The point here, I think, is... we have this "oneness" with God. The above descriptions of who we are reflect that we can't get any closer to God than we already are. No matter what may come our way, Christ is our all in all. Our Cajun brother brought up the fact that there was only one instance in scripture where believers were called, "Christians", and that instance wasn't even meant as a positive thing, but more as a slam. Yet, today, it's simply more religious verbiage.
Not I but Christ....one thing remains.....
The Holy Spirit is our DNA. As Jesus is our life, we are a new species of life. We have the Gentile race, there's the Jewish race, and now we have the "Called out ones" Ecclesia. This is an accurate acknowledgement of our ID, as believers in Christ. We can't become "dead" again, even if we wanted to be. We have been made new. Call us what you will, but the fact of the matter is, when the Holy Spirit takes us residence, we are no longer the old person. The Holy Spirit, as promised by God, will never leave us nor forsake us. We will no longer be that dead person we once were.
This line of thought was carried over into the Metro Church services. We had a treat, in that we had the privilege to listen to Greg bring us the word. He'd mentioned in passing that in his former beliefs, there was the doctrine that people had to be dead for a certain length of time before they could be deemed "saints". He mentioned that "dead" people aren't saints. For a person to become a saint, they have to be alive--to have the life of Christ dwelling within us. Strange that this point should be driven home shortly after our private Bible Study session, to which Greg was not able to join. Coincidence? I think not.
As children of God, He's given us a robe to wear. We discussed this and we all agreed that when we thought of the word "robe" we think of comfort. Long, flowing, airy, breezy. The priests from the Old Covenant temples were robes made of linen. This further gave the connotation of comfort. Our life in Christ, our rest in Him, should be be like a straight-jacket that some well meaning people try to make us wear, but rather a robe of comfort. The priests, although there were no chairs allowed in their temples, were still allowed to have some sort of comfort as they went about their daily chores.
So it could be with us--and this was needed personally. There are times that we feel we are being worked to death in our daily lives, with no relief in sight, yet, when we remember that we have a robe of righteousness on, because of who Christ is, our souls can rest, even in the midst of our weary, earth bound life.
This was contrasted between what's been termed as the "Bait and switch gospel". First, get them saved with phrases like, "God is good" "It's all Jesus, "Grace, grace, grace".Then, after we get the unsuspecting person 'converted", we say things like, "Okay, now that you're saved, you need to _____ and _____ and ___" If not, you're a gasp! CARNAL Christian! Next thing we know, we're wearing the straight-jacket of religion. We never saw it coming. Our lives become a list of things to do in order to gut it out for God. This gives a connotation of 2 different beings separated by sin. Jesus and ourselves. We get that intimate contact for just a split second at the point of salvation, but then when we sin, we've "drifted away" and are no longer "connected" to our savior. Then we're given a list of things to do in order to get that intimacy back. This isn't the case at all. At the point of salvation, we become alive IN CHRIST. Not beside Him, not under Him, but IN Him. And what is our hope of glory? Christ IN US, our hope of glory.
So, who are you? Any ID?
"My prayer for you" Ephesians 3:14
14 For this reason (What reason?) I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,(Why?) 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.(Ahh. Okay) And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power,(power to do what?) together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,(power to grasp the depth of His love is for us) 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge (power to know this love)—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.(wonderful reason to pray)
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, (aha! another "in" word, as opposed to "out there" word) 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
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