“The thief comes only that he might steal and might kill and might destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” John 10:10
The Lord said the devil comes to steal and since the devil cannot steal what we do not have, it must mean that we must already have it. Therefore he steals; he steals our healing, he steals our peace, he steals from what God has already freely given to us in Christ. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One having blessed us in Christ with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 1:3 God has already deposited all that we will ever need in our spirit, He has already placed it inside of us, in Christ Jesus. This is the reason we do not ask God to do but we praise and thank Him because He has already done it and we already have it. “Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6
So when Peter says, “By whose scourge marks you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 He is describing what we already have in our spirit. Therefore we are already healed, we are already blessed, we are already prosperous, because God has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” Therefore when we received Jesus Christ, we also received in Him the life more abundant, that is a successful, rich and full life. However in order to benefit from the blessings of God we need to know what we have, what our inheritance is. Paul says, “Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit from God, that we may know the things having been granted to us by God.” 1 Corinthians 2:12 And this knowledge is expressed through the words of our mouth.
“But having the same spirit of faith according to that having been written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that the One having raised up the Lord Jesus also will raise us up through Jesus and will present us with you.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-14
Paul makes a useful illustration for us here, that is his faith confession was based on his knowledge of the Lord. Because the Lord was raised from the dead and Paul being in Christ also expected the same fulfilment in himself. “Because I live, you also will live.” John 14:19 So we also can have the same grounds of expectation as we look at Jesus as the fulfilment of all that ought to be true in us. John says, “In this, love has been perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgement that, just as He is, also are we in this world.” 1 John 4:17 That is Jesus Christ, as the Second Man is a representation of all things we are. We are cut off from the line of Adam through death and from all the consequences that entails and are NOW planted into Christ.
This is where our faith plays a part, we have to believe we are made righteous as Christ is. [2 Corinthians 5:21] We have to believe we are dead to Sin as Christ was. [Romans 6:11] We have to believe we are healed by His wounds and are perfect in health as Christ is. What we know, believe and confess of Him with our mouth is what is made true in us. “For in the heart is belief unto righteousness, and in the mouth is confession unto salvation.” Romans 10:10 Therefore we look at Jesus Christ to appropriate our inheritance as we grow in the knowledge of Him.
“Therefore it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, for the promise to be sure to all the seed.” Romans 4:16
Now faith can be defined in all sorts of ways, however [A.W.T] defined faith in its simplest form as “to look at.” And he proved his point from Israel’s struggle with the fiery serpents in the wilderness. “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, [WHEN HE LOOKED AT] the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:9 Likewise the Lord also said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus it behoves the Son of Man to be lifted up, so that [EVERYONE BELIEVING] in Him may have eternal life.” John 3:14-15 From these two statements we can conclude, “to believe” is the same as “to look at with expectation.” So faith toward God is not some complicated illusive thing, but in all its simplicity an act FREE from ALL kinds of works. Therefore we also look at Jesus and expect what is true in Him to be true in us also. Peter says, “Grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18 He says grace because we ought to have a confident expectation of what we come to know of Him is FREELY worked out in us by the Holy Spirit despite ourselves.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, also heirs: heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs of Christ.” Romans 8:16-17
However we make ourselves a bottleneck for God’s blessings, because of laws and works we ourselves have established. And have forgotten how at the beginning the grace of God followed freely through us in all simplicity. So Peter tells us to, “grow in grace,” but how do we do that when God Himself is the one who bestows grace? The answer Peter offers is, “Therefore having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober-minded, set your hope fully upon the grace being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13 That is we grow in grace when we are fully convinced, our minds being sure founded in the FREE working of God. So when we give Him all our care without taking no account of ourselves [merit or demerit] but our confidence, SOLELY based on the finished work of Jesus Christ then the abundance of God’s grace is freely poured out. And Peter follows the above statement with an impossible task, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” [vs. 16] Which can only be achieved as God Himself is allowed to work in those who look at His holiness. [Philippians 2:13] That is as we have revelation of Christ’s holiness we ourselves are made holy in turn.
“For as many as are the promises of God, in Him is the “Yes.” Therefore also in Him, the “Amen” by us is for glory to God.” 2 Corinthians 1:20
Therefore our lifelong preoccupation becomes the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are NOT TRYING to obtain the blessings of God by mere speech, but we make our confession of faith based on what we know is true in Christ so is also [PRESENTLY] true in us. Jesus Christ is the final result and since Christ lives in us we confess Him so we may be established in the Root in which we are already planted. That is we identify ourselves in Him. Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20 So we speak the word of truth against the invading forces, mountains and symptoms asserting the victory which we already have in Christ. [A.W] says, “It is far easier to maintain what you have than having to go get it!” That is you would fight far harder to protect your property than you would insist, asking to receive.
This is the element of the fight of faith. The devil works in the world, in the natural, carnal and flesh. He works through what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. Therefore there will always be a moment when the devil will test the water to evaluate our reaction, level of knowledge and determined stand. He might try to put a small symptom to see if we would accept it and if we do permit it then he has successfully got us to doubt the word, “by His wounds we have been healed.” Then he can proceed to kill or destroy us. For this purpose Peter says, “Be sober-minded; watch. Your adversary the devil prowls about as a roaring lion seeking whom to devour, whom you should resist, firm in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8-9 Our faith is founded on knowledge, the Lord said of Israel, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6 So knowing what God has already FREELY given to us, which we know we possess NOW in Christ is our armour that will enable us to withstand the wiles of the devil far more effectively.
“Henceforth be empowered in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the complete armour of God, for you to be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11
So we resist the devil by the strength and might of God. And the strength of God’s might is revealed in the free working of His grace, that is the Holy Spirit ONLY works by Grace through faith. John said, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because the One in you is greater than the one in the world.” 1 John 4:4 We already have the victory, because the Holy Spirit dwells in us. So whatever the enemy is trying to bring through the world, we have a greater and mightier power through Whom we can resist. James puts it as, “Therefore subject yourselves to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 We subject ourselves to God when we bring ourselves to be in agreement with what His word says of us in Christ and not to a set of laws of do’s and do not do’s. And the Holy Spirit will bear witness to the truth we believe, which are already FREELY given to us in Christ and is able to aid us in our temptation. [Hebrews 2:18]
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Accordingly, His divine power has given us all things toward life and godliness, [THROUGH] the knowledge of the One having called us by His own glory and excellence, through which He has given to us the precious and magnificent promises, so that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature.” 2 Peter 1:2-4
Grace is the power of God working, so the more grounded we are in His grace, the more the might of His power is revealed in our lives according to the measure of our knowledge of Him. [Philippians 3:15-16] So we walk in the Spirit when we reckon true what is already freely given to us by God in Christ, even in times when all natural evidence appears contrary. [J.p] teaches, “The Holy Spirit can only bear witness to the truth of God.” Therefore we ought to look at Jesus Christ and see ourselves complete in Him and come out of the mindset of waiting to receive and cultivate a disposition, “We already have it!”
“Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding with thanksgiving.”
Colossians 2:6-7
Bread Bait. 
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