When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, His enemy becomes your enemy. Your enemy wants to destroy you, destroy your testimony, steal your inheritance and take others down with you.

Your inheritance has both future and present components. The future components are reserved for you in Heaven. This is how Peter describes your future inheritance- I Peter 1:

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴ To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

⁵ Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Your inheritance is incorruptible: i.e. it cannot be perverted, dissolved or decayed

Your inheritance is undefiled; i.e. cannot be made dirty

Your inheritance fades not away; i e. cannot become dim, lose freshness, strength or health

Your inheritance is reserved for you in Heaven; i.e. set apart particularly for you and kept by  special arrangement for you

In this series we will examine the present components of your inheritance, which your enemy seeks to steal.  The next present component we will examine is victory and freedom from sin.

Even though you still have your rebellious sin nature, you do not have to sin. But Jesus Christ loves you so much He allows you to choose. You are not a puppet compelled to obey Him.

When you are tempted to sin, Jesus Christ provides a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10:

¹² Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

¹³ There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

When you do sin, Jesus Christ provides a solution. 1John 1:

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Don’t you just wonder that He not only forgives the sin but cleans up the result of your sin!

Jesus promises triumph – 2 Corinthians 2:

¹⁴Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

¹⁵ For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

¹⁶ To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

triumph= public spectacle of significant success; noteworthy achievement; joy over success

savor =distinctive quality with the power to excite or interest

knowledge =thebodyoftruthsorfactsaccumulatedinthecourseoftime.

Victory and freedom from sin-1 Corinthians 15:

⁵⁰Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

⁵⁵ O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Romans 8:

¹There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

³ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

⁵ For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

⁶ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

⁸ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

¹⁰ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

¹¹ But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

Imagine- NO CONDEMNATION! Ponder that for awhile.

Galatians 5:

¹ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

How can you avoid entanglements in the yoke of bondage to sin? Pray always, stay in God’s Word, fellowship with other Christians, participate in corporate worship, take time alone with Jesus – what else would you say?

Victory in Jesus – Eugene Monroe Bartlett Senior

I heard an old, old story, How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning, Of His precious blood atoning

Then I repented of my sins; And won the victory.
Refrain:
O victory in Jesus, My Savior, forever.

He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him, And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory, Beneath the cleansing flood

I heard about His healing, Of His cleansing power revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus, Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and brought To me the victory.

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory.

And I heard about the streets of gold Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing, And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there The song of victory.

Questions for Reflection

1) Are you fully experiencing the victory Jesus bought for you? Why?

2) What does it mean to you to be free from sin?

3) Is there some sin that consistently grabs hold of you? Tell it to Jesus now.

4) How can you claim your inheritance of victory and freedom from sin?

Hebrews 12:

¹ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God

Dearly Beloved,

Run with your eyes on Jesus alone!

Run in faith that Jesus loves you, has uniquely designed and created only one you, has a good plan for your life, runs with you and will accomplish His purposes for you and through you!

Run in His strength alone!

Run with your eyes on the prize!

Run with the desire to finish strong!

Run with the desire to finish with your lamp burning!

Run with the expectation of being in His physical presence when you cross your finish line!

Run to His glory alone!

Run and keep on running!

Coach Patti