In the first section of part 2, we looked at Why A Change of Disposition is the evidence of real and authentic Christian conversion. We saw that one can claim to be a Christian for a long time (even ‘from birth’) or even ‘lived right inside a church for 100 years’, If there is no change of disposition, it is all a waste of time and great deceit. Such one can only hope to turn up ‘there’ just to be informed that he has been a spectator all along. We also examined The Application of Redemption – how The Holy Spirit applies the finished work of redemption of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to us through regeneration, when there is a change of disposition. We also looked at Apostle Paul’s Journey from persecutor of the Church to a “Servant of Jesus Christ” We saw how Apostle Paul’s intellectual abilities, zeal (to persecute the Church); religious passion, all got translated to being used for good purposes when his disposition changed; how his change in disposition and not personality made it possible to translate from being a Jewish zealot to an apostle to the gentiles.
In this last section of this two part series on change of disposition we have a look at why it is impossible to be a Christian without a change of disposition. Change of disposition being the result of regeneration – the supernatural change in the very core of man’s being that occurs through the exclusive act of God by which a principle of new life is implanted in man, with the result that THE GOVERNING DISPOSITION OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SOUL IS MADE HOLY.
In Parts 1 and 2a, we looked at:
An Introduction
Regeneration & Disposition – Definitions “Except A Man Be Born Again”
Man’s Sinful Nature
Quickening (Regeneration) ‘Awakening’ Leading To The Governing Disposition of The Functions of The Soul Being Made Holy And Then Repentance
Sorrowful Turning From Sin
Disposition
Result of A Changed Disposition
In Part 2 Section b we will look at:
Why it is impossible to be A Christian Without A Change of Disposition
Assurance of Salvation
Why it is impossible to be A Christian Without A Change of Disposition
The Conscience
The dictionary defines conscience as a “a knowledge or sense of right and wrong, with a compulsion to do right; moral judgment that opposes the violation of a previously recognized ethical principle and that leads to feelings of guilt.”
The Unbeliever’s Conscience (In Its ‘Natural’ State)
The conscience in its ‘natural’ state is governed by a “compulsion to do right” OR “moral judgement” – “a knowledge or sense of right and wrong, with a compulsion to do right By self WITHOUT ANY IMPUT FROM GOD.
There is a part of our understanding (A function of the intellect) that judges us and gives us a sense of moral approval or guilt according to our understanding of right and wrong.
The conscience is that internal voice that sits in judgment over our will; but then acts of the will are based on the nature of information obtained from or contained in the intellect. In conjunction with the body, these three will always have the tendency to naturally act in defiance to the will of God while the emotions just adjust to the trend. Under these conditions The control of the soul(will, intellect and emotions) and the natural experiences, opinions, desires, stimuli, actions, temperament, abilities, faculties and powers etc. that are derived from them is non existent
“I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart”. (Jeremiah 24:7)
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his
The believer’s Conscience (Now under the control of the spirit)
The conscience is for us to discern right from wrong, to justify or to condemn. Knowledge shows what is right or wrong but our conscience is that part of us that approves of what is right and disapproves of what is contrary to it. The believers conscience is a part of our spirit:
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. Romans 9:1)
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. (Romans 8:16)
In the unregenerate man, the conscience as a part of the heart is devoid of guidance from the Spirit of God; but restricted within limits by the grace of God (The restraining grace). But at salvation the conscience is restored to perform its full functions as part of the spirit of man.
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
The Main purpose of the supply of this holy principle or seed of new spiritual life to the soul (change of disposition), is to release the conscience from the control or inordinate hold of the will, intellect, emotions and demands of the flesh.
A Severing of The Soul And Spirit
In both the un-regenerate (being born again) and the regenerate (awakening or being revived); the severing of the spirit and soul is principally the transfer or ceding of the control of the conscience from the soul to the spirit; a spirit that is also under the absolute control of the Holy Spirit.
So He has gotten a new principle of life operating in him and controlling him. He still retains all his natural experiences, opinions, desires, stimuli, actions, temperament, abilities, faculties and powers etc. Whatever a man is by nature, as regards his natural experiences, opinions, desires, stimuli, actions, temperament, abilities, faculties and powers etc. they remain exactly as they were before. BUT what changes and becomes new is the thing that controls these natural experiences, opinions, desires, stimuli, actions, temperament, abilities, faculties and powers etc.
Through the instrumentality of a conscience that is absolutely under the control of the Holy Spirit
The soul being saved should reflect the purity of the heart; meaning that the effect of the functions of a liberated conscience, intuition and communion with God is demonstrated by the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of our righteousness and sanctification and redemption (that we cannot physically see) and the conviction of the reality (perceiving as real what is not revealed to the senses) of this fact being made real to us by our seeing ourselves hidden in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God.
Then, at this point of being saved and having a regenerated heart, the soul [(Functions of Will, Intellect & Emotions now being controlled by the spirit (Functions of a liberated conscience, intuition and communion with God ) that is in turn now also under the control of the Holy Spirit] should be committed solely to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and enabled to comprehend the solid biblical and historical facts that Christianity is built on.
In regeneration (change of disposition), the conscience is released from the deceptive domineering tendencies of the soul when intuition, the function of “spiritual sensing” and fellowship (Communion) our contact and our communication with God are activated.
A heartfelt determination by man to turn with his whole will to the Spirit of God, Who is the Spirit of Jesus. The converted heart expects everything from The Holy Spirit, who now has dominion over the self-willed spirit of man (care should be taken here so that the believer does not fall into passivity of his/her will thinking it is the Holy Spirit working while evil forces have taken over the dormant will) . Conversion leads to an undivided heart that listens attentively for The Holy Spirit because he wants, from now on, to be directed, led, and ruled by this Spirit alone and no other (under the strict guidance of the Word of God as written in the Holy Scriptures – The bible).
The Heart Of The Matter Is Essentially The Matter Of The Heart.
As the Main purpose of the supply of this holy principle or seed of new spiritual life (change of disposition), is to release the soul (mainly the conscience) from the control or inordinate hold of the will, emotions and demands of the flesh – A Severing of The Soul And Spirit; When this supernatural (That which cannot be achieved by a mere mortal) change of disposition takes place as a result of the regeneration of the heart.
Contrary to the demands of the flesh, the intellect (mind) is settled (made up) on a particular matter or thing; backed up by the will, irrespective of any emotion that is whipped up or not: All this made possible by the supply (by God through the Holy Spirit) of a holy principle or seed of new spiritual life which releases the soul (mainly the conscience) from the control or inordinate hold of the will, emotions and demands of the flesh.
The intellect (mind) is settled (made up) on a particular matter or thing
Mind must be made up on (Amongst others) CERTAIN VITAL TRUTHS
The sovereignty of God
The authority of the Bible
The doctrine of sin and the wrath of God
The doctrine of the Trinity.
About Jesus – Jesus is God; Jesus Is More Than man; Jesus is Existing As God.
The Perfection of The Finished Work of Jesus Christ.
Prayers:
Give us the grace to confess our sins, forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness for you are faithful and just. By the cleansing power of the Blood of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, bring the spirit of each and every one of us into union with Christ, For he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in the Spirit. Let each and everyone’s spirit actively dominate him / her in full co-operation with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 19:17-20)
Heavenly Father, that You quicken us with Your presence like never before that we may continually be empowered to actively seek the marvellous truth taught in Your Word, that there is a way out of our guilt, a way out of our alienation, that we no longer need to be far off from you. (John 14:6; Matthew 11:28-30)
Any power of death operating in through, and against any aspect of our being; collide with the covenant of the Blood of The Eternal Covenant. (Galatians 3:13-14)
Give us the grace to confess our sins, forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness for you are faithful and just. By the cleansing power of the Blood of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, bring the spirit of each and every one of us into union with Christ, For he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in the Spirit. Let each and everyone’s spirit actively dominate him / her in full co-operation with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 19:17-20)
Heavenly Father, for the grace to come to that point where we realise the true place of the Holy Spirit, that His entire work is to lead our souls into union with the our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, and the knowledge of you our Father in heaven whilst He Himself directs, and works in the background. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Heavenly Father, that You will empower us to seek to be connected to the Holy Spirit that we may be surrendered to your Revealer, that we may be totally consumed by the revelation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. His life, His death, His resurrection, His position, His authority, His power, His compassion, His mind, His conscience, His desire – all that He is. (1 Corinthians 2:10)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will fill us with the knowledge of your will through all wisdom and spiritual understanding; so that we may be able to recon ourselves to be alive unto You through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:5)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You quicken us with Your presence like never before; that we may continually be empowered to actively seek that Holy Spirit inspired change of our disposition. (Titus 3:5)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You quicken us with Your presence like never before; that we may continually be empowered to actively seek the purification our motives and conscience. (Hebrews 9:13, 14)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You quicken us to rejoice evermore; Pray without ceasing and in every thing give thanks: for this is Your will in Christ Jesus concerning us. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will circumcise our hearts, that we may be able to enter the covenant of being Your people, who are fully joined to You and fully submissive to You. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
Lord, we bind the inner man of each and every one of us to a loving relationship with the Holy Spirit. Give us the grace to know that, ‘to seek you through knowledge about you without seeking a relationship with the Holy Spirit ends up in confusion and unbalance in our perception of You. (Matthew 18:18-20)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will work in us to replace our heart of stone that is cold and unyielding with a heart of flesh that is alive and responsive to You. (Ezekiel 11:19)
Heavenly Father, we pray and bind each and everyone of us to the work of the cross of Calvary where the power, the authority, the love, the forgiveness, the mercy and the grace would flow into our lives. (Galatians 3:13-14)
Heavenly Father, we pray that by Your Holy Spirit You teach us to accurately and righteously fear You. (Matthew 10:28)
Lord we pray that as being indwelled by You is the great joy of salvation; You would grant us this honour; put Your Spirit within us O Lord and choose to take residence in us. (Ezekiel 36:27)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will Keep us in Your Word daily, that we may be daily saved, nourished, and enlivened by Your Word. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will give us the grace wisdom and power to recognise that the object and purpose of your instruction and charges to us is Love, which springs from a pure heart and a good and clear conscience and sincere, unfeigned faith. (Jeremiah 17:9)
Heavenly Father, we pray that You may give us the grace to have a prayerful attitude as we come to Your Word, receiving the Word into us by means of all prayer, thanksgiving, petition, singing, and psalming. (Philippians 4:6-8)
O Lord, we pray that as we are convicted of our own sins; the Holy Spirit of conviction and Holy Spirit inspired repentance will flow through us to others in our surroundings and beyond. ( Acts 2:37-38)
O Lord, continually multiply Your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; so that we may realize that, in us lies the power that was in Adam that is hidden and IS MEANT BY YOU TO BE PERMANENTLY HIDDEN AS LONG AS WE ARE IN OUR MORTAL BODIES. Continually give us the grace to resolve never to use it and to war in order to keep it.
Faith – Empowerment To Persuade The Mind That God’s Law And Power Is True And Real.
In the series The Sacrifices of God Are A Broken spirit: A Broken And A Contrite Heart we have looked at Conviction – Empowerment To See The Spirituality of God’s Law. Where we saw that Just as insufficient power from a dead battery to the starter motor of a vehicle renders it unable to start itself; as no food can in any way provide energy for a dead man; although it is the function food to give energy;
Spiritual truth cannot provide Spiritual liveliness to a mind that is dead to righteousness; as such the mind is unable to capture the essence of the truth and similarly, Spiritual truth cannot make an unregenerate will to believe.
We will continue our look at:
Faith – Empowerment To Persuade The Mind That God’s Law And Power Is True And Real.
Repentance – Empowerment for a yielded will to turn away from sin to God.
The Eternal Value of A Sound Conscience
Confession – Its Power to Remove The Sting of Sin
Circumcision of The Regenerated Heart.
Mortification – Empowerment to Crush Indwelling Sin.
Vivification – Empowerment to live a righteous and Godly life.
The Consecration, Quickening (or Awakening), Faith and Repentance Needed For Revival
God’s Way of Restoration & The Cleansing That Leads To Joy.
Faith – Empowerment To Persuade The Mind That God’s Law And Power Is True And Real.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. (Romans 9:16-18)
The Conversion Process which follows regeneration (at point of quickening) is Faith (Saving Faith) and Repentance working hand in hand in an indivisible process. Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God. It is faith that propels one to take the next step past simply having knowledge of Christ and believing in the facts presented.
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:24-26)
Saving faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of one’s understanding of the fact that he/she is a sinner who is in the process of making the personal decision to trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and receive the salvation Jesus Christ earned for us on the cross. (this process being one you cannot physically see) and the conviction of the reality (perceiving as real what is not revealed to the senses) of this fact being made real to you by your seeing yourself hidden in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God.
But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7)
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)
Prayers:
We continually pray:
Lord, that The Holy Spirit will open the eye of our heart in order that we may see the true state and condition of our heart. (Jeremiah 17:9)
Lord, that as we are convicted of our own sins; the Holy Spirit of conviction and Holy Spirit inspired repentance will flow through us to others in our surroundings and beyond. (Acts 2:37-38)
Lord, that You will circumcise our hearts, that we may be able to enter the covenant of being Your people, who are fully joined to You and fully submissive to You. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
Lord, that You will work in us to replace our heart of stone that is cold and unyielding with a heart of flesh that is alive and responsive to You. (Ezekiel 11:19)
Lord that as being indwelled by You is the great joy of salvation; You would grant us this honour; put Your Spirit within us O Lord and choose to take residence in us. (Ezekiel 36:27)
Lord, for there is ONLY ONE WAY; ONE WAY ALONE and You are The Way; The Truth and The Life and no one comes to The Father except through You. Reveal Yourself to unbelievers deep down in their heart that they may see You and be relieved of their burden of sin. (John 14:6; Matthew 11:28-30)
Lord, that you will initiate, empower and open the heart of the unconverted in order that they can in turn believe and respond to the Gospel. (Acts 16:14)
Lord that the Holy Spirit will convict the unconverted of the facts of their being bound by sin; being slaves to sin and that Your power is more than enough to set free. (Romans 6:17)
Lord that the Holy Spirit will move upon the mind of the unconverted to give them spiritual sight, so that they might be able to see and comprehend the Gospel. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
Lord that the Holy Spirit will move upon the will of the unconverted to give them the enabling grace to repent so that they may be led to the knowledge of the Truth that will set them free from the snare of the enemy. (2 Timothy 2:25-26)
“I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” (Eze 21:27)
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold”. (Mat.24:12)
And Simon Peter answered and said, THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, AND UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH; AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT (Matthew 16:16, 18).
“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: FOR OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE“(Hebrews 12:28,29).
I posted this article 10 years ago, then we thought things were so bad, but then where are we today. With all that is being said in recent times about Christianity, in some cases justifiably so: which can be attributed to the unchristian-like activities in the Church today a lot of Christians are beginning to ask doubtful questions. In this age we live in, it is very easy to start becoming unsteady in one’s walk with God; the pressure has always been there, not to talk of what we now seem to see on daily basis with regards to the falling away from the word of God.
So many believers are now beginning to ask the question “is all these Christian stuff real?
It is important to note that if the prayers of the saints cease what will happen?
Just like ten years ago, I spent some quality time with Lord regarding this situation this week and I am led to share this sermon by J. C. Philpot; it is an exposition of Ezekiel 21:7; although there have been other different lines of exposition of this Bible verse, Philpot looks at the verse from the angle of the overthrow of SELF, the number one enemy of man. I have heard many a messages on dealing with self, but this message gives practical ways of daily dealing with self. I will in later posts say one or two words on this, and we will then go back to our exposition on the book of Romans.
Please let us make some time out to pray through the prayer points listed before the Sermon on behalf of the body of Christ (The Church). Remember -WHAT SO EVER YOU SOW YOU WILL ALSO REAP.
Before we go on to the prayers and this message I will like to remind us of some facts:
Judgement will start in the house of God
“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator“. (1Peter 4:16-19)
Even the great heroes of past made mistakes but later became great and faithful servants of the Lord.
“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life“ (Rev. 2:10).
a. Abraham, the father of the Hebrew nation, at one time worshipped other gods.
b. David, the third King of Israel, although he committed adultery, became a man after God’s own heart.
c. Paul, the great apostle of Jesus Christ, at one time had Christians arrested and killed.
God gives second chances
“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11).
“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20).
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1John 1:5)
In the 136th Psalm, 26 times it says, “His lovingkindness is everlasting”. (See also Ephesians 2:4; 1 Peter 1:3;1 John 1:9)
Our God is a consuming fire
“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: FOR OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE” (Hebrews 12:28,29).
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:.” (Acts 17:30)
PRAYER POINTS (Article follows after)
Lord infuse us with your Holy purity.
Lord empower us to discover Your holiness in our soul,
Lord empower us to discover the manifestation of Your strict justice.
Lord bring into our hearts a sense of Your unblemished purity.
Lord empower us to discover the solemn revelation of Your wrath against all sin and transgression.
Lord concerning our lives, overthrow self in us in its moral and immoral shapes, and bring it into wreck and ruin before You.
Lord concerning our lives, overthrow self in us be it profane, righteous or holy or presumptious and bring it into wreck and ruin before You so that the doctrines of grace as made known by the Spirit can become sweet and suitable to us.
Lord empower us to have a spiritual discovery of the deep pollution of our heart and nature before You.
Lord, please repair any damage or searing in our conscience so that it can easy receive the application of your law.
Lord empower us to continually receive the discovery to our conscience of the deep pollution that lurks in our carnal minds.
Lord empower us to break up “the fountains of the deep,” and discover with power to our conscience; the truth of those words: “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”
Heavenly Father, please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we may be able to realise deep down in our heart that there is nothing in self to please You with.
Heavenly Father, please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we may be able to resist and desist from seeking for holiness in self but to continually look unto the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Cross of Calvary.
Heavenly Father, please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we may be able to resist and desist from seeking for holiness in self but to be able to continually meditate upon Christ’s sanctification and see his glorious righteousness as it shines in the Scriptures as a truth which just fits in with our condition.
Heavenly Father, please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we may be able to resist and desist from seeking for holiness in self.
Holy Spirit we pray that you will continually show our soul the blood of the atonement, and also continually sprinkle it upon our conscience, that we may continually blessedly experience a taste of God’s mercy.
Heavenly Father, please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we may be able to resist and desist from allowing self in us to make us slight Your solemn inward teaching, and to take hold of the doctrines of grace by the hand of nature, without waiting to have these heavenly truths applied, from time to time, by Your mouth to our heart.
Heavenly Father, please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we may be able to resist and desist from letting presumption creep upon us in such imperceptible and subtle ways, that we scarcely know we are in that delusive path.
When this happens we pray O Lord that your will open the eye of our heart to see the precipice at the end of the road.
Lord deliver us from pride and inordinate ambition which are not satisfied with being nothing, with occupying the place where You put us, and being in that posture where You Yourself sets us down.
Lord deliver us from pride and inordinate ambition which makes us want to exalt our stature beyond the height which You have given us, adding a cubit to our dwarfish proportions.
Lord make our soul a heap of ruins, and overturn and cast to the ground self in us; that we may continually know Your preciousness.
Lord come with power and glory and grace and majesty into our soul, conscience and whole being, set up Your Kingdom, erect a temple for yourself and build up Your own throne of mercy and truth upon the ruins of self in us.
Lord, we pray that at anytime self in us attempts to rebuild itself from it’s ruins you will infuse us with your Holy purity.
Heavenly Father, please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we may be able to realise deep down in our inner man that self is a living principle; not a slaughtered and buried rebel, but a breathing antagonist to You the Lord of life and glory.
Lord empower us to continually look into our heart, and discover that day by day we need this overturning work to be done afresh; and repeated in us again and again .
A Sermon DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 13, 1841, BY J. C. PHILPOT, AT ZOAR CHAPEL, GREAT ALIE STREET
“I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” -Eze 21:27
Before we enter into the spiritual and experimental meaning of this passage of Holy Writ, it may be desirable to advert for a few minutes to its literal signification, and to the circumstances under which these words were spoken by the Lord through his prophet Ezekiel.
These words were uttered, then, with reference to King Zedekiah, who at that time sat upon the throne of Judah.
Nebuchadnezzar had elevated him to the position which he then occupied; he had made him king, and, in making him king, he had exacted of him a solemn oath in the name of Jehovah, that he would be faithful to him as his sovereign 2Ch 36:13. Now, this solemn oath, which Zedekiah had taken, he perfidiously broke, and rebelled against his master the king of Babylon, and gave his allegiance to the king of Egypt. It was, then, the breaking of this solemn oath, which he had taken in the name of the Lord, that so provoked the righteous anger of Jehovah against him; and, therefore, in this chapter he says: “And thou profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God, remove the diadem and take off the crown” Eze 21:25,26. The Lord here remonstrates with him, and reproaches him for the violation of that solemn oath which he had taken; he calls him a “profane wicked prince,” because he abode not by the solemn covenant which he had made in his name, agreeably to those words Eze 17:18,19, – “Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.” But the Lord was resolved, not merely to remove this “profane wicked prince” from the throne, but he was determined to overturn the throne itself; not only to pull down this perjured king from the position which he then occupied, but to overthrow the kingdom also of Judah, by a complete overturning of it from its very foundation. And, therefore, when he had said: “And thou profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God, remove the diadem, and take off the crown,” he then goes on in the words of the text: “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more” that is, “it shall be no more” as a kingdom -it shall exist no more in its present state, “until he come whose right it is” that is the king of Zion, Jesus, the Lord of life and glory; “and I will give it him;” in other words, there shall be no more a king in Judah -the kingdom shall no longer stand upon its present base; no temporal monarchy shall be there known, until he come whose right it is, and he shall set up his throne, not literally in Jerusalem, -but spiritually in Zion, that kingdom which is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost;” and I with my own hand, “I will give it him.”
But having just adverted to the literal signification, we come now, with God’s blessing, to the spiritual and experimental meaning of the words; and in so doing, we shall doubtless observe some analogy betwixt the two cases. If there were no analogy, there would be no foundation for the spiritual and experimental interpretation founded upon the passage. If I could trace no resemblance betwixt the cases, all such experimental and spiritual interpretation would be merely fanciful and uncertain; it would be upon a wrong basis, and would stand upon an insecure foundation. And, therefore, I shall endeavour to show, before I enter into the spiritual and experimental meaning of the passage, that there is an analogy betwixt the literal and spiritual interpretation.
The people of Israel were a people of God’s own choice, and as such were typical of the elect of God, whom he has chosen in Christ before all worlds. But this people swerved from their allegiance; they rebelled against the statutes and ordinances of God, which he had given them by the mouth of his servant Moses; they said, “Give us a king to judge us, like all the nations,” and in demanding a king, the Lord said, by the mouth of Samuel 1Samuel 8:7, “That they had rejected him that he should not reign over them.” This demanding, then, of a king that they might become like other nations was an act of daring rebellion on their parts, whereby they swerved from their allegiance to the “KING of kings and LORD of lords.” The Lord, however, suffered them to continue under this kingly government until a certain time, until the reign of Zedekiah, when he overturned and utterly reduced this kingdom which they had set up to wreck and ruin.
Is there not here an analogy and a resemblance betwixt the typical Israel and the spiritual Israel? As the typical Israel were chosen nationally that the Lord should be their king, so the spiritual Israel were chosen in Christ before all worlds, that he might reign in them.
But as the literal Israel swerved from their allegiance by setting up another king than God, so the elect Israel swerved from their allegiance by falling in Adam; and by becoming subjects of sin and self, fell into a state of rebellion and alienation from God. There is an analogy, then, betwixt the literal kingdom of Israel, and the dominion of sin and self in the hearts of the elect before they are called by sovereign grace. The Lord then says, “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more until he come whose right it is,” that is, I will make this kingdom of sin and self a heap of ruins; I will reduce it to a wreck; I will overturn it from its foundations, and upon the ruins of this kingdom, I will build up another.“I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more a kingdom as it was before, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”
Upon this resemblance, then, I hope, with God’s blessing, this morning, to build up a spiritual and experimental interpretation of the text, and to show, if the Lord enable me, how it applies to the work of grace upon the hearts of God’s people.
Now, if we look at the text, without making any formal divisions, we shall find that it consists of two leading branches.
I. The work of overturning which is thrice repeated; and then
II. What takes place in the soul, when the overturning is complete.
“I will overturn, overturn, overturn it;” that is one branch of the Spirit’s work. “Until he come whose right it is;” there is another branch of the Spirit’s teaching in the soul, making Christ experimentally and spiritually known.
I. The most striking feature in these words is, that the Lord repeats three times the expression, “I will overturn it.” It may indeed be said with respect to this repetition of the words three times, that it may signify the positiveness and certainty of God’s determination.
Just in the same manner as, in the vision of Peter, we read, “This was done thrice, and the vessel was received up again into heaven,” in order to show the certainty of the vision -to make more clear and manifest what was the will and purpose of God.
And so, perhaps, the circumstance of the expression being repeated three times, “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it,” may be intended to convey with greater authority the certainty of it -that God by solemnly declaring it three times over, expresses thereby the positiveness of it in his own mind. But still I believe, if we come to look at it in a closer point of view, and trace it out according to the teachings of God the Holy Ghost in the hearts of God’s people, we shall find that it is literally true, –that the repetition of it three times does not merely intend to express the certainty of God’s overthrow of self in the soul, but that there are three distinct occasions -three clear, positive, and direct overturnings of self, and bringing it into utter ruin, in order to the setting up of Christ in his glory and beauty upon the wreck and ruins of the creature. And it is remarkable that there were three distinct overturnings of the kingdom of Judah, and a carrying of them into captivity three different times, as well as three distinct restorations; the first was the overthrow of Jehoiakim in the fourth year of his reign, the second that of Jehoiachin in the eighth year of his reign, and the third and last that of King Zedekiah, which the Lord here denounces by the mouth of his prophet, 2Ki 24:1,2 2Ki 24:12 2Ki 25:5,6
Then what is the first overturning which takes place in the heart, when God the Holy Ghost begins the work of grace there?
Where does the Spirit of God find us? He finds us, as the apostle speaks, “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in us, because of the blindness of our hearts;” he finds us “dead in trespasses and sins,” by nature the “children of wrath even as others;” he finds us under the dominion of sin in some of those various shapes which sin assumes. Then, in order to the setting up of the kingdom of God in the soul, there must be an overthrow of the rule and reign of sin. Just as in the vision which Daniel saw, the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, smote the image upon his feet, and brake in pieces, not only the feet of iron and of clay, but all the other component parts of that image, the gold and the silver and the brass, and was set up upon the wreck and ruins of that image; so the kingdom of God is founded upon the wreck and ruin of self. There is no alliance betwixt unhumbled self and Christ, no more than there is concord between Christ and Belial.Christ never enters into confederacy so as to go halves with the creature, or takes self into partnership; he erects his blessed kingdom of righteousness and peace upon the wreck and ruin of self, and all the strength, wisdom, and righteousness of man must become, as it is said in Daniel, “like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors,” before the kingdom of God is blessedly revealed in the heart, and there made experimentally known.
Overturn No. 1Profanity
1. The first prominent feature of self is in some cases profane self.
That is, many of God’s elect, before they are called by the blessed Spirit, are living in open profanity, in drunkenness, swearing, adultery, and the barefaced practice of notorious sins. But whenever the Spirit of God begins to work in the heart, he overturns profane self, that is, he brings such solemn convictions into the conscience -he shoots such arrows from the bow of God into the soul, that self in its profane shape is overcome and overthrown thereby. And there is every reason to doubt, whether God has began a work of grace upon that man’s heart, in whose conscience the arrows of conviction have not been lodged, so as to cut the sinews, and let out the life-blood of profane self. If a man, professing the doctrines of grace, can live in any known sin, and without pangs of conscience and anguish of spirit before God, there is every reason to believe that the Spirit of God has never set up his court of judgment in that man’s breast. If profane self has never been arraigned at that bar- has never been condemned and imprisoned, there is no reason to believe, that the Spirit of God has come as the Spirit of judgment, and the Spirit of burning into that man’s heart.
But there are others of God’s elect, who, when he takes them in hand, are not wallowing in profane and open wickedness, and yet are living under the dominion of sin in other shapes -people who are what is called moral outwardly, but who are immoral inwardly; people who are not given up to the excesses of open riot, but are still living under the dominion of sin in other forms; who with a fair demeanour externally are still “alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance and blindness of their heart;” who are under the reign and rule of self; who have no fear of God before their eyes, no spiritual sense of his heart-searching presence, and no desire to know and believe in, worship or love him. Now, these people need just as much that self should be overturned in its moral shape in them, as that self should be overturned in its immoral shape in the others. So long as God is barred out of the heart, it matters little, as far as salvation is concerned, whether a man is living in profaneness or in what is called morality. There is no life in that man’s soul, no spiritual work, nothing in him of a heavenly birth so as to bring him into any acquaintance with God. Self still reigns and rules, and all the stronger from its very morality. It must, therefore, be cast down and overturned from its throne, and become a wreck and a ruin before God.
Well, but what is the instrument -the strong and powerful lever which the Holy Ghost applies to overthrow self in its profane shape, and self in its moral shape? The spirituality of the law in the conscience,the discovery of God’s holiness in the soul, the manifestation of his strict justice, and the bringing into the heart a sense of his unblemished purity. Now, the bare letter of the law cannot overthrow self, either immoral self or moral self; but the spirituality of God’s law, the coming of the commandment with power, the solemn revelation of the wrath of God against all sin and transgression -this, in the hands of the Spirit is an effectual lever, to overthrow self in its moral shape as well as in its immoral shape, and bring it in to wreck and ruin before God, -that is to say, it exists, but it exists in ruins. The word “overturn” is applicable to a building which is overthrown by some stroke of lightning, or by some violent concussion, as the shock of an earthquake. It is overturned, not removed;not one stone is taken away, but the building lies in ruins. So with respect to sinful self; it is overthrown from its lofty position, hurled down from its standing; the building is no longer a complete edifice as before; it does not retain its former proportions; it is no longer a temple with distinct apartments, shrines, and altars, an abode swept and garnished for Satan; but though no one stone is removed utterly away, yet there remaineth not one stone upon another which is not thrown down.The difference between the building now, and the building then, is that that is now a ruin -a heap of confused rubbish -which formerly was a complete edifice.
Here, then, is a soul which stands overturned before God; a wreck and ruin before “the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” But what will a man do when he is reduced to these circumstances?Why, he will begin to build, and will endeavour to set up a temple in which he believes God will take pleasure, of which he may approve, and which shall, in some measure, recommend him to Jehovah’s favour. That is the immediate feeling of every convinced sinner whose profaneness lies as a load of guilt on his conscience, and which has fallen into a heap of ruins before God. His object is to do something to blunt the edge of convictions in his conscience, to gain the favour of Jehovah, and to escape “the wrath to come.”Now, usually, I believe, men take different roads according to the measure of light in their judgment.
Where a man has never sat under the truth -where he has never heard of Christ’s righteousness and salvation through the propitiation of the Son of God,his immediate recourse is to the law of works, that he, by strict obedience to its demands, may work out a righteousness which shall satisfy and please God. But where a man has had his judgment in some measure enlightened; where, –for instance, he has sat under truth, and heard of the blood of Christ as the only propitiation for sin, and of Christ’s righteousness as the only way whereby he can stand justified before God, he seems in a manner cut off from the law of works, as having this conviction in his mind, “I can never make up a righteousness by the law of works, and, therefore, to flee to it for refuge will be utterly ineffectual.” He adopts another course, which is to set up what is called holiness. When I was convinced of sin, and “brought in guilty before God,” I had too much light in my judgment to fly to the Mosaic covenant of works. My judgment being well informed, I knew very well that legal righteousness could not stand me in any stead before God as a way of acceptance. My recourse was rather to turn the Gospel into law, and procure what is called holiness; not to go to the law of Moses for righteousness, but to the Gospel for holiness; not to try to obey the commandments in the Old Testament, but to seek to fulfil the precepts of the New; and by making myself spiritually-minded, by reading the Scriptures and prayer, to clothe myself in the character given in the New Testament of a Christian.This is indeed the worst of legality, for it is perverting the Gospel into law; but still it seems a different path from running to the Mosaic law of works for salvation. The man, then, whose judgment is in some measure informed, will try hard, perhaps, to make himself holy, to be spiritually-minded, to fix his affections upon God, to renounce everything which is contrary to the Word of God as spoken by the mouth of Christ, and thus to seek in some way to make himself a Christian, and then to obtain access to God by that Christianity. This is what Romaine calls somewhere, “self-righteousness new christened holiness.”Here he is, then, embarked upon this course, to become holy and spiritually-minded, to serve God, to obey his precepts, to read his Word, to join his people, to come out from the world, and with the utmost power and strongest bent of his soul, to become a Christian indeed.
Overturn No. 2 False Holiness or Mock Spirituality
2. Now, there must be as much an overturning of this self-righteousness,whether in its strictly legal shape, or “new christened holiness,” as there must be an overturning of a man’s profanity.
The object of the overturning is to overthrow self -self setting itself up in opposition to Christ. And, therefore, be it profane self, it must be overturned; or be it righteous self, it must be overturned; or be it holy self, it must be overturned. Self in all its shapes, forms, and guises, must be overturned and brought to a heap of ruins, that Christ may be exalted wholly and solely upon the ruins of self.A second overturning, then, is necessary, an overthrow of righteous or holy self. And what is the Lord’s lever to overturn this second temple, built out of the ruins of the first, but not “the place of big rest,” as being still the work of men’s hands?A spiritual discovery of the deep pollution of our hearts and natures before him.Profanityis overturned by the application of the law with power to the conscience;but this false holiness, thismock spirituality, is overturned by the discovery to our consciences of the deep pollution that lurks in our carnal minds; this is more or less the breaking up of “the fountains of the deep,” and discovering with power to the conscience the truth of those words: “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”As we try, then, to be holy, sin rises up from the depths of our carnal mind, and overturns that fabric which we are seeking to erect. Every thought now appears polluted with sin -every word in some way tainted with corruption -every action infected with evil, so that we fall down before God with self-abhorrence and self-loathing, and feel that there is not a word in our mouth, or an action in our hands, with which sin is not intermixed, which inward iniquity has not defiled, and for which, therefore, we do not feel condemned and self-abhorred before God.Here, then, is a man who stands before God, not merely with profane self a heap of ruins, but also with righteous self and holy self a heap of ruins too. But when profane self, righteous self, and holy self, have been thus overthrown, the doctrines of grace as made known by the Spirit now become sweet and suitable. Having no holiness in self, Christ’s sanctification becomes meditated upon finding nothing in self to please God with, the blood of the atonement becomes opened up as a doctrine which is sweet and suitable to our case; being destitute of creature-righteousness, Christ’s glorious righteousness shines in the Scriptures as a truth which just fits in with our condition.The Spirit, then, brings home the doctrine of election with some power to the heart and some sweetness to the conscience; he shows the soul in some faint measure the blood of the atonement, and as he sprinkles it upon the conscience, a taste of his mercy is blessedly experienced. He brings Christ’s righteousness near, and as the soul gets a sight of that righteousness by the eye of faith, it rests therein, and feels a sweet satisfaction in that righteousness, and utterly discards its own.
Overturn No. 3 Presumptuous Self
3. And now let us trace a little what course self will steer.
Why, this restless wretch now runs in another channel, which is to slight the solemn inward teaching of God, and to take hold of the doctrines of grace by the hand of nature, without waiting to have these heavenly truths applied, from time to time, by the mouth of God to our hearts. And as some sweetness has been felt in them, there seems to be some warrant for so doing.But presumption creeps upon us in such imperceptible and subtle ways, that we scarcely know we are in that delusive path before we find a precipice at the end of the road.And what has led us there?Our pride and ambition, which are not satisfied with being nothing, with occupying the place where God puts us, and being in that posture where he himself sets us down. We must needs grasp at something beyond God’s special teachings in the soul; we must needs exalt our stature beyond the height which God himself has given us, adding a cubit to our dwarfish proportions.
Here, then, is the third form of self which is to be overturned, as much as the two preceding forms, and that ispresumptuous self, so that we have self in its three bearings: first, profane self; secondly, righteous self; and thirdly, presumptuous self. Profane self was self in ignorance of the doctrines of grace at all; righteous self was self in ignorance of these doctrines as spiritually made known to the heart; and presumptuous self is self which after the soul had tasted some measure of these doctrines, and had felt something of their sweetness and their power, secretly and imperceptibly thrust it beyond its real standing into a carnal resting upon them. Well, then, self in all its three forms -self in profanity, self in self-righteousness, and self in presumption -must be overturned in a man, that he may be a wreck before God and a heap of ruins, so that one stone shall not stand upon another; the former proportions and harmony of the building lost and gone; the proud columns which supported it fallen; and roof and walls mingled together undistinguished amidst heaps of rubbish, because the Lord “has stretched over it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.”
II. But we come now to the second part of the text, which is, the setting up of the kingdom of God on the ruins of self. “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”
There is one, then, to come, “whose right it is;” there is a king who has a right to the throne, and to the allegiance of his subjects; a right to all that they are and to all that they have.But whence has he gained this right? “Until he come whose right it is.” It is his right then, first, by original donation and gift, the Father having given to the Son all the elect. “Here am I,””All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” says Jesus, “and the children that thou hast given me.” Then, so far as we are his, Jesus has a right to our persons; and in having a right to our persons, he has, by the same original donation of God the Father, a right to our hearts and affections. But he has another right, and that is by purchase and redemption, he having redeemed his people with his own blood –having laid down his life for them, and thus bought and purchased them, and so established a right to them by the full and complete price which he himself paid down upon the cross for them. This twofold right he exercises every time that he lays a solemn claim to any one of the people whom he has purchased.And this claim he lays when the blessed Spirit comes into the soul to arrest and apprehend a vessel of mercy, and bring it to his feet, that he may be enthroned as King and Lord in its affections.For be it remembered, that the possession of the heart, with all its affections, is his right; and “his glory he will not give to another,” his property he will not allow to pass into other hands; he is not satisfied with merely having a right to the persons of his dear people, he must have their hearts; and in exercising his right to their affections, he will reign and rule supreme, allowing no rival, admitting no cooperation with self in any shape or form, but he himself to be established as King and Lord there.Then where is the soul before he comes into it in power, in sweetness, in beauty, in preciousness?What and where is it?A heap of ruins.And no man ever knew much of the preciousness of Christ, whose soul was not a heap of ruins, and in whom self had not been overturned and cast to the ground. Nay; no man ever ardently panted that the Lord of life and glory should visit his heart with his salvation, should come in the power of his resurrection, in the glory of his righteousness, in the preciousness of his presence -no man ever spiritually desired, sighed, cried, groaned, sued, and begged for the manifestation of Christ to his soul, who was not a ruined wretch before God, and in whom self had not been overturned so as to be a desolate heap, so overthrown that all the power of man could not put any one stone in its place, or rebuild the former edifice.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we may be able to resist and desist from seeking for holiness in self but to be able to continually meditate upon Christ’s sanctification and see his glorious righteousness as it shines in the Scriptures as a truth which just fits in with our condition.
Meanwhile, seek to be set free from God’s wrath today and seek the righteousness that really counts:
Most Importantly!!!!!
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this Jesus you are going on about?” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need.
We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin?
In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.
Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind.
In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. It is Jesus, after all, who is the source of life’s greatest high.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17).
What must a person do to accept this gift?
Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”.
If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You could pray something like this:
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
Even if you think you do not have the faith to get healed;
Remember that time when you didn’t expect any good to come out of a situation but it all turned out good in your favour?? Keep your mind stayed on that situation and continue to thank God for it.
The foundation of faith pertaining to our healing is based on real, solid, tangible, realistic, true to life testimony that comes from personal knowledge of God’s compassion, goodwill or benevolence towards us; founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is not just about agreeing with historical facts about Jesus Christ, but knowledge we have (personal) that God will be compassionate towards us because of Him (Jesus Christ).
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
A nation is only healed when there is wide scale repentance that can only come from God when He pours out His Spirit in great convicting power upon a people.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS: THE BLOOD OF THE ETERNAL COVENANT
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AND BY HIS STRIPES, WE ARE HEALED – Jesus Is The Answer
To-Believe-REMEMBER-PAST-GOODNESS-OF-GOD
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4)
JESUS IS THE ANSWER
Jesus is the answer to our every need. I Him is “the fruit of the Spirit” as one (Gal. 5:22) and not of `fruits’ as separate items. God has given us His Holy Spirit, and when love is needed the fruit of the Spirit is love; when self control is needed the fruit of the Spirit is joy. It is always true. It does not matter what your personal deficiency, or whether it is a hundred and one different things, God has one sufficient answer — His Son Jesus Christ, and He is the answer to every human need.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS: THE BLOOD OF THE ETERNAL COVENANT
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AND BY HIS STRIPES, WE ARE HEALED – The Grace To Believe
To-Believe-REMEMBER-PAST-GOODNESS-OF-GOD
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4)
In this series we will be looking at:
Grace To Believe
Repentance
The Mind of The Flesh is Death: The Mind of The Spirit is Life And Peace.
Intuition
Fellowship
Conscience
The Pursuit of The Perfection of Christ Jesus
A nation is only healed when there is wide scale repentance that can only come from God when He pours out His Spirit in great convicting power upon a people
In times like this when people are looking for answers to calamities we see around us; it is very pertinent that we have a grasp of the fact that:
THE SALVATION OF MAN IS FROM THE GIFT OF CHRIST AND ALL GIFTS OF CHRIST ARE COMMUNICATED TO US AND GIVEN TO US BY THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST – THE HOLY SPIRIT.
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN HEART OF MANKIND BASED ON THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST ON THE CROSS AT CALVARY & ITS BENEFITS FOR MANKIND
Two Major Aspects of The Redemption of Mankind:
FIRSTLY, THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS
The aspect of the work of our Lord Jesus which is represented by ‘the Blood’ shed for our justification through “the remission of sins”.
AND SECONDLY OUR DELIVERANCE FROM SIN
The aspect of His work represented by ‘the Cross’: That is to say, by our union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. We have been “crucified” with Christ.
THE BLOOD DEALS WITH WHAT WE HAVE DONE AS IT DISPOSES OF OUR SINS while THE CROSS DEALS WITH WHAT WE ARE, AS IT STRIKES AT THE ROOT OF OUR CAPACITY FOR SIN
WHEN IT COMES TO HEALING, JUST AS IN CONSECRATION, OUR FAITH PLAYS A BIG PART AND IT DOES THIS IN A TWO-FOLD MOVEMENT: DOWNWARD, WE CEASE TO TRUST IN OUR ABILITY TO IMPROVE OURSELVES; UPWARD, WE PUT OUR TRUST IN BLOOD OF JESUS THAT WAS SHED FOR US ON THE CROSS AT CALVARY.
Trust is a firm reliance on the character or integrity of another; it is also a measure of the spiritual authority God puts at our disposal, which is also commensurate with the level of our spiritual maturity. Worldly maturity connotes the level of being independent of anyone; but spiritual maturity is the:
LEVEL OF OUR TOTAL AND ABSOLUTE DEPENDENCE ON GOD
The overall work of Redemption is to bring us back to the place where we will now find our right and wrong in God.
The foundation of faith pertaining to our healing is based on real, solid, tangible, realistic, true to life testimony that comes from personal knowledge of God’s compassion, goodwill or benevolence towards us;
founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is not just about agreeing with historical facts about Jesus Christ, but knowledge we have that God will be compassionate towards us because of Him (Jesus Christ).
Faith is higher knowledge that goes beyond just what our intellect is able to comprehend or what any mental action, or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding – through thought, experience, and the senses (cognition) can provide for us. It is the persuasion that informs the general air of confidence; a firm conviction that something is the case and is reliably true. A persuasion that goes beyond our human ability or shrewdness to attain but is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit.
Faith is not only a higher knowledge than reason alone can comprehend, but faith also includes a committed nature of the mind and heart towards God— trust. Faith in its essence contains not only consenting to objective knowledge (cognition); but also a subjective trust, a belief or confidence in the power, reality, truth and goodness of God. “Faith is trust. It is a trusting and confident knowledge.” This trust cannot be trust in the abstract; one must personally trust in Christ Jesus for mercy. This trust requires the heart to turn from all other trusts to trust in God alone.
Please see the presentation or watch the video here and pray through the designated bits.
May the grace of God continue to uphold us all. Amen
Sabaoth SUMMER 2019
FORESIGHT OF THE MASTER PLANNER – The Eternal PurposePLAN A2, BACK ON TRACK – Transformation: The proving of Faith and The Glory of God
Our Freedom From Sin Section E – In Patience Possess Your Soul
The Law of Sin And Death & The Battle For The Soul of Man
The Believer and His / Her Soul
Adam’s Psyche Still On The Soul of Man
Inordinate Activities of The Soul & The Battle For The Soul of Man
How Valued Is A Liberated Conscience????
In Patience Possess Your Soul
Applying Jesus’ Finished Work In Dividing Soul & Spirit
The ” soul “, as the central compartment of man’s being, is the medium for both “spirit force” (pneuma) and the “soul force” (Psuche). As the tide of the inordinate activities of the psuche in this end times become worse, it will be seen eventually that the main objective of all the purposes of the enemy, is to bring about the same corruption ” as in the days of Noah “.
As we continue our look at sanctification (The Law of Sin and Death & The Battle For The Soul of Man) taking into consideration that the main oppressor of man is sin in the heart, for hearts tainted by sin will not only oppress their owners, but will inevitably lead to oppressive systems as well.
It will be apt to take a quick look at one other major ways oppression may be facilitated; as in how relationships between the ‘leaders’ and the ‘led’ are defined in the quest for sanctification and some factors around it – this being passivity and the level of de-humanization it can lead to. We will in this presentation look at the need for the believer to take responsibility for what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has left in us through His finished work at Calvary.
Now these people were more noble and open-minded than those in Thessalonica, so they received the message [of salvation through faith in the Christ] with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11 Amp.)
Up to these point through this series, we have been addressing the inner spiritual oppression of sin, which is the fount of all other types of oppression a believer encounters and also had a look at passivity, a vehicle through which evil forces takeover a believer’s urge to act instead of him/her and examined actions that necessitate the credulity that in most cases trigger it.
Now we will briefly have a look at the ” soul “, as the central compartment, and the medium for both “spirit force” (pneuma) and the “soul force” (Psuche). As the tide of the inordinate activities of the psuche (Psyche) in this end times become worse, it will be seen eventually that the main objective of all the purposes of the enemy, is to bring about the same corruption ” as in the days of Noah “.
While zoe is life that comes from above, life of God; the word psuche in the original New Testament Greek is used to express the lower form of life that is developed through the flesh sarx . An example of this is when Jesus said, “My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life {“psuche”}.” (John 10:17)
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (John 10:17)
If we do not look at the Greek in this case, we cannot fully understand what Jesus chose to lay down in order to please His Father.
Although the common believe is that Jesus was referring to laying down His physical life, His “bios,” (As represented in Greek) at the cross in dying for our sins (which He subsequently did in John 19:30 – “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”); What He was specifically referring to (what He laid down) even before going on the Cross was His psuche.
In our illustration here we will be using psuche when referring to the lower form of life that is developed through the works of the flesh.
SABAOTH SUMMER 2018 The Spirit of Holiness & The Sanctification of Man Part 2:
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Our Freedom From Sin Section A – Introduction & The Journey So Far
FORESIGHT OF THE MASTER PLANNER – The Eternal Purpose
PLAN A2, BACK ON TRACK – Transformation: The proving of Faith and The Glory of God
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4)
Our salvation and Sanctification are from the gift of Christ and all gifts of Christ Jesus are communicated to us and given to us by the Spirit of Christ – The Holy Spirit.
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN HEART OF MANKIND BASED ON THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST ON THE CROSS AT CALVARY & ITS BENEFITS FOR MANKIND
Part of the outworking of our regeneration by God through the acts of the Holy Spirit is our sanctification.
Regeneration means to be renewed, reformed, or reconstituted; to have a spiritual rebirth (be spiritually reborn) “Born Again”; to cause to be completely reformed or improved and to grow anew (a part to replace one hurt or lost).
Sanctification as had been set in motion from the foundation of the earth and FINISHED by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary, spans the entirety of our being: from the moment of our spiritual birth to the point of our entry into glory.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10-14).
At rebirth, Positional Sanctification is automatically made available to us (through an entirely work of God) as a result of justification; as a believer (at salvation) we are justified and declared righteous in conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4).
Then when ‘the rubber hits the road’, we discover that we have to deal with the negative pull from the corrupt world we live in; a world that is well set up to pull us back into its sinful fold – here is where the experiential phase of our sanctification plays out.
Experiential sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit works in us (believer) to set us apart from sin; it is a progressive work aimed at spiritual maturity, a progressive work of separating us from the world. Quite opposite to what obtains in the world where maturity means independence from anyone; but spiritual maturity means TOTAL DEPENDENCE ON GOD.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS: THE BLOOD OF THE ETERNAL COVENANT
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Problems of the Heart 3 – Eternal Value of A Sound Conscience
Knowledge shows what is right or wrong but: It is the CONSCIENCE that APPROVES WHAT IS RIGHT and DISAPPROVES what is CONTRARY TO THAT WHICH IS RIGHT
The dictionary defines the conscience as:
“a knowledge or sense of right and wrong, with a compulsion to do right; moral judgement that opposes the violation of a previously recognized ethical principle and that leads to feelings of guilt.”
The conscience in its ‘natural’ state as we can see from the dictionary definition is governed by:
“compulsion to do right” OR “moral judgement”
So in our modern day culture where there is a daily attempt to ‘program’ our minds to fit into one agenda or the other; “compulsion to do right” and “moral judgement” are ever so subjective and moving further away from what the laws of God says. The world’s thinking overrides and drowns out the inner voice of the true conscience that God put within man.
To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. (Titus 1:15)
The Conscience Before Salvation
What really happens during the quickening that births the Salvation of Man With Regards To the Conscience??????
At salvation, Intuition and Fellowship are added to boost the power of the conscience over the soul (intellect, emotions and more importantly, the WILL), so that the conscience is released from the overwhelming control of the soul
The conscience is an echo in the human mind (intellect) of the verdict of the righteous Judge. It is that internal voice that sits in judgment over our will; but then acts of the will are based on the nature of information obtained from or contained in the intellect. In conjunction with the body, these three will always have the tendency to naturally act in defiance to the will of God.
Release of the conscience from the control of the soul into the control of the spirit (as it is the only function of the spirit in the heart); triggers the empowerment of the heart from the inner-man This upgrade from intellect to intuition is the addition of Understanding to Knowledge to make wisdom: With Intuition & Communion (fellowship), the conscience Is Set Free.
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:13-14)
THE BLOOD OF JESUS: THE BLOOD OF THE ETERNAL COVENANT
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Problems of the Heart 2 – Our Fellowship With God
Communion is our contact, fellowship and our communication with God. Like any Father, God wants us His children to spend time with Him so that we can get to know Him.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” (John 4:23-25)
A heartfelt determination by man to turn with his whole will to the Spirit of God, Who is the Spirit of Jesus. The converted heart expects everything from The Holy Spirit, who now has dominion over the self-willed spirit of man. Conversion leads to an undivided heart that listens attentively for The Holy Spirit because he wants, from now on, to be directed, led, and ruled by this Spirit alone and no other (under the strict guidance of the Word of God as written in the Holy Scriptures – The bible).
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
We have to be Constantly Plugged To ‘The Source’
For in him we live, and move, and have our being. (Acts 17:28)
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (1 Corinthians 6:17)
Fellowship is the most important thing God wants from us. He wants us to come to know him – to be with him – to spend time with him.
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. (Philippians 3:9-11)
Our Foundation vs Our Fellowship (Communion) With God
Physically, as weak muscles & faulty valves of the Heart can be hereditary; man’s communion with God can also be faulty and weakened by foundational and idolatrous practices that give legal spiritual grounds through initiations, agreements and covenants.
As blood poisoning occurs when bacteria causing infection in another part of the body enter the bloodstream (the presence of such bacteria in the blood being referred to as septicaemia): So can also there be ‘spiritual ‘septicaemia’ when foundational and idolatrous practices that give legal spiritual grounds through initiations, agreements and covenants, make it possible for evil forces to block man’s fellowship or communion with God, thus cutting man off from the glory that comes with such fellowship.
At the point of salvation (genuine), a severance to these foundational and idolatrous practices takes place; but any way of going back to sin will open the gateways or spiritual grounds for the forces to regain control.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. (Ezekiel 18:20)
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45)
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:5- 6
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. (Ezekiel 18:21)
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. (Romans 1:9)
THE BLOOD OF JESUS: THE BLOOD OF THE ETERNAL COVENANT
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Problems of the Heart 1 – Godly conviction of His Blood OUR INTUITION
Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) are caused by problems with the electrical system that regulates the steady heartbeat. The heart rate may be too slow or too fast; it may stay steady or become chaotic (irregular and disorganized).
Just as the electrical signals facilitate the workings of the physical heart;
our Intuition is the function of our spirit that enables us to receive knowledge, perception or conviction directly in our spirit, regardless of reason or circumstance.
It is the function of “spiritual sensing” in our spiritual heart.
IS THERE ANY CONNECTION AT ALL????
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11)
Intuition is the function of our spirit that enables us to receive knowledge, perception or conviction directly in our spirit, regardless of reason or circumstance. It is a function of “spiritual sensing” .
The sharpness of our intuition is very much dependent on the purity of our conscience – thus, it is impossible for someone with a polluted or corrupt conscience to have discernment.
It is more like the “USB Connector” between our spirit and the Holy Spirit. The intuition is that in us which enables us (unlike our natural instincts or soulish emotional feelings) to adhere to what the Holy Spirit is saying (God’s instructions).
“But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?” (Mark 2:8)
Just as the electrical signals facilitate the workings of the physical heart; our Intuition is the function of our spirit that enables us to receive knowledge, perception or conviction directly in our spirit, regardless of reason or circumstance. It is the function of “spiritual sensing” in our spiritual heart
PLAN A2, BACK ON TRACK – Transformation: The proving of Faith and The Glory of God
The Spirit of Holiness & The Sanctification of Man Part 1:
The Spirit of Christ Jesus
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8)
And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4)
Our salvation and Sanctification are from the gift of Christ and all gifts of Christ are communicated to us and given to us by the Spirit of Christ – The Holy Spirit.
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN HEART OF MANKIND BASED ON THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS CHRIST ON THE CROSS AT CALVARY & ITS BENEFITS FOR MANKIND
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5).
All communications of supplies and relief, in the beginnings, increases, actions of any grace whatsoever, from Jesus Christ, are by The Holy Spirit, by whom He alone works in and upon us (believers).
FROM HIM WE HAVE OUR SALVATION AND SANCTIFICATION
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. (Acts 5:31)
Would you take your partner back if he / she emptied out your savings and left with it all?
In layman’s terms, atonement (reconciliation) is the bringing together of two parties that were initially at odds, and propitiation (appeasement) is the idea of making correction for something that may have caused the two to be at odds.
Let us take for example, the case of a man whose wife empties out his savings and runs away. After a period of separation they decide to settle their disagreement (propitiation) and get back together as one (atonement).
In this scenario, bringing the wife and husband together is atonement (reconciliation) and the provision for taking care (appeasement) of the sinful act of the wife (or husband) – the “money problem” is propitiation.
Guess one of the first questions here would be “how much of the money has she got left”? And for that question to be asked, the husband and wife have to come together one way or the other. Depending on the state of mind of the husband (or how broke he is), the person resolving this conflict will first of all have to be very well sure that the “money problem” is resolved (Holy God: righteousness, truth and justice) who provided (lamb slain from the foundation of the earth).
A comprehensive package that addresses the covetousness of the wife (or as the case may be, the stinginess of the husband and/or other factors that might caused the situation to occur) must also be put in place – these (man’s debt from his sinful nature) are what the Gospel of Jesus Christ addresses through His death, burial, and resurrection.
“Gods sovereignty is first painful, then slowly powerful, and over much time seen to be profitable. It is to be studied with great sensitivity for the experiences of others and deep reverence for the One who controls the outcomes of every matter in the universe.“ James MacDonald (In Gripped by the Greatness of God)
Salvation – God, According To His Will By The Holy Spirit: Confirms Man As A Sinner
Then Removes His Sins and Their Consequences & Gives Him Grace For Righteousness
Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13)
In this first part, The Holy Spirit & Restoration of Man Part 1 we will have a look at God, According To His Will By The Holy Spirit: Confirms Man As A Sinner. It looks at:
Introduction –
The Holy Spirit
Regeneration of Man
The Holy Spirit & Regeneration of Man
Salvation
The Components of Man (Body, Soul & Spirit)
Heart of Man
The Holy Spirit & Salvation
The unregenerate Man
The law
The Gospel of Christ – God By The Holy Spirit:Confirms Man As A Sinner
While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey.
“ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS SEEN BY CEPHAS, THEN BY THE TWELVE. AFTER HE WAS SEEN BY OVER FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONCE, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
We will in this post look at some parts of the work of the Holy Spirit in the eternal Purpose of God as we continue with our look at the first stanza of the hymn, Trust and Obey by John Henry Sammis as part of our mini series “Maintaining a Healthy Fear of God” In previous posts we have looked at God’s good will, His original plan of His eternal purpose Ultimately being, PLAN A – The Glory of God – We saw that it is safe to say that His good will, His eternal purpose, is a plan to ultimately, bring us to His Glory, with provision made for perceived blunders we will make along the way.
In our last post we looked at Justification : Before that, Redemption as part of God’s Regeneration of man. We saw justification as the “Act of God” by which (according to His promise) He approves us, based on His own standard of righteousness. This He can legally do without compromising His divine righteousness because of the finished redemptive work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary. We saw that justification can only be obtained through the grace of God and not by our works.
Before we move on to Faith & Believe I’ll like to stop briefly to have a look at the work of the Holy Spirit in this eternal purpose of God especially the work of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of man. We will be looking at this from the perspective of the specific activities of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of man.
Salvation What Is Salvation?
God, According To His Will By The Holy Spirit: Confirms Man As A Sinner Then Removes His Sins and Their Consequences & Gives Him Grace For Righteousness
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Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13)
I this first part, The Holy Spirit & Restoration of Man Part 1 we will have a look at
God, According To His Will By The Holy Spirit:
Confirms Man As A Sinner
It looks at:
Introduction – The Holy Spirit
Regeneration of Man
The Holy Spirit & Regeneration of Man
Salvation
The Components of Man (Body, Soul & Spirit)
Heart of Man
The Holy Spirit & Salvation
The unregenerate Man
The law
Introduction – The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost) is a real person – the third person of the Holy Trinity: Father (God), Son (Jesus Christ) and The Holy Spirit. He is equal in every way as The Father and Jesus Christ, with the same attributes as they have. The Holy Spirit is our helper in all things, as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ promised to His disciples: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14:26)
THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
These are of the same components as that of man, these components being, will, intellect and emotions (as we shall see later),
Will
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. (I Corinthians 12:11)
Intellect For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11)
Emotions Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me. (Romans 15:30)
FUNCTIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
He teaches us all things. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever ….. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14:16,26)
He is our indwelling Spirit of God. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)
He exalts Jesus Christ in us, and as all truth is in Jesus, we are impacted with the Truth. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-14)
He strengthens us in our innermost being. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
SPECIFIC ACTIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
He guides us in truth. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13)
He gives us victory over flesh (domination over our soul by that part of us which is at odds with God). For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
He speaks to us. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ―Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. (Acts 13:2)
Then the Spirit said to Philip, ―Go near and overtake this chariot. (Acts 8:29)
He leads us. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
He convicts us sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (John 16:7-8)
Helps us in our weaknesses and prays for us. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)
He sanctifies us But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. (II Thessalonians 2:13)
ATTRIBUTES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
He exists from Eternity to eternity How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
He is Omnipotent. (being the Spirit of God, He has all power over all things at all times and in all ways). And the angel answered and said to her, ―The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)
He is Omnipresent. (being the Spirit of God, He is present everywhere at all times) Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? (Psalm 139:7)
He is omniscient (being the Spirit of God, He has complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding and perceives all things) But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (I Corinthians 2:10-11)
He is The Spirit of holiness. And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4)
THE NATURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
It is possible to blaspheme against The Holy Spirit. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. (Matt. 12:31)
It is possible to resist The Holy Spirit (in unbelief). You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. (Acts 7:51)
It is possible to insult The Holy Spirit. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)
It is possible to Lie to The Holy Spirit. But Peter said, ―Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? (Acts 5:3)
It is possible to Grieve The Holy Spirit. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30)
It is possible to Quench The Holy Spirit. Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thess. 5:19)
THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE REGENERATION OF MAN
Regeneration is broadly made up of three parts; Propitiation (by God); Salvation (by Christ): and Repentance (by man) ALL CARRIED OUT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. At any point in time, a man can either be regenerate or unregenerate: But all men are born unregenerate:
Jesus answered and said to him, ―Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, ―How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother‘s womb and be born?‖ Jesus answered, ―Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:3-8)
Every man from birth is in spiritual darkness until God through the Holy Spirit, shines light into his heart. This spiritual darkness in man is borne out of a lack of intuition and a communion with God; and until God shines light into a man‟s heart by the work of the Holy Spirit, this darkness remains. It could be outer or but definitely inner:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Outer Darkness in Man
This is darkness that may exist due to the fact that there is nothing to enlighten man about God and godly spirituality.
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.(Matthew 4:16)
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ―How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things! (Rom 10:15)
But then there is no excuse because:
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun ……… The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. (Psalm 19:1-4, 8)
But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: ―Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world. (Romans 10:18)
Inner Darkness in Man
Inward darkness is one that is borne of natural rot and depravity in man’s mind. This is corruption in things pertaining to normal everyday living such as social, political, economic, moral or even spiritual or heavenly things; it may even come in the form of ‘churchianity’ or ‘religion’. The full blown effect of this rot or depravity is often held back by the common grace of the Holy Spirit.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
No matter how eloquently presented, spiritual things can never be understood by such a mind. We will look at this further on in this presentation:
The fool has said in his heart, ―There is no God.‖ They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. (Psalm 14:1)
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them for Jesus‘ sake. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
But then:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
He has sent us the Holy Spirit. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever ….. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14:16,26)
THE COMPONENTS OF MAN (BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT)
Body – Physical Functions
God prepares man with a body that he may live for Him; with the expectation that, his (man‘s) body will be offered to Him and used to declare His Glory:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1)
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God‘s. (1 Cor. 6:20).
According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. (Philippians 1:20)
And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (Romans 6:13)
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one‘s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? (Romans 6:16).
Soul – Functions of Will, Intellect & Emotions
Will (Volition)
The will is the part of our soul through which we have our rationales and make choices. The process of decision making is (supposed to be) activated by the intellect (mind) though the information before us; our emotions could (if allowed to prevail) determine the outcome; but the will is the function of our soul that makes actual decisions.
So that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than my body. (Job 7:15)
Here we see that the choice made by the soul (of strangling and death rather than living); is coloured by the emotional pain that is a result of the picture Job‟s intellect (mind) paints of the state of his body.
My soul refuses to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me. (Job 6:7)
In this verse we see a choice being made by the soul (of not eating this particular kind of food) based on the fact that information from his intellect (mind) describes the food as being loathsome. It does not show if the emotion played a part in the processing of the information by the intellect (mind).
Intellect (Mind)
The Intellect (Mind) is the part of our soul where thoughts, ideas, concepts, reasons, understanding knowledge etc are processed. It contains our though faculties. The function of the Intellect (Mind) include:
Thinking, considering How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? (Psalm 13:2)
Knowing I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. (Psa. 139:14).
Remembering My soul still remembers and sinks within me. (Lamentations 3:20)
Emotion
The emotion is the part of our soul through which we love, hate, like or dislike, are joyful or grieved. The main aspects of the function of our emotions are of :
Sensing and affection: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Desire As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. (Psalm 42:1)
With my soul I have desired You in the night, yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; for when Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)
Feeling and Sensing Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‗Father, save Me from this hour‘? But for this purpose I came to this hour. (John 12:27)
Rejoice the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. (Psalm 86:4) Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. (Psalm 116:7)
Spirit – Functions of conscience, Intuition and communion.
Conscience
The conscience is for us to discern right from wrong, to justify or to condemn. Knowledge shows what is right or wrong but our conscience is that part of us that approves of what is right and disapproves of what is contrary to it. The conscience is a part of our spirit:
In the unregenerate man, the conscience as a part of the heart is devoid of guidance from the Spirit of God; but restricted within limits by the grace of God. But at salvation the conscience is restored to perform it’s full functions as part of the spirit of man.
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
Intuition
Intuition is the function of our spirit that enables us to receive knowledge, perception or conviction directly in our spirit, regardless of reason or circumstance. It is a function of “spiritual sensing” . The sharpness of our intuition is very much dependent on the purity of our conscience – thus, it is impossible for someone with a polluted or corrupt conscience to have discernment. It is more like the “USB Connector” between our spirit and the Holy Spirit. The intuition is that in us which enables us (unlike our natural instincts or soulish emotional feelings) to adhere to what the Holy Spirit is saying (God‟s instructions).
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11)
But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? (Mark 2:8)
Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. (John 11:33)
When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 18:5)
This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. (Acts 18:25)
And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, (Acts 20:22)
For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men. (1 Corinthians 16:18)
Communion (Fellowship)
Communion is our contact, fellowship and our communication with God. Like any Father, God wants us His children to spend time with Him so that we can get to know Him. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
The woman said to Him, ―I know that Messiah is coming‖ (who is called Christ). ―When He comes, He will tell us all things. (John 4:23-25)
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. (Romans 1:9)
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (1 Corinthians 6:17)
Fellowship is the most important thing God wants from us. He wants us to come to know him – to be with him – to spend time with him.
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. (Philippians 3:9-11)
THE HEART OF MAN
Heart of Man is made up of Body – Physical Functions Soul – Functions of Will, Intellect & Emotions Heart Spirit – Functions of conscience ONLY. The heart is a composition of the first part of the spirit – the conscience and all three parts of the soul.
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb. 10:22)
Being part of our spirit (the conscience); it can condemn: For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. (1 John 3:20)
As it also includes the mind, the will, and the emotion, which are the three parts of our soul: But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ―Why do you think evil in your hearts. (Matthew 9:4)
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
It Rejoices: Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. (John 16:22)
Has Sorrow: But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. (John 16:6)
It Purposes: When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. (Acts 11:23)
Has Intents: For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
In God’s eternal purpose, the intended main function of man‟s heart is to give man the ability to:
Love Him – And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.‘ This is the first commandment. (Mark 12:30)
Also, In God‟s eternal purpose, the intended main function of man‟s spirit is to give man the ability to:
a) Be in constant contact with Him – God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)
b) Receive Him –But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (1 Corinthians 6:17)
c) Hold or Contain Him –The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. (2 Timothy 4:22)
Finally, In God‟s eternal purpose, the intended main function of man‟s soul is to give man the ability to:
Reflect or Express Him –But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Because our heart LOVES Him; our spirit is able to BE IN CONSTANT CONTACT with Him; RECEIVE Him; and HOLD or CONTAIN Him; so that our soul is able to REFLECT or EXPRESS Him in all that we think, like, and decide – in all that we are and all that we do.
THE UN-REGENERATE MAN
The dictionary defines the unregenerate man as:
un•re•gen•er•ate
1. Not regenerate; not renewed in heart and mind or reborn in spirit; unrepentant: an unregenerate sinner.
2. Refusing to believe in the existence of God. : an unregenerate atheist; an unregenerate skeptic.
3. Unconvinced by or unconverted to a particular religion, sect, or movement; unreconstructed.
4. Persisting in the holding of prior convictions; opposing new ideas, causes, etc.; stubborn; obstinate: an
unregenerate reactionary.
5. Not reformed; wicked; sinful; profligate; dissolute: an unregenerate way of life.
Conscience of the Unregenerate Man
The dictionary defines the conscience as:
“a knowledge or sense of right and wrong, with a compulsion to do right; moral judgement that opposes the violation of a previously recognized ethical principle and that leads to feelings of guilt.”
The conscience of the unregenerate man as we can see from the dictionary definition is governed by:
‘Compulsion to do right’ ‘Moral judgement’
So in our modern day culture where there is a daily attempt to „program‟ our minds to fit into this agenda or the other; “compulsion to do right” and “moral judgement” are ever so subjective and moving further away from what the laws of God says. The world’s thinking overrides and drowns out the inner voice of the true conscience that God put within man.
To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. (Titus 1:15)
There is a conscience in all men by nature. Let this never be forgotten. Fallen, lost, desperately wicked as we are all born into the world, God has taken care to leave Himself a witness in our bosoms. It is a poor blind guide, without the Holy Spirit. It can save no one. It leads no one to Christ. It may be seared and trampled under foot. But there is such a thing as conscience in every man, accusing or excusing him; and Scripture and experience alike declare it (Rom. 2:15).
J.C. Ryle
THE LAW (AT SALVATION)
The Law Law means instruction – do‟s and don‟ts; the norms of society as enforced by the state. In the context of our topic here; “The Law” refers specifically to the compilation of decrees found in the first five books of the Bible.
This whole body of law was given the name Torah.
While the purpose of treating this topic of the law here is NOT about relying on keeping the law to be saved:
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. (Galatians 2:16)
But it is sensible for any man to know the reason why God gave these laws to the natural children of Israel: The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile. Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O LORD, and teach out of Your law, that You may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked. (Psalm 94:11-13)
Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments. (Psalm 119:164-166)
The Law
The distinct duty of the law is to reveal what sin is. („dangerous‟ and „unwanted‟ piece of knowledge at that):
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)
So if the law causes our desire to sin to increase, is it then safe to say that the law is bad? The answer here by Apostle Paul is No!!, Capital No!!!For if not for the law, we would not have known sin in it‟s deadly nature; it‟s resistance against God; in it‟s habitual enmity against God; and the hidden lustings it produces within us.
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ―You shall not covet. (Romans 7:7)
With regards to salvation; the law enters; deeply and widely opens it’s own commission of enquiry in the conscience of unregenerate man; but here the conscience is only working closely with the soul (devoid of intuition and communion). A kind of “fear of God” (unrighteous because it is devoid of intuition and communion with God) is felt.
“Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Romans 5:20)
This ‘commission of enquiry’ headed by The ‘Lord Chief Justice’ Himself (of heaven, earth and all that exists); God Almighty, before whom nothing, absolutely nothing is hidden: Because He is:
In our next post please look out for – God, According To His Will By The Holy Spirit: Removes His Sins and Their Consequences & Gives Him Grace For Righteousness.
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this Holy Spirit you are going on about” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need as The Holy Spirit would have been pointing out to you while you read the post.
We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin?
In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.
Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind.
The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17. ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.
What must a person do to accept this gift?
Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”.
If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You might pray something like this REPENTANTLY (Having taken time to bring your sins before God with a determination to completely turn away from them):
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
“ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS BURIED, AND HE ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT HE WAS SEEN BY CEPHAS, THEN BY THE TWELVE. AFTER HE WAS SEEN BY OVER FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN AT ONCE, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezek. 36:26–27)
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, by his blood, to shew his righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins one aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the shewing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26).
Click on Image to see presentation on Propitiation
Propitiation and Atonement
In our look at this very important core of our Christian witness – propitiation, I will like to first of all clarify the relationship between propitiation and atonement as it seems that the two are sometimes being taken to be the same. Using atonement in place of propitiation as seen in some modern versions of the bible renders the death of Christ a perpetual sacrifice which it is not. Propitiation was a one time event.
Propitiate: to conciliate, appease. Propitiation:
The act of propitiating. Latin propitius, a disposition of favour (one can think pro-pity, a setting forth of pity or mercy). The Greek word translated propitiation in the New Testament is hilasmos, which is a means of appeasing, a conciliation.
To appease: to bring peace or calm, to satisfy or relieve.
To atone: to make amends or reparations for an injury or wrongdoing, to expiate.
In layman’s terms, atonement is the bringing together of two parties that were initially at odds, and propitiation is the idea of making correction for something that may have caused the two to be at odds.
Let us take for example, at the case of a man whose wife empties out his savings and runs away. After a period of separation they decide to settle their disagreement (propitiation) and get back together as one (atonement). In this scenario, bringing the wife and husband together is atonement (reconciliation) and the provision for taking care (appeasement) of the sinful act of the wife (or husband) – the “money problem” is propitiation. I guess one of the first questions here would be “how much of the money has she got left”? And for that question to be asked, the husband and wife have to come together one way or the other.
Depending on the state of mind of the husband (or how broke he is), the person resolving this conflict will first of all have to be very well sure that the “money problem” is resolved (Holy God: righteousness, truth and justice) who provided (lamb slain from the foundation of the earth). A comprehensive package that addresses the covetousness of the wife (or as the case may be, the stinginess of the husband and/or other factors that might have caused the situation to occur) must be put in place – these (man’s debt from his sinful nature) are what the Gospel of Jesus Christ addresses through His death, burial, and resurrection. The whole idea here is that, Jesus makes atonement for us by bringing us into fellowship (atonement) with His Father through providing propitiation, which was done by Him dying on the cross to pay the ransom price that our sin demands and that caused us to be at odds with Him who is absolutely righteous.
ATONEMENT
Obsolete : reconciliation
The reconciliation of God and humankind through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
“That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
To supply satisfaction for:
Expiate – to put an end to; to extinguish the guilt incurred by.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures”. (James 1:17-18)
Atonement is a concept in which obstacles to reconciliation with God are removed; through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” (Ephesians 2:14-16)
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” (Colossians 1:19-22)
Atonement (Before Jesus Came)
Man is (at default) separated from God due to the sin committed by the first man Adam and he (man) have had to contend with the consequences of Adam’s actions:
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” (Romans 1:28-32)
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
In the old testament days, the Ark of the Covenant was the place where the Lord had the sacrificial blood poured out, for the forgiveness of Israel’s sins. The blood was sprinkled on the atonement cover.
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.” (Exodus 25:17-22)
This was blood of animals which had to be sacrificed time after time
Atonement (At Calvary)
Man was reconciled to God at Calvary. This was made possible by God sacrificing His only begotten Son Jesus Christ (once and for all) unlike the continual sacrifices made in the old testament.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” (Colossians 1:19-22)
“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16-17)
When Jesus made Himself a sacrifice at Calvary, He paved the way, cleared out all the impediments – all the blockages that kept man away from God. He then signified the end of this task when He:
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-4).
He did not just ‘cover’ our sins, He totally removed them:
“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)
One of the strategies of Satan is to make sure that at least he can rob us of our joy if he is unable to steal our salvation by reminding us of our past sins; we will always do ourselves a lot of good to have it in mind that Jesus did not only forgive our “small sins” but “ALL sins”.
PROPITIATION
Propitiation points to what God has received from the death of Christ, whether or not a sinner trusts Jesus Christ. The Holy, Justice, Righteous nature of God has to be completely satisfied and this was done on the cross.
“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6)
“This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (1 John 5:6-7)
Propitiate: to conciliate, appease.
Propitiation:The act of propitiating.
Latin propitius, a disposition of favour (one can think pro-pity, a setting forth of pity or mercy). The Greek word translated propitiation in the New Testament is hilasmos, which is a means of appeasing, a conciliation.
To appease: to bring peace or calm, to satisfy or relieve.
To atone: to make amends or reparations for an injury or wrongdoing, to expiate.
“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8)
Propitiation is the work Jesus did on the cross to appease and satisfy God’s wrath so He would be able to pardon sinners who trust in Christ. It is God’s way of making amends for our sins. This He does by a process in which the guilt or innocence is transferred from one person (Jesus) to another (man). The guilt or the bad actions of one person is attributed or imputed to another. So that when it comes to punishment, the person who is the substitute bears the brunt, and that the person substituted goes away free. This way God made reparations for our sins by transferring them to Christ’s account as He hung on the cross at Calvary. The absolute sinless life of Jesus Christ makes this transaction possible as His innocence is transferred to those who believe and follow Him.
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.” (Hebrews 9:14-17)
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3)
“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:14)
In our next post please look out for Redemption (Ezekiel 36:25-27) the second component of Regeneration.
You might say – “Why do I have to know and experience this Jesus you are going on about” Here is why, when and how you can get to know Him.
Admit your spiritual need.
We all are sinners: nobody likes that title “SINNER”, but the bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.
What is the result of sin?
In Romans 6:23 we read “The wages of sin is death…” in other words, every sin is another step towards death. One thing that we need to remember is that God never sends anyone to hell; one can send himself there by rejecting the truth.
Since we can never measure up to God’s standards by our own strength; God has reached out to mankind. The Bible tells us in John 3:16-17. ”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.
What must a person do to accept this gift?
Simply receive it! Matthew 11:28 states –“come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me” Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks, seeking entrance into your life to give you peace, change you for the best. John 1:12 says: “For as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God”. If you haven’t already received Christ as your Saviour, don’t put it off another day! Take time right now to reflect on the state of your life, how does Romans 3:23 apply to you? Ask God to empower you to see the true state of your heart – “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) then when enabled, invite Jesus into your life. Confess your sins. Receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. You might pray something like this:
Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. Thank You for giving me eternal life. Help me to live my life in a way that pleases You, for whatever time You give me here on earth. I look forward to living forever in Heaven with You. Amen.
The book of Romans is the most basic, comprehensive statement of true Christianity. This page explores the relevance of Romans to our world today. As it deals with the morally deficient individual (as illustrated in Cityboy Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile-Geraint Anderson which describes life within the square mile of the city of London, the bankers haven), so does it deal with the morally astute person; who wants to please God by their own works. Travel with us on this interesting highway.
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