This May / June 2001 issue of standing firm is very important to me because I will be able to describe to you my experiences with gender dysphoria. It has caused me so much pain, as a distinct reminder of who I am and what I am not. There wasn’t anything I could do about it. I was trying to save up enough money for the costly surgeries, but making ends meet on a budget, and saving money seemed hopeless. I was so discouraged and depressed knowing it could take years to save up the money for the surgeries. I would need at least $20,000 to possibly make me feel complete as a male. But I still had no guarantee that I would be satisfied with the outcome or how much pain would be involved.
The job situation was another problem. I was emotionally unstable and very immature. It was difficult to keep a job. A lot of the time, the male employees seemed cocky and bigoted. They labeled me as a dyke and for some reason they believed all I really needed was a man like them to show me a good time, and then I’d never, ever think about another woman again. Not!
On one construction job, the employees were very hateful toward me. I’m not sure if it was my mannerisms, my `look’, my clothing, or if they labeled me as a lesbian, but they had threatened to `string me up!’ I felt that the men were picking on me because I looked mannish in appearance and they didn’t like me. They were very prejudiced against lesbians. I knew I was not welcomed there. I felt like an outsider. I could not stand to go to work where the people don’t like you, and so I left.
Sometimes, I was to blame because of my temper. I would become angry at their ignorance and their attitudes about me. I would get mad, throw things, and tell them to leave me alone. But all that would do is result in the employer laying me off or firing me for being ‘socially unacceptable.’
It was the taunting and threats that would make me angry. I was tired of their oppression of me because I was different. They would judge me because of my appearance. They would not go beyond the outward appearances and get to know me personally. I felt that I was a down to earth person with a good sense of humor and morals. I was just trying to survive the best I could. I was kind to people, but was rejected because of my appearance.
However, the more I tried to go out there and fight the good fight, all I wanted to do was feel sorry for myself, lay in bed, and escape the bigots of the world. This was depressing to me. The mannerisms I carried were very manly. I had low self-esteem, self-hatred and I just wanted to end it all. I hated everything about me because I hated the female body I carried around. And because I hated myself, I hated other people too, especially the men who abused their bodies and never considered how lucky they were to have a male body. I am very envious of men, because they take their male privilege lightly. They seemed ungrateful of what they have, and they flaunted it, and this made me furious. I was angry and out of control, some days I coped with it as best I could, but just the slightest thing could change my moods, and set me off — one minute I’d be smiling and happy and the next minute I’d be mean and nasty.
I would try to reason out in my own mind why God would allow me to be miserable in this dysphoria, and why wouldn’t He change me to be more like my mental attitude of being male. I would pray and cry out to the Lord on many nights, “Why not change my body to fit my mind?” The harmony between my body and mind was nonexistent. Since mentally I was male, and was attracted to women, my body was totally wrong being biologically female. This affliction really stifled me. I couldn’t be myself and this just dragged me down. I was scared because I lacked control over this situation. I had no means of escape. Also, I was ashamed of myself, mainly because of family’s belief that I was going to hell — as the Bible told about Sodom & Gomorrah.
Also, I had people telling me that I’m the way I am because I chose this ‘lifestyle.’ However, they are ignorant thinking I could choose to be dysphoric or not. No one chooses to be an outcast of society — either they are or the are not. In fact, I knew there was something very wrong. I was told I was a girl and not a boy. They said that if God gave me a female body, I should be content with the body with which I was born. But I would say to God, “You gave me a male mind, how can I really be content with a female body?” I was frustrated. I wanted a male body and knew it at the age of four. Looking back, I began to see that I had emotional problems and depression. I would cry continuously. I didn’t know quite what to say about my problem to my parents and family, since I did not know how to cope with this affliction. I kept this secret, because I feared my parents and family would see me as an oddball and stop loving me.
Another big problem was my belief in Jesus Christ. I was born into the Church of Christ. I had been raised a Christian, but I was not established with concrete knowledge of what Christ had done for me and the world when He died and shed his blood on Calvary. The instruction I received at my parents’ church was completely wrong. I was tossed back and forth in false doctrine. I was completely confused which caused doubt and fear in me that I couldn`t shake. How can I stand firm when all about me there was constant negativity about my behavior that was not becoming for a female?
I was angry with God because I believed He could heal me if he wanted to but for some reason He wouldn’t. I was not quite sure about anything of Jesus Christ. The church taught that the most important duty was to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (which does not save you from hell). The only thing I knew was I needed to be good and work for my salvation. This is according to my mother: obey all the commandments, be good to your parents, go to church, and respect God with modest clothing and do what the elders tell me to do. It was not even my choice to be baptized. At one point, The deacons told my mother that I should be baptized so she obeyed their commands.
My parents’ church did not have a pastor-teacher who taught the full counsel of God, nor could the deacons rightly divide the Word of God. There were no Bible studies, no understanding of exegesis (which is an explanation or critical interpretation of a text of the word of God from the original language to the language one is using) or delineating (to represent accurately) texts from the original Hebrew or Greek text of the Bible. And also, no isagogics, (which is the study of the literary history of the Bible, considered as introductory to the study of Bible interpretation; historical-cultural frame of reference).
The deacons who took turns preaching sermons ran my parent’s church. In my opinion, none of these men had any training or complete knowledge of the scriptures. (Now I don’t expect that all men should go to Bible college to become a preacher — but I believe that someone who is a pastor, should be able to shepherd his flock properly and have a good idea about the Word of God, along with an anointing from God). Likewise, the congregation should always go home with their notes and compare what you heard and make sure that it lines up with the scriptures. If there are doubts about what is being taught, I believe it is your right to go to the pastor with loving kindness and ask for a more complete understanding of what was preached and what is the truth according to the Word of God.
This was not going on in my parent’s church since no one questioned anybody or anything. All I learned from this church was ‘hell, fire and brimstone’. This teaching is used to frighten someone into choosing Jesus, and scare you into heaven. The fact is this — it didn’t work for me — all it did was just the opposite. This teaching made me run as far away from the Church of Christ as I could get. I wanted no part of the legalistic hypocrites of that church. I never saw any love, mercy or grace in that church — where it should have been taught. Ignorance ran rampant in the men of that church.
Later on in my life, when anyone would try to witness of Jesus to me, I would get upset and angry because of the rejection and condemnation I received from family and friends. I was terribly hurt and rejected. One occasion, my mother and sister told me that I should go to my ‘friend’s’ house on holidays, instead of gathering with them. I never thought my mother would do that, but I was wrong. I hated her for her weakness, as she always took the side where no confrontations or arguments would happen. I was completely lost and rejected.
I then received a letter from my ‘baby’ sister, telling me that I was not worthy of the Kingdom of God. This infuriated me. How dare she insult and judge me! I knew that Scripture clearly says not to judge because we are all guilty and fall short of the kingdom of God, there is none righteous, no, not one; (Romans 3:10) There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good no, not one. I felt that I needed to defend myself.
So I wrote my sister back and told her just how I felt and of what I knew about the scriptures. Surprisingly, she wrote me back and apologized, saying she had no idea how much I knew my Bible. But I knew nothing of the Bible. I got my answers from the Spirit of the Lord, since I had no idea where I stood with God. I knew nothing and the further I got to the truth, the more I realized I needed a good teacher to begin to learn what I was sorely lacking. I started to study. I was determined to prove that they all were wrong. I knew there was an explanation for this affliction and I wanted to find out whether or not I could be a child of God and still be stuck in this situation. I refused to believe a loving God would leave me hanging and not give me any hope.
I started to study the Scriptures and go to Bible studies and Bible school. I attended church three times a week, under a good pastor-teacher that is dogmatic about his beliefs in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ, and compassionate about his people. Demanding respect and expecting that what was taught is to be applied to our lives daily. I found out for myself, and I refuse to take somebody’s word for it. If it isn’t in the scripture, then it isn’t the truth, period, end of discussion. My studying and searching for truth has paid off tremendously. I found what I was looking for and the Lord has heard my cries to show me where I was in Christ. It was a long struggle but it was so good when I started to see the light that I was shown, Jesus Christ, crucified. I was starting to get a bigger insight in my experiences. I became a born again Christian and I was on a new journey with my cross on my shoulder.
My first experience was about 6 years ago. I was being discipled by this guy I met at a Bible study. He showed me scriptures about eternal security. I was fascinated about the enlightenment he was teaching me. I pass very well as a true heterosexual male so no one knows that I am biologically female. I do not tell anyone about my transsexualism since I attend ‘straight, homophobic’ churches (this is due mostly because my wife and I look like a married heterosexual couple). Most Christians wouldn’t agree I could continue in the life I was living and be accepted in the church. So my wife and I have to be very careful and very tolerant of people’s ignorance, bigotry and hatred of homosexuals. I can tell you it was not easy to stay calm while the pastor and the congregation are condemning homosexuals and saying they are going to hell if they continue to practice it. (We believe that if ANYONE believes in Jesus Christ, then they are saved by grace through faith. It is not their behavior or works that get anyone saved). I had greater desire to know God, His Son and the Scriptures, more than what peoples’ opinions are regarding my private issues. I knew that if I continually desired to know the Word of God, then God would give me more illumination and knowledge of how I could live an abundant spiritual life and live eternally with God in heaven.
I waited and God heard my prayer one night after one of my Bible studies with my discipler, at my house. He had left, knowing I was upset with him about knowing for sure I could be a child of God. I made several attempts to form a simple question as to how I would know I was a child of God. I reasoned that if my heart is deceitfully wicked, how will I know that the Spirit bears witness with my spirit, that I am a God’s child? He answered each time, saying, “You will know.” I became fearful and angry and I guess he knew I needed some time out to relax and mediate on what we were studying, even though I really didn’t understand how the Holy Spirit operated in my life.
In Romans 8:16, it says “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” Totally discouraged about my desire to know God and be with God forever seemed like a far distant star that I would never be able to grasp. I laid across my bed, sobbing and calling on the name of the Lord. I told Him I was longing to know now where I was going. I feared death. I felt that I didn’t have the truth yet; I was faint, miserable and wanted an answer. I don’t know whether I had fallen asleep or if I had a vision, but all of a sudden I was before the Lord. He was singing a song to me. I used to sing this song to my mother when I was young. This was one of my mother’s favorite hymns. A very personal song that only my family would know. It was, `In the Garden’, and the chorus goes like this: “And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.” I was overjoyed I finally got an answer from God for the very first time God was not against me, but He was for me and told me so in that vision. I will never forget that moment in my life. I now no longer needed to understand why I am a child of God. I know how all this works, since I have confidence in my loving Savior — as He loves me just as I am! I can go out and tell everyone, that Jesus can be your Savior too. The following is what I have learned.
Made Complete in His Righteousness
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
We are permanently standing in grace, cemented in the eternal aspect of our provision. This means that we can’t pull our feet out of our position. We may fall in that position, but our feet never come out of it. We are standing and we have access to His grace with joy and hope.
This is a beautiful picture because it is dealing with truth and righteousness. The Word of God says in Psalm 85:11, “Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” Truth springs up out of us, and it is God’s righteousness that makes us complete. Righteousness looks down and accepts the truth that Christ satisfied the justice of God by dying at Calvary for the sins of the world. Now we have a relative realistic righteousness given to us by God. This righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and the Law is truth (Psalm 119:142).
He who speaks forth truth shows forth righteousness, according to Proverbs 12:17. The Bible can only say this because God’s Word is established in the Finished Work. Now when we speak forth God’s truth and show it through our lives, we reveal that the work is finished.
The Lord lives in truth and righteousness (Jeremiah 4:2). For this reason, we live “by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left” (2 Cor. 6:7).
Ephesians 6:14 says, “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,” categorical doctrine. This is the first part mentioned in the armor. Everything starts with doctrine. Jesus Himself asked the Father to “sanctify [My disciples] through thy truth; thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
We wouldn’t know that it is a Finished Work if we didn’t have categorical doctrine from the Word of God. We wouldn’t know that we are more than conquerors if we didn’t have doctrine. Because we know that Jesus has conquered, we also know that we are conquerors, for we are inside the Conqueror. If we are hid in Him, then the enemy cannot find us because Satan cannot get inside of Christ. This fact is one reason we can stand firm.
An Armor That Fully Protects
“And having on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14) means to clothe yourself as you are becoming like Christ. “The breastplate of righteousness” had two pieces, one for the front and one for the back, like a shell. One covered the whole region of the breast from the neck to the midsection of the body in which the principle of life is contained. The other part covered the back. This breastplate was a mesh of metal rings interwoven, which made it flexible while guarding the body against the sword, the spear, or the arrow.
Walking Feet
“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15). The Roman soldiers had brazen boots. They had to walk with protection that came up high above the ankles because of the secret traps that the enemies laid for them. God has a very special armor for our feet — feet that should always be ready to walk, to go anywhere with the gospel of peace. But our special armor also guards us against the secret snares of the evil one. The believer discerns the traps of the enemy and does not go in that direction, so he avoids falling into those traps that are along the way.
Many people never have God’s full thought through the Word on the details of life, so problems develop in their emotions. They have never learned to enter into careful pursuit of the full thought of God. Consider the full thought of God. When you were saved, the full thought of God said, “You can never be lost,” and, “You are forgiven forever.” God allows loving chastisement to come into a Christian’s life, and it is designed to bring in the peaceable fruit of righteousness, according to Hebrews 12:11.
When we were saved, we became a part of Jesus Christ forever. That is the full thought of God. We are heaven-bound, and nothing can change that. We have a destiny, and we have a new self-image, all because of the full thought that reveals our salvation. The Finished Work is God’s full thought of what Christ did for every person who accepts Jesus Christ.
According to the full thought of God, the Christian doesn’t walk the same way the average person walks. Their feet are a special kind of feet. They are prepared to preach the gospel of peace. “How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the Good News” (Isaiah 52:7 & Romans 10:15). Christians’ feet are beautiful because they preach the Gospel, and they are beautiful because they detect the devil’s snares.
Shielded From Satan’s Darts
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, where with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6: 16) “Above all” speaks of having protection for the entire body. The shield described here was about four feet long and two-and-a-half feet wide, Because it could be turned around in every direction, the shield provided coverage for the whole person (see Psalm 35:2 & Ezekiel 23:24). It was secured to the left arm by strong straps. The outer surface was round from the center to the edge. It was polished and anointed with oil so that arrows and darts would either rebound off the shield or they would hit the oil and slide off.
We have doctrine that gives us the full thoughts of God, the breastplate of righteousness so that we are loving and motivated properly and the shield of faith for our protection. When Christians work but are not motivated to glorify God, they become sloppy in their workmanship and passive because of familiarity. When this is the case, a business cannot produce properly because God will not honor inefficiency, familiarity, or passivity, and the workers become discouraged. But behind the whole problem was a plan from Satan to disarm them, cause conflict, and bring in fear.
The greatest victory in any Christian business is to have order, motivation, wisdom, strength, and good habits to glorify God and bless people. Satan wants us to fail, but God wants us to be workers with Finished Work standards who receive Christ’s victory and stand our ground.
Functioning With a Living Faith
It is very important that we as believers put on our armor everyday. Without God’s armor, every one of us will get wounded. We may display our wounds differently. Some may be able to cover them up better than most, but we will still get wounded.
Without the armor, the Finished Work is not enabling us to withstand, although we are still covered by the Finished Work of Calvary. Furthermore, we cannot enjoy the operation of the Kingdom of God to conquer and overcome in every direction we go. Also, without the armor, our prayer life cannot function with a living faith, so prayers may not be answered. In order for our prayer life to be effective, we have to put on the whole armor of God.
Having said this, remember that the Lord Jesus Christ heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds. How does He do this? We may lose a round, but the fight has been won. That is God’s full thought. I lose a round and then another, then He puts a healing ointment on the wounds and binds them. Then, I go back out with my whole armor on. I put on the whole armor and I cannot be defeated.
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Eph, 6:17 &18). In Mark 10:45 and 1 Timothy 2:6, the Word of God says that Jesus Christ gave Himself a ransom, or a covering, for His people. In the Old Testament, the blood of lambs covered sins. In the New Testament, the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, did away with all of our sins. So the Blood not only covered them, it cast them away forever.
We have been given the protective covering of the blood of Christ through the New Covenant. Ever since then, the Lord Jesus Christ has provided for His people a diverse assortment of coverings, and a covering is just what it implies, it’s a covering.
Because of the law and self-righteousness, the Jewish people did not have the proper covering. Isaiah 28:20 says, “the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.”
To understand the principle of coverings, we must realize this: Any area in which we reject God’s help, God’s provision, God’s given promise, or God’s presence and manifestation is an area where our lives are left uncovered. Because of human frailty, weakness, and sin and evil, it is imperative that God’s people be covered, it’s all part about standing firm.
It is very true, and very sad, that coverings in the Word of God are so misunderstood by God’s people. We leave ourselves uncovered in so many areas. If we continue to reject any of God’s coverings then, before long, we will cover ourselves with another kind of a covering. We have so many false coverings today all because we do not understand the principle of being rooted and grounded in the faith (Colossians 2:7).
True Coverings
Jesus Christ, during His temptation, said in Luke 4:4, “It is written.” Verse 8: “It is written.” Verse 12: “It is written.” What was His covering? It is written. The covering for the Lord Jesus was what was written. It is interesting that He had the Father, He had the Holy Spirit, and certainly they were a part of His covering; we will not take away from that. But, in application, Jesus’ covering was doctrine.
That is why the people “were astonished at his doctrine” (Matthew 7:28). His covering was knowing how to think with God the Father. According to Isaiah 50:4, the Father woke Jesus up every morning so He might learn “how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.” The Father taught Him what to speak (a word), when to speak (in season), and to whom He should speak (to the weary).
Jesus Christ, in His humanity, was subject to doctrinal teaching daily. The original language in Isaiah 50 says He was taught doctrine, the Hebrew tenses reveal it was all the time in the morning: “he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.”
Coverings of the Word
The Word of God produces a covering for every situation. Understanding that, the Word of God and positive volition toward it is my first covering. I must be extremely positive toward the Word of God. Then, when I am in Satan’s threefold temptation of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, I’ll be able to say, “It is written” … never moving back from what is written. This reveals the value of a Bible college education. It reveals the value of receiving doctrine daily. “It is written” shows us the value of church attendance, corporate fellowship, and the continuation of receiving the Word of God.
When I use my positive volition, the first thing that God covers me with is His policy of grace … something I don’t deserve. The second covering I have is the love that God has toward me. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). The third covering I have is mercy. The fourth covering I have is total forgiveness. The fifth covering I have in the government of the Trinity, the Father, Son and Spirit residing in me, is rebound. When I fail, I can instantly rebound. I name my sin, isolate it, forget it, and go on, never being occupied with it again. The sixth covering I have is my pastor-teacher and his messages. The seventh covering is to be hid in the body of Christ. These are the major coverings that God has given us, so that we can stand firm in our faith.
God sends pastor-teachers. If a person doesn’t have a pastor-teacher, then he doesn’t have that particular covering, and he is losing out on what God planned for him billions of years ago in His foreknowledge. I learned first hand on this very subject, it makes a whole lot of difference when you are submitted to a pastor-teacher, you become a disciple, doing the very thing Jesus did with the Father, we must do the same and follow God’s man. I praise God that He showed me where to go and know I have peace with God, I am confident, I know who I’m hidden in, Jesus Christ.
“For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. Whom shall be teach knowledge? and whom shall be make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts” (Isaiah 28:8-9).
I actually heard a pastor of a Christian church say, “Doctrine is not the issue. We don’t like doctrine stuff.” Do you know what he was saying? He may as well have said, “We don’t like that `thinking with God’ stuff.” Doctrine is “thinking with God,” and categorical doctrine is “thinking with God precisely and accurately, being in tune with what He is thinking that moment in you.”
That’s why we have a doctrinal church. Our emphasis is on the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. But today, Satan has taken away the covering of many by causing people to cleave to emotional movements and religious systems.
“Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine?” The answer: “Them that are weaned from the milk,” — the milk of emotionalism, the milk of experiences, and the milk of “working it up.” This verse is inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is what I want to teach you and reach you people. It’s because of the importance of coverings and the danger of becoming familiar with the daily provision for doctrine.
“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). Doctrine is the issue. We worship God by understanding doctrine.
“To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear” (Isaiah 28:12). What is the `rest’? Bible doctrine. We need a ministry of the Word, and no one can change that. Hearing the Word of God, hearing the precepts, hearing doctrine, this is the refreshing. This is the health. It’s not doing, but hearing. The Word of God produces the rest.
God will have His preachers preach doctrine in order to drive away those who only seek after experiences and emotionalism and to establish true disciples of Jesus Christ in the reality of truth. There are people today who have a religious covering, and they are going to be ashamed when they meet God. The moment God’s people step outside of God’s covering, they become damaged. Religion is one of the most deceptive coverings in the world. When a person attends a church out of habit, tradition, or a sense of duty, especially when the church does not teach the whole counsel of God, he takes on a false religious covering. It’s a terrible tragedy when someone takes on a covering that is not of God. When a person’s intellect comes under an educational institution that doesn’t teach Christ as Lord and Master over education, then he is stripped of a covering. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teacher, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:2-3).
The Body is the fullness of Christ because, as an organism, it has a Finished Work covering. The Blood covers all our sins, it is Finished Work covering
The Finished Work
I want to explain to you about the Finished Work, simply because I was ignorant about it when I was searching for truth. It helped me so much to find where I was with God and who I am in Christ.
When the Lord Jesus Christ come to the end of His life, He lifted His eyes to heaven, and said, “I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do.” So, on the cross He also exclaimed, “It is finished. ” This glorious vocal crescendo of Christ will resound throughout all eternity!
In resurrection victory, He carried His precious blood to the Mercy Seat in heaven. In Revelation 11:19, we read: “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of His testament” or “the Ark of the covenant.” There can be no Ark without a Mercy Seat. And there is no Mercy Seat without blood. In heaven, the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is an ever-living testimony to the fact that God’s redemptive mission on earth has been accomplished: He overcame the one that has the power over death, who is the devil.
Now, because His Blood is on the Mercy Seat in heaven, and because God’s grace has completed the work of redemption on earth, the Spirit of God brings to birth another Body of His on earth, the Church! “For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). We have a grace covering and a mercy covering that rejoices against judgment. We have forgiveness that forgets as our covering. We have divine patience as our covering We have the inner covering of joy as our strength. Wisdom from above gives us the covering of peace. All of these coverings belong to the believer.
Unlimited Power
God has made available to every believer a conduit to supply the necessary oil. The personal and continual infilling of the Holy Spirit is not God’s reward for my faithfulness; it is God’s provision for my every need. Flowing from the heart of the eternal God, and because of the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the constant infilling of the Holy Spirit is available for you and for me. And there is no need for us to run from gas pump to gas pump to keep power in the engine.
Out of God’s heart of love and mercy, and because of the Finished Work of the glorified Christ with the efficacy of His precious Blood, which constantly prevails in heaven on my behalf, the fullness of the Holy Spirit is continually available to the cleansed and humble heart. The secret of a life of purpose, of purity, and of power is that of being continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
Ephesians 6 says that none of us can live and stand our ground in the Finished Work unless we put on the whole armor of God. Guaranteed, that last time you were depressed, the last time you were subjective, you didn’t have on your armor. You neglected putting it on by faith. The armor must be put on in order to protect us.
Did you put on your armor this morning? Are you wearing the helmet of salvation to protect your mind? Did you put on the breastplate so that your motives are correct? Are your loins girt about with doctrine? Are you walking with feet that are prepared to share the Gospel? Are you walking in love? Do you have the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God? Are you praying with supplication? That is the Finished Work armor that can never be defeated.
There is more to this than just standing and resisting. It is standing our ground with God and overcoming as we see the enemy flee.