The Children of
Promise
Reading in the book of Galatians, we
find these beautiful truths: that we are
the children of promise, born after the Spirit, born free! This is our heritage in Christ. Praise God!
In Christ we are new creatures, and through Him the world is crucified
unto us, and we to the world (Galatians
Many there are
who walk in places of great struggle.
Difficulties of seemingly insurmountable magnitude confront many a child
of God. But in all these things, we are,
through Christ, more than conquerors!
Let His praises be ever on our lips and His joy in our hearts. No good thing will He withhold from them that
walk uprightly.
Yes, we are
children of the promise, freed from the bondage of sin that we might walk in
the newness of life and fulfill the law of the Spirit. We are not only to abide in Him but to bring
forth fruit and to “do works worthy of
repentance” (Acts 26:20). Faith and
works go hand in hand, for faith apart from works is impotent. Any protestation of faith that does not
manifest in works is a cloud without water.
And the one most cardinal expression is LOVE. Faith without works is
dead, and works without love is a clanging cymbal. God
tests us in the Spirit by the tone of the bell.
Love will give the ring of music: its absence will produce a strident
discord.
To walk in the
Spirit and to walk in love is not beyond our power, for what God ordains, He sustains.
In the flesh, it is impossible, but beloved, we are not to be in the
flesh but in the Spirit. However, we
will never be in the Spirit if we are feeding our souls the husks of the world
and its empty amusements. “Our
citizenship is in heaven” (Phil.
3:20) and we are not to mind earthly things. “For
they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that
are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:5, 6). God will sustain us by His Spirit in our
quest for holiness and good works, for His
Spirit within us is life and power. He is able to work out through us by His
Spirit what He has worked in us by His Spirit.
His is the enabling: ours is the choice. He will not force upon us His
righteousness. He has promised to give
us the desires of our hearts, and it is His will that we desire His nature. “This
is the will of God for you, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Many
profess to seek the will of God for their lives. In purest essence, this is the will of God for all His
children - their purification, which
is the meaning of “sanctification.” He wants us freed from sin. This is the
liberty wherein we are called. It is not
freedom to express self-will. “For, brethren, you have been called to
liberty; only do not use liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love
serve one another. For all the law is
fulfilled in one work, even this; love your neighbor as yourself.” It would seem to follow that if we are
walking in the Spirit it would not be difficult to love one another, else why
would He expect it of us? And loving one another requires laying aside our
personal demands to be pleased. “Even Christ pleased not Himself” (Romans
Ah, that is the secret! As long as we want to please self, we cannot
properly love one another. The two
will come to clashing odds in no time.
The total relinquishing of our personal rights to be pleased must of
necessity preface any true love for God or our fellowman. It is here that all self-realization
philosophies reveal their counterfeit nature.
We do not need to waste time studying pseudo religions to know
oneself. We can accept God’s indisputable verdict that I am a hopeless, helpless
sinner, the same as every other human being born into this world. That lets us know precisely where we are
starting from: in total need of God’s redeeming grace and power. We are in need of spiritual transformation
not a religious education. The
transforming power is there for those who choose to become children of the
promise through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and His
cleansing blood.
We live in an
increasingly permissive society where individuals are encouraged to think and
do as they please regardless of moral and spiritual responsibility to God. We are inundated with religious teachings that
would have us believe that Jesus was only one of many good men, which leaves us
without a SAVIOR. Only ONE laid down his
life as the Lamb of God, slain for our sins and for our salvation. False
religions say you are good, and can become better.
The Bible says you are DEAD, and need to be born again to
have LIFE.
Praise God if His
truth has reached your heart and His Spirit has brought you Life. It is not by
works lest we boast. It is by His
Sovereign mercy that He has saved us and washed us in the blood of His Beloved
Son and made us new creatures. Rejoice! And
do not let the winds of false doctrine blow you off course. Share the Light, share His
Love, and walk in the liberty whereby He has made us free, not being entangled
again with any yoke of bondage.
Frances Roberts
Take Time to be Holy
Take time to be holy, speak oft with
thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His
Word.
Make friends of God’s children,
Help those who are weak;
Forgetting in nothing His blessing
to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world
rushes on,
Spend much time in secret with Jesus
alone;
By looking to Jesus,
Like Him thou shalt l be,
Thy friends in thy conduct His
likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him by thy
Guide,
And run not before Him, whatever
betide;
In joy or in sorrow,
Still follow thy Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust
in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy
soul;
Each thought and each motive
Beneath His control;
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains
of love,
Thou soon shall be fitted for
service Above.
William Longstaff
“…See how great a love the Father has lavished on us that we
should be called the children of God; and so we are!...Beloved, now are we the
children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be but we know
that when He appears, we shall be like Him and see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him, purifies himself,
just as he is pure.” 1 John 3:1-3