Like it or not, it is evident that the church, corporately, has not done well over the centuries to present its image to the world as Christ’s spiritual body. And in modern times, its members have developed a mindset that supports the world’s social views rather than the Church’s. Why would I or others think this way? There are several reasons, but for one, I, like many others, have been taught by someone in the church that it was an acceptable form of Christian posture to not offend those who were not saved. In other words, do not act too spiritual, as it might be a stumbling block preventing someone from receiving Christ.
Many of today’s churches do not teach on righteousness; as a result, ignorance prevails among their members, often leaving them with no clear understanding of how it applies to them or how to live it. Not only does this bring about a level of spiritual stupidity, but it also creates an adulterated view of the truth within the gospel of Christ, or the good news, as we call it. Simply put, not teaching God’s children who they are and in what statute they stand in Christ is a clear violation of the sovereign work He suffered for on that cross.
Phil 3:15-20 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. Paul’s outline for a Christian’s efforts to be as Christ is based on the mindset that, as the word says, anyone can be perfect in the manner of Christ.
The enemy has deceived a large portion of the Church by promoting a humanist reverence that rejects the truth about the Church’s social posture. However, there is a way to ensure that the core of the fellowship of the Saints in Christ Jesus continues to be developed and nurtured by those who are in Christ. 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
For a believer, any social action with one another, guided by the Holy Spirit, will transform both spirit and soul, enabling all to maintain a righteous demeanor as they are united by the truth He reveals concerning their heritage as children of the Highest. You need to think of this in a way that enables truth to exist in you: if you continually speak and encourage things contrary to righteousness, as the world does, you will conform to its unrighteous way of thinking, but if you renew your thinking to the will of God, you will be transformed into a life of Christ held in statute as one made righteous.
Rom 12:2 (AMPC) Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
The most effective way to ensure that righteousness is revealed within the social ordinance of the Church among believers is to practice righteousness not only in one’s individual life but, most importantly, within the fellowship of one another by the Holy Spirit, who is righteous. 1 John 3:6-9 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
For churches that continue to accept the world’s way of doing things, blacked-out sanctuaries, giant LED screens, performances so worldly it’s impossible to see Christ in them, and ministry from pulpits that cater to the emotions of those attending. This is all contrary to the word of God; whoever is born of God does not sin, because the seed they are born from is still in them, and is an incorruptible seed. Thus, accepting darkness for the sake of social protocol is an error of truth.
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. Every believer is born again from the same incorruptible seed that the truth says is; therefore, every believer is from the same spiritual sperm from their Father God. 1 Peter 1:23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.
What is the difference between living a righteous posture and a worldly one? To live as the world lives, a believer is subjugating their righteous statute to be like anyone who accepts the social order of this world in their life, and a slave bound to the workings of it. Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Concisely, their righteous position in Christ subjugates them to a life in the world, and it makes them appear no different in their way of living. This brings us back to a statement I made earlier: that ZOE, or Godkind of life, is relevant and exerted through living righteously. Eph 5:11 Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] expose and reprove and convict them.
All churches need to hear this: believers are the children of God and have the very nature and essence of our heavenly Father within, and are to reveal His character to the world, just as Jesus revealed it by living a righteous life not a worldly one. 2 Peter 1:3-4 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
As believers adhere to the truth concerning their status in Christ Jesus, they are to adopt a life that reveals the change within, by a nature that is no longer one of sin but of righteousness. Math 13:43 (AMPC) Then will the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God) shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears [to hear] be listening, and let him consider and perceive and understand by hearing. [Dan_12:3]
A believer’s social posture depends on a willingness to unite in faith as part of a spiritual family, nurtured by one another as the Holy Spirit’s presence is in each of us. We are the true light in this dark place, the salt to savor and flavor the lives of the lost, the city that is set on a hill for all to see, the chosen ones to be the rulers and reigning spiritual influence here on earth, as kings and priests of the Highest. And while there is much more to say about us, it is certain that for all this to manifest in our living presence here, something must actively exhort everything and anything that the word of God reveals.
It is the Holy Spirit who trains believers to be conscious of a spiritual posture that is to be as the Father has deemed, in the ways of righteousness, and know that holiness is not a result of any goodness, but of Christ, who makes us this way. Too often, I hear this statement: “I attend church on Sundays or maybe Wednesdays, and I may also participate in special meetings when possible.” As a Christian, I consider myself okay, even if I do not read my Bible or study it to show myself approved.
Those individuals define themselves by the influences they accept as the basis of their faith, which is essential to how they live. Unfortunately, many focus on social media and the viral content there, which centers on their emotions to justify their anxieties. These believers are slaves to something; what is it? It is social-ism! Despite Scriptural evidence on how God’s offspring are to live in the flesh yet not of it, the issue is complex when viewed through religious social precepts, making it difficult to impart knowledge about it.
When preachers, teachers, Sunday school teachers, and anyone ministering through a homiletic approach apply knowledge that is not humanistic enough to be accepted readily, it is the enemy. Ps 25:4-5 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Most believers fail to grasp this truth: The word of God reveals knowledge and understanding of God’s ways, the same ways Christ lived, and the evil ways of the enemy, the devil. Thus, by faith, you can search for and receive knowledge and understanding to live the same way as Christ.
2 Tim 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. Believers, who are the children of God, are all members of a spiritual family whose social heritage and lineage are founded on Christ’s righteousness. This is not only about being in the right relationship with God, but also about you being positioned and equipped to live a life that reflects Zoe, His kind of life.
Isa 42:5-6 (NKJV) Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles.
Jesus repeatedly spoke that He was not here for Himself but to reveal the Father. He and the Father were one in Spirit; He did not live His life in the flesh, but in the presence of the Holy Spirit. John 14:6-7 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Scripture says that all God’s children have entered a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, His Son, sealed by the Holy Spirit in Christ until their redemption is complete, not only of spirit and soul, but also of the body. Eph 1:12-14 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
So, how much time, each day, week, month, year, and so on, are we willing to submit to our social heritage and the well-being, as His Family, who, as I said, is the whole Church? This suggests that each part is integral to the overall process of nurturing the body as a whole. Eph 4:11 And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.
There are gifts afforded to the body by Christ. Not one person receives a gift and is then placed in a position of euphoric power or authority; instead, all are called to fulfill a purpose, and each must nurture themselves and others. No one is special. All are equally a part of the same body, but each is to corporately assist in the overall growth process from the word of God by the Holy Spirit. Thus, a principal function of such gifts is to equip believers with every aspect of servitude, so they actively present the stature of the fullness of Christ, not the ways of the world.
Eph 4:12 (AMP) His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church), This process is to continue in this purpose for all to attain a common faith in the truth an accurate knowledge of the Son of God to arrive at a level of maturity that equals that of Christ. 13[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.
The truth of your living as one of God’s offspring is within you, by a power greater than yourself, but it must be brought out of you by the ministering of truths that reveal it to you through the Holy Spirit’s work in and among the body of Christ. This is not about you as part of a corporate entity, but about you as an entity equipped to live as God says you can while still on earth, as a living witness to Christ and the faith you have in Him.
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