HOW IS SALVATION?
It is rather unfortunate that many Christians are of the notion that once they
believe and attend church services regularly and punctually, their salvation is
assured. This is only an illusion. Your belief is meaningless and will achieve
nothing if you fail to carry out everything Jesus Christ teaches us. Respecting
this, Paul says, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the
word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain.” 1
Corinthians 15:2. It follows then that your belief will be in vain if you do not
carry out all the guidelines Jesus Christ has given us.
The Nature of Man
The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that man is made up of spirit, body
and soul. The soul is life within the body. At the same time, the body serves as
the protective cover for the soul. The spirit body consists of the spirit and the
soul. The soul provides protective cover for the spirit while the spirit is life
within the soul. The two natures are so distinctly different to the extent that in
the eyes of one, the other does not seem to exist. For example, the physical eye
cannot see anything in the spiritual. The death of the body of flesh and blood
does not affect the spiritual body in any way. Another point worthy of note is
that the spirit of man can only be active in a life with GOD. On the other hand,
the body of flesh and blood can only be active in the domain of Satan. Now
that we are active in the world Satan rules, the spirit is passive. It can only be
active when the physical body is inactive as it happens in a dream, or trance or
vision.
Adam started life in the spiritual in the Garden of Eden in Paradise. His activities
in spiritual life with GOD came to an end when he was banished. He died. Man’
s spiritual nature then became passive as he now lives with Satan. Life in the
world of Satan is temporary. It must eventually come to ruin. On the other
hand, life with GOD is everlasting. Man was not created with eternal life. He
will, however, live eternally if he participates in Divine Nature, 2 Peter 1:3&4,
that is, led by the Spirit of GOD to do the will of GOD. There is no other way.
If Adam had eaten the fruit of the tree of life, he would have acquired Divine
knowledge of good and evil.
The Temptation
It is in our own interest to follow the Bible closely on this matter. The serpent
said to the woman: “Did GOD really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree
in the garden’? The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat from the
trees in the garden, but GOD did say, ‘You must not eat from the tree
that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you
will die.’ ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For
GOD knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you
will be like GOD, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that
the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also
desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave
some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of
both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked.”
Genesis 3:1-7. There you are. There was nothing romantic about the
temptation. In fact, the LORD GOD blessed sexual relations between them:
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
Genesis 1:28. The serpent tempted Adam and Eve to want to be like GOD.
The Banishment
“And the LORD GOD said, ‘The man has now become like one of us,
knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand
and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever.’ So the
LORD GOD banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the
ground from which he had been taken.” Genesis 3:22&23. Let us note
very carefully that Adam was not banished because he sinned, or because he
disobeyed. He was banished because he possessed knowledge of good and
evil like the LORD GOD. Ipso facto, he was not allowed to process eternal
life. For as long as the banishment continues, man in flesh and blood can do
nothing that will make him live for ever. This includes all the activities of man,
religious or not. In that case, the body of flesh and blood does not need
salvation, and indeed, cannot be saved. It is the soul that needs salvation. But
first, he has to be reconciled with GOD.
The Covenant of the Ten Commandments
The LORD GOD promised Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will
curse; all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2&3.
While Abraham was pleading for Sodom, the LORD GOD remarked: “Shall I
hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely
become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be
blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his
children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by
doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for
Abraham what he has promised him.” Genesis 18:17-19. This was an
allusion to the Covenant of the Ten Commandments and the Regulations.
The LORD GOD stated the reason for this Covenant: "Now if you obey me
fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my
treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for
me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:5&6. So, this
covenant was to make the Nation of Israel holy enough for Jesus Christ to
come from among the Jews. Once Jesus Christ came, this covenant became
obsolete. Jesus says: “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until
John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of GOD is being
preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.” Luke 16:16. The Law
is the Books of Moses and the Psalms. In clear terms, Jesus Christ says the era
of the Law and the Prophets ended with John the Baptist. Jesus Christ replaces
all that with the Gospel of Good News about how to enter into the Kingdom of
GOD. In spite of this, He says that every one is forcing his way into it. Of
course this is true. How else can one explain the ‘give your life to Christ’
syndrome? There is nothing like that in the Bible.
The Mission of Jesus Christ
Flesh and blood has nothing whatsoever to do with eternal life. It is the spirit
that died to GOD who needs redemption. Jesus says: “The Spirit gives life;
the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit
and they are life.” John 6:63. Emphatically, He says that His Mission has
nothing to do with the flesh. His words are spirit and it takes spiritual minds to
discern them. In the same vein He says: “I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. He has
done this by His resurrection. He came in the flesh. He was crucified on the
cross. He died. On the third day, He rose up from the dead. Forty days
afterwards, He ascended into heaven. Before he ascended, He ordered
baptism for believers. Baptism unites one with Jesus Christ in His death and
resurrection. Romans 6:3-10; Colossians 2: 12. “For all of you who were
baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3: 27.
Christ Jesus says: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in
me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of
the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” John 6:
36&37. Baptism is the bond; the New Covenant is the force that makes this
happen. When this happens, your spirit is reconciled with GOD. You are now
born of water. The blood of Jesus Christ has washed your sins away. To
maintain this righteousness, your spirit must be born of Spirit. Then you are led
to do the will of GOD. The Bible says: “He who does what is sinful is of the
devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The
reason the Son of GOD appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No
one who is born of GOD will continue to sin; he cannot go on sinning
because GOD’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because
he has been born of GOD.” 1 John 3:8&9. You now have the righteousness
of GOD. In support of this, the Bible tells us: “You who are trying to be
justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away
from grace.” Galatians 5:4. You are a Temple in which GOD lives by His
Spirit. In that case, as Jesus Christ says in John 4:21, not even the Temple in
Jerusalem is now a place of worship. He lives inside you. Worship Him all of
the time. We owe all of these to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The New Covenant
The promise of GOD to do all of these is in the New Covenant. The blood of
Jesus Christ that can wash your sins away is embedded in that Covenant. He
says: “This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28. The Bible says:
“Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22.
Prayers in any form or manner cannot wash your sins away. The promise of
GOD to live in us is in this Covenant. Our own obligations under this Covenant
are to: Repent; Believe; Confirm the New Covenant and then, Baptise. This is
the order Jesus Christ has given them.
The Covenant of the Ten Commandments and the Regulations was a
preparatory ground for the coming of the Messiah. It was to make the Jews
holy enough for the Son of GOD to come from among them. It was between
the LORD GOD and the descendants of Jacob. On the other hand, the
Covenant of the New Covenant is between the LORD GOD and the entire
human race. It is for the salvation of the world. Nothing outside this Covenant
contributes anything towards your salvation.
Where is heaven?
For man, heaven is here on earth. The Bible tells us: “The righteous will
inherit the land and dwell in it for ever.” Psalm 37:29. Let me remind that
only those who have the righteousness of GOD are righteous. Heaven is a
world inhabited by spirits who are led by the Spirit of GOD to do the will of
GOD. There are spiritual worlds of Satan, of course. Adam was created to live
on earth. He started life in the spiritual. The Bible tells us in Revelation 2:7 that
the tree of the fruit of life is in Paradise. This by common knowledge is heaven.
If Adam had eaten the fruit of life, he would have participated in Divine Nature,
2 Peter 1:4, to have knowledge of good and evil. Consequently, he would have
had the righteousness of GOD. He would have continued to live in the spiritual
for ever. As we all know, Adam was banished into a life of flesh and blood. It
follows then that by creation, our earth is both physical and spiritual. Now that
our earth is active in the physical, we live in a world Satan rules. When it
becomes active in the spiritual, we shall live in heaven, a world GOD rules.
Also, while active in flesh and blood, man possesses his own knowledge of
good and evil. He does his own will. On the other hand, His words are spirit.
John 6:63. Therefore, the law is spiritual. Romans 7:14. The will of GOD is in
the spiritual. This explains why no one is righteous before Him. “Clearly no
one is justified before GOD by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live
by faith.’ ” Galatians 3:11. For as long as man is active in flesh and blood, he
belongs to Satan. All of his righteous acts are like filthy rags before Him. Isaiah
64:6. The Bible directs us: “Do not love the world or anything in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust in his
eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the
Father but from the world. The world and his desires pass away, but the
man who does the will of GOD lives for ever.” 1 John 2:15-17. The
purpose of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to revive us in the spiritual, a life in
which man died in the Garden of Eden. Then man is born of water and his
citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3:20.
“Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on
things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of GOD. Set your
minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your
life is now hidden with Christ in GOD. When Christ, who is your life
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4.
When Jesus comes back, He shall not be in flesh and blood. We have proof of
this. During His trial, “The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under
oath by the living GOD: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of the
GOD?’ ‘Yes, it is as you say,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: In
the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ ” Matthew 26:63&64.
‘The clouds of heaven’ in the passage is the proof we are looking for.
Paul makes his own contribution to this as well. “For the LORD himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of
the archangel and with the trumpet call of GOD, and the dead in Christ
will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the
air. And so we will be with the LORD for ever.” 1 Thessalonians 4:
16&17. This is what some describe as rapture, fantasizing heaven. Initially, we
will welcome the LORD in the air. However, every body will eventually settle
down on earth which now becomes one of the heavens. The dead in Christ are
those who have been born of water and the Spirit. You are not saved by your
works. This includes all of your religious activities. The condition for Adam to
live with GOD still holds without any amendment or addition. This only
condition is that your spirit must be led by the Spirit of GOD to do the will of
GOD. In the parlance of Jesus Christ, your spirit must be born of Spirit. There
is no other consideration. When you are born of water, your spirit that died to
GOD in the Garden of Eden is revived.
Self-assessment
The Ten Commandments and the Regulations, including tithes and place of
worship, all ended with John the Baptist. No matter what you do: Your prayers,
your songs and praise worships, your deliberate and pretentious good Christian
way of life, all your religious activities and much more, achieve nothing. If you
have incorporated the Old Covenant into the New, then you have put the new
wine into old wine skin, Matthew 9:16&17. You are the foolish builder Jesus
talks about in Matthew 7:24-27. Are you ready to follow the teachings of Jesus
Christ no matter what, that is be spiritual? All it takes is for you to be born of
water. Act now. The salvation of your soul is at stake!
Shortly before He was arrested, Jesus prayed for His disciples. He went on to
pray that the purpose of His Mission would be fulfilled in us. “My prayer is not
for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through
their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me
and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe
that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me,
that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they
be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and
have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23. Paul also
says that this should be the goal of the church: “It was he who gave some to
be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be
pastors and teachers, to prepare GOD’s people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the
faith and in the knowledge of the Son of GOD and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-
13. Where do you find yourself?
Man cannot obey His law because it is spirit. His words are spirit. GOD
Himself is Spirit. Jesus Christ went through all He did in order to revive your
spirit. How then, may I ask, should you seek and approach GOD? Should this
be through your spirit or through your body of flesh and blood? “Think of
these things.”
It is rather unfortunate that many Christians are of the notion that once they
believe and attend church services regularly and punctually, their salvation is
assured. This is only an illusion. Your belief is meaningless and will achieve
nothing if you fail to carry out everything Jesus Christ teaches us. Respecting
this, Paul says, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the
word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain.” 1
Corinthians 15:2. It follows then that your belief will be in vain if you do not
carry out all the guidelines Jesus Christ has given us.
The Nature of Man
The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that man is made up of spirit, body
and soul. The soul is life within the body. At the same time, the body serves as
the protective cover for the soul. The spirit body consists of the spirit and the
soul. The soul provides protective cover for the spirit while the spirit is life
within the soul. The two natures are so distinctly different to the extent that in
the eyes of one, the other does not seem to exist. For example, the physical eye
cannot see anything in the spiritual. The death of the body of flesh and blood
does not affect the spiritual body in any way. Another point worthy of note is
that the spirit of man can only be active in a life with GOD. On the other hand,
the body of flesh and blood can only be active in the domain of Satan. Now
that we are active in the world Satan rules, the spirit is passive. It can only be
active when the physical body is inactive as it happens in a dream, or trance or
vision.
Adam started life in the spiritual in the Garden of Eden in Paradise. His activities
in spiritual life with GOD came to an end when he was banished. He died. Man’
s spiritual nature then became passive as he now lives with Satan. Life in the
world of Satan is temporary. It must eventually come to ruin. On the other
hand, life with GOD is everlasting. Man was not created with eternal life. He
will, however, live eternally if he participates in Divine Nature, 2 Peter 1:3&4,
that is, led by the Spirit of GOD to do the will of GOD. There is no other way.
If Adam had eaten the fruit of the tree of life, he would have acquired Divine
knowledge of good and evil.
The Temptation
It is in our own interest to follow the Bible closely on this matter. The serpent
said to the woman: “Did GOD really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree
in the garden’? The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat from the
trees in the garden, but GOD did say, ‘You must not eat from the tree
that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you
will die.’ ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For
GOD knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you
will be like GOD, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that
the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also
desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave
some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of
both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked.”
Genesis 3:1-7. There you are. There was nothing romantic about the
temptation. In fact, the LORD GOD blessed sexual relations between them:
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”
Genesis 1:28. The serpent tempted Adam and Eve to want to be like GOD.
The Banishment
“And the LORD GOD said, ‘The man has now become like one of us,
knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand
and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever.’ So the
LORD GOD banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the
ground from which he had been taken.” Genesis 3:22&23. Let us note
very carefully that Adam was not banished because he sinned, or because he
disobeyed. He was banished because he possessed knowledge of good and
evil like the LORD GOD. Ipso facto, he was not allowed to process eternal
life. For as long as the banishment continues, man in flesh and blood can do
nothing that will make him live for ever. This includes all the activities of man,
religious or not. In that case, the body of flesh and blood does not need
salvation, and indeed, cannot be saved. It is the soul that needs salvation. But
first, he has to be reconciled with GOD.
The Covenant of the Ten Commandments
The LORD GOD promised Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will
curse; all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2&3.
While Abraham was pleading for Sodom, the LORD GOD remarked: “Shall I
hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely
become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be
blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his
children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by
doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for
Abraham what he has promised him.” Genesis 18:17-19. This was an
allusion to the Covenant of the Ten Commandments and the Regulations.
The LORD GOD stated the reason for this Covenant: "Now if you obey me
fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my
treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for
me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:5&6. So, this
covenant was to make the Nation of Israel holy enough for Jesus Christ to
come from among the Jews. Once Jesus Christ came, this covenant became
obsolete. Jesus says: “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until
John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of GOD is being
preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.” Luke 16:16. The Law
is the Books of Moses and the Psalms. In clear terms, Jesus Christ says the era
of the Law and the Prophets ended with John the Baptist. Jesus Christ replaces
all that with the Gospel of Good News about how to enter into the Kingdom of
GOD. In spite of this, He says that every one is forcing his way into it. Of
course this is true. How else can one explain the ‘give your life to Christ’
syndrome? There is nothing like that in the Bible.
The Mission of Jesus Christ
Flesh and blood has nothing whatsoever to do with eternal life. It is the spirit
that died to GOD who needs redemption. Jesus says: “The Spirit gives life;
the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit
and they are life.” John 6:63. Emphatically, He says that His Mission has
nothing to do with the flesh. His words are spirit and it takes spiritual minds to
discern them. In the same vein He says: “I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6. He has
done this by His resurrection. He came in the flesh. He was crucified on the
cross. He died. On the third day, He rose up from the dead. Forty days
afterwards, He ascended into heaven. Before he ascended, He ordered
baptism for believers. Baptism unites one with Jesus Christ in His death and
resurrection. Romans 6:3-10; Colossians 2: 12. “For all of you who were
baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Galatians 3: 27.
Christ Jesus says: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in
me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of
the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” John 6:
36&37. Baptism is the bond; the New Covenant is the force that makes this
happen. When this happens, your spirit is reconciled with GOD. You are now
born of water. The blood of Jesus Christ has washed your sins away. To
maintain this righteousness, your spirit must be born of Spirit. Then you are led
to do the will of GOD. The Bible says: “He who does what is sinful is of the
devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The
reason the Son of GOD appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No
one who is born of GOD will continue to sin; he cannot go on sinning
because GOD’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because
he has been born of GOD.” 1 John 3:8&9. You now have the righteousness
of GOD. In support of this, the Bible tells us: “You who are trying to be
justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away
from grace.” Galatians 5:4. You are a Temple in which GOD lives by His
Spirit. In that case, as Jesus Christ says in John 4:21, not even the Temple in
Jerusalem is now a place of worship. He lives inside you. Worship Him all of
the time. We owe all of these to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The New Covenant
The promise of GOD to do all of these is in the New Covenant. The blood of
Jesus Christ that can wash your sins away is embedded in that Covenant. He
says: “This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for
many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28. The Bible says:
“Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22.
Prayers in any form or manner cannot wash your sins away. The promise of
GOD to live in us is in this Covenant. Our own obligations under this Covenant
are to: Repent; Believe; Confirm the New Covenant and then, Baptise. This is
the order Jesus Christ has given them.
The Covenant of the Ten Commandments and the Regulations was a
preparatory ground for the coming of the Messiah. It was to make the Jews
holy enough for the Son of GOD to come from among them. It was between
the LORD GOD and the descendants of Jacob. On the other hand, the
Covenant of the New Covenant is between the LORD GOD and the entire
human race. It is for the salvation of the world. Nothing outside this Covenant
contributes anything towards your salvation.
Where is heaven?
For man, heaven is here on earth. The Bible tells us: “The righteous will
inherit the land and dwell in it for ever.” Psalm 37:29. Let me remind that
only those who have the righteousness of GOD are righteous. Heaven is a
world inhabited by spirits who are led by the Spirit of GOD to do the will of
GOD. There are spiritual worlds of Satan, of course. Adam was created to live
on earth. He started life in the spiritual. The Bible tells us in Revelation 2:7 that
the tree of the fruit of life is in Paradise. This by common knowledge is heaven.
If Adam had eaten the fruit of life, he would have participated in Divine Nature,
2 Peter 1:4, to have knowledge of good and evil. Consequently, he would have
had the righteousness of GOD. He would have continued to live in the spiritual
for ever. As we all know, Adam was banished into a life of flesh and blood. It
follows then that by creation, our earth is both physical and spiritual. Now that
our earth is active in the physical, we live in a world Satan rules. When it
becomes active in the spiritual, we shall live in heaven, a world GOD rules.
Also, while active in flesh and blood, man possesses his own knowledge of
good and evil. He does his own will. On the other hand, His words are spirit.
John 6:63. Therefore, the law is spiritual. Romans 7:14. The will of GOD is in
the spiritual. This explains why no one is righteous before Him. “Clearly no
one is justified before GOD by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live
by faith.’ ” Galatians 3:11. For as long as man is active in flesh and blood, he
belongs to Satan. All of his righteous acts are like filthy rags before Him. Isaiah
64:6. The Bible directs us: “Do not love the world or anything in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust in his
eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the
Father but from the world. The world and his desires pass away, but the
man who does the will of GOD lives for ever.” 1 John 2:15-17. The
purpose of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to revive us in the spiritual, a life in
which man died in the Garden of Eden. Then man is born of water and his
citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3:20.
“Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on
things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of GOD. Set your
minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your
life is now hidden with Christ in GOD. When Christ, who is your life
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4.
When Jesus comes back, He shall not be in flesh and blood. We have proof of
this. During His trial, “The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under
oath by the living GOD: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of the
GOD?’ ‘Yes, it is as you say,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: In
the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ ” Matthew 26:63&64.
‘The clouds of heaven’ in the passage is the proof we are looking for.
Paul makes his own contribution to this as well. “For the LORD himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of
the archangel and with the trumpet call of GOD, and the dead in Christ
will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the
air. And so we will be with the LORD for ever.” 1 Thessalonians 4:
16&17. This is what some describe as rapture, fantasizing heaven. Initially, we
will welcome the LORD in the air. However, every body will eventually settle
down on earth which now becomes one of the heavens. The dead in Christ are
those who have been born of water and the Spirit. You are not saved by your
works. This includes all of your religious activities. The condition for Adam to
live with GOD still holds without any amendment or addition. This only
condition is that your spirit must be led by the Spirit of GOD to do the will of
GOD. In the parlance of Jesus Christ, your spirit must be born of Spirit. There
is no other consideration. When you are born of water, your spirit that died to
GOD in the Garden of Eden is revived.
Self-assessment
The Ten Commandments and the Regulations, including tithes and place of
worship, all ended with John the Baptist. No matter what you do: Your prayers,
your songs and praise worships, your deliberate and pretentious good Christian
way of life, all your religious activities and much more, achieve nothing. If you
have incorporated the Old Covenant into the New, then you have put the new
wine into old wine skin, Matthew 9:16&17. You are the foolish builder Jesus
talks about in Matthew 7:24-27. Are you ready to follow the teachings of Jesus
Christ no matter what, that is be spiritual? All it takes is for you to be born of
water. Act now. The salvation of your soul is at stake!
Shortly before He was arrested, Jesus prayed for His disciples. He went on to
pray that the purpose of His Mission would be fulfilled in us. “My prayer is not
for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through
their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me
and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe
that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me,
that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they
be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and
have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23. Paul also
says that this should be the goal of the church: “It was he who gave some to
be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be
pastors and teachers, to prepare GOD’s people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the
faith and in the knowledge of the Son of GOD and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-
13. Where do you find yourself?
Man cannot obey His law because it is spirit. His words are spirit. GOD
Himself is Spirit. Jesus Christ went through all He did in order to revive your
spirit. How then, may I ask, should you seek and approach GOD? Should this
be through your spirit or through your body of flesh and blood? “Think of
these things.”
babasanyacraig.com
| Propagating The True Mission of CHRIST |
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