A Voice from the Past: Miles J. Stanford

Miles Stanford used to say, “Let the facts of your position overwhelm the feelings of your condition.”

What Did He Mean?

• The facts of your position refer to your unchanging spiritual status in Christ — your positional truth.
• The feelings of your condition refer to your variable emotional experiences and life circumstances — your conditional reality.

Stanford was urging believers to anchor their mindset and assurance in the objective truths of Scripture rather than being tossed around by subjective emotional fluctuations or external circumstances.

Biblical and Theological Foundations

Miles Stanford was heavily influenced by Pauline theology — especially truths found in Romans 6–8, Ephesians, and Colossians. These books emphasize our position in Christ:

• Justified freely by His grace (Rom. 3:24)
• Crucified, buried, raised, and seated with Christ (Rom. 6:3–11; Eph. 2:4–6)
• Complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)
• Accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6)

These are facts. They are true whether we feel them or not.

But our condition — our emotional state, mental struggles, physical hardships, or even sinful failures — may not reflect those truths at a given moment.

Stanford was saying: Don’t judge the reality of your spiritual identity by how you feel or how you’re doing today. Instead, reaffirm what is eternally true because of your position in Christ.

Countering a Common Error

Many Christians—especially those influenced by performance-based sanctification models—tie their assurance and joy to their ability to obey, feel close to God, or produce fruit. Stanford, in contrast, represents a positional sanctification view.

He’s echoing the idea that sanctification flows from resting in your identity, not striving to earn or maintain it.

Application

• In times of failure: Remind yourself that “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

• When feeling unworthy: Recall that you are accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6).

• When discouraged: Rest in the truth that your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).

Conclusion

Stanford’s quote is a call to biblical thinking over emotional living — to walk by faith in God’s Word rather than by fluctuating feelings or circumstances. It encapsulates a core tenet of victorious Christian living: that identity in Christ is the foundation for everything else.

So then, in the midst of weakness, failure, or fluctuating emotions, anchor your heart in the unchanging truth of God’s Word. You are not what you feel—you are who God declares you to be in Christ. Let the unshakable facts of your position in Him rise above the shifting sands of your condition. For in Christ, your identity is settled, your acceptance is secure, and your victory is already won.