| SPIRIT, ACCORDING
TO SCRIPTURE
Section
3 - The Power in God's Operations ( I )
iii)
The Divine Power as manifested in His invisible, intangible operations,
part 1
We have, in our earlier section,
considered the case of the birth of Christ. There we established that God
is the Father of Jesus and that the holy spirit involved in the pregnancy
of Mary is not another being, or person, or mode (to quote the preferences
of theology) that is different from the Father. With this in mind, when
we look at this event of the Word becoming flesh a little closer, we will
notice that this holy spirit is the agency through which God, the
Father, caused Jesus to be generated in Mary.
Mt.1:18
Now Jesus Christ's birth was thus: At the espousal of His mother, Mary,
to Joseph,
ere their coming together,
she was found pregnant by holy spirit.
Lk.1:35 And
answering, the messenger said to her,
"Holy spirit shall
be coming on you, and
the power of the Most
High shall be overshadowing you;
wherefore also the holy
One Who is being generated shall be called the Son of God.”
Jn.1:14 And
the Word became flesh and tabernacles among us, and we gaze at His
glory,
a glory as of an only-begotten
from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Heb.1:5 For
to whom of the messengers said He at any time,
"My Son art Thou!
I, today, have begotten Thee"?
And again, "I shall
be to Him for a Father And He shall be to Me for a Son"?
Before Christ’s
ministry
Holy spirit was dispensed
in the period before the advent of Jesus Christ. But, it will be noticed,
this giving to each recipient was for a certain period only, on a temporary
basis,
to accomplish some particular objective of God’s plan. It could be recalled
to God when the objective was attained. It did not seal the recipients.
Neither did it make them sons of God. Nor did it protect them from God’s
indignation. It will also be noticed that, even at that time, there was
no personal qualification required to deserve the gift. It was purely of
God and for His purpose.
Balaam, for instance, was
a false prophet, a mercenary who sought for opportunity to prophesy
for personal gain. Yet, it is said, God spoke to him and, through His
spirit, caused him to prophesy only good for Israel.
Deut.23:4,5
…when you came forth from Egypt and that they hired against you Balaam
son of Beor, from Pethor, Aram-naharayim, to maledict you. But Yahweh your
Elohim would not hearken to Balaam. And … turned the malediction into a
blessing for you,
Num.24:2 When
Balaam lifted his eyes and saw Israel tabernacling by its tribes,
then the spirit of Elohim
came
on him.
2Pet.2:15 Leaving
the straight path, they were led astray,
following out the path of
Balaam of Beor, who loves the wages of injustice,
Gideon, one of the judges of
Israel, was empowered to rally the people of Israel against their oppressors,
the Midianites and the Amalekites.
Jud.6:34
and the Spirit of Yahweh has clothed Gideon, and he blows with a
trumpet, …
Saul, Israel’s first king. When
Israel desired to have a king just as the other nations around them had,
He gave them Saul. After his anointing by Samuel, the spirit of Yahweh
came
upon him and he prophesied in the company of other official prophets.
1Sam.10:1-12
…and prospered over you has the Spirit of Yahweh,
and you have prophesied
with them, and have been turned to another man;
and it has been, when these
signs come to you--do for yourself as your hand finds,
for Elohim [is] with you……
and they come in thither to the height, and lo,
a band of prophets--to meet
him, and prosper over him does the Spirit of Elohim,
and he prophesies in their
midst. And it comes to pass,
all his acquaintance heretofore,
see, and lo, with prophets he has prophesied,…
Later on, this spirit of Yahweh
was removed and another spirit came upon him and exerted an evil, melancholy,
influence on him.
1Sam.16:14,15
And the Spirit of Yahweh turned aside from Saul,
and a spirit of sadness
from
Yahweh terrified him;
and the servants of Saul
say unto him,
`Lo, we pray you, a spirit
of sadness [from] Elohim is terrifying you;
When, in his attempts to kill
David, his messengers had been influenced to leave David alone by the spirit
of Elohim. When Saul himself went to Naioth to capture him he, too, came
under the influence of the spirit of Elohim and, once again, he prophesied.
1Sam.19:23,24
And he goes thither--unto Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of Elohim
is upon him--him also; and he goes, going on, and he prophesies till
his coming in to Naioth in Ramah, and he strips off--he also--his
garments, and prophesies--he also--before Samuel,
and falls down naked all
that day and all the night;
therefore they say, `Is
Saul also among the prophets?'
David, king of Israel, was a
man after God’s own heart (Act.13:22).
1Sam.16:13
And Samuel takes the horn of oil, and anoints him in the midst of his brethren,
and prosper over David
does the Spirit of Yahweh from that day and onwards; …
This, as we know, did not prevent
David from his evil and murderous intentions and actions in the case of
Uriah and Bathesheba (2Sam.11). Neither did it clear him from the stain
and stigma of the blood he had shed in wars and battles and which disqualified
him from building the house of the Lord.
1Chr.22:7,8;
28:3 `As for me, it has been with my heart to build a house to
the name of Yahweh my Elohim, and the word of Yahweh [is] against me, saying,
Blood in abundance you have
shed, and great wars you have made:
you do not build a house
to My name, for much blood you have shed to the earth before Me.
During Christ’s
ministry
At His baptism by John the
baptist, holy spirit, descending from heaven as if a dove, came upon Jesus
and remained on Him and a voice from heaven announced God’s delight in
His Son, the Beloved (Mt.3:16; Mk1:10,11; Lk.3:22; Jn.1:32,33). In John’s
account, this was the sign, given to the baptist, to indicate Jesus’ commission
to baptise in holy spirit.
Mt.3:16 Now,
being baptised, Jesus straightway stepped up from the water, and lo! opened
up to Him were the heavens, and He perceived the spirit of God descending
as
if a dove,
and coming on Him.
Mk.1:10,11 And
straightway, stepping up out of the water, He perceived the heavens rent,
and the spirit, as a
dove, descending and remaining on Him.
And a voice came out of
the heavens, "Thou art My Son, the Beloved; in Thee I delight."
Lk.3:22 and
the holy spirit descends on Him, to bodily perception as if a dove,
and a voice came out of heaven, saying, "Thou art My Son, the Beloved;
in Thee I delight."
Jn.1:32,33 And
John testifies, saying that "I have gazed upon the spirit,
descending as a dove
out of heaven, and it remains on Him. And I was not aware of Him,
but He Who sends me to be
baptising in water, That One said to me,
`On Whomever you may be
perceiving the spirit descending and remaining on Him,
This is He Who is baptising
in holy spirit.'
After His baptism, Jesus was
led by the spirit into the wilderness where he fasted for forty days and
forty nights while undergoing trial by the Adversary. It is usually taken
for granted that Jesus only underwent three temptations by the Adversary.
Scripture suggests, however, that He was tried all the time He was in the
wilderness, and that the three recorded trials were only after the testing
period of forty days and forty nights!
Mk.1:12,13
And straightway the spirit is ejecting Him into the wilderness.
And He was in the wilderness
forty days, undergoing trial by Satan,
and was with the wild beasts.
And messengers waited on Him.
Lk.4:1,2 Now
Jesus, full of holy spirit, returns from the Jordan,
and was led in the spirit
in the wilderness forty days, undergoing trial by the Adversary.
And He did not eat of anything in those days, and subsequently, at their
being concluded, He hungers.
Christ is the Beloved, the Chosen
One of God, and holy spirit is on Him.
Mt.12:18
Lo, My Boy Whom I prefer! My Beloved, in Whom My soul delights!
I shall be placing My
spirit on Him, And He shall be reporting judging to the nations.
Isa.42:1 Behold
My Servant! I am upholding Him. My Chosen! Accepted by My soul!
I bestow My spirit upon
Him, and He shall bring forth judgement to the nations
Lk.4:18,19 "The
spirit of the Lord is on Me,
On account of which He anoints
Me to bring the evangel to the poor.
He has commissioned Me to
heal the crushed heart, To herald to captives a pardon,
And to the blind the receiving
of sight; To dispatch the oppressed with a pardon,
To herald an acceptable
year of the Lord..."
Isa.61:1,2 The
spirit of My Lord Yahweh is on Me,
because Yahweh anoints Me
to bear tidings to the humble.
He sends Me to bind up the
broken hearted, to herald to captives, liberty,
and, to the blind, the unclosing
of the eyes, and, to the bound, to take the jubilee,
to herald an acceptable
year for Yahweh,…
Holy spirit is also the agency
in God’s work with His people. It is the factor that sets the chosen apart
from the rest. During John’s ministry, many Israelites had professed repentance
and had been baptised in water. (Christ’s disciples also baptised people
-though He Himself did not participate in the ritual - see Jn.3:22 with
4:1,2.) But Christ shows that that was not enough. It had to be accompanied
by a baptism in holy spirit. It was not enough just to observe the outward
ritual. An accompanying internal, spiritual, cleansing was essential.
Mt.3:11
For I, indeed, am baptising you in water for repentance, yet
He Who is coming after me
is stronger than I, Whose sandals I am not competent to bear.
He will be baptising you
in
holy spirit and fire, (also Mk.1:8)
Jn.3:5-8 Jesus
answered, "Verily, verily, I am saying to you,
If anyone should not be
begotten of water and of spirit,
he can not be entering into
the kingdom of God.
That which is begotten by
the flesh is flesh,
and that which is begotten
by the spirit is spirit.
You should not be marvelling
that I said to you, `You must be begotten anew.'
The blast is blowing where
it wills, and the sound of it you are hearing,
but you are not aware whence
it is coming and where it is going.
Thus is everyone who is
begotten by the water and the spirit."
Jn.3:9,10 Nicodemus
answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"
Jesus answered and said
to him,
"You are a teacher of
Israel, and these things you do not know?
Nicodemus, a teacher of the
chosen nation should have known what Jesus was referring to. There were
a number of prophecies relating to this event. And Christians of today
should know these very predictions and refrain from applying Jesus words
to a supposed ‘born-again’ experience of modern Christianity.
Isa.66:8
Who has heard a thing as this? And who has seen things as these?
Will the land travail in
one day? Should a nation be born at one time?
For she travails.
Moreover, Zion is bearing her sons.
Ezek.37:1-14
There has been upon me a hand of Yahweh,
and He takes me forth in
the Spirit of Yahweh, and does place me in the midst of the valley,
and it is full of bones,
and He causes me to pass over by them, all round about,
and lo, very many [are]
on the face of the valley, and lo, very dry.
And He said unto me, `Son
of man, do these bones live?'
And I say, `O Lord Yahweh,
You--You have known.'
And He said unto me, `Prophesy
concerning these bones, and you have said unto them:
O dry bones, hear a word
of Yahweh: Thus said the Lord Yahweh to these bones:
Lo, I am bringing into you
a spirit, and you have lived, and I have given on you sinews,
and cause flesh to come
up upon you, and covered you over with skin,
and given in you a spirit,
and you have lived, and you have known that I [am] Yahweh.'
And I have prophesied as
I have been commanded, and there is a noise,
as I am prophesying, and
lo, a rushing, and draw near do the bones, bone unto its bone.
And I beheld, and lo, on
them [are] sinews, and flesh has come up,
and cover them does skin
over above--and spirit there is none in them.
And He said unto me: `Prophesy
unto the Spirit,
prophesy, son of man, and
you have said unto the Spirit: Thus said the Lord Yahweh:
From the four winds come
in, O Spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they do live.'
And I have prophesied as
He commanded me, and the Spirit comes into them,
and they live, and stand
on their feet--a very very great force.
And He said unto me, `Son
of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel;
lo, they are saying: Dried
up have our bones, And perished has our hope,
We have been cut off by
ourselves.
Therefore, prophesy, and
you have said unto them, thus said the Lord Yahweh:
Lo, I am opening your graves,
And have brought you up out of your graves,
O My people, And brought
you in unto the land of Israel.
And you have known that
I [am] Yahweh, In My opening your graves,
And in My bringing you up
out of your graves, O My people.
And I have given My Spirit
in you, and you have lived,
And I have caused you to
rest on your land, And you have known that I Yahweh,
I have spoken, and I have
done [it], An affirmation of Yahweh.'
The miracles Jesus performed
during His ministry, according to His commission, were through the power
of holy spirit (Mt.12:28; Lk.4:18,19). But, holy spirit was not dispensed
generally during this period. It is only after His resurrection that we
read of such a giving. Also, contrary to general supposition, Pentecost
was not the first time that holy spirit is given to the apostles (Jn.7:37-39).
Mt.12:28
Now if, by the spirit of God, I am casting out demons,
consequently the kingdom
of God outstrips in time to you.
Jn.7:37-39 Now
on the last, the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cries, saying,
"If anyone should be thirsting,
let him come to Me and drink. He who is believing in Me, according
as the scripture said, out of his bowel shall gush rivers of living water."
Now this He said concerning
the
spirit which those believing in Him were about to get.
For not as yet was
holy spirit given, for Jesus is not as yet glorified.
Jn.20:21-23
Jesus, then, said to them again,
"Peace to you! According
as the Father has commissioned Me, I also am sending you."
And saying this, He exhales
and is saying to them, "Get holy spirit!
If you should be forgiving
anyone's sins, they have been forgiven them.
If anyone's you should be
holding, they are held."
Among the believers of
Israel - from Pentecost onwards
Jesus instructed His disciples
to await in Jerusalem for the baptism in holy spirit and that the coming
of holy spirit would endow them with power for their mission as witnesses.
Act.1:4,5
And, being foregathered, He charges them not to be departing from Jerusalem,
but to be remaining about
for the promise of the Father,
"which you hear of Me, seeing
that John, indeed, baptises in water,
yet you shall be baptised
in holy spirit after not many of these days
Act.1:8 But
you shall be obtaining power at the coming of the holy spirit on you,
and you shall be My witnesses
both in Jerusalem and in entire Judea and Samaria,
as far as the limits of
the earth.
At Pentecost, while gathered
together in the upper room (Act.1:13; 2:1), they were filled with holy
spirit. This was evidenced by their being able to speak in languages which
they were not normally conversant with.
Act.2:4 And
they are all filled with holy spirit, and they begin to speak in
different languages, according as the spirit gave them to declaim.
This surprised many as they
had come from various far away places to Jerusalem for the prescribed feast
of Pentecost and yet were able to understand the preaching of the apostles.
What the apostles preached was not in unintelligible sounds, as is practised
in the spurious modern phenomena, but in different and understandable
existing languages with words and sentences and syntax.
Act.2:5-11
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews,
pious men from every nation
under heaven. Now when this sound occurs,
the multitude came together
and was confused,
for each one hears them
speaking in his own vernacular. Now they are all amazed,
and marveled, saying, "Lo!
are not all these who are speaking, Galileans?
And how are we hearing,
each in our own vernacular in which we were born?
Parthians and Medes and
Elamites and those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea,
as well as Cappadocia, Pontus,
and the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt,
and the parts of Libya about
Cyrene, and the repatriated Romans, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and
Arabs--
we are hearing them speaking
in these languages of ours of the great things of God!"
Peter's explanation attributes
this gratuitous ability to the enabling power of holy spirit, indicating
that it was a forerunner, or foretaste, of the prophecy of Joel which would
find its fulfilment in the last days just prior to the coming of the Lord
to rule from Jerusalem.
Act.2:16,17
But this is that which has been declared through the prophet Joel:
`And it shall be in the
last days,' (God is saying)
`I shall be pouring out
from My spirit on all flesh,
And your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy,…
At this time Peter preached
concerning Jesus - that He is their long-awaited Messiah (the title ‘Christ’
is the Greek equivalent of ‘Messiah’, the anglicised Hebrew ‘Meshach’).
Many in the crowd became convinced of the facts and wanted to know how
they could make amends for what they had become guilty of.
Act.2:38-41
Now Peter is averring to them,
"Repent and be baptised
each of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the pardon of your sins, and
you shall be obtaining the gratuity of the holy spirit…
Those indeed, then, who
welcome his word, are baptized,
and there were added in
that day about three thousand souls.
According to Peter’s evangel,
this good news that he preached to the people of Israel (Act.2:14,22,36),
though holy spirit was to be a gift, there were two conditions to
be met.
The first of these
was a positive response to the call for repentance from the straying from
the law and from a spiritual callousness that culminated in the murder
of their own Messiah. The call to repentance was not new. It had begun
with John’s preaching in the wilderness. It was repeated by Jesus Himself
and was His last directive to His disciples prior to His ascension into
heaven.
Mt.3:1,2,8,9
… coming along is John the baptist, heralding in the wilderness of Judea,
saying: "Repent! for near is the kingdom of the heavens!"
……
Produce, then, fruit worthy
of repentance. And you should not be presuming to be saying among yourselves,
`For a father we have Abraham,' for I am saying to you that able is God,
out of these stones to rouse
children to Abraham.
Mt.4:17 Thenceforth
begins Jesus to be heralding and saying,
"Repent! for near
is the kingdom of the heavens!"
Lk.24:45-51
Then He opens up their mind to understand the scriptures,
and said to them that "Thus
it is written, and thus must the Christ be suffering
and rise from among the
dead the third day,
and there is to be heralded
in His name repentance for the pardon of sins, to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem. Now you shall be witnesses of these things.
And lo! I am delegating
the promise of My Father on you.
Now you be seated in the
city of Jerusalem till you should be putting on power from on high." Now
He led them out as far as to Bethany, and, lifting up His hands, He blesses
them.
And it occurred as He is
blessing them, He put an interval between Himself and them,
and He was carried up into
heaven.
The second condition
to be met was a submission to the rite of baptism in water in the name
of Jesus for the pardon of their sins. Rites and rituals and ceremonies
were a part of the evangel preached to Israel. (It had not yet become known
as the evangel of the Circumcision. Such a distinction would only come
when Paul, under his commission and ministry, began preaching the evangel
of the Uncircumcision to the nations). Under Peter’s evangel, zealousness
for the law and all its observances was essential. In this context, the
call to repentance was for a turning back to the law from which the people
of Israel had strayed. Holy spirit marked out believers in Christ from
among the rest of Judaism.
Act.21:20,21
Now those who hear glorified God. Besides, they said to him, "You are beholding,
brother, how many tens of thousands there are among the Jews who
have believed,
and all are inherently
zealous for the law? Now they were instructed concerning you
that you teach all the
Jews among the nations apostasy from Moses,
telling them not to be circumcising
their children, nor yet to be walking in the customs. .
Gal.5:3 Now
I am attesting again to every man who is circumcising,
that he is a debtor to
do the whole law. .
Jas.2:10 For
anyone who should be keeping the whole law,
yet should be tripping in
one thing, has become liable for all.
[ according to some sources
this ‘whole law’ consists of 613 individual regulations ]
Holy spirit was given to the
repentant:
1Jn.4:13
In this we know that we are remaining in Him, and He in us,
for He has given
us of His spirit.
Act.2:37-39
Now, hearing this, their heart was pricked with compunction. Besides,
they said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, "What should we be doing, men, brethren?"
Now Peter is averring to
them, "Repent and be baptized each of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the pardon of your sins,
and you shall be obtaining
the gratuity of the holy spirit.
For to you is the promise
and to your children, and to all those afar,
whosoever the Lord our God
should be calling to Him."
It came on believers:
Act.19:4-6
Yet Paul said, "John baptises with the baptism of repentance,
telling the people that
in the One coming after him they should be believing, that is, in Jesus."
Now, hearing this, they
are baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And at the placing of Paul's
hands on them, the holy spirit came on them.
Besides, they spoke languages
and prophesied.
It was poured out on believers;
it fell on them:
Act.10:44
While Peter is still speaking these declarations,
the holy spirit falls
on all those hearing the word.
Act.10:45-47
…amazed were the believers of the Circumcision, whoever come together with
Peter, seeing that on the nations also the gratuity of the holy spirit
has been poured out.
For they heard them speaking
in languages and magnifying God.
Then Peter answered, "There
can not be anyone to forbid water,
so that these are not to
be baptised, who obtained the holy spirit even as we."
Act.11:15,16
"Now as I begin to speak, the holy spirit falls on them,
even as on us also in the
beginning. Now I am reminded of the declaration of the Lord,
as He said that `John, indeed,
baptises in water, yet you shall be baptised in holy spirit.'
Act.2:17,18
`And it shall be in the last days,' (God is saying)
`I shall be pouring out
from My spirit on all flesh,
And your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy,
And your youths visions
shall be seeing, And your elders dreams shall be dreaming,
And surely on My men slaves
and on My women slaves in those days
shall I be pouring out
from
My spirit,' and they shall be prophesying.
It must be noted, however, that
the giving of holy spirit during that administration, did not protect the
recipients from condemnation from God, either. In the case of Ananias and
Sapphira, they were struck dead for their subterfuge.
Act.5:1-11
Now Peter said, "Ananias, wherefore does Satan fill your heart
for you to falsify to the
holy spirit and to embezzle from the price of the freehold?
Did it not, while remaining,
remain yours? And, being disposed of, it belonged to you by right. Why
is it that you placed this matter in your heart? You do not lie to men,
but to God."
Now Ananias, hearing these
words, falling down, gives up the soul…..
Now Peter said to her, Why
is it that you agreed to try the spirit of the Lord?
Lo! the feet of those who
entomb your husband are at the door,
and they shall be carrying
you out." Now, instantly, she falls at his feet and gives up the soul.
Now entering, the youths found her dead, and carrying her out,
they entomb her with her
husband.
The continued presence of holy
spirit was always conditioned upon a continued walk according to
the precepts.
Heb.6:4-6
For it is impossible for those once enlightened,
besides tasting the celestial
gratuity and becoming partakers of holy spirit, and
tasting the ideal declaration
of God, besides the powerful deeds of the impending eon,
and falling aside,
to be renewing them again to repentance
while crucifying for themselves
the Son of God again and holding Him up to infamy.
2Pet.2:20,21
For if, while fleeing from the defilements of the world
by the recognition of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, yet, being again involved in these,
they are being discomfited,
their last state has become worse than the first.
For it were better for them
not
to have recognized the way of righteousness, than,
recognizing it, to go back
to what was behind, from the holy precept given over to them.
Heb.10:26-31
For at our sinning voluntarily after obtaining the recognition of the truth,
it is no longer leaving
a sacrifice concerned with sins,
but a certain fearful
waiting for judging and fiery jealousy, about to be eating the hostile.
Anyone repudiating Moses'
law is dying without pity on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of
how much worse punishment, are you supposing, will he be counted
worthy who tramples on the Son of God, and deems the blood of the covenant
by which he is hallowed contaminating, and outrages the spirit of grace?
For we are acquainted with
Him Who is saying, Mine is vengeance! I will repay!
the Lord is saying, and
again, "The Lord will be judging His people"
Fearful is it to be falling
into the hands of the living God!
The body of Christ
- the Administration of Grace
Paul’s ministry: Scripture
asserts that Paul, or Saul (as he was known at the time of his conversion)
had been given a triple commission.
Act.9:15 …he
is a choice instrument of Mine, to bear My name before
both the nations
and kings,
besides the sons of Israel,
After his conversion and baptism
in Damascus, he began his mission to the sons of Israel in the synagogues
there (Act.9:18-22). Saul, after his mercy trip to Jerusalem with Barnabas
because of the famine there (Act.11:28-30; 12:25), had been continuing
in fellowship with the ecclesia in Antioch. From among the believers there,
both he and Barnabas were then extracted for a special work - which began
the next phase of his commission.
Act.13:2
Now, at their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the holy spirit said,
"Sever, by all means, to
Me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I
have called them."
Rom.15:19 in
the power of signs and miracles, in the power of God's spirit, so that,
from Jerusalem and around
unto Illyricum, I have completed the evangel of the Christ
He had been reserved for this
commission right from the time of his conversion on the road to Damascus
(Act. 22:19-21). In fact, Scripture claims that he was born for the mission.
Gal.1:15,16
Now, when it delights God, Who severs me from my mother's womb
and calls me through His
grace, to unveil His Son in me
that I may be evangelizing
Him among the nations,…
Act.26:15-18
Now I say, `Who art Thou, Lord?'
Now the Lord said, `I am
Jesus, Whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand on your
feet, for I was seen by you for this,
to fix upon you before for
a deputy and a witness
both of what you have perceived
and that in which I will
be seen by you,
extricating you from the
people
and from the nations, to
whom I am commissioning you,
to open their eyes,
to turn them about from
darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God,
for them to get a pardon
of sins and an allotment
among those who have been
hallowed by faith that is in Me.'
What is this evangel that he
was to preach to the nations? Though it consists of one part that is common
with the evangel to the Circumcision, the whole is far different from it
in content, purpose, operation, and destiny. It is an evangel of God’s
grace wherein, for those whom He calls out of all humanity and not merely
out of Israel, God initiates all, sustains all, and completes all that
will bring them to a glorious destiny.
The common element to both
groups concerns Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
1Cor.15:1-8
Now I am making known to you, brethren,
the evangel which I bring
to you, which also you accepted,
in which also you stand,
through which also you are saved,
if you are retaining what
I said in bringing the evangel to you,
outside and except you believe
feignedly.
For I give over to you among
the first what also I accepted,
that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures,
and that He was entombed,
and that He has been
roused the third day according to the scriptures,
and that He was seen by
Cephas,
thereupon by the twelve.
Thereupon He was seen by
over five hundred brethren at once,
of whom the majority are
remaining hitherto, yet some were put to repose also.
Thereupon He was seen by
James,
thereafter by all the apostles.
Yet, last of all, even as
if a premature birth, He was seen by me also.
But, whereas, works for worthiness
is essential in the Circumcision evangel, the evangel Paul was commissioned
to preach among the nations was based entirely on faith as God’s gift!
Eph.2:8-10
For in grace, through faith, are you saved,
and this is not out of you;
it
is God's approach present,
not of works, lest anyone
should be boasting.
For His achievement are
we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God makes ready beforehand,
that we should be walking in them.
Rom.8:28-30
Now we are aware that God is working all together for the good
of those who are loving
God, who are called according to the purpose that,
whom He foreknew,
He
designates
beforehand, also,
to be conformed to the image
of His Son, for Him to be Firstborn among many brethren.
Now whom He designates beforehand,
these He calls also,
and whom He calls, these
He
justifies also;
now whom He justifies, these
He
glorifies also.
Eph.1:3-6 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who blesses us with every
spiritual blessing among the celestials, in Christ,
according as He chooses
us in Him before the disruption of the world,
we to be holy and flawless
in His sight,
in love designating us beforehand
for the place of a son for Him through Christ Jesus;
in accord with the delight
of His will,
for the laud of the glory
of His grace, which graces us in the Beloved:
1Cor.1:26-31
For you are observing your calling, brethren, that there are
not many wise
according to the flesh;
not many powerful,
not many noble,
but the stupidity of the
world God chooses, that He may be disgracing the wise,
and the weakness of the
world God chooses, that He may be disgracing the strong,
and the ignoble and the
contemptible things of the world God chooses,
and that which is not, that
He may be discarding that which is,
so that no flesh at all
should be boasting in God's sight.
Yet you, of Him, are in
Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God,
besides righteousness and
holiness and deliverance,
that, according as it is
written, He who is boasting, in the Lord let him be boasting.
God's operation does not end
at His choice of us. What He has begun He will carry through to His intended
conclusion (Phil.1:6).
Phil.2:13
for it is God Who is operating in you
to will as well as to work
for the sake of His delight.
Phil.3:3 for
we are the circumcision who are offering divine service in the spirit of
God,
and are glorying in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in flesh.
2Cor.1:9 But
we have the rescript of death in ourselves,
that we may be having no
confidence in ourselves, but in God, Who rouses the dead,
Col.1:12 at
the same time giving thanks to the Father,
Who makes you competent
for
a part of the allotment of the saints, in light,
2Tim.1:9 Who
saves us and calls us with a holy calling,
not in accord with our acts,
but in accord with His own purpose
and the grace which is given
to us in Christ Jesus before times eonian,
Tit.3:5,6 not
for works which are wrought in righteousness which we do,
but according to His
mercy, He saves us,
through the bath of renascence
and renewal of holy spirit,
which He pours out on us
richly through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
Rom.3:27,28
Where, then, is boasting? It is debarred!
Through what law? Of works?
No! But through faith's law.
For we are reckoning a man
to be justified by faith apart from works of law.
Rom.4:2-5 For
if Abraham was justified by acts, he has something to boast in,
but not toward God. For
what is the scripture saying?
Now "Abraham believes
God, and it is reckoned to him for righteousness."
Now to the worker, the wage
is not reckoned as a favor, but as a debt.
Yet to him who is not working,
yet is believing on Him Who is justifying the irreverent,
his faith is reckoned for
righteousness.
This is, of course, in direct
contrast with the Circumcision message as exemplified in the letter of
James to the twelve tribes. No amount of argument and manoeuvring can make
the two positions the same.
Jas.2:14
What is the benefit, my brethren,
if anyone should be saying
he has faith, yet may have no works?
That faith can not
save him.
Jas.2:24,26
You see that by works a man is being justified, and not by faith only.
…
For even as the body apart
from spirit is dead,
thus also faith apart from
works is dead.
In the body of Christ, the members
are taken from out of the whole of humanity, individually, not by families,
and not by nations. There is NO distinction and NO discrimination by race.
Being a Jew or a non-Jew neither qualifies nor disqualifies an individual
from this privileged calling.
Col.3:9-11 …stripping
off the old humanity together with its practices,
and putting on the young,
which is being renewed into recognition,
to accord with the Image
of the One Who creates it,
wherein there is no Greek
and Jew, Circumcision and Uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, slave,
freeman,
but all and in all is Christ.
Gal.3:27,28
For whoever are baptized into Christ, put on Christ,
in Whom there is no Jew
nor yet Greek,
there is no slave nor yet
free,
there is no male and female,
for you all are one in Christ
Jesus.
Gal.5:6 For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision is availing anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith, operating through
love.
Gal.6:15 For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything,
but a new creation.
2Cor.5:17 So
that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
the primitive passed by.
Lo! there has come new!
Eph.3:5-7 in
spirit the nations are to be
joint
enjoyers of an allotment,
and a joint body,
and joint partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus,
through the evangel of which
I became the dispenser,
in accord with the gratuity
of the grace of God,
which is granted to me in
accord with His powerful operation.
June 2001
Back to:
....Main
menu of articles
....Section
1 - Introduction
God Himself
....Section
2 - The Power of Life
Proceed to:
....Section
4 - The Power in God's Operations
II
....Section
5 - Metaphysical Beings I
....Section
6 - Metaphysical Beings II
....Section
7 - Conclusion
|
