You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
11 It is a
faithful [pistos] saying: [logos] For [gar] if [ei] we be dead with [sunapothnesko] him, we shall [suzao] also [kai] live with [suzao] him: KJV-Interlinear
11 It is a
trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; NASB
'It is a trustworthy statement,' is an expression that means, the following is a true principle, or, it is true when we say…
If we died with Him? That is Christ died on the cross. He died two deaths.
The first death was the spiritual death wherein Christ was subjected to the sins of the world and thus paid the penalty for sin. He was physically alive when this judgment occurred.
The judgment for sin, occurred during the three hours from noon until 3pm on the day of Passover. A supernatural darkness covered the land for those three hours and only Jesus' cries could be heard in the darkness as the judgment was being carried out.
Jesus was very much physically alive during that first death, the spiritual death, wherein He was made sin in our place.
Then after judgment was finished, He made the statement 'It is finished.' And as the light was restored He pushed Himself forward and died a physical death. His second death on the cross. That of course was followed by several events which we have already studied in detail in other studies.
From there He was taken down, and placed in the grave for three days and then arose in the first resurrection.
Now, by believing in Him, among other things, we believe in what He was subjected to and accomplished while on the Cross, before, during and after, and in His resurrection.
By believing in Him, we then are baptized with the Holy Spirit, and as such we in effect are identified with Christ, symbolically for us, for what He did in reality, on the Cross.
So, through our faith in Christ, we recognize and identify with, His work in salvation.
Likewise, through our faith, we recognize and indentify with, His resurrection and eternal life.
Faith in Christ is not partial, or cafeteria choices in salvation or the hereafter, nor is it limited in some fashion.
Just as God did not predetermine or cause or limit who would be saved, so likewise we should not compromise or adjust what it is we receive in Salvation and the hereafter. Humanity cannot define salvation to match some standard or rule he happens to invent for religious or cult purposes.
Humanity does not have the right to tell people that they must adhere to their rituals, in order to be saved. These would all be untruthful sayings.
But Paul tells us that the gospel and doctrine as spelled out in the Bible, is true, and will not change. But of course we have to study on a regular basis, in order to learn exactly what the Bible has to say, and of course what it all means.
Therefore, salvation is true and a truthful concept. There is life after physical death. There is an eternity that lay before us. And there is a reward for advancement in the spiritual life. And likewise, there is great loss, if one does not comply with Gods mandates.
To look at this life as one series of social activities all geared to entertain us throughout our life, to look at life as filled with pleasures, or taking because you can, or playing games with society, and so forth, makes you a very short sighted person.
To live for a few decades and ignore the next life is the attitude of a fool.
Eternity is a very long time, and to ignore it completely would be a huge mistake.
If there is a God, and if we assume that God is truth, fair, righteous, responsible, and so forth, then we have to know that He would not create all of this for no reason. That He would not have limited lifespans in this world, without something to replace it afterwards.
To presume that God is just like us or equal with us, or that all of this creation stuff is nothing more than an accident, and therefore there is never going to be anything better, is a fools conclusion.
The whole basis for Christianity is that there is a God, who became human, who paid the price for sin, and therefore made eternity possible. That it is He who did all of the work and that man is the beneficiary of His work.
So by believing in Christ, we subscribe to His existence, to His plan, to truth, and therefore symbolically identify with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. And we believe it because it is so. We believe in the preeminence of Christ, in the power of the scriptures, in His purpose here for us, and in the eternal reward that awaits those who advance in their spiritual life.
But life does not stop with salvation, there is still a huge part of the spiritual life that occurs after salvation, and that too is something that folks generally mess up.
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Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
