Sonship is the highest form of holiness set by God in order that one can be led and walk truly in the Spirit, aligning our thoughts to the mind of Christ. This is the level of dying to self, leaving everything behind, carrying the cross and following Jesus.
A believer either lives a life full of earthly things or a life full of Christ. Dying-to-self means “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Paul said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).
Our spiritual life will have little progress if we do not experience the death of self, delivering the heart from the grip of worldly things.
Many Christians are offended by the verses in Luke 14:26-27, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters–yes, even his own life–he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
Most Churches would not preach about this for fear of losing their congregation but this is the truth - the message of the Cross that Paul preached after he saw the light - to detach our hearts from the grip of worldly things.
After Paul had encountered the light that blinded his eyes for three days, purged him of his self-righteousness, and opened his spiritual eyes to see how rotten and sinful he was, he began to preach the message of the Cross with miracles, signs & wonders.
1 Corinthians 1:17
“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
Romans 15:18-19
“I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:4-5
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
1 Corinthians 4:20
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”
There is no other way to live the standard of God’s holiness except that we are full of the Spirit. In order to be full of the Spirit, we must go through the fire cleansing, refining and purification before our bodies can be worthy to host the manifest presence of His glory - through the Baptism of Fire.
The Lord said in Revelation 3:18, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” White clothes represent holiness and salve to put on our eyes means to see with our spiritual eyes what others could not see.
Holiness will open our spiritual eyes.
More insights vide the links:-
We give all glory to God!
Paul K P Ang
Arsenal of Fire Global
May 25, 2019
Footnote:-
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