Surrender Sounds Like Victory To Me

The Need of Surrender

When Surrender sounds like Victory"

*the word surrender is not in the Bible, but "yield" is. It is the KJV word equivalent.

Ephesians 2:8,9

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

I agree with all who say that no one can earn their salvation. It is not of works. It can't be bought. You can't be good enough to merit it.

On the same token, I do not believe that God simply chooses to save some souls and leave others to perish. Man has a part to play in the whole matter.

Our part is to surrender. That is not works. The opposite of surrender is to resist and/or fight.

It is also necessary to understand what we mean when we talk about the flesh.

We are all made up of body (flesh), soul, and spirit.

But we also must understand what the Bible means when it tells us to crucify the flesh and not to walk after the flesh. God is referring to the flesh nature that is contrary to the spirit nature.

As long as mankind is under the control of the flesh nature, he or she is resisting the Spirit of God. To receive the gift of salvation, one must surrender to God.

Ro 6:13 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. {instruments: Gr. arms, or, weapons}

Ro 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Ro 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

The flesh will do just about anything to not seek God. Even as christians, we have to drag ourselves out of bed early enough to spend some time with God before starting our daily routine.

I. Subdued Surrender --when you have no real choice; it is forced

II Simulated Surrender --going through the motions; doing it with ulterior motives

III.Sweet Surrender --giving up and receiving a reward of victory

Illustration: The canadians bicker and argue about not wanting to become the 51st state of USA, but if they would ever give in, it would be a sweet deal for them.

The flesh never wants to surrender. It takes resisting, rebuking, and relinquishing on our part. Our spiritual man has to take authority and surrender it all to God.

Ro 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Paul found the secret to current and continual victory. It was and is surrender. It is crucifying the old man (the flesh nature). It is our decision and it requires our discipline.

Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth 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.

Paul speaks of being crucified with Christ because he willingly surrendered to Him and enjoyed his salvation while living in the flesh (body).

The word "commitment" came in common use around 1960. It became the replacement word for "surrender", as it relates to give everything over to God. The two words are not the same. When someone makes a commitment, they are still in control. Surrender is handing the reins over to another and giving up control.

One Romanian pastor who had been persecuted for his faith, and now worked as a translator, stated that if someone preached about commitment in his language, that he would have to come up with a way to explain the concept, because that word does not exist in the romanian language.

Illustration of man petting the tom cat backwards. The cat would hiss and raise its back. Someone scolded him and asked him why he was agitating the old cat. The man replied, "all it has to do is turn around and he would be happy.