Chapter Five

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The One Choice You Must Make To Obtain The Healing, Prosperity and Well-Being For Yourself and Every Member of Your Family That God Promised You in The Abrahamic Covenant

      The one choice you must make to obtain the Abrahamic blessings is very simple.  You must choose to live by the things you have learned in these volumes.  You must live your life using what you have learned as your pattern and guide.

       What It Means To "Live By Faith"

      Romans 1:17 declares that "The just shall live by faith".  In addition, Hebrews 10:38 declares that "The just shall live by faith".  We have learned what faith is.  It is information we receive from God that we must act upon.

     Using this definition of faith, then, the above two verses state that "The just shall live by the information they receive from God that they are to act upon".

     Look now, in these two verses, at the word "by" in the expression "by faith".  "By" translates the Greek preposition EK which means "out of".  EK is always used with the Ablative case which, as noted before. describes the "origin" or "source" of something.

     Putting all the above together, then, the above two verses would read, "The just shall live 'out of' the advance information they receive from God that they are to act upon".  In other words, the advance information that we receive from God must be the source of our living.  Our faith must be the origin of everything we do.  Nothing must be the source of what we do with our lives except this advance information from God.  This is an imperative.  The just shall live out of their faith.

     However, many, many members of The Abrahamic Seed Group do not live out of their faith.  Paul addresses this in Romans 8. In verse four of this chapter, he uses the expressions "walking after the flesh" and "walking after the Spirit".  What does he mean by "walking after the flesh" and "walking after the Spirit"?

What It Means To "Walk After The Flesh"

     "Walking after the flesh" simply means doing your own thing independently of God.  It means charting your own course independently of God.  It means making your own plans and carrying them out independently of God.  It means following your own desires and ambitions independently of  God.  It means living your life as though God had no claim on it at all.  It means living as though God was absolutely through with you the moment you were saved.  It means to live as though God had no more interest in you.  It means to live as though God wound you up like a clock at the moment of your salvation and left you to unwind by yourself with no more interference from him.  It means. in a nutshell, to live your life absolutely and totally independent of God, even though you are saved.  It means to leave God out even though you are a member of The Abrahamic Seed Group.

     Paul calls Christians who live in this manner "carnal".  "Carnal" translates the Greek word SARX which means "flesh".  In other words, Christians who walk after the flesh are "fleshly" Christians.

     From the above, the conclusion forces itself upon us that there is not a dime's worth of difference between the way an unsaved person lives his life and the way a carnal Christian lives his life.  A lost person lives by his wits and abilities independently of God.  So does a carnal Christian.  A lost person. makes his own plans independently of God.  So does a carnal Christian.  A lost person follows his own desires and ambitions independently of God.  So does a carnal Christian.  A lost person gives no thought nor attention to the will of God for his life.  Neither does a carnal Christian.  Both are caught up in doing their own thing.

     This author once held a revival meeting in the north side of Houston, Texas.  One afternoon, he went out with the pastor to witness.  We met two beautiful teen-age girls.  They were wearing tight T-shirts with no undergarments.  We witnessed to them about Jesus.

     One of them said, "Jesus gives me hang-ups.  I want no part of him."  We asked what she meant by that.  How did Jesus give her hang-ups?

     She replied that she wanted to be free to do her own thing.  She did not want anyone to tell her what to do.  And Jesus came with a "bunch of rules of thou shalt nots and thou shalts".  She wanted to be free to do exactly what she wanted to do.  She was unsaved and following her flesh.

     The difference between this beautiful, unsaved girl and the carnal Christian is one of degree only.  Earlier we said there is not a dime's worth of difference between the way an unsaved person lives their life and the way a carnal Christian lives their life.  Now, let us show just exactly what this dime's worth of difference is.  Let us show the degree of difference between the girl described above and the carnal Christian.

     The carnal Christian doesn't base his life upon advance information from God.  He, too, does his own thing, but with this difference.  He couches what he does within a moral framework.  He tries to avoid "offending God" by maintaining the morals of the Ten Commandments.  He does his best not to steal, lie, kill, commit adultery or dishonor his parents, etc..  He feels that if he can keep from "offending God" by keeping all the above moral laws, that God will at the very least, not be mad at him.  In addition, the carnal Christian feels that he just might be able to get God to sanction and bless what he does as long as he is not getting God mad with him by breaking any of his moral laws.  Consequently, the way a carnal Christian lives and the way an unsaved person lives is one of degree only.

     The girl above did her own thing independently of God with little or no thought about a moral framework within which God might accept her actions.  The carnal Christian, likewise, does his own thing.  But, he couches his own thing in a moral framework within which he believes he can at least keep from offending God while doing his own thing.  They both are following their own desires and ambitions independently of the will of God for their lives.  One does it within a moral frame to keep on God's good side while the other does not.  But, they both are doing their own thing independent of God's will for their lives.

     The carnal Christian, operating as he does within a moral frame, actually thinks he can invoke the blessings of God on what he does, provided he isn't making God mad at him.  So he charts his own course and asks God to bless his mess.  And, he is amazed when God neither sanctions nor blesses his mess.  Then, after a few of these unsanctioned, unblessed messes, this carnal Christian doesn't know what to think or do.

     His philosophy of doing his own thing within a moral framework to keep God from getting mad at him didn't work.  Since it didn't work, God must be mad at him, and he doesn't know why.  So, he finally gets mad at God and turns away from him.  But, what he fails to realize is that he had already turned away from God before he ever started.  He had pulled away from God the minute he set out to do his own thing independently of God whether he couched it in a moral frame or not.  What he did not realize is that he was simply attempting to "buy God off" with his moral framework. But, his moral frame is nothing more than a few good works thrown God's way so that, if he will not bless his mess, at the very least he will not interfere with what he wants to do.  But,  God is not for sale.

     Herein, then, lies the degree or the dime's worth of difference, between the way an unsaved person lives his life and the way a carnal Christian lives his life.  The carnal Christian is more conscious of God and his moral requirements than an unsaved person, but they both are just doing their own thing.  Neither of them considers advance information from God as the source of what they do with their lives.

     But Paul is definite.  He said that "The just shall live out of the advance information".  Therefore, to live independently of this advance information is sin.  Paul is definite about this also.  He said that "Whatever is not of faith is sin", Romans 14:23.

     Look in this verse at the word "of".  This is the same Greek preposition contained in Romans 1:17 and Hebrews 10:38 that we mentioned earlier.  This is the preposition EK which still means "out of" and still designates "source" and "origin".  And Paul declares that whatever does not originate in advance information from God is sin.  Therefore, for a carnal Christian to expect God to bless sin is ludicrous.  Yet, this is exactly what the carnal Christian does.  He does his own thing independently of God's advance information. This is sin to the utmost.  God will not bless such things.  God will never bless sin.  He hates it.  "Whatever" the carnal Christian does in this manner is sin since it did not originate from God's advance information.

     Sure, you can go far with your wits and natural abilities.  Consider the case of Hitler and Stalin.  They went far.  Of this, there is no doubt.  The carnal Christian can go far with his/her natural wits and abilities also.  But sooner or later, the arm of the flesh will come up short.  Sooner or later, your natural wits and abilities will fail you.  Somewhere down the road of life, you will come up against something that the arm of the flesh cannot provide.  It may be a terminal disease for which there is no cure.  Then what will you do?  How will you solve the problem then?  How will you solve and dispose of this problem?

     The answer, of course, is that you will not solve and dispose of it.  It will take you out.

What It Means To "Walk After The Spirit"

     On the other hand.  Paul speaks of "walking after the Spirit".  This is the exact opposite of "walking after the flesh".  To walk after the Spirit means to base you life on advance information from God and then "walk it out" by acting on it to the exclusion of all other activity.  It means bringing all your desires and ambitions into line with this information.  It means not doing your own thing but doing only God's thing.  It means deliberately doing God's will and not your own will.  It means "walking out" the information God gives you in advance.

     This does not rule out our "common sense".  For example, suppose you are a carpenter.  You feel God equipped you and called you to be a carpenter.  You are confident that you are in the will of God being a carpenter.  Are you to pray for God's leadership every time you reach into your pouch to remove every single nail that you use in construction?  Should you pray "Lord, should I use this nail or would you rather I chose another one"?  Of course, this isn't necessary.  Common sense takes over at this point.  God is perfectly willing for you to use whatever nail you pick.

     Use your common sense in the absence of advance information to the contrary.  But when the choice is between common sense and advance information from God, go with God.  His way is perfect and his way always works.  Common sense acted upon in the presence of advance information to the contrary is sin and does not work.  This is "walking after the flesh" and has disastrous consequences.

     Use your common sense unless you have advance information to the contrary.  Suppose you are ill and decide to go to the doctor.  Should you go or not?  I would never advise anyone to refrain from seeing a doctor who feels they need one.  By all means go unless God gives you advance information that you should not go.  Then, and only then, should you not go.  But, in the meantime, you must also engage in the battle to take back what is yours that God promised you in The Abrahamic Covenant.  And he promised you healing among the other Abrahamic blessings.  For it is, after all, the promises of God that will finally see you through and put you over.  Common sense is God given.  As such, it is a wonderful gift.  But it was not given to replace the promises of God.  They are guaranteed even when common sense says "this can't be".  So, go with God.

The Difference Between a Son of God and a Child of God

     In conjunction with all the foregoing. we must define the difference between the "sons" of God and the "children" of God.  Paul notes a major difference between them in Romans 8:14.  He said, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God".

     In Paul's day, a child born into a household remained a child until he came to an age of accountability and responsibility.  Then, the family would have an "Adoption Ceremony".  The purpose of this ceremony was to formally recognize the level of maturity the child had attained.  At this ceremony, the child became a "son" with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities that went with it.  The "child" became recognized as a "son" only after reaching a certain level of maturity and age.

     This same thing occurs in the spiritual realm also.  The child of God becomes a child the moment he receives Christ as his personal savior.  He then begins the process of growing as a Christian.  When he reaches a certain level of growth, he begins to "live out of the advance information" that God gives him.  When he can do this to the exclusion of doing his own thing, he becomes a "son".  No wonder that Paul said that "sons", not children, are led by the Spirit of God. (Some translations use the word "children" in this verse, but this is wrong.  The Greek word here is HWEEOS, or son, not TEKNA which means child.)

     Determine right now to be a "son" and not a child.  The child does his own thing just like any kid wants to do his own thing.  But, a "son" is the one who has matured and has learned to be led by the Spirit of God.  The "son" walks out the advance information he has received from God and shuns other courses of action.  The "son" walks after the Spirit.  The "child" does not.

The True Meaning of Hebrews 11:6

     Now we can fully understand Hebrews 11:6 which states "But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him!".

     In the preceding verse, look at the word "without".  This translates the Greek word KORIS which means "apart from" or "detached from".  Next, look at the word "impossible".  This translates ADUNATON which combines A, the Greek negative with DUNAMIS, the Greek word for power. (Our English word "dynamite" comes from this word.) The combination means "no power".  In other words, any thing, any course of action that is apart from or detached from faith (advance information received from God) has no power to please God.  This one statement alone shows the folly of the carnal Christian as he tries to throw God a few good works along the way to placate him as he does his own thing.  There is "no power" in good works or any thing else when they are detached from advance information we receive from God for us to act upon.  No power!  No Power!  No power!  How silly to try to buy God off with a few good works along the way.  The only thing that has power to please God is walking out his advance information that he gave us.

     Next, look at the word "must".  This translates the Greek impersonal verb DEI which means "necessity".  Then, look at the word "believe".  We have learned this means "acting on the advance information that God gives us".  Putting these words together, then. we see that it is absolutely necessary that we "act" on two things.

     First, we must act on the fact that God is.  Second, we must act on the fact that he not only is, but also that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.  Notice the word "rewarder".  This translates three Greek words combined into one.  The first is a word which means "to give".  The second word means "back".  The third word means "wages".  "Rewarder", then, means "to give back wages".

     Summing up all the above, we see that we act on the fact that God is by our coming to him.  We would not come to a non-existent God or any thing else.  Second, we act on the fact that he is a rewarder of those of us who diligently seek him.  Acting on these two things pleases God.  This is acting on advance information.  Detached from this, there is no power in anything we do that pleases him.  Acting on these two things causes the blessings to come our way in the form of wages that God gives us back in exchange for our diligence in seeking him rather than doing our own thing.  To be as diligent in seeking him as we are in doing our own thing guarantees us a reward.  God actually "pays" us to seek him and walk out his advance information for our lives.

     It just makes sense, then, to do it God's way.  It benefits us greatly.  Living by our wits and abilities carries no guarantee of reward.  Doing it God's way does.

     You have a choice to make.  You can choose to keep on doing your own thing with no guarantee of success and reward.  Or, you can choose to walk out the advance information contained in these volumes concerning Abraham's blessings.  Remember, the just shall live out of the advance information they receive from God to act upon.  Living your life detached from this information absolutely has no power to please God.  Neither does it guarantee a successful outcome to anything you do.  Sooner or later the arm of the flesh will fail you.  Choose now to get in the battle to take back what's yours.  Choose now to live by faith and start receiving your Abrahamic blessings.  They can only be obtained by engaging in the battle.  This is God's advance information on how to obtain them.  This is the only way.  Choose now.  Get in the battle.

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Date Last Updated: February 26, 2008
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