FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
RENEWING
THE MIND – XIX
THE WILL
OF IAUE – 2
THE
PURPOSE OF REDEMPTION
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of IAUE.
Freedom from sin does not
equate to true liberty. This is where
the renewing of the mind becomes important. True liberty can only be found within the
will of IAUE. Most Christians never learn this fact. They have
not come to understand that doing their own will keeps them in the jail
cell. They give lip service to making
Yahushua their Master; but it is only lip service.
Their hearts are far from obedience to the will of another.
Last week we saw how
Messiah died to take upon himself the sins of the world. He paid the decreed penalty for that sin and
thereby redeemed man from the prison the Scripture refers to as bondage to
sin. Now think what that actually means. If man is freed from bondage to sin, and sin
is disobedience to the will of IAUE; then the only way man’s freedom may be
manifested and experienced in his life is by casting himself entirely upon the
doing of the will of IAUE. Anything
other than that is to remain in the practice of sin, the practice of disobedience
to the will of IAUE.
It would serve us
well to remember that the very foundation of this series of lessons is to act
upon Paul’s command in Romans 12:1-2.
Specifically, that is to offer our bodies as living sacrifices unto
IAUE, renew our minds, and come to comprehend the good and acceptable and
perfect will of IAUE. Why are we to do
that? Is it so we can teach others what
the will of IAUE is; or is it to DO the will of IAUE now that we know and
understand what that is? It is to do the
will of IAUE.
There is a very
strong movement growing within the church that is spawned of Satan. That is the doctrine that we are to live in
obedience to the law, the Torah; also referred to as the Law of Moses. The objective of this teaching is to prevent
the redeemed from experiencing the liberty and abundant life that is only found
in obedience to the will of IAUE. It is
to thwart the purpose of redemption.
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Messiah hath made
us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Everywhere Paul went
to preach the good news of Messiah’s appearing and to declare the coming of the
Kingdom of IAUE, there were men called the Judaizers who followed after him to
insist that believing in Yahushua was important but they should also be obedient
to the Law of Moses. This message,
though propagated by men who very likely meant well, served to keep the
redeemed in the prison cell. This
message especially affected the believers in the region of Galatia; unto whom
Paul wrote in severe language warning them that they were NOT to be entangled
with the “yoke of bondage” any longer. They were not to live under the Law. Paul said that to do so would make Messiah of
no affect to them because their lives would no longer be reliant upon the grace
of IAUE, which is the power IAUE gives that enables the redeemed to do His
will.
What is the danger of obedience to the Law? Obedience to the law is an act of the will of man. Man chooses to obey the law in the same way he chooses to drive within the speed limit, or does not shoplift, or does not kill. They are acts empowered by the flesh; and anything done in the flesh is an act of aggression against the Kingdom of IAUE because it offers up a challenging authority to the authority of IAUE: Your will versus His will. The redeemed must leave their own will in the jail cell, walk out of their jail cell in bodies that have been offered as living sacrifices to IAUE, and allow the will of IAUE to have preeminence in every aspect of their life. Failure to do so is like this image of the inmate walking out of his prison; but his hands are still handcuffed behind his back. He is not going to experience freedom. He will miss out on the purpose of redemption. His life will not be lived in joy; and his mind will constantly be bringing him back to things of this world that his flesh loves.
1 Peter 4:2 Forasmuch then as Messiah hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm
yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh
hath ceased from sin;
2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the
lusts of men, but to the will of IAUE.
Yahushua
demonstrated this to us so we could comprehend it. His entire life, he was a living sacrifice. When it says he suffered for us in the flesh,
this does not refer exclusively to the sufferings related to his stripes,
wounds, and impaling. It refers to the fact he never permitted his own flesh a
mouthpiece. He never gave the flesh a
chance to be expressed in his life. He
did not come to do his own will; but rather he was purposed to do the will of
his Father. He never pursued his own
will. Look at the testimony of Scripture.
John 4:34 Yahushua saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work.
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do
nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
John 8:29 And he that sent me is with
me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that
please him.
Hebrews 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I
come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O IAUE.
9 Then said he, Lo, I
come to do thy will, O IAUE. He taketh away the first, that he may
establish the second.
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
We
are fooling ourselves if we think we can partake of the benefits of Messiah’s
sacrifice and yet not embrace the purpose
of redemption he purchased with his own blood. What makes a disciple any different from
those who have yet to step out of their opened jail cells, if he is still doing
his own will…which is the very
definition of sin (not doing IAUE’s will)…which is to remain in the yoke of
bondage to sin (see Galatians 3-5).
The
word “salvation” is one of those “religious” words the church throws around
glibly; everyone assuming they possess it, and challenging the world to receive
it as a free gift from IAUE. In all of
the New Testament there is only one place where that word is actually
defined. I would dare say that not one
in ten thousand believers have ever comprehended it. This definition is contained in the prophecy
of Zacharias after announcing that his and Elizabeth’s child shall be named,
John.
Luke 1:67 And
his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,
68 Blessed be IAUE Elohim of
Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of
his servant David;
70 As he spake by the mouth of his
holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71 That we should be saved from our
enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember
his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware to our
father Abraham,
74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the
hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our
life.
76 And thou, child, shalt be called
the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Master to
prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission
of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our Elohim;
whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
In v. 68,
Zacharias prophesies and declares that IAUE has visited and “redeemed” His people. Redemption is the first step. Without it, there can be no salvation. We have already seen that redemption is the
removal of sin along with its penalty.
It is the wiping clean the slate of all of man’s disobedience to IAUE;
and also removing the consequences of sin in man’s life.
In v. 69,
he said that IAUE has raised up “an horn of
salvation.” A horn, in the
Scriptures refers to a kingdom. A horn
of oil would be “raised up” and poured upon
the head of a man to anoint him as king; thus a reference to a horn in the
Scriptures meant the kingdom of the one being anointed to reign. Zacharias is saying in this verse that IAUE
has personally anointed the King that shall sit upon the throne of David. [It is interesting to note that the word “salvation”
used in the Hebrew text throughout the Old Testament, is “Yahushua,” the actual
name of His Son, our Messiah. IAUE
revealed the name of the Messiah repeatedly throughout the Old Testament.]
In v. 74-75, he defines the nature of the salvation
that will define the kingdom of Messiah.
Because of the redemption he has purchased through his own blood, his
subjects are delivered from their enemies in order that they might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness
before him, all the days of our life. This, very simply stated, means
they man has been rescued from all that prevented him from doing the will of
IAUE. Now, because of the redemption, man
is expected to serve IAUE in holiness and righteousness from that day forth,
forever. The need for man to be rescued
was their bondage, their enslavement to disobedience to IAUE. The jail cell doors have all been
opened. The only thing remaining is for
man to “repent and believe the gospel.”
Repentance is the embracing of the will of IAUE and the forsaking of his
own will.
In
v. 77, we learn something
extremely important. Man learns of this
salvation through the remission (freedom from the power) of sin. Forgiveness of sins is not salvation. It is
only the lamp that illumines the existence and availability of salvation. Being
set free from not only the penalty of sin, but also the power that sin has over
a life is what brings man to the knowledge
of salvation, not the experience of salvation.
Once man recognizes he has been redeemed by the blood of Yahushua,
embraces deliverance from the power and consequence of sin, man can see that he
has been liberated unto the freedom of doing the will of IAUE all the days of
his life. Alternatively, he can refuse
such wondrous salvation and persist in doing his own will.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto
me, Master, Master, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mark 1:15 …The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of IAUE is at hand: repent ye,
and believe the gospel.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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