God of the Living not of the Dead
We, as servants of Christ, are led to write to our scattered spiritual family and fellow sojourners. Our desire is to encourage all to continue in the things we have learned and what we have heard through many hardships and to not lose our crown of righteousness. Having now being made a pillar in the Temple of the Lord, we stand steadfastly in full assurance of the realization of the promises [rewards, Rev 2-3] through the Gospel.
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
All men are born spiritually dead and it is only through Truth and grace which came with Christ, that we are being made alive and are now being seated with Christ and our fellow saints in heaven. The Lord’s people are the children of the resurrection, who were once dead [without God and Christ] but now have been raised up through the precious gift of faith, the faith of Christ [as He is, so are we 1 John 4:17].
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
Our land has now been married to Christ and we now rest in Him, no longer partaking of the back and forth carnal reasonings [meat] that holds all men in bondage to Satan, of their father, the devil, who is a murderer from the beginning [John 8:44].
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Before faith came and before our conversion takes place, all prior works are dead works, thus our deliverance from sin and overcoming were not being made manifest. Yet when faith IS come, the true work of God is being done by those made faithful by the hand of the Lord.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
The true work of God is this:
Joh 6:28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Those given this precious faith, now partake of the living Bread and have obtained age-abiding life; which is to know and abide in Christ [Joh 17:3]. Henceforth the Lord promises we shall never die.
Joh 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Joh 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
God is a living God through the Son. Those being conformed into His image are likewise living and thus also alive in the Spirit. Coming to see this truth is far bigger than we once knew when we were bound by the law of sin and death in our members and not yet converted. Jesus spoke of things that are not yet as if they were when answering Peter and the Sadducees who did not understand what a living God and being alive to Christ meant.
Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 22:31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,
Mat 22:32 ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
When Christ comes into His people for salvation, He gives us His Spirit that brings the fire that henceforth purges His Temple and guides those ordained to be faithful before the foundation of the world.
2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Despite our claims to believe in Him [Joh 8:30], the Lord is not the Lord of those who walk according to the flesh doing the works of the flesh [Gal 5:19-21] which exemplifies those that are dead and not alive to Christ.
In every generation, a carnally minded Israel remains spiritually dead and God is not their God as they continue to do the deeds of their father the devil. Before faith comes, all abide in unbelief to the Gospel who claim to be wise but remain reprobate walking as fools [Romans chapter 1] and worshipping the creation rather than the Creator.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Those bound by the carnal law of sin and death, follow after strange gods [idols of the heart] who are no gods at all in corrupting the Gospel and twisting the Lord’s commandments to their own destruction. This is how flesh seeks to keep itself alive all the while claiming the Name of Christ. We remain dead in our sins and trespasses, pursuing the error of Balaam and twice plucked up by the roots. The living God is only the God of those who are led by His Spirit who have come out of the bondage to the law that binds them in spiritual death.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
When one abides in spiritual death, they are not alive unto Christ. All men at this stage of deception are hypocrites, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees that oppose Christ and who teach and follow man’s reasoning [carnal doctrines] rather than obeying His clear commandments.
Mat 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
We can look behind ourselves and see how great an escape the Lord has provided.
2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
The Lord uses the Sadducees in every generation, who remain bound to the law of the gentiles [accusing and excusing, Rom 2:15] and who deny His resurrection, saying it is past; to teach us that He is the God of the living and not of the dead. Sadducees are devoid of faith, who holds the Truth in unrighteousness as it is this day. They come to Christ in every age, being the spirit of anti-Christ, denying the Lord who has bought them with a price. They know the Truth but deny it by their works. This is us in our times and seasons.
Mat 22:23 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
Mat 22:24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
Mat 22:25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
Mat 22:26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
Mat 22:27 And last of all the woman died also.
Mat 22:28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
Christ rebukes the Sadducees for their denying the power of God. Sadducees symbolize those who trust in their own reasoning and deny the power of God which is the resurrection of the dead [to bring Christ up again] to a lively hope in His people.
Mat 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Those not knowing the power [Christ] of God, do not know the Lord and are not alive to Christ and His Christ. Such is the state of all those who claim His Name that have not faith.
1Jn 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
1Jn 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
1Jn 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1Jn 4:5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
1Jn 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Those in faith are married to Christ and no longer know any man after the flesh [2 Cor 5:16]. There are no male or female, bond or free, in the risen Body of Christ; but all are One in Christ through the Spirit who have been made free in our Day of the Lord. Those with the faith of Christ are the true descendants of Abraham, the true Jews of the seed of Isaac, whose seed are blessed.
Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
Mat 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
Mat 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
There is only one seed that brings forth the righteousness of Christ and that is faith.
Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “AND TO YOUR SEED,” who is Christ.
We are first baptized with water and not with fire [Spirit] and at this time, continue to live in pleasure being led by various lusts, full of dead men’s bones. We are dead while we live, all part of fulfilling the Scriptures [living by every word of God, Luk 4:4]. At this stage, we are without the Law of Liberty [Christ] and remain dead in our sins.
1Ti 5:6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.
Mat 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Rising above death [being carnally minded under the law] only comes when Christ comes to us a second time without sin.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Heb 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Whatever is not of faith is sin [lawlessness] and it is sin that is the sting of being carnally minded where victory and overcoming remain elusive. Victory does not come until faith is come and Christ, the morning star, rises within our hearts. Then we are released from the law of sin and death and are being made alive with the Lord through the White Throne Judgement, the Lord bringing the reward.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
When the Lord comes our works will be revealed by the light that is also the fire which is burning out all the wood, hay and stubble that represents our carnal reasonings.
1Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
1Co 3:13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
The living are never found among the dead. They are separated [being made holy, set-apart] through faith, the faith of Christ, doing the will of the Father, who sent Him. It is the great gulf fixed that no man can cross unless it is given unto them. Thus, the parables of the cross and the resurrection tells of this mystery to those given ears to hear and eyes to see.
Luk 24:5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
Those alive to Christ come out from among the spiritually dead and after they have been crucified, separate themselves from those that walk after the flesh who are still bound to the law for the lawless.
1Pe 1:13 Therefore 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;
1Pe 1:14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
1Pe 1:15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1Pe 1:16 because it is written, “BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
Those that die to death [their carnal mind] die to the Lord and are the same as those that live to the Lord.
Rom 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
Rom 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
We are redeemed with the precious blood of the Lamb, without spot and wrinkle. The Lord is the Lord of all when all things are put under His feet.
1Co 15:25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For “HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.
1Co 15:28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
Our spiritual enemies within and without ourselves are those that are bound to the law of carnal reasoning and walk therein. Such remain separated from Christ and His righteousness. These are the men [lies] that oppress us and merchandise rewards and gain, so flesh can reign supreme. The one does it for reward and the other for a bribe [immediate gratification]. We are to earnestly contend for the faith against those that pursue such folly and turn God’s grace into lasciviousness.
Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
Jud 1:13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Having already escaped the corruption, which is the world’s way of thinking, we need to be vigilant to guard our gates against the Sadducee’s spirit who knows to do right but suppress the truth. Wresting judgment away is the gall and vinegar or root of bitterness offered by those who crucified Christ and His Christ. Christ as our example, rejects and does not drink the gall but instead dies to the world.
Mat 27:34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
Those who seek to save their carnal lives will lose it and not enter into the Kingdom of God where the living are found. When we partake of the world’s meat, we suppress the Truth of Christ’s commands, and drink spiritual gall and will not find the rest from our own carnal works. David prays the Lord to put those enemies and mindset within him under the feet of Christ.
Psa 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Psa 69:22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
Psa 69:23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
Psa 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
The battle with these carnal enemies and the law is all over the Psalms.
Psa 56:11 In God have I put my trust [not the reasonings of men, their flesh – Phi 3:3]: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
Psa 56:12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
Psa 56:13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
We enter the land of the living [draw near to Jerusalem above] when we are released by Christ from the prison that is Mystery Babylon [Rev 17:5], yoked with the yoke of hypocrisy. Being released from this harlot that binds us to the earth is the same as being called up hither into the heavenly realm. This is where the faithful saints who become the righteous compass about the throne being one Spirit with the Lord. This is our inheritance in the saints.
Psa 142:5 I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
Psa 142:6 Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.
Psa 142:7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.
1Co 6:16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “THE TWO,” He says, “SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”
1Co 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Our own righteousness and reasonings of right and wrong are filthy rags to Christ. The only righteousness that counts is His Righteousness that comes only through the gift of faith, the faith of Christ. Giving up our lives, dying daily is what conforms us into the Lord’s death and enables us to attain to the resurrection to the living.
Php 3:9 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:
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
It takes Christ’s blood within us, our dying to death and forsaking all we have, to have spiritual death and carnality purged from our minds. Then we enter into His rest and serve the Lord in power, the Spirit of Glory resting upon us as unworthy servants.
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Col 1:24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
Col 1:25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
Col 1:26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
While we wait for the Lord to finish His sanctifying work, as the pillars in His Temple, we guard and keep our gates, being made holy, guarding the way of the tree of Life [Christ]. Knowledge [speaking in angel tongues] and pursuit of riches [spiritual drunkenness] is passing away and as the faithful, we now seek the things of the Spirit [doing His pleasure] and rest in the Lord and wait for Him, to finish what He has begun in us.
Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Being raised to life, we seek heavenly things and not those things on the earth.
Col 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Grace be with you. Amen!
