Dear Fellow Believers,
What a phenomenon occurring again and again in Romans, chapter 6: The apostle Paul, in revealing Christ to us, puts our present experience last after explaining that our past and future are melded with Christ's past and future, that is, we were crucified together with Him, and we shall be of His resurrection also.
To God, the past and the present are the same. Thus, as surely as Christ was crucified and we were baptized into His death, just as surely shall we be of the resurrection also.
The is the opposite, of course, of how Christianity presents "the gospel." The gospel, to this false religion, puts your present experience front and center. This religion focuses constantly on how you ought to behave TODAY. Not so, Paul. Paul only considers how we are behaving after showing us that Christ's past (His death) is our past, and Christ's future (resurrection and
glorification) is our future. In other words, Paul "bookends" us in Christ. Only as we come to the realization of the truth that we are so sealed does Paul consider our present. It is a "walk worthily of the calling" kind of thing, rather than an "if you walk worthily, then perhaps you have a real calling" kind of thing. No. The calling comes first, THEN the walk.
I lay out all the verses that will prove and solidify for you the truth that the love and choosing of God (the choosing of us as members of the body of Christ) cannot be undone by our present behavior. Knowing this is the only way that our behavior can become genuine and not something that we labor at in order to somehow make ourselves worthy of or more lovable to God and
Christ.
I think the greatest truth in this presentation is that behavior is inspired, not by exhortation, but by revelation, that is, a revelation of who we are in Christ.
I recorded this audio in Greenwich, OH , in 1995. Rodney Paris has digitized it and put it to inspiring video and text frames that will bring the truths home. And so there is something for all types of learners here: audio learners, video learners, and those who like to read the words.
I love putting the horse where he belongs: in front of the cart. The horse is Christ and His declarations of immortality and glory concerning us; the cart is our reaction TO these astounding and thrilling revelations.
And then, as always, a surprise at the end.
Yours from the edge of the bottom of the Floridan peninsula,
—Martin
