Kingdom Come

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph 2:8-9) 

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” (Ro 4:2-8)

However! If we keep on reading we find far too many other scriptures balancing what has become an “easy believism” religion of fire insurance after death with no evidence of spiritual regeneration changing one’s daily routine fulfilling the desires of the flesh. The concept that membership in the Kingdom of God is simply a “get out of jail free” card is absolutely antithetical to what scripture teaches. 

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only…For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.” (James 2:14-24)

There is effort, actions, one can even say work, involved in obtaining salvation. Just read how many action verbs are demanded of those who would get saved. At the very least seeking, repenting, and forsaking.

“Ho, every one that thirsteth,

• come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye,
• buy,
• eat...Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not?
• hearken diligently unto me,
• eat ye that which is good,
• let your soul delight itself in fatness.
• Incline your ear, 
• come unto me:
• hear, and your soul shall live;
• Seek ye the LORD while he may be found,
• call ye upon him while he is near:
• Let the wicked forsake his way,
• the unrighteous man his thoughts:
• let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” 

The New Birth doesn’t simply happen by believing in Creator God’s power to give life as proven by Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. There is a growth and development of the Spirit of God merging with the seed of faith, just as there was with Mary’s pregnancy with Yeshua. The works that are spelled out in scripture prove that one is born again into the Spirit hyper dimension.

All too often, that seed aborts prior to full development and birth, detailed in Yeshua’s parable of the seed and the Sower.

But if it really happens there is evidence that one is controlled by the Holy Spirit by one’s

• repentance from evil / self centeredness
• Spirit control over previous destructive physical, mental and emotional obsessions and compulsions
• knowing / growing in relationship with Jesus which shows in
• a changed lifestyle paralleling his of obedience to the Father.

“There we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;” (Hebrews 2-3)

“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

• And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law,
• but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
• That I may know / be merged with him,
• and the power of his resurrection,
• and the fellowship of his sufferings,
• being made conformable unto his death;” (Philippians 3:3-10)

Wow. Sure doesn’t sound like contemporary Christian churches with children’s playgrounds and team sports and above all else contemporary music.

To claim salvation because you privately muttered a prayer during a church invitation then went out and continued living as before is to be one of the people of the lie of the devil.

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (I Joh 1:5-10)

The reason salvation is not a matter of either faith or works, it is faith and works, should be obvious. Our actions – both righteous and unrighteous – demonstrate the reality or pretense of our trust in, and submission to, the Lord in obtaining his criteria of righteousness.

We should recognize God’s righteousness in relying on our behavior as proof! Unlike the infamous Dreyfus affair, in the day of judgment not even God makes himself the sole judge of our guilt or innocence. It is for our own protection that God relies on DEMONSTRABLE EVIDENCE of our adherence to the requirements for inclusion in his kingdom! 

Living righteously is the reality of spiritual life. Think about it. A drug addict who goes to church and repents and prays for deliverance from heroin addiction then goes back to his dealer for more smack can excuse his actions on the basis that he is covered by grace, but he’s not saved from the current effects of his sin in this life, is he? What makes you think he is saved from the effects of his sin after death? This addict has to collaborate with God for salvation from heroin addiction by a conversion – a changed heart attitude about the awful effects of heroin on himself and his family, and turning away from his drug crowd and joining a rehab and support group to be successful in maintaining sobriety.

Becoming free from gluttony, sexual immorality, jealousy, or any of the destructive forces, AKA sins, involves a personal struggle in which the individual applies the supernatural grace and power of God that has been placed at his or her disposal to use, or not, as the individual chooses. Changes are not just zapped into us without any effort on our part. It’s like a drive-through car wash. It’s easy enough to just sit in the car while the machines wash the outside clean, but at some point you have to get out and vacuum the inside yourself.

Faith in action has always been the means of salvation from sin. This is obvious if you understand “salvation from sin” as “eliminating destructive forces from our lives”. This is true in the physical resurrection of the body at the Second Coming, but also evident in the spiritual resurrection now.

“God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law [of sin and death], To redeem them that were under the law [of sin and death]. (Galatians 4:4-5)

^“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:” (Romans 8:2-3)

Faith in action is not the same concept as salvation through works.

We don’t change our behavior in order to get saved, we change our behavior because we are saved from destructive behaviors / sin.

King David described the process by which he was saved from his sin of adultery and murder.

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest…thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” (Psalm 51:1-6)

Years later a similar situation occurred with a woman who committed adultery, and the Son of God dealt with it the same way that God has dealt with sinners since day one – believe Yahweh’s Promise to provide salvation and act on that belief.

“And [the legalistic religious leadership] brought unto him a woman…and…say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now…the law commanded us, that such should [die]: but what sayest thou?…He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her…And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst…And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying…If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:3-32)

Freedom from sin cannot depend on relying on one’s own willpower. It can only be experienced under God’s protection and provision, freed from destructive forces of sin, the destroyer by whatever name described.

There is only one unforgivable sin. Learning the truth that YHVH’s Chosen Savior is the Word / Manifestation of Almighty hyper dimensional God with the power to overcome spiritual degeneration to death, but rejecting him.

•  ^“unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God…
• [but] the scribes [i.e. most intimate with the scriptures] which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. 

And he called them unto him…Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men…

But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.“ (Mark 3)