Was Joshua a failure? Paul had cast out demons, and yet couldn't clear out all of them. He still had a torn ( a messenger from Satan) that God let stay. And Paul found out some more:

Rm 7:19, 20 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I so not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

We should try to do what the Lord says. We should try not to sin of do evil. And I don't think Paul, the author of much of the New Testament, was a particularly evil man, according to our standards. I believe he was trying to do the right thing. But we are not saved by works or our efforts to follow the Law or drive out sin. But we are saved by faith. And we are supposed to live our life by faith, which is a belief that God is there for us to listen to and get instructions from. That is supposed to be the reason we call Him Lord!

I find it interesting to see Christian write about driving out all sin from themselves, but how did they miss the Lord's prayer? In it we see a request for deliverance from evil. So if we were able to drive out the enemy from our lives, why the request of the Father to do it in the Lord's prayer? That wouldn't make sense.

Don't get me wrong. I think we need to make efforts to be better and stop doing the wrong things we do, even if we don't want to do them. We need to try and stop doing wrong things and start doing right things. But what are the right things to do. Do we even know? God knows. It is explained that we can ask Him and hear from His voice. Do that, and put in an effort, but even that will not mean you are going to do everything right.

Thank God we are saved by faith and not works. But if that is the case, why then the insistence and concept that we are going to drive the evil out. We have seen that we not going to drive the enemy complete out!!!! We should have noticed that even Joshua and Paul could not in their life time accomplish that, and you think you are better than them? What you can do is improve your personal relationship with the Lord, and try to do what He says. Joshua and Paul both were able to do that, but they both also came to understand that God gets the glory, It is all about Him, and not our efforts. That is what we should have learned.

Rm 4:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Paul despite his best efforts and probably because his best efforts were not good enough, figured out that he was a "wretched man", causing him to give glory to God. What does that have in common with the attitude in the OP? Don't we see that God must have know Joshua was not going to take the entire land in his entire life, despite his best efforts. So make the effort, but there is something God is trying to show you. And that is your best efforts even in an entire life time is not going to get it down. So give glory to God, because He will rescue you from your body of death!