Monthly Archives: June 2013

Being Changed from the Inside Out

29 Saturday Jun 2013

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 Changing From Inside Out

We know that our old self was put to death on the execution-stake with him, so that the entire body of our sinful propensities might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. …By God’s grace, you, who were once slaves to sin, obeyed from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you were exposed; and after you had been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. (I am using popular language because your human nature is so weak.) For just as you used to offer your various parts as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led to more lawlessness; so now offer your various parts as slaves to righteousness, which leads to being made holy, set apart for God. ~ Romans 6:6, 17-19, CJB

 

 

Believers in Christ Jesus, who truly have been born again, saved, indwelt, and infilled with God’s Holy Spirit, are NOT “sinners” saved by Grace. The believers who see themselves as “sinners” who have been saved by Grace very well just might still be experiencing the residual effect of their old man/old woman’s sinful nature. That is to say, it was their old sinful nature (old spirit, old heart) that programmed their minds to think and their bodies to behave sinfully!

Truthfully, even though believers have a new holy and righteous nature (new heart, new spirit), their minds and bodies haven’t been thoroughly changed (successfully reprogrammed). Believers still have some of their old wrong and/or sinful values, beliefs, and practices, and these old patterns need to be transformed. In a nutshell, their leftover sinful thinking and sinful behavior must experience a metamorphosis, because their residual stinking thinking and ungodly behavior need to change and become more like Christ’s.

When believers were born again from above, God immediately gave each one of them their NEW man, NEW woman nature—their new supernaturally alive spirit, which now is DEAD to sin. That is to say, every believer’s born-again spirit cannot sin anymore, because God put in every believer’s supernaturally alive spirit His Perfect Will, Character, Values, Desires, and so forth. In other words, God has given every born-again spirit its spiritual wellbeing (see Ephesians 4:20-24)!

Even though the Scriptures support this Divine Truth about believers’ new spiritual nature, about believers being born from above, those Scriptures haven’t stopped so many believers in Christ Jesus from calling themselves “sinners” who have been saved by Grace. The main reason so many believers still think they are “sinners” saved by Grace is because they have not fully comprehended that what actually happened in their born-again spirit was a complete metamorphosis—a complete transformation, similar to the caterpillar becoming the very unattractive chrysalis (larva), which then changes into a very gorgeous butterfly.

Because some believers are unable to grasp the abovementioned Divine Truth, they do not speak about themselves in accordance with the way God now sees them, and He sees each one of them as a brand new creature! Once again, just like the caterpillar’s metamorphosis—the distinct change in appearance, character, condition, or function—results in the new butterfly, which is a totally different creature, the same is true about every born-again believer. He or she has become a completely new and different creature than he or she was before his or her spiritual transformation took place!

The Scriptures tell us that:

…if anyone is united with the Messiah, he is a new creation — the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new! And it is all from God, who through the Messiah has reconciled us to himself and has given us the work of that reconciliation ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, CJB

In these verses, the apostle Paul makes it clear that believers’ old sinful nature “has passed” away. He did not say that their old sinful nature is “passing away,” but rather he says that their old sinful nature (their old spirit/old heart) doesn’t exist anymore!  

Put differently, as born again spiritual beings, believers are NOT “becoming” new. They indeed ARE completely new, because these once spiritually dead human beings are now spiritually alive creatures! Furthermore, since it is their born again innermost being (their new spirit/new heart) that not only is spiritually alive but also is that part of them that Christ Jesus has saved, justified, imputed His righteous to, and presented before God as perfectly holy, there is no way that this spiritual creature also can still be a “sinner” who has been saved by Grace!

While born again and saved believers have become a totally brand new spiritual creature, they still have two parts of their whole being that have not completely been transformed or saved: 1. their soul (their mind, will, desires, emotions, conscience, and imagination); and 2. their body. These parts were neither instantaneously changed nor miraculously saved, when their innermost spiritual being was suddenly transformed and supernaturally saved! Once again, when believers do not fully understand that they immediately became a new man/new woman in their born-again spirit but remained the same man/same woman in their soul and body, this is the main reason why they will continue to call their new man/new woman saved self a “sinner” who has been saved by Grace!

Because believers’ soul and body have not become instantly transformed, nor instantly saved, this Divine Truth is why God gave believers His Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit gradually could transform believers’ old stinking thinking, old desires, old emotions, old flesh, and so forth. Contrary to some people’s opinions, God’s Holy Spirit is the One who is inside them sanctifying them.

After believers have received God’s gift of salvation and are indwelt and infilled by God’s Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit starts progressively purifying (making holy; perfecting) believers’ souls. Moreover, the Holy Spirit also starts the glorification process—He gradually changes believers’ corrupt bodies so that ultimately they will be able to stand before a holy God wholly (entirely; totally) perfect (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Because of God’s Grace (Christ Jesus’ atoning sacrifice), and because of the power of His Holy Spirit, believers in Christ Jesus are being changed from the inside out. As previously stated, inwardly each believer has been given a new nature—a new heart/new spirit. This new nature, new heart not only IS perfect, righteous, holy, and sinless but also is the center of every aspect of each believer’s new spiritual life.

More important, believers’ new nature, new heart (human spirit) has the same power (the Holy Spirit) in it that raised Christ Jesus from the dead (see Romans 8:11; Ephesians 1:18-20). The Holy Spirit in believers also is the mind of Christ Jesus (see John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:16b). Additionally, God also put in believers’ new nature the fruit of His Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23). Lastly, God also has put inside believers’ new heart/new spirit His Perfect Will (see Philippians 2:13) so that they will prefer to do what He wants them to do, which He says in His Word is everything that is moral, pleasing to Him, and achievable (see Romans 12:1-2).

By the aid of the Holy Spirit, who is inside every believer, followers of Christ Jesus are able to work out of themselves their salvation—to work out of themselves EVERYTHING God has put inside their born again, saved human spirit. This working out of them what God has put inside them begins with believers’ daily submission and obedience to the Holy Spirit, who prompts and leads them to repent (change their attitudes and the ways they think).

When believers change the ways they think, by changing their attitudes about why they should be in agreement with God’s Perfect Will inside of them, a change that is achieved when they are being faithful and obedient to God’s Word, believers also are transforming (reprogramming; renewing) their souls. Indeed, the primary reason why believers are being changed from the inside out is because it is every believer’s soul that controls how much of his or her born again, sanctified (holy, perfect) spirit will flow through his or her soul and into his or her body.

As mentioned earlier, every believer’s innermost born again, saved new spirit is the center of all spiritual activity. From the spirit this spiritual activity flows to the soul, and the soul controls how much and which spiritual activity will be sent to the body. For this reason, the Holy Spirit’s ultimate goal is to sanctify (purify; make holy and perfect) the soul of every believer until each believer is thinking with the mind of Christ, and until every believer’s body is behaving Christ-like. Put differently, it is every believer’s Holy Spirit led soul that releases out of each believer’s born-again spirit EVERYTHING God has placed in it (a.k.a., the soul is working out of every believer his or her salvation).

Working out believers’ salvation, therefore, only happens when what is inside them, in their new nature (in their born again, saved spirit), can be seen outside of them. When believers are doing God’s Perfect Will, they are demonstrating to others how much like Christ Jesus they have become. For this reason, working out believers’ salvation is believers showing the world that the Christ-like lifestyle they are living is the genuine result of the Holy Spirit’s progressive sanctification, or the process by which their individual human soul and body each gradually obtained God’s Holiness nature (His perfect, sinless nature), which every believer’s born-again spirit immediately obtained. 

Finally, once the individuals who call themselves believers in Christ all understand the relationship their spirit has with their soul and body, none of these born again, saved believers will ever refer to themselves as “sinners” saved by Grace. Saying that they are “sinners” saved by Grace implies that God hasn’t given them everything that they need in order to live holy and righteous lives on this Earth. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Every vital spiritual gift that is promised in the Word of God already has been given to every believer via God’s Grace (Christ Jesus who paid the price for everything believers would ever need) and by God’s Holy Spirit. More important, it is the transforming power of the Holy Spirit that changes every believer’s life from the inside out. The transforming power of God’s Holy Spirit changes every believer’s spiritually dead spirit to a supernaturally born again sanctified (holy, perfect, righteous, and sinless) spirit; changes every believer’s imperfect and worldly soul to a sanctified (perfect and holy) soul; and changes every believer’s decaying and corrupt body to a glorified (perfect and holy) body!

There can be no doubt that God certainly saves everybody just as he or she is, but it is evident in His Word that God never intended to leave anybody the way He finds him or her. God always intended that after each believer received His gift of salvation that His Holy Spirit’s sanctification process then would change each believer from the inside out!

God’s plan always has been to transform the spirit, soul, and body, and this Divine Truth is why as born again, saved believers we are NOT “sinners” who have been saved by Grace. Our regenerated, saved spirit no longer is a slave to sin but rather a slave to righteousness (see Romans 6:17-18); thus, our born again, saved spirit can no longer sin, because it is now righteous, perfect, and holy!

The bottom line is this: Born-again believers are spiritual beings, who are holy and righteous. Unfortunately, as long as they are physically alive, these spiritual beings will live in a decaying natural body, while their mind (soul) gradually is being reprogrammed (retrained) to do what the Holy Spirit teaches. Eventually, their decaying body will be completely glorified, and then their completely sanctified spirit and completely sanctified soul will live in their completely sanctified body! Thank You God!

For additional information about manifesting what is on the inside of us on the outside of is, please read my blog entry: Working God’s Perfect Will Out of Us.

The Key of Knowledge

22 Saturday Jun 2013

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Key Of Knowledge

But woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! For you are shutting the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces, neither entering yourselves nor allowing those who wish to enter to do so. ~ Matthew 23:13, CJB

Woe to you Torah experts! For you have taken away the key of knowledge! Not only did you yourselves not go in, you also have stopped those who were trying to enter! ~ Luke 11:52, CJB

So Yeshua said to the Judeans who had trusted him, ‘If you obey what I say, then you are really my talmidim, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ ~ John 8:31-32, CJB

 

It never ceases to amaze me how so many believers worldwide will worship the ground most television preachers and/or spiritualists walk on, especially those television preachers and/or spiritualists who proclaim that they are in possession of some evermore esoteric knowledge. To be fair, perhaps many of this world’s seekers of spiritual wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are easily hoodwinked by numerous television preachers and/or spiritualists, because so many of these so-called ‘celebrities’ are on the boob tube nearly every day of every week, relentlessly peddling their “brand” of spirituality.

Then too, many boob tube preachers and/or spiritualists not only are daily broadcasting their alleged esoteric knowledge but also they are advertising their new book, new CD series, and/or new video in which there are supposed to be some recently discovered spiritual secrets (mysteries) that pertain to the Word of God, or to the spirit realm in general. If they are not promoting their published works, then they are asking believers to attend their conventions, retreats, seminars, or conferences, where, by the way, their published works also are sold.

It, therefore, also never ceases to amaze me that there are so many believers all over this world who will pay astronomical prices for the privilege of entering through the doors leading to their favorite television preachers and/or spiritualists’ conventions, retreats, seminars, or conferences. It is at these kinds of functions that seekers of spiritual wisdom, knowledge, and understanding plan on reaching that heretofore elusive spiritual level their favorite proclaimers of evermore esoteric knowledge are guaranteeing that, with their help, these seekers will be able to achieve.

There is a major problem, however, with today’s Christians selling esoteric knowledge in books or on CDs and DVDs. A major problem also exists with today’s Christians setting those outrageous rates for the people who want to attend gatherings in which esoteric knowledge would be disclosed (like the nearly $10,000 fee per person that some people paid in order for them to participate in the October 2009 Sedona, Arizona “Spiritual Warrior Retreat”). The major problem with Christians selling and/or charging fees before any esoteric knowledge is ever released is that God’s Holy Spirit is the One who distributes the “key of knowledge”—the method of understanding the Divine Truth about how to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, from where every form of spiritual wisdom, knowledge, and understanding comes! Beginning in the first century A.D., and continuing until today, the Holy Spirit is the only One who gives the “key of knowledge” to believers in Christ, who in turn are supposed to share that freely given, freely received “key of knowledge” for free.

Furthermore, contrary to popular opinions, the Holy Spirit does not just give this “key of knowledge” to an infinitesimal number of men and women. In fact, even those believers who did not directly receive the “key of knowledge” from the Holy Spirit will need the Holy Spirit to help them comprehend, accept, and receive what Christ Jesus’ anointed and appointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers have shared!

Prior to the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the Pharisees and Scribes in Christ Jesus’ day not only had distorted the correct method of understanding God’s Divine Truths, which even in Old Testament times had been by the aid of the Holy Spirit, who had come upon the chosen ones, but also the Pharisees and Scribes had hidden the unadulterated “key of knowledge” that was available to them in the Jewish Tanakh. Additionally, these Mosaic Law experts and teachers also had substituted their own perverted esoteric knowledge for God’s uncontaminated “key of knowledge.”

For these abovementioned reasons, the original unpolluted “key of knowledge” now is provided by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which God gifts to every single one of the Lord’s disciples. Put differently, today the Holy Spirit is the ONLY One who reveals God’s spiritual secrets (mysteries), including the “key of knowledge” or the true method of understanding God’s deeper Divine Truths about how believing humans enter into the Kingdom of Heaven! Basically, they first must be born again—they must become spiritually alive, before they can know the Truth that sets them free!

According to the Word of God, the Holy Spirit also is every born again, saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit believer’s best and ONLY necessary teacher (cf. 1 John 2:27)! That’s why God has given each one of them direct access to His Holy Spirit, who now is living inside of every believing Christian man and woman. Consequently, there is no reason why anyone who is born again, saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit would ever have to pay as much as one penny for any person’s version of esoteric knowledge. There also is no reason why anyone who is born again, saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit would ever have to seek out any particular man or woman’s exclusive “brand” of esoteric knowledge!

Lastly, the Holy Spirit also is the One who makes it possible for the believers who possess the “key of knowledge,” which He has revealed to them, to become members of the new order of priests and kings who are after the order of the heavenly Melchizedek. Since the Lord is the first Priest-King, meaning He is the heavenly Melchizedek, this Divine Truth also means that Christ Jesus not only is the everlasting King of Kings but also the everlasting High Priest (cf. Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:5-6, 9-10; and Hebrews 6:20)!

Because Christ Jesus is the heavenly Melchizedek, God through His Holy Spirit is able to place the eternal heavenly “key of knowledge” within believers in Christ, which makes it possible for His Holy Spirit to elevate believers in Christ to the positions of priests and rulers. Lastly, most important is the fact that whenever these priests and rulers wish to obtain whatever godly spiritual wisdom, knowledge, and understanding they might be seeking that pertains to the Kingdom of Heaven, all these believers have to do is tap into the Holy Spirit’s teachings. He has been given to believers to teach them ALL truths, especially those Heavenly Truths that from eternity have been hidden for them and not from them!

For additional information about the Keys of the Kingdom, please read my Receiving The Keys Of The Kingdom blog entry. 

What’s My Gift…In The Body Of Christ?

22 Saturday Jun 2013

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justmyfaithtalking

God has given each of us a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself is speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen (1 Peter 4:10,11).

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Happy Father’s Day 2013

14 Friday Jun 2013

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Happy Father's Day

Fathers, don’t irritate your children and make them resentful; instead, raise them with the Lord’s kind of discipline and guidance. ~ Ephesians 6:4, CJB

 

I pray that every father has a very blessed day this Father’s Day. May your day be kisses and hugs, and may love, appreciation, and smiles fill your home.

 

F   is for the faith he expresses in his God and his Savior

A   is for the affirmation that resounds from the words he speaks

T   is for the tower of strength and safety his presence conveys

H   is for the humility he shows when he admits his mistakes

E   is for the example of a Christ-like life he daily lives

R   is for the reassurance he gives his family in troubled times

 

F-A-T-H-E-R stands for someone who is a priceless treasure—a father. Additionally, a godly father is one of God’s greatest blessings.

 

Father’s Day celebrates and honors fathers, fatherhood,  paternal bonds, and the impact fathers have on society. On this annual day, fathers receive some of the love and kindness they have given, and they receive plenty of genuine recognition and appreciation for all that they have done (and continue to do) for their loved ones.

This is a day the Lord has made. If you are a father, then enjoy your special day.

 

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY . . .

Working God’s Perfect Will Out of Us

09 Sunday Jun 2013

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Tools of the Trade

…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. ~ Philippians 2:12b-13, NLT

What on earth does the apostle Paul mean in the above verses? Is he saying that our salvation can be lost? Is he telling us to live in a constant state of nervousness, worried that at any minute God will judge us unworthy to be His sons and daughters? Well, for some “religious” leaders, the answer to the last two questions is a resounding “yes.” However, a close examination of these verses proves that the apostle Paul is neither trying to instill fear into the Philippians’ hearts, nor is he warning them that they could lose their salvation.

In Philippians 2:12b, the apostle Paul uses the Greek word katergavzomai, which is transliterated as katergazomai. Now depending on which English translation many of us might be using, the Greek word katergavzomai often is translated in English as “work out,” “work hard,” or “carry out.”

What the Greek word katergavzomai actually means is this: To continually work at bringing something to completion or fruition. This is the definition used in Philippians 2:12b.

Therefore, based on the aforementioned definition of katergavzomai, it is clear that what the apostle Paul says to the Philippian believers also pertains to all believers. That which is applicable is this: Before the Philippians ever could demonstrate that the lifestyle they are living is the result of an unwavering and unshakable faith, they first had to focus their attention on and be profoundly concerned about working out of themselves God’s Perfect Will, which God has put inside of them.

According to the apostle Paul, the Philippian believers, and by virtue of being born again and saved, all believers in Christ, are working God’s Perfect Will out of them, when they are allowing the Holy Spirit (the Source of God’s Perfect Will or the Divine enablement in them; see Philippians 2:13) to complete for them His practical sanctification process. The Philippian believers, as well as all believers, also are working God’s Perfect Will out of them when they are obeying whatever the Holy Spirit prompts, leads, and teaches them about salvation’s ultimate goal: Christlikeness.

This understanding of believers having a Divine enablement (the Holy Spirit) inside them, who wills and is able to perform God’s Perfect Will in believers’ lives, not only is evident from what the apostle writes in Philippians 2:13, but also by chapter three of Philippians the apostle Paul obviously is referring to the Holy Spirit being that Source of God’s Perfect Will (that Divine enablement), which God Himself has put inside every believer. Paul writes:

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. ~ Philippians 3:13-14, NLT

There can be no doubt that by the time the apostle Paul writes the above verses he has come to the conclusion that the only way he truly will know Christ Jesus and the power of His resurrection is by focusing his attention on and being profoundly concerned about (submissive and obedient to) the Holy Spirit’s practical sanctification process. In fact, the apostle Paul is confirming that by focusing on the goal of Christlikeness, and obediently pressing and reaching for that goal, he has learned the meaning of the “fear” and “trembling” he speaks about in Philippians 2:12b (ASV, ESV, KJV, NIV, etc.).

This “fear” apostle Paul mentions is nothing more than believers being so devoted to and respectful of God that they consciously choose to be totally submissive and voluntarily obedient to His Perfect Will. Put differently, in Philippians 2:12b, the “fear” apostle Paul speaks about is believers’ confidence (faith) in and awe (deep reverence) for the God who both designed and implements the plan of salvation, with all of its gifts and blessings.

Additionally, this “trembling” apostle Paul mentions is nothing more than believers having a humble attitude. They are putting no trust or confidence in their own ability and power. This “trembling” also means that believers intentionally are being seriously cautious; they continually are looking out for every kind of temptation that so easily could ensnare them, while they are pursuing the goal of Christlikeness. In other words, with the help of the Holy Spirit, believers’ humble attitude plus their healthy reverence for and devotion to God (the “fear” that keeps them shying away from any and everything that might offend God or discredit His name, and Christ’s name) are the motivating forces behind them obediently and faithfully carrying out their salvation to its ultimate conclusion, which is Christlikeness.

As a matter of fact, the apostle makes several references to this kind of “fear” and “trembling”—this obedience and submission that leads to being faithful to God’s Perfect Will. Perhaps the best Scriptures that explain what the apostle’s “fear” and “trembling” mean are verses 1-2 of Romans 12. In these verses, the apostle Paul is saying that when believers truly respect and revere God, then that’s when they are fulfilling their “reasonable service,” which is to be obedient and submissive to God’s Perfect Will. This “reasonable service” (being obedient and submissive to God’s Perfect Will) not only means that believers are being changed from the inside out, desiring only to do what God wants, but also means that believers are agreeing with God that what He wants is moral, pleasing, and achievable.

For the record, the original Source of believers’ salvation is Father God, and He has seen fit to place His Perfect Will inside each one of His sons and daughters by giving each one His Holy Spirit—the Source of the spiritual power, spiritual gifts, and practical sanctification in every believer. In other words, the Source of every believer’s will (desire or determination) is Almighty God, and He brings every believer’s will into harmonious agreement with His Perfect Will by allowing His Holy Spirit to work in each believer “…the desire and the power to do what pleases…” Almighty God (Philippians 2:13b, NLT).

For God’s Perfect Will to become every believer’s will (every believer’s conscious and natural choice), each believer must work out his or her own salvation. This working out of the Source God has put into every believer is accomplished when each believer repeatedly goes to that Source (the Holy Spirit)—when every believer continuously relies on the Holy Spirit’s power, authority, promptings, leadings, teachings, and so forth.

It is the Holy Spirit’s daily supernatural job to bring back to every child of God’s remembrance the Word of God he or she has been feeding on throughout his or her Christian life. It also is the Holy Spirit’s daily supernatural job to renew every child of God’s heart and soul so that he or she can come into Father God’s presence and worship Him in the “spirit” of awe and reverence—worship Him in Spirit and in Truth!

The Holy Spirit only can achieve His jobs when each believer has focused his or her attention on and has become profoundly concerned about working out of himself/herself God’s Perfect Will for his or her life. When what is inside a believer can be seen outside of him or her, that would mean this believer is doing the Perfect Will of God—demonstrating to others that the lifestyle he or she is living is the genuine result of an unwavering and unshakable faith. In essence, the believer would be demonstrating to others how much like Christ he or she has become!

The bottom line is this: Contrary to popular opinion, the ultimate goal of every believer is not to make it into Heaven. The ultimate goal of God’s salvation plan is to have every single one of His sons and daughters achieve Christlikeness. Once again, the only way to achieve this goal is through the work of the Divine enablement (the Holy Spirit and His practical sanctification process), which changes believers from the inside out.

With the aid of the Holy Spirit, believers are able to work out of them God’s Perfect Will for them—they are able to work out of them everything God has worked into their human spirits/hearts so that others will see the evidence (manifestation) of God’s saving Grace and His Holy Spirit’s sanctified work that are going on inside believers. More important, believers will know that their labor, the working of God’s Perfect Will out of them, will not be in vain, for they are promised that “…God, who began the good work within [them], will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6, NLT; the bracketed word is this blogger’s emphasis).

Separating Christ’s Saints from the Ain’ts

07 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Faith and Wisdom

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Always Keep Oil In Your Vessel (Your Heart)

Always Keep Oil In Your Vessel (Your Heart)

you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ~ Acts 10:37-38, ESV

And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.~ Matthew 25:10, ESV

Someone literally shutting a door in our face is probably one of the most embarrassing feelings we ever will experience in this life. However, an even more embarrassing experience, other than having Christ Jesus shut the door to Heaven in our face, will be hearing the Lord tell us, from behind that shut door, that He doesn’t know us!

Should we find ourselves in this left-behind situation, we either will be in total denial, or we will admit our spiritual nakedness to the other left behinders—acknowledge that we have been spiritually uncovered (deprived of God’s spiritual hedge of protection) and, as a result, left on our own. What a horrible feeling this will be, and yet, if we presently profess with our lips to be Christians but with our hearts continue to choose lifestyles that don’t reflect Christ in us, then the harsh reality of our spiritual nakedness is what so many of us will experience, when Christ Jesus (our Bridegroom) comes back for His Bride (His Body of Believers) and leaves behind every professed believer who doesn’t have enough Oil in him or her!

How silly the left-behind members in today’s “churches” will feel when they realize that they are those foolish, unprepared virgins (believers) who denied their hearts the necessary Oil. In essence, they will feel silly for being believers who carried only a lamp of profession, or, if you will, had an outward show of religiosity, while lacking in their hearts (the vessels in which the Oil should have been placed) the Oil of the Holy Spirit. How silly these left behinders also will feel when they learn that they cannot obtain the Oil they are lacking by pleading with the sensible, prepared virgins to give them some of theirs. These foolish left behinders also cannot “buy” their needed Oil from worldly “oil” dealers.

The point here is that the Holy Spirit’s spiritual excellence (Oil of anointing or divine empowerment that produces spiritual preparedness) is non-transferable. It also can’t be borrowed, and it can’t be humanly reproduced, because the Holy Spirit’s spiritual excellence or Oil of anointing comes directly from God, and He freely gives this Oil to His Household of faith children!

Yes, there are “religious” leaders who sell anointed oil, but the Divine Truth is that the Holy Spirit’s spiritual excellence (Oil of anointing or divine empowerment) is an invisible, intangible, supernatural preparedness. This kind of spiritual preparedness is a matter of the heart, and that’s why the Oil (Holy Spirit’s anointing or divine empowerment) cannot be transferred, borrowed, or bought with worldly money or possessions. This Divine Truth is why, when the unprepared virgins/believers returned empty-handed and began to beg their Lord to let them in, Christ Jesus could not be moved to open the door for them. He couldn’t open the door to Heaven, because they never took the time to develop an intimate relationship with Him—they never took the time to make the necessary preparations for their marriage to Him!

Now, while there have been countless discussions about the meaning of Christ’s Jesus’ words in the Parable of the Ten Virgins, what is absolutely clear in this parable is that Christ Jesus is the symbolic Bridegroom. Also absolutely clear is that this parable is about His (Christ Jesus’) return. Another absolutely clear fact about this parable is that it contains specific ancient Jewish marriage customs.

Christ Jesus definitely is using the Ten Virgins’ parable to teach all believers about the parallels between the traditional Jewish marriage customs and the Kingdom of Heaven’s spiritual Truths about being betrothed to Christ Jesus and what will happen to those Bride of Christ believers who behave carelessly, nonchalantly and, thus, end up breaking their betrothed vows to their Bridegroom. That’s why, contrary to popular opinions, the Ten Virgins’ parable is not about Israel being grafted back onto the Olive Tree just in time to rule with Christ Jesus during His millennial reign. Spiritually speaking, since the Kingdom of Heaven/Kingdom of God is inside every born again and saved believer in Christ, this Divine Truth means the Ten Virgins’ parable is about all believers (Jews and Gentiles) who live and die on Earth during the CHURCH Age (or the Age of Grace).

For this last reason, the Parable of the Ten Virgins also is about the Holy Spirit of God (or the Spirit of the Lord), who is the Oil in the five wise virgins’ vessels—the spiritual Oil that sanctifies believers with godly holiness, as well as the spiritual Oil that will glorify them. Put differently, the Oil of the Holy Spirit (also referred to as the Oil of anointing) is the Holy Spirit—the One God gave to Christ Jesus so that He could do the Perfect Will of Father God while serving mankind, and the One God gives to every born again and saved believer so that he or she too can do the Perfect Will of Father God while serving others.

That is why during every believer’s betrothal period (the Church Age/Age of Grace) he or she is expected to live and walk in the Holy Spirit. In other words, every believer is expected to keep his or her vessel (heart) filled with the Oil of the Holy Spirit. The point here is that the Holy Spirit not only dwells in every believer but also He is put inside each believer so that He (the Holy Spirit) could fill him or her.

The infilling of the Holy Spirit produces the supernatural power that helps believers develop their necessary daily intimacy and fellowship—their righteous and holy relationship with God—so that their spiritual life matures morally, emotionally, spiritually, and faithfully. Additionally, the infilling of the Holy Spirit’s supernatural power also helps believers become Christ Jesus’ watchful and ready (prepared) Bride—the only Bride the Bridegroom (Christ Jesus) will recognize as being faithful to Him, when He comes back for Her.

The bottom line is that it is the Holy Spirit’s nature to fill, and refill, and refill . . . the Lord’s spiritually baptized and spiritually productive believers. Moreover, the Holy Spirit’s on-going sanctification is a process, one that not only has the Holy Spirit empowering, endowing, edifying, and educating the Lord’s Holy Spirit baptized believers, but also the Holy Spirit’s on-going sanctification is a process, which has the Holy Spirit purifying the Lord’s Holy Spirit baptized believers, until they eventually become thoroughly Christ-like. The ultimate result of sanctification is for the Lord’s Holy Spirit baptized believers to be ready for their glorification—that vital transformation that makes it possible for them to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and be with God. How is it, then, that any believer could ever run out of the Oil of the Holy Spirit?

The Divine Truth is that it is impossible to be Holy Spirit filled yet empty and helpless. That is to say, there is no way that believers can be filled with the Oil of the Holy Spirit but only have a form of godliness (deny the power that makes them like Christ Jesus)! For believers to have a form of godliness, they either would have received an inferior or counterfeit portion of “oil,” or they could never have been filled and then continually refilled with the Oil of Holy Spirit! 

For sure, when believers are being continually refilled with the Holy Spirit, they then are able to be spiritually productive, well prepared (wholly purified), and eventually ready to be glorified. Their glorification, however, only happens when their Bridegroom comes for them, and He both resurrects the dead in Christ and snatches up the alive in Christ so that they can meet Him in the air. These are the believers (the Bride) who will enter into the heavenly Bridal Chamber with their Bridegroom (their Lord)!

Finally, there can be no doubt about Christ Jesus’ spiritual meaning of the Ten Virgins’ parable. He is saying that the foolish, carnal, non-productive, unprepared (not completely purified) believers are the “ain’ts,” those individuals who will be left behind. Christ Jesus also is saying that the wise, spiritually productive, prepared (wholly purified) “saints” will be raptured. Put differently, the Lord is saying that no genuinely prepared believer in Him will ever be like the parable’s left behind foolish five virgins, who apparently believed that the Holy Spirit had given them enough Oil to last them until the Lord returned.

Here is the primary difference between the foolish and wise virgins. Only the wise virgins remained in constant contact with the One who dispenses the Oil—the Holy Spirit. Scripture proves that the foolish virgins did not receive the crucial refills that would have given them an adequate supply of Oil, which would have made it possible for them to trim their lamps so as to be ready to follow their Bridegroom into the bridal chamber, when He finally arrived. In essence, the foolish five virgins waited too long before they spiritually sought the One who fills, and refills, and refills . . . .

The parable’s Divine Truth, thus, is startlingly clear. That Divine Truth is: Any professed believer who is left behind to experience the Tribulation Period will be a professed believer who didn’t bother to have enough Oil of the Holy Spirit inside him or her so that he or she not only could make it to the time of the Rapture but also would be spiritually prepared (completely Christ-like and therefore ready) to be raptured (cf. Matthew 25:3; 12-13)! AMEN.

from Faith and Wisdom: A Rhema Word in a Dry and Thirsty Land (2006; edited)

 

For a more complete explanation of the Parable of the Ten Virgins, please read the following blog entry: The Bridegroom Is Coming: God’s Ultimate Marriage Story.