| Romans 8:24-25 24 For we are saved by hope;6 but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he has already seen? [In this present life we are saved by the hope of the true gospel: being purified, freed from all our sins, (even our desires to sin), to become one with Christ and God, and be translated into the kingdom, all while on earth and then forever. From the Word of the Lord within: "Hope releases the power of God to change you. There is no hope for anyone outside the power of God." Our hope motivates us to bear the inward cross of self-denial until we secure all of God's promises, when we see Jesus bring our salvation!] 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet see, then we wait for it [salvation] with patient endurance. [Notice, Paul tells them that if they have not seen their salvation, they are to wait for it with patient endurance. This is another proof that salvation comes to those who heed and obey the spoken-to-them commands of God that they hear as they persistently and patiently wait on Him, Heb 5:9, 9:28. Reading about being saved, or preachers telling us that we are saved, or saying that we are saved, is not seeing or experiencing salvation; so how do we see salvation — when we see Jesus bring our salvation in this present life. Just like we, through the Spirit, by faith, patiently wait for the hope of righteousness, Gal 5:5, we wait for salvation. From the Word of the Lord within: "You must wait on the Lord to receive salvation."] | |||||||||
6 we are saved by hope. Salvation is not to be presumed, salvation is to be experienced and seen.
We are saved by heart-and-soul-purifying grace through our faith in God's promises, but we must have the hope of our securing them:
- by the hope of being guided into all truth and taught all things by God,
- by the hope of being cleansed by the power of God,
- by the hope of being delivered from our sins,
- by the hope of coming out of darkness to the light of God,
- by the hope of becoming children of the light, (the light being God),
- by the hope of overcoming the world, the devil, and death, to victory!,
- by the hope of being renewed into the spiritual image of God,
- by the hope of walking by faith, in the spirit, in love, and in the light,
- by the hope of becoming pure,
- by the hope of seeing God appear in your heart,
- by the hope of seeing the glory of God,
- by the hope of you appearing in glory with Him when he appears,
- by the hope of producing the fruit of the spirit and bringing glory, honor, and pleasure to the Father,
- by the hope of becoming righteous,
- by the hope of becoming holy,
- by the hope of a forever cleansing and perfection,
- by the hope of being perfected as commanded,
- by the hope of growing up into a perfect man, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
- by the hope of being raised with Christ, as Christ is resurrected in you,
- by the hope of becoming an entirely new creature,
- by the hope of Christ ruling in your heart,
- by the hope of entering the promised rest from our labors, to thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, energized by God,
- by the hope of joining in union with Christ and the Father,
- by the hope of entering the Kingdom of God ,
- by the hope of fellowship with Christ and the Father,
- by the hope of fellowship in the Spirit with other saints in the world, and past men made perfect,
- by the hope of eternal Life in God that is brought to us as we see him bring our salvation — and
- by the hope of all of this occurring by faith through the grace of God as we live in this present world.
And how do we demonstrate our hope? To sit at Jesus' feet and listen to his word is the one thing needed by any who wish to experience the promises of the Bible:
Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a woman named Martha received him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word.
Now Martha was distracted with much serving, and came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her that she should help me."
But Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.
"There is only one thing needed, and Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42.
Jesus was not reading scriptures to Mary, he was speaking to her; we must hear him speak to us too: for the words I speak to you are spirit and they are life. John 6:63; his words spoken to us impart the life of God to us, if we hear and obey them. We must go to him. We must wait on him — listen silently, with the humility of a sinner in need of his changing power — grace. We must listen, hear, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. James 1:21. Daily we must wait on Him, as we watch, listen, hear, obey... wait, watch, listen, hear, obey..... seek, listen, obey. We must endure to the end, when we see Christ bring our salvation.
To sit quietly, struggling with your mind to listen, is a cross to your will; to obey is a cross to your will — denying your will, and yielding to thy will be done — this is the inward cross of self-denial. From the Word of the Lord within: "Little by little the Lord's will, will be progressed." Do this, and you are following Jesus.
From the Word of the Lord within: "Hope releases the power of God to change you. There is no hope for anyone outside the power of God." Without the power of God working in you, there is no victory, there is no overcoming. There are three sources to the power of God being released to purify you: 1) power in the true hope and gospel, 2) power in the inward cross of self denial, and 3) the power in the name of Jesus. This power of God works in us, and keeps us through faith to salvation, which is to be delivered from sin. Christendom today is without the cross and without the true hope; and so without the power of God, left only as a form (hollow shell) of the original Christianity, without the new life of the new creature, without holiness, wallowing in sin, boasting of their imperfection, perishing, whose end is destruction. For without the power of God released to change a man, his heart remains full of sin and unacceptable to God, whatever his lips may say in the form of worship. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; so that everyone may receive what is due him, according to what he has done in the body, whether it is good or bad. 2 Cor 5:10.
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