Regeneration of Souls
Heb.4:12, ‘For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’
My Testimony – My Doctrinal Perspective
Some of you may say, ‘Hey KB, you have arrived at this doctrinal perspective of God because of what you have gone through (experience). Because of your physical sufferings you have come to believe that everyone has to suffer for God like you before we can get anywhere in the Kingdom of God. KB you must not be too extreme but be balance in your doctrine.’
I am called to be a Psalmist and like King David and other Psalmists, they look to the throne of God, draw near to His Heart to listen to His heartbeat and finally to see through His eyes, the perspective of God not human beings. It may be extreme because the ideals of God may be hard to follow but that is God’s standard and will. And again I say, your maturity depends on how much you work towards His ideals because everyone falls short of His Glory.
Let’s be like the Psalmist; to look to the throne of God. Psalm 27:4, ‘One thing I ask of You Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.’
I agree that it is through my physical suffering that I have learnt about the ideals of God. As I sat at the dialysis machine for four hours every time, I tried to make excuses for God for what is going through in my life. And the excuses later, turned out to be God’s prompting in my heart; His Holy Spirits began to teach me about His ideals and plans for humanity.
It is only in this kind of situation that I can ‘be still’ and listen to His voice. All my physical defenses were down; my pride and stubbornness had all melted through the years of humbling at the dialysis machine. I was broken and despair and I can only turn to God for comfort.
God had personally brought me into the back part of the desert (Adventist Hospital) to teach me His ways; as in the days of Moses and Apostle Paul in Arabia.
Balance VS Extreme Doctrine
In answer to the third part of the question above; if trying to be holy and blameless and obedient to the Ideals of God is extreme and if suffering for the good of our soul is extreme; then believing in balance is compromise. Balance in some other ways but not in the progression of your spiritual walk.
Balance is to take a middle stand; in our continuous walk in the Spirit, we cannot stop halfway and take a middle stand and refuse to move on. The closer to the extreme is where God’s ideals are. Extreme is the perspective of the world while God considers it His Ideals. We have to finish the race as God has planned it for us.
Can a baby just stop growing when he reaches his youth or a caterpillar stops in its cocoon stage and refuse to grow further? Our walk in the Spirit is a continuous progression until we reach the Ideals of God closely. Unfortunately some Christians are stuck at salvation and do not know that there is another higher calling for them, that is to finish the race. (2Timothy 4:7)
To work out our own salvation (Phil.2:12) and bear fruits which is in the Spirit Realm.
The Regeneration of Souls
Rom. 12:2, ‘And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.’
Regeneration means bring or come into renewed existence; improve moral condition of; impart new, more vigorous, or spiritually higher life or spiritually born again.
The moment that you sincerely confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom.10:9) For all thing have passed and all things have become new, you are a new creation.(2Cor.5:17) You will be ‘born again’ and when you continue to believe and confess Christ in your life, when you die you will go to heaven as the Bible says. You have become citizens of Heaven. Pillip.3:20, ‘For our citizenship is in Heaven…’
At that point of salvation your dormant spirit is ignited by the Holy Spirit. Instantly you are transformed from the physical realm and given the keys into the Spiritual Realm. You are a Spirit. That means you (soul) should no longer be controlled by the flesh but ‘by My Spirit‘, says the Lord. Your paradigm has shifted from the worldly perspective and laws to that of the ideals of God, His words.
Once you were the god of your own life governed by the laws of the jungle. You were like the children of Israel when there was no law in the Old Testament; the people did what they think fit and what satisfied their flesh.
But now you are translated into the Spirit Realm and you live for a God and obey His Spirit, it’s no longer you that live but Christ that lives in you. You must decrease and He must increase. Although you are just babies in the spirit, your spiritual journey have just begun.
You are pilgrims on a journey the Bible says. 1Chron. 29:15, ‘For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were our forefathers; our days on earth are as a shadow without hope.’ And Heb.11:13, ‘…they were strangers and pilgrims.’
You are like pilgrims on a mission and that is to seek holiness (Eph.1:4); and to do and complete God’s Will on earth for the time span of 70-80 years or more if you are healthy.
This spiritual journey will begin on earth and ends in Heaven. A journey God has planned for your soul, lead by the Spirit, before the foundation of the earth (Rom 8:29), to sanctify your soul, through various physical obstacles, trials and tribulations He puts in your path on earth for you to overcome. That explains why there is so much suffering on earth even for Christians.
And each overcoming will bring forth crowns of reward in the spirit as you mature in your soul. James 1:12, ‘Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crowns of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.’
Rev.2:7, ‘…to him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’ It may not mean anything to you right now, but God has promised a reward for you even as you become more and more like Christ.
If you feel the peace, joy and love overpowering you at the moment in church, please open yourselves to imagine the extreme moments of bliss in different realms and levels of His countenance and presence as rewards which you may enjoy in paradise for eternity. Hallelujah!!!
It is a journey of faith. Without suffering your faith will not be tested, to hang on to God’s promises when you go through adverse situations in your life on earth, without faith it is impossible to please God. (Heb.11:6)
Apostle Paul said in 2Timothy 4:7, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.’ Life on earth, spiritually, is a fight of faith to please God (Job); it is painful to your flesh but you have to pay the price. Will you keep on trusting God when every situation in your life seems impossible, yet, you believe to the end. There is renewal of your souls in the process as the Spirit leads.
As Apostle Paul also mentioned that he had finished the race. What race you may ask? It is the spiritual journey God has plan for you before the foundation of the world. It is an individual race where you do not compete with others who are better or worst but only yourself in fulfilling God’s calling within the time allotted to you. If you make the wrong choice or miss it, you will have to suffer the consequence of losing some crowns and rewards in heaven.
It is the Lord Jesus’ job to wipe away your tears to comfort you before the Great White Throne on Judgment Day for the missed opportunities. (Rev.20)
While most Christians will just be contented to be mere citizens of heaven……………
Put on the ' Armor of God'
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3550367&q=lo http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3550367&q=hi
....................next .......... Pt 2. Carnal Christians-Choices-Walking in the Spirit
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