And this is why you struggle with understanding our point of view.
We aren't doing anything to be saved.
We are saved. And as a result of it we are a new creation. With a new heart. With a new mind. That has the laws of God written on it. Which means He is not ashamed to call us His brothers. And His God our God. And His Father our Father.
10For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist,
in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
11For he who sanctifies and those who
are sanctified all have one source.[SUP]
b[/SUP] That is why he is
not ashamed to call them brothers,[SUP]
c[/SUP]
12saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
13And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the
children God has given me.”
We are sanctified children of God.
Notice that when Jesus returns after being crucified. He says something very interesting.
John 20:19
19On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,[SUP]
c[/SUP] Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “
Peace be with you.”
20When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Why does Jesus say peace be with you, 2x? But you don't see Him saying this until AFTER He was crucified. This to me actually points to an exciting OT Scripture in Isaiah.
But before I go into that Scripture, here's a few exciting things about Isaiah. It has 66 chapters. The Bible has 66 books. The OT is 39 books, in Isaiah 39 it speaks of God's judgement on Israel, which is why Hezekiah says
at least their will be peace
in my days. But in Isaiah 40 (the 40th chapter). Which points to the beginning of the NT. And of course if you know Bible numerology at all 40 is considered the number for
transformation. 
Isaiah 40:
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. (Comfort is also
peace)
We know this because Noah's name is comfort or peace. Which is 10th generation after Adam, which is right before the judgment, Noah was the man God used to save people through the Ark. But that's for another post.
2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that
her warfare[SUP]a[/SUP] is ended,
that
her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
We see here Isaiah prophesying that her sins have been paid for, iniquity pardoned and her warfare with God is over. She now has peace with God. Why? Because of Christ.
God says peace be with you.
And here's another cool little Scripture you might have read many times in the NT. Right after this one.
Isaiah 40:3
3A voice cries:[SUP]
b[/SUP]
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Where do we find this Scripture?
Matthew 3:
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2“
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
3For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’”
So you see in Matt 3, John is saying
repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. But what is his message? He is referring to of course Isaiah 40:3, but in Isaiah 40:1-2 it shows us what the Kingdom of God looks like:
peace with God.
Repent (Change your mind) for the Kingdom (God's Dominion) is here. Turn towards God.
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Are you starting to see what in Christ means yet?
Here's another interesting question, why does Paul use the term, Christ Jesus and not Jesus Christ?
People are waiting to go to Heaven, but Jesus says its to our advantage the Kingdom of God comes to us.
John 16:
7Nevertheless, I tell you the truth:
it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
8And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
9concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
10concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
11concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Kingdom of God is in Holy Spirit
1. He convicts of sin to those who do not believe in Jesus. That's the sin now.
2. He teaches righteousness to those in Christ. Jesus is one with the Father.
3. His judgment is on the ruler of this world. That is why the works of the devil are being destroyed.
1 John 3:8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed,
to destroy the works of the devil.
This is the mandate of Christ. And He is still doing it today through His Body. You are
following the Spirit of God who only declares what Christ gives Him.
After Jesus tells the disciples it's to their advantage He goes (not so they can go to Heaven) but so that the Spirit of God can come into them! He says the following...
12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
So now Holy Spirit is
speaking to us. Declaring truth to us. Glorifying the Son of God by declaring what is Jesus' to us.
And here's something that might help this become clearer: Kingdom of God and Heaven are being used because Jews didn't want to use the name of God. So Matthew writes Kingdom of Heaven to the Jews. So in essence they are interchangeable.
Matt 19:23-24 And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of heaven. "Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God."
So why did I write all that?
1. Isaiah 40 (written about Jesus) tells us that their sins are done away with, their iniquity pardoned and they have peace with God.
2. Jesus after being crucified says
peace be with you. And then we see the narrative changing to our God, our Father, in a deeper sense. He even gives them Holy Spirit after saying peace be with you. Why does HE do this? Because Holy Spirit now abides with us. Just as He is with Christ. He is the Spirit of Christ, Truth, etc.
3. The Kingdom is one of peace. When John said repent for the Kingdom is at hand, He was saying peace with God is now here. repent. When the Pharisees tried to repent he got angry with them.
4. Why was Jesus so angry with Pharisees??? Because they made people twice a children of hell as they were! They were the blind teaching the blind, they professed to know God, but when He stood in front of them they missed Him, because they thought their God was the letter of the law, but the letter was to point to the Author. People still trip up on this today. Preferring to know their Scripture instead of the Spirit. But it is those who
follow Him that are the sons of God.
5. The OT was about doing, the NT is about being. This is the transformation that has happened in Christ. We now have peace with God.
6. The sin today is not knowing Christ. The judgment today is against the enemy. And the building up of the church is in righteousness. Which means "right standing" with God.
7. I know, I know, but if we tell people they don't have to obey God they won't obey Him. We have to use fear to get them to listen to Him! That's how we get them to bear fruit! I get it... Too bad it doesn't work, if it did, the OT would have been a different story. The law didn't contain the grace to complete it, but Christ finished work did. If we only believe.
And to people who think this through knowing self etc, you're completely wrong, it's about knowing God, His promises and believing them, and then walking
in faith through them.
Or have you forgotten?
Hebrews 11:6 And
without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that
he exists and that he
rewards those who seek him.
Alot of people got the "he exists" part down, but don't believe He is actually a good father who rewards those who seek Him. And that's what faith actually is.
That's why it's the
goodness and
kindness of God that causes men to repent. Some thing it's something you are forced to do, but it's actually from the heart. Once you know how good He is, how loving He is, that's how we understand who we are joined with and that's what purifies us from the inside out.
The Pharisees did so hard to make sure the cup on the outside was clean (behavior), but inside they were dead (identity), and that's why no matter how much they devoted to behavior they couldn't do it. It became hypocrisy because they taught something they couldn't live. Because it wasn't about doing, but God's grace. And instead of coming to Him, they said look how far we've come, we are nothing like them, they did everything they could have eternal life, but Eternal Life is actually a Person. And we are now one with Him. If we are truly
in Christ.
C.
C.
Quibbling over word usage won't get far because non-normative words, like Christ-conscious, are just red herrings anyways. Pay attention, instead, to what meaning the words convey.
In hyper grace Christ-conscious means seeing Christ by seeing yourself. That's the key. From now on, notice how much faith in Christ is described this way. For example, seeing who you are in Christ and focus on your identity. Notice that the focus will always be on you.
IT's almost as if hyper grace doesn't believe in the living man Jesus Christ. Sure, it will give lip service to this fact, but notice how words are used. Christ himself, in terms of his redemptive work, is virtually always described in past tense. For example, what he has done for you and all sin was forgiven, etc. But when it comes to describing the living Christ, the focus shifts to one's self (be aware of who you are, your identity, etc.). It seems to be a faith, not in the living Christ, but in the results of what the past Christ accomplished.
Pay attention from now on and see if you don't notice the same thing. This btw is the essence of gnosticism: salvation by knowing one's divine identity.
