Chapter 2

Every Son of God has been called into glory and virtue, we have been made partakers with the divine nature of God.

2 Peter 1:2-4

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The fourth verse says, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, revealing that we are no longer a part of the corruption of iniquity, sin and death that entered the world through Adam. We are freed from all sin, death and shame, as we become one Spirit with our Lord. Every son dwells in Christ and He dwells in them.

It is the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ that maintains the freedom of the sons (Romans 8:2, 2 Corinthians 3:17). The sons can freely walk in the peace, righteousness and joy of the Lord. There is no power that can hinder a son from experiencing this sweet fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus. They are literally made one with the power of God, and this power is greater than all the power of the enemy.

This fellowship with God and his sons is one of love. The sons of God are the only creatures that can truly walk in the fullness of the Father’s divine love. The son’s ability to reach the mark of the Father’s perfection in love is a result of them being made one with Him. Jesus prayed, And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me Summary Scripture:

2 Peter 1:4 - Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. shadows of doubt

may be in them, and I in them. – John 17:26. Christ is in us, and with Him, the divine nature of the Father’s love is also. It is the Father’s divinity in the Sons that enable us to walk in perfection. We are admonished by the Scriptures, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect – Matthew 5:48. This passage is written specifically to the sons of God. We, through our oneness with the Father’s power, are able to walk in the righteousness of God. We have a fellowship in His love. The Father and His love that is shed abroad in the hearts of the Sons, is the very righteousness of God and His law written within our hearts. God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the sons saying, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. – Jeremiah 31: 33. The law of God has been engraved in the hearts of the Sons of God. The righteousness of God is the divine nature of the Sons.

God also gave witness to the workmanship of His hands concerning our salvation to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

God, who saved, cleansed and sanctified us wholly (spirit, body and soul: 1 Thessalonians 5:23) has also placed His Spirit within us. The Spirit of God within us has made us one with the righteous character of God. We must see the Word as literal: those who are in Christ have been, …made the righteousness of God in him – 2 Corinthians 5:21. Righteousness is not something that we do, it is who we are. The phrases, Be ye holy… and Be Ye Perfect both speak to nature. These are instructions of what to be, not what to do… ‘Doing’ comes natural when it is a part of what you are. Therefore the sons do by nature that which is Godly. Their oneness with God is a reality, not something that they have to strive and force themselves into.

We as Sons must move away from the “what would Jesus do?” way of thinking that became popular among the religious. The Father declared who Jesus was/is, which dictates what Jesus did/ does. The Word has also defined who we are, …as he is, so are we in this world 1 John 4:17. This same passage says, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment… allowing us to once again reflect on our nature of perfect love. It is this perfect love that the very righteousness of the law hangs upon. This righteousness is our nature. Those of us who were truly born again experience an innate desire for holiness and righteousness. This is the divine nature of God at work in us. The moment we became born again, in the twinkling of an eye, holiness became native to us. We were as the Gentiles spoken of in Romans, who received salvation without knowledge of the law.

Romans 2:14-15

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) The Church was not moving by theory, or from some itemized list of do’s and don’ts, they obeyed the nature (natural desire) to live holy and please God that was in them.

God desires for us to understand that it is the divine nature of Sons to live holy. We must move from walking in knowledge (memory of teaching) into nature (led of the Spirit). When we walk in fellowship with God, we will have no need to question what would He do, because the Father will do the work through His Son that dwells in us. We will become witnesses of His indwelling life; being made partakers of His divine nature.

How do I judge if I am walking in Knowledge our nature? One of the easiest ways of discerning if you are walking in knowledge or nature is by judging the first response of your soul. Where do you innately go in opposition? When offensive things happen in your situation, circumstance or relationships, is righteousness your natural reaction, or do you have to minister to yourself, to do that which is righteous? The first response reveals your spiritual location; it exposes to you the mind that you walk in. Judging your innate thoughts or emotions allow you to assess if you walk in a carnal perspective, or if you are walking in the Spirit (the divine nature of Christ).

The Scripture says, …the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance

– Galatians… 5:22-23. This Scripture is not speaking of us mimicking these virtues in our actions, it is revealing that these are natural manifestations of those who are in fellowship (oneness) with God. These attributes are who God is; and therefore those who are one with Him (in nature and agreement) will effortlessly produce these things. It is effortless because it is not the willpower of the soul that is at work, the power of the Father doeth the works. There is also a Scripture in 1John that explains how we can discern if we are walking in knowledge or nature.

1 John 5:1-3

1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

We know that love is the bottom-line, regarding the righteousness of God. The love of God is holy, it is a part of His nature. His children share in His divine nature and His divine love. Sons are instinctively holy, obedient and loving by nature. Sons are fulfilled by obedience; it strengthens and satisfies us to please the Father. When we walk in our nature, Godliness is our nature. Again, there is no striving or effort here when it is nature. We only strive within ourselves when we are attempting to oppose our own dispositions. When we do not agree with the righteous way/judgment of God, our souls become an opposition to our nature. When we do not embrace who we are, we relate (walk in agreement) with the character of the Old Man. We through wrong thinking create lust that is contrary to nature. However, the Scriptures say that these things are not convenient for sons (Ephesians 5:3-4, Romans 1:28-31). The reason that the way of sin is inconvenient is because they are contrary to our divine nature. However, when we have carnal mindsets, while attempting to walk righteously, we strive or force ourselves to obey. Yet, our offering of obedience is not accompanied by the joy of the Lord. When our perspective of ourselves or life is carnal we will grudgingly attempt to walk in righteousness. While we are here, our righteous acts are unacceptable to the Lord. The Lord taught us that sin is not relative to it’s location. Sin is sin, regardless if it is being displayed in actions, or the hidden in the heart.

DISCERNING THE SHADOWS OF DOUBT

Prayers that reveal the shadow of doubt:

Have you ever prayed, or witnessed another person who is a son pray for the Lord to change them? Do you know prayers that sound like, Lord make me more like you? Have you prayed or witness prayers that ask God to give His love, peace, power, righteousness or some other godly attribute?

Many of us judge these as good, especially if we think that we discern sincerity in the person who is crying out. Yet, all of these prayers coming from a son can only derive from ignorance or unbelief. When we truly consider what is being said we find that these prayers undermine the handy work of God in salvation. They imply that He never truly gave us all things that pertain to life and godliness. They also suggest that He never really gave us power over all the power of the devil. The bottom line is, we do not believe that we are complete in Him. If we are not finished works, but require additional parts, then God failed in salvation. The bottom-line of our belief is that He did not produce a finished work. However, we must discern that a failure of nature in the New Creature is a failure of the God who said that the nature would be perfectly holy. Thus, any prayers that imply anything against the Truth are indeed prayers that reveal unbelief. Sermons (and conversations) that reveal shadows of doubt:

When we preach, minister or discuss certain things, the void in our understanding is often exposed. We, as ministers, must be aware of this; especially those of us who are handling this word. When a minister walks in sin, and the enemy begins to sift them, yet they continue to preach, their sermons will reveal shadows of doubt. As they minister you can discern a vacillation between the Scriptures and the disposition of the minister. They may read a Scripture, or teach from a study guide that is Truth; however, when they attempt to explain or bring increase the shadow of doubt will reveal itself. The minister themselves may even agree with the standard of God. Nevertheless, the compromise of sin and the shadow of doubt in them will create a struggle to fulfill the will of God. They will minister righteousness as a difficult thing. You will hear Satan’s influence in their speech, because they will often move into accusing the brethren of sin. They will make failure appear commonplace as they attempt to get their audience to relate and agree with their perspective. They assume that whether you are seemingly obedient to God or not, you must be wrestling within yourself even as they are.

We must be careful to judge ourselves, and make sure that Satan in not using us to disparage the truth of the Gospel, directly or indirectly through shadows of doubt.

I pray that this message is clear, we have been called to walk in and minister the Gospel. The gospel is a message of freedom, not a life-long fight. Those of us who the Son has set free, are truly free indeed. We are free from sin and death. We are free from the corruption that is in the world through lust. We are free to walk in the divine nature of sons.