A Meditation To Frame The Heart For Its Day

“In spiritual trials, one is to consider that they are brought about by God, that Christ our head underwent them as well, that many saints experienced them, and that impatience in such trials will not be held against those who under go them. They are to protect us against spiritual pride and help us to learn patience and hope. Bear sorrow until God takes it away. Do not listen to the judgment of the world and the Devil, but to God’s word. Think how God has helped the saints. If you suffer with Christ you will also share his glory.”

“Those who are undergoing trials should remember that these come from God, that the Devil has no power over us and that they lead not to corruption but to holiness. Such trials help to teach us to learn the power of sin, to value the redemption of Christ, to become like Christ, to learn, to taste the consolation of the divine Word, to learn to practice faith and patience, to be more strongly comforted, to be more joyous in heaven. Be satisfied that temptations are the will of God. They are the marks of the grace of God by which he makes us in body and soul like to his Son. Victory will certainly follow great struggles of soul. The evils that man must suffer against his will are not accounted to him by God. God has never left the soul alone in trial. Great trials are the special graces of God and those who undergo them are spiritual martyrs. Therefore be patient, for a light will shine fourth in the darkness.”

(John Arndt, True Christianity, Book Two)


“Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Joshua 8. 26. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3. 8. A willing subjection to any one sin is not consistent with the grace of God, and true saving faith, Romans 6. 14; for though wicked inhabitants will abide in the heart, and sometimes prevail over the believer, they must not reign there, nor should be suffered to stir without resistance: since we may be utterly ruined by the dominion of a single sin, that is, by a single subjection to it, as by the dominion of a thousand, just as a bird is caught by a single snare; and though you are actually converted, and have gained the dominion over your sins, yet you must not draw back your hand, and lay the spear and sword of the Spirit aside. There is no truce in this war, nor any rest found, but in fighting; for if you beat not your enemies, they beat you. Therefore, the Christian soldier's watch word is, Fight on, looking to Jesus. Satan left Christ only for a time; much more will he renew his assaults upon us again and again; nay, if a man is not watchful, but presumptuous, "he takes to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself." But if the conflict lasteth long, remember that is also the case of others; and even the ancient fathers have gone under it till they were gray; at last the victory will be the more sweet and glorious. Only, above all things, take the shield of faith, for faith alone triumphs; by which we are in covenant with Christ, and he makes one cause with us.”

(Carl H. von Bogatzky, Golden Treasury, November 29)

Lord, I read such things as these to which my mind and heart without delay agree. I thank you that I am in a line of faith to receive such godly insight and counsel. I need these words, and your timing to give them to me is perfect. May I honor you this day by yielding my life to your Spirit and word, and may I move in the direction of godly faith that would manifest the type of commitment in life that looks to you and trusts you, and that looks not to the world or to flesh, thinking that they offer me life; for that they do not do, although it may look and feel like life: they yield death. You, O’Lord, give me true life and you nurture and guide it, at times through the voices of your saints, like these ones above, who I’ve read and I agree with their words. I long for the leading of faith by which I would know the reality of which they describe. Far be it from me, my Lord, that I would see myself exempt from such divine work to conform me to the image of your son, in whom alone truly I have life. I look to you and trust you my God, not only with the end of my salvation but the means. May that never diminish.

Reminders On Faith

“Against the weakness of faith, the following are useful: Faith is God’s work; Christ’s love for us is perfect even if our faith is imperfect; God looks graciously on weak faith; he is most concerned about those weak in faith; he who eagerly wishes to believe also believes; no desire will be lost; it is better to be weak in faith than to be proud of strong faith; even weak faith grasps Christ and his goodness; faith is not at all times strong; concern about weak faith is true faith; Christ is with us and in us when we think on him; Christ our high priest prays for us; God’s mercy is unspeakably great; God began his work and will bring it to fulfillment; God has given many means to strengthen faith; our faith is grounded in the eternal election of God.”

(John Arndt, True Christianity, Book Two)

Reflections from John Arndt on the Christian Life

“The following things should help us to be patient: In suffering God comes to us, we deserve far grater punishment, God does not mistreat us, God has great patience with us, Christ and all the saints were patient, God promises great goodness to us, His promises are given in truth, suffering gives honor to God and it helps us, Christ made suffering a sanctifying thing, and eternal glory follows upon suffering.”

“Where there is no love and faithfulness, corruption and death follow. For pious and troubled people, faith and hope look to God’s power and mercy and bring about patience. They know that God hears man’s prayer, that God consoles them in wrong, that God gives his light of grace in darkness, that the suffering of evil men is God’s wrath, that righteousness and truth finally come to light, that shame will come upon all those who mock God.”

“Hope is patient faith that preserves to the end. God himself is its foundation and rest. He who depends upon temporal things must always stand in dread. Hope is tested by trials; by trials, God breaks down false hope. Like faith and love, hope depends upon God alone. It is awakened by considering time and eternity. Souls that live in hope are the most beloved children of God. They learn to trust upon God alone.”

(John Arndt, True Christianity, Book Two)

An Early Morning Meditation That Helps Frame An Understanding For Making It Through The Day In Godly Fashion.

“If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” (Heb 12:7-17)

My Lord, why have You included this text in Your holy word? Your servant, the one who originally penned it, and from whom I learn by the divinely kept record, he understood something about one’s relationship to You, and about Your relationship to those who are truly Yours. And, You, Lord, have permitted me to have this record, this revelation, this understanding regarding the quality and the character of what one particular part of our relationship is like. Your care, Lord, for me, and Your work in my life, is not defined by what seems best to You, or what another human seems is best for me, but it is defined by what You know is most profitable for me, and that, O Lord, is that I would be separated from what is unholy, so that I may become like You and participate in what is of You: holiness.

You let me know, Lord, that this likeness gives off something of a display that I did not have or give before Your corrective work upon my life. You recreate my life, such that my life presents something called “righteousness,” and this divinely crafted offering to the world (which it apparently won’t have or know apart from Your careful attention in human lives) is a manifestation of the reality of Your existence and Your involvement with humanity. Without You the world is subject to sin, lust, corruption, evil, and ungodly rule. Yet here, in this Hebrew’s passage, You tell me about Your work in my life, the end of that work, and the affect of that work. And while the writer knows Your craft will be discomforting, Your revealing to Your children the purpose and end of Your labor is itself the key which permits Your labor to be comfortable, even desired, by Your children. For You, O God, as God, do not simply show me the end and hold that out as some distant tangible reality to which I aim and hope to some day attain, but You show me Your means to that end, so that I know Your ways with me as I venture along my life path toward that end. Also, I know (informed and convinced) that You are intimately involved with me and close to me each moment of each day, so that we together travel along the way. I am never alone.

Father, You tell me to pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one in this fallen world will have a display of You, Your Son or Your Spirit. You have revealed to me by word and experience that I am Your child. Forgive me for my choices of selfish living where the world and its people who have traveled close to me did not see You but only a reflection of its own corruption as mirrored in my life! I am not of the world! I am from a different line, that of Christ, not Adam, and I have a different birth right, one that I dare not disregard, the loss of which I would sorrow over with tears; unless those tears be of a repentance, which can still occur because of Your love chastening me back to godliness before I fall over the cliff’s edge into the abyss of eternal doom and there realize that I have made that fatal error of choosing to be identified with the father of the sin corrupt world—the devil—over You Who are truly a loving Father over all creation.

You, Lord, in love gave Your Son to reclaim and recreate me into His image, which is a reflection and a revelation of Your interior goodness and Your displayed greatness! I must understand and see Your work in me during my days to the point of clarity whereby I grasp my weakness and at that very moment also see Your hand and I turn away from me toward You, thereby being healed. This experience of seeing what is of me and what is of You, then turning to go with You, is at times very painful—because I love myself—and this struggle can create bitterness leading to defilement, if I at that divine moment love myself so much that I prefer myself over You. Father, I pray and trust that over time, as I become more familiar and accustom to Your work and Your ways, I will await this spot where You open the eyes of my heart to what is of my flesh and what is of You—the way of holiness and godliness—and I will delight to make the turn toward You.

Gracious God, thank You for presenting to me this understanding of our relationship. Knowing that You have preserved this divine record of revelation for so many years up to this very day for my life helps me to live with You and for You as one of Your children journeying through the earth on my way to be with You forever. May I carry these thoughts into all that is my day today, and may I truly know that You are closely and carefully with me. May the world not know me as one who comes from its womb, but one with a heavenly birth. All this, my Father, is good and comforting. I am ready to venture into my day. Amen.

Reminders About the Holy Spirit and the Life of Godliness (IVa)

Greetings friend.

“Jesus Christ, [a] the faithful witness, [b] the firstborn from the dead, and [c] the ruler over the kings of the earth.” (Rev 1:5)

“Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” (Eph 6:24)


It was back in May that I wrote part three of the series Reminders About the Holy Spirit and the Life of Godliness. My intention was to quickly follow up with part four and conclude the collection of my thoughts on the many relevant themes. Instead, my study and meditation on the lead verse became a lengthy pursuit and an enjoyable journey of something I consider profound, deeply meaningful, and uniquely rewarding after my many years as a Christian. Studies related to the main verse grew my vision and understanding of Jesus Christ, the church, and God’s work. The way I view Christianity and the Christian life has gained a substantial amount of additional breadth and depth, and, perhaps more importantly, my affection for the triune God and God’s people seems to have taken on a different feel with new and more refined interest.

Throughout my Christian journey, I have on occasion taken months to study a particular biblical theme or issue; sometimes a full year. Concentrated studies do certainly have value, and yes, these will require your precious and limited time, but I believe them key for my spiritual growth. Perhaps you should sometime consider such a venture for your edification. My only recommendation is to be sure the topic of such devotion leads you deeper into God’s heart, away from self, sin, false doctrine, and the world. The primary verse for part four of Reminders About the Holy Spirit and the Life of Godliness is Revelation 22:17. I will introduce this verse below, but first I have additional related and relevant thoughts to share.

During these past many months, a sense of incompleteness characterized the journey alluded to above, thus making any attempt to begin writing my thoughts all the more difficult. I knew of no end to which my writing would aim; that was a mystery. Resources and understanding continued to come my way, and I followed what, in faith, I believed was the Spirit’s leading for me to grasp specific truths and be grasped—changed—by them. I now view these essential points as foundation items of Christianity and the Christian life, things that we all as Christians at best commonly reference with our lips but, I fear, for many of us are actually very far from governing our lives as individuals.

This disparity between what we present and what we are becomes clearer when one’s words and ways are experienced away from the Christian crowd and only before the few. Here one may find it easier to live only what one is deepest down on the inside and it actually becomes harder to put on a false or external self before the few. When before the few, one may assume that the few are more tolerable and accepting of a little self and corruption being manifest. The combined weight of their observing and discerning is less than the crowds, so, reason concludes, it can be tolerated. Whereas when before the crowd, religious formalism seems to necessitate or require one participate as a good member of the crowd and look the part for all present to see and hear. Activities which define the crowd move them along in such a way that individuals in the crowd may not even consider keen observing or discerning of another who is near them.

But, dear friend, God the Spirit sees one’s true self on the inside, and knows the workings at the inner crossroads where life’s ways are considered before manifestation. In addition, God’s Spirit knows not only an individual this way but also knows the collective spirit of the whole this way. For when individuals unite and become the crowd, there is a collectiveness which produces its own manifestation of the Christian crowd to the world crowd.

When a particular Christian is with a Christian crowd, one can will a persona which seems to easily take on or reflect the experiential manifestations of the Christian community immediately surrounding that individual. A person sort of fits in, but this fitting in is manufactured. Not real. The individual knows this artificiality is the case but isn’t honest about the difference he or she is aware of. Sometimes the individual sensing the difference may not know how to put words to their experience. Or, the issue behind the presented persona may be moral and the individual strives to avoid exposure, deciding instead to just live a false life before others as a cover. But, God’s Spirit is in there watching, seeing, and He knows. When away from the crowd, though, why would one bother to expend the energy required to be a fake? Living before only the very few, only these very few would ever encounter or properly discern one’s true heart and one’s ungodliness. Perhaps one’s immediate few reflect back what the one is him or herself, so there is no basis in the individuals who comprise the few that would even move them to be discerning about the one with godly discernment.

Someone can live content with being one’s unholy self and not fear the repercussions of the many finding out, if he or she avoids the crowd, limits exposure to the crowd, or remains quiet offering only minimal substantive conversation regarding their inner world on rare occasion. “Just enough” quiets most people, then they become distracted and shift away. The persona person is safe. Further, if this analysis is actually the case for any one Christian—all I have to do is look at my own history for evidence that at least one Christian struggles with actual godly living—then, perhaps it is even the wider experience of corporate Christianity; the Body of Christ, the Church at large. We will consider this by thinking about the Body of Christ in relation to the world.

This position above regarding the estate of the individual and corporate Christian experience related to “belief” and “life” is my personal conclusion. It is my own experience. And, I have to believe that I am not alone with this struggle between a recognition of what is godly and what I know to be the “inner me.” If it is common, why don’t we talk freely about our inner worlds where God does His deepest, hidden, and most transformationally profound work, which by divine design produces or yields the choicest and most vital open and available fruit for all to know God by and connect most directly with God’s grace, love, light, forgiveness and true life? Why do we willfully shield the world from direct exposure to the reality and impact of God here, at this most deep and most organic to life level? Likely, it is because the transformational work of God in this way at this level is alien even to us, and it is alien to us because we have been fooled by the evil one that true religion is external and shallow and the inner world is exempt from the eye and rule of God! We are led to believe the world’s mantra that only what is external and of appearance matters! Self hides in the deepest inner recesses of the human heart. The devil will marshal his demonic powers to spread any lie and darkness, and so blind the mind to prevent Christians from grasping the divine fact, that the inside, the heart, is where the most glorious work of God gets done.

Jesus talks about a cup being clean on the outside only, while the inside remains filthy, and apparently out of sight, so out of mind (Mk 7). The world tends to look only on the outside and passes judgment based on wants, needs or values associated with the observer’s wants or values. “Outside to outside” the world and those of the world bounce off one another believing they see and know what is right and good, judging others by what they think is the case, using themselves and how they wish to be judged as the reference point by which value judgments are determined. But God looks, sees and understands opposite to or different from how the world examines. God looks from the inside and through the inside outwardly. Certainly, God may and can witness, as an observer, Carl committing an act, as you or I may look out a window and watch someone help a neighbor. But God sees and understands the act as a result of the inner workings of heart and mind which led to or resulted in the act. More importantly, God sees and knows all those premeditated thoughts that end in imaginations and wants that never manifest to the world but remain hidden in the heart, where only the individual and God know their record. As God, He can only, it seems, go from what He knows intrinsically to Himself outwardly. He is clean, pure, sinless, and His motives and relations with all things are done from, by and toward what is according to His nature. The ungodly have none of that working in them. The Christian, I believe, has a substantial amount of mixed and conflicting passions, interests, and motives at work in their inner world, and manifest to the world is a blended presentation of that which is of God and that which is of self. This internal mix, influenced by both the internal and the external world, is a conflict zone. And, it is here that godly ways are chosen, and this good chosen can be brought forward to the world.

Then again, perhaps many of you have already traveled far down this portion of the road of faith where you not only know by acknowledgement to yourself all of what I described, but you have mastered self and the flesh and only godliness working its way out of you is what the world experiences through you. If true, you are well ahead of me, so to speak (in terms of awareness and life lived out of awareness), and I am only now being illumined to such distinctions or truths concerning one’s condition. I am only now following in your steps, unaware of your own story (because you never put words to it), and what I just described is simply “old turf” to you. If so, then I will see Christ in your life and be drawn to God because of your life. I will hear Christ in your words and be edified in the life of God that comes into the world from the outside, through people moved by God’s Spirit and defined by the Spirit of Christ. Perhaps, my friend, perhaps this is you, and I should learn from your mastery of ungodly passions. Perhaps I can only “experience” what you learned yourself of this reality by my involvement with your life, and I must actually “learn for myself by my own struggle with and before God Himself” the godly life you seem to exhibit. I cannot avoid actually learning what I need by simply adopting something I pluck from you (outside to outside), God must work with me Himself directly and take me through a process, so that I may come to a point like you where you and I live or evidence similar life qualities in our relations because God has instructed us both, and it is genuine from our hearts toward each other versus some artificially manufactured living shell we give to one another. So I look to you as an example of godliness to guide and encourage me. Being encouraged, I will seek God for victory over my inner war (unless I prefer the darkness). He will be my needed savior and teacher. Can you live your part for me and witness the reality of God working in and liberating your life from the world and from self, or do I walk (most often with difficulty) this road alone and you truly don’t have this inner dynamic loose in you? I only assume you do.

The sense of incompleteness I spoke of above kept me moving further and further into studying the Lord Jesus Christ as my end, and studying Him from view points which I had known about but not considered in much depth before or, in some cases, was not even aware of. December 2010, I committed to studying our Lord during all of 2011, and my journey has been nothing short of a blessing. As, perhaps you know, when one says “I am studying the Lord Jesus Christ,” one cannot merely study him as one studies a block of wood on a table. Jesus is a person, so one is drawn into a personal relationship when one learns of him. And, in such a relationship, He in turn studies the learner in His own way. He is a Shepherd. He is judge. He is all in all, and to sanctify one that He’s saved in preparation for being with His Father, Jesus Christ by the word and Spirit works in mysterious fashion to separate out and replace what is ungodly in someone’s life for that which is heavenly and according to godliness. He is Shepherd. He is Judge. He is our life and our sanctification.

Consider the verse Revelation 1:5 above. If you spent some days reflecting on just that verse for your spiritual nourishment from the Bread of Life, would you be filled? Would you recognize the three phases, the progression of Christ’s ministry represented by those parts, and that Jesus is now the ruler over the kings of the earth as he was when John was given this revelation? Would you see that perhaps this three fold outline is actually a structure for the Book of the Revelation itself? Would the bible’s declaring that Jesus Christ rules over all earthly rulers be a truth that you are overwhelmed by and which transforms your thinking and your passions about your relationship to earthly kings and powers, such that your trust and rest in Christ’s rule and not man’s? What would such fact do to you on the inside and what would people then experience from you outwardly? Would they know Christ as ruler because you live with him as ruler yourself? Looking back on the study path I traveled, it appears to me that I have been moving through a very personal stream of study related to the person of Christ Jesus, and the work of God in and through Christ Jesus, and that while the study involved my relation to scriptural truths and interpretations of these truths, the person of God and God in Christ was always the aim. As I studied and knew God more intimately, He made me more aware of His ongoing work in me. This being so, the fruit of my labors was not simply the gaining of more information but that of an increased affection and intimacy with God, greater honor and submission in mind and heart due Him, and greater awe and wonder at the vastness of His work and ways in all creation and history.

At this time, the notion to continue pressing into the subjects identified above has gone. The learning assignment of mind and heart for now has reached its end with respect to content and concerning a reorienting of my heart more toward God and away from self and the world. I seem to stand on a distant shoreline prepared and able to walk forward carrying the newness of what I believe God has shown me through my own life into the lands of my future, always moving ever more toward being fully in God’s presence and understanding that I am always now before Him, and that what I do with the illumination of divine truths is something He continually looks at. Friend, do you have such a vision for your life? Do you see yourself at the start of each day as newly resurrected from the dead, alive with Christ with a new heavenly life making your way through all things with Christ by faith and the Spirit toward the Father? Is this not your hope, your Christian and gospel end? If not, then what is your Christianity? When you arise, does the flesh arise with you and Christ stay in the grave? If you have any doubt, ask others! The fact that I still sin and continually wrestle with sin does not falsify the work of God in my life. I, and likely you, would say that such wrestling validates it. As does my forgiving the sins of others and contending against sin in the world.

I perceive from my studies these last many months a sense of wholeness regarding a very full package of thought, but what I offer in this fourth part of the series is really just an indication of where those thoughts have gone: descriptive sign posts. Trying to produce a full report of what I have learned, and my expanded vision of the Christian life and journey will likely never be written; as I hope your report of your intimate life with God is also so full that you could never detail it all to any person. More importantly, I hope that I actually live more of what I’ve come to understand than what I ever pen for another to read, whether I ever write on it again or not. For while words are too easily spoken, and we can too easily exalt self in what we seem to know (at least I tend to), a life of divine truth lived out leaves a greater impact and imprint on another’s life in a way words alone cannot. Conveying or revealing the life of Christ in and through our lives in relation to another person provides something more tangible than words alone.

The bible is comprised of words, but we do not relate to mere words. God in Christ is always present. This we must remember, as well as that we live as with and before him. Think of how it is with you. Life puts forward the divine reality expressed in acts that can only be explained by a cause from outside the self and the world because the nature of such life acts, or ways, are contrary to self and the world. The world recognizes, as do those of the world, its own. You and I, as Christians, must live and give the contrast, so that the world will encounter the divine reality, know that Jesus Christ “is” and that he “is Lord of all”—NOW!—that the Father sent and loved him, and that love conquers sin, death and evil and brings redemption, life and light!

Beloved, if you live as the world, the world will only see its self reflection in you, which is self-validation for the world that it is ok and may continue on its merry and worldly way (and, I fear, dear Christian, you will experience its reflection in you and you will consider yourself absolutely fine; as if you belong here! Take and consider the opposite of Paul’s position stated in Galatians 6:14). The world needs to encounter the glory of God in and through you and me, and it should receive such from us because that is truly what is, or ought to be, most alive in us—unless you and I are living by, for and to the flesh. Then, what is against God is most alive, or active, in us, and the world likes us, or at least smiles at us yet never hears us when we might happen to speak a godly word or sentence. Certainly the world will never encourage us to pursue godliness! Fleshly rule should not be our witness or testimony. God forbid! Pray for me!

Additionally, as you and I acknowledge without debate, it is God who grants us any and all understanding of His word. Spiritual truths are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:9ff establishes this fact. Our own experience, like those of others we know, confirms that any Christian’s understanding of the bible changes over time. Thus, I keep open to further review all that I share below and in subsequent letters. Our understanding of God’s scripture is a work in progress. We are people living a pathway of divine relationship whereby as we go on we are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. To the degree that we as individuals continue to behold and love our Lord, so will we continually be transformed into His image. This is God’s work and desire, and it seems natural that at some point it should be or become every Christians too. I wonder, if one does not love the Lord Jesus Christ sincerely (Eph 6:24), does that person love Him at all? Sincere love verses what other type of love? What love would that be? And, if one does not love Him sincerely, or at all, then one will not pursue Him. He is not worth our time and effort. We pursue what we love (what we want or desire or value).

Observation seems to say that many do not love Jesus Christ. Many a Christian appears soiled by what is earthly. Their testimony by word and deed should appear more Christ-like and heavenly, but often the only testimony given is natural and worldly. These wonder why after so many years as a Christian they appear to themselves (and others who may in silence observe them) fleshly, shallow, even dead, not much different in substance of a life hid with Christ in God than shortly after conversion (if even that!). They are not far along that road of Christian maturity and godliness. In short, the reason for their dreadful condition is Self. They remain as god to themselves and they live trying to be lord over others, having missed something specific of the divine message to them along the way; which would have liberated them into God’s relationship with them as their God, and having secured the reality of intimacy with God whereby He would truly rule as God in their lives instead of self’s tormenting rule. What a miserable condition to truly be a Christian and yet not live from, by and for that divine reality. You and I acknowledge all this, and we know that as we pursue Christ and God the Father, and thankfully receive what is revealed to us from His word, it is His delight to increase the fullness and depth of relationship with Him based on His word and involving our prayer, meditation and godly conversations. Through all this the body grows from the divine nourishment one member gives to another by word, life and the Spirit. There is a reason for my commenting on all these parts up till now. This background will connect with how we will look at Revelation 22:17. I trust that the relevance will become clear as we move into the text.

The primary verse for part four is Revelation 22:17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” The verse, after positioning our Savior earlier in the chapter, contains four parts, and throughout this discourse I will refer to them in the following way:

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” (4a)

And let him who hears say, “Come!” (4b)

And let him who thirsts come. (4c)

Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (4d)

From this verse, I focus on 4a: “And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” I am fascinated by this passage, especially “the desire” it reveals. Yet, after all studies and speculation, we must eventually ask ourselves, dear friend, what is contained therein for me and for you? To begin, we might ask if we acknowledge now the presence of such desire in our lives for the Lord Jesus Christ, or we might need to acknowledge that we seldom or never call out for him. Do our lives give evidence that we desire to be with Jesus Christ or have him be with us? Additionally, if we do now call for Him, or if we will in the not to distant future, what is the nature of this call, a call that is shared with God’s Spirit? This we must learn and understand well, so that our call unites us with the reality the passage reveals. We want to step into this truth and reality. We do not want to simply ask amiss, and we dare not try to mechanically fit a call on to our lives as something false and outwardly manufactured or displayed. We must be certain Who it is we ask for, and we must understand and desire (accepting the full implications of) our call being answered. Do we honestly believe that we are ready to stand in the full presence of God? Is this the implication of this call?

Some may understand that this call does not stem from something we as “the callers” would ask for ourselves, but that the call is solely an invitation for others to hear and come to what is offered to them through us. Reading 4b-d seems to allow for the interpretation of invitation, but, if it is such an invitation, who is the Inviter? (Can we learn from Matthew 11:28?) What condition would you and I, and the bride in total, need to be in so that such a Spirit led call would actually go out from us? What of this? Perhaps there is both (1) the expressed desire for the Caller by the Spirit-bride for themselves, as well as (2) the expressed desire of the Caller as an invitation to be with Him but apparently through the Spirit-bride for others. We will explore this, and much more than just these few thoughts or questions.

As you may have gathered from this brief introduction to the fourth and final part of my series on the Holy Spirit and Godliness, the details which stem from studying Revelation 22:17 are extensive. Future letters will be many, and they will be written over much time. I will try to write again soon. Until then, convince yourself from the Scriptures that Jesus Christ is now Lord of all, pursue the Lord Jesus Christ, and understand what this means for your life (inwardly and outwardly) and others through you.

God’s best.

Carl

Look at the Lamb

Greetings friend.

I do not mean to be judgmental or unkind, but I do not understand how a Christian can be bored with God’s word or be uninterested in it. Yes, I am aware that many Christians have honest struggles and that not all Christians posses the same passion for God. Each of us experiences a range of interest levels for God’s word throughout our Christian lives. Perhaps the “passion issue” is related to one’s “faith object.” If one attempts to be motivated to read or study God’s word from mere duty or from a self-generated faith basis, the likelihood of disinterest or failure seems naturally greater. If one is motivated to study God’s word because of their love for God and God’s love for them (experienced, not just intellectually acknowledged), because in the Bible the mysteries of God, of life and of Jesus Christ are manifest and revealed, the likelihood of a Christian frequenting the Scriptures would appear quite regular and normal. Again, we all ebb and flow in our relation to God’s word. Inconsistency seems to be the only constant at times. My observations are not intended to condemn. I only mention these things as prefatory to setting some aim.

For my own part, I must confess that this day in church I was into my own Scripture study in the New Testament: Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Corinthians, and Revelation. I have labored heavily in these areas for more months than I can remember. The theme I pursued with lavish gusto today was that of “the throne” in Revelation: who is present and what is going on. It is a remarkable study!

In Revelation 4, God the Almighty is central. He is on His throne. He is the one in whom life exists (all created things, all else, derives life from Him). He lives forever and ever. He is worshipped by creatures. In Revelation 5, God Almighty possesses a scroll. An angel proclaims “Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?” Nothing! Not a creature stirs. “No one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.” And yet, something else was required. Then, a Lamb appears. And this Lamb does something significantly more than just “open” the scroll and “loose” its seals. This Lamb, in the midst of the throne, “came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.” The Lamb approached the Almighty, in complete confidence took the scroll from the Almighty, and then living creatures and elders fell down before the Lamb and sang a new song to the Lamb!

My friend, it may not immediately appear clearly or as significant, but the nature of the Lamb is testified to by this event. Creation was unworthy and unable to approach the Almighty. The Lamb, because he was significantly more than something defined by the created order, hesitated not in both approaching the Almighty and taking from His right hand the scroll. The Lamb, of his own authority, would later open the seals and, as Son of God and Son of Man, mediate the will of God Almighty to the created order.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (Jn 1:1) He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Col 1:15-17) God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power. (Heb 1:1-3) But I saw no temple in it [the holy city, the New Jerusalem], for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light." (Rev 21:22-23)

The Lamb shares something essential, intrinsic, with the Almighty. “Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. (Jn 14:9-10) For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (Col 2:9) No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." (Jn 1:18)

My friend, if you need a reason or some portal, direction, with God’s word to be forever anchored and interested in His word, look at the Lamb!

Christian, How Do You See Yourself And Others? As New In Christ?

“. . . if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)

My friend, if you have been a Christian for any length of time, you are likely familiar with this verse. In my experience, it is used to emphasize a position that through Jesus Christ, God has changed “your” life, and that His work to bring forward the newness of this life in “you” is ongoing. As a result, this truth should encourage you, and you should become more Christ-like over time. I have heard this verse applied as a reason for giving Christians some sense of hope that the condition of their lives will not stay as currently known—short on affection for God; characterized by unholy thoughts, attitudes and actions; hostage to mixed and tumultuous emotions; shallow faith; uncertainty; doubt; unfulfilled expectations—and it is used to direct Christians to believe that at some point they will eventually reach a level of Christian development or a form of discernable Christian maturity matching a notion of godly design and Christ-likeness. But, I ask you, step back from this customary interpretation (whether valid or not) and consider something different. Perhaps the apostle Paul is driving at something apart from the typical explanation, something where “you” or where “self” is not the primary object. To explore an alternate meaning, let us add the preceding verse.

“. . . from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor 5:16-17)

I find it interesting, first off, that when we join verse 16 to 17 the focus immediately comes off “us” or “self.” We are, in turn, actually told to see “others” and to see “Christ,” not ourselves; although, by extension, we could see ourselves, but we would only be permitted to see ourselves as “not according to the flesh.” What does this mean? It means that as Christians our life (its nature) and our relationships have fundamentally changed. It also means our method of knowing, interpreting and understanding life, has fundamentally changed. We now have a foundational and fixed contrast between “according to the flesh” and “in Christ.” We also see a second contrast which is between (a) Knowing according to the Flesh and (b) Knowing thus No Longer (which permits a new or a replacement Knowing, a (c) Knowing according to Christ, or a (d) Knowing according to the New Creation—the New Life).

The essence of the contrasts which we are here designating and discussing are the two categories of Being and of Knowing. We do this and make these divisions within a biblical framework. A person is either in Christ or not. One is either a new creation or not. We are addressing here the nature of one’s existence, one’s being. Similarly, either someone understands and interprets life according to the flesh or not. One knows and understands according to the new creation, according to new things or not. So, if one is in Christ, and is therefore a new creation, this person (we would expect) knows, understands and interprets not according to the flesh but according to Christ, according to the new creation. As Christians, it seems reasonable that someone should have an awareness of their being in Christ. It seems there should also be an understanding of their knowing about life according to Christ. Jesus Christ is both the ground of our existence and the basis for our understanding that existence or life; the life of our existence in Him, and the lives all others who also anchor their existence in Him. Our life is rooted in Christ. The understanding of our life is also rooted in Him.

If we carry the notions implied in verse 16 into verse 17, we may understand Paul as saying: “Now that I am (and, as all Christians are) truly living, and only living, in Christ, I should not regard any Christian I think of or encounter (including myself) through a lens that is primarily defined by or framed according to the characteristics of the flesh (a), just as I do not relate to or accurately understand Jesus Christ according to the flesh; that is, only from the perspective of his earthly existence. Jesus was resurrected. He is the firstborn from the dead. He redeemed. He is of Heaven. He is the God-Man. As Christians, we should relate to ourselves and any other Christian from our foundational identity in Christ Jesus and according to their identity in Christ Jesus; from the characteristics and principles of the new nature, and according to our mutual participation in that new nature (b-d). We should understand, first, that any true Christian is a new creation, and that any individual Christian, or any group of Christians, continually experiences old things passing away and things of the new creation emerging in their heart, mind, and relationships. (Do you, dear Christian, ever wonder if this could really be true and possible?) I should, as a Christian, realize that this new identity for me and others continues its presence and manifestation in every Christian’s life for the remainder of their life. (But, what if at times I am unable to discern this? Would it still be true?) Regardless of what age or stage of life we as Christians encounter, if we are Christians, we are in Christ, we are of the new creation, and we continue not knowing according to the flesh but knowing according to Christ.” Be advised, though, not all have this understanding.

Friend, much more could be said, but I leave further contemplation of seeing and relating to yourself and other Christians from “in Christ” and the “new creation,” and not “according to the flesh,” to your personal initiative. I must make a second point. It concerns Christian liberty in relationships.

“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way . . . for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” (Ro 14:12-13, 17-19)

Do you sense the high road of heavenly relationships described by these verses? If these verses were a map of Christian relationship, where would you spot yourself? If we join the relational frame and understanding of 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 to the instruction of these passages, a larger relational picture for the Body of Christ develops. It is one of Christian liberty: the environment and the principle by which Christians relate to one another. It assumes that each Christian stands (knowingly) as an individual before God at all times, and that God alone is our judge. If true, you are not my judge, in the sense that you ultimately define and rule my life. I am not your judge. You are not, foundationally, accountable to me. There is Another. We both live before and unto God. He is our Creator and our Redeemer. This high and divine notion of “living in God’s presence continually” ought to be something we acknowledge and resign ourselves to at this moment and going forward. Instead of an atmosphere of dread, it is a position of comfort. But, not all have this understanding.

What you and I, my friend, are to be toward one another, as those in Christ and according to the new creation, are people who demonstrate godly wisdom accompanied by liberty and the fruitful manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our relationships. We are to live and express the new life in Christ, which we each should have evidence of and know ourselves, toward one another. You may notice that if I relate to you according to what I see you doing or not doing—eating and drinking, etc.—I am judging your life. This would be my lens for understanding you; but, if we are both in Christ, would I not, in fact, be misunderstanding you? If I relate to you according to what God by His Spirit is doing in me—righteousness, peace, Holy Spirit joy, liberty—I am excluding fleshly judgment and bringing His life to your life. By extension, you, as a Christian, would be doing the same toward me. Life into life; liberty and, I say, love. The new life and heavenly realities are the foundation for our lives here and also the basis for our understanding our lives now. This, I believe, is the kingdom way. Not judging according to the flesh. Both living and judging, or interpreting relationships, by the flesh, have been done away with by Jesus Christ. We no longer know, understand or experience, Him that way. Why would we ever persist in relating to those “in Christ” with us that way? Again, I say, not all have this understanding.

Imagine, if you will, what your closest Christian relationships would look like if sketched by the understanding above which stems from being “in Christ” and living according to the “new creation.” Christ: our Ground for life and our Basis for understanding our life. What could your Christian small group relationships look like and those of your church congregation? What would you see, envision, hear? What would people be doing, saying in private conversations before or after church? How would they look at each other? What would people’s goals, desires and passions be toward and what would they be doing with their time? How would you see others, and who would you be to others? What sort of relational dynamics would follow? Would you edify and be edified?

May God by His Spirit and word, by His people, instruct us and lead us.

Carl

Crisis of Faith and Christian Despair—Pathway to Life.

“This is a faithful saying” (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

“For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”

Greetings friend.

Reading the verses above feels to me like I am descending the ladder of faith, traveling from the heights of assurance and Christian victory into the hellish pits of despair. If this view is permissible, what happens when I arrive there? Go with me, and see.

I wonder how often we truly ponder our relationship with God, with Jesus Christ? Frequently? Rarely? I find value in such questioning, but do you? How about others you know? Is such enterprise a waste of time and the strain on one’s soul unwarranted? Such an effort may lead one to despair! Well, perhaps it should. But, doing so may also lead one to a greater understanding of what those relationships actually mean. We may learn things about our life with God and Jesus Christ that we’ve not understood before; things which strangely strengthen and encourage us, even though the venture costs us dearly. Perfect love casts out fear.

Read again those few verses above and locate the part that best describes your current relationship with Jesus. Circle it, or write it down. Read them again and now identify the part that you least want to have describe your relationship with Him. Note it. For some, perhaps they are the same.

The first line, “For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him,” might describe the entry way into life with God through Christ, and so it conveys to us a great hope! Here are found the basics of the gospel, and many a Christian lives secure in themselves and Christ right here and advances no farther in Christian understanding or the fullness and substance of the Christian life. Forgiveness through Christ and everlasting life with God because of Christ are the extent of it. Really? Must there not be more? What if the living with Him actually describes that which is the reminder of our earthly lives after conversion but before Heaven? “Having died with Him, I live with Him.” If this second view is a possibility, then a Christian would by necessity move on to the second line. People defined by the first interpretation will be motivated to stay secure on line one. Their Christianity has no depth. Therefore, they cannot descend.

“If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.” If this verse pertains to the Christian life (and this seems the correct view, given how Paul describes his situation in chapter 1), the word “endure” is appropriately chosen. Do you and I have what it takes to successfully and triumphantly live the Christian life all the way to the end? Must we not honestly evaluate our lives with God, with Christ, so that we know? Or, is guessing and assuming sufficient? Friend, how does it go with you? Tell me, by what rule do you gage your life? Life is hard. The Christian life is hard. To live it, one must press into it continually or it will cease and darkness may return as one’s way. If you do not endure, then would you (by default) live as a non-Christian? Or, is failing to endure simply part of the Christian journey? Troubling, is it?

The secret to living the life with endurance stems from what is positioned at the end of the previous line: living with Him. “Having died,” if you do not “live with Him,” you cannot endure. If you do not live with Him, you have no life; for “you died” (or so you claim). Your life now can only be “in Him.” The two states (dead, but alive) are different sides of a single reality. He endured. You can endure. He reigns. You too can reign. But first, you must endure. Do not try this by your own strength. Abandon any thought of it. For you will not succeed. Having died with Him, to live, you can now only live through His life. Because He lives, you live. How often we forget that we have died with Him. Imagine, in those times, how difficult it would be to resurrect that which died, to try and have what we believe and remember was life to us return. This cannot be done. Jesus is also the resurrection. He is the life. We must live with and by Him. Only then will we endure. Only then will we reign.

Dear reader, we have taken some downward steps. Do you see yourself somewhere along the way thus far described? Do you live with Him? Do you endure? Come. We must quickly press on while thoughtfully engaged.

Next, we enter the treacherous waters of Christian hardship where the rocks of denial abound: denial of Jesus Christ. Why would that come now? We just spoke of enduring and the glory of reigning with Him! Far be it from any of us to ever deny our Lord! “I am a Christian!” Perhaps, but, my friend, do we not all in some way deny our Lord? Did He not stand alone at trial? Was it not Jesus, and then set against Him was all the world? Perhaps, when reading on, the more challenging issue is “How does Christ deny us upon our denying Him?”

It would seem at this point torrents of fear wash us away and dash us upon the rocks! The One I trust for my salvation; the One I call my Lord . . . is this truly His way toward me? Could I carry the weight of such awareness, if true!? Questions and insecurities would overwhelm me like high flood waters washing away everything in its path! Is this denial for eternity? Is there any repentance and forgiveness to bring repair!? Even if only affecting temporary fellowship! Could I but have some hints to discern some break in intimacy with God (such as are contained in the warnings to the churches in Revelation 1-3), then I might understand the dangers and repent!

My friend, I have difficulty enough engaging this challenge for myself, and while I may never fully understand the correct meaning of the conditional “IF I deny, THEN He denies,” it provides an excess of opportunity for me to prayerfully examine my life with God and for God to lead me and guide me into truth, repentance and further into life with Him. Perhaps the inquiry itself is what God desires most, because through the inquiry He’ll reveal answers to us individually. But, we are not done yet. The raging torrents have captured us in their swift, rocks we meet, but down we must go. There is an answer, an end, and it is down.

If denial is not the bottom, to where must we descend? The floor which we seek is Faithlessness. Oh, the shunned description for any Christian! Faithlessness! It awaits us further down; down in the darkened dregs and depths of crisis and despair. Can you ever see yourself, dear Christian, as faithless!? Are you above that!? Who would lay the charge? Early on in your Christian venture, bold in faith, triumphing over Satan, sin and the world, could you have ever imagined yourself sometime later identified as “faithless?” Living with joy the glories of the Christian life, and secure in the articulation of transcendent platitudes, unhindered, beyond enduring! “Sure, I’ll reign with Christ! Never could I deny Him!”

Then what happens? Life changes. You change. Things are different. You are not who you thought yourself to be, and you now inescapably know this to be fact. The shell of your Christian life has cracked and it falls away. Your light seems to turn to darkness. Your joy turns to sadness. Your victory turns to defeat and ruin. Have you denied Him? Worse yet, has He denied you!? And is what you are now experiencing the effect of that denial: life separated from God, alone, left to see and to live with yourself? Is that how you would describe what you feel? Is God gone? You stand exposed in fear and humility, unsure of which way to step, for all is darkness. Motionless, truly exposed for what you are: broken and needy for that which only Jesus Christ can provide. What now? You are with yourself, and you begin to think, and you wonder, “Is there some relationship between denial and faithlessness (unbelief) that I must see and must understand that will explain, that will show, that will direct?”

My friend, at this point of examination, self-reflection, and self-exhaustion, you must go the final step. It is required. God has ordained it. You, as a Christian, must know—understand with the mind, but also sense or experience in the fullness of what makes you human; thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc.—that you are and will be faithless, but that Jesus Christ will not be faithless! It is at this point when one can see something a bit differently. “Jesus is truly Savior.” He remains faithful, and you and I (from our state of self-exhaustion) must see Him as such to appreciate and value Him as our Savior! If you do not go to and stand at this point of crisis of faith and Christian despair, you will—or, you may very well—secretly rely upon your own strength to save, your own merit, your own glory, and Jesus will not be all to you that He in reality is for you. You have not yet hit bottom. You will not know His life, because you choose to cling to yours.

There one stands, hushed in the horror of a holy silence. Upon confession of such things, the door of life opens and you are greeted by a question: “Why does Jesus remain faithful with regards to me when I am unfaithful toward Him; or, does He actually remain faithful to something other than me?” You must, dear Christian, not merely see this question as something before you, but you must hear yourself ask it to yourself! It will be nourishment to your soul and your faith, as light is essential for your sight. Then, sensing a new type of movement from within, you begin to ascend the ladder from the floor of faithlessness (unbelief) and the depths of darkness and despair. You go upward to where you assume will be the spot from which the descent began; only, you are now enlightened and strengthened. Thus, the world you know and live in is different for you because you are different. Christ is the same. Only you know Him more fully, as He truly is. And, whereas one would normally consider a question’s answer to be something that concludes, satisfies, and quiets the quest, this forthcoming answer works to pull you and me as individual Christians forward, deeper, and further into the mysteries of God and fellowship with Him and Jesus Christ; yet, we are always strengthened, even through further and assured crisis. This is because the answer as to why Jesus remains faithful to you and me when we are faithless toward Him drives us into seeing that He is committed (faithful) to a larger divine work, of which we are a part, and He cannot deny Himself, nor will He fail to keep the commitment He made to His God and Father. We are secure in Him! The glory and honor, and all else, go to Him. He is before His Father and our Father, His God and our God, as the Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased. Jesus cannot, will not, deny Himself, nor can He be unfaithful with respect to all He has committed to with His God and Father. As a Christian, you are secure in Him. Self-security is an illusion. Do you understand this? He is faithful. He is our Savior. Trust not in yourself. You cannot save yourself. The saving required is that which is only accomplished by Jesus Christ Himself.

You have journeyed back to the top of the ladder. You arrive back at line one. Renewed and resting secure in Christ, you ascend from the floor, the foundation—Christ. Now you understand what living with Him entails. You are more aware that you could deny Him, but why would you ever do that? Given Who He is and what He’s done, what He does, why would you ever deny Him? Instead, you press into the Christian life. You continue. You endure. You want to reign with Him. You live! He defines you. And you know that the old self who died, so Christ could live in and through you, that old self, it remains dead and contributes nothing to what God now calls your life. The descent to despair, although it felt to have pulled your life apart, actually revived you, connected you with the life, and now you can live more secure in Christ, more joyful in Him and in the life lived with and for Him. He remains faithful, dear friend, because He cannot deny Himself. Ponder that often. Go where those thoughts lead you. Then, having thought and questioned, live from what God reveals to you.

To the reader: You may wonder if the preceding is an appropriate interpretation of what the apostle Paul intends from 2 Timothy 2:11-13. I can only encourage you to take the major thoughts from the above description, write them down, then slowly and thoughtfully work through 2 Timothy. I am confident you will be both surprised and encouraged.

God’s best to you.

Carl
6-11-11

Reflections on “In Christ Jesus”

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Eph 1:3-6)

Father, how wonderful and overwhelming are all the many splendid things that you declare from your word! If you did not reveal them, I would never imagine them. You bless me through every single thing you’ve purposed in Jesus Christ, your son! You chose me in him. I participate in your divine work in his life. You adopted me by means of your son. He is the ground from which my son-ship exists. You freely and fully love your son, and you abundantly pour out your grace to me through him whom you love! You, Father, bless me with every spiritual blessing. I am—in truth—holy and blameless in your sight, not because of my worth or merit but because your decision and because of your son. All this, and so much more, to the praise of the glory of your grace! Father, I praise you and thank you for this divine work considered and secured before ever there was a world. In love you predestined my relationship with you through Jesus Christ. On account of the good pleasure of your will, and your love for your son, I experience and understand all these things little by little as the days and years advance. A time will come when I finally leave this earth all tired and worn, and I will then be more infused with life than ever I could on earth conceive. I will finally be with you; the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I have life, love and all spiritual blessings! May I never think or say I am not sufficiently loved!

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’ And again: ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.’” (Heb 2:10-13)

Lord Jesus, suffering was your way. Why? I do not pretend to adequately understand. But in the wisdom of God, your Father, He knew that through suffering you would be complete, reach your designed purpose and end, and you would be best set apart for the work He intended for you: the God-man; Mediator of the new covenant. As I reflect on the Ephesians passages above, I understand that I am with you. My identity is termed “in Christ.” Hebrews 2 tells me that we are one: sanctified, set apart. I hear your song of praise, trusting, understanding my being given by the Father to you, thinking even of John 10 and how you say that you and the Father are one! Lord Jesus, the Father has done so much in and through you, and I am with you in those works. I seem to be the passive beneficiary of His actions with you. I could never achieve such a position on my own. I would never conceive it. May I never account such blessings as mere earthly trinkets that I squander along life’s road and which leads to eventual loss and ruin. I am glad that you are not ashamed to call me one of your brethren! You must see me as the Father does. That you do is clear. Yet, you understand me as I am, for you know my nature. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your love for the Father and your willingness to suffer and bring many to sons to glory! I rejoice that you have declared His name to me. I am glad we are all of one! Of those given to you by your Father, God, you lose not one. (Jn 6:39, 10:28)


“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Gal 4:4-6)

Father, you purposed the adoption. I am one of your adopted children. I have no doubts about this relationship. At the appointed time, you sent forth your son to liberate and clear the way to life; to you. You sent him, and he came down. You sent not an angel, but your son. The work you designed and purposed could not be accomplished by an angel. You desired your son to be glorified and his image to be manifest through eternity as that comes forward in the lives of those you adopted in him. This is that relationship that you predetermined to be. Lord Jesus, in you this work was obtained. I understand that as a result of my actual adoption as a child of the Father, I share your voice of testimony regarding the Father. You are His son. You know him. You came from Him and returned to Him. Then, He sent Your Spirit into the hearts of all those who have been and ever will be adopted through you to Him. While you walked the earth, your spirit directed you to always be moving toward Him and to live in conscious awareness of Him. His testimony was that He was pleased with you. May that be also my experience, as your spirit in my heart overtakes all other spirits (those of self, sin, demonic or worldly passions), so that He from whom my life is now derived would be my chief desire and end. Father, you sent your son and you sent the Spirit of your son. Not only do you see me in Christ, but you hear me in Christ. I share his spirit. I send up his cry, “Abba Father!”

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God . . . For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren . . . nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 8:16-19, 29, 39)

My Father, the collection of scriptures assembled above that I have prayed through are like successive waves of the sea rolling ashore. Each one lands its message and truth on the shore of my mind and heart. You gave me the Spirit of your son. The Holy Spirit impress upon me that I am your child. I have that witness. But you have purposed that I understand and experience more. You make it known to me that I am an heir with your son in all that you purposed to accomplish through him. He rules and inherits. I do not understand all this, but I believe it. As your child, adopted in Christ Jesus, you have predetermined that what happens in my life works to shape and bring forth your son’s likeness in my life. That must be a divine work! Sin too wants to master me. Conformity to its image is an effortless decent. Your work to conform me to the image of your son is a mighty work! A glorious work! A heavenly work! I am no longer defined by who I am in Adam. Nor do I bear the image of the devil. I am your child, and I am being transformed to reflect the image of your son! You desire what is glorious in him to be manifest among those many brethren. Father, Lord Jesus, let me always remember that your love is the environment of my existence. You have purposed that I would, in Christ, live before you in love; now and forever. Nothing of earth, or any other created dimension, can alter this fact!

My God, as I close, it is abundantly clear that You love me. This is so, certainly because I am “in Christ,” but also shown to me in other various ways related to experience. It is also clear that I have not been abandoned, and I am not alone, regardless of what my inner thoughts and imaginations want me to believe, or what the voices of the world try to convince me of to the contrary. They lie. And God, you are trustworthy. I am to rest in you and your goodness always. The world cannot know these things, and if the world hears them they scoff in disbelief. But those who are your children in Christ Jesus, Father, these know; for you have given them the Spirit of your son in their hearts. The Holy Spirit witnesses to us also. That testimony is firm. Thank you for your wonderful works in Christ Jesus and for the witness of these things from your word by which my mind, my heart, and my life are strengthened and your name exalted. Amen

Christ Our Mediator and Prayer

“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 2:5) “Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” (Lk 11:3-4) “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt 6:14-15)

Father, without Jesus, Your Son, I would have no access to You, no fellowship, no intimacy. I would be left to myself, separated from You, without hope. Because of Him, I see You, and I see myself as before You. He instructs me in Your Word. Even in this, He acts as Mediator for us. It is He who teaches me about prayer: petition, with gratitude, for physical sustenance and forgiveness of my sin. These are my minimal daily needs, as creature and sinner—food and forgiveness. Living in Your presence, I understand dependency, I see my sin, and I pursue forgiveness with You through Your Son. He is our Mediator. He is also Your Son. As I know myself, I know others. You forgive me, so I forgive them. If my heart is closed toward them, then I will feel Your’s as closed toward me. Thank You, Father, for Your Son, prayer, and forgiveness.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (Jn 17:20-21) “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (Ro 8:34)

Father, Your Son Jesus prayed for me before He left this earth. He has returned to You and sits at Your side. As Mediator, He opened and secured the way to You. He is the living way. He teaches me to pray by praying Himself. He petitioned You for our unity and for the world to know You sent Him. You dealt with sin. You answered His prayer. From this oneness, may the world hear from me (even if in only a small way) that You sent Him. Might they believe. May they hear more. Jesus has ascended to Your side. You hear His voice and know His heart continually. Your Son never tires. Mediator between You and men while on the earth. I am grateful He continues as that for me day after day. Thank You, Father, for the gift of Your Son. I’m glad You have answered His prayer. You always hear Him.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Lk 11: 9-10) “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (v. 13) “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Ro 8:26)

Father, Your Son, as Mediator, instructs me to pursue the best from You; Your Holy Spirit. I ask. I seek. I knock. I will receive. Thank You for the gift of Your Spirit. Father, what if no one prayed for me? What if each person had to carry that load his or her self? We hardly pray now. How would we endure? What if I never prayed for my true need but only superficial wants? What would be my end? I thank You, Father, that You did not leave these cares to me alone, but the Spirit, Whom You gave me, prays for me according to my true need. I do pray, LORD, but I do not pray enough or as I ought. I count on Your Spirit. I am unable to approach You apart from Your Son. He is the new and living way into Your presence. I am grateful, Father, that You hear Him, Your Spirit, and me. You have infinite capacity to receive our combined and ongoing petitions, and You show infinite delight in the chorus of our voices; each different, yet each toward You. Father, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit. He knows Your mind, Your Heart, my weakness and need, and Your language. You hear Your Son. You hear Your Spirit. Both are Your gift, as is prayer. Christ mediates for us. He instructs me. I believe. Thank You. Amen.

Reminders About the Holy Spirit and the Life of Godliness (III)

Greetings, Friend.

We come now to the third of four parts in the series Reminders About the Holy Spirit and the Life of Godliness: The Presence of the Holy Spirit.

Part One, The Person of the Holy Spirit, introduced Relationship with God’s Spirit, and in specific that Christians can and do grieve, sadden, and disappoint Him. (Eph 4:30) We evidence our tragic failure in not knowing God and understanding the gift of His Spirit when we discount or dismiss Him. Obviously, this is to our harm, detriment, and loss. But the consequences go far beyond our lives, for we do not live in isolation. Whatever the causes are for our grieving the Spirit, we must understand and correct them. Nonetheless, God the Spirit remains committed, for He has a divine commission.

Part Two, The Power of the Holy Spirit, emphasized not simply the Spirit’s Power, but that God the Spirit with His power engages our natural dispositions, the flesh, at the critical front where what we desire and do in life is determined. God’s Spirit is positioned and abides with us at that fountain, our life’s core, with our spirit, our soul, at the final seat of our individuality. Here our nature is found and life’s issues come forth. That persistent foe our flesh hides there under the cloak of Self, natural passions and desires churning, influencing mind and heart; ultimately, sin’s source. (Gal 5:17, Rom 7:17-25, Js 1:14-15) Thankfully, God’s Spirit, Who cannot be corrupted by evil or our fallen nature, is focused right there to lift us from slavery to self, bring us out of sin, and, in turn, enlighten and empower us to live God glorifying lives. If we dismiss His person (the Relationship), we forfeit His power (Positioned where we need it most).

And now, Part Three: The Presence of the Holy Spirit.

I find it very difficult to begin this third part for at least two reasons. First, because of the volume of information I desire to share, I struggle to pick the best starting point through which to access everything else. This said, I begin by discussing the Christian’s heart and God’s Spirit, then I work into discussing the collective Christian heart (the Church) and God’s Spirit. By the Holy Spirit’s “presence,” I mean the Spirit’s role and influence, not necessarily location. The Holy Spirit does so much, but what I want to show is the Spirit’s role in bringing and promoting a specific quality of life: Godliness.

The second difficulty concerns the notion of godliness itself. If I confessed that I do not know what godliness means, how would you react? Perhaps I am on the right track, even if I am not completely in agreement with the ideal. It is easy for someone to comprehend the meaning of the word “godliness” as found in 1 and 2 Timothy and 2 Peter, for example, but godliness is really understood when one lives it. Godliness is holy living, and this presents the challenge. Examine your own life and the lives of Christians closest to you. Does godliness describe your life and theirs? If not, why not? I can tell you that while I do struggle with holy living, I also understand that the condition and orientation of my heart, in large measure, determines whether I will live godly or not. So, in conjunction with God’s truth, I look deeply into the heart, and I understand its nature and condition. If I am to live godly, I must pursue God’s word, self-reflection, and prayer. What follows from here are more thoughts on this subject. May we understand our hearts and our lives be changed to live godly in this present age for God’s glory and the good of others.

In Matthew 15, Jesus comments on the heart. From the heart come those things which defile a person. (v. 17-20) Proverbs 4:23 provides a similar view: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” The word “life” means many things to us; physical existence, for instance. In the New Testament, physical life is sometimes described by the term “flesh.” (Jn 1:13-14, Mt 19:6) Flesh also refers to the observable life of a person. (Jn 8:15) It is a way of life. (Rom 8:4-6) But there is more. Interestingly, the flesh is said to have its own lusts and desires. (Rom 13:14, Gal 5:16, 24) It is dynamic. Going even further, there is a link between the flesh and the heart. The flesh, according to its unique nature, works desires into the heart; for example, selfish ambition. (Gal 5:20, Js 3.14) One can conclude, then, that to be “identified with the flesh” is a valid generalization of someone’s life.

But Jesus tells of another life—spiritual. In John 3, he contrasts the physical with the spiritual, speaks of two births, summing it all up with the descriptions “of the flesh” and “of the spirit.” Here, the flesh is natural birth and natural life. In contrast, spiritual birth brings spiritual life. Spiritual birth is from God, heavenly, and given to us as a gift. This life comes through the Spirit Himself. (Jn 3:3-7, Gal 4:29) We find the heart connected to this spiritual life. The heart obeys a form of doctrine which leads to salvation. (Rom 6:17) With the heart one believes to righteousness. (10:10) The heart is where the Spirit brings God’s love. (5:5) And, it is from the heart that rivers of living water, by the Spirit, flow. (Jn 7:37-39) From this, one can conclude that to be “identified with the Spirit” can be a generalization for one’s life. (Gal 5:25)

For our purposes, the heart is that reservoir in each of us from which the issues of life come forth. The heart is influenced by stirrings, desires and ideas according to a nature. Desires working in heart and mind hunger for action by the will. As the proverb implies, from the heart comes that which makes the life. Both the flesh and the Spirit represent distinct origins and natures. One is earthly; one is heavenly. Each engages the heart and fosters a different expression of life. Jesus states the flesh profits nothing, but that the Spirit gives life. His words are life. (6:63) Jesus is pointing us away from the flesh toward the Spirit. God’s Spirit brings this spiritual life to us and also labors to grow it in us. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit—the Trinity—together do the initial redemptive work setting life with God in motion (Titus 3:4-6); and, as I’ll later show, together they sustain it.

God’s Spirit is not only with or for us, but in us. (Jn 14:17, 2 Tim 1:14) His presence is life. (Jn 7:37-39, 6:63) He jealously works to free us from our original fleshly nature and bring us more fully into the new spiritual life. He pursues this by confronting our flesh and presenting to us the realities of God’s grace which correspond to the new nature. (Js 4:5, Gal 5:16f) Thus, I argue, for the Christian, godliness is the expression or outcome of living according to one’s new true nature, new identity, in unison with the Spirit. (Titus 1:1-2, 2 Pet 1:2-8, 3:11, Rom 8:9-14, Gal 5:25)

From the human point of view, the task sounds daunting and efforts futile. You and I readily know that we do not consistently live according to our new nature. Our old nature, the flesh, is too persuasive and we easily acquiesce to the flesh’s ways. The transition from being mindful of God to fulfilling desires of the flesh is to us invisible and seamless. Even if we are aware of all the distinctions between the flesh and the Spirit, we constantly feel the weight of the flesh with our every breath. Escape seems hopeless. Sometimes this is suffocating to our conscience. (Rom 7:24) Yet, such awareness combined with faith in God actually works to our benefit by reducing self-sufficiency and increasing our dependency on Christ. (v. 25) While the life God has called us to is difficult, the underlying principle of living from one’s new identity, not the old, is simple. It is also something the Spirit exercise great care for, and so should we.

Now I must sharpen our focus on the Holy Spirit and the way He works in us this spiritual life. I will highlight connections between what has been discussed regarding the Christian’s heart with another work of the Holy Spirit that also targets the Christian heart. I revisit and expand on the notion of grieving the Holy Spirit. (Eph 4:30) And I will elevate the Trinity. I labor to show that The Person of the Spirit (the Relationship), The Power of the Spirit (the Positioning against the flesh), and The Presence of the Spirit (the Life) find their unity in the Christian’s heart and in Christ Himself.

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (Jn 15:26)

Read Jesus’ words again and think upon what they are really saying. The message is critical, and we must carry it with us. The verses before and following John 15:26 pitch the disciples against a world that will reject them and their message. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples just before His death and departure to His Father. Once with the Father, He sent the Spirit. Observations: the Spirit is from (given by, and some would say “out of”) the Father; Jesus dispatched the Spirit; the Spirit is concerned with truth; the Spirit testifies of Jesus. The first conclusion is the Holy Spirit’s job is to testify of Jesus. The Spirit does this in various ways. (See also John 16:1-15) A second conclusion is that each member of the Trinity is present and actively engaged in the testimony of Christ. The Spirit gives testimony to the disciples and the world, with the result that people will trust in Jesus and the church will live throughout the ages. The Trinity is committed to this work. That which is revealed in John 15:26 supports what is described in Titus 3:4-6. We will see the Trinity’s joint labor again.

In Part One, I referenced Ephesians 4:30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” Blaspheming God’s Spirit, the unforgivable sin recorded in Matthew 12, was also addressed. We understand that blaspheming and grieving God’s Spirit are vastly different. As Christians, we need to keep in mind our capacity to grieve or sorrow God’s Spirit. Thankfully, we do not face the same judgment and condemnation for grieving God’s Spirit as do those who blaspheme Him. The actions are dissimilar, but it is the same Spirit. The comparison, hopefully, works to sober us regarding our own relationship with God’s Spirit. We must realize who He is and His divine work. It is the Spirit who brings us life. (Jn 6:63, Gal 4:29) If we truly believed this, we would passionately pursue the Spirit and all He has for us. As Christians, our lives begin with the Spirit, thus it should follow that we live and walk in the Spirit. (Gal 3.3, 5:25)

Others were not so fortunate. Isaiah 63:10 says regarding Israel’s relation with God, “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them.” Dear Christian, under the New Covenant, God does not suddenly become our enemy if we grieve His Spirit. But for all He’s done for us in Christ Jesus, such rejection must pain Him deeply. Grieving God’s Spirit is evidence of a unique and alarming heart condition. We must not equate grieving God’s Spirit to anything else in our lives, especially things which we casually dismiss as irrelevant or may even consider harmful. For many of us, this is another Christian truth we’ve lost track of through business or sin. Yes, our hearts and minds are divided at best (Js 4:8, 1:8), but that does not preclude movement in a helpful direction over time to limit such consequence and loss. If we seek a remedy, and we should, we must understand more clearly what it means to grieve the Spirit. I do not claim to grasp this fully, but I share what I believe helpful.

Each of us must come to grips with the fact that what grieves God’s Spirit is our lives. As individuals, “we” do that. You and me. But Ephesians 4 informs us that we are not alone in grieving the Holy Spirit. The chapter takes us from considering God’s Spirit being grieved by the individual only to God’s Spirit being grieved by a church, a local assembly of believers, or other Christian relationships. It is here that we must make a transition to what I believe is Paul’s greater message regarding Ephesians 4:30. Paul’s counsel in that chapter is addressed to the church at Ephesus. They, as a body of believers (a unified whole) are subject to grieving the Holy Spirit. The local assembly of Christians, comprised of individual believers, creates a unified identity which has the potential as such to grieve God’s Spirit corporately.

Together you and I may live in such a manner that denies the life of the Spirit. To prevent this, we must settle into a way of life where we keep in mind both our heart and conduct, as well as our congregation’s heart and conduct (and, this we must do without legalism; 2 Cor 3:2-6, Rom 7:6). It is our individual lives and the life of our Christian assembly that the Spirit pursues. The life of godliness applies to both. The Spirit’s work includes us, but it goes far beyond us. This is evidenced by the Spirit’s oversight of spiritual gifts to the church. (1 Cor 12-14)

A term frequently used for describing one’s course of life is “walking.” It summarizes or unifies all the major themes and parts of one’s life, and it characterizes one’s behavior or conduct. The term is used by both the apostle Paul and Peter. Paul uses it often in Ephesians 4 through 6, where he describes Christian attitudes and actions. Many read these as a list of Christian “Does” and “Don’ts,” a sort of Christian Law; that is, “prescriptions.” I see them as “descriptions” of the life which should naturally flow from the new and uniquely Christian spiritual nature. Clearly, if one lives from, by and for the flesh (the old nature), one is not living for the things of the Spirit and the new nature. (Rom 8:5) Here one would be described as “walking in the flesh,” not the Spirit. Godliness would not follow. If this condition describes you, consult the apostle Peter’s counsel in 2 Peter 1:9-10.

To the flesh, the things of God are not only difficult to live but they are undesirable. Why would the flesh want to live for the things of the Spirit? These two natures are contrary to one another. (Gal 5:17) For instance, a subject found in the verses closest to Ephesians 4:30 is communication. Emphasis is on speech that builds up and imparts grace, and kindness, tenderness and forgiveness. Evil speaking should disappear or be absent all together among Christians, because it comes from a different motive and has a different effect; it destroys and tears apart. Ask, in contrast, what motive could produce positive edifying speech that flows willingly and freely between Christians that actually does good? We should all know this. These admonitions are descriptive of a life the Ephesians should experience amongst themselves because of who they are in Christ. Their life was to flow from His life, and the life principle was the Spirit. (Rom 8:2, Eph 4:15-20, Rom 6:4, 6, 13, 19) Christ centeredness and the leading of God’s Spirit should characterize our lives as well.

The church is comprised of individuals who must themselves not grieve God’s Spirit. We usually go only so far as to apply this verse, Ephesians 4:30, to ourselves; our individual hearts. But looking again, the more obvious meaning of the grieving passage, I believe, is that of the Body grieving the Spirit; Our collective heart. If Christ is the Head and the church His Body, why would the Body ever grieve the Spirit whom Jesus sent to testify of Himself? This makes no sense unless one understands self and sin. Life would be denied access. When a Christian assembly manifests relational behaviors from hardened hearts or selfish preferences related to the old way of life, the Spirit is grieved on a community-wide scale. The Spirit’s work of testifying of Jesus would find closed hearts. Ephesians 4 reinforces the fact that the presence of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the cohesive fabric of a church body and the community life God designed the church to express. (Eph 4:3-4) God’s Spirit is the basis for expressed corporate unity. Only from this Spirit-based oneness will a specific type of life be present corporately. The Spirit brings spiritual life to individuals, but the Spirit also fosters a unified expression of this life in and through Christian community.

I stated earlier that a walk equates to or describes a life. Ephesians 4:30 is bracketed by two essential “walking” passages. The Ephesians were exhorted “to have a walk worthy of the calling with which” they were called. One characteristic of this calling is love. (4:1-2) Then they were told to “walk in love as Christ also loved” them, giving Himself for them. (5:2) Love is the essential ingredient to define and energize the walk. Love is also the contrary motive that would prevent evil speaking and tearing relationships between Christians apart. Love unifies. It is the Spirit that puts God’s love in hearts. (Rom 5:5) The unity stemming from each member’s walk in love flows from the Spirit. Love, then, would be the hallmark of their community life, one quality which would characterize them having a godly walk or a godly life. (See also 2 Pet 1:3-7) In addition, their loving themselves and others would reflect something essential of God. (Eph 2:4, Jn 3:16, Eph 5:2, Rom 5:5) The Trinity labors after conversion to manifest the love of God in people’s lives. (1 Jn 4:9-10, Jn 17:22, 26, Ro 5:5, Gal 5:22, Eph 1:4)

A contrastive view to love is expressed in Ephesians 4:17, where Paul stresses the Ephesians “should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind,” and whose hearts are hardened past feeling. (v. 18) Sound thinking is essential to godly living, but as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13, one can be most knowledgeable but fail to love. The mind can store data and reason very well, even argue above all others, but unity between godly thoughts and godly actions will not happen when one’s heart is hard and God’s love absent. Self-rule, self-centeredness, and pride are the anchor of the flesh. And, if the flesh dominates the heart, as with the Gentiles, it will only emit hardness. It knows only an ungodly self-love.

The Ephesians were encouraged to speak the truth in love, build themselves up in love (4:15-16), and, as already referenced, walk in love. (4:1-2, 5:2) The conclusion I draw is that grieving God’s Spirit, which denies or destroys the unity of the body, occurs both individually and corporately when what I term “godly love” is neither the means nor the end in Christian relationships. I consider Ephesians 5:22-33 additional support, if one understands what Paul is saying there about the church. There we see a desirable self-love (Eph 5:28-29, 4:16), one that looks beyond itself to others who share the same salvation and relation with God.

Paul stresses to the Ephesians their identity in Christ and what they already understood about that. (4:17-24) As Christians, they were separate from the remainder of the Gentile world. Their understanding could secure their walk, their conduct, their life. But, as you and I know, simply acknowledging certain beliefs does not guarantee a particular life outcome. Where love is the necessary motive, the heart must be engaged and constantly on guard. It was God’s love which moved Him with mercy and to save sinners. (Eph 2:4, 1:4) As we’ve already seen, there is a war in the heart between our flesh and God’s Spirit. One loves itself for itself, according to the corrupt nature. The other loves itself for itself, according to the new nature of the Spirit, but in the end for much more than itself. Godly love must rule.

The unity of the Body is linked to the Spirit, which depends on the individual’s heart that is also linked to the Spirit. God’s Spirit brings new life to the Christian, He labors against the flesh in the Christian, and He is the ground for relational unity among Christians as community. (See also 2 Cor 13:14) There is one body, a unity for the Body, and one Spirit supporting it all. (Eph 4:1-6) This heart work and Christian unity is a chief responsibility of the Spirit throughout the church age. From the heart comes Christian fruit, of which love is a component. (Gal 5:22, Rom 5:5) The Father’s desire is that Jesus’ disciples bear much fruit. (Jn 15:1-11) Only a heart comprised of good ground will actually have any. (Matt 13:1-23) In God’s kingdom, “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” are what matters (Ro 14:17), not a self-constructed legalism.

This work of the Spirit is larger than I pretend to fully grasp, but I will attempt to show you one way the Spirit, and the Trinity, work to keep the hearts of individual Christians on track, so that the Church as community, with its unified heart, will walk in love and not grieve the Spirit. In this way, we reach our end—manifesting a life of godliness as individuals and as community. Matthew 28:19 will transition us into a brief discussion of the Trinity’s work in growing the spiritual life implanted in the Christian’s heart to fuller life.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matt 28:19-20)

Here we have the divine signature. Jesus unites the Father, Himself, and the Spirit in name. There is nothing more descriptive of their unity than the singularity of name. A common identity, a common relationship, and a common work: the reconciliation of sinners to God. Each member supports the overall work, and each member supports the other’s work. The Father sent the Son. The Son testified of the Father and introduced the Spirit. The Father and the Son sent the Spirit. The Spirit testifies of Christ. Christ is the way to the Father. Whether one begins with the Father or with the Spirit, the unity is found; and, that is through Jesus.

I have previously referenced Titus 3:4-6 and John 15:26, but I do so again here because I will add another verse then discuss the three.

"But when the kindness and the love of God [the Father] our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7)

"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." (Jn 15:26)

It is clear from these verses that the members of the Trinity are committed to the salvation of souls. The Father is the source. Jesus is the Mediator of the work, and we depend on His merits. The Spirit is the Agent affecting this salvation in people’s lives. Familiar to most people may be John 3:16, where the Father out of love gives His Son for salvation. Jesus testifies of the Spirit. (Jn 3:3-7, 6:63, 15:26) The Spirit bears witness to Jesus. (Acts 2, 7:55-56, Jn 15:26) If one starts with the Spirit (Jn 14:26, 15:26), He bears witness to Jesus. Salvation is found in Christ alone, and Jesus is the way to the Father. (Acts 4:12, 1 Tim 2:5, Jn 14:6) The order in the divine signature makes sense, and what I just described seems clear and simplistic. Yet, our reason for easy agreement with belief in the Trinity working in concert to bring reconciliation between God and mankind may be because it is often detached or only theoretical: belief statements. For most, “the Trinity” is just an idea and will ever remain so. Instead, we should engage what these biblical statements tell us about God and our faith with both the mind and heart and live with God as Trinity.

The apostle Paul had to go beyond theory. He was concerned with people’s lives. No doubt, he knew correct understanding mattered. But Paul takes what is theoretical and moves that into real Christian life. When he does so, we again witness the Trinity. What you see is the same Member responsibility as displayed in Titus 3:4-7 and John 15:26, but what is new in the verses below is the revealed depth of engagement by the Trinity in the lives of individual Christians and the Church community. The end of the work for which Paul prays is godliness. He knows this is a divine work.

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love . . ." (Eph 3:14-17)

I want to clarify something. The comments I’ll make concerning Ephesians 3:14-17 could be understood as applying to Christian sanctification. And, clearly, the Trinity is involved in Christian sanctification: the Father (Jn 17:16-17); the Son (1 Cor 1:2, 30-31, Heb 2:11, 10:8f); the Spirit (1 Pet 1:1, Rom 15:15f). I will not argue against this. Salvation and sanctification are both God’s work. There are other verses showing Christian effort in sanctification. Certainly Paul is concerned about “the walk” of Christians in Ephesus. But, my objective is discussing the Presence of Holy Spirit and how the Spirit’s presence is life for the individual Christian and the church.

As with the divine signature, so to here in Ephesians 3:14-17. Paul prays to the Father. The Spirit’s origin, with respect to salvation, is with the Father. (Jn 14:26, 15:26) It is “His” Spirit. The Spirit has might, or power, which is what the Christians in Ephesus needed. The target for the Spirit’s power is “the inner man,” also understood as the heart. The objective? That, first, Christ would dwell in their hearts, but, second, that they would be established in love. The two go together. Call this divine work sanctification, if you will. It is the glorious Trinity at work in lives after salvation to bring forward the riches of the Fathers glory—love unleashed! The Spirit’s work aims toward life and unity through love.

From this high-point of divine petition and praise, Paul transitions into what we’ve covered in Ephesians 4. They are to walk in love and build each other up in love. Christ must be present in the heart before this will happen. Christ in the heart individually and corporately alters the heart because of our experiencing divine love personally, then being able to love God and others. If Christ be not in the heart, the only person there will be us. Then, the love of our hearts will be self-love. This will not do. The Trinity places Christ there. The Spirit is present in person and power to deal with the corrupt nature and the flesh, and fulfill His commission of pointing to Christ. (Jn 15:26, Rom 8:2)

The Father has not only saved, but sent His Spirit with power to see that Christ rules. The apostle Paul understands all these things and, in love, lays them out for those at Ephesus. He prays effectively for them individually and corporately to “in love” glorify God. Paul ends the letter, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” (5:24) My friend, his words should force us to pause and see that here another love is shown to us: our love for Jesus. Here the circle of love completes. You must answer for yourself the level of your love for the Lord Jesus Christ. If sincerity be lacking, I direct you to 1 Peter 1:1-10 for thoughtful reflection.

So far in this series Reminders About the Holy Spirit and the Life of Godliness, we have considered the Person, Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit. In the next and final part, I will show how those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity will join the Spirit in The Petition of the Holy Spirit.

God’s best.

Carl
5-13-11