You may be questioning, “Brother Cerullo, is it really possible for us today to walk in one-hundred percent obedience to God? “You may look at your own weaknesses and failures and think, “I just can't do it. I might as well give up. The harder I try, the more I fail. I just don't see how it is possible for anyone to walk in one-hundred percent obedience to the Word!”

It is impossible for man to walk in one-hundred percent obedience to God and His Word in his own strength. Under the Old Covenant, man was required to walk in obedience to the law God set forth on Mount Sinai. He was unable to do it and he lived under the curses that were pronounced upon those who were disobedient. If you are struggling to obey God and live in accordance with His Word in your own strength, stop! It is impossible in your own strength. You can't do it!

Under the New Covenant, however, God has made it possible. The New Covenant is not based upon your ability to live your life in one-hundred percent obedience to God. God has placed His Spirit within you, giving you the power to obey Him and keep His commandments. God promised, “I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27).

You have been totally set free from the power of sin! Paul told the Romans, “For sin shall not (any longer) exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law (as slaves), but under grace — as subjects of God's favor and mercy” (Romans 6:14, TAB). There are those who take this verse out of context and use it to encourage permissiveness, self-indulgence, and the satisfaction of carnal desires and lusts of the flesh. They have the attitude that since they are no longer under the law they are no longer obligated to live their lives in one-hundred percent obedience to God and His Word.

In this passage, Paul was not telling the Romans that they were free from the law to live their lives fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. He was emphasizing their freedom from the power of sin. He was teaching them that since they were no longer bound by the power of sin, they were to stop yielding themselves to the cravings of their flesh and yield themselves instead to righteousness. Through the power of the Holy Spirit living within you, you are set free from the power of sin. You have been given power to obey.

There are Christians today who yield themselves to the lusts of their flesh and afterward say, “I just couldn't help myself. I have no control over my actions.” Do not be deceived! You do have control through the power of the Holy Spirit. Whatever you face today, Satan cannot make you rebel against God. He cannot make you disobey God and His Word. He cannot make you yield to temptation. He has absolutely no power over you, except what you allow him to have.

Sin no longer has dominion over me because I am no longer under the law. I am under grace, an object of God's favor and mercy.