Failing God: an excerpt from my book Understanding Paul: freedom in Galatians

Galatians 2:20

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me

If Gods life is living in us and we are His how do we still fail?

God’s gifts are without repentance. He gave Adam choice between life and living as he determined for himself and that choice is still Adams through us His progeny.

Two trees for Adam contain His choice. In one the self does not exist but instead a oneness with God’s shared life. In the other the self determines and makes its own life but is separated from God. We know which one Adam chose.

The death that Adam called life affected him to the core even his seed that would become every soul on the earth. As I write this there are more than seven billion selves living on this earth.

For these children of Adam there is still a choice; the self they have inherited from their father in the earth or a loosing of self and gaining a shared life with God by faith in the redemption of Jesus.

However what if we have chosen to give our life to Jesus but still see failure?  This is the result of strongholds in our mind. These strongholds are areas where we are still placing trust in ourselves and reaping a harvest of sin.

We are children of adoption. We have been adopted from a horrible darkness. Consider this as way of illustration.

A child raised in an abusive home will learn that abuse is normal and adjust their thinking and actions as best they are able to survive what they consider to be just life.

If this child were to be adopted into a kind and loving family they would experience great joy at the love and kindness. At the same time the ways they have learned about life would take time and experience to be dispelled.

They may horde food instead of sharing with their new siblings because of fear their new father may leave them without. When their new father corrects them they may fear he will punish them without mercy. They may mistrust instructions from their new father as being to take from them instead of to give to them. In all these things they will act in ways that are contrary to the new life their new father is trying to share with them.

Make no mistake; if you have desired to be adopted into His family your heavenly Father will not cast you out. If you act against His ways but desire His ways He says

 trust me,

I love you,

I will show you my ways,

 I will make you to become as I am,

 you need not fear anything,

I am with you and nothing can take you from me,

Rest from your worries and cares because I care for you

All who trust in me are made as I am; none of them are ashamed of trusting in me because I do not fail.

I know what you need; it will make you uncomfortable sometimes but you will see it is for your perfection.

When you see your fear dissolve help your adopted brothers to trust me too.

My love cast out fear and I am with you always even to the ends of the earth.

We fail because we fear to trust ourselves to Him completely. We fear because we do not believe He can love us completely without conditions. We set conditions because we cannot see that He is changing everything in our life.

He provides for us, He nurtures us, He teaches us, and He chastises us that we may mature. Not to make us a better child but that we would know we are His child.

Understanding the Old and New Covenant

2 Corinthians 3:7-9

 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.

I have quoted the scripture from Corinthians but though this subject is important for our understanding of all Pauls epistles and Hebrews the book I have in mind as this is written is galatians.

The church at Galatia was under attack. While Paul was busy elsewhere wolves had snuck in order to use the brethren for their own desire of recognition, honor, and a following.

These false teachers were claiming that they were showing the Galatians how to have a proper relationship with God. They taught that the gentiles were not in true covenant with God until they were circumcised.

Coming from Jerusalem; they claimed that they spoke with the authority of the original apostles and James the Lords brother and head pastor of the Jerusalem church.

If these men knew that James had addressed this issue is not known but we do know that the authority they claimed for their teaching was a lie.

James and Paul do not oppose each other in the least; despite the misunderstanding of some which has persisted for two thousand years. Paul has no desire to discard the teachings of Moses. In truth his teachings to the gentile church could be considered as commentary on Moses writings. James does not wish to add any source to salvation other than faith in Messiah alone.

The scripture makes witness to the fact that Jesus came to Israel to establish Gods new covenant; as prophesied by Jeremiah and others. This covenant is made with Israel but others are not excluded in old or new.

Under the old a man was required to have his foreskin circumcised if he desired to be included in the covenant. Under the new covenant the token of circumcision given to Abraham is fulfilled in the true circumcision of the heart.

The new and old are in reality the same. To explain what I mean by this I offer the following example.

My wife and I were married almost twenty four years ago. We received a marriage license, went to a court official, said our vows and ta da we were married.

I promised my wife that we would have a better ceremony later. Now as my twenty fifth anniversary is approaching I intend to keep my promise.

Laying aside my slackness in keeping my promise a great many things will be different this time.

The ceremony will be performed by a minister instead of a governor.

My childish understanding of what marriage means to my everyday life has matured into an understanding that my wife and I are sharing one life.

Our vows are not an oath to live up to but are a witness of what is living in our hearts.

In the old our actions and thoughts where on what and how to be married in the new we focus on why we are married.

The marriage relationship itself has not changed. There still must be faithfulness, compassion, a trust and submission to one another, and a desire to walk out our time on earth together if our marriage is to be more than in name only.

This is a very accurate picture of the two covenants. The way of life described and thought of as a standard in the old has not changed but instead become the natural result of the life in us. Righteousness is still righteousness but it has gone from being an imitation of Gods life to an emanation of Gods life in us.

Love without compassion is dead: pillars 18

1 John 3: 13-17

13Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

14We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

15Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

16Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

17But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

Decades ago when I was a college student I heard a knock on my door one night. When I answered the door there stood a man with a jar wrapped in a printed paper. This man told me he was taking up a collection for a poor family whose daughter had recently passed away in order to help with burial expenses.

Although my weekly diet consisted of three different flavors of Raman noodles I gave a dollar toward His cause; after all that’s what good people do.

Four months later there was a knock again. When I opened my door it was the same man with the same jar and by some cruel twist of fate the exact same girl had managed to die once more. In this world there is always someone trying to take for themselves. When I lived by the flesh the answer was simple; I take care of me and leave it to you to do the same.

The world has no other source but the self so even when they do give in a charitable way the core motivation is along the lines of doing what they believe shows that they are a good person. Such giving is not acceptable if we are of the household of faith. Obedient giving to prove our love for God and man is also of no use.

Cain’s sacrifice was to God but only to prove He was acceptable and for this reason it showed he was not acceptable. The giving of a believer must start with a love that is in no way self-seeking for love seeks not its own. True love has no pride for it never lifts up its actions but by its actions lifts up others.

The book of acts tells us that the early church considered all they had to be the common property of all believers. Some have compared this to a communist thought but in truth it is very opposite. In communism no individual own anything and a government distributes to each their share. In the family of God there is no individual for we are one and all things belong to all. It is for this reason that if anything was held back for the self then the guilt was that one had lied and stolen from God. As a husband and wife would find if you place yourself as a self and then attempt to take from the family of God the results are deadly.

My point in this is not to speak to the economy of this situation but instead the necessity of the selfless love of placing all others as your only concern and the destructive result of the hatred for others witnessed by placing the self above all.

Acts tells us those who had little had no lack and those who had much had no excess. Paul said of the gift going to Jerusalem to give shows the sincere love for the brethren but also that it was not to be burdened that others would be eased. He instructs to give as we propose in our heart.

Our giving must not be done in order to receive but must be from a pure love that has no thought of itself. When our motive is tied to our own benefit John concludes we hate our brother. Why?

God declared all who place their faith in Him are made one with Him and each other. When one takes as for themselves they witness against themselves that they are not one with God. They steal from their brothers what God has given. And by their separating from trust in God they murder themselves.

This does not mean believers are to have nothing. However those things we have are for the purposes of our Father not our own. Consider the expensive perfume used on Christ; when one said it should have been used for the poor Jesus said it had been used for the propose it was intended for.

We are also told to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Men driven by the flesh will always try to take for themselves; we are to know the difference between the need of our brothers and the lust of Adam. When men wanted to take Jesus and make Him king it was not for the desire of having God’s messiah rule over them but instead for the benefit they would receive from being the head nation of the earth. The scripture says Jesus knew all men and so He slipped away from them.

Just as faith without works is dead so love without compassion is also dead. Love is a motive of the mind and heart driving us to act to the betterment of our brother. The action that we are driven to by love is called compassion. So John ask us if we have this worlds goods and see our brother in need and we have no act of compassion toward them how can we say we have the love of God alive in us?

John asks who is being formed in you?:pillars 17

1 John 3

 1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

 4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

 5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

 11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

How often do we stop to consider what God has done for us? If you are as I am it is not enough. God has chosen to give himself to us and make us to be as He is. The human mind with its fallen bent toward the self is always asking why. Why did God make me? What does He expect of me? What’s in it for Him?

The idea of giving by nature with only a desire for another to be full and complete is foreign. Even when we say He did all this for me in the back of our mind, in that place where questions are asked that are never spoken, we wonder what the catch is.

It is this comprehension problem in us that causes to not be able to reconcile Gods vengeance and wrath with His love and mercy. How many well-meaning believers have worked themselves to exhaustion to do the work of God only to feel slighted when they don’t receive the blessings they expect.

If we look for the wrong gifts we overlook the true and precious gift. God has made himself our Father. What does that mean? It means He has placed His seed in us. He has made us to be one with Him.

When Messiah said He was the son of God the Pharisees attempted to stone Him for making Himself equal to God. They would have been fine with Jesus teaching that all that God had was given to Him; for this is simply to make God a benefactor. However to say He was a son was to say that who He was down to his DNA was a replica of who God was. When we have a child they are a combination of our DNA and our spouses which while making them in our image it is not an exact image. If we were to give both the x and the y chromosomes the child would be our clone; an exact image.

If we take this natural scenario and place it in the spirit which is the essence of our being and life we may see some hint of this gift. God has formed a juxtaposition of life in us. As a seed goes into the ground and dies before God makes it to grow into a harvest, or as sperm and egg become a new creation in the womb maturing to the image of its father, so we are placed in Messiah and at the same time Messiah is placed in us, we are hidden in Him while He is being formed in us. As this new creation forms and matures it begins to appear the same as the Father from which it has come. On the day of our manifestation we will be as He is and we will know as He is known.

John says to think it not a strange thing when men cannot see this life being formed in you. They could not see the life of the Father living in Messiah and because they did not honor God in their heart they could not honor His son in the flesh.

Those who understand that their very life is now one with the Father and we are in His Son and Him as He is in use and have been filled with the expectancy of this change seek after this purification of heart.

Pure life has no sin for truly the law is a description of the life found in the Father. Those who attempt to live by obedience to the law will find only death in themselves; however those who expect the Father to live in them will find He does not sin.

Messiah is the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Bulls and goats blood covered it only but the blood of Jesus brings life.

Is John saying if I commit a sin I am not His child. No he is not. Sins plural is any transgression of the law; sin singular is the cause of all manifestations of sin. This core is the self-generated life that Adam sought to achieve.

In the believer as Christ is formed in Him the works of the devil are destroyed. If we attempt to live for God by our own effort we are not seeking to be born of His Spirit but of our flesh. Jesus concluded of those who would make their own way to God that they were children of their Father the devil and John gives us the same conclusion those who are not putting their trust in Messiah and the Spirit of God for the source of their every moment of life are children being formed of the devil.

Our righteousness is not generated by us but it does that which is righteous. Our righteousness is His righteousness and it is obvious to all in the same way His was.

So we must see that within us are both the flesh and the Spirit if we are believers. To which ever we place our trust our living is born; for this reason if we see transgression in our life we know that we have sown to our flesh and brought to birth death in us. If we find ourselves in the sin we must repent and place our expectation of having life in Him and John assures us if we confess our sin He is faithful and Just ( after all He has paid for them) to forgive us our sins.

Righteousness becomes evidenced in our lives by love. When we truly love God and men we do not sin. From Moses to John all that God has promised and given and desired in us is love. Not the false love of the world that only endures for the time it encourages the self of the lover making them either feel good or believe they are good by it.

True love has no thought of the self it does not attempt to endure but it expects.

John teaches believers what they know: pillars 16

1 John 2:20-29

 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

 21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

 22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

 24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

 25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

 26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

 28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

 29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

The paradox of Christians who are called to the “fivefold ministry” is laid out in simplicity by the apostle. The new covenant that Jesus established with Israel was prophesied by Jeremiah many years before The Word was manifested in the flesh.

This prophet arguably had the hardest and most unaccepted ministry that we have record of in the scripture. Perhaps as way of consolation God gave to him the most beautiful sight of the result of promised Messiahs coming. This new covenant may have been understood and appreciated more by this prophet than it is by many of those who live in its benefits.

The paradox begins for us with this prophet when He tells us that in the new covenant “…they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest…” Jeremiah 31: 34. John affirms this in his listeners by saying they have an anointing and know all things and also He says they have no need that men teach them.

Yet our Lord who established this covenant told His disciples when you are converted strengthen your brethren, He told Peter if you love me feed my sheep, and His Spirit through Paul tells us that when the anointed one ascended He took us, who were the captives of the grave in the earth, as captives of the life in heaven with Him. He tells us we are hidden in Him and seated in His heavenly places. Also at His ascending He gave gifts unto us the so called fivefold ministry for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ till we are all brought to that perfect man and unity of the faith.

The word know, as in you know Him, is about being joined with Him not a scholarly knowledge. So if by faith I am joined to Him then when He died I died, when He was buried I was buried, when He was resurrected I was resurrected, and when He ascended I ascended.

 These things being true why is my body still living here? My body is not my own it is literally the body of Christ, the Spirit of God quickens my mortal body and both the Father and the Son and I abide here. God has made us one so now we are a package deal; if He is in heaven so is I, if He is in me so am I and not I alone but all who are of the household of faith.

These things being true why at times (many more than I wish) do I sin; how is it even possible after what we have just discussed?  The unity of faith is not about the outside of you and your brother, but instead about your fight of faith within. We all to some degree have a mixed trust reliance and expectation of Christ to live through us and ourselves to live through us.

The trials, temptations, chastisements, failures, victories, and blessings of our Christian life all serve to show us that we must let go of our old self and let ourselves be completely crucified in Christ in order that the oneness of God and us, sharing His life, may be manifested.

Now many who read this may have never heard such a thing stated but if you are Christ’s you know it is true. This is the purpose of a minister; not to teach you what you should know, but to stir up the gift that is in you. It is the anointed one working in us to encourage you to trust His working in you for it is in Him that we move and breathe and Have our being.

Any man that believes he can give you life by his teaching or work is at best deceived and at worst trying to make you into merchandise. You are anointed of God because you are made one with Him and it is The Holy Spirit that works in you to teach and to will and to do.

As much as your faith is in Jesus to live through you His glory rest on you. As much as your faith is not in Him you are in the flesh and He shares His glory with no flesh.

As a last point fear that you will fail is the exact opposite of faith that He is your maker and author and finisher of your faith. He is able to make you exactly what He desires…FEAR NOT ONLY BELIEVE!!

Our relationship with our Father and each other: pillars part 15

1 John 2: 12-19

12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

 13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

 14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

 15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

 18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

John gives to us three examples of Christian maturity little children, young men, and fathers. Each of these maturities has the results of our ever increasing faith becoming a living thing within our everyday experience.

If we think of these maturities as increasing the life, working, and power of Messiah in us we miss the reason for John using this symbolism. If we were to look at a man’s life when He was seven, twenty one, and sixty three there are certain foundational things that are unchanging. In all three examples of His life he is fully alive; he would not gain more life by living to maturity. We are either baptized into His death in Messiah and raised by the quickening of the Spirit or we are not Also unchanging is the way in which life is continued at each intersection he must eat (the true bread from God), drink (the blood of the covenant), have shelter (hidden in Messiah), rest (come unto me…I will give you rest), and expel that which is harmful(purge out the old leaven of man’s teaching by the renewing of your mind). What does change is our understanding of why we are alive, what living well consists of, and the very reason we are alive.

John has shared with us who Messiah is, what it is to have Him living in you, and what true fellowship with Him is to the end that we may see who we are as His. The language He uses fuses our relationship as a son of God with marriage language.  God is not only our maker but also He has joined himself to us making us and Him one.

little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

Even the youngest and least immature in the Kingdom of Heaven is betrothed to our creator. A bride takes her husband’s name signifying she has left the family of her father and has become one with her husband’s family.  We leave the father of our flesh Adam and the brotherhood of fallen men and join our self as one with the bridegroom. The bridegroom’s Father becomes our Father and His brethren become our brethren.

Jesus proved He had the power to forgive sins while ministering on the earth, and He showed why the Father had given Him this authority; for He paid the debt of every sin Himself. Therefore when we are joined with Him this same forgiveness is ours because He has given us His name.

, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning

Paul would say to the church you have many instructors in Christ but few Fathers. Instructors draw others to themselves and their teachings while a Father seeks to show a child how to have all life offers.

 An instructor is a hireling who sees students as a source of provision for himself and of course they should provide since he is instructing them from his great knowledge. A father instead has no gain from the child other than the joy of seeing him have a fullness of life; though he will teach the child to work beside him that the entire family may share in the provision of their labour.

Why is the father able to be so different? As the spouse of the bridegroom fathers have not only made an agreement to become one but has consummated their marriage. The two have become one. A fathers life is not his own in possession or source but it is the life of THE FATHER through him

, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

A young man has begun to understand the authority and place of his family and how that name means that he also has this authority and power available in his life. This is the place where he begins to walk in that authority. A young man sees himself as one that must bring honor to his Father and family through the manner and conduct of His life. Duty honor and love for his father is the life of a young man.

It is the nature of a child to speak of being grown. It is the nature of a young man to believe he has need of nothing more. It is the nature of a father to by love and caring show how to live where you are and help you to become what you will be.

The master builder of the church concluded the work of a spiritual father when he said “I determined to know nothing among you but Christ and Him crucified.”

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The world, all that is in and of this world, is the family and possession of the father of sinful flesh Adam. Our Heavenly Father has no love for the things that the flesh seeks. Those things bring only death and destruction. Our Fathers love is men and to seek and save men must be our love also.

All the things men desire and strive for shall dissolve into nothing leaving behind only vexation and eternal death. The life our Father shares with whosoever will is His life and shall never fade away or have an end.

18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

The time of the patriarchs has been and passed, the time of the promise to come has been and passed, the teaching of the life God wishes to share with men has been and passed, the manifestation of that life and giving of redemption has been and passed, it is now the last days

when God calls to everyman to partake of His provision of life. Each of these times before has had a set time in the foreknowledge of the Father as does these last days.

Men from the beginning have sought to change the teachings of God to their own ways and they have not changed. God gave the witness of sacrifice and Cain made it a false way to elevate His own works; even refusing the grace to repent. It should surprise no one that when the living manifestation and true sacrifice has come men would once more pervert it to a means to elevate themselves. These are the anti-Christ teachers and doctrines. Jesus has warned us that in these days would arise many false Christ claiming to show the way to God while drawing men to themselves.

These teachers have left Moses witness of life and the apostle’s witness of that life manifested. They make our relationship with the maker a work of our own hands and a way to obtain the things that are passing away. Witnessing of themselves that they have not the life that abides beyond these things.

John says to be real: pillars part 14

 

1 John 2:1-11

1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin , we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

3And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

4He that saith , I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected : hereby know we that we are in him.

 6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk , even as he walked .

7Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

8Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past , and the true light now shineth .

9He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

10He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

11But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth , because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

John here gives us the motive behind the writing if His epistle “that you sin not” followed directly by the assurance that if we sin Jesus is our solution.

The modern church has accepted in many circles various teachings of a grace that are false. Most of these false ways have at their root the reasoning and thinking of men trying to align the scripture with assumptions about how our lives should be lived. The very way we define grace is often the reason we develop understandings that frustrate grace from being effective in our lives. So what is grace?

We often hear grace defined as an undeserved gift which while being true leaves much to be interpreted.

Many view it as synonymous with forgiveness. There is no denying the forgiveness in grace but it is in no way the sum of it. It is as if I asked how does a car run and was answered with you put fuel in it. Fuel is vital to the answer but it is not its sum. Grace is not a precept of God as to our position in Him nor is it a declaration of our innocence by Jesus sacrifice but it is His life actively living in us.

Paul would say we have been made partakers of the promise established with Abraham but what is that promise? Our thinking and our teaching often go to Abraham’s promise of land, influence, importance, progenitor, a heir, yet these things are a result of the promise. The promise of Abraham came directly after His separation from Lot and it was this; God said “I am thy shield and thy exceedingly great reward”. The Father has given us far more than what is in His hand but He has given Himself. His very life all He is now has been made one with us.

This is grace; the experience of God living in and through us a shared life. When we see this then it becomes obvious why John says if we say we are walking in fellowship with Him we do not walk in darkness. So how is it possible we sin if it is God living in us.

Mercy is like a blanket which covers all of my actions but the grace of Gods breath in us is a vitality of life. Your life before you came to redemption was the result of every moment, every decision, and every thought all active in your flesh. This flesh generated life can, whether desire is for good or evil, only steal, kill, and destroy both ourselves and those around us. To some degree it is the revelation of this from God that brings us to repentance.

At the moment of conversion we are forgiven and justified by our faith in Messiah but the grace that we walk in is a moment by moment walk of faith. In a perfect walk we would immediately live as our messiah lived by complete dependence on the Father to act and speak through Him. However the believer has strongholds in their mind of a trust in the self or others to provide in certain ways and times.

This trust causes us to sow in certain ways to our flesh and when that seed has grown it produces fruit. This is the way that a true believer can in some way find himself committing sin. “The just shall live by faith” means in essence that the life of God in us is only as active as we are trusting His life to live through us.

The chastisement of the Lord is when the Lord allows the trust of the flesh to produce works of the flesh in the Christians life. This becomes how He reveals our heart to us. The sin of Adam that brought death to men was simply to trust that by his own ability He could produce life just as God does. This trust in self is the seed of the plant called death and the works of the flesh Paul gives us in Galatians 5:19-21 are its fruit. So it is that when we see this rotten fruit in our living we know that the seed is present.

Paul says lay aside the sin that so easily besets us, this does not mean to ignore it but rather that when we see it place it in the death of Messiah by faith and trust the Fathers life in us to be our life.

For when Messiah who knew no sin carried our sin to the cross that it should die along with the results of that sin described in the curse of the law. Jesus has brought to us the good will of God by destroying in His body the power of death by His own death on the cross.

So Jesus went to the cross to die and we as His believers come to Him to die therefore He forever stands as a legal reason for our acceptance before the judge of all the earth if we are found in the faith that He has become our life.

How is it that we know we are one with His life being our own we keep His commandments. This word causes problems because we perceive it as a rule but the deeper meaning of the word is that it is a precept or description. It is not a description of an action to attain to life so much as a description of the effect of actions occurring because life is present.

For example it is not a rule that my heart must beat but for along as I am alive it is my nature to have a beating heart. So when we seek to perform the things of live we witness that we do not have that life naturally. By our trust in His life living in us we do as Paul said the things contained in the law by nature.

If we say we are living by His life in us but we walk in sin we lie for God cannot sin. As we trust Him he takes us from trust to more trust and from more trust to even more trust and as Paul says from faith to faith the righteousness of Messiah is revealed in us who hold this life in earthen vessels.

This is the commandment from the beginning; trust Gods life in you and commit yourself completely to love for Him. This is the command to Adam to not forsake the life breathed into Him and attempt to become his own life. This oldest of commands to love God with all we are is made alive, effective, and new in Messiah.

The light of the Fathers presence has through His Son Jesus been made to abide in men once more bringing us back into sonship. If we love God and His love is in us then we also love our brethren and there is no place in love for sin.

However if we lift up the self we will hate our brother whether by trying to rule over him, take from him; to envy, to covet, and to lust are the only tools of the blind because Gods life and the light of His presence is not in them.

I once heard it said that the worst liar is the man who lies to himself...are you blind?...Jesus still heals blind men who call on Him.

John asked what lives in you:pillars 13

1 John 1: 5-10

5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The new age movement is many things but new is not one of them. The packaging is often redone and stated in various ways but the basic precepts are as old as the tower babel. Oprah speaks of the many ways to god but the truth is that scientology, Native American spiritualism, Buddhism, universalism, psychology, self-help teachings, humanism, false christianity and a thousand variations are at their core the same teaching and all will bring you directly to the door step of the god of this world. We see Christ and anti-Christ in that as Jesus is the door that brings us to the light of becoming one with God so there is a door that brings us to the darkness of Adams iniquity to make himself as god. This door is the self.

The religion of man, for they are in truth all the same, states that at the core of a man is either god, the universal spirit, a clear consciousness, goodness, or whatever description and that by enlightenment or removal of wrong emotions, desires, thinking and understandings man can become what he is intended to be. When the bells and whistles are removed it believes in short that the knowledge of good and evil is sustenance to become as god is.

Though the scripture is often used by those who hold such beliefs to validate their teaching it pieced, parted and modified scripture pulled out as if it can stand on its own without relationship to all else in the scripture.

John tells us God is light and has no darkness in him at all. Not only does this statement of truth stand against the religion of self-improvement but it raises the question of how can the darkness of this world exist and at the same time God be omnipresent. The answer to this is by a covering or a veil.

What happens to darkness when it is exposed to light? It ceases to exist. For this very reason when Adam choice to be his own illuminating force God enveloped this world with His mercy to prevent men from ceasing to exist. This is the positive of a covering but there is also a negative; if something is covered it is separated from our presence.

So it was that Adams choice to be self-generated caused us to be separated; God calls this separation death and darkness. Our God added to His mercy the gift of redemption. The effective working of this redemption is that Gods life becomes once more the source of life for those who place their trust and dependence on Him. We call this process of His life being restored in us grace.

This grace is the means by which the dependence on the life generated by the flesh is removed. It has its basic principle shown to us in the token of circumcision. Once the carnal thinking of man could take hold of the precept of a covering of flesh needing to be removed in order to be in the covenant of God with man then God would build on this teaching.

The teaching of a veil, both over Moses face as the glory of God emanated from him and by the veil in both tabernacle and temple separating even the ministers of God from His presence in the most holy place, shows us our separation.

 In genesis God has said “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh”. The prophets expand the teaching of circumcision by showing the separation of our flesh with uncircumcised lips, ears, eyes, and heart. Until we are brought to Messiah and how He has carried us into the removing of the flesh by His death, which is true circumcision and removing of the veil, on the cross making us dead to the life generated by our self but living to His generation of life in us by His Spirit.

 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

So John tells us if we are still in the darkness of trying to generate our own life but claiming we are sharing in His life and light we lie. Our being is not as His being

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

However if we rely, depend, and expect that our life is Him living in us then we are one in His life and thereby one with the Father and also one another. In this fellowship we are not merely covered by mercy and forgiveness but rather we are cleansed. For sin is when we do that which is in opposition to the law but the law is a description of the life of God. When we trust Him to share His life in us and live through us our old sin is crucified in Messiah and we are cleansed of our old bondage to that sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we allow ourselves to believe that we can produce actions and desires that are pleasing to God from the flesh of the self which we received from Adam then we deceive ourselves and the truth of who we are and our separation from Him is not in our mind and heart.

If we will believe and confess not only the uselessness of ourselves to produce life but also that the very attempt to do such is a result of the prideful sin that brings only death. Then we find His forgiveness and that he cleanses from all unrighteousness; for His life shared in us is the same life described as righteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

How often have we heard others or ourselves say “I am a good person” or claim compared to the next guy their wrong is a little thing. To say such a thing is to call God a liar. Do not think within yourself that such a thing only applies to the lost; our churches are filled with those who will say they need Jesus but then list all the good things they do. Our Lord would not make such a confession despite His perfect life but instead asked “why do you call me good there is none good but the Father” for it was the Fathers life through Him not produced of or by himself.

Is His word in us?

John and the Word of Life: pillars part 12

1 John 1

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

2(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

3That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

With the phrase Word of life the apostle John makes a pretty good summery of His message to the church.

 John’s teaching is like an energy storm around an atom where it seems that an electron disappears and reappears further in its rotation. The other authors of the epistles are analytical dividing mercy, justification, redemption, salvation, righteousness, and life and dealing with each as to how it affects the whole. With John you better strap in cause it’s all one.

 Reading his epistles is like a jolt of static electricity that shocks you and leaves you stunned trying to understand what just happened. It is as if the Holy Spirit waits excitedly for your understanding to catch what has been said then plunges back into the storm.

The word of life which John speaks of is not ink on a page but it is instead a man that had the breath of God I Him. We read in ink the witness of both prophets and apostles of who He was but John saw his face when He was grieved and when He was joyful. Where we read the things He said; John has heard both compassion and sternness in His voice. He has tasted the fishes and loaves, seen leapers given new healthy flesh, heard the mourning for Lazarus changed to praise and astonishment, smelled the dirt and sweat and blood mingled at His crucifixion, and seen His resurrected body ascend into Heaven. With all these things experienced forming in John a knowledge of who His Messiah was his testimony is He is the Word of life.

If we ask a man to describe his life it is very likely we will hear about labor, accomplishment, achievements, family, or desires. However life is who you are; all the things we list when asked are the result of the life in us but they are not that life. The life in us is experienced. In this same way the description of life cannot bring us the experience of it.

Jesus said only the Spirit of a man can know a man. It is for this very reason that we have been made partakers of the Spirit of God, that we may know Him. The scriptures say also that from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Consider with me what this means.

Those who love deception speak deception. Those who love a lie speak lies. Those who desire to have honor of men speak flattery(this does not mean appealing to another’s vanity but to your own. If my vanity is that real men take what they want then my flattery may well be insulting and demeaning). If Messiah fills our heart we speak of Messiah.

If we see these things then we see that the living Word being the only begotten goes far beyond the creation in Mary’s womb. The Father spoke from that which was who He was; so because He is truth His Word is truth, because He is the vital force of life His Word is Spirit, and because the Father is I AM the existing one the being which we call life His word is life. The sum of these things is when the Father spoke he reproduced Himself. So before the foundations of the world the Son was born. All things where created by Him. One more thing to remember The Father does not have words as of many but the word as in one. The manifestation of that word through the prophets and later through the apostles is merely description of the Word who is the first and the last the beginning and the end.

So the express image who has said if you have seen me you have seen the Father Has also said me and my Father are one for I am in my Father and my Father is in me has become the word by which the life of the Father is restored into those who believe. Saying that we too shall be one and as such be one with the Father and the Son and also our brethren.

In short the Word of Life is born of the Father and is one in person with the Father but still His Son. It is by this same Living Word that we who by faith place ourselves in the death He endured can come into life. The same life that is in the Son, is living in us making us brethren and children of the Father.

The Word of life.