Subject 19 : The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the EPHESIANS
[Chapter 1-1] Our Salvation Was Prepared In the Righteousness of Jesus Even before The Foundation of the World (Ephesians 1:1-4)
(Ephesians 1:1-4)
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
The Love of the Lord Is Clearly Woven into the Screen Gate of the Court of the Tabernacle!
In our hymn book, there is a lyric written by the sister Jihye Kim in our Church that goes like this:
“Before Creation God planned Salvation;
The Lord who made us and knows us so well
Called and showed Moses the law of His salvation,
Water and the Spirit
(Lord of mercy and love)
The gate of Tabernacle shows us the love of Lord,
The King was baptized by John the Baptist,
Give all thanks to God our Lord,
(Blue and purple thread)
Fulfilled all His Word, the law of salvation by bleeding and deadly pain
(Scarlet and white linen); (the law of life)
With His baptism and His death on Calvary
(Blue tread, purple thread)
Lord revealed us His perfect salvation
(Scarlet thread).”
A line in this gospel song states that the gate of the Tabernacle shows us the love of Lord. Yes, we can discover the true love of the Lord on the gate of the Tabernacle. The Scriptures state that the Lord’s sincere love for us is manifested all in the blue, purple, and scarlet tread and fine woven linen. And in that God’s love, Jesus has manifested the remission of our sins by the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. The colors engraved on the screen gate of the Tabernacle shows more obviously our salvation that Jesus fulfilled by the baptism He received from John the Baptist, the blood He shed, and His resurrection from death.
As we know, God the Father’s great love of salvation has combined in the love of Jesus Christ that was prepared even before the foundation of the world. Through this love, we can receive the gift of the remission of sins that God has granted to humanity by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Book of Ephesians states that the salvation out of the love of God the Father was planned in Jesus Christ even before the foundation of the world. It states that only the people who believe in the truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit can receive the gift of salvation through the remission of sins God has given us all. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the greatest gift God has given us.
Therefore, we must first receive the remission of sins before the presence of God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that contains the love of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we had to know that we had not received the cleansing of sins by offering so many prayers of repentance. We must be the saints who give thanks to God for the remission of sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have to know and believe that the Lord’s love is revealed in the truth of salvation that has manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have to become the people who receive the blessing of the remission of sins that God gives by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Most Christians today have fallen into mystical beliefs without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must know that it is because of their wrong faith that has drifted far away from immensely great love of God. Such mystical belief has been very different from the faith that believes the gospel of the water and the Spirit God has given us. Today’s mystical belief places great emphasis on the emotional experiences, and therefore it is a very wrong faith from the perspective of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They have thought very highly of visions, speaking in tongues, and tremors they feel.
Therefore, we should believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that saved us from all our sins and thus enjoy the privilege that was prepared before the foundation of the world by believing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We had to return to the faith of knowing and believing in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit now by turning away from such a mystical faith.
The People Who Have Mystical Faith Are Still Suffering Due to the Sins in Their Hearts
They try hard to have some different experiences instead of receiving the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit which God has given. Moreover, the mystical faith of such people is becoming a huge obstacle for them meeting the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They should have known that their mystical faith is preventing them from knowing and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that can cleanse them from all their sins. However, there have not been that many Christians who recognize such a problem exists. They must rather give up their mystical belief they have been relying on so far. And they should become more concerned about the love of the Triune God that was planned even before the foundation of the world and which was manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Today’s Christians should find a way out from their confused faith, and this is only possible by believing in the Truth of the remission of sins that is allowed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All of us believers had to also come to know and believe in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit that was prepared in Christ before the foundation of the world. We can receive the remission of sins for eternity if we believe in this powerful gospel. We can all escape from all sins and Satan’s traps by having faith of believing in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit which is manifested in the Tabernacle right now.
The problem, however, is that too many Christians are beholden to confused beliefs that are reliant upon their own experiences. They long to experience mystical feelings, such as paranormal sensations while praying or seeing God in their dreams saying, “Son, you have become my child.” But all such experiences are not of God’s work, but they stem from devil spirits that are working through their own fleshly thoughts (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). Therefore, when you have a chance to listen to the true gospel of salvation, that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you must first defeat all mystical beliefs by believing in this true gospel. Only then can you abide in the Truth and come into the presence of the holy God by relying on His love that’s found in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You must realize clearly here that experiencing these strange sensations while praying or speaking in tongues is not the work of the Holy Spirit.
This Absolutely Indispensable Truth That You Must Know and Believe in Is the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
Only when you believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross will all your sins blotted out and washed away for sure (Matthew 3:15; John 1:29; and 1 Peter 3:21). Therefore, even if you have devoted all your life to God and served Him piously, this does not necessarily mean that you have put on God’s love or reached your salvation. Nor have you become one of God’s own people just because you have seen a mysterious vision or even experienced the gift of healing. So long as your faith is experiential, emotional, or mystical, you cannot say that you have received God’s true love.
As all of us believe in the written Word of God, we ought to clearly grasp the Truth of the washing away of sins which is manifested in the Tabernacle—that is, the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit and God’s love—and believe in this Truth. God the Father has granted the true gospel of the remission of sins to all sinners because He wants to give this salvation of the washing away of sins to all of us. This blessing of salvation can be received only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that is found in Jesus Christ. Like this, the Lord Himself wants to teach about the real salvation to every sinner. The gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit is the real Truth of salvation manifested in the gate of the court of the Tabernacle. Put differently, the genuine gospel of the remission of sins for all human beings is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The shadow of this gospel is manifested in the gate of the court of the Tabernacle. So, it’s very important for you to learn about the mystery of salvation revealed in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen that were used to make the gate of the court of the Tabernacle, and understand this mystery.
The sacrificial system of the Tabernacle entailed two absolutely indispensable elements: The laying on of hands, and the shedding of the blood of the sacrificial animal. Unless you comprehend these requirements of the sacrificial system, you cannot realize God’s love that’s revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Like this, God’s love, which makes all sinners God’s own people, is manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and its evidence is recorded in the Old Testament’s laying on of hands and the shedding of the blood of the sacrifice. In the age of the New Testament, Jesus Christ Himself has fulfilled our salvation through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross, and He has granted the perfect remission of sins to whoever believes in this salvation. In other words, our God has given all of us the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is His salvation, and He has granted the remission of sins and the gift of His Spirit to all of us who believe in this true gospel (Acts 2:38).
Our Salvation Is Found in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Exactly as God Planned It Even before the Foundation of the World
It is written in today’s Scripture reading: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6).
By faith, every sinner has to accept the salvation that was prepared in Jesus Christ even before the foundation of the world. And even at this very moment, God is working in the same way through the gospel of the water and the Spirit according to this way of salvation that was planned by God to make all sinners His own people. The real Truth of this salvation was manifested in the four colors of the materials used for the gate of the court of the Tabernacle. These materials were blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen. This plan by which the Lord decided to save us from all the sins of the world was found in the plan of the Triune God.
God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit are the same one God to us, but they each had a different role to play. God the Father oversaw the plan of our salvation, while Jesus Christ implemented this plan of salvation made by God the Father, and the Holy Spirit guarantees us our deliverance from sin that the Father and the Son have accomplished. Although the role of each Person of the Triune God is different, every one of them is the same God to us. Out of His love for us, God wanted to give the gift of true salvation to all of us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Now, according to God’s predestination, this gospel of the water and the Spirit has come to all of us who believe in God’s promised salvation. Even before the foundation of the world, God had planned to save us from all our sins and make us His own children in Jesus Christ, and He has thus accomplished this plan. It was therefore the Lord’s will to make us God’s children by blotting out all our sins with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Like this, the will of God the Father was to adopt all the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit as His own children in Jesus Christ, and to live with them forever in Heaven. And to fulfill this great plan, God has given the gospel of the water and the Spirit to this world.
God has now made it possible for us to receive the true remission of sins and enjoy all the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven if only we understand and believe in the Truth of salvation manifested in the blue, purple, and scarlet thread shown in the gate of the court of the Tabernacle. All who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can now reach the Truth that saves them from all their sins. It’s through the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God decided to save every sinner from all their sins (1 John 5:6-8). The salvation of the remission of sins that God planned for us was decided entirely by God Himself. We know that our salvation was prepared in Jesus Christ even before the foundation of the world, and this salvation is revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The love of God was fulfilled through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread shown in the gate of the court of the Tabernacle. Every utensil in the Tabernacle revealed the love of God and the Truth of salvation. The Truth manifested in the gate of the court of the Tabernacle was the shadow of the true remission of sins that God has fulfilled in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The real substance of this salvation, in other words, is fulfilled in Jesus Christ according to God the Father’s plan. It was the Lord’s will to deliver us from all our sins and make us God’s own people, and He has indeed delivered us from all our sins according to this providence. God’s purpose was to enable us to receive His abundant love and obtain everlasting life and to enjoy it forever. And according to this purpose for which God decided to save us from all our sins, the Lord has made the gospel of the water and the Spirit known to us and blessed us to realize the love of God and the Truth of salvation, so that we would lack nothing to be saved from each and every sin. In short, God has made it possible for all of us to praise Him forever for the salvation that He has brought to us.
The problem, however, is that some people question God’s love and purpose that were planned even before the foundation of the world. But the answer to every question is found in the salvation that God planned in Jesus Christ out of His mercy before the foundation of the world. Of course, this may be problematic to those who question God’s will, but it’s completely flawless from His point of view. Having fallen into sin, we were all destined to die, but God had decided even before the foundation of the world to save us in Jesus Christ, make us His own people, and bless us to enjoy His glory. Was it then wrong for God to make this decision? No, of course not! It was God’s plan of love to save us from all our sins and bless us to enjoy His glory in Jesus Christ, and this plan was absolutely flawless.
However, we still see some people complaining about God’s plan of salvation, protesting that God made His plan all by Himself without asking any human being. These people say that it was unfair for God to decide to save the human race from all its sins and destruction through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. By any chance, are you such a complainer? Of the work of salvation that God planned for you, what is it that makes you so unhappy? If you really believe that Jesus Christ has saved you from all your sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then you should not have anything to complain about. Once you believe in the salvation revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with all your heart, you too will come to thank God. Indeed, there can’t be no complaint at all once you accept by faith that God has saved you through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
God’s Love Entails Holy Jealousy
In the Bible, God often revealed Himself as the God of jealousy, as He said, “You shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). God’s jealousy is another expression of His unfathomable love toward us humans. Out of His love of jealousy, our holy God punished the angels that challenged His authority and saved human beings whom He had made in the likeness of His image. His love for us is so deep-seated that He does not allow us to love anyone or anything else in this world. The salvation that God is offering to everyone through the gospel of the water and the Spirit not only reveals God’s love and mercy, but it also demonstrates how just His love is.
It is in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that God has saved us. This love of God bestowed on us can have no flaw whatsoever. All of us had fallen into sin, and all of us were destined to be put to death for our sins. Yet despite this, God has saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, so what is there to complain about? As mere creatures, none of us could ever become God’s own child without His grace. But to bless such wretched beings like us to become His own children, God sent Jesus Christ to this earth, and He has ultimately saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This was God’s will. We were indeed fundamentally disqualified from entering into the Kingdom of Heaven because of our sins, yet God the Father drew up His plan of salvation even before the foundation of the world to make all the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit sinless and adopt them as His own children. So if this is true, then far from complaining, we ought to believe in God’s plan and thank Him all the more.
What Was Hidden in God’s Holy Jealousy?
In God’s holy jealousy were hidden His justice, His salvation, and His curse. In the righteousness of Jesus Christ, in other words, it’s not just the remission of sins and God’s love that are found. On the contrary, God renders His fearsome wrath on all who ignore His authority and love, and bestows His mercy only on those who seek it humbly. This shows that God gives His special blessings to those whom He loves.
Through His Son Jesus Christ, God the Father wanted to show us His mercy. So He sent the Lord Jesus to this earth, and Jesus, in turn, bore all the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, died on the Cross while bearing all those sins, and has thereby saved us all forever. Such is the jealousy that comes out of God’s mercy, out of this love of jealousy, and out of His merciful plan that had been in existence even before anyone or anything in this world came into being.
It was God’s plan to save us from all the sins of the world through the Truth of salvation, which Jesus Christ achieved by coming to this earth, receiving His baptism from John the Baptist, shedding His blood on the Cross, and rising from the dead to become our Savior. This salvation was fulfilled according to the love of God, which entails His holy jealousy, His just judgment, and His plan. This gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit that God has given to us demonstrates both His love and His justice simultaneously to everyone, the believers and unbelievers alike. While God blesses whoever believes in His love and obeys Him to become His own child, God justly condemns everyone else for the sin of unbelief. It is only fitting for each and every sinner to face God’s just judgment and be destroyed. Like this, God’s justice and love are completed in the God-given salvation and His wrath. This is the real Truth of salvation that’s completed in Jesus Christ, and you must not only realize it but also believe in it with all your heart.
Satan had actually been an archangel, but because he stood against the will of God, he was cast out of Heaven by God. The Devil therefore has no other choice but to suffer forever in wretchedness. Human beings, in contrast, can still find deliverance, for God has established the law of salvation for everyone in this world to be saved from all their sins. When we turn to Isaiah 14:12, we see God saying to Satan:
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!” In rebuking the angel who stood against God and all his followers, God said that He would judge them all for their arrogance. And even now, we see that the angel who rebelled against God is still busy trying to entice everyone away from God. Having thus challenged the authority of God, Satan became His enemy as his pride was exposed in God’s sight, and in the process, the Devil ended up asking for God’s just condemnation. It’s written in Isaiah 14:13-14:
“For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’” This is the reason why Lucifer came to face God’s just judgment.
God absolutely does not tolerate any creature challenging His authority no matter what that creature might be. Far from it, God justly punishes all wickedness and transgressions. God’s judgment of justice is not unfair to anyone, but it is only appropriate. After all, when a God-made creature forgets his standing and stands against God’s authority, how can it be wrong for God the Creator to punish such a vile and arrogant creature? We know that it’s only fitting and just for God to punish all such rebellious creatures. But even now, the angel that challenged God’s authority is alive and well in the thoughts of the people of this world, and he is inciting them to stand against God’s love and reject His grace by misleading them to rely on their own works to reach salvation. Deceived by this fallen angel, more and more people are rejecting God’s love. And as a result, God is pouring hot coals on the heads of all who have departed from His love. God’s just condemnation is the most appropriate punishment for everyone who rejects His love.
In fact, you and I ought to be grateful to God for granting us the gospel of the water and the Spirit and blessing us to step inside this gospel of salvation by faith. If God had no plan of salvation for us, then we would have been in the same wretched situation as that fallen angel awaiting destruction for arrogance. Given the fact that Satan is not only alive in this world but he is also gathering together anyone who would stand against God with him and be destroyed in the end, it’s clear that without God’s grace, we would also have been ensnared by the Devil’s trap only to suffer forever. Thankfully, however, God did not abandon us, but He had so much compassion on us that He blessed us to come into His love, gave us the gospel of the water and the Spirit, saved us from all our sins, protected us, and used us as His workers. Therefore, as you and I believe in this love of God, we have all put on God’s special love and mercy.
In contrast, those who have not found God’s mercy will be condemned; they are still standing against God with their faithlessness. As they have not found the grace of God that can save them from all their sins, all that awaits them is God’s just judgment that’s devoid of His mercy.
God has set aside the fallen angel and all his wicked followers to be punished for their sins, and this was our fate as well. We had to therefore escape from this punishment by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit through which Jesus Christ has saved us all. We had to believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit to receive God’s merciful love and obtain new and everlasting life. And as God’s mercy abounds to us, He has granted us our eternal salvation by giving us faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that’s found in Jesus Christ. As we believe in the great mercy of God and His love, God has forever delivered us from all the condemnation of our sins and given us new life. And that’s precisely why all of us ought to thank God. If you still have not stepped inside the gospel of Truth by faith, the gospel of the water and the Spirit that enables you to glorify God, then you must come into this life-giving gospel right now. Because you can be saved from all your sins only by believing in God’s love, you must believe now in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
When God made us His own children, He saw that we had faith in His mercy, His love, and His gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and that’s why God decided to adopt us as His children on account of our obedience to this gospel. This God-given salvation of the remission of sins is the greatest of God’s gifts, and therefore it’s absolutely imperative for all of us to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with all our hearts. This gift of the remission of sins is the gift of salvation that’s given to us freely irrespective of our own effort, and it is the Truth by which God has made us His own children. To be saved from all our sins, we had to give up our own endeavors and merits and instead believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit alone. Only by believing in God’s planned salvation was it possible for us to receive the remission of sins. The gospel of the water and the Spirit alone could deliver us from all our sins, and therefore we all had to choose to believe in this gospel. Likewise, everyone professing to believe in Jesus can reach true salvation only by believing in the Lord’s merciful love.
When we look at today’s Christianity, we can see that it has turned into one of many worldly religions. One characteristic common to all man-made religions is that they all rely on man’s own thoughts and call upon one’s own sweat and effort to reach salvation. Groundless Christian doctrines are no exception to this observation, and most Christians nowadays have actually rejected the spiritual blessings of Heaven with their own righteousness. When we think about the reason why today’s Christianity has degenerated into a mere worldly religion, we can see that it’s because many Christians themselves are trying to reach salvation on their own effort according to their own thoughts. And these false doctrines that are so prevalent in Christian communities today are being spreading by the so-called Christian “leaders.”
Of Such Christian Doctrines, the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification Is Filled with Hypocrisy
The Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification is a very influential doctrine among mainstream churches, but do its advocates even know that this very doctrine is actually a vile affront to God? In reality, few people actually know this. But to make and teach this kind of Biblically unfounded doctrine is to become just like the fallen angel who challenged the holiness of God. Many doctrines of mainstream Christianity themselves emasculate God’s merciful love, and that’s why you must believe in the true gospel of the water and the Spirit rather than in any man-made dogma. Non-Christians are prone to think that they can somehow reach a divine stage if they practice asceticism and discipline themselves endlessly. In a similar vein, the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification also teaches that one can sanctify himself through his own piety. But you should realize clearly here that this actually constitutes a grave sin of challenging God’s holiness. Yet despite this, too many Christians challenge the holiness of God with their own self-determination only to fail miserably.
Because all human beings are fundamentally a brood of evildoers who inherited twelve kinds of sins from the moment they were conceived in their mothers’ wombs, they cannot help but to commit sin all the time. Therefore, as human beings are sinful to the core by nature, the more they try to sanctify themselves, the more hypocritical they become and the more their wickedness is exposed. Indeed, the only way that people can be remitted from all their sins and become holy is to admit to God that they themselves are utterly sinful and destined to hell, believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the grace of the remission of sins, and thus find God’s mercy. All of us had to realize this Truth.
Some of you might have seen a religious man meditating with his eyes closed to reach some kind of understanding. Take Buddha for instance. Buddha was just a man trying to lose himself in meditation under a tree and reach Nirvana on his own, but he just ended up dead under the tree. Yet, people not only thought that Buddha was a great man but they also exalted him as a great sage, and many chose to become his followers. Buddha was then even deified as a god. Such is the banality of worldly religion.
It’s everyone’s basic desire to find the way to escape from all his sins and reach the perfect righteousness of God. The problem, however, is that most people try to establish their own righteousness and prize it more than God’s righteousness. But human righteousness is absolutely useless. The concept of Nirvana that Buddhists speak of is all about being freed from worldly worries, sufferings, and bondages. But the only way to achieve this is death. Who among us can ever free oneself from all his sins and become a perfect person? None of us can be liberated from Satan’s clutch unless we have faith in the baptism that Jesus Christ received from John the Baptist, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection. Indeed, every sinner has to wash away all his sins and reach salvation by believing in the true gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus.
However, even in Christian communities there are many false prophets who are deceiving countless people with the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification as though Christianity were one of heathen religions. But can anyone really be transformed into a completely holy person just by trying hard? No, of course not! Christians should realize that the advocates of the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification are actually binding them in their sins. And they must listen to the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit with a sincere heart, turn around from all their false doctrines, and receive the remission of their sins. Or otherwise they will see with their own eyes Christianity degenerating into a totally depraved heathen religion.
The just gospel fulfilled by the righteousness of God is the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and this gospel is the embodiment of God’s true love and the Truth of salvation. The problem, however, is that many Christians still believe in these false doctrines made up from man’s own thoughts, and they think that it’s perfectly okay for them to follow God by trusting in such fake dogmas. As we all know very well, every heathen doctrine has come out of man’s thoughts. Every Christian doctrine is not an exception. For example, just as every heathen religion teaches its followers to reach salvation through their own effort, so does the Christian Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification teach all Christian sinners to cleanse themselves to reach deliverance on their own. As a result, countless Christians nowadays are leading a flawed life of faith in a futile attempt to sanctify themselves through their own means. Consequently, these misguided Christians are sure that they have been saved from all their sins just by believing in the blood that Jesus Christ shed on the Cross, and they are devoting their lives to this false faith in vain. They brag about how lofty they are in following the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification, and they use this doctrine of their own making as a spiritual smokescreen to assure their own souls and other souls as well. But there is no one in this world who has ever reached sanctification just by believing in and practicing the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification.
How Would Philosophers View the Word of the Scripture?
Being completely ignorant of the righteousness of God, worldly philosophers would never be able to discover the Truth of the water and the Spirit from the Word of God. These philosophers are fundamentally incapable of understanding the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That’s why they interpret the Bible according to their own thoughts and advocate false doctrines of their own making. When the philosophers read the Bible, they think to themselves, “Oh, so God created the heavens and the earth. There must have been a Creator, and this Creator issued the Law. The Creator promised to come to save to this earth as the Son of Man to save all sinners from their sins. And the Creator actually came as He promised. To blot out everyone’s sins, He gave up His body on the Cross to be crucified, shed His blood to death, and arose from the dead. And He ascended to Heaven.” Interpreting the Bible on their own like this, they then make up their own doctrines and tell everyone to spread their teachings. As a result, many people think that they can become God’s children just by believing in the blood of the Cross alone as their salvation.
When such philosophers read the Bible and come to believe in Jesus as their Savior, they do so only according to their own thoughts and interpretations. In fact, the doctrines that prevail in today’s Christianity were all made by such philosopher-theologians. While these Christian doctrines of their own making may make sense to them, they are far removed from the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Bible speaks of as the true gospel. But because these philosophers interpret the Scriptures without any knowledge of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they can still advocate the doctrines of their own making to everyone else, saying, “Oh, it is very simple to be saved. We can be saved just by believing in the blood of the Cross. That’s it. Yes, Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is the Son of God the Father who is so good to us.” Yet, they cannot teach the real Truth of salvation to anyone.
Having made the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification according to their own thoughts, such philosopher-theologians are spreading their humanistic doctrines, saying, “Who could really cry for me? How could you walk with me? Who on earth could die for me except Jesus Christ?” Their Christian philosophy is enough to stir up sinners’ emotional feelings. When they think about how Jesus sacrificed Himself on the Cross for them, they feel so touched in their hearts that they shed tears in no time. They say, “No one in this world has ever spared even an hour for me, far less died for me. But Jesus suffered death to wash away all my sins by being crucified and shedding His blood for me, so how could I not be moved by this?”
Even though various philosophical doctrines have sprung forth from various Christian denominations, there is one doctrine that’s common to all of them that has misled countless people into destruction. This is the fallacious notion that one is saved just by believing in Jesus’ blood on the Cross. Today’s misguided Christians find it both sad and comforting that Jesus shed His blood for them. But their faith has failed to blot out their sins, and even as they offer countless prayers of repentance, they still cannot reach sanctification, for their sins still remain intact. Even now, they believe in Jesus Christ’s blood on the Cross alone as their remission of sins, yet in their hearts they are just piling up more and more sins. They have turned the true Christianity into just a heathen religion.
Many people are ruining their own souls by adhering to such philosophical Christian doctrines. That’s because they think that their philosophical faith is the right faith, and they are sure that they are good Christians even though they actually believe in Jesus just according to their own thoughts. They are emotionally moved when they think about Jesus’ blood, and the deeper they meditate on this, the more they want to be approved by everyone else as good Christians. But because of all the confusion caused by these so-called Christian “leaders” who are actually spreading man-made doctrines, they are actually falling deeper and deeper into a false, emotionally oriented faith. Such people trapped in fallacious Christian doctrines are standing against the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit more and more. These false doctrines of mainstream Christianity were made out of philosopher-theologians’ thoughts, and the logic spawned by them only produced confused Christian doctrines.
In contrast, everyone who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is sincerely looking for God’s lost flock. The true salvation that everyone is looking for is found only in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and everyone can wash away all his sins by believing in this genuine gospel. Every Christian sinner must therefore return to the gospel of the water and the Spirit as soon as possible.
Are you still troubled over your sins, not knowing how to address this problem? If so, then I ask you to read the first volume of our Christian book series published by the New Life Mission titled, Have You Truly Been Born Again of Water and the Spirit? This book will lead you into the gospel of the water and the Spirit and the true way of salvation.
Are you still ignorant of the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Do you still say to yourself, “Why shouldn’t I be able to solve away such a simple problem as the problem of sin? All that I have to do is just receive the remission of my original sin by believing only in Jesus’ blood on the Cross, and then tackle my personal sins by offering prayers of repentance every day”? Many Christians indeed say that they can wash away their daily sins just by offering their own prayers of repentance every day. But you can never wash away any of your sins if you think and believe like this. Right now you might believe in the blood of the Cross alone, but has any of your sins really disappeared? If the prayers of repentance that you are now offering could wipe out all your personal sins, then the gospel of the water and the Spirit would not be needed anymore. But isn’t it true that there still are at least a few sins left in your heart? The very fact that your sins remain intact is precisely why the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the real Truth of salvation, is so absolutely indispensable for you. The true gospel that you must believe in without fail is none other than the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
What would you believe with all your heart then? Would you believe in just some philosophical Christian doctrines of man’s own making, or would you believe in the Truth of the remission of sins revealed through the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Whichever you choose to believe is entirely up to you. The choice is no one else’s but yours alone. But before you make any decision, you should realize clearly here that you can never wash away any of your sins by offering your own prayers of repentance every day. You have to believe in the Truth of the washing of sins that’s manifested in the gate of the Tabernacle and the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Too many Christians are lost in their own emotional feelings and fallacious beliefs, putting all their faith just in the blood that Jesus shed on the Cross without realizing the power and mystery of His baptism. But you must now cast aside such groundless beliefs, believe instead in the gospel of the water and the Spirit revealed in the Bible, and thus be washed from all your sins and receive everlasting life. Your will then also experience the remission of sins coming into your heart.
Some Christians invoke the Scripture to justify their decision to put all their faith in the blood of the Cross alone, saying, “Look, it says in the Bible, ‘In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace’ (Ephesians 1:7).” But these people are actually trapped in a serious spiritual mistake because they are looking at the Word on the blood of the Cross just literally.
In contrast, there are those who understand and believe in God’s love properly according to the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit revealed in the Scriptures. These people of faith say that Jesus could shed His blood on the Cross only because He had been baptized in the first place. The sacrificial system manifested in the Tabernacle during the age of the Old Testament shows that the people of Israel had to pass their sins to their sacrificial animal by laying their hands on its head and draw its blood, which prophesied that the Lord would remit away all our sins in a similar way (Leviticus 4:21-27).
In other words, the sacrificial system shows us that Jesus was crucified to death because He had been baptized by John the Baptist to bear all your sins and mine, and that is why Christ bore the punishment of crucifixion on His own body and shed His blood to pay off all the wages of our sins. The blood that Jesus shed on the Cross, which every Christian believes in, was preconditioned on the baptism that Christ received from John the Baptist. Put differently, Jesus could properly shed His blood on the Cross because He had been personally baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Without this baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, there would have been no shedding of His blood on the Cross either. It’s written, “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in a form of the laying on of hands according to the sacrificial system of the Law, and it’s because of Jesus received this baptism that He could be condemned for all the sins of every sinner by being crucified and shedding His blood, and thus save everyone who believes in this Truth perfectly from all his sins.
God the Father and Jesus Christ are our everlasting Savior who has given us the gospel of the remission of sins, the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In His wisdom this God planned to save us from all our sins, and exactly according to this plan, He has indeed delivered us from all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God has saved all sinners from all their sins once and for all, so perfectly and so definitively, for His wisdom is so much superior to man’s wisdom. This unambiguous Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit applies to all sinners to bring the same remission of sins to everyone. That is why anyone who believes in this gospel of the water and the Spirit can reach his salvation and be washed from all his sins.
However, God has hidden the Truth of the water and the Spirit from the wicked. As God has hidden the mystery of Jesus’ baptism from those whose hearts are wicked, He has made it impossible for them to grasp it. In contrast, God has brought understanding to all whose hearts are meek and who are obedient to His Word, and He has thus saved from all sins everyone who believes in His Word wholeheartedly. Indeed, God has granted true salvation to those who tremble before His Word, who admit the sinfulness of their hearts honestly to Him, and who believe and rely entirely on the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by God.
God has given the gospel of the water and the Spirit to those who are poor in spirit. By giving the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all sinners, God has enabled them to realize the real Truth of salvation. God has granted us this gospel of the water and the Spirit, and He is pleased to give us the understanding to grasp the real Truth of salvation. How about you then? Do you also believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that enables you to realize the mystery of baptism and the laying on of hands, which are God’s providence? God has blessed those who are poor in spirit to realize the mystery of the washing of sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Like this, it’s only those whose hearts are clean and humble whom God has made it possible to understand the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it. So no matter who you are, I ask you to admit to God first that you are a sinner destined to hell. God will then bless you to understand the gospel of the water and the Spirit so that you can believe in this genuine gospel. You will then be freed from all your sins without fail. God has established the law of salvation so that whoever believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord would be saved from all sins today.
It is my sincerest hope and prayer that you would all believe that the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit is the real Truth of salvation. You can reach a better understanding of this Truth by looking into the sacrificial system recorded in the Scriptures. Here I strongly recommend you to read my free Christian book series on the Tabernacle titled, The Tabernacle: A Detailed Portrait of Jesus Christ. When you read this book, you will realize even more clearly that God has saved us with the water and the Spirit to wash away all your sins and mine.
We must have the right understanding of the salvation that’s revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, grasp the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit correctly, and believe in this Truth wholeheartedly. It’s absolutely imperative for all of us to believe in the Word of God, reach salvation from all our sins, understand the Truth, and thus get nearer to God as a matter of course. It’s when we grasp the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that we are compelled to admit with our lips that the Lord is always right. As God has compelled us to acknowledge the gospel of the water and the Spirit, He has delivered us from all our sins. And it’s by believing in this gospel of the water and the Spirit that we can all give thanks and glory to God.
Hallelujah!
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