Monday, August 19, 2013

Far too many Christians believe that you must sin to show you are in grace. Many believe that living a holy lifestyle is a self-righteous form of works. Neither is fully true.

Many of the CURRENT Spiritual Remnant of God realizes their hearts are dying from lack of obedience because their love and devotion is so deep ordinary Christianity will not do, only Christ-likeness will do. Therefore, they suffer inwardly to show they are not self-righteous, they struggle between man and God convinced to be as devoted as their heart feels would mean certain death – rejected by most people including family, friends, peers and even people they believed to be their own brethren.

1 Chronicles 22:13 (NKJV)

Then you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the LORD charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good courage; do not fear nor be dismayed.

We today also "prosper" by following God’s principles and truths. Note prosper means much more than mere money and material possession.

Hebrew definition =

"Then shalt though prosper" [AV/KJV]

6743. צָלַח tsâlach, tsaw-lakh’; or

צָלֵחַ tsâlêach, tsaw-lay’-akh; a prim. root; to push forward, in various senses (lit. or fig., tran. or intr.):— break out, come (mightily), go over, be good, be meet, be profitable, (cause to, effect, make to, send) prosper (-ity, -ous, -ously).

Read your Bibles people, if you are going to prosper spiritually and have any significant spiritual impact, “significant” being key – quality over quantity, people over dollars, God’s Will over self-will, God’s Purpose over selfish ambition, God’s Glory over celebrity – you are going to have to be someone who is not afraid to go against the grain, to break the mold, to stand when everyone else runs or just blends into the crowd. Fear of rejection, fear of persecution, fear of ridicule, even simple fear of not fitting in keeps in the door Christians from becoming sold-out Christ-like Remnant people. I would say to all those individuals…

Nehemiah 4:14 (NKJV)

And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

Why would I present this Scripture to all those individuals teetering on their spiritual fences? For one reason. God still fights for His people!

For the Current Spiritual Remnant of God their spiritual, mental, and emotional survival depend upon three factors – regeneration, sanctification, and purification. Their willingness to cooperate with these processes of grace via the Holy Spirit of God is their freewill choice but it is a choice that can greatly effect, and affect, their daily lives.

Sanctification – Purification – Regeneration

I am going to provide a very basic, baseline type of definition for each one. The layers of understanding on each of these aspects of spiritual change are multi-layered and can be very complicated to understand. They appear to be similar in meaning but theologically they are not; that said, most Christian confuse them often.

sanctification = a state of holiness bought through the Cross of Christ which manifest itself inwardly [spiritual realm] at the time of conversion and outwardly [lifestyle/physical realm] as we grow in closeness, obedience, and loyalty to Christ. It is always a work of the Holy Spirit of God through grace. [1 Corinthians 30-31, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15, 1 Peter 1:1-2]

purification = has more to do with being ‘cleaned up’ so to speak after regeneration. A purging of the sin in our lives, the harmful aspect of our lives and/or nature, setting our lives right with God and people, the purging of self-will – all prompted from inward and sincere repentance [godly sorrow] – primarily and ideally from the inside out as Jesus ordered [Mark 7:14-23] through a ‘change of heart’ aka ‘repentance’.

regeneration = complete reformation of the spirit to an ideal state, being spiritual renewed and revived, restored to God’s original intent [spiritually], being born again, the sinful nature is made new and we become open to faith in God, our inward man is renovated/recreated by grace and faith becomes alive, new birth, Messianic restoration only available through Jesus [Titus 3:4-7] – via the presenting of the Word of Truth and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. This is a onetime event.

“When God desires to do “a new thing” (Isa. 43:19 NIV), He purposely seeks out a few righteous renegades who don’t have a problem breaking the mold! Mold-breakers are usually people who don’t care much about popularity or tradition.” – Beth Moore

Jesus was such a renegade and rebel of His time; He refused to bow to religious tradition – He redeemed mankind. Paul was a renegade; He refused to accept that He was less than the rest of the Apostles and Disciples – he wrote the majority of the New Testament and taught us what it means to live for Christ. We live in a time when widespread apostasy is found within the organizations that call themselves Christian; therefore, you too will have to decide either to be one of them or one of the spiritual renegades and spiritual rebels of your day – blend in and go along or truly make a spiritual difference somewhere to someone.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.