THE ABUNDANT LIFE:

“…I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

The only way into eternal life is through Jesus Christ as personal Savior, (John 3:15). But we do not stop here; to have eternal life is great, but there is more. Christ came that we might have life more abundantly. All believers have life, but not all have abundant life. We are living beneath our privilege if we are a believer and yet not enjoying the abundant life.

For life to be abundant, it must have abundant resources, and the only unlimited source of life is in the person Jesus Christ the Son of God, (John 14:6). To possess this fuller life, the believer must believe in Him, (John 15:1-5).

Dynamic, abundant living is not for just a few. It is God’s norm for all believers. It is spiritual life in depth, and without it, the Christian life becomes inane and meaningless. There is more and more talk about going "deeper" in the Lord. Well "deeper" should mean that we are walking in the abundant life of God.

If we do not have abundant life within us, we soon yield to the carnal (fleshly) life around us (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). The carnal life is circumstance-controlled; the abundant life is Spirit-controlled. The carnal Christian life leads to defeat; the abundant life leads to victory in Christ. Man seems to know everything about life except how to live it abundantly. From this moment on, determine not to be satisfied with anything less than God’s best: living life abundantly. LIFE LIKE GOD HAS LIFE!

In order to have victory over sin we need to have a Biblical viewpoint about sin and the position it places us.

John 8:34 ESV Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

This is what sin is like and the position it places us in. When we practice sin we are a slave to it, meaning that it is our master instead of our Lord Jesus Christ being our Master.

The enemy lies to us and tricks us about sin. I know that in my own life I have seen certain sin as this big obstacle ahead of me that seemed immovable. Of course the enemy would have us believe this is true in order to defeat us. If we maintain the mindset that our sin is to big of an obstacle to move or get around then we stay a slave to it. We don’t dare pull out and try to get around our sin when we are unsure of what is coming head on against us around the curve. But if we knew that the way ahead of us is clear and free we would act differently about overcoming sin. 

Christ did not come to forgive the sins and works of the devil but to destroy the sins and works of the devil.

1 John 3:8 ESV Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Does the New Testament state we do not have to be bound by sin? YES! The reason the new covenant is superior to the old is that the old covenant merely forgives sin while the new covenant forgives and removes sin.

Look at the key points of Romans 6:11-14:

Romans 6:11-14 ESV So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. (13) Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (14) For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

1. We need to have the mindset and reality that we are dead to sin. (6:11)
2. We need to have the mindset and reality that we have spiritual life in God. (6:11)
3. We need to know that we are commanded not to allow sin to have dominion or rule and reign in us. (6:12)
4. We need to know that we are commanded not to allow sin to make us obey its passions. (6:12)
5. We need to know that we are not to make any part of our body available to be used by sin. (6:13)
6. We need to know that we are to make every part of our body available to God for righteousness. (6:13)
7. We need to maintain the mindset that sin will not rule over us because we are not under the law but under grace. (6:14)

Therefore, bottom line is:
The New Testament teaches that sin shall not be our master! Amen!

Rom.6:14 says: “sin shall not be your master.” It does not say it doesn’t matter whether or not you sin.

it states “sin shall not be your master”;
“sin shall not have dominion over you”;
“sin shall not exercise control over you.”

This was not the case under the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses made no provision for victory over sin. The Law told people what sin was but did not give them the power to over come it.

The grace of the new covenant has given us the blood of the atonement to forgive our sins, and then the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome our sins. This is why the new covenant is a superior covenant. The blood of bulls and goats could never remove our sinful tendencies. But the power of the Spirit of God working on the basis of the blood of the cross has more than enough power to give us victory over every sinful act that binds us. Hallelujah!

Romans 8:12-13 ESV So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. (13) For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

We are not obligated to our flesh at all.
We don't owe our flesh any debt that we need to sin to satisfy it. We owe no obligation to our flesh to live according to the sinful nature! Amen! This is the New Testament life of grace. 

Why are we not obligated to the sinful nature to live according to it? Because we by faith have placed our sinful nature on the cross with the Lord Jesus Christ. Our body is dead because of sin. Therefore we owe it nothing that we should obey its passions.

The world would like to tell us that we are who we are in our physical body. The commercials draw our appetite towards fulfilling the desires of the soul. However, the Word of God teaches us that our spirit is who we really are. Our soul is being transformed daily as we walk with the Lord. So, we are a SPIRIT, we have a SOUL, and we dwell in a BODY.

From the spirit realm God created the natural realm. The Spirit realm has always existed with the Father. But the natural realm had a beginning and has an end. When God spoke from the realm of the Spirit things came about in the natural. He spoke and bam, there it was. He spoke and things were created. The key is that God spoke. He made man and then He breathed the life of Himself into man. Because we are spirit that has a soul and live in a body we can operate in the spiritual realm. Living in the spiritual realm means that we can know what God knows.

Acts 17:28 ESV for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'

The Words we speak have power. We are spirit as God is Spirit and we are called to walk in dominion whereby God will back us up. But who are we listening to? Are we still living out of the past life of hurt and rejection or are we living in the new life of the spirit as a child of God? We can speak and declare. Are we listening from our flesh because it hurts? Are we living in the lies of our forefathers?

Declaration as a Spirit-filled person:
I am a spirit, I have a soul, I live in a body, I am walking in dominion over my circumstances, I am righteous, God rules in my life, I speak what He speaks, and I declare what He declares. Because I have His Spirit I can know His mind.

ENTERING AND EXITING MANY DOORS:
When I go into someone's house they go out of their way to make me "feel at home." Debby and I try to do the same when we have guests in our house. We show them where everything is in the kitchen, how to operate the internet and TV and we instruct them to "feel right at home."  However, as believers it really is hard to feel totally "at home" in our body when we know that heaven is our home and we are only passing through here on earth.

Our Lord Jesus Christ took on the form of man and entered into a body. He knew He came but for a short season and we can see in Scriptures that our Lord was always at home in the Spirit. Our Lord Jesus Christ has already passed through the experience of death and was victorious over it and the grave. He has ascended back into heaven and sit down at the right hand of the Father.  

The message Jesus gives to the Christian is that since He has passed through the experience and stands on the other side, He declares that death itself is harmless to the believer and should not be feared. 

Our Lord is also ready to open up the mystery of death to those who are willing to follow Him in it.  When we gave our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ in our salvation experience we exited the door of our lives and entered a new door to eternal life.  One day each of us who are believers will exit the door of our physical life and enter the door of the presence of God and stand with our Lord Jesus Christ on the other side of the grave. 

An old man of 80 years was asked one day how he was doing. He replied that he personally was doing well but that the house which he dwelt in was not. He stated that his house, referring to his earthly body, was becoming quite unlivable and that he would be moving out one day very soon.  “But in spite of this”, spoke the old man; “he was just fine”.

TRUTH ABOUT THE BODY: The old man was teaching a great lesson. It was the same lesson one could learn at a funeral.  At a funeral when you stare into the coffin at a Christian friend, realize that you are only looking at his old home. The friend is gone; he is no longer there.  The home laying before you is completely empty. 

I know that it is hard to picture a person without his body. That is because we are taught to think that the person and the body are the same. We think in physical concrete terms, therefore, we see a person as we would see his body. The great mystery is to start seeing people apart from their bodies.  See people completely separate from their physical bodily home. See yourself as a Spirit, that has a soul, and is trapped in a body. Once you can wrap your brain around this truth you will not feel at home in your body but you will feel at home in your spirit-man. It is your spirit that is seated in heavenly places with the Father.

THE ABUNDANT LIFE IS A LIFE YIELDED TO CHRIST:

Romans 6:10-13 ESV For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. (11) So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. (13) Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

How to live the abundant life is no secret; it is revealed in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in Rom. 6:10-13. The same faith that "saves" us also identifies us with Christ in His death. This is eternal life. The faith that "yields" to death to self also identifies us with Christ in His resurrection. This is abundant life.

Colossians 3:1-4 ESV If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (2) Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (3) For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

***It is one thing to have eternal life by faith. It is quite another to have abundant life by faith.

***It is one thing for us to be “made the righteousness of God in Him. It is another thing for us to realize His righteous life is in us.

1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

***It is one thing for us to live in Christ. It is another thing for Christ to live His life in and through us.

Galatians 2:20 I am 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.

We, as believers have a choice. We can yield unto God by faith and enjoy abundant life, or we can yield unto sin and endure a defeated life. God would have us to “know and experience the power of a yielded life.” By the way, I have met many "committed" Christians. However, they were committed to church, to a building, to a denomination, or to a certain doctrinal creed. 

​Not only must we not yield to sin, but we must not yield to the traditions and religions of man if we really want to walk in the abundant life of Christ. The power of a yielded life will lift us above circumstances that tries to cut off abundant living. The abundant life begins when we yield to Him as Master, allowing Him to live His life through us by faith.