4th part of the Journey - "All things . . ."

From the writings of Chip Brogden, http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/one-thing-is-needed.html

“And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow,   He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:27-29).”

Because Christ knows the Mind of the Spirit and He is making intercession for us according to the Will of God, “we know that all things are working together… according to His purpose.” And to leave no doubt as to the purpose, we are told that the purpose is “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Christ as All in All.
 

We frequently quote these verses and interpret them to mean that no matter what happens, good or bad, God is going to make it all work out for our good, and it will all turn out right in the end. That is not what Paul is saying at all. What he is telling us is that all things are moving in relation to God’s purpose of summing up everything into Christ. God’s End is Christ as All in All. Everything in heaven and on earth is moving in relation to this.
 

So in Romans we are told that God is “working all things together… according to His Purpose” and in Ephesians we are told that God is “working all things after the counsel of His own will.” The key phrase here is “all things”. How do we judge if a thing is of God or not? We need only determine its relationship to the one thing. Either it is in harmony with the one thing or it is one of the “many things” which may be good, spiritual, or moral, but does nothing to move us towards God’s eternal purpose.
 

From http://theschoolofchrist.org/ and the writings of Chip Brogden, http://theschoolofchrist.org/articles/one-thing-is-needed.html

3rd Part of the Journey - Holiness (cont.)

From John Stott’s Message of Romans page 222

The moral law has not been abolished for us; it is to be fulfilled in us. Although law-obedience is not the ground of our justification (it is in this sense that we are ‘not under law but under grace’), it is the fruit of it and the very meaning of sanctification. Holiness is Christlikeness, and Christlikeness is fulfilling the righteousness of the law. . . .  holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit. Romans 7 insists that we cannot keep the law because of our indwelling ‘flesh’; Romans 8:4 insists that we can and must because of the indwelling Spirit.

     . . . Our freedom from the law (proclaimed for instance in 7:4, 6 and 8:2) is not freedom to disobey it. On the contrary the law-obedience of the people of God is so important to God that he sent his Son to die for us and his Spirit to live in us, in order to secure it. Holiness is the fruit of trinitarian grace, of the Father sending his Son into the world and his Spirit into our hearts.

2nd Part of the Journey - Process

Second part of the journey came when I read July 28th of My Utmost for His Highest – Chambers:

“He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side . . . —Mark 6:45

We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. . . . What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.

What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. . . . It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.

God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience . . . . What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.

. . . if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.”

In the last post of this journey, I will provide what I believe the Holy Spirit revealed to me, so stay tuned.
Some words to consider: Holiness, Impartation, Obedience, Process, Now

Grace and Peace

1st Part of the Journey - Holiness

This week in my study of the Word and reading, I was taken on a journey which I will be sharing over the next few posts. It is interesting when I pick up and read different devotionals and weekly writings such as My Utmost For His Highest (MUfHH) by Oswald Chambers (http://utmost.org/) or by T. Austin Sparks (http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/openwindows/003303.html) sometimes I will read a couple of days and not be “moved” and other times the words leap off the page at me. I was impacted this week by a few writings.

First part of the journey:

I was reading MufHH from July 23^rd (I was doing some catch up on ones I had not read) and his writing on Sanctification moved me.

His referrence was - But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us . . . sanctification . . .—1 Corinthians 1:30

“The mystery of sanctification – perfect qualities of Jesus Christ are imparted as a gift to me, . . . instantly . . . nothing less than the holiness of Jesus becoming mine and being exhibited in my life.

- Sanctification is “Christ in you” Col. 1:27

- Sanctification means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ to me. It is the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is exhibited in and through every sanctified soul.

- Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me.

- Sanctification is an impartation not and imitation"

Let this be included in our thoughts this week as we live our life in the now. How can we let His holiness permeate our every NOW?

The Hope of the Glory of God, NT Wright

As I was studying through Romans, I read a commentary by N.T. Wright on Romans 5:1-2. I became excited about the 'hope of the glory of God' and all He has provided us through His Son and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Read and celebrate Him as I did. Amen.

 

Romans 5:1-2 (NIV), Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of glory of God. 

N.T. Wright writes on Romans 5:2,

“ . . . celebrate our access into the very presence of God himself. We have 'the right to approach': this is the language of the Temple, where certain people get to come near to where God is. 'Grace' here is almost a shorthand for the presence and power of God himself. As a result of being justified by faith, we are, in the old phrase, 'in a state of grace', a status, a position where we are surrounded by God's love and generosity, invited to breathe it in as our native air. As we do so, we realize that this is what we were made for; that this is what truly human existence ought to be like; and that it is the beginning of something so big, so massive, so unimaginably beautiful and powerful, that we almost burst as we think of it. When we stand there in God's own presence, not trembling but deeply grateful, and begin to inhale his goodness, his wisdom, his power and his joy, we sense that we are being invited to go all the way, to become the true reflections-of-God, the true image-bearers, that we were made to be. Paul puts it like this: 'we celebrate the hope of the glory of God'.”

N.T. Wright, Paul for Everyone, Romans: Part One p. 83

Dwell on these things

Would anyone like to expound on what this passage and this example reveal to us and are they similar?

 

Phil 4:8-9

8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

From Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Study Notes on Gal. 5:22

My wife and I used to live on a beautiful wooded lot. The largest tree on the property was a stately red oak that was over 100 years old. In the fall, most of the other trees would shed their leaves and remain bare through the winter months. But that red oak tree would usually retain most of its leaves through the winter. When the spring came, the sap flowing through that tree would cause buds to develop, and in the process the buds would push the old dead leaves off the branches. Similarly, the life of the Spirit normally expels the old dead habits of the flesh as the new life within grows stronger. Rather than trying to remove all of our former sinful practices ourselves, we should cultivate the spiritual life, and the Holy Spirit will deal with them. This phenomenon has been called "the expulsive power of a positive affection."

 

Grace and Peace

 

Obsession

My Lord, I will be obsessed with You.  My want for everyone.

 

Quote from AW Tozer:

You become like that which obsesses you, which occupies you. Is that not true? You see what people are occupied with, and you can see their character changing by their obsessions. They are becoming like the thing which is obsessing them; they are changing; they are becoming different. Something has got a grip on them; they can never think about anything else, talk about anything else; and it is changing their character. Now Paul said, "For me to live is Christ – being occupied with Him." It is the wrong word to use, but nevertheless it would be a good thing if He became our "obsession," our continuous occupation. As we steadfastly fix our gaze upon Him, the Spirit changes us into the same image.

By T. Austin-Sparks from: Men Whose Eyes Have Seen The King - Chapter 4

The Crucified Life - AW Tozer

As we contemplate Him, His death and resurrection, I was moved by this passage from Tozer.  Read, consider and lift your hands in praise of the life He has given us.  Amen.

Christ’s triumph over death, the foundation and fountain of our faith, was everything to the early enraptured believers. Christ’s rising from the dead was first an amazing thing, then it became a joyful wonder, and then a radiance of conviction supported by many infallible proofs, witnessed to by the Holy Ghost. This became to the first Christians the reason for everything. The battle cry of those early Christians was “He is risen,” and it became to them outright courage. In the first 200 years, hundreds of thousands of Christians died as martyrs. To those early Christians, Easter was not a holiday or even a holy day. It was not a day at all. It was an accomplished fact that lived with them all year long and became the reason for their daily conduct. “He lives,” they said, “and we live. He was triumphant, and in Him we are triumphant. He is with us and leads us and we follow.” They turned their faces toward an altogether new life because Christ was raised from the dead. They did not celebrate His rising from the dead and then go back to their everyday lives and wait for another year to pull them up from out of the mire . They lived by the fact that Christ had risen from the dead and they had risen with Him. “If ye then be risen with Christ . . .” That word “if” is not an “if” of uncertainty. The force of the word is “since ye are then risen with Christ.”

Tozer, A. W. (2011-09-09). The Crucified Life: How To Live Out A Deeper Christian Experience (Kindle Locations 396-407). Gospel Light. Kindle Edition.