August 10, 2024 November 6, 2024, Edited

Christian Revival

Christians Awake!

I have heard increasing talk about revival. At a recent service, the speaker said the country’s revival would not come until Christians have a personal renewal, which includes repentance. After brief contemplation, many would agree. Some believe the sins a Christian commits pose no spiritual risk to their standing before God. This belief is a comfort to many. An alternative perspective is that knowingly opposing God’s will creates a sense of guilt in the believer, and as with Adam and Eve, they perceive a rift. The rift is in a relationship that only exists through the Spirit, between God and a person. Whatever rift may exist, God’s nature has not changed; the person chose to disobey.

(Eze 18:23 NAS) “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

(Mat 23:37 NAS) “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

(1Ti 2:3-4 NAS)  This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Does Anyone Need Revival?

Do you recall the excitement of your salvation? What about the peace? At that moment you were made a new creature in Christ. Some know their spirituality is not what it once was; do we need a reason to pray for personal revival? Perhaps the problem is that our life has shifted away from a frequent and ongoing sensitivity to God’s leading and now worldly motivations are on the throne of our life.

(Rom 8:4 NRSV) … who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

To readers who know they are saved, consider the possibility of walking according to the Spirit is revealed in verse 1, below. What does it mean to live in, or as the version below states, in union with Christ Jesus?

(Rom 8:1 GNB) There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.

Would you characterize your daily choices as being in accord with the Holy Spirit? To you, life as a Christian is starting to be an experience of union with our Saviour. Can this be possible as a testimony, not just a belief? Frustration is the result of hoping and expecting for the impossible. Yet, we must take the Bible seriously and continue to consider Romans 8:4. Let us take a quick look at one topic Jesus taught.

A Hint

(Joh 14:15-16 ESV)  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…

We each pick which verses require an extended explanation and which don’t. Likewise, we each choose which verses to group together and which not. For we who interpret content in this area, it is often a matter of worldview. Sometimes, a person’s worldview is shaped by Christianity. Other times, our worldview shapes our understanding of Christianity, including how we define words. Since the influence goes both ways, let us consider another way to understand a Christian’s spiritual revival.

(Rom 2:15-16 ESV) They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Paul appears to associate lying with wrongdoing and a feeling of guilt. He is either aware of guilt or not. The emotion of feeling guilt in the verse below comes from the conscience. The conscience of everyone growing in the Christian faith is being shaped by the Holy Spirit.

(Rom 9:1 ESV) I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—

A Starting Point

So unless the Christian has taken steps to squelch the guilt that can come from their conscience, this would be the one indicator we could start with for thinking about spiritual revival. Let’s see if shifting from a defensive posture to one of power, peace, and victory might be possible.

Hope

Some Christians testify that the key to victorious faith is revealed in Jesus’ statement in John 14 (above). Let each of us be honest with our introspection. Privately, have you found a way to dull your conscience? Returning to our subject, how might victory be possible? Regardless of what we may yet discover in scripture and by way of an experience of God, we should agree that it is not by our might but by a work of the Holy Spirit.

(Deu 30:6 ESV)  And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

As stated elsewhere, for we who interpret scripture, it is easy to find ways to dismiss the words in Deuteronomy as being for someone else or us due to a glorification (at a future date, we will be changed in an instant, given a new body). So some would believe it impossible for today. If we think it impossible for us in this life, perhaps verse 6 does not matter, except as a statement to comfort the frustrated Christian.

If you are engaged in fighting heresy with those who do not bother with hiding non-Christ-like behavior and attitudes, then you should stand for any well-accepted doctrine or theology that promotes the Kingdom of God. If you are not fighting for the faith against evil and are called to interpret scripture, you may want to seek advice from God to find out if now is the time to review ideas you may have dismissed. If our preferred theological perspective has become to us like the law was to the Pharisees during Jesus’ ministry, then go on a spiritual retreat or other as you feel directed to do so and take it before the Lord.

Some Christians will testify to their experience of life in Christ as God circumcising their heart. They are not stating this in faith but as their clearest statement of what life has come to feel like. They may continue by saying that they have moved into loving God with all their heart, both in commitment and the emotion of feeling love for Him. How can this be possible today while still in these mortal bodies? Now is not the time for theology; now is the time for matters of the heart.

Final Thoughts

We will not end this article with a theology of what some testify to. However, it is worth noting that regardless of your perspective, as a Christian, you should not judge an alternative mainstream perspective as an expression of an arrogant heart. But likewise, to you who recognize privately thinking the next concept, we should not judge another person’s perspective as coming from a stubborn heart unwilling to give up carnality. Regardless of your or my perspective, we must always let love continue to bind us together.

Were we saved by our power? So, how can we expect to be our (own) power source for overcoming deliberate sinning? To you who know the grace of God has saved you, consider giving your whole self to God. This is not a matter of what you believe is possible. What is required is a willingness to humble oneself before their God and then pray.

(Rom 7:24-25 NET) Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Some renditions of a popular song contain two key phrases which speak to this article’s subject. One song phrase is, “Let your will be done,” in other words, I submit my will to you. The other wording, “I surrender all.” For the lyrics, try the search criteria: “Surrender.” Both phrases imply the goodness of God. The two phrases are different ways of personally submitting all to God. To you whom this article speaks, you know this is a little different then at salvation. Can you surrender all to God? For what seems impossible to become real during this life must start as a prayer of sincere intention from the heart. This is not a matter of self-talk. It is a matter of going before the Father with a request as a small child. Are we willing to trust God for what seems impossible to us?

It is time to reconsider circumcision of the heart.

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Notes / Additional Information

Renew

For some of us, now is the time for us to review our lives and repeat the prayer of surrendering all parts of life to God. We have read many places in the Old Testament and the New Testament that is is impossible by the power of the law. The law is not alive, nor should it be revered as another god to be worshiped. So to do good by the power of the law is another way to state human work in conforming to Christ as an act of the will. No one can do this perfectly for a lifetime (except one man, the Son of God). We learn from the law, some believers testify to God’s imprint on the law, but we are not under the law. The answer is to surrender our will to God as the Holy Spirit reveals to us changes we must make at a deeper level, such as attitude.

Human Counselors

Conceivably, there can exist emotional bruises leaving the Christian with scarred emotional health. Of course God can heal or change our emotional responses to various topics and situations overnight, or over a lunch break. Other times God wants us to seek a solution, such as counseling or a medication. Antibiotics are an excellent example of a medication which has saved lives and for others permanent damage. Some think of modern medical therapies as being inspired by God.

Renewal - Victory - Poor Consistency - Fall Back

When the believer enters a new period of victory or power, this change can be due to direct action of the Holy Spirit. God thoroughly knows what you need and will supply it with all spiritual instantiation(s).

“Instantiation is a word often used in computer programming, here intended as for (1) a concept becoming a reality, (2) a reality in a specific person.

As soon as circumstance allows, create a record of your experience. Perhaps start a journal (strategic diary for a limited range of life topics). All temptation will continue to exist but during Holy Ghost instantiations many report easily resisting.

(Rom 8:36 KJV) As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Based on three classic commentaries and the context, the verse above is about the physical and emotional challenges of this life. However, other verses seem to suggest dying to self daily, perhaps as a prayer to God of intent to obey as He leads. For those who believe in free will including the option to sin, think of spiritual maintenance as a requirement. Some of us need this daily, which starts with a prayer of intent to obey in all things. Will God hold back divine assistance we need to obey Him?

(Rom 8:32 GNB) Certainly not God, who did not even keep back his own Son, but offered him for us all! He gave us his Son—will he not also freely give us all things?

Think of the following command as possible, today.

(Rom 6:11-12 NET) So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires,

Think of a multi-year walk by or in the Spirit as an ebb and flow. A balance between the responsibilities of this world and spiritual nourishment.

(1Co 10:13 NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

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