Know — Your Identification With Christ
Before you can experience victory, you must have a knowledge of your identification with Christ. This means three things: (1) when Jesus died, you died with Him; (2) when Jesus was buried, you were buried with Him; (3) when Jesus rose, you rose with Him.
First, Jesus' death had your name on it. That's the reason the apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ." Jesus paid the debt we owed with His blood. Second, not only did we die with Jesus, but we were buried with Jesus. He carried our sins into the grave of God's forgetfulness. Thirdly, we have been raised with Jesus. Christians are not just nice people, they're new creatures. We have the same power that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead. We have that power in us. We are new people.
Reckon — Your Appropriation Of Christ
We must first know our identification with Christ, then we can make the appropriation of His life. The word reckon is a bookkeeping term that literally means to count on it. Reckoning is not just closing your eyes and pretending it to be true. It is appropriating, by faith, what you know to be true.
So many of us want to feel victorious, but let me tell you something. Our feelings are the shallowest part of our nature. Salvation is the deepest work of God. And, God doesn't do the deepest work in the shallowest part. We need to get our salvation out of the realm of fickle emotions and begin to reckon the Truth of God's Word. We must count on the life of Christ in us day-by-day and moment-by-moment. Are you with me so far?
Yield — Your Emancipation Through Christ
A country preacher prayed, "Lord, help me to cooperate with you so You won't have to operate on me." We need to learn to cooperate with God. And we do this by yielding.
First, there must be the dethronement of sin. Romans 6:12 says, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body." You don't have to let sin rule in your body. You have kingdom authority power to be victorious. Take the Word of God and say, "I know my identification with Christ, I reckon my appropriation with Christ and so now I dethrone sin in my life. Satan, you are not going to ruin my life."
Second, there must be the enthronement of the Savior. Romans 6:13 says, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."
It's not enough to say, "Satan, be gone in the name of Jesus!" You must enthrone the Savior. You say, "Lord Jesus, right now I put you upon the throne of my life. I yield myself to you."
Now, here's the third thing, there must be the enslavement of the saint. Romans 6:18 describes Christians as "the servants of righteousness." To live the victorious life, you must become Jesus' slave. You may say, "Well, Pastor, I don't think I want to be a slave." Well, you're going to be a slave of Jesus or a slave of Satan (see Matthew 6:24).
Being a bondservant to the Lord Jesus Christ is a divine privilege that brings a new freedom (see Romans 6:18), a new faithfulness (see Romans 6:19) and a new fruitfulness (see Romans 6:21).
Starting tomorrow morning, I want you to put these three things into practice — know, reckon, and yield. When you wake up, lift your hands to God and praise Him — that's acknowledging His Lordship in your life. Then turn your hands up and say, "Lord, not only did You give yourself for me, but You gave Yourself to me. I receive Your fullness." That's reckoning God's Word to be true. Finally, put your hands in the air, bow your head, and say, "Lord, I yield to you. Live your life through me. I'm completely yours."
You're going to find out when you walk in do these three things — know, reckon, and yield — that God will begin to live His life through you in ways that you never dreamed possible!
