The Truth About the
Abundant Life

Dr. Steven E.

The abundant life has been, generally, misinterpreted. As a result, more Christians than you would believe are disappointed and disenchanted with the Christian life. They are expecting something from God that He never promised. This false expectancy causes bitterness and a turning away from God.

John 10:10 says, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Jesus said, “Not only am I come that you might have life, but that you might have life more abundantly:’ The life that Jesus came to give us is unique because it is the very life of God Himself. That we actually tabernacle the very life of God on the inside of us is quite a miracle. Jesus did not come to start a new society; He did not come to better the environment; He did not come to begin a new religion; He came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly.
What did Jesus promise when He said He had come to bring abundant life? People stand in testimony meetings and say something like this, “When you know Jesus and you are walking with God, you are always up; you’ are always on top of the world.” These people, I am sure, do not mean to lie; but that is just not true.

I have heard others say, “When you are a Christian, nothing can bother you.” These people do not mean to lie, but there is no one in the world who can say, “Nothing bothers me:’ All of us are bothered at times.
There are others who believe the abundant life is sinless perfection. They believe that you can enter so deep into the things of God that you become perfect and can live above sin.

Some believe that the abundant life is a constant, spiritual bubbling over all the time. If you are living the abundant life, you are always singing and shouting and praising; if you are not doing those things, then you are not living the abundant life.

There are still others who believe the abundant life is the absence of problem and troubles. However, the disciples that I read about in the Word of God had more troubles after they started following Jesus than they ever had before they started following Him. So the idea that the abundant life is a lack of troubles and problems is false.

What, then, is the abundant life? When Jesus said, “ I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly:’ what did He mean? What does the abundant life involve? What does it really give us?

Struggle is Normal
First of all, in the abundant life, struggle is normal. In Romans 7, a great man of God tells us about the struggle that we have even though we are God’s and are living the life we should be living. Of course, I am speaking of the great Apostle Paul, who certainly lived the abundant life if anyone ever has.

All kinds of excuses have been made for this chapter. Some say that it is a testimony of Paul before his salvation; others say he was writing concerning a time before he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Neither is true. In chapter 7 of Romans, Paul is showing us that struggle is normal, even in the abundant life.

In verses 15-18: “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”

Finally in verse 24 he says, “0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” And then in verse 25, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . .”

In these verses Paul is fighting the battle, struggling with the same problems that you and I struggle with. He is saying, “I find a law in my members that there is no good thing in my flesh:’

I have a message entitled, “Some Funerals I Would Like to Conduct: One is the funeral of the old Steven E. Byrd, but I cannot conduct that funeral. The old Adamic nature that I had before I found the Saviour will live with me until I die. It will never be eradicated. Neither will yours. As long as we are in the body of this flesh, we will struggle with the old Adamic self we had before we found the Saviour. It will always be there.

We should strive not to sin, but to believe we can live above sin is an impossible dream. When God saved you, He changed you so you hate sin, but He did not make you so you cannot sin. First John, chapter 1, and verse 8, which is addressed specifically to Christians, says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us:’ And verse 10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar. . . .”
Paul said, “I struggle with the old flesh; I find that those things that I do not want to think about, Oh, I despise it. At times, those things that I do not want to do, I do. I hate it; I despise it, but I sometimes fail and sin:’
I am sure there is someone who will say, “I am fighting a battle that no other Christian in the world has ever fought; I am so rotten and low down and no good that God could never do anything with me.” Take comfort, my friend, there are many other Christians fighting the same battle.

You are dealing with a besetting sin, and you say, “Nobody in the world has to deal with this but me.”
Satan then whispers in your ear that you are all by yourself. He tells you that no one else has ever had a fault like that. As a born-again Christian, sometimes a thought runs through your mind and you say, How could I even think that if I am born again? Then Satan says, “You rotten hypocrite!”

Maybe you think you are not even saved because of the thoughts that run through your mind; but the truth is, you hate it while it is there. You may ask, What is happening to me? The answer is, you are having the struggles that every Christian has; you are dealing with the same battle ‘that every Christian battles. You must understand that struggle is not unusual but usual; it is not unnatural but natural; it is not weakness but strength; it is not isolated but common!
. All have a besetting sin to battle. You are not alone. Because of that emotional battle you are having in your life, Satan may say to you, “If you were right with God, you would not have to fight that depression and despondency.” How many times has he tried to defeat you with that? Some say that depression and despondency are foolish, but I have been dealing with folk for many years; and I find that many of God’s good, dear people have to fight the battle with depression and despondency. To add to their problems, the Devil says to them, “If you were right with God, you would not have to fight that:’

Now, sin does depress; sin is heavy, but sin is not the only reason that the child of God has to fight off the Satanic attacks of depression and despondency. Maybe you have problems in your thought life, and you think, surely something is drastically wrong. Your thought life should be right with God, and you should learn to deal with your thoughts.

Oh, be careful little eyes what you see, and be careful little ears what you hear. But let me emphasize something to you: every child of God has to fight and struggle to be sure his mind is right and straight and pure. You are not alone!

The abundant life includes struggle! It is normal. However, I do not want you to think that you must live a defeated life. In chapter 8 of Romans, Paul says, ‘Now wait a minute! You can have victory; you do not have to live defeated. You can live victoriously: In verse 1, he says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit:’

You do not have to walk after the flesh, you can walk after the Spirit; but for you to believe that there is not going to be any struggle in your Christian life, that you are going to reach a place where there will be no struggle, is foolish and misleading.

He comes to verses 5 through 7 and says:
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind [that is the fleshly mind] is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

The old flesh will never be subject to the law of God. The old self will always battle and struggle. There is no good thing in the flesh.

Then he says in verse 8, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” and in verse 9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. . . .”

You, may say, “Preacher, what is the answer to it?” look in verses 12 and 13: “Therefore, brethren we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live:’ The word “mortify” means “put to death.” We must, moment by moment and hour by hour, put to death the deeds of the body.

Again I want to emphasize that in the abundant life, struggle is normal. I find many Christians today who believe that because they are having struggles in their Christian lives, they are no good, that God has taken His hand off them and they cannot do anything for God. Many believe they are dirty and vile just because they are having struggles.