Learning To Know God

Learning the Person, will, ways, and eternal purpose of God requires a lifetime of patient instruction in the school of the Holy Spirit, the school located in the "wilderness" of our progressive journey.

The wilderness wandering of Israel between Egypt and the land of promise was one teaching session after another. The Hebrews learned that God exists, that He is faithful, that He is a provider and healer. The fiery holiness of God's Nature blazed from Mount Sinai. Later the Glory was revealed from within the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle.

The tender compassion of the Lord was discovered in such things as prohibiting boiling a kid in its mother's milk and muzzling an ox that is threshing corn. In addition, Israel learned that God will not put up forever with murmuring and unbelief.

The history of the nation of Israel, from Abraham to the rebuilding of the Temple in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, constitutes a series of examples to us so we may understand the Person, the will, the ways, and the purpose of God.

We too, as Christians, wander in our own wilderness. Day after day. Month after month. Year after year. Will we ever attain the goal?

In our pilgrimage we learn that God exists and that He is dependable. The tender mercies of the Lord are revealed to us as well as His eternal wrath against sin. The Christian experience is a prolonged schooling in the things of Christ. We can choose to be quick, eager students or we can be slow to learn and dull of hearing. The Lord is pleased when we accept His instruction and do not have to be taught the same lesson over and over again, as did the wandering children of Israel.

The various elements of the grace of God are closely related and work together with the incidents and problems of life through which the Holy Spirit brings us. None of these Divine lessons can be directed or empowered by the wisdom or strength of human beings. They are the responsibility of the Holy Spirit as He prepares the Bride of the Lamb for spiritual union with the Bridegroom.

Holiness: the result of the school of the Spirit. The end result of instruction in the school of the Holy Spirit is the shunning of what is sinful and the fervent embracing of what is pleasing to the Lord. We learn to love righteousness and to hate sin and rebellion.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Thessalonians 5:23)

It is the will of God in Christ that His people be not only saved from Divine wrath but also sanctified. Sanctification is the setting apart of the members of the Body of Christ to God until they act, speak, think, imagine, pray, and worship in a truly righteous and holy manner—a manner pleasing to the Father in Heaven. Sanctification includes complete separation from the ungodly thinking and acting that characterize the world, our fleshly nature, and the devil, and complete union with God through Christ.

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust] of concupiscence (sexual desire), even as the Gentiles which know not God: (I Thessalonians 4:3-5)

The first issue of sanctification, in the New Testament writings, is purification from adultery and fornication and related behaviors. The sin of past and present civilizations is that of sexual impurity. Part of the redemption that is in Christ has to do with destroying from the Christian the guilt, tendencies, and effect of all forms of the sins of the flesh—particularly the sins of lustful passion.

An example of the New Testament admonitions concerning the deeds of the body is as follows:

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. (II Corinthians 6:17)

It is not possible for us to abide in Christ and at the same time to behave according to the lusts of our flesh. When we begin our discipleship we are chained by many unclean desires. During this period the blood of the new covenant cleanses us from our transgressions. As we walk in the Spirit of God we learn to put away the sins of our flesh. Until we lay hold on the grace of God to the point of putting away the sins of the body the Lord will not "receive" us to the degree mentioned in the above Scripture.

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (II Corinthians 6:18)

Our status as sons and daughters of God is related directly to our sanctification. God saves us from wrath by the virtue that is in the blood of His beloved Son and gives us access to His throne in prayer. God receives us as we learn to put away sin. The children of God are holy as He is holy. It is impossible for God to receive us and have fellowship with us unless we are leading morally clean lives.

God's judgment passes over us as long as we are under the blood of the Lamb. Also we have direct access to God's throne through the blood of Christ, there to make our needs and desires known. But our actual fellowship with God grows as we begin to think and act in a holy manner. The degree of fellowship we have with Him is related directly to the degree of holiness in which we are living.

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1)

The "promises" are that we will be the Temple of God and that God will receive us and be a Father to us. The extent to which we attain the promises depends on the degree to which we cleanse ourselves from "all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" and develop "holiness in the fear of God."

The fear of God is healthy and clean and has to do with our recognition of the fact that God cannot accept filthiness of the flesh or spirit. God's wrath always is directed against sin. He cleanses us with the blood of Christ as long as we are following Christ diligently. If we—Christian or not—begin to live in sin and disobedience we need to fear Him who will burn up the works of this age with eternal fire.

We cleanse ourselves by the blood of the Lamb. We cleanse ourselves by confessing our sins to Christ and turning away from them. We draw near to God and submit to Him and resist the devil. The Holy Spirit leads us to the awareness of our personal sins, which are many; then we, by the wisdom and power that the Holy Spirit provides, cease from our sinning.

We are to cleanse ourselves from "all filthiness." We are not debtors to our flesh that we must live in its inflamed appetites. The spirit of the age in which we live is so wicked, so filthy, so perverse, that many Christians have given up the battle, saying, "Everyone is doing it (sin)"; or, "We can't be perfect in this world"; or, "We're saved by grace" (meaning it doesn't really matter whether or not we sin because Christ continues to forgive us anyway).

The Word of God cannot be changed in this manner. If we do not follow the Lord Jesus in the pursuit of holiness of life and thought we are sowing to the flesh and shall reap corruption.

If we believe that Christians are obligated or compelled to sin while they are in world we are ignorant of the authority of the cross and the power of the resurrection and are unbelieving concerning the Word of God.

If we suppose that Christ cannot break the bondages of sin in our personality, then we do not know the scope of the plan of redemption. If we are under the impression that the work of grace is limited to forgiving and excusing a behavior pattern that continues in the chains of darkness, groveling in the slavery in which Satan drives his subjects, then we do not understand the role of Christ as Redeemer.

We simply do not understand the new covenant!

If you have not been aware of the delivering authority and power of Christ we bring to you the good news that Satan's authority over you was demolished on the cross of Calvary and you now are free to choose to be a servant of righteousness. Through Christ you can cease from the horrid practices that are destroying everything of value in your life.

The Lord Jesus Christ has set you free. Now it is up to you to assert that freedom by living in victorious faith.

The Holy Spirit will lead you and help you in every needful manner. Every provision has been made for your complete release from sin and disobedience. No Christian can be compelled by the spirit of the world, by his flesh, or by Satan to sin against God.

If you are walking in lust, confess your lust to Christ and change your behavior. If you are stealing, confess your sin to Christ and stop stealing. If you are lying, confess your sin to Christ and stop lying.

If you are boasting, confess your sin to Christ and stop boasting. If you are practicing any form of spiritism, such as fortune telling, astrology, or any other occult practice, stop it. Confess your sin to Christ, ask Him to cleanse you, and He will lift its power from you and guide you into complete deliverance. Christ is our Redeemer.

The unholy, sinful character of your life is nothing more nor less than a group of sinful practices. The unsaved person has a sin nature, an inherited guilt and compulsion, that compels him to sin. He still is under the authority of Satan.

If you have received Christ as your Savior and Lord you no longer are under the authority of Satan. If you understand that a certain behavior is sinful, and you still are practicing it, it is because you are choosing to do so. Either you are ignorant concerning the provisions of the new covenant or you are leading a careless Christian discipleship. The new covenant differs from the old in that the old was limited to forgiveness. The new includes deliverance from the guilt and power of sin. The new covenant is an eternal judgment against sin, the beginning of the permanent removal of sin from the creation of God.

Sometimes a Christian is bound by the devil to the extent that he must seek the assistance in prayer of the elders of the church.

If any person advises you that you are obligated to sin while you are in the flesh or in the world, ask him for the verse in the New Testament that states that the Christian must sin while he is in the world. The Good News of the Kingdom of God is that we have the authority and power through Christ to put off our sinful ways and to put on the new man. Paul commands us to awake to righteousness and cease from our sinning.

We understand that we are simplifying a complex problem. There are saints of pure intention in the Lord who are tempted severely to sin, who long for release, who have confessed to Christ but who must battle constantly against the lusts of flesh and the mind. This is so frustrating and discouraging. It is true also that some Christians are healed instantly of sickness while others wait in faith before the Lord year after year. Not all our prayers receive immediate answers.

The first point that needs to be clear to us is that it is the will of Christ that we be delivered from all sin and rebellion against God. A delayed answer to prayer is not an indication that it is not God's will that we be holy. Never, never, never change your mind about that. The Word of God remains true. Christ came to set us free from sin.

The second point to keep in mind is that we are in a battle. Issues are contested in the spirit realm. We are not always aware of all that is being wrought in the wisdom of God. If there were no kingdom of darkness, if we did not have six thousand years of sin behind us and were not born in sin and rebellion against God, then we would not be engaged in such a fiercely contested struggle. Also, we must remember that God works out many things in our lives, during the trial of our faith, that are not immediately evident to us. Our battle against sin is producing a ruling personality in us. Our destiny is to sit as kings and judges over all the works of God’s hands.

The Lord Jesus will deliver us from all the works of the adversary if we do not surrender and compromise. Let us press forward in faith in God's Word. Our answer will come in its fullness if we do not draw back in fear and unbelief.

When seeking deliverance from sinful practices of deed, word or thought, be sure you name the sin to the Lord. Do not talk all around the issue. Name what you are doing: lust, lying, hatred, unforgiveness, malice, envy, jealousy, criticizing, or whatever it may be. You will not receive deliverance until you are honest with God, name the bondage clearly, and are ready to have the Lord remove it from you.

Ask God for the strength to acknowledge that your profanity or lust or gossiping will not be admitted into the Kingdom of God; that it is destined for eternal residence in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.

In some cases it is helpful to join together with a mature Christian of the same sex as yourself, or with your husband or wife, and describe the bondages in your life. Bring your sins out into the light. Ask their prayers for your deliverance.

Sometimes restitution is necessary. You may must ask someone's forgiveness or return an article that you have stolen. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and strength. He will help you make restitution with gladness of heart. The Spirit can do that.

Having done all, stand in the full assurance that God has heard you and will deliver you completely. Never give up. Rest in God's Word and His strength. You cannot overcome spiritual bondages by your own determination or zeal. Allow the power of Christ to deliver you from the hand of the enemy.

If some area of your life is doubtful, hold it before the Lord until He clarifies the part that is of Him and the part that is of the kingdom of darkness. Never let down your guard, although it may require many years before the issue is resolved completely.

We are not suggesting here that the Christian become introspective or burdened and gloomy because of the accusations that Satan is hurling at him continually. We are speaking only of genuine bondages that are revealed in the daily behavior of the disciple, manifesting themselves as continuing hindrances to holiness.

Neither are we indicating that the Christian should reach backward in time and begin to discuss his behavior as an unbeliever. The past is gone. It is under the blood of Calvary. We left it in the waters of baptism. Rather we are to march forward in victory, being without condemnation in the sight of God through the blood of the Lamb.

Today is the day of salvation. We are guiltless because of the blood of Jesus. We are full of the authority of the cross and the power of the resurrection, and of the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit of God. We can overcome all our sinful practices.

The Christian armor covers us in front. The Glory of God is our rear guard. Let us press forward in victory and the Lord Jesus will deliver the enemy into our hands.

As we follow on after Christ there still may be much spiritual darkness in our nature. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from these iniquities provided we are pursuing the Lord Jesus in fervent discipleship.

There is no provision for the spiritually careless, lazy, indifferent church member who is content with a form of godliness but is bearing no fruit of holiness. Such are dead while they live. They are approaching destruction even though they are making a profession of Christ. Christians are known by the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. Let us not be deceived.

The main subject of the writings of the New Testament is holiness of action, speech, and thought. The Book of First John, for example, is a long exhortation to believers to put away sin. Each epistle of Paul contains exhortations to the Christians to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for satisfying the lusts of our body.

The true Christian discipleship is the pursuit of holy union with Christ. The fruit for which God is looking in the Church is that of holiness. By holiness is meant union with God so that we put away all forms of sexual impurity, all covetousness, all strife and murderous anger, all jealousy, all evil speaking, all violence, all filthiness of speech and actions, all sorcery, all sin and rebellion of every kind.

We are called to abide in holy union with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is authority and power in Christ to create holiness in us, and it is important in the sight of the Lord that we respond and obey as the Holy Spirit leads us into that holiness. "For is ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Romans 8:13).

The sons of God are those who are putting to death the deeds of their body through the wisdom and strength provided by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13,14), and are having created in them the love, joy, peace, patience, and hope that are the fruit of the abiding of the Holy Spirit. True, eternal holiness is the forming of Christ in us.

If we are not making progress in the abolishing of sin, and in the forming of Christ in us, then, we are not continuing in the program of redemption. Redemption is the destruction of the guilt and tendencies of sin into which we were born and the creating of the righteous nature of Christ in us. The purpose of redemption is that we may be received into the Being of Christ, who abides eternally in the Being of the Father.

We have seen that the first aspect of redemption, that of basic salvation, insures (if we continue in it) our preservation during the coming period when God rises up to avenge Himself of the sins of angels and men.

Sanctification, on the other hand, is the development of a holy personality and righteous behavior on the part of God's people.

If our concept is that the new Jerusalem consists of people who have been preserved but who still are performing works of unrighteousness, we do not understand the nature of the Kingdom of God. There will be no sin or disobedience in the Kingdom of God. The holy city indeed is a holy city.

The manifest works of the flesh.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness [immorality], Idolatry, sorcery, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

The works of the flesh are "manifest," but it appears that their relationship to the Kingdom of God is not understood well by many Christians. There may be no greater area of ignorance in Christianity than what constitutes sin under the new covenant, and how the new covenant deals with sin in the Christian personality. Sin is defined clearly in the New Testament writings.

The world is ignorant concerning sin and righteousness and the Church also is ignorant concerning sin and righteousness. Judgment has been missing from the Church, but God now is restoring judgment to us so we can distinguish between good and evil (Hebrews 5:14), and receive the power and wisdom to reject the evil and choose the good.

As we put away sin from our personality we are given to eat of the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is Christ—there is no other tree of life.

As we continue to eat of the Tree of Life we then are able to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the eternal moral law of God, the eternal law of which the Law of Moses was a temporary form.

If Adam and Eve had eaten of the Tree of Life, as they were supposed to, they then would have been able to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When they had eaten of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they would have understood they were naked. But because they had eaten of the Tree of Life, of Christ they would have been clothed with the white robe of righteous raiment.

Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil before eating of the Tree of Life. As a result they attempted to hide their nakedness with fig leaves instead of with the white robe of Divine righteousness.

The mark of the maturing of Christ in us is the ability to judge between what is good and what is evil, and to sternly reject that which is evil and to choose that which is good. As we do this God clothes us with the white robe of Divine righteousness, not with the fig leaves of human righteousness.

The Protestant Reformers appear to have gone to excess in the teaching of grace. We are reaping the fruit of this error. We have been left with a swollen justification that pushes aside the Divine work of sanctification.

The Body of Christ is the judge of sin. This Body, the Body of Christ, the Body of the Servant of the Lord, is being created so that judgment may be brought into God's creation—the heavens as well as the earth. The Holy Spirit is the One who instructs the Church in the ways of Divine judgment.

. . . Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness [immorality], (Galatians 5:19)

Satan always endeavors to seduce us to sin. Our spirit is willing to reject sin but our flesh is weak. Only the Holy Spirit has the wisdom and power to give us control over the desires of our flesh.

As we behold sexual impurity on the rise we know that Satan is busy. The ancient sins of lust and perversion are being practiced in our day. There is no quicker way to come under Divine judgment than to yield to the flesh in the area of sexual lust.

It does not matter whether or not we are Christians. Grace will not make sexual lust and perversion pleasing to God. We destroy our spirit, soul, and body when we yield to lust. Marriage is honorable in every aspect but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. We do not escape the Divine judgment because we name the name of Christ. The sexually impure will reap corruption.

We are to flee from immorality, God's judgment is on every form of sexual impurity. The grace of Christ does not excuse immorality. We can repent and obtain forgiveness if God gives us the opportunity to do so. But if we keep on practicing immorality we are close to the eternal fire. We may lose our soul.

Christ does not "know" those who are practicing sexual impurity. Such are in the grip of Satan and near to the burning. They are to confess their fornication to Christ, draw near to God, and resist the devil. Now is the time to stop. Tomorrow we may be standing before Christ.

Idolatry, sorcery, hatred, . . . . (Galatians 5:20)

Idolatry and covetousness are related. We humans are prone to fasten our attention on relationships with people, on things, and on desirable situations. The Lord desires our undivided attention but we choose to bring ourselves into bondage to people and things. God and Christ insist on the full concentration and adoration of the saint.

Much of our Christian discipleship is consumed with anxiety as God brings our idols under our feet. This is a painful process and causes us much grief. We are in bondage to many things. The Lord is faithful to deliver us from these idols and to bring us to the state where we worship and serve only Him through Christ. The fire of God burns away our bondages of idolatry.

Sorcery (sorcery, spiritism) is on the rise today because people are discovering that scientific materialism leaves many questions of life unanswered. All forms of spiritism, even those that may seem harmless such as parlor games having to do with the occult, are an abomination to God, just as is true of sexual perversion.

Sometimes it is quite difficult to receive deliverance if one has been involved in any form of sorcery. The demons are unwilling to release the individual. Deliverance is possible though our Lord Jesus Christ, but the spiritual pride that accompanies the practice of sorcery is a powerful bondage.

We come under Divine judgment whenever the Lord sees us having anything to do with spirits other than His Holy Spirit. If we are or have been engaged in any type of fortune telling we are to confess our actions to Christ and then cease this practice immediately. God will assist us if we are sincere and determined.

It is true also that imaging, positive confession when such a declaration of belief is an attempt to manipulate the spiritual realm other than by prayer to the Lord Jesus, the effort to speak creative words, mind reading, and all other forms of the application of soul power are to be renounced.

Hatred in all its forms is the expression of Satan. Satan is a murderer. Whenever we yield to any form of hatred or revenge we soon find ourselves in trouble with the Lord. God is love and dwells in love. Heaven is filled with kindly good will—a good will scarcely known on the earth because of the purity, gentleness, and innocence of its quality.

God dwells eternally in just such love and gentleness and invites us to do so also. He will impart to us His Holy Spirit so we can dwell in love, even in the murderous atmosphere of this world.

. . . variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, . . . . (Galatians 5:20,21)

All forms of division between people are considered to be the works of the flesh. Our striving with one another, jealousy because of some good that another has gained, indignation because of the imperfections of a brother or sister, contention over doctrine, division and sectarian competition, envying of another person, and murderous hatred are the fruit of our flesh yielding to the pressures loaded on us by the evil lords of darkness who rule the world from their spiritual vantage points in the heavenlies and are constantly bringing accusations against our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Our task is to appropriate the grace of God to the extent that we are able to bring our flesh under subjection to God's Spirit so we can cease doing these things. Christ is free from strife, contention, and envy. He desires that we likewise be free from strife, contention, and envy.

. . . drunkenness, revellings, and such like: . . . . (Galatians 5:21)

Self-control is one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit of God. The people who are under the control of the present wicked age practice excesses of food and drink, wild reveling of all kinds. Worldly people cannot understand why Christians advocate and practice self-control, keeping their bodies under strict discipline.

"Eat, drink, and play" is one of the prevailing moods of our time among both the young and the elderly. God never accepted this attitude in times past and He does not accept it today. Where there is reveling there is no lack of sin.

The disciple of Jesus keeps his body under strict control, remaining constantly watchful in prayer lest his attention be diverted from the Master and he fall into one of the satanic traps set for the unwary. We can save ourselves much grief by remaining watchful in prayer.

The items listed in Galatians 5:20-21 constitute one of the many statements found in the New Testament writings defining sin under the new covenant. Because of these statements we cannot claim that we do not understand what Christ accepts and what He rejects. Many passages of the New Testament identify the practices that are filthy and rejected in the sight of God. They are evil spirits, and it is the responsibility and privilege of the Church to judge them and to cast them out of the Kingdom of God.

. . . of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:21)

We come to Christ in our sins and are saved by the reconciling authority and power of His blood. But until we press into sanctification we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Why is that? It is because the Kingdom of God is the absence of sin and the presence of the will of God. There is no sin or rebellion in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the doing of God's will in the earth as it is performed in Heaven.

When we are committing sin we are not abiding in the Kingdom of God. When the Kingdom enters the sin leaves. The Kingdom of God is first, righteousness; then, peace; and then, joy—all in the Holy Spirit of God. The wicked inherit neither peace nor joy.

When we are committing sexual perversion we are not in the Kingdom of God at that point. There is no sexual perversion in the Kingdom of God.

When we are engaging in occult practices we are not in the Kingdom of God. There is no spiritism in the Kingdom of God.

When we become enraged and violent we are not abiding in the Kingdom of God, even though we are professing Christ. The Kingdom of God reigns in peace and joy.

The Son of God appeared for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil. The works of human flesh listed in the fifth chapter of the Book of Galatians are the nature of the devil. To the extent these works are destroyed and removed, to that extent the Kingdom of God has come to us.

There is authority and power in the Kingdom of God to judge and cast out unrighteous, unholy practices. When the works of the flesh are not being judged and cast out, the Kingdom of God is not present. Sin and the Kingdom of God are mutually exclusive. They cannot coexist.

But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. (Luke 11:20)

The blood of the Lamb of God is the means God has given us so we may have the authority and power to enter the Kingdom of God. The grace of God is not a means of waiving the principle that sin and the Kingdom of God are incompatible. The grace of God is the power of God to help us enter the Kingdom.

The grace of God provides abundantly for this entrance by forgiveness through the blood of Christ, power through the Holy Spirit, and wisdom and knowledge through the Word of God. These Divine enablements work together in loosing us from the bondages of uncleanness that Satan has injected into the bloodstream of humanity.

The grace of God is the empowering of the Christian to overcome sin and to enter the Kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22,23)

Notice the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit of God. We can determine if we are living in the inflamed, perverted appetites of the flesh by the manner in which we behave. The works of the flesh spring from the life lived in the gratification of the appetites of the flesh and soul.

We can judge whether we are living "in the Spirit" by our deeds, words, and thoughts. The fruit of the Spirit can be witnessed in the person in whom the Holy Spirit is dwelling. When we live in the appetites of the flesh we die spiritually. When we, through the Holy Spirit, put to death the deeds of our body we grow spiritually.

Galatians 5:16 informs us that if we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of our flesh. The choice is ours. We can choose to practice the works of the flesh in the hope we will be saved anyway (which is a dangerous position from the standpoint of the Kingdom of God) or we can sow to the Holy Spirit throughout our pilgrimage on the earth, denying our flesh, in the hope that we will reap eternal life.

Eternal life is ours to choose, to pursue, to lay hold upon. God has given us grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility to lay hold on that grace and to obtain abundant life. Such is the true nature of the Christian discipleship.

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Galatians 5:24)

How can we distinguish those who belong to Christ? They are the believers who have crucified the lusts of their flesh. If we are walking in the appetites of the flesh, the name of Christ does not make us righteous. The proof of our position in Christ is that we are putting to death the lusts of our flesh. If we are not crucifying the lusts of our flesh we have received the grace of God in vain.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25)

When we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior we come alive spiritually. The blood of Christ brings us into the Presence of God and the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in us, giving us eternal life. We pass from death to life. Our new life is "in the Spirit."

Then we must "walk in the Spirit." We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the work of putting to death the sinful deeds of our fleshly nature. If we do not begin to walk in the Spirit, then our first position of redemption, that of salvation in the Day of the Lord, is placed in jeopardy. We accept the risk of being removed from the vine (John 15:2; Hebrews 6:8).

The process of sanctification, which we are presenting as the second major aspect of redemption, is that of coming out from the present evil age and its filthiness of the flesh and human spirit. It is the will of God that we be sanctified. The program of sanctification accounts for much of what God does with us during our pilgrimage through the wilderness of the world.

During our discussion of salvation, the first aspect of redemption, we mentioned some of the many passages of the Scriptures that portray the plan of redemption in three parts or dimensions. Let us now see if we can gain insight into the program of sanctification by studying the second of the three dimensions of redemption in more detail.

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