We start with Paul making this statement in Romans 5:1 and Philippians 3:7-9. "Therefore
we are justified by faith which causes us to have peace with God. Whatever were once gains to me; I now consider loss for
the sake of Christ. What's more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having
a righteousness of my own that comes by obeying laws, but that which is through faith in Christ which is His righteousness
that comes from God on the basis of faith."
Let's remind our
self that faith is not a belief in doctrines like math problems of two and two are four. That math problem may be true however;
faith is a real solid substance of us hearing the Holy Ghost speaking into our inner man that we can understand; which gives
us a solid secured direction and a maturing vision of God's purposes and a guiding protection so that we do not become
conformed to the spirit of the anti- christ spirit that is trying to dominate the world.
For
the child of God; this world is a wandering wilderness time because; we are eternity children of God and when we get to heaven
we should feel perfectly comfortable because; our justified state makes us able to walk in heavenly places right now with
Christ Jesus if; we have the courage and boldness now to participate in being trained to rule and reign with Christ. God's
friendship is constantly reminding me of this and it delivers me from getting side tracked and fearful in the continual deteriorating
condition that the world is in.
We participate in our justified state
by applying what Paul said in Romans; 12:1-2; "I earnestly beg you brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will
of God."
It is by us being consciously aware of our justified state that causes us to experience God's
mercies which are His feelings of sadness for our troubles and sufferings and the great joy in our victories in His attempt
to help us as we are being trained to totally depend and stay with a child like trusting mentality in His care. A person who
has been labeled justified by God has been rendered innocent and not under judgment by Him no matter what transpires in their
life.
Paul the Apostle in his attempt to disciple Titus so he could teach the
gospel of God's grace message tells him this in chapter 3:4-7. "Once we were foolish and disobedient and we were
misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. However;
when God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because
of his mercy.
He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through
the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace; He declared
us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life." This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you
to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing well. These teachings are good and
beneficial for everyone."
It is by us experiencing God's loving mercy
daily that gives us the want to surrender to becoming addicted to His compassionate feelings as it persuades and empowers
us to become obedient to His leadings as we learn to trust the inner voice of the Holy Ghost. God the Father said this about
Jesus. "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." Do you truly understand that; he is saying the same thing
about you as his child? Unless our, mind is being renewed and being regenerated at all times and we are being reminded of
how God looks and feels about us who are perfect in His sight; we as born again children of God will have a tendency to lapse
back into a judgmental examination of our self.
Let me attempt to clarify a little
more by saying; a person who is experiencing God's justification is having a spiritual encounter with the spirit presence
of the Holy Ghost. Unless the word of God is becoming alive with in us; and the Holy Ghost is planting His thoughts in the
fleshy tables of our heart where the plans and purposes of God are being revealed and informing us of how our good fight of
faith is to take place and how we have been absolved from sins past, present or future; their can be no growth to maturity
because scripture tells us that; "those that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth." Only the Holy
Ghost can reveal the meaning of God's truths to our being.
When we acknowledge
and confess this justification process to be true and make it a living part of our life; only then can we experience God's
sanctification approval to our mind, will and emotions and we totally recognize that; we received a clean bill of health from
God and a holy status from Him and know that; we are His friends and not slaves to His commands. Where are you in this process
of growth?
Now moving along in our explanation of maturity; if it is our
intension to rule and reign with Christ Jesus; we must have this foundation in place of our total justification in Him if;
we are going to be a soldier of Christ and know the tools and the battles we will be fighting to become over comers and how
to fight the good fight of faith because; that is what God's kids were called to do by God their Father.
None of God's kids should be wusses because; they have the DNA of their Father in them and they
are only weak in supernatural strength because of them being ignorant of who they really are in Christ Jesus. For many years
I was being told by those in leadership that; I was only a sinner who was saved by grace and if I tried harder and read my
bible more and attended church more and gave more of my money to the church and a hundred other things I would eventually
mature and become what God wanted for me.
They never told me what my saint hood
in Christ represented and how I was transformed into Christ's image after my born again experience. This idea of trying
harder has nothing to do with fighting the good fight of faith. I have no argument with all these other things however; I
am not obligated to do any of them by God.
We must always keep in mind that; it
is as we allow God to love us that empowers us to love our neighbor as we love our self and want to willingly do these things.
You can not do a thing in God's service with value unless; you are allowing the love of God the Father being the motivating
source of your Christian involvements which allows you to love your self as God does.
Get
this forever settled once and for all in your life and do not remain double minded that; it is experiencing God's love
that is the motivator of all maturity or it will stop you from receiving any thing from the Lord. If God's kids ever get
this settled in their life and know that the ball has always been in God's court room of forgiveness; the army of Christ
Jesus will flood the earth with His presence and Satan will be finally defeated in God's children's eyes as God their
Father already sees him defeated. Where the body of Christ has a lack of vision and knowledge of God's ways they are perishing
and living with a basement mentality rather then ruling and reigning with Christ Jesus in a palace surroundings. Now we must
have this foundation in place in our thinking because this is what gives us the ability to mature and be instructed on how
to fight the good fight of faith.
Paul in his attempt to also instruct Timothy
in the ways of the Lord says this. 1Timothy 6:7-12 and he says this; "For we brought nothing into this world, and we
know for sure that; we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who
desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction
and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. However; you O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called
and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
First
of all there is a peace of mind in God's children when they know that their justification state in God is what causes
them to rest from the everyday fears of having enough to eat and them being able to pay their bills and all the things that
are needed to live in this dispensation of time on this planet. When you are not sure of what God your Heavenly Father wants
to provide for you as His child; a spirit of fear can dominate a Christian's life causing them to strive and focus on
their physical needs and not tap into their inheritance already given to them by God their Father.
You don't have to be like an Ebenezer Scrooge in the story of a Christmas carol to become foolish after
worldly gain. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil because it is focused on man's endeavors to survive
and not on God the Father's provision and His willingness to give and give and give again. A person who does not know
his justified state doesn't know the God of the universe that is love and not a person that loves. I pray you are hearing
the Holy Ghost here. What is motivating your life; fear or the love of God?
Having
Godly wisdom at work in your reasoning process causes you to recognize the devil's devices and what you have to flee from
and how to pursue what I have underlined in these verses to have a true everlasting life now and for eternity. Unless you
have been educated in kingdom warfare and know how to explore the kingdom world of God and the devil; you can not make public
confession by truly knowing your kingship and priesthood in God's service. I pray I am building a solid foundation in
your mind and heart as I am trying to describe our rightful place at God's side that brings a healthy secure foundation
that He intended for our life.
In these verses the first thing I underlined that
Paul mentioned in 1 Timothy is our righteousness. As I have stated in all of my articles on the web; our righteousness in
Christ is the key to all of maturity and no other foundation must be laid in the hearts and mind of God's children or
there will be no maturity in God's children. Just as Jesus is the only way for a person to spend eternity in heaven with
God so; our understanding our righteous position is what empowers us to be going about doing our Heavenly Father's business
to do his bidding.
Simply put: we were put here on earth with a personal assignment
by God and I mean all of us not only those in public ministry. Unless God's mission is the first love of our life; we
get side tracked with making our temporary life on earth a priority of making ends meet. God the Father equipped us when we
became born again and if we build His kingdom His way; he will be faithful to build our life and provide our needs and wants.
If you have no deep hunger and passion to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and strength; your
life becomes a rat race of obligated endeavors of rituals of man's own making. Think about this for a moment; if we have
the power to walk in heavenly places now when in our physical body as we will when we rule and reign with Christ for eternity;
why are the majority of the born again churches teaching on sinful condition that many born again believers are still a slave
to?
In some circles of Christian settings there are those that condemn some other
Christian brothers for not being more force full and preach more about sin with a fire and brimstone fear gospel that brings
condemnation so people can become offended and come under guilt. On the other side we have the body of Christ selling a commercial
gospel enticing people to come to church to socialize. In between all this thank God as I have said; we still have a few voices
preaching and teaching our righteousness in Christ through the power of his forgiving grace.
We
said earlier that through Adam's disobedience we inherited a sinful nature and through Jesus one act of dying on the cross
and us accepting His sacrifice we automatically became righteous and our sinful nature died on the cross with Him and we rose
with Him to a new nature like His. Prior to our born again experience; we judged our self as law breakers deserving punishment.
Paul confirms this when he says in Romans 5:20-21, "The law was brought in so that the trespass
might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace
might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Once we become righteous with
our new nature by our miracle born again birth; a Christian can not become unrighteous in God's sight. However; the real
issue; they can become un-righteous in their own sight.
It us being under the
spirit of the grace of God ( His unmerited favor) and having our mind renewed by the Holy Ghost reminding us of our righteous
state in Christ that is the power that over comes any demonic influences to disobey or become addicted to the impulses of
our fleshly desires. When we have assemblies watering down the gospel with man made doctrines and they are lifting up there
own kingdom building and the other assemblies preaching fire and brimstone; they abuse God's children and do not raise
them in the admonition of the Lord. Where are you in your thinking?
Let's
remind our self again that Jesus came out of Mary's womb a born again believer because; she became pregnant with the sperm
of God's righteous seed therefore; that is why he could die for our sins because; He never had any blemish of the fallen
nature that we were born with. Jesus went though all the temptations that we do and never sinned because of His righteousness
in Christ and not through Him judging Him self as a sinner.
If we who are now
born again children of God who have been blood washed by what Jesus shed on the cross which made us a new creature in Christ;
why is the majority of the teaching and preaching focused on a person's behavior rather then their righteous saintly position
given to them by God their Father? I hope I haven't lost any one so far.
We
will cover these six traits of our Christian growth that I have underlined and we start with our righteousness in Christ which
as I have said and; with out it in operation in our heart and soul; it makes our Christian walk meaningless. Get it for ever
settled in you; once you have become born again; you have a place in heaven for eternity with the Lord however; your Christian
walk is man made and the love relationship you can have with the Lord is substituted with the total smorgasbord of utter nonsense
and making our physical life your maturing goals and reason to be born on this planet. This condition is so utterly tragic.
So to keep our focus on our course of action and not get side tracked; a Christian has to be a meditater
on God's word. It is the passionate hunger in us for God that disciplines us and gives us the want to seek God's company
and no other motives of obligated task has any grace attached to it. Good our Father is not interested in having a servant
God relationship with his children but a friend to friend relationship as I have already said.
With our hunger for Him in place; we can now go on and truly understand where our focus must be when Paul
tells Timothy again this in 11 Tim. 15-17. "From your infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make
you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting in training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Paul in Hebrews 12:5- tells us this. "And have you completely forgotten
this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, "My son, do not make light of the
Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens
everyone he accepts as his son."
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what
children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined-and everyone undergoes discipline-then you are not
legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected
them for it.
How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!
They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share
in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
and peace for those who have been trained by it."
Hear me clearly here.
There is no true teaching, rebuking and training by the Holy Ghost if our righteousness is not the subject. Since God is the
righteous one and we are an extension of His own loins that is the only way a true father's love deals with his children.
Think about this for a while; have you ever sat under a teacher or preacher of God's word that was rebuking your behavior
and how difficult it is to judge your self with those standards. It constantly brain washes you to look under the righteous
white robe of Christ Jesus He put on you of Him self the day you became a child of God and that's if; you believe that
your righteousness in God's eyes have Him looking at you as His child as blameless, free from evil and set apart unto
Him for service and reigning.
That type hardship is not what Paul was talking
about here. God's discipline is an endless patient ever forgiving counseling that will change your diaper as you become
potty trained and learn how to make your own choices of what to wear every day and the freedom to make choices with out being
condemned. Our growing pains are tough enough let alone having to be beaten into submission by judgmental teachings. Cont.
in p. 4
