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"For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" (Romans 8:24).

For We Are Saved By Hope

Until one understands The Cross of Christ, one does not properly understand the Gospel of Christ. The Cross of Christ is the foundation of the Gospel. In other words, everything is made possible by The Cross. The heading refers to three things:

1. We have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. This statement has to do with several things but primarily the fact that we must continue to trust and believe. Paul's statement completely refutes the unscriptural doctrine of unconditional eternal security, which teaches that once a person is truly saved, he cannot lose his salvation, irrespective of what he may do or not do. In other words, the grace of God in this belief system is taken to the extreme.
   
2. As the Bible uses the word hope, it is a guarantee of something that is coming to pass in the future but is not known exactly when.
   
3. The word hope, as used here, tells us the the greater part of our salvation is yet future. We have now been sanctified, and we have been justified, however, we have not yet been glorified. That great event will take place at the coming resurrection when we will, then, realize the totality of what Jesus did in the atonement of Calvary's Cross (1 Corinthians 6:11). 
   

But Hope That Is Seen Is Not Hope

The phrase proclaims, in another way, the great truth that all salvation affords is not yet given unto the believer. In fact, as far as the natural is concerned, we have not seen and neither can we see, at least at the present, that which is yet to come, except by faith. This statement completely refutes the erroneous doctrine that claims Christianity is going to gradually take over the world by political means and has already made great strides in this direction, with some even claiming that we are now living in the millennium. False doctrines arise because of three things:

1. ​Ignorance of The Word of God
   
2. Knowledge of The Word but unbelief regarding what it says
   
3. Misinterpreting The Word because of pride
   

If a person looks deep enough, he will find that all false doctrine begins with an improper understanding of The Cross, or a denial of The Cross, or unbelief as it regards The Cross. This means that all Biblical doctrine is based squarely on The Cross of Christ. In fact, The Cross, at least as far as we know, was the first Biblical doctrine, which was formulated in the mind of The Godhead from before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:18-20). Let us say it again, The Cross of Christ is the foundation on which all Bible doctrine is based. If men base their doctrine on anything else, it will always be spurious. 

For What A Man Sees, Why Does He Yet Hope For?

In effect, the heading tells us bluntly that what is coming, as stated, is so far beyond that which is here at the present as to be no comparison. Hope is the absolute conviction and assured expectation. Such hope saves from oppression and animates the heart. It is the hope of verses 19 and 23. 

But If We Hope For That We See Not

"But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it" (Romans 8:25) The Cross of Christ and The Cross of Christ alone makes possible this hope. The Cross opened the door for everything that we receive from God, without which, it would be impossible. The heading tells us plainly all that salvation affords is not yet here. This speaks of the believer and the great change that is coming respecting the physical body. It also speaks of the entirety of creation and how it will be changed back to that which it originally was when first created by God before the fall. In other words, the restoration of all things is soon to come. So, that means that the world is not going to be destroyed by a meteorite, too many cars emitting poisonous fumes, etc. Rather, it is going to be restored. Of course, this will not happen until the second coming of The Lord Jesus Christ. 

Then Do We With Patience Wait For It

The phrase proclaims the certitude of its coming because The Holy Spirit has promised that it would. We do not see all that the Gospel holds out to us, but it is the object of our Christian hope nevertheless. It is as true and sure as the love of God, which, in Christ Jesus, reconciled us to Himself and gave us the Spirit of adoption, and, therefore, we wait for it in patience. The idea of Paul's statement is just that as sure as what we presently have just as sure is that which is to come. Therefore, this patience produces a joy in the heart of the believer, which is the opposite of that of the world. In other words, we presently enjoy so much what we now have in Christ Jesus that it gives us a double joy in anticipation of that which is yet to come. 

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Likewise The Spirit Also Helps Our Infirmities

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself (Himself) maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). That which we understand about The Cross was basically given to us by the apostle Paul. Respecting salvation, The Cross was typed throughout the entirety of the Old Testament system respecting the sacrificial offerings. However, as it regards sanctification, in other words, how we live for God on a daily basis, this great truth was, as well, given to the apostle Paul. Most of all, The Holy Spirit, Who is God, lives within our hearts and lives, which is made possible by what Jesus did at Calvary. In other words, The Cross of Christ made and makes it all possible. This is at least one of the things that makes the New Covenant of such greater magnitude than the Old Covenant. For one to realize that God is with him and actually in him (John 14:17) is, in a sense, beyond comprehension. The idea is that, as far as the person is concerned, God is directing all of His attention and help to that one person. Of course, we know that God is omnipresent, therefore, everywhere. But still, His help for the believer is of such a personal nature, even as we are told here, that it is as if all of God's power and wisdom are reserved for the one believer. That is in no way meant to promote selfishness in the heart of the believer but, rather,  the extent of personal direction given by The Lord. Before The Cross, The Holy Spirit, although with believers, could not come into their heart and life to abide. While He could come into the hearts and lives of some few such as prophets to enable them to carry out their mission, when that was finished, He would leave. Why? The reason is the blood of bulls and goats could not, according to Hebrews 10:4, take away sins, so that means the sin debt was still there, which, of course, greatly hindered The Holy Spirit. He cannot have anything to do with sin in any capacity. As well, whenever a believer died before The Cross, his soul and spirit did not go to heaven but, rather, down to paradise. Actually, they were captive of Satan there. They were kept next door, so to speak, of the place called hell, with it being separated from Abraham's bosom by a great gulf (Luke 16:19-31). Even the great faith worthies of the Old Testament were held captive by Satan. As stated, the evil one could not harm them, but still, they were his captives. That's why Paul wrote concerning Jesus going into Paradise, "...he led captivity captive..." (Ephesians 4:8). As stated, they had been captives of Satan, but, now, they become a captive of Jesus Christ, all because of what Jesus did at The Cross. 

What Did He Do At The Cross?

First of all, He atoned for all sin – past, present, and future – at least for all who will believe. This satisfied the demands of the broken law of which all men were guilty. In other words, by the giving of Himself as a perfect sacrifice on Calvary's Cross, Jesus satisfied the demands of the broken law for all who believe. As well, He broke the grip of sin that had fastened itself to every single individual to where the believer could go free and not be bound by the powers of darkness. As we see, The Cross changed everything. Now there is no more need for the sacrifice of lambs on alters. There is no more need for the table of showbread, the golden lampstand, or the altar of incense. And there is no need whatsoever for the holy of holies – all of that was fulfilled in Christ and what He did at The Cross. Since The Cross, The Holy Spirit comes into the heart of every believer at the moment of conversion. As well, when a believer dies, his soul and spirit instantly goes to be with The Lord Jesus Christ in the portals of glory, all because of The Cross. 

He Helps Us

In the Greek, the word help is sunantilambano, and it means "the action of a person coming to another's aid by taking hold over against that person of the load he is carrying". The one coming to help does not take the entire load but helps the other person in his endeavor. It speaks of The Holy Spirit indwelling the saint and coming to the aid of the saint in his spiritual problems and difficulties. This type of help does not take over the believer's responsibility for his part or give him an automatic deliverance without any effort on his part. This kind of help lends a helping hand, so to speak, and allows the believer to work out his problems and overcome his problems and difficulties with the help of The Holy Spirit. In fact, The Holy Spirit does it this way in order that we might learn responsibility, trust, and see our faith grow. It's like a little child – a parent doesn't do everything for the child but, rather, teaches him to do for himself. It's all to bring us to a state of maturity. If The Holy Spirit did everything for us without us having to do anything ourselves, this would not be good for the saint, as should be obvious. 

​The Holy Spirit

​In other words, The Holy Spirit will not promote the laziness of the believer by having food brought to him, but He will help him to go out and find a job. Even in that, He will seldom bring the job to the person but will take the person to the job, at least if he gets out and tries. A perfect example is that of Ruth the Moabitess. She had accepted the God of Israel and had come into His covenant. However, needing food for Naomi and herself, she went out to glean in the fields, which was the custom in Israel of that dayconcerning people who had fallen, for whatever reason, on hard times. The Scripture says, "...and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz,..." (Ruth 2:3). In other words, she went out looking for a place to glean, not really knowing where to go, but The Holy Spirit drew her to a certain place, even though she thought it just happened by chance. However, nothing is by chance concerning the child of God. She didn't stay home, thereby telling The Holy Spirit to bring the grain to her but went out searching for a way to find food. As stated, The Holy Spirit helped her as He will help any who seeks to help themselves. 

Infirmities

In the Greek, the word infirmities is astheneia, and it means "want of strength, weakness". The weakness spoken of here is defined by the context, which speaks of prayer – one of the things in the spiritual realm in which our weakness needs His power. Although the word infirmities could speak of physical needs, it basically speaks, at least here, of that which is spiritual. The Holy Spirit, through the apostle, is telling us how He wants to help us and how that it is done. We find it in the next phrase. 

For We Know Not What We Should Pray For As We Ought

The heading proclaims prayer as the vehicle through which these things are carried out. The weakness addressed here concerns the inability of the saint to know what to pray for. We do know what general objects of prayer are, but we do not know what the specific detailed objects of prayer in any given emergency or situation are. In the Greek, the definite article is used before the word what, consequently Paul actually said we do not know "the what" we should pray for. In other words, the particular what. In the Greek, the phrase "as we ought"  is katho dei, and it means "what is necessary in the nature of the case for that we are to pray". According as the need is at the moment, we know the end, which is common to all who pray, but we do not know what is necessary at each crisis of need to enable us to attain this end. The subject of prayer is of such importance that it needs greater treatment than just a few lines. 

But The Spirit Itself 

The heading should have been translated "The Spirit Himself..." and for specific reasons. The Holy Spirit is not an "it" but, rather, a Person and should have been addressed by the translators accordingly. In the Greek, the word intercession, as used here, is huperentunchano, and it means "to make a petition or intercede on behalf of another or on behalf of". 

Makes Intercession For Us 

There are two major directions concerning the word intercession as it is used here. 

1. ​This is intercession in respect to prayer and not intercession on behalf of one who has sinned. This can only be carried out by Christ, which He does constantly. The Scripture says, "...seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). The Holy Spirit does not make this type of intercession, only Christ. We will address ourselves to the intercession of Christ when we get to Romans 8:34.
   
   
2. The type of intercession made by The Holy Spirit on our behalf in the realm of prayer is varied, even as we have already studied. However, this intercession includes the manner and way of approaching a king, in other words, protocol. The Greek word is enteuxis and is normally the noun used for "prayer". However, inasmuch as Paul uses verbs relative to intercession, it does not show up in verses 26 or 27 of Romans Chapter 8. Nevertheless, The Holy Spirit not only directs our attention for what we should pray but, as well, makes certain that what is said before The Father is terminology befitting a king and, in this case, The Lord of Glory. 

​A Personal Experience

As an example, I have had the occasion to meet the president of the United States on three separate occasions as well as other world leaders. Due to their offices, one observes certain protocol as would be obvious. In other words, a person doesn't just barge in on the president as he might when visiting a friend. When meeting a person of such high office, there are certain things that one does and certain things that one does not do. Using that as an example, it would  hold even truer for the Creator of all the ages. Consequently, The Holy Spirit makes certain that we approach God as we should, even though, within ourselves, we do not have such knowledge. What a mighty God we serve!

With Groanings Which Cannot Be Uttered

The heading speaks of a burden of prayer that comes straight from the heart and cannot really be put into words, at least successfully. This tells us that The Lord looks at the state of the heart that approaches the throne of God. In other words, The Holy Spirit is little interested in pious platitudes or beautiful phraseology in prayer. He is looking for a soul searching for God; one that cries to him to such an extent that such a burden cannot really be put into words. Consequently, it can only be expressed in groanings. In the Greek, the word groanings is stenagmos, and it means literally "a cry". Many times in prayer, The Holy Spirit will move through me in exactly this manner. The tears will begin to come as The Lord takes me into the verythrone room of God. There is no way that one can properly express these times except with tears. At the same time, while the weeping or crying comes from my heart, it is actually The Holy Spirit Who is moving upon me for this type of prayer to go forth. I personally feel it is the highest type of prayer. This I do know: in times of prayer such as these, when The Holy Spirit does move in this fashion, in my own spirit, I feel that I have gotten through to the throne of God. To fully describe what has happened, one is unable. At the same time, it is a peace that fills one's heart at these times because, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that which The Holy Spirit wanted has been done. 

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Asking And Receiving From God

Considering how many promises we have in the Bible respecting prayer and considering how Paul has brought it out extensively as to how The Holy Spirit helps us in this effort – especially how this type of intercession, which is the only type The Holy Spirit gives, is brought about only through prayer – then, by all means, we should take advantage of this tremendous privilege. The very idea that a mere mortal has the opportunity and privilege of going before the God of all the ages and is even encouraged to do so, and knowing that He can do all things, presents a privilege of unparalleled proportions. Yet, most Christians take little advantage of this which is so very very important. Even though we have titled the beginning of this dissertation, "Asking And Receiving From God," this only makes up a small part of prayer. Prayer is for consecration, dedication, and thanksgiving to The Lord for all that He has done for us, for the will of God to be realized in our lives, and for introspection by The Holy Spirit. In other words, there are really only three ways that one can properly communicate with The Lord:

1. The Word of God
2. Prayer
   
3. Worship
   

​If the believer lets down on any one of these three, sad will be the results. 

The Holy Spirit

In 1988, in the month of March, The Lord gave me a promise that has been (and still is) of astounding proportions. In prayer one particular morning, The Lord said to me, "I'm going to show you some things about The Holy Spirit you do not presently know." That was all He said. What did He mean? Of course, The Holy Spirit is God. Consequently, there are untold numbers of things about Him that I do not know, which goes for all of humanity. Yet, I knew that The Lord had said something to me that was special, to say the least. He only told me that He would show me something, but He did not say when. At any rate, I had a promise, but it was actually some nine years before The Lord brought that great promise to fruition. The answer would come in the great revelation of The Cross; however, I had no knowledge whatsoever of that in 1988. Back in 1991, The Lord directed me to begin two prayer meetings a day, which we began immediately. To be frank, I followed that regimen for over ten years. Presently, due to my schedule, I do not meet with others, but I still hold to these two prayer meetings each day. What The Lord ultimately did, I personally don't think would have been done had it not been for those daily prayer meetings and, in fact, a continued strong prayer life, which I have always had. 

The Revelation Of The Cross

During those years of these prayer meetings day and night, I really did not know that for which I was actually seeking The Lord. In other words, I wasn't praying for any specific thing because I actually did not know what I really needed. The Lord did say the following to me, which was actually all that was said as far as direction was concerned. He said, "Do not seek Me so much for what I can do but, rather, for Who I am." That's exactly what I did, and, little by little, The Lord began to reveal Himself to me in a more personal way than I had ever known previously. Then, it happened. It was sometime in the spring of 1997. I had gone to the office early, which I always did to get ready for our morning program over SonLife radio (we did not have network television at that particular time). I was studying the Book of Romans. While I was studying, all of a sudden, it happened. The Spirit of The Lord began to open up to me the beginning of the great 6th Chapter of the Book of Romans. This is the great chapter where Paul tells the believer how to live for God. He, first of all, takes the believer straight to The Cross (Romans 6:3-5). In a few words, He tells the believer how he is baptized into the death of Christ, which takes place at conversion. He is then buried with Him by baptism into death and then raised with Him in newness of life. In other words, that is the foundation of our Christian experience and our sanctification. As well, the believer must understand that when Paul uses the word baptizes, at least as he uses here, he is not speaking of water but, rather, of being baptized into Christ. He is using the word baptized figuratively. It's the same as when John the Baptist used the same term when he said, "I indeed baptize you (this is the word used literally) with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you (here, the word is used figuratively) with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:" (Matthew 3:11). The Holy Spirit then showed me (and did so through the writings of Kenneth Wuest, the Greek scholar) the meaning of the word sin as it is used in Paul's writings, especially in Romans Chapter 6. He explained from the original Greek text (the way that it was originally written) that, in effect, it referred to the sin nature. I will not go into detail here, but the moment I began to read those words, The Holy Spirit began to quicken my heart and mind in order that I might properly understand this all-important aspect of Christian living. Tragically, most Christians don't have the foggiest idea what the sin nature actually is. 

The Sin Nature

The sin nature is a result of the fall that took place in the Garden of Eden. Man fell from his position of total God-consciousness down to a far lower level of total self-consciousness. Sin, which is disobedience to the Word of God, characterizes the person's life. In other words, his very nature is toward sin. In fact, before any person comes to Christ, he is totally dominated by the sin nature twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, meaning that God constitutes everything he does as sin. He knows nothing else, simply because he cannot know anything else. Everything such a person does, in some way, is toward sin – hence, the sin nature. In other words, his very nature becomes that of spiritual failure. Instantly, as this great truth began to dawn on me, I knew this was the answer to my great question – why? If the believer doesn't properly understand the sin nature and how it works and, above all, how to have victory over the sin nature, and we speak of believers here, then, in some way, the sin nature is going to rule and reign in the heart and life of the believer. It doesn't matter how zealous that person is for The Lord or how consecrated he is to The Lord. If he does not understand the sin nature, then in some way, the sin nature is going to rule him, and he will be left extremely perplexed. 

I Don't Understand...

That's why the great apostle Paul said, "For that which I do I allow (understand) not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I" (Romans 7:15). Please notice that I place the word understand in parenthesis, which is the way the verse should have been translated, i.e., "For that which I do I understand not:" This was before The Lord gave to the great apostle the understanding of The Cross. To be sure, when Paul wrote this 7th Chapter of Romans, he very well understood The Cross. He says that if we do not understand and follow the teaching given in Romans Chapter 6, then, we are bound to repeat Romans Chapter 7, which refers to the sin nature ruling and reigning in one's life. We can say without fear of contradiction that every single believer who has ever lived has struggled with the sin nature. The tragedy is most Christians stay in Romans Chapter 7 all of their lives, which means the sin nature is ruling them all the time despite the fact that they love The Lord. The only victory over the sin nature is that the believer place his or her faith exclusively in Christ and what Christ has done for us at The Cross and maintain it exclusively in Christ and The Cross. The Cross alone is the answer for sin. There is no other. Unfortunately, the church staggers from one fad to the other trying to address this terrible problem of sin but all to no avail. Let me say it again: it is The Cross alone which gives us victory over sin because it was there that Jesus atoned for all sin – past, present, and future – at least for all who will believe (Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 1:17-18, 23; 2:2; Galatians 6:14; Colossians 2:10-15). The believer must understand that The Holy Spirit works exclusively by and through the sacrifice of Christ. That's what gives Him the legal means to do all that He does (Romans 8:2). The Holy Spirit does not demand much of us, but He does demand one thing, and on that He will not bend. He demands that our faith be exclusively in Christ and what Christ did for us at The Cross. That being done, He, Who is God, will work mightily on our behalf. Going back to Paul, we find that he was trying with all of his zeal and strength to overcome but simply could not do so. That's why he said, "I don't understand what is happening." How many Christians at this moment are failing miserably despite all they try to do otherwise (I speak of those who truly love The Lord and who are struggling with all of their strength and might to be what they ought to be in The Lord. They will never find victory until they understand that this victory is in The Cross.) 

The Truth

I found out later from my study of The Word that, as The Lord first of all gave me the understanding of the sin nature, likewise, this is the way it was with Paul. Actually, the sin nature is approached by believers in one of several ways: 

• Ignorance (of the sin nature). Regrettably, even though it's one of the most important aspects of the believer's life, most Christians do not have the foggiest idea what the sin nature actually is. They are ignorant of what the Bible teaches in this respect. In the church I came up in, and it was a good church with a Godly pastor, I'll admit that in all of those years, I didn't hear one single message on the sin nature. Also, I read hundreds and hundreds of books about the Gospel, but I never read one single message about this all-important subject. This means that whoever was preaching in our pulpit and whoever was writing our books did not know what the sin nature was. In fact, the modern church is still ignorant of this all-important truth. 
  
• License. Some few have some knowledge of the sin nature but come to the conclusion that because they have a sin nature, sin is excused. In other words, they think, "Even though I am a Christian, I cannot help but to sin every day." The apostle Paul answered this by saying, "...Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" His answer was concise and to the point: "God forbid..." (Romans 6:1-2). Remember, The Lord saves us from sin, not in​ sin. Actually, the chief work of The Holy Spirit is to rid sin from our lives. While the bible does not teach sinless perfection, it most definitely does teach that sin is not to have dominion over us (Romans 6:14). 
  
• Denial. Believe it or not, despite all the teaching in the Word of God concerning this subject, there are many who claim that once a person comes to Christ, the sin nature is gone – that is, if they understand anything at all about the sin nature. In other words, they have no sin nature, or so they say. Now, that's strange considering that Paul mentions the sin nature some 17 times in Romans Chapter 6 alone. Actually, there is one time that does not really refer to the sin nature but to acts of sin, which is in verse 15. In the original Greek language, which is the language of the New Testament, at least some 15 times in Romans 6, the word sin has what is referred to as the "definite article" in front of it. In other words, in the original language, it actually reads; "the sin". This means that it is not actually speaking of acts of sin but, rather, the evil nature or the sin nature, with both meaning the same thing. That's the trouble with the church presently – it mostly treats the symptoms of sin instead of what is causing the sin. So, to deny that the believer has a sin nature, especially in the face of a mountain of evidence otherwise, is foolish indeed. To be sure, The Holy Spirit would not have spent as much time as He did in explaining this subject for it not to exist.
• Struggle. There are many good Christians, and I speak of those who are truly consecrated to The Lord, and struggle daily with the sin nature simply because they do not know or understand how it is to be addressed. In other words, they do not understand the sin nature, and they do not understand The Cross. So, their Christian experience is one gigantic struggle, which, to be frank, is a far cry from the more abundant life spoken of by Christ (John 10:10). In truth, there is a struggle with each and every believer, but it is with faith, which Paul referred to as a "good fight" because it is the right fight. That is the only fight we are called upon to engage, and that is the fight we are engaging, whether we realize it or not. Satan wants your faith in anything except The Cross of Christ because it was at The Cross where He and all of His minions of darkness were defeated. Someone has said, and rightly so, that every attack by Satan, whether physical, financial, social, or spiritual, is for but one purpose, and that is to destroy our faith or to at least seriously weaken it. 
  
• Grace. Of all the things we have listed – ignorance, license, denial, and struggle – grace is the only legitimate factor. This is the only way that the sin nature can be properly addressed. When the individual comes to Christ, the sin nature is made dormant. In other words, it should not cause anyone any problem whatsoever. However, if we attempt to live for God in the wrong way, which denies the grace of God, then we will find ourselves, once again, being ruled by the sin nature. If we keep our faith in Christ and The Cross and understand that it is The Cross that makes the power of The Holy Spirit available, then the grace of God can flow uninterrupted in our hearts and lives and give us perpetual victory, which means that the sin nature causes no problems. Regrettably, most Christians are frustrating the grace of God, which means they are trying to live for God with only a small part of the help that The Holy Spirit can give. In other words, He is greatly hindered when the sin nature rules a believer. In other words, He cannot do nearly what He is capable of doing because the sin nature is predominant. Regrettably, most Christians are frustrating the grace of God, which means they are tying to live for God with precious little help from The Holy Spirit. To be sure, The Holy Spirit will always do everything He can do, but He cannot function in our lives when we are ruled by the sin nature, meaning we are actually living in a state of spiritual adultery (Romans 7:1-4; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4).
  

Paul said, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (Galatians 2:21). The grace of God works exclusively by and through The Cross of Christ. It only remains for our faith to be anchored in Christ and The Cross, which guarantees the grace of God. This means that we are doing it God's way. If we place our faith in anything else, no matter how good that anything else is, that means we frustrate the grace of God, which means that God cannot do for us what He wants to do. He has a way, and that way is The Cross; and if we place our faith therein, we get the help The Holy Spirit can give, which is the key to all victory (Romans 6:1-14; 8:1-11; 1 Corinthians 1:17-18, 23; 2:2; Galatians 6:14; Colossians 2:10-15).

The Cross Of Christ

The following is what The Lord gave to me in 1997 as the solution for the sin nature. 

• "The answer for which you seek is found in The Cross of Christ."
  
• "The solution for which you seek is found in The Cross of Christ."
  
• "The answer for which you seek is found only in The Cross of Christ."
  

I was now beginning to understand the scriptural rudiments of sanctification. As wave after wave of The Spirit of God swept over my soul that morning in 1997, I knew that what The Lord was giving to me was greater than I could even begin to comprehend. I remember requesting of Him that this door never close but that I keep learning. Knowing that I could not exhaust the potential of The Cross – the finished work of Christ – I asked The Lord if He would continue to open that door to me. In other words, I wanted Him to give me more and more understanding of this great truth, i.e., the atonement.

The Object Of My Faith

There is very seldom a day that I do not learn a little more about the finished work of Christ. It is a perfect work. It is so perfect that it will never have to be amended. This is the reason Paul called it, "...the everlasting covenant" (Hebrews 13:20). From the information given by The Holy Spirit to me as it regards The Cross, I knew that The Cross must be the object of my faith. Incidentally, when The Lord gave me this, He, once again, took me to the great 6th Chapter of Romans. From the information given by The Holy Spirit to me as it regards The Cross, I knew that The Cross must be the object of my faith. To be sure, that is so very very important. The major problem with most Christians is an improper object of faith. In other words, they are placing their faith in something that may be good in its own right, but it is the wrong place for their faith. Our faith must be exclusively in Christ as the source of all things and The Cross as the means of all these things given to us. After The Lord gave me this truth regarding The Cross, which was not new but that which had been given to the apostle Paul long ago, thoughts entered my mind as to how The Holy Spirit figured into all of this. I knew that He did, but I didn't understand how. For several weeks, I cried to The Lord about this thing, asking Him to show me. Then, it happened. 

​The Holy Spirit

The following has been given in this volume, but, due to its significance, please allow the repetition. It happened one morning a few weeks after The Lord had given me the revelation of The Cross. Actually, we were in the midst of our radio program, A Study in The Word, which aired 5 days a week. Loren Larson was on the program with me. The program, which lasted an hour and 30 minutes, was almost over. Then, The Holy Spirit spoke through me in a way that I had never previously experienced. Without premeditation, I made the statement, "The Holy Spirit works entirely within the framework of the finished work of Christ." I went on to say, "He will not work outside of that framework, which demands that we have faith exclusively in Christ and what Christ did for us at The Cross." It somewhat shocked me when these words came out of my mouth because they were not premeditated. Actually, I had never heard the statement before in my life, and I had never read such in a book. All I could do after the statement was to sit there in silence pondering where it came from. Then Loren spoke up and said, "Can you give me scripture for that?" I sat there for a few moments wondering how I could give Scripture when it was something that I had not thought of, studied, or previously known. For a few moments, I was sitting there silent and began to realize how momentous, how stupendous, and how glorious the statement I had just made was. Then, I looked down at my Bible, and it was open to Romans Chapter 8. The Holy Spirit quickly pointed out verse 2, and I read it aloud: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." When I said it, The Spirit of The Lord entered the room. In a few moments, the program ended, and I stood up to leave the studio when, all of a sudden, The Lord moved on me again. He said to me, "Do you remember the promise I made to you back in 1988, how I would show you things about The Holy Spirit you did not then know?" Of course I did. He then said, "I have just kept My promise to you." In essence, The Lord told me that day how The Holy Spirit works within our lives as believers, which is an astounding truth. 

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How The Holy Spirit Works

First of all, as previously stated, The Lord told me that The Holy Spirit works entirely within the framework of the finished work of Christ. In other words, what Jesus did at The Cross gave – and gives – The Holy Spirit the legal right to do all that He does in our hearts and lives – that which He could not do before The Cross (John 14:17). For The Holy Spirit to work as He so desires, He only requires that our faith ever be in Christ and The Cross. Then, He will do great things within our lives, bringing about righteousness and holiness (Romans 6:3-5, 11, 14; Romans 8:1-11). All believers are married to Christ (Romans 7:1-4; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4). Being married to Christ, He is to meet our every need and, in fact, is the only one Who can meet our every need. We are to look to Him exclusively, and we do so by exhibiting faith in Him and the work that He did for us at The Cross. 

​Looking To Christ And The Cross

If we look elsewhere, we are, in essence, committing spiritual adultery, which, as one would automatically know, greatly hinders The Holy Spirit. Thank God that He doesn't leave us, but He can do very little for us while we are in the state of spiritual adultery, and I speak of having victory over sin. That is so important that I need to say it again: If we place our faith in anything, no matter how good that other thing might be, and it's not Christ and The Cross, then The Lord constitutes it as spiritual adultery. I'll say it again: we are being unfaithful to Christ, which greatly hinders The Spirit of God and grieves Him to a great extent. We are to place our faith exclusively in Christ and what Christ did for us at The Cross, which will then guarantee the work of The Holy Spirit. Understanding that He is God, this means that He will do anything and everything for us that is needed. That's how The Holy Spirit works, which, I believe, is one of the greatest revelations given by The Holy Spirit at this particular time. When I say "revelation", I am not meaning something new, for it isn't. It is that which was given originally to the Apostle Paul, and Paul gave it to us in his 14 epistles. As we have already stated in this volume, before The Cross, The Holy Spirit was greatly limited as to what He could do because the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). For instance, He could not come into the hearts and lives of all believers, only a select few, such as prophets. And when the work was finished, He would leave. Now, of course, since The Cross, the moment a person comes to Christ – at that very moment – The Holy Spirit comes into his heart and life and is there to abide forever (John 14:16-18). As well, before The Cross, when a believer died, his soul and spirit did not go to heaven but, rather, down into paradise, where he was actually a captive of Satan. In other words, his being liberated from that place and taken to glory, depended totally on The Cross of Christ. Thank God that ultimately The Cross became a reality, and then Satan had no more claim on those believers. What the blood of bulls and goats could not do, the shed blood of Christ was able to carry out. Regrettably, if a person were to ask Christians about how The Holy Spirit works, most would look at him with a blank stare. In fact, most Christians think that the work of The Holy Spirit is something that is automatic. In other words, it just happens. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let us say it again: The Holy Spirit does not require much of us, but He does require one thing, and on that He will not bend. He requires that our faith be exclusively in Christ and what Christ has done for us on The Cross and that our faith be maintained exclusively in Christ and what He has done for us at The Cross. That being done, The Holy Spirit will work mightily within our hearts and lives. We must understand that what is impossible for us is not impossible for Him at all considering that He is all powerful and considering that He is God. That is how The Holy Spirit works.​​

Souls of men, why will you scatter

Like a crowd of frightened sheep?

Foolish hearts, why will you wonder

From a love so true and deep?

Was there ever kindest Shepherd

Half so gentle half so sweet

As The Savior Who would have us

Come and gather round His feet?

There's a wideness in God's mercy

Like the wideness of the sea,

There's a kindness in His justice

Which is more than liberty.

There is welcome for the sinner, 

And more graces for the good; 

There is mercy with The Savior

There is healing in His blood.

​​​

There is plentiful redemption

In the blood that has been shed; 

There is joy for all the members

In the sorrows of the Head.

For the love of God is broader

Than the measures of man's mind;

And the heart of the eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

But we make His love too narrow

By false limits of our own;

And we magnify its strictness,

​With a zeal He will not own.

If our love were but more simple

We should take Him at His Word:

And our lives would be all sunshine

​In the sweetness of Our Lord.

How The Holy Spirit Works Chapter 7

Salvation