• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Statement of Faith
  • Prayer
  • This Is Me…
  • 30 Random Things About Me…

Gone Fishin'

~ …“Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”

Gone Fishin'

Tag Archives: perfection

Wheat Believers Were Carnal Christians Who Looked Like Tares

04 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Barley Christians, Bride of Christ, broken, carnal believers, crushing, first resurrection, firstfruits resurrection, glorified bodies, grain harvests, Holy Spirit wind, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of God economy, Leaven, left behinders, loaf of Barley, loaves of Wheat, Lord's barn, mansions in God's House, mature, multiplied measure miracle, perfection, rapture, resurrection of overcomers, ripen, sanctified spirits and souls, separating chaff, sheaf wave offering, spiritual harvests, spiritual maturity, tares, threshing, types of believers, Wheat Believers

Barley, Wheat and Tares

…the servants of the householder came and said unto him, ‘Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath come the tares?’ He said unto them, ‘An enemy hath done this.’ The servants said unto him, ‘Wilt thou then have us go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ~ Matthew 13:27-30, KJ21

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.  I have fed you with milk and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal. For if there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men? ~ 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, KJ21

The Word of God teaches believers—in Christ’s day and in this century—about how important Barley is to the Kingdom of God’s economy (God’s sovereign plan for mankind). Several Scriptures imply that Barley is the perfect representation of the first resurrection’s firstfruits (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:23), which would include the raptured Bride of Christ—both the resurrected dead in Christ and the alive saints at His coming. Furthermore, since Christ arose from the grave on the Firstfruits feast day—the same day that the Jewish Temple priest waved a sheaf of Barley before God for His acceptance—this Divine Truth is why Barley also represents the resurrected Christ who is the firstfruits of those who have died (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20).

Now during biblical days, what was matchless about Barley was that it ripened in the spring before any other grains, and it did so without help from the Latter Rains. Barley also was a hardier grain than Wheat, because Barley was able to endure its harshest conditions—poor soil, less water, intemperate weather, and so forth—much better than Wheat. Perhaps the above facts are why Barley grew everywhere and in large amounts, or why Barley also was a healthy grain that resisted diseases. In fact, because of its early maturation, Barley wasn’t prone to pests and infestations like Wheat was.  No doubt it was because of all the ancient health benefits in Barley that made Barley the grain that symbolizes perfection—the perfect firstfruits offering, the perfect sacrifice, and the perfect Bride of Christ.

Harvested a month earlier than Wheat, mature Barley—the seeds of which were planted in Israel the same time as Wheat’s—easily was separated from the chaff and the refuse. Surprisingly, mature Barley’s winnowing involved no crushing or threshing, even though it grew wildly and in abundant amounts. Barley only needed the wind, which effortlessly separated the chaff (husk, hull) from the grain.

Something else to note about both Barley and Wheat is that they also are used in the Word of God to symbolize types of believers. For this reason, it should be expected that what is true about Barley will be true about Barley Christians. Likewise, what is true about Wheat will be true about Wheat Believers.

For example, broken and multiplied by the Lord’s hands, the Barley bread—what He feeds the 5,000 and later His disciples at His Last Supper—represents how saved and born-again believers first must be broken so that the Kingdom of God work they will do can be multiplied. Christ is their example, for His body would be broken for many.

This last truth is why, on the day the Lord feeds the 5,000, He demonstrates the multiplied measure of Barley principle/miracle to His disciples and the multitudes, by causing each loaf of Barley bread in the His hands to be multiplied 1 to 1000 men. This multiplied measure of Barley principle/miracle first is seen in the Old Testament, as Barley is multiplied 2 to 1 over Wheat (cf. 2 Kings 7:1), with Barley costing the same amount as Wheat. Then again in the New Testament, the measure of Barley is multiplied 3 to 1 over Wheat (cf. Revelation 6:6), with Barley and Wheat once again costing the same amount. People certainly will get more bang for their buck from Barley, but not so much from Wheat.

There can be no doubt that the multiplied measures of Barley over Wheat suggest that in the Kingdom of God it is, and always has been, more Barley Christians than Wheat Christians who are spreading the Gospel of Christ, and rightly so. More later on this point. Then too, in the times of famine and scarcity, which often are the results of war—as in the case of the siege of Samaria during the prophet Elisha’s day and in the case of the seal judgments that happen during the Tribulation Period—God designed it so that the poor, who would only be able to afford Barley, would remain healthier than the wealthy who would buy Wheat. Why? Well, it is because Barley is considered to have a near-perfect balance among its nutrients.

Now concerning Christ’s broken Barley loaves symbolizing believers’ brokenness, with genuine Christians their brokenness is the removal of all self-righteousness, jealousy, envy, strife, impatience, and so forth. This brokenness is achieved through the filling of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing sanctification process—the process of sanctifying (perfecting) them so that they effectively can feed the Gospel of Christ to the world’s unsaved multitudes. Once the Holy Spirit fills believers, He then is allowed to begin His progressive sanctification, which transforms believers into the image of Christ—changes their personalities and mindsets, more and more each day, until they become Christlike. Put differently, Barley Christians only need to be exposed to the Wind of the Holy Spirit in order for them to respond by walking right, talking right, speaking right, and thinking right. They truly are the sons and daughters of God who want to be pure (holy) and righteous.

Another example of how what is true about the Barley grain is true about the Barley Christians is in the way the Barley grain ripens before the Wheat grain matures. This early maturation of Barley represents saved and born-again Barley Christians’ spiritual maturity. There can be no doubt that Barley’s early maturation agricultural truth means that the corresponding spiritual truth happens the same way—Barley Christians and Wheat Believers who are saved (sown into the Kingdom of God) at the same time also will mature at different speeds. In particular, the Barley Christians will mature quicker than the Wheat Believers.

What is irrefutable is that the firstfruits Barley grain harvest in the Scriptures is symbolized as the first resurrection’s overcomers—the saints (i.e., Barley Christians) who are resurrected and raptured (winnowed or thrown up in the air against the wind)—translated; caught up; snatched off of this Earth—at the time of the Rapture of the Bride, but before the alive in Christ firstfruits are raptured. Put differently, there is no doubt that the raptured Bride of Christ is represented as the Barley sheaf wave offering that is lifted up and then waved before God for Him to accept it as a firstfruits offering.

In contrast, the Wheat Believers are symbolized as the Tribulation Period’s left-behinders—the rest of the believers. Unlike the mature Barley Christians who are raptured before the start of the Tribulation Period (the Wrath of God), the left-behind Wheat Believers who ripen during the Tribulation Period are in the Tribulation Period to experience the kind of separation or crushing/threshing that will cause these believers to be separated from their much harder husk (chaff, hull)—the world systems and doctrinal errors they trusted more than they trusted the Lord and/or Father God, when they were on the other side of the Tribulation Period.

All of the above was said so that the following can be said about why the Wheat Believers gathered at the end of the Age of Grace are NOT the Barley Christians and therefore not the Bride of Christ. In order to be the Bride of Christ (Barley Christians) or a Loaf of Barley that is to be broken for many, believers in Christ cannot have lost their first love, cannot be listening to and/or following the teachings of Balaam (idolatry and immorality), cannot be listening to and/or following the Nicolaitans and the Jezebel prophetess (more idolatry and immorality), cannot have passion that is dead, cannot have incomplete works, cannot be lukewarm, cannot be proud, cannot be ignorant of the Word of God, and cannot be spiritually blind.  For sure, the believers who have lost their first love, and etc., are the Wheat (Wheat Believers) that must go through the Tribulation Period.

Once again, the Wheat gathered at the end of the Age of Grace actually will be carnal Christians who finally reached their spiritual maturity during the Tribulation Period. God made this point clear when He mandated that the firstfruits of the Israelites’ Wheat Harvest, from which the two loaves of Wheat were made and then waved on the Day of Pentecost, should contain LEAVEN (cf. Leviticus 23:17). Now that is so interesting, especially since God makes it clear in many biblical passages that leaven represents a type of carnality and sin. This Divine Truth only can mean that the Wheat Believers who go through the Tribulation Period had to do so because of the carnality and sin that were still in their lives.

In contrast, the Barley bread was made without leaven, and this fact is another reason why Barley—NOT Wheat—symbolizes perfection—the holiness and righteousness of a pure spiritual life. Moreover, the difference between unleavened Barley Christians and leavened Wheat Believers should make it understandable that the Wheat gathered at the end of the Age of Grace will NOT be the Bride of Christ. Indeed, Jesus Christ definitely is letting His Bride know in the parable of the Wheat and Tares that the surviving Wheat Believers at the end of the Tribulation Period were never His true believers who—on this side of the Tribulation Period—humbly were growing in Grace through faith in the hope, love, wisdom, understanding and knowledge of God’s Will for their lives. That is why it is the surviving Tribulation Wheat Believers—NOT the Barley Christians—who have to be separated from the Tares and then stored in the Lord’s barn.

Certainly a barn or storehouse is a far cry from the Bridal Chamber the Bridegroom (Jesus Christ) has prepared for His Bride (Barley Christians) in His Father’s House. That’s why the barn image also lets the true Bride of Christ (Barley Christians) know that the Tribulation Period’s Wheat Believers are not the Lord’s firstfruits overcomers, because these Wheat Believers are not gathered into Heaven but rather into the Lord’s barn. That is to say, these alive Wheat Believers no longer have one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God. They are now fully in the Kingdom of God, but that doesn’t mean they also have received their glorified bodies. The only thing that being put in the Lord’s barn means is that the Wheat Believers are completely safe and out of the reach of God’s enemies—Satan and his imps!

Now here begins the main point of this blog entry, which for many will be an uncomfortable truth. Be that as it may. Also in the Wheat and Tares parable, Jesus Christ is making it clear that the reason why His spiritual servants are not able to tell the difference between the Wheat Believers and the Tares (unbelievers) is because Wheat Believers are the leavened carnal believers. In other words, it is the carnality in the Wheat Believers that makes them look too much like unsaved worldly people (unbelievers)—makes them look too much like the Tares! This last point is why, until the agricultural Wheat bows—becomes mature—it is almost agriculturally impossible to tell the difference between the Wheat and the Tares. Likewise, until the weight of the spiritual Wheat Believers’ fruit causes them to bow humbly before their Lord, it will be nearly impossible for other spiritual believers to tell the difference between the leavened carnal Wheat Believers and the Tares (unbelievers).

No doubt this last fact is why leavened carnal Wheat Believers are in the Tribulation Period. It is obvious that God is giving them time to mature and finally get separated from the chaff—to have what is godly in them completely separated from what is ungodly.

There also can be no doubt that carnal babes in Christ—on  this side of the Tribulation Period—will become the sold out for Christ Wheat Believers who were once on milk. As the apostle Paul declares, carnal believers cannot be fed the meat of the Word of God. If they can’t eat meat, then their milk diet will be the reason why they do not grow up fast enough—spiritually speaking.

Carnal believers’ slow spiritual growth keeps them from being prepared and ready (sanctified, Christlike), when Christ comes for His Bride, who is without spot, wrinkle or blemish. Therefore, the Bride of Christ is His ripened and harvested Barley Christians.

It is very unfortunate that the hard truth for some Christians to swallow is that Jesus Christ will leave behind—close the door/portal/gateway to Heaven—on the carnal babes in Christ who are not spiritually mature. Why? Well, the obvious truth is that they are carnal believers instead of spiritual believers! As such, there was no way the Holy Spirit could finish the work God began in them—no way He could give them their completely sanctified spirits, souls and bodies so that they could receive their glorified bodies!

That’s right! Today’s carnal believers are not becoming Christlike because they are not being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, who cannot initially fill them (baptize them in Him) so that the sanctification process can begin. If these believers in Christ do not cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that He can give them His filling—His Baptism that is corroborated, first and foremost, by the speaking in tongues—then these carnal believers (Wheat Believers) will continue to look the Tares until these carnal believers either physically die—on this side of the Tribulation Period—or until they become completely faithful and obedient to Christ during the Tribulation Period. However, by then, they either will be martyred (beheaded for their love of Christ and God, and for their holy and righteous living) or they will survive the Tribulation Period and become the holy and righteous individuals who—like Noah and his family—repopulate the Earth.

In contrast, neither the Barley grain nor the Barley Christians resemble Tares. This truth no doubt is why Barley Christians represent genuine Christians. Moreover, Barley Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit, as well as empowered and endowed by Him. As a result, these believers will be producing the fruit of the Spirit and living righteous and holy lives that will make them standout instead of making them bear a resemblance to the Tares. This truth is why ONLY the carnal babes in Christ will be the Wheat that is growing right alongside of the Tares—both on this side of the Tribulation Period and during the Tribulation Period—at least until they become sold out for Christ followers.

The bottom line is this: In the Word of God, there are two grain harvests that belong to the Lord—the firstfruits harvest and the subsequent harvest (the Barley harvest and then the Wheat harvest), with the latter being larger than the former. Now that should be no surprise, since the Word of God reminds true Christians that only a few of people—a remnant—of all of the world’s people will find the narrow path that leads to the Kingdom of God gate,  enter through the gate to the Kingdom of God, and continue walking on that path. This Divine Truth is why the Word of God also promises there will be two spiritual harvests—the harvest of Barley Christians and the harvest of Wheat Believers. 

Just like the agricultural Barley harvest comes first with the agricultural Wheat harvest following, the Barley Christians or Bride of Christ’s pre-Tribulation spiritual harvest will come first, and it will be followed by the Tribulation Period’s finally sold out for Christ surviving Wheat Believers’ end of the Age of Grace spiritual harvest. Clearly, the Barley Christians and the Wheat Believers are not the same people, and that is why both of these groups of believers cannot be the righteous, pure (holy), and unblemished believers who, after being sanctified, are given glorified bodies and then admitted into Heaven as the Lord’s Bride.    

Lastly, the reasons why Barley is important to the Kingdom of God are what follows. The first reason is because Barley’s multiplication principle/miracle represents how swiftly The Way—in the first century—and today’s real Christianity spreads. Put differently, Barley signifies just how often God has added another follower of Christ to the Lord’s ekklesia—the emphasis should be on GOD being the One adding genuine followers of Christ to His ekklesia and NOT on men and women adding new converts to their “church” rolls. Secondly, since Barley grows everywhere, tolerates the harshest conditions, and endures inclement temperatures, it should be obvious by now that ONLY Barley represents all of the persecuted Christians from the first century until the Rapture of the Bride of Christ, and all of the centuries of Christian missionaries—whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. In short, Barley is important to the Kingdom of God, because Barley symbolizes the Age of Grace’s pre-Tribulation raptured perfected Bride of Christ.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Sexagenarian (NOT Rated X)

01 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Poetry

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

"obits", better with age, childishness, forgetter, get-up-and-go, graduated with distinction, gray hair, old age golden, perfection, rememberer, Sexagenarians, va-va-voom, wits, Yung No Mo

Approaching Perfection

 

Old age is golden; that’s what some say;
Nothing golden about any day
The gift called life kindly wakes me up,
Reaching for teeth in my stoneware cup;
Next to eyes on my bedroom’s nightstand,
My ears near what I dub, no man’s land.

Before reading the daily “obits,”
I take my time dusting off my wits;
Confirming I’m not among the dead,
I then nibble on some buttered bread.

My get-up-and-go got up and went,
My va-va-voom sure enough is spent;
My forgetter oddly is better,
My rememberer lost reminder;
My postmenopause works like a charm,
My insomnia sets own alarm.

Still, thankful that:

Union with God’s indivisible;
Neither leg has life’s roadmaps visible;
Can cut a rug as body still bends;
Don’t yet have to wear women’s Depends;
Don’t have pain relieving creams to rub;
Haven’t joined Hair Color of Month Club!

If things get better with age then I’m,
Pleased to finally be at my prime;
Gaining on elusive perfection;
Gray hair shouts: graduated with distinction.

And yet:

My stuff done strutted off without me;
Seasons opted to speedily flee,
Leaving undesirable downswing—
“Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything”—;
But this fact won’t torture very core,
Like truth in Chinese sage’s name, Yung No Mo!

                                                                                            ~ September 2014

 

 

 

Gray hair is a mark of distinction,
  the award for a God-loyal life. ~ Proverbs 16:31, MSG

Don’t be harsh or impatient with an older man. Talk to him as you would your own father, and to the younger men as your brothers. Reverently honor an older woman as you would your mother, and the younger women as sisters. ~ 1 Timothy 5:1-2, MSG

                                    Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. ~ Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII, Lines 163-166

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Body, Soul, and Spirit: The Tripartite Being

23 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Body, character, disposition, diversity, glorification, godly attributes, holiness, nature, oneness, perfection, sanctification, soul, Spirit, Trinity, Tripartite Being, Triune God, unity

The Tripartite Being

Now may God himself, the God of peace, make you pure, belonging only to him. May your whole self—spirit, soul, and body—be kept safe and without fault when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:23, NCV

Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the tame animals, over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth.’ So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. ~ Genesis 1:26-27, NCV

 

 

Whether we are men or women, boys or girls, each one of us is a three-in-one person. In other words, we reflect the tripartite nature of our Creator God, who is the quintessential Trinity.

Concerning our tripartite nature, each one of us has a BODY (external, physical layer responsive to humans’ touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing); a SOUL (inner, non-physical layer responsive to humans’ thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, affections, desires, emotions, memory, intellect, imagination, will, conscience), and a SPIRIT (innermost, non-physical layer, before the Fall and after regeneration, responsive to God’s Grace, Word, Faith, Love, Prayer, Forgiveness, Discipline, Correction, Repentance, Hope, Holy Spirit, Illumination, Sanctification, Glorification). Without a doubt, each one of  us has a physical part, which is our BODY, and two non-physical parts: our SOUL and our SPIRIT. 

Now, contrary to some popular opinions, the biblical Scriptures do differentiate between mankind’s living SOUL and mankind’s central SPIRIT. According to biblical Scriptures, mankind became a living SOUL after God breathed the breath of life (His Holy Spirit) into Adam, the first man (cf. Genesis 2:7). However, after Adam’s Fall, every human being’s non-physical central SPIRIT is spiritually dead, yet because of God’s Holiness, Love and Grace, He establishes a way to interact with mankind’s non-physical central SPIRIT, especially when God wants to influence, regenerate, redeem, justify, inspire, correct, discipline, teach, sanctify, and/or glorify a human being (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12).

Then too, based on the Babylonian Talmud, rabbinical tradition teaches that God created souls AND spirits. Rabbinical tradition also teaches that the “unborn” souls and spirits, that is, those souls and spirits that are waiting for God to unite them for the first time with their earthly bodies, live in the seventh heaven (Araboth). Lastly, rabbinical tradition teaches that the righteous souls and spirits that have been separated from their bodies also live in the seventh heaven (cf. Babylonian Talmud Chagigah 12b).

Now because too many people believe that mankind is only a physical being, and because too many people believe in the more popular bipartite view of body and spirit (a view in which the soul and spirit are understood to be the same thing), mankind, as a whole, only will be able to understand fully the triune God (see Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14), after each one of us better understands this Divine Truth: We are triune beings who, according to biblical Scripture, have been created in God’s Three In One image (cf. Genesis 1:26, NCV). More important, in order for us to understand fully the Christian doctrine of immortality, meaning the endless/eternal conscious existence of the human SOUL (see Romans 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 2 Timothy 1:10), we first must understand fully mankind’s tripartite nature.

Just as Almighty God Himself is a Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), each one of us also is a Trinity (Body, Soul, and Spirit). Of mankind’s three distinctive parts, God has the strongest affinity for mankind’s unregenerate SPIRIT. Every human being is born with a sin nature; mankind is born in bondage to sin and, thus, every unsaved person is out of fellowship with God. Because, mankind’s old sin nature is worldly, the BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT are habitually selfish, greedy, and proud. The apostle John agrees, because he writes:

These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world. (1 John 2:16, NCV) 

In other words, because mankind’s unregenerate SPIRIT is spiritually dead to God’s Divine Truths, the gates to every lost SOUL’s affections, desires, and faculties (intellect, wisdom, common sense, conscience, etc.) are not turned toward God. Consequently, everything that can tempt a human being’s lost SOUL and influence what he or she thinks, does, and/or says will enter into a lost SOUL through the BODY’s five unchecked “gateways”: eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and fingers and hands.

For the abovementioned reasons, before mankind’s unregenerate SPIRIT can receive God’s spiritual Truths  about an eternal life with God and about everything that would make the natural man and woman, boy and girl, an overcomer in this world (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 John 5:4), God first has to regenerate mankind’s SPIRIT. Once the SPIRIT is born again from above (cf. John 3:6-8), this SPIRIT then is able to receive God’s spiritual Truths and is able to convince the BODY to die daily while convincing the SOUL to be spiritually renewed daily (cf. Romans 12:1-2).

More important, because a person’s regenerated SPIRIT affects the BODY’s five senses and the SOUL’s affections, desires, and faculties (intellect, wisdom, common sense, conscience, etc.), the now Holy Spirit illuminated born-again SPIRIT is able to check whatever comes through the BODY’s five gateways so that the SOUL ends up surrendering its affections, desires, and faculties to God’s affections, desires and faculties. The point here is that the Holy Spirit’s most important goal is not only to make a believer’s BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT one (make all three parts immortal), just like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One (all three Persons are eternal); but also the Holy Spirit’s job is to make every imperfect (unholy) BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT holy (perfect), like the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are HOLY (perfect)—like each of the three Persons of the Trinity is identified as being HOLY! This call to Holiness is the ONENESS reality Christ Jesus prays for in John 17:21.

For the above-stated reasons, Christ Jesus prays:

Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me. ~ John 17:21, NCV

It should be noted here that there is no way that human beings ever could be in GOD, in Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, if one of human beings’ three parts (Body, Soul, and Spirit) is not HOLY. Moreover, there can be no doubt that this threefold perfection (holiness) is what the apostle Paul means when he writes:

Now may God himself, the God of peace, make you pure, belonging only to him. May your whole self—spirit, soul, and body—be kept safe and without fault when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:23, NCV

Thus, for Christ Jesus as well as for apostle Paul, the bottom line is: Holiness is the Oneness reality of the triune God’s nature. For sure, God’s Holiness character is fundamentally essential to His identity—essential to knowing who God really is. So because His innermost nature is Holiness, God’s Holy disposition is without a doubt the main reason why both the unity and the diversity of the triune God hold together. Put differently, Holiness is the true essence of God, for Holiness not only is the name of God but also Holiness is most characteristic of His nature. God’s Holiness, thus, defines or strengthens all of His godly attributes. For these reasons, where godly Oneness is concerned, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are indivisible (inseparable), because they are perfectly joined together, having the exact same mindset, judgment, AND holiness (character or disposition or nature).

Furthermore, it is God Himself who calls us to Holiness, for the purpose of sharing in God’s Holiness character. Not only does the Scripture confirm that God graciously invites us to “…share in God’s nature…” (2 Peter 1:4, NCV), but also, as mentioned earlier, this sharing in God’s Holiness is the ONENESS reality that Christ Jesus prays for in John 17:21. That’s why, as God’s Holy Spirit takes each one of us through God’s progressive sanctification, or the process by which we obtain God’s kind of Holiness, so that we also will have the same kind of Oneness that is in THE Trinity, we can rest assured that our wholly sanctified (fully pure and fully Holy nature) not only means our SPIRIT and SOUL are perfected but also means God has fulfilled the promised transformation that gives us our glorified BODY’s.

In other words, the work of the sanctifying Holy Spirit is to make each born again, saved, and justified believer a Kingdom of God resident who, like Christ Jesus, epitomizes the indivisible (inseparable) Oneness reality. In view of that, just as each of the three Persons of the Trinity is identified as being HOLY, eventually each of our three distinctive parts (BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT) also will be identified as being HOLY. Consequently, each believer’s BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT will be perfectly joined together with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and THEY ALL will have the exact same mindset, judgment, AND holiness (character or disposition or nature). AMEN!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen

Sanctified Child

KEEN Blogging Days

March 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Feb    

KEEN (Weekly) Top Posts

  • HARPAZO (Rapture, Take, Snatch, Force, Pull, Pluck, Catch, Catch Up, Catch Away) Scriptures
  • It Is Very Meaningful, When God Speaks A Name Twice
  • One Flesh: United Until Death
  • Proverbial Wisdom from Three Wise Monkeys
  • Listen to the Sound of Abundant Rain: The Water Pourer Is Flooding This Earth
  • Jewish Menorah Mirrors 7 Feasts: Reflections Made On 2011’s Feast of Trumpets
  • The Bride of Christ’s Inner, Upper, and Outer Garments
  • From Whom Are Rivers of Living Water Flowing?
  • Christian Snobbery: So, You’re Better Than Other Believers, Because You’re . . .
  • The Dust Of His Feet

KEEN Topics

Awards Bible Prophecy Bible Study Devotional Faith and Wisdom Heartbreak Heavenly Insights National Tragedy Natural Disasters Poetry Praises and Thanks Published Book Reblogged Review Spiritual Tribute Uncategorized

Published Book Author

Perfect Peace, published 2-19-2015; collection of my Haiku poetry

Published Book Author

Keeping It Real..., published 10-20-2015; collection of my devotions

My Newest Book

My Spirit's Musings, published 1-9-2017; collection of mostly Free Verse poems

My Mini-Memoir

My mini-memoir deals with love, loss, and forgiveness. Published July 26, 2018.

My Third Collection of Poetry

Moody Woman - published January 12, 2020

My Spirit’s Musings Press Release

Captivating New Xulon Verses Remind Believers Why Only a Christlike Life Reflects God’s Image - Reverend Keen of Deeper Walk Ministries Lyrically Addresses Christlikeness

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Ambassador for Christ Blogger Award

Deeper Walk Ministries Logo

Serving Others Ministry

KEEN Created Graphic

Fruit of the Spirit

KEEN Created Graphic

Lone Voices Suffer

KEEN Created Graphic

AKA Haiku

KEEN Created Graphic

KEEN Social Media

  • View preachingwoman’s profile on Facebook
  • View sanctifiedchild’s profile on Twitter

KEEN Twitter Followers

My Tweets

KEEN Posts Liked

  • Sunday Soul Search on Words Like Honey
  • Wordless Wednesday on Words Like Honey
  • Sunday Soul Search on Words Like Honey
  • The Fruit of the Ruach (Spirit… on O. W. Prince Ministries
  • Sunday Soul Search on Words Like Honey
  • Sunday Soul Search on Words Like Honey
  • Sunday Soul Search on Words Like Honey

KEEN Community of Friends/Visitors

KEEN Blogging History

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009

KEEN Visits

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: