Lecture Notes: The Victorious Christian Life

Key Concepts

• Victorious Christian Life: Rooted in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, representing victory over sin and spiritual growth.
• Identification with Christ: Emphasizes putting the flesh to death and living in the spirit.

Main Ideas

Death, Burial, and Resurrection

• Death: Putting the flesh and its desires to death.
  • The flesh's desires are not the real you.
  • Once saved, you're separated from your fleshly nature.
• Burial: Bury the flesh and its desires completely.
• Resurrection: Embrace and live by your spiritual nature, which desires holiness and righteousness.

Romans Chapter 6

• Essential for understanding and practicing the Victorious Christian Life.
• Teaches the principles to conquer the flesh.

Practical Application

• Understanding must lead to application in real life.
• Theories are ineffective without practical application.

Struggles with the Flesh

• The flesh is inherently sinful and will always desire sin.
• Our desire is the root cause of why we struggle to overcome the flesh.

Three Steps to Victory

1. Know: Acknowledge that the flesh is dead.
2. Reckon: Consider it dead in your life.
3. Yield: Live according to the spirit and its desires.

Overcoming the Desires of the Flesh

• Desire: Key to serving God.
• Love: The ultimate emotion that represents desire.
  • Stronger desires can override weaker ones.
• Liberty: The freedom to choose to serve God out of love.

Identifying Your True Desires

• Separate your fleshly desires from spiritual ones.
• Strengthen the desire for spiritual growth and holiness.
• Clarify your desires: "My flesh wants this, but I desire holiness."

Habit and Unconscious Reflex

• Habits form when conscious actions become unconscious reflexes.
• Conscious effort is required initially to form spiritual habits.
• The goal is for spiritual actions to become natural and reflexive.

Key Scriptures

• Romans Chapter 6: Principles of the Victorious Christian Life.
• James Chapter 4: Causes of inner conflicts and desires.
• Galatians Chapter 5: Conflict between flesh and spirit, serving through love.
• Hebrews Chapter 4: Even Jesus faced temptations.
• Matthew Chapters 19 and 6: Discipleship involves consequences and choices.

Conclusion

• Emphasizes the importance of identity in Christ and the power of desire.
• Encourages practical application and realignment of desires towards spiritual growth.
• The ultimate goal is to have spiritual reflexes that align with God's will.