Present your Bodies (Part 2)

Present your Bodies (Part 2)

Until you get that glorified body, God wants your current one! What?? Why? What would God want with this weak, corrupt, vile, sinful body? The aim of this little study is to find this out.

Rom.12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  (2)  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

If you have read, understood, and received what Paul has taught you in the first 11 chapters of Romans, concerning God’s righteous wrath and what He did through Jesus Christ to justify you and quicken your spirit, you will know that the only proper, and personal response you can make to His grace and love, is to present your body as a living sacrifice to God. But what good is our flesh body to God? Paul, in Romans 3 to 8, has informed you that your flesh is corrupt and sinful and that God’s work to save you was not achieved in your flesh, but judicially in His Son. So, why is Paul appealing to you to give God your futile body? Well God has a use for it, and it is for the glory of His Son.

Present your Bodies (Part 1)

Present your Bodies (Part 1)

The Start: Justification

Rom 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

When we believe the gospel of God’s Son, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ. There is NOTHING that can change or threaten that peace we have! It is not dependent on us! That peace is through Christ. Justification is a legal word dealing with one’s judicial standing before God, the Judge. Biblical justification equates to the ungodly sinner being declared righteous, blameless, and innocent, being set free of all charges before God’s throne. Justification = just as if I never sinned.

The End: Adoption and glorification

Rom 8:23-24  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

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How do we effectively serve God and live for Him

How do we effectively serve God and live for Him

The biggest hinderance in your life regarding serving and living for God is not your flesh. Your flesh is not the obstacle that hinders you from serving God. Neither is it sin. Neither is it your will, your procrastination, your weakness, habits, or commitments. How about getting prayed for? How about alter calls to be filled with the Holy Spirit? How about fasting and other spiritual activities? No. No, and no! So, what then is the greatest hinderance to serving God? It is unbelief and negligence of the written Word of God. You don’t need more willpower, or to do better, or try harder tomorrow. You need to get into the Bible and start believing it!

You see, ignorance is unbelief. The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”. Thus, you don’t have to hear the word of God, and then choose to ignore it, to be in unbelief. Unbelief, through ignorance, is already upon you by simply not hearing the word. Paul says, “I obtained mercy because I did in ignorantly, in unbelief”. Ignorance and unbelief are connected. To elaborate on this, also consider the following. In Romans 14, Paul writes about being weak in the faith or strong in the faith. The state of your faith is connected to knowledge. Why cannot the ‘weak brother’ eat meat that was offered in the idol’s temple? Because when he goes to eat the meat, he is eating with the knowledge that that idol was a god. He is weak in the faith! He is ignorant of the knowledge of the truth in God’s word. Knowledge and faith go hand in hand just as much as ignorance and unbelief go together. Faith is not subject to you, to your thoughts, your emotions, or your understanding of life and truth. Faith is defined and established in the written word of God and is subject to that truth only.

So, to step up to the next level in serving and living for God, you need to stop ignoring and neglecting the written word of God. You need to hear the word of God. You need to read it and get it into you. You need to understand its doctrine and adhere to that which is written and addressed to you in this dispensation of grace. Nothing else but the knowledge of the written word is what will stablish you in the faith and in godly service to God. Amen.

Words carry Spirit

Words carry Spirit

Words possess a spiritual dimension. When you receive a word, it takes residence in your heart, carrying the essence and spirit of the one that inspired it. Similarly, words come from the heart of the giver and convey their will, wisdom, and purpose. This is why Jesus rightly said, “My words are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Today, the words of God are compiled into the canon of scripture. Reading the written words in the Bible can convey the spirit of God into our hearts. Have a look at the following passage:

1Co 2:11-12  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.  (12)  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Did you notice the word ‘spirit’ in the bolded part? It is not a capital “S”. What is being referenced here? It is not the Holy Spirit. Rather it is the written Word of God! The ‘spirit which is of God’ refers to the Bible. As you read and believe the written word, you are partaking in the essence and spirit of the one that inspired it. Essentially, you are receiving God’s (Holy) Spirit, which is the inspiration, and power, and truth within those words, bringing life, knowledge, conviction, and God’s will, by His Spirit.

When you grasp the truth of the ‘spirit’ of God, you will start to better understand verses such as these:

Rom_7:6  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

(By gaining knowledge in the newness of the ‘spirit’ that we can start to walk by the ‘Spirit’. Rom.8; Gal.5)

2Co 3:6-8  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.  (7)  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:  (8)  How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

Eph_1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

2Th_2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

 

Fiber Update

 

Fiber Update

Hi all,

I have had a torrid time with my fiber service.

First a technical issue with my line, and then an admin error (confusion). Where the transfer normally takes 3-days, it's now been 13-days and counting. My ISP has been supportive, and we have managed to resolve most issues. If all goes well, I will be back online in due course.

Thank you for your patience and support.

I look forward to resuming with normal posts and articles 'soon'.

God bless.