Life In Gear
Studies On the “Christ-In-You” Life
By
Dr. Ray Henry
Dr. John Hilbun
Rev. Charles Culpepper
Introduction-Life In Gear
• Victorious Christian Life has been called by
various names:
• The Deeper Life
• The Abundant Life
• The Higher Life
• The Exchanged Life
• The Abiding Life
• The Triumphant Life
• The Liberating Life
• The Flowing Life-Rivers of Living Water
• The Victorious Life
• The Life that Wins
• The Normal Christian Life
• Life In Gear
•
*See List of Books on the Victorious Christian Life
This “Life In Gear” Is For
All Christians
• See Quote: Ron Dunn
“The victorious life is not a superior
brand of Christianity reserved for
the elite of the elect. It is the normal
for every Christian…Too many
Christians are struggling for
victory has already been won. It was
won 2000 years age.”
Outline-“Life In Gear”
 Introduction to Life In Gear
 Misconceptions- What Is Christianity?
 Purpose of Existence-Glory of God
 Failure to Achieve Our Purpose
 Turning Failures into Victory
 Dead End Roads to Christian Living
 Substitutes for Christian Fruit
 Brokenness and Failure-Preparation for Victory
 Pathways to Victory
 The Way Of Death-Reckoning
 The Way Of Life
 The Way Of Appropriation
 The Way Faith
 The Way of Recognition-Who Am I?
Introduction-“Life In Gear”
• I have used the example of a car
in gear to describe the Christian
life.
• It is a life that runs smoothly and
gets to our destination without
the grinding of the impotence of
the old man in trying to live the
Christian life.
• It is a life that operates “in
sync with God.”
• It is a life that flows from God as
it’s source of total adequacy and
strength.
Introduction-“Life In Gear”
Part 2
• It is a life that knows how to let God work
through us as His containers and vessels.
• It is a spontaneous life of Christ in you
that is full of joy and peace and
excitement in routine living.
• It is a life that sees lasting fruit in its final
operation.
• It is a life that releases people to reach
their God given purpose in this life-His
Glory.
• It is a life that recognizes our unity with
Christ and
who we really are in Him in this world.
OUR PURPOSE:
THE GLORY OF GOD-Part 1
 The Glory of God is seen in Nature
 His excellence is seen in the detailed
workmanship and operation of nature.
OUR PURPOSE:
THE GLORY OF GOD-Part 2
The Glory of God is seen perfectly
in the life of Jesus. God’s
character was fully,
completely revealed to us in
the person of Jesus Christ.
Read Hebrews1:3
OUR PURPOSE:
THE GLORY OF GOD-Part 3
Mankind has
substituted
many things to
worship rather
than to give
glory to God.
Rom.1:20-23
SPORTS
PLEASURE
POWER
WEALTH
OUR PURPOSE:
THE GLORY OF GOD-Part 4

God is a person and can only
adequately express Himself
through persons.

Man exists for the sole
purpose of allowing God to
express Himself -His Glory
through him.
A MYSTERY
• Man within himself has absolutely no
power or ability to express God’s nature.
• We all sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God. See Romans 3:23
• The flesh in all of it’s futile attempts does
not display the glory of God.
• Example: Church History- The Crusades
and corruption in monasteries, etc.
• The good flesh is just as corrupt as the
bad flesh. Two parts of the old nature that
must die so Christ can live through us.
The Big Question?
HOW?
Lesson 2- Life In Gear
Studies On the “Christ-In-You” Life
By
Dr. Ray Henry
Dr. John Hilbun
Rev. Charles Culpepper
MISCONCEPTIONS:
WHAT IS CHRITIANITY?
1. Some see as it as just
ANOTHER RELIGION among
the many in world. Never
seeing the uniqueness of the
Living Christ.
2. They throw Christianity into the
religious arena and say it is on the
same level.
MISCONCEPTIONS:
WHAT IS CHRITIANITY?
2. Some see it as merely a FIRE
ESCAPE.
a. Just an Eternal Insurance Policy.
b. A License for loose living.
c. A Place in Heaven… “pie in the sky by and
by.”
d. Christianity is more than just a way to
die…….
It is THE WAY to live. It is “Life in Gear”
with God and yourself and others.
MISCONCEPTIONS:
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?
3. Many see Christianity as LAWS AND
RULES.
a. They have their lists of DO’s and DON’TS.
b. Their denomination has its own
Pharisaical interpretations of what is
right and wrong.
c. The truth is we are to be different than
the world in attitudes and conduct. But
how? (See I Pet.1:15-16; Rom.12:12;Gal.5:1-25;I John 2:9-11;15-17)
THE TRUTH DISTORTED
1. Christianity is not Christian Legalism:
Attempting to live up to God’s standard
by one’s own efforts or lists of duties in
themselves.
2. Christianity is not Christian Humanism:
It is not mere morality it means moregodliness.
a. We have a lot of Dedicated Failure in our
churches. We obey certain religious lists
but are not holy or godly or living for His
Glory.
b. The “letter of the law kills”…II Cor.3:6
c. Christianity is not a list of “oughts”
Gal.3:1-5
d. Christianity is walking in the Spirit and
fulfilling the law of Christ. Gal.5:56;16;23-24 and Gal.6:2
TRUE CHRISTIANITY
Christianity is not what we do for God, it is
what God does for us in His Grace.
ALL CREATION EXISTS
TO REVEAL THE GLORY OF GOD
GLORY:
THE EXPRESSION OF GOD’S
ATTRIBUTES AND
CHARACTER
THE SECRET REVEALED
TRUE CHRISTIANITY IS..
Christ For You
CHRIST IN YOU
CHRIST AS YOU
LIVING THROUGH YOU
IN EVERY SITUATION
EVERY MOMENT
EVERY DAY OF YOU LIFE.
“Christ in you the hope of glory.” Col.1:27
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but
CHRIST LIVETH IN ME,
AND THE LIFE I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON
OF GOD,WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME.” Gal.2:20
Dead End Roads
To Christian Living – Pt.1
•
ROLLER COASTER ROAD -Trusting in
Feelings and Experiences
a.
b.
c.
Man is made up of body, soul, spirit
The Body is the natural senses of touch, taste, see,
sound, smell. Most are living by the senses alone. If
it feels good do it.
The Soul Level is the will (I decide);
Mind (I think); emotions (I feel).
1.Prov.16:25 There is a way that seems right..
2.Isa.55:8 “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways.”
d.
e.
f.
g.
I promise to do better
I don’t feel close to God here…
We have a tendency to depend more on feelings
than on faith. (Rom.1:17; II Cor. 5:7;Heb.11:1,6)
Faith depends on truth, not feelings.
Dead End Roads
To Christian Living- Pt.2
• ABNEGATION AVENUE- It is trying to live by
self-denial alone.
– If I quit certain things I will be a better Christian
– The habits deleted in themselves do not
produce Christ-like qualities
– The Pharisees did not do a lot of things. Their
respect for Sabbath laws was commendable,
but did not bring them closer to living for the
Glory of God.
– God called them “vipers” and “whited
sepulchers”. (See Matt.23:27-28)
– We are not do certain things under the
conviction of the Holy Spirit and by following
the principles of exaltation, expediency,
edification of others.
• But we are to operate by a different power.
Dead End Roads
To Christian Living- Pt. 3
• DEDICATION DRIVE- It is the dedication and
re-dedication of the flesh.
– The Flesh cannot please God
– We try harder to be like Jesus, but we fail time and
again. Read Bible more; pray more; etc.
– This why Romans 7 is sandwiched between two
victory chapters. We can’t do what we would and
should even though we are greatly committed to
being followers of Jesus Christ. Rom.7:16-17
– Paul calls his own self-directed attempts to please
God as a “wretched man”
– The Law of Sin and Evil are keeps man who wants to
do right from reaching His Goal.
– You cannot improve the flesh with the flesh, it
must be replaced.
– Christ in us, Christ as us, keeps His law through
us so that the “righteousness of the law is
fulfilled in us…”
– “So we walk by a new inner recognition of the Spirit,
not by the recognition of that old self-effort.” N.Grubb
Dead End Roads
To Christian Living- Pt. 4
• EDUCATION EXPRESSWAY- More and
more training, seminars, books, etc.
– We have the best discipleship courses
anyone would ever want.
– Most serve a defined purpose. They fill
us with more information on a
prescribed subject.
– The information highway of the
internet gives us access to enormous
amounts of materials.
Dead End Roads
To Christian Living- Pt. 4
EDUCATION EXPRESSWAY
– More courses, information, books, and
manuals do not provide the answer to
victorious Christian Living.
– Biblical diplomas and degrees and
certificates of completion do not live
the Christ-filled life.
– More training does not in itself produce
more power to live a life that brings
glory of God.
– The information must lead us to faith
and the right answer- CHRIST IN YOU.
– Even with more training, we have no
power to put in practice. Zech.4:6
God Sees The Flesh Hopeless
• “The flesh is corrupt to the uttermost, and there is no
other way for it except death.”
• “The work of the Lord Jesus does not change our
flesh. God’s power cannot change our flesh… That
which is born of flesh is flesh…The only solution is
death.”
• “The first step toward victory is to realize we are
not able…Once you become unable, He becomes
able. Herein lies the principle of victory.”
Watchman Nee- THE OVERCOMING LIFE (Living
Stream Ministry)
Other Substitutes For
Victorious Christian Living
• SUCCESS- Wm. Carey had no convert for the first
seven yrs. In India.
• SENSATIONALISM - Flashy preachers may have
a on bigger crowd. Ii is an inordinate focus on the
spectacular. The sensational is not always lasting
fruit. (Theme park)
• SACRED WORK AS OPPOSED TO SECULAR - It
is not the type of service that produces fruit, it is
the sap of the vine.
• SIMULATION OR IMITATION – The Christian life
is not straining to duplicate in his own the life of
Jesus (WWJD). No it is letting Christ live
spontaneously through us.
– From Chapter 7 “Things that sometimes pass for fruit”
ABIDING IN CHRIST by John Rosscup (Talbot Seminary,CA)
Lesson 3- Life In Gear
Studies On the “Christ-In-You” Life
By
Dr. Ray Henry
Dr. John Hilbun
Rev. Charles Culpepper
Review of Lessons 1 & 2
• The Victorious Christian life is for all Christians
• Life In Gear is a life in sync with God. It is the
spontaneous flowing of Christ-life living through
a Christian.
• Our Purpose – The Glory of God
• The Big Question? How?
• Misconceptions-Christianity is not a fire escape or
laws and religious rules
• Christianity is Christ for you; Christ in You; and
Christ as you-living and working through your
form.
Review of Lessons 1 & 2
Dead End Roads to Christian
Living
A. ROLLER COASTER ROAD(Feelings and experiences)
B. ABNEGATION AVENUE(Self-denial and quitting certain tings)
C. DEDICATION DRIVE
(Even dedicated flesh cannot please God)
D. EDUCATION EXPRESSWAY
(More courses, diplomas and information does not
live the Christian life)
Lesson 3
The Keys To Entering the Christ-life
FAILURES
AND
BROKENESS
Turning Failures into Victory
• God purposes failures
• God purposes allows us to have
knocks out the props of erroneous
Christian Living
• God can turn our “inkblots” into
masterpieces.
• But we must come to “wit’s end
corner” whereby we realize there is
more-much more to Christian
Living.
Wit’s End Corner
• Testimony: Jack Taylor- “I was
sick and tired of being of being sick and
tired. My misery began to worsen. I prayed
more and worked harder…Frantically
evading self-discovery. I sought more
success in buildings, budgets and
baptism, too often our “holy trinity” for
success…Doubts, depression and
discouragement and despair were my
constant companions…I was at wit’s
corner.”
Brokenness and Failure:
Preparation for Victory
• By nature most men hold a higher estimate of
themselves than God does.
Proverbs 16:2 “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord
weigheth the spirits.” (motives)
I Cor.3:13-14 “Every man’s work will be made manifest: for the day shall declare
it, it will be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it
is. If any man’s work abide…he will receive a reward.”
• Jesus says that the person who recognizes his
need, his spiritual poverty, will find God’s
kingdom. Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of God.”
• God can only help needy people who know they
need help. Matthew 9:12 “They that be whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick.”
• The basic ingredient for growth is need. God
creates needs and failures in our lives.
Brokenness and Failure:
Preparation for Victory
• Failure is purposed by God to destroy all
confidence in the flesh.
– II Cor.3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of
ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God”
– II Cor. 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellency
of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet
not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not
forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our
body.”
– II Cor.12:7,9-10 “ lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me…Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in
my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
– Phil.3:3 “we are the circumcision, which worship God in Spirit, and rejoice in
Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.”
Brokenness and Failure:
Preparation for Victory- Pt.2
• Quote: J.B.Stoney- “The soul never imbibes the truth in living
power but as it requires it.”
• Quote: W. Nee- “The first thing for which He sets us here is to
create hunger in others. No true work will ever begin
without a sense of need being created. We cannot inject that
into others…That hunger is to be created, and that hunger can
be created only through those who carry the impressions of
God.”
• Quote: J.N. Darby- “He makes Himself know to us through
our needs; necessity finds Him out.”
• “All too often believers are exhorted and even pressured to
grow before there is an acute awareness of need, before there
is true spiritual hunger.” -Miles Stanford, Chap.5, THE
COMPLETE GREEN LETTERS
Brokenness and Failure:
Preparation for Victory- Pt.3
•
Brokenness involves the
shattering of our estimate of
ourselves so that we come to see
ourselves as God sees us and agree
with him. Ps.51:17
• Brokenness and Failure produces:
A. A disgust with our own selfrighteousness and selfconfidence. Rom.7:24
B. A loving abandonment of self and
total dependency upon Christ. II
Cor.12:9
Testimony: Failure In Christian Living
• Testimony: Charles Trumbull- “There were
great fluctuations in my spiritual life, in
my conscious closeness of fellowship with
God. Sometimes I would be in the heights
spiritually; sometimes I would be in the
depths….Second, there was a conscious
lack spiritually in my life in the matter of
besetting sins. I was not fighting a
winning battle. Third, there was a
conscious lack in the matter of a dynamic,
convincing spiritual power that would
work miracle changes in other men’s
lives. I was doing personal work-the
hardest kind of all; But I wasn’t seeing
results. ”
– The Life That Wins- Charles Trumbull (CLC)
Testimony: Failure In Christian Living
• Testimony: Charles Trumbull- “There were
great fluctuations in my spiritual life, in
my conscious closeness of fellowship with
God. Sometimes I would be in the heights
spiritually; sometimes I would be in the
depths….Second, there was a conscious
lack spiritually in my life in the matter of
besetting sins. I was not fighting a
winning battle. Third, there was a
conscious lack in the matter of a dynamic,
convincing spiritual power that would
work miracle changes in other men’s
lives. I was doing personal work-the
hardest kind of all; But I wasn’t seeing
results. ”
– The Life That Wins- Charles Trumbull (CLC)
Testimony: Failure In Christian Living
• Testimony: J. Hudson Taylor“My position becomes more and more
responsible...but I have continually too
mourn that I follow at such a distance and
learn so slowly to imitate my precious
Master. I never knew how bad of heart I
had. Often I am tempted to think that one
so full of sin cannot be a child of God.”
– -Letter to his mother when 37yrs old on Mission Field
– THEY FOUND THE SECRET – Raymond Edman
(Zondervan Publications)
Testimony: Failure In Christian Living
• Testimony: W. Ian Thomas –“Thus by the age of
nineteen, I had been reduced to a state of
complete exhaustion spiritually, until I felt there
was no point going on….There was no point in
going to Africa as a missionary, but I was
prepared to go to Africa and be just as useless
there as I was already in England…Then one night
in November I got down on my knees and wept
sheer despair.“Oh God I know that I am saved and
love Jesus…With all my heart I wanted to serve
Thee. I have tried to my uttermost and I am a
hopeless failure. I am not going to be a
missionary. It is useless to continue like this. I
hate this double life. THEY FOUND THE SECRET by
Raymond Edman
TESTIMONY:FAILURE
PREPARATION FOR VICTORY
• “The reason our Father creates and allows needs in our lives is
to turn us from all that is outside of Christ, centering us in Him
alone.
• “Not I, but Christ.”
• “Without the bitter experience of their own inadequacy and
poverty they are quite unfitted to bear the burden of spiritual
ministry…Our personal, heart-breaking failure in every phase
of our Christian life is our Father’s preparation for His success
on our behalf. This negative processing of His finally brings us
into His positive promise of Philippians 1:6 “Being confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in
you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Lesson 4- Life In Gear
The Way of Death-Reckoning
Studies On the “Christ-In-You” Life
By
Dr. Ray Henry
Dr. John Hilbun
Rev. Charles Culpepper
Review of Lessons 1 & 2
• The Victorious Christian life is for all Christians
• Life In Gear is a life in sync with God. It is the
spontaneous flowing of Christ living through a
Christian.
• Our Purpose – The Glory of God
• The Big Question? How?
• Misconceptions-Christianity is not a fire escape or
laws and religious rules
• Christianity is Christ for you; Christ in You; and
Christ as you-living through your form.
Review of Lessons 1 & 2
Dead End Roads to Christian
Living
A. ROLLER COASTER ROAD(Feelings and experiences)
B. ABNEGATION AVENUE(Self-denial and quitting certain tings)
C. DEDICATION DRIVE
(Even dedicated flesh cannot please God)
D. EDUCATION EXPRESSWAY
(More courses, diplomas and information does not
live the Christian life)
Review of Lesson 3
• God purposes failure
• God shatters our self
confidence in the old
man
• God leads us to abandon
self and depend totally
on self
REVIEW OF LESSON 3
• Testimonies of Brokenness & Failure:
– Jack Taylor-Pastor & VP of Southern Baptist
Convention
– Charles Trumbull-Editor of Sunday Times
– J. Hudson Taylor-Founder of China Inland
Mission
– Major Ian Thomas-Caperway Ministries
Review Lesson 3
Testimony: Failure In Christian Living
• Testimony: Charles Trumbull- “There were
great fluctuations in my spiritual life, in
my conscious closeness of fellowship with
God. Sometimes I would be in the heights
spiritually; sometimes I would be in the
depths….Second, there was a conscious
lack spiritually in my life in the matter of
besetting sins. I was not fighting a
winning battle. Third, there was a
conscious lack in the matter of a dynamic,
convincing spiritual power that would
work miracle changes in other men’s
lives. I was doing personal work-the
hardest kind of all; But I wasn’t seeing
results. ”
– The Life That Wins- Charles Trumbull (CLC)
Lesson 4- Pathways To Victory
The Way Of Death-Reckoning
The Principle or Axiom*
The Way of Death deals with
A Believer’s Identification with Christ in His
Death,
Burial and Resurrection.
Understanding how to apply the cross and
our co-crucifixion with Christ gives us the
means of entering into the victorious
Christian life.
*A principle is a law of nature (or the method) by which a thing operates. M. Stanford
*Axiom-An established principle or statement (usually found in logic or
math) that needs no proof.
LIFE FLOWS OUT OF DEATH
• Jesus gave a parable about a grain of wheat must
dye to produce life- John 12:23-24
• What is a grain of wheat?
–
–
–
–
–
–
A container of life
A channel for life to come forth
A grain of wheat must go into ground and die
Death- a termination of relationship
We must terminate our dependency on old man
Death to self-sufficiency involves the exchange of what
we are in ourselves for what Christ wants to be through
us.
Or it Abides Alone….
• Working His Own Way in
Life…..(I did It My WaySinatra)
• Working at being as good as one
can be for God. (Saul)
BUT IF IT DIES…..
The
Exchange of the
Outer life
For the
Inner life
“It brings forth much fruit…”
Christ life
Working through you
As your New Life…
Eternal Fruit
John 15:5
Aspects of Death to Self Sufficiency




Death to Self Reliance
Death to Self Rule
Death to Self Righteousness
Death to Self Gratification
(31 Kings of Self Exaltation that have to be
out to death—A.B. Simpson)
The Way of Death-Reckoning
• Whether or not I believe it or can prove it
or ever experience it-the principle or
axiom is always true. This principle of our
death with Christ is found nine times in
Romans chapter 6. Here are a few verses:
-Rom.6:2 “How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer in it.”
-Rom.6:3 “Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus
Christ were baptized into hi death.”
-Rom.6:4 ….we were buried with him.”
-Rom.6:6 “our old man is crucified with him.”
-Rom.6:7 “For he that is dead is freed from sin.”
-Rom.6:11 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin,
but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The Cure for The Self-Life
1. The enemy that blocks our path to victory is the self
life or the old adamic nature.
2. Rom.7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall
deliver me from the body of death.”
3. You are your greatest problem, and You are your
chief enemy.
4. When man did what Satan wanted in the garden, he
became infected with the disease of SELF.
5. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom.8:8
6. “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God neither indeed can be.”
Rom.8:7
The Cure for The Self Life
•
SELF CANNOT BE DOMESTICATED
-Christ didn’t come in to improve self but to replace self.
-Neither can you discipline self. You can educate it and change it’s living
conditions and the old self is still “deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked.”
•
SELF CANNOT BE DEDICATED
-“We have in our churches acres and acres of dedicated self. Self
will do anything but die. As long as self and Christ remain in the heart
there will be war.”
-There is but one cure for self..DEATH…If we died, then we
are no longer alive. We are to “reckon” ourselves to be dead to sin
and alive to God through Christ. We are not called to a process of
self-crucifixion but to acceptance of a crucifixion already
accomplished.”
THE KEY TO TRIUMPHANT LIVING by Jack Taylor
The Cure for the Self-Life
There is but one cure
For the self-life.
DEATH
Only One Way
• We stood on the fact of His dying for our sins, and the act of faith allowed
the Holy Spirit to give us our freedom from the penalty of sin-justification.
to stand on
the liberating truth of our dying with Christ in His
death to sin, which allows the Holy Spirit to bring us into our lives
• Now, once we come to see this further fact,, we are urged
freedom from the power, the enslavement to sin-emancipation.”-M.
Stanford
• Our reckoning on the finished work of our death
to sin, in Christ at Calvary, is God’s one way of
deliverance. We learned not to add to a finished
work in the matter of justification, and now we
must learn not to add to the work of
emancipation.
Meaning Of Reckoning
• Reckon is an accountant’s term and means
to “count upon.”
• Count yourself dead to sins’ reign through our Lord
Jesus Christ’s death.
• To reckon yourself DEAD to sin does not mean that sin is
DEAD in you.
• Reckon does not mean the BANISHED
PRESENCE of sin, but the Broken
DOMINION of sin.
• Our reckoning does not make it a fact, it is already a fact
through our union with Him.
• AS WE RECKON WE REALIZE…AS WE
RECKON WE REALIZE. (James H.
McConkey)
The Power of Reckoning
1. God views every person as either in Adam or in
Christ.
2. If in Adam, He sees us dead in sin.
3. If in Christ, He sees us dead to sin.
A. FREE FROM THE CHARGES OF SIN.
Illustration: George Washington being accused of robbing a
grocery store. He died in 1799, over 100 years before the crime.
B. FREE FROM THE CONTROL OF SIN.
1) The Christian is free not to sin.
2) Our Death with Christ is experienced by reckoning.
3) You had to reckon on Christ’s death to be saved from your
sins, and now you must reckon on your death in Christ to be
saved from self.
The How-To Of Reckoning
A.
NEGATIVE RECKONING
1.
2.
3.
B.
We choose against ourselves. Luke 9:23 in the Williams translation says
“he must say, No to self..”
We must consent to our death with Christ. We must accept our death
and take up our cross “We keep postponing our funeral. Having an
unburied body around can create a pretty unpleasant situation. Most of
the unpleasant situations in homes and churches are caused by dead
people who haven’t been buried.” By Ron Dunn in VICTORY.
It IS A DAILY reckoning, a daily taking of death to ourself, our plans,
our wishes, our will.
POSITIVE RECKONING
1.
2.
3.
4.
We are to reckon ourselves alive in Christ. Christ lives in me.
You have the resurrected Christ as your new life.
I Cor.6:19-20 “You are not your own…for you have been bought with a
price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
Gal.2:20 “yet not I, but Christ lives in me.”
The Process of Reckoning
As he reckons,
The Holy Spirit makes
Real;
As he continues to
Reckon, the Holy Spirit
Continues to make real.
Sin need have no more power
over the believer than he grants
through unbelief.
Our Responsibility: Continue To Reckon
REMEMBER !
THAT IT IS NOT
THE UNDERSTANDING OF
RECKONING
BUT THE PRACTICE
OF IT
WHICH BRINGS VICTORY
DISCHARGED FROM THE OLD
LIFE


Example: A Military Discharge-Such as
a friend Pvt. Dawes- Feb.23, 1953.
“Forget it Sarge, I’ve got my papers.
We have our papers of discharge from
Satan’s kingdom-Romans 6:6-13
VICTORY WILL COME AS YOU
BELIEVE IN YOUR DISCHARGE
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
“He that is dead has hi discharge (lit) from sin.” Rom. 6”7
Victory Will Come
Victory will come as
You CLAIM YOUR
EMANCIPATION
EXAMPLE: ABRAHAM LINCOLN SIGNED THE
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION IN THE
1860’S BUT MANY DID NOT FEEL FREE TILL
DECADES LATER.
“BUT NOW BEING EMANCIPATED(Made free)
FROM SIN, BECOME SERVANTS TO GOD…”
Romans 6:22
AFFIRMATION OF THE AXIOM
OUR DEATH WITH CHRIST
See attached lists of quotes from these great Christian
leaders.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
JAMES H. MCCONKEY
J. HUDSON TAYLOR
ANDREW MURRAY
EVAN H.HOPKINS
MAJOR IAN THOMAS
WATCHMAN NEE
NORMAN GRUBB
Testimonies: Reckon Yourself Dead
Testimony: Reckon Yourself Death
LESSON FIVE
THE WAY OF LIFEReckon on The Christ Life
Studies On the “Christ-In-You” Life
By
Dr. Ray Henry
Dr. John Hilbun
Rev. Charles Culpepper
Review Lesson Four
The
Reckoning
That
Counts
LESSON FIVE:
THE WAY OF LIFEReckon on The Christ Life
Jesus Christ Came
Not Only to Save Us
But to be Our Life
All of God was in Christ..
All of Christ was in me. .
All I needed was Christ Himself
And I had Him Living Inside Me.
“Christ Liveth In Me”
 The Indwelling Christ Is
our Life
 The Indwelling Christ Is
our Holiness, Patience,etc.
 The Indwelling Christ is
our Power.
The Christian Life
Not Imitation, But Impartation
• “He is not a retailer dispensing grace to us in packets,
measuring out some patience to the impatience, some love to
the unloving…..He has given us one gift humble and to meet
all our need: His Son Christ Jesus. As I look to Him to live out
His life in me, He will be humble and patient and loving and
everything else I need—in my stead…Today there is a call for
patience: He is our Patience. Tomorrow the call may be for
purity: He is our Purity. He is the answer to every need. That is
why Paul speaks of the “fruit of the Spirit” as one in
Gal.5:22…We all have the same Christ dwelling within, but
some revelation of some new need will lead us spontaneously
to trust Him to live out His life in us…” By Watchman Nee
– THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE
Christ Our Example
Lived Totally By The Father
• “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He
seeth the Father…these doeth the Son.”
• “I can of my own self do nothing…”
• “My doctrine is not mine, But His that sent me”
• “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by
the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live
by Me.”
• “he that hah seen me hath seen the Father..”
• “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me: or else believe me for the very
works’ sake.”
True Christianity
Christ-in-you-ity
• DELIMMA- A big gap between what I am
and what I am suppose to be in Christ.
– Illustration: Batteries Not Included
– Quote; Jack Taylor- “The saddest observations of our whole system
is that there seems to be everything evident but power….”
• DECLARATION- I must not only declare
by faith that Christ is for us and Christ is
with us, but now that Christ is in us acting
out as us in our forms.
The Declaration: CHRIST LIVETH IN ME
• Gal.2;20 “..I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”
• John 14:16-17 ” for He dwelleth with you and shall be in
you.”
• Eph.3:16 “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the
inner man”
• Eph.3:17 “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.”
• Col.1:29 “striving according to His working which
worketh in me mightily.”
• Col.3:11 “Christ is all and in all.”
• II Cor. 13:5 “know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you..”
• John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you..
• I John 4:4 “greater is HE in you, than he that is in the
world”
The Declaration
The Indwelling Christ is our
Life
“We are no longer we, but Christ in us. Christ the real we!
…Christ is the real I. “I live,’ he says in Galatians 2:20. ‘No,’
he corrects himself. ‘It is not I, but Christ living in me.’
Christ not with, not in, but replacing Paul, Christ in Paul’s
form. And Christ in your and my form. Put your name
there.. You are Christ in Jack’s form, Christ in Elizabeth’s
form, Christ in Norman’s form and so on…We don’t
condemn, we above all don’t try to change ourselves; no, we
replace…As we affirm and recognize Him, He who is the
peace, love, courage, purity, manifests Himself in and by
us.” WHO AM I, by Norman Grubb
The Declaration
The Indwelling Christ is Our Life
“You have been trying to do for Me all that only I can
do through you. Now supposing I am your life, and
you begin to accept it as a fact, then I am your
strength! You have been pleading and begging for
that for seven years. I am your victory in every area
of your life…I am going to thank Thee that if Thou
art my life, and this is true, then Thou art my victory,
Thou art my strength, Thou art my power, Thou art
my future!
Chap.20-W. Ian Thomas- THEY FOUND THE SECRET
The Dynamic
The Life of Christ Flowing
Through Our Lives
Phil.2:13 “It is God that worketh in you both to will and
do of His good pleasure.”
Gal.2:20 “Christ liveth in me, and the life I now live in
the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God.”
“Christianity is Jesus Christ
Coming into an available body
And acting like Himself.”
By Jack Taylor
The Dynamic
The Life of Christ Flowing
Through Your Life
The River
Christ In You Flowing
“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that
believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of His belly
shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38
He wants to be that added dynamic in our Christian life. He
wants to be that constant source of power to flow out of our
lives and minister to the world in need.
Example: Mississippi River- 1200 Steamboats in Mark Twain’s
day. ….It flows and flows and flows..You can’t stop a river.
The Dynamic
Biblical Illustrations:
The Christ Life
• THE BODY AND HIS MEMBERS
– “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” Eph.5;30
– “Christ dwells in His corporate body, the church…As you
reckon death to yourself and reckon His life in you, He
becomes Resident Lord.” Jack Taylor
• A CORN OF WHEAT
– “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John12:24
• THE VINE AND BRANCH
– “I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me, and I in Him bringeth
forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing.”
– All that the vine is and has is available to the branch. We are expected to abide
in Christ as our source and reckon on a constant relationship to Him in which
He is at work in us and through us.
The Dynamic
Illustrations of the Christ-life
• Example: Like Hot Water and a Tea Bag
• Example: Like a Water Pump being
pumped by a mannequin connected to a
motor.
• Example: A serum that is injected to
make me a great super bowl quarterback
or a great golfer,etc.
The Dynamic
Testimonies: The Christ-life
A. Charles Trumbull- THE LIFE THAT WINS
B. Frank Stovall- Music Prof. Southwestern
Seminary
C. J. Hudson Taylor
D. Frances Ridley Havergal
E. Jesse Penn Lewis
F. Amy Carmichael
G. Andrew Murray