Promise Kept - One More Time

  

          His name was Aaron.  He was a well-placed member of the violent Aryan Brotherhood criminal syndicate until just before I met him in about 2004 at the Wood County Jail, in Quitman, Texas.  In that county jail Aaron gave his life to Christ and became a regular attender to my church service held in the jail on Thursday nights. Over a period of a few months, we became friends.

During that time, I also began to visit with Aaron in some of the regular visitation periods of the jail. Mostly we talked about the complex life issues precipitated by his new-found faith. 

Eventually, however, Arron was moved to the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville to serve out the remainder of his sentence.  Before he left for Huntsville, Aaron told me that once his sentence was completed, he would return and attend my local church – which he did.  Though, by that time, I had moved to another ministry location. 

Nevertheless, we remained long-distance friends over the years; and, he eventually became a fine minister in my denomination.  And, through Facebook, he also became and remained a significant friend to some of my grown children.

On Saturday morning (August 1, 2026) my youngest daughter called me and said, in a very somber tone, “Daddy, I’m so sorry to tell you that Aaron passed away last night from his illness.” 

Aaron was sixtyish when he died.  But when I heard the news of his death, my mind involuntarily went back to that courageous younger man who, all those years ago, so humbly and whole-heartedly embraced the Lordship of Christ, including Christ’s values, truth, and daily directions for his life. 

And, as Aaron’s devoted walk with the Living Christ unfolded over time, I was so often blessed by the observation of two significant things. The first was my long-distance view of Aaron’s growing friendship with the Living Christ as the years passed.  And second, was watching Christ faithfully keep, in Aaron’s life, that seminal redemptive promise which He offers to all mankind.

It is the promise so acutely expressed by the apostle, Paul, in his New Testament writings.  It is this promise, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.  Old things are passed away – behold, all things are become new.” 

Indeed, I knew Aaron back when. And, I knew him at the end.  And, his Christ-empowered transformation is precisely that same fulfilling rescue which the Gospel of Christ offers to every desperately broken human being – no matter how shattered they may actually be.

And another scripture in Paul’s New Testament writings describes that transformative process perfectly.  Paul writes, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

That’s it!  That is the very essence of the true redemptive process.  As we are allowed to view the heart (character essence) of the Living Christ through the lens of our changing daily life circumstances when we encounter them together, our own character essence is wonderfully and quite spontaneously renewed and elevated. 

This is the ultimate intent of God’s authentic redemptive plan.   In the end, it is the believer’s thoroughly Christ-renewed heart and life.  Indeed, this is God’s simple Day Plan for every single day for every sincere believer. 

And again, the Apostle, Paul, reveals this in crystal clear language in his second letter to the Corinthian church.  There he writes this, “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them.  I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’”

It is a truly short-sighted mistake to conceive of Christian redemption only in terms of the mere preservation of the soul.  That is only the necessary requirement which sets the stage for God’s real redemptive end game – an amiable and intimate daily companionship with His heart-evolving people. 

And, in anticipation of enabling that consummate redemptive intention of The Father, the vibrant sufficiency of the Living Christ serves to empower that liberating evolution of the believer.   In general terms, it is a thorough liberation from the depraved gravity of that delusional, self-determined and self-indulgent life approach that we are all born into.  And again, this Christ-empowered liberation is the seminal hope which the Living Christ offers to every believer.

 The Lord Jesus, Himself, gave us a pivotal New Testament promise in that regard.  He promised that the believer would be given access to a life transforming power beyond his or her own.   He said very clearly, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This very real power is obtained through a Holy Spirit brokered metaphysical integration of the believer’s character essence (heart) with that of the Living Christ. This metaphysical merger with the Living Christ’s character essence is what the Church refers to as the believer’s “Spiritual baptism.” 

And, the personal empowerment which flows out of this quite distinct redemptive event has a very tightly targeted purpose.  It is specifically intended to enable that elevating renewal of the believer’s inner being, his or her very essence.  And, in turn, flowing out of that inner renewal is the renewal of his or her lifestyle reality. 

Sadly, this promise of power that Jesus gave to the New Testament believer has often been misrepresented by errant teachers as being meant to serve every contorted sort of material and social self-gratification.  But, the plain language of the statement clearly indicates its much higher and truly authentic purpose. 

Its specific purpose is to enable that new core nobility in the believer.  And, the larger context of the New Testament clearly affirms that this nobility is thoroughly informed by the values and truths contained within the divine character essence of the Living Christ – again as noted in Paul’s earlier words.  “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,

And, just as Jesus indicates in His promise of this symbiotic empowerment, the new and observable nobility within the believer’s heart and life then serves to validate, as His “witnesses,” their claims that Christ is the one true Savior of the world. Indeed, their testimony is made credible by the reality of their own transformation.  This is the real and compelling evidence that Christ can, indeed, redeem, not only the soul, but the believer’s quality of heart and life as well.

Thus, New Testament believers are reborn to be a truly Christ-renewed people, a people slated to ascend far beyond the antiquity of the mere practice of religion to the rarefied atmosphere of a warm, amiable and deeply involved daily relationship with God.  This is God’s simple restorative plan.  And what, after all, could possibly be better, more natural, or more fulfilling.   

“As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them.  I will be their God.  And they shall be My people.’” What Paul describes with these words is nothing more and nothing less than a transformative friendship with God – made so through the sharing of all of life’s needs, issues, challenges, victories, heartbreaks and achievements. 

It is a shared daily journey ever steeped in love and distinctly marked by a growing heart-oneness with God.  And, all of this daily closeness ultimately results in a mature relationship which is made both durable and mutually fulfilling to God and man by the sustaining sufficiency of the Living Christ.

I saw this faith journey work it’s wondrous work in the life of my friend, Aaron from beginning to end.  And, I have personally encountered tens of thousands of others who are experiencing the same. 

And, long before these contemporary generations, multitudes have preceded us in this transformative daily walk with God.  Indeed, the world should well-know by now that God absolutely keeps His promise of a Christ-enabled newness of heart and life – if we will simply allow Him to do so, if our individual faith is big enough to comprehend the worth of this divine gift and pursue it with abandonment.

So, the redemptive overview is just not that complicated.  God is simply about the daily business, through Christ, of creating truly meaningful and absolutely trustworthy interpersonal relationships with those who would share His Heaven.  And the real line of demarcation between those who will and those who will not do so is the willingness to seriously invest in the creation of that intimate daily friendship with God. 

And, Christ left a clear conformation of that necessity as being the supremely important pursuit of this life when He said this.  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never *knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”  [* Knew: in the Greek it is Genosco = A deep and intimate awareness - as in a vibrant interpersonal friendship.]  Brackets Added

Our redemption has a spectacular beginning point as we wholeheartedly surrender to the Lordship of Christ.  And, from that point, the authentic flow of our redemption, being energized by the Living Christ, is ever toward a growing “heart-oneness” with our loving Creator .  And this validating relational journey springs from a relational discovery process stretching across a lifetime of days. For God, redemption is ultimately always about an intimate inter-personal relationship – as Jesus clearly indicates above.

Thus, our matchless Savior, as both the Dying and the Living Christ has brought us full circle to finally make the Heavenly Father’s long cherished hope for His people to be a wondrous and unfailing reality.  It is this hope. “And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart.”

 

Promise Kept - Part 2

The Larger Picture

 

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”  ~Romans 8:15

 

~ The Adoptive Journey:  The reality is this.  The adoptive journey which finally establishes us as true children of God is a really long one. Indeed, it is much longer than most estimate and much more sophisticated than that majority is commonly willing to admit – even at this late hour of redemptive history. 

The divine adoptive process for mankind does not begin on the night of that first Christmas.  It does not begin in the Garden of Eden.  It does not even begin with these words, “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.”

~ The Headwaters:  The real headwaters of mankind’s relationship with God actually lie in the moment, far back in the eons, when God’s graceful heart determined to establish a higher plane of existence, a consummate reality which would be perfect in every way.  It was to be a wondrous life plane that was entirely joyous for its inhabitants, and completely stable and enduring in its forever existence.  It was to be “Heaven.”

~ The Outflows:  And, God’s now clearly expressed intention for this consummate dimension of life is to appropriately populate it with worthy creatures who rightly belong in this rarified metaphysical environment.  And, it was this divine intention which, in turn, actually gave birth to this present physical dimension of reality and, indeed, the existence of the human species, itself. 

~ An Accommodation:  The primary purpose of this physical dimension of life is to accommodate the populating of that that higher plain.  And, the simple reality is that this divine intention to populate the Heavenly Reality necessarily involves a selection process which does, indeed, key on the worthiness of the human candidate. 

~The Basis of Worthiness:  In a nutshell, that worthiness rises and falls on an easily understood criteria. It is simply determined by one’s good-faith embrace of the Lordship of Jesus Christ which, in turn, prescribes an amiable redemptive relationship with Him that is thoroughly transformative and preparatory for that higher life plane. 

~ The Superseding Purpose:  So, while there are many lesser purposes involved in this present physical life plane, the supremely consequential purpose of this present reality actually revolves around that metaphysical plane of life.  This present physical life is simply the space given to humanity to individually decide whether or not to seriously pursue the wondrous bliss of that higher reality through a vibrant daily relationship with Christ.

~ The Varied Human Response:  Obviously, some individuals will choose, in the course of this physical life, to devotedly embrace this interpersonal daily walk with the Savior.  And certainly, others will choose to simply ignore this opportunity for a true newness of heart and life.   

And still others will prefer a more twisted middle course, choosing rather to follow their own self-determined theological delusions of the nature of what redemption involves.  These will choose, in various ways, to intellectually corrupt God’s criteria of worthiness, often to the point of absurdity, in favor of their own easier, and less invested ideas.  So obviously, it’s these varied human responses to God’s benevolent offer to make us truly new through Christ which gives rise to the need for divine selection. 

~ An Immutable Necessity:  But while the human response to God’s authentic redemptive offer may vary; nevertheless, this remains true.  As surly as the caterpillar must become a butterfly to reach its divinely prescribed fulfillment as a creature.  So also, in the course of one’s normal, unabridged lifespan, must the human creature experience a similar core metamorphosis through Christ.

Thus, Jesus would express this sentiment recorded in the New Testament.  “Enter in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it.”

This statement indicates the Lord’s keen awareness of the challenging redemptive reality which all New Testament believers would face.  He was very cognizant of the false teachings, the material distractions, and the personal druthers which would beset the individual believer. 

~ The Present Widespread Mistake:  The sad contemporary reality is that far too many in the modern Church do not view this ultimate redemptive intention of God, a believer’s profound personal transformation, as a precious opportunity.  Instead, an attitude of nonchalance is often the response to this invaluable gift of newness.

Sadly, many believers are happy to simply function as they did before their embraced the Lordship of Christ.  They merely continue to live in a self-determined, self-indulgent way – essentially removing God from the broader context of their lives, limiting Him only to their more convenient, needy, and/ or desperate moments.   

~ But When Faith Truly Blossoms:  The New Testament promises believers a new birth and a resulting new and abundant inner and outer life quality.  And, when we actually embrace, as devout believers, this God-prescribed and Living Christ empowered redemptive life-course, spectacular changes do, indeed, begin to occur. 

A heightened sense of God-awareness blossoms in our psyche.  And, flowing out of that heightened sensitivity to the divine heart, a wondrous process of relational discovery begins.  And, Jesus clearly described the end result of that process as He prayed to the Father for His faithful followers on one occasion.

At that time, He said this.  “I do not pray for these alone, [those followers standing immediately before him] but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one…” [Brackets Added] 

So, our redemption does, indeed, have a spectacular beginning point as we wholeheartedly surrender to the Lordship of Christ.  And, from that wondrous beginning, the natural, Living Christ-driven flow of our redemption is ever toward a growing “heart-oneness” with our loving Creator.  And the reality of this validating relational process then recreates us over time as true and deeply devoted children of God.

The Treasure We Traded Away

             In that unique time in the human experience which shall never come again, we lost something precious in The Garden of Eden.  Its worth was beyond evaluation.  It was the treasure of God’s intimate interpersonal friendship.  The first couple experienced that warm, interactive, completely compatible and mutually fulfilling daily walk with God in real terms.  But then, tragically, they naively traded it away.

            The aftermath of that loss reads this way in the Bible.  “And, they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day.  And, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the Garden.” Thus, that former vibrant and comfortable interpersonal access to their loving Creator became marred by feelings of angst, misgiving and distrust.

            But then, Jesus appeared in the compassionate timeline of God’s loving redemptive effort.  He was introduced this way, both by the prophet and again later in the New Testament.  “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

            “God with us” – in its simplest terms, the redemptive mission of our Christ is to put back that treasure which was lost in the Garden – the God with us.  Indeed, the redemptive theology surrounding Christ is, in reality, much less complicated than we are often led to believe.  Ultimately, it is just about His divine commission to restore that lost daily intimacy between God and mankind. 

            So, as it works out, we really only pass over the bridge of religious practice on the way to that divine intention. The Psalmist saw this transition which moves us beyond the “tinishness” of mere religious practice to a vibrant interpersonal relationship with God in these terms. 

            He said, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened.  Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.  Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.  I delight to do your will, O my God; and, Your law is within my heart.’”

            Indeed, the whole work of Christ, from Cross to Resurrection, is to restore and consistently empower that mutually fulfilling daily closeness between God and man.  Christ’s Cross serves to re-initiate the relationship.  And then, flowing out of His resurrection comes all the rest of what we need to re-acquire that daily private-side relationship with God. 

            Indeed, entirely owing to that resurrection which provided us with a Living Savior, believers can now acquire an empowering access to Christ’s living character essence – just as God promised we would throughout the Old and New Testament.  Believers can in these New Testament times experience a very real and wonderfully empowering Spiritual merger with the Living Christ.  

            This merger is a thoroughly impactful character integration which truly transforms the devoted believer’s own character essence and, in turn, his or her lifestyle reality.  And this Christ-enabled and Christ-sustained personal transformation then becomes the durable core of our restored intimate daily friendship with our loving Creator God. 

            Thus, Christ’s ultimate redemptive mission is accomplished.  That cherished interpersonal daily walk with God is put back – only better, sustained in the absolute sufficiency of the Living Christ.

            So, indeed, in the final analysis, our redemptive theology is neither so complicated, nor so laughably simplistic as we are often led to believe.  Rather, it is a grace-filled and beautifully sophisticated understanding which easily and accurately communicates the opportunity for the believer’s real and thorough newness of heart and life through the Living Christ.  

            And thus, simultaneously, that understanding also keenly exposes our modern “pop fallacies” regarding the faith-walk.  As it turns out, the real treasure of our faith is not found in the feckless practice of mere religion.  Nor is the true prize obtained merely through a brief Sunday morning concert moment. 

            The true prize of our faith, God’s up-close companionship, is found in a Living Christ-brokered, daily walk of discovery.   It is a life-process of real and ongoing intellectual and emotional exchange with our Heavenly Father throughout all of the changing circumstances in our life.  And, it is this ever deepening journey of one-on-one companionship which simultaneously fulfills God desire for intimacy with His people and cumulatively fills the human experience with goodness, elevation and meaning.   

            Indeed, the “promise land” of the Old Testament is actually only an analogy for the “promise life” of these New Testament times.   And, it is this restored, Living Christ-empowered life experience which the prophet, Ezekiel, was simultaneously projecting when he penned these words to the nation of Israel at God’s behest. 

            “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.  Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

                A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.   And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.  And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

            In keeping with God’s true and deeply cherished redemptive prescription – our Living Christ-enabled relationship with Him is never so much about corporate, as it is about intensely interpersonal.

The Darkness Now Widely Lurks

             

There is a prophetic verse in the Bible with seismic potential.  And, it has now lain dormant for twenty centuries.  But it would seem, perhaps, not any longer.  This prophecy’s unfolding time may have now come.  

            The prophecy gives this forewarning. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” (Ref. 2 Thessalonians 2:7)

            Certainly, it goes without saying that this present, highly self-infatuated world, is now increasingly insensitive, to God. And, it naturally follows that the same is true regarding His redemptive workings and timetable. 

           Nevertheless, that relentless divine agenda may have now  brought us, whether wittingly or unwittingly, to this brink of an almost unimaginable change. Indeed, if this prophecy’s time has come, it will bring this world to a level of chaos and darkness which we’ve never known before.

        The prophesy clearly indicates that it is God's plan to eventually withdraw of the Holy Spirit from His evil-restraining role in this world.  Again, the scripture says it this way, “… only He who now restrains, will do so until He is taken out of the way.”

      The Holy Spirit actually has two primary roles in our world.  One is to empower the devout believer who embraces the Lordship of Christ.  The Divine Spirit was made available to the Church at its beginning specifically for this purpose.  

     The Holy Spirit serves as the conduit to literally connect the character essence of the Living Christ to that of the devout believer through what the Church calls the “Spiritual Baptism.” Through this redemptive event, He provides Christ’s enabling sufficiency to the believer to consistently sustain his or her faith-expressiveness and the resulting elevation of their heart and lifestyle realities. 

           But beyond this life-transforming purpose for believers, God’s loving Spirit has also hovered over this earthly economy from the beginning to serve God’s agenda.  Genesis 1:1 puts it this way, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

          So, in real terms, the Divine Spirit is and has always been the Hovering Guardian of our world.   And as such, He is the Primary Keeper of good order, ever countering the chaotic activities and outflows of the dark economy.

           So obviously, this prophecy actually indicates that there will come a time when God will intentionally withdraw His Spirit from this guardianship. And, the larger context of the scriptures indicates that this is a strategic and very telling move in God’s redemptive plan and timetable. 

        So, the question becomes, “Is this that time?” Are we now seeing the effects of that dramatic, status quo altering withdrawal of the Divine Guardian in this present moment?

        No doubt some will say, “Yes, absolutely.” and others will insist, “No, absolutely not.”  And doubtless, many of those answers will simply be offhanded – based simply in personal druthers, or other spontaneous intuitions.

          But perhaps, before answering, it would be better to actually examine the visible evidence which is readily available - that being the landscape of the world’s present condition.  And certainly, when one honestly does so, it is presently a scary picture.  Clearly, the Darkness now widely lurks.

         And perhaps, even more telling than its sprawl is the speed with which the darkness has grown.  Indeed, Western Civilization has now been all but completely swallowed up by a philosophical darkness in only about one generation. 

         Consider, that the once bright democracies of Europe have now been largely usurped by the twin demonic influences of oppressive Marxism and radical Islam.  And, Canada has also now largely succumbed to the influence of Marxism, as has Australia.

       Mexico and major players in South and Central America now seem to be mostly losing an existential war with the Devil’s drug cartels.  And, crazed antisemitism has also again reared its head – but this time, on a worldwide scale. 

    And in that same short time, America, too, has become imminently endangered by the same evil trifecta – Marxism, radical Islam and the drug cartels.  And unmistakably, this amalgamated evil is absolutely now making a decisive move on America.  These sociological predators are very obviously circling and salivating as they anticipate an imminent American takedown.

        So, how else do we explain the now wide expanse and blinding speed of this growth of the Darkness if not in terms of this  prophecy?  Perhaps Mr. Occam is right again. Occam’s razor holds that, “The simplest answer is usually the correct answer.” 

      So, perhaps the prophesied exit of the Divine Spirit is now actually coming to pass.  And, as a result, the now less restrained Darkness is just quickly and easily filling in behind to occupy the power vacancy left by the Holy Spirits withdrawal.   

~

        Undeniably, the human species as a whole has actually become much more widely insolent as we have matured into the modern creature that we have become.  We are now choosing ever more broadly to believe that we actually can safely entrust ourselves to ourselves.  

       But the vastness of violence and chaos is hard anecdotal evidence which clearly declares – “Not hardly.”  And, it surely looks like the volume is about to be turned way up on that uncomplicated declaration.

When the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?  ~ Jesus

Fake vs. Real

 Theology:  The study of God. 

It is probably safe to say that most people think of Christian theology as tedious and complicated.  And, in fact, it has become that.  But at first – it just wasn’t that complicated.

            However, the world has now been generationally victimized by many spiritually depleted theologians and religious teachers whose pursuit seems to have angled much more toward justifying their own existence than the exposition of authentic truth.  And, we all know, the more complicated you can make something, the more necessary and valuable the “expert” interpreter seems to become.

            And too, it is fairly evident that, in general, we tend to be somewhat mesmerized by those labels and letters which go before and after the names of those experts.  Nevertheless, the reality is that there are many teachers in our world, religious and otherwise, who are adorned with those letters, and yet, they actually know diddly. 

            But typically, these self-deluded fakers are really good at meaningless word salads, gobbledygook, and talking in gibberish-filled circles.  And just as typically, as if under some spell, cast by those lettered accolades, there are also those listeners who embrace the delusion. They, too, start to believe that there is actually some significant substance to be found somewhere in all of that gibberish – when really, there simply is not. 

            So, over the years, many subjects, including Christian theology, have been victimized by this pretense dynamic.  But the Christian theologians and teachers who practice this sort of thing, especially regarding the explanation of Christian redemption, all have a telltale identifier.  They all starkly demonstrate a complete lack of awareness of God’s authentic redemptive End Game – His ultimate redemptive goal. 

            Certainly, even in a simple board game, the idea is to first understand the ultimate purpose of the game, the real point of it all.  This is what gives the game its overall structure.  And, if you don’t understand that ultimate intention, how could one not run off the rails in a multitude of ways as he seeks to play the game? 

            But, in the reverse, once you do understand that ultimte idea, the game starts to become much more intuitive and logical regarding how it’s played, its rules, its strategies, etc.  And, so it is with God’s redemptive agenda. 

            So, here is God’s ultimate goal in Christian redemption.  Here is that final keystone idea which holds everything in place and makes it all work logically.  Indeed, this is the predominant intellectual element in Christian Redemption which those highly credentialed, but poorly informed, theological guys and gals have missed…   

            Christian Redemption is ultimately about putting back better, that intimate, mutually fulfilling friendship between God and man which was lost so long ago in the Garden of Eden. 

            Knowing this to be God’s ultimate aspiration in the redemptive work of both the Dying and the Living Christ makes everything else play out fairly obviously.  And, as a result, all of that superfluous theological tedium and complication, as well as the errors, lies, heresies, and treacheries are pretty much just blown away.

            So, God’s laser focus on the pursuit of this more intimate, durable, and mutually fulfilling friendship with believers plays out very logically like this.  Christ’s death on the Cross was to bring about forgiveness, but not just for the sake of forgiving.  It was God’s opening move in pursuit of this sturdier, new-and-improved, Christ-based God/ believer friendship. 

            But, beyond that tactic, there remained yet another problem which needed to be addressed and eliminated.   It was that still deeply ingrained motive of essential sin.         

          This is that ever-dominating heart motive of self-determination which Satan treacherously introduced into man’s subconscious in Eden – that motive which broke the original God/ man friendship in the first place.  This is that stubborn subconscious desire to, “do our own life in our own way.”  And, this treacherous desire actually still remains in play in our subconscious mind, even on the back side of the Cross – even after one consciously and humbly embraces the Lordship of Christ.

            In the Book of Romans, the Apostle, Paul, perfectly describes how this subconscious dilemma begins to frustrate the new convert to Christ.  He momentarily assumes the role of that new-comer to the faith and says this, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

            But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

            Now, if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me [in the subconscious mind]. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man [in the conscious mind]. But I see another law in my members [my subconscious], warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members [my subconscious].”   [Brackets Added]

            So, in order to achieve God’s ultimate redemptive goal of both a durable, and a mutually fulfilling friendship with believers, that sinful subconscious inclination for self-determination, and the attitudes and behavior it produces, have to go.  So, what is to be done to solve this problem? 

            In fact, the Dying Christ and His Cross were never intended by God to solve this problematic reality of man’s still stubbornly self-determined subconscious. Christ’s death on the Cross was only ever intended to furnish the forgiveness of that devastating punishment which attaches to that reality.

            But rest assured, to ever know this new, mutually gratifying friendship of which God dreams, this destructive reality must absolutely be resolved. If this ingrained subconscious selfishness were to go unaddressed, God would constantly be offended, not gratified, by that haughty, self-determined, “I prefer to do my own thing, my own way,” nature. 

            So, in spite of the Cross and its forgiveness, the relationship could never be a truly fulfilling one for God. He would ever be disappointed and rebuffed by what He would be forced to daily observe in man’s character and behavior.

            So, logically, to get to that mutually fulfilling friendship that God is actually aiming for in Christ, He must deal with this ingrained, self-centered character essence within man.  But how?  How, indeed?  Enter the Living Christ! 

            In fact, it is the Living Christ and the wonderful outflows of His Resurrection which are intended to remedy this stubborn and God alienating subconscious desire for self-determination. And, the completely unique remedy for this friendship-threatening subconscious sin motive plays out like this. 

            The Living Christ, in Spirit form, symbiotically merges His character essence with that of the truly devoted believer.  This distinct redemptive event is what the Church refers to as the “Spiritual Baptism.”  And the very logical purpose of this spiritual merger is to thoroughly renew the believer’s value system – which is, in fact, the very core of his or her character essence.

            This value system over-write by the Living Christ replaces the believer’s previous, self-tainted values with the pristine values of the Living Christ – beginning with the Faith Value. Immediately, by this character essence integration, that dominant sin value of self-determination is displaced in the believer’s subconscious. 

            And, just as immediately, it is replaced by a Living Christ-enriched Faith Value.  And, that new Christ-strengthened faith then becomes the new predominant governing value in the believer’s heart (character essence) on the subconscious level. 

            So now, the believer’s heart becomes undivided.  He or she is no longer being stressfully stretched between the dual motives of faith and self-determination as Paul described above.  The Faith value, which, in general terms, expresses itself as, “God’s will be done in my life,” is actually now chiefly governing on both levels of the believer's consciousness – bringing a durable peace and a Living Christ-enabled stability to the friendship.

            And, under the influence of this new Christ-empowered Faith (now governing both the believer's conscious and subconscious mind) new capacities emerge.  In this Christ-enriched faith, not only is there now the capacity to overpower the sin impulse. There is also the capacity to consistently produce a daily harvest of God-gratifying character-enhancements and God-directed good works – thus, fulfilling God’s most cherished hopes for this new God/ man relationship. (Ref: Galatians 5:22-25 // Ephesians 2:10)

            So now, again in the Book of Romans, Paul goes on to  describe the wondrous Living Christ-enabled newness taking place within the believer's character essence and lifestyle reality - and in this better friendship. He says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

            For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

            Indeed, this character integration with the Living Christ and the profound personal transformation which it brings is breathtaking in both its scope and effectiveness. This Christ-inhabited believer is truly that final keystone piece in God’s redemptive plan. This is the consummate reality of God's true redemptive aspiration.   

            And, it is all sustained by the vitality of the Living Christ as He symbiotically lives, in Spirit form – literally, within the believer’s character essence.  And, every single day, this God-designed and Living Christ-empowered friendship then pours out its relational blessings to both God and believer.

            So, in its authentic essence, Christian redemption really isn’t that complicated. And, in fact, this Christ empowered, better friendship has, indeed, in these New Testament times, become a wonderful reality for countless devout believers. 

            But still, it is strange.  How could so many lettered teachers over the generations have missed the beauty and efficacy of this authentic, God-designed redemptive strategy?  

            And, even now, in this late hour of redemptive history, many are still clearly identified by their glaring lack of awareness of these very primary things. Perhaps, it is because they are so full of themselves, they simply cannot see beyond the vastness of their own pretentious mass.

       But, in any case, truly devoted believers should simply continue on beyond that wondrous Cross and its forgiveness so lovingly afforded by the Dying Christ. The true divine encouragement is to go on to stalwartly pursue that oneness of heart, that spiritual character integration with the Living Christ.  And that,  in order to consummate this new, ever-enduring and always mutually fulfilling friendship with our loving, second-effort God. (Ref:  Luke 11: 5-13 // Romans 8: 12-14 // Matthew 7:13)  

A Reality Check for "Bravehearts"

Numbers - ironically, numbers were once such an easy issue for the Church.  In the early Church, according to scripture, “multitudes” responded to the good news of Christian redemption.  And, this was true even though that early redemptive message was quite challenging to the hearers.  As it actually still does today, the Gospel of Christ required them to go from being the masters of their own destiny, to becoming joyfully humble servants, surrendered to the Lordship of Christ.

  And, as they bowed to that redemptive requirement, over time, a greater truth emerged.  Turns out, this necessary humiliation, this servanthood, was, in fact, essential to the workings of the divine plan for the thorough renewal of the believer’s heart (character essence) and lifestyle realities. And, that renewal was key to God’s  redemptive end game: an intimate, durable, and mutually fulfilling God/man friendship fully substantiated in the Living Christ. 

   And, in fact, the transformative process which grows this “new creature in Christ” can only happen in that rarefied atmosphere of a profound humility before God.  We typically just refer to this special relational environment as “redemptive faith.” And, it is this context of profound humility which produces what an atmosphere of arrogance and self-determination never could – endurance.

 And, endurance is needed to get through this character and life transforming process.  This is no casual walk in the park we are talking about.   

 This is an encompassing adventure which involves a focused personal pursuit of a spiritual merger with the Living Christ by which His empowering character essence literally becomes integrated with that of the believer.  And, flowing out of this resulting symbiotic relationship then comes a divine overwrite of the believer’s value system which, in turn, yields a whole new body of life-altering divine truth.

  And, from this now fresh and growing heart-oneness with God, enabled and sustained by the empowering sufficiency of the Living Christ, springs that long sought divine prize.  It is that now very real, intimate, durable, and mutually fulfilling God/man friendship – fully initialized, and ready to shower both God and the believer with its every day relational blessings.

  So, this is that authentic redemptive journey which those early “multitudes” so willingly took on and successfully completed.  Indeed, this is that thoroughly renewing path, blazed by the work of both the Dying and the Living Christ, which not only frees the souls of believers from the clutches of the Darkness; but, it also frees them from their own disabling brokenness as well – just as God always intended. 

  Sadly, however, by this late hour in history and due entirely to the work of the Darkness, this authentic redemptive path has become much more obscured by other deceptive and misleading pathways.  And many now succumb to the charms of those simpler and less demanding paths.  And, the prevalence of those dark charms has actually had the effect of casting a long shadow of rejection over this true path.

  Thus many contemporary believers are now lacking that excitement and passion that fired those early believers to complete their redemptive transformation.   The reality is that the rank and file of the contemporary Church, and more specifically, the American Evangelical Church, under all of its banners, have become widely reluctant to move, in real terms, beyond simply the forgiveness of the Cross.

  But that wondrous Cross of the Dying Christ and the forgiveness which it affords, is but the trailhead of the redemptive path which God has actually laid out.  According to His authentic redemptive mapping, there is a final leg of this journey which reaches well beyond that Cross.  It stretches toward Christ's Resurrection and that empowering encounter with the Living Christ which transforms the believer in those very real terms.

  So, enabled and sustained by the shared vibrancy of the Living Christ as He lives within, the believer experiences this personal transformation.  And, it is, indeed, a journey which brings real newness to his or her heart (character essence) and lifestyle realities.  And, contrary to that now widely popular mistake – this trans-formative part of our redemptive journey is absolutely not optional.

 God is seeking to achieve a “thorough reclamation” of his fallen and badly broken human creature. And, He will not have that expensive, long sought, and God-prescribed end-result preempted by human reluctance, timidity, laziness, ignorance or any other such thing.  The divine redemptive design is firmly established.  And either we match its specifications or we perish in our own mistaken choices.

  And, overly simplistic and ridiculously easy is certainly one of those mistaken approaches.  But the pursuit of a thorough personal renewal in the power of the Living Christ is an immeasurably better one.  It actually brings God’s real approval and the believer’s true newness and safety of soul.

 But it is true that the contemporary Church is now struggling with this larger idea of redemption in the pew, the pulpit, and in the administrative ranks of the Church.  We would all like to believe that our redemptive message is accurate and sacrosanct - immune to the ebb and flow of life's treacheries and pressures.

 And, as ministers of God’s redemptive truth, we certainly want to believe that our integrity regarding our divine commission as His messengers remains intact.  Certainly, we want to believer that we would not kowtow before any reluctance of contemporary congregations to hear and respond to the greater challenges of the authentic redemptive journey. 

  But is all of this really still true?  Or, are we, indeed, gradually caving. Have we, in this now consummately organized contemporary church, whether minister or layman, become willing to replace the core requirements of God's redemptive truth with merely seductive social programming.

 In this time when the Church is widely numerically challenged in key aspects: conversions, membership, attendance, and the connected finances, might we now be bowing to the tyranny of those growing numerical pressures?  These pressures are very real in the modern Church.  And, they do have a far reaching and often excruciating influence.

 For example, if this more challenging but truly authentic message has now widely become more than this contemporary Church is willing to embrace, might we then simply resort to exploring less challenging truth - which would also be of greatly diminished import? Or, might we become willing to morph our pulpit ministry into something more like helpful life-couching? And all of this, in the interest of surreptitiously protecting our numbers and our continuing ability to sustain and/or grow them.

 Or, might those numbers-based pressures drive us to allow less altruistic concerns to begin to weigh in on our thinking and behavior? So, maybe a numbers threat to the minister's personal validation, credibility, job security, or our prospects regarding that ministerial “ladder climb” might begin to have some impact.  Perhaps we might then begin to soft-peddle or just avoid this more stringent message altogether, in the face of less receptive modern congregations. 

  As a Church administrator, might we be tempted to shade the truth a bit?  Perhaps it would seem OK if it made our denomination more attractive, and thus more, "embraceable" by the larger world, and/or by the growing shallowness of our constituency?  

So, maybe, in this case, we would start to draw back from "defending the faith", i.e. from ever critically juxtaposing our authentic message of redemption with its heretical competitors.  And this, so we could maintain our personal and our denominational image as thoughtful and attractive men and women of peace – thus, alienating none (save our own integrity), all in deference to those tyrannical numbers and the perceptions they demand of us.

  But, be all of that as it may, the actual reality is that in most every church in the land today, there are now those who are dangerously under invested in their own redemption – and blissfully happy to be so.  Truth be told, a great many among our modern multitudes now demand that this Living Christ-fueled renewal process be, at the very least, toned way down.  And often, the greater preference is that it be left entirely unmentioned. 

 And, this preference for shallowness has, indeed, now become broadly embraced by the rank-and-file across the American Evangelical Church as being the acceptable norm.  And. in some cases, this is occurring in spite of a long enshrined doctrinal positions to the contrary.  And, in fact, it is this widespread and completely deadly mistake which has also set up a presently raging negotiation within the modern Church. 

 But this is no mere heated back and forth between differing theologians.  This is a life and death involved confrontation between the divine Truth Giver, the Holy Spirit, and those deluded, wayward, and/or terminally misguided hearts within this contemporary Church.  And how could it not be so?  Jesus described the role of the Holy Spirit this way. “He will guide you into all truth.” 

 So, when and wherever the Divine Spirit encounters this deadly predilection for shallowness and under-investment on the part of believers, be it in the pew, the pulpit, or the higher administrations of the Church, what else would He do?  What else can He do but take adamant issue with such?   So, He begins to intensely negotiate with that believer in his or her heart.  He simply cannot do less.

 And, at such a point, the Spirit’s whispering voice makes every effort to convince the believer to press on.  The idea is to continue  beyond the Cross of the Dying Christ to also embrace this real and thorough newness of heart and life in the sufficiency of the Living Christ.  Nevertheless, these Holy Spirit negotiations, however they turn out, ever remain just that, a negotiation.  

They are necessarily never irresistible demands.  The believer’s level of devotion is always left to decide the outcome of these loving confrontations. And, many do actually resist these urgings by the Divine Spirit.

 Obviously, believers can, indeed, grieve the Holy Spirit with our willful stubbornness.  And, this is certainly a possibility in these redemptive negotiations.  But if believers refuse, or suppress, or in other ways seek to escape the Spirit's loving encouragement to lean into this Living Christ-empowered completion, they will absolutely have to do so repeatedly.   

This is true because their soul hangs in the balance.  So, the Spirit is ever faithful to return again and again to attempt to achieve this crucial enlightenment.  

But unfortunately, something else is also true.  Our willful stubbornness can also be as perpetual as His faithful effort - a reality which can seal our eternal doom.

So, at this late redemptive hour, the pews, the pulpits, and Church administrations all across this contemporary American Church are now alight with the intellectual and emotional sparks of these intense, life-and-death, personal negotiations with the Divine Spirit.  And, countless under-invested souls within the Church do, indeed, hang in the balance.  

Nevertheless, the nature of God's ultimate redemptive aspiration never wavers.  It ever remains that divine intention to bring to pass that every day reality of a durable and mutually fulfilling friendship with the believer, made strong and consistent through that unique symbiotic merger with the all sufficient Living Christ. 

So, the ultimate redemptive end game simply cannot merely be about forgiveness. Again, this wondrous beginning benefit must necessarily evolve into this Christ-empowered transformation of our character and our lifestyle realities. It must be so to facilitate that heart-oneness with God which is so completely indispensable to that long awaited  and mutually gratifying friendship which God eagerly anticipates with every believer.

That consummate friendship is what was lost in the Garden of Eden all those eons ago.  And, that friendship is what the redemptive work of Jesus is now putting back one person at a time.  And, He is doing so in a much better and more substantial way.  And ultimately, God simply will not settle for less.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew [In the Greek: "Genosco" - a deep and intimate knowing] you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"   ~ Jesus   [Brackets added]

Numbers matter in the Church.  But redemptive truth matters more.  The simple reality is that redemptive truth actually defines the numbers; and, never is the reverse true - in spite of that now widely cherished delusion.