3)
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the
flesh?
4)
Have ye suffered so many
things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
5)
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh
miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith?
6)
Even as Abraham believed
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7)
Know ye
therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8)
And the scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed
9)
So then they which be
of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
10)
For as many as are of the
works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one
that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them.
11)
But that no man is
justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
12)
And the law is not of
faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in
them.
13)
Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed
is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14)
That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith.
15)
Brethren, I speak after
the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant,
yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
16)
Now to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of
one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
|
E |
ven
with the proliferation of teachers and preachers of the things of God, today,
the Word as God gave it is not understood by many. Therefore, even with more
people to teach, much confusion still exists.
With
all of the learning and intellectual exclusivity available to Man, he still
does not seem to understand that it is impossible to live a life pleasing to
God without the Holy Ghost. In all the years of having known the Law, Man has
been and will continue to be unable to keep from breaking it. In that the Law
is spiritual, a man without the Holy Ghost is fighting a losing battle if he
waits to execute the Law only after he understands it.
The
devil is making sure to confuse and deceive Man as much as possible concerning
the role of the flesh in the life of the saint. Despite what others who have
experienced the Lord (by means of the Holy Ghost) want to believe, no one who
lives a life dedicated to the flesh will make it to the kingdom of God.
However, this is knowledge one acquires through being acquainted with the
Light, and if one has no Holy Ghost, he has no light.
It
is relatively amazing that sinful (or, saved) man would not "jump: at the
chance to be delivered from the curse of the Law. Of course, to be delivered
from the curse, it is necessary that one not sin. What a small price to pay to
be free from eternal, painful, terrifying damnation.
Before
the Holy Ghost came, no one was able to keep God's commandments—and the Lord
was well aware of this and dealt with him thusly. But, we no longer have this
excuse. The Holy Ghost has come and
those who accept Him now bear the responsibility of meeting His very "meetable" expectations. The man who fails in salvation
will do so only because he chooses to follow the dictates of the flesh.
Common,
today, is a tendency for the saint of God to be
"weak"—to his flesh, his mind or whatever he feels like being weak to. But, not only have we been redeemed from
sin, we have been redeemed from the Law, also, and that one sacrifice is the
only one that the Lord is going to make. So, those waiting for a personal
sacrifice from Him will likely end up in hell—still waiting for Someone to do that one thing which will solve his problem.
Being
less than successful in salvation is largely a function of "attitude"
and many in this category know that they have a bad one. Sure, it is easy for
one to say that he wants to be
"different," but quite another to do something about it. If you want
to change your situation, change your
attitude—it's as simple as that.
"The
promise of the Spirit"is the promise of the Holy Ghost and subsequent eternal life.
To accomplish this, one must be a member of the family of God—not merely a
Jew by natural birth, but by birth in the Spirit. We are not all born with
an awareness of any kind of relationship with a Father, so what is necessary
is that we be "reborn" into a spiritual family. Through this family,
it is possible for us to obtain the mind of a "Jew"—that is, a mind
whose primary focus is the One responsible for his creation. This focus assures
that that life will glorify God. The one willing to sacrifice himself to his
Sustainer will find himself endued with knowledge that will confound the wise.
This, along with all of His other blessings is just the "tip of the iceberg"
of "the promise of the Spirit".