Invest in the spiritual life, reap resurrection life

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Wednesday,
May 5, 2010

Invest in the spiritual life, reap resurrection life

THE DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE

Point 7. The third type of repentance in the Church age believer’s life is the turning away from human viewpoint (lies, evil) and turning toward divine viewpoint (grace and truth), resulting in living a new life of fellowship with the Trinity.

Salvation repentance is an open door that leads to the way.

Rebound repentance is an open door that leads to the truth.

Maturity repentance is an open door that leads to the life.

In the spiritual life, zoe refers to the super-grace life which is the objective of Bible doctrine resident in the soul.

Zoe-life means we will experience deliverance from the bondage of the world and the stronghold of the cosmic system.

To leave God after coming to this zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment, would be the most miserable thing in the universe.

In this zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment, we realize that what we were trying to accomplish in our own human power has now been graciously given to us by God as a reward for our faith in His character and His word.

HEB 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

If you are ever faced with any problems or difficulties, remember that there is this zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment, where we leave behind the old self-life for the new life in Christ.

Adam’s fall was our fall into spiritual death; however, our Lord’s life is our life as we migrate from the dead nature to the new nature, experiencing the love, happiness, peace and gentleness in the mentality of our soul.

This restful and comforting principle of doctrine is based upon the fact that just as we had nothing to do with our first birth and our fall into spiritual death, we have nothing to with our second birth resulting in this zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment.

We are not in union with the life of Christ as He lived on earth in His perfect humanity; we are in union with the life of the resurrected Christ in Heaven.

EPH 2:6
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,

We have the privilege to partake of that spiritual life that He took possession of for us at His resurrection, and thereby we are enabled to bring forth the fruits of it.

ROM 7:4
Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.

MAT 11:28
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

MAT 11:29
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.

MAT 11:30
"For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."

MAT 11:29
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.

MAT 11:30
"For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."

I am at rest not from troubles and anxieties but in the midst of troubles and anxieties.

This zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment, is a state of mind in which there is complete and total peace, being free from worries, anxieties and fears.

PHI 4:11
Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

JOH 10:10
"I came that they might have life, and might have {it} abundantly."

Paul was living in the new creature or the new spiritual species under the filling of the Spirit but still wanted to attain or to experience this zoe-life or this life filled with inner happiness and contentment in time.

However, this zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment, can be experienced as a reward only by those willing to live the spiritual life by sticking with the plan of God.

God not only rewards those who diligently seek Him in the eternal state - He also rewards them in time....,

The new nature gives us the power and the ability to live the spiritual life; but this zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment, is the ultimate experience of living in that new nature.

We will still sin and fail, but if we continue with the plan of God, we will experience times when the peace of God is such a reality in our lives that the problems and difficulties we are facing have no control over us whatsoever.

It is not just living the spiritual life; it is the experience of the life within that we receive because of this zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment.

Does it mean that we have to keep on sowing to God the Holy Spirit to earn our eternal salvation?

The verb to sow is the pres-act-part of the verb speiro, which means to sow, to invest one’s time, to invest one’s life.

If we keep on living the spiritual life, we will keep on reaping more and more of the experience of our eternal life in time, the ultimate being what Paul had, this zoe-life, a life filled with inner happiness and contentment.