Prove all things Only by being born again in water and the Holy Spirit can the individual be redeemed. The failure to understand this process is indicative of a failure to understand the true conversion process. This failure is common in those who have had a physical conversion into an organisation and not into the body of Christ. Such people cast truth to the ground in the interest of the preservation of a physical organisation or cult. The defence of such error in the unconverted is usually accompanied by the attack of personality rather than defence or rejection of biblical truth. The biblical injunction to prove all things (1Thes. 5:21) is distorted. The injunction to prove all things extends to the work of each individual (Gal. 6:4) and indeed themselves (2Cor. 13:5). Proof must be of that which is good (Rom. 12:2) and also of the sincerity of the love of the elect (2Cor. 8:8). Malice and slander and envy are not evidence of the love of the elect, they are evidence of an unconverted thought process. Sin, which has been repented for years past, is not the business of the brethren. It is in the realm of the love of God. Each individual has to be born again. They must sin no more but they must be allowed to be born again. Their sin must be no more brought to mind. Also the individual against whom sin occurs must be able to forgive. The Lord’s prayer commences with the praise of God and the plea for His will and His provision and then proceeds to this injunction. Matthew 6:9-13 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (KJV) The forgiveness of debts or trespasses is the forgiveness of transgression which is the debt of the cheirographon that was nailed to the cross. We request this because Christ paid for it. Thus we have an obligation to forgive others as we ourselves wish to be forgiven. This is true conversion. The individual who is born again desires to keep the law of God from his or her inner being. The continued attribution of sin to others is an unconverted thought process which carries judgment to the self. This is the biggest single failing of the cult type systems that have been set up in the twentieth century. Factions are formed around individuals and those seekers of power that would attack and destroy others. The spirit in which criticism is made, and more importantly, acknowledged, is often an indicator of the conversion of the people in the group. The converted individual must learn not only to forgive those who attack them but also to acknowledge truth in criticism. The penalty is the erosion of one’s own spiritual power. Christ forgave those who killed him at the cross and prayed for their forgiveness (Lk. 23:34). So also did Stephen pray for the forgiveness of those who killed him (Acts 7:60). Paul was the official witness to the murder of Stephen and thus took part in that crime among many others (Acts 8:1). Saul had to be forgiven and was in fact renamed Paul because he had committed such violence against the elect. He was forgiven and used of God. Today he would be attacked with malice and slander. The elect are the sons and daughters of God who are developing holy righteous character. The forgiveness of sin and the love of one another is the key element in this process. Without being born again they cannot be perfected. Each must be allowed to be born again also by the brethren who worship the one true God in Spirit and in Truth. The process of rebirth is through the down payment or the earnest of our inheritance (Eph. 1:14) through Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7). Ephesians 1:13-14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (KJV) The purchased possession is our being. The redemption (which is God’s: Jer. 32:7-8) is the redemption of our bodies in the resurrection (Rom. 8:23). We are sealed until the resurrection which is the day of our redemption (Eph. 4:30). At the resurrection, we become co-heirs with Christ as sons of God in power through the resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). This initial payment is as a mustard seed which grows (Mat. 13:31; Mk. 4:31; Lk. 13:19). This rebirth then is as a child that grows in the truth and in faith (Mat. 17:20; Lk. 17:6). It is a spiritual process and the faith is measured in the same way. Through this process of growth, the elect are perfected in the faith through the offering of Christ (Heb. 10:14). In this perfection the Holy Spirit is also a witness to what Christ has said before. Hebrews 10:15-18 Whereof the Holy [Spirit] also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. (KJV) (cf. Jer. 31:31-34 and Heb. 8:8-12). Every man shall know the Lord from the time when he pours out His Spirit on the nation. Until that time the rebirth is confined to the elect. The elect are spiritually born again and spiritually converted to the laws of God and the perfection of Godly, righteous character. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind (2Tim. 1:7). Each of us should develop the spirit to the best of our gifts and abilities, as we are born again to the glory of God. From this process, over the resurrections, God becomes all in all (Eph. 4:6).
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 11:55:00 +0000
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