"The thief cometh 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).

In the following pages I want to share with you my experience of coming out of condemnation into the glorious liberty of the abundant life that Jesus taught. Jesus said "I am come that you might have life"—not condemnation, not judgment, not a new set of rules and regulations, but"LIFE". This life is not just a doctrine or a good teaching, but it is an experience. On the inside of you is the seed of God. In this seed is everything you could possibly need to transform you into a son of God. The human carnal life cannot live the God kind of life. The carnal life is subject to bondage and death. I was for many years a Christian trying with my carnal nature to be like God, but no matter how hard I tried I found that my experience was that of Romans chapter seven. I delighted in the law of God in my mind but I found another law at work in my members, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin and death. There is a way out of that experience, but it does not come by trying to be holy, trying to overcome sin, trying to break bad habits, or any works that you may do. The way out of sin and bondage is to experience God’s life coming alive on the inside of you with His energizing, quickening, life-giving Spirit operating in you.

A Proper Appreciation for the Blood

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22).

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:5-6).

Every sin that we have ever been guilty of has been washed away by the blood of Jesus. Jesus by His death on the Cross bore the sin of the whole world.

Until we have a proper appreciation and understanding of God’s evaluation of the blood of Jesus, we can never be normal Christians walking in the reality of His life in us. We must have more than just an intellectual understanding of the blood. All Christians know the gospel—that because of the shedding of the blood of Jesus, and because of His sinless life, He purchased humanity and redeemed us back to God. The Word says that "the life is in the blood" (Gen. 9:4, Dt. 12:23), and Jesus gave His blood so that we could be totally free from any condemnation, guilt or shame. We can without any hesitation at any time enter quickly and boldly into the presence of our Father God.

The Blood Flows Three Directions

The blood of Jesus is first of all towards God, secondly towards man, and then towards the accuser. If you come into a proper understanding and awareness of these three aspects of the blood, they will set you totally free.

Man’s problem is sin. A simple explanation of the consciousness of sin is a feeling of separation from God, and the opposite of such separation is the enjoyment of the presence of God. Whenever you are enjoying God and having sweet fellowship with Him, you are not conscious of sin.

Romans 3:23 says that "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." The glory of God is what God intended for man to have in the beginning. You were created to be a vessel or container, to contain the fullness of everything that God is. Our bodies were not created to be full of self, sin, the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life. We were created to be full of the glory of God and to be the manifestation of God on the earth. That was God’s original purpose for man. God wanted a body through which to express Himself. He wanted to experience all the different aspects of life that He could bring forth, so He created man and then breathed His life into that body. Adam was truly a son of God. This is why Jesus is called the second Adam and the last man. There are only two sources of life in the universe, the first Adam or the last Adam. The natural carnal man receives his source of life from the first Adam, even if he is a Christian. The spiritual man receives his life from the second Adam, Jesus.

We know that through the enticement of the serpent, man fell in the Garden and lost his awareness of being one with God. He became aware of self, a life that was alienated and separated from God. Man has been on a quest ever since to regain that perfect union and fellowship with God, and because of a darkened understanding, he has thought that he had to do certain things. He has thought that he had to be good, he had to pray every day, read 10 chapters of the Bible, resist sin and not give in to temptation. If this is your concept, then you are experiencing Romans chapter seven. We do not gain favor with God by what we do. The blood of Jesus has put every one of us back in the proper position with God. Simply through faith in the blood of Jesus, we can enter into a relationship with God as our Father, and we then become carriers of His presence on the earth, bringing peace and restoration everywhere we go.

All Have Sinned and Come Short

We have all come short of the glory of God. Carnal man is not fulfilling God’s original intention, because of sin. The glory of God is the expression of God. The glory of God is wherever God is. Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is "the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person." This living, loving, wonderful expression of God now lives in us. Again I must stress that the Christian life is not in your effort to be good and to do right, but the Christian life is God Himself coming alive on the inside of your consciousness and living His abundant life through you.

"God commendeth His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Rom. 5:8-10).

One of the first things we need to understand in the very beginning of our Christian life is that we are saved, we are justified and we are kept, not by what we do, not by what we say, but by what He has done. We are justified by His blood. This does not say that we will be justified if we do certain things, but that we were justified. Even when we were sinners, Christ died for us and justified us before God. Being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath.

These verses also tell us we shall be saved by His life. The word "life" here is the Greek word zoe, which means God’s life. It is His life that saves us, not our human effort. We are saved by His life. We are saved and delivered, knowing that it is His work that has justified us, cleansed us, made us free, and has enabled us to enter into His presence to fellowship with Him.

Freely By His Grace

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:20-24).

Romans 3 verses 23 & 24 should always be read together. How many times have you heard verse 23 emphasized: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"? If you end the reading there you miss the answer to the problem. Romans 3:23 is not the end of a sentence. It should be read, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Every one of us has come short of the glory of God, but we do not look at our shortcomings. We cannot look at our failures and defeats, we must look at the blood of Jesus.

"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:25-26).

We must develop simple faith in the blood of Jesus instead of our working so hard to be justified in God’s sight. If you become caught up in your works, when you fail you will immediately come under condemnation. If your faith is in the blood of Jesus and you fail, you will immediately confess the power of the blood and you will not fall under condemnation. You will not lose the sense and the presence of God in your life. "Being justified freely by His grace." What justifies me before God? Is it because I prayed today and read ten chapters of the Bible? "Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness (not mine) through the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, (not ours) that He might be just, and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus." This is what justifies me before God, my simple faith in these words. I do not have to try to justify myself; I am justified because I believe in Jesus. I know my shortcomings and my faults, I know what my bad habits are, but if I base my fellowship with God on my conduct, I will always have a conscience full of offense, and I will never feel good enough to come into the presence of God to have fellowship with Him. There are multitudes of Christians who do not sense the closeness of God, they do not hear God speak to them, they do not have the direct guidance of God, because their conscience is full of offense. We are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

We Need Forgiveness Moment By Moment

We need to receive forgiveness moment by moment. Do not worry about tomorrow. I always used to worry about tomorrow. I used to say, "Jesus I know You forgive me for this today, but what am I going to do tomorrow, because I know tomorrow I’m probably going to do it again?" Do not worry about tomorrow, because the blood is just as effectual tomorrow as it is today. You must get your eyes off your condition and stop trying to perform the deeds of the law to be justified before God. Then His Spirit will arise in you and enable you to keep all the righteous requirements of the law. If you are a strong-willed person you may be able to a certain extent to keep the law, and then you may become self righteous and condemn everyone else who is not able to do what you can do. How many times have you said, "I quit smoking, why can’t you? I quit drinking, why can’t you?" This is a self-righteous attitude.

Just As I Am, I Come

We need to come to God in the same way every day not on the basis of what we have done, good or bad, but on the basis of the blood. Because the blood has been shed, I have the right to enter into my Father’s presence. I may feel as though I am a miserable sinner, and I might have failed many times today, but my sin and my failure cannot keep me from enjoying God. Because of the blood of Jesus I have the full freedom and access to enter into that sweet fellowship and communion with my Father. I cannot have this any other way than by simple faith in what God says is true: "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

Three Things That Happen When You Sin

There are basically three things that happen when you become aware of sin:

1. You become separated in your consciousness from God.

2. You sense guilt.

3. You experience accusation.

The blood of Jesus answers sufficiently all three of these areas. Sin causes a conscious separation from God, then you feel guilty, and immediately the accuser comes to condemn you. A person who feels separated from God because of unworthiness, who feels guilt because of sin, and who is accused in conscience cannot enjoy fellowship with God. The blood of Jesus satisfies all three of these areas, for, as we have seen, it flows in three directions—toward God, toward man and toward the accuser.

The Blood Is For God

First, the blood is for God and answers the sin problem. We can see a type of this in the Old Testament. There was one day each year called the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest entered into the holiest of all. The holiest of all was where the presence of God dwelt, and only one man could enter there on the Day of Atonement. The High Priest would enter the holiest place and take with him the blood of the sacrifice, and he offered it upon the mercy seat for the sins of the whole nation of Israel. This shows that the blood was in this case towards God, since no one but Him saw it in that place. That settled the sin question for the nation of Israel. Israel would look forward to the Day of Atonement every year, because they knew that at this one time each year the High Priest would enter into the presence of God and take with him the blood. This meant that their sins would be covered and they would have a new start.

The Passover

7"And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. ¹³And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. ²³For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you" ( Ex. 12:7,13,23).

Another Old Testament example of God looking upon the blood was the Passover (Exodus chapter 12.) God told Israel that when the death plague came to slay the first-born of Egypt, they were to put a lamb’s blood on their door posts and to eat the lamb. The blood and the lamb both pointed to the coming Messiah. Today we still need the blood and the lamb. We not only need the blood for cleansing, but we also need to eat the lamb. We need to learn how to properly feed on the spiritual food. The Word was God and the Word became flesh. Jesus said in John 6:53 & 57, "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁷As the living Father has sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eats me, even he shall live by me." The Word became flesh, and as we learn how to assimilate the Word, we are eating the lamb.

The only thing that saved Israel was the blood on the door post. God said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." It did not matter who was inside the house. If you were inside and the blood was on the door post, the judgment would pass over you—not because you were good, not because you were holy, not because you were righteous, but because you were in the house, and you had put the blood on the door posts. This did not depend upon your conduct. The only requirement was for you to be in the house. This was the old covenant of the blood of animals. How much more the blood of Christ today will cleanse us from every sin. God is still saying today, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." Of course we make mistakes. We may have some bad habits that we can’t seem to overcome yet; we may have sin in our lives, but God is saying, "When I see the blood of Jesus Christ, I will pass over you. I don’t see your sin, I don’t look at your habits, I don’t look at your failures. I don’t look at where you are today, but I see the blood."

The Blood Says, "Not Guilty"

"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins" (Isa. 43:25).

"I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee" ( Isa. 44:22).

One of the most important things you will ever see is that God is not holding you accountable for your sin. You may say that’s impossible, but listen to the Word: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:19). "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Rom. 4:6-8).

The word impute means that we are not held accountable, not charged. Because of the blood of Jesus, God is not holding us accountable for sin. If you really see this, it will set you free from sin. Through faith in His blood we are delivered from condemnation and guilt. How can we have faith in His blood? Faith comes from hearing the Word of God and simply believing what God has said. I may feel like the lowest and the worst Christian alive, but God says, "When I look at you I see the blood of Jesus." We fall badly sometimes, and immediately sin separates us in our consciousness from God. We no longer sense His presence. Our conscience becomes defiled, we feel guilty before God, and the accuser begins to accuse us. But if we have simple faith in the blood of Jesus, we can turn to Him, and immediately the guilt is cleansed from our conscience. We sense restoration and peace with God.

You will never know the sweetness and the loveliness and the closeness of having His presence envelop you continually until you understand and appreciate the blood of Jesus. God will not tolerate self-righteousness. Your self righteousness, your good conduct, your feelings of goodness and self-justification will not give you entrance into the presence of God. You may be the lowest sinner, but if your heart is honest before God, you will be ushered into His presence. When you sin, you do not have to stay in condemnation, you do not have to be separated from God, and you do not have to be accused; but you do need to have faith in the blood of Jesus. If you begin to appreciate the blood of Jesus in this way, you will find total liberation. The blood of Jesus cleanses you at any time and every time. God is satisfied with the offering of the blood of Jesus."For by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Heb. 10:14). One of the first things John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus was, "Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." As long as you think that you must be justified by your conduct, as long as you think that your sin and your habits continually separate you from God, you will never feel justified in His sight. You must see that the blood of Jesus is the answer for the sin problem.

The Blood Is For Man

The blood of Jesus cleanses your mind from condemnation, and sets you free from all things that you are trying to be set free from. If you see the revelation of the blood and have your mind illuminated with this truth, and you begin to understand the value of the blood of Jesus, it will literally set you free from your struggling and striving and will bring you into rest. The only way we can really enjoy God is through rest. If we are trying to enter into God’s presence by our good works or self-righteousness, or by justifying our condition, we are not in rest. Resting is simply trusting, knowing that I may fail and fall a hundred times a day, but I have the blood.

People who are born again have a heart cry for God. They are looking for a way out of sin, but where they miss it is that they try to get out by self-effort, thinking that they must some way make themselves conform to a certain standard to obtain God’s favor. This nullifies faith, puts them into the works of the flesh and self-righteousness, and causes them to fall from grace, because no man stands before God with self-righteousness. You can be a total failure, you can be devastated, you can be full of bad habits, but you can cry unto God every day, "O God the blood of Jesus! Father I am so thankful that your Word says that you even justify the ungodly because of the blood of Jesus." There was a long time in my life when I felt so ungodly that I was very thankful for the blood of Jesus to answer my heart cry. There have also been times in my life, before I knew this truth, when I went for weeks in horrible depression, because I never felt good enough or worthy enough to enjoy the sweet presence of God. I was trusting in my own conduct. I was hoping some way, somehow, someday I could become good enough to enjoy that close fellowship with my Father God. I never made it that way. But when I discovered that the blood was enough to answer my sinful condition, and that all I needed was faith in the blood, I was justified—not because I deserved it but because Jesus paid the price for it.

When I first heard this, my mind couldn’t accept it. It seemed too easy; it was too good to be true. God is so good that we have a hard time believing His goodness. How could I be a failure every day, have habitual sins in my life, and still enjoy the presence of God? If you have faith in the blood of Jesus, you will know freedom from condemnation. I was told by my teachers that my condition kept me from the presence of God. I was told that I had to live right and do right to enjoy God. This is really putting the cart before the horse. If I learn the forgiveness and cleansing of the blood of Jesus, this will bring me into the enjoyment of the presence of God, and this will change my condition. Whenever I am in the presence of God, sin is never an issue.

God’s people today are just as much in bondage as they were in Egypt. The bondage in Egypt was a type of today’s Christian who is in bondage to the world and the flesh. Christians are in bondage because they do not know the liberating power of the Spirit of God through simple faith in the blood of Jesus. Men were saved even in old testament times not because they were good, but because of the blood. Simply have faith in the blood. I am so thankful when I awake in the morning that the blood of Jesus cleanses me from all sin. I used to get up in the morning knowing that I would be a failure, but then I learned to get up knowing that this was another day to appreciate the blood of Jesus and God’s forgiveness. God’s forgiveness is just like money in the bank; it’s always there if you need it. There is an unlimited supply.

Eternal Redemption

"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Heb. 9:12).

In the Old Testament times, the High Priest had to enter every year into the holy place with the blood of animals. Jesus entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. We never again need a sacrifice or an offering for sin. We need to meditate on this eternal redemption. What does it mean? Jesus, our High Priest, entered one time into the holy place. He took His own blood into the Father’s presence and obtained eternal redemption for us. Oh how we need to appreciate the Word! Do not question so much, just enjoy what it says. I have been eternally redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. I do not have to earn it, work for it or worry about losing it. If you can only believe this, you will become excited. I am so thankful that Jesus entered into the holy place one time with His blood, and that offering forever and eternally took away my sin.

The Blood Cleanses Your Conscience

"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Heb. 10:1-4).

The blood of bulls and goats which was taken into the holy place once a year by the High Priest could never make the people perfect. The blood of bulls and goats could not take away the sin, it only covered sin.

Under the old covenant it was not possible for you to have a new nature. You could be forgiven for anything that you did by simply giving the offering according to the old covenant. Your sin would be covered and forgiven, but you would not be changed inwardly. You would still have the old sin nature, because it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.

If the blood of bulls and goats was the type, and it could not take away sin and make the people perfect, what about the blood of Jesus? He entered only one time, obtained eternal redemption and took away all sin. When you truly understand this, it will give you a deep appreciation for Jesus and what He has obtained for you. You cannot appreciate the blood of Jesus when you are under condemnation and guilt. He paid the price so you could look away from your guilt unto Him and be set free from it. If we are always struggling, trying to make ourselves better so we can approach God, we will never enjoy His sweet fellowship. It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin, but, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the whole world." God is not holding you accountable for your sin. He has paid the debt in full; He declares you not guilty.

"Wherefore when He came into the world, He said, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me" (Heb. 10:5).

The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, but Jesus can say, "You have prepared for me a body, so that I, being God and entering into humanity, can live life as the lamb of God; and I can offer up my life, my blood and my body for a sacrifice that will satisfy Your judgment and heart for all eternity. The sin and guilt of my people will be no more." It is said that "for the joy that was set before Him he endured," because He knew that it was by His one sacrifice that He would bring God’s people eternally into the presence of their God.

"In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second" (Heb. 10:6-9).

He is telling them here that the old way through the High Priest’s offering of the animal sacrifices, the old way of entering only once a year into the holy place, is done away with, so that something new can be brought in. Verse 11, "And every Priest stands daily ministering and offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins." There is a big difference between the blood of animals and the blood of Jesus. The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin; it only covered sin. Verse 12, "But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God."

What could you possibly do to justify yourself when you sin or miss God? It may be willful sin, or habitual sin, or just missing God. What could you do to justify yourself before God? He is our sin bearer; He paid the supreme sacrifice for sin. True repentance simply means turning back towards God when you sin, and having faith in His blood, knowing that your failures are taken care of by that one offering. If my faith and my hope and my confidence are in what I can do, I am in real trouble. But if my faith and confidence are in Him and what He is able to do in me, then I can learn how to turn to the Spirit of the resurrected Christ within me. I can learn to flow from my spirit and have confidence in my spirit that I can do all things—not from self-effort, but through Christ who dwells within me, and who empowers and energizes me to do His will. Because of the blood we can stand in His presence without any sense of sin, or guilt, or condemnation. Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing," but when you realize that you have Him dwelling within you, and your consciousness is filled with that reality, you can do anything He asks you to do. When you realize that He wants to live and express Himself through you, He wants to heal the sick, to minister life and to see people’s lives change, you will begin to flow in His Spirit and move in God as you have always wanted.

We place too much emphasis on our conduct, rather than developing our faith in the Word. We want so desperately to be right before God. We do not want sin in our life, we do not want to miss God. Your conscience will always condemn you when you are trying to justify yourself before God by your conduct, because you are not having simple faith in what Jesus has already accomplished for you.

"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Heb. 10:16-17).

Sin has never been a problem for God. For years, when I was struggling to overcome sin as a Christian with bad habits, and living that defeated life, sin seemed to be a truly big problem. That’s why I could not be free from it. Sin is not the problem. God says He will write His laws in our hearts, and our sin and iniquity He will remember no more. If you have been washed in the blood of Jesus and you have a heart for God, He does not even see your sin. He refuses to look at it. He will just love you, and minister to you, and cherish you, and feed you, until your spirit is strengthened and grows up. Your spirit will begin to flow into your mind and wash it from condemnation and guilt, and you will begin to have your mind renewed so that you think like God. You will have no sense of fear or inadequacy to do the will of God. The Spirit of God within you will flow into your natural will and make it submissive to do His will. Your natural will cannot submit to God, even though you may want to. I know how miserable you are if you are a Christian who is captivated by an unsubmissive will that wants to do many things contrary to your new nature. If you are not able to bring your natural will into submission, do not be discouraged, but learn simple faith in the blood of Jesus and the ability that He can give you. Learn how to properly feed on the Word of God every day of your life. Learn how to speak according to God’s principles and His Word, and you will soon find that your spirit will grow and be strengthened, flowing into that natural, stubborn will and causing it to be conformed to God’s will. When the resurrected Spirit of the ascended Lord begins to flow into your natural will, it will become easy to obey God. When Jesus begins to live His life in you, it takes all the struggle out of the Christian life, and you finally experience that abundant life that Jesus promised. I can speak, knowing that as surely as I speak He is speaking within me. As surely as the anointing is within me, I can open my mouth and grace is poured upon my lips as God flows out, because He lives and moves and has His being within me, as I do Him.

It is wonderful to be a Christian without self-effort. It is not hard to be a human; we live our human life without effort; and when our inner man is strengthened, we can live the Christian life without self-effort also. It is not hard for God to live godly; it is only hard for the old nature with its self-effort to do so. There is only one real Christian in the universe, and that is Jesus. Unless He comes alive on the inside of you, you will never be able to express God and live His life. He must come alive within you and begin to walk and move. Anything less than Jesus Himself, coming alive on the inside of you and living the God kind of life, is just religion. If you’re merely going to follow rules and regulations, you might just as well be a Buddhist, or follow any other religion that teaches you self-denial and good works. Christianity is nothing less than God Himself living and moving and breathing and speaking and establishing His kingdom on the earth in humanity. For hundreds of years, most of Christianity has missed this truth, thinking that in ourselves we must do something. But we never have been able to do it, because the human natural life received at the Fall could never live the God kind of life. The human life must be laid down by the flowing of God within you to push out that old self nature. It is just that simple. As you learn how to properly feed on the Word of God, the anointing of God that abides within you will begin to push out that old self life. Even nature can teach you these things. The new life that springs up in the springtime pushes off any old leaves that are still on the tree.

Can you believe that God does not even remember your sin? Do you believe the Word of God, or do you believe the accuser of the brethren? Why does God not remember our sin? Because the Lamb of God has taken away the sin of the world. When you sin, instead of accepting the condemnation from the accuser, remember the sacrifice of Calvary. What good is God’s forgiveness if you do not receive it? "Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin" (Heb. 10:18). THERE IS NO MORE OFFERING FOR SIN!! There is nothing you can possibly offer to God when you sin. For by one offering he hath perfected forever those that are sanctified. There is no more offering for sin. "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus" (Heb. 10:19). When you sin and feel condemned, have the boldness to accept forgiveness and enter into the presence of God. The holiest place today is on the inside of you, where God dwells. God is on the inside of you, but the only way we can walk in the reality of that and be carriers of His presence on the earth is through faith in Him, faith in His Word, and by having Him growing within us. Jesus has offered Himself as the spotless Lamb of God and has poured out His blood. He has obtained eternal redemption for us, and by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified. You can have the boldness to enter into His presence and have sweet fellowship with Him anytime you desire.

"My little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not, but if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2).

The ideal would be that we come to God and never willfully sin again. What John is saying here is that if you do sin, do not fall under the accusation and condemnation of the enemy, because Jesus is the propitiation for your sin. We do not need to feel guilty. Feeling guilty does not cleanse us before God, nor does any other effort on our part; the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

How To Be An Overcomer

We have a great desire to overcome. If you are born again and have ever experienced the presence of God in reality, you want to overcome. You have had a nature change on the inside, and you want to please God. You want to be one of those overcomers. The book of The Revelation gives many promises to those that overcome. Let’s read them:

"To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of Life" (Rev. 2:7). The overcomer eats of the Tree of Life. If you are an overcomer, you can literally enter the presence of God and learn how to feast on His life. You can experience His life strengthening you and energizing you and enabling you to live by His life within you.

"He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death" (Rev. 2:11).

"To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17). Hidden manna is a deep feasting with God. If you are an overcomer, you will become very intimate with God, and He will begin to reveal some deep hidden things to you that you could never share with anyone, things very few would understand. If you are an overcomer, you will begin to feast on the deep hidden things, the mysteries of God. The eternal purpose of God will begin to be ministered to you by the Spirit.

"He that overcomes and keeps my works to the end, to him will I give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron" (Rev. 2:26). There is much said and taught today about the authority of the believer, but if you are not an overcomer you cannot exercise God’s authority.

"He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, (the righteousness of Jesus Christ) and I will not blot his name out of the book of life" (Rev. 3:5).

"To him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name" (Rev. 3:12). We today are the temple of God, and instead of being weak frustrated failures, we become pillars, full of the presence and the glory of God. The overcomers are able to release the beauty and loveliness of God from their inner being. They are able to minister by the Spirit of God, and they by their speaking will begin to write on the hearts of God’s people, bringing change and restoration. The overcomer is able to create desire in the hearts of men and women to want to know God intimately.

To have the name of God written upon you is to have His character wrought in your being. To have the name of the city of God written upon you is to be one with God’s vision to have a corporate body, built together into His glorious city to express all that He is.

"To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in His throne" (Rev. 3:21).

What is the throne of God? Is it a literal seat that we are all going to pile up on someday? The throne of God is a realm, a conscious awareness of the life of our Father God taking full control of our lives, which will bring us into the authority of the kingly life.

All these promises to the overcomer are not for some future life after you die, but you can experience them now. I used to say that I would love to be an overcomer and experience all these promises and be able to feast with God. I used to long to have the Spirit of God consume me and fill me with His overcoming life. But my concept of an overcomer was someone who did not fail, someone who did not sin, someone who always did right. If this is your concept, you will never experience being an overcomer. You cannot depend upon your good conduct to be an overcomer any more than you can depend upon it to be justified before God. An overcomer is simply someone who is being transformed day by day, in daily life.

The Blood Answers the Accuser

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12:10-11).

You may be surprised at how simple it is to be an overcomer. The responsibility for living the Christian life is not on our carnal nature or natural capabilities. We need to realize that it is the Spirit of God within us who is responsible to live the Christian life. We must put our faith, our hope, our trust and our confidence in Him who is able to make us stand, and who is the all sufficient One in every circumstance and every condition. The responsibility for the Christian life is not on my flesh, not upon my struggles, it is not according to what I can do, but the responsibility is on Him who is able to give me an inheritance among them that are sanctified.

Revelation 12:10, says, "Now is come salvation." When you read The Revelation do not put it off into the future. The book of The Revelation, when you begin to see the spiritual interpretation, is an unveiling of the Christ within you. Do not put it off into some future event. Now is come salvation. Today is the day of salvation. Now if you will hear His voice. Now if you can receive His revelation, has come salvation and strength. Now has come the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ.

We have seen that when you sin, you sense separation from God, you sense guilt in your conscience, and you are accused by the enemy. The blood of Jesus restores your fellowship with God, it cleanses your conscience and it answers the accusations of the enemy.

They Overcame Him By the Blood of The Lamb

How many times have you thought it was by your effort that you must overcome? The carnal mind is very deceptive. Christians are under much accusation and condemnation, thinking that they must somehow make their flesh obey God. They hear the accusation, "You must be like God." Whenever you find yourself struggling to be like God, you can be sure you are in the flesh. Multitudes of Christians are struggling in the flesh, because they have never experienced what God has made them to be. When you begin to experience what God says you are, it will release you from the works of the flesh. As we have shared many times before, you are a vessel to contain and express all and everything that God is. This is yours not by works, but by the gift of God. We only need simple faith in the blood of Jesus, "For by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified." You are sanctified because you have Jesus in you, not because of anything you have done. The Apostle Paul said, "For me to live is Christ." Jesus is alive in me. For me to live is Christ, for me to walk the streets of my city is for Jesus again to walk in human flesh. For me to lay hands upon people and to minister to them is giving God the opportunity once again to touch humanity and bring restoration to them.

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. They did not overcome him by their works, they did not overcome by justifying what they did, or by self righteousness, but they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony and by not loving their lives unto death. The word "lives" here is the Greek word psuche, which means soul life, or self life; it does not mean physical life.

They overcame him by faith in the blood of the lamb. If you have a revelation of the blood of Jesus Christ, you will know that sin is not greater than the blood of the Lamb. My sin is not bigger than God’s ability and willingness to forgive me as often as I need it. My conscience cannot be so full of guilt that I cannot receive the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb to set it free to worship God. I can have a conscience that is void of offense—not because I always live right and do right, not because I never sin or miss God, but because of the blood of Jesus.

The Word of Their Testimony

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. What is the word of your testimony? One of the most important things you will ever do as a Christian is to build a good testimony. You overcome the accuser by the blood and by your testimony, which is that you believe according to what God says in his Word. How do you answer the accuser when you are accused? When you sin and you sense the accusation, do you fall under condemnation? Do you feel the weakness and depression that the accuser wants to put on you? You must answer the accusation by the word of your testimony. "For by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified. He entered once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us." Jesus is my High Priest; He took His spotless, sinless blood into the holy place and abolished sin forever. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. How could I stay under condemnation when I know the power of the blood of Jesus? All I need to do is be honest before God. Of course I fail; I even do some things willfully that I know I shouldn’t. I don’t think that there are any of us who at times don’t make the wrong decisions. I am not justified because I always make the right choices. I am justified because of the offering of Jesus.

Sin Consciousness

Sin consciousness is the feeling you have of weakness, failure, condemnation, and of being inadequate and unable to do that which you know God wants you to do.

If we could lift sin consciousness, guilt and condemnation off of God’s people, they would come alive in the power of the Spirit. If we would stop trusting in our flesh and trying to conform to God’s standards, and simply enjoy His forgiveness, we would begin to walk in the joy of the Lord. When the accusations come to your conscience, simply answer with the word of your testimony, "Yes, I failed. I even knew I shouldn’t do it and made a willful wrong choice, but I have the Blood of Jesus. Father by your grace and with the help of your indwelling Holy Spirit I won’t do it again." My conscience becomes void of offense, not because I am right, but because I know the power of the blood. I have free access to enter into His presence boldly and to enjoy Him in all His fullness. Oh, when you feel hopeless, when you feel you do not have a chance, it is wonderful to look away from yourself to the blood of the Lamb, and to know that He is the sin bearer and you do not have to carry all that guilt and condemnation! The blood answers the sin problem, answers the guilt problem and answers the accusations of the enemy. They overcame him by their testimony. Do not agree with the guilt and accusations. Begin to build a strong testimony according to the Word of God, and begin to speak these things. Speak and decree your forgiveness and the greatness of your Father God and His ability and willingness to forgive. He does not look at your sin. His eyes will not behold evil. He sees the blood of Jesus. If you also will look away from your sin to the blood of Jesus, you will know the liberating power of the Holy Spirit within you to transform you into "a son of God." "For as many as received Him gave He the power to become the sons of God."

Meditate on these things and ask God for a revelation of these truths. Do not concentrate on your sin and failure, but meditate on Him who has the power to set you free. If you come into an understanding of these things, you will never again stay under condemnation. Immediately when condemnation comes, you will answer with the words of your testimony of the blood of Jesus.

"And they loved not their soul lives unto death." Learn to appreciate the blood of Jesus, and then you will know how "through the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the flesh". You will never conform to God through self-effort. The blood is all God needs to satisfy His justice. You have sinned and fallen short of His glory, but the blood satisfies God. Your conscience may be condemned but the blood cleanses it, because you trust in the Word of God. You have boldness and confidence, knowing that the blood cleanses you from each and every sin. By the word of your testimony you testify to these things, and your testimony stills the accusation of the enemy. This brings you into a life full of joy and fellowship with God, because it is based on simple faith in His Word and in His ability to make you stand. If God is for us,who can be against us?

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