"Much More"

Rom 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Rom 5:15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

Rom 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Rom 11:12 Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!

Heb 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Today I was pondering the name of this Blog's url,(Much More Of Jesus) Wow! What an awesome realization regarding the One whom Indwells us. His "LIFE" dwelling in me/you, which enables each of us to live and reign.

Child of God, know you have been Raised from the Dead,to walk in Newness of "LIFE"... His "LIFE"!

Now Go, and live the"LIFE," by the Much More within.

NOT FORM BUT LIFE

By: James M. Campbell

From beginning to end the teaching of Paul was opposed to the religion of form. It was decidedly anti-ritualistic. Paul never ceased to thunder against the religionists of his day, who put stress upon the puerilities of piety. So little value did he put upon rules and ceremonies, that he seems at times to disparage the externals of religion. "Weak and beggarly elements" he calls them (see Gal. 4:9-11). At best they were crutches for the lame, to be thrown away when the vivifying power of Christ had been experienced. Dependence upon them, on the part of a Christian, was a return to legalism. To assign saving efficacy to them was to fall from grace.

On the other hand, Paul put emphasis upon the religion of the spirit. In his contention with his Judaizing opponents his battleground was that of the spirit versus the letter. He stood for the spiritual interpretation of Christianity. The keynote of his ministry is contained in the words, "Neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation" (Gal. 6:15). All his interest centered in the vital things of religion; and he never wearied of warning against the danger of making the performance of prescribed ceremonials the test of discipleship, instead of the transformation of the heart and life through faith in Jesus Christ. Rites and ceremonies were to him the mere costume of religion. Their value lay in their spiritual significance. The material emblems of the Lord's Supper spoke to him of a mystic bread and wine with which the soul was fed. He saw beneath the circumcision which was " outward in the flesh," a "circumcision made without hands" (Col. 2:11); a circumcision" of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of man but of God " (Rom. 2:29). There was nothing he dreaded more than seeing his converts "subject themselves to ordinances" (Col. 2:20); thus bringing themselves under the heavy yoke of ceremonialism from which they had been delivered. He repudiated the idea that Christianity is an ironclad system of rules; and declared, " Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty " (2 Cor. 3:17). Forms he used just so far as they were of use; but he did not tie himself down to them. He was freed from their slavery. He exercised his common sense in adapting them to existing conditions, breaking, if need be, "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" in the letter, that he might keep it in the spirit.

Mysticism has always come in as a rebound from formalism in religion. The use of set forms tends to formality; ritualism has a way of becoming mechanical; the strict observance of the letter is apt to strangle the life of the spirit. This tendency to externality, which is especially strong in the Western mind, will, if allowed free course, develop into a religion which consists in something lying outside of experience, something to be studied as you might study botany or astronomy. To this tendency mysticism furnishes an antidote, by appealing from form to life. In times of barrenness it exerts a freshening force, by bringing the Church back to what is vital in religion. Professor Stearns says, "In every age when the life of the Church grows weak, and its inner fires die down, mysticism is needed. Christians must be made to realize that the hidden life of faith and communion with God is their true life."

From: Paul the Mystic: A Study in Apostolic Experience. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1908.

Psa 89:15 Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise, who shout on parade in the bright presence of GOD.
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POWER OR LIFE?

By: Bob George

I discovered why Christian service had been killing me. I already knew about the Holy Spirit; in fact, I had taught lectures about His ministry in our lives. But I always associated Him with power: giving me power to share Christ, power to understand the Bible, power to teach, power to serve. Of course, there is truth in that. But I was missing the single most important aspect of having the Holy Spirit ­ the fact that through Him I have received the very life of God.

As long as I associated the Spirit's ministry only with power, the emphasis was still on me. My prayers were most often, "God, help me to do this activity." God may have been providing some help, but I was still doing it. When I was doing it, there was no lasting joy or fulfillment, and eventually I reached a state of total burnout. Finally I learned that Christ did not come to "help" me serve God; He came to live His life through me! That is why Paul wrote:

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Failing to hold onto these truths, the Christian world has become so frantic in its activity that it reminds me of the well-known definition of a fanatic: "A person who redoubles his efforts after he has lost sight of his goals." Over and over we have witnessed the spectacle of people coming forward in a service to recommit their lives. In essence, they are coming down to say, "God, I'm really serious this time. This time I'll do it if it kills me!"

To them I say, "Don't worry. It will!" I know, because it killed me. We have simply not come to grips with the fact that it isn't hard to live the Christian life. It's impossible! Only Christ can live it. Our only hope is to learn that Jesus Christ did not come just to get men out of hell and into heaven; He came to get Himself out of heaven and into men!

Many Christians have been trying to ground out the Christian life on their own, resulting in failure. They cry out for God's help. I respond; a dead man doesn't need help. A dead man needs life!" Salvation is not just something that Christ did for us, but it is Jesus Christ Himself living in us.

From: Classic Christianity. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers. ©1989.

One Nature

By: Dan Stone

There's a deep rut in the Christian faith, as most believers experience it. It's like a ditch that you run your car into and can't get out of. Unless God tows a believer out of the rut, he or she will never fully live out of their union with Christ.

The rut is this: most of us believe that in the depths of our being we are both good and bad. Or, to put it in theological terms, we are both righteous and sinful. Using a common illustration, we believe that we have within us both a white dog and a black dog, a good nature and a bad nature, that are fighting for control.

But that is not true. It is vital that we know it's not true, because if we believe that we are both righteous and sinful, it will be impossible to live out of our union with Christ and to rest, trusting that He lives through us moment by moment. Instead, we will be focused on ourselves, on getting our act together, on winning the war that supposedly rages within us, trying to suppress the bad part of us so that the good part will reflect the character of Christ. This endless self-effort is the complete opposite of what Paul wrote:

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God... (Galatians 2:20)

The only way out of this dilemma, of believing that we are both good and bad, is to understand that the realm of the spirit, above the line, is singular. It is one. The realm of appearances, below the line, is a duality. It is two.

In the realm of appearances, there is constant evidence of good and evil, both outside and inside us. If we judge by appearances, we arrive at the logical conclusion that we are both good and bad. That looks entirely valid. Christians have believed this for centuries. Except for a small minority who have come to know their true identity in Christ, the whole Christian world accepts the lie. Unfortunately, although something may not be true above the line, if below the line we think it is true, it still controls us. We must choose to live out of what is singular, rather than what is dual.

The realm of the spirit, the singular realm, is eternal reality. That is where our spirit being lives, and where our true identity is settled forever. The realm of appearance, although we must live in it in the here and now, is false as far as our identity goes. All of life depends on which realm is ultimate reality to you: the realm of spirit or the realm of appearances. That's going to determine what you believe and how you live.

Choosing to believe that you are not both good and evil can be difficult. All of the external proof, all of the apparent evidence, all of the sight, supports the opposite: that you have two natures. "You are good, yes, a little good, but boy, you are still wicked; you are still evil." Only the Holy Spirit can reveal to you that you only have one nature, not two. In the core of your being you are not both righteous and sinful; you are only righteous.

From: Stone, Dan, The Rest of the Gospel: When the partial Gospel has worn you out. Dallas: One Press. 2000. pgs. 89,90.

BEING AND DOING

By: Major W. Ian Thomas

This is divine vocation into which you have been redeemed, as "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that you should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10) can only be fulfilled in the energy and power of the One who indwells you now by His Spirit, as He walked once only in the energy and power of the Father who indwelt Him through the Spirit. Of Himself He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:19), and of you He says, in John 15:5, "Without me you can do nothing."

How much can you do without Him? Nothing!

It is amazing how busy you can be doing nothing! Did you ever find that out? "The flesh ­ everything that you do apart from Him ­ "profiteth nothing" (John 6:63), and there is always the awful possibility, if you do not discover this principle, that you may spend a lifetime in the service of Jesus Christ doing nothing! You would not be the first, and you would not be the last ­ but that, above everything else, we must seek to avoid!

So you discover that the life which you possess as a born-again Christian is of Him, and it is to Him, and every moment that you are here on earth it must be through Him ­ of Him, through Him, to Him all things! "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1).

The Lord Jesus Christ claims the use of your body, your whole being, your complete personality so that as you give yourself to Him through the eternal Spirit, He may give Himself to you through the eternal Spirit, that all your activity as a human being on earth may be His activity in and through you; that every step you take, every word you speak, everything you do, everything you are, may be an expression of the Son of God, in you as man.

If it is of Him and through Him and to Him, where do you come in? You do not! That is just where you go out! That is what Paul meant when he said, "For me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). The only Person whom God credits with the right to live in you is Jesus Christ; so reckon yourself to be dead to all that you are apart from what He is, and alive unto God only in all that you are because of what He is (Romans 6:1 1).

It is for you to BE ­ it is for Him to DO! Rest fully available to the Saving Life of Christ.

From: The Saving Life of Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1961.

Joh 15:8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."

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THE SECRET OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

What have you been told is the secret to the Christian life? Pray and read your Bible? Go to church? Witness? Speak in tongues? Tithe?

Let me go on record. I do not believe anything on that list even comes close to the issue of how to live the Christian life. All have one inherent flaw. The fatal flaw? Every item on the aforementioned list assumes that it is possible to live the Christian life. Can you live the Christian life? The answer is no, a resounding NO! You cannot live the Christian life.

That list takes for granted you can live the Christian life. Also note that you are the center of every item on that list. Call it "you-centeredness." You out there living the Christian life. You cannot live the Christian life. Jesus Christ could not live the Christian life. None of us can live the Christian life! If Jesus Christ cannot live the Christian life, what makes you think that you can? You can give up trying to live the Christian life! We can all testify what a colossal failure we have been at trying to live the Christian life.

God the Father lives the Christian life. "How does God the Father live the Christian life?" He doesn't. He is the Christian life. He is the highest life. God the Father is the wellspring, the source, the first motion, and the fountainhead of the Christian life.

The Father indwelt His Son here on this earth for thirty-three years. The Father lived the Christian life inside Jesus Christ. It was the Father's life, and the Father's life alone, which lived the Christian life inside your Lord. It is the Father's life, and the Father's life alone, that ever lives the Christian life. It is the Father's life, and Father's life alone, which will live the Christian life in you. Embrace a formula or a list in order to "live the Christian life," and you are doomed to frustration.

But on the day you quit trying to live the Christian life ...then you will finally give Him the freeway to live out in you what is so easy and so simple and so organic for Him to do. Hopefully, you just got set free from a long list of do's and don'ts (the "do's" you can't do, and the "don'ts" you always do). Why look so shocked; stop and think about it. You never were any good at living the Christian life. Admit it.

From: The Secret of the Christian Life by Gene Edwards

Old Rule-Keeping

Gal 2:21 "I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily."

Do you hear the Spirit through Paul? "If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily."

Child of God, live in the Freedom appropriated by the cross! Do not be deceived into thinking that your "right standing" with God, comes through keeping rules.

Be Free!

Psa 46:8 "Attention, all! See the marvels of GOD! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth..."
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The Two Veils

"And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." Mark 15:37, 38

"Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away." II Corinthians 3:12, 13

These two veils represent for us the two main aspects of God's eternal purpose. The veil in the temple and the veil on the face of Moses only exist in the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, they are removed. However, the sad fact remains that most Christians today are still living by the Old Covenant, and therefore, for them, the veils remain intact.

In order to see this, we must first understand the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Then, we must see in what ways we are still living by the Old Covenant. And then finally, we need to see the way out of the old system and into freedom of the new and living way. (Heb. 10:20)

The Way of the Old Covenant

Even though everything we read in the Old Testament really happened and is recorded there for our benefit, we need to realize that it is all shadow, symbols, and types of what was to come. What the Old Covenant brings to us in shadow and type, the New brings to us in reality and fulfillment. The main relevance of the Old Covenant to us is that we can learn about the reality by looking at the shadow. There are many riches stored for us in those shadows.

The first thing we need to realize is that the Old Covenant was externally based. Everything happened on the outside of the believer. An external law was given to be obeyed externally. The ceremonial washing of hands is a good example of this. Jesus told the Pharisees that they washed their hands on the outside, but on the inside they were filled with all sorts of uncleanness. The Jews took the law and tried to obey it to the letter. Basically we are looking at a "book religion" here. Read the book, and then do what it says. Holiness and transformation are based upon how well you obey the rules. The problem was that no one could obey all of them. No one could be good, no not one.

The second main aspect of the Old Covenant is that there was no direct access to God. In a sense God was in a box! The Box was called the Ark of the Covenant. No one had access to the box except the high priest once per year when he would enter the holy of holies and perform sacrifices for the sins of the people. There was a veil separating the holy place from the holy of holies that contained the presence of God Himself. No one could pass through that veil except the high priest and he had to perform all kinds of rituals to prepare for that. Direct access by the people was restrictive and external.

Another aspect of the Old Covenant is that it was only temporary. Of course, this makes sense since it was the forerunner to the New Covenant fulfillment. This brings us to the second veil which is found on the face of Moses.

The New and Living Way

In the New Covenant we have the substance and fulfillment of all things that were shadowed in the Old.

Now, everything becomes internal. God comes to actually live inside of the believer. This is accomplished by something the scriptures call "spirit." God is Spirit and he puts a spirit into each one of us. Now when we receive the Lord Jesus Christ, He actually and literally comes to live in our spirits by means of His Spirit. The law is no longer an external set of rules that are written on stone tablets, they have all been fulfilled by a Person who has now come to indwell the believer. Now, it is the life of the Person inside the believer that fulfills every law, not the believer himself (Galatians 2:20).


Moses would go up the mountain to meet with God. Being in God's presence would somehow affect the face of Moses so that it would actually shine or glow. Paul called this "glow" glory, which in the original language means: brilliance, splendor, magnificence, excellence, and beauty. The "glory" of God shone (or was expressed) on the face of Moses whenever he would meet with God. However, this glory would fade from his face after a period of time. The glory was temporary because it was external. So we can see from this that the expression of God would only come through meeting with God. But in the Old Covenant, both the meeting (or fellowship) with God and the expression of God were only temporary because or their external nature.

Access to God has now become complete and intimate. The veil blocking the entrance to the holy of holies has been torn. But now, much more has taken place in our access to God than we could have ever imagined. Through Christ, our access to God is infinitely greater than under the Old Covenant. Not only can we be in His direct presence, now we can actually go inside of Him! Paul doesn't' speak of being in God's presence, he only talks about being "in Christ." The believer is now actually inside of his Lord! This is so much better than being in His presence. This is as intimate as you can get! When you are in the presence of someone you can only get to know them to a certain degree. The only way to completely know that person is to go inside of them to know their thoughts and feelings. That's intimacy! That's the New Covenant!

The expression of God' glory is now permanent because that glory resides internally. Fellowship with God happens in the spirit of the believer and the resulting outward expression is permanent. Paul said it this way: "Christ in you, the hope of glory!" We have no use for a veil because we know that glory will not fade.

Moving from One Covenant to Another

Like I said at the beginning of this article, most Christians today are still living as if in the Old Covenant. We are in the New Covenant, but we live out our lives as if we are under the Old. Please let me explain.

We practice our Christian faith, for the most part, in an external way. We feel that by using external means something will happen internally. Think about all of the things you are told to do to be a "good" Christian. Read the bible, pray, go to church, give, worship, witness, etc. Those things are essentially all external and are not to be the means or engine that drives your life. We are still a "book religion." We read the bible and then do what it ways. We hear the Pastor preach a sermon on Sunday and then we do what he says.

We get to know God by getting to know the bible better. We still view God as being outside of us up in heaven somewhere. We have no Christ-in-you consciousness. We believe that Christ lives in us but we don't live like it. In summary, we don't live the Christian life like Jesus did. He lived His life by an indwelling Father. We live our lives by "religious" activities. We go to church meetings hoping to "feel" the presence of the Lord. We are waiting for Him to arrive, but He is already inside of us! We are still living behind the veils!

Paul said that when someone turns to the Lord the veil is removed (II Cor. 3:16). Brothers and sisters, we need to learn how to turn to the Lord who lives in our spirits.

written by Milt Rodriguez

THE THIRD DAY I SHALL BE PERFECTED

by Doug Fortune

It is within the context of the 'word picture' of marriage that we also find Paul's famous discourse in Romans chapter 7. You know, the one where he says, "For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing... O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death?" (Romans 7:19 & 24 Amplified Bible) This passage is often misunderstood and often even utilized for attributing what I would call 'double mindedness' to Paul, and therefore justifying it in ourselves. However, when we discover the context in which Paul speaks, it makes perfect sense. You see, the context for Romans chapter 7 begins in Romans chapter 1; "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from FAITH to FAITH: as it is written, The just shall live by FAITH." (Romans 1:17) It is continued in Romans chapter 5; "Therefore being justified by FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" (Romans 5:1) The basic context of Paul's discussion in chapter 7 is that performance of the LAW cannot bring us to perfection or completion, it is only by FAITH. Paul even begins his discourse by saying, "I speak after the manner of men..." (Romans 6:19 KJV), or as the Amplified Bible states it, "I am speaking in familiar human terms because of your natural limitations." (Romans 6:19 Amplified Bible). So when we read, "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good." (Romans 7:14-16), we must understand that Paul is speaking rhetorically as one who is trying to come to perfection by performance of the LAW. Paul is NOT making excuse for this kind of double minded life! He is saying that this is the kind of life that the 'law-based' mentality produces- double mindedness. Remember, this is the same Paul that says, "For to me to live IS CHRIST, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21) This is the Paul that says, "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet NOT I, but Christ LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the FAITH of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I do NOT frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2:19-21) When kept within the context of the rest of his writings, it is obvious that Paul is speaking rhetorically when he says, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24) Paul was certainly not a wretched man, but he could see that that is exactly what a 'law-based' mentality produced.

(Find article in its entirety by clicking on the title)

Seek Me!

I think so often we approach the Word of God seeking knowledge and/or understanding, ( ie., right, wrong, etc....)

Today as I was running, I believe I heard the Lord say, stop seeking knowledge and "seek Me." Learn to hear the the Spirit behind the words that give "Life." Do not be dupped into believing that words give "Life."

The last Adam, Jesus.... became a "Life-Giving Spirit."

Joh 6:26 "Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you "seek Me"....."

2Co 3:6 "who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

Give "LIFE"

Joh 5: 21-22 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given/bestowed all judgment to the Son,"

Joh 8:14-15 "Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone."

I find it interesting that God the Father, and God the Son, Judges No One. Why, because he has Given/Committed, all judgement to the Son.

You see, God is in the business of Raising the Dead! Our natural inclination is to Kick the Dead because of the Judgement in our own Heart or we feel under Judgement. Remember, All Judgement has been committed to the Son! What a Glorious, Liberating Truth.

We will recognize if a person is under Law or Grace by what is flowing out of them.

I believe we have been called to Raise Dead things to Life by the "Life" within. God is a Life -Giving God, always looking to Impart Life.

This "Life" that comes from within, will always manifest a Disposition of Kindness and Grace, even in the Face of Adversity...... Walking in Gracious Liberality goes beyond human limitations.

Gal 2:20 Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I conceive we have been called to "Go".... Raise people from the Dead.... and Give Life!

Isa 40:31 But those who wait upon GOD get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.

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When the Holy Spirit Convicts

by Paul Rupe

If you've been in church for a while I am sure you've heard the term "Holy Spirit Conviction." What exactly is that? I've heard many say that "Holy Spirit conviction" is when a person is convicted of his or her sin.

Jesus, speaking of the Holy Spirit, said in John 16:7-11

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

The word "reprove" in this verse is the Greek word "Elegcho" which means, "To convict, refute, confute." Who is it that the Holy Spirit convicts? Let's look again . .

And when he is come, he will reprove the world . . .

What does the Holy Spirit reprove the world of?

Of sin . . .

Why does the Holy Spirit reprove the world of sin?

. . . because they believe not on me . . .

Jesus died for our sins. We enjoy the benefits of a relationship with God when we trust in Jesus and His finished work. The Holy Spirit reproves the world, in other words, the unbelievers of sin, and shows them their inability to measure up to the law of God. He convicts unbelievers of the fact that they have not trusted Christ and His sacrifice for the removal of their sins.

The Holy Spirit also reproves the world of righteousness and judgement. Let's look again . . .

Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

So the Holy Spirit points people to a righteousness outside of themselves and their deeds. He testifies of Jesus' finished work. He speaks of judgement. The devil has been judged, defeated and destroyed in the work of the cross.

If you're a believer and you've been asking the Holy Spirit to reveal sin in your life, know this: You have been forgiven! Stop trying to find what Jesus has removed. Jesus has finished the work! Will the Holy Spirit lead you to the right behavior? Of course, but He will never accuse you of sin if you've trusted Jesus as your Savior - Jesus dealt with your sin once and for all. That was at the cross.

In Christ

by T. Austin-Sparks (excerpt)

There is no phrase or formula which occurs with greater frequency in the New Testament than this, "in Christ." It sometimes varies in translations when "by" and "through" and "with" are used, and sometimes in the original text it changes in form, e.g. "in Christ Jesus," "in him," etc., but in all the two hundred times of its occurrence the principle is the same. In the whole range of Christian dogma there is nothing more expensive, and yet nothing less understood and appreciated.

In one consummate declaration we are told that God has purposed to sum up all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10) and that outside of Him there is nothing which has any place in the eternal purpose and intention of God. The plan, the method, the resources, the times, the eternities, are Christospheric.

The Creation is IN Christ.
The Life is IN Christ.
The Acceptance is IN Christ.
The Redemption is IN Christ.
The Righteousness is IN Christ.
The Sanctification is IN Christ.
The Hope is IN Christ.
The Spiritual Blessings are IN Christ.
The Consolation is IN Christ.
The Peace is IN Christ.
The Effectual Prayer is only IN Christ.
The Strength and Riches are IN Christ.
The Eternal Purpose is IN Christ.
The New Creation is IN Christ.
The Promises are IN Christ.
The Escape from Condemnation is IN Christ.
The One Body is IN Christ.
The Perseverance is IN Christ.
The Gathering into One is IN Christ.
The Bonds of Suffering Believers are IN Christ.
The "No Separation" is IN Christ.
The Perfect Man is IN Christ.
The Helpers Together are IN Christ.
There are the Churches IN Christ.
There are the Dead IN Christ.
There is the One New Man and the Perfect Man IN Christ.
We are Complete IN Christ.

Christ Our Life

by T. Austin-Sparks

One of the main objects of the Holy Spirit is to get believers really identified with Christ as the risen and exalted Lord, and to make His risen life real in their experience. As the age moves toward its consummation - the manifestation of Christ - two features will become increasingly evident. On the one hand things, men, movements, institutions, organizations, etc., will predominate and draw multitudes after them, and will attach the crowds to themselves. On the other hand, with a growing disappointment and disillusionment over these, a minority will turn to the Lord Himself to find Him alone as their life. Three elements will inhere in all this. One is the unmistakable development of the principle of Anti-christ; that which will definitely supplant Christ, or intend to do so. The second is the alternative to the whole Christ in man-made Christianity, an imitation life born and carried on by its own momentum. The third, a deep and genuine quest for reality, truth, and inward knowledge of the Lord Himself. In the first case it will be naked worship of man in human power: a tremendous overflow of humanism, the wonder and glory of man. The third will be Christ altogether as the life. If the Christian is attached to some thing, such as a teaching, a tradition, an institution, a movement, or person, the end will certainly be a limitation of life and eventually confusion and disappointment, perhaps worse. The New Testament makes it unmistakably clear and emphatic that the destiny of all is to be "Christ all and in all." We must learn that a true work of the Spirit of God is to attach everything to Christ Himself. He, Christ, must be the life of our spirit, the "inner man," so that we are strong in the Lord: not in ourselves, nor in others, nor in things. We shall have to survive adversity by His strength within alone. Christ will have to be the life of our mind. Perplexity will find us without the power to explain and understand, but the Spirit will teach and lead. Christ will need to be life for our bodies. There is such a thing as Divine life for the physical body. Not always does the Lord choose to heal the body, but He does always want to be its life, even in suffering, to fulfill His purpose. It is the Lord Himself, and for this to be so, it often has to be against a background of natural inability. The power of His resurrection is the law of union with Christ from beginning to end. Days of terrific pressure are upon the Lord’s people. Their enemy is taking very little off-time. The only sufficiency is in the Lord Himself as our life. Barnabas exhorted the believers at the beginning that "with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord" (Acts 11:23). There is an utterness about this that will be pressed upon us until the time "when Christ who is our life, shall be manifested."

1 John 3

by Jim Minker

Shovelation Series

The Shovelation is a continuing project of mine where I am taking the old letters found in the new testament Bible and updating them to be better understood. I am not merely performing an on-the-fly paraphrase but am considering each from the standpoint of its individual context. I'm also taking into account many other Biblical references and contexts that give some unusual insights into what are often very misunderstood writings.

Why do you think it should be so difficult to recognize the deception of those who are claiming to speak for God? Listen past their words into the reality of what they preach! They breed fear and insecurity with their words. But we have a FATHER who assures us by calling us CHILDREN OF GOD, and that is what we are! It makes no difference that the world can't see it, they didn't accept Jesus as being born of God, either. For who we really are cannot be evaluated by any of our senses, nor do we have any idea what that life will look like when the outer shell is finally peeled off. We do know this much, though: when HE appears, WE will be exactly like Him because we will see Him exactly as HE is! There is no other possibility, since He is light and there is no darkness in Him!

YOU have the same thing WE have which is what HE had. Those who find their hope in Him walk in a reality where sin has been removed -- which is the same reality He walked in! On the other hand, everyone who sins also has a “bent” to do so, they can't help it. For that's what sin is: the automatic move away from God. But, you know, He came specifically to take AWAY sins; and in Him there is no sin. There is a reality hidden from our human perceptions: the one who has been joined together in Him DOESN'T sin; but the one who sins hasn't seen Him, nor does he know Him. Don't let anybody trick you on this, for the one who does right IS right, EXACTLY in the same way that Jesus is right. So, I ask you, what makes Jesus right?

The evil one is “daddy” to all who sin, for sin has been his legacy from the beginning. But the son of God showed up to create a new reality from out of the old. By His doing, he destroyed the doings of the evil one. Here is the reality of His new creation: no one who is born of God sins because God's seed is in him! Why do you look at yourself as if you were still part of the old creation? Anyone born of God CANNOT sin because they share the same nature with God! Can't you see the obvious difference between God's kids and the devil's kids? The one who doesn't do God's deeds – or can't love his brother – is not of God. The distinction of loving one another is the prime reality of the message we passed on to you. This same difference existed between the first set of brothers. Cain was of the evil one and he hated his brother because God had accepted Abel's deeds as being right. And it drove him to kill his brother.

So, why are you surprised when you discover that this world's “love” is only an illusion? And why be shocked that under the thin facade lies a real hatred that is directed at YOU? This reality of love in us is what convinces us that we have crossed over from among the dead into true life. The one who doesn't have this love still remains in death. Everyone – regardless of the facade of professed love – who hates his “brother” is a killer that has no conscience. And cold-blooded killers don't have the eternal knowledge of the Father within them.

Love? With so many claiming to be authorities, how can we know what love is? Because it's essence has been revealed in this: unlike the brother-hater, Jesus laid down HIS life for US. Love IN US works itself out in the same way -- though it will be questioned by many, just as HIS love was also questioned. Your society has gotten used to "philanthropists" and "humanitarians" whose "wonderful deeds" are praised throughout the world, but none of it replaces the true motivation that comes from a heart set free! How is it that you have come to associate the world's kind of “love” with the love of God? What I'm asking is this: how many times have you taught yourself to ignore the pretension of “generosity” in someone who only helps those who can pay him back, but manages to avoid helping the brother truly in need? But you, who are in Christ, true love is an indisputable reality that has been put within you which causes you to lay down your life for each other. Don't let the world's absurdity sway you into thinking that words are the power behind love; or that saying something “just right” will make up for the lack of reality!

Do you realize that this distinction causes us to know that we are of the truth? It's also what brings assurance before God when we are hearing that damning voice that accuses us before Him. And it makes no difference what it is that we condemn ourselves over, because God is greater than that damning voice. And keep this in mind: He ALREADY knows your “deep secrets” and your fears that they are severing your relationship with Him. Wouldn't you agree that if that damning voice had no more evidence against you -- if it was silenced -- then you would have confidence before God? It is this ASSURANCE that there is no more condemnation -- I say again, NO MORE CONDEMNATION -- that brings the realization that He gives us whatever we ask. For contrary to the old perception that something within us displeases God, it has been made known to us that we, through the finished work of Christ, are the ones who do what He says. Yes! WE are those miraculous creations that do His will! It is the voice of condemnation that tells you otherwise! As that voice is being silenced it is being revealed that we really do please God in all we do.

Stop, and consider: WHAT is it that we have been called to? Believing in the name of His son, Jesus Christ; and loving one another. And those in whom this is true are the ones who live in him, and He lives in them. HOW do we know that He lives in us? By the Spirit He has given us.

My Beautiful Wife

Eph 5:31 And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh."

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"....but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

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Jake Colsen Story

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore

"...The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light." (James 1:17)msg
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Ephesians
by Jack Gray

Excerpt:
"All of us, when we read the Bible, tend to do so wearing coloured spectacles. The colour of these glasses depends on our church affiliation, or on our doctrinal stance. The spectacles serve to blind us to those things in Scripture which do not line up with our way of thinking, and to emphasise what accords with our own particular denominational or theological background. I am personally aware that this has been true in my own life, and I have changed the colour of my glasses a number of times, finding, each time, truths which had been hidden before, and fresh meaning in things which I had previously thought, mistakenly, that I had fully understood. No doubt I am still seeing through spectacles which are not totally clear and free of colour, but, having laid aside all church system associations, and coming to the Epistle to the Ephesians afresh, it has again been my joyous experience to see some of the truth of this wonderful Epistle of the Church in new and exciting ways, and I find myself saying, “Why didn’t I see that before?” And I realise that it was because it had been obscured by those very spectacles I have been referring to.

Could there be any more comprehensive revelation of the utterly complete provision which Christ has made for His Church? These glorious facts lay the axe at the roots of all institutionalism, of all human headship and control, and call us into a relationship of simple faith-dependence on Christ our Head, secure in His love, His constant care and provision, and looking to Him to fulfil His word to present to Himself a Church resplendent in beauty and holiness. Where are those who are willing to come out of the ecclesiastical organisations and institutions, putting away dependence on men and casting themselves in self-abandonment into the arms of the wholly-sufficient Husband of the Church, His body of which, by grace, we are members? Only those who have the courage so to do will be in a place to prove the truths of this altogether blessed revelation. Are you ready to say, “I will” to this Husband?"

Dead to Sin!

(Rom 6:11) "From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did." (msg)

"Lord, wake-up your Church to this marvelous truth, that we are Alive and not Dead! Make us aware, by the renewing of our minds, the Much More of your Son, Jesus! Please transcend our old ways of thinking and help us to realize the reality of what "is" versus the illusion of what seems."

MEETING TOGETHER

The Pilgrim Path

Meeting Together

Jack Gray

"Jesus said, "Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." The verb, "gathered" is in the passive mood. Do we trust Jesus to do the gathering, or do we arrange gatherings? We are finding that, as we allow Jesus to do it, He provides times and occasions of rich intimate fellowship and times of mutual encouragement, quite often when we have not expected it. I look forward to the time when there will be a restoration of that original creation of God, a pure unified Church, unified, not by the ecumenical schemes of men, but by the Holy Spirit of God, released in fresh Pentecostal power among us. Then, I have no doubt, there will be large "family reunions", joyful gatherings with wonderful fellowship, but no religious services conducted by men. These gatherings will be creative events directed and orchestrated by the Holy Spirit."

Rom 6:5 "Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country."

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