July 2022 Living For God Last month, I dealt with the promise of God given to me as it regards how to live for God. I had mentioned how the Lord told me, “I’m going to show you some things about the Holy Spirit that you do not now know.” I also related that when the Lord spoke to me, I was somewhat taken aback. The Holy Spirit is God, and there are all types of things about Him that I do not know; however, I knew the Lord was speaking of the problem at hand, namely, how to live for God—how to live a victorious life. No, the lord does not teach sinless perfection. If we understood anything about sin, we would know that it’s really not possible for us to reach the position of perfection in this life. But we can have victory over sin, that it not dominate us. Paul plainly said, “Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are living under grace and not law” (Rom. 6:14). But the sad fact is, sin does have dominion over most Christians, simply because they do not know how to live for God. In other words, they try to do everything themselves, mostly out of ignorance. It never works because it cannot work. Sin is powerful, so powerful that it took the death of Christ on the cross to address this monster. But thank God He did go to the cross to pay a ransom we could not pay, to solve the problem we could not solve, to give us victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. But the truth is, most Christians don’t know what Jesus actually did, and they keep trying to do this thing themselves but never succeeding. The Cross Now the cross enters the picture, very simply stated but so powerful. I remember it was one of our morning prayer meetings, and there were probably only about twenty people there, if that. Little did I realize what the Lord would show me that morning when we went to prayer. All of a sudden, the Lord spoke this to my heart: • The answer for which you seek is found in the cross. • The solution you seek is found in the cross. • The answer you seek is found only in the cross. There was not much said, but what was said was a powerhouse. The first thought I had was about the Holy Spirit even though the Lord, at this time, never mentioned the Holy Spirit. I sought the Lord earnestly about this, but there was no answer. Nevertheless, what the Lord did show me that day was a powerhouse of unprecedented proportions: “The answer for which you seek is found only in the cross.” In other words, victory over sin is found only in the cross. Immediately, I began to teach this great subject over our morning radio program. If I remember correctly, we only had three radio stations then. The Lord still did not mention to me anymore about the Holy Spirit, but I knew that the Holy Spirit played a great part in all that we did, for the Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit, had helped me to touch this world for Christ, actually seeing untold thousands brought to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I knew that I didn’t have the entire picture, only a part, but what little I did have was enough to cause me to realize there was much more to come. And to be sure that was exactly correct—there was much more to come. The Means There was so much I did not know, and I understood that readily. How was it that the cross was the answer to our problem? What part did it play? We were in a campmeeting which took place very shortly after the Lord had given me this word that I just gave to you. I was to preach that night, so I went to prayer seeking the Lord about the service. I was physically exhausted, so I stretched out on the floor to importune the Lord to give me that which He wanted me to give to the people that night. I remember asking, “Lord how is the cross our solution?” The Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Jesus Christ is the source of all things that you receive from God, but the cross is the means.” In other words, the cross is what makes it all possible, the price that Jesus there paid, the great work that He accomplished. To be sure, if God could have done it any other way than having His Son go through the horror of the cross, that He would have done. But He didn’t do it another way, simply because it could not be done any other way. So, what did He mean by “the cross is the means”? Everything It simply means that every single thing we receive from God, and I mean everything, is made possible by the cross—forgiveness of sin, victory over sin, gifts of the Spirit, fruit of the Spirit, eternal life—these things are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, in comparison to what He did for us at the cross. I’ll say it again, the cross of Christ is the means by which all of these wonderful things are done. I’m going to pick this up next month with the next installment, and you won’t want to miss it! In the Master’s service, yours, Jimmy Swaggart