www.kingdomintegrity.org

Essay 6: Truth, a Deciding Factor

Copyright © 2005-2025 by Terry E. Manning

The coming [of the lawless one, the antichrist] is through the activity and working of Satan and will be attended by great power and with all sorts of [pretended] miracles and signs and delusive marvels—[all of them] lying wonders— And by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error and a strong delusion to make them believe what is false, In order that all may be judged and condemned who did not believe in [who refused to adhere to, trust in, and rely on] the Truth, but [instead] took pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians. 2:9-12 AMP, [emphasis added]

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3:16-21 ESV, [emphasis added]

Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more.

But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, assuming you heard Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus: you took off your former way of life, the old man that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new man, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. Ephesians 4:14-24 HCSB, [emphasis added]

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your instruction is true. Psalm 119:142 HCSB, [emphasis added]

You are near, LORD, and all Your commands are true. Psalm 119:152 HCSB, [emphasis added]

The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever. Psalm 119:160 HCSB, [emphasis added]

All of God's works are true. The Father’s principles, laws and messages are the truth. Lord Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life—the personification of God's holy nature and divine truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. The Bible (the inspired word of God) is true, although carnal men and women's interpretations of God's ways, words, will and nature are corrupt or entirely false (Daniel 10:21).

Almighty God highly values a love of the truth. He uses it to separate "the righteous" from "the wicked." In these evil and deceptive times, we find that a genuine love of the truth is a rare quality among the many who are born again by having initially believed in Jesus. Unfortunately, many believers choose to embrace the darkness because they refuse to love the Truth (Proverbs 15:3).

But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24 HCSB, [emphasis added]

Today, what does Lord Jesus require from you?

After saving them from condemnation, Lord Jesus may require very little from some of His people (Acts 15:22-29). The challenge for each believer is to respond to the grace of God honorably and live as the Lord desires (Proverbs 3:5-8); actively seeking His counsel, direction, correction and approval. Divine relationship, election and calling are too important to leave to carnal interpretation. Because of the high call of God on your life, living by far more than the "minimum requirements" of the Gospel may be crucial to your spiritual well-being.

The requirements of a committed, loyal and loving relationship with Jesus should never be confused with involvement in worldly religion, the words and manipulations of carnal religious leaders, your futile thoughts and presumptions, erroneous beliefs or carnal acceptance of false doctrines and lies. Walk worthy of your calling in God and of the Lord Himself. Love the Truth! (2 Chronicles 16:9, Acts 17:10-12, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Eph. 4:1-32, 5:1-21, 6:10-20, Rev. 3:14-22)

Loving the Truth is of the heart and obliges you to yield your will to the will of God as you diligently seek and obediently follow Lord Jesus. This conflicts with your fallen human nature and the carnality of others. To succeed, you will be required to repeatedly place your faith in God which may challenge your personal beliefs, desires, lusts, ambitions, fears and pride.

An inseparable aspect of loving the truth is choosing to seek Jesus for all spiritual discernment, guidance, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, protection, strength and life. The quality of your personal relationship and the frequency of your interactions with Lord Jesus are determined by your allegiance and obedience to Him personally and to His words and commands. You choose to commit your life to the will of God and honor that commitment by answering the Lord's call to follow Him daily as He leads you by His Holy Spirit.

As you learn to love the Truth, you will progressively come to recognize the true and the false in yourself, in the things that support or threaten your relationship with God, in all of your earthly relationships and in matters that concern the world and it’s fraudulent ruler Satan. In submission to Lord Jesus, as you are being taught by Him, you will learn to spiritually discern what is of God (the Source of reality and truth) and, just as importantly, what isn't. Legalism, carelessness, cowardice and rebellion are just some of the facets of your carnality that must be avoided or from which you must learn to repent.

It is difficult for any follower of Lord Jesus to grasp the extent of their carnality or the thoroughness of the inner work of the Spirit of the Lord. For those who are called to hundred or to sixty fold fruitfulness, Father God's pruning is progressively all-inclusive and essential (Mark 4:1-20). So is the baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

At times, heartfelt repentance will be vitally important to maintain your connection to the Vine and your spiritual health and well-being (John 15:1-11, Acts 8:14-24, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Hebrews 4:13). As you progress further in Christ, you will have many opportunities to choose humility and brokenness over your vanity, rebellion and pride. Along with praying for a persevering love of the Truth, you would be wise to ask God for an appropriate fear of the Lord (Psalm 33:18, Acts 10:34-48). Neither you nor carnally compromised Christians (sheep and shepherds) can determine what an appropriate fear of the Lord for you is in truth. This is divinely determined and defined as you sincerely learn to folllow Lord Jesus and are guided daily by His Holy Spirit.

Jesus said repeatedly, “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments” (see John 14:6-15:27). Through your faith in God and obedient choices, you progressively learn to love the Truth and embrace Lord Jesus' sovereignty in your life. Loving the Truth also compels you to personally recognize, understand and obey the guidance, affirmation, warnings, teaching, anointing, conviction, correction and counsel of the Holy Spirit–weighty matters springing from a profound commitment to God. Your firm allegiance to Lord Jesus and fear of the Lord help increase your capacity to love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with all of your heart (Rom. 8:1-17, Gal. 5:16-26 and 1 John 2:3-6).

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:12-17 ESV, [emphasis added]

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 ESV, [emphasis added]

But you did not so learn Christ! Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him], Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another. Ephesians 4:20-25 AMP, [emphasis added]

To those whom more is given, more is required (Luke 12:47-48):

Just as there are levels of godly fruitfulness (hundred, sixty and thirty-fold), there are challenges to God's people at each stage of spiritual growth that require them to daily choose whom they will serve (Matt. 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:4-15). Loving the Truth calls for personal obedience to Jesus as your Lord (see John 14:6-15:27). Spiritual maturity is the result of repeatedly exercising your faith in God and learning to obey Lord Jesus (and His words and commands) as you are led by the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit in us is primarily to grow us up in every way into him who is the Head, into Christ (Ephesians 4:1-16).

How well are you cooperating with the Spirit of God?

Is your life before God bringing about a substantial increase in your first-hand knowledge of the Son of God?

The inner work of the Holy Spirit, in the life of each disciple, most often takes place over years and decades. When divinely confronted with the truth about themselves, a follower of Lord Jesus can choose to put off their corrupt former nature and put on the new nature created in God's image in righteousness and holiness. This is a spiritual refining process of death, burial and resurrection that requires each son to choose the will of God under pressure. The perfecting work of sanctification compares favorably with the refining of ore into a precious metal.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin). Ephesians 4:30 AMP, [emphasis added]

Only men and women who have been tested, tried and transformed through their faithful responses to the Holy Spirit's deep inner working of the truth and of the substance of Christ in their lives (the sanctifying work of the Spirit), become spiritually mature in Lord Jesus' eyes.

Spiritual maturity is relative to the call of God on the individual's life. For men and women called to hundred fold fruitfulness; full spiritual maturity is found in a diligent follower of Jesus who has been transformed by the Spirit to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This individual enjoys unbroken fellowship and union with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:12-25, Eph. 4:11-16).

Father God requires far more from fellow heirs with Christ called to share in the first resurrection than from believers called to an Outer Court or a Holy Place experience (Rom. 8:12-17, Rev. 20:4-6). For believers who have an Outer Court experience with God, the challenge is to repent from their "dead works" and consistently place their faith in God. Those who live beneath this privilege in Christ are "nominal" or "worldly Christians."

Believers who go on to become disciples of the Lord Jesus have progressed from an Outer Court experience and have entered a Holy Place experience in the Lord. The majority reject the deep inner work of the Holy Spirit and become Christian "compromisers" for having chosen self-rule over their commitment to follow and obey Lord Jesus and His commands.

The Holy Spirit will only inhabit, reveal and anoint the truth of God to bring forth life (John 16:13-15, 1 John 2:20-27). Along with faith in God and fervent prayer; being baptized with, led, taught, corrected, comforted, cleansed, counseled, restored, enabled and anointed by the Holy Spirit are the most important and most neglected disciplines of daily Christian living.

Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. John 3:3 AMP

If they go the distance, a new believer in Jesus begins their spiritual pilgrimage a long way from where they will eventually finish in the Lord. All believers are born again from above as spiritual new born babes in Christ. What matters concerning any believer is what they do with the divine love, light and grace that they are given at any moment in their life before God.

Some believers are called to follow Jesus as His disciples. Of that minority only a small remnant of today's believers respond affirmatively and press on to learn to obey Jesus as Lord of their lives. In the Scriptures, commited and proven disciples are referred to as bondservants or bond slaves of Christ. A very small number victorious believers persevere and overcome all in Christ to "finish well."

In the light of the New Covenant Scriptures, the early believers were taught to become followers (disciples) of Lord Jesus (Matthew 11:29, 18:16-20, Ephesians 4:20-21). Because the Holy Spirit was poured out by God, the Early Church was vitally led and governed by the Spirit of God. Initially, it was normal for all believers to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit. As time went on, carnal human leadership grieved and displaced the Holy Spirit in an attempt to extinguish the Light. This challenging development has served God's purposes in testing and refining the lives of all who followed after Lord Jesus in the centuries since.

Today, when it comes to the Holy Spirit, nominal believers live in a limited realm of existence where they can only hope to rise, on rare occasions (and then temporarily), to the lowest levels of normal Christianity. "Spiritually-stunted" believers are like infants and young children trying to understand the complexities of the adult world. At best, they can only superficially perceive a life hid in Christ. This is because they have not chosen to "grow up" and then live and function in the reality and divine light of a Spirit-filled, directed, taught, counseled, corrected, chastised, enabled and empowered follower of Lord Jesus.

Shallow believers may have caught "a brief sighting" of the kingdom of God, but have failed to enter in and inherit their place in it. Perceiving, entering and inheriting the kingdom of God require fire-tested faith in and personal obedience to its King and His commands (Ezekiel 36:25-28, Matt. 25:34, John 3:1-8, Rom. 8:17, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 15:50, Gal. 5:21, Eph. 1:11-18, 5:5, Titus 3:5-6, James 2:5, Rev. 21:1-8).

Then there are former disciples of the Lord. Because they are wise in their own eyes and do not fear the Lord, this category of believers, the compromisers; stubbornly draw from the shallow and polluted wells of their ungodly motivations, ideas, attitudes, opinions, prejudices, fears, perceptions, beliefs, feelings, ambitions, imaginings, interpretations, discernment, etc. These things that they value make up the intent of their hearts and the substance of their thoughts, determining their daily choices and behavior (John 15:1-11, Romans 1:16-2:11, 12:1-2, Hebrews 4:1, 10:35-39, 12:12-17). After compromising their commitment to follow Lord Jesus, some of these former disciples choose to:

...live as the heathen (the Gentiles) do in their perverseness [in the folly, vanity, and emptiness of their souls and the futility] of their minds. Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the willful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart [to the insensitiveness of their moral nature]. In their spiritual apathy they have become callous and past feeling and reckless and have abandoned themselves [a prey] to unbridled sensuality, eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity [that their depraved desires may suggest and demand]. Ephesians 4:17–19 AMP

Have you were baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit?

IN THE former account [which I prepared], O Theophilus, I made [a continuous report] dealing with all the things which Jesus began to do and to teach
2 Until the day when He ascended, after He through the Holy Spirit had instructed and commanded the apostles (special messengers) whom He had chosen.
3 To them also He showed Himself alive after His passion (His suffering in the garden and on the cross) by [a series of] many convincing demonstrations [unquestionable evidences and infallible proofs], appearing to them during forty days and talking [to them] about the things of the kingdom of God.
4 And while being in their company and eating with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, Of which [He said] you have heard Me speak.
5 For John baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with (placed in, introduced into) the Holy Spirit.
6 So when they were assembled, they asked Him, Lord, is this the time when You will reestablish the kingdom and restore it to Israel?
7 He said to them, It is not for you to become acquainted with and know what time brings [the things and events of time and their definite periods] or fixed years and seasons (their critical niche in time), which the Father has appointed (fixed and reserved) by His own choice and authority and personal power.
8 But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth. Acts 1:1-8 AMP, [emphasis added]

If you have been filled with and have become personally acquainted with the Spirit of God, are you resolved to be what God desires—with not one action, behavior, choice, desire, motive, thought or word more or less than Lord Jesus intends?

In your interactions with others, do you enter every encounter, conversation and situation determined to diligently seek Lord Jesus with a heart to obey Him and the enabling, empowering and governance of the Holy Spirit?

If you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, it is not enough to be able to manifest one or some of the gifts of the Spirit. After you are initially baptized with the Holy Spirit, you must learn to live consistently according to the Spirit of the Lord's guidance, conviction, instruction, restraint, conviction, correction, counsel and anointing. Consistency in your life before God is only fully realized as you faithfully deny yourself, pick up your cross daily and follow Lord Jesus.

Lord Jesus’ disciples, those who diligently walk according to the Spirit, will be guided into all truth as part of the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work of cultivating their personal holiness. The Holy Spirit leads each disciple through situations requiring choices that help to progressively transform them into the fullness of the image and likeness of Jesus. A faithful disciple chooses to trust Lord Jesus while they undergo a refining baptism with fire. Nominal believers are ignorant or dismissive of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and the baptism with fire. Many only embrace the baptism with water and that as a dead religious ritual.

There are many reasons for an individual, who is born from above, to reject the Lord’s call to become His disciple. They are either weak in their faith in God (through their poor choices), confused by the babble of carnal religious counterfeits, deceived by false doctrines (and their own ungodly counsel) or they have fearfully adhered to their self-rule—effectively rejecting the sovereignty of Lord Jesus over their lives.

Diligent believers have learned to feed on the anointed word of God as the Holy Spirit guides and teaches them—"milk" when they are being "nursed" as spiritual infants in the Lord and progressively stronger "spiritual food" as they grow in spiritual maturity in Christ (Hebrews 5:11-6:8). These men and women of God cherish a close, personal relationship and life-giving connection to Lord Jesus above all else. They have progressively learned to discern and cherish the Spirit of God. It can be said of them that they have ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to understand.

These elect of God may have learned righteous "obedience" to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through the many things they sufferred; including some self-inflicted wounds, careless mistakes, poor choices, rebellion and foolishness. The grace and mercy of God may have been extended to them so that they could repent and learn valuable godly lessons in the midst of their trials and testing. God knows the heart of each of His own.

In contrast, careless believers remain unrepentant and "spiritually stunted." They keep themselves at a distance from the Lord and reject His call to become His disciples. Others defiantly choose to pursue the carnality, sin and iniquity that they were immersed in before they responded to Jesus' call to follow Him. A poor choice at best.

But you did not so learn Christ! Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him], Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24 AMP, [emphasis added]

Following Lord Jesus on the difficult way of the Lord is like walking a narrow path that winds through valleys, over high places and sometimes very challenging and steep terrain. Along the Way of the Lord, the weather isn't always balmy—sometimes the storms rage on. At times there are long stretches traveled in darkness. Of the remnant who answer God's call and commit to a personal discipleship with Jesus, many later become offended with the Lord as He increasingly requires them to deny themselves, pick up their crosses daily and follow Him—instead conflict with their pursuing of the things that they desire outside of God’s will.

Using the Spiritual Experience of the Tabernacle and Temple

A remnant of believers choose to move past the elementary stages of relationship with God and answer God's call to begin their discipleship to Lord Jesus. Spiritually, they move past the Outer Court experience and enter into the Holy Place experience nearer the Presence of God where they eat from the Table of Shewbread (using the spiritual type of one of the furniture pieces in the Tabernacle and Temple). This is where the Holy Spirit reveals anointed truth to them from and about the Word of God.

In the Outer Court, they were without the 24/7 illumination of the seven-fold Spirit of God, as represented by The Golden Lampstand with seven lamps (located in the Holy Place). The Outer Court experience places a believer near the Presence of God but they are limited to natural sunlight and darkness (with less illumination from the moon and the stars). In the Holy Place experience, a believer's limited human perceptions and reasoning have access to the illumination of the seven-fold Spirit of God (as represented by the Candlestick of Gold with seven oil-burning lamps).

God must grant us ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to understand. The revealings of the Table of Shewbread, the Light from the golden Lampstand or Candlestick and the full experience of the Altar of Burnt Incense can be progressively worked in the life of a disciple to reveal divine insight into and understanding of the word, will, ways and heart of God. This spiritual partaking of the Life and Love of God is transformational and powerful. It is also challenging because we are called upon to seek and embrace a refining of our lives and nature that most often draw from our inherent fallen Adamic mind, will and spirit (Galatians5:16-25).

Many disciples rejoice and delight in receiving divine insight, instruction and revelation as they are led by the Lord to partake from the Table of Shewbread. The majority choose to turn away from following Lord Jesus when the Holy Spirit begins earnestly shining the Light of God on the hidden inner recesses of their lives. This brings them to crossroads along the Way of the Lord where they "hear" the voice of their Shepherd and follow HIm or chose self rule which is creature worship. The progression in their life before God may take place over weeks and months, but can encompass years and decades as they relate to Lord Jesus in this deeper and more intimate level of Christian experience. Read John 3:16-21 again (at the beginning of this message). The choice to embrace or reject the Light of God remains throughout your earthly pilgrimage. God's purpose for revealing your inner condition and the refining is well summed up in Ephesians 4:20-24 (see above).

Those who break their commitment as a disciple to Lord Jesus and stop following Him are the "compromisers" who make a self-serving and regrettable choice. By choosing to defend and preserve their image of themselves and retain their sovereignty over their lives they are rebelling against God and rejecting the necessary discipline and instruction of Lord Jesus, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and the vital "pruning" that Father God administers (John 15:1-11, Jude 1-25).

Are you a fellow heir with Christ? Do you suffer with Him that you may also be glorified with Him?

It is true that in Romans, chapter eight, Paul writes about the many things that cannot separate a believer from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is important to read those Scriptures (Rom. 8:31-39) in context with the whole of chapter eight and the entire letter to the Romans. Prayerfully keep in mind the rest of the Old and New Covenant Scriptures while examining any important part.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1 NKJV

Believers must grow up in Christ according to the call of God on their lives. Through their faith in the Lord, diligence in seeking Him personally and progress in their commitment to do the will of the Father as Jesus daily reveals it to them, they begin to mature in Christ. The way forward and upward is a vital, responsive and submitted personal relationship with Lord Jesus (Ephesians 4:14-24). The obstacles to following their Shepherd on the narrow and difficult way of the Lord are challenging and many. Human-led religion, un-anointed or compromised religious leaders and carnal Christians (among family, friends and acquaintences) pose some of the biggest distractions and threats to gaining Christ.

The other major area of opposition to a successful life in Christ is each individual's own caral, self-serving and creature-worshipping nature. This inherent nature is the wellspring for carnal assumptions, perceptions, interpretations, fears, lusts, hate, prejudices, reactions, behavior, choices, lies, deceptions, delusions, greed, avarice, etc. that needs to giveway to the life of Christ within. The difficult and narrow way of the Lord is the only way that the Father provides us to bring about the results in our lives that God desires. Our faith in and obedience to Lord Jesus is strengthened, tested and refined as we are spiritually transformed (grow up in Christ).

Experienced believers, who routinely walk according to their flesh, grieve the Holy Spirit and face spiritual death as a consequence. They are effectively separating themselves from the love of God through their many carnal choices (John 15:1-11,Romans 8:1-13, Gal. 5:16-26, Hebrews 6:4-8, the letter of Jude).

A fellow heir with Christ is the highest calling in Christ that a small minority of believers strive throughout their lives to attain. The greatest promises of God go to the overcomers referred to in Revelation chapters two and three. Their goal is to become mature sons of God, fellow heirs with Christ who suffer with Him and overcome in and through Him (Romans 8:14-25, 2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation chapters 2 and 3, 20:1-6).

Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition), 2 Thessalonians 2:3 AMP, [emphasis added]

And by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 AMP, [emphasis added]

But we, brethren beloved by the Lord, ought and are obligated [as those who are in debt] to give thanks always to God for you, because God chose you from the beginning as His firstfruits (first converts) for salvation through the sanctifying work of the [Holy] Spirit and [your] belief in (adherence to, trust in, and reliance on) the Truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 AMP, [emphasis added]

Carnally-minded believers are either ignorant of the Scriptures or have found ways to justify their disobedience to the messages, instruction for living and commands of God that are contained in His Word or anointed and quickened by His Holy Spirit. The Truth could have been revealed to them by the Holy Spirit through anointed men and women of God, personal interactions with the Lord and events and situations that occur in their lives. Because of their choices and unbelief, they dishonor Father God and Lord Jesus while they grieve the Holy Spirit to their shame. 1 Timothy 4:1-5 (see below) clearly spells this out.

BUT THE [Holy] Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach, Through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared (cauterized), Who forbid people to marry and [teach them] to abstain from [certain kinds of] foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and have [an increasingly clear] knowledge of the truth. For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be thrown away or refused if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is hallowed and consecrated by the Word of God and by prayer. 1 Timothy 4:1-5 AMP, [emphasis added]

Nominal and compromised Christians have difficulty discerning the difficult way of the Lord from participation in human-led religion, good from evil, godliness from human good and deceptions and lies from the truth. Because they do not faithfully follow Lord Jesus (adhere to, trust in and rely on the Truth), they are not led, taught, purified, corrected, inspired, enabled, strengthened and transformed by the Spirit. They are not submitted to the sovereignty of Lord Jesus or the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Loving the Truth and being personally taught by Jesus, along with every other expectation of Father God, are easily ignored or dismissed by nominal and compromising believers because they base their lives on what seems right to them or the deceptions and falsehoods that they have embraced—in the same manner as the unbelieving inhabitants in the world who are perishing (James 1:1-5:20).

The problem for many contemporary Christians is that they are listening to and believing carnal, un-anointed men and women who have excelled at false doctrines or have used their own self-serving reasoning to avoid a life hid in Christ. Because of their ignorance and hardness of heart, the majority of contemporary believers choose to eat polluted and toxic "fodder" from the "feedlots" of human-led religious institutions, denominations, movements, cults and groups and from the "cesspools" of the world's carnal values, beliefs and lusts.

Lord Jesus did not place religious organizations, hierarchies and dogma between God and man—carnal people did. Persistently and grossly underestimating and avoiding the requirements and responsibilities of the hard and difficult way of the Lord are a major characteristic of worldly Christians. Today, too many weak Christians are willing to believe things about Jesus, some of which are false, but repeatedly refuse to adhere to, trust in and rely on the Truth. To them, a close personal relationship with Lord Jesus is something to they have not really experienced and for many, something to be avoided at all cost.

Commonly held myths, such as, “once saved, always saved,” "God loves you unconditionally" and the doctrine of demons called "the Rapture" have put disobedient and careless believers in jeopardy of judgment. This isn't because they misunderstand or are ignorant of the Scriptures. They put themselves in jeopardy because they use popular deceptions to justify their personal lawlessness (John 5:22-30, John 15:1-11, Hebrews 6:4-8, Revelation 3:14-22). If a believer will humbly and sincerely seek the Lord with integrity, He can reveal and confirm the truth to them. Then if that believer continues to follow and obey Lord Jesus, He will make the truth clearer and more discernible on many levels as He shares His Life, Light and Love with them.

Compromising believers, who should be eating strong spiritual food, "choke on it." All that they can handle is spiritual "breast milk"' for "infants in the Lord" and their own misconceptions and fallacies (Heb. 5:12-14). Most maintain a pretense of being a disciple of Lord Jesus, but know in their hearts that they no longer follow Him.

Consistently speaking the truth in love is the stuff of spiritually mature followers of Jesus. First and foremost, they love the Truth and inquire of the Lord concerning His Presence and will in every matter touching their lives and the lives of those with whom they are led to interact. Each has learned to be sensitive to the witness and conviction of the Holy Spirit, with a heart to obey the Spirit's guidance in each situation. When they are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak the truth in love it is anointed and is delivered in the spirit of what God intends, the spirit of Truth.

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude]. Revelation 3:19 AMP, [emphasis added]

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:5-6 NKJV, [emphasis added]

How the Lord expresses godly love in a situation or through a mature man or woman of God may differ dramatically from a compromising or shallow believer's expectations. If the truth offends the latter's image of themselves, some attack the messenger or reject the message as being "negative" and therefore, not from the Lord. Because self-serving and weak Christians do not really live according to the Holy Spirit, their discernment and judgment are carnal.

Speaking the truth in love is a God-guided, God-inspired and God-empowered aspect of the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:15). So is restraint because the Holy Spirit may direct a man or woman of God to be still or silent—requiring great discipline and spiritual sensitivity to discern and stay within the anointing of God. Jesus left us the best example of living according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit with the New Testament accounts of His life and words. He only spoke and did what His Father told Him to speak or revealed to Him to do (John 5:19-20, 30-47, 6:38, 8:28, 14:6).

Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy, we do not give up. Instead, we have renounced shameful secret things, not walking in deceit or distorting God’s message, but commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in God’s sight by an open display of the truth. 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 HCSB, [emphasis added]

For we are not, like so many, [like hucksters making a trade of] peddling God’s Word [shortchanging and adulterating the divine message]; but like [men] of sincerity and the purest motive, as [commissioned and sent] by God, we speak [His message] in Christ (the Messiah), in the [very] sight and presence of God. 2 Corinthians 2:17 AMP, [emphasis added]

The consequences of not loving the Truth define the unrepentant and careless believers who populate worldly Christianity – the majority having been overcome by strong delusions (both secular and religious). Similar to Eve in the Garden, compromised believers swallow Satan’s lies without a struggle and the consequences are grave.

The Scriptures support an obedient relationship with God through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Some of the challenges to hearing, faithfully following Jesus and growing into the fullness of our callings in Christ are:

  • We are immersed in a violent spiritual war for the hearts and lives of all who are called to become fully reconciled to God through Christ Jesus, the Messiah. Spiritual darkness shrouds humanity. This leaves all unbelievers and any unrepentant, self-willed or chronically immature believers vulnerable.

  • The spirits and powers behind man-made, human-led (worldly) religions, governments, institutions, corporations, organizations and groups are ruled by Satan and are not of God. All that we call civilization is carnal and opposed to the will and rule of God. The exception is where the Spirit of the Lord rules in the hearts and lives of His people.

  • Un-anointed religious organizations, groups and leaders distort and attempt to replace a committed and responsive discipleship to Lord Jesus with carnal religious affiliations, loyalties, submission to ungodly authority, abuse, false beliefs, lies, dogma, rituals, traditions, legalism, humanistic methods, un-anointed practices, endless justifications and gross misinterpretations of the Will and Word of God.

  • Undiscerning and immature believers turn to the "actors" and hypocrites for carnal religious leadership. Their ears become "tuned" to the voices of false shepherds and their own carnal minds (Psalm 40:4, Prov. 3:5-8). They remain "dull in hearing" and rebellious instead of drawing near to Jesus to learn to become sensitive and obedient to the Master's Voice.

  • Many who are called to become the elect of God fail because they are content to let un-anointed men and women stand between them and God or they have elevated their allegiance to a carnal religious organization and its doctrines of demons, carnal beliefs and love of self—far above the Truth.

  • Disobedient believers neglect or "man-handle" the Word of God while habitually grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit. In their urgency to walk according to their flesh, they disregard, ignore and reject the daily leading of the Holy Spirit. Some self-righteously attempt to defend and justify their choices based on their carnal "assaults" on the Scriptures.
  • Compromising believers may give "lip service" to the sovereignty of Lord Jesus, but their hearts are far from Him.
  • An overcomer is a faithful disciple who has learned to walk according to the Spirit while daily choosing to not live according to their flesh over the time that Father God has determined. Their obedience to the Lord and His words have demonstrated their love for Him. They are called, chosen and faithful in God's Eyes. They learned to discern and obey their Master's Voice, have persevered through the refining fires of the Spirit and overcame all that the Father required through Christ.

Becoming victorious in this life requires you to learn to rely on and love Lord Jesus with your whole heart. In every sense, you must strive to draw close and make the Lord your refuge and strength in the midst of many challenges (Psalm 91). Your personal relationship with Jesus may become strained at times, but under pressure to give up, you must choose to value Lord Jesus and a close, personal relationship with Him above all else.

If you are becoming one of the elect of God; overcoming the world, your flesh and the devil is worked out in stages as you follow Jesus, your Lord and Savior, and obey His commandments, words and Holy Spirit. Submitting to Lord Jesus and undergoing godly internal changes to His satisfaction are the way of life of an overcomer in Christ. This is a progressive spiritual transformation guided and governed by the Spirit of the Lord. Instead of resisting and rejecting Father God's "pruning," you must choose to embrace His correction, disapproval, chastisement, seasons of dormancy and suffering. Divine overcoming is a substantial refining of your mind, will and spirit in which you cooperate with and submit to the will of God as you follow Lord Jesus daily. You eventually learn that all meaningful overcoming is accomplished in Christ. It is the growth of the Life of Christ within you at the expense of your carnal life.

If called by Him, you must choose to follow Lord Jesus on the difficult way of the Lord to make Him your Refuge, Strength and God. Lord Jesus leads you by your faith in Him. This is accomplished through a vital, personal relationship that emphasizes learning obedience to His sovereignty in your life (and obedience to His words and commands) as you yield your will to the will of the Father. Your faith in God becomes progressively strengthened as you are taught by Jesus and increasingly rely on Him. Your spiritual pilgrimage begins when Jesus becomes your Savior.

You grow in your personal relationship with Jesus as you experience His Spirit's daily guiding, blessing, protecting, correcting, chastising and loving you. As you learn to seek Him earnestly, your fellowship and communication with Lord Jesus become much greater and clearer. If you are diligent to recognize and strive to make Jesus the Lord of your life; your connection to, appreciation of and allegiance towards Him grows as you mature in Christ.

As you choose Jesus under challenging conditions, you gain in your faith in and love for Him. Further in your walk, in reflecting over your time together, you will realize in part how involved the Lord has actually been in your life. Jesus has loved you, cared for you and protected you in ways that are truly astounding. At times He may have seemed so distant from you, but in truth was closer than you can imagine. Under the pressures, challenges and suffering that may have been part of your life, did you give Lord Jesus your heart? In the time remaining for you in this life, learn to love and obey Him with all that you have. If, at times, you find yourself lacking and poor; humbly and freely give what you possess to the Lord. With all of your heart, choose Jesus and Life.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” John 3:19-21 ESV

Therefore God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error and a strong delusion to make them believe what is false, In order that all may be judged and condemned who did not believe in [who refused to adhere to, trust in, and rely on] the Truth, but [instead] took pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 AMP

The problem isn't just the many deceptions that surround and assault mankind. It is the unrepentant, creature-worshiping heart of the individual. Few professing Christians choose to pay the price to consistently love the Truth and become progressively transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus.

The religious nonsense that worldly Christians embrace falls far short of Father God's expectations for His people. By daily ignoring or rejecting Lord Jesus for the world (and its values) and for worldly religion and its dogma and error, deluded believers refuse to bear any resemblance to the One whose name they dishonor.

But understand this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear]. For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane. [They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good. [They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God. For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them]. For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate silly and weak-natured and spiritually dwarfed women, loaded down with [the burden of their] sins [and easily] swayed and led away by various evil desires and seductive impulses. [These weak women will listen to anybody who will teach them]; they are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. 2 Timothy 3:1-9 AMP

Nominal believers willingly decorate their meeting places and dwellings with images and likenesses of Jesus and large and small crosses. In contrast, diligent followers of Jesus seek to be conformed in their inner man into the image and likeness of Christ while embracing the crosses that the Lord gives them to bear as they follow Him. In effect, true disciples of Christ are cooperating with the spiritual refining work of the Holy Spirit referred to as the baptism with fire.

While having only partially submitted to Jesus in the process of yielding their will to the will of God, "half-baked" clergy and hypocrites attempt to pass themselves off as mature disciples of the Lord. They are either deceived or have chosen to lie to others for personal gain. Some of the worst offenders are those who were genuinely called to equip the saints for ministry. Instead of submitting to Jesus as His disciples, they persist in their self-will and become "false shepherds." False ministers have never mastered the spiritual discipline of being an "obedient sheep" to the one true Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:2,8, 10, 1 Peter 5:3, Jude 12).

Becoming a true equipping minister or a false minister (or a "sheep" or a "goat") is determined by the many personal choices to obey or disobey Lord Jesus, the will of the Father, the guidance and conviction of the Holy Spirit and the anointed Word of God. A religious hypocrite or spiritually immature clergyman or clergywoman may have actually been "called" to legitimate equipping ministry. The ones who fail Lord Jesus, repeatedly reject His attempts to deal with their self-will and self-rule. Individuals choose self-rule because disciplined submission to the sovereignty of Lord Jesus conflicts with their image of themselves or their personal ambitions, carnal agendas, worldly values, pride, lusts and presumptions.

"Many are called, but few are chosen" means that many individual believers fail to value or steadfastly reject the ways, will and Person of God. You may have become caught up with the fact that you have a high calling in Christ or are called to serve the Lord through equipping the saints for ministry. But are you missing what God expects from you to answer His calling to its fullness? Remember, to those whom God gives more, more is required.

Earnestly seeking the Lord is a "survival skill" learned through the promptings and leading of the Lord in the many small things in your life. Foolishly, you may insist on relying on your own counsel instead of learning from the easy and hard lessons in life that teach us to desire God's way, will and wisdom. Did you think that the words of Paul in Ephesians about being taught by Lord Jesus just meant some little insights into the meanings of the Scriptures? You may not have "an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying" (see Revelation, chapters two and three). You may have willfully become "dull of hearing." To become and grow as a man or woman of God, you must learn to interact well with Lord Jesus as you obediently follow Him. The key is Lord jesus' requirement to deny yourself and take up your cross daily.

Many years passed between the time when the twelve tribes, held in slavery in Egypt, cried out to God for deliverance and when the children of Israel, under Joshua, conquered and possessed the Land of Promise. Spiritually, you may have to cover the same ground in your soul and spirit to succeed in all that God has for you in this life. Using this Scriptural type, successfully "wandering in the wilderness" in the Presence of God separates the majority of the called who fail from the few who succeed in Christ and are eventually chosen by God.

For some of the elect, becoming divinely chosen is a "milestone" that is reached after decades of following Jesus on the difficult, narrow way of the Lord. During that time, an individual may have served the Lord as equipping ministry, but there are also disciples who are called to a higher calling in Christ without being used to publicly equip others for His service. Lord Jesus has saints who are hidden from the eyes of the world (and from worldly Christians), who are His alone. They minister to Jesus alone through their obedience, prayers, fellowship with, praise and abandonment to the will of the Father.

Have you heard Jesus' call to follow Him personally and learn to submit to and serve Him as Lord? If you respond well and attain to the "milestone" of becoming chosen by Lord Jesus, the remainder of your sojourn on Earth is your time to continue to follow Lord Jesus and prove yourself faithful to God. Pray to persevere and interact faithfully and obediently with Lord Jesus. Pursue Father God's will for your life by learning to successfully abide in Christ. Cooperate with the Spirit of the Lord to become called, chosen and faithful.

Then He said to [them] all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels. Luke 9:23-25 HCSB, [emphasis added]

Loving the Truth requires daily self-denial, humility, submission, repentance, obedience, persistence and faithfulness to Jesus as your Lord and King. It seems that few of those who are born from above embrace and bear the crosses that Lord Jesus chooses for them. Scarcely any desire His sovereignty in their lives.

Personal crosses are divinely-tailored "instruments of death." If an assigned cross is taken up while obediently following Jesus, it will be used effectively by the Holy Spirit as He thoroughly deals with your carnality. Did you think that your persistent and deep self-will, pride and vanity could be "rooted out" any other way? The Life of Christ from the divine Seed that was planted in you has to be nurtured and grown as your carnality inherited from Adam is effectively dealt with by God.

Putting off the old man and putting on the new involves repeated spiritual cycles of death, burial and resurrection – a divine process that does not involve the carnal interference or oversight of false ministers, the judgment of un-anointed men and women or your own carnal attempts to control the many self-preserving, self-annihilating and self-serving aspects of your life.

You choose to repent from your "dead works." You choose to have faith in God. You choose to draw close to Jesus. You choose to submit to Jesus as Lord of your life. You choose to yield to the guidance and work of the Holy Spirit as you follow the Lord in your daily circumstances. You choose to submit to the Lord's correction as you learn to trust your life to Him. You choose to love and fear God. This is accomplished incrementally, and at times, painfully. Your poor choices and mistakes may lead to learning some of the most beneficial lessons in your walk with the Lord. At the very least, they may help you become more prayerful and careful before God.

Coming to the light is a good description of the life of a committed disciple of Jesus. They want to come with Lord Jesus. Faithful followers of Jesus repeatedly choose to deny themselves, take up their crosses daily and obediently follow Him under pressure. It isn't the Scriptures, devoid of the Spirit (and certainly not each disciple's misinterpretations of it), that light their way. Lord Jesus provides divine illumination by His Holy Spirit to frequently bring the Word of God alive in the heart and life of all who obey Him.

Understand that becoming a believer doesn't enable you to automatically walk according to the Spirit. Believer or non-believer, walking according to your flesh is what comes naturally. Becoming born from above does mean that, by the grace and mercy of God, you now have the privilege to choose to walk according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. To succeed in this, you have to ask Father God for the baptism with the Holy Spirit, become filled with the Spirit (repeatedly over your lifetime) and learn to faithfully obey the Spirit’s guidance, instruction, counsel and dictates.

It is common to hear double-minded believers say, "I wasn't sure if what I was hearing was of God." Are they so caught up in themselves that they have failed to hear and obey Jesus' voice? The Holy Spirit may have repeatedly tried to communicate the will of God to them in their circumstances (over many months or even years). The reason that the individual was "dull of hearing" may have had much to do with their strong allegiance to themselves and their weak commitment to Lord Jesus.

You can speak in tongues, move in other gifts of the Holy Spirit or occasionally be anointed as you minister to others and still remain predominantly self-serving and rebellious towards God. Your concern should always be: how well you are submitting to Jesus as your Lord and whether you are habitually choosing to live according to your flesh or the Holy Spirit.

For the Word of God to become a lamp to guide your feet, you need the Holy Spirit. Think about a guiding light, the lamp oil and flame. How well can you navigate this life using the Scriptures without the illumination and direction of the Holy Spirit? Pray to learn to stop grieving the Holy Spirit and live honorably before God. This is a matter best taken up with Lord Jesus as you seek His correction and guidance.

Careful, daily obedience to the will of the Father, to Lord Jesus—His instructions and commands and to the leading of the Holy Spirit are key to your full salvation. The diligence needed doesn't spring from your "inherent good." It comes from a genuine fear of God and a fierce loyalty and love for Jesus. If you are lacking in these things, repent and fervently seek Lord Jesus. If you are willing and a window of repentance is still open to you, He can progressively change you into a man or woman after His own heart. Ask Him.

"But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." John 3:21 ESV

Love the Truth enough to inquire of the Lord about your present spiritual condition and the direction of your walk before Him. Don't stop speaking in tongues or moving in the other spiritual gifts, but learn to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit when you do. In this manner you can be made aware of the subtleties of spiritual discernment and communication with God through the Spirit. It may serve you well to pause, come to the light and humbly ask Lord Jesus:

What is real?

What is true?

Do i walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of my mind or do I follow You and have the Light of life?

Am I predominantly living according to my flesh, or according to the Holy Spirit?

Have I let anyone deceive or beguile me in any way?

Am I hearing and obeying You?

Am I being taught by You?

Do I believe in You – adhere to, trust in and rely on You to Your satisfaction?

Lord Jesus, do I love You and keep Your words and commandments?

Are my works carried out in God?

Your inherited carnal nature will never become godly. It is subject to the limitations of human good and evil. All that is derived from self (referred to in the Scriptures as your “flesh”), both good and evil are opposed to God. If you have been born from above, you have the "old man" of sin, inherited from Adam, and the "new man" being fashioned in the likeness of Christ – both are residing within you (Eph. 4:14-24).

This dichotomy is a dramatic improvement over your former state, but a "double-minded" challenge requiring daily diligence and a firm connection to Lord Jesus. At every point in your Christian pilgrimage, the darkness of your carnal nature (whether human good or evil) remains in conflict with the reality, integrity and sovereignty of God and the Truth. Through many life-lessons and challenges, you must learn to draw your life from the divine existence of Christ within you. Believers who are not diligent fail to put off the “old” and put on the “new.”

If Lord Jesus reveals the truth concerning your relationship with Him, humble yourself and embrace it even if what He reveals comes as correction or chastising. Ask Jesus to forgive, heal, purge and strengthen you in Christ. Choose to submit to Him and obey His words and commands. Let go of any justifications or rebellion and demonstrate to God that you love the light more than you love your darkness. As prompted by the Holy Spirit and persuaded by your newly developed fear of God, pray and ask the Father for a deep-rooted and indestructible love of the Truth.

Consistently submitting to the will and sovereignty of God is challenging, possibly the most difficult thing that you will ever seek to master. It requires that you place your faith in God and daily choose to walk according to the Spirit. Overcoming the world, your flesh and the devil comes down to fundamental, moment-by-moment choices. In every situation, relationship, personal interaction, behavior, thought and motive you must draw from the Person and Life of the indwelling Christ. Because of the conflict with your own carnality, seeking the Lord and obeying Him requires much more from you than you may presently realize.

A deeper walk with Jesus begins when you respond to the Lord’s call to "fast" from living according to your flesh and daily follow Him to fully partake in the life of God. If you learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s working in your life, Lord Jesus will progressively wash you with the water of the word of God and develop the mind of Christ within you (Rom. 12:1-2). As you mix your faith in God with the anointed word of God (both written and spoken), in obedience with the Holy Spirit's governance of your life, you are effectively fasting from the former and nurturing the life of Christ within.

Becoming changed into the image and likeness of Jesus isn't an instant outcome derived from being born again. Nor is it an "academic exercise" or a form of "behavior modification" that superficially deals with your "outer man." It certainly is not the result of carnal religious involvement or discipline.

The word of the gospel of the kingdom of God, as "seeds," have to be planted in the "good ground" of your heart to bring forth harvests of the life of Christ through a vital, Holy Spirit-directed inner transformation. You choose to sow to the Spirit and reap divine life. Sowing to your flesh is what comes naturally and produces death.

As you spiritually grow and mature in the Lord, you gradually have more of the life of Christ quickened within you. True spiritual maturity has nothing to do with the number of months and years since you were born again. It has everything to do with apprehending holiness, godliness and righteousness through your choices to hear, obey and be taught by Lord Jesus as He continually cleanses you of your unrighteousness at progressively deeper levels of your being.

Whether your behavior is evil or good by human standards, if you are not living according to the personal direction of the Holy Spirit, you are living according to your flesh. Living according to your carnal flesh isn't abiding in Christ and has to be repented of because it produces "dead works," offends God and results in being overwhelmed by delusions and lusts. As Paul wrote in Romans, chapter eight, and Galatians, chapter five, habitually sowing to your flesh can lead to your spiritual death.

Believers and non-believers who approach the Truth while living according to their flesh; reject it, subvert it or defend their choices that oppose the Truth. As a believer, your long-term love for or disdain of the Truth determines whether you are a part of "the overcoming remnant" of diligent disciples or the majority of careless and compromising Christians who are being "overcome." Nominal and compromised Christians remain predominantly self-serving. Many are deluded to think otherwise.

During your lifetime as a believer, you choices place you solidly within the Lord's "sheepfold" or back with "those who love the darkness rather than the light." At every level of personal relationship with the Lord, you choose to build your life on the "sand" or on the solid Rock. If you obediently walk as a disciple of Lord Jesus, the "sheep" and the "goats" within you are revealed and separated. This is a divine process that is repeated at different levels within you as you follow Lord Jesus.

Overcoming in Christ is dependent on learning to consistently sow to the Spirit and draw close to Lord Jesus while under pressure. Believers who are defeated and are overcome have persistently resisted the sovereignty of the Lord in their lives, choosing instead to sow to their flesh.

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. John 14:21-24 NKJV, [emphasis added]

Loving the Truth, learning to consistently walk according to the Spirit, diligently inquiring of and hearing Lord Jesus, obeying Him, being taught of the Lord, loving God with all of their heart and their neighbor as themselves, becoming fully formed into the image and likeness of Jesus, producing abundant godly fruit, growing to full spiritual maturity in Christ, making their calling and election sure, striving to overcome the corruption of the world, their carnal flesh and the devil, being found blameless when Jesus appears, being counted with the overcomers and entering into unbroken fellowship with God are the focus and God-given goals of all serious disciples of the Lord (Phil. 3:12-21, 4:1).

Compromised believers neither fear God nor love the Truth enough to faithfully walk the difficult way of the Lord to join the ranks of the overcomers. They have chosen something other than the will of God for their lives and therefore do not hear Lord Jesus and obey His commands. From those who are victorious in the Lord, Father God will reveal His mature sons (men and women in Christ) who will be raised up in the first resurrection to rule and reign with their older Brother Jesus, the King of kings.

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Luke 9:23 NKJV, [emphasis added]

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, Philippians 2:12 ESV, [emphasis added]

Is Jesus your Savior? If He is, how well do you live before Him as your Lord?

If anything is blocking your view of yourself, ask Him how He sees you. This will require you to exercise some faith in God and then prayerfully receive what Jesus communicates to you.

If you think that you are spiritually mature, ask Lord Jesus if He agrees?

He sees you from a much different perspective than your own. If you are discouraged because of His answer, prayerfully read Hebrews 12:5-17.

Does your relationship with Jesus really matter to you?

What on "your side" would separate you from the Love of God (Romans 8:35-39)? Humbly and sincerely ask Jesus how you should proceed. To carelessly plot a course based on your presumptions of what God will require of you or because of any resentment because your image of yourself has been challenged would be foolish. It's pointless to try and manipulate God to preserve your carnality. Your "man of sin" may want to stay on the throne of your heart unscathed, but that was never God's plan for your life.

It is wrong to assume that we are required to live before God flawlessly. Some of the most meaningful lessons for any of the Lord's people may come as the result of their poor choices, presumptions, personal arrogance, gross mistakes, moral failings, unforced errors, rebellion, vanity, pride and God knows what else. If you have been stumbling because you were trying to stay in the "driver's seat" of your life, stop it. You are just wasting your time and His. It is not wise to try to temp God through your willfulness, but you can learn deep lessons from your mistakes. A change of heart, confessing your failings to Lord Jesus and seeking His help in repenting (to His satisfaction) will go a long way in your walk before God.

Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels. Luke 9:23-26 HCSB, [emphasis added]

If you are beginning to realize that you don't really love the Truth, allow that fact to sink in and break your heart. "Own it" and receive the pain of this realization as correction from the Father. Embrace Jesus as the Lord of your life and begin to seek Him sincerely (and often). Humbly ask Jesus to change you in the ways that He desires. Like Jacob, don't let go until your nature and name are changed. The growth to full maturity of the life of Christ within you is the goal.

As a turning point in your life before God, you are sincerely choosing to become a diligent follower of Lord Jesus or are continuing to reject Him as sovereign in your life. A deeper walk with Lord Jesus is all about your honorable response to His message found in Luke 9:23-26. Loving Him has to do with your obedience to Him personally and His words and commands (see chapters 14 and 15 in the Gospel of John). Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life. Choose Him!

Take a prayerful look at 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (at the beginning of this essay). The personal consequences of rejecting the Truth and taking pleasure in unrighteousness are terrifying and eternal. As a believer, over the time you are allotted, you will demonstrate your love of the Truth by your faith in God and desire for the sovereignty of Lord Jesus in the large and small things in your life.

Missing the mark of an obedient personal relationship with Lord Jesus, the kind where you grow progressively in your first-hand knowledge and love of Him, jeopardizes your spiritual survival in this life and determines how you will (or will not) relate to Him in the next.

When the man of lawlessness (man of sin) appears, the great falling away that has been building for centuries will be clearly revealed. Unbelievers and believers who turn away from the faith (and refuse to repent and follow Lord Jesus) will become overwhelmed by deceptions and evil because they refused to love the Truth (John 15:1-11, Hebrews 6:4-8). What is most important is how well we allow God to deal with the man of lawlessness (the man of sin) that is resident in our carnal, human nature. This happens progressively as we cooperate with God by faith in the hope that the Life of Christ that has been planted within us will grow to full maturity to reveal Christ in us seated on the throne of our heart.

Concerning your full salvation, your love or rejection of the Truth is a deciding factor!

— Terry E. Manning
 

Main Page | Essays | Information | Acknowledgements | Contact Us

Copyright © 2005-2025 by Terry E. Manning. All rights reserved.