BECOMING COMPLETE

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete.” (2 Cor. 13:11)  The Apostle Paul begins his salutation of the second book of Corinthians with a statement in the Greek present imperative, a command to do something in the future that will require continuous or repeated action. “Brethren … Become complete.” The King James Version has it “Brethren … Be perfect”, which links well with our Lord’s words: “Therefore you (the brethren) shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect”, a declaration of the Father’s heart and will for all His children. (Matt. 5:48) Paul uses the Greek katartiso with the fundamental meaning to put a thing into its appropriate condition, to complete to a pattern or plan. Jesus uses the word teleios with the fundamental meaning to bring to spiritual maturity or completion, used in an absolute sense: God’s perfection is absolute; man’s is relative. So katartiso and teleios are used as synonyms referring to the same process, our transformation… our conformance into Christlikeness. And then there’s that word sanctification which Paul makes very clear is tops on God’s agenda: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” (I Thess. 4:3) Sanctification is translated from the Greek hagiasmos and refers to the activity of the Holy Spirit in separating newly minted believers unto God, effectively setting them apart and transferring them into the ranks of the redeemed. But that is only half of its meaning. Sanctification is also the process of changing a believer so they can live a life befitting those so separated and consecrated unto God – a life pleasing to God -- enabling them to be holy even as God is holy. (1 Peter 1:16) We are, after all, commanded to “Pursue … holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14), so sanctification is, likewise, a synonym referring to the saint’s transformation process. In point of fact, we are “predestined to be conformed to the image (nature) of His Son (Christ), that He (Christ) might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom. 8:29) “Predestined”… This is pretty important to God!

Scripture leaves declarations, and commands as big as boulders about what is in store for the willing few who submit to the Lordship of Christ, putting their wannabe lord, Self, on the Cross of death. One need only look to find the dozens, if not hundreds, of New Testament scriptures that speak to this most important part of God’s grand plan. God has purposed it so it will happen, no matter how much we squirm. Salvation, you see, is not an end unto itself, it is “salvation through sanctification by the Spirit” (2 Thess. 2:13), the beginning of a lifelong change process making us ready to inhabit our glorified bodies… ready to walk the streets of gold… ready for our adoption papers to be signed… ready to be a part of God’s eternal family.

“YOU SHALL BE PERFECT”

LIKE A GLOW IN THE DARK PLASTIC CROSS...

LIKE A GLOW IN THE DARK PLASTIC CROSS...

The modern church is a paradox: Great masses of world class debaters defending their favored denominational flavor or brand while embracing cobbled together half-true doctrines that promote and satisfy worldly desires: Devoid of demonstrable agape love, requiring no sacrifice for others, expecting no denial of Self, experiencing no transformation into Christlikeness, and producing not a hint of humility. The focus is on making converts – a change of belief – when we should be making disciples – a personal follower of Jesus who is disciplined in His ways -- and building bigger buildings (barns), as if ministry size implied God’s favor. Love, Sacrifice, Passion, Obedience, and Humility, these five characteristics capture the reality of God’s heart  Like a glow in the dark plastic cross the church is a cheap substitute for a divine reality.

The true “ekklesia” needs not man’s “forms of godliness”, for God’s ekklesia, which takes no form as a particular building or denomination, is at work everywhere often working under the radar of church structures. It would do us well to study the history of the modern church to understand how this man-made pretender came to represent God’s Church. We are entering the times of the Great Apostasy, when the modern church will be shaken, and God’s ekklesia will take visible form much like the first century church, as small organic gatherings under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed...

Disclaimer: This is not to be construed as an attack on all churches, the sincerity of members, or justification to ignore the call to assemble together as believers. I have been blessed to have been a part of several good churches. But the majority of churches fit this narrative, and the church as we know it will undergo dramatic change as the Church Age winds to an end.

“GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DISCIPLES

TEACHING THEM

TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE COMMANDED”

(Matt. 28:18-20)

SALVATION

Salvation is not a recited prayer, declaration of faith, ministerial proclamation, or church membership: Through supernatural union with Christ we are reconciled to God, a new creation freed from the power of sin and death. Having died to sin’s rule we are enslaved to righteousness, willing to crucify Self daily, allowing the Christ-Life to emerge replacing our old Self-life. This is Grace, the freedom not to sin... the freedom to be like Jesus. So Rejoice!

Salvation is a supernatural experience producing dramatic immediate evidence and continuing ongoing evidence of Christ’s indwelling Spirit, if we are truly saved. God’s goal for us is not a label, “Christian”, but a lifestyle embedded in holiness, reeking of “Christlikeness.” The “evidence” of salvation is our transformation into the nature of Christ: Self must decrease, and He must increase. The release of the Christ-Life within is our only hope of godliness. So... salvation without change? Well... it simply is not possible...

Salvation is the supernatural process of transformation into the nature of Christ. Our transformation begins the moment our heart says yes to the Father’s call, and never stops unless we throw the free will circuit breaker, disconnecting from God’s plans and purposes. We evidence our salvation by change in the things that really matter, the inward appetites that drive our outward choices. Salvation is demonstrated as the desires of our inner life are dramatically changed from Self to God, as we “seek those things which are above ... set our mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Col. 3:1-3)

Inward transformation is manifested as the Fruit of the Spirit outwardly: “Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves. Do you not yourselves realize and know, thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless you are counterfeits, disapproved on trial and rejected”? (2 Cor. 13:5, Amplified Bible) They will know we are Christians by our Love... Joy... Peace... Longsuffering... Kindness... Goodness... Faithfulness... Gentleness... Self-control. There is no salvation without the fruit of Christlikeness: “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Those who are Christ’s have made Him both “Lord and Savior.” (Gal. 5:22-24; 2 Peter 1:11)

SALVATION:

THE SUPERNATURAL PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION

INTO THE NATURE OF CHRIST

INFINITE IN ALL OF HIS PERFECTIONS...

How we view God is the single most important aspect of our walk of faith, for no religion will ever be greater than its idea of God. In this respect wrong perspectives about God can limit or twist our expectations creating havoc with our faith. And, it is not enough to “follow God” for if we don’t view Him correctly we will have created an idol in our own mind to follow.

We cannot dissect God's nature, embracing some attributes while ignoring others, for it is the total of the sum that defines Him as our God. He is Loving, Holy, Gracious, Just, Good, Merciful, Longsuffering, Truthful, Faithful, Immutable, Wise, Self-existent, Self-sufficient, Eternal, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Sovereign. And, God is infinite in all of His perfections, holy in all His ways: Knowing no boundaries He is without measure. This attribute by definition impacts all of the others. Since God is infinite, everything else about Him must also be infinite, and thus He is holy in all His ways.

Our view of God must capture all He is and not just favorite attributes like love or grace. For example, God is loving and just and abounding in grace: “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons … But if you are without chastening … then you are illegitimate and not sons.” God chastens us “for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.” His discipline – chastening and scourging and rebuking -- is grace to us, dispensed in love, a tool of discipleship encouraging us to walk justly before Him along the pathway of transformation. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb. 12:5-11) We must study to understand all of God’s attributes and how they interrelate and apply to our life, to view God through the eyes of the Spirit... to mature our view of God. Then we can begin to praise Him in prayer... for who He is! Our God is an awesome God!

HOLY IN ALL HIS WAYS...

THE LANDING PLACE

“For no temptation, no trial regarded as enticing to sin, no matter how it comes or where it leads, has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man: That is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear. But God is faithful to His Word and to His compassionate nature, and He can be trusted not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will always also provide the way out, the means of escape to a landing place, that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.” (1 Cor. 10:13, Amplified Bible)

Point One: God personally adjusts and adapts temptation to sin, ensuring it is common to the human experience and bearable. Just as in the time of Job He sets both the type and limits of satan’s attacks.

Point Two: God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability and strength to resist or power to endure. In this He is faithful and can be trusted.

Point Three: God will always provide a way out, an escape to a safe landing place, a strong tower of refuge.

Point Four: We will be – all of us – tempted (to enticed to sin), tried (to test), and assayed (to determine the quality of). God brings us through adversity and affliction in order to encourage and prove our faith and confidence in Him, and conform us, through our growing dependence and submission, into “the image (nature) of His Son.” Temptation and trials are simply sculpturing tools used by God, the Master Potter, to transform us into vessels of honor fit for kingdom use.

Point Five: God’s purpose is that we become capable and strong and powerful, that our faith increases and grows strong through use as we bear up under the enemy’s attacks patiently. And, our faith – our shield during bad times -- pleases God who rewards us, as we “diligently seek Him”, with more faith (Heb. 11:6). Temptations and trials not only test, approve and grow our faith, changing us from the inside out, but also grow our power to endure… for we “have need of endurance.” (Heb. 10:36)

Note: Endurance is consistency, perseverance, steadfastness, the capacity to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists worry, fear, doubt, weariness and defeat.

THE LANDING PLACE

OUR DADDY’S ARMS…

THERE IS NO SAFER PLACE TO BE!