Discovering the Second Half of the Gospel

[Gideon]

57 minutes ago, brakelite said:

@Gideon I get it. 

KJV Ephesians 3
Paul's Prayer 
14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

And what is Paul praying for here for the Ephesians, who were already saved? Their awakening!

Notice that he prayed that Christ would dwell in their hearts by faith. Being saved and having Christ dwell in our hearts by faith are not the same. And what is the result of this, where we abide in Him ..... never leaving? 

We do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. If that is truly not our desire, we need to hit our knees and beseech our God to change our hearts. And.... He will!

Blessings, 

Gideon

[Guest shiloh357]

1 hour ago, Gideon said:

So do you habitually sin? 

No, I don't live in habitual sin.  But you do.   You live in habitual pride, arrogance and false judgment of other believers.

Quote

 

How much must one sin the same sin again and again for it to be considered a habit? Once a day? Once a month? And as we are progressively sanctified, should that actually become less and less to the point we stop and work on another sin? 

Gideon

 

It means making a daily practice or lifestyle of sin. I think you know what habitual means.  No need to sit here and pretend you don't know what that means. 

But the greater point is that you apparently think you're the only one growing in holiness.   It is rather ironic that while you look down your snoot at everyone else as being less holly and spiritual than you are, you have become the very thing you are condemning.

[Still Alive]

15 hours ago, frienduff thaylorde said:

"If you are a universalist

HERE let me finish this sentence .   IF you are a universalist , YOU DONT KNOW JESUS and ya aint been saved .      That should be how that read .

Opinions vary.

FWIW, I'm not a universalist.

In fact, to use a different analogy. Imagine I got new revelation that said that it would not affect my Christian walk if I slept around on my wife. I still wouldn't do it because I love my wife, and know how it would affect her and, frankly, my feelings toward her. So I don't do it even if I could. And is that sort of thing not the essence of Christianity? Love, compassion, sacrifice and, most importantly, his free gift of aionios life.

[Guest shiloh357]

11 hours ago, Not me said:

1 John 5:18 (NASB)
We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.. 

This I talking about the New Creation. “no one who is born of God sins”. 

 

Doesn't matter.  It is the same thing as in I JOhn 3:4-10.   It is not saying that those who are born again don't commit a single sin.  It is still carries the connotation in the Greek of not sinning habitually.   So the point still stands.   The Bible NEVER assumes that we will never sin again after we are born again.  The expectation is that we will commit sins after we are saved.   That is why Jesus continues to pray for us and why He continues to plead our case as our advocate before the Father.  

Any Christian who thinks they don't sin occasionally after they have been saved, is only lying to themselves.

[Still Alive]

2 hours ago, Gideon said:

Ok, let me ask you a question. Let’s say that right now, you have an Achilles heel sin. You give. Into it a lot... say three times a week. And let’s also say that what is being shared will make it so you give into it one every eight months. In both cases, you are not sinless. But..... do you take the second way where you actuallly .... sin less? 

Gideon 

Sin harms. The less I do it, the less harm is done.

An interesting thing is that I find that none of my sins go away because I try really really hard to not do them. Rather, the desire simply disappears. During smoke-out day back in the early 80's, a newscaster on KIRO radio in Seattle (CBS affiliate) named Jim French gave his testimony live on the air on how he quit smoking. He said he gave it to the lord and immediately his desire to smoke ended. He was done.

It wasn't via his effort.

BTW, imagine such a testimony being allowed today on a major network.

[Heleadethme]

1 hour ago, Gideon said:

Here is what I am seeing... an overview. Three common objections have risen as I have shared.

1) My visitation.

I am presenting readers with something God miraculously gave me and asked me to share. Whether you believe how it came about or not, God does indeed promise to cause us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. It is scriptural that He promises to keep us from falling, and to deliver us from the power of darkness. Agreed?

So, set aside any discussion for a moment as to whether or not God actually came to me in a miraculous visitation. The real question is, can God... will God.... does God desire to.....free us from the owner of sin in our lives?

2) The Awakening-

When I shared that I believe there will be an awakening to this truth, posters totally glossed over these clear scriptures and focused on this “awakening” as unscriptural. 

3) Rhe Second Half of the Gospel-

Now, when I share “the second half of the gospel”, which is exactly the same thing I shared above, again, posters are glossing over these wonderful truths that are not what we are being taught and experiencing, and focus their counter attack on what is the correct definition of gospel. 

Does this even make sense?  For a minute, forget about my miraculous visitation. Forget about this awakening of which I have spoken. Forget about what I call “the second half of the gospel”. God has promised to cause us to walk obediently. It is a part of our  new covenant. Do we think we need such a blessing? Do we want it if it is possible? Our shield of faith is promised by the God who cannot lie to quench all the fiery arrows of our enemy. Do we possess such shields? Are we using them? If not, why not? 

Let’s set aside these pointless arguments and focus in on the real issue. 

Does God promise to sanctify us, body, soul and spirit? Does He promise to keep us from falling? Is there a place in Him.... abiding in Him ,where we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh? Scriptures say yes. Our experience so far says no. Which will we accept as true? 

That is the question  before is.  But in order to answer it, first we must decide if we want that to happen to us? Are we content to sin just a little bit, or are we like Paul in Romans 7, hating even our little sins, and our hearts that never seem to be able to completely surrender all to Him? If we do, God will move mountains to open our eyes..... i.e. awaken us.... to the fullness of our salvation, where God not only justifies us by faith, but sanctifies us by faith as well. 

However, if there are those who do not.really want that, even if it were possible, and they are quite content rock be forgiven alone,  then there is nothing that I can say or do to sway them. God is going to have to go to the next level of convincing them. 

Blessings, 

Gideon

One thing I am pretty sure about is that if we are not praying and asking God to send help at such at time as this when the church is in such a terrible mess, then we are remiss.  If we think we know it's hopeless and written off, then maybe we dont' yet know as we ought.  We are to pray and not give up.  The whole book of Esther is a living parable about the last days....and God WILL arm His people to meet the challenge and be victorious in the battle.

Gideon, I don't know if you are seeing the same things that I was shown in scripture or not, maybe you are seeing a kind of revival that precedes what will be poured out just prior to and associated with His coming or maybe it is one and the same you were shown, I am not sure (haven't been on line as much lately and I probably missed some of what you wrote)....and maybe it depends on how close are to the end.  But comparing notes here, here is some of what the Lord was gracious to open my eyes to and see if it is the same as what you were shown:

Hos. 6:1-3

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

 Jas 5:7-8

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

 Jas 5:16-18

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

 

This latter rain will be the balance owing of the earnest of the Spirit that was poured out as the early rain.  Because Jesus has saved the best wine for last, as we saw with His first recorded miracle at the wedding feast.

 

 

Edited May 3, 2018 by Heleadethme

[Gideon]

5 minutes ago, Heleadethme said:

One thing I am pretty sure about is that if we are not praying and asking God to send help at such at time as this when the church is in such a terrible mess, then we are remiss.  If we think we know it's hopeless and written off, then maybe we dont' yet know as we ought.  We are to pray and not give up.  The whole book of Esther is a living parable about the last days....and God WILL arm His people to meet the challenge and be victorious in the battle.

Gideon, I don't know if you are seeing the same things that I was shown in scripture or not, maybe you are seeing a kind of revival that precedes what will be poured out just prior to and associated with His coming or maybe it is one and the same you were shown, I am not sure (haven't been on line as much lately and I probably missed some of what you wrote)....and maybe it depends on how close are to the end.  But comparing notes here, but here is some of what the Lord was gracious to open my eyes to and see if it is the same as what you were shown:

Hos. 6:1-3

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

 Jas 5:7-8

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

 Jas 5:16-18

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

 

This latter rain will be the balance owing of the earnest of the Spirit that was poured out as the early rain.  Because Jesus has saved the best wine for last, as we saw with His first recorded miracle at the wedding feast.

 

 

Brother, we are seeing the same thing. Praise God! And the best part? The latter shall be greater than the former! 

Many blessings, 

Gideon

P.S. I posted a while back on the coming latter rain. You may want to look at it. 

[brakelite]

one can be fully assured that we will NOT be saved except we repent, turn away from, and repudiate every last vestige of wickedness and sin in the life. There are numerous promises in the scripture which guarantee, because God cannot lie, that we can overcome sin. That sin shall NOT have dominion over us, but that we shall have dominion over sin. The concept that we will sin till the day we die is a denial of the power of God, and can become, and is used as an excuse for disobedience. 

As I said previously, in the OT sanctuary service the altar of sacrifice was only the very first step in God's plan of salvation for Israel. And the altar represents Calvary. But Israel was not saved at the altar. Israel did not celebrate their complete emancipation from sin until the end of the day of atonement when the high priest came out of the most holy place to once again appear before the people. This departing of the high priest from the most holy place represents the departure of Jesus, our High Priest, out of the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary and come the second time to earth to take His justified, sanctified, and soon to be glorified people home.

[Heleadethme]

1 minute ago, Gideon said:

Brother, we are seeing the same thing. Praise God! And the best part? The latter shall be greater than the former! 

Many blessings, 

Gideon

Glory to God \o/  AMEN, I believe it!

And this being the wedding feast.....the wine of the wedding feast......so we do at the same time need to be prepared and have oil in our lamps in order to enter/receive it.  Praise the Lord....it will be terrible and glorious all at once.  Going by the two witnesses (the church, Jew and Gentile, two witnesses united as one) it seems that this will be the power given in the latter half of the tribulation just prior to the coming of Christ.  If this is so then the persecutions and suffering during the first part of the tribulation will help the church to be ready and refined, those who patiently endure.

(I'm a sister by the way, it's unfortunate there isn't a female avatar, so I'm often mistaken for a brother.)

[Heleadethme]

13 minutes ago, brakelite said:

one can be fully assured that we will NOT be saved except we repent, turn away from, and repudiate every last vestige of wickedness and sin in the life. There are numerous promises in the scripture which guarantee, because God cannot lie, that we can overcome sin. That sin shall NOT have dominion over us, but that we shall have dominion over sin. The concept that we will sin till the day we die is a denial of the power of God, and can become, and is used as an excuse for disobedience. 

As I said previously, in the OT sanctuary service the altar of sacrifice was only the very first step in God's plan of salvation for Israel. And the altar represents Calvary. But Israel was not saved at the altar. Israel did not celebrate their complete emancipation from sin until the end of the day of atonement when the high priest came out of the most holy place to once again appear before the people. This departing of the high priest from the most holy place represents the departure of Jesus, our High Priest, out of the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary and come the second time to earth to take His justified, sanctified, and soon to be glorified people home.

Amen.....maybe we could say that our salvation was authored at Calvary but not yet finished until the Author returns to Finish it.    But be prepared for that to be misunderstood brother.