Raise The Dead!

(This is a Re-Post from earlier, tripp)

The below thoughts came concerning Judgement and the Institutional Church (IC).... after reading much concerning judgement, and the times we are living in!

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 God the Father,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.

I consider the people who support the "Institutional Church" (IC) are, by and large, "Dead-Men-Walking". They do not understand the Love and Grace of God which would compell a person to step out of the church-system and abandon themselves wholly, unto the Lord. They are more concerned about "doing" church instead of "Being" the Church! That kind of Radical "Life" goes against the "Religious" grain. However; should it be our goal to fear the people into "Being," or "Go" and Give Life!

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

Saving Life of Christ

By:Major Ian Thomas

. . . . "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." As the "good, acceptable, and perfect will of God" was implemented by the Son through dependence on the Father, so that "good, acceptable, and perfect will of God" may be implemented by you through dependence on the Son.

This divine vocation into which you have been redeemed, as "His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has 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! So what is everything you do without Him? Nothing!

It is amazing how busy you can be doing nothing! . . . "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!

. . . 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 you 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 6:11).

When the world looked at Jesus Christ, they saw God! They heard Him speak and they saw Him act. And Jesus said, "As my Father has sent Me, even so send I you" (John 20:21). The world again will hear God speak and see God act!

Is is for you to BE--it is for Him to DO! Restfully available to the Saving Life of Christ, enjoying "the richest measure of the divine Presence, a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself," instantly obedient to the heavenly impulse--this is your vocation, and this is your victory! (The Saving Life of Christ, pp. 150-52).

Hollywood Pastor Calls on Christians to Give Up "Christianity" This Easter

As Christians across the country prepare to mark the death and resurrection of Christ next month with Easter lilies, the Hallelujah Chorus, and afternoon brunches, one evangelical pastor and popular author imagines how Jesus would view it all: “I believe Jesus would say, ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU THINK I DIED FOR THIS!” said Erwin McManus . . .

“The greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is ‘Christianity.’ ”

“Jesus began His public ministry with a simple invitation: ‘Come, follow Me.’ … A quick survey of the modern church would lead you to believe His invitation was ‘Come, and listen,’ ” writes McManus. “Jesus is being lost in a religion bearing His name.”

The New Covenant

By: Bob George

Robert reluctantly entered the lawyer’s office. He sat quietly as the lawyer read aloud the last will and testament of his father. For Robert, this formality seemed like a waste of time. Years ago, he had read the will and knew that his father had left him nothing.

Robert knew why. He never lived up to the high standards that his dad set for him growing up. He hadn’t become the doctor his dad wanted him to be. He even failed to complete his college education. When Robert left home, he did so knowing that he was one big disappointment to his dad.

While Robert was thinking about how he had disappointed his dad, the lawyer read, “and to Robert I leave...” Robert perked up. To his surprise his dad had left him – “the savings account, the house, the art collection, and the little red sports car that Robert has always wanted.”

The lawyer noticed a shocked look on Robert’s face and asked him if he had any questions.

“Are you sure that my dad left me all of these things? I’ve read my dad’s will and know that I wasn’t included. I was just a big failure to him.”

The lawyer smiled and said, “That was your father’s old will. He changed it to include you as one of the heirs to his fortune. And it is this last will that is in effect today. Robert, your dad shared with me how disappointed he was that you did not know that he loved you. He had hoped that you would see his great love for you through this new will.”

For most of us, our relationship to God is much like Robert’s relationship with his dad. We’ve read God’s old will and have tried to live up to His standards. But His standards are out of our reach. As a result, all we expect to get from God is condemnation and punishment. Yet, we are not under God’s old covenant. He loves us and has written a brand new covenant, and it is this new covenant that we live under today.


The Cross: Dividing Line of Human History

It is interesting to me that the birth of Christ is the single event that divides human history into two parts. Only a small percentage of the world believes that Jesus Christ is God and that He is the Savior of the world. Yet the world’s calendars use Christ’s birth to divide history into BC and AD – BC meaning “before Christ” and AD meaning “in the year of our Lord.” Even though the world does not recognize Christ for who He is, it does recognize the fact that all of human history centers around Jesus Christ.

God, too, pointed to Jesus Christ as the centerpiece of human history. However, where we point to his birth, God looks at the cross of Jesus Christ as the dividing line of human history. Why? Because Jesus’ death changed the basis of God’s dealing with man. This gives new meaning to our terminology, BC and AD. BC from God’s vantage point means “Before Cross,” and as I jokingly say, AD means, “After De Cross.”

How He dealt with mankind before the cross is different from how He deals with you and me today. Before the cross, God dealt with man on the basis of obedience to the law. Today, God deals with man on the basis of His love and grace.

The reason for the change is that Christ’s death ushered in a brand new covenant. This new covenant has been prophesied throughout the Old Testament, and the day Christ died it went into effect.

A covenant is the same as a will. For a will or covenant to go into effect, the one who made it must die. Most of us understand this from our legal system. If you have a will, it will not go into effect until you die. This is what Hebrews 9:16-17 tells us: “In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.” Therefore, for the new covenant that God had promised to go into effect, Christ had to die.

The Old Covenant

This new covenant is different from the covenant that God had established with Moses and the nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai. After being in bondage and slavery for four hundred years, God led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. The Israelites camped at Mt. Sinai and there God gave them the law for their own protection and benefit.

This covenant was conditional, however. If they would obey Him fully and keep the laws He set before them, then they would be His “treasured possession...and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5,6). To this, the Israelites responded, “All that You have commanded we will do” (Exodus 19:8). Their response reveals man’s pride in his belief that he has the ability to produce righteousness. As we will see later, this is the purpose of the law in our lives.

To seal this covenant, Moses and the Israelites offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls to the Lord:

When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”
Hebrews 9:19,20

Moses then went back up to the mountain. However, before he could get down to bring the rest of God’s commands, the Israelites had already built a golden calf, saying “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). They could not keep the first commandment. Then, as if building a golden calf was not enough, they threw a party to honor their new god. The Israelites could not live up to the covenant. The Old Testament records the curses they received as a result of their disobedience. Like the Israelites, we can’t keep our end of the bargain, either.

The law demands perfection. Because we are all born in sin, it is impossible for anyone to live up to the righteous requirements of the law. But God’s intent was not for us to try to live up to the law. His intent was to show us our sinfulness and our need for salvation. And this is all the Old Covenant can show us. There is nothing wrong with the law. Paul wrote, “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy righteous and good” (Romans 7:10). The problem is with us. As Hebrews 8:7&8 says, “For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people.”

While teaching about God’s holy nature, the law also revealed how unholy and unrighteous man is. Paul explained his own experience:

Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire....
Romans 7:7,8

Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin.
Romans 3:20

The Law is perfect. When it flows through man’s sinful flesh, however, it shows how utterly sinful we truly are. We simply cannot live up to the stringent requirements of the law.

Paul discovered something else about the law; “the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death” (Romans 7:12). Coupled with the commandments is punishment for a violation. Under the law, the punishment for sin is death: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Because of this there is no hope under this old covenant.

I experienced the hopelessness of the law not long ago. A policeman turned on his flashing red lights and stopped me for speeding. I got out of the car and greeted him with a big smile.

Hi, officer,” I said. “I know I was driving a little fast, but I am on my way to teach a Bible study and I am running a little late.”

“Are you a minister?” the policeman asked.

“Why yes, I am.” I replied, thinking that I would get off with only a warning.

“Well, of all people, you should know better!” exclaimed the officer. An then, with a grin, he wrote out the ticket.

That’s the law. No mercy at all. The purpose of the ticket was to show me where I had failed. It condemned me. That’s what the Old Covenant did to man. It revealed our sinful nature and showed us how far we are from God’s standard of holiness. That’s the purpose of the law in our lives.

This is why Paul described the old covenant as the “ministry of condemnation,” and the “ministry that brought death” (2 Cor. 3). It was a covenant that required man to live up to its righteous standards, and to those who failed it said, “the wages of sin is death.” Because man could not live up to the requirements of the old covenant, he experienced fear and guilt, and as a result could never draw near to God.

That is where the Old Covenant leaves us; condemned and in need of something new. We need another covenant that has better provisions. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. Hebrews 7:18,19

The Old vs. The New

That “better hope” is found in the New Covenant. In contrast to the Old Covenant, it is a covenant of grace, not of law. The following passage of scripture will help us to see the differences between the two.

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 10:1-4

Forgiveness under the Old Covenant was a good news/bad news situation. Each year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest entered the most Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of a bull on the mercy seat to cover the sins of the people committed during the previous year.

Then two goats were sacrificed. One was slain at the altar, the other served as the scapegoat. The sins of the people were transferred symbolically to the scapegoat. And then it was driven out of the city, out into the wilderness, symbolizing the removal of the people’s sins. That was the good news.

The bad news was that the next day a person’s sins began adding up again. Next year, another sacrifice would be required. And the next year. And the next.

God graciously gave this system to Israel as a means for them to experience some relief from their guilt. These sacrifices only covered sins, they could not take them away. Under the Old Covenant, man could enjoy the blessing of God’s forgiveness, but that system provided no final solution.

That is why the law is only a shadow. It is a picture of Christ and His finished work on our behalf. It was not the reality. Once you have the real thing, there is no longer a need to focus on the picture. Under the New Covenant, Jesus died for sin once for all. He did not cover our sins like the sacrifices under the law did. He was the Lamb of God who took away our sins.

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for Me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.” Then I said, “Here I am – it is written about Me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, O God.” First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.
Hebrews 10:5-9

Although the law required sin offerings to be made, they could never pay the price for sin. In order for sin to be fully paid for and taken away, there had to be a perfect sacrifice. This is why Christ came into the world. He offered Himself as a spotless lamb that would take away the sin of the world. As a result, there is no longer any need to offer sacrifices. God has set aside the first covenant to establish a new and better covenant.

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for His enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever....”
Hebrews 10:10-14

One thing you would never find in an Old Testament temple is a chair. The reason is that a priest’s job was never finished. Since the sacrifices offered could never take away sin, they had to continually be offered to keep covering sins. But when Christ offered Himself once and for all, He said, “It is finished.” He then sat down at the right hand of God. We have been made holy and perfect forever through His final sacrifice. There is nothing left to offer God as a payment for sin.

The Holy Spirit also testified to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 10:15-18

The Old Covenant provided animal sacrifices that served as an annual reminder of sins and led to death. Christ’s death ushered in the New Covenant. He died in our place to take God’s punishment for our sins. As a result, God remembers our sins no more. No other sacrifice is required to gain more forgiveness. We have everything we need under this new covenant. Jesus Christ has done it all.

Entering God’s Rest

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Hebrews 4:9,10

After God had given the old covenant, He told the Israelites to go into the promised land. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years, however, because of their unbelief. Just as the Israelites were to enter the promised land and eat from trees they did not plant and drink from wells they did not dig. God has provided a permanent rest for us through the New Covenant. Our promised land is in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Everything is provided in Him. He offers a life of love, joy and peace to all who would receive it.

The only way to enter this rest is by faith. In order to rest, we must stop working. It is impossible to experience the abundant life in Christ while we are still trying to make ourselves acceptable before God by our own works. We must believe and trust in what Christ has done for us at the cross. Just as Robert’s father made provisions in his last will for Robert’s inheritance, God has made us holy and acceptable in His sight through the New Covenant.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the Blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his Body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:19-23

Are you still trying to live the Christian life in your own strength under law? God has provided a “new and living way” whereby we can enter into a permanent Sabbath Rest. Are you willing to enter in by faith today?

Psa 8:3 When I look upon Your heavens, the work of Your fingers: the moon and the stars which You have fixed;

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To Grieve or Not to Grieve?

(This is a Re-Post from earlier, tripp)

In response to concerns regarding "grieving the Holy Spirit", I think we grieve (distress) the Holy Spirit by trying to force standards of performance on ourselves or anyone else. You see, I believe Jesus Christ is the Standard, not the Law, not Confessing sins over- and- over or any other ritualistic performance/work on our part. Jesus Christ has already met every requirement/standard, to keep me in constant relationship/fellowship with Himself. That is why He is, constantly renewing our minds towards His much Higher Ways, which is the Much More of Jesus Christ . The battleground is the mind! We need a "New Mind" orientation toward the things of the Spirit, and being dead to sin and Alive to Jesus Christ!! We need the Mind Of Christ!!!! When we do things that seem contrary to who we are,(our reality), we need God to orient us toward who He says that we are, In Him, (His Reality). I choose His Reality, hopefully in ever-increasing Revelation. To Grieve or not to Grieve, that is the question?........ "Not." . . . Choose "Life"!

The Measure of Christ

by T. Austin-Sparks "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col.1:27). Read the whole verse carefully, fragment by fragment, to get the full import of its wonderful truth: "God was pleased to make known - what is the riches of the glory - of this mystery... which is, Christ in you." The riches of the glory, Christ in you! "Know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?" (2 Cor. 13:5). That interrogation of the Apostle is not without point, "Know ye not as to your own selves" - know ye not that Christ is in you? Do you not know this wonderful thing? "My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. 4:19). "Till Christ be formed in you"; this is a step on. "Whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29). Marvellous words! No man would dare to say this; they are here by revelation of the Holy Spirit. "Unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ... till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God... unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:7, 13; ARV). "The measure... of the fulness of Christ." We want immediately to focus everything in and upon the Lord Jesus Christ for it is He who is in view. What we have before us is not teaching or truth; that is, to be possessed of more knowledge of truth; it is not service; but it is the Lord Himself. The object of the Father from first to last is that the Son, the Lord Jesus, shall fill all things, and all things shall be filled with Christ. The value of everything in the eyes of God is according to the measure of the manifestation of Christ in it. It is from that standpoint God determines the importance of everything. If we become focussed there, it will make a great difference, much will have to go because it is not manifesting the Lord Jesus. We must understand that the Father has set the Lord Jesus before His eyes, and the Father's eyes are full of only one object, that is the Beloved, His Son; and in the eyes of God the value of everything is determined by the measure in which His Son is manifested and glorified; that is His end and that is His object. The All-Inclusiveness of Christ Spiritual service, vision, vocation, glorification, have no existence apart from Christ; they are not things as things, and cannot be had except in the Person of the Lord Jesus. To many salvation is as a thing. It is detached and regarded as something by itself; to be given by itself, for the good of those who receive it. Sanctification is wrapped up in the same way. So often we think of salvation and sanctification in relation to the persons in view, and so some thing for them, but it is Christ Himself who is salvation, He is sanctification, and He is within as these. It is the same with service and vocation; these are often seen only in regard to the persons themselves. "Saved to serve" is only part of the truth and is a dangerous slogan, for the motive, so often, is the service itself and not the Lord. You may be so driven with the service that He is left out. We have detached the thing from the Person, and we find we are gripped and wrapped in the claims of "service"; it becomes the drive of service, and in the end it breaks us. And again, when service becomes hard and difficult we say we will give it up, we will resign, thus showing we have separated service from the Person, and have been occupied, day in and day out, with it, the work, and not with the Lord Himself. And so with glorification; yes, this stirs us, we love to sing hymns about our glorification; but God means it to begin now and it must begin now. What is glorification? It is the full manifestation of Jesus Christ in us. God regards salvation, sanctification, vocation, service, glorification, as related to His Son, and of no value apart from Him; He is salvation, He is sanctification, etc. Salvation and sanctification are often held up to people as things to be received for their good; the object being for them to benefit from something received; often it is salvation for salvation's sake. God has not saved a single soul for salvation's sake. God is not after salvation as an end in itself, but for the sake of the Saviour, for the glory of His Son. It is not salvation that is in view, but the Saviour. If people are rejoicing in salvation merely as something received for their own benefit, the full end will be hidden by the first step. Is not this the cause of arrest and hold up? The worker has to be brought, by the way of seeing no deep fulness of result from his work, to the place where he cries out, "I can do nothing." So he comes to see the true nature of salvation, and that to save another soul is utterly beyond him, and is the work of God. So he comes to see God's object in salvation, which is the glory of His Son. Salvation is not something, it is the mighty incoming of a Person; "He that hath the Son hath life"; (1 John 5:12). "To as many as received Him" (John 1:12). This is also true in the matter of sanctification and service. Any service that is not fulfilled on the ground of the indwelling Christ as the Worker cannot effect the purpose of God, for only the Lord Jesus by His Spirit can do the work of God. Yes, you are called to be a servant in a service you can never fulfil! Service is the bringing of the Lord Jesus into view, and any service that does not do that is not the service of the Holy Spirit, but man's service which does not fulfil God's ends; it will be tested by the fire, and proved valueless. Christianity is not a doctrine, not truth as truth, but the knowledge of a Person; it is knowing the Lord Jesus. You cannot be educated into being a Christian. Christianity is the knowledge within of a Person, knowing Him as dwelling within us.......... Link

Happy Valentine's Day

It's all about "LOVE"
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Christ in us;Christ as us;Christ through us

Conclusion

The phrases we have considered in this study, "Christ in us," "Christ as us," and "Christ through us," are not necessarily to be understood as progressive, successive or sequential steps or stages of spiritual knowledge or spiritual growth. Though we have differentiated between them, they often meld and merge into an integrated and comprehensive emphasis of "Christ by means of us," as this is a permissible interpretation of all three prepositions. We should avoid analyzing the meaning of these three phrases too precisely or rigidly, allowing the living reality of Christ to express Himself as He will. It is questionable whether the realities that these phrases refer to should be cast into separate theological categories as some have done, attempting to represent them as justification, sanctification, and glorification; or as regeneration, unification, and ministration. Even illustrative analogies such as John's reference to "children, young men, and fathers" (I John 2:12-14) are best avoided, as these are often misleading.

When an individual is regenerated by the receipt of the Spirit of Christ into his/her spirit (Rom. 8:9), Christ is in that person, immanently indwelling them; Christ forms their identity, functioning as them, for Christ cannot help but act as the Being that He is; and Christ is living through them, laying down His life in intercessory ministry for others.

Despite the caution of defining these internal spiritual realities too precisely, the following differentiations may be helpful for general definition. "Christ in us" has to do with indwelling; "Christ as us" has to do with identity; "Christ through us" has to do with intercession. The preposition "in" refers to location; the preposition "as" refers to function; the preposition "through" refers to extension. "Christ in us" points to Presence ­ the real presence of the living Lord Jesus in our spirit; "Christ as us" suggests Identity ­ His presence establishes our new identity as Christ-ones; "Christ through us" implies Expression ­ Christ's presence and function necessitates His expression through us unto others.

In conclusion let us note that Paul wrote of the Corinthians "being manifested as a letter of Christ,...written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God...on tablets of human hearts" (II Cor. 3:3). Christ living by means of us creates a unique living epistle that re-presents Christ to others in the contemporary form of our own lives. Such a presentation of Christ in us, and as us, and through us, may be the only living form of Jesus that another person may ever observe. This adaptation of another's verse seems to capture the point poetically:

"CHRIST is writing a letter in you each day.The message, that is HIM, must be true.'Tis the only Jesus that some men may see ­The life of Christ expressed as and through YOU.

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Eternal Covenant

Gen 9:16 "When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth."

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FREEDOM FROM BIBLICISM

(Note: I do believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. However, as this writer has inferred, many use it as a "Book of Rules", which so often leads to bondage.)

By: Robert D. Brinsmead

Living under the bondage of the law rather than in the freedom of the Spirit can assume many forms.

In our time, living under the law may assume the form of biblicism. Many suppose that the evangelical faith stands or falls on the matter of biblical inerrancy ­ meaning that the very letter of Holy Scripture is without any error in everything it affirms, including theology, history, ethics, geography, biology and chronology.

The great danger of biblicism is that, instead of being used solely in the service of the gospel, the Bible becomes a book of rules about many other issues. Christians may become enslaved to the Bible just as the Jews became enslaved to the Torah ­ their Holy Scripture (John 10:34,35). Just as the Jews barricaded themselves behind the letter of the Torah to oppose Jesus, so we may easily barricade ourselves behind the letter of a supposedly inerrant Scripture to oppose the gospel's festival of freedom.

There can be a false faith in the bible. In the proper spiritual sense faith is an act of real worship which should be rendered solely to the Creator (John 9:35-38). Saving faith is not faith in the Bible (for even the Christ-denying Pharisees trusted in the Bible ­ John 5:39) but faith in Jesus (Rom. 3:22-26). While Catholics have been particularly susceptible to ecclesiology ­ the worship of the church ­ Protestants have been disposed toward bibliolatry ­ the worship of the Bible.

The purpose of all Scripture is to bear witness to Christ (John 5:39; 20:31). The Bible in itself is not the Word of God. The Word of God is a person (John 1:1). Neither does the Bible have life, power or light in itself any more than did the Jewish Torah. These attributes may be ascribed to the Bible only by virtue of its relationship to Him who is Word, Life, Power and Light. Life is not in the book, as the Pharisees supposed, but only in the Man of the book (John 5:39).

The Bible is therefore to be valued because of its testimony to Jesus Christ. The Bible is absolutely trustworthy and reliable for the purpose it was given. It is designed to make us "wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15), not wise on such subjects as science, history and geography ­ which it is our responsibility to learn through general revelation.

That which makes the Bible the Bible is the gospel. That which makes the Bible the Word of God is its witness to Christ. When the Spirit bears witness to our hearts of the truth of the Bible, this is an internal witness concerning the truth of the gospel. We need to be apprehended by the Spirit, who lives in the gospel, and then judge all things by that Spirit ­ even the letter of Scripture.

If we do not allow the Bible to be the Word of God ­ the bearer of the gospel ­ it might be better to follow Luther's advice to read some other book. For if the Bible is not used in the service of the gospel, it may either find people mad or make them mad.

We must stop using the Bible as though it were a potpourri of inerrant proof-texts by which we can bring people into bondage to our religious traditions. (For in practice the only inerrancy we ever defend is the inerrancy of our religious traditions and our way of reading the Bible.) We must no longer use the Bible as the Pharisees used the Torah when they gave it absolute and final status. Christian biblicism is no different from Jewish legalism. It is the old way of the letter, not the new way of the Spirit (Rom. 7:6).

Jesus and Paul declare that apart from the Spirit we cannot understand the truth (John 16:13; I Cor. 2:14). This means that unless we are caught up in the Spirit of the gospel, we cannot understand or use the Bible correctly. Apart from the gospel the Bible is letter (gramma), not Spirit (pneuma). "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (II Cor. 3:6,17).

(Brinsmead, Robert D. "A Freedom from Biblicism" in The Christian Verdict, Essay 14, 1984. Fallbrook: Verdict Publications. Pgs. 9-14).

Born from Above!

"We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him."

1Jo 5:18

Lately, I have been in many discussions with those who are still eclipsed within the confines of "sin/death." What they have failed to realize is that those who are born from above sinneth not. Somehow, many have bought into a mentality that they can please/displease God by their actions/inaction. Generally,what so many have failed to embrace, is that by their beliefs/understanding, they have now raised an illusionary Standard, something that can be measured, in order to relate to God.

I have found that in my personal walk every time I begin to relate to God by "Doing", within a short period of time my energy and ability begin to wane and I find myself devoid of Hope/Life. You see, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Moreover, as I have begun to rest in the Finished work of the Cross, everything begins to abound. It is not that my "life" is without challenges,it has many, but now it is centered in the only "Life" available to a believer, Jesus Christ. No longer do I live in the illusion of Doing for God, by the works of the Law which ultimately leads to death, but I continue to embrace "fullness" which already has been so gloriously provided for, In-Christ Jesus!

Rom 5:17-21 "If death got the upper hand through one man's wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grandsetting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides? Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right. All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life--a life that goes on and on and on, world without end." (msg)

"Monkey See, Monkey Do"

"Paul's explanation of Christian behavior is that of "the manifestation of the life of Jesus in our mortal bodies" (II Cor. 4:10,11); not by any human imitation of Christ's behavioral goodness. Christian living is not "monkey see, monkey do," the parrotting or apeing of reproduced external behavior. The distinctive of Christian behavior is that the life of Jesus Christ is lived out in our behavior, the character of God's goodness manifested in our behavior. "It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20). The expression of behavioral goodness is not by any capability or effort from within man. Jesus said: "Apart from Me, you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Apart from Jesus, you can do nothing that manifests the character of God. Apart from Jesus, you can do nothing good. Apart from Jesus, you can do nothing that glorifies God. Apart from Jesus, you can do nothing that qualifies as Christian behavior.

Thus we proceed to further amplify that Jesus Christ is the sole source of all good behavior in the Christian. Jesus is the sole source of the knowledge of good behavior. Jesus is the sole source of the enacting of good behavior, being the expression of God's character of goodness.

Goodness is known and activated only by God's grace. Grace is "God's activity consistent with His character."

(Excerpted from: Christianity is NOT Morality by James A. Fowler.)

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Distorting the Gospel

Paul gets right to the point by noting that the intruding religionists in Galatia are distorting the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ.

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The initial two sentences of "grace greeting" were more than customary courtesies ­ certainly more than schmaltz before the assault. They were laden, as indicated, with theological import that served as the foundation for Paul's argument throughout the epistle.

Whereas most of Paul's letters commence with some words of commendation, praise or thanksgiving (cf. Rom. 1:8; I Cor. 1:4; Phil. 1:3,4; Col. 1:3-5; I Thess. 1:2,3), Paul forgoes such in the opening words of this letter. He was "champing at the bit" to unleash his impassioned remonstrative rebuke of the Galatian's reversionism, which he was only able to hold in check until the third sentence. Paul's preference would have been to engage in a face-to-face confrontation with the Galatians and their seducers (4:20), but for whatever reason he had to settle for addressing the issues in this letter. He wastes no time in getting straight to the point.

The apostle loved these young Galatian Christians. He was so concerned about their being sucked into the dead-end religion of behavioral performance that he could not remain silent, but felt compelled to confront the intolerable situation. His grieving soul was full of emotional intensity that would criticize their credulity and denounce their defection, but it was the infiltrating false-teachers that most roused his seething consternation and indignant invectives. New Christians are so fragile, vulnerable and susceptible to the introduction of distortions and perversions. They so want to believe that religious teachers have their highest good and intent in mind, and will lead them on in their walk with God. They often lack the discernment to recognize that diabolically inspired religious peddlers (II Cor. 2:17) will inevitably misrepresent the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ for their own selfish benefit and ends. This is not to imply that the neophyte Galatian Christians were not to be held responsible for their backsliding, for Paul certainly holds them accountable. They should have been able to recognize that when the peripatetic outsiders began to criticize Paul and the gospel he shared, there was "a skunk in the woodpile." Apparently some of them did realize the perversion, and they were probably the ones who initiated or participated in the delegation who traveled to give a full report of the tragic situation to Paul.

1:6 ­ Have you ever been blind-sided, or hit-up-alongside the head having never seen the approaching object that hit you? That must have been how the Christians in the Galatian congregations, and especially the religious purveyors of performance righteousness, must have felt when these forceful words of Paul were first read to them. It must have hit them like a brick!
Abruptly and explosively, like throwing a grenade into their midst or dropping a bombshell, Paul expresses his astonishment at the propensity of the Galatian Christians to abandon the gospel of Christ. "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ." Shaking his head in incredulous disbelief, Paul must have been questioning: "How can they do this? How can they be so blind? Why are they so easily led like sheep to the slaughter? Why are they so easily led down the primrose path of religion, like pigs back to mud, or like prisoners back to the chain-gang?" He was perplexed (4:20), stupefied, and flabbergasted, as well as displeased, irritated and grieved. The unstable fickleness of the Galatians was astonishing and alarming. It had happened "so quickly," apparently indicating a short interval of time had transpired since Paul's ministry among them, and since their conversion (or perhaps, though not likely, referring to the rapidity of their transference of allegiance since the time when the false-teachers arrived).

The charge that Paul made against them is that of desertion or defection. This was a serious charge! The Greek word was used of those who betrayed their allegiance to a community, becoming deserters, defectors, or turncoats in treasonous abandonment. Those having any Jewish background, including the Judaizing infiltrators, may have remembered God's words to Moses about the Israelites, who "having quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them, made for themselves a molten calf and worshipped it," for which God's "anger burned against them" (Exod. 32:8; Deut. 9:16). In more recent history they may have recalled those who were turncoats and defectors during the Maccabean revolt (II Macc. 4:46; 7:24; 11:24). They would have been appalled to have their actions identified with such desertions.

Paul makes it clear that the actions of the Galatians was the result of personal choice. Though they may have been duped and deceived, seduced and snookered, they were not passive dupes and were to be held personally responsible for their choices. Only the tense of the verb that Paul used mitigated the situation, for he did not employ a past tense that indicated they were fixed in their defection or that their apostasy was complete, but he used a present tense that implied they were only in the process of deserting which meant they could still change their minds and stop their wrong course of action.

When Paul wrote of their "deserting Him who called you...", he was not alluding to their having forsaken their allegiance to him, Paul, who had preached to them. The obvious reference is to their falling away from and turning against God. The Christian gospel is a personal gospel of a personal God who sends His Son as a personal Savior to personally reconcile mankind to Himself. In a personal calling of His Spirit to the hearts of men (cf. 5:8), receptive individuals can enter into a personal faith-love relationship with Jesus Christ as He personally indwells our Spirit in the form of His Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:9,16). The problem was not that the Galatians were abandoning one theological ideology for another, exchanging an orthodox belief-system for one of heretical error and falsity (as these verses have often been misinterpreted and misapplied), rather, they were deserting their personal and ontological relationship with God who had "called" them, not just in the past objective "calling" of all men in the work of Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 8:28-30), or in a solicitous summons to a decision about doctrine and church membership, but in the gracious beckoning of "calling" them into His own Being in spiritual oneness and unity.

This divine "calling" into His own Being is "by the grace of Christ." This does not mean that grace is the instrumental means of God's calling, nor the locative position into which God calls men, but that grace is the essential action of God's calling in Christ. All that God does, including His "calling," is by the expressive dynamic of His grace-activity in His Son, Jesus Christ, as He calls mankind into an ontological relationship with Himself. What amazes Paul is that the Galatians would turn their backs on such a dynamic Christic-grace-calling of an ontological relationship with the living Lord Jesus, to settle "for a different gospel."
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©1999 by James A. Fowler. All rights reserved.

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THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

By: David Tryon

There are many Christians, struggling to live the Christian life, who have never discovered where the strength to live that life is to be found. There are many earnest believers, young and old, who are continually being disappointed and cast down because they are finding their own resources so inadequate to meet the demands of real Christian living. There are hundreds of Christians of all ages who are hungering and thirsting after a fuller, deeper life than that which they now experience. What they need to know, and to know experimentally as well as mentally, is that all the resources of the Christian life are in CHRIST, and in Him ALONE, and that He lives in them by the Holy Ghost. Perhaps there is no better and no simpler illustration of these truths than the Lord's parable of the vine and the branches in John 15. We shall look together at some of the great lessons which this parable teaches, with the prayer that God will use these messages to bring great blessing into the lives of each of us.

I. A USELESS BRANCH

"I am the Vine," said the Lord Jesus, " ye are the branches" (verse 5). Every true Christian is " in Christ," a branch in the vine, joined to the Lord, a partaker of His nature.

"I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away.... If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered: and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

The first lesson we learn from this parable of the vine and the branches is that a branch is useless if it does not bear fruit. We need to be careful, when trying to understand the teaching of a parable such as this, not to press the details of the parable too far. There are those who teach that these words show that it is possible for a man to be "in Christ" and out again; to be saved and then lost; to have eternal life and then lose it. This cannot be. There are clear statements in Scripture to the contrary. We must remember that no earthly parable can fully express all sides of eternal truth. Yet these words of the Lord Jesus are very very solemn words. Perhaps we shall more clearly understand the truth contained in them if we compare them with some words of St. Paul which teach similar truth. "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (I Corinthians iii. 13-15). The apostle is writing about Christian service and he likens it to a building. It is possible he teaches, for a servant of Christ, whilst building on the One True Foundation (verse 11), to fail to put into his building such materials as can stand the test of fire with the result that one day all his life work will be burned up, proving that he has been utterly useless, and all his work completely wasted. This is what the Lord Jesus is teaching under the figure of the branch that does not bear fruit. A branch that does not bear fruit is a useless branch; its existence is a wasted existence; it is only fit for the fire.

How tremendously solemn this is. What a terrible, what a tragic thing it must be to be a Christian who is not bearing fruit! What a tragedy is the life of the careless Christian the lukewarm Christian, the sinning Christian, the idle Christian, the worldly Christian, the prayerless Christian! How very seriously concerned we all should be as to whether we are branches that are bearing fruit, or whether we are fruitless, useless branches.

WHICH ARE YOU?

These words are certain to be read by many a fruitless Christian. Are you one of them? Do you know, as you read these words, that your Christian life has been a fruitless life? It is not necessary to explain to you what is meant by ­"fruitless"; you simply know that you are not fulfilling the purpose for which God saved you, just as a branch that is not bearing fruit is not fulfilling the purpose for which it is in the vine. Probably you judge your condition by certain indications in your life some sin that has dominion over you, a failure to witness, a lack of prayer, a distaste for Bible Reading, no power in service, a love for worldly things. This may not be due to your carelessness or indifference. You may have made great efforts to become a fruitful Christian, to witness, to pray, to overcome sin. Yet you look back on failure. You know there has been no result. On the other hand, it may be that you have just not let " fruit-bearing " concern you very much. You are a Christian (you tell yourself), your sins are forgiven, you will go to heaven. That is the most important thing. You have not felt that these other things matter very much. Your life is fruitless because you have not been particularly concerned whether you bear fruit or not. But whether your life is fruitless because of your carelessness and indifference, or in spite of much deep concern, and longing, and striving, you know it is fruitless.

THE TRAGEDY OF A FRUITLESS LIFE

Before we go any further with the study of this parable, will you read again those words of the Lord Jesus about the fruitless branch, and in His Presence think for a moment of the tragedy of such a life.

What a tragedy it is in the sight of God. What a disappointment and grief to the husbandman is the branch that bears no fruit, that completely fails to fulfil the purpose for which it is in the vine. What a grief to the heart of the Great Husbandman must your fruitless Christian life be, a continual frustration of the wonderful purposes of grace He had in mind when He placed you in Christ.

What a tragedy is such a life as far as others are concerned. There are weary, fainting, thirsty, bitter lives in this wilderness world of ours; these lives are coming into contact with yours every day. It is God's purpose that they should be refreshed and strengthened and sweetened by the fruit which you shall bear. And because you are a fruitless branch, these weary, thirsting, perishing ones have passed you by unrefreshed, unblessed. Oh, the tragedy of it! Little have you realized the harm you have been doing; the love and joy and peace of which others have been robbed because you have borne no fruit.

What a tragedy such a life is from your own point of view. It is a wasted life. A branch is only in the vine for one purpose, to bear fruit. If it fails to do that, its existence is wasted. As far as its usefulness is concerned, it might as well not be there. It is no use at all. Your fruitless life is a wasted, useless life. At the judgment seat of Christ you will suffer loss. All the produce of those wasted years will be burned up. What awful, solemn mystery surrounds those words of the apostle, "But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire ".

This then is the first lesson we must learn from this parable, that if our life is a fruitless life it is a tragically wasted life, useless to God, useless to man, and an irreparable loss to ourselves. Oh, let us ask God to teach us how we may bear fruit to His satisfaction and glory, to the blessing of others, and to the full salvation of our own souls.

II. "THE BRANCH CANNOT . . ."

Now we come to a second lesson of the utmost importance.

"As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me . . . for without Me (or, severed from Me), ye can do nothing."

So we learn that a branch cannot bear fruit by any effort of its own. Severed from the vine the branch can do nothing. That fact is so obvious that we are inclined to pass it by without further thought, and so miss the far-reaching implications of this part of the parable. Think of it for a moment. There is a branch, severed from the vine, lying before you on the ground. How utterly helpless it is to produce any fruit! If a branch could have feelings and understanding it might be deeply conscious of its uselessness, and the danger in which it lay of being cast upon the fire. It might be full of the deepest longings after a life of fruitfulness. It might make mighty resolutions to do all in its power to produce fruit. But it would be utterly powerless to make any move towards satisfying those longings, or carrying out those resolutions. That severed branch is a picture of the most complete helplessness.

"As the branch cannot . . . NO MORE can ye." Will you sit still a moment now, and let those two words "no more" sink deep into your heart? You can do no more towards producing the fruit which God requires in your life than can that severed branch. NO MORE. You may be deeply convicted of your useless, fruitless, Christian life. You may be stirred up to a great longing that things should be different you may have been planning and contriving and resolving in order that your life may be different in future. But you can do nothing. No stirring up, no effort, no determination, no strength of will, can make your life what God wants it to be. " As the branch cannot . . . no more can ye."

UTTER HELPLESSNESS

Do not misunderstand this teaching of the Lord Jesus. Many Christians who think that they have received this truth have not even got a glimpse of the depth to which it goes. Unconsciously they are placing upon it limitations imposed by their own preconceived ideas of the possibilities that are in human nature. The Lord Jesus is not teaching that, because of your natural weakness, you need help to bring you up to a standard of life which you cannot reach yourself; that by your own goodness and strength and courage you can get so far, but not far enough to reach God's standard; that if you made an immense effort it would help a great deal, but because of your natural limitations that effort needs to be supplemented by His power. That a better, stronger, braver man than you are could get further than you can get. That is not what He is teaching at all. This statement goes far, far deeper than that.

Go back to the parable again and ask yourself the question, How much can a branch do toward producing fruit? Can a branch have some part in the production of the fruit? Is it conceivable that if we found a branch clever enough and strong enough it could produce fruit of itself? The answers are obvious. The branch does not possess in itself even the smallest glimmerings of fruit-producing life. The best branch is as helpless as the worst; the strongest as helpless as the weakest, the most beautiful as helpless as the ugliest. The branch whatever its natural condition, cannot....

"No more" can you. It is not a question of whether you are strong or weak; good or bad, brave or cowardly; clever or foolish; experienced or inexperienced. Whatever your natural condition you are absolutely helpless to begin to live the life God requires. Whatever your gifts, accomplishments virtues, experience may be, they are of no more help to you in producing fruit than is natural beauty in a branch. In you (that is, in your flesh) dwells no good thing, not the first faint flickerings of the life that produces fruit.

Hundreds of Christians never find that out. They spend their lives fighting against the admission of it. They know they come short, but they think it is not so short but that a greater effort, backed up by the Holy Spirit's power, will put them right. And so they ask His help, and try again.

AN " UP AND DOWN " EXPERIENCE

What is the result? The result is what is sometimes called an " up and down" Christian experience. When they appear to be advancing in the Christian life; when they receive indications that God is blessing their service; when they get some definite, unmistakable answer to prayer; when they overcome some temptation; when they discover within themselves some thought of holiness, some virtue, some desire for the things of God, then they are "up". On the other hand, when they are conscious of failure and lack of progress; when they see no blessing in their work; when prayer is apparently unanswered; when sin gets the better of them; when they get some glimpse of the corrupt, sinful state of their natural hearts, then they are "down." They are "up" when they appear to be producing fruit, and "down" when they can see no fruit; ever battling against the admission of the truth that "as the branch cannot . . . no more can" they. They know nothing of the rest which remains for the people of God, and which can only be entered by ceasing from their works. Their life is one continual effort to produce fruit for God's glory, to prove to themselves and to God that the branch can, after all, do a little to help itself.

There are many earnest Christians who have lived like this for years, and have become more and more disappointed with their Christian experience. There are many young Christians, who, having begun well, have gradually slipped back, as they have proved by bitter experience how utterly unable they are to reach the standard which God requires. Are you like that? You know your life is fruitless, but it is not because you do not care. You are tremendously concerned that your life should bear fruit; you have tried your hardest to be the best for God, and you have failed. "It is no good," you say, "I cannot be a keen Christian." Is that what you say? Is it? Do you see what you are admitting? You are admitting the very thing that God has been asking you to admit! The Lord Jesus said, "As the branch cannot . . . no more can ye," and you didn't believe it; so He has been letting you find it out by experience. And now, at last, you say, " It's no good. I cannot...." You are admitting at last what He has been trying to tell you all along. You have come to the place where He can begin to do His work in you.

Troubled Christian, lately you have said often, almost in despair, "I cannot." It is true; yet if you could but see, that is no reason for despair, but rather for joyful expectancy that your barren days are past, for now God is going to show you what HE is waiting to do in those who "cannot," and who admit it. You cannot. Consent fully to that position of complete powerlessness. Do not be afraid to let go every hope of being able to make the smallest contribution towards the production of real fruit. Turn your back on self, and refuse to expect any good thing from it any more. And now listen as He tells you of the Life which is going to do through the branch what the branch can never do by any effort of its own.

III. "I IN YOU"

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." "Abide in Me, and I in you."

We have thought of the tragedy of the fruitless branch, and seen how impossible it is for a branch to produce fruit by any effort of its own. Now the vine and the branches have another lesson to teach us a lesson which only those are prepared to learn who have in some degree mastered the former lessons.

If God expects me to bear fruit in my Christian life, and if I cannot produce that fruit by any effort of my own, how then does He intend that fruit to be produced? We have the answer in this parable. The fruit is produced by the life of the vine in the branch. God intends that the fruit in my life should be produced by the Life of the Lord Jesus living in me. "I live," said the Apostle Paul, "yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2. 20). "Not I," not by any strength or goodness of my own, no more than there is any life in the branch because of anything the branch has done,-"but Christ liveth in me,"-His life is working in me the things which are pleasing to God, just as the life of the vine works in the branch to bring forth fruit.

This is God's plan for every Christian that the Lord Jesus, Who lives in us by His Holy Spirit, should work in us all things that are pleasing to God, bringing forth fruit in us to God's glory. When you have seen that, you have seen the greatest secret of the life which God wants you to live. The Holy Spirit dwells in every Christian, and His purpose is to do all the work that God requires, all the work which is necessary for the production of the fruit for which God is looking. Only those who have learned the lesson of the utter helplessness of the branch can fully appreciate this wonderful truth. Just in so far as you have grasped the great fact that you are utterly helpless even to begin to live a life which is well-pleasing to God will you understand the meaning of this, that God has given you the Holy Spirit to do ALL the work. His plan is not that the Holy Spirit should help you to bring forth fruit, any more than the vine helps the branch. It is not even that the Holy Spirit should work, and that you should help Him all you can. The branch cannot help the vine in any way. No. Christ must do ALL in you, even as the vine must do ALL in the branch.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Let me emphasize that, for it is a truth that we are so slow to learn. How much does the vine life do towards producing the fruit? Everything. How much does the branch do to help? Nothing. How much must the life of the Holy Spirit do in you? Everything. How much must you do to help? Nothing. Just as Christ in His death and resurrection did everything for your justification, and you did nothing, but simply accepted the benefits of a work finished nineteen centuries before you were born so Christ in you must do everything for your sanctification, and you must do nothing, but simply accept the benefits of a work which He will complete as surely as He has begun it.

"But," you ask," must I not do anything? " No, nothing. " Oh, but now you are going too far. You can't carry things to that length. Of course I must do something. Mustn't I read my Bible and pray; mustn't I witness for Christ; mustn't I surrender everything to Him; mustn't I do good works whenever I get the opportunity?" Do you know what you are like? You are like a branch saying, "It's no good you telling me that I mustn't do anything in order to produce fruit. That's going too far. Of course I must do something. Mustn't I produce fruit?" I should say to that branch, "Yes, of course you must produce fruit, but you'll never produce fruit by trying to. It is not the fruit you need to be concerned about, but the life. If once you have got that, the fruit will come all right." And so I reply to you, Yes, of course you must read your Bible and pray and witness and do good works; of course you must surrender completely to Christ, but don't you see, all these things are part of the fruit. You cannot do them by trying to do them; you can only imitate them; you can only be like a branch tying on artificial fruit, because it does not understand that real fruit must be the result of the vine life within. Leave the fruit for the moment. Apart from Him you can do NOTHING; and prayer and witness and surrender are all included in that "nothing." Every single bit of fruit has to be the result of the life of Christ in you. It is the Life you need to be concerned about; if you have got that, the fruit will surely follow.

HIS PERFECT WORK

So leave the fruit just now. Forget, just for the moment, about the need for Bible reading, prayer, witness, and all the other things, and concentrate your thought on the Life which must be the source of all these things. That Life is Christ in you. He lives in you by the Holy Spirit. He waits and longs to do His perfect work in you. He cannot do it while you try to do it for Him. Is that what has been wrong with your Christian life-you have been trying to do His work for Him? You have read the Bible and tried to understand its meaning. You have succeeded in getting quite a lot of it into your head, and perhaps can give very nice addresses from it, but it does not live to you. You have tried to pray, but it has been a burden, and you know little of real fellowship with God. You have witnessed but there has been little power. You have tried to surrender everything to God, but more and more you are finding that your sinful heart does not want His will. You are trying to do His work for Him; that is your trouble. You have taken upon yourself the responsibility of a work for which He wants you to cast the responsibility on Him. It is His work to make His Word live to you, to open the eyes of your understanding to behold wondrous things out of His law. It is His work to witness with your spirit that you are a child of God, till prayer becomes to you the glad fellowship of a child with an infinitely loving Father. It is His work to give you power for service, filling you with Himself, and making perfect His strength in your weakness, so that, as you lean on His strength, things happen as a result of your witness that are worthy of His power. It is His work to bring you to that complete surrender which He requires, shining the light of His Presence upon the things displeasing to Him, filling you with His love till you see that it is best for Him to have His way with you. This is all His work. You cannot do it for Him. You cannot in any way prepare yourself for His working. You must stop your futile efforts and look for Him. He is in you, God's full provision for all you need. He waits to do His work, if you will let Him. He will work so surely, so wonderfully, if you will give up your feeble trying and cast yourself on Him. He will perfect the work which you cannot even begin. Will you not look to Him now, tell Him that you are not going to interfere with His working any more, and ask Him to complete in you the work which He has begun?

"Work on then Lord, till on my soul
Eternal light shall break,
And in Thy likeness perfected,
I satisfied shall wake."

IV. "ABIDE IN ME"

We come now to a critical point in our studies of the Parable of the Vine. We have seen how necessary it is that we should bear fruit to the glory of God; we have seen that we cannot bear this fruit by any effort of our own; and we have seen that God's way is for the fruit to be produced by the Life of Christ in us. The questions that naturally come to our lips at this point are: But how is all this to become real in my experience? How can I enter from a life of fruitlessness and failure into this life in which Christ, by His Holy Spirit, is working in me? How can my nothingness be connected with His fulness? How is this wonderful prospect, of having the Holy Ghost working in me, making Christ real, making the Bible a new and living Book, making service fruitful and prayer a joy-how is it to change from a wonderful prospect to a personal reality? What must I do in order that all this may be real in my life?

A VERY SIMPLE STEP

Before we look at the answer which the Lord Jesus gives to these and similar questions, let me emphasize one thing. The step from a life of striving and struggling and emptiness, of failure and feebleness, into a life of fulness and power and satisfaction, is a very, very simple one. I want to lay great stress on that point. It is very important. Will you accept it and believe it before we go any farther? You can begin to enjoy all the blessing we have been thinking of by a very simple step.

"Oh, how unlike the complex works of man,
Heaven's easy, artless, unencumber'd plan."

Satan will try to make you think it is complicated. He will tell you of all sorts of things that you ought to be and do. Do not listen to him. Leave alone, for the moment, all the things that you ought to be and do. As we have already seen, they are the fruit. " I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ " (II Cor. 11:3). The way to this life of fulness is very simple indeed.

Now listen to the words of the Lord Jesus:

"Abide in Me, and I in you. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit" (verses 4, 5).

Here, then, is the simple lesson that we have to learn now. We can put it like this. All that the branch has to do is to remain in the vine, and so the life of the vine will remain in the branch.

"Abide in me and I in you." "Abide" simply means "remain." The branch is in the vine. In order to have life flowing through, it has to remain there, that is all.

When you received the Lord Jesus, God forgave your sins and placed you in Christ. In order that His life may flow through, you have only to remain where you have been placed.

"Yes," you say, "but what exactly does that mean?"

Let me answer with another question. What did you do in order to have your sins forgiven, and to be placed in Christ? Think back to the time of your conversion. You heard that the Lord Jesus had died that you might be forgiven. And you just trusted Him to save you because He had died. Very simple, wasn't it? Forgiveness was there for you all the time. It became yours when you took it. That taking is called FAITH. Then God placed you in Him. So all you did in order to be placed in Christ was simply to trust in Him.

HOW TO "ABIDE"

Now, how are you to remain, to "abide" in Him? In exactly the same way as you were placed in Him. Listen while He tells you that you are a branch in Him, the True Vine. And then just simply trust Him that His life is flowing through you.

So many people make the mistake of thinking that they got placed in Christ by trusting, and that after that they must bear fruit by trying. No. You remain in Christ in the same simple way that you were placed in Him. BY FAITH.

Faith is hearing God's word and acting on it. That is how you abide in Christ. You hear His word that you are a branch. Then you take Him at His word. You say, "Lord, if I am a branch and in Thee, I thank Thee for it. I thank Thee, that just now I am in Thee, and Thy life flowing through. So I shall no more bother and try and struggle to be a Christian, but live my ordinary life counting that Thou art living through me."

TAKING YOUR POSITION

You see, it is just a matter of taking a position that is already yours. So many Christians will not take the glorious position which is theirs in Christ, and so they miss all the blessing. It is as if a very rich man owning a great mansion and a vast estate became possessed with the idea that he was poor, and shut himself up in a small attic at the top of his mansion, and wished all day that he was rich. He dressed in the shabbiest clothes, and ate the scantiest fare, and sat on the floor because he thought he could not afford a chair, and made baskets in order to earn a living. And all day long he wondered how he could get enough money to buy a big mansion and own a vast estate. There he would be, living in a little, cramped room with scarcely enough food to eat, and dressed almost in rags, existing like a pauper. Why? Simply because he had a position which he would not take.

But it would be a very simple thing for him to change his method of living. He would need first to have his eyes opened to the fact that he was actually living in a great mansion and that it was all his. Once he had seen that, it would be the simplest thing to change his whole life. He would only have to act on the knowledge that he had. He need not even leave the room to begin with; he need not change his ragged clothes. There and then, sitting on the floor of that attic in all his apparent poverty, he could take the step that would be the entry into a new life. He need only say, "Why, I see it now. I have all that I have been wanting. All that I have most desired is mine. From now on I will live as if I had it, and be a fool no longer."

The devil has filled the minds of many Christians with the delusion that they are poor, and in their poverty they must work and grind and toil in order to buy the blessings which are already theirs in Christ. Perhaps he has deluded you in that way, and now you are just beginning to see that all that you need you have in Christ. That is the fact. There is no need of yours which is not fully met in Him. You cannot name a need which He does not fill. All you need you have-now-in Him. And you are in Him. You only need to take the position which is already yours.

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Printed copies of this article in tract form are available from:
AFRICA EVANGELICAL FELLOWSHIP, Post Office Box 1679, Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003

How do I deal with a brother who has caused hurt in many people?

By Jim Minker

Question? " How do I deal with another believer who has caused not a few people (including myself) hurt and who attends the same church? ... this person believes he/she is justified in their actions. ... How does God allow this person to get away with such things?"

Answer! Excellent question. I love your questions because they are real questions of real things in your life and not just hypothetical situations of an intellectual nature. Thank you very much for that. :)

There are only two ways to deal with anybody: according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. Now, what does that mean in your real-life scenario? (Because of the labored use of the "he/she" gender thing I will use the masculine to cover whichever - in truth, it makes no difference. Okay? :) Also, please take your time with this as I realize that I am giving you a huge chunk to chew on.

The fact is that you probably already find yourself going back and forth in trying to deal with this person and trying to ignore him, huh? After all, if God has forgiven this person then I should also, right? But then again, if this person keeps justifying his actions and keeps hurting people then shouldn't I (or someone else) do something about it? And your head is probably spinning from it all. If this happens to be hitting the nail on the head it won't be because I've been spying on your thought patterns. No, not at all. For you to ask this question presupposes that it's been bothering you and I just fill in the blanks from my own experiences. And amazingly I find that many others have been where I have been.

You stated in your letter that your relationship with this person has been mended ... but has it really? Could it simply be that the two of you just aren't involved in each others lives enough to let you know that the wound in your relationship is still there? That's called coping. I don't say that to make it sound like a bad thing, but to ask you if it could be the case.

How you are to deal with this person is the same as how you are to deal with yourself. How you are to deal with yourself is the same as how God deals with you. How God deals with you is based on the new creation He brought about in Christ.

Now, contrary to the common belief that "grace" means that we don't address such problems in each others lives is bogus, it is actually just the opposite. For the truth of the matter is that we have been brought into the reality where we can truly address what is REALLY going on. Everything we learned in this world, including and especially the religious world, never, ever dealt with reality, but with issues and formulas and illusions ... you know, surface stuff.

What I mean by that is simple: we learned to evaluate based on a performance standard (modified by our own likes/dislikes) and our way of dealing with one another has been in direct relation to how others rated by this standard. Their "wrongness" or "rightness" was determined by the standard. We ask the question, "How does God allow a person to get away with such things?", based on the evaluation of our performance standard forgetting that according to such standards somebody is probably looking at us at the same time wondering the same thing about us. That is the ministry of law, which is condemnation. No, I'm not suggesting that we EXCUSE one another, for that is also one of the coping skills found in trying to live by law ... it's called "loopholes".

In Christ, we were put to death ... and then raised up with him. No excuse for sin ... only death. Now look around you and realize this: God doesn't allow ANYONE to "get away with" sin. What do I expect from the flesh? The answer is the same as "What do I expect from a dead man?" NOTHING.

Those who are not in Christ remain in death and the "best" they can do is to put a "good face" on the corpse. Those who have passed from death into life but who have been taught that they still need to approach life by living according to "Christian" principles will find themselves trying to patch up the old corpse they still imagine that they are. And they will act AS IF they are still sinners instead of living in the reality that they have been made new in Christ.

The natural, legal mindset of the flesh says, "Deal with this person according to his sins!" The life of Christ has already dealt with sins once and for all. If your friend is indeed alive to God and yet is trying to justify himself then your friend has fallen into the trap of law. The need we have to keep trying to justify ourselves is only brought about when we live as if under a standard of conduct, because such a standard leaves no room to rest until we think we are "okay" by it. As soon as we think we are "okay" by the standard then there is always someone who will come along and let you know that you are not. The law has convinced them that we do God's work by holding each other "accountable" for their sins.

Your friend fails because he is TRYING to achieve a good performance and the law-standard he tries to live by forces him to keep trying to justify himself because, IN REALITY, he inwardly despises himself for doing it, but cannot seem to get out of the trap, and cannot tell anyone about it because he is afraid of the added condemnation from others.

Okay, are you finally ready for my long-awaited answer? :) (The following is actually Galatians 6:1)

When you see your brother caught up in "breaking the rules" you have the wherewithal to "restore" such a one. But you can give him no help at all unless you see that you are spiritual - of the Spirit. "Trespassing" is breaking commands. Breaking commands has to do with trying to live by law. Living by law is only for those don't have the Spirit. The real question here is: "Do you mean my brother is failing because he believes that he must try to live according to the rules?"

To "restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness" is not about the method you use, but it indicates the premise of the restoration. It refers to the miraculous life we have received from God. The message of law is the spirit of condemnation even when it is spoken "gently". The message of life in Christ is the spirit of gentleness, because it is not condemning, even if it is spoken "harshly".

"Considering yourselves, lest you too be tempted". This has been taught as if Paul was telling you to watch out for the particular sin so that you don't get caught up in it. But this is not the case at all. A law-approach will do that because we usually recognize the sins of those who are struggling with the same sin we do. But what Paul was suggesting was this: I need to consider myself because of the "natural" reaction in dealing with those who are breaking the rules. It is on the basis of law. Simply this: "You have a problem and you need to deal with it!"

This natural reaction we refer to as "accountability" only reinforces my brother's "law-breaking" by causing him to try harder to stop his sinning because now both of us are putting him under the microscope! When I do this to my brother it has another effect. By ME focusing on HIS sin, I am automatically demanding that I focus on MY sin. "Lest you too be tempted".

Remember, Paul's whole focus to the Galatians was that law only brings the knowledge of sin and condemnation, but in Christ we have been set free from condemnation and death and have been brought into the miraculous reality where the Spirit of God produces his works in us. His main point: "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and DO NOT BE SUBJECT TO A YOKE OF SLAVERY." (Gal 5:1).

If I think that God deals with me according to the freedom brought by Christ, and yet I deal with my brother as if he needs me to subject him to a yoke of slavery, then I am demanding that I must also be dealt with by this yoke of slavery.

Let the freedom of Christ shake those false perceptions you hold concerning your brother so that your "spiritual eyes" will see his situation for what it really is. Then, and only then, will you be of any help to him."