| 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 Resurrection and Eternal Judgment, #27
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. (I Peter 4:1,2)
The fourth chapter of I Peter is devoted to the concept of judgment and deliverance through suffering. The concept is established in the first two verses (above).
Do you see that God sends suffering on us to purify us from sin?
God (Christ) is judging the living and the dead.
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick [living] and the dead. (I Peter 4:5)
The beema of Christ is in session, and the first to appear are the members of God's elect.
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17)
The guilt of our sins has been forgiven provided we follow Jesus in obedience. It is as we walk in the light, in the will of God, that the blood continues to cleanse us. The covering of the blood makes it possible for the Spirit of God to purify us through various suffering until the cause of sin in us has been slain and the new life has come. This is what it means to be "born again."
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (I John 1:7)
If we do not walk in the light of God's will, the blood does not continue to keep us free from condemnation even though we continue to profess faith in the doctrines of our church. We must walk "in the light" so the process of judgment may continue in our personality. The Lord Jesus did not forgive our sins so we could continue to live in the lusts of the flesh and the disobedience of our soul.
The righteous are saved from their adamic nature in part by the heavy weight of suffering they endure. The term salvation in this instance means much more than forgiveness. It signifies salvation in the sense of the conversion of the inner man from death to the Divine Life of God. This is how we enter the Kingdom of God and how the Kingdom, the rule of God, enters us.
So great is the spiritual darkness in us that we are saved (converted to life) with difficulty. God uses every Divine resource to slay the wickedness in us and to bring forth the Substance, Virtue, and Nature of His Son in us.
And if the righteous scarcely be saved [is saved with difficulty], where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (I Peter 4:18)
When we are walking in the light of God's will our sufferings are the judgment of God on us so we will not be condemned with the world but rather be partaker of His holiness.
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. (I Peter 4:19)
To be continued.