Doug Reed Ministries Blog: An Unconditional Surrender

On September 2, 1945 at precisely 9:04 am aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay WW2 officially ended. Signing on behalf of the Emperor, the representatives (pictured above) inked a signature that offered a full and unconditional surrender. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Allied Commander, conducted the ceremony. He stated at the event these immortal words: "It is my earnest hope - indeed the hope of all mankind - that from this solemn occasion a better world would emerge out of the carnage of the past." If you follow history, you know that Japan would arise to new, unimaginable heights of prosperity in the next few decades. Their surrender made possible a better life of freedom for all of us.

I am using this incredible story as an introduction to a purity teaching I will do for a group of men tonight. A pure life begins with a moment of true and unconditional surrender to Christ. Most of us practice some form of false surrender. We hold on to the battle of self effort and refuse to submitt to the power of God.

Here are 3 examples of false surrender... this is a part of my introduction for tonight.

Partial Surrender - Our issues of sin are usually a replacement for true fulfillment, which makes them difficult to fully forsake. We cannot keep our strength in ourselves and surrender at the same time... He is made strong in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Conditional Surrender - To forsake our issues but keep access to their benefits is the most common form of false surrender. "You cannot harbor an enemy inside of your walls of protection and not expect that he will not kill you in your sleep."

Counterfeit Surrender - This is about going through the motions but not really giving up. Our surrender has to be willful with brokenness at its core.

The addictive behavior that we face can only truly be conquered by a submission to the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 7 and 8 really outline this truth and this struggle in amazing detail. Even the great Apostle Paul had to surrender because he could not do this on his own.