Salvation: God alone makes Christians (Part 12)
We continue from last week's teaching, Part 11. Jesus Christ is the one who must fight the battle for us and in us:
Zechariah 4:6 "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."
It is not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God that we overcome the world.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
A born again believer will have tribulation in this world, but Christ is the one who must give him the victory. Solomon said in:
Proverbs 23:4 "Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom."
That is because Christ is the one who must make things happen in our lives.
Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
This was Jesus confirming the words of Solomon in the Proverbs 23:4. As born again believers, we are not to labour to be rich by our own wisdom. The word "first" tells us that the kingdom of God and his righteousness must come before everything else. In fact, we have an example of this in 1 Kings 3:5-15 where young Solomon soon after he became king, humbled himself as a little child before God.
1 Kings 3:9 "Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?"
Instead of riches and honour, Solomon asked for an understanding heart so that he could judge God’s people wisely.
1 Kings 3:11-13 "And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days."
Solomon put the kingdom of God before everything else, and his words pleased the Lord. God not only gave him a wise and understanding heart, so that there could be none like him before him, nor any like him after him; God has also given him the things which he have not asked for: both riches and honour such that there shall not be any kings like unto him in all the days of his life.
1 John 5:4-5 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"
John tells us that it is faith in a truly born again believer that he overcomes the world, and faith is the presence of the new man in the earthen body of a born again believer.
Ephesians 4:21-24 "If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
In the mind are thoughts, and thoughts are words in the mind.
Proverbs 15:26 "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words."
The “thoughts of the wicked” and the “words of the pure” alike, are made up of words. Words are the physical substance of a spirit, invisible but discernible. It is the medium of exchange between the spiritual realm and the physical realm. By words, man come to the knowledge of the truth, and by words the same is also deceived.
Words are likened to a garment in Ephesians 4:22 “… ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man”. If we continue in the former conversation which is corrupt according to our deceitful lusts, that is us putting on the old man, and it tells other people who we are in their sight. But if we put off the words that we used to speak before we were converted, and start speaking from the 66 books of the Holy Bible which we now believe in, that is us putting on the new man which after Christ is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."
The words that we speak determine the kind of fruit that we will eat, whether it be the fruit that will produce death, or the fruit that will produce life.
Job 29:14 "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem."
Again, the words that we speak is also a reflection of the kind of “righteousness” that is upon us as a robe: whether it be the righteousness that is of God, or man’s own corrupted righteousness according to his deceitful lusts. Going back to Job 33...
Job 33:26 "He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness."
God renders unto a born again believer his spotless righteousness as a robe that covereth him, and this is the new man that he now puts on, even as he puts off his old garment and puts on a new garment.
Mark 2:21 "No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse."
He cannot improve on his old righteousness which is corrupt and moth eaten, even as a piece of new cloth cannot be sewed on an old garment. There is a noticeable change in the attitude and expression of a man after he is born again, even as there is a visible change in the appearance of a man after he puts on a new garment. A truly born again person is one who is passed from death unto life, and all things are become new.
Psalms 37:30 "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment."
Before he was born again, his conversation was filled with all kinds of earthly things, sensual and devilish. But after he was born again, he began to speak heavenly things, and those things have become the focus of his new life. The words of the LORD have become his conversation with people everyday.
Matthew 5:13-16 "¶ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
He is now the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He is no longer a good for nothing because of the new man in him. He is as a salt which adds savour to the food, and a light that shines before men. He is also now become an ambassador for Christ to the people around him.
2 Corinthians 5:20 "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God."
Upon him is now committed the word of reconciliation to witness unto those around him that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing their trespasses unto them.
Proverbs 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."
The words that come out of a born again believer is as a tree of life that produce life, and he will win souls with those words, and will lead whosoever will receive the words of eternal life with meekness and fear unto repentance and everlasting life. What is a tree of life?
Proverbs 15:4 "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit."
1 Timothy 6:3 "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;"
A tongue is not the words, but the source of the words spoken. A wholesome tongue is where wholesome words proceed. Notice Proverbs 15:4 calls a wholesome tongue a "tree of life", and 1 Timothy 6:3 calls wholesome words "the words of our Lord Jesus Christ". The tree of life is the source of the "words of eternal life" (John 6:68). What then is the tree of life? It cannot be more clear.
Isaiah 34:16 "¶ Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them."
Notice in this verse "... none shall want HER mate". This tells us something about the gender of the words of eternal life in the book of the LORD. Referring to "wisdom", Solomon by inspiration of the Holy Ghost tells us:
Proverbs 3:18 "She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her."
The Bible calls her a "tree of life", and earlier we have established that the tree of life is the source of wholesome words, the "words of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Timothy 6:3). Notice that the gender of wisdom is female. Just like the book of the LORD, the tree of life is also female, and they are one and the same. The written words of the LORD is the tree of life. Of course, the tree of life is not just the book of the LORD, because every born again believer also has the words of the LORD written in their hearts. For example:
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."
Therefore, the church, which is the pillar and the ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15) is also the tree of life. The church is where the words of eternal life are dispensed, and every born again believer is a tree of life. The words of the LORD are found in both the book of the LORD as well as in the hearts of every born again believer, and they must tally.
Psalms 119:11 "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
This is the treasure in the earthen vessels of every born again believer, and the congregation of every born again believer is the church, the body of Christ.
Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."
Christ is the head of the church, and the church is the body of Christ. This is one the many places where the Bible tells us that the church is of a female gender. Like the 66 books of the Holy Bible, she is the manifestation of Christ on earth, and the interface between earth and the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever has the words of eternal life written in them shall enter the kingdom of heaven. We shall continue in Part 13 next week.