Let us now summarize this very important aspect of our own cross and declare the following.
GOD HAD ESTABLISHED ALL HIS PRINCIPLES THAT GOVERN BOTH HIS PHYSICAL CREATION AND ALSO HIS SPIRITUAL CREATION. THE SPIRITUAL CREATION INCLUDES THE SALVATION OF MAN. HIS PRINCIPLES APPLY TO EVERY CREATURE AND NO CREATURE CAN CHANGE THEM OR IGNORE THEM WITHOUT SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES OR EVEN DEATH, PHYSICAL DEATH AND ALSO SPIRITUAL (ETERNAL) DEATH.
Let us consider one such clear example, which is found in Gal. 6:7b,8:
“…for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life Everlasting.”
This Word applies to both physical as well as spiritual sowing and reaping. Furthermore, what we sow, we shall reap later, sometimes much later (when we might have already forgotten what we sowed), and we shall reap 30 or 60 or 100 fold more than we had sown. (Mt. 13:8) It does not need any discussion to see that no man can change this Principle of God or negotiate with God about his upcoming harvest. The question rather is: Do we see and realize what we are sowing? NO! We keep sowing something every day of our life. And another question is: Can we later refuse to reap what we had sown? Ponder these two questions.
Let us now SEE that if we don’t do the above nine examples, we sow to our flesh! If we do them, even press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14), we sow to the Spirit! If we sow to the flesh, we cannot reap the Life Everlasting. If we cannot reap the Life Everlasting, but corruption where shall we end up? The End Purpose of our Salvation is LIFE EVERLASTING, NOT CORRUPTION. True?
Do we now SEE the true importance of our cross which is the only place: where we can “work out our own Salvation”; where we can “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit”; where we can “put off our old man, renew the spirit of our mind and put on our new man”; where we can “crucify our flesh with the affections and lusts”? Do we see the depth of deception to which we have been exposed by Satan – the liar and murderer – and its true purpose? Do we see Satan and his foxy and devilish tactics to get us back? Do we truly SEE it? NO! But is God responsible for our blindness?
Adam was the possession of God, he was spiritual in all his being, holy and sinless and had a living fellowship with God when Satan through his tactics and deception got him under his dominance and possession… and us in him! Why then would you think it impossible that Satan could repeat that feat again today with us, who are the “new” possession of God? And while in our souls we are yet unholy and sinful? We are “back to God” and Satan is “back to his deceptive tactics” and we are foolish enough to fall to the same pit again! Why? Because we are PROUD and therefore BLIND and we do like to stay that way. Why would the Lord warn us to fear Satan, just to scare us without any valid reason? (Mt. 10:28// 1Pet. 5:8) The Lord is not talking to pagans. The roaring lion is not walking about pagans, whom he has already devoured. He is walking about born-again baptized believers, whom he has lost! Or so it seems. Do we SEE this fact of our Christian life? I sincerely doubt!
Yes, we can cast all our care upon God for He cares for us (1Pet. 5:7), but we may not care for Him and His Word! We expect God to do for us verse 7, while we do not do verses 5 and 6! The younger are not submitted to the elder, we are not subjected to one another, we are not clothed with humility, we do not humble ourselves under His mighty hand; so, remaining proud, stubborn, self-righteous and disobedient to His Word, God resists us and gives Grace and care unto the humble. (1Pet. 5:5) If our part of the Covenant is not done, how do we expect God to do His part? Do we SEE this? NO! Do we care to do our part of the Covenant? NO! Shall we change our old ways? We must.
No believer should ever hope for or expect God to come down and take all his decisions and choices for him and give him all the right desires and right thoughts and right plans while the believer does nothing. So, God will not fulfill such imaginations or wishes of ours, if we do not fulfill our part in His Word! But, He will guide us into the right way and also strengthen us. So, it is not first “CHRIST WILL DO ALL THINGS THROUGH ME”, rather, it is first “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST…”! (Phil. 4:13a)
Yes, we should be “anxious for nothing” and should make our requests known unto God… and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6,7) Now, how on earth do we want to do this Word without our cross? Every request that we make in our natural, uncrucified soul is through anxiety because anxiety, like sin, is deeply rooted in the “flesh” and nature of our soul. Our natural soul continually lives in anxiety and fears whether we are aware of it or not; and our unrenewed mind cannot be “stayed on God” and trust God, therefore, God cannot keep it in any peace. (Is. 26:3) Do we, again, SEE that without destroying our anxiety and fears on our cross, we cannot hope to do this Word of God and achieve His peace?
These are just two simple examples showing how easily we can misunderstand and misapply the Word of God and ignore His Covenant with us! And then some believers might even claim that the Word does not work. It does, we don’t work.
We can summarize that in our natural soul we cannot do any part of the Word of God and expect God to do His part while we do not do our part. His Covenant with us has two parties to it and our part has not been obliterated by God… but it was by Satan, the Deceiver, and that, directly or through his servants in the Church.
I believe that you do not have to be William Shakespeare in order to read and understand the King James Bible. Its English is clear even to our physical eyes. If God says that “YOU put on your new man”, then, clearly YOU HAVE A TASK TO DO and cannot afford to ignore it; IT IS NOT AN OPTION! If YOU do not put on your new man (life) YOU will remain in your old man (life) and YOU will lose your life! (Mt. 16:25) And YOU will get nowhere near where you hoped to get or planned to get after your death or rapture. Am I speaking to you a mystery or is this complicated? How do you see these simple examples in “seeking the Truth of God”? Is it painful? Yes, it is! Before the Reality becomes sweet, it is always painful!
I am only declaring on these pages the light and vision that I have received from the Lord, and their spiritual meaning. I am writing nothing else and nothing of myself. You do not have to believe me, and I will not try to persuade you about anything. I am writing it because the Lord has called me to write it and to publish it… whether people like it, or not. The Lord gives us His Light and Truth whether it pleases us or disturbs us. If you have any problem with any statement on the pages of this book, please, turn to the Lord, since He should be living in your spirit also; go on your knees and enquire of Him! I have no doubt that He would show you the same Light and Vision, and your heart would begin to understand what it may have never understood before. And your eyes would see what they may have never seen before in your entire Christian life. This is also my personal experience with the Lord.
Until we SEE what God sees, we cannot understand it, because we can never understand what we cannot see. Is that true?
Let me conclude this important issue of SPIRIT and SOUL by saying that we cannot do any of the truths described on the pages above in our OWN power and wisdom, because we have no power and no wisdom for this kind of work. NOTHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CAN BE DONE BY THE NATURAL SOUL OF MAN. Here Our Lord expects from us our WILLINGNESS to do this work through HIS Power and Wisdom. We have to come to Him and ask in faith and cooperate. The Lord has all that we need in order to do it all. However, THE LORD WILL NOT DO IT FOR US WITHOUT US, AUTOMATICALLY without our asking, seeking, knocking, praying, fasting, pressing; without our works of faith, without the decisions and consent of our own free will.
Therefore, IF AFTER OUR REDEMPTION WE DO NOTHING, THE LORD DOES NOTHING… except bringing us to His Word and pointing to us OUR part of the Covenant which we ignore. But the fruit of our self-deception may prove shocking and fatal when we are finally “called home” and will SEE OURSELVES AS GOD SEES US. No dead believer has ever come back to describe to us his/her own experiences or surprises. If you do not believe the living testimonies of true living servants of the Lord, you will not believe, if somebody would come up from the dead and testify to the truth. (Lk. 16:30,31)
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To be continued next week in chapter 4 – part 4
brother Hanola
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