4.
Know
that the Lord sustains us
The fourth basic principle in the
application of the law of liberty is to know, understand and believe that, the
Lord sustains us; for according to the apostle Paul; “Who are you to judge
another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be
made to stand, for God is able to make him stand” (Romans
14:4).
“For none of us lives to himself and no one
dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to
the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's: For to this end
Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead
and the living” (Romans 14:7-9).
Therefore, there is absolutely
nothing one can do that has any kind of effect on one’s salvation or eternal
life which is by the grace of God and as a gift from God. In fact we have been
duly instructed saying; “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness
are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf and our iniquities, like the wind,
have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
There is however one act of
righteousness that we are to practice and that will make us as righteous even
as Jesus Christ Himself is righteous and of course we have also been duly
instructed saying; “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you
presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to
more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for
holiness (1
John 3:7; Romans 6:18-19).
Therefore, regardless of the fact
that there is absolutely nothing one can do with regards to salvation and
eternal life one must however take into consideration the state of holiness,
everlasting life and glorification of the body. Holiness for example is
attained only by practicing the act of righteousness which produces holiness as
we have been duly instructed saying; “I speak in human terms because of the
weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of
uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present
your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness” (Romans
6:19).
With reference to receiving
everlasting life this is what we have been duly admonished saying; “Do not be
deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For
he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to
the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians
6:7-8).
And with respect to the
glorification of the body we are told that; “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in
glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption,
it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is
raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body”
(1
Corinthians 15:41-44).
Therefore, as one can clearly see
holiness, everlasting life and glorification of the body comes as the result of
practicing the act of righteousness that when practice makes one righteous just
as Jesus Christ Himself is righteous for it is written; “But now having been
set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to
holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” And with respect to the glorification
of the body we are admonished saying; “But we all, with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the
same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (Romans
6:22; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
And with the glorification of the
body there will be differences in glory just as there are differences between
the glory of the sun, the moon and just as every star differs in glory so will
be the glorification of the spiritual body and these are not free gifts like
salvation and eternal life they have to be attained by sowing to the Spirit.
It is also an important thing to
note that, this act of righteousness that produces holiness and ends in
everlasting life has a specific ordained time to be offered, for this is what
the Lord commanded saying; “Command the children of Israel, and say to them,
'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you
shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time” (Numbers
28:1).
This offering which we are to
offer to the Lord at their appointed time is the medium by which one becomes
holy as it was in the Old Testament which was a shadow and copy of the reality
and states as follows; “They shall eat those things with which the atonement
was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat
them, because they are holy” (Exodus 29:33).
The reality of this offering today in our New Testament dispensation is the body and blood of Jesus Christ which by the way is the medium by which one has access and fellowship with the Father who has absolutely no fellowship with darkness and the main reason for having a holy convocation and fellowship with one another.
To be continued
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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