Unity # 3: Heirs Together of the Worth of Christ

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Unity # 3: Heirs Together of His worth

Sunday 9/16/12

THEME SONG: All I Once Held Dear

Dear Father,

      You are of infinite worth. With You is a rich store of wisdom, salvation, love, and knowledge. The fear of You is the key to this treasure. We consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing You, Jesus! Please show us that everything apart from You and Your Kingdom is worthless. Please forgive me for not letting my eyes meet Yours continually.

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. Titus 3

Dear Beloved,

 In the past several months every morning as I wake up I say “Jesus Christ is my Lord, God, and Savior, and thank You” out loud as my feet hit the floor. There were days when I said it with joy and eagerness to see that day’s work of the Spirit. There were many other days when I said it because it is true, though my heart felt the depths of the grave and there were haunting remembrances of the previous day’s unfaithfulness to Him. How can we find a balance between grace and worthy conviction of guilt? The Christian leaders of the day seem to emphasize one of the two. We need our Savior to reveal Himself because He is filled with everything necessary for our progress in the faith. The work of our Spirit is complete in every area of grace and conviction. He is the Comforter and the One who Convicts. He is the One who breaks up the unplowed soil of hardened hearts and the One who heals relentless wounds. Last week my letter was about how our belief in the true Message of Christ seals us together in the Spirit.

This letter is about the infinite worth of our Savior. Our understanding and growing comprehension of His worth and the worthlessness of everything of the world brings us together as His heirs.

The vast majority of this world insists that its prosperity is of great worth and is worthy of our strivings and of our heart’s adoration. It has been one of the worst deceptions that we have faced since Adam and Eve’s fall. The devil’s intent has been for our hearts to believe that there is worth in the things of the world. Satan wants our desires to be for the acquiring of earthly things. He wants us to find worth in leaders of false religions and gospels rather than the true Shepherd. But, as His saints, we have come to believe what Isaiah concludes: all of them are false. Their works are worthless. Their molten images are wind and emptiness (Is 41:29). The judgment of the worthless shepherds who leave their flock in the day of disaster is a sword on his right arm and right eye such that this arm is withered and this eye is blind (Zech 11:17). Think about the popular leaders of our world. This is what their outcome will be unless they repent. For this reason King David says “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me. Ps 101:3”

As we came to faith in Christ, we all experienced a feeling of worthlessness. Apart from Christ, we were just as worthless as the temporary things of the world. And all our strivings were to no avail. If we have truly come to understand His worth, the initial step was for us to realize in our core how utterly worthless everything about us truly was apart from Him. We were like the prodigal son who did not consider himself worthy to be called a son (Luke 15:19). We were like Moses who considered the reproach of Christ to be of greater worth than the treasures of Egypt and who acted in faith, endurance, and vision of the unseen God (Heb 11:26-27).  We understood Christ’s Words that if we do not take our cross and follow Him, we are not worthy of Him. And if we find our lives through being satisfied with earthly prosperity, we would be losing everything. But when we have lost our worthless lives with their worthless earthly prosperity (or lack thereof), we would find Life (Matt 10:38-39). We would find Life, because the Life on the One with infinite worth would be made known to us in the infinite days ahead. Had we loved anything more than Him, we could never understand and become heirs of His worth (Matt 10:37). The core of our hearts as His children is the understanding that everything that we considered to be of worth before is a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. We are willing to lose everything for His sake because we have understood that only in Him true worth is found (Phil 3:7-8).

The people of the world claim to be rich, wealthy, and self-sufficient, but as we abide in Him, we realize that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (not clothed in Christ’s righteous Robe) (Rev 3:17). Jesus advises us, dear saints, to buy from Him gold refined by fire so that we may become rich and white garments so that we may clothe ourselves and the shame of our nakedness would not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint our eyes so that we may see (Rev 3:18). How much did this gold, white garments, and eye salve cost? They costed Him everything and they cost us our lives. Our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, but for our sakes became poor so that through His poverty and by His grace, we might become rich (2 Cor 8:9).  We know now that the flesh profits nothing. The Spirit that He has given us gives us Life. His Words are Spirit and they are Life for us (John 6:63). The discipline of our physical bodies is of little worth, but godliness is profitable for all things because it holds promise for the present life and also the life to come (I Tim 4:8).

The Spirit in us has given us a single mind and heart to understand the great worth of our King who is abounding in riches for all who call on Him (Rom 10:12). We call upon our Lord who alone in worthy to be praised and we are saved from our enemies (Ps 18:3). We are becoming like John the Baptist who, though he had a great following and had poured out His life in sacrifice, realized that he was not worthy to untie the sandals of the One coming after Him (Acts 13:25). We know that our Lord is worthy to take the Book of judgment and Life and break the seals because He was slain and purchased all of us from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation with His blood for God (Rev 7:9). Riches, honor, enduring wealth and righteousness belong to our Christ who is our wisdom (Prov 8:17-18). His riches are kindness, tolerance, patience, wisdom, and knowledge, all of which lead us to repentance (Rom 2:4, Rom 11:33).

Dear saints, His plan is to show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:7). The riches of Christ are unfathomable and by them, He grants us the strengthening with power through His Spirit in our inner man (Eph 3:8,16). By His riches all of our needs to know Him, to accomplish His will, and to be successful in our faithfulness are supplied (Phil 4:19). God has willed to make know what are the riches of the glory of the mystery among all of us. This mystery is Christ in us, the hope of glory (Col 1:27)!

In the grace of our God, He has granted us worth in His Son. Furthermore, because the righteousness of Christ is given to us, we are counted worthy and the good works which He has prepared for us to do are given worth because they are done out of our faith in the granted priceless righteousness of Christ. Our tongues are as choice silver (Prov 10:20) and our Advocate prays for us that we will talk in a manner worthy of the God who calls us into His own Kingdom and glory (2 Thess 2:12). Even in our sufferings and persecution, we can follow the example of our Christian ancestors who rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for His Name because of God’s righteous judgment (Acts 5:41, 2 Thess 1:5). Remember our faithful ancestors, men of whom the world was not worthy, who wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground (Heb 11:38). Because our God keeps us firm in our faith until the end, we are like the few in Sardis who did not soil their garments, and will walk with Christ in white because they are worthy (Rev 3:4). Our God has made us to be a Kingdom and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth (Rev 5:10). As we fear God and greatly delight in His commandments, our descendents will be mighty on the earth and wealth and riches will be in our house (Ps 112:1-3). Earthly riches? No, we know that there is no worth apart from that of our King and what He bestows to our souls in knowing Him!

9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? Gal 4

We will be called priests and be spoken of as ministers; we will eat the wealth of nations and boast in their riches. Instead of shame, we will have a double portion and instead of humiliation we will shout for joy over the double portion that we possess in our Land; everlasting joy is promised to us (Is 61:6-7)! He is our rich root from which all of us who believe, both Jews and Gentiles are grafted and partake together of His goodness (Rom 11:17). As we share His Gospel, He uses us to make many others rich in Him. We are sorrowful yet always rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, having nothing yet possessing all things (2 Cor 6:10).

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Eph 1

A False Doctrine to Be Aware of:There is a false doctrine among many professing Christians that does not take into account the atoning work of Christ. This doctrine suggests that the focus of Christ's atonement was His physical death and suffering at the hands of sinful men. It may emphasize the physical suffering of Christ rather than His experiencing of the wrath of His Father. The true Gospel is that Christ has drunk the cup of His own Father’s wrath that should have been poured on us. He was crushed by His own Father, not the devil and not sinful men. Sinful men were used to crucify Him, but they did cause Him the infinite suffering of the cross. Many martyrs have been burned at the stake and they sang hymns with joy through the pain because they were counted worthy to suffer for His Name and His Spirit granted them joy and strength. The physical pain was not the suffering of Christ. His suffering was that He drank the cup of His own Father’s fierce anger against the wicked. His Father turned His Face away from His own Son. And it pleased the Father to carry out our judgment on His Son because it was the fulfillment of His will for the glorification of Himself through the Gospel. (see Isaiah 53)

Excellent Messages

Quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Ferocious for the Gospel because of the Fall by Jason Myers

Long Way Home: Song (this is not “my kind of music”, but was strangely comforting)

This Same Love: Song (thank you to my second nephew, Timothy (9 yrs), for showing this to me)

Love in Christ,

Preethi

 

Unity # 2: Sealed Together Through Belief in the Message

Unity # 2: Sealed Together Through Belief in the Message

Sunday 9/9/12

THEME SONG: All Who are Thirsty

Dear Father,

      Thank You that those who receive You and believe in Your Name have the right to be called Your children. Thank You that You are my Savior who daily bears my burdens. I cannot survive without Your arms of grace. Please teach me to obey You to the end. Please help Your people to know the joy of the Lord which is their strength. Help them to build their houses on their Rock, Jesus Christ. Show us how we are unified by Your Message.

In Jesus Christ’s Name, Amen

Dear Beloved,

     I trust that God is sustaining your souls in the midst of your chaos. May you find rest in Him. His yoke is easy to carry as you take it upon yourself. Last week, my letter explained that the result of our justification, sharing in the Body of Christ, is the only means by which we are unified.

     This letter is about our unification through belief in God’s Message to us. Though the world has not understood this Message, we have understood and believed It. As we believed we were marked with the Seal of the Holy Spirit and united with those who also rest in the power and glory of Christ’s Message.

     There is something very different about the Message of the cross, that is, the Gospel and the Word of Christ, from any other message which we hear. The Message is accompanied with great disbelief and rejection among those who do not yet believe. Before we had believed, in our sinful state, we too had rejected this Message. We were as the people listening to Jeremiah’s prophecy who said “¹⁶ As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you! Jer 44” Though we know that the Message of Christ is true, the people of the world, even ourselves in our carnal state, could not understand or believe in It. We could not accept the Message as Truth. Even the greatest wisdom of man could not be applied within the rational part of mankind allowing him to know this Message (I Cor 1:21). In fact, God, in His wisdom, was very pleased to save His people through the apparent foolishness of His Message (I Cor 1:21). Each culture of the world had a slightly different way of finding out what they would believe and commit their lives to. For example, the Jews wanted a sign from God and the Greeks wanted to be stirred with some new philosophy that appealed to their carnal intellect (I Cor 1:21). But the Message of God, that Christ who was crucified is the exalted Son of God, is a stumbling block to the Jews. And to the Greeks, the Message seemed so utterly foolish. Dear saint, look around you. The people around you each seek a message of their own. And apart from God’s intervention, we also wanted a message that appealed to the evil desires of our hearts. This is why we find so many religions that exemplify the human, whether it be the satisfaction of his flesh, the satisfaction of his self-righteousness, the temporary easing of his conscience through a payment/sacrifice system, etc. People are looking for a message to appeal to their hearts’ desires. And the hearts’ desires of the unbelievers are not for the forgiveness of sins or for the knowledge of Christ.

     But for us who have been marked out for eternal Life, the Holy Spirit has worked in us at some point to regenerate our hearts. He has given us hearts that desire each of the heavenly blessings that the Father has given us in Christ: He has made us to desire the forgiveness of our sins, to desire the indwelling of the Spirit, to desire the righteousness that comes from faith. Because the Spirit has regenerated our hearts, we are able to believe in this Message, though It seemed foolish before, because it now ministers to the desires of our righteous hearts. The Message of Christ has become for us the power of God and the wisdom of God (I Cor 1:24).

     Dear saint, praise Him that He has given you a heart that is able to believe the true Message. Many are called, but few are chosen (Matt 22:14). As the prophet Isaiah said as he prophesied about the coming Savior, “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Is 53” In fact, the Message was specifically given to us!: ²⁶ “Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.  Acts 13 The Arm of the Lord has been revealed to us, not because of anything in ourselves, but because of His irrevocable gift to us and calling of us to follow Him.

      Our faith in the Message came from hearing the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17). When Peter was preaching the Message to Cornelius and others, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who were listening to the Message (Acts 10:44). This is how we have been brought together as the people of God, the Holy Spirit has fallen on us so that we are able to believe in the Message, the only saving Truth, as we heard It. As Peter and John preached the Gospel many of those who heard believed, just as we have believed, and five thousand people were saved (Acts 4:4). The Spirit helps us to be amazed at the Message because It came and continues to come to us with authority (Luke 4:32).

     What is this Message exactly? This Message tells us that the Word of faith that has been spoken to us, whether it was through our family, friends, the Word Itself, etc. is in our mouth and in our heart as we hear It (Rom 10:8). As we heard again today at NLC, Christ dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph 3:17). The Message tells us that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised us from the dead, we will be saved (Rom 10:9). Belief is an act of the heart that results in our righteousness and the confession of our mouth is the overflow of the believing heart and by this overflow of belief we are saved (Rom 10:10).

     Our belief in the Message unifies us as His people because there was no difference between us as we surrendered our lives to the Message, called on His Name, and were saved. It is God who has called us in the abounding riches of His mercy and kindness and we know that He has made no distinctions among us. He calls people from every nation, tribe, language, and tongue to be His children. He grants them faith through the Holy Spirit so that they can believe in the Message, confess the Lordship of Christ, and together be saved.

¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”Rom 10

     As we believed, we were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph 1:13). The Spirit is given to us as a pledge of our eternal inheritance as we look forward to God’s complete redemption of all His people to the praise of His glory (Eph 1:13-14). We are united because we all have the Spirit of God in us. There was no other way that we could know that we are His children and are thus given an inheritance in our knowledge of the riches of Christ. But the Spirit who lives in us continues to work in us to help us understand who Christ is to us. Without the Spirit we would be at a loss to understand what we are promised as an inheritance, but because He is in us, He is continually working to remind us of or inheritance. Even as He works to reveal our sin, to remind us of the final judgment, and to show us the righteousness of the Father, He is at the same time showing us our eternal inheritance. Everything the Spirit does in us is to help us know what we have been granted in Christ!

     Because this Message has become our Message, we are compelled to preach this Gospel. As we do so, we must remember the Spirit who works to regenerate the true sheep so that they may desire the promise of the Message, that is, salvation through the knowledge of Christ. The belief in the Gospel is brought about through two things: the Word of Christ (because faith comes from hearing the Message of Christ) and the Spirit who moves our hearts to understand, believe, and receive. As we preach the Gospel, we must rely on Spirit to demonstrate this power to us. We will use words taught not by human wisdom, but by the Spirit, combining Spiritual thoughts with Spiritual Words. (I Cor 3:13). It is okay if we tremble, are weak, or are afraid, if only we rely on the Spirit’s work through the Word. God will demonstrate His power! His Spirit and Word are at work right now throughout the world.

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, ⁴ and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. I Cor 2

     The Message of God is His Word which comes out from the Heart and Mouth of God. These Words are able to divide the soul and the spirit from within us. In the Greek context, I understand that the soul refers to the carnal desires, feelings, and thoughts within us and the spirit refers to the eternal soul of a human, which, for a believer, would be the Mind of Christ that has been given to us so that we may understand what God has freely given us: the inheritance we spoke of (I Cor 2:12, 16). The people of the world cannot understand the Word of God because they do not have the Spirit of discernment that we have (I Cor 2:14). These Words are foolishness to them (I Cor 2:14). The Word of God will work within our consciousness to separate all of the carnality of the flesh from the Truth presented in the Mind of Christ. This is why we are commanded to set our minds on things above rather than earthly things (Col 2:2). This is how we are “transformed by the renewing of our mind, so that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2). As the Word of God divides our souls from our spirit, we are able to set our minds on what the Spirit desires and we are able to do the act of pure obedience. As Jesus tells us “blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”Luke 11:28”

     We often get plagued with thoughts of distress, confusion, guilt, perhaps even anger. We then are unable to discern God’s will. We are unable to make right choices. In our anger and hatred, we would be stumbling in darkness (1 John 2:11). But when our soul has been separated from our spirit, and we are walking in the Spirit, we are walking in the Light. Let us discuss a little more about this Message. This Message is that “⁵ God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. I John 1”. This Message is that “we should love one another; I John 3:11” As we walk in Light and in His love, we are able to see clearly to discern God’s will.

     I have found in my life, that when I am faced with an earthly decision, the will of God is usually the option that is in the direction where my sinful flesh must be crucified. Sometimes, God will correct my heart and still let me choose the easier option. Mostly the former scenario has applied. The Word of God has been the Sword that divided the soul and spirit within my heart. Never forget the contentment and peace that comes following the pain of obedience. May God continue to work to perfect our obedience even as we have believed in the Message and are daily cleansed by the soul/spirit dividing act of the Word.

¹² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Heb 4

As you consider our unity through our common belief in the Message through the Spirit, may God encourage and help you praise Him with the Words below from Psalm 106 and Psalm 111.

² Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can show forth all His praise?
³ How blessed are those who keep justice,
Who practice righteousness at all times!

⁴ Remember me, O Lord, in Your favor toward Your people;
Visit me with Your salvation,
⁵ That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with Your inheritance. Ps 106

⁷ The works of His hands are truth and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
⁸ They are upheld forever and ever;
They are performed in truth and uprightness.
⁹ He has sent redemption to His people;
He has ordained His covenant forever;
Holy and awesome is His name.
¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever. Ps 111

Love and Prayers in Christ,

Preethi

NOTES TO SELF ON CLIFTON STRENGTHS FINDER, et al

NOTES TO SELF ON CLIFTON STRENGTHS FINDER, et al

THEME SONG: Lord, I Need You

Dear Father,

     The grass withers and the flowers fade but Your Word and the one who does Your will endure forever. Please help me to know the Truth about all things pertaining to Life and Godliness.

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

1.               Diversity exists among mankind with regard to traits that are inherently neither good nor evil. Some of these traits reflect what the world around you calls “personality characteristics”. These traits involve the natural strengths and temperaments of mankind (though you must be very cautious when using such terminology). For example, you have seen that the Strengths Finder tool did a meaningful job of determining some of these inherent characteristics within individuals that you know. You have realized that the Strengths Finder results that you were an intellection, connectedness, belief, strategic, input person and the Myer Briggs test results that you were an introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging person were, for the most part, in accordance with what you already knew to be true. It is clear that God has created diversity in such respects within people that are as inherent as physical attributes. Many of the 34 themes in Strengths Finder appear to be neither good nor evil without taking into account the condition of the heart of the individual who exercises them. At the very same time that each book of the Scriptures is perfectly and completely inspired, that is, brought forth from the heart and breathed-out from the Mouth, of God, He has chosen to work in the 40 men who wrote the Scriptures to allow them to be perfectly carried along by the Spirit as they wrote so that not an inkling of selfishness affected their inscription (2 Peter 1:21), and yet He allowed distinct and inherent attributes of their human personas to be evident (this reflects the power and love of God to indwell the mortal beings of His people; Rom 8:11).

 ^for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Acts 17:28

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”I Sam 16:7

2.               The goal of your existence is to live in subjection to the Spirit. At certain times God has chosen to use the strengths which He has given to His children. If you speak, you are to do so as speaking the Word of God and if you serve you are to do so with the strength that God provides so that in all things God will be praised (I Peter 4:11). Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, you are to do so for the glory of God (I Cor 10:31). At all times, God’s moral will is for His strength to be manifest in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9). Even when you are using your innate “strengths”, you will find that you are innately weak. For apart from the strength imparted by the Spirit, you are unable to subject your human strengths for the cause of His eternal goodness, that is, you are unable to exercise your human strengths in faith. And you know that anything that does not come from faith is sin (Rom 14:23). But when you are subjected to the Spirit, whether or not you are in a position of human strength or weakness, you will be walking in the righteousness that comes from His gift of faith to you. Thus, in your goal to please and obey Him, you will come across circumstances where you must use your natural God-given strengths and His Spirit will give you the true strength over the moral weakness of your flesh. You will also come across circumstances where you are naturally helpless and devoid of the innate strength required to do His will, and in this case, He is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things, at all times, having all you need you will abound in every good work (2 Cor 9:8).

3.               There is no strength apart from true subjection to the Spirit. Though the world has called these inherent traits as “strengths” you know that apart from the work of the Spirit to regenerate and continuously sanctify the believer, there is no strength at all in any of you. Because all of your righteousness was as filthy rags and because all of your inclinations were only evil all the time, even as your exercised your “top 5 themes” you were in a state of pitiful weakness. The world may have viewed you as strong, but because you walked in slavery to sin, you were weak even as you exercised your innate “strengths”. And even now, though you have been regenerated, if you are not walking with the Spirit, even if you exercise these themes, you are weak. True strength comes when the bodies of the believers are subjected to the Spirit, whether they are exercising their top 5 themes or whether they are in a state of overwhelming helpless incompetency.

E.g. Subjection to the Spirit while using inherent (God-given) strengths

 The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” Judges 6:14

E.g. Subjection to the Spirit in a state of overwhelming helpless incompetency

My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Ps 73:26

4.               Be warned of the temptations that can arise when you consider inherent traits. One temptation among mankind is the idolatry of the personal need to be understood. Remember as a teen you used to take personality tests for “fun”. The impetus for you was that as you read your results you received an inner satisfaction from feeling that some “thing” (i.e. test!) was able to understand you. Your heart rang with the expression, “yes, that perfectly describes me!” Secondly, there is the temptation to focus too much on self after receiving the results. You may begin to assess yourself in relation to the test results rather than the Word of God. You know that the Word of God is useful for instruction and training and righteousness and must be the “plumb line” for the motives of your heart and the deeds of your flesh (2 Tim 3:16). When you begin to focus on these tests and assess yourself by them, you may be neglecting the only saving refining Truth of the Word. Thirdly, you may begin to assess other people with these interpretations rather than by the status of their souls in the heavenly realms. As a teen, remember how you would think of other people and then wonder what their “personality type” was rather than to wonder how their walk with God was or how you were to deliver His Truth and love to them. The Word of God must always be the lens by which you view yourself, others, God, spirits, and circumstances. Fourthly, you have observed a subconscious and subtle tendency for others to use personality test results to ease the conviction of the conscience over the misdeeds of the flesh. For example, when faced with the conviction of your failure to communicate love to many believers, you could tell yourself, “I am in introvert” and feel free from the “obligation to love” that you rightly have (Rom 13:8). People may start to justify all of their habitual sins by attributing them to their inherent personas, forgetting that these personas could have been used otherwise had they been subjected to the Spirit.

5.               Though the Clifton Strengths Finder may reveal the inherent traits of people, they do not necessarily relate to the outpouring of the Spiritual gifts. You know that the Spiritual gifting are given according to the will and purpose of God to unify His people as they attain to the whole measure of the fullness of God (Eph 4:13). Sometimes the “top 5 strengths” are utilized in the process of exercising these gifts and other times they are not. You can find no reason for God to distribute gifts that are in accordance with the inherent traits of His people. Thus, do not expect an association between these traits and the potential Spiritual gifting of His people. But you have realized that it is possible for God’s will to be that some of His people utilize their top 5 strengths in subjection to the Spirit and in the true strength that God provides for the accomplishing of His will. Remember the “the most excellent way”. Just as faith, hope, and Spiritual gifts are only useful until we are perfected in seeing His Face, when love will be fully evident to us and remain forever, the “top 5 strengths”, even if He chooses to use them, are temporary and part of a complex Sovereign plan which culminates in the glorification of God and the satisfaction of His people in His love. 

Unity # 1: We Who are Justified Partake Together of One Body

Dear Father,

      I praise You that Your Truth endures forever. Thank You for anointing Your people with Your Spirit so that they may discern the Truth from Your Word. Without Your Spirit we would not hear Your Voice as we read Your Word. You have chosen to give us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Please forgive me for my remaining unbelief and purify me from all selfishness and deceit. Bless your people to be encouraged and unified through the Gospel of Christ which we have committed our lives to.

In Jesus Christ's Name,

Amen

Theme Song: Behold the Lamb Communion Song

Dear Beloved,

     This letter is the first of a series of letters on the unity of believers through the common faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May God bless us to be unified in our understanding and belief in the true Gospel, by which we are saved and sanctified daily.

      The thesis of this letter is that our common justification through faith in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only means by which we are unified and partake of the Body of Christ together. 

     There is a great problem that we have been facing and which mankind has been facing since the first disciples were anointed with the Holy Spirit. This problem is the presence of numerous false gospels which are present both inside and outside of Bible believing churches. There is another spirit in the world: the spirit of the antichrist. Though the antichrist himself is yet to be displayed out-rightly to the world, his spirit is already in the world. The spirit of the antichrist proclaims that Jesus has not come in the flesh. He proclaims that Jesus is not God and that He is not Lord. This spirit preaches a false gospel that mankind can be saved by some other means than the work of Christ as our Savior. May we not so easily consider ourselves safe from the influence of this spirit. For we must understanding the meaning of the word "Gospel" and determine whether we have truly believed in the saving Gospel.  The Greek word for Gospel means "Good News". When we ask ourselves the question, "Which Gospel have I believed in?", we must ask ourselves what we consider to  be Good News. The following items are false "good news" that the people of the world consider to be their saving gospel: 

1. the lusts of the eyes: desires for material possessions and earthly beauty

2. the lusts of the flesh: emotional, physical, mental satisfaction apart from Christ, sensuality, the "drunkenness of the heart and body" with the temporary things of the world

3. the boasting of what one has or does: wealth, honor, fame, respect, the satisfaction of our self righteousness

     Though we have called ourselves as disciples of Christ, could it be that we are deceived into thinking that we have believed in the true Gospel, when indeed the motives and desires of our hearts worship the spirit of the antichrist through our secret belief in these false gospels? Some of these false gospels can take a religious form.  These are forms of godliness that deny the power over sin granted to us through the sanctifying work of Christ. For example, is our desire to  call ourselves believers stemmed from desires to feel that we are righteous, to follow the traditions of our past, to satisfy someone else, to enjoy the 

"niceness" of the other Christians, or to be admired or regarded by other Christians... There are many desires that we may have that may accompany our claim to faith. And we can become easily deceived into thinking that our souls are safe, when the truth is that our hearts have never been weaned off of the world. This is why the Scriptures tell us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12), that we have come to share in Christ IF we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first (Heb 3:14), and that we are saved by the Gospel if we hold fast to the Word that was preached to us (I Cor 15:2). 

      Christ's parable of the sower (Mark 4) shows us the outcome of those among us who had not held fast to the true saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. When persecutions come, these false believes cannot hold firmly to their faith. For they had worshiped their own health, earthly comfort, and earthly relationships more than Christ. When trials and troubles come, they cease to praise and thank God, and no longer find delight in following Him. These people had perhaps worshiped a false image of the true God. This false god was a god who would give them all of the earthly things that they wanted apart from Christ Himself. When the pleasures of the world, talent, beauty, wealth, fame, sensuality, came their way, their inner heart's delight in these things rather than Christ would cause them to turn away from the faith. Dear beloved, what earthly persecution would be so great that you would deny Him at the threat of it? What earthly pleasure would be so great that you would deny Him if it were promised to you? Day after day, so many professing believers fall prey to the enemy, to the spirit of the antichrist who works ambitiously against the work of God and the advancement of His Kingdom. Do you believe in the true God of the Bible or in your false idea of God? Does the God that you believe in hate sin? Is He working to refine and discipline you to make you more like Christ? Is your God allowing you to be persecuted so that your faith will come forth as pure gold? Many have believed in a false god who delivers "love", happiness, and earthly comfort, and who tolerates sin, and does nothing to purge the wickedness that remains in the character of His children. Is this your God? Then perhaps you are an illegitimate child (Heb 12). 

     The True Gospel is this: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God Himself, has been sent into the world by His Father as a sinless man. Jesus, the Word, has come to the world in the flesh. He has been tempted in every way as we are and yet He did not sin. He submitted to His Father in everything. He came not to do His own will, but the will of His Father. On the cross, all of our past, present, and future sin was placed on Him, the sinless Lamb of God. He became sin for our sake. On the cross, the Father showed His Son the anger that ought to have been shown to us because of our rebellion and hatred against God. For we had been conceived into a zealous hatred and rebellion against God. All of our inclinations had been only evil all the time until the Spirit chose to grant us faith. Jesus drank the cup of God's wrath that should justly have been given to us. Because Jesus is in very nature God, He is the Resurrection and the Life, and death could have no hold on Him. He rose to life on the third day and is now seated at the right Hand of God. All of the people whom the Father has chosen are granted faith as a gift through the Spirit. These people are granted the Spirit of God to live inside of them as a Teacher, Counselor, and One who convicts. 

     Someone who has truly been born again has undergone a baptism of the Spirit, a new birth, a regeneration...an inner change of the desires of the heart by the Spirit. A new heart is given to them which is capable of loving, worshiping, and obeying God. A new hatred towards the sinful deeds of the old self is implanted into this new Christian. The sinful things that he once loved, he now hates. He no longer lives to please Himself and to reach a certain earthly status that he had striven for before. He now lives as a slave to Christ. Though he may temporarily fall into sin and still contain some weaknesses of the flesh, the Trinity works to sanctify, that is, to set apart, this person in holiness. With time, the character of this person is refined and his hatred towards the sin that God hates and his love for the things of God increases. The heart that was once dead to the things of God now comes alive to the things of God. There is a new and growing comprehension of the Father's love and grace. 

     The true believer's life is characterized by ongoing confession and repentance. Outwardly, the life of the Christian may seem tumultuous and troublesome, but inwardly these people are renewed by the Spirit and their faith is refined. 

     Dear beloved, there is something we must understand: if we have not believed the true Gospel, we do not have the Spirit of Christ. And if we do not have the Spirit of Christ, we do not belong to Christ (Rom 8:9). If we do not have the Spirit, we lack the discernment that allows us to understand the Word of God. We lack the understanding to discern a false gospel or a false prophet when they come our way. And there are many false gospel and prophets that are coming at us full force. If we did not believe the true Gospel, the false prophet will speak to us according to the desires of our sinful hearts, and we would certainly give into him. Often people are not so much victims of the false prophet as partners with him in heart. For their following of the teaching of these false prophets is in accordance with the desires of their heart. They follow the preachers of the false gospels because their hearts had already desired the earthly prosperity that he promises them through his false Gospel.

      Only when a person has been born again through the Spirit so that he has tasted forgiveness and grace, and beheld the love of the Father through the Son by the Spirit, is he able to discern the falsehood of a false teaching. There is a necessary daily abiding in the Word and in prayer through the Spirit that enables a person to remain firm in the belief of the True Gospel. If we have not tasted the true Gospel, we will fall sway to any voices of the spirit of the antichrist through false prophets, secular media, demonic oppression... 

DEAR SAINTS, THE FALSE PROPHETS ARE COMING WITH THEIR FALSE GOSPELS of EARTHLY PROSPERITY AND SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS, and IF WE HAVE NOT BEEN ANOINTED BY THE SPIRIT AND ARE NOT ABIDING IN HIS WORD, IF WE HAVE NOT BELIEVED IN THE SAVING GOSPEL, OR IF WE WORSHIPED A FALSE VERSION OF THE TRUE GOD, WE WILL SURELY BE DECEIVED VERY SOON. 

But He will keep His own for eternal Life.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God:every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.⁴ You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. I John 4

     If we have understood and believed in the true Gospel, we know that the Spirit lives in us. He is our seal and deposit guaranteeing that we are God's children and are granted eternal Life through Christ. If we watch, pray, and read the Word daily in the Spirit, we will discern the attacks of the spirit of the anti-Christ. But if we neglect the Word and our PERSONAL relationship with Christ, we will not be able to stand in the day of evil. We are in the days of wickedness: the last hour that I John 4 describes.

     Now let us think back to the unity of the believers. Unity between us as His children is only possible when we partake of the Body of Christ together. 

¹⁶ Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?¹⁷ Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. I Cor 10

     Only when we have been justified through the Spirit's granting of faith in the true Gospel will we be able to have true unity and fellowship with the believers. Nothing else will unify us except having Christ as our common Lord, God, Savior, and satisfier of our souls. His goodness alone must satisfy us. The eloquence and Godliness of our leaders does not unify us apart from Christ. Christ Himself is our Teacher and Shepherd and He alone unified His people as they drink of the New Covenant of His blood poured out for them and eat of His Body broken for them. No individual person is to be adored or emphasized. There are many men and women who are used mightily by Him in the furtherance of His work in the hearts of His people, but they are never to be idolized or focused on. Christ alone must be exalted in our hearts. Only then we will be able to fellowship with one another. We ought to fear Him and throw off our idolatry or disdain of men.  God rather than any human should be praised, exalted, preached, and discussed in our midst. 

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, ³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Eph 4

     As we begin this letter series on unity, let us examine 7 truths about our unity presented in the Scriptures.

1. In our unity, we are set apart with Christ and apart from the world by His Truth [the Word of God, the Gospel].

¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.John 17

2. The definition of unity is comprised of the following:

- The glory that the Father has given to Christ is given to us so that we are one just as the Father and Son are one (John 17:22)

- Christ is in us and the Father is in Christ so that we are perfected in our unity (John 17:23)

3. A main purpose for our unification is so that the world may know that the Father has sent Christ and has loved us just as He has loved His Son.

²² The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. John 17

4. Christ's intention is for us to be where He is and to see His glory that the Father had given Him because of the Father's love for the Son from before the foundation of the world.
²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.John 17

5. We are unified as His own because we are convinced that the Father has sent the Son.

²⁵ “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; John 17

6. Christ has made the Father's Name known to us and will continue to make It known so that the love with which the Father loved the Son will be in us and so that Christ Himself will be in us. 
²⁶ and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”John 17

7. The unity between believers as partakers and heirs of the promise in Christ through the Gospel, specifically between the Jews and Gentiles, was not made known until the time of Christ and afterwards when this mystery was revealed to the apostles and prophets in the Spirit. 

⁴ By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; ⁶ to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, ⁷ of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. Eph 3

THE CRUX OF THE HOLY CHOICE

THE CRUX OF THE HOLY CHOICE

(Sequel to “Notes to Self on the Secret Sins of the Flesh”)

1.     Dormant Roots of Evil

Each of us has seen myriads of weaknesses and sins of the flesh that have dwelt in us prior to this moment. As we acknowledge the journey of our conscience, we realize that over time, not only did our awareness and sensitivity to evil increase as we were further conformed to His Image, but we have experienced instances where sins that remained hidden within us were drawn out by some new circumstances or temptations. We perhaps were unaware of our capability and propensity to fall in these areas because the roots of these new-found evils had lain dormant within ourselves. There are at the present time, countless hidden evils that must be yet purged from our being with the roots. In His forbearance He allows us to fellowship with Him and now, in His grace, the Spirit is working on our behalf as the Son intercedes before the Father on the basis of His own blood. The work of the Spirit in the saint is the crux of his/her holy choice. The heavenly Father will utilize such discipline as He deems best at His chosen times to so tenderly make known to us the extent of our frailty and to reveal yet another movement of His righteous right Hand to ultimately deliver us, restore us, and make us strong, firm, and steadfast, unmovable, and holding firmly to the hope which we profess.

²¹ Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. James 1

2.     Temptations which Necessitate the Seeking of Him

We were all, and still are in many respects, nominal in our experiences of the glory of Christ. This shallowness of our Spiritual depth could be explained by our failure to zealously pursue Him in prayer, our harboring of secret sins of the flesh which hamper with the holiness that precedes seeing God’s glory, or even the lack of knowledge in, our dull heart towards, or the absence of the moment-by-moment retention of the Word of God. For many, perhaps all, of us, if our lives consisted of no trials, no temptations, and no testings, and we remained in a state of Spiritual stagnancy amidst our apparent earthly prosperity, we would not know Jesus Christ in His fullness, we would not share in the fellowship of His sufferings becoming like Him in His death and thus attaining to the resurrection from the dead, and perhaps we would even be unable to stand firm in our faith until the end unto salvation. Thus, it remains likely that our Father utilizes the secret sins of the flesh to firmly urge us to pursue Him. For in the midst of the addictive and compulsive nature of such sins, we find ourselves unable to achieve any victory or success at all. And the thought of leaving behind some of these sins is appalling because we feel that we would not be able to survive physically or emotionally without them. But because we have known His Word and we have seen glimpses of His glory through the Gospel, we know that He must and surely is able to save us from these sins. We also know that the satisfaction, joy, peace, and ecstasy of His love would far surpass the deception of the pleasures of these sins if we were to behold them. Thus, the true sheep, when faced with enslaving patterns, are, in a sense, coerced into seeking their God with all their heart. For they know that if they do not find God, they will not be able to achieve victory over the flesh, and if they do not seek God, they will be unable to find Him. The sins of the flesh have resulted in some of the most intense passionate seeking of God in prayer and in His Word ever experienced among mankind. And a sobering thought is that perhaps without these sins of the flesh, the saints would not be inclined to seek Him, unless the Spirit so chose to move by another means. Thus, we may use the hopeless conditions of the sins of the flesh as opportunities to pursue God wholeheartedly in the way that He deserves and commands us: with all of our heart. His promise is that if we seek Him with all of our heart, He will be found by us!

¹⁷ Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
¹⁸ Their soul abhorred all kinds of food,
And they drew near to the gates of death.
¹⁹ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
²⁰ He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.
²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving kindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
²² Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And tell of His works with joyful singing. Ps 107

3.     The Refining Effect of Finding Him

     An endearing aspect of the nature of God towards His children is that without the Spirit dwelling in us, we would be utterly incapable of repentance. The fact that we have ever truly been able to repent prior to this day indicates the presence of the Spirit within us. He is our deposit and seal guaranteeing what is to come. There is a splendid effect of receiving victory over even one secret sin of the flesh. For in order to have achieved that victory, we will have tasted deeply of the grace and goodness of our God. We will have experienced His glory and felt His unconditional love. We will have eaten of His Body, the Word of God, and we will have drunk of the New Covenant in His blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins and of the Living Water, which leaves the consumer never thirsty again. As the apostle Paul states, “He who suffer in the flesh is done with sin”. The complete restoration of the saint from sins of the flesh, regardless of the hideous nature of such sins, will result in the use of this saint as a profound tool in the Kingdom, a great bearer of the Image of Christ, and a jar of clay that reveals the excellence of the true Light. The faith of such saints, though it has been tested by fire, will be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of the salvation of the soul.

⁶  In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, ⁷ so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;⁸ and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. I Peter 1

4.     Iron Sharpening Iron

     There is a way in which our laboring on behalf of the progress of each other in our struggles against the secret sins of the flesh and our continuing in the faith will refine our own souls. For it is often the case, that as we stay by the side of another who achieves victory over the flesh, the glory of God that is revealed to that person is revealed to us. And as we behold the breaking of the curse of sin on our friend’s flesh, that same curse is broken from our flesh in the process. Think about the concept of dormant sin that we have discussed in item 1. If, for example, a friend came and asked us to help them through his/her struggle with a certain sin that was apparent to him/her but that dwelt dormant within us, it is very likely that in the process of exhorting that friend, we became aware of the hidden roots of the same evil within our own flesh. And thus, the Father trains His children together with Christ as the Firstborn elder Brother. There is a sense in which by laboring for the victory of the sins of the flesh in our Spiritual family, we are laboring for our own souls. We remember that Jesus prayed to the Father that all of His disciples would together see His glory (John 17). Our self expenditure in laboring with one another is not so selfless, for the Father has so chosen to work in all of us by the same Spirit, and to purge each of us in His due time. The Scriptures are clear that such sharpening friendships are vital for avoiding having our hearts hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens another. Prov 27:17

5.     Excellent Quotes

"To go to God for happiness is to confess that without him we are frustrated, depressed, joyless creatures."

-        John Piper

“They, who are once effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them; the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified,  and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”

-         Westminster Confession of Faith READ HERE, Chapter XIII, Clause v

Me: Dad, do you think that we should confess all of our sins publically? (8/28)

Dad: I talked to my friend and he said that we ought to confess our sins to the offended party: always God and sometimes another person. (8/29)

“2 Corinthians 4:1-12 goes well with what you were writing yesterday”

-         Mom (8/29)