Discerning between good and evil.

The goal of the Christian life is maturity. We are given gifts from God for the sole purpose of bringing us to the point of maturity:

Ephesians 4:11-13

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a MATURE man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

But how do we know when we have indeed matured:

Hebrews 5:14

But solid food is for the mature, who BECAUSE of practice have their SENSES TRAINED to DISCERN good and evil.

Mature Christians therefore are those who have had their senses trained to discern GOOD AND EVIL. Does this sound familiar? Consider this:

Genesis 2:9

Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of GOOD and EVIL.

What really happened in the Garden of Eden?

A fundamental misunderstanding of what actually took place in the Garden of Eden has spawned a host of errors in the church today.  Since this is the beginning we must grasp fully the ramifications of Adam’s actions; for in doing so our understanding of the bible will increase exponentially. 

The scriptures tell us that Adam and Eve ate a fruit from a tree, but not just any tree but from a tree that they were specifically told not to eat. Most people see what Adam did as a fault, a fall, the damnation of all mankind. But was it really? Adam's disobedience was ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Without this act of disobedience God's plan COULD NOT PROCEED! What really happened was that Adam activated the process necessary for mankind to achieve MATURITY. Now I know that there are those who believe that God could have achieved his purpose for mankind apart from this act, but consider this if Adam had proceeded without touching the tree then HE WOULD HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD OR EVIL!

Realize that God instructing Adam not to eat the fruit MADE eating the fruit sin.  This sin was necessary because it changed the fundamental make up of man.  After the act man developed an affinity to sin.  You may not see this as a good thing, but know that without this affinity to sin the man COULD NOT EVENTUALLY MATURE.  It is the act of OVERCOMING sin that creates maturity, and if there is NOTHING to overcome then maturity is not realized.  Consider Jesus’ parable of the sower:

Luke 8:14

And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection (maturity).

This group does not bring forth fruit BECAUSE they did not OVERCOME sin. 

Adam's act introduced the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil to mankind, BUT it did not grant us the ability to DISTINGUISH the difference between good and evil. This is the problem in the world today; humankind generally CANNOT distinguish between what is good and what is evil.

Wisdom is the principal thing.

The book of Hebrews tells us that maturity could only be achieved when we can have our senses trained to discern between good and evil, and the tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden was the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil'.

The ability to discern between good and evil can only be imparted by Wisdom. Some think that wisdom is knowledge applied. This simplified definition does not adequately define the concept of wisdom. Wisdom is:

Knowing what works and what would bring assuredly the desire you hope for. Wisdom is therefore a precipitated knowledge that is free of uncertainty.

Consider this:

1 Corinthians 1:30a

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God,

Jesus was wisdom from God incarnate:

1 Corinthians 2:6-7

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

And again we see it in the parable of the sower:

Luke 8:15

But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word (JESUS), keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

This wisdom from God came in the form of Christ. While on earth he spoke words that tell us how to live. These words COMPLETELY identify the difference between what is good and what is evil. We become mature when we HEAR THE WORD, KEEP THE WORD, and BRING FORTH FRUIT FROM THE WORD.  At this point we are able to distinguish BETWEEN good and evil. This knowledge is based upon the wisdom of God that came in Christ.

If you cannot distinguish between what is good and what is evil then you are NOT mature. What is good and what is evil is simply what God calls good and evil, and this wisdom was granted us in the word of God via Jesus. He did not leave it up to our understanding or our sentiments because what is acceptable has a way of becoming diluted with each generation, but what is true DOES NOT CHANGE

Laying up treasures.

The parable that Jesus gives in Luke 12 is most awesome in that it DIRECTLY confronts the wisdom of the world and a destructive heresy adopted by the church.  The parable is of a rich man who was able to amass a considerable amount of wealth. The parable addresses what the man does with the wealth:

Luke 12:16
16 And He told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man was very productive.

Nothing wrong here is there?  In fact it was God who had blessed the land of the man so that it could bring forth a great harvest.

Luke 12:17-18
17 And he began reasoning to himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops? 18 Then he said, This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

These verses completely describes the wisdom of this world and the church has adopted these concepts as 'wisdom'.  In response to an abundance of wealth the man initiated a retirement plan.  Note that he was NOT a profligate, but one who introduced a REASONED response that ANY PERSON WOULD CONSIDER RESPONSIBLE.  He was preparing for the future.  Well isn't that what we are supposed to do?  Isn't this wisdom?  Aren't we suppose to save and invest for when we are not able to work?

Luke 12:19
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.

According to our wisdom, and yes this IS the wisdom that has been adopted by much of the church,  the state of the man in verse nineteen is EXACTLY the goal we aspire too.  This is NOTHING MORE THAN A REASONABLE RETIREMENT PLAN.  In fact this is what passes as sensible.  This is what makes God's statement all the more troubling:

Luke 12:20
20 But God said to him, You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?

God calls this man a fool!  He calls a man that is doing what is called wisdom a fool.  But WHY?:

Luke 12:21
21 So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Jesus CONDEMNS the actions of this man because the man was not being what he calls 'rich toward God'. All the efforts of this man was summed up by Jesus as wanting.  He had a plan that he acted on, he was not a profligate, he save responsibly ; all things that we accept as wisdom.  God calls FOOLISH!!!  What is more flabbergasting is that in this verse Jesus says that storing up treasures is not the same thing as being rich toward God.   Now what follows in the very next verse is what God calls wisdom:

Luke 12:22-23

22 And He said to His disciples, For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

THIS IS INSANE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING!  Jesus just castigated a SOLID RESPONSIBLE case of financial planning  calling it FOOLISH and he counters with the above verses. Jesus tells us NOT to worry about our lives. So EVERYTHING that this man did by responsibly securing for his future was what Jesus would determine WORRY.  I tremble as I contemplate these words because this is saying that our ideas on how we should order our financial steps are an affront to God.  In fact what Jesus is advocating here is a carefree lifestyle where we do not do the things that are determined as good sense and we adopt this lifestyle that he calls 'rich towards God' and does not involve storing up and saving for the future. What about my children's college tuition?  Shouldn't I store up for this?  Or what about retirement? What about my future?  Jesus does not console us in our insecurities but goes on to talk about ravens and lilies and concludes by saying:

Luke 12:28
28 But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!

God calls a life where NOTHING is secure and NOTHING is paid for in advance and NOTHING is responsibly prepared a life of faith.  So how are we SUPPOSED to acquire all the things we need:

Luke 12:29-31
29 And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

He tells us to NOT be responsible as the world understands in fact he calls that worrying.  He tells us to cast that all aside and seek his kingdom and somehow all the other things will be added to us.  WOW, now isn't that a kick in the head!!!!  That requires FAITH.  Now I see why Jesus asks the question:

When the Son of man comes will he find faith on the earth?

Can you live like this?  Can you live irresponsibly?  I invite you to walk on the side of faith because after all:

Whatever is NOT of faith is sin. Roman 14:23

Jesus continues:

Luke 12:32
32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

The reason he says to you not to be afraid is because the life that he just described would cause you to fear because one would only have faith in a God that he could not see in order to live a life of promise.  But now comes the hard part.  How does one acquire a life that is rich toward God:

Luke 12:33

33 Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.

Why do CHRISTIANS sin?

How is it that Christians continue to sin?  Aren't we suppose to be different from those in the world who can't help themselves?  Is it even possible to stop sinning?  God understands doesn't he?  After all I am only human, a sinner saved by grace, right?These questions are all applicable to the body of Christ.  I have, as I am sure you have, wrestled with the reality of sin.  This post will address these issues and shed light on the road to our maturity.

What do you understand by the terms 'Saved', and 'Born of God'?  Most Christians would not see ANY difference between the two, and in fact they would have no problem with using these terms interchangeably.  They would be wrong, because these two concepts are completely different.

Are you saved?
Christians use this opening line when 'witnessing' their faith to an unbeliever.  It too represents a way of gauging the individuals current spiritual state.  But does it really?  The word 'saved' is listed over 50 times in the King James Version of the New Testament.  The problem is that to our understanding the word 'saved' is an event.  This simple misconception of the term has led us to believe that a person can be 'saved' in an instant.  But is this true?  Consider Jesus' use of this term:

Matthew 10:22
You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

Matthew 24:13
But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

These two instances where Jesus uses the word 'saved' denote a PROCESS and not an event.  This is confirmed by the Apostles' use of the word. Consider:

Luke 13:23
And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are BEING saved?”

Acts 2:47b
...and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

2 Corinthians 2:15
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

It is clear that the word used here represents a process.  But a process of what?  The word translated 'saved' in these instances means to 'make whole, to heal and to make well'.  This helps our understanding, because it causes us to to see that 'being saved' is the process whereby God makes us whole by healing us and making us well.  So to the question 'Are you saved' the more accurate answer from a Christian is 'No, but I am BEING saved'.

So what does it mean to be Born of God?
This is where we have an instantaneous event.  Consider:

John 1:12-13
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who WERE born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 Peter 1:23
...for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

1 John 3:9
No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1 John 5:1
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.

1 John 5:4
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world —our faith.

It is clear from the use of the words 'were born', 'have been born' and 'is born' that to be 'Born of God' happens immediately.  The correlation that exist between 'born of God' and 'being saved' is that ONE INITIATES THE PROCESS OF THE OTHER.  When one is born of God you automatically begin the process of being saved.

Consider Babies.
God used the analogy of birth because it aids us in our understanding of this process.  Being born of God is not unlike being born a natural baby.  What separates a baby from an adult?  You may answer, time of course.  Not really, what separates a baby from adulthood is IGNORANCE.  Adults can talk but babies cannot because of ignorance.  Adults can understand but babies cannot because of ignorance.  Adults can walk but babies cannot because of ignorance.  Does a baby have a tongue, yes they do but they are ignorant of speech.  Do they have feet, yes they do but their leg muscles are ignorant of how to get them to move properly.  Growth in the life of a baby is in effect the SHEDDING OF IGNORANCE.  Consider:

2 Corinthians 2:11
...so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

1 Timothy 1:13
...even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;

1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

As a baby struggles with ignorance to mature we too as Christians born of God must overcome ignorance (which is the process of being saved ). Like the baby you too have all the capacity to overcome ignorance by the very fact that you were born.  But where is this ignorance?  Consider:

James 1:14
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

This 'each one' is not just talking about sinners but EACH ONE.  This is the condition of every man.  Being born of God DOES NOT remove the lusts from your heart, but rather it is the 'being saved' process that does this.  Therefore EACH human, Christian or not, has resident in them lusts.  These lusts are different form individual to individual and their combinations are as varied as humans are.  One may have lusts toward peadophilia, and murder.  Another may have lust to fornication and hateful speech.  Regardless of the orientation what is common is that all have these lusts.  What makes the person born of God unique is this; they have the capacity through the initiation of the 'being saved' process to overcome these lusts.  So why do Christians sin?

James 1:14-15
But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Here is the process of the development of sin.  From this we learn that Christians sin because of their connection with their OWN lusts.  The work of God in our lives during the BEING SAVED process is to sever the ties between 'us and the lusts'.  This is where Satan is so important.  Since God does not tempt anyone to sin he sends Satan to do this.   As we renew our minds through the word of God this powerful link between 'us and the lusts' becomes weaker and weaker. 

Most Christians see sin as an ever present reality and they do not believe that they are even able to overcome it.  But what does God tell us:

Romans 6:11-12
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

Paul says consider yourself dead to sin.  This is important because the 'being saved' process is suppose to bring about the first death to the Christian.  For us the first death we experience is death to sin, and it simply means that we NO LONGER RESPOND TO THE IMPULSES OF SIN.  

Many Christians mark the beginning of their experience with some prayer they repeated way back when.  This is flawed.  How de we KNOW that we have been born of God and have begun the being saved process?

1 John 2:3-6
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

1 John 3:9
No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

These two passages declare to us how we can KNOW that we have entered the process of sanctification:
Do you keep the WORDS of Jesus?
Do you walk in WAYS of Jesus?
Do you continue in or practice sin?

These three questions are the acid test of our faith.  Overcoming sin is no pie in the sky state but a REQUIREMENT from God, because it is at this point that we become  HOLY UNTO THE LORD.  In fact the being saved process has an end result and that is holiness, and holiness is essential because:

Hebrews 12:14
...without holiness no one will see the Lord.

This is why we are told to PERFECT holiness:

2 Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

The end result of the entire process of being born of God to being saved to holiness is this:

Ephesians 4:13b
... to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Therefore I encourage you:

Colossians 1:10
...so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

ARE YOU MEASURING UP?

God doesn't mark on the curve.

Acts 17:31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. The expression 'marking on the curve' is a phrase used in the education field.  It is accurately defined on Wikipedia as: Grades are awarded based on performance relative to all other individuals rather than performance relative to an absolute standard. It is a common attitude in the church for Christians to observe the behavior of other Christians  and justify their shortcomings because of the shortcomings of others they deem more spiritual.  We may observe a noted pastor undergoing a divorce and we surmise that if he, being as close to God as I am SURE he is,  is going through a divorce then I can't be faulted for divorcing my wife.  We conclude that this christian thing is too hard.  What happens is we begin to act based on the conduct of others and not as the word of God instructs. This attitude leads us to live our lives based on the behaviors of others.  BUT THEY ARE NOT OUR STANDARD!   Consider the above verse.  God says that he will judge us BY Jesus Christ.  Upon a fundamental examination of the verse that is a horrifying notion.  God is literally telling you that he will judge you BY Jesus, this means that Jesus is the standard for us ALL. How does God determine if we are fit?  What he will NOT do is say 'well I know it was a bit much to ask for you guys to give up sinning'.  No, but what he will do is look at Jesus and then he will look at us.  My question to you is will you measure up?   We usually harbor the notion that Jesus was this perfect being that we TRY to obey.  But what does God say to us: 1 John 2:6 ... the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. This is indeed a tall order.  God expects us to walk, live in obedience to holiness, JUST LIKE JESUS!  This is the death knell to our corrupted consciences because we think such a task UNATTAINABLE while we live on this earth.  This verse is telling us that WE CANNOT CLAIM TO ABIDE IN HIM UNLESS WE WALK IN THE SAME MANNER THAT HE WALKED.  Oh but it gets better: Matthew 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Now lest you get bogged down in debate over what this word 'perfect' means let us examine this verse from a different aspect.  The main idea behind this verse is not the word perfect, but rather it is the words 'as your Father'.  Whatever perfect means it is not as important as understanding that we must be JUST LIKE OUR FATHER.  Jesus therefore is expecting that those who name the name of Christ would be JUST like their Father. We therefore cannot look to men as a standard, our standard is GOD.  Take this test: Do you love your enemies? Do you bless those who curse you? Do you give to the poor? Do you put the needs of others BEFORE your own needs? Do you deny yourself and take up your cross and follow him? Do you receive the kingdom of God as a little child? Are you great?  If so did you become so by being the servant of all? Do you forgive? Do you pray FOR those who abuse you? Do you turn the other cheek? Do you lend HOPING for nothing in return? Do you consider yourself a member of the family of God?  Consider this: Luke 8:21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, AND DO IT. God doesn't mark on the curve, and for those called by God we have the ACHIEVABLE task of being like Christ and walking in the manner he walked. 

Fruit is the proof.

Mark 4:20
20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

This verse comes from Jesus' parable commonly known as 'the sower'.  This verse is typically used to induce  Christians to part with their cash usually around offering time.  Some preacher would bombastically declare that 'if you give into good ground, ie MY CHURCH, God has promised to give you back thirty, sixty or one hundredfold'.  This promise they extract from this verse on the sower.  This is a CORRUPTION of this verse of scripture!  This is no surprise because when your heart is steeped in greed EVERY scripture has something to do with money.  The parable of the sower has NOTHING to do with money; it cannot be spiritually applied to getting wealth NOR is it applicable on ANY level to wealth acquisition.  Consider the words of Jesus:

Mark 4:14
14 The sower sows the word.

Luke 8:11
11 Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.

Jesus says at the beginning of his explanation of the parable that the seed being sown in this parable represents the word of  God.  What preachers are in a habit of doing is going through the scriptures and finding passages and taking these passages out of their context (though they swear the heavens down that they don't) and applying them beyond the scope of the intention.  I can see how someone reading the passage of the sower can come to the conclusion that this parable speaks of a promise for money since 'seed' in their minds ALWAYS represents money.  Such a conclusion would indeed have some validity IF NOT FOR THE FACT that Jesus interpreted his own parable.  He did not leave it up to us to assume what he was talking about, he clearly says that the seed is the word of GOD.  I belabor this point because it is only in understanding this that one can truly grasp the meaning of the parable.  You will see that your understanding of this parable would be completely different if you see the seed as the word of God RATHER than money in an offering plate.

Jesus begins by saying a sower sows the word of God.  He then proceeds by describing four sets of ground.  Again, with the corruption in place, that the seed has something to do with money, the ground that Jesus talks about all of a sudden becomes churches or ministries that are teaching the word of God.  This sounds good UNTIL you hear Jesus' interpretation of HIS OWN PARABLE:

Mark 4:15a
15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. 

The ground in the parable has nothing to do with some ministry! Jesus said that it represents types of people and their interaction with the seed.  Listen, if Jesus says that this is what it means how are we able to give it some OTHER meaning?  This is no slight misstep on their part because the true meaning of this parable is essential for your righteousness.

Now since the seed is the word of God and NOT money, and the soil is types of people and their interaction with the seed and NOT your local church or some television ministry, we can now see the purer truth to this word.  The seed is the word of God spoken through Jesus, and as it comes in contact with the people who hear it they ALL have one of four different types of experiences.  The focus of this study is the experience of the last group called by Jesus 'good soil'.

Mark 4:8
8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

Now Jesus' interpretation...

Mark 4:20
20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.

Those of us who are called by God fall into the last category in this parable, the good soil. The end result of this group is that they bear fruit in varying degrees (30,60 and 100).  But what is fruit?  The fruit obviously is the most important part since that is what seperates this group from all the other. Following Jesus' interpretation fruit is the RESULT of the seed sown.  And since the seed sown IS the word of God then the fruit must be the physical manifestation of that word.  So Jesus says to you:

Luke 6:27-29

27 But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

This is the seed sown, now IF you are good ground you will bring forth the harvest of this word. So when an enemy is identified in your life what is your response (fruit)? Your response should be to love them.  When someone curses you or mistreats you what is your response (fruit)? To bless them.  Whenever someone hits you on one cheek or steals your coat what is your response (fruit)?  To offer the other cheek and to not withhold your shirt.  Your fruit would be completely different if you are NOT good soil. This is why Jesus said:

Matthew 7:20
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Jesus expects fruit from the word sown on good ground.

John 15:8
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

John 15:16
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

The only way that we bear fruit is through complete obedience to the words that Jesus spoke.  When it grows in our hearts it becomes our life

 I encourage you to:

Matthew 3:8
8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;

After all the fruit IS the proof.

God's factory and the goal of maturity.

John 14:30
 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,

These words were spoken by Jesus shortly before his arrest.  He had come to the end of his earthly ministry and was now about to fulfill the Father's requirement of death.  He makes this statement to his disciples and it turns out that this statement gives the greatest insight into the function of the devil and his importance in our own maturity.

The first encounter we know that Jesus had with the devil is when he was tempted.  It was this process that shows us how God matures us.  Consider what the scripture says regarding Jesus' temptation:

Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

The scripture EXPLICITLY says the it was the Spirit of God that led Jesus into the desert for one single purpose- to be tempted by the devil.  This is essential to understand because it is exactly the same with us.  God from time to time will lead us to be tempted by the devil.  This insight let's us know how God operates in the lives of the believer, but also know that BEFORE the test God caused the following:

Luke 2:52
 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

We can learn from these scriptures that God's way of development is to fill us with wisdom and submit us to Satan's temptation to test for weakness.  Temptation is a testing for weakness and this is what Satan was doing to Jesus; he was looking for a weak spot to which he could use to cause Jesus to sin.  James share insight on this truth:

James 1:13-15

13 When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

This verse shows what Jesus was talking about when he said that Satan 'has no hold on me'.  You are tempted when your OWN evil desire is awakened.  Each of us has sins that easily besets us, and this is WHY believers fall from time to time. These sins are within each one of us and they constitute our 'own evil desire'.  They represent the hold that Satan has on us.  If you struggle with lying then that is the hold to which you are held by Satan.  Jesus had no such evil desires so he could declare that the devil had no hold on him.  

So now we can see the process of salvation and why the bible declares the we are 'being saved'.  When we come to God he teaches us of Jesus (learn of me he says). This learning targets those areas in us that easily beset us, and once we receive the word we are handed over to Satan to be tested.  This process continues until the believer is no longer overcome with the fault but overcomes victoriously the sin.  Satan is therefore essential because God uses him to test us for weakness.  The more we are exposed to the temptation and because of our assimilation of the word of God the less we are susceptible to that particular sin until finally we mature to the point where we are no longer taken by the sin.  The end result of Gods process is:

Ephesians 5:26-27
 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So my friends I say as Peter:

2 Peter 3:14

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

Revisiting WWJD

A few years back a movement sprung up in the United States called the  WWJD - what would Jesus do.  It was signified by the letters WWJD on bracelets and other paraphernalia, and was intended to raise the consciousness of the wearers and others about living their lives in accordance with what Jesus would do in a certain situation.  Some would label it commendable in it's efforts to reach the world, however it had two significant flaws and they were:

1- It became a fad and fashion statement.  It lost any potential it had by becoming a fad that was adopted by the in crowd.  Anything that is whole heartedly embraced by the world can never be of Christ because of Jesus' declaration that 'The world hates me'.  It is because of this that such a campaign cannot not have it's intended value and must from it's onset be corrupted, because if the world adopts it then it cannot be of God.  So the WWJD movement became a fad and that leads to the other significant flaw,

2- it basically came down to the wearers of the paraphernalia to know what Jesus would do in a given situation.  You must know that people of this world are blinded by the devil to do his will and as such they will not have a true concept of who Jesus was  because such understanding is only yielded by his spirit and cannot be known otherwise.  If you are aware you will notice that people have all sorts of concepts about what Jesus would do in certain situations based on something they heard in Sunday school or in some debate somewhere or some pie in the sky viewpoint but it will always end in folly because they cannot know without knowing him.

The bottom line is that you can only know what Jesus would do by READING the words he spoke and you can only UNDERSTAND those words by the Spirit because the words are Spirit and they are spiritually discerned.  Jesus WOULD:
Love his neighbor (not just regular but love to his own hurt)
Give to the poor
Help the weak
Turn the other cheek
Not resist an evil person
Not pay back evil with evil
Bless those who curse him
Put the needs of others BEFORE his own needs
Be patient
Be long suffering 
Forgive
Keep no record of wrongs
Love his enemies

The Unadulterated and Unabridged Word of God (No Qualifications)

The word abridged means:
To reduce in scope

The word adulterated means:
To corrupt, debase or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance or element.

Paul and Peter warned us of men who would come to the flock and present us with doctrines that are unsound.  But how do we identify doctrines that are unsound? The problem with these types of teachings is that those who are not willing to search the scriptures for themselves will not be able to identify thes unsound teachings and will adopt them as truth.  This corruption enter the church usually by qualifications to the word of God.

It is common today to hear some preacher offer qualifications to the word of God, these may seem harmless and may even come across as a point of clarification to some passage of scripture but I assure you that they are as corrupt as any devil can declare.  An example of this qualification can be heard when a preacher teaches on giving.  Jesus said give to the poor and give liberally and give to everyone who ask you.  If a preacher is bold enough to preach this word he would immediately qualify it by saying 'but we must have discerment' or 'we have to use 'wisdom''.  Such qualifications, whilst seemingly filled with wisdom, are really adulterations of the word of God because they water down the truth given by Jesus.  A precher may preach on love and boldly say 'God commands us to love our neighbor', but then would immediately qualify it by saying something like 'but ya gotta use wisdom' or 'God save you from your sins not ya sense'.  These seem like useful additions but they are all intended to convey to the bearers that you do what Jesus says BUT...

There is a reason for these blatant additions by the preachers and it is that they add these qualifications into the word of God to PROTECT  you from con artist and potential abusers, but this is demonic.  Everything that Jesus declares in the gospel is DESIGNED to MAKE US VULNERABLE.  Jesus teaching on forgiveness tells us to forgive those who sin against us and he tells us to forgive without qualification.  By nature if we our offended by someone we try to avoid that situation so as to not be offended again, but Jesus says that if someone sins against you don't create situations where you try to prevent it from happening again, instead we are to forgive them EVERYTIME.  This sets us up too be vulnerable because we have NO defense against someone who seeks to abuse our obedience to God.

Luke 6:29
 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.

Look at how vulnerable we are in the above verse.  Jesus tells us that if we are smitten on one cheek don't run, or call the police, or sue, NO, he tells us to OFFER the other cheek. No qualifications.  Look at what he commands in the following verse:

Luke 6:28
Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you

He tells us to pray for those who mistreat us.  The word mistreat means abuse. And the pray for in this text does not mean Lord kill them but Lord bless them!  The thing to see here is that Jesus himself wants us to be vulnerable to the world because when we are vulnerable he will defend us.

Do not fear direct and complete obedience to the words of Jesus, because they are designed to make you weak, and vulnerable and to cause you to feel abused THIS IS NECESSARY , because it ONLY when you are weak that he is strong.

Bertram Mills

Manifesting the life of Jesus

2 Cor 4:11

For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Paul says that we are CONSTANTLY being deliver over to death for Jesus' sake.  This connotes a state of perpetual contact with death.  The context of this verse renders it a figurative death because one cannot constantly be given to die literally because death is a final and one time event.  What Paul was showing here is that we are constantly being subjected to circumstances that are fearful, full of trouble, debilitating, threatening and loss.

But why?

He goes on to tell us that this occurs 'so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh'. Therefore it is only in instances when we are 'delivered over to death' that we can manifest the life of Christ in our mortal bodies.  This happens when we respond to the death in the way prescribed by Jesus.  

Example

If we are presented with an instance where some one has stolen from us what should be our response? Do we demand what was stolen back? Do we submit the case to the police?  Do we seek redress with the courts.  The theft represents a type of death and you have been exposed to it and now you are required to manifest the life of Jesus in our situation. How should we respond?
...and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Luke 6:30
It is only in our compliance with the words of Jesus that we manifest the life of Jesus in our situations