ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED; SO WHAT HAPPENED (three)?

THE LAST ADAM: THE LORD HIMSELF!

*3* (…continued from part two…) Was Jesus alone in the descent into the darkness of the unknown valley of Hades? No! Christ, the uncreated Messiah, was his obbligato accompaniment.

Jesus without the Christ was a mere Adam. The commission of a sin brings you under the hegemony of the first sinner: Lucifer. Having been found in sin, Lucifer’s abode became the ‘shadow of death,’ which in Hebrew is rendered tsalmâveth (tsal-maw’-veth): ‘shade of death, that is, the grave (figuratively calamity).’  An absolutely mission impossible it is for any created being to engage Lucifer in his death enclave and defeat him, who holds the key of death. It will take the involvement only of “Christ, who is over all God blessed for ever.” Amen; [Romans 9:5] to bring the evil ruler of iniquity down on his knees. Amen!

My imagination has raced me to the state of our pristine dad if he had not received and eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He would have been separated from the woman of sin. It is either God would have to come to her like He did, to save Cain, and be cleansed for a marital reunion, or gone away with Lucifer to build the city of sin, and be populated by the half-man, half-angel giants of the antediluvian age. But for an extant, sinless Adam it would have been a glorious spectacle!

I see the sinless Adam busily at the business of his Father, and overseeing it. I see him as the unbelievable architect of engineering constructions. My inner eyes behold spectacular works of aesthetic arts all under father Adam’s directions and instructions. He will undoubtedly be holding occasional meetings concerning matters of the terra firma with the LORD God here on earth. Above all, Adam would have entered into the earthly office of co-creatorship with the LORD God! His children would, no doubt, follow suit. What glory!

Sadly, that was not to be.

Man’s every step calls for circumspection. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Paul. Sarah, Deborah, Naomi, Ruth, Mary and Priscilla. They all walked with God. Paul warns in 2Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

It is a phenomenal truth: that which frightens Paul. ‘Lest by any means’ in the Greek is: mēpōs (or) mē pōs (may’-pos) it means: ‘lest, lest somehow, that perhaps’. The word ‘minds’ is noēma (no’-ay-mah): ‘a perception, that is, purpose, or (by implication) the intellect, disposition, itself’. ‘Corrupted,’ in the Greek is, phtheirō (fthi’-ro), meaning: ‘to shrivel or wither, that is, to spoil (by any process) or (genitive) to ruin (especially figuratively by moral influences, to deprave).’ The noun, ‘simplicity,’ haplotēs (hap-lot’-ace), means: ‘singleness, that is, (subjectively) sincerity (without dissimulation or self seeking), or (objectively) generosity (copious bestowal).’

 

                 Jesus, no doubt, was au fait with Paul’s apprehension revealed in 2Corinthians 11:3, and knew of a fact that His sojourn on earth was purely in a representative capacity of the fallen Adam. We can get it right like Jesus did. Before the commencement of His ministry, when He was held by the collar of His shirt, and dragged into the wilderness, it was a reenactment of the Eden Garden all over again. Call Jesus a neophyte if you would, which is an excuse we often give for our various failures; He used the very words of scripture to deal with His temptation.

Thrice the evil words of Satanic incursions came to Him to vitiate the perfection of His divine manifestation. Having used the express word of God’s mind, the Spirit of God could easily get Him to take His sovereign stand of “Get thee behind me Satan.” Satan was so useless that he could not take care of the garden he was left in, even by the time Jesus Christ came to the world. It had turned into an uncultivated wilderness! Jesus, ergo, had come to return us back to the Eden of bliss! Amen!

Luke 4:3, “And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” The tempter took Jesus back to the Garden of Eden with an intent to make Him eat according to his scriptural prompting just the same way he had prompted the eating of the forbidden fruit. Jesus spurned the Devil, on our behalf, in order to effect an amendment of Adam’s failure. Jesus succeeded. Amen!

Get Jesus initiated by getting born again: pray this prayer, believing it with all your heart. Say, “Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”    (…to be concluded…)

Read part two here

Read the concluding part four here

ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED; SO WHAT HAPPENED (two)?

  Outcome of sin: vagrantness

(…continued from part one…)

*2)        What was to be your glory, Adam, following your perceived logical reasoning, ended up with a leafy toga of insanity. Jesus prayed for an alternative route to the salvaging of mankind. Seeing that God would not bulge, Jesus chose the divine will of the heavenly Father: the sanguinary death of the cross. Adam entered death and died a, miserably wretched, walking cadaver. Jesus died, rose up in victory to receive the deification of Lord of lords, King of kings even the Almighty. Follow not your heart, the traditional route of man’s presupposition, but the express word of God.

Adam was not lured into the entrapment account of Genesis 3:6, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” His intense focus on her woman of transgression, instead of doing Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;….” turned out to be the bane of his failure. I believe it would be to his chagrin to recall his unguarded response of Genesis 3:12 “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Realising his avoidable transgression, he probably hated what he did with his vocal cord and decided to send his voice to a monastery. No wonder none of his word, after the fall, was not given any scriptural recording.

Once he tasted of sinfulness, the perfection of his human purity gone, he was made to understand 1John 2:15-17; 15) “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” Why, Adam, would you attempt a deliberate sinfulness with all your sinless consciousness still intact? Why did you have to wait till the ebbing away of your life before coming to your senses? Sheer affront to God and His Divinity is what the act of sin truly is. Any commission of sin, no matter how inconsequential it seems, is a direct challenge to a war with the Most High! Adam’s love for a deadly woman plunged us all into the pool of miry putridity of sin.

Truth be told? Adam should have cut ties with the erring woman the second she entered the evil world of sin. The pollution got heightened when Adam acquiesced to the woman’s invitation. Satan, the Devil, had got them! I can hear the devilish cackle of his victorious laughter.

Adam; empathetic with his wife, decided to become what she had turned into. Stupidity!

Adam refused to garb himself in a demurrable state: for he had destructively decided not to sign a pact with the Spirit of qualmishness. He led himself astray.

What he did not understand was that, being the first to sin, his wife would have a controlling superintendency over him in the nature of sinfulness. If not for the grace of God which empowered him to rename her, Satan would have perfected a change of the divine marital order. Adam would have remained in a marital incongruity under his wife. In naming her he regained his federal, Adamic headship.

Your peregrination through the valley of the shadow of death, Adam, was beyond your league. How could you deign to plunge into an embarkation of such odyssey? When David, in the 23rd Psalm, penned “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:” it was based on the understanding of: “for the LORD art with me.” David was not alone in the trek. Was Jesus alone in the descent into the darkness of the unknown valley of Hades? No! Christ, the uncreated Messiah, was his obbligato accompaniment.

Get Jesus initiated by getting born again: pray this prayer, believing it with all your heart. Say, “Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”  (…to be continued…)

Read the 1st part, click here.

Read part three here

ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED; SO WHAT HAPPENED?

1)          All it takes to get caught up in the discomfiting hideousness of transgression is a simple rejection of the express word of Jehovah, the Creator. Every intelligent being is created a free moral agent. God does not dither in stocking the intelligence of free moral agencies with the necessary knowledge to guard against inappropriateness.

It is clear that God knew that His grace would come to Adam’s rescue. He empowered him with dominion [Gen 1:26]; being the ‘dresser’ of the world [Gen 2:15]; the ‘keeper’ of it (Gen 2:15); more than enough of victuals (Gen 2:9) and the fifth is the knowledge to keep away from annihilating evil (Gen 2:17). A calculated study of these authorising items shows that Adam was actually given four tools of empowerment to enable him retain his sole dominion. ‘Dominion’ is the Hebrew râdâh (raw-daw’) ‘to tread down, that is, subjugate; specifically to crumble off.’ The word ‘dress’ in Genesis 2:15 is ‛âbad (aw-bad’) ‘to work (in any sense); by implication to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.’ ‘Keep,’ of the same verse is shâmar (shaw-mar’) ‘to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to, etc.’

The first part of Genesis 2:9 says “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food.” Adam’s dominion makes him the sole determining worker. He is well equipped to protect Eden (as the ‘dresser’), and by extension the whole world, against any foreign invasion. Abundant food to strengthen, and for refreshment of his soul was available for his use. To ensure his eternal life of dominion, Genesis 2:17 says, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

God did put everything in his hands and under his control; it is just sad that the man threw all caution to the winds of carelessness. Adam was created to crush any opposition to the word of God. He should have tied the invading ophidism of Lucifer in knots and flung away. Four is the scriptural number of creation. On the fourth day was the creation of the lights of earthly illumination. Adam was sentiently and intelligently endowed, as the federal head of humanity. So, what happened to him? An unnecessary risk beckoned on him for a ride into obliquity. Stupidly, he decided upon this embarkation. Our pristine dad did not embrace the wisdom of God. He, unexpectedly, played God.

“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” [1Timothy 2:14]. ‘Not’ is ou (oo) in the Greek, and it means: ‘the absolutely negative adverb; no or not; in direct questions expecting an affirmative answer.’ The verb ‘deceived’ is apataō (ap-at-ah’-o): ‘to beguile, cheat, that is, delude.’ Adam knew exactly what he was doing. He was not under any delusional mesmerism. He decided on the commission of hara-kiri, seeing that the woman had degenerated into a walking cadaver.

Adam, you are not God. You should have done what your wife failed to do: waited till the cool of the evening when the LORD God came to fellowship with you as He was wont to. Yes, you are the lord of the earth, but the LORD God who did put you in charge will ask you to give an account of your action. This is why we need to be circumspect in every course of our earthly act, especially, the one that has to do with God.

Get Jesus initiated by getting born again: pray this prayer, believing it with all your heart. Say, “Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”   (…to be continued…)

Read 2nd part, click here.

I DON’T WANT TO MISS HEAVEN! (VII)

 

(Continued from part 6)

(7)          The reality on the scriptural ground is that only this same Jesus has the capability of the competence to keep us in this state of Godly righteousness. We have the same life as Jesus for we are, in the strictest sense, in this righteous journey together for it says that: “Christ, who is our life.” Amen.

1John 3:9, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” ‘Is born’ comes twice and this ‘birth’ is not in the aorist. A habitual phenomenon is what it is. God, in this dispensation of grace, is in the business of upholding individual’s spiritual rejuvenation.

Whoever gets born of His divine Being ceases to be labelled a sinner. The same can commit sins though. When or if he does 1John 1:9 takes care of his demeaning act. This means that it is not only when you prayed for the salvation that you are covered. Jesus continues, as the Advocate you never solicited for, to keep your righteousness intact. Amen! When or if you find yourself being spiritually distracted by a certain gravitational pull towards an untoward sinfulness I recommend you go for a cleansing deliverance.

You will, indubitably, lose a crown or crowns for a persistent sinfulness.

The Church (most of its leadership) is not doing well by keeping the scriptural truism from the laity. So many scriptural anomalies got ingested in the unsuspecting laity during the millennia of the hegemony of Catholicism.

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”

Why would Paul write, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” in 2Timothy 4:7 and verse 8? It is simply because Jesus stated categorically in John 10:27 & 28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

The word ‘never’ has three meanings (i) ou me (ou may’) adv. ‘a double negative strengthening the denial, “not at all”’ (ii) eis (eis) prep 1. to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time 2. (figuratively) to or into a purpose (result, etc.), and (iii) aion (ai-own’) 1. (properly) an age 2. (by extension) perpetuity (also past) 3. (by implication) the world 4. (specially, Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future).’ And with the definition of ‘perish’ called in the Greek: apollumi (ap-ol’-loo-mee) ‘1. to destroy fully 2. (reflexively) to perish, or lose.’

No true born again Christian, according to Jesus’ asseveration of John 10:27-28, will ever head towards hell, unless Jesus is a liar! My five-part post titled, ”WHY GO ARMINIANISTIC SOTERIOLOGY” http://wp.me/p5iz2f-1H  16 Mar 2015  explores in details why no true born again person will ever go to hell, please do read it. The perceived “loss of salvation” is not an apostolic teaching!

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The soteriological act of this verse is the word ‘believeth’ and that is all that is required to be God’s child forever. Faith. John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” In order not to be condemned, Jesus tells you to believe Him and receive Him as your Lord and Saviour. That is all. He does the rest, to put you at eternal rest. Amen!

Good question!

Get born again by praying this prayer with all your heart and truthfully: Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins and You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory, Amen.                       (Concluded)

Click to read the 6th part

I DON’T WANT TO MISS HEAVEN! (VI)

 

(6)              Verse 10 of Philippians chapter 3 makes a reference to the power of resurrection (confer John 5:21-29; John 10:18; John 11:25; John 11:26; Acts 2:31-38; Romans 6:4-11; Romans 8:10; Romans 8:11; 1Corinthians 15:21-23; 2Corinthians 1:10; 2Corinthians 4:10-13; 2Corinthians 13:4; Ephesians 1:19-21; Colossians 2:13; Colossians 3:1; 1Thessalonians 4:14; 1Thessalonians 4:15; 1Peter 1:3; 1Peter 4:1; 1Peter 4:2; Revelation 1:18, 20:5-6) which our righteous boastfulness carefully ignore. John 11:25-26, v.25) “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Is it not all about faith? Faith and not the good works that justifies our walk with the LORD.

“If by any means I might attain” of verse 11 should not be viewed as a Pauline statement of skepticism. It cannot stem from a sense of dubiety or else it contradicts Romans 8:35-39 and 1Corinthians 9:26-27 where ‘uncertainly,’ adelos (ad-ay’-loce) means: ‘ignorantly; without observation.’ What Paul is revealing here is not about the precariousness of the topic but a certain ardour and an exertion of the strength of faith on the part of the believer. His reference is to the resurrection of Revelation 20:5-6.

Romans 6:6-7 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7) For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Romans 8:10, “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Colossians 2:13, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;” Colossians 3:1, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” This is what is expected of born again children of Jesus, as a proof of our spiritual profession.

The offspring of kings must be found walking the paths of majestic nobility or else their blue hue of the blood of their birth gets questioned. What about a one who has just completed his secondary school education but can neither produce any good written sentence nor read fluently? What is the proof before gainsayers that he did pass academically through every class of the six years of secondary education?

1Peter 4:1 tells us: “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;” Jesus, therefore, having suffered in the flesh and entered into death for us, has for once and for all, obtained a judicial freedom for the saints. Are we His body? Did He put His flesh or body to the death of sin?

It is the Church that forms His mystical body that received the soteriological justification, and made righteous for celestial destiny. Amen! How many of our trespasses has He forgiven in Colossians 2:13? ‘All’, which, in Greek, is pas (pas): ‘individually, each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything.’ If God forgives me all my sins and robes me in His own divine righteousness, of what transgression am I culpable especially when Jesus has made sure that the legality of my culpability has been settled? Selah!

 

                 Check out the Pauline Hebrews 4:10, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” All the works of righteousness He had already perfected on our behalf. Note that the entrance into the rest is in the aorist which serves as a voucher to the perfection of the act of rest that the Lord entered on our behalf. The word ‘rest’ is katapausis (kat-ap’-ow-sis): ‘reposing down, that is, (by Hebraism) abode.’ Katapausis comes from katapauō (kat-ap-ow’-o): ‘to settle down, that is, (literally) to colonize, or (figuratively) to (cause to) desist.’ Is there any need for additional work, from a born again child of God, to keep him in this rest engendered by the grace of God, according to scriptural didacticism? Selah!

Get born again by praying this prayer with all your heart and truthfully: Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins and You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory, Amen.              (…to be concluded…)

Get the 5th part of this post here

Read the concluding 7th part here

 

I DON’T WANT TO MISS HEAVEN! (V)

 Jehovah Tsidkenu (The LORD is our righteousnes

(5)          The book of Philippians 3:9-12 says in verse 9. “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith 10. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”

My own righteousness cannot earn me a divine acceptability as attested to by Romans 8:3, 9:32, 10:3, 4, 5 and Galatians 3:10-13. Romans 8:3 says, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Galatians 3:11-12, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12) And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.” James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”  The new birth of a born again righteousness is designed to circumnavigate the merciless law. What serves as its lubrication is the divine grace of the LORD God. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).

This is the Church, which includes every born again person.

Our righteousness is of Jesus (Romans 10:4; 1Corinthians 1:29-31; 2Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:16). This Jesus has been our righteousness since the Old Testamentary days. The Book of Jeremiah 23:6 reads, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” It is lucidly not of carnal works but of a believing faith that makes us truly righteous. Amen. 1Corinthians 1:30-31, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

Paul quoted Jeremiah 9:23-24 which reads thus: “23. Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.” Now let us look at some of these words. ‘Glory’ is hâlal (haw-lal’): ‘to be clear (originally of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence to make a show; to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively to celebrate; also to stultify:’ ‘Understandeth’ is the Hebrew śâkal (saw-kal’) ‘to be (causatively make or act) circumspect and hence intelligent.’ ‘Exercise’ is ‛âśâh (aw-saw’) ‘to do, make or create out of existing material.’ Righteousness is a virtue we should be intelligent enough not to make boastful claim of an attainment, knowing fully well that it is solely God’s creation and preserve.

The word ‘righteousness’ in Hebrew is tsdaqah (tsed-aw-kaw’) which means: ‘rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity).’ The Greek rendition is dikaiosune (dik-ai-os-oo’-nay): ‘1. equity (of character or act) 2. (specially) Christian justification.’ If the LORD, Jesus, is our righteousness then it is clear whose moral rectitude, virtue and equity of character we are enjoying. It is by grace lest any should boast!

1Corinthians 1:29, “That no flesh should glory in his presence.” 2Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Galatians 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” The only spiritual toil needed to make us participate in this glorious journey with the most High is the exercise of faith. God has magnanimously made it very easy for us. What a good God we all have to do! He knows that we will never pass the test of the legality of the law, so, He made us His body to enable us to be whatever He is. Hallelujah!

Get born again by praying this prayer with all your heart and truthfully: Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins and You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory, Amen. 

(…to be continued…)

 Click here to read part IV

Read the 6th part of this post here

I DON’T WANT TO MISS HEAVEN! (IV)

 

     The Holy Spirit has come to seal the saints forever

 4)            Ephesians 1:11-14 read: 11) “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12) That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” In verse 11 the clause, ‘obtained an Inheritance’ is the Greek word kleroo (klay-roh’-o), meaning: ‘1. to allot 2. (figuratively) to assign (a privilege).’ Your spiritual rebirth is a privilege, an unmerited favour showered on you all because you believed the truthfulness of the gospel of redemption in Christ Jesus.

‘Predestinated’ is proorizo (proh-or-id’-zo) ‘1. to limit in advance 2. (figuratively) predetermine.’ God had seen you long before you were brought into being. He knew you would believe in His word, ergo, He did something about the unborn you. It was, is, and will also be His divine doing. The word ‘worketh’ is energeo (en-erg-eh’-o): ‘to be active, efficient.’ God’s soteriological activity concerning every Christian is marked by the efficiency of the Divinity. He does all the work of salvation perfectly. All you need to do is just to have a believing heart. So, why any should whine about the possibility of losing this salvation is clearly not of God’s Scripture.

 He was there on the day of Pentecost!

‘Counsel,’ boule (bou-lay’), is ‘1. volition, the act of willing or resolving 2. (objectively) advice 3. (by implication) purpose.’ ‘Will’ is thelema (thel’-ay-mah) meaning, ‘1. a determination (properly, the thing) 2. (actively) choice 3. (specially) purpose, decree 4. (abstractly) volition  5. (passively) inclination.’ Counsel’ and ‘will’ tell us in an unconcealed language that it is absolutely the volitional determined will of God that you became born again. He had before the foundation of the earth, decreed your salvation. He did it knowing fully well that you will do His will.

‘Be’ of the 12^th verse is an interesting einai (ei`-nai). It means ‘to exist.’ It is not of becoming; it is a being that is galvanized by God’s own life. It comes from eime, the AM part of I AM i.e. Jehovah. You are divinely covered in safety. Your existence is ensured by God’s effective safe-keeping. Amen. The word ‘trusted’ of verse 12 proelpizo (pro-el-pid’-zo), is ‘to hope in advance of other confirmation.’ Your faith in Jesus saved you. You believed the gospel, with no strings attached, and were saved.

In verse 13, we have ‘believed’ pisteuo (pist-yoo’-o). This word is defined as: ‘1. to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit 2. (by implication) to entrust (especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ).’

‘Sealed,’ sphragizo (sfrag-id’-zo) is so meaningfully pregnant. It is defined as: ‘1. to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation 2. (by implication) to keep secret, to attest.’ The seriousness of this ‘sealed’ is in the fact that God, the Holy Spirit, is the ‘seal.’ The sealing comes with a ‘promise,’ which in Greek is epaggelia (ep-ang-el-ee’-ah): ‘1. an announcement (for information, assent or pledge) 2. (especially) a divine assurance of good.’ If God assures with the sealing of Himself, i.e. the third Member of the Godhead, how can He break the same promise, knowing fully well that His word is on the line?

Verse 14 has ‘earnest’ arrhabon (ar-rhab-own’) which is: ‘a pledge, i.e. part of the purchase-money or property given in advance as security for the rest.’ How secured is the Holy Spirit as an advance payment? If the payment is a guarantee for your salvation, should you not rest assured that if the Holy Spirit is eternal, so is the earnest?’ The same verse has the word ‘inheritance’ kleronomia (klay-ron-om-ee’-ah) meaning: ‘1. Heirship 2. (concretely) a patrimony 3. (genitive case) a possession.’ Our heirship is a Holy Spirit guaranteed phenomenon. What can, in heaven or the earth, abrogate this patrimony?

The Trinity is well involved in your security

The word of God teaches that the seal remains valid in the custody of the Comforter ‘until’ the ‘redemption’ of the ‘purchased possession.’ The preposition ‘until’ is eis (eis) ‘1. to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time 2. (figuratively) to or into a purpose (result, etc.).’ Apolutrosis (ap-ol-oo’-tro-sis) is the Greek for ‘redemption’ and it means: ‘1. (the act) ransom in full 2. (figuratively) riddance 3. (specially) Christian salvation.’ What is ‘purchased possession?’ It is kleronomia (klay-ron-om-ee’-ah): ‘1. Heirship 2. (concretely) a patrimony 3. (genitive case) a possession.’ Nothing vitiates your salvation as long as it is in the Almighty hand of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Get born again by praying this prayer with all your heart and truthfully: Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins and You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory, Amen.            (…to be continued…)

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