So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

Paul explained the doctrine of Grace. He had a way of expressing things that got to the root of the matter, dividing one thing from another, by means of the Word and the Spirit. He often captured complicated things in such a way as to express and administer them to people so that there could be understanding of what was being taught so that people could come to the same place of agreement in faith concerning subjects as he had.

In speaking to the church at Colossae, Paul laid out the way of Grace through faith. Grace is the enablement of God, and faith is God’s gift.
When we consider the children of Israel, it says they perished in the wilderness because they did not mix their promises with faith. Although they had faith, they did not choose to use the free gift of God, and so enter into His Rest.

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Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

The essential of the Christian life is saving Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  All flows from the head.  Yet, when it comes to walking it out, many come to the table with many of their own ideas, and notions, and feelings about how church and the Christian life can and should be.

Consider, for a moment, though, the covenant Israel had with God, before the cross.  They could not dress, eat, behave, or throw away their refuse like any other nation.  They had strict ceremonial behavior they had to adhere to, being clean or unclean, and certain offenses had to be atoned for through sacrifice, the blood of an animal, or for the worse of the crimes, they had to be either cast out of the community or destroyed entirely.  Even the land itself had to be considered, that they might not bring sin upon the land (Deuteronomy 24:4).

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And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Genesis 4:1-7

Hebrews 11:4 tells us that it was by faith that Abel offered a better offering than Cain.

Cain’s offering was not regarded by the Lord, as it is written, without blood there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22).  It required blood, in which the Lord said the life of a thing was, in order to atone for the sin of another.  And, it was through the eyes of faith that Abel could perceive this.  And, for whatever reason, Cain’s lack of faith, or lack of using his faith, was his failure to see.

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Jesus said His Kingdom was not of this world (realm) (John 18:36).  It is a spiritual kingdom, and as such, must never be confused with an Earthly one.  To lose this distinction, even when speaking of a Millennial reign, is an error of great dimension.

The Kingdom is not constituted in books of laws, governmental seating, and minted coinage, and the like.  Yet, on the other end, it is not without potency in the physical dimension.  Consider Jesus’ life and ministry.  He said, to paraphrase, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20).  The same is true with healing.  Therefore, it was the entrance of the Kingdom which brought about the deliverance in the first place!  Somehow, the invisible, spiritual, and “ethereal” had directly, manifestly affected the natural order.

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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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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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For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

The issue of the ages is a sin issue.

It has never been an issue of the knowledge of good versus evil, for that is God’s domain, and we were told to steer clear of it, but it has always been about sin.

From the beginning, it has always been about Life in Obedience.

The law was added due to the increase of transgressions.  God’s standard of right has never changed, but it was added.  It was God’s perfect righteousness.

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The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

1 Corinthians 2:15 NIV

You see, it is the spiritual man that is free.

According to Paul, he, the spiritual man, judges all things, and yet is judged by no one.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

1 Corinthians 2:15 KJV

He that is spiritual judges.  He that is spiritual is not subject to other men’s judgement.

The man led by the Spirit is not under the law.  He neither looks directly to it for his direction nor does he receive criticism or accusation that he has violated it or has transgressed it.

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Of all the patterns of the Old Testament, one of the greatest is the Tabernacle of Moses.

Moses, a prophet of God, was given its design upon the mountain, and told to build everything according to the Pattern He had seen there.

Of its physical elements, there were several major elements, and possibly more than listed here.

There were materials for the posts, curtains, drapes, and altars.  There were dimensions (lengths and widths).  There were counts (number of posts, pillars, etc).  There was furniture (the altars and tables).  There were their utensils (shovels, rakes, censers, etc).  There was its orientation (which way it faced).  There was its layout, with three chambers, each further in.

In addition, there were its gates, how it was to be consecrated, packed up, transported, and set up again, and the way that the priests related to these.

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But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’  And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?  They said, ‘The first.’

Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Matthew 21:28-32

When we look at the faith teachers in the past, we do not always see the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus explicitly mentioned, even though they do teach Faith, the anointing, and the realm of the Spirit perfectly.  While there are many variations on faith teaching, it must be noted, however, one crucial thing.  Despite how much revelation one teacher had or another, or how well any person was able to present the message of faith, of more important than the ability to understand and teach faith is whether we choose to LIVE it!

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