Tag: deposit

Articles

The Resurrection of Christ Within Us

Pete

Moving from Spiritual Death unto Newness of Life

Passing from spiritual death unto life in the Spirit is being accomplished within us the day we are given ears to hear the truth and the faith to believe.  Henceforth, we begin the process of being resurrected from the spiritual dead.

Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 

Joh 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 

That day is TODAY; the resurrection of the remnant of saints is ONGOING NOW; it is not a past or future static experience.  The spiritually dead the Lord is choosing, a small remnant indeed, is hearing His voice and arising to newness of life.  While these John 5 verses have an outward application and certainly apply to the billions of physically dead human beings, they most aptly are applicable NOW, in this age, for those few given the gift of faith and the requisite hearing (understanding).

Being raised up together in the heavenlies is an ongoing process of coming alive into the life of Christ from being carnally minded and dead in our sins. Paul speaks of this numerous times in his letters.

Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen [already, NOW, risen = resurrected] with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him [Christ in you] from the dead. 

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, [=the better resurrection, an ongoing process] having forgiven you all trespasses; 

He is Risen!  Like all prophecies, we mistakenly only see them and the resurrection as an outward only future event versus a living and active event we are experiencing now in this age.  He is risen within you if He is come unto you.

Our resurrection from the spiritually dead is the resurrection of Jesus Christ within us.  Rather than be a static event that happens all at once it is an ongoing event as the unclean old man decreases and Christ in us increases.

2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest [i.e. resurrected] in our body. 

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, […an ongoing process of coming alive into the life of Christ..]  and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Let’s consider some more writings from Paul on death and resurrection.  We begin to see the two sides of the same topic speaking of the same one process.  Dying to our flesh and carnal mind is newness of life and is the ongoing process of our being resurrected.

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Paul does not contradict himself.  He consistently shows that dying to death (the carnal mind) is one side of the same process as being raised by Christ.

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 

Paul is telling the saints they ARE RISEN (not “will be” risen) with Christ right now.  This rising is in earnest, but it is being resurrected (risen) now nonetheless.  The more we die daily (planted in the likeness of his death), the other side of that same coin is us being raised up in His likeness.  It is simply the other side of the same event and process.  Thus we have another of the myriads of witnesses to what a two-edged sword, the WORD, is doing in our lives.  Paul is not contradicting anything, and he harmonizes the truth that the rest of the Apostles and the Gospels record for our learning.

The sum of Paul’s words shows that we do not experience the fullness of the resurrection in Spirit now while we are in clay vessels.  But he is saying that he has given up things carnal men esteem so he can know Christ and die to death (the carnal mind) right now.  It is an active and living event (it IS) if we belong to Christ and our time of reformation is at hand.  We press onward and upward in hopes the Lord will complete His work in this age, even knowing He will complete it in the end for all humanity.

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made [IS] conformable unto his death;

Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

What is the Resurrection?

We need not guess who or what the resurrection to eternal life is.  Jesus Christ Himself IS THE RESURRECTION and the life.  It is not an outward or physical dynamic; our eyes should be turned inwardly.  Let’s look again at some powerful words of the Lord.

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 

Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.  Believest thou this? 

Jesus Christ, among other spiritual symbols, is the WORD, The TRUTH, the WAY, the VINE, the DOOR, and the RESURRECTION.  This is because what is being resurrected is HIS WORD, HIS TRUTH, HIS WAY,  as we grow in the faith and His commandments [words] arise within us.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the raising up of His commandments.  The very commandments are His Words, which are spirit and eternal life.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you are spirit and life. 

We have a wonderful promise in verse 11:26.  Once Christ is raised in us (whos0ever liveth) and continues in the faith (believeth), shall never spiritually die again.

When His words take hold and rise in us, a new spiritual body, Jesus Christ, within us, is being created and matured.  Note that there are two kinds of bodies, and our purposefully marred flesh natural body of corruption is never destined to be resurrected.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.  There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 

Our remaking is the resurrection, creating new spiritual sons and daughters made into His image and likeness, exhibiting His glory.

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 

In the first half of our walk with the Lord, we remain dead in our sins abiding in what is called spiritual Sodom or Egypt.  But a time comes, the day of the Lord for every man, when we enter into the last woe, the third day in which we are being perfected as we are called up hither by the Lord.  This is how Jesus Christ is revealed within us.

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them [us, the two witnesses lying dead in the streets], and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 

Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 

Christ is inseparable from the Word as He is the Word made manifest to us.  Jesus Christ is the resurrection rising within us and working righteousness. This ongoing process from spiritual birth unto maturity is what IS raising us from being spiritually dead and manifests newness of life.

Mat 11:5  The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

So long as we abide in faith, we shall never die again, although our fleshly bodies will undoubtedly die.  That is why Christ is come, and it is the work of God within us.  We are living out the book and fulfilling the Scriptures in our appointed time.  In the latter times, this is about the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead within us, which begins our transformation into a new being.

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit [raising Christ from the dead within] that dwelleth in you.

1Co 6:14  And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

The Word of God is the fire that is killing off the flesh, the old man, the lies (false prophet), the beast, and even the mind of Satan, our carnal mind.  As Christ is raised within (increased), our old man is being decreased.  Living out the Scriptures is the process of being resurrected from the spiritually dead.  However, we must know that process will never be fully completed in this age while we only have an earnest deposit of His Spirit.

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [in fullness], unto the praise of his glory. 

2Co 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 

The longer we dwell in our day of the Lord, the more we groan for the promised fullness of the spirit to come and complete our redemption.

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

The resurrection from the dead is the resurrection into spirit, not a fleshly body.   We are given little to understand what this means and how this compares to physical life, yet we are told it is far more glorious.  As the Scriptures declare, our fleshly vile bodies are destined for destruction and will return to dust.  That process begins today for those the Lord has chosen.

Two Edges of the Sword

As we read the Scriptures, we always hold to some basic principles to ensure we are rightly dividing the Word of Truth.  Some fundamental tenets include these below:

  • The sum of thy Word is truth
  • No prophecy of Scripture is of its own interpretation
  • The Word is a two-edged sword of opposite sides of the same event
  • His Words speak of spiritual things, and they are Spirit
  • We learn by applying spiritual to spiritual, not looking outwardly
  • Man must live by every Word God spoke in their appointed times
  • The Lord calls things that are not now as if they are [Rom 4:17]

Many things in the Scriptures are spoken about differently from opposite sides, yet they speak of the same event and process.  Such is the case with our dying and our being resurrected.  This well-known verse from Paul is an excellent verse speaking to just one side of the same process that is raising us up with Christ.

1 Cor 15:31 I die daily, I protest by your glory, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dying to the flesh is the same as Christ within being resurrected.  Here Paul speaks from the other side of the same event.

Eph 5:14  Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead [i.e. be resurrected], and Christ shall give thee light. 

Another dynamic principle regarding the Word is remembering that the Word of God, Jesus Christ,  IS, WAS and WILL BE to come.  If we are the Lord’s in this age, our focus is on the IS which is the here and now.  I am constantly correcting my writing, “The Lord WILL do this, or we WILL do that”.  NO, the Lord IS doing this, and we ARE doing whatever is in discussion NOW.  It is not somewhere out there in the future, it IS.

The Lord IS come to those who are keeping those prophecies now in this age.  He will eventually come to all in their appointed time which may be in the age to come.  For some, right now, the time is at hand, it IS.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

 If we are the Lord’s, we are NOW living out this Word, and the tense of our experience is on the IS.  The Lord is come to our flesh, and we do not deny it.  I am fulfilling those prophecies written in the book right now!  This experience is not the fullness of what is promised but only in the promised down payment form.

Looking for the Glory to be Revealed:

Indeed, our resurrection is not yet come in its fullness, yet we look forward to that glorious event in great hope as John writes.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 

1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 

We are being perfected now.  The process is not over, and it will never be over while we are alive in the flesh body.   Peter spoke of the living hope we have already been given while we wait for the fullness of our resurrection to come.

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Overcoming death [physical and spiritual] is only possible through the power of God raising us from the dead.  In our day of the Lord, the Word that lives within us will not fail.  We will begin to be resurrected and get overcoming over our sins.  Again only in down payment form now, but we rejoice and hope for the full attainment when we finish our race.

1Jn 2:13  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning.  I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.  I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

1Jn 2:14  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning.  I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

We are so blessed to our being made holy by fulfilling those prophecies and beginning to reign with Christ in His temple.  These widely mistranslated verses speak of both sides of the sword as we endure our day of the Lord and live out the prophecies.

Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The second death [destruction of Satan, beast, false prophet in us] and the first resurrection are the same event, just opposite sides of the same coin.  When death [carnal mind] is destroyed in the lake of fire (death to death or aka the second death), then Christ in us is being resurrected.  Blessed and holy are those given to partake of this now in this age.  Once raised in the heaven and earth within us, Christ will reign until the last enemy is destroyed.

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The last enemy to be destroyed is SPIRITUAL DEATH, not physical death.  The enemies of God that keep us dead are all burned up in His consuming fire, that is His Word and His commandments.    When the carnal mind that is death is destroyed then we are fully alive with Christ.  We will see the fullness once we depart our clay vessels and receive the promised crown.

No matter where we are on the Lord’s timeline, our dying to death and being raised to new life will continue until it is completed.  We are being resurrected with Christ every day as we die every day to our carnal ways.  Rejoice, for the Lord is faithful and will finish the good work He has already started.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 

Articles

Dying to the Flesh

Pete

Dying to the Flesh

Followers of Christ are dying daily to the lusts of their flesh that, if not overcome, has us doing things contrary to the Lord’s commandments.  Dying to our flesh is the salvation process that takes the remainder of our physical lives to finish the journey the Lord has set before us.  A fleshly, carnally minded way of life is given up for men to be saved.  Lord willing, we understand and heed the words of the Lord as we lay down our carnal and worldly way of life and follow Him.

Luk 9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Luk 9:24  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

The sooner one can subdue the flesh, they are hastening the coming of the Lord, which manifests peace and newness of life.  Spiritual life comes only through death; as the old life is decreased, the new life increases.

Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

The Scriptures provide many exhortations and admonishments to remind and encourage us of the necessity that followers of Jesus Christ are dying to the flesh during our sojourn here on the earth.

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry ….

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

The purpose of the Lord is to save all men from their sins which is done by taking every man through a transformative process.  All are being moved from a state of spiritual death [dead in our sins, being carnally minded] to being spiritually alive with Christ’s mind and overcoming our sins.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

As we are being matured, we are given overcoming LITTLE BY LITTLE, and thus we learn to obey the commandments of the Lord as we conquer our fleshly lusts which wage war against our soul.

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

As one progresses in their journey, we increasingly have our faith exercised in fighting the pulls of our sinful fleshly bodies.  This is the meaning of dying to the flesh or, said another way, how we are dying to our carnal mind.  To become spiritually minded, we are overcoming the carnal mind, defined as spiritual death.

Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

The carnal mind is being subdued for obedience and salvation to manifest.  Otherwise, one remains disobedient to the commandments and is not living pleasing to our heavenly Father.

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.

 If Christ lives in us, we are striving to obey the Lord and take captive the lusts of the flesh.  Our flesh is said to be sin, missing the mark, and not designed to inherit the kingdom of God.  Yet with Christ in us, we can live in the Spirit and overcome as we learn obedience.

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.

Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Dying to one’s flesh results from our engagement in what Paul calls the “good fight of faith.”  We endure this fight all the days of our flesh, and it never stops so long as we remain in these clay vessels.   We endure to the end and finish the race the Lord has set before us in this age.

2Ti 4:6  For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

2Ti 4:7  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

While perfection is always our goal and hope, we only arrive there fully once we are resurrected in spiritual bodies in the next age to come.  Yet we always press onward to receive the prize that is the mind of Christ.  When we sin, we get right back up to keep the course, knowing even our mistakes are used by the Lord to bring good in the end.

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The opposite of resisting, striving, and fighting to be holy is turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, which we all do at one time or another.  We need to be vigilant in pursuing righteousness and holiness at every turn.

Christ As Our Example

Jesus Christ the Lord is our example, and we follow Him in our appointed time, learning obedience to the Father’s commandments.  The Lord died on a cross, and we also need to die [to death] on our cross.

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Picking up our cross and following the Lord is about laying down our carnal way of life and thinking.  We give up that life (being carnal, worldly, sinful) to obey the Lord and reap the reward of salvation.  Jesus Christ is our example who sinned not all the while being subject to the same temptations and lusts of the flesh that come upon us mere mortals.

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;

2Co 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.

Having been tempted and suffered just like us, the Lord is able to comfort us in our time of need.

Heb 2:18  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Dying to the flesh does not mean all the enjoyments and pleasures of life are given up.   Our focus is on keeping His commandments and we seek to abandon and overcome things that are contrary or which negatively impact our obedience.  It is a narrow way we navigate to enter into the kingdom of God.  The Lord made all things, and they are to be considered GOOD for the purposes the Lord has made them.   His creations were made for the pleasure and purposes of aiding and comforting mankind.

1Ti 4:4  For every creation of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

The sum of the word that is truth teaches us that while all things are lawful, not all things profit or are beneficial to our spiritual growth.  We are being circumspect in navigating our journey and using our freedom in Christ wisely.

1Co 10:23  All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

 1Co 6:12  All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

 Dying to the flesh requires active engagement in resisting temptation and striving to be obedient in all our behavior.   Some key things we are learning to do more and more as we progress include these activities:

  • Taking sinful and negative thoughts captive.

 

  • Warring in the heavens against lies and false doctrines.

 

  • Resisting the devil (our carnal mind and its temptations)

 

  • Seeking to live a quiet and set-apart life from the world

 

We are failing on this journey, but that, too, is all the Lord’s plan, so when we do overcome, we know it is HIM and not of our own strength.  The process of salvation requires us to fail often as the Lord uses those failures to teach us and to know it is 100% Him doing all the saving.  Rather than be discouraged by our failures, we should be encouraged by the comfort given in the Scriptures and learn from them.

Fullness versus a Measure of the Spirit

The Lord had one key advantage that needs to be pointed out.  He was given the Spirit WITHOUT MEASURE when He walked in a sinful body of flesh but remained without sin.

Joh 3:34  For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

 We however are only given the Spirit WITH measure, an earnest deposit, so we have a much more difficult challenge in not falling for the various temptations of the flesh.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

2Co 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Until we are resurrected in spiritual bodies and given the fullness of the Spirit, there is always work remaining to overcome and subdue our flesh.   Perfection and having the fullness of the Spirit are not achieved while we remain in fleshly bodies.   Yet we patiently wait in the hope of the fullness promised to come.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

When we do fail, we are to confess those sins and move on, striving to do better, knowing the Lord’s promises and purposes in molding His clay vessels.

 Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

We always focus on the prize and wanting to please our heavenly Father.  We are told many things to encourage us to keep the course despite our many failures.  We are to be patient, not grow weary and seek the throne of mercy in our many times of need.  Finishing our race is enduring to the end and never stopping the pursuit of holiness and righteousness, striving against our sins.

1Pe 1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

It is key to remember that the Lord calls things that are not as if they are already done. Such is the truth that we are dying to the flesh in order to reap the promise of eternal life.  We have not fully perfected it, yet we are getting there more and more every day.

Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

As we grow in faith, our results (overcoming) also improve as what we believe is becoming our reality.

 Mat 9:29  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

One can indeed do all things through Christ with the requisite measure of faith.  As we endure our day of the Lord, big changes will be evident as the Lord moves us closer to the finish line.   May these words edify and encourage those the Lord has prepared to hear them.

Grace and peace to all,

 

Pete

peterjwilson56@gmail.com