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The Daily Word of Righteousness
A Description of the Kingdom of God, #19
For the earth that drinketh in the rain that cometh oft on it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:7,8)
The passage above implies that our redemption is conditional, being based on our fruit-bearing, that is, on the image of Christ coming forth in our personality. If we do not bear the fruit that the Lord desires we will be cursed just as Jesus cursed the fig tree.
We see that doing away with the sentence of death is conditional for the individual. If the new covenant is to have an eternal effect, the believer must keep the commandments of the Lord. He must follow the Holy Spirit in the work of sanctification.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, will be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: (Matthew 7:26)
Some theologians will disagree vehemently with our position that our redemption depends on our response. The teaching today, which is strongly affected by the concept that once we make a profession of Christ we never can come under the curse of God, clearly is unscriptural. Numerous believers have been deceived and their spiritual potential destroyed by the error of the doctrine of the "eternal security" of the saints.
The end result of the workings of God with man is to make man in God's image so he can have fellowship with God.
Many Christians of the twentieth century have perverted God's plan by interpreting the Apostle Paul to mean that the Christian redemption is a method of bringing man into eternal fellowship with God on the basis of forgiveness and imputed (assigned) righteousness alone, apart from a continuing process of transformation into God's image (II Corinthians 3:18). We have made the word of God of no effect by our traditions. Truly, it is a grievous perversion of Divine truth.
The keeping of God's commandments is essential to the Kingdom of God. Under the new covenant the Ten Commandments have been greatly expanded in application until they govern the entire personality at all times. For example, the observance of the Sabbath Day is amplified until the individual ceases for eternity seeking his own pleasure, speaking his own words, performing his own works. He enters the Sabbath rest that is the Day of the Lord, the eternal day during which we rest in God's perfect will and He is able to find rest in us (compare Isaiah 58:13; Hebrews 4:10).
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)
"In the kingdom of heaven"!
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:3,4)
The doing of God's will in the earth is the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Heaven).
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
To be continued.