No Confidence in the Flesh

by David A. DePra

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in
the flesh. If any other man thinks that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I
more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an
Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things
were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I
have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I
may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead. (Phil 3:3-11)

What does it mean to, "have no confidence in the flesh?" Well, the Greek word
means TRUST. It isn’t the same word that is always translated, "faith," but has a closely
related meaning. So Paul is talking about the need to have no faith in the flesh; no
confidence in the flesh.

The FLESH, in the context of Paul’s teaching, is all that is outside of our spiritual
oneness with Jesus Christ. The new man, or new creation, in Christ Jesus, is our union
or oneness with the Spirit of Christ. "He that is joined (cemented) to the Lord is one
Spirit with Him." (I Cor. 6:17) This is the seat of salvation – it is where Christ dwells – in
our spirit. All that is not of that new creation in Christ Jesus is not spiritual, but natural,
or of the flesh.

Note from the passage above, however, that the flesh is not necessarily immoral, or
sinful, in the conventional sense. No. Paul lists many assets that he said he could have
given him this, "confidence in the flesh." And you will not really find any overt violations
of God’s law among them. So the flesh in which we might take confidence is not simply
bad, sinful, or immoral. More so, the flesh is all that is not of Christ, indeed, the flesh is
all that is OUTSIDE of Him. Or, to put it yet another way, all that is purely OF US is of
the flesh.

Before we are born from above, we are ALL natural; all flesh. There is nothing in us
that is of God, or of His Spirit. There is no Truth in us. Some of us don’t believe this, but
it is a fact. Only when Christ comes to dwell in us by His Spirit, is there anything that is
spiritual about us. And since Christ comes to dwell in our dead human spirit, making us
alive spiritually, everything else outside of that remains OF THE FLESH.
 Hopefully, we can see a big separation here between flesh and Spirit. The flesh is US
– it is everything that was born naturally into this world as part of the human makeup.
The Spirit is Christ – it is all that is given to us through the birth from above. There is
nothing that is part of the natural birth that is OF THE SPIRIT. And there is nothing of
the birth from above that is OF THE FLESH. The distinction is just that wide – that is
why we are said to be NEW CREATIONS in Christ Jesus.

Now, as an aside, the flesh, through the work of the Cross is to be crucified and
brought unto the dominion of the Spirit of Christ. As the flesh is crucified, the Spirit
emerges through the resurrection power of Christ. But never say that the flesh is OF the
Spirit, or the Spirit is OF the flesh. No. The are of separate realms, and really, of
separate creations. The flesh belongs to the OLD man, and the Spirit belongs to the
NEW man in Christ. This is why the Bible says, "the flesh wars against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh."

So we must realize that the flesh and the Spirit are separate. In this life they will
always be separate. Much of what growth is Christ will do is show us this separation,
and indeed, bring the flesh in submission to the Spirit of Christ.

No Confidence in the Flesh

From all of this we can see that to, "have no confidence in the flesh," means to have
no faith or trust in ANYTHING ABOUT MYSELF. Now note: This means that I have no
confidence in my WORKS, but it means more – it means that I put no faith or trust in
any aspect of my makeup. Again – read what Paul had to say in reference to himself.
He lists no sins. In fact, most of the things he listed as what he could have trusted in
were RELIGIOUS things.

Fundamentally, to put confidence in the flesh means that we might try to do – in the
flesh -- what Christ has already done, or we might try to BE -- in the flesh -- who Christ
in us already IS. This will have one of two results – probably a little of both. Either I will
be deluded enough to think that my confidence in my flesh is well founded, and so I’ll
feel like God is happy with me. Or I’ll see the total futility of putting my confidence in my
flesh, and the whole thing will collapse. The second outcome is the only way to Truth –
provided that once things collapse I turn to Christ and begin to put my faith in Him.

I think it is an absolute fact that every single Christ WILL put their confidence in the
flesh – in the beginning and for much time thereafter. How could we NOT do it? Are we
perfected the moment we are saved? No. The fact is, God will allow us to spend much
time and energy trying to do and be instead of Christ – until it is proven to us that there
is no hope for us. We can learn in no other way.

In fact, many Christian never learn it. That is a sad commentary on the state of the
church today. Most Christians don’t even know there is a difference between flesh and
Spirit. Perhaps the central reason for deception is that we don’t know the difference.
 So let’s ask: What is the key to knowing the difference between flesh and Spirit? The
key is just this: To know Christ. To the extent that we know Christ we will know what is
OUTSIDE of Him – i.e. the flesh. Knowing Christ is the key to being able to discern what
is of ME, and what is OF HIM.

What we see here is that if I have confidence in myself – in my flesh – the reason is
that I lack a true knowledge of Jesus Christ. If I don’t know Christ, I won’t put my
confidence in Him. Oh, I may have a religious faith – generated from my emotions or
mind – but I won’t have real faith grounded in a knowledge of the Person. And if I don’t
know Him, and don’t put my whole confidence in Him, I will naturally default to what a
human being does – put my faith in myself.

God wants to bring us to the Truth – and the Truth is, there is nothing about ME, or in
my flesh, that is of any value. There is no point in my putting my faith in myself – all of
that faith in myself MUST be broken. And I’m not just talking about my works. I’m talking
about my ability, out of myself, to believe. I’m talking about my ability to present to God
anything that is good – an attitude, a mood, emotions, or a nice, natural mind. Those
who are, "in the flesh," cannot please God.

The good news is that once we find out that there is nothing trustworthy about our
flesh, there is Christ in us. Thus, God wants to bring us away from trusting in ourselves
over to trusting solely in Christ. But not just some far-off Christ in heaven. Not just some
historical Christ who died for us long ago. No. Our faith is to be in the Christ who LIVES
IN US NOW. That is what He died to make possible.

All in Christ

Christians continue to believe that the purpose of God is to take their flesh and make
it better. We don’t use those exact words, and might even deny that this is what we
believe, but it is what many believe. Thus, we talk about, "character development," and,
"inner healing," and we develop systems of rule, law, and order, intended to form and
massage our flesh so that it will look like Christ. We think God wants us to look like
Christ. All of this, regardless of terminology, is exactly what Paul warned against in
Galatians and Colossians.

God will never take our flesh and make it better. What He will do is crucify it, and
when He does, it will be shown to be worse than we could ever imagine. This isn’t a
matter of God making our flesh worse – it is a matter of Him allowing life to EXPOSE IT
FOR WHAT IT IS. Furthermore, we are never told to, "develop character." Rather, we
are told to lose our lives so that HIS LIFE IN US might shine THROUGH US. It is not US
being made to look like Jesus. It is Jesus being seen in and through us. The distinction
here is not theological. It is TRUTH vs. ERROR. The distinction is that of light and
darkness.

For those of us who still think there is something about us that we can make work for
God, we need to read just these two verses:
 Examine yourselves, as to whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Don’t
you yourselves know that except Jesus Christ is in you, that you would be reprobates?
(2 Cor. 13:5)

But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
(1 Cor. 2:14)

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: (Rom 7:18)

Essentially, this means that we can generate nothing OUT OF OURSELVES that can
please God. Neither can God generate anything OUT OF HIMSELF that can be
received by our natural man, or flesh. But the key is Christ in us. He is not merely our
Mediator unto God in the sense of His finished work. He is our living Mediator unto God
NOW. In other words, His presence in us is our connection, joining, and access to God.
IN HIM we are one with the Father, because He is one with the Father. That is a Living
Mediator.

What we see in this is an, "all or nothing," situation. It is ALL in Christ, and nothing in
us. But this is great news, because it means that we need only put our confidence and
faith in Christ – in Whom is all. This seals the deal. It is the purpose of God. It is why
faith is the key to everything.

Being Made True

If we don’t know Christ, we won’t depend upon Him – except maybe in an untested,
religious, or emotional way. And if we don’t depend on Him, we will end up depending
on ourselves. This is the flesh, and here we see the essential of faith based on the
Truth.

Jesus said, "I am the Truth." The Bible says, "God is light." Well, this means that if we
want to walk with God, we must walk with LIGHT. If we want to know God, we must
know LIGHT. If we want to see God, we must be pure in heart. In short, you cannot
fellowship with God unless there is an eternal IMPACT upon you – both inward and
outward. Why would we think otherwise?

Now, of course, if our idea of the new birth is nothing more than adopting a religious
lifestyle, turning over a new leaf, being, "sorrow," for some sins, parroting doctrines,
using God to make something of myself, or merely a legal classification or relationship
with God because of Christ – if that is the Christianity I’ve settled for – well, then I
suppose we need not expect much of any impact. And the sad fact is, most professing
Christians have seen no change in their attitudes, spirit, or life because of Christ – other
than some religious additions, some immoral subtractions, and perhaps a dedication to
church. I’m not meaning to be negative or critical. But it is just the case. Look at our
churches. At best they are social clubs gathered around a statement of faith. Most are
simply indifferent to anything spiritual or eternal – in total ignorance of Jesus Christ. And
at worst, they are centers for power struggles -- filled with bitter, squabbling, gossiping,
religious frauds. Sorry to be so blunt. I can see all these possibilities in myself, too – it is
what the flesh does, and all it can do. But today we have legitimized and excused what
God has put under the Cross. We just don’t care, or even KNOW to care. At least in
many places. I don’t want to generalize too much.

I can say this for a fact: If Jesus Christ comes to live in you, and you begin to KNOW
HIM, and I’m not talking about knowing the doctrines – we all do that and we all NEED
to do that – but I’m talking about knowing Christ in the way the Bible means KNOWING
– if that happens in our lives, the experience will utterly break us apart. You will lose
everything about yourself that you thought was an asset before God. Read Philippians 3
again, from above. This is what happened to Paul. It was not because God was being
especially hard on him. No. Most of it was because it is what happens when we LOSE
our lives in Christ and are FOUND in Him. All that is of the flesh MUST GO – and the
fact is, for most of us, what is of the flesh comprises the greater part of what has made
us tick.

Now, of course, I’m talking more about the LOSS. Yet, as Paul said, it is to be
counted as totally worthless – precisely because IT IS WORTHLESS. God didn’t sit
down one day and invent a religion, and decide to incorporate into it suffering and loss –
lest we have it too easy. No. This is about the NATURE OF THINGS. What we lose IS
worthless – that is why Paul said aside from Christ in us we are reprobates.

If you want to know Christ you want to KNOW TRUTH. That Truth will expose
everything that is UNTRUE – and much of US is exactly that -- UNTRUE. We are untrue
and a lie – in every way, especially to God.

This is seen immediately after the sin of Adam. I don’t want to go through that whole
passage here. But after his sin, when God was no longer one with him, he was naked,
and ashamed – tormented and in fear over it. What did he do? He constructed a man-
made solution for his nakedness – physically, fig leaves. But can we see what is
happening here, and what God is showing us about natural man – man void of God?
Everything that we become because of life, through environment and our choices is
nothing but a defense to cover our nakedness – but as that, it is a LIE. Adam was naked
– THAT was the Truth. He built a covering out of fig leaves to hide the fact – to present
himself in a way that was UNTRUE. This is what the flesh does, and is, and all that it
can ever produce.

When you and I were born into this world, we are composed only of natural materials.
We did not have God in us – for we were born IN ADAM. So all we ever had to work
with was the FLESH. Thus, anything we built – everything that had gone into the person
we had become – it was flesh and only could be flesh. Sure. That which is born of flesh
IS flesh. Thus, none of it is of God. None of it is spiritual. And because of that, none of it
is TRUTH. You cannot be a TRUE PERSON if you don’t have the TRUTH HIMSELF
dwelling in you. It is impossible.
 I don’t think most of us believe this. We still think that the reason God called us was
that He found something in us of value. Or, we still think that we do most of the work
and Christ fills in the blank spaces. Or, we continue to try to make ourselves
presentable to God in a way that we think will either maintain His favor or earn it. But all
of this is a LIE – it is nothing more than us covering our nakedness with fig leaves.

Absolutely nothing natural man believes about himself is the Truth. Nothing. Why can
I say that? Because a natural man is built out of natural materials. A natural man
evaluates what is built with a natural mind. None of it is spiritual or true. None of it can
be seen in Truth. That is why only God can break this apart. And when He does, it will
seem like you are falling apart. You aren’t – if you yield to God. You are simply
experiencing the first impact when Truth and light begin to gain ground in your being.

Can we see that the only solution – and the only way in which the Truth Himself could
work – is if He brings to pass something that will open our eyes and strip off the fig
leaves? When God begins such a work Christians think everything is wrong. But not so.
Everything may be right.

Why must God expose us as fakes covered with fig leaves? Because it is the
TRUTH. But more so, He must show us further Truth – that man was made to be naked
before the Lord. We need to see this. Go back to the garden story. Before the sin, Adam
was naked – he was unashamed – but naked. God MADE him that way. The difference
is that before Adam’s sin he was naked and fully completed by God – and thus,
unashamed. After the sin, he remained naked, but now was incomplete – and thus,
ashamed, and trying to cover himself through his own fleshly means. Therefore, what
God is trying to do is expose our nakedness so that we can confess it and embrace the
only One who can cover and complete us – Jesus Christ. "You are complete in Him."

God wants to MAKE US TRUE. Well, you cannot be made true as a thing unto
yourself. God cannot go, "Zap!," and do something TO YOU that will make you true.
Neither can you be made true simply by being able to recite true Bible verses. No. The
only way to be made true is by having the Truth Himself IN YOU – and then, once He is
in you – He must be revealed to you. If you come into His light, without any conditions
attached, and embracing the consequences, no matter how much your pride might
suffer, then you will be exposed as completely naked and without any spiritual assets at
all. But it is then that you will BE FOUND IN HIM. You will be MADE TRUE by the Truth
Himself. You will be made true to God.

Yet what does it really mean to be MADE TRUE? Well, first let’s ask what it means to
be UNTRUE. To be untrue means that we present to God the person we think He wants
us to be. This can be through our works, our service, or just because we think we are
faithful to God. We gather up all that we believe is good about us and present it to God,
and then assume this is the basis of His approval upon us. Often we point to the many
blessings in our lives as proof that He does approve of us. I’ve heard Christians do this
– they point out their home, their money, their ministry, or their life in general, and say,
"These blessings are of God. But God blessed me because I was faithful to Him." Of
course, many of us DO NOT tack on the last part, where we subtlety take credit for
earning the blessings of God, but it is nevertheless most often in our attitudes and heart.
But what if God suddenly took away all of that? Would we still have the faith we now say
we have? What would this do to our opinion of ourselves? Read the book of Job. It is
most certain that we would find ourselves playing out what Job played out during his
trial.

We are untrue to God if we are following Him for any reason other than HIS will to
HIS glory. We are untrue to Him, for example, if the primary reason we walk with Jesus
is for some kind of reward we think we will receive in return. There are going to be some
terrible surprises at the last judgment. Think not? Read Matthew 7:21-27. I submit that
Jesus didn’t tell such parables to hear Himself talking. These people were expecting
some great reward from Christ and were evidently unaware of how far their heart was
from Jesus. This is the possibility of deception – it is the result of being UNTRUE TO
GOD. If you are untrue to God then when you face the Truth you will have no frame of
reference.

Well, fortunately, it is precisely because Jesus told such parables that the terrible
outcome of many of them need not be the case for us – He told them so we would
heed. Jesus has, in fact, promised that God is already in the process of seeking to
MAKE US TRUE. He isn’t sitting in heaven leaving this up to us. Note the following that
indicate God’s real desire along this line:

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)

Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints, (Eph 1:16-18)

For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. (2 Cor. 13:8)

For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. (Eph 5:9)

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1
Tim 2:4)

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he
shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will
show you things to come. (John 16:13)

So what does it really mean to be TRUE TO GOD? It means to walk in the Light as
He is in the light. It means to have nothing, as far as you know, that is between you and
God. It means to be honest, open, and transparent unto God. Now, as I mentioned, we
really do not know what is in our hearts. It is possible to say you are open and honest to
God, but to be deluded. People are like this everywhere. Thus, to be true to God MUST
begin with an unconditional surrender to God – I ask God to do whatever it takes to
make me true. If I am willing for God to do whatever it takes to make me true then I am,
at that point, BEING TRUE to God.

God will make me true to Him, not only by exposing me as initially untrue, but by
concurrently revealing to me THE TRUE ONE. You cannot be made true unless you
know Jesus Christ. In short, you are made true by becoming one with the Truth Himself.
This is fellowship and oneness in purpose.

Now, all of this relates to the issue of confidence in the flesh because an untrue
person has confidence in their flesh. They are believing a LIE – they are putting
confidence in that which is not trustworthy. But there are always reasons why we
believe such lies. I submit that the reason we continue to put confidence in the flesh is
because we still think that our flesh has something about it that is salvageable. Sure.
You put trust in whatever you think is trustworthy. To the extent that we value our old
man in Adam we will put trust in it.

If I am still holding onto myself – still neglecting to lose myself to Christ – then it is
because I have yet to see how naked I really am. It only follows that I would be
confidence in myself. Sure. This will come natural. Therefore, the solution is that God
get behind all of this and expose me as utterly void of any value – He must show me
that only Christ is of any value.

The root of all unbelief and confusion is found right here: In continuing to try to save
my life for myself – self-ownership. I cannot get far with a walk with Christ on this basis.
Read Matthew 16:

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Mat 16:24-25)

Jesus said, "If any man will come after Me…." If we try to walk with Christ holding
onto OUR lives, OUR agenda – even a religious agenda – and holding onto our
personal interests, we won’t get far. We will come to the place where we cannot
proceed until the matter is settled. Why? Not because God has set this up as a rule or
religious pattern. No. We must be ruled out, and cease belonging to ourselves because
this is the Truth. It is the only possible why to walk with Christ.

If you think about this, it is really ridiculously simple: What other outcome do we think
possible if we are to live in fellowship with GOD ALMIGHTY? That WE would have
something to bring to the table? What do we think would happen if we want to know the
absolute TRUTH? Do we expect to be told that man in Adam really isn’t that bad? The
Truth is, he is that bad – and I’m sure we will never see quite how bad in this life. Thus,
because God cannot lie to us, and must be true to us, He cannot walk with us upon
OUR basis. He must guide us into all Truth – He must MAKE US TRUE so that we can
walk IN and WITH the Truth.

Some professing Christians will not have this. They continue to think that the reason
God is able to work in them is because they have offered Him choice material. They
think that God found something of value in them – and still finds it – and that this is why
He has accepted them. Well, God could dismantle such thinking in ten minutes if He
desired – but most often He doesn’t – He starts slowly. But many won’t yield to Him
even then.

God never says that we must be down on ourselves in order to find the Truth. No.
God simply says that if we find the Truth we will see ourselves as being empty. Again –
this isn’t about jumping through religious hoops. It is about seeing and embracing the
Truth. And that Truth is that man is utterly corrupt and UNTRUE to God. See that and
you will begin putting your confidence in Jesus Christ, and not upon your self.

Religious Man

Part of what we do in our attempts to cover our nakedness before the Lord is to
create of ourselves, and present to Him, a person who we think will win His approval.
This includes works, but most often, it involves rationalizations, attitudes, and our own
imagination. In our own imagination we often create of ourselves the person who, yes,
we think God will like, but certainly the person WE LIKE. Of course, worldly people will
say that this is good self-esteem. But really, it is nothing more than the flesh working on
flesh and producing flesh.

Christians try to make their flesh behave like Christ. Our justification for doing this, we
say, is that we are supposed to be obedient. But obedience isn’t the issue – the problem
is that we base our confidence before the Lord on whether our flesh is behaving like
Christ. We try to maintain a good attitude, or try to, "have faith," or try to do whatever we
think is required, and when we succeed, we feel like the Lord is happy with us, and
when we fail, we fall apart. But this kind of back and forth routine is proof that our faith is
not upon Christ, but upon ourselves. Faith upon Christ never wavers because Christ
never wavers.

Of course, none of this is conscious. We won’t deliberately put faith in ourselves

instead of Christ. Really, the whole routine is the result of NOT seeing Christ – and of
NOT seeing how empty we are. It is the result of natural thinking and of religious flesh
doing what it does. This is why it is so vital to embrace the Truth when God brings it.
The Truth will set us free from ourselves unto Christ.

Our Confidence

Our confidence, as I mentioned earlier, is to be in Christ – but not merely in what He

did for us – our confidence is to be in the Christ who is, right now, IN US. He is in us
because of what He did for us. Note what Paul says about the Christ who is RIGHT
NOW in us:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives 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. (Gal 2:20)

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and
the wisdom of God. (1 Cor 1:24)

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He
that glories, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Cor 1:30-31)

Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.
(Col 1:29)

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect
in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then
am I strong. (2 Cor 12:9-10)

God does not have a thing called, "power," to give us. He gives us Christ who IS the
power of God. Neither does God have a bucket of righteousness, or sanctification, to
give us. No. He gives us Christ IN WHOM are all these realities. Christ in us possesses
all that God has for us, and in Him alone is all that is acceptable unto God. So we are
wasting our time trying to present to God anything out of ourselves. There IS nothing.
Our faith for all of that is to be in the Christ who is one with our spirit.

This is precisely why there is no condemnation for those in Christ. If things depended
on how my flesh responded to God, or upon how well my flesh was able to live up to the
Truth, then condemnation would be upon us all the time – indeed, it is because we put
our confidence in our flesh that condemnation is able to get to us. But our confidence is
supposed to be in Christ – no matter how our flesh behaves.

Now, perhaps you think I’m giving license to sin. I’m not. In fact, license to sin is
never the outcome of faith or confidence in Christ. Ever. Our confidence is to rest upon
Christ whether we fail or whether we obey – yes, even when we OBEY our confidence
is to be in Christ. Anything else and we are under the law.

Thus, if we sin or if we obey, we can say, "Christ in me is the same." I confess my sin
and give Christ credit for any obedience. It is all about HIS righteousness and HIS life in
me. It is never about whether my emotions functioned correctly, or my attitude was
perfect, or whether I managed to make my flesh behave. It is about where my
confidence and faith rest – regardless of my works.
 Jesus Christ has won every victory there is to win, and He has made us complete
before the Lord. This does not mean our flesh is complete. It means that the new man is
complete. Thus, to the extent that our faith is upon Christ, we stand as He stands. And
in God, Christ fully stands – He is the only begotten Son of God.

Faith connects us to Christ, and Christ is eternally connected to God. We are ONE
with Him, and He is ONE with the Father. This is not a matter of mere theology. It is
reality, and it is upon it that our faith rests.

Have we confidence in the flesh? Expect it to be smashed. Expect everything we

might have used to commend ourselves to God to be exposed. But we will see that it
was always worthless to begin with, and that as we are set free we will BE FOUND IN
HIM – not having a righteousness of our own, but the righteousness which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Faith IN Christ will always result in the faith OF Christ.

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