Difference between revisions of "Be Born Again 8"

Latest revision as of 21:14, 16 February 2011

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:15-NIV)

Our first personality, the living soul, may have many excellent characteristics. Our soul may bless the Lord and may be blessed by the Lord. Our redemption begins with the desire of our soul to be saved. However, in order to destroy the "body of sin" that is in us, God has assigned our soul to the cross with Christ.

There is an important concept concerning the human soul that is not always stressed when our crucifixion and resurrection in Jesus are being taught. It is that our salvation depends on the faithfulness of our soul. If our soul does not do its part we cannot please God.

When Christians come short of the Glory of God it is not because the engrafted Life of Christ has failed, it is because the soul was not willing to let go of its own life and desires. An individual who does not have integrity can never make a success of the victorious Christian life.

In order for the new creation to be brought forth successfully, to come to the fullness of birth, the soul must adhere to the commandments of Jesus. Most of the work of serving Christ and doing His will is performed by the soul. It is the soul that must pray, must read the Word, must set aside time to commune with the Lord, must willingly give itself to crucifixion. It is the soul that must serve God faithfully, enduring to the end. Only then can there be a successful bringing forth of the new creation.

It is not unusual for the believer to make a fine start and then to fall by the way. Why is this? It is because his soul was attracted to God by the promise of walking on a street of gold, of entering Paradise , of eternal joy. When the time came that the Lord Jesus began to make deadly demands on him, demands that required the painful or even agonizing loss of some treasured relationship or possession, his soul refused to obey God.

Unless we have an honest and good heart, unless there is integrity and faithfulness in our soul and a willingness to serve the Lord no matter what He requires, it is impossible for us to bring the eternal life that has been conceived in us to the maturity needed for participation in the revelation of Christ (Colossians 3:4).

In order for our soul to be saved it must be transformed into a new creation, much as a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly. The soul must understand this fact and, as was true of John the Baptist, must insist that Christ increase while he himself, the soul, continually must decrease.

The task of the soul is to keep the words of Jesus diligently, praying for the grace of God in order to perform God's will, meanwhile submitting to death as the Divine Seed begins to grow into a new personality. The soul must sternly obey the Lord to the best of its ability if it is to bring forth permanent fruit. It must be "an honest and good heart" (Luke 8:15 ).

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-When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30-NIV)
+But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:15-NIV)
-When the Lord Jesus cried "It is finished!" He was speaking of the entire first creation.
+Our first personality, the living soul, may have many excellent characteristics. Our soul may bless the Lord and may be blessed by the Lord. Our redemption begins with the desire of our soul to be saved. However, in order to destroy the "body of sin" that is in us, God has assigned our soul to the cross with Christ.
-Because we do not understand the Kingdom of God consists of new creations we are attempting to make Adam pleasing to God. Our Christian liturgies and activities are proceeding on the assumption, and leave the impression, that God by "grace" will save the Adamic creation by bringing it to Paradise in the spirit realm. This is not the case.
+There is an important concept concerning the human soul that is not always stressed when our crucifixion and resurrection in Jesus are being taught. It is that our salvation depends on the faithfulness of our soul. If our soul does not do its part we cannot please God.
-Christ did not come to save Adam. Jesus lived as Adam and as Adam died on the cross, bringing to an end the adamic creation. He who emerged from the cave of Joseph of Arimathea was not of the first Adam. He was the Beginning of the new creation, the Beginning of those who will serve God in holiness and righteousness forever. He was the First of the sons of the resurrection, the First of those who are to be begotten from the dead.
+When Christians come short of the Glory of God it is not because the engrafted Life of Christ has failed, it is because the soul was not willing to let go of its own life and desires. An individual who does not have integrity can never make a success of the victorious Christian life.
-The true purpose of the Christian assemblings is to support the individual as he learns to enter the closet of prayer and to commune with the Lord. It is the personal communion that is lacking today. Apart from personal communion with the Lord the new Life that has been born is not nourished properly. It withers and finally dies.
+In order for the new creation to be brought forth successfully, to come to the fullness of birth, the soul must adhere to the commandments of Jesus. Most of the work of serving Christ and doing His will is performed by the soul. It is the soul that must pray, must read the Word, must set aside time to commune with the Lord, must willingly give itself to crucifixion. It is the soul that must serve God faithfully, enduring to the end. Only then can there be a successful bringing forth of the new creation.
-Believers are active in churches, in some instances, but they do not always know the Lord. They know the church and its functions but they do not know the Lord. There is no time during the day when they enter close personal fellowship with the Lord. They may pray on the run or have a good attitude toward God. But this is not what is required if the development of Christ in us is not to be aborted.
+It is not unusual for the believer to make a fine start and then to fall by the way. Why is this? It is because his soul was attracted to God by the promise of walking on a street of gold, of entering Paradise , of eternal joy. When the time came that the Lord Jesus began to make deadly demands on him, demands that required the painful or even agonizing loss of some treasured relationship or possession, his soul refused to obey God.
-It is not our religious practices that are important except as they minister to the new person that has been born in us.
+Unless we have an honest and good heart, unless there is integrity and faithfulness in our soul and a willingness to serve the Lord no matter what He requires, it is impossible for us to bring the eternal life that has been conceived in us to the maturity needed for participation in the revelation of Christ (Colossians 3:4).
-When believers do not have a daily experience with the Lord, communing with Him, feeding on His body and blood, the Life that was conceived in them perishes. The process of being born again is aborted. Soulish attitudes and practices, including the desire to build large churches, dead religious works such as aggressive, presumptuous "faith," and the worship of music in place of the worship of God, can abort the Life of Christ in the believers.
+In order for our soul to be saved it must be transformed into a new creation, much as a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly. The soul must understand this fact and, as was true of John the Baptist, must insist that Christ increase while he himself, the soul, continually must decrease.
-At some point, when the believer is in the process of receiving Jesus as his Lord and Savoir, the Divine Seed is planted in his heart. A new man is conceived in him. Prior to this time his personality has been unified in that he has had a physical body, a human soul, and a human spirit. Now that he has received Jesus his body remains human but his spirit is being joined to the Holy Spirit. A new life, a new person, has been conceived and is being formed in his soul.
+The task of the soul is to keep the words of Jesus diligently, praying for the grace of God in order to perform God's will, meanwhile submitting to death as the Divine Seed begins to grow into a new personality. The soul must sternly obey the Lord to the best of its ability if it is to bring forth permanent fruit. It must be "an honest and good heart" (Luke 8:15 ).
-He no longer is a unified personality. In his animal body there are two persons striving for control and pre-eminence. The one person, his living soul, came to him from his mother and father. The other person, he who was conceived of Christ, came from God in Heaven.
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