Holiness
Objectively, the Blood on the cross deals with our sins but we must now go a step further in the plan of God to understand how He deals with the sin principle in us. Confession is the key to unlock the power of the Holy Spirit to forgive our sins. The Blood of Jesus can wash away our sins, but it cannot wash away our old sin nature. Through obedience, we must press on to the mark of the high calling. I need the cross of Jesus to crucify me and I need to first carry it to die to myself. I must take on Jesus, stripes and all. The blood cannot take us out of Adam, the original sin that we have inherited. All that evil in man is inherited from Adam but at the same time, all that is good comes from Adam who was created in God's image. Oswald Chambers wrote in his daily devotionals: "If sin rules in me, God's life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed." It is not a sin to be tempted, it is sin to give in to the temptation. That we have died in Christ is not merely a doctrinal position, it is an eternal and indisputable fact. We enter into that fact in the name of Jesus and the faith and resolve to walk in newness of life. As we take on the character and mind of Christ, the power of the Holy Ghost will rebuke the devourer for us and it becomes easier to grow Spiritually. He died as our representative; in His death He included you and me. Now through faith, we make a choice to resurrect ourselves to the holiness of life through the deliverance from sin. The Bible teaches that we are not to sin. It also teaches that we would be a liar if we say that we are without sin. Since we all sin, we should not judge others who also sin. Much of what is counted as sin is not really sin but the sin of self-righteous legalists judging what is sin. We can see obvious sin in another and recognize it and know that the person may need deliverance but for us to judge whether someone is saved is not our responsibility, it is God's. That means that the elders, those that are mature, have the responsibility to lift others up to the image of what Jesus would have us to be. Let Jesus do the work as we bring the message and that includes identifying sin. Everything, however, should be in love and the Spirit and not in condemnation, we are to lift others up, not put them down like some church people do. When Jesus said that you shall know them by their fruits, it is a good guide to follow and we should be able to know how to recognize good fruit. At the same time, we see hypocritical people all the time using that Scripture to be "fruit pickers" in a judgmental determination. That is just excusing the fact that they have a judgmental attitude and whoever repeats it are rotten fruit themselves. The bottom line is that it is not ours to judge, not even the thickheaded fruit pickers. There is a curse involved from sin that is mentioned in Malachi. "If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory unto My name saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings, yea, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart" Malachi 2:2. I have not done much study on it but I think that the curse would be as a result of our own actions as much as what God is sending. God says that he sends the curse but it is rather a curse on our blessings. The curse is brought on by our own selves. When the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children, it is like sin adding upon sin until the entire generation is maledicted. Sin has the result of exacting payment, if it is not paid through repentance and forgiveness, it is paid in whatever consequence that the sin results in. Of course, sin is dealt with at the cross, but the Bible teaches us that it does not negate our responsibility to repent. In the case of divorce, it is in the ruination of the family, in the case of free sex, it is sexually transmitted diseases, hurtful relationships and promiscuity. God made us contemptible because we did not follow His ways and walk with Him in peace and equity. What I am saying is that much of the curse is in the withholding of the Holy Spirit and the denial of blessing rather than any active aggression on the part of the Father. God has cursed our blessings, the Lord is withholding His pleasure, He is cutting His people off, they are given over to the evil one for the destruction of the flesh. Rather than the curse coming directly from God, we are cursed with the results in the natural course that the sin takes. For those old enough to remember, it is like Pogo, we have met the enemy and he is us. We must initially have forgiveness of sins, we must have justification through grace, we must have peace with God. The saints move on to something more and that is the constant desire to walk in the Spirit, free oneself from sin and take on a holy and sanctified nature. Sin first exists in the mind and our heart's desire from an external or internal stimulus. We make provision for sin when we do not clean up what is around us. The temptation involved gives us space to make the choice to entertain the thought and give in or to resist before it is an overt act. Victory is sweet. The Early Church did not command very much abstinence; loving God, loving others and walking in the Spirit is generally sufficient for us. When we are walking in His Spirit, we do not sin because Jesus is not going to take us down the wrong road. What they did command for sure is that we must abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. Idolatry and the suggestion of witchcraft could be argued as to an interpretation here but fornication is very clear. Paul also taught that fornication should not be named among us, we should abstain and flee from it. On the issue of homosexuality, it is immoral and a sinful lifestyle but so is any sexual relations outside of the sacrament of marriage. Jesus when confronted with those that wanted to cast stones at the women caught in adultery did not condemn her but told her to sin no more. He told her how to live right and forsake wrong. Jesus loved her, the religious people were the ones that wanted to stone her. Are these prejudice heteros so without sin that they would cast stones and ignore the bigger problem of fornication in all of its forms? Apparently, but Jesus saw through them then and even now. I hope that I never stop learning or think that I have it all together. I know that I do not know many things, nor do I ever feel that I will. John Wesley taught absolute perfection as being in our grasp. I may not have understood him correctly but this is one of the doctrines he had to defend most vigorously. Maybe we can get to the point of absolute perfection but for us to do it, we would have to be all of Jesus and nothing of ourselves and I haven't been able to do that yet. Is it even possible? As a painting contractor that took immense pride in my work, for a time I was a perfectionist. The problem was that I could never attain to what I thought was perfect so I quit trying. I kept on doing the best I could but to be perfect was never something I could attain to, so it just frustrated me. If I were to expect that for myself, I would have to expect it from those in my employ and that would not be right. We are however told to be perfect, so we do the best we can in what we do and hopefully have perfection in mind even though we fall short. C.S. Lewis felt the same way and he thought of God saying to him, "The only help I will give you is help to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing less." Grace is different. With grace, God makes us perfect even though we are not. Paul had that thorn in his flesh, whatever it was is not important but it taught him about grace. We are perfect in God's sight but for me, I do not think I ever will see it until Jesus comes for me. Maybe I should think differently and of course there are times in my life when I sin and have to ask for forgiveness. But then there are other times in my life when the daystar rises up in my heart and I know that God is well pleased. God is faithful to forgive me and I can only thank Him for it. I am not glad I sin; some prefer it. We all know that grace is no excuse but at least I can identify sin in my life and know what I should be delivered from. I have a Heavenly Father who gives me grace to make up the difference. Glory. "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21. And Paul again, "Know not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9. Especially remember this, that if the Kingdom of God is within you, and if Jesus is truly Lord and King in your life and you are walking in the Spirit, you will not sin. I get the most profound Spiritual feelings when I experience new truths. It is as if God is verifying His truth by a touch of His hand, the greater the truth the greater the sensation. Peter told of Jesus that "whom having not seen, you love, in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter 1:8. Have you ever felt that unspeakable joy and glory? You feel it strong enough and it is like a fresh Baptism with the Holy Spirit. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the daystar arise in your hearts." 2 Peter 1:19. Has that daystar arisen in your heart? The only way you can know is if you feel it. The Lord is the only one that I can trust when it comes to some feelings. Probably the same for you. I have heard a lot of people say that feelings can't be trusted. For me, it just depends on where the feelings are coming from, wisdom knows. Some have told me that I need to trust fact, not feelings, or faith and not feelings, or the Bible and not feelings. I think that we should trust them all, reason included as being from God if we are in a right relation with Him. When we have the wrong faith, or the wrong interpretation, or the wrong facts, it takes God intervening in these situations according to our trust in Him for truth. Too many Christians believe the lies fed to them. For me, I feel confirmation when God reveals certain things to me, sometimes I will not trust the other things until I get that "feeling," or sometimes through the prophetic influence of others, or the Word, or even circumstances, something I know that it was from a Godly source no matter where it came from. A feeling is an awareness through physical sensations. Albert Einstein, who studied the New Testament a lot wrote about "The third state of religious experience," that he called a cosmic religious feeling. "How can cosmic religious feeling be communicated from one person to another if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology? In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are capable of it." If you have never felt the Baptism with the Holy Ghost, how do you know you have received it? It is in holiness power and it is a profound feeling that reaches to the core of your innermost being and sets off a transcendental sensual feeling of power and glory. If you can't feel that, something's missing. If God has not revealed it to you, don't just assume it's there. Experiential feeling is valid if it comes from God but no feeling at all is one dead Christian. "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." Romans 8:16. Not just talking about faith here, we are talking about power. What we have found is that emotional feelings are very important since, after all, love is an emotion, but fact must precede feeling. We are not to trust so much in them as we are to trust in Jesus but if His power is there, He will manifest Himself to us through our senses. Some follow after these signs and wonders but the Bible teaches that is wrong, what it does say is that signs and wonders will follow those that believe. I trust my feelings because I have experienced power in holiness and know what is real, counterfeit is easy to spot. I know that God has put His witness in my spirit for a reason and when He affirms it, I feel it, or should I say that He makes Himself felt. It does not go against Scripture but many times it confirms new truths that He teaches me. When I was first Baptized with the Holy Spirit, I learned more in an instant than I had ever learned from books or the years I spent in Sunday School or sitting in the pews listening to the same things over and over that I have since forgotten. That subjective experience was objective to me, it was not above Scripture but I sure will put it up there along with it because it is from the same unmistakable source. For a while, I was a Spiritual anointing junky. Nothing wrong with it I guess, in fact I miss those good old days when I was so high on the Lord that I could walk around and not feel my feet touch the ground. But we are to walk by faith, not by sight or feelings. These things were all right when we were exercising our Spiritual holiness muscles but as we mature, they are not so much needed or sought after. It must be emphasized however that feelings must be turned into right actions to have any effect on the Church. Our adversary the devil would like nothing more than have us take our blissfulness into excess and counterfeit our emotions, joy into hysteria, dreams into delusions, love into covetness, obedience into legalism, serenity into apathy. There are many examples of charismatic excess that has been used as bad examples against us yet on the other hand, there has been too much conservative faith to have any effect on our senses. The Lord will bring us into that holy place as we listen to Him and respond to His leading. Nothing that experience or study or revelation has ever taught me more that seeing love in the heart of my brothers and sisters. I need to see that love and not condemnation or a judgmental attitude like from some. Then I can feel you too. It's such a shame that so many people want to hurt our feelings. I remember once seeing this anointed prophet of the Lord lay hands on us at a Full Gospel Business Men's meeting. She would take her hand and push the people over and over they went like a shooting gallery, pew pew pew. I thought I did not need a push and when she touched me and pushed, I resisted. Yet the power was overwhelming, I could hardly stand up. It would have been better to just lay on the floor prostrate and soak up the presence of God. I had been under the power before, nothing new, but when it came under resistance, it didn't come from me, it didn't even come from her, God did it and only fools deny the Spiritual reality of it "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5. It is not a new or an additional anointing that is needed but union with Christ Jesus and it has to be a together thing. The anointing on all of us together is exponentially greater than the anointing on all of us individually. We need to know more about the transference of anointing, or at least know and do more. Can you imagine the impact when Christians everywhere finally get the idea that our anointing merging together as one will quicken the evangelization of the entire world? That merging and transferring of anointing into one will be the power that we have been waiting for, the time that we finally pack up for the train to Paradise on a mighty rushing wind. We need to stop imagining it and make it into a reality. I believe it. We need to nurture our own little ministries and give it all up into one creative action. How are you feeling today? We need not change the Church; we are the Church so we change ourselves and become an example to others. God has given us the witness of His Holy Spirit. Can you feel it? When He touches you, it confirms the fact that He is there, it is not mere emotionalism, it is the awareness that God is revealing Himself. Respond to Him, seek Him out and pray to know His perfect will for your life. It is a witness that proves itself in love but there are other emotions as well. God wants every part of us and that includes our gifts, the fruits of the Spirit, mercy and compassion. Is He convicting you of sin? Repent of it. Does He lead you into travailing for the Church? Yield to it and join with others in that sorrowful assembly. Do you feel compassion for others? Pray for them and do what you can to meet their needs. Are you humbled to the point of disgust? Look up, your redemption is nigh. Do you "feel" led of the Lord to do certain things? Within reason, follow that feeling. Each of you that have been mightily Baptized with the Holy Spirit knows exactly how it felt that first time. Now that's holiness. These words echo in my heart as a victory song.
Virtue is not something you strive for like righteousness but something you possess conforming to your holiness. For centuries Christians had believed that virtue is rewarded in heaven, then it was thought that virtue is its own reward, then it began to appear that virtue is rewarded here and now. In time unfortunately, Christian virtue became a cloak for political irresponsibility, for scientific know-nothingness, and for meaningless indifference. Worse, virtue in its Puritan form became legalistic, whitewashed and pretentious. Virtue is something that Jesus possessed as part of His holy nature and as we become more like Him, we take on that virtue. The multitude sought to touch Jesus because virtue radiated from His presence and they were healed. Virtue is therefore understood as God's power from within and not through an external act of being virtuous. Remember the woman with the issue of blood? As soon as she touched His garment, Jesus knew that virtue had gone out of Him. This is the healing power that is shown by the laying on of hands with Spiritual authority or stretching out your hands in prayer toward someone, it is ultimately the virtue of God being revealed from those that have His anointing of Spiritual power upon them. Peter would have those of the household of faith to have our grace and peace multiplied, "according as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue." 2 Peter 1:3. Divine power, given us all things, called us to glory and virtue. Sounds like what we want and need. Peter goes on, these are "exceeding great and precious promises that by these you may be partakers of the divine nature..." 2 Peter 1:4. More ahead on this in the chapter on Theosis. We should not strive for glory but if we are to be revealed in glory then that virtue should be already a part of us now as the promise of the divine nature. It only takes faith to release that power, claim it, but holiness is key. If you know that you have rooted out the sin and are walking in the Spirit and are truly holy and have that divine nature, then you are virtuous, accept the holiness power and act upon it to His glory. Peter knew firsthand the truth in this virtue that Jesus had, so much so that the sick were healed with the passing of Peter's shadow. He wasn't even touched; it was faith in the power of the virtue of Peter through the blood of Jesus that healed them. Do you have this divine power of virtue so that people may touch you and also receive the healing according to their needs? Could be, but again, that may be dependent on the faith of others. Jesus did not exercise the faith to release the virtue, others did, He had the Divine power and people knew it. When we finally come to the point of Christian history that the beauty of holiness and virtue radiating from us is revealed, then we will do these things Jesus said we could. I am in my cave. No one is touching me to release the virtue, nor does anyone I know even have the faith to try. As we come together, these things will happen and the world will change. Before we can ever change the world for the better, spiritual and intellectual views have to change. The fundamental problems of our age cannot be understood until we realize that the process of holiness embraces not only the Spirit but thought itself. The third world's fight for independence from economic exploitation has become a source of inspiration for some, armed aggression from others and obviously eyes closed shut by others. It is through this prophetic identity that will transform the world but this is a process that the forces of mammon want to suppress. The affluent nations are prevented from exercising the prophetic in liberation and transformation due to the delusions of gain. This is purely out of their desire to protect their privileged status as being the children of a god that has granted them their prosperity. Their theological impulses are antagonistic, the poor are considered less than what God would have them to be and as a rule, deny Christianity as an instrument in the process of political transformation. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:1-2. It is true that we must first seek righteousness to be holy. "He that follows after righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor." Proverbs 21:21. That means that we have made the decision to follow Christ and are willing to take upon His holy nature through virtue. This is the first step of faith but it does not mean that we go to a preacher that says, recite after me, and then leave our church thinking that our decision for Christ is complete. Many do it but to put on Jesus takes more than faith because faith is just the beginning. We must deny ourselves and that means turning away from our former way of thinking and begin thinking like Jesus. That's what repentance is. We love our enemies, we do things differently that we used to, our priorities have changed and instead of being the center of our universe, we become God-centric. We are not to be of this world, the kingdom of this world is not the Kingdom of God. We are however still in the world. The clearest teaching of the New Testament Fathers include Christian Freedom. Paul's message to the Galatians admonishes us to not live under the Law. The New Testament teaches moderation in all things, everything is allowable for us but not everything is good for us. He is developing a new creation, a new Kingdom and a new earth, like the proverbial wine skins, nothing of the old can be transferred to the new. Our citizenship is in Heaven; in order to bring us into this new Kingdom, God must transform us and make us into new creatures. Unless we are created anew, we can never fit into the new realm. Jesus lives in us; it is to let Him live and act within us that will transform us into His likeness. To know the power of His resurrection and glory is to believe in His victory over demons and the forces of death. Nothing in the universe will be able to resist the collective unity of the Church in all of its fullness and splendor as we become holy together. When enough people have been transformed into the people that the Lord would have us be, coming together and working together, all creation will also be transformed into the new Kingdom. The world system needs to be transformed, not reformed, we need something else, not just something better. What I am writing about here is a transformation according to the redemptive process through Spiritual means, and I mean God's Spirit, not just any church spirit. Jesus said that He was the "way, truth and the life" and that no one can come to the Father except through Him. That would sound like mere dogmatic assertions of a religious church except that we realize that Jesus was born of a sinless nature to become a sacrifice for all time. He came into this world through a virgin birth conceived by the Holy Spirit. No one else in history can boast of such a birth and through the teachings of the Christian faith, we find out that this is through a redemptive process to restore to us what had been lost to mankind in the Garden of Eden. We are firm Bible believers here and the stories are not hard to believe once the theme of redemptive liberation is understood. The Old Testament stories were prophetic types which were fulfilled and continues to be fulfilled in Jesus and the Church. Moses, Joshua, Joseph, Zerubbabel and David were all types of Jesus as examples of deliverance, which is liberation from sin and a personal transformation. That is why it is so important to take the Gospel message and preach it to the world. This is our mission. The Spiritual impetus of that is not found in any other religion. Christianity is not just another religion, it is a way of life that has transformed body, soul, mind and Spirit into a God-centric point of view through Spiritual means. This personal transformation is something that cannot be denied from those that have undergone it, nor will we merely seek to find answers based upon the thoughts of our own understanding. That transformation will be Jesus actually living His life through us and putting His Spiritual laws and desires into our hearts. What needs to be brought out is the redemptive source of history from that God-centric point of view, viz., the liberation of man from the oppressive powers that be. If it was left up to Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, it never would have happened, it was God through Moses that led them out. Do you have faith? Now find the Spirit in full measure. Bring the oppressed and the powerless into the liberty equation without compromise. Many Christians have yet to discover this and think only of the redemptive process without the liberation. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only." James I :22. What we have found is what God is doing among many others, not to bring us to a new consciousness but in re-discovering that which has been given to us already from the beginning. Aligning with a purpose is a great and noble task. We are doing that in re-building the waste places, restoring the temple of God but as David taught us, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a Bridegroom decks Himself with ornaments, and as a Bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." Isaiah 61:10-11. There is a dearth of God's prophetic word today. With that dearth is a thirst for the living water through God's Word and His holiness power. A separation has begun that reveals the source of living waters in those led by His Spirit. There are intruders in our garden with their confusion, bickering, pride and special Kingdom agendas. Jesus told us that many false prophets would appear but not to follow after them. Our lives of love manifested are the fruits of the Spirit and proof that we drink from the wellspring of living waters. Jesus is the Vine-dresser. I see the intruder in your garden, we are kin, we are all part of the garden as unto the Lord. Our holiness of life is drawn from the well of living waters and attached to a Spiritual foundation rooted from above. There is an outside source of water at the edge of the garden connected to an earthly source. It is the serpent of old with the manipulation of God's word to entice prophets to eat of his bounty, drink from the polluted well and with the pretense of inspiration to sow evil seed. He comes as a shepherd with smooth words and flattery and ignorant sheep follow Him. Be careful, he knows not what he does, he sincerely believes that he is a repository of God's truth. He uses speech cloaked in our own faith and exploits our love for others to draw us to the polluted water. There are many of them, Jesus did not send them yet they come in His name. It is delusion and vain deceit veiled in claims of a Divine source yet unmasked as soon as we see through them. People need to know, the watchmen on the walls must turn on the searchlights and the alarm must be sounded. You should be able to see the enticements bringing more Christians seeking living water to the wrong wells. They thirst for the living water but once found, they put their trust in polluted water and nice-looking fruit to fill them up instead. The fruit decays, their vessels become broken and spill out, their Spiritual eyes grow dim and they are easily offended. For us to unselfishly love the intruders is not enough; we must protect the garden from polluted seed. The good seed has always been rooted in holiness fed from the streams of living water. This fruit of love is about to show forth in an abundant harvest and a feast where a Kingdom of righteousness and holiness will be inaugurated. Jesus will be exalted there, not the bullying pretenses and harassments of wicked seed. The intruder represents bad fruit spreading to the rest and rotting the weak. The damage continues and healing is necessary but better times ahead for the good seed, these hardy ones will recognize the Master of the garden and rise up to meet Him. Jesus must be sought from within and we are to bring Jesus in all of our circumstances as a beacon in treacherous waters. When Jesus walked this earth, He was holy. You may say that it was easy for Him, He was born holy and without the original sin that we have inherited. That's true but the problem with us is that we often try too hard. Have you ever heard someone say to you that no one said that the Christian life would be easy? I have, many times. Jesus told us in Matthew 11:28, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Jesus said it would be easy, then why do so many people say nobody said easy? Our problem is that we want to be holy under our own power, it won't work because it's just too hard. For us to be more like Jesus, we have to be yoked to Him and share in His power. This is maturity, simple enough, kindergarten theology. We were once lost but now we are found. He knew where to look but we were hid in our own shadows. It really is up to us, that is our free choice. We will not be led to repentance until we are drawn to the light so "draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4:8. That is repentance, the turning from sin, going one way, taking an about face and going the other way. Get out of the shadows, holiness is found through repentance of all the works of darkness and a return to the light that made you a Christian to begin with. What I once thought was light and grace was really darkness and a selfish test of my own salvation and God's grace, I had to turn toward the light in order for God to recognize me. Salvation in itself does not make you holy, it is the start of what makes you holy, you are not only saved, you are in the process of being saved, you are growing into sanctification Before that, you are just playing games with God to test Him like I once did. If God is love and we are to be perfect and holy like our Father in Heaven, then it only follows that love and holiness entwine. Of course, faith, obedience, grace and walking in the Spirit play their parts but without love, each is misplaced and without proper direction. God is love. To have love one for another was not a request from Jesus - we are commanded to love. "He that says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even until now." 1 John 2 9. So, with all the cutting-edge prophetic revelations that we receive from God in these days, it still comes down to this greatest commandment in that we are to love each other. Get ready, for the Lord is coming for a holy people. Holiness is the virtue of being set apart, sanctified. The Greek word to consecrate, "hagiazo" means to set a place apart for God, to make it holy, originally on the altar by the offering of a sacrifice upon it. The Christian has been dedicated and consecrated to God by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. The root idea of holiness is that of separation. The Jews were the holy people, the nation which was quite separate and different from other nations. Now if we have been called out as especially belonging to God, we must show ourselves fit in life and character for that service. That is how hagios comes to be holy, saintly. God's people are directed to become not just good people, but holy people. I am finding that holiness is not a subject that people care to think much about. Much is preached about faith, grace and goodness in the Church but precious little about holiness, it has mostly been ignored and by some, perverted. It is said that without faith it is impossible to please God but I say with confidence, without holiness, you will never see Him. It comes from grace which makes us holy but Jesus is coming for a perfected Church. There is also a link between holiness, Spiritual power and social justice. The nineteenth century holiness movement which began immediately after the Civil War was a revival movement, almost exclusively Methodist in the beginning because John Wesley preached holiness. As holiness was ultimately neglected, people came out of Methodism and pioneered Holiness Churches. The Methodists retained its social action however, sometimes better than anyone. I believe that social action done in holiness is where we need to be, but where is it? Holiness has a collective character, we cannot be but suspicious of any forms of holiness that leaves unchanged a world filled with oppression, injustice and exploitation. Watchman Nee writes: "Do you realize that we have the same life today that God has? It is for this reason that we can live a life of holiness, for it not our own life that has been changed, but the life of God that has been imparted to us." Vatican II records: "everyone in the Church is called to holiness in his own state of life, not merely certain Christians who have been set apart in monasteries and convents." As long as you allow yourself to be drawn away from holiness and toward your own carnal tendencies, it will be hard. Maybe hard is not strong enough, it's impossible to live a holy life under your own power. Did you know that many of those that look the most righteous and holy are the ones that the devil does not need to hassle? When sanctimony sets in, you look really good on the outside but it is just a white-wash. When you merely appear righteous, you start to think you are righteous. The devil has you right where he wants you so he leaves you alone. Spic and span Christians can look really good and may try to make you into their own image. Others will admire them, if you are white-washed and prosperous, people will admire you even more. When you put on the nature of Jesus, you are more aware of your sinful nature, humility sets in and you are drawn to the power of the Holy Spirit. The devil doesn't like it so you may go through wilderness experiences, testing, temptations and purging and he is just around the corner waiting for you to mess up so that he can defeat you with regret and unbelief. The more that we allow Jesus to take control of our lives and we are yoked to Him, the easier it becomes. This is maturity. Some teach that holiness is in our position in Christ through our salvation, that's a half truth. I would rather think that many are called but few are chosen and we are to endure to the end. That is God's Bible truth. "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not." Jude 1:5. Jesus is the way, the way of love, holiness, denying ourselves and taking on His nature. Jesus is the truth, no one cares how right you are or how smart you are, we want to see the love of Jesus in you with right thinking and right actions. He is the life and we are a part of a life that loves one another as He loves us and we give ourselves to each other as He has given Himself for us. Unity, holiness and love. There are four parts taught for holiness: positional holiness, practical holiness, holiness in power and glorification holiness. Our positional holiness is us in Christ as part of His Body. The word salvation is derived from the Latin salvus or salus, which means whole or healed. This is at the point of justification. Through our initial salvation through faith, we are grafted into Him, made whole and separate from the world. Some Christians never get farther than this in their Spiritual life but Paul goes on to say to the church at Ephesus, "If so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Ephesians 4:21-24. We are being saved from sin and death. Bodily death is not the end of life, it is merely the dividing line between two aspects of our reality. At least for us, life itself is continuous and eternal and culminates with the after-life. Saint John writes "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death." 1 John 3:14. When we were saved, we were delivered from hell in an instant. It seems to take longer, however, for us to be saved from ourselves, to be delivered from our own selfish behavior - to unlearn self. With God's help and guidance and in our reliance upon Him, we are to continue in our positional holiness. We praise God, we obey Him and we keep ourselves pure. Putting on the new man requires some effort on our part. Jesus did the most that anyone could ever do when He died for us, Father God has used this ultimate sacrifice of His Son to redeem us from death. Paul tells us that it is now our responsibility to put away our lusts through renewal and put on the new man. Being renewed in our mind is in the action of our repentance that follows. Our practical holiness is Christ in us sanctified. In us in the sense that Jesus is living His life through us, we walk in His Spirit. This is what we do as our Spiritual sacrifice, we act upon our positional holiness, not just rest in it. Sanctification is not the same as salvation but part of the same process. Sanctification is the setting apart for the service of God. Billy Graham wrote that, "the word sanctification comes from the Greek meaning to be separate or to be set apart for a purpose. We Christians are to be progressively sanctified, or made righteous in holiness as we daily abide in Christ and obey His Word." The idea of sanctification being apart from justification was the major thrust of the Wesley, Whitefield and Finney revivals and was the Spiritual truth that sparked the Great Awakening. John Wesley tells it best: "when we are born again, then our sanctification, our inward and outward holiness, begins; and thenceforward we are gradually to 'grow up in Him who is our head.'" The new birth is not the same as with sanctification but it is by degrees that we afterward grow up to the measure of the full stature of Christ. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10. Wesley goes on to say that "hence it appears, beyond all possibility of exception, that to this day both my brother and I maintained, (1) That Christian perfection is that love of God and our neighbor, which implies deliverance from all sin. (2) That this is received merely by faith. (3) That it is given instantaneously, in one moment. (4) That we are to expect it, not at death, but every moment; that now is the accepted time, now is the day of this salvation." Oswald Chambers has this to say about sanctification: "Sanctification means the impartation of the Holy qualities of Jesus Christ. It is His patience, His love, His holiness, His faith, His purity, His godliness, that is manifested in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation." "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification." 1 Thessalonians 4:3a. What is enough sanctification? I don't know, good question. For myself, I don't need to know, only press on toward the higher calling and never get to the point that I think I have arrived. That was Paul's attitude. The Lord is able to save us at any point in our Christian experience. Can we lose it? Another good question, one that has divided opinions, that's for sure. I know that the fact that the mere Biblical mention of being erased from the Book of Life should give us a clue but that could be open to misinterpretation. For myself, I am ready, like testimonies at a holiness church, I am saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost. Through sin, I may slip from entire sanctification, but I will never lose my salvation, I am forever in Christ and Christ is forever in me. My desire is to overcome the world and its delusions and I want not only to be called but among the chosen. I am sure that we all want the same so it is incumbent upon us to "work out our salvation in fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12. I don't think that we can completely know for sure of the salvation of others. Maybe sometimes. We can be sure of our own salvation if we are truly saved but I believe that a lot of people that think they are saved, really aren't. They have the hope of their salvation but not the assurance. They may be the same ones that think others who are not saved really are. Some of us will undergo the disappointment of Jesus saying to us, "depart from Me, I never knew you." We don't know who or why, we just keep on pressing on to the prize that Paul wrote about: "not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing." Philippians 3:12-16. Paul did mention these things to those "as many as be perfect" so, he felt that others had attained, but he has not yet attained to that perfection. That is real humility, the kind that leads us toward that perfection. I know that I have not fully attained but I also know that I am to love others and have that kind of humility, that is a real good start for you and me both. Paul also mentions here that attainment includes minding the same thing. He mentions elsewhere that we are to speak the same thing, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." I Corinthians 1:10. The reason the Church is not perfect is because we have so much division, isn't this what Paul is saying? I will be covering unity as we go on. Perfection in unity is not just agreeing to disagree, it is saying the same thing, having the same mind, walking by the same rules by the same Spirit. If we cannot attain to that perfection individually, at least we should try to come together in the Spirit and agree somehow. We may never be truly free from sin in our lives, but we can love each other as He would have us to. This is what I am committed to. If Jesus is to come for a holy Bride, it will not be until she is holy by finally coming together. I will keep on saying this. This is not always easy but remember, as I must especially remember, we may fall but we must not fail to love those around us. Love may sometimes be more important than fleshly purity since love covers a multitude of sins and cleanses us like no other activity. The presence of love is not an occasion to sin however. Many act like because of our positional holiness by grace, we can get away with sin. Paul also writes: "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness... But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life... Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Romans 6:19-22, 2 Corinthians 7 I. Watchman Nee again "We know that justification is ours through the Lord Jesus and requires no work on our part, but we think sanctification is dependent on our own efforts. We know that we can receive forgiveness only by entire reliance on the Lord; yet we believe we can obtain deliverance by doing something ourselves. We fear that if we do nothing, nothing will happen. Sanctification is not to be confounded with justification, which is forgiveness of sin... Sanctification is a gradual process towards holiness, following justification and changing the heart and life through the power of the Holy Ghost. Justification removes the guilt and sanctification the power of sin. Justification delivers us from the avenging wrath of God and sanctification conforms us to His image. Nevertheless, the two are inseparably connected in the promises of God, and in the doctrines and promises of the Gospel." This accords with James when he writes, "Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, you have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." James 2:17-18. Although good works cannot save us, it is present in our Christian lives or how can we say that we have been truly sanctified? If we give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome to the stranger, clothes to the naked, relief to the sick, kindness to the prisoner, we are being sanctified. When we fail to live as if the family of God is a present reality we are being lost. Holiness is not a completed work until we are glorified. Once we strengthen and display God's way of holiness, our glorification is a done deal. We are not to wait for Jesus to be fully like Him, we are being changed into His likeness now. This is what the Eastern Church calls Theosis, which implies deification. Not in being God but in being holy like God. I'll have more to say on that soon. Isaiah tells of a highway to Zion and it is holiness. Because God is holy, we can rightly say that holiness is the only way that we can be clothed with His righteousness. Or is it the other way around. In either case, we need to make sure that we are on the right highway. "And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isaiah 35:8-10. I want on that highway; I want to see you there too. It is the last days when we are to have on our wedding clothes of righteousness. In Exodus 28, the priestly garments that God instruct the Israelites to make in the wilderness were holy garments, given by the wise to Aaron the high priest for glory, beauty and to consecrate him so that he may minister unto God in the priest's office. A plate of gold was to be made with the engraving "Holiness Unto The Lord." Where was that plate placed? Upon Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things. The forehead is significant in our day, it is at the place that the seal of God is given as well as the mark of the beast. The forehead was Goliath's weak point, a leper is especially unclean if it is the forehead. The name of God is written on the foreheads of saints partaking of the Tree of Life. "Therefore, the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; and you had a whore's forehead, you refused to be ashamed." Jeremiah 3:3, That delusional shamelessness is part of the judgment even now coming upon an unholy harlot church. As the construction of the ark of the covenant was finished, the priestly garments of gold and costly jewels were placed and all the consecration, atonement, holy oil and sacrifices were made to sanctify them. There was a continual burnt offering, a perpetual incense before the Lord. Then the finished work was to take the golden plate, have Holiness Unto the Lord engraved upon it and placed in position. The work was done, then the seven branched candlestick could be placed along with the vessels, the anointing oil, altar and incense. Can you see the picture here? This is our Christian life, or should be, holiness is our finished work. We have no high priest except Jesus and we are now consecrated to Him. The churches are the candlesticks for light, we are the vessels, the Holy Spirit is the oil, our worship is the altar and our prayers are the incense. Jesus is coming for a Church that worships the Lord in the beauty of holiness. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Hebrews 12 14. The next step of holiness following sanctification is to be able to use it to the glory of God in power. Holiness is the key to the power we have been waiting to see outpoured without measure. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24. Where is that power anyway? How do we get holiness power to work in our lives? The power is from Jesus and in the power of His resurrection, but to be a part of that resurrection power we must first join Him in His death. Once we have been called and joined to the Body of Christ by faith, we take upon His holiness unto eternal life. For it to be in power, we must be obedient, filled with the Spirit and put it into practice. The Bible teaches that our baptism in water is symbolic of that new life and obedience but there is another promise given to us and that is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Many of us long for that Holy Ghost power that we see in others. To come into the knowledge of these truths is to come into the secret of power and to enter into the secret place of living Spirit. Spiritual power and holiness entwine. Once we realize that this universal and unlimited power of Spirit is at the center of all existence and of ourselves also, then we have obtained the key to the secret of the ages, "the Kingdom of God is within you." The only way that we can obtain this power or limit this power is in the way we think and act Spiritual power comes through faith in the source of the power and the unlimited power of the source. Deny the power and only vain religiosity remains. "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:5. In these last days, more than any other time in Church history, we are to turn away from those that deny or abuse the power, the times of ignorance are over If we tap into that source of power with faith and a pure heart, we can be strong. More than that, it is a matter of the strong versus the weak, we must be strong. We have the power to enter into the abundant life, we have the deliverance over sin, power in our surroundings and the kind of power that comes with a knowledge of the truth. What we are concerned about is Holy Ghost power and to be able to use that power to further the Kingdom. Emerson wrote "Let the powers be well directed, directed by love, and they would everywhere be greeted with joy and honor Jesus said 'You shall receive power"' Power can obviously be misused for control and manipulation. Sorcery is the inverted use of Spiritual power. Authorities exercise power and authority over us for good or for bad. Whenever the word power is mentioned, somebody sooner or later will refer to the classical statement of Lord Acton "Power corrupts, etc." In fact, the correct quotation is: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." The corruption of power is not in the power itself, but in the ones wielding it. And yet, what is this power which men live by and to a considerable degree live for? Power is the dynamic of life. It is the power of the heart pumping blood and sustaining life in the body. It could be an army sent to destroy or it could be the body of Christ moving in Spiritual power and authority. The power of the intelligent person can change the world for the better, or tear it down. For Teilhard, love is the highest form of human energy. The Greek word for power in the New Testament is dunamis, which the words dynamo and dynamite come from. Not just little power but big power. Dunamis is the word used to describe the little power that the Church at Philadelphia had. I find that interesting. God gives the overcomers at the church in Thyatira power over the nations. There are ways that we can use collective power to organize and effect change. Saul Alinsky taught that: "In an organization, you organize on a mass power basis. I'm saying to you that you organize for the only reason that organizations have ever come into being, and that reason is to generate power When I use the word power, I use it strictly as it is defined by Webster: as the ability to act." Eventually, anyone concerned with the transformation of more than just the people around us, must engage in social action. Social action, wow. These two words used together are anathema to sleepy churches that have lost their first love, or never had it at all. Without power, no one moves. This will be approached more fully when we get to the Laodicean luke-warm church, but suffice it to say that the prophets in the Old Testament had much to say about social justice that relates to holiness. "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Amos 5:24. "And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them: This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." Luke 4:17-21. That was Jesus. I challenge everyone reading this to fulfill that Scripture and join Jesus into it. Myself included but I have been here for years, so have many of you. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12. Our true power is in the Heavenlies. We do not war with flesh and blood but against the powers at war beyond the universe that govern the hearts and minds of men and their institutions. Authority is power and Jesus said that all power is given unto Him in Heaven and in earth. He shares this power with us and has given us power and authority over sickness, demons, forgiveness of sins, binding and loosing, unclean spirits, power to tread on serpents and scorpions, power to witness, power over sin in our lives; to have this power is to exercise authority over these things and more. Paul and the other disciples had this authority but they never abused it. They were made perfect in weakness; they were fools for Jesus and it was that power and authority of God that made them wise and strong so that they could be examples to us. Passive faith is just that, passive and conservative, producing churches that do not have the power. When we come to the point to know that our position in Christ is such that it comes with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, we can and will do the first works of the Early Church. Listen to this, the simple fact of you knowing and accepting, gives you the witness of the Spirit and the power to do what Jesus said we could. We must come to the point of our knowing that it is the practical application of this power that makes it work powerfully and that includes deliverance, the power over circumstances and letting love have its perfect way. It's as unmistakable as that. As soon as we mightily apply the power of holiness in our lives, we have the power that Jesus had. With great power comes great responsibility and we must use it or lose it.
As Christians, we have all the necessary Spiritual resources at our disposal to heal the sick and raise the dead. So why aren't we doing the first works? I believe that God is waiting for us to finally come together as One in the Spirit so that He can pour out His Spirit as He promised. Oh, I know that He has been doing it throughout the Church age but there is coming a demonstration of power coming that will finally restore the Church to its former vitality. The vast majority of Christians today do not have that expectation and Jesus does not have a holy Church that He can point to as a proper example of how He would have us to be. Pastors tell people want they want to hear, that they are justified and sanctified and holy when they are not. Evangelistic works and the propagation of the Gospel is in vain if there is no power to drive it in the Lord's direction. If you think you already have it all together, you haven't a clue. If there is more to it than that, then I can't tell you what it is except to remind you of history, how we lost our first love and how to do the first works. We have discussed love, humility, holiness, walking in the Spirit, social praxis and speaking as One. What else is there? What will it take for these things to finally be evident in a church body, even a remnant. It's not all that complicated, the Gospel seems to be hidden from people that should know better. We are in the last days and the end is near, if that is true, then the anti-christ is about to be revealed. What of those millions of Christians that may have already chosen to follow the way of the man of sin and the nature of the beast? What will it take to bring the Church out of the mundane fantasy that it is under? Spiritual power, that's what. God gives the delusion because His people believe the lies. What are those lies? Are these rhetorical questions? Perhaps for now, but the time is short. There are right answers to these questions, you need to ask of God, listen and incline your ears. If you are ready to hear them and the time is right, pray and expect manifest revelations. You will then see what I am seeing, namely, delusions and the high places of idolatry and deceit in the Church. "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places." Ephesians 1:18.
Regeneration is another theological expression denoting the Spiritual change which passes on all persons in becoming Christians. It's what happens when we are born again. When we undergo conversion, we pass from our natural state into a state of regeneration. We used to give in to the natural impulses of our carnal nature, but no longer if this Divine nature of our new and glorious life has been awakened in us. Regeneration suggests a Spiritual renewal in which the old things have passed away and all things have become new. We have passed from death to life and if genuine should effect a profound change in one's life. If not, you aren't fooling anybody but yourself, not God, that's for sure. Faith, repentance and the Holy Spirit is involved in regeneration and the desire to move on to a sanctified life. Because we continue to sin, simply from our Adamic nature, we need to be in a constant state of regeneration. Sin is not just in the obvious, as in lying, mammon worship and immorality but includes the more subtle acts of walking in pride and arrogance, judging our brothers and sisters, back-biting, and even bitterness in our thoughts for each other that do not spring from love. The more that we are aware of these things, the more that we can turn from them and receive forgiveness but if we do not, they fester and sin piles upon sin until we are used to having it that way and we become unfit for the Kingdom. Bit by bit, I am coming into the realm of acceptance for all the others that are off on their own little kingdoms doing their own thing for God. I am a sinner; I have nothing over them. You may think that I should be calling myself a saint and maybe I am and maybe I'm not but I do know that I am a sinner. That Adamic nature is ever present within all of us and we keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. Think of the word immorality, now put a cross in the center of it and voila, you have immortality.
"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works." Matthew 16:27. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." Matthew 5:16. "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Jesus did many mighty works but was really careful to give the glory to God, He made it very clear that it was not His own works but the works of the Father. In the power of the Holy Spirit, we also do good works, not by works of the Law but by Jesus living through us. Abraham is our example of faith but Jesus told the Jews "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham." John 8:39. While our works are as filthy rags compared to the grace given to make us holy, once we are tasted salvation, we have a responsibility to live right. We are not justified by works but our sanctification is dependent upon walking in the Spirit, not just in the positional sense but in the practical applications of living holy. By acting in His power, Christians are no longer under compulsion to do the Law but we fulfill the requirements of the Law when we do works of love and obey His commandments as a natural course. I mentioned the words of James when he states that faith without works is dead, being by itself. James went on to say, "therefore to him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17. Here is where the rubber meets the road, the sins of omission and the sins of commission. James is bringing in essence is that I have warned you, ignorance is no excuse, now that you know, it is sin not to heed what I say. Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." He also had severe warnings to those servants that did not heed: "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." Luke 1247. James is not speaking to the world; he is speaking to the twelve tribes and that includes us. God has grafted in the believing Gentiles and poured out His Holy Spirit upon all who are called. He has already mentioned in the first chapter that sin brings death. We should know what righteousness is and should do everything we can to follow the way of holiness - anything else is sin. Repentance is necessary for holiness and holiness is the key to genuine Spirituality. We really do have that position in Christ that gives us the power and authority to be called children of God. Our Heavenly Father is forgiving, but unconfessed sin, once brought to maturity brings death. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23. James is setting a pattern here; he who is wise will follow the ways of the Lord. The Father of lights birthed the Word of truth in us so that we would know what to obey. If we are to rid ourselves of the filth and evil that has plagued mankind from the beginning, we are to understand exactly what the perfect law of liberty is and that is making the choice to do right. We are all created the same, we all have God given redeeming qualities that can overcome our temporal depravity, we can become the children of God that He has created us for. But we need to do it if we are truly Spiritual Christians; again, we need to act Martin Luther wanted the entire book of James stricken from the New Testament canon because of the misunderstandings of Christian freedom and walking in the Spirit explicit in these passages. The fact remains that works will be the determining factor on judgment day. Paul wrote to Timothy concerning taking in widows that were: "well reported of for good works; if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work." 1 Timothy 5:10. Follow after good works? Of course. So how should a Christian react among the many Christian teachers that say that good works are not part of our Christian responsibility? What they want us to do is choose between faith and good works instead of having the kind of faith that produces good works. The worst of them abuse Christian freedom by using grace as an excuse to live how you want and still be saved. We teach grace properly, so did Paul. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that you affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men." Titus 3:5-8. Paul's calling to the Gentiles was that they "should repent and tum to God, and do works meet for repentance." Acts 2620. We are promised the gift of the Holy Ghost if we not only believe but also repent. Without repentance there is no remission of sins, without remission of sins, there is no forgiveness and without forgiveness, you can't get holy at all and it can be argued whether you are truly saved. What we have repented from is a system of dead works in the flesh, now that we are saved, we are to live for Jesus and that is proved by the kind of love and good works that produces holiness. Not to boast in our works but give the glory to God from where holiness power comes from. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." Hebrews 10 23. Adoption into the family of God gives us an obligation to live as we ought to. It is not enough to know the Bible; we need to overcome our fleshly desires and step into holiness by doing what we have been taught in the Bible. Christians should be known by their love, not their disobedience, hypocrisy and worldly ways. Our faith should be proven by Godly lives. Jesus said in John 15:22, "If l had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin." Paul understood that kind of faulty reasoning of ignorance being an excuse and countered it with "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." Romans 1:20. So in this case no-one is without excuse but then the point should be made that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The writer of Hebrews points directly to all of us and states "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him." Hebrews 2:3. Know that you are washed clean after you ask forgiveness. Know that He wants the best for you so do just what He wants, to walk in the Spirit and deny the lusts of the flesh. Much of the restoration process is the Church being restored to the proper relationship to God as we had from the beginning and that for sure includes us as individuals. God overlooks times of ignorance but we are now admonished to fill our lamps, this is with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Don't worry about it, just put everything behind you and move forward. Know that you do love the Lord and that He loves you and prove that love by reaching out to others. I remember a vivid dream I once had concerning the restoration of the Temple. The foundation was laid and the walls were unfinished. I was there teaching from a theology book to anyone who would listen. There was another one there that only had a hymnal. The Lord taught me a lot that night. The man didn't care about my theological disputations or prophetic revelations, he was praising the Lord from One thing that we do know is that Jesus taught that many are called but few are chosen. The Lord will say to many in the last day that He did not know them, even those that have been calling Him Lord and had done mighty works in His name. Did they lose their salvation or were they ever saved at all? I think that there are many people in the Church that think they have been saved and forgiven and even act like they do when they are not. We all know Christians that want Him as Savior but not as Lord. Because Jesus went to the cross, we are told to take up His cross daily. Yes, it is a day-to-day thing and we are to continually choose to be in that regenerative process. Eternal life is not ours by right or from how good we are, it is a gift in a positive response to a Spiritual call. Faith in Jesus means that you believe Him in what He says, not simply in believing in what your church says about Him. There is the historical Jesus and there is the Spiritual Jesus. He is at the door of our hearts and He comes in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in faith but not mere mental assent as if we are saved by thinking ourselves so. We cannot judge who are really saved, therefore, we must admit that it is not a question of losing your salvation here, it is a question of bringing earthbound dead Christians to life What is our responsibility in Christ? "He has showed you, oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8. That is the holy place. It is not in our own works but through the power of His grace and walking in His Spirit. Can you do that? If not, maybe there is no salvation for you to lose. These are merely rhetorical questions because we should already have confidence in our relationship with Him yet many will be disappointed in that last day.
We cannot really understand what it is to be saved without bringing in the idea of eternity. Eternity has no beginning and no end, so in effect, in our lifetime, no one is really completely saved yet because we are still in a temporal existence. But then, if we enter into eternal life now, as we are taught, then all who have been chosen before the foundation of the world are saved already, always have been and always will be. That dichotomy is a hard concept to understand sometimes as a mystery and it is no wonder that there is so much controversy surrounding eternal security. The fact is that Jesus said on one hand that it was those who will endure to the end that will be saved and then told the women that was forgiven of her sins that "your faith has saved you." Now if Jesus tells us that he that endures to the end shall be saved, does He mean the end of the aisle at an altar call? I don't think so. Look at all the dead churches that rely on simple faith for salvation. No repentance, no deliverance, no infilling of the Holy Ghost, no responsibility to choose through free will, no love or unity with others who disagree with their traditions. Just a simple confession of faith and zap, you are saved and into the Kingdom of Heaven. What a crock This has got to be one of the high places that we must tear down in these days. Not only are they told they are saved but ipso facto saints. Salvation is a past, present and future work. Those that are being saved have always been saved in terms of eternity, yet still in the process from our temporal point of being. So, simple faith may not be enough but there are Scriptures that would make you think so because of the importance of faith: whoever calls on the name of the Lord, he that believes and is baptized, etc. But the Scriptures are also clear that the devils also believe and that weak faith may not be good enough, nor is the misplaced faith that arises from trusting in false teachers and cultists that come in the name of Jesus. These things should not be so complicated, yet they are as to salvation made certain. "And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." 1 Timothy 3:16. The reason God placed so many mysteries in His Word is so only those that have Ears to Hear His Spirit can understand. Our salvation is borne out by faith, hope and love, love being the greatest of the three and the only objective proof of another's salvation. Do not be surprised in that our salvation is accompanied with trial and tribulation, this is how we enter the Kingdom. "Being" saved is the important thing whether that is a process or an immediate result of our justification through the atonement. "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor 1:18. When Jesus said that many will call me Lord but "I never knew you," He did not say that I used to know you but now I don't, He said that He never knew you at all, nada, zip. It is in our relationship to others that we are known, I'm sure you see the difference. We know that the apostasy is here. Quite possibly, in this age of grace where Jesus has died for all, we are all included in the Book of Life and if we choose to refuse it, we are erased. Who knows? I cannot doubt the salvation of a person that has a healthy fear of God to think that he could be erased from the Book of Life. Nor can I doubt the salvation of one that is so secure in the love of God to know that this eternal life can never be taken away from him. I can doubt the salvation of either one who thinks that the other is a heretic full of false doctrine for not feeling the same way. That betrays the love of God and exposes Jesus to open shame. That loss of love and unity is the apostate Christian of the hour no matter how saved he thinks he is. Paul tells us to run the race. It is a race of endurance; we cannot finish the race if we give up in the middle, thinking that we've gone far enough. "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Hebrew 12:1. Run the race, yes, it is still up to us to take that action. We must do it with the enthusiastic adrenaline pumping blood of Jesus. The heart is a muscle, in workouts, we exercise a muscle to make it grow stronger. It's the same with the heart, we are going to be so buff that we can clean and jerk His love three sets, fifty reps each. We do not run to compete with others, Jesus has already won, we just need to join Him and finish together. To run the race like the heathen and trust in our salvation without the heart felt compassion for others is not holiness, it's a cop out, it is watching the race from the side-lines and cheering on the losers. Don't get me wrong, I have a long way to go but when I sin, I cannot trust in my salvation for holiness, I must repent and ask for forgiveness. Does someone have a better way? Paul knew: "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." I Corinthians 15 31. He was not sure that he would finish the race but where does that leave me? I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am saved and will never lose it, I just cannot say that for everyone. That doesn't make me better than another, it just gives me understanding on the issue. Paul felt the same way and knew that he had not yet arrived. Some may need to come to the point of doubt before they can come to a saving faith. I believe that sometimes, doubt is a good thing. Doubt is not the same as unbelief but will challenge mistaken notions or misplaced faith. We need to doubt our institutions, our pre-conceived notions, our prejudices, the traditions of men and allow the Holy Spirit to create in us a little inspirational dissatisfaction of present circumstances with a clean slate. I see many in the joy of the Lord and I see the joy of our salvation. I know that many are saved and that many have the belief in the promise of eternal life through that saving faith, I see the love and compassion in them. I am reminded of the parable of the sower. Those that hear the word, some gladly, some in shallow soil, the increase in good soil. Now are all those saved? Many would think so, just ask the pastor who counts all the commitment cards and those who will stand up with him when he asks. But the ones among the thorns, were they saved? Jesus said that the seed was sown in the heart and the wicked one took it away. Jesus did not take it, the devil took it, but was that person saved and then lost it? Listen, Jesus said that he in the good ground received it with joy and understood it and bore fruit. How many people are like that? I am glad that I do not have to answer these questions. Jesus is said to spend more time looking for the lost sheep than He spends with those in the fold. I want to be able to love them just as much as He, but shall I consider the lost sheep as unsaved, or saved ones who have lost their way and in need of revival? Again, I can't make that judgment but I just don't know about those that do make these judgments. Sometimes I would rather spend time with those that need to find their way than those who just assume they are found. I think that the offensive ones look really good and saved but their hearts are not right. I would like for us to agree with this but that will take time. I just don't see it, too much confusion right now. Maybe even the confusion is offensive and we should be taking a harder stand on it. I am considered a heretic from all sides, you know why? Because I believe that the Bible is for us today as much as it was for the Early Church, because I believe that we are created in the image of God with free will, because I know that I will never lose my salvation, because I have studied enough to recognize the traditions of men and speak out. Well Paul was considered a heretic too, so I guess I am in good company but I really appreciate it when I run into the true friends with love and understanding in their hearts. There will be many on the issue of eternal security that will bring up the verse in Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." You know this is a great verse with a great truth but have you ever heard anyone quote this verse out of context to prove their point without the second part: "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit"? I have. Paul teaches a lot in that eighth chapter about walking in the Spirit, the flesh being opposed to the Spirit, the carnal mind contrasting with life and peace. We need to understand that without the Spirit, there is no life. If your life does not conform to the Spirit of God, your salvation is merely an illusion. It is Christ in you that is the hope of glory and it is the power of an endless life working within. Paul goes on to say and I believe this is the central point of this part: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." Romans 8:14-16. Now the question is, have you received the Spirit? If so, let's hope you are led by that Spirit and God's Spirit has born witness with your spirit. Love is an emotion and the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit. Those that cannot point to an experiential time in their life when they were Baptized with the Holy Ghost may deny the experience altogether and think that the legal aspects of our positional relationship to Christ is enough to save us. That may indeed be true but how does a person know that they are in that position without the witness of the Spirit. Our practical holiness with Christ in us is essential to walking in the Spirit but it is not enough to say that you are saved and have accepted Him as Savior in your life, He must be Lord, witnessed by the Spirit that proves itself in action. It all relates to Jesus going to the cross to give us life and reconcile us to the Father through faith but He is the door to that eternal life and it is up to you to open that door in order to accept the free gift. Open that door even a little bit, peek through and see what God can do. The door is our heart, the seat of our emotions, He is knocking and asking to come in and be a part of our lives. He says that it is up to us to enter in and He says that we will see Him there. You cannot choose life if you believe that it has already been chosen for you, it takes an initial effort to receive. Sometimes it just takes talking to Him. Have you ever seen that famous painting of Jesus knocking at the door? The door has no door knob. He is knocking but you have to turn that door knob from the inside and invite Him in. "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Hebrews 10:22. Water baptism is an outward action that represents our inward repentance. It is the Spirit that washes us clean as a result of our commitment, not the water. Baptism saves you in that we are obedient to the Lord, without that obedience, we have not proven our faith. When I was Baptized with the Holy Ghost, it was a profound Spiritual immersion, which is experiential for sure and gives me the confidence that I will see eternal life according to the high calling. I believe that I am saved, past, present and future but I have that experiential validation from God that gives me a tremendous hope and assurance. That may be proof only for myself but God knows our hearts. We need God to reveal these things to us but the devil is right there trying to deceive us, so we must make perfectly sure. "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." Philippians 3:15. It is truly pathetic that so many pastors and Christian teachers have pronounced people sanctified without the assurance of faith through the witness of the Spirit. Faith is that assurance, not the pronouncement of it for it is the just that lives by faith and that means active faith, not passive, and the kind of faith that proves itself through the fruits and gifts of the Spirit. It does not even have to be that much, it can be little faith as well as much faith, the difference is whether it is true faith in the true God of love and whether Jesus is Lord. One leads to life and the other to pervasive humiliation. Paul teaches in Romans 4 that imputed righteousness comes through faith and grace. Not just simple faith in Jesus, kissing up to God like a rich uncle in hopes of an inheritance. You tell me what salvation exists where righteousness has never been imputed and the Spirit has never borne witness. Jesus died for us all and the justification is offered to all. This faith is what makes our election sure but again what kind of faith? The faith that negates God's promises of eternal life? The faith that Lords it over others? The kind of faith that trusts in one's own salvation and does nothing for the Kingdom? The faith that cannot prove itself in love? The faith that cannot bear witness to God's Spirit? No joy or holiness or humility or liberality or compassion? These are the types of faith that shows up in the dead, deceived, indoctrinated, reprobate, self-righteous, deluded and the lost their way Christians, not as the power of God to the true child of God. Salvation is a gift, not a right and so is faith or Paul would not have written in 2 Corinthians 13:a "Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith; prove your own selves." Think like St. James, "can faith save him?" Now the easiest way for the true believer to prove yourself in the faith, and the hardest way for the false believer is to get God to bear witness to your faith and I mean His Holy Spirit, not some kind of unholy prideful spirit. If you have been taught differently than what the Bible teaches, either get with a church that does or strengthen your own church with the Spirit in full measure.
by Jay Atkinson
Revelation 22:12.
his heart in song and by doing so had put me to shame. It doesn't matter what you know as much as it matters Who you know. We are being saved when we finally come to the conclusion that Jesus died for us and went to the cross to forgive us of our sins. Praise Him. Jesus never sinned, He went to the cross just once but we are continually sinning and in need of continual regeneration. We know that God is faithful and just to forgive us but we are not to remain in sin. I hope you are getting my point because I am not defending the premise that you can lose your salvation but only that our walk with the Lord is a day-to-day thing either way. To reiterate, salvation is a process and we are to grow to maturity in our Spiritual life. There are too many Christians that act like you only need to repent once and then it is not needed again, so this is an important issue. I have been to churches that never mention repentance. Things have gotten so bad in many Pentecostal churches that the Baptism of Holy Spirit is hardly mentioned, much less sought after or confirmed. Apostasy is a word to describe the abandonment of the faith once believed in, that's pretty straightforward. The message is still the cross and walking in the Spirit.
