|
The Gift and the Promise
by Jack Parnell About thirty years after Christ was born, a voice could be heard from heaven as he was being baptized, saying: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased" (Mat. 3:17 LEB). Then in the wilderness when tempted by the devil, it can be seen that his main concern was to please his father, not himself. My pastor brought up something interesting one time about this temptation; he asked the question, whether this was an inner or an outer experience with Christ? Shortly before the Cross Jesus prayed: "O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will" (Mat. 26:39 NKJV), indicating that he had a personal will, although he never let it rule him. And "we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin" (Rom. 6:6 NIV). "We are certain that if one person died for everyone else, then all of us have died. And Christ did die for all of us. He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the one who died and was raised to life for us" (2ndCor.5:14-15 CEV). "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God " (Eph. 2:8 NIV). Actually it's the faith that is not from yourselves, and Christ is the gift, who has already been given. "Through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life" (Rom. 5:18 ASV). So because of the gift you have in your spiritual nature, "you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God" (Rom. 8:12-14 NLT). Those who are "being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever" (1st Pet. 1:23 KJV). "The tree is known by its fruit" (Mat. 12:33 KJV), and anyone knows fruit can't be good or bad of itself! "The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil" (1st John 3:7-8 KJV). Because "there is none good but one, that is, God" (Mat. 19:17 KJV), and "anything beyond this comes from the evil one" (Mat. 5: 37 NIV). So "walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law" (Gal. 5:16-18 NASB). Because Christ: "By his sacrifice he removed the hostility of the Law, with all its commandments and rules, and made in himself out of the two, Jew and Gentile, one new man" (Eph. 2:15 Phillips), he himself is now the standard, and "the important thing is being the new people God has made" (Gal. 6:15 NCV). Because simply believing God is the way of faith, and the first thing in "being", not becoming, Gods new people. If what God did, wasn't done first, what would there be to believe in? "Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. "They responded, "We are Abraham's children; we've never been anyone's slaves. How can you say that we will be set free?" Jesus answered, "I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave isn't a permanent member of the household, but a son is. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you really will be free. I know that you are Abraham's children, yet you want to kill me because you don't welcome my teaching. I'm telling you what I've seen when I am with the Father, but you are doing what you've heard from your father" (John 8:31-38 CEB). The promise of the life we have in Christ "is on the condition that you continue in faith without being moved from the solid foundation of the hope that the Good News contains" (Col. 1:23 GW). "Christ was faithful as a Son over His own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end (Heb.3: 6 KJ21). "We belong to Christ if we hold firmly to the faith we had at first" (Heb.3: 14 NIRV). And for us Christ "always lives to intercede" (Heb 7:25 NIV). "We are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul" (Heb. 10:39 NASB). One of Jesus disciples took offence when he told them he was going to the Cross. So Jesus said to him: "Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don't come from God, but from human nature" (Mat. 16:23 GNT). And I know "that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature: (Rom. 7:18 NIV), because I know whose nature that is. And that problem has been resolved, because "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God's Son, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20 CEB). And the faithfulness of God's Son is the solution to any problem. Jack was born in Atchison, Kansas. He attended school in Wichita, Kansas. After graduation he joined the Marines, and there became a Christian. After the Marine Corps he came back to Wichita. In Wichita he met a Missionary on the way to Africa, and he asked Jack to join him. On the way to Africa he stopped in Southern California, and that's where they parted, as they were in a disagreement. While in California Jack met a woman who became his wife, and they had a son. Then they joined a church, which they attended for thirty years or more. And so in 2006 Jack and his wife decided to come to Wichita, and that is where he is now. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |