Difference between revisions of "The Pursuit of Life 5"

Latest revision as of 14:32, 15 February 2011

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10—NIV)

Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. (Revelation 22:12—NIV)

I do not think all believers will receive the same amount of eternal life at the coming of the Lord. It may be true that the degree of life we shall receive depends on our willingness to be pruned, to lay down our life. Christ will give to each according to his or her work, according to my understanding. An abundance of eternal life is a prize well worth striving for.

If we as a Christian have not cooperated with the Spirit of God in the transformation of our personality; if we have not denied ourselves, have not taken up our cross and followed Jesus Christ during our lifetime on the earth; have not presented our body a living sacrifice to God as our act of worship; then our flesh and bones will we clothed with a spotted garment that reveals the corruption in our inward nature.

In the day of resurrection our body will reveal what is in our inward nature.

Can you see what I mean when I say the knowledge of the two facets of the resurrection is vital to our understanding?

The Law of Cause and Effect

There are two sets of outcomes of our behaviour. One set comprises outcomes of place. The other set comprises outcomes of state of being.

The two outcomes of place are Paradise, and torment. The two outcomes of state of being are the fullness of eternal life, and a diminished degree of eternal life all the way down to total corruption of personality, especially regarding the body.

In the New Testament, the people who will be sent to torment are the goat nations, Antichrist, the False Prophet, those whose names are not found in the Book of Life, and those who have personalities described in Revelation 21:8.

The people who will experience a diminished degree of eternal life, all the way down to total corruption of personality, are the believers who chose to not obey the commandments of Christ and His Apostles.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19—NIV)

I know modern Christian teaching sets aside such verses as Matthew 5:19 as not applying to Christians. This is a terrible error in thinking. It has made the teachings of Christ invalid. The modern philosophy of Dispensationalism and all of its tenets and assumptions should be discarded immediately, for it is destructive of God’s plan of restoration.

Also, if Jesus is not speaking (in Matthew 5:19) of the Kingdom that we must be born again to enter, of what kingdom is He speaking? Are there two kingdoms? This is nothing but confusion. There is only the one Kingdom of God and it comes from Heaven. There is no other kingdom, and to teach that there is, is to adopt a misleading private interpretation, thus departing from the mainstream of the Scripture.

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-But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death. (Rev 21:8—NIV)
+Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10—NIV)
-We understand, most of us, that the wicked belong in the Lake of Fire. Revelation tells us of the personalities that shall find their home in the Lake of Fire along with Satan and his angels.
+Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. (Revelation 22:12—NIV)
-The Lake of Fire is an outcome of place. But when the Apostle Paul speaks of the believer who continues to walk in the appetites and desires of the flesh and soul he never speaks of Hell or the Lake of Fire. Rather the consequence of living in the flesh instead of following the Spirit of God each day is set forth as not inheriting the Kingdom of God, or spiritual death, or destruction.
+I do not think all believers will receive the same amount of eternal life at the coming of the Lord. It may be true that the degree of life we shall receive depends on our willingness to be pruned, to lay down our life. Christ will give to each according to his or her work, according to my understanding. An abundance of eternal life is a prize well worth striving for.
-The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; Idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions And envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21—NIV)
+If we as a Christian have not cooperated with the Spirit of God in the transformation of our personality; if we have not denied ourselves, have not taken up our cross and followed Jesus Christ during our lifetime on the earth; have not presented our body a living sacrifice to God as our act of worship; then our flesh and bones will we clothed with a spotted garment that reveals the corruption in our inward nature.
-For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (Romans 8:13—NIV)
+In the day of resurrection our body will reveal what is in our inward nature.
-Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8-NIV)
+Can you see what I mean when I say the knowledge of the two facets of the resurrection is vital to our understanding?
-Now I understand numerous Christian teachers will not accept that these warnings apply to Christian people, protesting that we are “saved by grace.” But it is obvious from the contexts of the three passages that Paul is speaking to Christians. To say otherwise is to demonstrate questionable scholarship, a bias not worthy of a sincere investigator.
+The Law of Cause and Effect
-===But stop and think.===
+There are two sets of outcomes of our behaviour. One set comprises outcomes of place. The other set comprises outcomes of state of being.
-If the Apostle Paul, writing in the name of Jesus Christ, states that if we continue to live in the sins of the flesh we will not inherit the Kingdom of God, we will die spiritually, we will reap destruction, shouldn’t we take heed to the warnings and not attempt to gainsay them or pretend they are not in the Bible?
+The two outcomes of place are Paradise, and torment. The two outcomes of state of being are the fullness of eternal life, and a diminished degree of eternal life all the way down to total corruption of personality, especially regarding the body.
-Paul is not saying we will be thrown in the Lake of Fire if we live in the appetites of the flesh instead of praying, meditating in the Bible, and gathering with the saints.
+In the New Testament, the people who will be sent to torment are the goat nations, Antichrist, the False Prophet, those whose names are not found in the Book of Life, and those who have personalities described in Revelation 21:8.
-Rather Paul is pointing toward the principle of cause and effect, the unchangeable Kingdom law of sowing and reaping.
+The people who will experience a diminished degree of eternal life, all the way down to total corruption of personality, are the believers who chose to not obey the commandments of Christ and His Apostles.
-===We Christians are going to reap what we sow.===
+Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19—NIV)
-Where we are placed in the day of resurrection depends on the judgment of Christ. Grace and mercy can intervene here, perhaps, and also the intercession of the godly for their relatives and friends. I say “perhaps” because I know of no clear passage that gives us such assurance.
+I know modern Christian teaching sets aside such verses as Matthew 5:19 as not applying to Christians. This is a terrible error in thinking. It has made the teachings of Christ invalid. The modern philosophy of Dispensationalism and all of its tenets and assumptions should be discarded immediately, for it is destructive of God’s plan of restoration.
-But one thing I do know beyond all doubt: we are going to reap what we sow.
+Also, if Jesus is not speaking (in Matthew 5:19) of the Kingdom that we must be born again to enter, of what kingdom is He speaking? Are there two kingdoms? This is nothing but confusion. There is only the one Kingdom of God and it comes from Heaven. There is no other kingdom, and to teach that there is, is to adopt a misleading private interpretation, thus departing from the mainstream of the Scripture.
-We are going to be clothed with our own conduct, with a robe created from our actions on the earth.
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