“Seventy weeks are
determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression,
and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to
bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and
to anoint the most Holy ”Dan9:24
By revelation God made known to the prophet Daniel the end
of His work upon the earth concerning the redemption of man. God would do a
work in the last days that was unimaginable and impossible to fathom naturally.
He would forever bring to end sin and transgression and bring in everlasting
righteousnesses. He would forever destroy satan and his work. How could this be
accomplished?
Through the work of Jesus on the Cross God has finished the
transgression, put an end to sin, made reconciliation for iniquity and brought
in everlasting righteousness. He has finished the work that He promised to do
through the prophets and the law. It is finished.
Our new righteousness in Christ is an eternal righteousness.
Not a temporary righteousness until the next time we sin or transgress the law.
The righteousness of God just like any other attribute of God is eternal.
God is eternal, His righteousness is an eternal righteousness. The
righteousness which He has given to us is an eternal righteousness. It is a
forever righteousness. It doesn’t perish or decrease with time or use. It is
incorruptible.
“Being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the
flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But
the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you.” 1Pet1:23-25
Those that are born again have been born of the
incorruptible seed of the Word of God. This
incorruptible seed has given birth to a new man and a new life that is
incorruptible and unable to sin or to be polluted by sin. Our spirit man is
incorruptible and eternally righteous and free from sin.
“…And ye know that he
was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for
the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born
of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God.” 1Jn3:1-9
The born again spirit is a spirit that is incapable of
sinning. This is because it is exactly in the nature of God. The spirit of a Christian cannot
sin or be corrupted by sin. It is incorruptible and eternally righteous. It is
a perfect spirit! Your spirit is perfect!
SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY
“And the very God of
peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and
soul and body be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is
he that calleth you, who also will do it.” 1Thes5:23-24
An easy way to understand what really happens when we get
born again is to first of all understand that we are made up of a spirit, a
soul and a body. Each of these experience something different at salvation. Let
us examine this a little bit;
We are
already saved in our spirit, being saved in our soul right now through
sanctification and will be saved in our body at the second coming of The Lord
Jesus Christ.
1.
We are
saved in our spirit
The spirit man has been saved already. It is a done deal.
When Jesus died on the Cross He accomplished a full salvation for us. When we
believe on Jesus we receive a brand new spirit that is completely in union with
God and perfect. Our spirit man does not need to be saved. He is saved already
and completely perfect. He is completely new. This is what Paul tells the
Corinthians;
“Therefore if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.” 2Cor5:21
This verse is speaking about our spirit man. When we get
born again we are brand new in spirit. Everything in the spiritual realm becomes
new. It becomes fresh. God gets rid of the old corrupted sinful spirit and his
world and replaces it with the spirit of His Son crying Abba Father in our
hearts. He replaces the sinful atmosphere in our hearts with the heavenly, holy
presence of the kingdom of God. We become heavenly, holy and righteous. We
become the house of God, the Holy temple of God.
After God has done this, He seals us from all sin,
corruption and impurity. He insulates our brand new spirit from the corruption
of sin. The born again spirit, the new creation has been sealed off completely
from the corruption and impurity of sin. He does this by the Holy Spirit who
comes to live in our new spirit.
“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, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of
the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Eph4:13-14
The word sealed basically has two meanings;
First it indicates ownership. It is a mark that is placed on
something to show who the owner is. God has marked us as His own. We belong to
Him. We have been sanctified and set apart.
Secondly it means to protect from corruption and impurity.
To seal off to the outside world and influences. We have been sealed from the
corruption and impurity of sin and this world. When you sin, the sin doesn’t
affect or corrupt your spirit. It can only go as far as the soul. Look at this
verse;
“Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of
edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
Eph4:29-30
2. We are being saved in our soul on a daily basis through sanctification
“Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of
which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they
did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have
preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which
things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your
mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto
you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning
yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which
hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because
it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who
without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time
of your sojourning here in fear” 1Pet1:9-17
The soul is being saved everyday by the present grace of
God, and the Word of God and the renewing of the mind.
When we got born again it is our spirit that was changed and
perfected to be just like God. Our soul wasn’t saved. This is the reason many
of us still struggle with sins and habits and addictions that plagued us as
sinners. These are still resident in our soul which comprises of our mind, our
will and our emotions. It is commonly referred to as our ‘personality’. This
needs to be changed by daily sanctification though the word of God which is
able to renew our mind and to cleanse our conscience. Paul calls this process a
‘transformation’
“And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom12:2
The Greek word that was translated "transformed"
here is the word "metamorphoo" and it’s the word from which we get the
English word "metamorphosis". It is used to describe the process of a
complete change or transformation. Like when a caterpillar transforms into a
butterfly.
This word ‘metamorphoo’ was also used to describe Jesus'
transfiguration when His garments became white as the light on the mount of
transfiguration.
“And after six days
Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an
high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.” Mat17:1-2
When our mind is renewed by the word of God, this is what happens
to our soul. It is transformed and transfigured. There happens a complete
transformation in us.
This is an important point for us to understand. God by His
Word and His Holy Spirit begins to transform our soul from an earthly perspective
to a heavenly reality. He transforms us from an ugly caterpillar into a
beautiful butterfly. We shall look at this in more detail in our last lesson.
“Much more then, being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Rom5:9-10
3.
Our body
will be saved at the second coming.
“So also is the
resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in
incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in
weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so
it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was
made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but
that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is
of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy,
such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also
that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1Cor15:42-55
This incorruptible body will put on incorruption at the
second coming of the Lord. Our body (the purchased possession) will be
redeemed. At that moment, our body too will be saved.
FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE ISSUE OF FAITH
“What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who
did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the
righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not
attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by
faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that
stumbling stone.” Rom9:30-32
Paul makes
a very radical statement here. He says that people who are not seeking to be
righteous can become righteous. That the Gentiles who were not even seeking to
be righteous ended up being righteous. And yet the Jews who were pursuing
righteousness failed to be righteous. How can this be? The answer to this
question lies in God's grace and our faith.
By
grace, God has provided righteousness for everyone in the world, regardless of
their actions. If a person will believe and receive this gift, God will reckon
him righteous. This is what happened to the Gentiles.
The
Gentiles (non-Jews) had a reputation for not seeking God (Eph4:17-19, 1Pet4:3) and
yet generally the majority of them accepted God’s gift of salvation in Christ. They were not trying to be righteous and yet God
gave them His righteousness because they believed on Jesus.
On the
other hand the Jews were working hard and trying to obey the law and yet generally
the majority of them rejected God’s gift of salvation in Christ. As a result
they didn’t get the righteousness of God because they looked for it in the law
yet it wasn’t there. They thought they would get it by behaving well and living
holy, God said they stumbled at the stumbling stone of faith righteousness. How
many of us are stumbling every day? This next passage explains further;
“Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness
that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Rom10:1-4
Many of
us today fall into this category. We are ignorant of the righteousness of God
and are going about every single day establishing our own. We are praying hard
so that God can be pleased, we are fasting to get anointed, we are repenting,
we are tithing and giving so that God may bless us, we never miss church, we
are always witnessing to the lost so that we can earn points from God and earn
a reward in heaven, we diligently read our bibles to please God, we don’t drink
alcohol, we don’t smoke and so many other things. Somehow we have come to think
that God sees us as righteous when we do these things. This is sad; this is
exactly what Israel did. They also had zeal just like us, but it was not based
on knowledge of God’s righteousness. What pleases God is not our actions, it is
our faith in what He has done. Faith in His actions, not ours.
We
don’t have to do anything to earn the righteousness of God, He has already
provided it for us, all we need is to believe and submit to it. It is why it is
called the righteousness of faith. If you have believed in Jesus, you have come
to the end of the law; Jesus is all that you need. This is the only way you can
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, by having the
righteousness of God. Only the righteousness of God exceeds the righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees. Today as the Holy Spirit ministers to your
heart, repent and reject your self-righteousness and submit to the righteousness
of God.
“But as God is true, our word toward you was
not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you
by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him
was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the
glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath
anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit
in our hearts.” 2Cor1:18-22
None of
us are an exception to this scripture. God’s promises are yes and amen to all
of us. Yes He will heal, yes He will deliver, yes He will prosper, to every
promise He says yes.
And all
of this are availed to us by faith in God’s grace. We don’t do anything to earn
the promises of God. We believe Him and He fulfills them. They are already yes
and amen. God's righteousness is a faith issue. Have faith.
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