"IS"

My grace IS sufficient for you. 2 Corinthians 12:9

The little two letter verb "IS" is our Lord's wonderful
word to Paul and through him to every member in
the body of Christ. It is a veritable rock of ages. The
verb "IS" is the same verb as that which God says is
His own name, "I AM."

All of God's omnipotent sufficiency in His saving
delivering and keeping power for men is in Christ.
Christ is more than a promise: He is a fact, the eter-
nal Rock of Ages upon whom we may rest every-
thing. God's grace is Christ; and the grace of God
in Jesus Christ is sufficient.

The secret of victory is not praying but praising; not
asking, but thanking. All eternity will not be long e-
nough to finish praising and thanking our Lord Jesus
Christ for the simple, glorious fact that His grace IS
sufficient for us.
Charles G Trumbull

CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE

"I AM."  WHO ART THOU, LORD?
I AM--all things to thee;
Sufficient to thine every need;
 Thou art complete in Me.

I AM--thy Peace, thy Joy,
 Thy Righteousness, thy Might;
I Am--thy Victory o'er sin,
 Thy keeper day and night.

I Am--thy Way, thy Life;
 I Am--the Word of Truth;
Whate'er thy lack, I Am--to thee
 El Shaddai, Enough

I Am--thy Life within.
 Thine Everlasting Bread;
Eat of my Flesh, drink of my Blood,
 I Am-What does thou need?
Adah Richmond

Ah, reader, I woke up today singing,
His grace is sufficient
His grace is sufficient
His grace is sufficient for me.

Victory Without Trying, 2

But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. 1Cor 1:31

He is all the theology we need in this practical matter
of the victorious life, of walking in the resurrection life.
"Of him," not of yourself, not of all your works, but of
Him; and this is preceded by the statement that "no
flesh should glory in His presence." Glory in the Lord,
in what He has done for you, and is doing for you, and
will do for you; not in what you do for God.

Somehow the church who believes in the redemption of
Christ from Him alone, has gotten the idea that, for sanc-
tification, we must paddle our own canoe."Thanks be to
God, who GIVETH us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 15:57) Both redemption and
sanctification are a gift. The whole things is given to
you, exclusive of your efforts and work.

Trumbull goes on to say: the first 25 years of my Chris-
tian life I lived in utter ignorance of the truth. It was on
August 14th, 1910 that the scales dropped from my eyes,
and I saw that Christ was my life. Christ was my victory.
I have gotten to the place where I have lost my interest in
the question of how God does things. But I do know that
God does this thing; and I know it not because of any ex-
periences of victory God has given me--blessed though
some have been--; but I know it because God says so. He
says: "Sin shall not have dominion over you," and, if 
that is not true, I have no hope of salvation, I have no 
hope of anything. But God is not a liar: He is the eternal 
truth; and because His Word is true, it means that God is 
responsible for my victory; and until I doubt Him, I am 
going to have victory.

If we have any faith at all--I mean, if we believe God is
faithful--let us quietly cease from our own works and stop 
trying to win the victory and His pleasure in what we do.   
Charles G Trumbull

Reader, I once asked a pastor what he did not like in
terms of "Christ being our victory." He told me that
those who believe this stop working, and then they leave.
Actually they stopped working because of burn out for
all was being accomplished in their own resources. I
eventually understood because the pastor made it too
difficult for us to stay. He did not want me to share these
truths with others. What Trumbull is preaching and how
he was able to live it, is a very unpopular teaching today.
The main question to ask is what is the truth that Paul
taught in Romans 6 and in the book of Galatians.

I have been crucified with Christ: 
nevertheless I live; 
yet not I, 
but Christ liveth in me: 
and the life which I now live in the flesh 
I live by the faith of the Son of God, 
who loved me, and gave himself for me. 
Galatians 2:20

Living Hope Now

We have been justified and we will be glorified but what
about the 'meantime' as we live on earth? Perhaps we have
an hour yet to live before the Lord comes. And what of
that hour? The Christian isn't left untempted; He is a
shining mark for Satan: is there no hope, has grace no mes-
sage for this time, right now between then and now?

Yes! Thank God that there is! There is just as much hope
for this middle time as for the ending and as the beginning;
and it is just as truly God's grace. In Romans 5:10 we read
"For if, when we were enemies we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being recon-
ciled, we shall be saved by his life." We were saved by his
death, now' in the meantime, in this present time, if we but
believe, we shall be kept safe (from the power of sin) in
His life. And that means His resurrection life. This is the
whole message of Romans 6, walking in the newness of
life, moment by moment, while we are waiting for our
resurrection bodies, having the joy of the resurrection life.
"For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; 
much more they which receive abundance of grace and 
of the gift of righteousness (not the work of righteous-
ness. It is an outright gift) shall reign in life (now and
here) by one,Jesus Christ."

And then that wonderful verse in Romans 6:14!
I don't know if there is a more blessed verse anywhere!
"Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are...
under grace." 
You are not under law, which says, "Do," but under grace
which says, "Done;" for grace excludes works from having
anything to do with this freedom from the dominion of sin.

Reader, there is still more in this chapter. What Trumbull
is saying is so huge. So difficult to grasp. I know it is truth,
but it is so opposite from what I have been taught on the
'work' of sanctification.

Happy Thanksgiving, dear ones!

Victory Without Trying

Trumbull begins this chapter by saying that he believes
that the most dangerous heresy of then and probably
now is "the emphasis in the professing church  itself,
on what we do for God, instead of what God does for
us." There is the subtle, all-pervading presence of that
thing: the emphasis in the church on what we do for
God.

May God make very plain to us all in this hour some-
thing about the grace of God. This mistaken emphasis
looks in exactly the opposite direction from grace. Not
that Christian works have no place in the Christian's
life. You know they have. But they follow the grace
of God; they do not precede it; and they are never the
condition of God's grace.

God's grace is not about God's attitude toward us but
His activity in our behalf. Grace means His tremen-
dous, omnipotent activity; the dynamite of Heaven
accomplishing things in our behalf, wholly indepen-
dent of what we are and what we do. Three things
God's grace does for us to show us what grace is:

1 The resurrection of the body--
Behold I tell you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trum-
pet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incor-
ruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Cor 15:51,52

2 The deliverance from the general bondage of cor-
rupttion in which all creation is at this time--
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered 
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious 
liberty of the children of God. Romans 8:21

3 And our blessed hope of being caught up to meet
the Lord in the air--
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven 
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ 
shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain 
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, 
to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be 
with the Lord. 1 Thes 4:16, 17

Do you notice that all three of those great verbs are
passive voice, not in the active voice?

Listen to Ephesians 2--You hath he made alive, who 
were dead in trespasses and sins...God, who is rich 
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 
even when we were dead in sins, made us alive to-
gether with Christ, (by grace are ye saved;) and hath 
raised us up together.

Paul says, He hath raised us up together, and made 
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding 
riches of his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not 
of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest 
any man should boast.  Grace according to God's idea.

How much of that work does God do? The most of it?
Pretty nearly all of it. NO! ALL! Grace does not share
anything with man. Grace is not a joint effort. Grace
is not co-operation. Grace is jealous--as God is. Grace
means "God does it all." and it was done for us nine-
teen centuries before we were born.

Romans 4:5: To him that works not, but believes on
him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted 
for righteousness.  To him that works not--just keeps
absolutely still and simply believes on Him who justifies
the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness.We did
not bear our own sins. "Behold the lamb of God which 
takes away the sin of the world" That's why grace says:
"Done:
Finished!"

Reader, we will continue along this line tomorrow. The
author of the book, Victory in Christ, was one of the
busiest, most compassionate Christian of his time, in his
later life. Early on he wore out himself and everyone
around him. I want to learn what it means to rest in the
finished work of Christ! We are on this journey together!

Earned or a Gift

Every saved child of God at one time or another longs
for victory over sin. Yet many have sadly given up
hope of having a complete victory, mistakenly suppo-
sing that that blessing is only for the life after this.
They do not know how simple, and how immediately
available, is the victory for which they are not daring
to hope. It is right at hand in Christ, for all who let
Him undeceive them, and who will receive the victor-
ious life as the outright, supernatural gift of God.

The great truth that so many earnest surrendered
Christians have even yet failed to see is that salvation
is a twofold gift; freedom from the PENALTY of sin
and freedom from the POWER of sin. Most Christians
know that they are free from the penalty of sin, but
many have not realized that they may, in the same way,
by faith, be freed from the power of their sins. Even
though they know that their own efforts had nothing
to do with salvation, they are yet deceived by the
Adversary into believing that somehow their own ef-
forts must play a part in victory over their sins.

If we as Christians come to the Lord and say, "I want
to be saved from the power of my sins, and I will let
You save me provided You will let me share in the
work of overcoming their power, so that You and I
shall always know that part of this victory has been
accomplished by You, and part has been accomplished
by me." Christ Himself cannot save us from the power
of our sins? Think about it. When our Lord says to us
through Paul, "Sin shall not have dominion over you; 
for ye are not under law, but under grace," He wants
us to remember what grace is. Grace is not partly man's
work and partly God's work. It is wholly God's work
and exclusively God's work; and all that man can do is
to receive it as God's outright, undeserved, and wholly
sufficient gift.

The Lord wants our lives on earth to be one long Christ-
mas day of receiving His gift of Himself as our victory.
If we say that our experience refutes this, do we mean
that we have found through the help of our own efforts
a satisfying completeness of victory over all recog-
nized sin, so that impatience, irritation, unlove, impur-
ity, have all been taken out of our life, and we are able
to live from day to day not only free from our outward
expression of these sins, but free from their dominion
within us?

Our hope for victory over sin is not "Christ plus my
efforts," but "Christ plus my receiving." To receive
victory from Him is to believe His Word that solely
by His grace He is, this moment, freeing me from the
dominion of sin. And to believe on Him in this way
is to recognize that he is doing for us what we cannot
do for ourselves. When the Lord was in Nazareth He
could do "not many mighty works there because of--
"Their inactivity?" No; "because of their unbelief."
To attempt to share by our effort in what only grace
can do is to defeat grace.

"This only would I learn from you, Received ye 
the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hear-
ing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in 
the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh?...He 
therefore that supplieth to you the Spirit, and 
worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the 
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?...
For freedom did Christ set us free: Stand fast 
therefore in the liberty, wherewith Christ has set 
us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke 
of bondage...But I say, 'Walk by the Spirit, and 
ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." 
Gal 3:2, 3, 5; 5:1,16

Let us never forget this simple truth: the faith which
lets Christ bring us into and sustain us in victory is
just remembering that Christ is faithful; that it is His
responsibility and duty to accomplish this miracle
in our lives. Charles G Trumbull

Reader, my prayer is that YOU GET THIS! Let me
know in the comment section if you have heard this
before, needed reminding, have never heard it but
intrigued. Pray for one another...

The True and the Counterfeit

I continue exploring with Charles G Trumbull. 

Victory is a great word in the NT but there are many dedica-

ted Christians who are, nevertheless, deceived day by day by 

counterfeit victory when God wants them to know the real 

thing. 

Jesus said, "Every one that commit sin is the bondservant 

of sin...If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall 

be free indeed." John 8:34-36

The Holy Spirit spoke through Paul and said:

"Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not 

underlaw, but under grace" Romans 6:14

"You are not under law"--which says DO--, "but under grace"--

which says DONE, and that is the reason sin shall not have

dominion over you.

"To me to live is Christ"  Phil 1:21

"Thanks be to God who GIVETH us the victory through 

our Lord Jesus Christ."  1Cor 15:57

He GIVES the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is 

grace. That is the test of the real or the counterfeit victory. 

Just remember this: any victory over the power of any sin 

whatsoever in your life that you have to get by working for, 

is counterfeit. Any victory that you have to get by trying for, 

it is counterfeit. If you have to work for your victory, it is 

not the real thing; it is not the thing that God offers you. 

A woman said to me, "I am trying to live the victorious 

Christian life..." I said to her and others listening, "If any 

of you are making the mistake of trying to live the victorious 

life, you are cheating yourself out of it, for the victory you 

get by trying is counterfeit. You must substitute another word: 

not TRY, but TRUST. You cannot try and trust at the same 

time. Trying is what we do, and trusting is what the Lord 

does.

The tragedy of it it that the Christians of our land have not 

been taught the truth in this matter. Our ministers are not 

able to teach this truth because they have not been taught 

the truth.

A well, known preacher recently said this in a sermon: "We 

all of us need to do weeding, rooting up the bad weeks in the 

garden of our lives. The thing to do is to give your attention 

to some weed, some sin that has taken root, and with prayer 

and effort dig it up. It may take you a long time, but keep at 

it day after day, week after week, till you have weeded that 

sin to. Then go on to another sin.

Dear friends, you do not find anything of this sort in God's 

Word. A victory gained in that way, by a gradual conquest 

of evil, is counterfeit. A thief who comes to Christ does not 

say that this week he will cut stealing by 25%, then next 

week by 50% and in a month he will stop stealing! No, he 

just quits!

The victorious life, the life of freedom from the power of sin, 

is not a gradual gift, and victory is a gift. It is not a growth. 

"Thanks be to God who GIVETH us the victory through 

our Lord Jesus Christ." How long does it take for you to 

grow into your Christmas presents? It is yours as soon as 

you pick it up from under the tree. 

Victory is not fighting down your wrong desires.

Victory is not concealing your wrong feelings. 

One dear Quaker lady was always unruffled under the 

most trying circumstances, and who was approached 

one day and was asked how she was always so sweet 

even when most people would boil over. She said, "Per-

haps I don't boil over my dear, but thee does not know 

what boiling is going on inside." This is not victory!  

Charles G Trumbull

Reader, there is so much in this blog, so many things 

that I believed throughout most of my Christian life. We 

may have read the above scriptures many times but how 

many sermons have you heard about what we have IN 

Christ? Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the 

Prophets; I did not come to abolish, BUT TO FULFILL." 

(Matt 5:17) Jesus took the whole law into Himself on the 

cross along with all of our sins when He died. May God 

give us a new revelation of what Christ has given to us 

through His death and His resurrection!

His Life In Us

There is a life that wins: and that life is the life of
Jesus Christ: and that it may be our life for the ask-
ing, if we let Him--in absolute, unconditional sur-
render of ourselves to Him, our wills to His will,
making Him the Master of our lives as well as our
Savior--enter in, occupy us, overwhelm us with
Himself, yea, fill us with Himself 'unto all the full-
ness of God.'

What has the result been? Did this experience give
me only a new intellectual conception of Christ? No!
It meant a revolutionized, fundamentally changed life,
within and without. 'If any man be in Christ, there 
is a new creation.' This does not mean he can't sin
again. The life that is Christ still leaves us our free
will, we can resist Him. But I have learned that the
restoration after failure can be supernaturally blessed,
instantaneous, and complete. I have learned that this
freedom is sustained and unbroken as I simply recog-
nize that Christ is my cleansing, reigning life.

My three great needs have been met:

1 There has been a fellowship with God utterly differ-
ing from and infinitely better than anything I had ever
known in all my life before.

2 There has been an utterly new kind of victory, victory-
by-freedom, over certain besetting sins (the old ones
that used to throttle and wreck me) when I have trusted
Christ for this freedom.

3 And, lastly, the spiritual results in service have given
me such a sharing of the joy of Heaven as I never knew
was possible on earth. Christ through me brought six
dear friends into a revolutionized life in Him. Life fairly
teems with the miraclulous evidences of what Christ is
willing and able to do for others through anyone who
just turns over the keys to His complete indwelling.

The conditions of receiving Christ as the fullness of life
are simple two:

1 Surrender absolutely and unconditionally to Christ
as Master of all that we are and all that we have, telling
God we are now ready to have His whole will done in
our entire life, at every point, no matter what the costs.

2 Believe, trust, that God has set us wholly free from
the law of sin (Rom 8:2) that He has done it. Upon this
second step, the quiet act of faith is layered. Faith must
believe God in entire absence of any feeling or evi-
dence. For God's word is safer, better, and surer than
any evidence we can discover. We are to say, 'I know
that my Lord Jesus is meeting all my needs now (even
my need of faith), because 'His grace is sufficient for
me.'

Remember that Christ is better than any blessing,
power, victory, or service that He grants. He is God's
best. We may have Christ, yielding to Him in such
completeness and abandonment of self that it is no
longer we that live,
but Christ that lives in us.
Will you thus take Him?
Charles G Trumbull from Victory in Christ

Here are some wonderful scriptures to ponder:
John 15
Galatians 2:20
Ephesians 3:14-21
Philippians 1:21