The reality of our salavtion
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

holy NT:40 hágios; fem. hagía, neut. hágion (39), adj. from hágos (n.f.), any matter of religious awe, expiation, sacrifice. Holy, set apart, sanctified, consecrated, saint. It has a common root, hág-, with hagnós (53), chaste, pure. Its fundamental idea is separation, consecration, devotion to the service of Deity, sharing in God's purity and abstaining from earth's defilement.
NT:40(I) Pure, clean, ceremonially or morally clean, including the idea of deserved respect, reverence.
(A) It particularly means perfect, without blemish (Rom 12:1).
(B) Metaphorically it means morally pure, upright, blameless in heart and life, virtuous, holy.
(1) Generally (Mark 6:20; Rom 7:12; 1 Cor 7:34; Eph 1:4; 5:27; 1 Peter 1:16; Sept.: Lev 11:44).
(2) Spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit. This is assumed of all who profess the Christian name, hence hágios, saint,hágioi, saints, Christians (Acts 9:13,14,32,41; 26:10; Rom 1:7; 8:27; 1 Thess 3:13). Spoken of those who are to be in any way included in the Christian community (1 Cor 7:14). Holy kiss means the sacred Christian kiss, the pledge of Christian affection (Rom 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 2 Cor 13:12).
(II) Consecrated, devoted, sacred, holy, meaning set apart from a common to a sacred use; spoken of places, temples, cities, the priesthood, men (Matt 4:5; 7:6; 24:15; 27:53; Acts 6:13; 7:33; Rom 11:16, of firstfruit); of a male opening the womb (Luke 2:23); of apostles (Eph 3:5); of prophets (Luke 1:70; Acts 3:21; 2 Peter 1:21); of angels (Matt 25:31).

unblameable NT:299 from the priv.a (1), momos (am'-o-mos) (3470), spot, blemish. Spotless, without blemish.In Class. Gr., used as a technical word to designate the absence of something amiss in a sacrifice or something which would render it unworthy to be offered (Sept.: Ex 29:1; Num 6:14; Ezek 43:22). Of Christ as a lamb; used in conjunction with áspilos (as'-pee-los)(784), without spot, unspotted (1 Peter 1:19; see Lev 1:10; 22:19-22; Heb 9:14). In this case,ámœmos would be used metaphorically indicating the absence of internal blemish, and áspilos, that of external spot. Metaphorically (Eph 1:4; 5:27; Col 1:22; Heb 9:14; Jude 24; Rev 14:5). Used in Col 1:22 with anégkl¢tos (410), legally unaccused, and Eph 1:4 and 5:27 with hágios (40), holy. Therefore, ámomos is the unblemished (cf. ámemptos [273], unblamed).

unreprovable NT:410 from the priv. a (1), without, and egkaléo (an-eng'-klay-tos) (1458), to accuse in court. Not merely unaccusable but unaccused, free from any legal charge. Occurs in 1 Cor 1:8; Col 1:22; 1 Tim 3:10; Titus 1:6,7.
(from The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament © 1992 by AMG International, Inc. Revised Edition, 1993)
This will be our life experiencially when our heart is restored to purity and becomes rooted and grounded in agape. In the third feast we will experience this life to the full. This is what Jesus has done for us. This reality will be evident in the third feast. We will experience a life demon free and live in the presence of The Father and His Son on this earth and then caught up unto Jesus to be with the Father and Son forever.

1 John 4:16, "And we have known and believed the agape that God hath to us. God is agape; and he that dwelleth in agape dwelleth in God, and God in him."
To dwell in agape (our heavenly Father's love) is the call to every soul that calls on the name of Jesus. Paul wrote, "if I do not possess agape I am nothing," the Greek word for possess means, to have and to hold implying continued possession, 1 Cor 13:2. We are called to minister to God not man. The greatest commandment goes unfulfilled because the church is putting all its efforts into evangelism. Salvation is only a stepping stone to entering the deeper life with God. What if the church gained all the souls in the world and not one had a heart engaged in agaping the Father? The Father is more interested in us than in what we can do for Him. It is only when our hearts are rooted and grounded in agape, and we have agape for one another, that all men will know that we are disciples of Christ, Jn 13:35. Then and only then will we have true power to be Christ witnesses. Then will the whole church be involved in harvesting souls, not just a few.
The Greek word for dwell in 1 Jn 4:16 is meno, to remain, to live, to stay. Kenneth Weast expanded translation of the Greek, translates meno, "maintian a living communion." We are to remain in agape 24/7/365. Our heart is to become rooted and grounded in agape until we are filled unto all the fullness of God, Eph 3:17-19. This reality has nothing to do with striving in the flesh, but totally leaning on our beloved. This is the whole purpose of our existence, to dwell in agape.
To dwell in agape means our heart is totally involved. Fulfilling the greatest commandment is to agape God in all our heart. Without agape, there is no other source that will engage the heart to the degree God wants from us. Christianity without heart is nothing more than men striving in their own ability to serve God, it will never satisfy God or man.
John wrote in verse 8 of this same chapter, "The one who does not agape does not know God, for God is agape." This is a double not scripture, the author uses two different Greek words translated not. The first not is conditional, the second not is absolute. If we don't do the first part, we cannot do the second. To know God experiencedly we need to dwell in His love. God is not looking for a people who have a knowledge of Him through His word but a knowledge of Him through the heart. The only way we will gain this experiential knowledge is by abiding in agape.
Jesus laided out the blueprint in Jn 15:9, "Just as the Father has agaped Me, I have also agaped you; abide in My agape." The Father's agape is in His Son. Jesus is the only source for receiving agape. That is why He said, "I am the true vine," Jn 15:1. God has made His Son to be the heavenly tabernacle for His love. Paul wrote in Ro 8:39, "the agape of God is in Christ."
The Greek word for abide, is the same Greek word found in 1 Jn 4:16, meno, to remain, to live, to stay, to maintain a living communion. This is the path to the deeper life, and we must take this path. This is how the church will grow in their knowledge of God and grow into the full stature of Christ, Eph 4:13, and become one as Christ and the Father are one, Jn 17:21. This is our eternal calling, Jn 17:3. Jesus is the head of the church and He wants to agape us and bring us into the deeper life with Him and His Father.

 

Before you read any further I need you to turn off your brain and turn on your heart. The deeper life in God has nothing to do with your abilities and everything to do with your heart. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, on the sixth day He created man from the dust of the earth. Just as we had nothing to do with our beginning we have nothing to do with the deeper life. The deeper life won't be the result of our labors but the result of our yielding to God's plan. This plan was already in His heart and mind before He laid down the foundations of the earth.

Paul wrote in Rom 8:29, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." God's plan for man is to live the same life His Son lived who knew no sin. The Greek for conformed means taking on the exact inward likeness. Through Jesus, we've been reconciled to God, and through Jesus' life, we see the plan of God for man. Jesus said in Mt 11:29, "My heart is meek and lowly," this is the direct result of having a pure heart rooted and grounded in agape. This is the heart that will take us into the deeper life with God.
Jesus said in Mt. 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." This is why our labors will not produce the deeper life. The deeper life depends on the heart, not the brain. It isn't what we know, but what we become through yielding to the agape of God. In Deu 30:6 Moses said, "The LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live." Even though we have our sins forgiven and we are legally righteous before God, our hearts have not been made pure. If it were so then we should be able to love God in all our heart and soul and our life would be quite different then what it really is.
Jesus said in Mt 5:17, "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." Jesus knew no sin, His heart remained pure thoughout His life. His pure heart enabled Him to live a life in the Father resulting in a much deeper life, then any of us have yet to experience.
Jesus was sent to heal the brokenhearted Lk 4:18. Because of sin, our hearts are broken and do not function the way they were created to. Just as we can do nothing to remove our sins from us, neither can we do anything to make our hearts pure. That is why it will be a work of the Spirit. That is why God will get all the glory for our lives.
The deeper life is in fulfilling the two greatest commandments. In Mt 22:37 Jesus answers a question asked. "You shall agape the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Vs. 38, This is the great and foremost commandment. Vs. 39, The second is like it, You shall agape your neighbor as yourself. Vs. 40, On these two commandments, depend all the Law and the Prophets." Jesus used the Greek word agape, (God's love), not phileo, (our love). Our love coming from a broken heart will never enable us to fulfill these or any other laws of God. This is why we need a miracle to make our hearts whole. In Ez 36:26-27, we see a wonderful promise for our lives, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from within your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Vs 27, I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." This is the church Paul wrote about in Eph 5:27, "that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. This is the deeper life we are being called to. The deeper life is based on God doing a miraculous work in our hearts so we as Jesus, can live the same life He lived.





 

The Law of Agape
There are two main Greek words translated love in our Bibles. Phileo refers to natural love and agape refers to divine love.
The clearest comparison between phileo and agape is found in John 21:15-17. Both Greek words are used, and both are translated love in English. The first two times Jesus ask Peter if he loved Him, Jesus uses the Greek word agape. Peter responds with, “you know I phileo you.” This conversation is a result of Peter proclaiming he was willing to die for Him. Not only did Peter not die but he ended up denying Jesus three times. The third time Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, Jesus uses the Greek word phileo natural love. Peter was grieved at this third question because he knew that though he said he was willing to die for Jesus his love failed him. Jesus knew at the time of Peter’s proclamation, his love was not agape, yet He never corrected Peter but let life take its course for a much more valuable lesson. That is why Peter said, “Lord You know all things.” Peter learned through this trial, that his love was not enough to enable him to do what he said. He also learned that Jesus knew, his heart was not in a place to enable him to do what he said.
In John 15:13 Jesus said, “Greater agape has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” In John 14:31 Jesus said, “so that the world may know that I agape the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.” It was agape that enabled Christ to die in our place. It was phileo that failed Peter’s proclamation to die for his Lord. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthian 13:7-8, “Agape bears up under all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Vs 8, Agape never fails.” Agape divine love did not fail Jesus in the greatest trail a human would ever face. The agape of His Father gave Jesus a strength that we as fallen man cannot relate to. Paul wrote in Romans 8:29 that there is, a people that God has predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. The Greek word Paul uses for conformed means, to take on the exact inward likeness. The same strength Jesus experienced all His life, will enable us to live for God the same way. Paul describes the attributes of agape in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, as to what agape does and doesn’t do. Agape will enable the soul to live the same life Jesus lived, because agape comes from God, 1 John 4:7. Jesus prayed in John 17:23, “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and agaped them, even as You have agaped Me.” The world is going to see a people that can live far beyond the natural ability of man. The world will also know that what they are seeing is not because of us but is because of what Jesus did to take away the sin of the world, John 1:29. In that day we will not take credit for what we’ve become.
In Jeremiah 31:33, “This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” It is written of Jesus in Ps 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart." Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” What enabled Jesus to make this statement is because the laws of God where within His heart. The answer to how the laws of God were in His heart can be summed up in one word, agape. This is how God is going to put His laws into our hearts as well. Paul wrote in Rom 13:8-10, “Owe no one anything except to agape one another, for he who agapes another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, You shall agape your neighbor as yourself.
10 Agape does no harm to a neighbor; therefore, agape is the fulfillment of the law.” Agape will enable us to live a life fulfilling the laws of God.
So how is God going to put His agape in our hearts? John wrote in John 3:27, “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.” James wrote in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Paul wrote in Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is agape….” Paul also wrote that, “…the agape of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8:39. The key to how we get the agape of God is found in John 15:9, I believe this is the pivotal verse in the New Testament. Jesus said, “As the Father has agaped Me so have I agaped you, abide in My agape. The Greek word for abide is meno, which means, “remaining or dwelling in a place.” This is the path to living a life fulfilling the law. Jesus said in verse 12 of this chapter, “This is My commandment, that you agape one another, as I have agape you.” This is the result of our remaining in the agape of Christ. We will work no ill to our neighbor and live fulfilling the law of God.
 
 

1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

To dwell in agape (our heavenly Father's love) is the call to every soul that calls on the name of Jesus. Paul wrote that if I do not possess agape I am nothing, 1 Cor 13 2.  We are called to minister to God not man. The greatest commandment goes unfulfilled because the church is putting all its efforts into evangilisim. Salvation is only a stepping stone to entering into a relationship with God Himself. What if the church gained all the souls in the world and not one had a heart engaged in agaping the Father? The Father is more interested in you than in what you can do for Him. It is only when our hearts are rooted and grounded in agape, and we have agape for one another, that all men will know that we are disciples of Christ, Jn 13 35. Then and only then will we have true power to be Christ witnesses. Then will the whole church be envolved in harvesting souls, not just a few.

The Greek word for "dwell" is meno, to remain. We are to remain in agape 24/7/365. Our heart is to become rooted and grounded in agape untill we become filled unto all the fullness of God, Eph 3 19. This reality has nothing to do with striving in the flesh but totally leaning on our beloved. This is the whole purpose for our existance, to dwell in agape.

To dwell in agape means our heart is to be totally involved. Fulfilling the greatest commandment is to agape God in all our heart. Without agape, there is no other source that will engage the heart to the degree God wants from us. Christianity without heart is nothing more then men striving in their own ability to serve God, it will never satisfy God or man.

John  wrote in verse 8 of this same chapter, "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." The Greek for "love" is agape in both places. This reality of knowing God has nothing to do with our love. In order to know God experientially we need to dwell in His love. God is not looking for a people who have a knowledge of Him through His word but a knowledge of Him through the heart. The only way we will gain this experiential knowledge is by abiding in agape.

Jesus laided out the blueprint in Jn 15 9 as to how to acquire this agape. "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. The Greek for "love" is agape. The Father's agape is in His Son. Jesus is the only source for recieving agape. God has made His Son to be the heavenly tabernacle for His agape. Paul wrote in Ro 8 39, "the agape of God is in Christ."

The Greek for "abide" is the same Greek word found in 1 Jn 4 16, meno, to remain. This is how the church will grow in their knowledge of God and grow into the full stature of Christ and become one as Christ and the Father are one. God will get all the glory.
 

What is eternal life?
Jesus said in John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” The Greek word for “know” is ginosko which means knowledge gained through experience. It is more than just mere head knowledge. This has always been the plan of God for man. God is love, and He created man with the ability to experience Him and come to know Him through those experiences.

In 1 John 4:8 “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” This is what I call a double not scripture. The first not is hypothetical the second not is absolute. If you aren’t doing the first thing then you can’t do the second. The Greek words for “love” is agape in verb and noun form not phileo. Agape is who God is as to His nature. Phileo is our love that comes from within us. Agape is the fruit of the spirit, Galatians 5:22. What John is saying here is if you don’t agape you don’t know (through experience) God. There is a reality that mere head knowledge can not produce. God wants us to know Him experientially and on His level.

There are two commandments that without agape are impossible to keep. In Matt 22:37-40 Jesus answered the question asked Him as to what is the greatest commandment.
37 And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
38 "This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
The Greek words for love is agape in both places. Fulfilling the two greatest commandments has nothing to do with our love. To love God, the way He needs to be loved we must experience His love. He wants to draw us into a love relationship with Him on His level.

So how do we obtain this love? The answer is in John 15:9, Jesus said, "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love." The Greek in all three cases is agape. Jesus is not talking about human love. Jesus is the source of divine love. Jesus refers to Himself as the vine and us, the branches in this chapter. If we want to be able to agape God, then we need to abide in the vine for the branch can not produce fruit of itself. This is what Paul is referring to in 1 Tim 2:5 when he writes, there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus said in verse 5 of this chapter, “I am the vine you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” No Jesus no agape no agape no fruit.

In John 17:3 Jesus included himself in the process of knowing God. As we abide in the vine we will come to know Jesus as well. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:19, “and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” As we experience the agape of Christ we experience being filled unto all the fullness of God. Paul also wrote in Ephesians 4:13, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” The Greek word for knowledge is epignosis meaning a full knowledge through experience. Ephesians 4:13 describes the much fruit that will be produced by abiding in the vine. Through Jesus loving us we will be able to live a life agaping God in all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the life that will cause the world to know that we are Christ disciples.
 
 

Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Today’s Christianity will only rise to the level of one’s own ability. Man without outside help will never attain to the level this verse is speaking of. The actual fulfillment of this verse will be the result of abiding in the vine John 15:9. Jesus and His agape will bring us into a perfect man that is on par with Jesus Himself. Jesus lived and became what God wanted for man. This is the condition of the church that Jesus will raise up, John 6:39. This will be a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, Ephesians 5:27.
The knowledge of the Son of God can only be acquired by abiding in the vine. This knowledge which is a full experiential knowledge of the Son of God is an inward through the heart knowledge that will produce abundant life in the believer. Agape is the spiritual source that will produce this reality. Paul wrote in Romans 5:5, “that God was pouring out into the heart His agape through the spirit that was given us.” Jesus is the vine and He is the spirit that was given us. Jesus sits on the right hand of God doing the work of God in the spirit providing the saints with the agape of God.  Jesus is the mediator between God and man, 1 Timothy 2:5.
Jesus has entered the vail in heaven, His life, His death, His entering into the vale, is all done for us. It is the life we lost due to sin. Paul calls Jesus a forerunner, one who has gone to heaven and now occupies the position that is above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, Ephesians 1:21. We were foreknown before the worlds were, to be joint heirs with Christ. This last day move of God will produce the reality of Ephesians 4:13 in our lives and the world will know that we are the disciples of Christ.
 

God's Agenda
Most Christians have no idea what God's agenda really is, yet it has been clear from the beginning of time. Genesis 1:26, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Jesus is the first man to experience the reality of Genesis 1:26. It is written of Jesus in Hebrews 1:3, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Jesus never fell under the indictment of Romans 3:23, “All men have sinned and fallen short of the glory.” Jesus lived a life in the glory of His Father. The life Jesus lived produced the reality of Jesus being the brightness of God's glory and becoming the express image of God's person. Jesus said in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." This is God's agenda.

Jesus prayed in John 17:23, “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Jesus not only died for our sins but the life He lived is the life we are to live. This is God's agenda. We are to experience a life of being agaped by the Father the same way Jesus is agaped by the Father. In the last part of verse 22 of John 17 Jesus said, "that they may be one, even as we are one.” The life Jesus lived is the same life we have been redeemed to live.

Paul wrote in Rom 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” I have always maintained that you can't be the firstborn of something if there is nothing like you that follows. The Greek for "conformed" means: taking on the actual inward likeness not just a mere outward appearance. What Jesus is we are to become. This is in accordance with God's agenda.

The blueprint to how this is going to be accomplished in our lives was given by Jesus Himself over 1900 years ago. In John 15, we see the process of how we become like Christ. In verse 5 Jesus lays the ground work for how this is going to happen. This is the only way it is going to happen. "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." It is very important to realize that what we become will be produced by Jesus only. Our only involvement will be to receive. We will not be able to take any credit for how we turn out. This is why Jesus told the rich man when he called Him good master, "why call me good, there is only one that is good and that is God," Mark 10:18. Jesus's life is a product of receiving from the Father, just as our life will be a product of receiving from Jesus.

John 15:9 is the key to how our change will take place. Verse 9, "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love." The Greek word for love is agape in all three places. This is not talking about natural love but divine love. This is the path to conformity to the Son of God so that Jesus will become the first born among many brethren. Paul wrote in Eph 3:19, “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” As we experience for ourselves the agape of Christ we will come unto all the fullness of God Himself. We will live a life like Christ fulfilling the two greatest commandments, agaping God and one another. This is God's agenda for our lives.