Noah

Of clean animals and of animals that are not clean, and of birds and fowls, and of everything that creeps on the ground, There went in two and two with Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. And after the seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth or land. Genesis 7:8-10

There is a ton of talk lately regarding Noah, mainly because Hollywood has just released a movie based on his story. Believers and non-believers are debating whether the story is true and whether or not a person could build a boat to hold so many creatures? I have to laugh at all of the debate. To even debate whether God could have it done seems so ridiculous to me. Look, we Christians believe that our Father came from nowhere, stood on nothing, spoke and here it all is. We believe that He came down to the earth, took some clay, breathed into it, and here we are. So could our Father have thousands of animals fit on a boat? To those of us who have been chosen, of course He could. Our Father could have shrunk them or caused them to all hibernate for while they were on the ark. He could have killed them all and then raised them from the dead when the journey was over. He could have had Noah only collect baby animals. He could have enlightened Noah to only have embryos. The Ark could have been a portal into another dimension. Or our Father could have had full grown animals walk right up on the Ark with Noah. 

This is God we are talking about! Our Father had an army march around a wall for seven days and on the last day the wall fell, Joshua 6. Our Father had a boy kill a Giant with a stone, 1 Samuel 17. He turned water into wine, John 2. So having Noah make an Ark and then having it filled with animals is no big deal for our Father.

We need to relax when asked to debate a Truth of our Father, because the Holy Spirit will give us exactly what to say, Luke 12:12. I once had a guy scream out to me in a crowded waiting room, demanding that I answer his question of if God could create a rock that He could not lift. The Holy Spirit just blurted out through me, "of course He can, He is God. Then He can create a way to lift it." The same guy a couple of weeks later yelled out that he had seen aliens and that it proved that there wasn’t a God. So the Holy Spirit had me answer him: "yeah so did Ezekiel, go and read about it in Ezekiel Chapter 1.”

The world thinks in terms of the flesh. We now have the Mind of Christ so we cannot help but to think in terms of the Spirit. So we are empowered to relax when asked by the world about Biblical Truths. Many will not believe, but that is alright. Because we have the Holy Spirit within us crying out for them as we are used to intercede for them with the fullest measure of our Father's Divine Presence.       

We Are Now Light

And this is the message [the message of promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in any way]. 1 John 1:5

At that time [when that day comes] you will know [for yourselves] that I am in My Father, and you [are] in Me, and I [am] in you. John 14:20

In Jesus there is no darkness at all, and as we have been studying, we are now in Jesus! The great Truth of our salvation is that we just aren’t saved from hell because we believe, we actually are saved from Hell because we become one with God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Jesus is now in us and we are now in Him and there is no darkness at all in Jesus! 

There are so many of us who really don’t believe this Truth. There is far too much condemnation amongst Christians, most of it is self-condemnation, but it still is condemnation. I see so many of us putting off the blessings of our salvation, believing that we can only come to this light when we arrive in Heaven. But that is just not the Truth of who we are in Christ and hopefully all of these studies have made that Truth, the Truth that sets us free, known. When the power of our salvation: righteousness, sanctification, glory, and holiness is directed at God, we are light, and when it is self directed, darkness, and then failure. We are light because of Jesus, His power and glory have driven the darkness from us. There is no ability for us to boast in this Light, because Christ has done it all for us, and praise God He has done it all for us! And now through Jesus we may have full joy and peace in living in the Light as His Blood eternally cleanses us from all unrighteousness!

Jesus is great and He is in us and we are one with Him.

Does a fountain send forth [simultaneously] from the same opening fresh water and bitter? James 3:11

In the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit our Father will use us to share this freeing Truth with the world. Through His power our Father will absolutely use us to bless those who so desperately need it. 

God Is Responsible For Us

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the Blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory forever and ever. A-men. Hebrews 13:20-21

We all look to ourselves far too much. If things are good in our lives, then we believe we must be doing something right, and if they are bad, then something wrong. Faith preachers call it faith, others call it living rightly, whatever it’s called, it makes our Father reactionary to our actions. Our Father is right in here with us and He carries the full load, as our Father, our Shepherd, and our Head! Jesus is not our co-pilot. He is our Head and we are His body!

I asked our Father why He keeps saying this over and over to me, and this is what He said, “what can be more peaceful than teaching that He alone holds the responsibility in our success?” Man tries to find God with his own power. So many believe that if we do A, B, and C and then God will be found. The heart does not respond like the hand, the foot like the eye, or the tongue as the kidney. We are members of the body of Christ, all different parts. Our Father comes to us where we are and exactly how we need Him! This needs to be taught. Jesus said that without Him, we could do nothing, John 15:5. If that isn’t taking the responsibility, I don’t know what is? And as Hebrews 13 teaches us: it is Jesus making us perfect and it is Jesus working within us!

So you see, we are light, we are not darkness. We are light because we are in God and His Light has driven out the darkness. Through Jesus we have everything we need. Our bodies that could sin have been destroyed, Romans 6:6. But what if we don’t feel like it has? Let me ask you this, how often do you hear that our bodies of sin have been destroyed? Faith comes from hearing the Truth and the Truth sets us free! Romans 8:1 says there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is now no condemnation for us because there is now no darkness in us, because we are now in Christ Jesus! No bragging rights here for us, our light is only because of Jesus, no works on our behalf can make this happen, it is solely based on Jesus and what He has done and offered for us!

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. Ezekiel 36:26 

This is the message that we have heard from Jesus and declare unto you. That God is Light and there is no darkness in Him and we are now in Him!

Actually Believing That We Are Now Clean

Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you."John 15:3

Imagine actually accepting and believing the Truth that through the power of Christ we are now clean, not one spot and not one speck of unrighteousness in us. Think of the peace, the joy, the fellowship and communion with God that it would bring. We rarely, if ever, have been taught or heard it preached that we actually can be this way, but when we read the Word of our Father, there it is, “we are now clean through the Word.” We read that God has now given us His Spirit so that we may be cleansed from all unrighteousness. Our Father clearly tells us that we now have no spot, no wrinkle, and no blemish, through the power of Christ a glorious church, Ephesians 5:27! 

Yet where are the sermons, where is the hope being preached, I am not even talking about faith yet, just the hope that through the power of Jesus in our lives we can and should be this way? Where is the hope that Jesus is that strong when it comes to saving us, that His sacrificed Blood is that powerful for us, and that God’s love is that awesome in keeping us? Where is it being preached preached that because of Christ the yoke of being clean is light and easy to be born?

Faith for us comes from hearing the Word of our Father and we now have the mind of Christ to accept and believe the Truth that sets us free, 1 Corinthians 2:16! And our peace passes all understanding and our peace is that Jesus has cleansed us completely through the power of His might! Our peace is Jesus’ peace, and we now know as He knows and understand as He understands, because He is now our Head. Today is the Day of our Salvation and now is the appointed time for the fullness of God to dwell within us with all of the power of His might and strength! We are new creatures in Christ and all of the old dirt and darkness has passed away for us; our bodies of sin have been destroyed and crucified with Christ! Jesus has rescued us completely from all unrighteousness this day and as He is, so are we in this world!

For He says, In the time of favor (of an assured welcome) I have listened to and heeded your call, and I have helped you on the day of deliverance (the day of salvation). Behold, now is truly the time for a gracious welcome and acceptance [of you from God]; behold, now is the day of salvation! 2 Corinthians 6:2

There Is No Guess Work With Our Salvation

Even David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Romans 4:6-8

Life in Christ is not a craps shoot, if we truly have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to say yes to Jesus, than it’s a done deal. It an absolute because God has chosen us and empowered us with Himself to do so! When our Father talks about our salvation He uses terms like preserved, sealed, dead yet nevertheless we live, perfect, united, and one with Him. Man uses words like maybe and possibly, but these are not the Words of our Father when it comes to us. To God our salvation is a sure thing, it is settled, and it is finished! This is why we have boldness, because our Father is Love and Love would have it no other way. When we are enlightened to accept Love, Love will insure our eternity with Him! Love covers a multitude of sin and we don’t have so much sin that He can’t cover it! Love looks only at the Blood of Jesus and judges that we are cleansed by it and not by our actions!

David, the man whom God called His friend, the man who stood up to the giant Goliath and slew him, writes about how blessed we are. The Prophets of old, so longed to see our day, no more sacrifices, no more works, just unbroken fellowship and union with God. We are preserved through Jesus and with Him we have access into God’s rest! Allow the Words that we study to bathe you in peace, and consume you with the Truth, and the Truth will set you free!

The Glory Of Being An Heir

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:16-17

The Holy Spirit tells us who we are in Christ. He tells us that we are God’s children. He tells us that we are joint heirs with Christ, He bears witness with our own spirits and we know, beyond any shadow of a doubt that we have been born of God. I can remember when I was a child; I never doubted who my parents were. If I was scared I was comforted by them, my needs were always met, and I never doubted that I was the child of Neal and Brenda Shull. I knew that I was their child not only because they told me that I was, but because I lived it, and they showed it. I knew that I was an heir and man did that make me feel great. I never lacked confidence, because I knew who I was. I knew who my parents were and I knew that I was safe and protected by them. I thank God daily that I had a great childhood.

And at the age of eleven I was empowered with the Holy Spirit and I realized that I was God’s child. And my abundant life became more abundant. I knew without anyone telling me that I was born again from God’s Seed. Even at eleven, our Father’s Spirit was bearing witness with my spirit! I hadn’t read about it, I hadn’t heard it preached at Stony Brook Methodist Church, but I knew that Jesus and I had become one. At that time our Father instantly began to show me that all that He had provided for Jesus was going to be provided for me. All of the knowledge, wisdom, peace, faith, mercy, joy, power, hope, and love. Sure I was immature and had a ton of growing up to do. I still haven’t obtained it all, but the Spirit keeps bearing witness with my spirit that He will bring me to the fullness of what Jesus has provided! It’s just natural, I am God’s child and I am an heir, an heir with Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

We know [positively] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] is under the power of the evil one. And we [have seen and] know [positively] that the Son of God has [actually] come to this world and has given us understanding and insight [progressively] to perceive (recognize) and come to know better and more clearly Him Who is true; and we are in Him Who is true--in His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). This [Man] is the true God and Life eternal. 1 John 5:19-20

What Is Jesus Suffering?

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8:16-17

Now I want you to ask yourself this question, our Father proclaims that we are joint-heirs with Christ if we suffer with Christ, so exactly what is Jesus suffering? This verse does not say, if we suffer what Jesus suffered, no, our Father says, if we suffer with Him, present tense. So what is Christ suffering? Christ is not sick. He does not fear and He is not suffering from economic problems. Jesus is not suffering from gangs or violence. Jesus is suffering, but what is He suffering? The answer is that He is suffering people not believing Him and thus not being empowered to walk in His abundant life. Jesus suffers people not being empowered to accept the sacrifice that He has offered and them suffering the consequences. We are joint-heirs with Jesus if we suffer people not believing our Father's Truth. Jesus suffered this persecution when He first came in the flesh and He still suffers it today! This persecution is not only directed at Jesus, but His body, which we are.

So far the Holy Spirit has led us in studying some pretty powerful truths with these studies. How many people though really have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to believe what we have studied? Unfortunately, not only don't most people believe what we have studied, but they aggressively oppose it. Churches have damned me for just putting some of these verses together in a conversation. I had a preacher hold his ears and say that he never wanted to hear me share these verses again. I was damned by a pastor, called a bastard by another, and asked to leave three churches. This is what our Father clearly tells us that we are to suffer for His Name's sake.

The sad truth is what we have studied is not popular. It's not popular because people want to earn it by themselves. They want to glory in the fact that they somehow did something to receive these things from God. The world and satan want to condemn us for not measuring up, so we will buy their tape series, or their books to assist us in measuring up. They want to condemn us so that we may tithe or give some sort of offering to make up for our inadequacies. But the Truth that we have studied is that it is all just a free gift from our Father. This is why Jesus is called a stumbling block, because He made it so simple. Our Father made it so salvation could never be earned and that is just not the way the world works. People stumble over this every day. But we are stable and fixed in the Truth and held firm by the Holy Spirit. Our Father, Who is God, is for us and with Christ, our Father can now use us to do all things!

Be simple this day in the power of Christ's might and just accept the free and glorious gifts of God! We haven't earned them! Yet, even in our humanity, we have received them all. We have been given everything: glory, sanctification, unity, power, ability, Truth, faith, and hope directly from the only One Who has them to give! And amen, one day, even those who now oppose will also learn it, Revelation 3:9.

The Holy Spirit Has Marked Us

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked with Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14

We are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit, Who tells us and assures us who we are in Christ.

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Romans 8:16

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Galatians 4:6

Notice both of these scriptures say that we are the sons of God, not that we will be the sons of God, but that we are the sons of God. These verses also say that because we are now the sons of God, that we have been given the Holy Spirit Who confirms our acceptance and Who bears witness with our own spirits of who we are in Him. Also, don't you just love that our Father tells us that we are guaranteed an inheritance? 

Beloved, now we are 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. And every man that has this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure. 1 John 3:2-3

Isn't it great how all of these scriptures tie right together. The glorious Truth is that because Jesus went to the Cross, we are as He is, even when we are still on this earth, 1 John 4:17. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to know, just as assuredly as Jesus knows, that we are now one with God! We are blessed beyond expression in the power of our Fathers might each and every second of every day. Our Glory, Love, Faith, Hope, Power, Mercy, and Guarantee never leave us or forsake us. 

The Easy Yoke Of Sanctification

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:30

My whole Christian life I have heard preachers and churches put huge burdens on their members. Sermon after sermon they talked about how weak the flesh is, how sin reigns in our bodies, how people need to pray more, read more, work more, give more, it is never enough. Condemnation and fear may have not been openly flaunted; yet, they were always the underlying message. The only time a person received any positive feedback for the way they lived was when they were dead. During their life they were constantly told that they were falling short, yet when they were lying in a coffin, we were told to pattern our lives after their godly example. This never seemed to make any sense to me. Then God showed me through His Word who we are in Him and it all fell into place.

I knew I could never work enough, pray enough, witness enough, or believe enough to walk like Jesus. I would read in the Word that I should be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect, Matthew 5:48. I would read that I can be used by God to do the same works as He did through Jesus and even greater works, John 14:12. I would read that I should walk even as Jesus walked, 1 John 2:6. I remembered all of the sermons that taught there was no way that we could because we were just men. It was preached that we are weak in the flesh; we could never do greater works than Jesus, or even the same works. I thought to myself, be perfect as God, you've got to be kidding, I can't even make it one day without messing up. But then God showed me all of these scriptures that we have studied together, and the many more we are going to study, and then our Father empowered me to see His Truth, and the Truth that God’s Word alone has sanctified us.

There is now no condemnation for us, through the power of the Holy Spirit our Father has led me into His rest. I am no longer being destroyed by a lack of knowledge. My life is no longer hindered because of me, because of my actions, my life is now enriched because of the power of our Father, Dad has led me into the paths of His righteousness. The Holy Spirit has taught me and the Word that He used sanctified me. Now our Father’s has truly begun to work through me, not because I willed them into being, but because the Word has set me apart for God’s holy use. Our Father is now able to work through me because I know that I can’t do anything on my own! I have been shown that works do not sanctify us. The Truth has set me free and I now know that we are sanctified by Jesus so that we can be used by God to work! The yoke of sanctification is easy because it is our Father sanctifying us and He knows exactly how to do it! We are now and forever more strong in the power of His might, not our own!

We Are Dead And Yet We Live

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

Today we are dead, yet we are so alive in Christ that we are eternally accepted! Through the power of Christ we walk in victory, faith and love, because we are accepted by God Himself. Pray for me that I am able to accomplish all that our Father has called me to do, and I will pray the same for you! Pray that we all really come to know this Truth and walk in it, that we are accepted by Grace, not by works. The freedom that comes with this is so powerful.

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. 1 John 3:21

When the Holy Spirit enlightens us to realize that we are accepted apart from our works, there goes condemnation out the window, and when condemnation is gone, there is confidence to take its place! Confidence that we are pleasing to our Father, because we have been empowered to accept what He has provided for us: complete and total salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! The Holy Spirit causes us to accept that God is fully with us, leading us, guiding us, helping us, giving us the spirit, the faith, the hope, and the abilities do so! We are not alone, we are accepted because of Jesus, and this brings us confidence. And when we are confident in Jesus, we able to truly serve and truly able to be used by God to produce eternal fruit! Works do not bring our acceptance, but our acceptance sure will bring forth works! Hallelujah, that is good! We are alive in Christ and His power is limitless and through us. God will do far more than we can ask or believe for and even far more than we can dream of, Ephesians 3:20! This is our accepted time and today is the day of our salvation!

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, Romans 6:8

Test The Spirits

Hereby we know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. 1 John 4:2

Now there are many who confess Jesus, but remember the test, all who say Lord, Lord, are not necessarily one with Him. Just because someone says that they are a Christian, test them to see whether they confess that Jesus is one with them and that Christ is in their flesh; that is the test of true salvation. People may seem religious, but their hearts may be far from God, as 1 John teaches, they are the spirit of anti-christ. Jesus teaches that such people are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They may appear to be nice and humble, but if they are in any way denying the power of our Father within them, they are wolves! Look at how Jesus spoke to Peter in Mark 8:33 when Peter was just trying to be nice,

But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

The Truth is that we are eternally accepted by our Father because of Jesus, anything different, regardless of how it may sound, is not of God!

Truly saved people are confident and bold in the power of our Father working through them, they are because Jesus has made them to be. We know beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are eternally accepted by our Father. We place no confidence in ourselves, none whatsoever, our faith is all in our Father. Those who believe they may fall away are trusting in their own efforts and their own abilities to continue to serve. But for the truly saved we know that we have been chosen by our Father and we know that no man, including ourselves, can pluck us out of God’s hands! We know that we have been born into the family and we know that that can never change. Many will say Lord, Lord, but those who say Lord, Lord and then tell you that we can walk away from salvation are of the body of the anti-christ! The Truth sets us free! So test people and if their focus is always on Jesus being in them and that they are one with Him, then they are truly saved.

We Are Not Strangers To God

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what His lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. John 15:15

We are no longer strangers to God, and far more importantly He is no longer a stranger to us. The great Truth is that we are actually now God’s friends. You ever know someone who is not a friend of their parents? Sure they are their kids, but yet they aren’t friends. The parents do things and the kids do things and they never really share or fellowship with one another. Well this is not how we are with God, our Father now dwells within us, He shares His all with us, and all things that Jesus has heard from God, He turns around and tells us. We fellowship and we commune with God Himself! Through Christ we are filled with the fullness of our Father. God likes us, He just doesn’t love us, He actually likes us! And through Christ we eternally fellowship and communicate with God our Father, without any condemnation whatsoever. We have been cleansed by the Blood and we are built upon Jesus. We are now members of our Fathers body, flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone! As He is, so are we in this world! Today is the Day of our Salvation and now is our accepted time. If Jesus is our Lord than we cannot help but to blessed in the complete and full power of His might!

And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent. John 17:3

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

God Has Called Us Holy

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but to holiness. 1 Thessalonians 4:7

It is our Father’s desire for us to be holy, to be pure, to be powerful, to be perfect, and to be clean. He fully understands what we are. He knows better than we do about the weaknesses of our flesh and He knows our needs before we do. That is why our Father sent Jesus, so that all of our needs could be fulfilled through His riches and glory. Our Father sent Jesus so that our weaknesses would no longer matter, so that we could now be strong in the power of His might. The Blood of Christ is stronger than our inability's and the Grace of God is more powerful than our flesh. God knew we could never be clean by our own actions, so He said, "no problem, I love you enough, and I am God, so I will sanctify you Myself."

Think about God, our Father, for a minute. Ask yourself can He do everything? Most of us would say yes, He is God. So if God can do everything and we see that Jesus asked God to sanctify us, John 17:17, it should not be any problem at all for us to believe and accept that our Father is able to make us pure, clean, set us apart for holy use, and free us from sin.

This is the attitude the church needs to accept and walk in: We have been chosen and empowered by God Himself to make Jesus our Lord and Savior, so we are now one with Him. Since we are now the children of God, born of His seed, we are now clean, pure, free from sin, sanctified, and holy this day. Our power is the power of The Living God and we are now more than conquerors through Christ Who loves us this day. We can now be used by God to do all things through Christ Who strengthens us! We have been given the right, the privilege, and the abilities of God Himself to fulfill His will on this earth. And our Fathers will is glorious, it will fulfill our lives as nothing else will. It will satisfy us, bring us joy, peace, and true happiness. Our Fathers love is perfected within us and as He is so are we in this world!

The Holy Spirit will empower us to share these truths with others this day and we will watch God grow the seed of His Truth. Our Father will use us to plant the seeds that will produce a harvest that spans the oceans, a harvest that is not hindered by political boarders, or false religious creeds. When our Father sent Jesus, He sent Him in power and with demonstration of His Spirit. When Jesus sent His disciples, He sent them in power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus called Paul, He sent him with the power and demonstration of the Spirit of God. What would ever make the church think that our Father doesn’t do the same with us? Our Father is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He changes not!

Filled With The Holy Spirit?

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked with Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV

If you don’t believe these verses, that we are guaranteed eternal salvation, I want you to ask yourself this? When were you filled with the Holy Spirit? If you cannot answer yourself with a specific time and place, a time when you knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that you were, then you need to get with God and ask Him why? I can tell you that for me it was at the Brentonel Church of Christ, when I was eleven years old, with my Aunt Linda, in a cold metal chair beside the baptismal, where they dunked me! My mom reached over towards me and I was filled!

I had believed in Jesus before that night, but that was the time that I was filled with the Holy Spirit. That is the moment that I realized that I was guaranteed eternity. If you have not had such an experience, if you struggle with what we have discussed, there is no condemnation here, just an honest question to ask yourself, have you been filled with the Holy Spirit? Our Father will reveal to you the answer! I have never met anyone who can tell me of an exact moment when they were, who ever questions their eternity. They don't question it because the confidence of their salvation has been born into them. They have a guarantee that is directly of God! No real wavering, no questioning, it’s just in them! And if it’s not in you, it can be, and it’s God’s will that it is.

Our Father loves us so very much! Our Father wants us to have no questions about who we are in Him and who He is within us. We should not be tossed to and fro and to insure that we are not, our Father has given us Himself to bear witness with our spirits, so that we can be confident and bold in our eternal salvation! Don’t just take my word for it, go and read in the Book of Acts, every time the Holy Spirit came to men, there where no doubts! The baptism of the Holy Spirit brings confidence and boldness, because He bring assurance and He cries out from our hearts that God is our Father. If you are desiring this experience it is only because our Father is causing you to want it and that means that He will absolutely give it!

No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day. John 6:44

Father I ask You in Jesus’ Name, that all who read this study will know beyond any shadow of a doubt that they are eternally with You! That they know that they are preserved by You until the Day of Jesus’ return, the Day of Redemption!

We Have Been Given A New Heart

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land I gave your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen." Ezekiel 36:26-30

We have studied extensively in these postings on our unity with our Father through Jesus our Lord and Savior. We have established with the Word that we have been given the Holy Spirit to abide within us and that the Spirit of Christ continually dwells within us. We have also seen that through Christ we are actually one with God. We all need to hear through the Word, that because we are now one with God, we are now pure, clean, holy, godly, and perfect. We are all of these things because of God, all by His power, all because it is His will. There is nothing that we could do to establish these truths on our own; no work could even begin to scratch the surface of what would be needed. But because of Jesus, we now have it all and through Him we can walk in the perfection that our Father created for us.

Look at what God prophesies through Ezekiel: that He will give us a new heart, that He will give us a new spirit, and that His Spirit now dwells within us. Our Father proclaims that He will cause us to walk in His statutes and that He will cause us to keep His judgments. Ezekiel also prophesies that our Father will save us from all uncleannesses. The first step to being clean is to be cleansed and our Father, through His Spirit, cleanses us. That is why Jesus told His disciples in John 16:7 that it was better that He would go away, because if He did, than the Spirit would come, and with it salvation from all of our uncleanness! 

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.

This prophecy in Ezekiel clearly shows the love that God has for us. Our Father's overwhelming desire is for us to be saved. His desire is so strong for us to be unified with Him, that He alone will take care of all the needed actions to insure it. Remember God created us as His children, in His image, He breathed life into us, and He did it to have fellowship with us. We are of God. So our Father did not give an angel the responsibility of keeping us, He did not give a preacher the responsibility, and He did not even give us the responsibility. Our Father loves us so much, and He is so unwilling to be without us, that He gave Himself the responsibility. Our Father alone will keep us from all uncleanness. This truth should give you a peace that passes all understanding and our Father has given us a heart that can believe it and rejoice in it.

Perfection In Christ

Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. 1 Corinthians 3:13-16

I have met so many Christians who believe they are falling in and out of salvation. One day they believe that they are saved, the next day they believe that they aren’t. 2000 years ago Paul was dealing with the same attitude from people. He told the Corinthians, “Look sure your works will be tried, you will receive rewards and maybe losses, but you will still be saved.” Paul was basically saying to them: “don't you people know who you are in Christ?” 

It amazing that that we still have to preach the same message today. People still want to earn their salvation. They still want to condemn themselves and others and so many still lack an understanding of who they are in Christ. But we have seen the Truth and the Truth has made us free! One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 6:1. 

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us move on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God.

Perfection, our Father wouldn’t have written it, if we couldn’t have it! And through Christ we have it! We were just born again into it! Our perfection is a free gift and it never leaves us or forsakes us. 

I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in One; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me. John 17:23

We Dwell In The Boldness Of Perfect Love

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in Him, and He in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:15-17

Therefore there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12

I am always so thankful when I read what our Father had John write, “as He is,” and I always want to talk about it. The glory of what our Father has given us is awesome and it has been given to every one of us who truly has been chosen and empowered to confess Jesus Christ as Lord!

But before we talk about being as God is, let’s talk about us dwelling in love and loving one another as our Father loves us. I heard it preached years ago that God doesn’t just have love, but that He is love, 1 John 4:16 Our Father cannot help but be what He is and He is love!

Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11

The God of love, the God Who is love, the God Who we are born of, and the God Who we are one with allows us to be perfect as we live in His peace with one mind and in good comfort! We are born of God and God is love, so we are born of love. We are now one with God, Who is love, so we now abide in love and we are now sealed in love. We are born again of God’s perfect love and that perfect love casts out all fear from us. Our Father's perfect love allows us to be one with each other and one with Him, with one heart, one mind, and one accord, just as God and Jesus are One. We are one in God, so that the world will believe the Truth that will set them free! Our Father is not divided and in Him we are a unified house. We are a house that has been built upon the solid rock of Jesus Christ! This is Truth is that empowers us to go into all of the world and boldly proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom. Because we are one with our Father and we now possess His very love, we can go to the world with more than just words, we go in the full power and victory of Jesus. 

We Have God's Righteousness

And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death. Philippians 3:10

Why is it that people believe and have no problem with accepting that we can be filled with satan, or a demon, and act with outright evil, yet to believe that we can be filled with and one with God and act in His true righteousness is unthinkable? It just never made any sense to me. But look here, Paul didn’t struggle with it and he was encouraging the Philippians to be the same way. We should not want our own righteousness; we should desire the fullness of God’s holiness and righteousness. Think about our Father’s righteousness, the glory of it, the freedom of it, the love of it, and the power of it. Living completely in God’s righteousness should be our desire and hope.

How does our Father tell us that we can have His righteousness? We are able to have it by faith! 

Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 

Jesus will Author and Finish the faith within us so that we can have the very righteousness and holiness of God! Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would have His glory, well what is Jesus’ glory, it’s righteousness. It is the righteousness of God that allowed Jesus to bare all of our sins and not be condemned to eternal death and Hell. Jesus is leading us into the paths of righteousness and Jesus is our Head, and Jesus will insure that we live in and enjoy our Father’s full righteousness!

God Conforms Us To Be Like Jesus

For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them also glorified. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:29-31

Once again look at the remarkable power that our Father is saying to us. God proclaims that He is the One Who conforms us to the image of The King of Kings, Jesus our Lord and Savior. Our Father has called us, He has chosen us, He has justified us, and He has glorified us. So naturally who can be against us? Our Father repeatedly proclaims through His Word that He has done all that is required for us to be one with Him on this earth.

Never struggle at trying to do something on your own to earn it, because the Truth is you’re never alone, through Christ you’re never separated from God. People who try and earn God’s favor and grace are struggling in vain; many unfortunately do struggle though. We don’t have to sit by and watch them, we need to love them, because if they were going to step in front of a bus, wouldn’t we do something? What we need to do is share the Word of our Father; we need to share these truths and the Truth will set them free. We need to intercede for them in prayer and amen, we have the Holy Spirit empowering us to do everything that is needed to help them.

How then shall they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Romans 10:14 

Reading these verses will do so much for people. I have found that many people have never heard them, it’s a great starting point, and then the Holy Spirit will lead you to go on from there.

Once Saved Always Saved

For it is impossible [to restore and bring again to repentance] those who have been once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit,

And have felt how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come, If they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance—[it is impossible] to bring them back to repentance, for (because, while, as long as) they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh [as far as they are concerned] and are holding [Him] up to contempt and shame and public disgrace. Hebrews 6:4-6

 

We better hope the Truth is that once we are saved we are always saved. Because if these verses mean that with just one mess up, one chance is all we get, we are all doomed! But that is not what these verses mean at all! What this is saying is someone who has these things cannot fall away; because they have been sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of Christ’s return, Ephesians 4:30. We were crucified with Christ, we have been raised up and made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and through Christ we are now one with God, even as Jesus is one with God. The Bible teaches that our bodies that could sin have been destroyed, Romans 6:6. 

I honestly believe once saved always saved, there are so many verses that say it, and the ones that people use to try and cast doubt, don’t. I just don’t believe our Father, Who is God, can be fooled by a false confession of faith, and God doesn’t give His power of salvation to liars and sinners; our Father knows our hearts! 

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked with Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14 NIV

For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.] Romans 11:29