The truth of the Bible and power that comes from the Gospel message deals specifically with two sides of the human family. One side is the negative side which consists of sin and darkness and relates to the heart and life of sinful man. The other side is the positive side consisting of holiness and light and relates to the heart and life of the child of God. As unusual as it may seem a child of God cannot live on both sides of life at the same time. The blessing of the new birth brings forth an initial separation from the negative side of life through love, purity, and the holiness of a living God imputed to the soul of a believer. The Spirit of Holiness thus affects the way a believer thinks; changes his will and desire; and enlightens his understanding to Godly things.

•  Acts 26:18…To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified

After the new birth is experienced a child of God makes decisions concerning which side of life he is to live on. The Holy Spirit enlightens the conscience to the fact that man cannot live unholy and holy at the same time. With a new consciousness to the Holy Spirit’s presence a child of God realizes he cannot be disobedient and obedient to God at the same time. Nor can he be unrighteous and righteous at the same time. God gives the child of God a clean conscience and the ability to do right through a penitent heart and the forgiveness of sins found in the new birth. This experience is the greatest of God’s miracles. Inside that very miracle where Angels rejoice in Heaven is the moral change that comes when the person of Christ is received into the human soul.

•  Rom 10:10… For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness

Regardless of man’s opinion or tradition passed down from generation to generation, it is impossible to be faithful to God and to be unfaithful to him at the same time. The Bible teaches that Christians are obedient to God. Faith in Christ produces obedience to God…not disobedience. A faithful man does things pleasing in the eyes of God…not unpleasing.

An unfaithful man is not obedient to God nor does he do things pleasing in Gods sight. Sin, disobedience, and unfaithfulness to God are all various forms of violation to Divine law. If man does these things he is a violator. Without the power of God man is unable to stop these practices. Without the power of God man will violate Divine Law because of the nature of his being. Outside of power given from Christ man is powerless and without strength to obey God because of his inherited fallen nature.

Only through the redemptive power given from Christ is man able to be made right in the sight of God. God given righteousness enables a believer in Christ to quit wrongdoing and sinful practice. This Divine power is not a lighting bolt from heaven but simply a God given desire placed in the heart of man to live and be right, in the sight of God.

•  Col 1:21-22…yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
•  Heb 13:21…Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ

The process of repentance from the heart allows God to help the sinner to break away from the negative side of life. Sorrow from within helps this individual to recognize the need to stay away from the old life. A union made with the Holy Spirit after the forgiveness of sins is received lays the line of separation in the mind and will of the believer. So… what keeps a believer from stepping back across the line? A God given desire to be right in the eyes of God keeps the believer from stepping back. Obedience mixed with the new desire proves a believer’s faithfulness to God. This new desire helps the child of God to grow closer to God and not further away. God consciousness and godly intentions from the heart come from this new desire. Through a relationship built on man’s faith and his dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit, God is able to keep a believer from falling.

•  Jude 24…Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory

Under Mosaic Law before the dispensation of the Holy Spirit came Jesus himself encouraged all mankind to stop practicing sin. These were the words of Jesus to an adulterous woman…

•  John 8:11…go, and sin no more.

In simple terms to sin no more, means not to do it anymore; to stop; or to quit. Holiness from God empowers the believer with strength to cease from sin. Through the calling of God a penitent sinner is given a holy heart by the regeneration of a new birth.

• 1 Peter 1:15-16…As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

• 1 Thess 4:7…For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

Holiness thus becomes a manner of life acted upon through a believer’s realization of a God given moral change within the heart and soul. Obedience is the believer’s subjection to the call of God to live out the life of holiness.

This transformation is recorded numerous times in the Bible through various terms which are not common to the unbeliever. An unbeliever cannot recognize Biblical truth because he has never experienced the power of God. Truth from the Holy Scripture is confirmed only in the heart and life of a believer through the person of Christ.

• 1 John 3:14…We know that we have passed from death unto life

• Col 1:13…Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son

• 1 Peter 2:9…that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light

Language like being passed from; delivered from the power of darkness; translated into; being called out of; clearly describe an operation of God that gets man away from one side of life to the other. This language points to an operation of God that gives man a new heart and life. It pinpoints the work of Christ’s redemption that cleanses and restores the unclean inner make-up of an unsaved man. The mind, will, and desires of man cannot be cleansed by man him self. A son of God is a forgiven man morally changed by the power of a Living God.

• John 1:12…But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God

• 1 John 1:9…he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Because of sinful mans inherited negative side his natural understanding is darkened to a godly life. Outside of Christ man is blind to his moral need and change which only comes from above. Truth and power are only given to the human soul under the directive of the Holy Ghost. Only through the power of a living Christ is man able to change from the negative side of life to the positive. An unrighteous man is unable to gradually or progressively work himself into a right standing with God. With no possible way to obtain righteousness from God (except by faith in Christ alone) men still attempt to achieve righteousness through self justification and works. This mindset has caused many men to miss God and their salvation.

• Eph 4:18…Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart

Common temptations such as alcohol, lust of the flesh, gambling, and pornography are very much available to everyone this day and hour. The world, the flesh, and the devil constantly oppose the clean heart and the changed life of the child of God. If no line is drawn in the life of the child of God he becomes an easy prey to the dark side of life. For the child of God who realizes the power of a moral change from Christ and lives under the directive of the Holy Spirit, God provides him with a life of strength and victory. Through Christ, a believer is provided with everything needed to be an over comer in every area of this life. Steadfast and contented in Christ, the over comer will not step back across a line the Lord’s sanctification has drawn in his heart and mind.

• Heb 10:38-39… but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

• 2 Peter 3:17…beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

A wealth of knowledge is learned from the experience of being an over comer. There is growth and confidence that comes through this blessed state of being. The New Testament teaches a life of victory through Christ… never defeat. Many rewards come from living a life with victory over sin and disobedience. Many problems stem from dodging this truth. Society can never teach victory over sin nor can religion. The opinions of mans intellect will never teach it because the natural man does not think like the Spirit of God. So…where is victory over sin taught? The Holy Spirit teaches this truth to the soul of a believer. New Testament records confirm the truth that other men lived it before us.

• Rom 8:37…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

• 2 Cor 2:14…thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ

The power that changes and strengthens man inwardly was experienced and written about by writers of the New Testament. As witnesses they wanted the whole world to share this same blessed experience. Their lives were in harmony with God concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ which they knew was the source of the changed heart and life. They tasted it, touched it, and experienced it. They wanted the whole world to have it. They learned from it. They grew in it and gave their lives for it.

No matter what is said or taught in the world today this same experience is offered anyone through the body of Christ. Nothing has changed since the early church except people. The condition of mans heart has never changed since the fall of Adam. The power of a living Christ is the still the same today; it’s the same Holy Spirit, and the same language of the Bible. So… is a line drawn between man and sin? The answer is, “Yes”.

• 2 Cor 6:17…Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,

• Eph 5:8-12….For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

• Hubert Lindsey once told me, “A sanctified man should never apologize for living right and never compromise to living wrong.”

• The verses used within context of this document are based on the language of the King James translation of the Holy Bible. Many modern versions of the Bible have changed the language concerning the operation of God in the heart of man to man’s attempt to progressively obtain salvation. This kind of language takes away from the instantaneous work of God and places emphasis on the progressive works of man. Words which relate to the operation of God in the heart and life of a believer like Sanctification, Justification, Redemption, Perfection, Grace, etc. are taken out of many modern translations.