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Grace

Conviction and Confession: Opening the Doors of Perception

Let’s look at the story of the woman at the well. Jesus walked from town to town sharing the good news of His Gospel.

I want to reveal how our thinking can be influenced by the world in which we live and can keep us locked inside the darkness of our own personal asylum. Yet there is a way out.

Photo: Doors of Perception, Glen Jackman

“He had to travel through Samaria, so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening. (John 4: 4-6 HCSB)

I was impressed with the gentle condescending of our Lord as He patiently talked with the woman of Samaria — the woman at the well.

As she approaches the well, He begins speaking to her by asking for a favour. “Give Me a drink.” She immediately asks Him a question: “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman…Jews do not associate with Samaritans” (John 4: 7-9) She firstly thinks of her religious differences with this stranger. After all, most Jews would not even speak to her, a Samaritan.

Jesus replied, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.” (vs10) Now she counters by pointing out that Jesus doesn’t even have the physical means to draw water from this well inherited from Jacob, the forefather of both the Jew and the Samaritan. She evidently understands that they are distant kindred-cousins, noting their mutual ancestry.

At this juncture of the conversation, Jesus is graceful, lovingly sharing an important truth about His identity: “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.” (vs 13-14) She responds, again still in the dark as to His spiritual meaning of “living water” — He will impart the Holy Spirit to open up her mind to see that she is talking to the Saviour of the world. She said: “Sir, give me this water, so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

The same was our condition when God, in infinite mercy, began His dealings with us—our eyes remained closed to the perfections of God’s Son, Jesus, — we hid as it were our faces from him. The dialogue shows the trend of her thoughts. Her mind centres upon wells and buckets! She is a representative character of humans staving off divine approach. Her mind is of the world — its religious differences — its duties and employments—she cannot rise to any higher thoughts: she could not discern who it was that addressed her, nor what He was offering. Many are being kept away from the things of Christ by the things of time and sense.

Now her mind is less resistant, as the Holy Spirit convicts her of the darkness wherein she has lived her life. She confesses to him that she hasn’t got a husband when Jesus said to her “go and get your husband and come back here”. He replied: “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband…you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” (vs. 18)

Here is where the miracle work of the Holy Spirit’s grace touches her. “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet”. (vs. 19) Her spiritual eyes are opening: she sees — perceives that Jesus is a spokesman of God, as she is convicted that her life has been a living hell on earth — she is not free from sin and corruption, of inherent mental chaos which has blinded her from life’s best. And she confesses that, yes, Jesus has revealed the disappointing nature of her life.

Jesus said: “But an hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth.” (vs 23-24) Further, “The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” (vs. 24)

It was the conviction of sin that Jesus used gently to help her drop her guard, open up her heart to God, unlock any barrier that could stop Him from opening her mind to hear this truth clearly: “I am He,” Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.” (vs. 26)

First the Spirit convicts each of us of our sin, then of our need of Christ who gave His life as an atonement for our sins. We have a lot in common with this woman.

The inability to see Jesus or hear Him speaking to us through the Gospel or a sermon is normal for human nature. We are all insane to a degree until we allow the Holy Spirit to open our mind to perceive who Jesus is – the one who can translate us out of darkness into the light. Living water is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit, whose work is to “teach us all things” about Christ. He opens our minds to spiritual realities, to know Christ and the presence of His indwelling.

Her mind was preoccupied with the world—its duties and employments—and hence she could not rise to any higher thoughts: she could not discern who it was that addressed her, nor what He was offering. And thus it is with all who are of the world: they are kept away from the things of Christ by the things of time and sense. Jesus in His parable of the sower of the Word warns that “the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things” (Mark 4:19 NLT)

This woman broke free — she came to her senses. As the story goes, she ran off to tell the whole town and brought them back to see Jesus for themselves.

Until we come to Christ, confessing our sins, we will wallow in darkness and sin’s entanglements and will not experience the joy of salvation. When we do come to accept Him the Holy Spirit will translate our mindset out of the darkness as we come into His light.

Discernment and Thinking, Holiness as Responsible Sanctification, Purpose Driven Life for Yahweh, Uncategorized

Transferred out of darkness

“He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves” (Colossians 1:13) This is what your heavenly father did, and offers each one of us to accept — “He has rescued you — He has rescued us…”

There are two facts to consider in our text—that I am dead to sin and its reign over me and that I am alive to God, united to Him who strengthens me—that I can keep sin from reigning in my mortal body.

Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones says:

“To realise this takes away from us that old sense of hopelessness which we have all known and felt because of the terrible power of sin….How does it work? It works in this way: I lose my sense of hopelessness because I can say to myself that not only am I no longer under the dominion of sin, but I am under the dominion of another power that nothing can frustrate. However weak I may be, it is the power of God that is working in me.”

The apostle Paul emphasised that God, the Father had translated us out of the kingdom of darkness when we came to unify with Christ through His Holy Spirit.

Once this important truth assimilates with other supporting scriptures, we begin to experience a new freedom, an exciting victory over the darkness that surrounds us in this world. Once we see this, we will trust God to deliver us from temptation and call on Him to engage the enemy for us.

We are to walk in newness of life, allowing God to renew our mind. Grasp the significance of being transferred spiritually out of old patterns of being selfish, colluding with the lusts of the flesh, to one based on love for God and mercy for others. New habits of obedience to Christ align with scripture reforming new thinking patterns.

Studies have proven that our brain creates new neurological maps when we change our habits concerning goal setting. For this reason, our primary purpose as Christians must be to “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus”. (Romans 6:11)

“What is the significance of being alive unto God? How does it help us in our pursuit of holiness? For one thing, it means we are united with Christ in all His power. It is certainly true we cannot live a holy life in our own strength. Christianity is not a do-it-yourself thing.” 1

Paul prayed with absolute trust: “that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being” and noted that God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:16, 20)

1 Bridges, J. (1978). The pursuit of holiness (p. 69). Colorado Springs: Navpress.

 

Decision Making and Guidance

Christians must stay free of mental traps.

Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. (Philippians 3: 13b-15)

Though the Christian knows we have a privilege to allow God to lead us along the path of life, we are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that needs to be essentialized to navigate in this complex world.

For spiritual discernment to function, we need to hear the Spirit of God directing our life at every juncture and submit to His leading of “the still small voice” of conscience and live accordingly (1 Kings 19:11-13). When we are Spirit-led, we can make the right decisions as we align our thoughts and actions with Christian character formation.

There are psychological traps that we must discern. We construct thought patterns formed by habitual thinking that can destroy our lifestyle, deplete energy and waste time. If these mind traps occur at an unconscious level, they remain unknown to us, and the need to renew our mind in many areas may not occur to us.

I have a prayer that I say daily: Lord, save me from destructive mind traps, thoughts, lusts, etc. Let me hear your guidance to more promising thoughts unto prosperous change that I may know and discern your leading — to experience true Spirit-led fellowship and knowledge of your Word in Christian accord with your will.

The apostle Paul counselled us to focus on one thing and strive toward the goal of knowing Christ to live aright giving us hope. We renew our mind in Christ also by detecting what is contrary to His plan for your life: “if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you” (vs. 15 of our text). The Holy Spirit will guide you to discern the right path and show you how to detect thought patterns that can side-track clear, godly thinking.

Mental traps often remain below the level of awareness. We fall into them automatically, without making any conscious decision. The first requirement for getting rid of them is to learn the art of detection.

Antithetical thinking is an important device in constructing sound theology. Similarly, in scientific research, the German mathematician Carl Jacobi was known for his ability to solve hard problems by following a strategy of man muss immer umkehren or, loosely translated, “invert, always invert.” [1] — looking at the opposite of the solution at the same time.

By detecting a spiritual mind trap (the opposite of being free to hear Christ’s Spirit), you can ask the Lord to give you victory. We all encounter these potential weaknesses that humans are prone to, in our character development as we aim to “have this mind which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

Major opposing distractions, can blindside clear perception and kill good thinking. For example, when I was going to write this article early this morning I read in the New York Times that Greg Allman had just died at age 69. Allman played at the Kitchener Blues Festival a couple of years back. I had bought Live at the Fillmore East in 1970 and enjoyed the songs, particularly Greg’s writing of The Whipping Post and the phrase “Oh Lord, sometimes I feel tied to the whipping post…” Most people can relate. Christian’s lives are not simply joy rides. Naturally, I searched for the song on YouTube and cranked it up on my stereo, while showering.

Each trap is related to another trap. For example, I will note one of the mind traps Dr Andre Kukla, of the U of T, points out: the mind trap of fixation which is what occurred for one whole half of an hour of listening to songs and obsessing about Greg’s death! Finally, I listened to the Spirit and got to work. I moved from the fixation on Greg Allman’s death and his music, to quickly prepare my mind for writing.

Mind traps articulated by Professor Kukla directly oppose Christian living by fogging the mind relating to Paul’s counsel: “if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. (Philippians 3:15) In this case, He used the genius of Kukla [2].

I will note how the mind trap of persistence relates to continued fixation in my illustration. I have increasingly moved away from nostalgia by becoming aware of wasted time reflecting on my unconverted old life.

Detecting Unconscious Persistence versus Conscious Perseverance: I have found that you can detect continued fixation on old themes or projects that have lost their value in life as you seek to allow Christ to renew your mind. With the help of the Spirit I ask the following: Am I persevering for Christ or unconsciously persisting? The difference is that persevering can be good while persisting is usually very wasteful.

We persevere when we steadfastly pursue worthy aims despite the obstacles encountered along the way. If I detect that I am trapped, and realise that I have been persisting, I can stop the behaviour. I can save my creative bandwidth (thought), physical energy, or continual fiscal or time invested in any venture/relationship/goal that has lost its value; or is heading toward a degenerate or an unprofitable ROI metric for Christ or for the good of my fellow man).

This morning I suffered from instantaneous persistence without contentment or progress toward a desired good end of serving God and man. Such persistence can become perpetual which then becomes frankly, delusional.

The psychologist, James Allen wrote an entire essay on King Solomon’s wisdom about how our thinking can shape our life: “as a man thinks so is he” (Proverbs 23:7)

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The Story of Christ’s Redemption

“Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the actual form of those realities, it can never perfect the worshippers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year.”  (Hb 10:1 HCSB)

A metaphor allows us to perceive a reality by use of a symbol. It also was used by God to help us understand the story of the redemption of Jesus. Jesus became the true sacrificial Lamb of God expressed in the very first Passover. The Jews experienced God’s mercy in Egypt before the exodus led by Moses. In the life of Christ, we see a lived-out expansion of this metaphor to express His self-sacrifice, in reality, to produce a strong visual. The Gospel story presents the real live story of the expression of this symbol – the actual redemption — the salvation of the human race.

Why God uses Living Symbols Metaphors are the highest form of language, used to join many combined elements of truth over time, unifying them into a conscious whole – a visual that many minds might otherwise misunderstand. For example, in physics, via math, symbols (atomic simples), when unified present logical truths such as Einstein’s E=MC2.

Metaphoric symbols were used in the old testament depicting lambs being slain by the Jewish priesthood. These were symbolic types of the future sacrifice Christ would offer on the cross. These present pictorial imagery by linking metaphoric components to rationally help us understand the larger sweep of the story of redemption.

Christ dying on the cross was no accident. It was planned since post-creation to redeem failing humans from the complexities of evil. We must see evil as destroying life by denying God’s moral laws — His love maxims. Through the cross of Christ God brings man into a consciousness of sin versus pure living via the assistance of the Spirit, and his need to be saved by God’s indwelling empowerment of sanctifying the will, to reject the selfishness of sin. Love is the binding axiom of the entire story of our need to appreciate this initiating love which flows from the heart of God and forms moral law and binds justice, though transgressed by our failures, from which we can be redeemed.

A covenant is a Biblical term for an agreement. Currently, we are in the New Covenant (NC) period of redemption and are called to come into union with God. Most Christians can know that Jesus is unified to God at least from the teaching of the Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit as One. Some view the Triune God as a metaphor used for man to understand the unities of the Character of God. The Father gives us the beautiful picture of the control and stability of a unified household running smoothly in love; the Son gives us the view of God as the creator of man, as One with us in brotherhood, to the degree that He would die in our stead; the Spirit is the invisible God that operates in all spheres creating and rearranging all atomic and mental unities of consciousness and continues to renew minds which are spiritually born again.

Life is a journey in God’s reality or our own delusion. When I had my vision of Christ in my mid-twenties I did not foresee that I would be baptised as a believer,  eventfully be called to work for a Christian publishing enterprise, would own a financial publishing house, continue to teach the New Covenant of Christ, preach, write and publish advice about faith in our Lord. Looking back my life had many ups and downs, serious challenges, and continues to daily drive me to me knees in prayer for my children and grandchildren.

We all have freedom of choice to determine our destiny. God allows us to operate in life in our free will. Hence, you can even choose to reject salvation. No man is pressured to accept Jesus Christ as Sovereign. He never forces His agenda though He does act to make us aware of His grace and love extending to us.

Living life can be seen as a progressive metaphoric journey. God may even warn you through discipline that he gave you ears to spiritually listen to Him, even though you may have closed them to avoid awareness of His mercy. (see Christ’s use of ears as a metaphor).

A prodigal may fall into a metaphoric real-life pit of sin, as God teaches consequential lessons about the danger of self-dependency without Him. Others may ruin a marriage through adultery. We all have eyes to see, but we can blind our mental awareness by an addiction such as drinking alcohol daily. But God can lift anyone who surrenders his or her life to Him, up out of self-induced delusion. (see christ’s use of eyes as a spiritual metaphor)

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The New Covenant and Law

“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete” (Hb 8: 13 ESV)

The book of Hebrews presents the New Covenant of God as replacing the Old Covenant given to the previous Hebrew generations through Moses:

“Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbour and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hb 8: 6-12 ESV)

The New Covenant is Universal The apostle Paul, elaborated this truth of the New Covenant to be not only for the Jews but for all people. “Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.'” (Gl 3:8) In Romans 3:20 Paul stated: “since there is One God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.” Uncircumsized means all nations inclusive with the believing Jews who were circumcised. Paul was selected by Jesus to teach the gospel covenant to both the Gentile — which means non-Jew — and to the Jews: “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Ac 9:15)

When God gave Abraham — the forefather of all the Jews — a son He said: “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Gn 12:3) and “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Gn 22:18) There are many proofs that the New Covenant was designed for all the human race.

Christ Himself choose his disciples commanding them to make this a universal effort to include all mankind: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mk 16:15 NLT)

We are in the period of time God refers to as the New Covenant (NC) which began at the death of Jesus Christ. He has made it very clear that His substitutionary death and salvation is for al the human race!

The New Covenant redefines moral law As followers of Christ, the moral law is now written on our hearts with the two maxims informing all NC ethical principles. The two primary principles that all moral law springs from in the universe, are based on Christ’s teaching. (see Mk 12:28-31 HCSB). They are:

1) Love God first, and
2) Love others as you prefer to be loved.

When viewed through the filter of love, the moral law is refreshingly perceived as non-threatening life-guidance. Law is now appreciated because of what Christ has done for us on the cross also out of love for others — for you and I — for the entire human race.

He died as a propitiation (substitutionary death) for our sins. Sin is the transgression of the law of God, in relation to how we have erringly crossed the love-boundaries — the two primary conscious formations of law — and harmed others or disrespected God through ingratitude or denying His existence and authority over our life: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rm 3:23)

The New Covenant is expressed by Love We can now perceive God’s love because He first expressed His love to all of us. In the life and death of Jesus Christ, God reaches out to us and to all men and women of the world. In theological terms: God calls each of us into reconciliation with Himself by His action of propitiation – through Christ’s self-sacrificing love, bearing our sin on the cross. When we respond to Christ’s love and live accordingly, such “Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.” (Rm 13:10 NIV)

The death of Christ was considered a righteous act as was His selfless life, and repeated demonstration of love for others, including many who were considered undesirables – sinners of the worst kind! Thus, only Christ is righteous. Most of our righteousness is accounted as “filthy rags” in comparison to Jesus. Isaiah, a prophet who had the most to say of the coming Messiah put is this way: “All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment (Is 64:6)

If you believe you are sinless, ask yourself if you have ever – in thought or deed – missed the mark of loving others. Or if you have denied expressing gratitude to God for His gifts of life and His love to you, like your family: parent, spouse or child. Stop for a moment, and listen to the truth in your own heart, without comparing yourself to any other sinner – such as “I am pretty good compared to ____”.

When we believe, His righteousness is mercifully gifted to cover not only the shame of remorse for sin but also freeing us from judicial danger if we feel we are in disunion with God. Faith in Christ discharges us from the law’s claim upon us. Without Christ, we remain guilty.

The New Covenant teaches that we are Justified by Faith Legally speaking, God’s verdict on the believer’s behalf is: You are acquitted – not found guilty. The theological term is “you are justified by faith alone in Christ”. His very own righteousness is imputed to us, or “covers us with His love” having paid the sin debt, and continues to cover us if we slip up here and there until we meet Him at the end of our lives — at His second coming when those accounted righteous will be separated from the evil-doers. God will view us as righteous due to the work of Jesus on our behalf — this attributed righteousness is “also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Rm 4:24)

“And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. (Rm 3:22-24)

For those who reject His mercy, judgement will follow many to the grave, until the second coming. At that time, there will be a court of judgment established by Christ the Magistrate of Justice. (see 1 Th 4:16-18 HCSB) For now, He is patient, not wanting any to perish. This extended mercy is to allow time each one of us time to accept Him and His sacrificial death on our behalf. (see 2 Peter 3:9)

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Christ offers the New Covenant while applying the Passover symbols to Himself.

Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Mt 26:27-28 HCS)

As Jesus ate the last supper with his disciples, it is important to know that this was during the Jewish Passover celebrated in Jerusalem — the celebration of the Egyptian Exodus — when they ate the Passover Meal (the Jewish Seder meal) on Saturday. The Jewish Passover date still lines up closely on the calendar following the Christian period of Good Friday when Christ was crucified; and Easter Sunday, the first day of the Jewish week when Jesus was resurrected.

John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jo 1:29). Jesus’ fulfilled the Jewish festal symbolism related to the “Lamb of God,” notably, the Passover metaphor of blood. Thus we see Jesus’ celebration of the pre-cross Passover with the Apostles who were his select representatives of his new messianic community, portraying Himself to them as the Passover sacrifice to which the Egypt experience of deliverance pointed.

The first Passover in the Old Testament began just before the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. God told them to mark their door lintels with the blood of a lamb. When the destroying angel saw the blood, it passed over the homes with the blood, evidence that they were Yahweh’s children. The angel killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians motivating Pharaoh to let Yahweh’s children go finally!

The metaphor of Christ as our Passover was doubly evident when He presented the bread as His body which would be beaten by the Romans and hung on the cross of Calvary. The first Passover meal in Egypt included unleavened bread, typifying Christ’s body and the symbolism of this meal which reenacts every time Christians have communion with these two symbols:

“Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take and eat it; this is My body’”. (Mt 26:26)

“Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them and said, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins’”. (Mt 26:27-28)

The wine Christ offered his disciples symbolises the blood He would shed for humanity – a new Exodus for lives breaking free from the power of sin and the judgement of the written law (failure of which results in eternal death) by symbolising the blood smeared on the doorposts during the Passover in Egypt. We see this in the writings of Paul: “for Christ, our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old yeast or with the yeast of malice and evil but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Co 5:7a-8); and in Romans 8:1-3:

“Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. What the law could not do since it was limited by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin’s domain, and as a sin offering.”

As the Israelites were God’s delivered children coming out of Egypt, Christians are now referred to as God’s children, saved from the condemnation of the moral law, by Christs’s atoning sacrifice when He died on the cross. We now are offered the Holy Spirit to indwell our minds and lead us as we live in Christ’s spiritual kingdom under the New Covenant in contradistinction to living as the Jews did under the Mosaic code of law to motivate obedience:

“So then, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ”. (Rm 8:12-17)

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Developing a Christian mindset

“Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Php 1:27 HCSB)

The apostle Paul seriously could claim, “for me, living is Christ” (Php 1:21). His entire life focus was to take the Gospel to the entire world. Jesus had called him for that very purpose — to which he was created to accomplish in his lifespan.

In verse 27 Paul further asks each believer to continue to focus on: “Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” As Christians, we know that if we take time for our morning and evening devotions in Scripture, we will find encouragement to happily live within the mindset of a Christian lifestyle which is the opposite of much of this wicked world. Jesus taught, though we are in the world, we are not of the world.

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. (Php 2:1-2)

Reading the above scripture, we find that we must first think similarly with Paul, to live out Christian values. First, our determination can only be steadfast if we renew ourselves by reading and hearing the scriptures that reveal Christ’s life and his command to walk in the light with no part dark.

The testimony of this life forming within each one, over our lifetime — though never reaching the perfection we find in our Savior — we will increasingly know that the following changes are occurring in our heart: we will be attracted to and want to unify with, and share our sincere affection of joy with those who walk in the Spirit as sons and daughter of God (see Rom 8:14); we will understand that we need to forgive others as Christ forgave, honestly expressing mercy among a wider scope of people; and we will resonate with Paul, by narrowing our focus in a world of distractions to one primary goal that all our goals must submit to and enhance.

In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul expressed Christ’s humility and exaltation as He lived on earth and asked us to form our mind’s attitudes while looking at His life and how he expressed mercy for us:

“Make your attitude that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself
by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man
in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
of those who are in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Paul sums up his application for our lives: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” As we live in cooperation with the Spirit’s leading, be assured that it is God who inspires and directs the renewal process. Understanding this will help us avoid the trap of thinking that we gain any merit by our good feelings about how great we are, or our intelligent understanding of doctrine, or any other virtue besides acknowledging what Paul knew for certain when he obeyed his calling — Christ came to save sinners of whom I am chief:

“For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose. Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world. Hold firmly to the message of life. (Php 2:13-16a)

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The Cross gives us direct access to pray directly to the Father.

In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (Jn 16:23-24)

Jesus is talking about a new relationship between the believer and God. Previously, people approached God through priests. After Jesus’ resurrection, any believer could approach God directly. A new day has dawned, and now all believers are priests (see 1 Pet 2:5), talking with God personally and directly. We approach God, not because of our merit, but because Jesus, our great High Priest, has made us acceptable to God.

Jesus would soon be facing the cross, where He would die for the sins of humanity. His disciples had relied on Christ’s close walk with His Father in heaven and knew that Jesus prayed to the Father for them. For example, He had prayed for Peter whom He knew would deny Him after His arrest: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:31) Clearly, they were aware of His intercession for them.

Further, He explains that they could go directly to the Father, in His name.

“In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (Jn 16:26-28)

Hebrews 7: 25 shines more light on how we are to pray — the method applied not to just the apostles, but to all believers. “He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” With belief in Jesus, we can draw near to God by faith in Him, directly without the assistance of priest or pastor in this world. Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of God leveraging our prayers to the Father, by additionally interceding for us as our high priest:

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:19-23)

You may ask, how can I be forgiven if not by confessing to an ordained man of the cloth? Scripture sets the record straight: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jo 1:9 ESV)

We are not limit praying for one another, or confessing to lay-elders, especially in the context of praying for the healing of a saint who is ill: “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (Jm 5:16)

It is noteworthy that Paul, a great apostle chosen directly by Christ Himself, requested prayer for the Gospel work that he was conducting — asking the faithful Christians in the established churches of Christ to do so on his behalf for Christ’s glory. (see Col 4:3; 2 Cor 1:11).

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The Revelatory Light of the Spirit of Christ

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Lk 11:13

When Jesus taught his disciples – He made the point that the Holy Spirit, the gift of God’s ever-present indwelling personhood, was ready to live within them. How could they gain this advantage? By just desiring this close relationship and asking.

During Pentecost after Jesus had ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit poured out on 120 believers in the upper room while worshiping with gratitude and praise. This empowerment of the church testified to the presence of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus.

Jesus was the incarnate Son of God, who in John 8:12 called himself the Light of the world. Paul further stated: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Co 4:6

“Light” is a metaphor which means the divine revelation which clears out the darkness of sin and guilt in a man’s life by revealing the glory of God in the face of the man, Christ the Lord, who walked amongst them.

The third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit of Christ, continues achieving this work on earth within believers. Here Paul notes that we are to let Christ abide in our heart via his Spirit, and emphasises – don’t let yourself drift away from this inner light of God as some have and will: “Some people once had God’s light. They experienced the heavenly gift and shared in the Holy Spirit.’ Heb 6:4 [God’s Word]

Jesus used a similar metaphor to reveal the presence of the Holy Spirt – the lamp’s light evidenced by the perception of the physical eye. Here He depicts the representative Christian walking in the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, using careful discernment to follow the Word of God and the promptings of God’s still small voice. (see Is 30:21)

Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. Take care then, that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you. Lk 11:35-36 [HSCB]

Again, Jesus uses the eyes of man, as a metaphor of accepting the Gospel light via the Holy Spirit, contrasting a healed blind man’s acceptance of Christ, to the spiritually blind Pharisees who excommunicated him for being healed on the Sabbath:

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him; he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him. Jesus said, “For judgment, I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. Jn 9:35-41

As Christians, we are offered the abiding presence of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, without whom we will walk in darkness. We must be careful if we believe that we walk in the light, abiding in Christ when we have an admixture of misguided ideology allowing lust, pride, legalism or any flagrant sin — thinking that we can still walk in the light of His loving presence. Without Christ we will be love’s kill-joy, our religion will be a hollow shadow of darkness. (see 1 Co 13)

It is Christ who calls us to walk in the revealed light of His Spirit, obedient to the revealed will of God. When doing so we will passively perceive His love. Our behaviour will actively echo His love for others.

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Sin (living apart from God) results in sinning (doing wrong things).

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

The mindset of sin, which is living a life separate from God, will naturally result in a life of sinning — doing the opposite of God’s will. Actions that we call sin are only the result of a sinful condition, the effect of not having a true relationship with Christ.

If we get this backwards, we’ll think that doing wrong things is what separates us from God. The opposite is true: living apart from God is what leads us to do bad things. Sin (singular) leads to sins (plural).

King Solomon began his reign with his heart trusting God, in a unified, trustful relationship, that in time faltered. “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.” (1 Kings 11:4). Solomon’s sin began by replacing his relationship with Yahweh, by the outward worship of other gods, to satisfy the multicultural customs of his many foreign wives.

Did Eve fall because she ate the apple? No. She ate the apple after she fell — after tempted to distrust God — to rely instead on her secret perceptions of reality (preferring to know both good and evil), apart from spiritual unity and trusted guidance. Reaching for the fruit was only the result of a disconnect with her God. This resulted in spiritual death, disunity from God.

It took some time for Solomon to begin living apart from God in rampant sinning, whereas for Eve, this occurred with one flirtatious temptation. Minds unified with Christ’s mind is the conditional reality of a mature outward life, flowing from an inner spiritual life of unity.

Though we are seeking to know Christ, we may not yet know Him as intimately as we are privileged to know Him. Thus there may be times when we turn our eyes from Him. Dependent on ourselves without His Spirit leading, we will fail.

Here is a lesson: When a married man and woman separate, they no longer know each other straight from the heart, of the mind, intimately in conjoined reality. The New Testament uses the metaphor of marriage, to define our relationship with Christ as His bride.

If we continue to seek to know Him, to trust in our relationship with Him leading, our hearts and behaviour will be right as we grow into trusted union with Him. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3 ESV) We will know Christ increasingly, insofar as we follow His Spirit’s lead and trustingly obey.