The Upward Call!

An angel is a messenger of God.  But not all messengers are angels. The Vision Pt.1 concluded  by looking closely at disciples of Christ, redeemed and regenerated believers, as being the messengers of God bringing forth visions to the Church.  Most often the vision is the unveiling of a mystery, a hidden truth preserved in scriptures waiting to be revealed.     These truths are preserved in the ea...

Prov. 29.18  “ Where there is no vision (revelation) the people perish (cast off restraint); But happy is he who keeps the law.” Where there is no revelation of God’s will, His people become unrestrained, ungovernable, or disorderly.  Everyone decides in their own mind what is right or wrong, good or bad. (Jud. 21.25) Once, I was driving a small boat on a lake and the steering mechanism broke.  Th...

The Church is not just an ambassador for the Kingdom of God, the Church is the Kingdom of God in the earth; where the Church is, there is the Kingdom; where the Church is not, there is not the kingdom of God but the dark domain of the devil.   The Church consists of the children of God, in whom the power and influence of the enemy has been broken; and they are now the means by which Satan’s works...

Oftentimes a new believer is only focused on one thing, and that is their relationship with Jesus Christ.  Their hearts have been apprehended and they are exuberant about wanting to talk about Him and to come to know Him in greater measure.  But at the same time they find themselves with the Bible in one hand, and as a member of a church in the other hand and they really don’t know how to properly...

Covenants are most serious agreements to enter into. They represent binding agreements between God and man.  The Bible emphasizes the importance of keeping covenants but also cautions against making such agreements lightly or not aligned with the will of God.  It reminds us of the seriousness of broken promises and the consequences of violating covenants, both with God and man.  The covenant betwe...

One cannot really understand Biblical covenants, and especially the distinction between to Old Testament covenant and the New Testament covenant, without first clearly understanding the difference between two fundamental truths that may serve as the foundation for all covenants; and those are the principle of ‘ religion’ and the principle of ‘ life .’  Quite simply, religion is a bondage to a syst...

Here, the Conclusion has become the Introduction:   In conclusion , if we therefore abide in Him, and He in us⎯ which is the essence of salvation for now and all eternity⎯ we are a “new man,” one that has never existed before but now is, and we are becoming His “disciples.”   By abiding means we are being taught and refined daily.  The perfection of our maturity as a new man, and the end of our di...

Of course the opposite of self-control is the lack of self-controlled, which includes behavior that is unrestrained and undisciplined . These words are often interchanged in the Bible, and especially with various translations. And so, I will take some liberty here in the Biblical use of these words to describe the vice of being unrestrained and undisciplined, therefore lacking of self-control.  No...

The wisdom of the world says the root cause of unfaithfulness are personal issues like: a feeling the something is missing in the relationship; a lack of emotional connection, unmet needs, self-esteems issues, or an opportunity suddenly arises and you feel your desires will be met in another God, or another mate or a different friend, or a different place. This is all the deeper the world can go i...

The essence of worship extracted from this verse is that worship must be “in spirit and truth.”   Spiritual worship in the New Testament is quite different than the physical worship of the Old Testament and the two must not be intermixed, even though they very much are today.  Those of the Old Testament had never been born anew of the Spirit therefore they only know the worship of the natural man...

These minor sins are like the dirt that accumulates on the feet of one walking barefoot. The feet must be washed regularly. Once when Jesus was with His disciples He poured water in a basin and began to wash the disciple’s feet and dry them with a towel. Peter, feeling so inferior to Christ resisted.  Jesus said that if He didn’t do it Peter would have no part with Him.  So Peter said in Jn. 13.9,...

Romans 8.9-11 is a most powerful passage of Scripture.  Here, it is the self-same Spirit , who is also referred to as the Spirit of God , and also the Spirit of Christ , and ultimately as Christ .  Whatever the title, the most gripping truth of all three Bible passages presented here, Acts 2.38-39, Jn. 14.16-18, and Rm. 8.9-11 is the fact that He dwells in you!  What was then received at baptism i...

O ur focus here is on the distinction between sin as an evil act and sin as a power or force, as a compulsion to act in its own behalf.  The power of sin like gravity, is ever present at work to corrupt the inner nature of man; and when given into, man commits sins by his outward actions.   The simple sentence, “I sin,” is a complete sentence because it has a noun “I” and the verb “sin” that impli...

This Episode begins by initiating a more detailed study of the events of the fall of Adam and Eve and its subsequent effect on all humanity. The Episode is an attempt to explore these events more closely, unveiling the truth of what happened in the Garden of Eden; considering both the natural and the spiritual realms in which man is intended to live and experience.   To do so there need to be laid...

We are now ready to build upon the foundation laid by those six scriptures in Part 1of the previous Episode:  Eph. 4.20-24; 2 Cor. 5.17; Col. 3.10; Gal. 6.15; Rm. 6.4; and Rm. 7.6 and now attempt to establish the mystery of how those two wills that seemingly act independently of one another come together as one in the new man.   Even as man has two eyes to see, both looking at the same objects and...

Just how do we “balance” these two wills: the natural will tied to decision making in the worldly environment, decisions that govern the course of our natural lives, and the spiritual will focused on God but also having influence on our natural lives as well as having eternal implications?  However, is the word “balance” the proper term to use; for it implies a proportioning of time, energy, and r...

I recently noticed a large billboard along the highway that read: “Where are you going? To Heaven or to Hell?”  Is this the one thing, the goal for which Paul wrote?  Does eternity and eternal life come down to being in the right “place” at the end of time?  Is the grand purpose in all creation to save man from the destruction of hell for the bliss of heaven? Absolutely not!  This is an extremely...

That phrase, “the upward call of God” is at the center of this passage of scripture and is at the core of the context of the scripture. In other words, the term “ the upward call “ throws light on the surrounding verses and helps to explain the verses before and after its use. The entire passage hinges on the proper understanding of this phrase, the upward call or high calling of God. Because it i...

Qualifying for the Race —  The single qualification to enter this race is having spiritual life; a man without spiritual life, zoe, has no vitality and is unfit and unable to run this race. For the believer, it is written in 1 Jn. 512  “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  Therefore God has chosen us in Christ (Eph. 1.4), He is our sole qualificati...

Ps. 122.1-2  “ 1 I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord. 2 Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!’” Just who is the “I” in this verse; and why is he “glad” to hear the beckoning call from the passerby?  Firstly, many, including myself, can identify as the “ I” in this verse, perhaps you may also.  The reason being is that I too was once the one...

The previous Episode began laying the foundation for understanding just what is the “normal” Christian life.  The “normal” that we see today seems to fall far short of the normal Christian life revealed in scripture—where there is a higher standard set.  It seems that over time the Church has evolved to what it is today, but its evolution has largely been guided more by the mind of man, in a relig...

About 50 years ago, when I was quite young in the faith, I came across a book written by Watchman Nee entitled, "The Normal Christian Life." I was totally overwhelmed and amazed by the fact that what we may "think" is a normal life for a Christian is not at all normal, especially when compared to Biblical, New Testament, standards.  It seems that on the one hand there is the church that has "evolv...

In a divine covenant, God sovereignly establishes the nature of the relationship between Himself and man. God binds Himself by His own oath to keep His promises set forth under the covenant. Still, there are conditions attached to the oath on the side of man; if he does not keep the covenant’s conditions there will be consequences . A clear distinction must be made between the conditions, promises...

Man was created a tripartite being in the beginning and he will always be body, spirit and soul even unto eternity.  This means that salvation must, by all means, come to all three components of man or he will be incomplete in eternity--first salvation comes to the spirit in the new birth, then the soul is progressively saved in this lifetime, and finally the resurrection of the body will occur at...

The Law of the Old Testament on the prophetic side was perfect for it undoubtedly pointed to Christ.  However, on the moral side the Law held a standard of righteousness no one, not the highest of high priests, could obtain.  Sin was made known to them through the law and the need for a savior was made obvious through their inability to keep the Law.  So too, my good friend Albert tried as he may...