Living by His Life...

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It may be true that the greatest confusion in Christian thinking lies in the transition from Moses to Christ. Are we under at least part of the Law? Are we completely free from the Law? Does being under "grace" mean there are no laws governing our behavior? I have never heard this problem resolved clearly. It seems today, in Evangelical thinking, the majority opinion is that "we are not under the Law but under grace," meaning that if we believe in Jesus we will go to Heaven when we die no matter how we behave.

(2/28/2010) I came to Christ in 1944. I was taught by fellow Marines that the purpose of the grace of the new covenant is to forgive us, since we are unable to meet God’s righteous demands. Then we would be eligible to go to Heaven when we die. Since that time, probably before you were born, I have found this to be the prevailing doctrine of most, if not all, Christian churches.

According to the Scriptures, this is not the purpose of the grace of the new covenant. The purpose of the grace of the new covenant is to forgive all of our sins so we will be able to focus on the work of the Holy Spirit as He creates the Life of Christ in us. As the Life of Christ is formed in us, we begin to meet God’s righteous demands. The objective of the new creation is to create us in the image of God in order that we might please God and have fellowship with God wherever we are.

Paul was upset with some of the Christian Jewish leaders.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?" (Galatians 2:14)

Then the Apostle Paul explained the only manner in which we can be free from the demands of the Law of Moses: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

It simply is not true, and an error of the greatest magnitude, that because of "grace" we are free from the laws that govern our behavior. It is only as we have died to our first life and now are alive in Christ, and living by His Life, that we are free from external laws.

Until we are living by the Life of Christ we are under the moral laws of the Old Testament. There never is a time when a person is not under one of God’s laws. Either we are living by the Life of Jesus, and therefore being directed by the Spirit of God; or we are under the Law of Moses. There is no place in between, that is, for a lawless person, and still be accepted of God.

There are at least six major goals toward which the disciple is to press. Each of the six is to be true of us eternally: righteous in character and behavior; completely holy; totally obedient to God; love for God and our neighbor; always filled with joy; abiding in peace in our calling. The only way in which these goals can be attained to is to live by the Life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no greater challenge to the disciple of Jesus than to live by His Life. From the time of our birth we are endeavoring to stay alive in our original inward and outward natures. We are a person. Like all the other creatures of God we fight for our life.

Then along comes the Lord Jesus. He tells us that if we would see and enter the Kingdom of God we must be born all over again.

Now what? We are not speaking of religion at this point but of killing of our first nature as we choose to live by a new Life that has invaded our personality. If you think such death and resurrection are easy to experience, you have not attempted to make this transition.

We cannot make such a radical change in a moment. This is why the current teaching that states the moment we "accept Christ" we are born again is so misleading. The expression "born again" is not used many times in the New Testament, although what the expression implies is the heart of the new covenant.

We might be more accurate if we said, "I have decided to die with Christ and live with Christ; and if I am faithful through the years the day will come when I am a new creation, that is, I have been completely born again in Christ."

What does it mean to live by the Life of Christ? It means that our thoughts, our imaginations, our motives, our words, our actions, while they are part of who we are and what we are doing, have continually been presented to Jesus so that they reflect His thinking, imagining, motives, words, and actions. To enter this blend of us and the Lord we must pray without ceasing. This does not mean we continually are beseeching God for our needs; it signifies rather that we keep looking to Jesus and listening to Jesus as we go about our daily business.

Right now as I am typing I am looking to Jesus and listening to Jesus. I desire that He speak to His people in this hour. In fact, I looked to the Lord for the current burden: "Man is to live by every Word of God." At the time I went to sleep last night, and the moment I awakened, I was asking God what His Word is to me right now.

I looked to Him as I was eating breakfast, just kind of musing. Then I decided to work on the present topic in preparation for Sunday’s sermon. I could have put off working on the topic until tomorrow, Saturday. But as I was reviewing my E-mail I decided to look to Jesus to see if I was supposed to write the weekly essay today.

I asked the Lord what the topic should be. Immediately I "heard," "living by His Life." As I began to type, the paragraphs were formed in my mind. This is how all my writing has been done. It is a combination of His thoughts and my efforts.

The process, or program, I am describing actually is steps to the first resurrection from the dead, the inward resurrection that always must precede the outward. Also, it is the new covenant—the writing of God’s eternal moral law in our mind and heart.

My latest four books, Godwill Castle; Heaven–God’s Wonderful World; The Theology of Robert B. Thompson D.Ed.; and John and Mary Visit Heaven; and also the piano composition "God Is My Salvation," came rather suddenly with an increased Divine impetus after about a year of not writing.

It is interesting, and just like the Lord’s sense of humor, that I, who have preached over and over that Heaven is not our eternal home, should find myself writing about the spirit world, which is becoming increasingly clear to me. I tell you, learning to live by His Life is an adventure with a surprise at every turn.

Another interesting thing: I had titled the children’s book (written for children who are facing death) "God’s Wonderful World." But then I thought, people will think it is about the present world (which I do not regard as wonderful). So I added the word "Heaven." It sure is a good thing I did. I did not realize how many books are on the market with "God’s Wonderful World" as the title.

So God was leading all the way. I felt Jesus telling me to hurry up and get out Godwill Castle and Heaven–God’s Wonderful World, because a lot of blood is going to be shed in the United States as God’s covering is withdrawn from our nation because of our sin.

Heaven–God’s Wonderful World is currently available in bookstores. Hopefully some publisher will pick up the other three books.

Each moment of each day and part of each night we choose whether to keep Christ in our consciousness or whether to pursue our own thoughts, pleasures, and ambitions. Sometimes to choose what we think Christ desires rather than our own lusts and passions is a real crucifixion leading to an increase of our possession of the Life of Christ. This is why the Apostle Paul spoke of being crucified with Christ, but living nevertheless by the Life of Christ.

Living by the Life of Christ is the "rest," the primary thesis of the Book of Hebrews. We have to fight continually to enter the rest and remain in the rest. God has planned our life from the foundation of the world. Now we have to labor continually to attain to that which from the beginning was spoken concerning us.

I will say one thing: The evil approaching our country is so great no human will be able to survive spiritually and do the works of God. But Christ can survive spiritually and do the works of God. We absolutely must die to our first nature that Christ may live in us. When we do, we will reign with Him throughout the dark days of Divine judgment on the United States of America.

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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