The Sons of God: Tried & Tested

In past teachings we have talked about reprobates. The term simply refers to a saint who has been cast away from God and thrown back into the world. In this case the Spirit of God no longer dwells in them and they are certainly not in the faith. The inference here is that if one is a reprobate , there is no need for self-examination; it is too late for that because God has already rejected the individual and He has departed.

2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

We have heard the above passage ministered many times. Yet the Lord has spoken to me and said that we have not really understood it. The church is not examining itself from the true position of its salvation. Because of the error (regarding what a son of God is), it is impossible to truly judge itself relative to purity of heart. You see we are still locked in the theology that makes the church a bunch of human beings trying their best to be like Christ. It has not grasped the fact that it is Christ (the anointed ones), and that as He is, so are we already in this world today. Nevertheless, we are instructed to examine ourselves.

The first thing we must know is that we are still in the faith. Herein we must understand that Christ may indeed dwell in us, but that does not mean that we are actually walking in the faith. Consider the following scripture.

Galatians 2:20

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

“The life which I live in the flesh” implies ‘a walk’ which includes deeds, actions, feelings and thinking. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives or walks this walk through me. In other words, the life you see me living, I live by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His walk, His commitment to God, His purpose and His righteousness I have given myself over to. Now this takes us back to the prayer Jesus prayed in John’s gospel when He asked the Father to make us one as they are one.

The life we live in the flesh ought to be a reflection of the God of our salvation. It is supposed to be His life that is seen in the world. We are the manifestation of that life of Christ that fills the mystery of godliness. I want to go to the heart of the matter. There are many scriptures we either violate or pretend do not exist in order to maintain a walk that periodically carries us outside the boundaries of the faith. Why is this so? Why do we continuously find ourselves vacillating in and out of obedience? I will simply list some of the things the Lord said to me.

1 John 5:8

And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

We have been justified by the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:9). He is our propitiation for sin.

Ephesians 5:26

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

We have been washed and sanctified by the Word of God. And we have even been water baptized, as a declaration of our desire to serve Him.

Romans 8:15

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption,

whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

According to John, the Spirit, the water and the blood agree in one. But that is the issue and the bottom line here. We do not always agree with God. However, when we do not agree, we break true fellowship with Him. Oh, we go through the motions and the same rituals that are supposed to signify our fellowship with Him, but in truth we alienate ourselves from Him the moment we disagree. The Lord took me to the nature of our disagreements. He said it is not always that we fear man or circumstances. However, there are occasions when we feel it necessary to disobey, if we are to fulfill our own desires. These are the times when we ignore the scripture that speaks of us not being debtors to the flesh. Nevertheless, we allow our eyes to lose their singleness and begin to covet the pleasures of the world.

As I thought on these things, the word of the Lord came to me:

"Don’t you dare ignore the power of your deliverance. Don’t you even pretend to overlook the liberty of the Spirit I have brought you to. Judge righteously when you look at the state of your soul before I sent a word to free you from the spiritual wickedness that had infected, corrupted and spoiled you. There was none that cared for your soul. But I held it as precious to me. I created you and set you above all the powers of darkness. I have given you all that is needed to overcome the temptations of this world. You are created in my likeness and in my image. Submit to Christ and glorify me through Him. If you deny me, I will take away the glory I have given you. Submit to one another in the fear of the Lord. Keep no company with the unfruitful workers of the darkness of the world. Give no space to the flesh. Reckon it as dead and serve it no more."

JUDGE THESE THINGS

1. Rebellion: to challenge the will of God for the use of your body, which He bought with the blood of Jesus. The way you propose to take is unlawful because it is not the will of the Father.

1 Corinthians 6:20

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

2. Lying Emotions: Why do you mourn and grieve for those I have rejected? Why don’t you feel the way I do? What is the source of your emotion for them?

3. Mercy: Judge whether the thing you claim to be your mercy toward them is really your conviction that the punishment is more severe than the crime. Do you not regard my righteousness as just?

4. God’s Glory: Do you not regard my right to be glorified by my people as precious? If you do not feel as I do about my decision to cast away from me those who defame and put me to an open shame among the heathen and my people, then you are not in my Spirit.

5. Non-forgiveness: Are you prepared to go to hell along with your offenders?

6. Spirit of Control: Mercy does not make people feel that they have to wait until you get over what they did to you before the love can flow again. That is control. I am sure there are many other things we are able to judge ourselves in but in doing so, let us be diligent, knowing that we have but one soul and it is time to make it safe. The oneness of the sons is manifested even in the salutation of the apostle of Christ.

Philippians 1:8

For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

Paul was speaking from the place he lived, inside the bowels of Christ. He was one with the Father and the Son. So are we.

7. Consideration of sin is a sin: When we consider doing anything that is not the will of the Father, then we immediately break fellowship with God. As a man thinketh, so is he. If we remain one with God, then we would not consider sin. It would not be a temptation. When we begin to think or consider breaking the law of God, we have already departed from the faith. Neither God nor His sons can be tempted with sin.

Finally my sisters and brothers, If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:11).