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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Attaining the Inheritance, #15
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:2)
The Lord Jesus is very much more of the Substance and Nature of God than is true of us. To believe otherwise is to walk in delusion. Nevertheless the development of the Divine Nature in the sons of God is an essential aspect of the forming of the Kingdom of God.
Now we can understand why the writer of the Book of Hebrews was so upset over the lukewarm Hebrew Christians. They had received Christ, been born again, and had witnessed the powers of the age to come. But by no means had they entered the rest of God where they would be partaking of the high inheritance to which they had been called. They were coming short of the Glory of God.
A great error exists in Christian theology. It is the concept that the main benefit of the Christian salvation is the forgiveness of our sins. It is thought that after we have received the forgiveness of our sins we possess about ninety percent of our inheritance in Christ.
What a tremendous misunderstanding this is!
The forgiveness of sins is but a supplementary aspect of the Christian salvation. God forgives our sins through Christ so He can proceed with the main task of changing us into the image of Jesus and bringing us into union with Himself. It is the transformation and relationship with God that are the primary emphases of the new covenant. It is the bringing forth of the new creation that is the distinguishing characteristic of the Christian redemption (Hebrews 8:10-12; Galatians 6:15).
To stop seeking God after having our sins forgiven is like ceasing to eat after we have been cured of an illness, or ceasing to grow after we have been born, or refusing to learn after we are able to say our name. It simply makes no sense. It results in the negating of the start that has been made.
Of what use to God is a human being in whom the Life of Christ is not developing? That person is not bringing forth the fruit God expects. He cannot enter the Kingdom of God because he is remaining merely a human. According to God's Word he will be cut out of the Vine.
The parable of the sower, which may be the primary parable of the Kingdom of God, teaches us concerning the implanting of the Life of God in the human being (Mark 4:2-20). Unless the Seed that is sown lodges in the heart and bears lasting fruit, nothing of eternal value is produced.
Let us consider the common understanding that the Christian salvation primarily is the forgiveness of our sins. The development of this concept leads the individual to believe that God wants to save him as he is. If he can get God to "save" him and take him to Heaven then all will be well.
The fallacy here is that God has no intention of preserving the natural man. God primarily is interested in His Christ and in the implanting of His Christ in the human stock. Of what use to God is an individual in whom Christ is not living? God cannot dwell in a human. God dwells only in Christ. It is only as Christ is in us that we can serve as the Tabernacle of God, being a source of blessing for mankind.
To be continued.