Tag: Risen

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

The City of Jerusalem Above and Below

Pete

Jerusalem Above and Below

To the faithful saints, who are alive in Christ, that have been raised from the dead and now walk by faith. When Christ comes in Spirit [the second time without sin], imparting the faith of Christ to the faithful, one ceases to live according to the law of carnal reasoning [also known as the law of sin and death] and now we walk by faith and not by sight.

Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 

2Co 5:7  For we walk by faith, not by sight. 

The true Jews and all men in due time will in their seasons, escape the bondage to the law, even Moses [the ten commandments] and the law of the Gentiles [Rom 2:15] and will be called up into heavenly Jerusalem above, being saved.

Isa 4:2  In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. 

Isa 4:3  And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: 

This is the ascension of Christ which His Christ also lives because as is the Lord, so are His people [1 John 4:17]. Our lives henceforth are being hidden with Christ [Col 3:3] as we dwell in our inheritance with the saints in heaven in down payment according to our measure of faith, an inheritance undefiled.

Act 1:9  Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 

The Lord’s church is seated in heaven being one with Christ and worship God in Spirit and in Truth, one faith, one Lord, one baptism [Eph 4:5].

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 

Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 

Ascending into heaven and the clouds of the Lord’s witnesses is manifested in earnest as the people of God separate from those in the world and those who do not believe the Gospel and the Lord’s promises.

2Co 6:14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 

When under the law we are joined to the bondwoman who in type is represented by Hagar and her offspring, Ishmael, who was born after the flesh and not of the Spirit. This is also known as Jerusalem below which is a great city, known by other names [in type and shadow] including Sodom and Egypt, which is where Christ is crucified by the professing Jews of every generation. The spirit of anti-Christ, reigns in these cities [2 John 1:7-11].

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

It is only a faithful remnant that is given to escape the bondage to flesh and the law of sin and death [our reasoning carnal minds] who are brought into Jerusalem above and build the Temple of the Lord.

Ezr 9:8  And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. 

Ezr 9:9  For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. 

The contrasts and differences of the two Jerusalem’s contrast those who walk by faith versus those still bound to the law for the lawless. There is a gathering in Jerusalem on the earth and there is one in heaven neither of which has anything to do with the physical city of Jerusalem in modern day Israel.  That Jerusalem is just an outward shadow of the deception we live spiritually as first the natural and then the spiritual.  The contrasts of the two Jerusalem’s spoken about in the Scriptures are both spiritual cities we experience in the process of being resurrected from the dead and raised to life in the Spirit.

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

The story of Abraham and his two sons contains this mystery and God’s plan for the sons of faith [Abraham]. Only the one is the true heir who is exalted and given the promise.

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 

Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman [Ishmael] was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman [Isaac] was by promise. 

Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage [to the law of carnal reasoning, aka sin and death] with her children. 

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above [in heaven, the gathering of the saints] is free [released from the law and its bondage], which is the mother of us all. 

Heavenly Jerusalem is not entered into unless faith is come, and we rest from our own carnal works. It is here in Jerusalem above that we rest and enter into the Kingdom of God, Christ being our Sabbath.

Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in [into the kingdom of God] because of unbelief: 

Anyone trying to enter in outside the gate is a thief and robber which is all men first called and chosen who have not been given the faith of Christ.

Joh 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 

Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 

By faith we walk, trusting, standing on the promises of Christ. Those in bondage to Agar, to Jerusalem below, have vastly more children today than those precious few in the faith who are initially barren having no children. Spiritually speaking it means the carnal mind at first has far more reasoning’s wresting the judgment of God away rather than receiving the implanted Word with meekness, doing what Christ says. The wisdom of God is foolishness to the natural man and this barren seemingly hopeless state changes through the maturing process. Rejoice ye faithful for you shall bear many children in the Lord.

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 

Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 

Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 

The bondage of Hagar [Agar] is the law and all our carnal thinking before faith comes. This mindset must be cast out as there is no inheritance in the Kingdom of God for Hagar or any of her voluminous carnal offspring. Those walking by faith, are vigilant to guard their hearts and minds, being separated from the world and those bound in the world within ourselves and without.

Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 

Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. 

This is a hard truth that tries our faith as we learn just how narrow the Way is to the Tree of Life, which is Christ, our spiritual Sabbath. Our spiritual fathers and mothers left behind on the earth have the knowledge and strive to attain righteousness, but they continue to do so in unbelief as they have not the gift of faith and do not have the love of the Truth. Living by every Word of God [Luk 4:4] includes fulfilling the experiences of all the Lord’s disciples that come out of the bondwoman.

Rom 9:30  What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 

Rom 9:31  But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 

Rom 9:32  Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; 

The faithful remnant pulled out from the chosen few and the many called, are being saved by grace and not by their own works and self-righteousness.  The Lord continues the winnowing and let a small remnant escape from the oppression of the law that blinds us at first to this day.

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 

Rom 11:6  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 

Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. 

Once we enter into the Holy City of Jerusalem above, we are going out no more. We are dead to death which is our carnal mind and it is in heaven we have overcome the wicked one, the devil, and dwell in the city of God and are given a new name that no man knows except to whom it has been given.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 

When the old has passed away, all things are made new even the spiritual city of Jerusalem. There is one on the earth and there is one in heaven. Far better to be called up into the one above.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

Our living and fulfilling the prophecy of the Scriptures comes to an end. The things concerning Christ spoken about in the law and the prophets have a defined end. The faithful saints are raised from the spiritually dead when faith comes, and we die daily to our carnal mind which is death. Thus we fulfill the Scriptures and on the third day, our time of knowing Christ after the flesh come to an end as we are called up hither into the Jerusalem above.

Luk 22:37  For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. 

When things are fulfilled, Christ is risen.  As He is so are we His Christ.

Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 

Luk 24:45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 

Luk 24:46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 

Those called out of Jerusalem below and brought up hither into the Holy City of Jerusalem above, do not look behind them. Anyone made fit for the Kingdom of God does not turn back to their worldly vomit and the bondage to the law of sin and death that the Lord has mercifully delivered them from. We are commanded to press forward by faith being thankful for all the experiences that have shaped and molded us into the children of the living God.

Heb 11:15  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.

Heb 11:16  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Taking thoughts captive, reaching out for the prize of the high calling in Christ, is how Christ increases and we decrease as we strive to obey Him in all things, dying daily [Gal 2:20].

Luk 9:60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 

Luk 9:61  And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 

Luk 9:62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. 

Let us rejoice in our blessing and guard what has been entrusted to those made faithful. It is impossible for us to be renewed back to repentance if we fall away now in this age, but as Paul, we believe and we are being saved.

Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 

Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. 

Peace to the Israel of God.