Whoever
abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is
righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins (transgresses the laws of God)
is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose
the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he
cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3: 4-9).
For
if by the one man's (first Adam) offense death reigned through the one, much
more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will
reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's
(first Adam) offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even
so through one Man's (last Adam) righteous act the free gift came to all men,
resulting in justification of life: For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made
righteous” (Romans 5:17-19).
This
righteous act and free gift which came to all men is the Lord´s death paying
the penalty of sin in our stead, redeeming us from the powers of darkness, His
resurrection from the dead giving us a new life in the Spirit and giving His
flesh and blood in the form of the bread and wine to eat and drink for our
physical healing and forgiveness of our sins. If therefore, we truly believe in
Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Savior, we will express and demonstrate this
belief by practicing righteousness which is the keeping of His commandments,
and practicing the act of righteousness which Jesus Christ performed for the healing
of our physical body and for the remission of sins and therefore we are to
glorify God in our body and spirit which belongs to Him.
Therefore,
if we truly believe in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Savior we should not
fail to show appreciation and to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes at
His appointed time and in the manner which He has prescribed and should show
appreciation for what He has done by following the example of the Psalmist
David who wrote “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless
His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget not all His benefits: Who
forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your
life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who
satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the
eagle's” (Psalms 103:1-5).
The
sad reality is that, most professing believers are not taking literally the
sacrificial body and blood of Jesus Christ for the healing of our bodies and
forgiveness of our sins despite the fact that Jesus Christ emphatically stated;
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My
blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.]
“For
My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and
drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I
live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This
is the bread which came down from heaven --- not as your fathers ate the manna,
and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:53-58).
Unfortunately,
the reason why many of us believers are weak, sick and some have fallen asleep
it is because of the improper participation of the body and blood of Jesus
Christ as we have been duly instructed saying; “Therefore whoever eats this
bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord.’
“But
let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the
cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and
sick among you, and many sleep” (1Corinthians
11: 27-30).
The
crux of the matter is, the Lord has ordained specific times and occasions for
believers to partake of His spiritual food but how many of us are taking these
instructions literally and not treating them as mere metaphors?
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To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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