Dear Partner,

Rom 5:17   For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

I heard the Holy Spirit say, "A righteous walk is just as much a free gift as the positional truth of righteousness."

Rom 6:14   For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Under the law of Moses, man had to rely on his own strength to try to live a righteous life through the energy of the flesh. The motivation was to obtain the blessing rather than the curses contained in the law. Nobody was able to keep the law because of the sin nature resident in man since the fall of Adam. Grace is God's willingness to use His power on your behalf at no cost to you. Sin has no dominion over born again people because God empowers us to walk in His ways by the strength of the new nature we received when we were born again. Free! Faith is "allowing" Him to do it! Is there any sin that is stronger than God's power? Of course not.

Col 2:6   As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

How did I receive Christ?

Rom 10:9   That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10   For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness (innocence); and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (rescue, deliverance, to be made whole in every area of life).

In my case, the night I got saved, I simply believed these two verses, confessed my sin, asked for forgiveness based on the blood of Jesus, and asked for Him to come into my heart and save me. I then thanked Him for doing it. But I felt nothing emotionally! The devil tried to talk me out of my salvation for the next two days based on things like, "See, you are not saved. You are not different. You are not changed. You didn't feel anything. In fact, you have a headache. It didn't work for you."

I held fast to my confession, however, and said things like, "The Word of God is true. Romans 10:9 10 is true. I believe that Jesus is raised from the dead. I confess Him as Lord with my mouth. I am saved simply because the Word says I am." Then the third day the emotions and feelings came. I have never been the same since. But even three decades later I still remember how "convincing" the devil's onslaught of doubt and discouragement was based on everything that I could "feel." Had I not been well taught how to hold fast to my confession by faith based on nothing but the Word of God, there is no doubt in my mind that Satan would have stolen the Word which had been sown in my heart, and I would not have been changed.

To "walk" in Christ in the same manner that I received Him would be to take whatever the Word of God says about me, agree with it, receive it as a free gift by grace through faith, and then hold fast my confession of it until the Holy Spirit manifests it in my life. It is truly free. My only work is to believe it. See James 4:6 in the Amplified Bible.

James 4:6   God sets himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly [those who are humble minded enough to receive it]. Amplified Bible

Will you allow God to lavish His grace upon you freely, at no cost to you? Faith is the conduit which allows Him to do that. Jesus paid for everything at great price to Himself, but it is free to us if we will receive it by faith. This whole process is what the old timers meant when they would say, "let go and let God." It is the very process of believing. It is entering into His rest by just taking the Word at face value, agreeing that it is true, receiving it as a free love gift paid for by Jesus, and then "confessing with the mouth" unto salvation (until you have the manifestation of the promise). Faith works the same in every area of life.

John 6:29   Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Our "work" is to believe. The "process" of believing is Romans 10:9 10. Believe in the heart what the Word of God says, and then confess with the mouth unto salvation. Let us possess by faith ALL of the "promised land" (the abundant life) given freely to us by our Father God. We have placed a document at the website titled the "In Him Confessions." It is 26 pages of Confessions based on God's Word of who you really are as a born again child of God. You can access the file and print your own copy by going to this page: http://www.garycarpenter.org/inhimconfessions.pdf If you do not have access to a computer or printer and would like to have a printed copy mailed to you, just write and ask for the "In Him Confessions." We will send the printed document to you free and postage paid.

Sue and I love you and appreciate you.   We thank God for your generous and giving heart.   God bless you!

Your friend and co-laborer,

Gary Carpenter

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