No...I Won't Go There: When We Understand Who We Are in Christ We Will Not Allow Our Mind to Fulfill the Temptation to Sin

In this writing, we have considered how Jesus set the pattern for our early Christian faith in the Great Commission and how a spiritual battle can be expected as we learn to overcome the old sin nature. We learn that the baptism by the Holy Spirit occurs when the Holy Spirit immerses the new believer spiritually into the death of Jesus on the cross. As the new believer surrenders to the indwelling Christ, the filling of the Holy Spirit is experienced. However, when we sin against the Holy Spirit by lying to, grieving, or quenching Him, our fellowship with Jesus is broken and must be restored by confessing our sin. Because we have the power of the resurrected Christ living in us, we begin our new life in Christ from the position of victory, seated together with Jesus in heavenly places. Even though we have this position of victory, we are tempted by the old sin nature, but a way of escape is provided by our saying, "No, I won't go there," to the temptation. Through this journey we learn to surrender our all to Jesus so He becomes our life as we live each day here on this earth. When we do this, Jesus lives His life through ours.

It is my earnest prayer this book will enable us to understand how much God loves us and who we have become in Christ. Because of who Christ is in us through the Holy Spirit, we have the authority to say no to the temptation of sin. When Jesus is our life we live with joy, peace, and victory in our hearts, whatever the circumstances of life may be.