The Daily Affirmation of Faith

by Victor M. Matthews

Today I deliberately choose to submit myself fully to God as He has made Himself known to me through the Holy Scriptures which I honestly accept as the only inspired, infallible, authoritative standard for all of life and practice. In this day I will not judge God, His work, myself or others on the basis of feelings or circumstances.

In particular–I recognize by faith:

1. That the triune God is worthy of all honor, praise, and worship as the Creator, Sustainer, and End of all things. As my Creator I confess that God made me for Himself. In this day I therefore choose to live for Him (Rev. 5:9,10; Isa. 43:1, 7, 21; Rev. 4:11).

2. That God loved me and chose me in Christ before time began (Eph. 1:1-7).

3. That God has proven His love to me in sending His Son to die in my place, whereby every provision has already been made for my past, present, and future needs through His representative work whereby I have been quickened, raised, seated with Christ in the heavenlies and anointed with the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:6-11; 8:28-39; Phil. 1:6; 4:6, 7, 13, 19; Eph. 1:3; 2:5, 6; Acts 2:1-4, 33).

4. That since I have received Christ as my Lord and Savior, I believe God’s Word that He has received me (Jn. 1:12; Eph. 1:6); forgiven me (Eph. 1:7); adopted me into His family whereby He has assumed every responsibility for me (Jn. 17:11, 17, 21, 24; Eph. 1:5; Phil. 1:6); given to me eternal life (Jn. 3:36, I Jn. 5:9-13), applied Christ’s perfect righteousness to me whereby I am justified (Rom. 5:1); has made me complete in Christ (Col. 2:10); that He offers Himself to me as my daily sufficiency through prayer and the decisions of faith (I Cor. 1:30; Col. 1:27 Gal. 2:20; Jn. 14:13, 14; Matt. 21:22; Rom. 6:1-19, Heb. 4:1-3, 11); and that the Holy Spirit Himself has baptized me into the Body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13); sealed me (Eph. 1:13,14); anointed me for life and service (Acts 1:8; Jn. 7:37-39); seeks to lead me into a deeper walk with Christ (Jn. 14:16-18; 15:26, 27; 16:13-15; Rom. 8:11-16), and to fill my life with Himself (Eph. 5:18). I accept these truths as realities in my life today.

5. That only God can deal with sin and only God can produce holiness of life. I confess that in my salvation my part was only to receive Him and that He dealt with my sin and saved me. Now I confess that in order to live a holy life, I can only surrender to His will and receive Him as my sanctification, trusting Him to do that glorious work within whereby I may be enabled to live today in purity, freedom, rest, and power for His glory (Jn. 1:12; I Cor. 1:30; II Cor. 9:8; Gal. 2:20; Heb. 4:9; I Jn. 5:4; Jude 24).

Having confessed that God is worthy of all praise, that the Scriptures are the only authoritative standard, that only God can deal with sin and produce holiness of life, I again recognize my total dependence upon Him and submission to Him. I accept the truth that praying in faith is absolutely necessary for the realization of the will and grace of God in my daily life of sanctification (I Jn. 5:14,15, James 2:6, 4:2, 3, 5:1618; Phil. 4:6, 7; Heb. 4:1-3; 11:6, 24-28).

Recognizing that faith is a total response to God whereby the daily provisions which the Lord has provided in Himself are appropriated, I THEREFORE MAKE THE FOLLOWING DECISIONS OF FAITH.

1. For this day (Heb. 3:7,13,15; 4:7) I make the decision of faith to wholly surrender to the authority of God as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures –TO OBEY HIM. I hereby confess my sin, face the sinful reality of my old nature [flesh] and deliberately choose to walk in the light, in step with Christ, throughout the hours of this day (Rom. 6:16-20; Phil. 2:12-13; I John 1:7,9).

2. For this day I make the decision of faith to wholly surrender to the authority of God as revealed in the Scriptures–TO BELIEVE HIM. I accept only His Word as final authority. I now believe that since I have confessed my sin He has forgiven and cleansed me (I John 1:9). I accept His Word of promise, to be my sufficiency and rest, at full value and will conduct myself accordingly (Exod. 33:14; I Cor. 1:30; II Cor. 9:8; Phil. 4:19).

3. For this day I make the decision of faith to recognize that God has made every necessary provision so that I may fulfill His will and calling. Therefore I will not make any excuse for my sin and failure (I Thess. 5:24).

4. For this day I make the decision of faith to deliberately receive from God that provision which He has made for me. I hereby renounce all self-effort to live the Christian life and to perform God’s service; renounce all sinful activity which only weeps over sin and failure; renounce all sinful praying which asks God to change circumstances and people so that I may be more spiritual; renounce all drawing back from the work of the Holy Spirit within and the call of God without, and renounce all non-Biblical motives, goals, and activities which serve my sinful pride.

a. I sincerely receive Christ as my sanctification, particularly now as my cleansing from the old nature [flesh], and ask the Holy Spirit to apply to me the work Christ accomplished for me on the Cross. In cooperation and dependence upon Him, I obey the command to “put off [the conduct of] the old man” (Rom. 6:1-14, I Cor. 1:30; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 4:22).

b. I sincerely receive Christ as my sanctification, particularly now as my enablement moment by moment to live above sin, and ask the Holy Spirit to apply to me the work of the Resurrection so that I may walk in newness of life. I confess that only God can deal with my sin and only God can produce holiness and the fruit of the Spirit in my life. In cooperation and dependence upon Him, I obey the command to “put on [the conduct of] the new man” (Rom. 6:1-4; Eph. 4:24).

c. I sincerely receive Christ as my deliverance from Satan and take my position with Him in the heavenlies asking the Holy Spirit to apply to me the work of the Ascension. In His Name I submit myself to God and stand against all Satanic influence and subtilty. In cooperation with and dependence upon God, I obey the command to “resist the Devil” (Eph.1:20-23;2:5,6;4:27; 6:10-18; Col. 1:13; Heb. 2:14,16; James 4:7; I Pet. 5:8,9).

d. I sincerely receive the Holy Spirit as my anointing for every aspect of life and service for today. I fully open my life to Him to fill me afresh in obedience to the command to “be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 5:18; John 7:37-39;14:17,26;15:26, 27;16:7-15; Acts 1:8).

Having made this confession and these decisions of faith, I now receive God’s promised rest for this day (Heb. 4:1-13). Having sincerely attempted to do my part, I now assume the rest of faith that God will do His part. Therefore, I relax in the trust of faith knowing that in the moment of temptation, trial, or need, the Lord will be there as my strength and sufficiency (I Cor. 10:13).

~~~~~~~

For a list of precise definitions for such terms as “flesh,” “old man” etc., please see https://gracenotebook.com/definitions/. For further study on the distinction between once-for-all pardon and daily cleansing, see https://gracenotebook.com/the-christians-confession-of-sins/.

This article is available as a tract from Osterhus Publishing House, 4500 W. Broadway Minneapolis, MN 55422 Toll Free: 1-877-643-4229. (This tract costs $8.50 for 100; $19 for 500; $28 for 1000 Shipping & Postage: Add 30 percent of total.) http://www.osterhuspub.com