Kenneth Copeland - The force of faith

Contents

A Message from Kenneth Copeland

After you have made Jesus the Lord of your life, you are not faced with the problem of getting over in the spirit. The Bible says we are in the spirit, so let's walk in the spirit. You have been born into the spiritual world. People have the mistaken idea that the world of the spirit is an unreal, unreasonable, unsanctioned, and unregulated world where you never know what will happen. This is not true. The world of the spirit is God's realm, and the world of the natural is controlled by the world of the spirit. God is a spirit. Jesus said that those that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. The authority of the spiritual world was given to Jesus when He was raised from the dead; this world is lorded over by Jesus of Nazareth. Believers have been given His name to operate in authority here in the earth. God, a spirit, created all matter, so the world of the spirit is more real and powerful than the world of the natural, physical, see-and-be-seen world. The world of the spirit rules the world of the natural.

Whosoever believeth Jesus is the Christ is born of God. We are creatures of the world of the spirit, and we need to know how to walk under the laws that govern this spiritual world instead of continuing to walk under the laws that govern the natural, physical world. When we learn the laws, rules, and regulations that govern the world of the spirit, we will gain the knowledge of how to govern the world of the natural. We are not to be controlled by the flesh, but we are to control the flesh. We are not to be controlled by our minds, but we are to control our minds. Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. You overcome the things of this world by spiritual power. This is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith (I

John 5:4). Those things in the fleshy, natural world are still there, but you and I are to govern them with higher laws and with greater powerthe power of God through faith.

The four major forces of power born into the human spirit at the time of conversion are the force of faith, the force of righteousness, the force of wisdom, and the force of the love of God. This book will cover the force of faith and its twin, the power of patience.

The Forces of the Recreated Human Spirit

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16, 17, 25

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Romans 8:6 tells us that to be carnally minded is death. The carnal mind is the mind unregulated by the Word of God. You will either be obedient to the lusts of the flesh or to the Word of God. This word flesh as used in the Scripture simply means body, the five physical senses. If you are going to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, it will kill you. This is a blunt but true statement. If you are going to mind the things of the flesh, if you are going to be flesh minded, carnally minded, if you are going to walk after the dictates of the flesh, then death is the result. (When I say flesh, many think I am talking about sex, but sex is only a small part of the five physical sense realm .)

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. In the Greek testament there are no capitalizations. The word spirit has been capitalized here at the privilege of the translators. You need to know that this scripture is not primarily speaking of the Holy Spirit but of your spirit. The Holy Spirit has not been sent to lust against your flesh. He lusts against no one, not even the devil.

He is not warring against the devil. Jesus did that and left Satan defeated. That war is over! The Holy Spirit has been sent to help you. He is your Teacher, Comforter, Advocate, Standby, Intercessor, Helper . His role is not to dominate you but to assist you.

The reborn human spirit was recreated to rule over the human system. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul prayed that God would sanctify you completelyspirit, soul, and body. It does not say body, soul, and spirit. The Bible never speaks of the reborn man in this order. If you listen carefully, you will hear people quote this verse as "body, soul, and spirit." Test yourself and find out where your thinking is. If you have them in the wrong order, change and renew your mind now to spirit, soul, and body.

To be a powerful Christian your spirit, trained in the Word, must be in command of your mind and body. The chain of command is spirit (heart), soul (mind), body (flesh). The words spirit and heart can be used interchangeably; the words soul and mind can be used interchangeably; and the words body and flesh can be used interchangeably. Your mind should obey what your heart tells it to do, and your heart should be trained by the Holy Spirit in line with the Word of God. The human system works perfectly in this order.

Paul by the Holy Spirit is saying that the flesh lusteth or drives against the spirit (the human spirit, the reborn spirit of a man) and the spirit against the man's flesh. The spirit of the man is demanding that the flesh obey him, and the flesh is reluctant to give up its control. Before a man is born again, his flesh (body) completely dominates his life and will continue to do so unless his mind is renewed by God's Word.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow ...

Hebrews 4:12

Only the Word can put the spirit, soul, and body of a man in proper order.

Paul said, with my spirit I serve God. He is talking of the spirit on the inside of him who is doing his best to please God. His flesh is trying to continue to live unrestrained and unregulated as it has had the freedom to do for years. When a man's mind is not renewed to the New Testament, his spirit is trying to go one way at the leadership of the Holy Spirit and his body and his mind are attempting to live as they have always lived, following after the world's order of things. He is being pulled in two different directions at once. When the man was born again, his spirit became a new creature in Christ Jesus, but his mind and body were unchanged. Now his spirit is right with God but his mind and body must be trained.

But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings , murders, drunkenness, revellings , and such like ...

Galatians 5:18-20

Why does the flesh have a desire to do such things? Is our flesh bound to stay that way forever? The devil would like for us to believe so. Then we would continually combat our flesh and let him alone. Your flesh is not evil. The flesh has no nature of its own. It is controlled by some other forceeither good or evil. Your flesh cannot even live without your spirit. When the spirit leaves the body, the body will instantly fall over lifeless. It is nothing but a bag of meat and bones. It has no life of its own but draws its life from the spirit within it.