I am still looking deeply into our need for spiritual guidance. Because in my past life this subject seemed to be glossed over or was not even broached at all. Today's target is Enlightenment. But first what does Pastor Hoekstra have to say about Grace? And then Enlightenment using the ESV translation along with any editing the LORD may add.
"Resurrection Victory for Effective Christian Living"
"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (1Corinthians 15:57-58)
"The Resurrection of Jesus Christ brings spiritual victory over sin and death to all who believe in Him (I have in the past removed this little word "in" when used as it is here because by revelation I am currently "In Him and Believe Him Who operates within and then through me.) "But thanks be to GOD, Who gives us the victory through our LORD Christ Jesus." As we allow the LORD to be our guide through each day, He "leads us in triumph in (through, in Union with) Christ," in 2Corinthians 2:14. When this process is unfolding, an effective our Christian life is developing, by the Grace of GOD at work in us.
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast." It is the Will of GOD that our lives be marked by steadfastness (constancy and stability). Paul rejoiced concerning fellow believers who manifested such attributes: "rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in (through) Christ," in Colossians 2:5. He later added that they were to be "rooted and built up in Him and established in the (His) faith," in Colossians 2:7. It is always His Faith in the Fathers Faithfulness that we acquire when we are in Him and He is in use by enlightenment and revelation. If either of these two elements are lacking we are still within the corral of Redemption's workings.
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be . . . immovable." Our heavenly Father also wants us to be "immovable" (firmly persistent, unable to be swayed). Paul was a good example of this. Although he faced many threatening difficulties, he professed "But none of these things move me," in Acts 20:24. When Paul wrote to the saints at Ephesus, he warned of another threat to spiritual persistency: "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine," in Ephesians 4:14.
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be . . . always abounding in the work of the LORD." Our ascended LORD wants us to be Abundantly (allowing His) laboring with Him, as a matched Unite of One. This is one of the purposes of Jesus' redemptive work for us: "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works," in Titus 2:14. Yes, living by Grace will produce abounding good works through selfless Love, the law of Faith, as it is revealed above. The glorious fact is that such labors are actually the LORD at work in and through us: "always abounding in the work of the LORD." As the LORD sustains His work with us, we can grow in a certainty that this kind of laboring will be effective: "knowing that your labor is not in vain in the LORD."
Note the key word that indicates the basis for all of these desirable traits: "Therefore." This refers back to the Resurrection victory provided by the Lord Jesus. In light of this victorious work of Christ on our behalf, anyone trusting in this reality will find these spiritual virtues developing in their lives, by the Grace of GOD at work, within us again as promised man in Genesis 3:15."
Our Spiritual Enlightenment:
Psalm 18:25-29 "With the merciful You show Yourself merciful; with the blameless man You show Yourself blameless; with the purified You show Yourself pure; and with the crooked You make Yourself seem tortuous. For You save a humble people, but the haughty eyes You bring down. For it is You Who light my lamp; the LORD my GOD lightens my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, and by my GOD I can leap over a wall."
Pe.
Psalm 119:129-136 "Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of Your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, because I long for Your commandments. Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is Your Way with those who love Your name. Keep steady my steps according to Your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Redeem me from man's oppression, that I may keep Your precepts. Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your statutes. My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep Your law."
Proverbs 29:9-18 "If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright. A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked. The poor man and the oppressor meet together; the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. If a king faithfully judges the poor, his throne will be established forever. The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. When the wicked increase, transgression increases, but the righteous will look upon their downfall. Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law."
Isaiah 29:17-21 "Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off, who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right."
Isaiah 60:15-22 "Whereas You have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers peace and your taskmasters righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD Will be your everlasting light, and your GOD Will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD Will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I might be glorified. The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the LORD; in its time I Will hasten it."
Acts 26:12-18 (Paul is speaking) "In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' And I said, 'Who are you, LORD!?' And the LORD said, 'I AM Jesus Whom you are persecuting (now it must be asked, How is Jesus now being persecuted when HE has ascended? HE as Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit is within those who have become HIS again). But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint (anoint) you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen ME and to those in which I Will appear (make known) to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I AM (as the Living "Now") sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to GOD, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in ME.'"
2Corinthians 4:1-6, 7-11 "Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of GOD, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with GOD's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of GOD. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of GOD. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as LORD, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For GOD said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of GOD in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to GOD and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the Life of Jesus (the Messiah-Christ the anointed within us) may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh."
Ephesians 1:15-23 "For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the LORD Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the GOD of our LORD Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which HE has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that HE worked in Christ when HE raised Him from the dead and seated Him at HIS right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And HE put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills All in all."
1Peter 2:4-8, 9-10, 11-12 "As you come into Him, as living stones rejected by men but in the sight of GOD chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a Holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to GOD through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I AM laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes (in) Him Will not be put to shame." So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession (seen in Psalm 2), that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are GOD's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify GOD on the day of visitation."
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