"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a [unique race];
that ye should [make known] the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light:
For [this purpose are you] called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps:" (1Peter 2:9,2:21)
All believers, throughout history, received eternal salvation by faith in Christ, of in Jehovah of the Old
Testement, and before that...by whatever name He revealed to men. Thus, there will be no generation of mankind
found on the vast frontiers of God's Kingdom that are less than overjoyed at being there.
But I am here to declare a unique event in the history of this dark place, the calling out of a Royal Family,
a family of priests, each with the priviledge, the responsibility, of representing ourselves before God's
throne.
Of all the generations in Heaven, we are most blessed, the family of The King, and the many priviledges which
are traditionally available to the royal line are also given to us.
Never before in the ongoing drama of man's existence has such a family been summoned from the ranks of His creatures.
Just so, never before has the ordinary believer been elevated to such a lofty station at the moment of salvation, a
stature made great in the eyes of all Heaven and, one day, the new earth. But with this prestige, which is the reflected
glory of our Lord, comes a burden of responsibility.
In God's eyes we are children, and He "raises" us in the manner of any good father. As toddlers, we are given a wide
berth, allowed the luxury of error with only mild reproof. But as we grow in knowledge and timbre, He expects more
of us. At first, we manifest the habits and traits which we learned in this cosmos, and The Father is patient, loving,
and willing to suffer our foolishness for a season.
"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to
[Satan], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and [doctrine];"
(Eph 2:2, Gal 5:16, Eph 5:9)
As Christians, and even though we are ignorant of it, the children of The Royal House, we are offered knowledge,
and a means of learning it as unique as we are unique. We are given the teaching of our very own mentor, One who is
well versed in all things divine, for He is divine...The Holy Spirit, third member of the Trinity.
Our infancy passed, we are expected to devote ourselves to aquiring the education which suits our station, the
body of knowledge which God has created for our benefit; His revelation of Himself, and the intimate thoughts of
the One who is His image, just as our bodies are the image of our invisible life force, the soul.
To facilitate our education He has assigned agents, men whom He bestows a gift of communication, whose entire lives are
spent poring over His Word, and assembling a body of believers, on a frequent basis, to hear what they have gleened from
the pages of scripture.
These three elements, then, have been established solely for the purpose of training His roayal children; The Bible, a
cohesive canon of selected scriptures, a human "professor", and one member of the Trinty to interpret the scriptures, and
make them understandable to each member of the family.
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
For we walk by faith, not by sight..." (Gal 5:25, 2Cor 5:7)
"Living in the Spirit" involves a technique which is fundamental to the Christian life, I refer you to the section on
Rebound, and also The filling of The Holy Spirit. Only the Royal Family
have been given this filling, which is the basis for The Spirit's mentorship. But we can lose The Spirit by sin. This
is the reason why many mandates are issued to us; "Grieve not The Spirit", "Walk in The Spirit", and many others.
"Rebound" is a coined term which signifies the means we have been given to recover the filling, 1John 1:9. When we cite
our (known) sin to God (privately, to Him alone), He purifies us and restores The Spirit to our souls. Thus, as we grow
in our awareness of sin, and are prompt to put them away once we have comitted one, we spend maximum time with The
Spirit in our souls, and thus, there are many wonderful results that come of it. The verse, previously noted, speaks of
just a few of the "fruits of The Spirit". There are many more.
The Christian "walk" is an analogous concept to our daily lives, and is used a fair number of times in scripture. The
significance of the term is the nature of walking, one step at a time. God cautions us to "keep short accounts", concentrate
on the moment at hand, and avoid trying to see too far into the future.
There is great comfort in knowing that God has "preordained" each of us, we all have a personal plan, crafted just for us,
from before we were created. In His omniscience (all knowledge), God foreknew each hour of our lives, each trouble that
would befall us.
He charted a course for us, you and me, taking into account the smallest details in our lives, that would lead us through
the darkness of this cosmos, the devil's kingdom, to "the high ground", victory in this life. For those who heed the voice
of God, listen to the words of their appointed "shepherd" (Bible teacher), and follow the subtle persuasion of The Spirit
in our souls, we will be the heroes of all history, and we will be awarded for our devotion at the evaluation throne of
Christ.
Paul calls those rewards "crowns", a term he borrowed from the Roman custom of his time to give rewards to soldiers for
their courage in battle. The word for these rewards was "corona", the Latin for crown.
But a crown, bestowed upon a Roman soldier, was merely a symbol of the many blessings that accompanied it. The man was
given a choice grant of land, of his own choosing, and a fine home was built to his specifications. He as exonerated of
all taxes for life, his children were educated at public expense in the finest schools, the family received an allotment
of food each week, only the finest delicacies, for life, and a monetary gift in the amount of (in our dollars) a million
dollars was deposited in an account with the soldier's name.
Such are our blessings in Heaven for executing the plan which God The Father has given us. And all the while, each step
of the way, we are blessed with His guidance, courage, comfort, encouragement, motivation, and confidence in the promises
of God. This is our "calling", the life of abundance, in spiritual terms, in this place, and the blessings which surpass
imagination forever, in Heaven.
But there is a dark side to Christianity, not of God's making, but of the arrogance which men are vulnerable to. Our
enemy, the devil, "prowls about like a hungry lion, seeking whom he may devour...". For all of the great provisions God
has given us, Satan works overtime to distract us, disorient us, and render us casualties in the struggle between good
and evil.
Our "calling" is to this end, that we "fight the good fight of doctrine", oppose the Prince of Darkness, and gain victory
in our lifetime. This is not an easy undertaking, for our adversary is powerful, and a master of exploiting our natural
weaknesses. His siren song many times lures us from the path, but if we are consistent to cite our sins, and regain the
mentorship of The Spirit, our course will lead to the high ground.
Success in the spiritual life is possible for every one of us, for we are given equal priviledge and equal opportunity. No
man or woman, regardless of intelligence, race, social status, of any other factor, is denied an equal chance to mount that
highest pinnacle of spiritual growth and plan the colors deep. Such a one, a winner, will receive his own crown at the
appearing of Christ.
Unfortunately, we live in a time of apostacy. The entire world has sucuumed to the lusts of our human nature. Here, in
America, thousands of men mount their pulpits every Sunday and, unwittingly, procede to humanize God. They suggest that
we must "repent" our sins, not (as God directs) simply cite them to Him. They say we must do good deeds to promote God's
influence on earth, not as God directs, that we remain filled with The Spirit and expose ourselves to sound Bible teaching.
God will use the prepared Christian, not the good deeds that are generated by our human righteousness.
These false witnesses suggest that we follow practices that are either misinterpretations of the King James translation, or
worse, human inventions to sustain a gaudy church and the many programs they sponsor. The term "tithe" is familiar, but it
has been misrepresented. The tithe, in the bible, was an income tax, not a donation to the church. Tithing was established
in Israel, before their first human king, Saul, was ordained.
The first government of Israel was a theocracy, God was their King. His "cabinet" were the prophets of that day, members
of the Levitical Priesthood. As legitimate appointees to their repective governmental posts, the prophets collected a 10%
income tax. But many of the ministers of today tout tithing as a duty. This is a lie. Giving is a matter between God and
the individual, and the minister shouldn't even speak of it, except to announce a moment for passing the plate in a Sunday
service.
But this is just one of the dozens of erroneous practices which are foisted upon Christians in our society, and they all
lkead to the same place, a dishonorable death, and the loss of the crown God has set aside for every Believer. We can't
lose our salvation, not by any sin or other source, but we can lose the special blessings, the coronae, which the winners
will enjoy forever.
Once a Christian, born spiritually, we operate on a completely different set of rules that we did as unbelievers. Once a
Christian, we have a glorious future, co-heirs with Jesus Christ. Once Christians, whether we know it or not, we are born
into a ruling dynasty, higher than angels, that will rule forever. As Christians, we are provided powerful weapons, and
divine protection from any circumstance of life...provided we "enlist" in His army and stand to our guns, willing to
follow Him into the fray, and remain loyal until the end.
The crucial issues, for us, begin at the moment we are saved. We must seek out a qualified teacher with the gift of
communication. Because the King James is only as accurate as the, many times, amateur translators that were appointed
by King James, he must be educated in the Greek and Hebrew so that he can translate from the autograph. No pastor should
teach from the archaic and flawed King James bible.
The man we choose must embrace the concept of the local church, accepting no higher authority in setting the policies that
rule us. No synod, or ruling body, is acceptable, for by this tradition come all manner of distortions and malpractices.
Gradually, over the generations, denominations suffer from increasingly flawed policy, until it comes to things, like
today, many large churches allow homosexual marriages, and become increasingly legalistic.
All of the concepts and principles I have incorporated into this brief introduction to the Christian spiritual life are
found repeatedly in the other sections on this site. Such is the life we are given, that it's elements are woven together,
like fine threads that combine to make a strong rope, and come into play over and over again, as subjects that touch upon
them come into view. SO if you do not fully grasp all that was said here, don't sweat it. Continued study of God's Word
will yield wonderful rewards in terms of confidence and the sight to see your own path.
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of
God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1Cor 2:12)
"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withall." (1Cor 12:7)
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