Believers should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk

4.  Believers should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk

 Now that there is neither Jew or Greek, slave or free,  male or female; for we are all one in Christ Jesus, a Gentile now refers to one who does not know God; and therefore, believers are admonished saying;  “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ephesians 4:17-19).

The admonition to every believer is that; “he/she no longer should live the rest of his/her time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles --- when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you .They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead” (1Peter 4:2-5).

And so, believers have been admonished saying; “gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1Peter 1:13-21).

It is also incumbent on believers, not to imitate the ways of the Gentiles by worrying saying; “What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Mathew 6:31-34).

We truly have to gird up the loins of our mind and be steadfast in the faith because, the genuineness of our faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our faith is what is presently on trial and without faith it is impossible to please God and our faith can either be in the wisdom of men or in the power of God, the choice is for each individual to make.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Believers are indebted to imitate the life of Jesus Christ

 

1.     Believers are indebted to imitate the life of Jesus Christ

The life of Jesus Christ is the hallmark for every believer, and therefore we have been admonished saying; “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps." Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth"; Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness --- by whose stripes you were healed” (1Peter 2:21-25).

There is definitely a test for anyone who says that they are believers, for it is stated clearly; “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Believer therefore, have to imitate the life of Christ until the nature of Christ is formed in us (1John 2:3-6; Galatians 4:19).

The main objective of life as a believer is to develop the nature of the new man by imitating the life of Jesus Christ because, 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” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

As a human being Jesus Christ set us practical examples that we should follow. He was obedient to the Father and kept His commandments and He admonished us by saying, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:10).

It was His custom to go into the synagogue and teach on the Sabbaths and said quite explicitly; “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Luke 4:16;31; Matthew 5:17-19).

Another important characteristic of the life of Jesus Christ that necessitates our imitation is that of Godly fear, because we are told that; “in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” And His admonition to us is; “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Hebrews 5:7-8; Revelation 3:21-22).

My sincere and honest desire to all believers is that, we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. So let us be cognizant of the fact that, God will render to each one according to his deeds eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Believers are indebted to live and walk in the Spirit

1.      Believer are indebted to live and walk in the Spirit

 

There is a definite walk or way of life that is in accordance to the Spirit; and so we have been admonished saying; “Those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. It is incumbent therefore that believers both live and walk in the Spirit, because those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Now the way a believer demonstrates his/her indebtedness to the Spirit is by depicting the character of the new man which is stated as follows; “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do'.

“But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:12-17).

One who lives and walks in the Spirit demonstrates it by producing the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” There is further confirmation of this indebtedness to the Spirit stating; “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:22-26).

And, the way of life in the Spirit is stipulated by the word of God because Jesus Christ stated quite emphatically; “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Therefore, to live and to walk in the Spirit is to be indebted to the word of God and not following the customs and traditions of men which is vain and useless.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

 

Believers are not indebted to live in accordance to the flesh

 

1.     Believers are not indebted to the flesh

Believers have been duly instructed saying; “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors --- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:12-13).

Now the reason why a believer is not indebted to the flesh, it is because, “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, and to be carnally minded is death, because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

It is therefore incumbent on all believers to mortify the deeds of the flesh, because those in whom Christ dwells, the body is dead with regards to sin, and therefore are admonished to; “Put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.'

“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” (Colossians 3:5-11).

The works of the flesh are easily manifested, for it is clearly stated; “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Believer's job description

 

With the babble of confusion that currently exists in the Christian faith the question which all sincere and loyal believers should ask themselves, “Is there a job description or a stipulated code of conduct that is applicable to all believers? Or is everyone permitted to do as they please?  If under any circumstances there is a stipulated code or a job description for all believers, why aren’t all believers complying to it, since God is not the Author of confusion, and believers have been admonished saying, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who  above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

It is not the will of God that the church be so divided, in fact sectarianism is a sin and therefore the apostle Paul wrote; “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and there be no divisions among you, but  you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1Corinthians 1:10).

It would be rather impossible to be of the same mind and judgment, if there were no job description or stipulated code of conduct to keep everyone joined together, and speaking the same thing. Therefore the problem for our present dilemma is the cause of those who have assumed or given the position and responsibility of authority to edify the church.

For we are told that; “He (God) Himself gave some be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head --- Christ ---from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4: 11-16).

Those who have assumed or given the responsibility to edify the church have been admonished saying; “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen”(1Peter 4: 10-11).

Obviously the reason why there is so much confusion and disagreement in the body of Christ-the church, it is because those who are speaking or teaching the word, are not doing it as the oracles of God, because, surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7).

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What therefore is the job description or stipulated code of conduct for the believer? The job description for the believer is as follows:-

To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

The sixth critical choice of life

 

1.      The choice of Faith            

Faith which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen has a very significant role to play in the life of every human being, but here again we all have been given the prerogative to choose, for we have been duly admonished by the apostle Paul saying; “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1Corinthians 2:3-8).

It is of great significance for us to note that, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Now, the two diametrical substance of faith is either the power of God or, the wisdom of men, which do not correlate with each other, they have absolutely no mutual relationship or connection whereby one can affect or depend on the other. The stark reality is, we can only have faith in one or the other, for thus says the Lord; “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images” (Isaiah 42:8).

The worse mistake and indictment that have been levelled on the human population is that of attributing man’s ingenuity and scientific achievements to God and worst of all clamoring the popular slogan of “trust the science” making man’s scientific and technological explorations and achievements to appear as being superior and more powerful than even the Creator Who created humanity.

But the crux of the matter is, there is a power that is far superior than that of the wisdom of men in Whom we should place our trust and confidence because, Jesus Christ became for us wisdom from God --- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD" (1 Corinthians 1:20-21).

What is of intrinsic importance for us to know, understand and believe is the fact that, from the time Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, man became like God knowing good and evil. This was made known to Eve by the devil who said to her; “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

This was later endorsed by the Lord Himself who said; “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken” (Genesis 3:5; 22-23.

Please note carefully that, the criterion by which man attained this power to become like God to know good and evil was contrary to the will of God and later on during the course of man’s history the Lord said; “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Genesis 11:6).

Therefore, man on his own has the capabilities and the power to achieve whatever he sets his mind to achieve and in addition to this man has received from Satan his power, his throne and great authority. For we have been instructed saying; “Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority” (Revelation 13:3).

It is imperative that we know, believe and understand what is taking place behind the scene, the root cause of what is taking place around us is Satan’s quest to be worshiped just as God is worshiped and to have men to place their faith in the wisdom of men instead of in the power of God. But this is a choice that we all have to make as individuals, for we have ben admonished saying: “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves” (Romans 14:22).

So what is taking place around us today is a test of our faith whether to have our faith in the wisdom of men which is to God foolishness and which the root cause of our present dilemma is, or whether our faith is in the power of God which is the only solution to our present predicament. But the choice is for each individual to make on his/her own volition.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Our conflicting natures

 

Man is the offspring of both Adams.

To better understand the struggles that we face as human beings it is imperative that we know, understand and believe that we are descendants of two Adams. From the first Adam, we inherited a sinful corrupt nature, which according to scriptures, “Is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; It is hostile towards God, not subject to His laws, nor can it ever be: and, it is a temporary physical existence (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:7 James 4:14; Hebrews 9:27)

On the other hand, we inherited from the last Adam Jesus Christ, spiritual life which is eternal, with a holy righteous nature which is in harmony with God, and it is in subjection to His laws. We therefore have a conflict or a battle that takes place in our mind between two diametrically opposite natures the desires which reside in man’s flesh, and the desires which reside in man’s spirit are in conflict with each other and so, we have been duly admonished saying:  “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish (Galatians 5:16-17).

Those who live their lives according to the desires of the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. They sow to the flesh, and will of the flesh ultimately reap corruption. For we have been instructed saying; “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit: For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

We have also been forewarned 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 (.Romans 8:5-6; Galatians 6:7-8).

Those who live their lives according to the desires of the Spirit, set their minds on things above, the things of the Spirit, they sow to the Spirit and will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And so the admonition is; “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.”

“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” (Colossians 3:1-11).

And so, instead of exhibiting the works of our former carnal nature which is to be disobedient to the laws of God and fulfilling the desires of the flesh, we now as the elect of God, holy and beloved, have to put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in our hearts, to which also we were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:12-15).

And so the question is, are we striving to be slaves of righteousness so as to be clothed with immortality and be forever the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit? The choice is ours.

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Love in Jesus’ name.

 Lucius Joseph