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When My Will is Safe, April 8
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye
have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Romans 6:22
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The Spirit of God does not create new faculties in the converted man,
but works a decided change in the employment of those faculties. When
mind and heart and soul are changed, man is not given a new conscience,
but his will is submitted to a conscience renewed, a conscience whose
dormant sensibilities are aroused by the working of the Holy Spirit.
Through yielding to sin, man placed his will under the control of
Satan. He became a helpless captive in the tempter’s power. God sent His
Son into our world to break the power of Satan, and to emancipate the
will of man. He sent Him to proclaim liberty to the captives, to undo the
heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free. By pouring the whole
treasury of heaven into this world, by giving us in Christ all heaven,
God has purchased the will, the affections, the mind, the soul, of every
human being. When man places himself under the control of God, the will
becomes firm and strong to do right, the heart is cleansed from selfishness,
and filled with Christlike love. The mind yields to the authority of the law
of love, and every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ.
When the will is placed on the Lord’s side, the Holy Spirit takes that
will and makes it one with the divine will.
The Lord loves man. He has given evidence of this love by giving
His only begotten Son to die for man, that through His grace He might
redeem him from hostility to God, and bring him back to his loyalty. If
man will cooperate with God, the Lord will bring his will into connection
with Himself, and will vitalize it by His own Spirit.... The gospel must be
received in order to regenerate the heart, and the reception of truth will
mean the surrender of mind and will to the will of divine power.
The will of man is only safe when united with the will of God.
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