| E-MAIL SERVICE | Sign me up to receive the daily Word of Righteousness free via my E-mail address! ( ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ) | |
| ARCHIVES | I want to check out the daily Words of Righteousness for any of the last fourteen days or from previous weeks. ( ENGLISH ONLY ) | |
| FEEDBACK | I have a question or comment about today's Word of Righteousness. ( ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY ) | |
| BOOK LIST | I would like to see the complete book list of the Words of Righteousness author Robert B. Thompson. (SOME SPANISH TITLES AVAILABLE ) |
The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Fullness of Salvation, #14
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)
We are delivered from Satan's image and brought into Christ's image:
By deliverance.
By being born again.
By being nourished by the Life of Christ.
By beholding the Glory of the Lord.
By education and training.
By deliverance. The seven aspects of God's image we have mentioned previously have been corrupted by the world, by the sin that dwells in our flesh, and by our self-will, self-seeking, and self-centeredness. In particular, our character is affected by Satan and by our rebellious nature.
We are delivered from the world as we follow the Lord through water baptism, and then as we present our body a living sacrifice to God, not being changed into the image of the world but being transformed by the renewing of our mind in Christ.
The sin that dwells in us is cast out as we confess our sins, as we repent, as we receive forgiveness and cleansing from the Lord, as we resist the devil, as through the Spirit we put to death the deeds of our body, as we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for our flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.
The self-seeking, self-will, and self-centeredness that corrupt our soul are removed from us as we patiently carry the cross of affliction and self-denial. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. Only in this manner can we be delivered from self-will, from rebellion against the Father.
By being born again. In order to be changed from Satan's image to Christ's image we must be born again of the Spirit of the Lord. Christ must be born in us. The incorruptible Divine Seed must be conceived in us.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The human soul does not enter the Kingdom of God. It is the new man of the heart, the Divine Seed, the life-giving Spirit, that enters the Kingdom and is the Kingdom.
The human soul serves as ground in which the Divine Life is planted and germinates. A new type of creature comes forth. In this manner our being, our character, our substance, are formed in the image of God.
By being nourished by the Life of Christ. After we have been born again we must work with God in nourishing our new Divine Life. We must pray, meditate in the Scriptures, and gather together with fervent saints on a regular basis if possible.
We must find our talent and use it in the Kingdom of God. We must wait on the Lord day and night. As we do, the Lord Jesus Christ nourishes our new inner Life with His body and blood, with the "hidden manna." Christ is formed in us, causing us to become a new creation, a new kind of creature, a life-giving spirit, a creature in God's image.
By beholding the Glory of the Lord. We must witness the Glory of the Lord on a continuing basis.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (II Corinthians 3:18)
To be continued.