One of the things I have made sure to always emphasize in every teaching under this ministry is the importance of acknowledging the finished work of Christ when it comes to believers appropriating any promises of God. In, Paul assures us that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God because there is no blood present in the realm of eternity as Christ shed it once and for all. This was done as a means of atonement that every man who believes in Him may be reconciled to God. That is why in the same verse, Paul says the corruptible, cannot inherit, mingle or be paired up with the incorruptible.
In the resurrected Christ appears to His disciples and tells them ‘Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. Jesus says ‘a spirit has no flesh and bones’ not flesh and blood. Everything that has blood is susceptible to decay. That is why the glorified Christ, through resurrection, appears in this form that has no form of decay to it and our assurance is that as He is, so are we With this understanding, I want to stir your mind towards an exercise of examining true worship that is in spirit and in truth from every other counterfeit that claims Christianity as a name but is not entirely backed by the evidence of truth.
For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God. AMPC
Everything that God has ever promised to a believer is anchored in the person of Jesus Christ. He being the physical representation that man could see, touch, approach, observe and study as a pattern, is able to relate and convey every Word written in scripture and what was once seen as abstract or impossible, as practical and real. To try and receive any of these promises therefore, apart from Jesus who made it possible for us to grasp it while still in the body, is the greatest deception any individual claiming to believe can walk in. That is why it is impossible to become born again, that is acquire this truth that sets free by grace through faith through, and remain in certain religions that preach a different doctrine whether by deeds or words. There are three essential stages one goes through in their journey of faith, just as a child is born and goes through different stages of life until death.
I. Salvation/ Justification – In Him
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
This is the core of what born again individuals believe. Any man that confesses these words from a belief primarily formed in his heart about what they are speaking, they are saved and this salvation is eternal. In this salvation, they are declared as the righteousness of God through Christ, and they are justified by this very reason. Anything they do after this confession is atoned for by the Christ they have confessed and the Holy Spirit, which is like a stamp or signature of this promise by God works progressively to transform this individual from here on.
II. Sanctification – In Him
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Once you are saved and justified, a work of the spirit imputed to you by welcoming Jesus Christ as your savior begins to take place in you. You begin to experience a very distinctive tug in your heart which cannot be fully expressed with mere language. This typically happens especially when you engage in practices or decisions that this new nature you have acquired is against. That is what we call conviction. You experience a deliberate and progressive discovery of unrepentant detachment towards the things which once appealed to you while you were still blinded by the pleasures of the world to the body therefore experiencing freedom and sanctification.
John tells us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free meaning that as you open yourself up to the Words spoken to you in scripture, your soul begins to distance itself from the body and gets closer to the spirit. Remember this spirit is perfect, it advocates, it brings to remembrance, it counsels and most importantly it teaches. As it conducts its responsibilities, the soul begins to realize why certain things felt so complicated, why others seemed fun and interesting but left such a void as soon as you pursued them, why strife and struggle had become so normal. Unbeknownst to it, it’s being set free and the body begins to produce results that undeniably prove the transformation that is occurring on the inside, thanks to the new government of the mind and soul at work – that of Christ.
In we are encouraged to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, implying our responsibility to keep a willing and deliberate attitude of nurturing this new sense, until you are so consumed by it and so sensitive to it that it inevitably becomes part of your nature. This is when Paul exhorts us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. This in simpler terms calls us to understand how precious this gift given to us freely is and the importance to detest everything that speaks contrary things to what it leads and teaches us into. On top of that, he adds that it is God who causes us both to will and to do these good things which please Him. This removes the burden of seeking for ways of our own which is practically impossible. You cannot seek ways to please an indefinite, omnipotent and omnipresent God in a mind that thinks definitely and is limited by circumstances. In His infinite grace, He knew this, He saw it and chose to do it for us if we yield to His Spirit in us that knows Him fully.
III. Glorification – In Him
that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Glorification is the stage through which God will remove sin from the life of the saints that we may be spotless without any blemish or any need to confess or repent as we will be perfect like our Master Jesus Christ. And this is essentially what our journey of faith aims at: enduring, believing and trusting to the end is what counts as running with patience, the race set before us Finally, in Paul looks at the conditions of his life for having understood this choice and wholly giving himself to it, and says in exuberance ‘this momentary affliction is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us’. We cannot work for salvation. We cannot achieve sanctification with our own efforts and neither can we be glorified by our own works. God who starts this good work also brings it to completion exactly as He promised. The glory, honor and splendor we behold in Christ, will also be revealed in us. It is not a far-fetched and abstract contrast, but a reality which every one of us should live consciously of as this day is nearer than when we first believed. [Selah]
If you have never given your life to Jesus Christ, and you feel that this is the perfect time, pray this prayer:
“Lord Jesus, I thank you because you died for my sins and you were raised for my glory. Today, I receive you as my Lord and Savior. I am born again. Amen.”
