What is the righteousness of Christ?

*[[Mat 5:17-19]] KJV*
 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
 *[[Joh 1:16-17]] KJV*
 16 And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
 17 for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
 *[[2Co 3:3-9]] KJV*
 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
 4 And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
 7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
 9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
 *[[Rom 8:2-4]] KJV*
 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
 *[[Rom 2:13-15]] KJV*
 13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts...

 Maybe no other precept in Jesus teaching has been misunderstood, twisted, or ignored to the degree of his saying he came to fulfill the law.
The word fulfill can in some instances mean to take away, but it also means to give something its full strength. When we look at Matthew and place the word in context of what is said the latter is the only possible usage.
 Before his use of fulfill he has said he has not come to destroy(take away)the law, and after fulfill he says it will not pass away till heaven and earth pass away. so am I saying the law is still in effect...not exactly, closer to say the law was never effective before the work of Jesus.
Let us look at how he has made it effective. The natural man(all people before being crucified by faith in Christ)see the law as a teaching about what they should do and not do. When we look at the law with the grace of the Spirit which is making us alive and the truth(Jesus) abiding(dwelling)in and through us it is a promise of who he is making us to be.
 Jesus reinforces this idea of the law as what we should be instead of what we should do; by teaching it is written not to murder or commit adultery but he declares we must not have hate or lust. It is in this way that our righteousness must come from our heart; exceeding the righteousness of actions despite appearing the same to the outside world.
The life of God shared with us produces this change that the self life can not. The flesh may change an action but it can not change what it is; we are changed by grace through faith into a new creation in Christ.
This new man in Jesus is not directed by the will but by faith, and its movements are not by its strength but by the Spirit of God.
 The written law, by revealing the holy and pure life found in God, when looked upon by the flesh was a mirror; to show the sin and death that was contained in itself. When this same law is looked at with the veil of the flesh removed, as it should be in one living by the generation of the Spirit, it is a promise of what we are being made by the abiding life of Jesus in us.
 As our Lord makes us one with him, as Paul said, we do (by this new nature) the things contained in the law. The things contained in the law are description and teaching of who God is not things we should perform.
When we understand that Gods intention has always been to restore man to become that which He created; which is His children. The Spirit breathed into Adam made him one with God, and therefor alive. Adam lost that life when He became a self. The self can never by its own strength be as God is.
When Jesus did what was necessary for us to once more receive the Spirit living in us, that is carrying the self received from Adam to His death, we where born into a new life. As a natural child reflects his fathers looks and mannerisms, and even personality because he genetically came out of His father; so it is those who's life comes out from God through His Spirit are regenerated to resemble their Heavenly Father.
The law being a description of who God is not what He does also comes to us that we might know and believe what He is making us into. So it is that "thou shalt not kill" is not a command of action but instead a promise of who we are being made into.
It is from faith to faith that the righteousness of Christ is revealed in us meaning every day every hour we let go of the relying and trusting in the self to generate our lives and instead put our reliance and trust and dependence on God to live both in and through us. Then it is the life and the goodness and the righteousness of God that is revealed to this world through our body.
                                                          Rick Rosamond
                                                     A bond slave of Jesus

 Got a question or something to add? Comment below

What does God want from me?

Mat 5:14-16]] KJV*
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven

In our blog on December 29, 2014 we spoke about the way our lives change from a source of our own making to us sharing in Gods life. We discussed how as we are crucified with Jesus as we trust in him, and we humbly expect and desperately rely on him to live through us.
His life in us changes us to "no longer I but Christ in me". When we are sharing the life of God in and through us; Jesus proclaims us to be the light of the world.
 This word for light is an emitting of illumination, not just a  reflection. It is the life and glory of God active in us and seen by all through us. Jesus says it is like a city set on a hill.So it is that God has set those that are his in this world; to provide hope and haven to those lost and stumbling in the darkness.
This light is not of the believer or is it generated by the believer. Instead it is the essence of his abiding presence in us. This light can not be hidden. With the language used it is neither able to be hidden or possible to make hidden.
God did not put his light in any of us for us alone....that is self thinking(what do I get).God is not a self he is a one...he does not give me a life but shares his life with me making us one.
Since it is true that life and all it entails are his. Then my life and that belonging to every believer;he has made one with him.
So the comfort I receive is the comfort I give...the mercy I receive is the mercy I give....the forgiveness I receive is the forgiveness I give....so it is with love, joy, peace, long suffering, forbearance, and all things pertaining to life and Godliness. When this light, of his life, shines through you; causing you to honor and give from compassion, all that is in you, to others. Then they give glory to that one from who this new abundant life has issued...your Father in heaven. 
Num 6:23-27
23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
 24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
 26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
 27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.
Jesus is the High Priest of our new covenant. As such he blesses us who have full reliance on his finished work with the life that is one by the Spirit with The Father and the Son making us as one. The blessing by Aaron was beautiful, it was found in the Glory that God had chosen to dwell amongst men and be their leading light...The blessing of Jesus fulfills Aaron's; as God now lives in men and his light shines from them....Our Father desired a temple made with out hands....and those who have believed are his temple.

How do we mature spiritually?

[Mat 5:3-9]] KJV*
 3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Since not long after the invention of the printing press men have been making books to explain and produce spiritual maturity; none of these have come close to the opening seven sentences of Our Lords sermon on the mount. The seven attributes(probably more accurately described as ways of being)found here are not independent of each other, but instead are symbiotic steps each built on a continuance of what has come before. In this way if we do not continue in any one attribute all which may have been attained beyond it is immediately lost.
The poor in spirit: with poor describing one who has such a lack that they are reduced to begging and spirit describing the vital essence of ones existence(i.e. The inner man); then those who come to the reign of God in their lives are those who have abandoned all hope of being what they should be in their own power or ability
In a world where self esteem, self respect, and self help are held as the answer to all problems Jesus foundation of maturity is 180° opposite.
Those who mourn: To mourn is to feel and express a great sorrow and grief to the point of moaning and crying over our offences toward both God and men. As with the other "steps"of our spiritual maturity each brings a new blessing from God. Those who mourn shall be comforted, this being called alongside is a picture of God pulling us close and hugging us.
The meek: when we have been brought to a place where we no longer " fight for our rights" or demand respect from God and men, our concern for recognition of who we are and what we have done is done away with. Our live is not I but Christ in me...at this place we can be given that which we are to do and be on the earth.(i.e. Moses knew he was called of God to deliver his people when he was forty years old, but it was forty years later when meekness came before God used him for his purpose.)
Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness: hunger(eager desire) thirst(immediate desire)the type pf desire that comes from knowing that without this righteousness we will be left to the death found in the old man.The righteousness itself is a purity,virtue, integrity, and correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting. The blessing of this consuming desire is that we will be supplied with this righteousness, which we can not obtain, with a abundance.
The merciful: far beyond empathy in which you can share in another feelings, but instead an active compassion were everything within us is set to be poured out for those in need around us. Those who are living this gift from God are blessed with God pouring all he is into us that others may experience Him through us.
Pure in heart: the heart is the center source of our passions, appetites, desires and understanding; it is made pure as if by a refiners fire or the cutting of the husbandman's pruning hook. Neither sounds very appealing, but the fire burns away every impurity and the pruning hook takes away everything that is not conducive to growth. The blessing that comes to this heart is to see God, yet much deeper than can be seen with the eyes. It is to experience and know his heart a place where nothing is hidden from each other.
The peacemakers: They don't make peace between angry siblings and spouses, or peace between angry men and nations,but they make peace between rebellious men who live in opposition to God and the God of heaven and earth. Those who are ambassadors of this peace are called the sons of God.
The next versus deal with how the world will react to the radical changes that have taken place and then a warning...You are the salt of the earth but if the salt has lost its savor it is good for nothing....all these blessings had their beginning in the giving up of self(as Jesus later brought us to this happens when we trust that our self was carried to the cross in Jesus that his resurrection life would make me to live). It is God each step of the way drawing us to trust him instead of self, and when we do his blessings draw us to more trust in him and giving up of the self...so the glory of God is at work in us...but if we build up a great storehouse...if we reach a perfect spiritual maturity...and then as the parable says we say self be at ease...if we return to pleasing the self....then as the land owners soul was required that night...so the death we knew from living for the self returns when we return to the self....no matter the blessings we have known

                                                                    Rick Rosamond
                                                              A bond slave of Jesus

Questions or something to add? Comment below

What does it mean to be saved?

*[[Eph 2:8-10]] KJV*  
8 gift(by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:   
9  Not of works, lest any man should boast. 
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

*[[Heb 7:25]] KJV* Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

*[[Rom 10:8-11]] KJV* 
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Most Christians when they hear the word saved automatically go to our deliverance from hell and our gaining of eternal life. Yet at times the Scriptures are speaking of a specific salvation from a trial, or tribulation, or stronghold. So it is that at times, if we automatically think of it in the whole, it can make our understanding of Scripture clouded. This can cause us to be waiting to receive on some future day what God is trying to form in us today.
Another word that is similar to this is grace; it is used both as an all inclusive word of God's work in and through us and also as a specific gift that is given. It has been my experience that understanding the difference and applying it in context can help open up what God is saying to us.

Here are some words in their specific usage: remember  that in the general sense of these words you received it, you are living it out, and one day you will experience its culmination. In the specific use of the words it is a now thing, no past, no future, only the now you are experiencing.
1) mercy: a payment, or extension of time for payment
2) justification: a judges declaration of the innocence of one being judged
3) grace: an undeserved gift ( "fear not Abraham I am thy shield and exceeding great reward", we have become partakers of the promises of Abraham, Jesus said if you believe in him he and his Father will abide in you) we hold this treasure in earthen vessels.
4)deliverance/saved: external/internal change of situation or thinking that is harmful and destructive to the individual
5) righteousness: act and character that is generated by the life of God - so as we trust Christ to live through us his righteousness is revealed in us.
So how are we saved...through faith, and what is faith? Faith is a trust in, reliance upon, and complete dependence on the redemption and life Jesus has provided us.

                                                              

What does abundant life mean?

"...I am come that they might have life, and with they might have it more abundantly. "(KJV) John 10: 10

Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (KJV) John 17: 1-3

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; (KJV) John 17: 21-23

To understand what life is we must have an understanding of what death is. At its lowest common denominator; at its very core death is being separate. This is fallen man's condition. We became a self and as such even in a room with hundreds of people we can know the despair of being all alone.
Life is the very opposite of being a self; life is being one with God. Jesus told us this over and over: I am the vine, you are the branches, why do you call me good, there is none good but the Father, I have meat that you know not of, etc. God sharing his life with us is not something we can form in us, but something we must trust and rely on being given.
Since these things are true; why do believers do things that are not Godly? Jesus said no man can serve two masters, also if a man would find his life(from self) then he would lose his life, but if he would lose his life(from self) for my sake, he will find his life(shared from God).
So how do we stop being a self? The fallen nature I have been referring to as self, Paul called the flesh. It is a word that applies not only to the individual but to any other man or society. In Romans Paul concludes that the flesh is crucified with Christ and that the life we now live is provided by the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul gives us another key in the beginning of the same book "from faith to faith the righteousness of Christ is revealed in us"; showing that as we trust him he brings us to a greater trust in him.
So in this way we come to a place where it is no longer I (the self) that live but Christ (living) in me. So we are conformed to the image of him who is the express image of God, becoming one with him, a living word.
                                                             

The Kingdom of Heaven: What is it

"...repent ye:for the kingdom of heaven is at hand..." Matthew 3: 2

We tend to think of a kingdom as being a certain land under the authority of a monarch. This is true but it is not complete; for all things in the land people, livestock, wildlife, crops, the very land itself belong personally to the king. In this way all things are his to do with as he pleases. For this reason many translations have translated the word reign for kingdom.
In the light of this Jesus statement that the kingdom of heaven is within you becomes more clearly understood. The kingdom is not in a future land but in a submitted heart that has given itself completely over to God.
So what of the old testament saints; where they not submitted? Yes they where submitted but not in the way in which the grace of the new testament affords. Saints, before the precious gift of Jesus death on the cross, had their will and their love towards God, but the only power to live came from their fallen human nature. It is from this power source that the Holy and royal law of God as given to Moses was, as Paul concluded, the law of sin and death. This is not because the law is flawed in any way, but because its perfect standard shows men that their self powered life source is irrevocably flawed.
Most all have heard it said that the Holy Spirit lived with men before the redemption of Jesus, but that now he lives in men. It is very few men who experienced the awesomeness's of this truth, and I would guess almost none live in it completely.
When we trust in what Jesus did for us at the cross the old man(self powered life) is crucified with Jesus. We become a new man who has the life of God(powered by the Holy Spirit)shared in him. The reflection of this Paul calls the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Yet this is not a switch but a relationship; for only as we trust him to live through us is his righteousness revealed in us. When we do trust his life to not only be in us but to live through us; our life becomes as Paul would say "when the gentiles with out law do the things contained in the law". In this way the law of Moses is not a thing to be feared by the believer; where it was a mirror of mans inability to live Godly it is for those who have trusted Christ a promise of the life he is forming in us.
Rick Rosamond
A bond slave ofJesus

Speaking in tongues: is it necessary?

When I was 24 I had been backslidden for 11years and living constantly in the flesh...on a night when something particularly stressful had accured...it was the final proverbial straw...with tears in my eyes I simply put my attention toward heaven and said please help me.. From that moment a change happened...I said nothing to anyone but with in. A few days people where asking. Whats my point...the the Holy Spirit is involved with every aspect of anything we receive from the Lord...he draws us...convicts us... baptizes us into the cross of our Lord...quickens our mortal bodies...leads us into all truth...all of this done through the finished work of Christ. Some Pentecostals act as though believers don't have the Holy Spirit until they receive the baptism...this is just as wrong as some few who teach you are not saved until you are water baptized. Water baptism is a witness before men that one has chosen to die to their own life and accept his life...so an outward expression of an inward decision. In the same way when one dies to trying to do it themselves and gives themselves completely to his reign....there is another witness. We call this the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We are water baptised when we ask a man to help us witness our decision before all...we are Spirit baptised when we ask God to help us witness our decision...in this way some have an almost instant experience...others the Lord deals with for a time...others through ignorance or pride refuse to make this witness. As with all things our Lord is patient,longsuffering, forbearing, compassionate, and kind...if one ignored being water baptised would they lose their salvation...no. Yet it would show by disobedience a problem in their walk....which would be of greater concern than getting them wet...

 Rick Rosamond
 the bond slave of Jesus