Victory in Jesus

You are not a sinner because you sin. You sin because you are a sinner.
It is in our nature to try to eliminate sin by works, but that won't give you the victory. All the willpower in the world will not overcome sin. Jesus death on the cross is the only way to victory. We try to lose weight by dieting, we try to fix our finances by cutting up our credit cards. Cutting up your credit cards will no more free you than an alcoholic pouring his alcohol down the drain will free them. Diets are a proven failure because eventually you will go back to your old eating habits. Gluttony is sin, and diet pills & diets are man made, nothing man made will ever free you from sin. It must be dealt with at the cross. Fill in the blank on what your sin is you are trying to get free from and your victory will only come through the cross.

Victory is found in God, and the only way to God is through His Son Jesus.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
The only way to Jesus is through the cross. Jesus said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23
The only way to the cross is through a denial of self. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27

The cross is a place of suffering, a place of death.

Try as you may, you can not maintain a right relationship with God by self effort and good works.

I have been doing a lot of studying on the Cross of Christ lately, and you can't exhaust it. It is where every trial and temptation in our life is overcome. It is the only place to get victory.

Sad to say, the church world has all but eliminated the cross in our Sunday services. We don't hear about it in sermons. We no longer sing about the Blood of Jesus. We go to church or turn on some religious broadcast and all we get is some formula to victory, but they all fail. There are not 2, 3, or 4 steps to victory, there is only one step to victory. That is why most churches today are full of people in bondage.

The truth is, people don't want to face the truth. Jesus said it is the truth that will set you free. But you have to be willing to face the truth about yourself. Quit trying all of these steps to get set free, admit your problem is a sin problem. Jesus paid a dear price for our victory, and though we had no problem accepting his death for means of our salvation, we have a hard time going to the cross for victory. Why? Because the cross is a place of death and suffering and we don't want to suffer, we would rather hear 3 easy steps to victory. It is like the person wanting to lose weight, they don't want to hear eat right and exercise, they want to try everything else that sounds easy because nothing sounds good about eating right and exercising.

It almost sounds like a contradiction, you can't get free by willpower but then you say to deny yourself. The difference is, you deny yourself through the power of the Holy Spirit, not your own willpower. You can't do it on your own. In fact, I can't do anything without God's help. Jesus said take up your cross daily. It is a daily battle, but with the Lord's help you can be set free from anything.

For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8,9