The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you... and just as it h as taught you, you will abide in Him.~1 John 2:27
We must LIVE and EXPERIENCE truth in order to KNOW it. We do not first understand spiritual things in the intellect, then gradually experience these truths. Just the opposite: We live them, we experience them, then we know them.
You do not realize now what I am doing,but LATER you will understand. ~John 13:7
There is a habit of mind and life that precedes the understanding of the truth.
First follow, then know.
Faith trusts the working of the Spirit unseen in the deep recesses of the inner life. ~Andrew Murray, Chapter 17, Abiding in Christ.
By the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son are ONE.
By the Holy Spirit, there is a bond of fellowship between believers. They are ONE.
And by the Holy Spirit, there is a bond of fellowship between Christ and individual believers.
By the Holy Spirit, we are one with Christ.
Do you believe this?
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit's indwelling? He lives IN you.
Do you believe in His constant presence? He guides you.
Do you believe that He is always at work?
Wait and pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
- He guides our will
- He energizes our faith
- He gives us peace and joy and understanding.
It is impossible to live a life of full abiding in Christ without being filled with the Holy Spirit.
- Take time for daily prayer.
- Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by lack of faith.
- Honour Him by confidently trusting that He is working within.
- Seek your nourishment in the Word of God.
The Spirit of God is within the Believer,
teaching
guiding
working
with secret but divine POWER.
Trust Him! Rejoice!
Never hinder Him by unbelief.
The Holy Spirit was given for this one purpose--that the glorious redemption and life in Christ might with divine power be conveyed and communicated to us.~Andrew Murray
"By the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son are ONE.
ReplyDelete"By the Holy Spirit, there is a bond of fellowship between believers. They are ONE.
And by the Holy Spirit, there is a bond of fellowship between Christ and individual believers."
I think the last sentence should read *And by the holy Spirit there is a bond of fellowship between Christ and His people, ONE (Body)*
God is not a God of individualism. Why do you suppose He's created a haven, a reservation from the world with a local gathering of believers? We lead individual lives, but we worship and strive for the ONE mind of Christ.
? O.o ?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZEJ4OJTgg8
Saying that the Holy Spirit brings fellowship between Christ and individual believers is not a support of individualism.
It is a support of reality: we are individuals.
God saves each person on an individual level, and the Holy Spirit dwells within each individual believer.
Yes, there is a bond of fellowship between believers through Christ. That was said in point 2.
However, as a distinct human being with a singular mind and will, I am responsible for my actions and graced with God's mercy. He gives me grace for my individual circumstances; He gives me correction for my individual sins.
I do not have to gather with other believers (which is a blessing from God, don’t get me wrong) in order to commune with Christ, or find a haven of rest. I can speak to Him at any time; I can read His Word at any time; I can praise Him or cry out to Him at any time. He has died for me, personally, just as He has died for you, personally and for all other Christians personally.
Come on, Linda, being assimilated is fun...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDkejTcSlY4&feature=related
Rachel, I am trying to understand what you said, and I hope you will explain as I dissect what you said with the following questions:
ReplyDelete"God is not a God of individualism."
Q. Does God elect individually or corporately? If taken to the extreme (eg. "Me and God, we're best buds..."), then your statement is correct. If, however, you take it to the other extreme (eg. "we, the local gathering, collectively together and God, we're best buds...") then your statement is false, to the point of damnable heresy. Our salvation and our security is in Christ alone - NOT in Christ PLUS the church.
"Why do you suppose He's created a haven, a reservation from the world with a local gathering of believers?"
Q. My understanding of Scripture indicates a single refuge - Jesus Christ. The word "haven" is only found in Acts 27:8 & 12 and the context does not suggest a local group of believers. Our haven/refuge is Christ alone, experienced individually apart from any outside influence, don't you agree?
Ephesians 2:14 suggests the following: "The work of the atonement is thus designed not only to produce peace with God, but peace between alienated and contending minds. The feeling that we are redeemed by the same blood, and that we have the same Saviour, will unite the rich and the poor, the bond and the free, the high and the low, in the ties of brotherhood, and make them feel that they are one. This great work of the atonement is thus designed to produce peace in alienated minds everywhere, and to diffuse abroad the feeling of universal brotherhood."
Note that the "feeling of universal brotherhood" can be experienced in a local gathering - but it is not limited in its scope to only the local gathering. Do you agree?
"We lead individual lives, but we worship and strive for the ONE mind of Christ."
Q. Is not a gathering of "individual" believers what composes "corporate" worship? Are you suggesting that there can be no "individual" worship except in the context of a local group?
Is the "ONE mind of Christ" different for individuals? Can God not, by His Spirit, speak to me as an individual, or must I undergo a collective mind-speak? (I am aware of Romans 15:5-7.)
Finally, may I suggest that we must all beware the god of "local gathering" security, that loves the smell of lobotomized homogeneity in contrast to individual liberty in Christ (be free, indeed!).
I have SO many examples of how there IS, in fact, a bond between God and the Individual. The Bible is full of them. It boggles my mind that a person claiming to know the Bible, can state that there is none. That there is only a bond between Christ and His Church.
ReplyDeleteMy inbox this week was full of stuff on this topic. Here's one:
(My words in parentheses)
GOD WANTS YOU FOR A FRIEND
God created you in His image so that so that He could have a personal (INDIVIDUAL) relationship with you. God is seeking an intimate heart to heart relationship with you(the individual). There are some very good parents that have friendship with their children, while still being parents. God is your Father but He desires friendship with you also. (James 2:23 NKJV) And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
A parent that you can trust as a friend is a refuge of security, someone you will go to without hesitation about any problem, or temptation. God desires that you let Him be that kind of friend to you. (Psalms 91:1-2 NKJV) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shade of the Almighty. {2} I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."
Jesus calls us His friends because He communicates with us. (John 15:12-17 NKJV) "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. {13} "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. {14} "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. {15} "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. {16} "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. {17} "These things I command you, that you love one another.
Our relationship with God is the most personal relationship we can ever have. God is a jealous God; we are not to let anyone or anything come between God and us. (1Timothy 2:5 NKJV) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. We are to be in Christ and Christ is in God, it is the Holy Spirit that unifies us together. God has given us His Holy Spirit to counsel, teach, and comfort us. Jesus said in (John 14:26 NIV) But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you(the individual) all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (continued in next comment)
Anyone that exalts himself as a mediator between God and man(the individual), besides Jesus Christ, has the spirit of an antichrist, a false Christ. A cult is a religious organization that separates people from the true God and their(Individual) relationship with Him. There are some cults that have doctrine very similar to Christianity but they have their own interpretation of the Bible that comes from a central figure or office. They interpret the Bible for the members and some have their own book that they use to judge what is true from the Holy Bible. These cults discourage people from reading the Bible on their own(having an individual relationship) because when people get the truth they leave the cult.
ReplyDeleteJohn warned believers about this. (1 John 2:26-27 NKJV) These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. {27} But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. The anointing is the Holy Spirit that teaches us(the individual). (continued in next comment)
Some churches keep a heavy hand on their members denying them the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ(the freedom to have an individual, personal relationship). Paul called them false Christians when they demanded that Titus be circumcised. (Galatians 2:3-5 NLT) And they did agree. They did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile. {4} Even that question wouldn't have come up except for some so-called Christians there--false ones, really--who came to spy on us and see our freedom in Christ Jesus. They wanted to force us, like slaves, to follow their Jewish regulations. {5} But we refused to listen to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the Good News for you.
ReplyDeleteSome churches care more about unimportant things and controlling and discouraging people then they do about loving God and loving their neighbor. If Jesus visited them He might say something similar to what He said to the religious rulers of his day. (Matthew 23:23-28 NLT) "How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law--justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things. {24} Blind guides! You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a gnat; then you swallow a camel! {25} "How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy--full of greed and self-indulgence! {26} Blind Pharisees! First wash the inside of the cup, and then the outside will become clean, too. {27} "How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs--beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. {28} You try to look like upright people outwardly, but inside your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Our relationship with God is a personal(individual) relationship. Do not let anyone or anything come between you(the individual) and God. If you are not grounded in God's Word, and you do not know the voice of the Holy Spirit in you, then you are vulnerable to bad advice or even false doctrine. God has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for building you up in the faith of the Lord Jesus. They are there to encourage your(individual) relationship with God, and not to be a mediator between you and God. Everything they say and do should be pointing you to Jesus Christ and the Word. But we are to judge everything by the Word of God.
ReplyDelete(Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, {12} for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, {13} till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; {14} that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, {15} but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ; {16} from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
God desires that you enter into the secret place of His presence where there is fullness of joy. (Psalms 16:11 NKJV) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalms 31:19-20 NKJV) Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men! {20} You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues.