What is the Profit for becoming associated with GOD in HIS Righteousness, Holiness and Godliness? First there is great Reward and Profit as our insensitive both while here on earth and after we have joined the LORD in the air or Heaven. But first what does Pastor Hoekstra have to reveal about Grace and our New Life lived in Grace. Then I will again use the ESV translation and look at my chosen subject matter. And as always should the LORD give me revelation I will add it where and when HE does so.
"Branches in the Vine, the Vine in the Branches"
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)
"Previously, we examined these verses to see how the Grace of GOD produces fruit in those who walk in humility and faith (thereby living by / in Grace). Now, let's revisit these words to consider the Intimate Relationship they describe. But first I break in here to reveal the meaning again of the title of LORD as it applies to Christ and has always been hidden as such. LORD is, Master, Father husband, husbandman and Vine.The word vine is a profound biblical picture of us being in Christ and Christ being in us. It is like the relationship between a vine and a branch. Jesus is the vine; we are the branches. "I am the Vine, you are the branches." He is the source of the Life we need. We are the recipients of the Life that He alone can provide.
The LORD wants us, His branches, to be fruitful. "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit" (John 15:8). Fruit is the result of developing life. Branches do not innately have that life in themselves. "The branch cannot bear fruit of itself." Branches must always find their life in the vine. The Vine, Jesus, had this Life in Himself. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6). Our LORD came to share this Life with us in Abundance. "I have come that they may have Life, and that they may have it more Abundantly" (John 10:10). His abundant Life is what enables us to bear much fruit.
Such Life Abundance (fruit-developing life) flows out of our Intimate Relationship available to us in Christ. Think of the "conjoined relationship" that a vine and a branch have. The branch came forth from the vine, and is ever after connected to the vine. The life of the vine is available to flow in and through the branch. We came forth from Jesus, our Vine, as we were born again by His Spirit through faith in Christ. Now, we are conjoined to Him forever. "He who is joined to the LORD is one spirit with Him" (1Corinthians 6:17). Day by day, His Life is accessible to us. We being not of the natural Vine are grafted into Him. Just as an adopted child has a stronger relationship with their adopting parents, we also have a stronger relationship with the Living LORD of our new life. We become One with HIM in this selfless Love Relationship. We are His Righteousness, Holiness and Godliness from which His fruitfulness springs.
We access this Life by abiding. "Abide in Me, and I in you." We depend on Him to be our source of Life. He, then, lives in and through us."
Godliness Profitable:
Deuteronomy 4:32-40 "For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that GOD created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is GOD; there is no other besides HIM. Out of heaven HE let you hear HIS voice, that HE might discipline you. And on earth HE let you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. And because HE loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with His own presence, by His great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is GOD in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep His statutes and His commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time."
Ecclesiastes 8:10-13 "Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear GOD, because they fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before GOD."
Isaiah 3:1-12 "For behold, the LORD GOD of Hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable. For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying: "You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule"; in that day he will speak out, saying: "I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; you shall not make me leader of the people." For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD, defying His glorious presence. For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths."
Isaiah 65:17-25 and Jeremiah 7:23, 22:15 "For behold, I create New heavens and a New earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of My people be, and My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the Blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My Holy Mountain," says the LORD."
Jeremiah 7:21-26, 22:13-17 "Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: 'Obey My voice, and I will be your GOD, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all My servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers."
Jeremiah 22:13-17 "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, who says, 'I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms,' who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion. Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know Me? declares the LORD. But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence."
1Timothy 4:6-10 "If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the Living GOD, Who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe."
1Timothy 6:3-10 "If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the Truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs."
Titus 3:1-11 "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of GOD our Savior appeared, HE saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Whom HE poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His Grace we might become heirs according to the hope of Eternal Life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believe GOD may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned."
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