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Our Need to Appropriate What God Has Done for Us Appropriate
= To take possession of From Misunderstanding to Experiencing
If you compare the Church portrayed in the book of Acts with the Church down through the centuries, you would have to agree there is little correspondence between them. Appropriating the benefits God promises is a subject of the Bible that has been much misunderstood. We invite the reader to lay aside prejudice and preconceived ideas, and for the sake of truth, to investigate earnestly and honestly the following gathered from examination of Scripture. The Context
“The object and purpose of our instruction and charge is that all believers would be filled with charity (love) that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” —1 Timothy 1:5 What Are the Implications of the Cross?
When we refer to the cross, we are referring to the sacrifice that Jesus Christ (Y’shua Messiah) made there on our behalf. Let's make a personal application. The Bible teaches at 1 Corinthians 1:23, "We preach Christ crucified." Preaching or teaching or counseling may sound nice, but in the long run it will accomplish nothing. The only source of the power is the cross. Again the Bible teaches in 1 Corinthians 1:25: "The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." The cross is the foolishness and weakness of God. What could be more foolish than for God to permit His Son to be crucified by sinners? What could be weaker than the spectacle of a Man hung on a cross, his body lacerated and bleeding, dying in agony? But the weakness of God, Paul says, is stronger than men. The foolishness of God is wiser than men. The real source of strength and wisdom for the Christian lies in the cross. Without the cross we can have good morality, a host of good intentions and a lot of nice sermons, but we will have no significant results. Atonement or At-one-ment (Lev.
17:11)
The words atonement and blood are used 523 times in the Bible. The following points reveal the blessings of the blood of Y’shua (Jesus), which come through faith: 1. Remission of sins (Rom. 3:24, 25; Heb. 9:22; Eph. 1:7; 1 John 1:7). 2. Salvation from wrath (Ex. 12:13, 23; Rom. 5:9-11; 1 Thess. 5:9-10). 3. Deliverance from Hell (Zech. 9:11; Rom. 5:1-11; Rev. 5:8-10). 4. Sanctification (Heb. 2:11; 10:14, 29; 13:12). 5. Justification (Rom. 3:24-30; 5:9-11; Acts 13:38-39; Gal. 2:16-17; Titus 3:4-7). 6. Citizenship (Eph. 2:12, 13; Phil. 3:20-21; Gal. 3:27-29). 7. Peace with God (Rom. 5:1; Col. 1:20). 8. Purging of the conscience (Heb. 9:14). 9. Redemption (Rom. 3:24, 25; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:15; 1 Pet. 1:18-23; Rev. 5:8-10). 10. High priestly benefits (Heb. 4:14-16; 9:21; 10:1-18). 11. Access to God (Heb. 10:19; Eph. 2:14-18). 12. Power to become the elect of God (1 Pet. 1:2). 13. Washing from sins (Rev. 1:5; 7:14; 1 John 1:7-9; Eph. 1:7). 14. Atonement for the soul (Lev. 17:11; Rom. 5:11). 15. Life eternal, abundant life (Rom. 5:1-11; Col. 1:20). 16. A new covenant (Matt. 26:28). 17. The new birth (1 Pet. 1:18-23). 18. Righteousness (Rev. 7:14; 19:8). 19. Overcoming power (Rev. 12:11). 20. Membership in the body of Christ (Acts 20:28). 21. Salvation (includes healing) (Ps. 51; Acts 4:12; Eph. 1:7; Mt. 13:15; Jas. 5:14-16; 1 Pet. 2:24). All this is what God has done for all human beings alike, and on the same basis. Out of this one provision comes 750 promises in the New Testament, and 58 promises in the Psalms! But the cross does us no good unless we know how to appropriate it. If we miss what God has provided, it will not be because it is too difficult, but because it is too simple! There is nothing complicated in God's plan for appropriating His salvation. Our Need to Appropriate What God Has Done For Us God blesses by His grace the sinner when he humbles himself and calls upon God for mercy. And this cannot be done until the sinner turns to God and permits the grace of God to be manifest to him or her. When we, as confessed sinners, choose to accept the work of Jesus Christ (Y’shua Messiah) and accept Him as our personal Savior, God is free to forgive at that moment because the Christ has already paid the debt for us. At that moment an extraordinary exchange takes place: By trusting (faith), we are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21), and therefore we can produce right fruit! The Amplified Bible best describes righteousness as being made right with God and then consistently conforming to His will in thought, word, and deed. (Rom. 12:3) In other words, when we are made right with God, we begin to think right, we begin to talk right, and we begin to act right. It is a process in which we are continually making progress. The Holy Spirit works in us from the inside-out, helping us become the fullness of what our Father wants us to be in Christ (John 1:12; Rom. 5:5; 6:14). The outworking of righteousness - which is ultimately seen in right thoughts, words, and actions - cannot begin until we accept our right standing with God through Jesus Christ. Romans
1:5 states, “Through Him [Jesus] and for His name's sake, we
received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” Obedience to God, His Word; His
instructions is still the same requirement (Jeremiah But we're not made righteous by keeping them. We have to be made righteous through faith first in order to be able to keep them. Keeping them does not make us righteous. The Holy Spirit works in us from the inside-out, helping us become the fullness of what God our Father wants us to be in Christ. (Between legalism and lawlessness lies the narrow pathway of righteousness that comes only by the Holy Spirit.) The “doctrine of sanctification” is one of the subjects of the Bible that has been much misunderstood. We invite the reader for the sake of truth, to investigate earnestly and honestly the following facts gathered from examination of Scripture: Holiness begins when a sinner is sanctified and made holy by a definite and an instantaneous work of grace in salvation. Since we are made holy in the new birth it needs only to be shown here the progressive aspect of a holy walk in God from the new birth throughout life. The Scriptures are so clear in themselves that references only will be given. Note the following plain Scriptures on continued and progressive holiness throughout life: 1. Statements of Jesus (Y’shua) on progressive sanctification (Luke 9:23; John 8:31-34; 13:23-26; 15:2; 16:13-16; 17:17-19; Mk. 9:49-50, Lk. 14:34-35; Rev. 2:7, 10, 11, 17, 25-28; 3:3, 5, 11, 12, 21). 2. Statements of Luke on progressive sanctification (Acts 13:43; 14:22; 15:41; 16: 5; 18:26). 3. Statements of Paul on progressive sanctification (Rom. 1:11, 17; 2:7; 4:12; 5:3-4; 6:3-22; 7:4-6; 8:1-13; 11:20-22; 12:1-21; 14:19; 16:25, 26; 1 Cor. 1:7-10; 9:27; 11:31-34; 15:58; 16:13; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:16; 5:9; 7:1; 10:4-6; 13:11; Gal. 5:1, 13, 16, 24-26; 6:7-8; Eph. 2:19-22; 3:16-21; 4:1-3, 12-32; 5:1-18; 6:1-18; Phil. 1:6, 9, 25, 27; 2:12-15; 3:7-15; 4:8-9; Col. 1:9-11, 23-29; 2:3, 6-9; 3:1-17; 4:12; 1 Thess. 2:2-13; 3:1-12; 5:11-23; 2 Thess. 1:3-5; 2:13-17; 3:3; 1 Tim. 1:18; 4:12-16; 5:21, 22; 6:12-14; 2 Tim. 1:13-14; 2:4, 19-26; Tit. 2:7-14; Heb. 3:6, 12-14; 4:11; 5:11-14; 6:1, 2, 11, 12; 10:14, 23, 35-39; 12:1, 2; 13:20-21). 4. Statements of James on progressive sanctification (James 1:3, 4, 12, 22-27; 2:14-26; 3:2; 4:4-10; 5:1-12, 19-20). 5. Statements of Peter on progressive sanctification (1 Pet. 1:5, 9, 12-16; 2:1-2, 11, 12; 3:8-12; 4:1-4, 15, 19; 5:5-10: 2 Pet. 1:4-10; 3:14-18). 6. Statements of John and Jude on progressive sanctification (1 John 1:6-7; 2:1-6, 24-29; 3:1-3, 6-10; 5:l-5, 18; 2 John 1, 6, 8; 3 John 4, 11; Jude 20-24). Imputed and Outworked Righteousness Revelation
19:7‑8 declares: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him. For
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to
her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For
the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” There are two Greek words that mean "righteousness." One is dikaiosune, the other is dikaioma. Dikaiosune is righteousness as an abstract concept. Dikaioma is righteousness manifested in act, or an act of righteousness. When you and I believe in Y’shua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ), His righteousness—dikaiosune—is imputed to us. We are made righteous with His righteousness. When we live out our faith, we express that imputed righteousness in dikaioma, which is outworked righteousness, or an act of righteousness. It is interesting to note that the word used here in Revelation is the plural form of dikaioma, dikaiomata. The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. It is a very searching statement. "His wife has made herself ready." She has done this by her acts of righteousness. “For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should
walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10) The Pattern From Joshua The book of Joshua
contains a wonderful pattern for us to follow. Joshua had been given the
tremendous responsibility of bringing the Israelites into a Promise
Land (land of Canaan) after the death of Moses–and Moses was a hard act to follow. Here is what
the Lord said to Joshua: "Moses
My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all
this people, to the land which I am giving to them–the children of Israel. Every place that the sole
of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses." Joshua 1:2‑3 God's promise
employs two different tenses. In verse 2 He said, "I am giving."
In verse 3 He said, "I have given." In verse 2, the Lord uses the continuing present: "I am giving [the land]." But in verse 3 He uses the perfect tense: "I have given [the land]." From verse 3 onward, the legal ownership of Canaan was settled: It belonged to Israel. Experientially, however, nothing had changed. The Canaanites were still in occupation of the land. As it was, Joshua and his people acted very differently. First they crossed the Jordan by a miracle that God performed in response to their obedience. Next they were instructed to sanctify themselves (Joshua 3:5). Then they besieged and captured Jericho–again by a miracle. After that their further progress was mainly by battles, combined with God’s miracles. They moved out in every direction across Canaan and fought a long series of battles against the various inhabitants of the land. When they fell into sin (chapter 7), they were required to sanctify themselves (Joshua 7:13). Even after much arduous warfare, their task had not been completed. A long time later, God said to Joshua, "There remains very much land yet to be possessed" (Joshua 13:1). Fighting for What We Get
Precisely the same challenge confronts us as believers in the New Testament: to move from the legal to the experiential into a land of promises. Like Israel, we must progress one step at a time. Like Israel, too, we will face opposition. Our progress will continually be contested by enemy forces, and we must learn to overcome them with the spiritual weapons God has provided for us. The right to the inheritance is summed up in Revelation 21:7: "He who overcomes shall inherit all things." In Romans 4:11‑12 Paul tells us that we are children of Abraham "if we walk in the steps of Abraham's faith." This is the scriptural requirement for entering into "the blessing of Abraham," promised in Galatians 3:14. Like Abraham, we must accept God's Word as the one sure, unchanging element in our experience, progress one step at a time, and demonstrate our faith in our actions. Satan will continually oppose us with mental and emotional pressures. Against all this opposition, God has provided us with a supremely effective weapon: His Word. In Ephesians 6:17 Paul directs us: "Take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Progressing or Moving With The
Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit leads each of us to appropriate all promises of the Messiah’s (Christ’s) atonement. He holds the key to the storehouse of all God’s promises. And He is your ongoing personal guide. (See John 16:13-15; Acts 5:32; 19:2-6; Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 3:17) Those Forceful Lay Hold of It In Matthew 11:12 Y’shua (Jesus) spoke of the Gospel dispensation He had come to initiate: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and those forceful lay hold of it.” In Luke 16:16 He emphasized the same point: “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.” In Acts 14:22 Paul and Barnabas gave a similar warning to a group of new converts: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." Any road that bypasses the tribulations will not take us into the Kingdom. Once we have settled this issue in our own minds, then the tribulations will encourage us and not deter us (Romans 5:3-5; 1 Peter 1:5-7; James 1:2-4; Phil. 4:4). The Purposes of Our Progressive Walk God has definite purposes, all working toward the ultimate purpose of bringing man back to the place where he was before the fall and purge him of all possibility of failing in the future. The Kingdom of God (Love) is the plan of God to end evil and suffering forever (Mt. 13:37-43; I Cor. 15:24-28; Ex. 34:6-7; Rev. 21-22). You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you from
within. (Philippians
4:13) Obviously,
benefits (blessings) and curses are Conditional Links The Key
That Unlocks All Promises Link to the list of 250 separate benefits
of the 750 New Testament promises
“This Good News tells us how God
makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures
say, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Habakkuk 2:4) “So we see that they could not
enter in because of unbelief.”
(Hebrews 3:19) See Doubt and Unbelief concerning God’s
Word “Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even
as your soul prospers.” (3 John 1:2) “For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) See the reality of evil, Satan, or the devil “He personally bore our sins in
His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) See the source of sin, sicknesses and diseases “Be careful for nothing; but in
every thing by prayer
and supplication [prayer as from neediness] with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6) See The Art of Prayer “Therefore if any man [or woman]
be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) This site relies mostly on the message
of the “King James Version” (KJV) of the Bible. Here are some of the
reasons. “…The eternal purpose which He [God]
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:11). “…Rightly dividing the
word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Link
to God's Big Plan Thank you Finis Jennings Dake and Dake
Publishing Thank you Derek Prince Ministries
and his books entitled Atonement – Your Appointment With God, and
Blessing or Curse – You Can Choose. Be strongly encouraged to read
them! |
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