Clarification on 'Salvation' from Sin

This post is a clarification on ‘Salvation’ from Sin.

I believe that Christians can be grouped into two categories: the Regenerated, and the Carnal (1 Cor. Ch. 3 vs. 1). In this passage Paul says, “I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. The word ‘spiritual’ here is pneumatikos in the Greek, which means regenerate.

God has graced both groupings of believers with the honor of having a ‘positional’ standing in His family. For instance both groups are justified because of Christ’s sacrifice, and I believe will therefore ultimately join the Father in the New Life.

In my previous posting, ‘Salvation’ from Sin, what I was attempting to say is that I believe a taste of the New Life is available to us while on Earth, not just for when we make it to Heaven. I wanted to propose that ‘salvation’ (as used by Paul) means to be truly set free from the slavery of sin, where this state of regeneration is evident in our earthly lives. Where the Holy Spirit brings us from the state of ‘positional’ regeneration to ‘actual’ regeneration. Whereas believers we mature from the carnal state of being to the spiritual state of being. I’m not saying that we will achieve perfection while on Earth, but simply suggesting that salvation from the bondage/slavery (addictions, or any sin that holds us in captivity: like lust, pornography, drugs, fear, doubt, pride, and etcetera) is available to those who persevere in lifting their gazes up to Him with hope. He will deliver in time. These are prayers that He will answer.

For this maturation to happen we need to die with Christ in order to partake in His resurrection. John 12:24 says that a seed will only produce fruit if it first dies. Jesus then says that to find life we first must lose our lives vs. 25. After we pick up our crosses, a symbol of dying daily, we will then be lifted high into the wings of His resurrection glory! And this is when, I believe, that He will freely flow from our bellies as rivers of living water (John Ch. 7, vs. 38).

The death will happen when the Holy Spirit does a transformational work on our hearts and spirits. True deliverance can only come from Him. It can’t be achieved by our soulish striving and works. At times all we can do is to continue asking Him for freedom; and He will then bring us into circumstances where that freedom becomes our reality. It’s prudent to realize when one of these circumstances is knocking on our door, and to embrace the trials and tribulations as opportunities for true regeneration.

Then His resurrection power will be all the more unhindered within us!

Authority

I was talking with some friends when the topic of obeying our callings came up. In reference to mission trips to foreign countries it was mentioned that some hold the methodology that if someone feels called to the nations but doesn't have much of a track record with 'conversions' at their home country that they should refrain from going until they're fruitful at their present location. The thought is that everyone is a missionary regardless of where they are (which is true); so why go to another country when your track record is so poor at home?

The thought came to me that even though the above argument makes rational sense that it is totally based from a natural thought process. It reminded me of the Esau mentality, where a person's life is operated by their natural mind. In a sense, where the logic of the human mind dictates our decisions and plans. I believe that the extreme form of this path leads directly into a humanistic lifestyle (which on another note I believe is directly linked to the great End Times deception).

At that moment I felt a powerful sense of the Holy Spirit. He descended on me like a burning cloak, and I felt Him both in my spirit and in my every limb. He then spoke and said, "At times a person's life doesn't have authority because they aren't walking in their calling. It is when we obey our calling that we will see the fruit of our labors. This is when we will walk in authority."

After this was spoken I exclaimed to my friends that I could sense the Holy Spirit all over those words! My friend immediately concurred that he too felt the Holy Spirit come with the above statement!

So, I think what God is saying is don't let a stagnant, or seemingly stagnant, Christian life deter us from obeying the calling that He has for us Today! Because it's when we embrace His calling and mandate for our lives that He flourishes through us to touch the world with His love and power.

'Salvation' from Sin

I was sitting in my living room and listening to Romans on the I-Pod when I felt quickened by the Holy Spirit. Quickly grabbing my Bible and notebook I read along while scribbling the notes that seemed to leap into me. Here is a brief summary of what I think God highlighted at that time (and sorry to the theologians who are reading this but this posting has absolutely nothing to do with Calvinism :-0

Beginning a foundation for the highlighted verses, I'll start with chapter seven. In ch.7 vs. 14-25 Paul talks about how there is a law of sin that holds us in captivity. At the end of the chapter he asks, "Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" (KJV, ch.7 vs 24) And he answers, "...Jesus Christ our Lord..." (KJV, ch.7 vs 25).

Ch.8 vs 3 says that Christ conquered sin inside the flesh (He did this by living inside the body which was in the likeness of sinful flesh but committing no sin).

Vs 4 follows this up by saying that He did this in order for righteousness to be fulfilled in us; however, this life is only for those who walk after the Spirit.

So the question is how does one walk after the Spirit, because we obviously all want to be 'saved' from this pervasive law of sin? Verse 13 says, "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die." We can take this to mean that we have a choice to either fall on the Rock and be broken, or to pursue the natural method of self preservation and wait until the End of the Age when the Rock will crush all who are alive to themselves into powder.

Verse 23 gives an incredible amount of hope on a damp mood! Paul says that those who have the first fruits of the Spirit (they have heard the gospel and have had a taste of faith; my interpretation) groan inwardly, and wait in expectation the adoption and redemption of their bodies. In context he's obviously referring to the redemption of sin by being adopted as heirs of a resurrected Christ! But this is not something that any human has control over because if they did they wouldn't be waiting. So we must ask, waiting for what exactly? I thought as soon as someone says the sinners prayer that they are redeemed.

In verse 29 Paul said that who God foreknew He destined to be conformed to the very image of Christ. In the prior verses (26- 27) he said that the Holy Spirit is continuously working within our very hearts to help us with our infirmities. And this is so that we can be fashioned into the likeness of Christ! Will we ever be perfect while on this Earth, probably not, but I believe that God is preparing His end time army to be 'saved' from the 'bondage' of sin. That is, the sin that holds us captive. The sin that is addictive in the manner that it is our ruler, captor, and worst case scenario our god.

Hopefully this brings the well known verse in Chapter 10. vs 9 with another perspective: believe in your heart and confess with your mouth and you shall be saved from sin (Italics added).

Again, God will 'save' us! What I believe He has shown me to do is to literally follow chapter 8, vs 23: to look upwards with hope for the hour of our salvation! (Interpret this as while on Earth. Not to just be taken from this Earth.) Then chapter 10 verses 26-27 will become our reality: the Holy Spirit will reconstruct our hearts into the likeness of Christ!

He has also shown me that when the Holy Spirit begins to do this that it can be very painful. It may be an especially dark circumstance that God allows us to travel through. But He does this with the purpose of fashioning us through the process. Sometimes we may feel that we failed during this process. That's not entirely a bad thing! It simply shows us how weak and retched we really are! And God's words: He gives grace to the humble, really come to life! The beatitudes would also be a good resource if you are feeling beat up and condemned.

Then the next step is GLORIFICATION. After we are crucified with Christ (Romans 6 vs 6) we will enter into Christ's resurrection! And His authentic resurrection power, I believe, is the authority that the last day army will march with.

Foundation for Glory

As mentioned in previous postings I sense that God is aiming to release an explosion of His glory on mankind. A vision on how this may look is when there is a growing understanding with every Christian that we are His ministers. I believe He is going to move upon the lives of believers in increasingly powerful ways, where salvations, discipleships, pure love, and the power of the Holy Spirit is common place inside the marketplace (not confined inside the four walls of the church). Where the Spiritual giftings of the prophetic, wisdom, discernment, miracles, healing, word of knowledge, faith, tongues, and interpretation of tongues are manifesting in every believer every day!

The above is a brief description of deep wells of the Holy Spirit flowing from our bellies as rivers of living waters.

I sense that the Lord’s eyes are roving the Earth in pursuit of the righteous individuals who will desire Him to build lasting foundations in their lives in order to prepare them for His coming glory. He needs to change our foundations so that the old ones won’t be corrupted or destroyed by the new wine. He is doing this foundational work for our behalf! So that we can stand throughout His glory, and remain standing until our respective ends (this unfortunately has been a rare feat for believers).

I believe discernment says that there is urgency to the hour to get right before God. The time is now to revisit our hidden sins, and to place them under the Light. The light of transparency with our lives will propel us to victory far sooner than if we try to deal with our sins in the secret.

And of course prayer is a necessity. The prayer of, ‘Lord, please humble me and purify me. Please bring me to the place where I fall on the Rock and break. Please build Your everlasting foundation in my vessel.’ Is the type of prayer that I believe God is especially attentive to in this day and age. Why, because He’s totally enthused with the goal of sending His glory to us in a manner that the Earth has yet to see!

He’s coming in the form of the greatest revival of all time, before He returns in the flesh. The time for preparation is at hand!