The Blessings Jesus Taught

Would you like to know how to stay free from erroneous doctrines that lead contrary to the leading of God's Spirit? It's a very integral thing to consider, seeing that the scripture says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, THEY are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). If you marry the following passages of scripture to one another, you will always know what is false, and what to get away from and stay away from. One passage is from Matthew 5 and the other is from Ephesians 4. The passage from Matthew is the absolute moral foundation of the gospel, and the passage from Ephesians is the absolute technical foundation. Here is Matthew: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you" (Mat. 5:3-12). What we have seen here is the divine nature defined, and those who embody this nature will be saved. Luke chapter 6 can be referenced as well, where the flip sides of these virtues are also addressed; and where it is also made clear that those who are guilty of being on the flip side of the divine nature will NOT be saved. I may note also that one does not come to these virtues by "trying" to be that way. If we have the Spirit of God, and do enough humble, honest praying on a regular basis, and die to sin; we will simply BE these things, and develop in them more as we grow in Christ. A fruit tree does not strain to bear fruit. It is MADE to bear fruit, and so it will do if it is not impeded (Jn. 15:4,5; Gal. 5:22-24). In this case, the only impediment to bearing fruit in the Spirit of God, is sin, which we are called to live free from (Rom. 6:1-7; Heb. 12:14; I Pet. 4:1,2; I Jn. 3:2,3; etc.). Jesus told us that every tree is known by its fruit, and that those who profess faith in him are the same: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit... Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Mat. 7:15-17,20). So those who truly follow God's Spirit consistently are going to exemplify these divine elements of the faith that Jesus described for us in his sermon on the mount.

Now to Ephesians for the technical foundation of the doctrine of Christ: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph. 4:4-6). Note here that there are SEVEN of these foundational truths, and note also that before each of these seven, it says that there is only "one" of each of them. This passage of these seven "ones" is probably the most overlooked factor in the new testament scriptures; and yet the power and truth of each of them is absolute, declaring anything contrary to any of them to be absolutely false. We can cover three of these "ones" with another of the most pivotal verses in the Bible: "For by ONE SPIRIT are we all BAPTIZED into ONE BODY..." (I Cor. 12:13). So what we have here is the scriptural and spiritual reality that water baptism was fulfilled by the Spirit baptism that Jesus suffered, died, and rose again to establish (Mk. 1:7,8; Acts 1:4,5; I Pet. 3:21). There is "one body" of Christ and there is only one way to get into that one body; and it is by means of the "one baptism" that Jesus baptizes with. Period. I am fully aware of all of the fine folks who want to hold onto water baptism, but if that is you my friend, you are holding onto a religious corpse. Jesus died and rose that we "might have LIFE, and have it more abundantly" (Jn. 10:10). He did not die and rise so that we could continue in dead, carnal, ceremonial forms which never gave life, and that merely symbolized what he was going to die and raise to establish. And that "one Spirit" that we must be baptized with IS that abundant, or divine life that Jesus died and rose to give us. The Spirit is NOT a third person. A person, namely Jesus, baptizes WITH the divine life that first dwelt in the Father, and that the Father gave to dwell in him when he begat him (Rom. 8:2; Jn. 5:26; Heb. 1:5). A person does NOT baptize people WITH A PERSON, but rather with divine substance, which substance dwells in both the Father and the Son (Jn. 4:14; Jn. 7:38,39; Rev. 22:17). And what about that "one hope?" "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, THE HOPE of salvation" (I Thess. 5:8). That eliminates the Christian tradition of salvation being obtained at the beginning of our faith in Jesus. And the following passages of scriptures confirm that profoundly as well (Mat. 24:12,13; Rom. 8:24,25; Romans 13:11; I Pet. 1:3-9). Go ahead, look them up and read them. And then there is the reality that there indeed is "one Lord," AND "one God." Two persons, the Son being the "express image of his [God's] person," who are "one" in mind and nature by having the same Spirit; which Spirit has now been given to those who believe so that "they [also] may be one, EVEN AS we [Jesus and the Father] are one" (Jn. 17:22; Acts 4:32; Rom. 15:6; I Cor. 1:10; I Cor. 6:17). And as the scripture says, the Father is "above all," meaning he is separate from, and greater than the Son (Jn. 14:28; I Cor. 15:24-28; Heb. 1:4,5,8,9; Rev. 3:14). So what about the "one faith?" Well, we just covered the bases on that "one." Anything that is apart from these absolute scriptural facts my friend, is not of God. Plain and simple. That leaves us with only one exhortation to consider: "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in THE FAITH; prove your own selves" (II Cor. 13:5). Amen.