The Truth About God's Power
Antione Ashley

Let's Get fired up to walk in God's power this year.

This year it is imperative that you walk in the power of God in your life and I want to fire you up in doing so. I would like to give you gospel-centered strategies that will guarantee success in discovering and walking out the power of God in your life and consequently in the lives of others.


After telling the Romans believers about the wonderful grace of God in Jesus Christ to save the world, Paul asks a powerful question that he assumes were in the minds of his readers about God’s grace in a person’s life.


Now when talking about grace, we need to know off of the bat that GRACE is a power from God in order to accomplish great things in your life.
- it’s more than kindness
- It’s more than unmerited favor
- It is God’s kindness and free favor to help you to fulfill the purposes of God.

Like the early Roman believers, we tend to have a narrow view of grace that is limited to him being kind to forgive us when we fail or error in life.
- We say things like, “Man, God was surely gracious to me!” In light of doing something wrong.
- Or we often say, “Lord please give me grace!”

But Paul wanted so much more for the Romans believers and he tells them, like a coach, hey there’s so much more!

They were stuck asking questions that kept them from experiencing God’s power and he was fixed on taking them further. Listen to this question that we will use as a means to seeing how to that is full of us understanding the power of God in our lives.



Question

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?


For Paul, this question was (and is) asked by a believer who doesn’t know the power of God, and like many in biblical times, a question was usually answered by a greater question.

When asked can the Roman believers continue in sin, Paul asked a stunning question in reply…

How can you continue as one who died to sin?

Here’s a question I pose to you today?

Did you know that you have already DIED to Sin?











“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:3‬ ESV

The point here is that Christ was buried in death, and after being in the grave three days, he was raised to life again with resurrection power.

Here we see that not only did Jesus be buried, die, and resurrect, he also was crucified. This is powerful because his death and burial forgave me of my sin; but his crucifixion delivered me of my bondage.

Christ did a complete work that is full of life and power that we cannot ignore or misunderstand, or fail to fully comprehend. He was crucified, he was buried and died, and then he rose with all power UNTO a life he would live to God.

Two major points about this


1. All of the examples listed here are in past-tense form!










2. Secondly, it is important to know that Jesus did all of this himself.

Romans 6:11
Put another way, you could read that verse…

The nature you once had - you know, the one that readily rebelled against God? Yeah - consider that nature DEAD, I mean fully dead and unresponsive. Instead, you need to fully consider yourself ALIVE to God, along with having a new nature prone to obedience and righteousness.

Let’s define consider:

Consider (or Reckon) Make a settling of accounts, a computation, a resolve of fact and not opinion and well wishing.


In "The Normal Christian Life," Watchmen Nee said this:

Reckoning means doing accounting. This is the only thing we can do in the world correctly. One plus one will always equal one. Why does God use the word reckon ourselves dead? Because we are DEAD. If I have to reckon the books and I have $14, can I enter $15 (or $50 my emphasis added)? No I must enter what is FACT. Accounting is reckoning of FACTS, not fantasies. Therefore God cannot ask me to reckon myself to be dead, if I were not factually dead. Reckoning is not hoping or make believe, it will be reckoning when I record what is actual and true.

Juneteenth

The enemy’s job is to make sure you are unaware of this fact.

In the year 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation freeing every slave in America. But what happened? Many of the slave owners did not tell the slaves. Many of the slave owners beat them more severely, and many of them killed their slaves.

To further add, the state of Texas, wasn’t told this proclamation until 1865!





If Satan can get you to not know about what has FACTUALLY happened to you, you will be like one set free yet still in bondage.

Here’s your part:




1. Reckon yourself.







2. Become slaves of righteousness.

I think what set these people a part was



1. When leaving slavery, sin, or the old man





2. When entering the new land of freedom





3. When settling into the new place

Conclusion:

Jesus died on the cross in order that his grace would abound in you in power! He was crucified with you, he died with you, he was buried with you, and he was resurrected with you.

This is the hour in which the question, “can we continue in sin so his grace abound?” Is an irrelevant question.


The questions today must be, “Since grace abounds in me....

- Can I ever grow in the glory of God?!”

- Can you save more people through me?

- Can I go from glory to glory?

- Can I love you better?

- Can I love my neighbor better?