Capturing Victory: Inner Healing In The Modern Church - Part 2 Series

Romans 6:1-7

Summary: True discipleship involves the transformation of the heart. From the heart flows the issues of life. When Jesus saves us, He goes to work on our hearts and changes us. That's why we "give our hearts to Jesus."

Galatians 2:18 – "For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor."

I. Practicing Biblical Principles Will Transform Your Heart

A. The Heart: As you can imagine, God placed the healing of the heart as of utmost importance in spiritual formation and mature discipleship. He mentioned it over 40 times in Scripture. Consider passages such as:

1. "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

2. "Love the LORD your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind" (Matthew 22:37).

3. "Trust in the LORD with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).

4. "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19).

5. "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart" (Proverbs 21:2).

6. "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).

7. "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).

8. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).

B. Forgiveness: True "inner healing" comes by accepting what God has already done through forgiveness and appropriating His promises. The Bible warns against imaginations that would interfere with knowing God as He truly is (See 2 Cor. 10:5).

1. Christians don't need to conjure up a mental image of Jesus in the memory of a painful life circumstance or situation nor in an attempt to draw closer to Him in the here and now.

2. Everyone needs redemption.

a. Painful experiences are directly and indirectly caused by the sinful nature passed down to all of humanity. Those who have been emotionally, physically, and spiritually wounded can have their hearts and minds completely healed by Jesus Christ.

b. The foundation of all emotional, spiritual, and physical healing is found in forgiveness - through both receiving and giving - as defined by the shedding of Jesus' blood on the Cross.

C. Accepting the Finished Work of Calvary: God states that He "blots out transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins." (Isa 43:25 NIV)

1. Jesus dealt with ALL sin - once and for all - on the Cross, where the sin of every Christian became His, and the righteousness of Jesus became theirs.

2. The Bible declares that Jesus; "died for all, therefore all have died, and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised... Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Cor. 5:14-15 NIV).

D. Moving On: The Bible commands the Believer to forget "what lies behind" and strain "forward to what lies ahead" as they "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14 NIV)

1. The Bible prohibits reliving the details of past sins that were committed: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose (reprove, condemn evil) them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret." (Eph 5:11-12 NIV)

2. The past has no hold over a Born-Again Christian. They find perfect peace as the Holy Spirit applies the finished work of Jesus to their hearts, for they are "sprinkled and purified from an evil conscience" by the power of the blood of Jesus. (Heb 10:19-22 NIV).

II. Capturing Victory

A. The Bible has revealed how every person can find freedom from the old nature and establish a relationship with God. True healing comes when a person accepts the truth that "all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory of God." (Rom 3: 23 NIV)

1. All internal subjective experiences, perceptions, feelings, and thinking must be in total submission and conformity to God's Word alone. It is what one believes that ultimately determines behavior, not what a person feels.

B. God's prerequisite for a person to be set free from sin is repentance and confession of personal rejection of God. Jesus said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt 4:17 NIV) Jesus didn't come to call "the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:31-32 NIV)