It is the writings of the Apostles that show us how to obey the Words of Christ. Our task is to enter Christ, to have Christ formed in us. As Christ is formed in us and dwells in us with the Father, we begin to reveal the Nature of Christ. We begin to do by nature what Jesus taught.

But it is not we who are doing the works, it is Christ in us who has become our life. This is the true relationship between the teachings of the Gospels and the writings of the Apostles.

We pay attention to the Scriptures until the Day Star, Christ, arises in our heart. Christ is the Word made flesh. We are the flesh being made the Word.

There do come instances in which the Christ-filled disciple commands nature. He does so through the faith given to him at that time. Thus the word of Christ is fulfilled.

But the believer who sets out to fulfill the vision by "speaking the word of faith" is not abiding in Christ; rather, he is practicing a principal of metaphysics. Worldly Christians understand the power of positive thinking and apply this power in order to advance their own positions. Jesus did only what He saw the Father doing. However, we see people "speaking the word of faith" to accomplish things that are not of God. The principal of speaking faith, of positive thinking, is of the soul, not of the Spirit.

If the Christian people were not neglecting prayer and were taking up their cross and following the Lord Jesus, the teaching of "imaging" would never have gained any entrance into Christian churches. Imaging is a supernatural practice, not a Christian expression of faith. Imaging is the attempt of the soul to bring into being that which is pictured in the mind.

We are not to have faith in faith. We are to have faith in the Lord Jesus and to ask the Father in Jesus' name for the things we need and desire. Imaging is not a form of prayer but of "positive thinking," and it has no place whatever in the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

It is true now: "I am not sick or sinning no matter how it appears." The Bible says it is so and therefore it is so. This approach to fulfilling the vision sometimes is applied in the area of personal sanctification, and many times by those who are claiming physical healing.

Paul's teaching in the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans appears to support this concept. We are dead to sin. We are to reckon this to be true, to count it as an accomplished fact. We are not to consider or judge our own actions. God has said we are dead to sin; therefore we are not sinning.

This belief can be a relief to some tortured soul who has been struggling unsuccessfully to gain victory over the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

To be continued.