Great stuff from brother Sozo....
:first:"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” - Acts 20:24
In Romans 1:16, Paul calls the gospel of this grace the power of God unto salvation. It is by grace that we are saved through faith. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that none of us can boast; that is, none of us can say that we earned it. In Romans 1:17, Paul says that in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. In other words, the gospel reveals to us that God is righteous, and we by grace through faith in Jesus receive AS A GIFT God’s righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own. We are the righteousness of God in Christ, not because of anything that we have done, but solely based on the obedience of Jesus. It is essential that we understand this:
“For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the GIFT of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were MADE sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be MADE righteous.” - Romans 5:17-19
The many MADE righteous are those who obey the gospel of the grace of God. Just as it took one act of disobedience by Adam for all men to be MADE sinners, the one act of obedience, of the once for all sacrifice of Jesus at the cross justifies all men to receive His life. We receive His righteousness, when we receive, by grace through faith, His life, which is salvation.
Contrary to this would be any attempt by man to seek justification or righteousness through obedience to the Law, that is, through his own works. To do such a thing is to reject God’s grace, and therefore - salvation (His life).
“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” - Rom 11:6
“You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Galatians 5:4
This is why it is absolutely essential that we not only understand but also proclaim the same gospel of the grace of God as Paul received from Jesus. It is the only gospel by which anyone can be saved (receive His life).
God promised the Holy Spirit to those who obey the gospel. This is indisputable. In order to be saved, you must have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, and it is the Holy Spirit that gives us life – His life. Salvation is having the very life of God dwelling in you.
Let’s make sure these truths are solidified in your heart and mind:
"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise" - Eph 1:13
"By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." - 1 John 4:13
"It is the Spirit who gives life " - John 6:63
"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus" - 2 Timothy 1:1
“The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” - 1 Corinthians 15:45
In John 10:10 Jesus tells us that He came to give us life. John tells us that “He who has the Son has the life” (1 John 5:12)
The promises of God were inherited by us when we received His life. Paul tells us that we have received EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3). We are complete in Him (Col 2:10), and not lacking any gift (1 Cor 1:7), having been given EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness (1 Pet 1:3). We are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21), sanctified (Heb 2:11;10:14), blameless (1 Cor 1:8), holy (Col 1:22), and made perfect forever (Heb 10:14), because we have received His life, having been crucified, buried and raised to new life (Rom 6) seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph 2:6). It is in Him that we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:14). We have these promises from God because we are in Him, and we have His life, the result of having His Spirit dwelling in us. As He is, so also are we in this world (1 Jn 4:17), which confirms all that is mentioned above.
To deny that we are something other than what God has made us is to call Him a liar, and His death and resurrection a sham. We cannot take away from or add to the promises of God that we have in Christ.
Paul makes it quite clear, in his letter to the Galatians, that it is not only preaching another gospel when we add Law and works in order to be saved, but also when they are added to the lives of those who have already been saved -
“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” - Gal 3:3
As we have already seen, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, etc. If you have His Spirit dwelling in you, you already have everything that God has promised regarding our eternal life and identity in Him. The promises related to the redemption of our bodies are yet to be realized. However, they are as equally assured as those promises that we have in the spirit.
Paul makes those assurances, in which we hope, well known:
“For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” Rom 8:22-23
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven; inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight)-- we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." 2 Cor 4:16 - 5:8
We have a promise, and an assurance from God, that we will be set free from these bodies that are corrupted and decaying. We will receive a new body that is eternal, incorruptible and immortal. This is our hope, even though we do not see it now. This is why we walk by faith, which is the assurance of the things we hope for, those things which we do not see now.
All of this leads us to a truth that we as His children must address, because there is so much misinterpretation and misinformation dividing the body of believers.
If we, who have God’s righteousness, pursue righteousness, then we are either proclaiming that the righteousness of God is not enough, or we are denying that we have ever received it, which is unbelief, and as Paul says, a fall from grace. The promises of God are sure. They are a reality in the lives of every believer. There is nothing we can do or should attempt to do to acquire them; otherwise we are adding our works to the finished work of God. You cannot add to grace or mix it with the Law. When you do, you destroy them both.
A dead work is not only doing something to get something that you can never get by works, but it is also doing something to get something you have already received. God has given to us that which we could never have through our own self-effort. It would be an insult, not to mention “unbelief”, to work for something that God gives freely. And if you’ve already received it, what can you gain by asking for it. Would you ask God to make you righteous, if you have been made the righteousness of God? Would you ask Him to give you the Holy Spirit, if He is already dwelling in you? This is also true of forgiveness. In Him, we ARE forgiven. You have been cleansed of ALL unrighteousness. You have what God has promised. Again, just because you do not see something, does not mean that it is not there.
Looking at Romans 7, Paul gives us his testimony on how the Law led him to Christ. In verse 14 Paul gives us a picture of a man “of flesh, sold into bondage to sin”. The struggle that Paul has is that the Law (which is spiritual) has revealed the sin which dwells in his flesh. He wants to obey the Law, but he cannot. He practices the very evil he does not want to practice (vs 19). There is nothing good dwelling in the flesh (vs 18), and the Law makes it impossible for anyone to do what they want to do. Anyone who is living under the Law will find themselves in a no-win situation. They can only come to the conclusion that they are in a wretched state of death, in which they need to be set free (vs 24). Jesus Christ sets us free from this death. There is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom 8:1). Why is that? Is it because there is no longer sin dwelling in your flesh when you come to Christ? No, it is still there, but we have been set free from sin and from the power of sin (the Law), because our true identity, our “being”, is no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit. The law of the spirit of life, has set us free from the law of sin and of death. Our experience is not that we have stopped sinning, but that we no longer belong to sin, but to Christ. Our body is still dead because of sin, but our spirit is alive because of righteousness. In Colossians 2:11 Paul explains that we have been circumcised from the flesh. Our old man, our old being has been crucified with Christ and we are a new creation in Christ. We do not see the reality of what is true in our bodies, and we never will until our bodies have been redeemed.
We must not focus on trying to make what is real in the Spirit, real in the flesh. That is impossible. The flesh and the Spirit are contrary to one another, and you cannot do what you please (Gal 5:17). It is the greatest error in the church when we not only expect of ourselves, but of others, to bring perfection to the flesh, having already been made perfect forever by the Spirit (Heb 10:14). God has seated us in Christ, in the heavens (Eph 2:6). We are to live in Him, not in the flesh. The mind set on the flesh is death (Rom 8:6).
We have been set free from the flesh, and our mind is to be set on the things above, where Christ is seated, and not on the things of this earth (Col 3:1-2).
When we tell people that they are to expect to see the same righteousness manifested in their flesh that is a reality in the Spirit, we have been, as Paul says, “bewitched”. In other words, we have been manipulated into accepting and proclaiming a false gospel. We are deceiving ourselves, and deceiving others. God has made no such promise that our flesh will meet the righteous demands of the Law. Any expectation to see a physical manifestation of righteousness in your flesh can only produce frustration, discouragement, and condemnation. It will also produce boasting, envy, judging, and challenging others. Rest and peace will never find their way into your heart and mind. There is no way you can expect these kinds of results without first setting your mind on the flesh, and the mind set on the flesh is death (Rom 8:6).
Today, we have millions of people in churches all over the world who have been taught, and have come to believe, that God has promised physical healing and prosperity as included in our salvation. To be logically consistent if we are believe that we are the righteousness of God in Christ as a gift, then to ask or work for righteousness is a fall from grace. The same would be true if physical healing is a gift. It would be a fall from grace to ask for it, work for it, or do anything that would bring about physical healing. It would be a fall from grace to go to the doctor, exercise, take an aspirin, use a band-aid, eat healthy foods, brush your teeth, or wear glasses. The same holds true if we teach that prosperity is a gift that accompanies salvation. It would be a fall from grace and unbelief to have a job, or as a ministry to accept donations or tithes. If you tell people that physical healing is a gift that accompanies salvation, then they would be just as healthy as they are righteous, or the promise is untrue. If they are not healed, then they have no assurance that they are righteous. Our hope is in what we do not see. God has promised us a new body, not one that is free from perishing or decay. It is a false gospel to teach that physical healing, and/or prosperity, is a promise from God that accompanies salvation. A promise is sure. If there are conditions to receiving a promise, then you are back under the Law, and not under grace.
Is that what you want?
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