Grace Revolution: Experience the Power to Live Above Defeat (11 page)

So how do we go from a place where like the apostle Paul we lament, “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway…. Oh, what a miserable person I am!” (Rom. 7:19, 24
NLT
), to a place of lasting victory?

My dear reader, the first step to victory is to realize and believe that because the Lord Jesus has already taken the punishment for all your sins at the cross, you don’t have to be bound and driven by guilt, condemnation, or fear. Every failure of yours has already been punished in Jesus’ body and
you have perpetual
forgiveness and intimacy with God through Christ’s blood! This is the power of right believing in the gospel that will lead you to inside-out transformation and lasting breakthroughs.

So when the next temptation comes, right in the midst of that temptation, believe and say this from your heart: “Therefore
there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1
NASB
, emphasis mine). Instead of believing that you are a failure of a Christian and that God is angry with you, begin to believe in and proclaim His grace. Begin to believe and declare boldly, “I
am
the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! Because I am in Christ Jesus Who bore all the punishment for my sins, there is therefore now
no
condemnation for me! Fellowship with my heavenly Father is
not
broken
and I am
still
His beloved child—highly favored and deeply loved by Him!”

This is exactly how all those people who wrote in to my ministry broke free of their addictions for good. Let me, however, qualify that I am addressing those who
sincerely
want to be free from their addictions, not those who just want to excuse and justify their indulgences and sins.

Why is believing and declaring that you are righteous so important? Because sin cannot take root in you when you are full of the consciousness of your right standing in Christ. The more you are established in God’s gift of righteousness, the more you will walk in victory over sin and addiction. The Bible says it like this: “Awake to righteousness and sin not” (1 Cor. 15:34). It is this awakening, in which you freely receive God’s abundant grace and gift of righteousness, that empowers you to reign over sin (see Rom. 5:17)!

Look at the Cycle of Victory diagram on the next page and see how, in contrast to the Cycle of Defeat diagram, righteousness-consciousness ultimately propels a believer out of the cycle of sin to increasingly live a life above defeat.

Cycle showing the defeated life.

Cycle showing the victorious life.

Beloved, as the gospel of grace continues to be preached, precious folks around the world are breaking out of the cycle of defeat and starting to live in the cycle of victory. In fact, they find that as they grow in the revelation of their forgiveness, righteousness, and no condemnation in Christ, the temptations of the past no longer trigger any desires in them to sin. That’s how the apostle Paul came out of his own struggle. He said, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1
NASB
). Are you in Christ Jesus? Then there is no condemnation for you, but acceptance from God and His empowerment to be free from sin and defeat.

My dear friend, whatever your struggle today, it is this revelation of no condemnation and awakening to righteousness that will set you free. This is what happened to Neil from the United Kingdom, who wrote to my ministry about his liberation from a forty-year struggle with a sexual addiction:

Hallelujah! This is what I’m talking about. Beloved, however long you’ve struggled with a certain temptation or addiction, the same victory Neil had and is still enjoying can be yours today. It’s yours when you know what Jesus’ finished work has accomplished for you and you receive His gift of no condemnation.

I preach the gospel of grace because the good news of Jesus changes lives. The Spirit of the Lord and His anointing, favor, and blessings are upon those who preach the gospel. The gospel is the good news that
the moment you receive Jesus into your life and make Him your Lord and Savior, all your sins are forgiven and you receive the gift of eternal life. You are justified and made righteous through your faith in Jesus Christ. Your righteousness is a gift from Him. In Christ you have perfect standing before God, paid for by the precious, eternal blood of His Son. There is no more judgment, punishment, and curse for you because the full judgment, punishment, and curse for all your sins fell upon our Lord Jesus at the cross. He paid for it all!

The Word of God tells us this:

The New King James translation of the last verse, verse 21, says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

I encourage you to read and reread this beautiful passage of Scripture. I highly recommend that you meditate on the verses and feed on them. You will find so much nourishment, joy, and peace from them. Just writing about this causes my heart to be ignited with a new passion to preach the gospel of grace with greater authority and boldness!

What does preaching the gospel, the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ, do? The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that it releases “the power of God” to bring His salvation into your life. The word “salvation” does not just mean being saved from hell to go to heaven. “Salvation” is the ultra-rich Greek word
soteria
, which means “deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation.”
⁴
It covers any area of your life that needs saving so that you can enjoy wholeness and well-being in your body, soul, and spirit.

Now, where do you find this salvation? In the gospel of Christ. Not in the old covenant of law. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ that unleashes the power of God to save you and make you whole. It is this gospel that brings protection, healing, deliverance, and soundness to every area of your life. It is no wonder the enemy brings opposition to anyone who preaches the gospel of Christ. He doesn’t want the power of God to come into people’s lives. By the same token, if you want the well-being and wholeness of God to come into your areas of
challenge, then make sure you are hearing the gospel of Christ, which is “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).

But what is it about the gospel of grace that makes it so powerful? We find the answer in Romans 1:17—“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”

The gospel is so powerful because in it is the revelation that you have been made righteous by the work of Christ, not by your works. This is the glory of the gospel, the good news that when God looks at a man who has put his faith in what Jesus has done, God sees him perfect, complete, and righteous in Christ. It is knowing this that unleashes the power and salvation of God in all its richness into all areas of our lives.

Notice what the apostle Paul said in Romans 1:17—“The just [or righteous] shall live by faith.” You cannot walk in faith, talk in faith, or live a life of faith when you don’t understand that you have been made righteous by faith. But once you realize that God is not counting your sins against you, because of what Christ has done, peace and joy settle in your heart. Fear flees and hope springs forth. Faith for every blessing Christ purchased for you just erupts in you and activates the power of God to overcome every obstacle in your life!

Dear reader, I didn’t invent the gospel of grace and I certainly didn’t start the grace revolution. The grace revolution began with Jesus! He Who never sinned became the offering for our sins so that we who believe in Him can become the righteousness of God in Him. Our Lord Jesus then entrusted the gospel of grace to the apostle Paul.

Now, listen to how Paul describes the gospel of grace: “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11–12).

Paul received the gospel directly from our Lord Jesus. And everything I preach today about the gospel of grace is based entirely on what Paul first preached. The gospel
is
God “reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them” (2 Cor. 5:19
NLT
). Isn’t that what we have been establishing in this book?

How necessary it is to have a confident assurance that all your sins have been forgiven! Old covenant prophets bring your sins to remembrance (see 1 Kings 17:18), but new covenant ministries bring Jesus’ forgiveness to your remembrance (see Luke 24:47). The ministry that God has placed in our hands is the ministry of reconciliation! Today we are God’s ambassadors of grace. We are called to proclaim with boldness the gospel of grace from the rooftops of the world. This is the message we are proclaiming to the world: “Come back to God! God is
not angry with you. Come back to a Father Who loves you and gave up His beloved Son to ransom you from all your sins.” This is the good news!

And to the believer bound in religious legalism and condemnation, we also preach, “Come back to God!” No more hiding in fear, no more struggling with sin, no more living in dread of punishment and the curse descending on you, and no more pretenses of self-righteousness. Come boldly to the throne of grace and receive from God all the help, peace, healing, joy, deliverance, and saving you need (see Heb. 4:16).

My friend, whatever you may be struggling with today, come back to the Father’s loving embrace and grace. He loves you. Receive the good news that you are a new creation in Christ; old things are gone. You have been reconciled to God through Christ’s perfect work at the cross. You are righteous in God’s sight (even when you fail) and are empowered to overcome every failing through His gift of no condemnation. Let this good news of our Lord Jesus take hold in your heart. And in your every area of challenge, you will begin to experience lasting victory and a multiplication of His grace and peace in your life.