What was Paul’s momentary, light tribulation achieving?

Back to Study the Book of Second Corinthians

An eternal weight of glory so marvellous as to be beyond all comparison.

Notice that it is the tribulation that produces the glory.

Tribulation, when we permit it to bring forth the Life of Jesus in us, produces a weight of glory. The weight of glory is the "house which is from heaven" of the next chapter. The house from Heaven is the robe of righteousness and glory that will clothe our resurrected body when the Lord appears from Heaven. The robe of righteousness consists of the "things done in his body," of II Corinthians 5:10.

One of the basic principles of the Kingdom of God is that we reap what we sow.

Each of us was brought forth in iniquity and conceived in sin (Psalms 51:5). We began life as a self-centered, lawless individual.

The great question of life is, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24).

It is the Lord’s will that we be fashioned in the moral image of the Lord Jesus Christ. To this end we have been predestined.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be changed into the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29).

We were born with a blemished personality. The program of redemption is designed to remove the blemishes and present us before the Father in the image of Christ.

Let us take, for an example, the personality blemish we term impatience. In the Kingdom of God, patience is a very important attribute of personality. God is patient. The Lord Jesus is a patient Person. Satan, and those who follow him, are impatient, demanding and seizing by force whatever they desire.

God may have put strong desires and ambitions in us. As we seek to obtain and fulfill our desires many hindrances arise. At this point we have a choice. We can force our way through to the objective, breaking the laws of God in the meantime; or we can go to the Lord in prayer, seeking His help and comfort, and the patience of Christ, until the Lord brings to pass what we desire.

We are perplexed and struck down by circumstances but the eternal Life of the Lord Jesus raises us up. We keep on pressing forward in the Lord, and we keep on being frustrated in terms of our hopes and desires.

Our original "robe," our adamic nature with its impatience, is torn down and passes away. At some point, God rewards us by giving us the Divine patience of Christ. It is not a shaping of our adamic soul but the substitution of Divine patience for our natural ability or inability to be patient.

The attributes of personality we desire are all in Christ. God is ready to add these to us as soon as we prove worthy of them. We prove worthy of them by doing what God has commanded to the best of our ability.

God rewards us for striving to be patient by giving us of Christ’s patience. Divine patience is a reward that is given to us because we have learned to lean on the Lord, obeying Him in all matters as we are able. In fact, the ability to lean on the Lord is a gift from Heaven which we are to pray for.

The robe of righteousness from Heaven is a change in personality, which may be given to us now in part, and shall be given to us in its fullness when the Lord returns. The ability to be righteous, holy, and obedient to God is our reward for keeping the Lord’s commandments to the best of our ability. It is a "house from heaven."

When we are robed in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God, all the glory and blessing of the Kingdom of God will become ours because we are righteous, holy, and obedient. The robe of righteousness finally includes the glorified body, the house from Heaven.

In this life we must learn to fear, love, and trust the Lord. We must acquire the habit of leaning on Him for every detail of thought, word, and action. We must obey Him in all matters. We shall be tested!—tested!—tested!

If we are willing and obedient to learn the lessons life in the world is designed to teach, God will transform our personality, removing our old adamic robe and giving us a new robe of righteousness—in part now, and in fullness at the coming of the Lord.

Notice the changing of robes, in the following passage:

And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head.

So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by. And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch (Zechariah 3:1-8).

It was not the guilt of Joshua that passed from him, it was the filthy garments of iniquity. This passage is not speaking of the forgiveness of sins but of that which is possible only under the new covenant—the actual removal of the sin itself.

The Lord did not require of Joshua that he remove his iniquity by himself, because only God can do that. Rather, Joshua was required only to walk in the Lord’s ways and to keep His charge.

Then the "Branch" is mentioned. The Branch is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Branch is emphasized because the "change of raiment" speaks of the righteous Nature of Christ, which God brings forth in us. The "fair mitre" [turban] portrays the mind of Christ which is given to the faithful saint.

The ministries of the Body of Christ travail until Christ is formed in the members of the Body. It is not Christ-likeness that is formed in us, as though our adamic soul could be changed into the image of God. Rather, it is the substitution of the Divine Nature and Substance of Christ for our adamic nature. We are being converted, not only in image but in actual substance and spirit.

To have a personality like that of Christ is God’s gift to us, a gift given on the basis of our making the choices God requires of us.

I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness (Romans 6:19).

Adam cannot imitate Christ. Adam must die and the very Substance and Life of Christ must take his place. Only then can the individual please God, becoming the brother of the Lord.

God is pleased when He sees His Son in us. The Lamb is pleased when He beholds the Bride who has been formed from His own body and blood.

Our light affliction is the tool that God uses to bring our adamic nature down to futility and death in order that the Life of Christ may arise. The result of Divine Life coming forth from Adam’s death is the robe of a new, righteous personality which is being fashioned before the Throne of God in Heaven and which will be given to us as a reward at the coming of the Lord from Heaven.

Back to Study the Book of Second Corinthians

Back to Chapter Four