PARABLES OF THE TALENTS AND
THE POUNDS
Summary: cont.
I AM CRUCIFIED WITH
CHRIST
How was I crucified
with Him when He was crucified,
approximately 2,000 years ago.
I only came to know Him recently,
when I was born again and became a Christian?
I was not there physically; thus,
the crucifixion of myself is not physical,
but by proxy, by representation.
The meaning is spiritual,
but the application to me is literal.
I was crucified with Him when He nailed
to His Cross,
the law contained in ordinances.
"Having
abolished in His flesh the enmity,
even the law
of commandments contained in ordinances;
for to make
in Himself of twain one new man,
so making
peace;"
"And
that He might reconcile both unto God,
in one body
by the cross,
having slain
the enmity thereby."
(Eph. 2:15, 16).
The Apostle Paul says,
"and the commandment,
which was ordained to life,
I found to be
unto death."
(Rom. 7:10).
"Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us,
which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it
to His Cross;"
"And
having spoiled principalities and powers,
He made a
show of them openly,
triumphing
over them in it."
(Col. 2:14-15).
"For
I, through the law, am dead to the law, t
hat I might
live unto God."
(Gal. 2:19).
The law is an enmity to us, because we
are sinners,
and the law is spiritual.
We as sinners, cannot keep a holy law.
There is nothing wrong with the law,
but something is wrong with us.
The
law contained in ordinances,
is the principle of doing,
what I must do to please Him.
If I try to keep the ten commandments
or any law,
I have made them an ordinance to me.
The law brings out the sinfulness of me,
and the law points me to Christ, who fulfilled
the law,
by His death on the cross.
After i come to know Christ,
I am no longer under the law,
but now I am under grace.
(Rom. 3:20; 7:13;Gal.
3:19, 24-25).
Grace is what He has done for me.
When He nailed the Law (nomos, what
I must do)
to the Cross, He nailed me, and I am dead
to the law,
and the law is dead to me.
It was through the law that I died to the
law,
for it was the law that was nailed to
the Cross
(Gal. 2:19).
I need
not, and cannot do anything for God,
for I am dead by the law,(the principle
of doing) He nailed with Him.
Nailing the law is nailing my Old Man,
for without the law, I, my Old Man, is
dead,
and sin is dead ,and my sinful behavior
will not issue out of me.
(Rom. 7:8).
As long as I leave the law in ordinances
nailed to the Cross,
I am also nailed (oldman)
and dead.
The moment
I try to do anything, or have in my mind,
the principle of doing something for God,
of works,
I have taken the law off the cross and
applied it to me.
SIN in me, Old Man that was crucified,
becomes alive.
I am now walking by sight and by feelings,
and I react according to circumstances.
anxiety, fears and doubts arise in me.
I pray and ask God to help me,
but I don't have the faith to wait
on Him.
As long as I leave the principle of works
alone, and rest upon His Word,
and walk by faith, I, the Old Man, SIN
in me remains destroyed (idle, loosen)
and the New Man issues out from me.
Whenever I have
in my heart to do something for Him,
by my desires, I have uncrucified myself.
I have taken the law off the cross,
and I have uncrucified myself,
for now I am following the principle of
works.
The law strengthens SIN, the root that
is in me, my Old Man,
for the strength of SIN is the law,
(1Cor. 15:56).
and I fall again into
( Rom. 7:15-20).
This is
when the words,
I feel and I felt, is used and it is
the language of the soul.
Walking
by
faith is knowing. If you feel God wants you
to do this or that,
you should wait until you know.
Knowing is the language of the spirit of
your mind,
because the Word of God is ruling in your
heart.
You are trusting God, and He will do His
Will through you in due time.
In Gal. 2:20,
the references to the I, that was crucified with Christ,
and the I, that lives by faith in Christ,
is not clear.
In Rom. 6:6, it is clarified,
as the I, that was crucified with Christ,
refers to the Old Man that issues out
from my soul.
It is the flesh, the desires, the emotions,
the feelings,
that arises from the heart of the soul
that become sinful under LAW
(Rom. 7:5).
The flesh
(desires) was crucified,
so that I do not walk by my feelings
toward the things of God.
A new spirit and a new heart God will give
to His people.
(Eze. 36:25-28).
In Heb. 8:10,
He said
"I will put
my laws into their mind,
and write
them in their hearts..."
The new law is LOVE
(Rom. 13:10).
When we put
ourselves under the old law of doing,
the Old Man will issue from our soul.
Under grace the new will dominate with
the soul,
in subjection to the spirit and
we will walk by faith.
Both
my spirit and my soul in unity now rest on His Word.
I am now led by the Holy Spirit and,
I walk by faith under GRACE.
Grace is what God has done, and what he
continues to do.
Law is what is required of me and what
I must do.
We are either under law of works or under
Grace.
We cannot be under both at the same time
(Rom. 11:6).
When I put myself under
law, the Old man is manifested in my behavior.
I give him strength by the law.
(1Cor. 15:56).
When I realize in my heart that I am under
grace,
the New Man is displayed in my behavior,
for I *yield to God as I
rest on His Word.
*Yield; peristemi (Greek); peri=near
by, next to, on the side + histemi= to stand;
to yield means to stand on the side.
We do not present, give our body to God.
He already purchased it and it belong
to Him.
(1Cor. 6:19-20).
We stand on the side, we get out of
the way and let him lead us.
Under law they see
me and my works, under grace they see Christ and his love.
Gal. 2:20:
1. I am crucified
with Christ:
(My desires and emotions that comes
from my soul is crucified with Christ).
2. Nevertheless
I live;
(there is still desires and emotions
in me).
3. Yet not I,
(I do not live by my soul, the dictates
of my desires and by how I feel),
4. But Christ
liveth in me;
(the Word of God and His Spirit
rules in my heart).
5. and the life
which I now live in the flesh,
(my behavior in my flesh, my body).
6. I live by the
faith of the Son of God,
(I rest upon His Word, my soul in
subjection to my spirit,
my feelings subjected to my mind, because
my heart is filled His Spirit,
and with the Word of God rightly divided).
7. who loved me
and gave Himself for me.
(His Grace shown through His Cross).
If we do not differentiate
between the soul and the spirit within our body,
the meaning of Gal. 2:20
will not be clear.
The law energizes my emotions, and Grace
gives rest to my emotions,
and energizes my spirit by His Spirit
and His Word.
The moment I try to do
something for God,
SIN in me, the Old Man, is energized and
becomes alive,
for I have taken the law (NOMOS,
the
principle of works) off the Cross.
SIN in me becomes alive, for the strength
of SIN is the law
(1Cor. 15:56).
I
now walk by my soul, by sight, and it effects my emotions.
My feelings and my life goes up and down
according to the situation.
I feel secure and rejoice when things goes
well,
and have fears and doubts when things
do not go well,
and according to how I felt it should
go.
It is SIN, the sinful flesh (desires),
the Old Man who dwells in me, that emerges
from my soul,
and becomes alive and responds to the
law of works.
Under grace, the New Man respond and I
walk in His grace by faith.
Apostle
Paul says in Rom. 7:25:
"With my mind
(knowing, faith), I serve the law of God,
but; (2) with
the flesh (desires, feelings) the law of SIN."
(1) With
my mind, I serve the law of God:
The Word of God enters in our hearts through
our mind,
and the Word of God is dominant in our
behavior.
The heart and mind is resting,
and controlled by the Word of His power
and we walk by faith.
A person filled with the Word of God will
dominate,
and control the longing of the soul,
and he knows that God will do the work
through him.
The heart
is where the desires, intent and motive come from.
Under the works of the law or the principle
of doing,
our desires, intent and motive become
proud and sinful.
Under grace it is for the glory of God.
(2) With
the flesh is the law of SIN:
The law of Sin is the principle of Sin.
This principle or law of Sin is
"...whenever
I try to do good,
the presence
of evil becomes evident."
Rom. 7:19-21.
This phrase;
"I consent unto
the law that it is good"
is often misunderstood.
"If then
I do that which I would not,
I consent (agree)
unto the law that it is good."
Rom. 7:16:
This verse makes no sense,
if we say We agree with the law that it
is GOOD
when we do that which we don't want to
do, which is sinning.
The word GOOD v.
16 is not agathos. Agathos means
good and benificial.
But this word good in Rom.
7:16, comes from the Greek word KALOS,
which means valuable or virtuous.
What this verse is saying, is answering
the previous verses
Rom. 7:5-15.
It is saying,
If then I do that which I would not,
I consent or agree with the law,
or with this principle (law) that
it is valuable (good or true).
What is true? That Sin dominates
me under the law,
for I am carnal and the law is spiritual.
Every time I try to do good, I do evil,
and i agree with this principle
or with this law.
This is the principle of the law of works
and doings,
and I agree with it for it is true and
virtuous and valuable.
Every time I try to
do good,
evil is present with me and I do evil,
for the principle of DOING,
brings out this SIN that dwells in me.
So I agreed with this principle of the
law.
Sin dwells in us until we
die physically
(Rom. 7:17, 20).
Thinking I must do something for God,
is the principle or the law that brings
out SIN in me
(Rom. 7:21).
Whenever I try to do something for God,
it is my soul, and its desire, that respond,
and my soul's desire becomes sinful under
the law.
(Rom 7:5).
Because the strength of SIN is the law.
(1Cor 15:56).
The law of ordinances (the
principle of doing),
was nailed to the Cross of Christ;
thus, I am dead to the law of doing,
by the very law itself.
As long as I realize I need not do anything
for God,
Sin in me, my Old Man,
my sinful flesh, will remain idle, useless
(katargeo).
When
I realize that,
and I wait and rest on the Word of His
power,
the resurrected Christ through His Spirit,
becomes evident in my life.
My soul (feelings) is in subjection
to my spirit (faith),
and the fruit of love, joy, peace, etc.
is produced.
It is called fruit for it is eatable,
and nourishes others,
and they become partakers of the
life of Christ , of God.
Many times
when an altar call is made in church,
to dedicate one's life to the Lord,
the dedication does not last but for a
short time.
The person is earnest in dedicating his
life to the Lord,
but he is doing it by his SOUL, his emotions.
His soul is lifted up by the message,
and he respond to the invitation to dedicate
his life to the Lord.
The same person does
it again and again,
and this time the person earnestly feels
he or she means it.
The minute testing comes,
and things do not go according to what
he or she wants,
doubt creeps in. Try as one may,
failure comes.
The Apostle Paul says in
Romans
"the good that
I want to do, I do not."
Thinking of what I must do or want to
do for God puts a burden on me.
It is great that the desire is there,
but when we respond to our desire,
we fall into Romans 7:15-25
and Galatian 5:16-18.
We must wait on the Lord to do His will
through us.
It is not WE doing His will.
The
problem is that,
the message is a response to the work
of the Lord,
instead to the Lord Himself.
We must learn of the greatness of the
Lord,
and the glory of God in the face of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
We must learn,
and come to know the greatness of the
Grace of God.
The depth of the operation of the Cross;
Christ' death, and of my death with
Him,
that we see His Glory.
We must learn to wait,
and channel our desires and our will,
to His will that we can say as the Lord
said,
“Not my will but thine be done.”
Remember this always;
Christianity is lived in the mind and
in the heart first,
that it might be manifested in the body
.
But the work and the manifestation is
done by God,
through the power of His Spirit and through
His Word.
Christianity is:
not works.............it
is grace
not law..................it
is faith
not trying..........it is
trusting
not struggling...... it
is resting
not by feelings.....it is
knowing
not I...................it
is Christ.
Paul said
"be transformed
by the renewing of your mind"
(Rom. 12:2).
"Let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus"
(Phil. 2:5).
"We have the mind
of Christ."
(1Cor.
2:16).
If
we have our mind filled with the Word of God,
rightly divided,
and we rest upon it with our hearts,
not just works, but GOOD WORKS will be
the result.
It is God, who will do it,
by the Holy Spirit in us and through us.
Many Christians are trying to live the
Christian life,
in the body,
BY DOING things without the mind of Christ,
and apart from the Word of God.
Their mind is not filled with the Word
of God rightly divided.
Their mind is filled with works,
what they must do for God,
and they do things according to how they
feel.
The minute, you think of what you must
do for God,
your thoughts has sifted from God to yourself.
You will never grow in the grace and knowledge
of Christ.
you are earthbound and the door to heaven,
to spiritual things is closed.
An unbeliever's spirit
is dead toward God,
and thus he lives by his soul, by his
emotions, his feelings.
This is the reason many become addicts.
Although he knows the dangers of drugs
and alcohol, etc.,
he lives by the satisfying his the soul,
his emotion,
his feelings, that his sinful desires
of the soul,
overrules the sensibility of his mind.
He is soulish.
The Apostle
Paul says,
"When I would
do good, evil is present with me."
(Rom. 7:21-25).
I am still alive for I have emotions, feelings,
but my emotions do not determine my walk
with God.
I walk by faith, and the emotions,
and feelings are wonderful,
for the soul is the recipient of the blessings
from God.
When I try to do something for God,
on the basis of works,
I give strength to SIN,
and the OLD MAN emerges from my soul,
and is displayed in my behavior.
Now
I am trying to please God,
by my soul's desires alone,
and not by my spirit,
that should be filled with the Word of
God.
Then the Christian will say;
"I feel" and I felt" God wanted me to
do this or that."
When I use these phrases,
it is my soul that is speaking,
and I am not sure.
When I say "I know", it is my spirit
speaking
with my soul in subjection to my spirit,
and I am sure.
Both are
subjected to the Word of God,
and I am walking by faith and by knowing.
The Word of God, through our spirit (mind),
enters into our hearts (the intent,
motive, desires of the soul),
and now we know, and have the confidence,
and are sure of God's leading.
Someone
mentioned to me,
"But I felt the Lord was leading me to
come to Hawaii."
My answer was to "pray and wait on the
Lord until you are sure,
and can say I know the Lord led
me here."
Our feelings come because of what we want,
but we must be sure it is what the Lord
wants.
The problems that most of us have,
are that we are not trusting the Lord
with our whole heart.
We are too intelligent,
and do not have a naive and unassuming
heart of trust.
We have too much experience with the ways
of the world,
the natural life, that we find it difficult,
to expect the things beyond the natural
laws.
When we are sure of the first step,
we will with confidence wait, in time
of adversities,
for the Lord to continue to provide and
show us the way.
Later in your testimony,
you will not say I felt the Lord led me
here or there,
but I know.
You do not say I feel I love you
to your loved ones.
You say I love you.
Do you feel you have eternal life?
You know!
And so REJOICE!
Rejoice for we have a Heavenly Father
who loves us dearly,
and has given us ETERNAL LIFE,
and now wants to give it to us more abundantly.
Someone has mentioned
to me,
"But I had a terrific feeling of joy and
happiness,
and this is what I want again."
The feeling of joy is real, and we do feel
it,
but it is the result of knowing Him.
After one has experienced the wonderful
feeling of joy and elation,
this is what the person wants again and
again,
and is seeking for this experience.
You have this joy and
you are lifted up,
because of knowing Christ,
who is the source of the joy.
Seek Christ and not for the joy or for
the feeling.
The problem is seeking for the result,
and not the source of the joy.
It is not seeking for the result but for
the source.
Everything is in Christ,
and it is by knowing and not by feeling.