Thursday, July 14, 2016

Ephesians 5:14

Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light. Ephesians 5:14

Notice how that it is God Who tells us to rise from the dead. A person has absolutely no ability at all to raise themselves up from the dead. A person can only be raised up from the dead by the power of our Father. So here is a great place to look at what the scriptures tell us about being saved or in other words being raised from the dead. 

JUDE, A servant of Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and brother of James, [writes this letter] to those who are called (chosen), dearly loved by God the Father and separated (set apart) and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, [soul] peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude 1-2

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can [really] say, Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3

Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love. For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]-- [So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor, Which He lavished upon us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence), Making known to us the mystery (secret) of His will (of His plan, of His purpose). [And it is this:] In accordance with His good pleasure (His merciful intention) which He had previously purposed and set forth in Him, Ephesians 1:4-9

And the children were yet unborn and had so far done nothing either good or evil. Even so, in order further to carry out God’s purpose of selection (election, choice), which depends not on works or what men can do, but on Him Who calls [them], It was said to her that the elder [son] should serve the younger [son]. Romans 9:11-12

So the Truth is that we have awakened from the dead only because our Father, Who is God, as raised us from the dead. He Alone chose to allow us to the know the Truth that has set us free. We have been picked out, not because of what we have done, but because of what our Father wanted. This Truth does two main things for us, it stops us from condemning and it stops us from boasting. It allows us to be used because we know that our works are not the catalyst for our abilities, it is all just because we have been chosen to be used. And we are not used as robots, but as part of the Body of Christ. Our hands are not robots to our heads, they are part of our entire body. This is how we are in Christ. We are one with Jesus and Who and what He is, we are now perfectly connected to and united with Him. You and I were chosen to serve and bless the world.  


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