“I do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:21

For many, if not most, repentance consists of repenting of their act of sin. What we fail to realize is the condition of our heart when we actually turned away from God.

Just as the prodigal son desired his Father’s goods without the presence of his Father and was soon dining with the swine, backsliding begins in the heart.

“The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

The devil is a lie and the father of them.  He wouldn’t be the devil if he didn’t try to steal, kill and destroy.

“I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”  Revelation 1:18

There are some who need to be reminded that Jesus holds the keys of hell and of death…not satan.  Jesus Christ has made a way for whosoever will believe in His redeeming work to escape an eternal hell. He does not send anyone to hell…we all willingly choose our eternal destination.

“⁹ For in Him (JESUS) dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

¹⁰ And you are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power:

¹¹ In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

¹² Buried with Him in baptism (Baptism of His death, Romans 6:3-4), wherein also you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, Who has raised Him from the dead.

¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

¹⁵ And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”  Colossians 2:9-15

Some like to think that there was a fight in hell between Jesus and satan but this is not true.  Satan wants no part of our Lord.  The devil knows that he is a defeated foe.  Jesus Christ came to die on Calvary’s Cross to blot out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us.  IN HIM we have life and life more abundantly.  We either believe that to be true or we believe it to be a lie.

“¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

¹² Then shall you call upon Me, and you shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you.

¹³ And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13.

Seek Him while He can be found.  Know Him…know in Whom you have believed, Jesus Christ and Him crucified…be determined to know nothing else among you.

-Donna Clark Warren

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the Law, but under Grace.” Romans 6:14

For years I smoked.  If any of you have ever smoked, you know what a beast it is to quit. However, before I was born again I tried Chantix and quit.  Now, fast forward 4 years.  I had been saved for about a year,  I loved the Lord, chasing Him night and day…and then I stumbled.  One day with a friend, I thought I could just smoke one cigarette.  Make no mistake friends, sin is not stagnant; it will always take you further than you want to go.

Here I was, declaring the Gospel, attending revivals literally almost every night but fighting for my very life.  Very few people knew this sin had dominion over me…the Bible says it shouldn’t.  I prayed everyday asking the Lord to forgive me.  As much as I prayed, I was trying to quit.  Over and over and over with the same result…failure.  I was indeed forgiven but I had not been delivered.  O’wretched woman was I!!

“²² For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man:

²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

²⁴ O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:22-24

Finally there came a day; I was broken and confused.  My word of faith friends would say I didn’t have enough faith.  Please let me be clear, no where in the Word of God does it tell us the amount of our faith is relative to our blessings.  Faith of a mustard seed can move a mountain.  We must have faith…absolutely, but it is the Object of our faith that moves mountains, not the amount.  It is there, upon that Cornerstone, the redeeming work of Jesus Christ which broke the power of sin in the Believer’s life, that our faith is authored and finished.  If our faith is in our self efforts, that mountain is going to get bigger and bigger…trust me, I know.  That one cigarette that day, quickly turned in to a pack a day.

As I laid in the floor crying out to God that I can’t quit smoking, I remember specifically praying “Lord you’re going to have to take this from me because I can’t quit.” Granted, I couldn’t at the time articulate “what” it was I was doing or “how” I had just prayed.  All I know is I was speaking the truth.  I couldn’t quit smoking. Many will say you must resolve to quit.  Not so. If we could just resolve to stop sinning, the Cross of Christ was in vain. God forbid no.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

What I had actually done, again without being able to actually articulate this at the time, was FINALLY submit to God.  I had been fighting in vain to overcome this sin that had so easily beset me and when I finally decided to stop fighting; when I stopped trying to say no to the sin, and finally said YES to God, the Lord INSTANTLY took the desire away.  I rose up from that prayer with no desire for a cigarette…none.

“For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

Unknowingly, I was bound by the law of sin and death because my faith had been placed in my efforts…my resolve to deny those cigarettes.  Instead of denying myself and picking up my dominion over sin, I was denying God and denying His free gift.

For me, I was bound by nicotine.  However, for others it may be alcohol, pornography or any other “sins of the flesh”.  This is a bondage that cannot be overcome by our resolve. I’m not speaking here of those who believe God’s Grace is a license to sin.  I’m speaking of those who love the Lord but cannot overcome sin.  These are sins that we can see but make no mistake, there are those that cannot be seen but are indeed sin.  They are perhaps the worst kind of bondage.  I speak here of self righteousness, pride, religious spirits, etc.

You see, regarding smoking, my first mistake was knowingly turning away from the precepts of God when I picked up that first cigarette.  I did that willingly but I was deceived in that I thought I would be able to “just say no” to that second cigarette, then that third cigarette, etc., etc..  Not so friends.

The fight isn’t about saying “no” to sin but saying yes to God. So why didn’t I just try Chantix again?  Honestly speaking, I didn’t have the money to afford Chantix and for that I’m grateful.  If I could have afforded Chantix, I would have probably tried it again and would not now know the power of God to take the desires that are not pleasing to Him away and place His desires in my heart.  Since that day in prayer I have not had a single desire for a cigarette and I give God all the glory.

“And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

There is dominion of sin and freedom from captivity in your cross but first we must deny ourselves.  For Jesus, the Cross was a place of great suffering.  For Believers, our cross is a place of great blessing.  The devil won’t flee until we are submitted to God.  It is the Lord who puts the hedge of protection around His Children. Fight the good fight of faith.

-Donna Clark Warren

“¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto Salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

¹⁷ For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17

As a Believer, we are justified by faith in the redeeming work of Jesus and we live by faith in the redeeming work of Jesus.  This faith is one and the same.  Once the sinner understands that they cannot save themselves and believes that God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price for dying humanity and accepts HIS (Jesus’) finished work as the only means by which they will be delivered from sin and death, they are Saved (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10, 13;  Ephesians 2:8-9).

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under Grace.” Romans 6:14.

Under Grace through faith, sin does not have dominion over the Believer.  This does not mean we will not stumble. Sadly, we are human and we will stumble.  We will make mistakes but sin will not have dominion as long as we repent and place our faith solely in the atoning work of Jesus Christ to deliver us from this sin that so easily besets us.

Religion will present distractions or excuses for sin but will never give the answer.  Satan doesn’t want those sincere Christians who truly love God to be delivered from their bondages.  The devil doesn’t want the effective work of the Cross of Christ to deliver dominion from sin to the Saints so he keeps them busy; tossing them to and fro with every wind of doctrine to hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.  Yes, greater is He (the Holy Spirit) in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4), BUT when we are chasing rabbits to do what only the Holy Spirit can do through faith in the Son of God, we are hindering the Holy Spirit.

This is why we preach Christ and Him crucified!  This is why we hold Jesus Christ up to the brokenhearted and preach deliverance to the captives.  There is a joy unspeakable and full of glory and peace beyond all understanding but we must realize that Jesus Christ is the Source and His Cross the means by which these blessing flow…not 40 days of purpose, humanistic psychology or religious ceremonies.

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2

-Donna Clark Warren

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

God manifested in the flesh and came to die on Calvary’s Cross to redeem whosoever will believe. His Name is Jesus and He IS the Living Word.  In Italian, the name Jesus is spelled “Gesu”, in Chinese His name is spelled “Yesu” and in Hebrew the name Jesus is “Yeshua“.  Just because a name is spoken in a different language does not mean that the object of the name has changed.  Sadly, too many get caught up on the “name” of the object and never know the Object, namely Jesus Christ, the Word Who was made flesh and dwelt among us.

^“12 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name:

¹³ Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of Grace and Truth.” John 1:12-14

Jesus came to earth full of Grace and Truth yet many did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave POWER to become the sons of God.

“The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the Children of God:” Romans 8:16.

The world, who has not received Jesus, are not the Children of God.  How often do we hear “we are all God’s Children”?  This is simply not so.  We are all God’s creation but only those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, has He given them the power to become a Child of God.  The unsaved cannot willingly submit unto God.  It is through our freewill that we choose to believe in Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He did on Calvary’s Cross to pay the penalty of sin for the sinner and break the power of sin for the Believer, that the Holy Spirit is commissioned to bear witness with our spirit that we are a Child of God.

The human heart is made up of the soul and the spirit.  Our soul feels and our spirit knows.  The world can appeal to our soul, the lusts of our flesh which are driven by emotions continually seek but never find the “knowing”…the “knowing” of the witness of the Holy Spirit that only comes by faith in the Son of God.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Until we choose to believe, we will never know.  We may have an intellectual knowledge of the Word of God.  We may indeed know that His Hebrew name is “Yeshua”, or His Italian name is “Gesu”…but until we know HIM, the Source of our Salvation, we don’t know in Whom we have believed.

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” 1 Timothy 1:2

-Donna Clark Warren

“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

The Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, lays waste vain imaginations and philosophies of man.  This IS the two edge sword with which Christ subdues His enemies and It does not come back void (Isaiah 55:11). God’s Word is the axe at the root of the tree which doesn’t bring forth good fruit.

“³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

⁴ (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For the Believer to pick up carnal weapons prescribed by man to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, we are in fact picking up another sword.  The pulpits who pick up any other sword other than the Word of God to advance the Kingdom will in fact perish with the weapon by which they have lifted up among the people…for all who take the sword shall perish by the sword (Matthew 26:52).

The axe is at the root of the tree.  Judgment begins at the House of God.  Discern the weapon we bear.  Is it carnal?

God’s weapon is His Word and cannot be used against Him.  It will divide asunder the evil intent cloaked with good intentions and place those who have believed and chose to follow Jesus Christ on solid ground.  The Word of God is the sword by which our hearts are circumcised and our faith is built on a sure foundation of Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross for whosoever will believe. If it’s not Jesus Christ and Him crucified, it is another sword…it is another Jesus.

From Genesis to Revelation we are told of God’s Redemption plan for all of humanity and it was and is by Grace through faith…faith in Jesus Christ and His redeeming work on Calvary’s Cross. Knowing Who He is and what He did, we have no doubt as to His glorious Resurrection and because of His Resurrection we know, that we know, that we know that every sin was paid in full.  The penalty of sin was paid and the power of sin broken by the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Preach the Word, sword by which the Lord subdues His enemies.  Be instant in season and out of season.  Know in Whom you have believed.  Be determined to know nothing else among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

-Donna Clark Warren