And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

John 1:16

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 7:14

We understand that it is by God’s grace that we are saved.  It is not our own efforts, but is His efforts.  It is only by coming with no merit of our own, but as sinners who sin, with no excuse or righteousness of our own merit, and by coming to the bloody cross with our own souls, that we enter into Christ’s life within.  It is only in the fullness of that finished work that we have any life whatsoever.  Paul called any efforts besides simple faith in the cross to be “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1).

On the other side of this is Jesus’ Words, saying, that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and Sadducees, we will in no way ever enter the Kingdom.  He said that the gate was small, and the the road to life was hard and narrow.  Only a few find it.

Between these two places on either side, which we could call ditches, we find the road.  Narrow as it is, it is still the road, and it must be traveled.

When we learn to preach the fullness of His Grace hand in hand with the narrowness of the road, we will have begun to understand the finished works of the cross.

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To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Titus 1:15-16

The pure light of the Gospel is of the same nature as the Kingdom of which the Gospel preaches.  It is founded on righteousness and justice, and its ways are holiness and faithfulness.

For the light of the Gospel shines as a searchlight in the darkness, finding the hidden things, discovering the secret things in darkness.  As the prophet Jeremiah said,

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

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So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

Ephesians 4:17-19

The light of the Lord permeates everything we touch and do as a believer.  The light of the glory of the Lord so permeated Moses that, when the man of God died, the angel Michael contested with the devil over what they would do with the bones (Jude 1:9).  The glory so filled Elisha, that even when his bones were long dead and dry, a dead man falling against them returned to life (2 Kings 13:21).

When we approach God’s Word, we must realize that it is Spiritual.  The world we understand and see is physical, and while it has a bearing on the spiritual, it in itself is not spiritual.  What we see and what man thinks of as being spiritual is plainly not (John 3:3-5).

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That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guiltless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,

Philippians 2:15 AMP

Those who teach righteousness will show as stars in the heavens for all of time. Surely, even as Jesus said that the one who breaks the least command and teaches others to as well shall be the least in the kingdom, righteousness and justice truly are the foundation of His throne.

He is the Father of lights, and His children are children of light. As we walk in the light as He Is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.

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For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

Grace is God’s gift to men.  It is His unmerited favor, it is His divine enablement, it is never deserved.

Grace and holiness always go hand in hand. His Grace teaches us to say no to sin, and by it we put to death the misdeeds of the flesh in the finished works. Any “grace” that is not intrinsically tied to real, practical holiness is not Grace. And by humbling ourselves and repenting and mourning, more Grace is given, submitting to God, resisting the devil, Christ within conquers all our foes.

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[F]or if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10, portion

Freedom is found in the lack of chains.

A Psalmist wrote, ” I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2).  When we make our decisions before God and man, do we understand that He is all that matters?

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But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:8-12

The word “minister” comes from the same word meaning “to serve”.  Hence, a minister is a servant, a ministry is a service, and to minister is to serve.  This is the same context that Paul writes that He is the servant, or slave of Christ.  As Jesus said, he who wishes to be the greatest in the Kingdom will be the servant, the slave, of all.

The position of ministry is never one of exalting oneself over another, but rather the serving of another, and being their slave in the Lord.  A minister could be viewed as someone who has something of God so that he has been designated, by God, to help other people find Him as well.  A servant, a slave, never works on his own behalf, for his own name or recognition, but only and always for that of his master, his steward and keeper.

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I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”

Psalm 16:2 NAS

When we try to please the Lord from ourselves, all we have is filthy rags, according to Paul.  Jesus said that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the leaders of the Jews, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  In their pride, in their self effort, though they knew they did not fulfill all of the righteousness of the law perfectly, they held themselves as leaders of the people, hiding their own sin, and not crying out for the brokenness that was in them for the depravity of their hearts.  Though their lives seemed to demonstrate a holiness that surpassed everything else, they were corrupt, filthy, and unclean in the eyes of God.

Yet, David, years before the New Covenant, already perceived the secret of the Kingdom through the Spirit of prophecy that was on him.  He wrote, saying, there was no good in himself except for the Holy Spirit within Him. Read more…

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 16:11

In your presence, in your flow, in your depths, my heart cries out.  Who is the Lord but our God.  Though the nations are in turmoil, and though the peoples do not see, you alone are God, and you reign forever in the heavens.

But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.

Psalm 92:8

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But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Galatians 6:14

The freedom from this life is the freedom from all of its desires, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  Yet, this is not asceticism, or the simply turning away from the things of the world, as if to nothing, but it is turning to a greater thing, a thing of true worth, and a thing of lasting enjoyment.

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