Absolute Surrender (2025-26 Agape Disciple Group) > 제자학교

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A lot of the teachings I have received from NCBC over the years have been confirmed after reading Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray. In 2012, I heard the phrase “being and not doing” and it still echoes until this day as a reminder that it is God who does all of the work through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, my response is to simply adore and worship Jesus who died for my sins. It helped me to realize that religion was created by humans with a work-based salvation and the responsibility falls on the individual and not God. Whereas, in christianity, the emphasis is always on God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who does the divine and spiritual work to save us from our sins, sanctify us to be God’s children, and carry us to eternity. Mankind could never compete against the glorious work of God; whatever is impossible with men is possible with God. 

But while we’re still living in the flesh, we tend to be spiritually weak and the love of self is constantly being tempted by Satan to disregard the power of God. We, along with Satan, want to be in control and be the god of our own lives. Ultimately, we want to take away God’s glory and be known for our own glory. And this is so true even in the case of the church, as Murray terms it “religious flesh”. When we are not careful in our utter dependence on God (meaning when we are not seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit), the natural sin-driven man resurfaces to dethrone Jesus from their heart and starts to rely on their own efforts, resulting in self-sufficiency. Somehow the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit become a backburner, and when we are not cautious of this, we completely become oblivious to Satan’s work in making sure God is not needed even in the church.

From my personal experiences, I have noticed the danger when the application from a sermon or bible study can somehow mislead the church by placing so much responsibility on humans and not focusing on God’s omnipotence to trust in His strength over ours. The gospel message should never be obvious or cliche to the church. When the gospel is “expected to be known and fully understood” by the body of Christ, then the power of God immediately fades and opens the door for the carnal men and Satan to operate in deception over the church. Oh Lord, awaken the church that we have no power to do any good, except only through the power of the Holy Spirit!

God has been breaking me constantly over the years to show how much of a sin driven and wretched person I have become and how much I lean on my own self righteous ways, fooling myself that I am good enough in the eyes of God. I believe that the gospel will move my heart daily, minute by minute, towards utter dependence on God and eventually surrendering everything to Jesus, especially when it hurts my flesh (pride and ego) the most. I trust that Jesus is the Vine and I will find strength and rest through Him as His branch.