Bible Study God Is Our Power Source.

[Tenchi]

1 Corinthians 1:7-9
7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 8:13-14
13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Philippians 1:6
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:13
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Philippians 4:13
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Galatians 3:1-3
1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Galatians 5:16
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Ephesians 3:16
16 that God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

Colossians 2:9-10
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

1 Peter 5:10
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

Jude 1:24-25
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Isaiah 40:28-31
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.


Here's the truth about us, apart from God:

Isaiah 53:6
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

John 15:4-5
4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Romans 5:6
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 7:18
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

Romans 8:8
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Ephesians 2:1-3
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.


So, what should my response be in light of all this?

Ephesians 6:10
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

How?

Submit to God, all day, every day.

Romans 6:13
13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

James 4:6-10
6 ..."God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.


Walk in humble submission to the Spirit, eyes fixed on Christ, following the Spirit's will and way, his lead, throughout each day.

Galatians 5:16
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

Hebrews 12:2
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

I can't ever achieve a godly end by fleshly means.

 

[Tenchi]

Though all that is presented in the post above ought to compel born-again children of God away from self-effort and into a radical dependence upon God, by-and-large this doesn't happen. Instead, Christians nod their heads and agree that "apart from Christ, I can do nothing," and they recite sagely, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," but, in practice, in the way they live every day, they are doing for God, not the other way 'round. These Christians give lip-service to the need for God to be the Power Source for their living, but when the "rubber meets the road," they operate in the spiritual realm exactly as they do in the temporal, physical one, doing for God rather than waiting on Him to do for them.

Why? When God takes such pains to tell His children repeatedly in His word, the Bible, that they are impotent but He is strong and that He will do in, and for, them what only He can do, why does this translate in their thinking into "I must create my best version of what God wants in my life"?

Part of the answer is force of habit. Self-effort is how, in every other dimension of our lives, things are accomplished. If I want to be able to play the piano, I must make the effort to learn to do so; if I want to drive a nice car, I must do what is necessary to obtaining such a vehicle; if I want to see the Swiss Alps in-person, I have to do what is required to make that happen. And so on. In myriad ways in one's life, this is how things are. But not in the spiritual realm, not when walking with God.

"Well, hold on," you might respond, "What about all the great many 'do this' and 'don't do that' verses in the Bible? Christian are directed constantly in God's word to do things and not to do other things. We can't just sit on our hands, waiting for God to move us, puppet-like, into Christian living."

I agree. There are hundreds - if not thousands - of directives issued to Christians in the New Testament to engage in certain ways of thinking and behaving and to avoid certain other ways of thinking and behaving. What does Philippians 2:13 say?

12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

the apostle Peter also described this action-oriented understanding of Christian living:

2 Peter 1:5-10
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

The Christian life is a very active, not passive, one. This action, though, the doing of things-Christian, is always predicated upon certain preceding, foundational "building blocks" that must be in place in the Christian's life.


1.) Knowledge.

2 Peter 1:3-4
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
(See also: Romans 10:2-3, 14; 2 Peter 3:18)


2.) Faith.

Hebrews 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (See also: 1 John 4:16; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:7)


3.) Love.

Matthew 22:36-38
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment. (See also: 1 Corinthians 3:1-3; 1 John 4:16-19)


4.) Submission.

James 4:6-7
6 ...Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God... (See also: Romans 6:13-22; Romans 8:14; Romans 12:1; 1 Peter 5:6)


5.) Holiness.

Hebrews 12:14
14 Strive ...for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Psalm 5:4-6
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

(See also: 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:1-13; 1 Peter 3:10-12)


6.) Fellowship.

1 John 1:3
3 ...our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3:20
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (See also: 2 Corinthians 13:14)

It's only out of a life anchored in a knowledge of God's Truth; in a settled confidence (faith/trust/belief) in God and His word; in a ever-increasing love (strong, positive desire) for and from God; in an expanding submission to His will and way all throughout every day; in a steadily growing holiness ("set apartness" unto God) in one's thinking and living; and in joyful fellowship (personal, intimate communion) with God that the Christian life is properly lived.

Too often, though, Christians are like those Paul described:

Romans 10:1-3
1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

And so, they end up as Paul described of himself:

Romans 7:21-24
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?