Reckoning that Counts

Okay, here we go. Reckoning. What is it? What is reckoning? You're convinced it's true. Is reckoning an important thing? Why? What this class is designed to do is to teach us, as the title of the little yellow book says, the reckoning that counts, where it is effective in your life. As we go through this, Hopefully your knowledge of exactly what reckoning is and what it isn't will expand. Because I think Miles does a pretty good job of not only explaining what it is, but also explaining what it isn't.

Homework. First one is, true or false, our fellow believers will be quite perceptive when we seek to share with them. I'm sorry, receptive. I've misprinted that. When we. Yes, it would, wouldn't it? Quite receptive when we seek to share with them our newfound identification truths. What do you think? Why?

By experience, you found out that that's false. Miles says not only do we seek out opportunities to share and teach, these new-to-us truths, but, where necessary, we make openings. We are surprised to discover that few, if any, fellow believers prove to be receptive. As a matter of fact, many become antagonistic and some even accuse us of falling into error.

Anybody ever have that happen to them? I have a lot, starting with this lady over here. We worked in the same real estate office together, how many years ago? 15, 20. And I used to come and visit with her and we'd talk about the Lord and I'd start talking about identification. She'd go home and tell Ben, this kid is nuts. He's telling me this stuff, it can't be true.

So the point is, is that don't be surprised. So don't be surprised if One, what's going to happen when you see these things for the first time, they really are exciting to you. Because you see the probability for the first time in your life to actually be free from the power of sin. And that's very exciting news when you see that. So just like you would do when you were first saved, if you were enthusiastic at all, you were button-holing everybody who would come along to tell them about the Lord Jesus. You know, don't be surprised if you have the same enthusiasm about the identification truths and you get even aggressive negative responses.

You know, I used to say that I've made a career out of telling the right things to the wrong people. And that's okay. I mean, so we all fall into that trap. But you never know what seed you have planted. Yeah, that's true. What you learn, though, I think in the going is to to be quiet as much as you can, and to look around for a hungry heart. And if you find a hungry heart, you find out how valuable just one is and how receptive they will be to the growth truths. And you learn after a while, well, there's no sense in telling some young enthusiastic Christian who thinks he's got it all together about the fact that he died. He's not ready for that.

A failure in the identification realm parallels failure in the earlier justification phase. What do you think about that? What do you think about that? Everybody understand what a justification phase is? Justification is a birth phase. What do you think? Do you find that to be true?

I think it is true and I find that when I'm talking to somebody who's interested in the growth truth, I find the first few times that I'm with them, I'm ratcheting back and back and back and back, getting down to exactly what they believed when they got saved. What you find is, and not from a critical standpoint, is that there is only a surficial understanding of what salvation really is.

And to kind of pick on a guy who isn't here, Sharm Sherman, the guy we're praying about, who has prostate cancer, when he first came to the Men's Tuesday group about 10 years ago, he was the general manager of Athletes in Action basketball team, and so he wanted a couple of minutes to tell the guys kind of what he did.

And he made the comment that at the end of the basketball game, some of the players would, you know, talk about their life in Christ to the other team or anybody in the audience that would stay. And then he said that they would ask the people to make a commitment to Christ. And so when he got done, I said, well, when do you give them the gospel? He said, well, we invite them to make a commitment to Christ. I said, I repeat the question, when do you give them the gospel?

Making a commitment to Christ is not salvation. See? And what you find is, is that, like, how many of you think that asking Jesus into your heart is a salvation message? Come on, be truthful. It's not. It's not. But isn't it the first step towards the first heaven there? No. What is the gospel? The gospel is three things. What is it? Jesus Christ was crucified. Christ died for the sins of the world. He was buried and He was resurrected. That's the gospel. Period. That's all it is. Christ died for your sins specifically.

Do you believe Him or not? Where does it say receiving Jesus into your heart? Nowhere. It's an implication that has turned out to be part of the salvation message, which it isn't. Or this making a commitment to Christ. Christ isn't interested in your commitment. Because what are you committing to him, if you do that? The old man. When they hear the word Jesus Christ, they generally flip out. If somebody says, I received the Lord Jesus into my heart, it's in my opinion definitely a tremendous humiliation. you're definitely not boasting in your own strength anymore. And I thought it's kind of implied because very few people who accept Christ don't know that he has died for you.

Of course, I'm not arguing. I think you're right, and I want to. But still, I think it's wonderful because I've always received Christ. Get to that point of you making that statement. See, I think the reason that the question is where it is here is that there is this retrenching for spiritual growth. Exactly what did I believe when I was saved and exactly what wasn't? What are the issues? What are the facts that I placed my faith in and the person that I placed my faith in in terms of what did he do and who is he? Those are the issues.

It doesn't have to be some kind of... It's something else, man. I mean, faith is what saves us, but I mean, don't... I mean, James talks about Satan and the demons. I mean, isn't what they do having faith that Jesus died and rose again? I mean, they believe that. They believe in God. Sure they do. They believe that God exists. I mean, isn't there something extra that we have to... Like what? Do, I don't know, like, believe that it, you know, take it as our own, or, you know, believe that he did it for us, or, I don't know. Okay.

What makes the difference in the demons? The issue with salvation is that Jesus Christ became a man, he didn't become an angel. And so, the redemption is offered to men, not angels. And the reason why is because I think angels had opportunities, like Vern says, to believe or not believe.

But once they turned away, their wills are fixed. There's no going back with them. They're locked in. That's why Satan and his minions will never, ever change. Now, with human beings, there was... How do I say this? It takes the death of a person of the Godhead to effectuate redemption. I can't die for my sins, right? Why can't I? If I went out and shed my blood for my sins, why wouldn't that be effective? You'd stay dead. I'd stay dead. What else? I'm not worthy.

You see, God's here. He's the creator. I'm the creature. In order to satisfy a holy God, it's got to be done by somebody who's equal with God. Enter the Lord Jesus. A God-man who can pay the penalty for sins and God can accept what he did because he's the same level. You see that? That's why it took Christ uniquely to be the one to redeem man.

Now, salvation is whose idea? It's God's idea, right? So it's his plan and we function based on his principles, right? So he sends his son to take care of the problem. He dies for the sins of the world, he's buried, he's resurrected as a demonstration that God was satisfied with the death, okay? Then God comes to mankind and says, I've done it all, right? What does God want you to do about it?

Believe. Period. He says, if you believe me, I will save you for all eternity. Now, the justification truths, really from the viewpoint of the young believer who is saved, is that Christ died for me. now free from the penalty of my own sins, I'll never have to pay them, and I've got a guarantee that I'm going to go to heaven. But it's all about sins and penalty, is it not? It has nothing to do with sin nature yet, or the power of sin, or anything like that. It's sins and sin nature. Or it's sins and the penalty for sins. Isn't that right? Isn't that what it is?

But to that point, I mean, it does seem like there's more to... Faith is bigger than just belief. I mean, you can believe something intellectually and not really put the weight of faith on it. Oh, interesting. Which I think was what we're getting at, right?

It seems that that's what James is getting at. Well, the book of James has to do with man being justified before men. not before God. When he says that faith without works is dead, he's not talking about man being justified before God. He's talking about man being justified before his fellow man, and that he says, look, if you have faith, and that's all you have, I'm going to tell you that you can see that I have faith by my works. Well, who's looking? Other men. And the point that he's making is that faith translates over time into a life manifested for other men to see. Now, from God's perspective, it's only faith with Him. That's it. Because He doesn't care about...

I shouldn't say it that way. His saving you has nothing to do with your action, because you are saved by grace through faith. Salvation is a gift, and if it isn't gracious, then there's something for you to do. Faith is the one thing a man can do that he can't take any credit for because he believes in somebody else and what somebody else did. He has no part in it in terms of the actual act itself. Redemption was something God did that man had nothing to do. Your whole part in redemption was to put Christ on the cross by your sinfulness.

That's the only part you played. So here comes the work of Christ towards you and God says, if you'd like to be saved, you believe in the person and work of my Son. Period. That's it. There's nothing other than that. This commitment, making Jesus the Lord of your life and all of that is nonsense. You're adding to the basic gospel. How much faith does it take to be saved?

Six gallons, five miles. Poquito. You know, just a little bit. It doesn't take very much. You just believe God. You count Him to be true. What He says is true. Now that's not reckoning. That's not the same thing as reckoning. You okay with that? Reckoning is more than that.

Because you may believe, put it this way, as a young person who believes in the person and work of Christ, and you're saved. You're justified before God. Now, six months from now, because of your laxity or your sinfulness, you may be able to start to doubt whether you're saved or not, right? Well, gee, if I'm saved, how come I'm sinning so much? How come I'm doing all the things I used to do six months ago? Does your doubting unsave you?

No. But through that, if you read the chapter, through that, God persuades you that salvation is of Him. And He's the one that settles you down on the security of your salvation, right? It's based solely on the Word of God and it's based solely on what He tells you. He confirms it, right? That's reckoning. Confirmation. Yeah, so when you initially believe something that you see in the Word of God, there may not be any sort of confirmation or response.

I mean, the first time you read Romans 6.6 and it said that your old man was crucified with him, you know, I mean, if you're being honest, you said it right. Sure it was. No way. I died with him? What is he talking about? But if you said at that point, I believe you only because you said it, then guess what's going to happen? The Holy Spirit is going to implement into your life those truths. See that?

Now there are lots and lots of believers that read Romans 6, Galatians 2.20, and don't believe it's true. If they don't believe it's true, is it ever going to get implemented in their life? Not a chance, even though it is true of them. So your faith must be based squarely on the Word of God, squarely there and no place else, and on the person too.

You see that? Because what God says about us in terms of the principle of position, all of those positions that God says we have, how many of you have experienced all those? How about half of them? How about two of them? Do you see what I'm saying? God says they're so. You're seated in Christ in the heavenlies when? A week from Thursday? No, now! Well, you look at God and say, well, I don't experience that.

How can it be true? It is true only because He told you it's true. So your faith begins to rest on the veracity of the person who tells you something, God Himself. No matter how how your natural mind can't figure out the logic of it. You read in Corinthians that the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, they're foolishness unto him. He cannot know them. It has nothing to do with whether he wants to or not. He can't, because they're spiritually discerned. So reckoning is a spiritual principle. It's not a natural principle, although it does work in the natural realm. Okay with that? The Holy Spirit never allows us to fail after our beginning in the identification truce. Sorry I didn't tell you that, boys. But you know, it's interesting about... Do you understand why... Well, maybe I'll ask it this way. This is the one area in which you're going to get confrontation about.

Because most Christians think that the Christian life is victory. And they don't understand that when there's calculated failure by the Holy Spirit in your life, how can that possibly be of God? How can it be? Tell me about the Holy Spirit's implemented calculated failure. Why would he do such a thing?

To bring you to the end of yourself. Self. That's right. We don't know. Do you really understand early on what's of self? Because you view yourself to be you. And you don't see yourself in Christ only. I've got a buddy who I talk to once a week from Arkansas. And he's beginning to see these things, but he doesn't see himself in Christ.

He called me yesterday, he said, oh, I'm having a tough time. I said, why? He said, well, I get up in the middle of the night and I go into my office and I kneel down and I tell God that I'm a sinner and I beg him to forgive me. I said, why are you doing that? He said, well, shouldn't I do that? I said, well, if you're going to talk to God, you ought to talk to him about who he says you are.

Did you know that The term safe sinner is an oxymoron. There is no such animal, positionally. Right? Are you positioned in Christ? Are you identifiable as a sinner? No. No, you're not. You may sin and you may function as though you're not positioned in Christ, but God doesn't see you as a sinner.

Does He? No, He doesn't. Well, what's the issue with that man? He's starting to see these things. He's not quite sure he believes them yet. When you go and pray to God for forgiveness, you being a sinner, you don't see yourself in Christ only yet, even though you are. And he knows the truth. Well, calculated failure in that man's life is designed specifically to get him to rest in the facts.

He said, well, what should I pray for? I said, well, you ought to thank God that you're in Christ. He said, what about my sinfulness? I said, well, what about it? Is God interested in it? I said, when you commit a sin, what happens? You lose your salvation? No. God get mad at you? No. Does he set out a bunch of requirements for you in order to re-enter into your salvation? No. I said, well, what's he doing?

He said, well, I lose fellowship. I said, okay, how do you get back into fellowship? He said, well, I confess my sins. I said, we talked about what the word confession means. And I said, I don't know if you've noticed this, but if you think in your mind you have 15 sins to confess and you go to God, by the time you get through the first one, you're already restored to fellowship and you kind of forgot the rest.

He's not interested in that laundry list. He's interested in you having fellowship with his son, because that's what he's done for you. But Mike, don't you think that step that the Holy Spirit takes us through, you go from, Jim, I'm a good person, to seeing your sin and then recognizing God's grace because of it.

Yeah, yeah, I think that's right. I don't think you can skip over that step. No, I agree. And I don't mean to say that, you know, in Newell's commentary on Romans, he talks about that, he says that to realize your growing unworthiness yet expect to be blessed by God is a great secret. Any problems with that?

You alright? So if you fail, it's okay with me. I'm not going to complain. Yeah, based solely on the Word of God. The principle of time is spiritual growth takes time. You alright with that? How much time? Sure. You know, why does it take so long, you think? Why does it seem endless? Well, think about what he's doing. Think about what he's doing.

He's preparing us to manifest the glory of him, of his son, right? While we're here? Only? No. For all eternity. So you're going to find that you're always being prepared for something that's coming up. And it may be here, it may be in eternity. And because you're going to rule and reign with the Lord Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom, you guys are all qualified for that, aren't you? Well, you're learning that now. You're learning how to minister now.

How can you deal with the foibles of another believer if you haven't been really exposed to your own and have lived through, on a conditional viewpoint, the freedom that God offers by your reckoning on the truth. You can't. Because when it comes down to sin and somebody who's really struggling in Romans 7, if you don't know there's freedom, ultimately you're going to say to them, oh boy, that's a tough one, brother. I'll pray for you. What you're saying to them is, well, I'm not sure there's freedom from that or not.

Matching. Our association with the Lord Jesus in his death and our recreation in his resurrection is what? What's that term? Identification. To count is true. The law by which things operate. Let's talk about principle for a minute. After reading the chapter, and after we've been through position and the green letters, do you see how God functions based on principles? You know what's interesting about that? We study the Word of God to learn the facts and to know Christ, but the other thing you're learning the whole time is how God does things. You're learning the principles.

And a biblical principle never varies. It works the same way every time. So your faith, I think, not only rests in the written word of God, but also your understanding about how God works. You trust him to do things the way he's told you that he's going to do them.

And that's tough because we come to the table with the natural man's viewpoint of health, wealth and wisdom. And especially when you start down this path with the Holy Spirit, it's a tough go. But you find out, gee, this is the way God is taking me, and this is okay. This is normal. And for you to learn that is critical in your being able to minister to somebody else. For you to walk up next to somebody else so you can perceive is struggling with the power of sin and say to them, this is okay, brother. I'll walk with you through this. There's freedom at the end of this road and it's okay.

There's going to be time involved and you're going to be able to explain. You are edifying that person way more than someone who comes up to them and says, hey, you need to, you know, you give them the Job dance. You've got to figure out how you made God mad and if you can figure that out, then he'll lay off. You know, that kind of thing. Okay, fill in the blank.

The pattern of experience of the babe in Christ is, we, we, struggled, we, oh no. The sure result of concentrating upon experience, rather than is what? Now, even the most studious, objective person relies on their experience. Let me tell you how I know that.

I've been a salesman all my life, right? And I think Carol would back this up. Most people buy emotionally and they justify the purchase later logically, right? You can get the most objective person in my business, you get him in the living room and he goes, OK, I'll buy it. It's an emotional decision. But if you saw him a week later, had him over for brunch, he'd give you 4,000 logical reasons why he made that decision. No, he didn't. He wanted it, it felt good, and he went for it.

So we do the same thing. We do exactly the same thing. We go for something spiritually, emotionally, and then we're trying to figure out the logic of it later. When in fact what God is teaching us to do is to know the facts precisely, to rest by faith in those facts and let God work them into us. And then the experience comes. It isn't the other way around. There is an experience of faith, but it's after the facts are in place.

When the Holy Spirit brings us to a new and a higher plateau of truth, in the process of growth, we what? We see. And then what's the last thing? What's appropriation mean? Okay, any other words? Take us our own. Yeah, take us our own. Hey, that's me. It's mine. That's true of me personally. It's mine.

Through Christ's death and resurrection, we are freed from the blank of sin. Penalty, right? Also from the power of what? Now, positional truth or not? Is everybody in this room freed from the power of sin, positionally? Absolutely. Absolutely we are. Let's see. Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Where is that from? I don't know if you, in terms of principles, you can see this.

If you read Romans 5.12 through 6.11, what you find is, starting in 5.12, it's know this, know this, know this, know this, know this, know this. until you get to 11, and then it says reckon. And then the next verse says present. So there's an awful lot of knowing going on before there's reckoning.

See that? And you'll see that in Paul's epistles. There's lots of information. There's lots of, even in the prayer in Ephesians, he says that they might know. So knowing comes first. The revelation comes first. And then there's a reckoning upon the truth. Having begun in the Spirit, you are now made perfect in the flesh. Are you now made perfect in the flesh? Where does that come from? Remind you biblical scholars. Where is that from? Galatians 3. I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I was also apprehended of Christ Jesus. Where is that from? You know, where is that from? 3.12? 3.10? 3.12? Actually, 3.10, 3.11 and 3.12 are terrific verses in terms of understanding the time element and spiritual growth.

Because Philippians was written late in Paul's life. So here he is 30 plus years. into his ministry and he's saying that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed unto his death. And he talks about following after, that he can apprehend that for which he was apprehended in Christ Jesus. In other words, what he's really saying is that so that I may enter into conditionally what is already true of me positionally. That's what he's after. Do you think up until this time he didn't know Christ? Huh? What do you think? 30 plus years in the ministry, he doesn't know Christ? After a couple of years in the Arabian desert and he's being taught?

Come on. The thing is, is that I think that the prayer of the growing believer is that prayer. Every day, that I might know you more today. More and more and more and more. He becomes the object of your faith. Him personally. and you have this desire in you to know him more intimately every day. You know this is the vehicle, but that's what you want. You want him, and you want to know him.

I find it interesting, if you study Genesis, when God creates man in his own image after his own likeness, what's he up to? What's he trying to do there? Sure. What is the same about us and God? If we were created after God's own image and likeness, what's similar to Him that's similar in us? What is it?

Spirit. What's that? Desire to be intimate. Desire to be intimate. That's the result of it. But what do we have that's like Him? We're persons. He's a person. You know what persons do? They hang out. They hang out with each other. And so He creates mankind, persons. For what reason? So they can hang out with Him. Right? They can appreciate who He is. They can be loved by Him. They can take Him in. But does God have any role in this? No. But He creates to manifest His glory to His creation. If you're not a person, you don't get it. But as a person, you can see and appreciate God's glory, and you can receive it, and you can manifest it back.

So, man sins. Oops, there goes God's plan. Nah. By identification with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection, everybody in this room is back on track, so to speak. You now are, by being recreated in Christ, a person who has the capacity to behold the glory of Christ, and therefore, personal one-on-one fellowship with Him. That's the way it's going to be for all eternity. It's a very cool deal, I think. So, the manifestation, this intimacy that God has always intended for His creatures to have, is now in place and operating for those who are in Christ.

You see that? Because you have the capacity to do it now. And you know, I told you before about Christ was the only one that was qualified to die, right? Guess what God did? Here you are in Adam. You believe in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Where does God elevate you to? Bingo! You can now appreciate God on his own level. You are, by the way, a son. You are a legitimate, organic offspring of God himself. No other creature can say that. Just you and me. Kind of cool.

What three principles does God use to bring us into the reality of our identification with the Lord Jesus? What's that? Three principles that he uses. These are principles now. A principle, according to Webster, is the law or the nature or the method by which a thing operates. Helmut understands principles so well that he's got to go to court and explain them.

Right? Isn't that what you're doing? It's exactly what he's doing. He said, well, the principle of whatever, here's how it works. And it works the same way every time. These guys either knew the principle or they didn't. So God works based on principles. So what are the three principles that God implements for you to enter into the reality of your identification with the Lord Jesus? What's the first one?

You've got to know. You've got to know. You've got to know what it is. And it isn't just a cursory knowledge. You've got to be pretty savvy about it. This death, burial and resurrection and your inclusion in it. What's the next thing? You've got to believe it. And sometimes you have to reckon on those truths even though you have no experience. You just take God at His word. And what's the last principle?

Time. That's the hard one. But you know what? If God began the work, what's He going to do? Absolutely. Absolutely He is. So no fair saying to Him, well, if you don't get it done by Thursday, never mind. Because He's implementing in our lives, based on these principles, the identification truths, and every other truth operates by this principle. First you know, then you believe, and then there's time involved for the Holy Spirit to implement that into your reckoning, so that you settle down on it. Probably the easiest way to describe that is, lots and lots of believers who know nothing about identification will say to you, I am totally persuaded that I'm saved and going to go to heaven.

And you ask them, And they may not even be able to give you a chapter and verse, but they're persuaded. They're convinced. How did they get so convinced? Yeah, the Holy Spirit convinced them. And they can quote some verses to you and stuff, but they could never convince you that they're saved, but boy, they're convinced.

Well, you think the Holy Spirit would convince you? beyond any shadow of a doubt that you really were crucified, that you really were buried, you really were resurrected, you're now seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that that's true of you this second right now, absolutely you will.

Matter of fact, he delights in doing that kind of thing. That's what he wants to do. Say that again. That's right. So you start to see things from a different perspective. You do crazy things like pray down instead of up. You stop begging and you start thanking. You live by reckoning what God says is true of you rather than begging God to do something He already did or never intended to do.

I find when I study the hymns that we're going to sing when I'm going to be the leader, and I read them all, and it's amazing the viewpoint that some of those hymn writers had. They either saw themselves in Christ or they didn't. And if they didn't, they're always begging God to do stuff. Right? Oh Lord. If they see themselves in Christ, no matter what the circumstances are in their life, they're thanking God for what He's done.

See that? That's a whole different perspective. Discuss the pattern observed throughout our spiritual development. You guys wrote pages on that, didn't you? I think Miles, maybe to prime the pump a little bit, Miles says that whether we realize it or not, we begin to reckon at the very beginning of our Christian life. How do we do that? What did we reckon on? Would save us. Yeah. We believed them.

We were convicted that we had a need and we were shown the word and we were shown the Savior. And that the cross of Christ was there to redeem us. So here comes the Holy Spirit to a non-believer and the first thing he does is he convinces him he's lost. If he's not convinced of that, he doesn't need a Savior. He doesn't need anybody. So he convinces him that he's lost, and then he shows him the Redeemer, who is a person in his work.

And the guy says, OK, I reckon on those truths. So you start from the beginning, really, reckoning, because what are you doing when you're saved? You're betting your life on what you know. Aren't you? Isn't that what you're doing? saying, well, I've nowhere else to go, I better go for this one, or however it happens. It's really what it comes down to is I reckon that what I know about my personal condition and this offer of salvation, it's not, well, I'll try this for a while and see how it goes, because it's an all or nothing kind of a thing.

So I reckon. I start reckoning. I have to. So we reckon and we received him as our saviour. Then, everything went wonderful for a while. Then what happened? That scream you heard was him going off the cliff in about two years, right? Here comes this declension.

Here comes this issue about, I'm defeated. I'm having trouble here, if you're honest. Sin is dogging me, that's part of it, or something. And if you're in a good, solid covenant church, what do they tell you? Yeah, crank it up. And here's the seven things you need to do to get through this. Or there's always you implementing something in order to overcome sin. What's the problem with that? So spiritual growth is not of works, lest any man should boast. All of it is.

If it didn't happen this way, what would Christianity look like? If there wasn't this declension and this failure in the struggle with sin, what would Christianity look like? It would look like Mormonism, or the Kiwanis club, something, you know, the fraternity handshake, I don't know. Something, you know, where we were all lined up and we all had white shirts on and grey ties or something. It looked like every other religion in the world.

That's right. That's exactly right. Now, is that same pattern true in adulthood? I think so. I think that you see the truths of identification and you reckon on them to be true, you experience the good of it for a while and then there's declension, failure. But you begin to learn through all of that to trust God, to take heart and know that he's working the principles and the patterns in you as He's described them to you in the Word.

He intends for us to be free from the power of sin. He intends for that to be true in the practical working out of your life. You know, what I find interesting is that you brought up the book of James, probably the first book written in the New Testament. You know, here's James, he's not explaining identification or anything, but he is saying, look, this life that you have, we need to see it. It needs to be implemented in your life. We need to stand there, and I'll look at you, and you look at me, and you ought to be able to see it."

Well, that gives me a ton of hope, because here's James, the first guy out of the box, way before Paul starts writing, and he says, Faith is not something that's held in a safety deposit box someplace. It's implemented, and it works in your life. And then Paul comes along to explain the mechanics about how God did it. and to give you page upon page of facts that you can believe and trust in. But God intends, I'm convinced, intends for believers to function free from the power of sin, to walk in the Spirit, to rest. I think that he wouldn't go through the trouble if he didn't. And he has no intention of waiting until we all die. It's now. It's right now. So you can trust him to carry out his plan. What is reckoning predicated upon?

Knowledge. And what else? Truth. And what else? One other element. Faith. Truth and faith. I'll read a thing from the very beginning of time. Truth has always been the issue. Scriptural truth is the most important issue in our life today. It will always be.

If the doctrine you hold and are held by is correct, your growth will prove to be right. But if you make experience the issue in your life, both your doctrine and your growth will surely be wrong. You buy that statement? You okay with that? Okay, let's close.

Our dear Father, how we thank you for your word and your son and the fact that you are ever at work to reveal the truth to us and to cause us to rest by faith in the facts and teach us to trust you to implement and to work those facts into our everyday experience. Father, how we thank you and we pray in your son's name. Amen.