The Mystery of Godliness apart XX

By Major W. Ian Thomas

True Godliness will not come from our human efforts to fulfill God’s law any more than it will come from our attempts to imitate God. Both are impossible! “For if a law had been given that could impart life {God’s Kingdom-Life of Divine Love}, then Righteousness would certainly have come by the law.” (Gal. 3:21) But law cannot impart life. The children of God need to be filled with the indwelling Life of the Son before they will have the power to fulfill all the righteous requirements of the law and display True godliness.

Therefore, the law was our tutor {serving as a harsh and unrelenting schoolmaster, in that there was NO forgiveness of err} to bring us to Christ {to receive His Divine Life by faith}... (Gal. 3:24)

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh {by human effort} but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4){The Spirit of an endless Life received by way of receptivity and faith in Christ Jesus. Emphasis added}

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter {of the law} but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life {the Kingdom-Life}. (2 Cor. 3:5-6 Emphasis added)

Because the law “made nothing perfect,” it should be a great relief when you discover that God expects you to fail in your attempts to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. It was designed to kill the pride that led you to think you had the power to conform to His laws in the first place.

Nothing that has shocked you about yourself has ever shocked God; it grieves Him, but it never shocks Him. His laws were given to make you aware of your wretchedness and total bankruptcy.

Even as a Christian, you will resist this death to the flesh-life until you realize two things: First, that God requires His children to fulfill all the righteous requirements found in His laws, including the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. And second, that you are powerless to fulfill His requirements while living by the strength of your flesh, your own self sufficiency. You will need to come to a place where your only hope of being saved from your fallen nature is by passing through this death to the flesh-life and entering into the Lord’s Kingdom-Life. “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt. 16:25)

After being reconciled to God through Christ’s shed blood, you will find yourself being led to a place where you acknowledge that not only what you have done is wrong, but your very nature is wrong. You must come to the point where you realize that even your best human efforts are still sinful in nature. Not only do they not come from faith {and everything “not from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23)}, but they will naturally come from selfish motives.

There are many Christians who are still trying to make themselves better. They are continually frustrated with their efforts, but they still seem to think they can do something to improve themselves. And like the Pharisees of old, as long as they have some hope in this self-produced form of righteousness, they will avoid taking Christ’s Way of the cross.

It is time for every Christian to recognize the “nature of the beast.” Stop being deceived into thinking your fleshly nature can be changed or fixed over time. Its roots are too deeply sunk into the life of the devil for you to change yourself on the inside. The only way to be delivered from this old Adam-life is by passing through “death” into “life.”

Compare your daily walk with Christ’s teachings in His Sermon on the Mount. Notice how selfish you are compared to the Sacrificial life He requires of His followers. Even the most loving acts you perform for the Lord and your family will still have a self-centered bias, even if it’s only the desire to be recognized or acknowledged for what you have done. If you have been trying to be righteous through your own efforts, your mouth will be stopped and your sin exposed when you Truly begin to see the High calling we are called to in Christ.

Whether you try to obey Christ’s teachings or try to imitate Him, either method will naturally bring a deep awareness of your sinful nature. And whether you truly compare your life to Christ’s teachings or compare yourself to the Word made manifest through His life, both standards will show how far you have come short of the Glory of God.

A plumb-line may show how crooked something is, but it does nothing to put it straight. If the Son did nothing more than set a standard by which we are to live, we are left with nothing to do but wallow in the squalor of our own inadequacy. In fact, we could say the “good news” of the Gospel is really a message of despair. It mocks us with its words without providing the spiritual life that it requires from us.

But the Son of God offers “much more” than forgiveness for our sins and a standard to live by. Jesus came to do “much more” than reconcile us to God. He has come to save (Redeem) us from our fallen nature. He has both the power and the Authority to enable us to share with Him in the same victorious life that enabled Him to conquer sin {living in one’s own sufficiency and willfulness}.

Here is the “much more” of your Salvation! “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, having been reconciled {a past event}, we shall be saved (Redeemed) by His life.” (Rom. 5:10 Emphasis added) You need something much more than being reconciled to God. And glory be to God, you now have an opportunity to receive an abundantly full measure of Christ’s Spiritual Life. (John 10:10) His indwelling Life is even more powerful than the fallen nature that was first received from Adam. (Rom. 5:17) The Son of God has come to establish His Kingdom-Life of Love within your heart so you may walk in True Holiness and Righteousness before Him all the days of your life. (Luke 1:74-75)

The Mystery of Godliness apart XIX

By Major W. Ian Thomas

The Law of the Spirit of Life

For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8:2)

The Gift of the Spirit gives us the ability to respond to the teachings of our Lord as we pass through the time of testing and seek to enter into the Life of Promise. “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13) in the Kingdom-Life.

In other words, there is a work to be done after spiritual regeneration. We prepare God’s temple by separating ourselves from the ways of the world as we are led by the Spirit. The Lord will eventually manifest His Kingdom-Life within everyone who will Obediently follow Him through the cross and into the Heavenly realms.

For you are the temple of the Living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them…” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. (2 Cor. 6:16-17)

He who has My commandments and keeps them {with their regenerate heart}, it is he who loves Me…and I will Love him and manifest Myself {the Kingdom-Life} to him. (John 14:21)

It was to bring about this change of government and introduce this New law of Spiritual Life from Heaven that the Second Man lived, died and rose again from the dead. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s Obedience many will be made Righteous.” (Rom. 5:19)

Do not confuse the written Law with the New law of the Spirit of Life. The Old Testament law, although righteous, could only bring about the experience of sin and death in the children of God. Paul said, “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” (Rom. 7:10) The law, we will learn, was given to bring about a real death to the old self-sufficient way of life that everyone has inherited from Adam. This “original sin” needs to die before the Kingdom-Life of God can be fully established within the heart.
( This law is found in: Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. This was the first spoken law in the form of a command, a law because with the command there was given the penalty for the disobedience to the spoken command. This was separation from the Life and Love of God which is found in our intimacy or intercourse with God. Emphasis added)

We know there had to be “an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect.” (Heb. 7:18-19) While Jesus expects His disciples to fulfill all the righteous requirements found in His teachings, including His Sermon on the Mount it can only be accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. “It is the Spirit who gives Life {the Kingdom-Life of self-sacrificing Love}; the flesh profits nothing.” (John 6:63)(Here the law referred to is the Law given to Moses and through Moses to Israel found in Leviticus through Deuteronomy which no man could fulfill but which reveals our undoneness of bankruptcy to follow the Will of God in obedience. Emphasis added)

Written laws have only a limited application in God’s dealings with man. First of all, written laws are needed to restrain people who are not living by God’s Spirit. This includes the use of laws established by governments in this temporal world. God uses them to place a restraint on the evil nature in fallen man. In a sense, we can therefore say that written laws are necessary in a fallen and evil world. “Before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law.” (Gal. 3:23)

However, God never intended for man to live by law. The children of God were designed to participate with God in His own Divine nature. And where the fruit of God’s Spirit is being manifested through fully Sanctified Christians {those who have allowed God to set them apart for His exclusive use and are sharing in the Divine nature}, there is no need for law.

But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no {need for} law. (Gal. 5:22-23 Emphasis added)

We can therefore say that written laws will only be needed while people are still living by the strength of the flesh. Once the believer has died to the ways of the flesh and has entered into a real participation with Christ in His Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:3-4), he {or she} will be moved by the Spirit in a Way that naturally fulfills all the requirements found in God’s written laws.

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things {pertaining to the Kingdom-Life and Godliness}…The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you {through written laws}… (1
John 2:20, 27)

Christians, after being reconciled to God through Christ’s blood, will have a natural tendency to live by human effort. Because they are not yet living under the full control and power of the Holy Spirit, but still have some dependence on their own strength, they are unable to consistently display the Fruit of Christ’s Spirit through their lives.

The law will therefore have a limited application in the life of every born again Christian. God has provided written laws to reveal what True Righteousness is like. His laws will therefore expose the defects {bankruptcy} that continue to rise out of the heart when one is still living by the strength of the flesh. There will be something within them that “is not subject to the law of God.” (Rom. 8:7) They will find that their old “Adam-life” sometimes still has an opposing nature to the sacrificial Agape Love as displayed by Jesus, the prototype Son.

While these earnest Christians will generally prevent sinful tendencies from breaking forth into outward displays of sin, they will still sense the presence of an evil within their hearts. For example, they will periodically find a selfish anger
coming to the surface when people treat them poorly. And even though this anger ever breaks forth into actual murder, the corruption that exposes itself in selfish anger is the same as murder in God’s Sight. God therefore expects them to submit their Adam-life to the cross so they can die to this old nature and enter into a participation with Christ in His Divine nature.

The requirements that Christ established in His Sermon on the Mount are impossible to keep by human effort. But this does not mean that He does not expect His believers, followers and disciples to fulfill all the Righteous requirements found in His teachings. It simply means that every born again believer will need to learn to live by the Spirit. “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26)

The law has a work to do in the heart of every Christian. It is designed to break the natural sense of self-sufficiency found in the fallen nature. This old spirit (evil, as it is the nature acquired from Satan) needs to be brought to its death. Only then are believers able to enter into the pure faith that will enable them to “put on the New self, created to be Like God in True Righteousness and Holiness.” (Eph. 4:24)(Emphasis added)

The apostle Paul reveals in Romans seven how this process took place in his life. As he has described, the standards found in God’s laws will eventually kill the self-sufficient {evil} spirit in everyone who has earnestly sought to be Obedient to God’s laws.

…Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law… I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death… But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful… For in my inner being I delight in God’s law {a sign of spiritual regeneration and the presence of the Holy Spirit}; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members… Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:7, 10, 13, 22-24 Emphasis added)

Paul did not always remain “a prisoner of the law of sin.” As he later said, “For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me Free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:2) The Spirit of Christ was able to set him Free from his old sin nature. The Kingdom-Life was established within His heart once he realized that “it is the Spirit who gives Life {the Kingdom-Life}; the flesh {striving by human effort} profits nothing.” (John 6:63)

Every Christian will need to learn how the law was designed to bring about a real death to the self-sufficient life they inherited from Adam. Once they have lost all hope in their ability to fully conform to God’s Ways by human effort, they will be prepared to turn to Christ with the kind of faith that will permit Him to set them “Free indeed” from the “law of sin.”

…Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord… (Rom. 7:24-25)

…I tell you the Truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin… So if the Son sets you free {from the sin nature}, you will be Free indeed. (John 8:34, 36)

The Mystery of Godliness apart XVIII

By Major W. Ian Thomas

The Second Man (Adam) – The Lord From Heaven

…The last Adam became a Life-giving spirit… The second Man is the Lord from Heaven. (1 Cor. 15:45, 47)

…Who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless Life. (Heb. 7:16)

To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies {the world, the flesh and the devil}, Might serve Him without fear {of remaining bound by the carnal nature}, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. (Luke 1:74-75)

The first man was Adam, and he entered into spiritual death. The Last Adam was Christ, and He came to raise the spiritually dead and give His endless Life to each of His disciples. “In this the Love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might Live (come to spiritual life, awaken from spiritual sleep Emphasis added) through Him.” (1 John 4:9)

Had God not intervened by providing a New Life from Heaven, the family of Adam would have been without hope. There was no way for fallen man to escape from his sinful nature and raise himself out of spiritual death.(The separation from the intimacy of fellowship with God the Father of spirits. Emphasis added)

Right here we can see why the virgin birth was necessary. Had Jesus Christ been born as you and I were born, by natural conception through the line of Adam, He too would have been “in Adam.” It would have naturally left Him in spiritual death, uninhabited by the Divine Life of God, and dominated by the flesh-life. This is why the doctrine of the virgin birth is not a matter of secondary importance. It is imperative!(This is what the prophets of old had seen but did not have the understanding of as it remains hidden in God or withheld from them. Emphasis added)

Because the Last Adam {Jesus Christ}, the Second Man, came from the line of His own Father in Heaven, and He lived without ever departing from a walk of faith {He lived without sin. “…for whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23)}, He now has the right to impart His Spiritual Life from Heaven to everyone who will follow Him through the cross. (Matt. 16:24-25) As the Son of God, He was sent into the world to manifest His Kingdom-Life through everyone who is willing to die to their Adam-life. He now has both the Power and the Authority to make Himself known within the soul of every receptive believer in “the power of an endless Life.” (Heb. 7:16)

The Son of God came to re-inhabit your spirit and to re-conquer your soul. He has come to enable you to have His Life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10) As He has said, “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (This He can only do because He was first within Adam before the rebellion of sin which placed all mankind under the curse of sin and death in the flesh of man. Emphasis added)

The Son of God came to restore to you all that makes the Mystery of Godliness an open secret: He came to manifest His own Life through the temple of your body! This is “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints (disciples). To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you…” (Col. 1:26-27 Emphasis added)

In addition to giving birth to Jesus, Mary also became a spiritual type for everyone who desires to bear the Life of God’s Son. What were the events that led up to the miraculous birth of Christ? How was Mary able to bear the Heavenly Life of the Son?

It began with God’s Word being faithfully delivered by a messenger “sent by God.” (Luke 1:26) The Word she received was both strange and startling. It was contrary to all human experience and beyond anything the mind could fully comprehend. Since the message defied human wisdom, would she believe God’s word?

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest… And He will reign…and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30-33 Emphasis added)

The natural reaction of Mary was one of amazement. The obvious question to be asked and to be answered was “How?” And so Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (Luke 1:34) The angel might have responded something like this, “Mary, there is no way to explain this mystery in human terms!” ‘But the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.’ (Luke 1:35) He will do a work that causes you to bear the life of the Son of God.”

Mary would be a mere instrument. The almighty power of God would perform the miracle. But was that enough? No! One condition still needed to be met! Mary had to make herself available for this gracious, Life-giving ministry of the Spirit.

Maybe you have taken it for granted that Mary would make herself available to God and thereby permit Him to do this wonderful work through her. Is there any reason why you should think this way? Have you made yourself available in a Way that would permit the Spirit to overshadow you? Have you given permission to God to use your body for His purposes? Have you been willing to become “nothing” in yourself so the Son would be able to “reign” over your life and show Himself “great” through you? Is there any reason why you should expect her to do something that you have not permitted God to do through you?

Mary could have said, “I do not want God to interfere in my life! I am engaged to be married and I have my own plans! This would spoil what I have planned for my own life.” Isn’t this what has kept you from surrendering your life and plans to become a vessel of the Son’s Life? Remember, as the Son of the Highest, “He will reign” when He has established His Kingdom-Life within your heart. And when He comes to manifest Himself through your body, He is the only one who can “be great.”

Of course, Mary was a true child of faith! She said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Once she yielded to God’s word, and trusted Him to do the work, the responsibility was on God to fulfill His purposes through her. She trusted and yielded; God used His power to do the work.

We should emphasize, however, that it is never easy to bear the Life of the Son. “Difficult is the Way which leads to Life.” (Matt. 7:14) Mary would be expected to go through some suffering before she gave birth to the Life of the Son. After spiritual regeneration had taken place, when the seed of Divine Life was first planted within her by the Spirit, there were still many difficulties to pass through. But she continued to Trust in God and wait for the Life of promise to come forth.

Christians today, if they are to become vessels of the Son’s Kingdom-Life, will also go through periods of suffering before the Son can display His Life of Divine Love through their mortal bodies. It is like giving birth to a child. After being impregnated with a “seed” from the Son’s Life, there will inevitably be a number of difficult trials leading up to the painful birth of His Kingdom-Life from above. (I might add that even during this Kingdom-Life has been received there will be tribulations, testings as training or perfecting of our Salvation continues. For the student does not surpass the Master's Knowledge. Emphasis added)

But may the God of all Grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while {in dying to the selfseeking and self-sufficient ways of the world}, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Pet. 5:10 Emphasis added)

Every Christian is expected to press forward in their faith until they have given birth to the Lord’s Kingdom-Life from Heaven. “He will reign…and of His Kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:33) His Kingdom-Life, once established within the heart, becomes an everlasting Life.

The law and the prophets were until John {the Baptist}. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. (Luke 16:16 Emphasis added)

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you {as Christians} do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star {Jesus Christ in His Kingdom-Life} rises in your hearts. (2 Pet. 1:10-11, 19 Emphasis added)

Next we'll explore "The Law of the Spirit of Life."

The Mystery of Godliness apart XVII

By Major W. Ian Thomas

When God created Adam in his innocence, the Holy Spirit was a Royal Resident. He had unchallenged and exclusive access to Adam’s soul. He alone had the right to sit, as it were, at the key-board where the human personality was orchestrated. As He instructed the mind, controlled the emotions, and directed the will, the Spirit of Truth struck every chord in true harmony with the heart of God in Heaven. There was a matchless melody that rang out from his daily activities as an evidence that God was the source of Adam’s life. (This harmony was recorded in the stars and Heavens as they still resound this song of God's Grace. Emphasis added.)

The Deceiver, however, led Adam into believing that man could play the Instrument of his own personality. He pointed out the advantages of being free from the restrictive presence of the Holy Spirit.

Supposedly, Adam would be able to enhance his spiritual life when he was free to pick and choose his own tunes. By playing his own music, the tunes would only need to be in harmony with himself. He would no longer need to be concerned about keeping in harmony with God! Indeed, he could become his own god, and what could be better than that? (When this occurred man lost the ability to hear not only God's voice but also the song of the Heavens. Emphasis added)

What Adam did not realize is that once he had turned from the Tree of Life, and the Spirit had vacated the temple of his body, the father of lies would take control of the Music Room. In this fallen way of life, even though the Deceiver had led Adam to believe that he would have an opportunity to choose his own tunes, there would actually be a demon sitting at the key-board thumping away at the notes. It is “the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” (Eph. 2:2) His name is The Flesh. He took control of the Instrument and began producing an awful noise.

The Instrument has not changed. It is the same Instrument that God originally used to make melodies in harmony with Himself. But having once produced harmony with the Life and nature of God, the instrument now produces discord.

This is the story of how fallen man became separated from the Life of God. The flesh-life, under the sway of Satan, is now at the keyboard producing iniquity and lawlessness in the world!

You do not need a new Instrument. The original is just fine. What you need is a new Musician. The Holy Spirit, when He is in full control of the key-board, will begin to play beautiful music within your soul. He will make your inner being like the Paradise of God. He is the One who is able to produce the Kingdom-Life of God through your mortal body.

But if I {the Son of God} drive out demons {including the flesh-life} by the finger of God {by the Holy Spirit}, then the kingdom of God has come to you. (Luke 11:20)

Next we'll look at: "The Second Man – The Lord From Heaven"

The Mystery of Godliness apart XVI

By Major W. Ian Thomas

God uses His Word of Truth to help people understand why they experience a returning sense of spiritual emptiness within their soul. He wants them to recognize the hopelessness of ever experiencing a lasting fulfillment by following the self-seeking ways of this world. “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those…who are self-seeking…there will be wrath and anger.” (Rom. 2:6-8) They can never expect God to manifest His Divine Life through them while living as “self-seekers.”

When man’s soul was left empty by the departure of the Spirit, Satan was permitted to enter in and introduce the self-elevating principle of pride. This pride naturally leads to self-will and self-sufficiency. Man will remain hopelessly lost {in this fallen state} until he turns to the Lord and permits the Son to lead him into the life of faith. The Messiah, who has come to establish the lost Kingdom-Life within the hearts of His followers, is the only hope that mankind has of being saved from his fallen nature. (Emphasis added)

The Mystery of Iniquity

Jesus once turned to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matt. 16:23 Emphasis added) Jesus meant exactly what He said. There was something in Peter that was still causing him to have a man-centered thought process. There was still an “old man” in him that resulted in a self-centered and self-seeking nature. Even though Peter was in a forgiven state {credited with righteousness and reconciled to God}, he was still being influenced by a thought process that had its source in the devil. (This reveals the three part process from a simple believer, follower unto disciple. Peter was still a follower because he still has not the revelation of sanctification unto righteousness. Emphasis added)

This wisdom {which is displayed by the self-centered nature} does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. (Jam. 3:15-16 Emphasis added)

Peter had tried to turn Jesus from the way of the cross. He was sincerely concerned about his Master. But he was still responding with a selfish motive. Peter was therefore saying something that was opposed to the Light of Truth. And Jesus knew that everything that is opposed to God’s Way of Life is a lie from the devil. (Emphasis added)

When Jesus came into this world, He both spoke and walked in a way that revealed God’s Truth. He was the “Living Word” or the Word made manifest. And He came to lead all of God’s called-out children into the same Kingdom-Life – the life that Adam lost at the Fall.

But we find that Peter tried to turn the Son {the Second Adam} away from the Truth and the Light. This was when Jesus provides a clear set of instructions to help His still then followers in the process of becoming a disciple to understand how they can follow Him into His Kingdom-Life from Heaven. “If anyone desires to come after Me {into the Kingdom-Life}, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt. 16:24-25 Emphasis added)

God, through His Eternal Word of Truth, says, “Deny yourself, and take up your cross.” In contrast, Peter had effectively said to Jesus, “Save yourself, and turn from the way of the cross.” Peter’s statement was diametrically opposed to the Way of Life being revealed by the Son. Peter was expressing a motto representing the devil’s way of life. Jesus therefore said to him, “Get behind Me Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
(This is a key to becoming a disciple and the entry through the veil by accepting God's Way to His Kingdom-Life. Emphasis added)

Even though Peter had been walking with Jesus in a forgiven state, he had not yet been “set free indeed” from the devil’s sway over man. (John 8:36) It was not until Pentecost, when Peter was clothed with power from above, that Christ was able to establish His Kingdom-Life of Divine Love within Peter’s heart. (The second key to living in the Kingdom-Life which is the Eternal Life of God's sacrificial Love. Emphasis added)

The Scripture says that everyone “of the world” is now in darkness and under the sway of the devil. (1 John 5:19) The reason is quite simple: They are still following the self-seeking and self-exalting ways of the devil. We can therefore say that everyone who is still living by the maxim, “Save yourself” {where self – “self-will or “self-determination,” “self-seeking,” and “self-sufficiency” – is still at the center of your thoughts and actions} is still under the sway of the devil.

Peter was completely ignorant of the evil that was being displayed through his selfish desires. Although his words were sincere, his sincerity did not prevent him from displaying the darkness of his fallen nature. He was speaking the devil’s lies instead of God’s Truth.

It is not enough to simply become a believer or follower of Jesus Christ by looking to His shed blood for forgiveness of sins. There is an old Adam-life that must die before the Kingdom-Life of God can be displayed through a mortal body. Peter’s decision to follow Jesus was only a preparation that eventually led to being clothed with a Divine power on the day of Pentecost. Only then was his heart purified and the temple of his body filled with the Glory of God – the Son’s Life of self-sacrificing Love. (Acts 15:8-9)(The third and finial key to the Kingdom-Life of Christ's essence within His House, the House that He is the LORD over. Emphasis added)

If, as a Christian, you are still living for your own desires, and even trying to correct your selfish desires by human effort, you will find that you are still under a bondage to your self-centered nature. The end result, as it was for the Jews, will be “a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” (Rom. 10:2)

These religious people of old wanted to save themselves and produce their own righteousness for God. But they were unwilling to die to their self-life. They therefore rejected the Kingdom-Life they could have received from Jesus Christ by taking His Way of the cross.(What many don't hear is that God is not the God of the dead but of the living, He is the God of all that is Life and contains His Life. That is House His Eternal or Kingdom-Life. Emphasis added)

The Jews were deceived by Satan. Not realizing that godliness is the result of God’s activity in man, and “being ignorant of God’s Righteousness,” they attempted “to establish their own righteousness.” (Rom. 10:3) Their desire for independence and self-sufficiency prevented them from being able to see the Light of the true Gospel. In effect, they rejected our Lord’s message because they did not want to die to their flesh-life and become vessels of “the Righteousness of God.” (v. 3) And, unfortunately, there are many people in the church today who are still rejecting Christ {His way of the cross} for the same reason.

Of course, when you set out to establish your own righteousness, all you produce is “self-righteousness.” Your own estimate of what righteousness really entails, even when borrowing teachings from the Bible {as other religions have done}, is still your own imitation of righteousness. Since this self-produced righteousness does not come from the Divine Life of God, it is not the real thing. God’s Kingdom-Life of perfect Love cannot be produced through these human efforts.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled {“fully met” – NIV} in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4)

The Mystery of Godliness apart XV

By Major W. Ian Thomas

Life in the Spirit

“…As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this He meant the Spirit… (John 7:38-39)

…Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:14)

The Holy Spirit produced a never-ending river of Life from within the spirit of the first Adam before the Fall. The Son’s Living Water welled up and overflowed from the fountain of his soul into a manifestation of God’s Eternal Life. The nature of this life from Heaven kept his mind and emotions under the control of God. Everything he did and every attitude he expressed was inspired by the Spirit of God.

God literally expressed Himself through Adam. In the same Way that Christ {the Second Adam} displayed the Father’s Life and works, the first Adam was also the “radiance {or “outshining” – BBE} of God’s Glory.” (Heb. 1:3)

Adam’s responsibility as a free moral agent was to offer himself to God in faith to be an instrument of His Righteousness. The mystery of his godliness was simply a matter of a conscious choice to walk under the control and power of the Holy Spirit. As he yielded to the Spirit, God would use His power to display His Life and works through Adam.

It is quite obvious that if this process had been purely mechanical, and Adam had possessed no capacity to exercise his own choice, he would have been no more than a robot. But God created man with a free will. Through an active choice of his own will, Adam would be required to live by faith in God, continually walking by the Spirit.

We need to see how man was created to be a mere instrument of God’s Life of Righteousness. This principle for living still applies to God’s children today. Because of what Jesus Christ has done at the cross, God’s called-out children can now enter into the Life of Promise and begin walking by the Spirit as Adam did before the Fall, and as Jesus did after the Fall. They can enter into the Holiest of All and receive Divine Spiritual Life from God.


…Now the Righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed…even the Righteousness of God, through faith… (Rom. 3:21-22)

And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin {self-will}, but present yourselves to God…as instruments of Righteousness to God. (Rom. 6:13)

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection {or completion in the Life of Love}…This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil. (Heb. 6:1,19)(The veil being the flesh of Christ Jesus for by His strips we are healed, it is the passing through these strips that we enter behind the veil even the veil of the old Temple. Emphasis added)

Man was made by God to be an instrument through which God expressed the power and authority of His Kingdom. As man received his life from God, he would also share with God in a dominion over this world. But this authority could only be expressed through man by virtue of his “faith-love” relationship of intimacy with God. As man lovingly submitted to all the leadings of God’s Spirit, God would supply him with the needed power to accomplish everything he was assigned to do.

God has a plan for each of His creation. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10 Emphasis added) Man is therefore expected to enter into God’s plan/Will. And he is expected to carry out his assigned work through the power of God’s Spirit.

The dominion that man received over his appointed sphere of work was derived from God. He could only exercise God’s power in the world while he responded to the Divine Will and lived by the Spirit through dependent faith.

God intends to remain Sovereign over His universe. And yet, He would accomplish the work He wanted to do in the world through the dominion given to His Spiritual children. In response to His revealed Will, they would depend on Him to use the power of His Spirit in all their assigned activities of daily life.

In effect, God chose to display a unique form of Sovereignty. He would first reveal His Will to His sons and daughters, and then depend on them to carry out the work through their prayers of faith. This is how God has planned for all His Sanctified children to live.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire {My Will as revealed to you}, and it shall be done for you. (John 15:7 emphasis added)

I tell you the Truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing… And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so the Son may bring Glory to the Father. (John 14:12-13)

Again, man was designed to be God’s highest expression of His power and Glory. God’s dominion over the world would be visibly expressed through the work of His children. Without this visible expression of Himself {the “Light of Life” from Heaven}, the world would remain lost in darkness.

When man turned from this walk of faith and ate from the forbidden fruit of self-will and self-sufficiency, God departed from his soul. This left him empty, in darkness, and on his own. He also forfeited his right to express God’s dominion and power through prayer.

We can see that Adam was converted from the Life of God. Every “conversion” occurs when there has been a change of mind. Adam changed his mind about how he wanted to live. He allowed the devil to poison his understanding. Believing the lie that he could improve his spiritual life by walking in the strength of his own flesh, he separated himself from the Life of God. The Holy Spirit then withdrew from the human spirit, and man’s soul was plunged into the darkness of fallen humanity (sin caused death and death is separation from the Spiritual Life of God that enabled him to name the beasts, plants and to have dominion over all things, and to live in fellowship with God emphasis added).

Something else also occurred at the Fall. When the Spirit of God was no longer filling man’s {mankind’s} soul with the Living Water that naturally wells up to Eternal Life, he was left empty and unfulfilled. He then became self-centered, or egocentric in all that he did. His life-purpose then became centered around his own efforts to find a means of spiritual fulfillment.(Because of the emptiness of the void within him and the thirsting this void caused. Emphasis added)

This self-centered nature, which naturally lives for its own desires, is called “the flesh.” Referred to in the Bible as “sin” in its singular form, it involves the evil principle of living by self-will and self-sufficiency. This life of “sin” is what produces a multitude of “sins.” (Rom. 7:14, 20; John 16:9 emphasis added)

The Bible therefore distinguishes between “sin” and “sins.” Everyone who lives according to their own personal desires is living by the “sin” nature. This flesh-life or “old man” has a self-centered nature that will naturally produce a multitude of sins. (Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9)

The depravity that every person inherits from Adam is an empty soul. As long as there is an emptiness within, the individual will naturally turn to the self-seeking
ways of this world to find his spiritual fulfillment. This is the essence of sin.

“Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord. “My people have committed two sins {two all-encompassing evils}: They have forsaken Me, the spring of Living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that
cannot hold water.” (Jer. 2:12-13)

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters… Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy. Listen, listen to Me, and eat what is good {eat from the Tree of Life}, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to Me; hear Me, that your soul may live {in the Kingdom-Life}. (Isa. 55:1-3)

The Mystery of Godliness apart XIV

By Major W. Ian Thomas

The First Adam

In his innocency and before the Fall, the first man acted consistently under the gracious and exclusive influence of God’s Spirit (Genesis 1:26-27). The Spirit of God dwelled within Adam (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7). God was working in him “both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13) This inward action of God lifted Adam spiritually out of mere animal status and into the life of godliness. While animals would live by the flesh {and be without the spiritual life of God}, Adam would live by the Spirit of God in union with God’s eternal Life.

The thing that separated Adam from the animal kingdom was his human spirit. His spirit was the “Lamp of the Lord.” (Prov. 20:27) The lamp, when fueled by the oil of the Holy Spirit, enabled him to display God’s “Light of Life” in this world. Because everything he did was motivated by the Life and Will of God, he was enabled to display the image and glory of God.

God gave a warning (as a law because with it was given the penalty for disobedience) when He provided Adam with an eternal access to the Tree of Life. It was a warning that carries over to all mankind: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) If man turned from a life of living by faith in God’s power to an independent life of walking in his own will and sufficiency, he would separate himself from the spiritual life of God. And that is exactly what happened in the Fall.

Our Creator never gave man the right to decide good and evil on his own. And if he acted like a mere animal by choosing to live by his own fleshly desires {living as he saw fit or – “right in his own eyes” (Deut 12:8)}, he would become separated from the Eternal Life of God and exist in spiritual death [darkness, under the influence of evil]. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die.” (Rom. 8:13)

Man’s choice to live by an independent and self-sufficient spirit is the essence of evil and darkness. It is the source of every sinful action. This path of choosing for ourselves how we will direct our steps {sin} is what keeps fallen man separated from the Life of God. We can therefore see why true repentance must include a real turning back to a dependency on God and receptivity of God's working in us.

…Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted {turned}and become as {dependent as a} little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven {the Kingdom-Life of God}. (Matt. 18:3, emphasis added)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6)

Adam would not need laws to control his activities as long as he lived by the Spirit. The fruit of God’s Spirit – His divine nature – would enable Adam to always have right actions. “Against such things {the fruit of God’s Spirit} there is no law.” (Gal. 5:23)

There was only one spiritual principle that Adam was required to remember: He would need to continue to live by the Spirit of God. In other words, eating from the Tree of Life meant that he would need to live continually by faith, under the control and power of the Holy Spirit.

When Adam turned from this walk of faith, choosing to walk in his own strength and by his own will, he fell from the “Light of Life.” He was then cast out of the Garden into carnal darkness. Not only did he lose the fulfilling spiritual life he had received from God, but he also became deeply corrupted by a self-centered nature. This fallen nature became another source of iniquity [enmity to God] in the world [lawlessness, wickedness and all evil].

Adam did not die physically when he turned to “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” and began directing his own affairs. He did, however, lose the power that had enabled him to be a lamp of the Lord’s “Light of Life.” (John 8:12). When he turned from the Tree of Life {when he stopped living by the Spirit of God}, the Spirit stopped manifesting the Eternal Life through his spirit. He lost the spiritual life of God, and the light went out!{The eyes of man reveal the nature of man soul, for to have clears eyes is to be redeemed thereby being able to see clearly. To have the Light of Life restored. Emphasis added}

Redemption involves restoring the lamp to its original purpose. The Christian is a lamp of the Lord. But God cannot display the light of His glory through the lamp until it has been set apart and fully sanctified for His exclusive use. There must be a real presenting of the body to God and a complete turning from the independent and self-sufficient ways of the world before it is possible to display the “Light of Life” from heaven. The followers of Jesus who are willing to take this narrow path, will have an opportunity to return to the spiritual paradise of God and eat from the Tree of Life.

…For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them {a life that Adam shared with God in the Garden of Eden}…” Therefore “Come out from among them {the independent and self-sufficient ways of the
world} and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you” {into the Kingdom-Life}… Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting Holiness in the fear of God. (2 Cor. 6:16-17, 7:1 Emphasis added)

…To him who overcomes {the independent and self-sufficient ways of the world} I will give to eat from the tree of Life {the Kingdom-Life of God}, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (Rev. 2:7)

While this spiritual Paradise of God, which can now be established within the eternal soul, is only a dim reflection of the Life we will enjoy when we receive our glorified bodies, we can still enjoy an abundant fullness of the Son’s Spiritual Life in this world. (John 10:10) We can walk in Holiness with God and enjoy His Life from Heaven, as the Son did when He walked in a mortal body, as the son of man. (1 John 2:5-6 emphasis added)

Our Lord has made it possible to follow Him through the cross and into the firstfruits of His resurrection Life. (Matt. 16:24-25) If we will enter this path and
permit Him to establish His Kingdom-Life within our hearts, we will be enabled to “put on the New man, which was created according to God, in True Righteousness and Holiness.” (Eph. 4:24) In other words, we can now be recreated into the Spiritual Image of God by returning to the “tree of Life” through Jesus Christ. “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of Life.” (Rev. 2:7)

Arise, shine, for your Light has come, and the Glory of the Lord rises upon you… Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn… Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy… The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting Light, and your God will be your Glory. (Isa. 60:1, 3, 5, 19 Emphasis added)

Next we'll look at, "Life in the Spirit"

The Mystery of Godliness apart XIII

By Major W. Ian Thomas

All your strivings to manifest this life through human effort will only leave you hopelessly exhausted. “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:3)

In the same sense that Jesus did not do anything in His own strength, He tells us, “Without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) This Life from Heaven, and the God-Like or Christ-likeness of character we are to display, is dependent on God’s Divine power.

When God stopped using His power to display the “Light of Life” through Adam, God’s lamp in the world went out. The body was no longer able to display God’s spiritual image. There is nothing man can do through his own efforts to reproduce God’s nature of Divine Love. This is why carnal darkness will naturally prevail until fallen man has begun to live by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our Heavenly Father therefore sent His Son into the world to first reconcile man to God, and to then become a source of Light to the world. He has promised to provide His “Light of Life” to everyone who will follow Him through the cross. (John 8:12; Matt. 16:24-25; 1 John 4:9) Whoever loses their flesh-life will find the Son’s abundantly full Spiritual Life. (John 10:10) “In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.” (John 1:4)[In Genesis 1:26a, 27-28; man made as a spiritual being; 2:7 this spiritual being made a house or body from the dust of the ground, which housed the Spirit of God, Yehovah-Messiah. Emphasis added]

The Bible declares emphatically that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb. 11:6) No matter what we try to do for Him, we cannot please Him until we are willing to walk in a moment by moment reliance on Him to supply us with His Life and Godliness from above. And, glory be to God, whoever earnestly seeks Him through a responsive walk of faith will be rewarded – they will find His Kingdom-Life.

Christians are therefore expected to depend on God for everything. They are not to do anything that does not include a total Reliance on God, “for whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23)

Faith involves something more than an academic nod! The children of God are expected to rely on the power of the Spirit to display the Life of the Son through them. Since we were created for this very purpose, we cannot neglect this great life of faith without being morally irresponsible. The Light and Life of God is not optional! We must not remain like a light bulb without electricity!

Man has only two alternatives: He can either continue living by faith in his own strength {live by the flesh}, or he can turn to God and begin living by faith in His enabling power {live by the Spirit}. Living by human self-sufficiency is the essence of sin. (Rom. 14:23) Therefore, as the Scripture so clearly teaches, “if you live according to the flesh you will die.” (Rom. 8:13)

Once you recognize this spiritual principle you can better understand why Satan will keep opening up reasonable alternatives to faith. He knows that if he can keep you living by the strength of your flesh {the self-sufficient ways of the fallen world}, which is diametrically opposed to the Way of faith, he will cause you to defy your Creator. And everyone who lives this way will find they are continually dying in a spiritual sense. They do not experience the Living Water that continually satisfies the soul and wells up to a manifestation of God’s Eternal Life of Love. (John 4:14)

No matter how lofty your motives or otherwise commendable your actions, if they come from your own sufficiency {the pride of life} they are sin. God expects His children to depend on Him in everything they do.

When Jesus walked in a mortal body as a man, He too was required to Live by faith. He remained without sin simply because He always relied on His Father. He did nothing in His own strength. He did not produce a sinless life through any other means than by continually relying on the working of His Father. To have acted in His own independent strength would have resulted in sin. In essence, all sin comes from acting by self-will and self-sufficiency.

This is why Satan’s attacks on the Son were designed to lead Him into acting on His own initiative. He was tempted again and again, and in all points as we are. But He never departed from a life of living under the control and power of the Holy Spirit. He did not sin because He never once stopped relying on His Father. This is the Mystery of Godliness.

If Christians are to ever walk as Jesus did, which they are Required to do (1 John 2:5-6), they will need to go through a
complete renewing of their mind. Everyone who is still thinking in terms of what they must do in their own strength, still needs to press forward in their walk of faith. They must die to all forms of self-sufficiency before they will be in a position to be raised by the power of God into the Life of Promise.


When people tend to think of the Christian walk in terms of what must be worked out by human effort, they will naturally believe that it is impossible for anyone to walk as Jesus did. Their lack of faith will prevent them from receiving the life of promise. These Christians will therefore need to be built up in their faith so they can rest from their own works and begin depending on the Lord to establish His Kingdom-Life within their hearts by the Resurrection power of His Spirit.

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the {regenerate} people of God; for anyone who enters God’s Rest also rests from his own work… Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest… (Heb. 4:9-11)

Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it… (Ps. 127:1)

Again, the Christian life is intended to have a supernatural quality about it. “Whoever lives by the Truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” (John 3:21) Only the Spirit of Christ has the needed power to manifest the “Light of Life” through a human body.

Next we'll look at, "The First Adam"

The Mystery of Godliness apart XII

Written by Major W. Ian Thomas

Life From Above

God originally created man in His own image. (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7) It was God’s purpose to have human children He could use for the purpose of displaying the splendor of His Life of Love. Even though God’s Love can be seen in all of His creation, which is an expression of His Glory, His Spiritual children were to be the Highest expression of His Life of Love in the world.

When the Son came into the world as the Second Adam, He displayed God’s Spiritual image in the same Way that man was originally created to live. He was “the image of the invisible God.” (Col. 1:15; John 1:1-4, 14,16-17) We can therefore learn from the record of His life what it means to display God’s spiritual image – His Life of Love.


The Son of God was sent into the world to save man from his fallen state by restoring the spiritual image that was lost in the Fall. “In this the Love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” (1 John 4:9) The “Light of Life,” a Life the Father shares with the Son, is intended to be displayed by the Son through each of God’s children.

Mature Christian character is therefore intended to be a form of the “brightness,” “radiance,” or “out-shining” of the Father’s Glory. (Heb. 1:3) And even though we cannot expect to display the life as flawlessly as the Son did, we can enter into a real participation with God in His Divine nature and become like Him in Love in this world. (2 Pet. 1:3-4; 1 John 4:17)

I {the Son} have given them {access to} the Glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one {in life and nature}: I in them and You in Me…in order that the Love You have for Me {Divine Love} may be in them and that I Myself may be in them.
(John 17:22-23, 26)

God did not intend for His children to use their own efforts to imitate His life and nature. They were to manifest His Glory – His Life of Love – by receiving their life from the Son by dependent faith. If they believed in Him, and were therefore willing to deny themselves and take up their own cross, they would find His Spiritual Life in an abundantly full measure.

…If anyone would come after Me {into the Kingdom-Life}, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me… Whoever loses his life for Me will find it. (Matt. 16:24-25)

…I have come that they may have life {the Kingdom-Life}, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

…Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life {the Kingdom-Life of perfect Love}. (John 4:14)

We know there are many people in the church who say it is impossible for the Son to display His Life of perfect Love through His Disciples in this world. But we must say to them, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” (Rom. 3:4) “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17) It is our willingness to become like God in His Life of Love while we remain in this world that will enable us to have a real sense of Boldness when we stand in His presence on the “day of judgment.” (v. 17)

Again, God does not expect us to produce His Life of Love through our human efforts. The life is to be received as a Gift of promise. The only limiting factor is our unwillingness to yield in faith to all that our Lord teaches.

In an attempt to illustrate how Christians are to receive the “Light of Life” from
Heaven, we will compare this principle to how electricity produces light through a light bulb. In the same sense that electricity is invisible, so is the power of God.Even though electricity cannot be seen, the power is displayed when it enters a device that has been created to display light. The light bulb, of course, is not the source of the light. When left on its own, it remains without any real intrinsic value. It cannot do what it was designed to do without the power of electricity. On its own, it can “do nothing.

Similarly, you were designed and created to be an expression of God’s Divine nature. (2 Pet. 1:3-4) Even though you do not have the needed power to produce this “Light of Life” from Heaven, the Spirit can supply an invisible power that Lights up your life with God’s nature of Love.

The whole purpose for creating human children was for God to have a means of displaying His Life of Love – His Glory – in this world. As we begin to understand this spiritual principle, we will also see why we have little value while we remain separated from the power of God. Our value comes from fulfilling our Creator’s purpose. We are here for the purpose of displaying His “Light of Life” from Heaven.

The Mystery of Godliness apart XI

Written by Major W. Ian Thomas

Because spiritual Christians understand how all True Life and godliness needs to be received through a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by faith, they do not try to rule over others with their own will. There is only one Teacher and Leader in the Kingdom of God – the Lord Jesus Christ. While we will try to draw others into this same Spirit-directed and Spirit-empowered Life, we know that no real progress is made until the people we are leading have entered into their own Spirit-guided relationship in intimacy with God. “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith {in God} you stand firm.” (2 Cor. 1:24)

The true “religion” of the Bible is a life of Love that must be received from God through a supernatural work of His Spirit by dependent faith. The moment you begin to realize that God is the only source of Eternal Life {His Life of Divine Love}, you are left with no option but to find God, and to Know God, and to let God manifest His Spiritual Life through your mortal body as Jesus did.

We hope you have begun to realize that Christianity is not limited to having certain orthodox beliefs. “For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” (1 Cor. 4:20) And without this power of God working through your life, you will never experience the indwelling Life of the Lord.

The most concerted efforts devoted to studying and obeying God’s Word will never produce the “Light of Life” from Heaven. Jesus explained this same lesson to some religious men in His day: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have Life. (Eternal-Life Emphasis added)” (John 5:39-40)

Beware, lest even as a Christian you fall into Satan’s trap! You may have tried to receive Jesus as your Savior without permitting Him to take possession of you in the mystery of godliness. You may still be seeking to be godly by submitting to external rules and regulations. But, as Paul tried to explain to the Galatians and the Hebrews, it is not possible to be made complete in Love while you are still depending on human efforts to conform yourself to a religion of laws.

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect {complete in self-sacrificing love} by the flesh? (Gal. 3:3; Heb 7:16-19)

…For if there had been a law given which could have given life {the Kingdom-Life of Divine Love}, truly righteousness would have been by the law. (Gal. 3:21; Heb 11:7)

Next we'll look at "Life from Above"

The Mystery of Godliness apart X

Written by Major W. Ian Thomas

The Eternal Life is God’s Kingdom-Life of Love. This life, which will naturally express a very special quality of Love, is to begin welling up and overflowing from our eternal soul/spirit while we remain in this world.

Man was created to be a vessel of God’s Eternal Life of Love (Genesis 1: 26-27, 2:7). The nature of this Love was clearly expressed by the Son through His mortal body. (1 John 1:1-2) And when we are filled with Christ’s Spirit, He will manifest the same nature of self-sacrificing Love through our mortal bodies.

In this the Love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him… God is Love, and he who abides in Love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this…because as He is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:9, 16-17)

God has the power to reproduce the Son’s Life of Divine Love through the human body. It is not the consequence of your capacity to imitate God, but the result of God’s capacity to Reproduce Himself in you! This is the nature of the Mystery. We present our bodies to Him and He uses His power to display His Life of Righteousness and Holiness through us.
(For more detail on this Holiness see our other blog under "God has only one way for us all" a link is posted in the left hand side of this page.)

…Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show Myself Holy through you before their eyes… And I will put My Spirit {of Divine Love} in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws… I will
save (Redeem) you from all your uncleanness. (Ezk. 36:23, 27, 29)

Remove the mystery of God’s power being the source of all true godliness and you will end up with a false imitation. Your imitation of “godliness” will be shaped by your own thought processes. In other words, you will end up trying to make God into someone who fits your mold.(This is the case found in our religious system of denominationalism world wide. Emphasis added.)

This method of living by the power of the flesh according to self-will is how people “of the world” live. This fallen way of life originated when Adam first turned from his dependency on God. Fallen man’s basic precept for developing his spiritual life is to go it alone. Free from the restrictive and destructive influences of God, he chooses for himself what will be right and wrong for his own life.

Even the most degenerate of people is incurably religious in this sense. They naturally create a god {within their own minds} who will best represent how they desire to live. It permits them to establish their own concepts of righteousness. Even when their “religion” results in evil behavior, they will tend to believe their actions are right. Adolf Hitler’s chosen way of life is an extreme example of how far fallen man can be deceived in this matter.

Satan has led man into thinking he has the right to direct his own steps as he sees fit. Fallen man naturally chooses how he will live according to his own desires. As he lives by the “pride of life,” he will tend to think his ways are right.

Because he will have a desire to promote his beliefs, he will also have a tendency to reduce his ideas into a theological formula, an ethical code, or a political program he can foster on others. This is how the self-centered people of the world naturally live.

But this is not how God’s children were created to live. God never intended for man to decide for himself how he would live. “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” (Jer. 10:23) God’s spiritual children will depend on the Spirit to direct their steps. “For as many as led by the Spirit of God, these {and not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord”} are sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14) And “the fruit” of living by the Spirit is a life of “self”-sacrificing Love. (Gal. 5:22-23)

In explaining how He lived His life, the Son said, “I do nothing of Myself… He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” (John 8:28-29) In the same way their Master lived under the control and power of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual children of God also wait on the guidance of the Spirit and depend on Him to be with them in all they do. They walk in the “Light of Life” from Heaven, displaying the Son’s Life of Divine Love, as God’s children were created to live.

The Mystery of Godliness apart IX

Written by Major W. Ian Thomas

And without controversy great is the Mystery of Godliness: God was manifested in the flesh… (1 Tim. 3:16)

Godliness is a Mystery! Fail to grasp this fact and you will never understand the nature of godliness. It is a mystery to the human mind because human wisdom naturally thinks in terms of human effort. But true Godliness is received as a Gift from God through a supernatural work of His Spirit. God uses the Divine power of His Spirit to provide a New Nature ( as the word name "Father" reveals, He infuses us with His Nature) within our eternal soul when we are living wholly by faith in Him. (2 Pet. 1:3-4)

The Galatian Christians provide an example of how even earnest believers have a tendency to rely on their own human efforts to become righteous after receiving the Gift of the Spirit. Because these Christians had not learned how to walk under the control and power of the Holy Spirit by dependent faith, Paul needed to correct them.
(We find this theme also in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Emphasis added by us.)

This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by…faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit {regeneration and a past event}, are you now being made perfect {complete in self-sacrificing love} by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things {to break the self-sufficient spirit} in vain…? (Gal. 3:2-4)

For we {as God’s called-out children} through the Spirit eagerly wait for the Hope of Righteousness by faith. (Gal. 5:5 Emphasis added)

The Galatians are not the only Christians who have been taken through many painful trials, testings and tribulations to remove their self-sufficient spirit in vain. Many trust the Lord to be forgiven for their sins and justified before God, but then they attempt to improve their Christian life by their own human efforts by trusting man. Paul would have this same question for every Christian who is still living by their own fleshly efforts: “Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect {complete in Love} by the flesh?”

Someone who has seen expressions of God’s Divine Life of Love may be tempted to imitate the life by trying to reproduce similar acts of benevolence. But everyone who is still living by their own efforts will continue to find a self-centered nature corrupting their most loving acts. Until this old nature has died out and Christ has been enabled to establish His Kingdom-Life of Love within the heart, their identical acts of benevolence will lack the nature of Divine Love.

Pride may persuade you “not to be out-done” by someone who is genuinely spiritual. You may even impress the undiscerning with your acts of generosity {which includes service to God}, and thereby achieve your selfish ends, but your “generosity” will not be “godliness.” When self is still in the middle of your works, your “generosity” will continue to have a selfish quality about it!

The carnal nature, even when it is trying to love as Jesus did, will expose itself when not properly rewarded. For example, when the self-centered nature still prevails, even earnest Christians will eventually lose their motivation for serving if they are not rewarded or recognized for their “loving acts.” They will also become irritated whenever someone interferes with their plans. As Jesus has said, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth {eventually, if not immediately} speaks.” (Matt. 12:34)(They may even have what is called the spirit of Jezebel. Emphasis added by us.)

In contrast to these works of the flesh, godliness – or God-likeness – is the direct and exclusive consequence of God’s activity in His children. When God is supernaturally displaying His Life of Love through His children of faith, the Lord’s indwelling presence completely satisfies their inner soul. These Spiritual Christians therefore have the capacity to continue Loving others even when they are being treated poorly. As they continue to give of themselves to the work of the Lord, they are rewarded with a constant inward flow of God’s eternal Life of Love. “Indeed, the water I {the Lord} give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal Life.” (John 4:14)

The Mystery of Godliness apart VIII

Written by Major W. Ian Thomas

The Lord teaches His most profound lessons in the midst of the storms. It was when everything was contrary to His disciples that Jesus appeared and said, “I Am; stop being afraid.” And when He was in the boat with them, the wind ceased. “Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’ ” (Matt. 14:33)

If you learn nothing else from this book, remember to Trust in Christ and stay close to Him! He will take you into His Rest in due time. You will then be enabled to continually experience a Peace that transcends all understanding and a Joy that is inexpressible and full of Glory. (Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 1:8)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up {into the Kingdom-Life} in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. (1 Pet. 5:6-7 Emphasis added)

You must learn to live in complete dependency on the Lord in all your activities. Christ desires to be in your life in a way that lifts you spiritually above all the storms of this world. He is the great “I Am.” Nothing is impossible for Him. Only when you realize this fact, and have begun to manifest this childlike dependence in the way you walk, will you truly be worshiping God.

Your “unbelief” can actually prevent God from working with His power in your life. Jesus said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.” (Matt. 9:29) And the Hebrew writer said, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” (Heb. 11:6) In other words, we please God and receive His enabling power in our lives as we rely on Him in the same way a dependent little child relies on his parent. If we are unwilling to enter into this childlike dependency on God for everything, we cannot please Him and we cannot expect to be lifted by His power into His Kingdom-Life in due time.

I tell you the Truth, unless you change and become like {dependent} little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven {the Kingdom-Life of God}. (Matt. 18:3)

We are told that Christ could not work mighty miracles in the lives of people in His own village because they lacked faith. “Now He could do no mighty work there… And He marveled because of their unbelief.” (Mark 6:5-6) It was their lack of dependent faith that prevented God from working in their lives.

Do you still lack faith in Christ’s ability to turn you into a vessel of His Life and Works? When you “have faith in God,” you will be enabled to move mountain-like obstacles from your appointed path. (Mark 11:22-23) Let us therefore, for the sake of God’s Glory, learn to live by faith in Him.

We do not necessarily use God’s power to avoid difficult situations. We do, however, depend on His power to manifest the Life of Jesus through our mortal bodies regardless of the difficulties. (2 Cor. 4:11) Our ability to reflect the Glorious Life of the Son is actually enhanced during periods of hardship.

Paul has described how he received a deeper revelation of this important spiritual principle during a very difficult time in one of his missionary journeys. He said, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardship we suffered in the province of Asia… Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened {this loss of all hope in the flesh} that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” (2 Cor. 1:8-9)

Any trial that increases our dependent faith in God is actually working for both our good and God’s Glory. But if we are to learn from these difficulties and tribulations, we will need to stop depending on our own strength and learn to live wholly by faith in God’s power of Grace. Only in this way is Christ able to manifest His Kingdom-Life through us.

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The Glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard…The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought… You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. (Isa. 58:8, 11)

Next we'll look at The Nature of The Mystery

The Mystery of Godliness apart VII

Written by Major W. Ian Thomas

Life in the Kingdom of God is diametrically opposed to the way people live in this world. In the world people need to look out for themselves and strive to achieve the goals they have set for themselves. Only the strongest, or the most talented, or the most assertive, or the most educated rise to the top. In contrast, the people who are willing to become the most dependent on God become the greatest in His Kingdom. It is not that they are placed in elevated seats of prominence, but they become the most useful servants. It is those who are willing to become the most childlike in their dependency on God who will become the most valuable servants in the Kingdom-Life of God.

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a {helpless and dependent} little child will by no means enter it. (Mark. 10:15)

---What is highly valued among men {the independent and self-exalting ways of the world} is detestable in God’s sight. (Luke 16:15)

The first disciples, while they were being tossed by the storm, did all they could to escape from their situation. With their backs bent to the oars, and with perspiration pouring down their faces from their great struggle, they tried to save themselves from their situation. Eventually, however, they recognized their helpless condition. It was not until they had considered themselves “as good as dead” that we find Christ coming to them in Divine power.

Paul tells us that Abraham had to reach this same state of helplessness, where he had lost all hope in human effort, before he possessed the kind of pure faith that enabled him to receive the “Life of promise” through the power of God. (Rom. 4:19) The only thing he produced through his human efforts to help God was a flesh-life, which was represented by Ishmael.

In a similar sense, God will only use His power to lift His children into His Kingdom-Life when they are “as good as dead.” Every Christian must come to this point where they die to the ways of the flesh before they can begin living wholly by faith in God. Until they are brought to this state of helplessness, they will naturally try to produce the “life of promise” through their own human efforts. Those who lose their flesh-life will find Christ’s Kingdom-Life.

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death {Christ’s death to the flesh-life}, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection {His Kingdom-Life}… For he who has died has been freed from sin {the old life of self-sufficiency and self-will}. (Rom. 6:5, 7)

Again, as the Scriptures have so clearly revealed, there needs to be a real dying out to the old self-sufficient way of life before the promised Kingdom-Life can be fully established within the soul and new spirit of regenerate man. This lesson comes directly from our Lord: “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
(Matt. 16:25)

God takes away our self-sufficient spirit by exposing us to difficult situations. These difficulties are intended to cause us to lose hope in our own fleshly strength. And, because these lessons are so hard for self-sufficient people to learn, it typically involves a lengthy and painful process. A process that no one wants to hear about and at times refuse to accept, the easy way or the broad way that leads to destruction seem the only way to many choose to accept and thereby take.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God…But may the God of all Grace, who called us to His eternal Glory through Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while {in dying to your own independence and self-sufficient way of life}, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Pet. 5:6, 10 Emphasis added)


...We must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)

“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.” (Matt. 14:25) Jesus came to His helpless disciples walking in a supernatural life. He was demonstrating a simple fact: The very sea that threatened to overwhelm and destroy them had been placed under His feet! He always has everything under His control! There is nothing impossible for God!

Have you come to that point when you have been overwhelmed by the sea? Here is good news for you! You are being prepared to meet the Lord in a New and Supernatural Way. When you lose hope in yourself and enter His Rest, He will come to you as the One who walks over everything that threatens your spiritual life.

God has been gracious to us and has directed us to resources such as Ian Thomas to help me express in words what I'm at a lost for. It is through the writings of people like Ian Thomas that we are able to share what God has been doing in us and through us for over fifty years. Many don't or wont accept what we write in our own words so with God's Blessing we share through others His Revelation of Christ' Spirit restored within us.

The Mystery of Godliness apart VI

Written by Major W. Ian Thomas

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience {and reliance on God}. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete {in faith, Grace and Love}, lacking nothing… Blessed is the man who endures temptation {in the time of testing}; for when he has been approved, he will receive the Crown of Life {the Kingdom-Life} which the Lord has promised to those who Love Him. (James 1:2-4, 12 Emphasis added)

But may the God of all Grace, who called us to His eternal Glory by (through) Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while {while being turned from the old self-sufficient way of life in the times of testing}, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Pet. 5:10 Emphasis added)

Christ has provided His Church with pastors and teachers to build the members of His Body up in their faith so they will begin to rely on God for all things. Both the Spiritual Life and the works that Jesus has planned to display through the members of His Body can only take place when they are living wholly by faith in Him. They will therefore need someone who can help them understand how Jesus lived by the power of the Spirit through faith. This is why the church needs Spiritual leaders who can instruct and exhort the members of Christ’s Body “till we all come to the unity of the faith and the Knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man {complete in faith, Grace and Love}, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:13 Emphasis added)

Merely holding a position in the church does not make someone spiritual. All too often we find unspiritual people striving for positions in the Body of Christ in the same way people “of the world” achieve their positions. The flesh has a natural appetite for position and power over others. It loves to be recognized, consulted, honored, admired and obeyed. Obviously, any “leader” who is still following the self-sufficient and self-exalting ways of this world will be incapable of leading others into the kind of faith that permits Christ to establish His Kingdom-Life within the hearts of His believers, followers and disciples (though the disciple is to be living in the Kingdom-Life of Christ and approved by God). But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal Life {the Kingdom-Life}… (1 Tim. 6:11-12)

How patient Christ was with His first disciples! Having learned nothing from the feeding of the five thousand, they were given another opportunity in a different setting to learn this lesson about living by faith in God. “For they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.” (Mark 6:52)

In this next lesson they were separated from Christ’s presence. They were left alone and in a difficult position to help them recognize how great was their need to have God’s power working in their lives. And of course, trouble was bound to develop when they became separated from Christ’s presence. They ended up “…in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.” (Matt. 14:24 Emphasis added)

Jesus will often leave His believing ones, followers and at times His disciples on their own when they are still trying to live by their own strength. He will permit them to be confounded by many “contrary” providence. It is during these rough times that He will be doing His work of breaking their self-sufficient spirit and teaching them to live by faith in God’s power.

Do you remember how Peter considered himself to be strong before he was clothed with power from the Spirit on the day of Pentecost? He thought he was capable of standing with Jesus even until death. But Jesus knew this human “strength” would prevent Peter from entering into the Kingdom of Light where everyone lives by faith in God’s power. Jesus therefore permitted Satan to “sift” Peter for a while. (Luke 22:31-32) Only after Peter’s sense of self-sufficiency had been brought to a real death would he be able to truly live by faith in God’s power.

Once Peter had become “poor in spirit” (had a broken and contrite heart) and had lost all hope in his own strength, he was in a position to enter into the kind of dependent faith that enabled God to lift him with Divine power into the Light of Christ’s Kingdom-Life. (Matt. 5:3) Once he had lost hope in his own strength, he was prepared to wait on God in prayer to be clothed with power from above.

Living by dependent faith in the power of God is the Mystery of Godliness. Every believer will need to learn this foundation Truth: The power of the Holy Spirit is perfected through God’s children as yielded receptive believers (disciples) become weaker in self and more dependent on Him. (2 Cor. 12:9)

The Mystery of Godliness apart V

Even after deciding to pay the price to buy the Heavenly Pearl (the Lord’s Kingdom-Life), which will entail a real turning from the independent and self-sufficient ways of the world, it will not be easy to stay on course. In other words, finding the Pearl and deciding to buy it is not enough! We will need to surrender everything from our old independent and self-sufficient way of life before we can receive it. (Matt. 13:45-46; 11:27-30)

So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has {from his independent and self-sufficient way of life} cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:33)

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away… How shall we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord… (Heb. 2:1, 3)

The members of Christ’s Body will generally require considerable instruction and exhortation before they will be in a condition to have the Lord’s Kingdom-Life fully established within their hearts. We learn this lesson by the way Paul taught the true gospel message in the first century. He knew there was a need for a real dying out to the old self-sufficient way of life. We therefore find him exhorting his pupils to press forward in their faith until they had entered into the Kingdom-Life of promise:
And when they {Paul and Barnabas} had preached the Gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:21-22 Emphasis added)

Similar to the pilgrimage taken by God’s people in the Old Testament, which is a Spiritual type used by God to teach Christians in this age of fulfillment (1 Cor. 10:1-12), the children of faith in the New Testament will pass through a time of testing before they enter into the Life of promise. And, as Jesus has stated, many of His followers will end up turning away from this walk of faith during the time when tribulations are being used to strip away their self-sufficient spirit. “For many, I say to you, will seek to enter {the Kingdom-Life} and will not be able to.” (Luke 13:24) “They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.” (Luke 8:13)

Instead of putting the flesh-life to death by the Spirit, many believers and followers actually go back to living by the flesh. This is why Christians need to be instructed in the Ways of the Spirit and exhorted to press forward in their faith until God has established His Kingdom-life within their hearts, when and where they become disciples of Christ Jesus. (Heb. 3:7 – 4:11)

For if you live according to the flesh {by your own sufficiency after being reconciled to God} you will die {have a spiritual life that keeps dying}; but if by the Spirit {as regenerate Christians} you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live {in the Kingdom-Life}. (Rom. 8:13)

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 1:10-11 Emphasis added)

The Lord’s Kingdom-Life will be fully established within the hearts of Christ’s believers, followers and disciples when they have died to the fleshly ways of fallen man. Every disciple will therefore need to be exhorted to continue in the Way of faith while God is stripping away their old self-sufficient way of life in the time of tribulation and testing, while perfecting His Salvation within them.

The Mystery of Godliness part IV

Written By Major W. Ian Thomas

Jesus displayed the “Light of Life” from Heaven while walking as a man in a weak mortal body. His whole life was a miracle. Because He always walked in the power of the Holy Spirit, He could honestly say, “I do nothing of Myself.”

Similarly, when we have stopped living by our own sufficiency and have learned to live wholly by faith in the power of God, the Lord will also enable us to display the same “Light of Life.” (John 8:12) But, as we shall see, this is not an easy lesson for Christ’s disciples to learn.

(The church of our day has also had a difficult time with this revelation and has missed it's required mark. How? By calling it seed time and harvest time, sow in your seed faith i.e. financial resources,tithes and offerings, or under the prosperity of blessings found in God's promises both for Israel and Christ Jesus and a host of plans of men and programs for increase of church membership or stewardship, to mention only a few of the misdirections by means of deception.)



Dying to Self-Sufficiency

For they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.(Mark 6:52)

As the first disciples demonstrated in their own walk with Jesus, it is not easy to learn to live by faith in God’s power. This difficulty of learning to walk wholly by faith in God has prevented many from entering into the Life of promise. Fallen man has lived by his self-sufficiency for too long to suddenly begin depending on God for everything. As we shall see, the first disciples had a difficult time adjusting to this walk of faith, even after being taught these same lessons many times during a close walk (intimacy)with Jesus.

The Kingdom-Life of God, where everyone lives under the control and power of the Holy Spirit, is not easy to enter. It will therefore be necessary to explain to new converts, as Jesus did, how difficult it is to enter into the Life of promise. Jesus said, “Difficult is the Way which leads to Life {the Kingdom-Life where God’s children live under the control and power of His Spirit}, and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7:14) If we do not strive to enter into this “Rest” where everyone truly lives by faith in God’s power, we will be unable to manifest the “Light of Life” from Heaven.
(For more understanding on this subject of God's Rest turn to our blog found listed in the left hand margin of this blog.)

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s Rest also rests from his own work… Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that Rest… (Heb. 4:9-11 Emphasis added)

Because of the difficulty involved, Jesus told people to consider the cost before they tried to follow Him into His Kingdom-Life. A real decision had to be made. They would need to determine beforehand if they were prepared to devote themselves entirely to the task at hand. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” (Luke 14:28-30)

Although we seldom hear these words from preachers in this day, they are the words of Jesus. His Words and His Ways will never change. Men may try to change the Lord’s teachings to better fit their own desires, but all they are doing is departing from the Lord. They may be found wanting and guilty of mocking Him with whom we have to do.

Everyone who wants to follow Jesus will need to learn these Truths (the mysteries of God that had been hidden from Israel and man in the heart of God). They will experience just as much difficulty following Him into His Kingdom-Life today as did the people who first received this warning from Jesus. Let us therefore believe our Lord when He says, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter {the Kingdom-Life} and will not be able to.” (Luke 13:24)