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Colossians 1:9–10 9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;  The Wisdom of God Our life is full of decisions. Some decisions are thoughtfully planed out, but the majority of these decisions happen without us even realizing we are making them. For example: if you were going to buy a house, you would have the opportunity to pray, plan and organize your thoughts and come to a purposed decision based on careful planning, but those kinds of decisions are probably only 10% at best of our total lifelong decisions. The other 90% of all our other choices usually come automatically without us having the chance to come up with a plan before we make that decision. An example of this would be how you might react to a situation at work, or daily discussions you have with your wife and family; your reaction to someone that is rude while in the grocery store, and countless other decisions that we can’t even remember by the end of the day. These choices, however insignificant they may seem, will add up in a hurry and start to shape your life. Our decisions in this life are shaping this life and eternal life to come. The first and most important decision a person can make is to choose Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This is step one to a life of living for Him. This act of choosing Jesus as your Lord and Savior will result in life everlasting with Him forever. There is nothing we can do to add to this righteousness, it is a free gift, one given by the grace of God to raise us up out of death and bring us into life with Him. We are reconciled into His family by the costly blood of Jesus that He spilled when He gave His life for us on the cross. At this moment, our spirit is born again into a perfect, sinless spirit that can never be infected by sin, covered and washed clean by the blood of Jesus. The next step is our decision of what to do with this free gift of righteousness. God has given us this free gift so that we can be a family with Him. He wants us to enjoy life with Him. He wants us to participate in this awesome plan of redeeming mankind into His family and He has chosen us to help Him do this. His plan of building His family and bringing us together into One Body, created in Christ Jesus, has included us being His fellow workers. God has made us an integral part of His plan, the building of the Church, that cannot be completed unless we choose to participate and bring people to the Lord, Rom 10:14-15. God has chosen that His plan of reconciling His family would involve our participation in the Great Commission- “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”, Mk 16:15. This is now our decision. What level are you going to participate in the plan of God? After you believe in Jesus, are you satisfied with going back to your normal, worldly routine, or will you start to get to know Him and the plan He has for you? What are you going to do with this free gift of righteousness? Will you hide it under a basket so no one sees it? Or will you let your light shine before men so they will see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven? These decisions start to make a dramatic effect on your life on this earth and the life to come. God expects us and wants us to live for Him. This is why He sent His Son to die for us, He wants us to choose Him and participate in His plan together. He wants us to get to know Him, connect ourselves to Him and become one with Him. We can do that starting now in this life if we only choose Him. This goes back to the original statement that life is full of choices. We need to make the decision to start choosing Him in everything we do, whether big or small. This is a life long process and takes dedication and commitment to Him everyday to grow in Him. This process is called sanctification of the soul. It is a course of development to separate your soul from sin and regenerate your thinking to line up with the will of God. He wants our soul, our decision maker, to be in accordance with Him and to ultimately build up and edify the body of Christ. For more detail on the process of sanctifying the soul, see my sanctification of the soul blog, http://www.insightoftheking.com/blog/sanctification-of-the-soul. As your soul is going thru the lifelong process of sanctification, your heart begins to turn from a cold heart of unbelief to a pliable, tender heart, full of faith and love. As your soul begins to transform, your thinking starts to change. Your mind is being renewed to the Wisdom, Understanding and True Knowledge of God. So now those automatic decisions that are made one hundred times a day without thinking are now being transformed into choosing God’s way instead of the selfish, fleshy, way of the world. The deeper and more saturated we are in Him, the more Truth, Wisdom and Understanding we start to gain in our soul. We can start to see the way God thinks and make decisions that please Him and build up the body of Christ. The Truth that is building in the soul then can be shared with others so they can experience the same joy in knowing Him. The Truth of Jesus is the True Knowledge of Him As the True Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding is being fabricated into the soul, we start to know and understand the things of God. To speak the Truth, Eph 4:15, or to lie not against the Truth, Jm 3:14, or to walk in Truth, Ps 86:11, 3Jn 1:4, does not just mean not to lie. It does include that but there is so much more to Truth than to just not to lie. The Truth is the fact that Jesus is the Son of God; that He was born in the flesh and lived a sinless life; He died on the cross according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised from the dead on the third day according to the scriptures, 1Cor 15:3-4; this is Truth. Instead of thinking truth as “not lying”, try inserting the statement “Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ”. This even works with the 9th commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”, now, insert Jesus into this, “you shall not speak falsely to a neighbor that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah”. Truth is much more than just not lying; it is confessing Jesus as Lord. When Jesus told the Pharisees that the devil is a liar, He was saying that the devil does not stand and trust in the fact that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ. The Truth is not in him and he will never speak the Truth that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ. John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 1 John 2:21–22 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. The Truth spoken and believed in the heart will justify the spirit. And as the Knowledge of Truth is embedded into the soul it begins to speak out and build and edify the Church, the body of Christ. Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; If you confess this Truth and believe it in your heart, you will be saved. This is called justification of the spirit, to be rendered righteous. But salvation of the spirit is just the beginning. Jesus said “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” This literally means He has always been and everything that has or will ever exist, whether spiritual or physical, came out of Him; and He will always be, in Him there is no end. He is eternal, eternally from the past and will be eternally in the future; so, because Jesus is the beginning and the end, and everything comes out of Him, and because He is Truth, Jn 1:14, 17, 14:6, then we can safely say that Truth began with Him and it will be complete in Him; the completed Truth, full of Wisdom and Knowledge, built together in the body of Christ, the fullness of Him that fills all in all, Eph 1:23, 4:13. This is the completion or perfection of the body of Christ. When salvation is finally complete and the adoption as sons has transformed our mortal bodies into our final glorified state, the redemption of our bodies, Rom 8:23, the body of Christ will have attained to the unity of faith, a mature man in the knowledge of the Son of God, Eph 4:13. The more we can attain to this knowledge in this life, the better we can equip the saints and build up the Church to be steadfast in the knowledge of Him so we are not shaken by every wind of doctrine or deceived by the trickery of the devil, Eph 4:14, Col 1:9-12. As the True Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding become a part and transform your soul, your natural thinking will start to transform itself according to the image of God. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— John 3:21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” God is seeking a people that desire to know Him. This is why He gave us a soul. Our soul is our decision maker and He want us to freely choose Him and more than just choose Him, but fellowship and become one with His people. John 4:23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. He wants us to know the Truth, thru the true Wisdom and Knowledge. John 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” There is only one way to fellowship with the Father and come boldly to the throne of Grace and participate in the plan of God. It is thru Truth, John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. We have to make a decision to invite Truth into our soul. Once this decision is made, the Holy Spirit bears witness of that Truth with our spirit and starts to transform our soul. If you decide to know the Truth and allow the Truth to come into your soul, Jesus will open your heart and mind to the scriptures and enlighten your understanding of the Truth, Luke 24:45–47 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. John 14:16–17 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. The Spirit of Truth will guide you in all Truth. He is the key to disclosing all Wisdom and Knowledge to your soul. The Spirit never speaks of Himself, but is always bearing witness of the Truth, Jesus, the Son of God and the Christ. John 16:12–15 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. When the Truth is in us and He is the one leading and controlling our lives, the Spirit will speak to our soul about the Truth. He will transform our soul into the Wisdom and Knowledge of Him which will allow us to make every decision focused on the Truth. Jesus has equipped us with everything we need to work out His plan on the earth with joy. He has given us the Spirit of Truth and the Word of Truth to regenerate our soul and attain to all steadfastness and patience so that in the midst of tribulation and persecution in the plan of building up His Church, we will have unending joy, giving thanks to the Father who has allowed us to participate and share in this journey of the redemption of mankind, the reconciliation of His family. 1 John 5:6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. John 17:13–26 “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” Jesus has made Truth available to anyone who would ask and accept Him. It is our decision to allow Him into our life. He wants us to be fellow workers with Him and He expects hard work and diligence. This is a lifelong battle that literally takes place every time you make a decision. The question that you have to train your soul to ask before every decision is this “will this decision glorify God? Am I showing God that I value Him over everything else. Am I proving to Him that He is more important to me than anything else in the world?” Matthew 6:19–24 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. 1 Timothy 2:3–4 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. The best way to show the worth of God and present yourself as a fellow worker with Him is to give Him the things of great value; namely time and money. These are two great resources that are only available for use in this world. They are not things we can take with us, but they are probably the two most important things in the world that people use to improve their life, usually for selfish gain. Money can increase your status in life; give you power and luxury for your flesh. It also is a way to sustain our human body with food and shelter. Time is another earthly commodity that is only valuable on this earth, but is just as equal if not a greater resource than money, because no matter how wealthy a person is, there is only a limited amount of time on this earth for every human being. What two better resources to use in order to show the worth of Jesus? The human body cannot function on this earth without these two resources. By giving them to God, you are proving and showing your complete trust and faith in Him to sustain your life. You have given Him complete control of your flesh and allowed Him to move in your life. So the next time you decide to sit down for two hours and watch television, instead, consider what could be done for God if you would invest those two hours into the kingdom of God. Whether it be giving Him the opportunity to teach you thru His word or equipping the body of Christ in fellowship with others. Let Him be in control of your life and your resources. Once you let go of these things that seem so precious to you, you will find that you are not losing anything at all, but instead are gaining an eternal Knowledge of the Creator of the universe. You are developing a relationship with God Almighty Himself and the results of this is compete satisfaction in Him; unending joy that can never be quenched, John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. Even in persecution and tribulation you will rejoice because great is your reward in heaven. Hebrews 10:34 For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Matthew 5:11–12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Paul said it best in his letter to the Phillipians, Philippians 4:11–13 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Walking in love is the best and only way to give up selfish ambition. Love is the only way to sanctify the soul, for out of love bears the fruit of the Spirit which results in sanctification. Romans 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. Treat others as more important than yourself. Let the love of God show thru in your life which will cut off the works and ambition of the flesh. Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 1 Peter 1:22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 1 John 3:16–19 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him. Wisdom and Knowledge Truth bears enlightenment; enlightenment leads to knowledge; knowledge bears understanding and insight; these all lead to the advancement of Wisdom all for the purpose to be fellow workers with Jesus and lead people to a life of unending and everlasting joy with the Father. Now that we have established Truth as being Jesus the Son of God and the Christ and that this Truth bears witness with our soul allowing us to start walking in the Spirit and in love, resulting in the sanctification of our soul, let us now speak on Wisdom and Knowledge. As our soul is being sanctified, the Truth in love starts to make the soul pliable, tenderhearted, ready to do the Master’s work and increase the ability for the seed to be sown in a rich, fertile soil that can bear the fruit of the Spirit and increase in Wisdom and Knowledge. Ephesians 4:15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 2 Timothy 2:21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 2 Chronicles 34:27 “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words …, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord. Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, Colossians 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 2 Peter 1:2–11 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. When the Truth of Jesus is established in the heart, the soul is enlightened, making the soul ready and able for the true knowledge, replacing the knowledge of the world and its selfish ambitions and making it ready for the work of the Father. Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 2 Timothy 1:9–10 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, The Truth of Jesus shines a light on the soul and awakens it to the knowledge of God. When you start to gain the knowledge of the plan of God, you realize how great a love the Father has for us. That He would send His Son to die for us so that we could be reconciled to Him. As your soul is enlightened to this astounding love, the love of God is established in your soul to perform His work. We are driven to please Him and to be a part of His plan, always looking to Jesus as our hope and forgetting the pleasures of this world because we know we have a better possession and a lasting one with Jesus. Hebrews 10:32–39 But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33 partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 34 For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. 35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. 38 But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. 1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Hebrews 6:11–12 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:17–20 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. As enlightenment leads to the knowledge of God’s plan and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts; this knowledge starts to bear understanding and insight into His kingdom. All these attributes start to work together in unison, building and strengthening the soul and uniting a fellowship and a personal relationship with the Father and Jesus. The soul continues to be sanctified, it increases in the knowledge of God. Spiritual Wisdom and understanding are building and fluently working to bring people into the body of Christ. The soul is continuing to increase in steadfastness and patience, the fruit of the spirit is thriving and plentiful in your life all working together to lead people to Jesus. The insight that your soul is gaining starts to shine so bright that the worth of Jesus is showing forth thru you that everyone can see. John 1:9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. Matthew 5:14–16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Luke 11:33–36 “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 “The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 “Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. 36 “If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.” Daniel 12:3 “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. Daniel 12:10 “Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. Wisdom and Knowledge start to take place of the old, cold, unregenerate soul that is hard and unbelieving, full of the wisdom and knowledge of this fleshly world. It begins to be transformed into the Wisdom and Knowledge of God full of love and brotherly kindness; keeping the Truth in the forefront of our mind, the eye of the soul, and not forgetting the precious gift of Christ on the cross, the purification of our sins. Our soul is a decision maker. It does not have a physical substance. It is the mind, will and emotions of the spirit. These decisions of the soul affect the productivity and fruitfulness of the spirit and while we are in our physical bodies, the result of the decisions of the soul, affect physical actions in the body. When the spirit is made righteous by the blood of Jesus, all sin is washed away and our spirit is made a new creation. The soul, however, is still infected by sin and must be separated and set apart to be made holy in the image of the new created spirit. This soul, infected by sin, only knows and understands the wisdom and knowledge of the world, but as our soul is sanctified thru love and the Truth allows our soul to be transformed into the Wisdom and Knowledge of God, our decision maker starts to change. We start making decisions that line up with God’s plan and will for our life. Our decisions, whether conscious or sub-conscious, are now being made from the True Wisdom and Knowledge that now resides in your soul; and the more Wisdom and Knowledge that is in your soul replaces the fleshly instincts of the unregenerate soul and your life starts to line up with the will of God and His plan of redemption for man, Lk 6:45. This is a lifelong process that involves feeding your soul on the Word of Truth and attaining to the Knowledge of Him on a daily, consistent basis; reminding and seeing yourself the way God sees you lest you forget who you are, James 1:23–25 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. 2 Peter 1:9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Living like this is foolish in the eyes of the world. It is living life against the grain, like rowing a boat up stream, against the current, 1Cor 1:18-31; but this is why He has given us Wisdom and Understanding. He has strengthened us with all power according to His glorious might for the attaining of steadfastness and patience; in order that we can joyously give thanks to the Father, Col 1:9-12. All these great things He has given to us in this life and for this life is so we can be equipped to be His fellow workers in the plan of redemption; to build up the body of Christ and bring His family together in the unity of Him. We are given gifts for the equipping of the saints, Ephesians 4:11–24. To mend what is broken, Matt 4:21, restore in the spirit of gentleness, Gal 6:1, fully train, Lk 6:40, and complete what is lacking, 1Thes 3:10, to build up and prepare the body for Jesus, Heb 10:5. In doing this you will have persecution; there will be people that hate you for being a Christian, but be of good cheer, Jesus has overcome the world!, Jn 16:33, Matt 5:11-12, Lk 12:32 Fight the good fight of faith, 1Tim 6:12, and press on toward the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus, Phil 3:14, because God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of Truth, 1Tim 2:4, that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ. Anyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life with Him, Jn3:16-17. Truth tells us that Jesus is the Christ, Knowledge gives us the experience of His work on the cross, and Wisdom gives us insight into the plan of God to make decisions for the future. It is the Wisdom of God that established His plan of redemption before the foundations of the world. It is the Wisdom of God that is given to His prophets and teachers to proclaim the infallible Word of Truth. Luke 11:49 “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, Luke 21:15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. Acts 6:8–10 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. The soul is wisdom, understanding and knowledge. It is a decision maker that either has these attributes of the world or of God. The soul is the expression of the spirit. It is how the soul portrays and illustrates the things of the spirit outwardly . Jesus is the express image of the Father, Heb 1:3, Col 1:15. Jesus is also the Wisdom of God, 1Cor 1:24, 30, and the Word of God, Jn 1:1, 14, 1Jn 1:1. Jesus is the way for humans to relate and understand who the Father is, Jn 14:7-10. God is so big and so majestic and so magnificent that there is no way for the human soul to comprehend the Father. God desires fellowship with us, but how can man fellowship with someone he doesn’t understand or cannot comprehend? This is one of the reasons why Jesus became the express image of the Father, but in human form, so that humans would have a Way to comprehend the depth, and length, and height and breadth of the love of the Father, Eph 3:18-19. He is the Word of God that became flesh and dwelt among men. This was the manifestation of God’s Word and His glory in human form so that the truth and glory of God could be revealed to men. Origen (184AD – 253AD) had an excellent way of explaining this concept in his book on first principles- Origen, De Principiis, 1.2.8- to show that the Son of God, who was in the form of God, divesting Himself (of His glory), makes it His object, by this very divesting of Himself, to demonstrate to us the fulness of His deity. For instance, suppose that there were a statue of so enormous a size as to fill the whole world, and which on that account could be seen by no one; and that another statue were formed altogether resembling it in the shape of the limbs, and in the features of the countenance, and in form and material, but without the same immensity of size, so that those who were unable to behold the one of enormous proportions, should, on seeing the latter, acknowledge that they had seen the former, because it preserved all the features of its limbs and countenance, and even the very form and material, so closely, as to be altogether undistinguishable from it; by some such similitude, the Son of God, divesting Himself of His equality with the Father, and showing to us the way to the knowledge of Him, is made the express image of His person: so that we, who were unable to look upon the glory of that marvellous light when placed in the greatness of His Godhead, may, by His being made to us brightness, obtain the means of beholding the divine light by looking upon the brightness. This comparison, of course, of statues, as belonging to material things, is employed for no other purpose than to show that the Son of God, though placed in the very insignificant form of a human body, in consequence of the resemblance of His works and power to the Father, showed that there was in Him an immense and invisible greatness, inasmuch as He said to His disciples, “He who sees Me, sees the Father also;” and, “I and the Father are one.” And to these belong also the similar expression, “The Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” Jesus is the expression of God’s love for us. The Father does everything thru Jesus. Even the creation of the universe was done thru Him, Col 1:15-20, the Father spoke it, Gen 1, and Jesus brought it into manifestation, Gen 2. Every time we see God on the seen in the Old Testament, I believe it was actually Jesus performing the work for the Father: Moses and the burning bush, God with two angels communing with Abraham before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the captain of the army of God talking to Joshua before the battle of Jericho, these are just a few examples of Jesus functioning as God’s expression with man on the earth. And we, the body, do everything thru Him as well. He is the go between, the mediator, 1Tim 2:5, the advocate between us and the Father, 1Jn 2:1-2, our Hight Priest, Heb 2:17, Zech 6:13. Without Jesus we are nothing and it is thru Him that we can boldly approach the throne of Grace, Heb 4:14-16, and speak with the Father, Jn 16:23-24. Jesus is the connection, the Way between the Father and man. Therefore, since the soul is the avenue in which the spirit and the body function, and it is the outward expression of the spirit, and everything the Father does is thru Jesus and all communication between the Father and man is accomplished thru His Son, the expression of the Father; there are some striking similarities of the function of a soul and the role of Jesus. I don’t think it can be said that Jesus is a type of the soul of the Father because Jesus is not the decision maker for the Father. This we know because Jesus only speaks and does what He hears the Father tell Him to do, Jn 5:19, 30, 8:26, 28, 12:49-50, 14:10; therefore, the Father still makes His own decisions, but Jesus is the expression of those decisions and He is the Wisdom of God, 1Cor 1:24, 30, that established His plan of redemption before the foundations of the world. It is evident that the Father and Jesus are One, inseparable, connected and integral to each other. However, on the cross we see the Father forsake Jesus, Matt 27:46. He had to separate Himself from His Son because of the sin that had been laid on Him. This is unimaginable to think, not only what Jesus went thru, being separated from His Father, but how awful was it for the Father to be separated from His Son; and not only His Son, but His express image, His Wisdom, His extension and mediator to His creation that has always been before the foundation of the world. They had never been separated up until that moment and it wasn’t just for an instant, this separation lasted for three days until the Father called Jesus out of hell and raised Him from the dead, Acts 2:24, Rom 6:4, 8:11. This is just how much the Father loves us; to be willing to separate a literal part of Himself in order to reconcile us with Him. It is Wisdom that gives us insight into the plan of God to make decisions for the future. God has given us this Wisdom thru His Spirit to show us what God has prepared for those who love Him. It is the message of the Truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ, first revealed to the Apostle Paul and has now been revealed to us who love Him. It is this Wisdom, Jesus Christ Himself, that is now changing the nature of our soul into the Wisdom of God, giving us the mind of Christ. 1Corinthians 2:3–16 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. 6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. Ephesians 3:8–12 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. It is the work of God thru His Son to give us the manifold Wisdom of God; and now this work is being manifested in us so we can show forth the glory of God; not only to those in the world, but to the principalities and powers in heavenly places. To make known the power and Wisdom of God and declare Jesus as Lord to all creation. The Church is the manifestation of the accomplished plan of the cross and it is thru the Church that the Wisdom of God is made evident. Because our spirit has been made new by the blood of Jesus, we now have the capacity and the ability to change the soul and be strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit. By making the decision that Jesus is Lord of your life and that He died on the cross, and was buried, and rose again on the third day for our justification, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Rom 5:5. As we abide in Him and His word abides us, our soul starts to be renewed to the things of God. We start to gain the knowledge of His love for us which motivates and excites our soul to walk in the way of His Spirit; to begin walking in love, bearing the fruit of love, resulting in the sanctification of the soul. As our soul is sanctified, our knowledge of His love for us grows in our hearts and the Wisdom of God starts to change our soul into making all our decisions for Him and thru Him. It is thru this power of the Holy Spirit that fills us with the knowledge of His will and the spiritual Wisdom to walk in a manner to show the worth of Jesus to all creation. Ephesians 3:16–20 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, Colossians 1:9–12 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. Colossians 1:28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. Colossians 2:2–3 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. As the soul is changed into the Wisdom and Knowledge of God, it is now cooperating with the re-born spirit. Knowledge is gained of the work of Jesus on the cross, including His great love for us and the mystery of His plan of the redemption of man; Wisdom is increased to employ the Knowledge of God in an applicable way to build up and edify the body of Christ. Wisdom has the same attributes as love because God is love and His Son, who is Wisdom is one with the Father. Wisdom is not selfish; it is not meant for personal gain or selfish ambition. It is love, being pure and with righteous intents to increase the body of Christ and bring everyone into the knowledge of God. Ephesians 1:7–9 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him James 3:13–18 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. 18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. Thus far, I have tried to explain the process of attaining to the Truth, Knowledge and Wisdom of Jesus Christ in order that we can be equipped and equip others to be built up in the body of Christ and participate in the magnificent plan of God, namely the redemption of mankind and the reconciliation to the Father. This process is our responsibility. God has given us the right to choose whether we will live this earthly life for Him and with Him. Salvation begins with Jesus and it is complete in Jesus and it is the Truth that carries us thru this process. Salvation, σωτηρία, soteria, is deliverance, preservation, safety and wholeness. The common use of this word refers to the justification of the spirit; the free gift of righteousness that Jesus so graciously bestowed on all those that believe in Him, but this is really just the first of three parts of soteria. Righteousness isn’t the end of salvation, it is just the beginning. Jesus has given us this free gift not to hide it away and wait for the Master’s return, but to invest it into the lives of others; bringing many more into the Truth of Jesus Christ. Jesus describes this perfectly in the parable of the ten minas. The Master, Jesus, gave a free gift of the same value to each of his servants, this can be compared to the free gift of righteousness. The Master told them, do business, trade, exert yourself with this gift I have given you until I come back. The Master, Jesus, went away to receive the kingdom for Himself from the Father; the Father highly exalted Him and gave Him the Name that is above every name. This is Jesus receiving the kingdom for Himself and then we will return. He is expecting us to have done something with the free gift He bestowed on us. Notice in the parable, those that invested the gift and yielded a return were congratulated and given rewards based on their faithfulness. This is what Jesus expects from us. He wants us to use this free gift of righteousness and bring others into His kingdom. When Jesus returns, He is expecting results. Luke 19:12–26 So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. 13 “And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’ 14 “But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 “When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done. 16 “The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ 18 “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ 19 “And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 “Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 “He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? 23 ‘Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ 24 “Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 “And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ 26 “I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Salvation, soteria, as mentioned above, is divided into three parts:
Be strengthened by these words. Press on toward the goal for the prize of the high call of God. Increase in the Truth and Knowledge and Wisdom of Him to be fellow workers with Him performing and participating in His glorious plan of redemption.
Revelation 19:7–9 7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ ” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
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