"BUT YOU, DEAR FRIENDS, BUILD YOURSELVES UP IN YOUR MOST HOLY FAITH AND PRAY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. KEEP YOURSELVES IN GOD'S LOVE AS YOU WAIT FOR THE MERCY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST TO BRING YOU TO ETERNAL LIFE.(Jude 20-21)
WE EXPERIENCE UPS AND DOWNS BECAUSE WE RELY ON OUR FEELINGS RATHER THAN FAITH, WE RELY ON OUR OWN WORK AND ENDEAVOR RATHER THAN ON THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS. JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD, GOD LIVES IN ME AND I IN GOD. SO I KNOW AND RELY ON THE LOVE GOD HAS FOR ME!
MINISTERS OF THE NEW COVENANT:
"BUT THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO ALWAYS LEADS US IN TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION IN CHRIST AND THROUGH US SPREADS EVERYWHERE THE FRAGRANCE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST. FOR WE ARE TO GOD THE AROMA OF CHRIST AMONG THOSE WHO ARE BEING SAVED AND THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING. TO THE ONE WE ARE THE SMELL OF DEATH; TO THE OTHER, THE FRAGRANCE OF LIFE. AND WHO IS EQUAL TO SUCH A TASK? UNLIKE SO MANY, WE DO NOT PEDDLE THE WORD OF GOD FOR PROFIT. ON THE CONTRARY, IN CHRIST WE SPEAK BEFORE GOD WITH SINCERITY, LIKE MEN SENT FROM GOD.
ARE WE BEGINNING TO COMMEND OURSELVES AGAIN? OR DO WE NEED, LIKE SOME PEOPLE, LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION TO YOU OR FROM YOU? YOU YOURSELVES ARE OUR LETTER, WRITTEN ON OUR HEARTS, KNOWN AND READ BY EVERBODY. YOU SHOW THAT YOU ARE A LETTER FROM CHRIST, THE RESULT OF OUR MINISTRY, WRITTEN NOT WITH INK BUT WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD, NOT ON TABLETS OF STONE BUT ON TABLETS OF HUMAN HEARTS. SUCH CONFIDENCE AS THIS IS OURS THROUGH CHRIST BEFORE GOD. NOT THAT WE ARE COMPETENT IN OURSELVES TO CLAIM ANYTHING FOR OURSELVES, BUT OUR COMPETENCE COMES FROM GOD. GOD HAS MADE US COMPETENT AS MINISTERS OF A NEW COVENANT - NOT OF THE LETTER BUT OF THE SPIRIT; FOR THE LETTER KILLS, BUT THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE.(2Cor.2:14-3:6)
THE MINISTERY OF RECONCILIATION:
IF WE ARE OUT OF OUR MIND, IT IS FOR THE SAKE OF GOD; IF WE ARE IN OUR RIGHT MIND, IT IS FOR YOU. FOR CHRIST'S LOVE COMPLES US, BECAUSE WE ARE CONVINCED THAT ONE DIED FOR ALL, AND THEREFORE ALL DIED. AND CHRIST DIED FOR ALL, THAT THOSE WHO LIVE SHOULD NO LONGER LIVE FOR THEMSELVES BUT FOR CHRIST WHO DIED FOR THEM AND WAS RAISED AGAIN.
SO FROM NOW ON WE REGARD NO ONE FROM A WORDLY POINT OF VEIW. THOUGH WE ONCE REGARDED CHRIST IN THIS WAY, WE DO SO NO LONGER. THEREFORE, IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATION; THE OLD GONE, THE NEW HAS COME! ALL THIS IS FROM GOD, WHO RECONCILED US TO HIMSELF THROUGH CHRIST AND GAVE US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION: THAT GOD WAS RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF IN CHRIST, NOT COUNTING MEN'S SINS AGAINST THEM. AND GOD HAS COMMITTED TO US THE MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION. WE ARE THEREFORE CHRIST'S AMBASSADORS, AS THROUGH GOD WERE MAKING HIS APPEAL THROUGH US. WE IMPLORE YOU ON CHRIST'S BEHALF; BE RECONCILED TO GOD. GOD MADE CHRIST WHO HAD NO SIN TO BE SIN FOR US, SO THAT IN CHRIST WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. AS GOD'S FELLOW WORKERS WE URGE YOU NOT TO RECEIVE GOD'S GRACE IN VAIN. FOR GOD SAYS, "IN THE TIME OF MY FAVOR I HEARD YOU, AND IN THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU." I TELL YOU, NOW IS THE TIME OF GOD'S FAVOR, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.(2Cor.5:13-6:2)
WE ARE ONE IN CHRIST:
FOR CHRIST HIMSELF IS OUR PEACE, WHO HAS MADE THE TWO ONE AND HAS DESTROYED THE BARRIER, THE DIVIDING WALL OF HOSTILITY, BY ABOLISHING IN CHRIST'S FLESH THE LAW WITH ITS COMMANDMENTS AND REGULATIONS. CHRIST'S PURPOSE WAS TO CREATE IN HIMSELF ONE NEW MAN OUT OF THE TWO, THUS MAKING PEACE, AND IN THIS ONE BODY TO RECONCILE BOTH OF THEM TO GOD THROUGH THE CROSS, BY WHICH CHRIST PUT TO DEATH THEIR HOSTILITY. CHRIST CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR. FOR THROUGH CHRIST WE BOTH HAVE ACCESS TO THE FATHER BY ONE SPIRIT. CONSEQUENTLY, YOU ARE NO LONGER FOREIGNERS AND ALIENS, BUT FELLOW CITIZENS WITH GOD'S PEOPLE AND MEMBERS OF GOD'S HOUSEHOLD, BUILT ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, WITH CHRIST JESUS HIMSELF AS THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE. IN CHRIST THE WHOLE BUILDING IS JOINED TOGETHER AND RISES TO BECOME A HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD. AND IN CHRIST YOU TOO ARE BEING BUILT TOGETHER TO BECOME A DWELLING IN WHICH GOD LIVES BY HIS SPIRIT.(Eph.2:14-22)
FREEDOM FROM HUMAN REGULATIONS THROUGH LIFE WITH CHRIST:
SO THEN, JUST AS YOU RECEIVED CHRIST JESUS AS LORD, CONTINUE TO LIVE IN CHRIST, ROOTED AND BUILT UP IN CHRIST, STRENGHENED IN THE FAITH AS YOU WERE TAUGHT, AND OVERFLOWING WITH THANKFULNESS. SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE TAKES YOU CAPTIVE THROUGH HOLLOW AND DECEPTIVE PHILOSOPHY, WHICH DEPENDS ON HUMAN TRADITION AND THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THIS WORLD RATHER THAN ON CHRIST. FOR IN CHRIST ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE DEITY LIVES IN BOBILY FORM, AND YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN FULLNESS IN CHRIST, WHO IS THE HEAD OVER EVERY POWER AND AUTHORITY. IN CHRIST YOU WERE ALSO CIRCUMCISED, IN THE PUTTING OFF OF THE SINFUL NATURE, NOT WITH A CIRCUMCISION DONE BY THE HANDS OF MEN BUT WITH THE CIRCUNCISION DONE BY CHRIST, HAVING BEEN BURIED WITH CHRIST IN BAPTISM AND RAISED WITH CHRIST THROUGH YOUR FAITH IN THE POWER OF GOD, WHO RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD. WHEN YOU WERE DEAD IN YOUR SINS AND IN THE UNCIRCUMCISION OF YOUR SINFUL NATURE, GOD MADE YOU ALIVE WITH CHRIST. GOD FORGAVE US ALL OUR SINS, HAVING CANCELED THE WRITTEN CODE, WITH ITS REGULATIONS, THAT WAS AGAINST US AND THAT STOOD OPPOSED TO US; GOD TOOK IT AWAY, NAILING IT TO THE CROSS. AND HAVING DISARMED THE POWERS AND AUTHORITIES, GOD MADE A PUBLIC SPECTACLE OF THEM, TRIUMPHING OVER THEM IN CHRIST BY THE CROSS. THEREFORE DO NOT LET ANYONE JUDGE YOU BY WHAT YOU EAT OR DRINK, OR WITH REGARD TO A RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL, A NEW MOON CELEBRATION OR A SABBATH DAY. THESE ARE A SHADOW OF THE THINGS THAT WERE TO COME; THE REALITY, HOWEVER, IS FOUND IN CHRIST.(Col.2:6-15)
CHRIST IS THE PATTERN FOR MY LIFE, AND GOD IS TRANSFORMING ME TO THE PATTERN. SO I SAY THANKS BE TO GOD. AMEN!
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