What
is required of us to do?
(Boldness
and Underlining is mine)
This Scriptures reveals what we need to do on a daily
bases.
Rom 13:12 - The night
is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast
off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor
of light.
Interesting to note that the Scriptures here clearly
make mention of two periods, one is the night that is linked to the
works of darkness and the day which is linked to the armour
of light. And the layout of the Scripture is clearly the one before
the other as it is indicated above.
In the light of this, so lets first see what we as ‘truly
born-again Christians’ should “cast off”.
These two words in this context only are found in Romans
13:12 with the Strong number #659 and the following is given from the Strong’s
Dictionary;
G659
ἀποτίθημι
apotithēmi
ap-ot-eeth'-ay-mee
From G575 and G5087; to put
away (literally or figuratively): - cast off, lay apart (aside, down),
put away (off).
I would also add what John Gill
has to say about that use of this term in the Scripture.
(John Gill’s Exposition on the
Entire Bible)
“As the apostle had made use of the metaphors of night and day, and of sleep,
and awaking out of sleep, and rising in the morning to business, so he continues
the same; and here alludes to persons throwing off their bed clothes, and
covering of the night, and putting on proper raiment for the day. By "works
of darkness" are meant evil works, which are opposite to
the light; to God, who is light itself; to Christ, the light of the world;
to the word of God, both law and Gospel, which is a light to our paths;
to both the light of nature, and the light of grace: and which spring
from the darkness of the mind, and are encouraged to by the god of
this world, and by his angels, the rulers of the darkness of it; and which
are generally done in the dark, and are such as will not bear the light;
and,
if grace prevent not, will end in outer darkness, in blackness of darkness,
reserved by the justice of God, as the punishment of them.”
John Gill said that the ‘evil works’ spring from the ‘darkness of the mind’
and I believe that one can relate this commentary to Ephesians 4: 17-23;
“This I say therefore, and testify
in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the
vanity of their mind,
Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is
in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
Who being past feeling have given
themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
But ye have not so learned Christ;
If so be that ye have heard him,
and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
That ye put off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
And be renewed in the spirit of
your mind;”
Here it is clearly seen that the ‘mind’ has been darkened and therefore you
have been alienated from the life of Christ.
The Greek word for ‘mind’ in this context is according to the Strong’s dictionary
is;
G3563
νοῦς
nous
nooce
Probably from the base of G1097; the intellect, that is, mind
(divine or human; in thought, feeling, or will); by implication meaning:
- mind, understanding. Compare G5590.
Notice that it is implicated that by meaning ‘understanding’ which covers ‘thought,
feeling or will’. This brings me to Galatians 5:17, where it is written;
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would.”
Here you will see that there are two opposites that are contrary to each other,
the one is the flesh and the other is the Spirit.
See John Gill’s commentary and I quote;
“By "flesh" is meant, not the carnal or literal sense of the Scripture,
which is Origen's gloss, as militating against the spiritual sense of it;
nor the sensual part of man rebelling against his rational powers; but the
corruption of nature, which still is in regenerate persons: and is
so called because it is propagated by carnal generation; has for its object
carnal things; its lusts and works are fleshly; and though it has
its seat in the heart,
it shows itself in the flesh or members of the body, which are yielded as instruments
of unrighteousness; and it makes and denominates men carnal.”
It is also confirmed in Romans 8:7 where it is stipulated that the carnal mind
is enmity against God and in verse 8 stipulated that those who are in the
flesh cannot please God.
Now notice the
pattern, = mind = corruption of nature = lusts and works are fleshly = carnal
mind = fleshly.
Now I believe
that the elements mentioned could be listed in the following Scriptures;
Colossians 3:5
“Mortify therefore your members which
are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:”
Colossians 3:8
“But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth.”
Galatians 5:19-21
“Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these; Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like:”
With this in mind it is clear that
the ‘works of darkness’ is linked to the ‘works of the flesh’ which we should
‘cast off’ or the other term used in Scripture is to ‘put off’.
So let’s look at what we should “put off”
according to the Word of God.
The Scriptures that gives this instruction
are as follows;
·
Put off - The old man (Eph 4:22)
·
Put off – Anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth (Col 3:8)
·
Put off – The old man with his deeds
(Col 3:9)
In order to understand the concept
of ‘putting off’ in the light of Scripture I will quote from the commentary
of John Gill’s Exposition on the Bible.
“Which is the corruption of nature;
why this is called a man, and an old man, See Gill on Rom_6:6,
the putting him off, is not a removing him from the saints, nor a destroying
him in them, nor a changing his nature; for he remains, and remains alive,
and is the same old man he ever was, in regenerate persons; but it is a
putting him off from his seat, and a putting him down from his government;
a showing no regard to his rule and dominion, to his laws and
lusts, making no provision for his support; and particularly, not squaring
the life and conversation according to his dictates and directions; and
therefore it is called a putting him off, concerning the former conversation:
the change lies not, in the old man, who can never be altered, but in the
conversation; he is not in the same power, but he retains the same sinful
nature; he is put off, but he is not put out; and though he does
not reign, he rages, and often threatens to get the
ascendant: these words stand either in connection
with Eph_4:17 and so are a continuation
and an explanation of that exhortation; or else they point out what regenerate
souls are taught by Christ to do, to quit the former conversation,
to hate the garment spotted with the flesh, and to put it off; for the allusion
is to the putting off of filthy garments, as the works of the flesh may
be truly called, which flow from the vitiosity of nature, the old man:”
Here they refer to Gill commentary
on Romans 6:6; so let’s have a look what he has transcribed for this Scripture.
Romans 6:6
“Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with him, that the body
of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
“By the old man is meant the corruption
of nature; called a man, because natural to men; it lives and dwells
in them; it has spread itself over the whole man; it rules and governs
in men; and consists of various parts and members, as a man does: it is
called "old", because it is the poison of the old serpent,
with which man was infected by him from the beginning; it is derived
from the first man that ever was; it is as old as the man is, in
whom it is, and is likewise called so, with respect to its duration and
continuance; and in opposition to, and contradistinction from, the new man,
or principle of grace: it is called "ours", because continual
to us; it is in our nature, it cleaves to us, and abides in us.”
So now let’s see what we as ‘born-again
sons and daughters’ of God has to ‘put off’ seeing that you are “born from
above” and as explained has put on the “new creation”.
Romans 6:6 explain it very clearly
that we should know that the old man has been crucified with Christ as confirmed
in Galatians 2:20 (KJV)
“I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
·
Put off - The old man (Eph 4:22)
The Scripture reveals the following;
“That ye put off concerning
the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts;”
The Strong’s Concordance reveals
the following;
G659
ἀποτίθημι
apotithēmi
ap-ot-eeth'-ay-mee
From G575 and G5087; to put
away (literally or figuratively): - cast off, lay apart (aside, down),
put away (off).
Here you will see that it literally
means to put away or to cast off, so now the reader can discern for himself/herself
as to what to do with the old man.
My view is, that seeing the you
have been translated into the Kingdom of Light, your whole objective is
to please the Father and you want to do His Will and not following your
own ideas and desires as mentioned in the above Scripture, seeing it is
full of ‘deceitful lusts’.
So now you will be ‘putting off’,
to lay down you former way of doing things, the former way of thinking,
and the former way of speaking.
Again, let’s look at the Scripture;
·
Put off – Anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth (Col 3:8)
The Scripture reveals the following;
“But now ye also put off
all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out
of your mouth.”
John Gill put it in this sense;
“Intimating, that now since they
were converted and delivered out of the former state in which they were
once, and professed not to walk and live in sin, it became them to separate,
remove, and put at a distance from them all sins, and every vice, to
lay them aside as dead weights upon them, and put them off as filthy
garments; for such sins are never to be put on, and cleaved
to again as formerly; and that not only those, the above mentioned, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
and which, though it is applicable to all speech that is unsavoury, unedifying,
idle, and useless, and may be properly enough said of flattery, lying, cursing,
and swearing; yet chiefly regards obscene language, unchaste words, and
filthy talking, which tend to encourage and cherish the sin of uncleanness
in any of its branches, flattery, lying, cursing, and swearing; yet chiefly
regards obscene language, unchaste words, and filthy talking, which tend
to encourage and cherish the sin of uncleanness in any of its branches.”
So by putting off these things that
is mentioned by John, you will notice that there is space made for the character
and attributes of our LORD and Saviour to be ‘put on’.
·
Put off – The old man with his deeds
(Col 3:9)
The Scripture reveals the following;
“Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;”
Notice that this Scripture is written
in the past tense, meaning that there had to be a positive action, and I
directly relay this to confession with your mouth.
How can you put something on or
off if you do not speak it as life and death is in the power of the tongue?
(Proverbs 18:21)
“Death and life are in the
power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
Now, that we know what to ‘cast
off’ and to ‘put off’, what should we be putting on being “truly born-again”
followers of Jesus Christ of Nazareth?
Let’s look at the following Scriptures;
Rom 13:14 - But
put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.
Eph 4:24 - And that
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness.
Eph 6:11 - Put on the whole armor of God, that
ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Col 3:10 - And have
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him:
Col 3:12 - Put on therefore, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, long-suffering;
Col 3:14 - And above
all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Gal 3:27 - For as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.
·
So let’s examine the two words
in boldness, which is “Put on” to lay the ground work.
The ancient Jews frequently use the phrase putting on
the shechinah, or Divine majesty, to signify the soul’s being clothed with
immortality and rendered fit for glory. (Adam
Clark’s Commentary)
According to the Strong’s Dictionary the
words ‘put on’ reveals the meaning as follows in the original Greek.
G1746
ἐνδύω
enduō
en-doo'-o
From G1722 and G1416 (in the sense of sinking into a garment);
to invest with clothing (literally or figuratively): - array, clothe
(with), endue, have (put) on.
Here it is mentioned that they it should
be seen as in the sense sinking into a garment which typify totally
engulfed or totally covered with that garment.
I probably could make a comparison to someone
that have to enter a radioactive environment and therefore you need to cover
yourself with protective wear for top to bottom as that no radioactive elements
can come in contact with your body. That’s how I see to apply the Scripture
by Faith by putting on Christ.
Now the Scripture make mention of seven
times in the New Testament of the words ‘put on’ with the Strong’s number
# 1746 which has all the same instruction and action. Faith without
works is dead. (James 2:26)
So let’s look at what is expected from us,
what we as the Body of Christ has to do since Jesus did all that
is needed for your Salvation when HE said it is finished.
1.
Put on - the Armor of Light
(Romans 13:12)
2.
Put on - the Lord Jesus Christ
(Rom 13:14)
3.
Put on - the New man, created
in righteousness and true holiness (Eph 4:24)
4.
Put on - the Whole Armor of
God (Eph 6:11)
5.
Put on - the New man which
is renewed in knowledge (Colossians 3:10)
6.
Put on - Bowels of Mercies,
Kindness, Humbleness of mind, Meekness, and Long-suffering. (Colossians
3:12)
7.
Put on - Christ (Galatians
3:27)
Again, Romans 13:12 reveal the timeline
as to when one has to be obedient to the Word of God.
“The night is far spent, the
day is at hand:” From this Scripture it is clear that the
Lord wants to show us the seriousness of the condition of our whole being
before a Holy God.
At this stage I want to make it clear that
this is a daily action that a “truly born-again” son/daughter of God should
do in to be protected in the evil day.
(Eph 5:16)
“Redeeming the time because the days are
evil.”
The first proof is in the Prayer that our
LORD Himself has taught His disciples and which has been taught to us, His
children, and that is found in Matthew 6:9-13. More specifically verse 11,
which is written; “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Notice, not this ‘week’ or this ‘month’;
the Lord is very specific when He speaks.
Another proof is were the LORD exhort us
to put on the full armor of God in Ephesians 6:11, especially verse 13 where
it is written, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
Now we can go into the Hebrew or the Greek to determine whether the word “day”
means exactly what the Scripture trying to relay here, but I believe that
the Holy Spirit is the One that will teach you ALL things and therefore
the groundwork has been laid.
So now, let’s look again at what should
we ‘Put on’ daily, seeing that this day is evil? One could argue again that
not all days are evil, but what does the Word say? Who is that god of this
world? Who is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour? Who has come to steal, kill and destroy? (Eph 5:16; John 10:10)
It is my conviction that in order to do
God’s Word and to be obedient to God’s Word and to live God’s Word, one
needs to see exactly what God’s Word instruct us how to live, and that will
also help you to avoid the snares of the devil. (2 Timothy 2:26)
·
Put on - the Armor of Light
(Romans 13:12)
The Scripture reveals the following;
“The night is far spent, the day
is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us
put on the armour of light.”
Now the question that might be on everybody’s lips and what the armour of light
is as portrayed in the above Scripture?
The following Scripture reveal something every interesting and I quote;
(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.”
So now we have ‘The Father of Lights’ and ‘The armour of Lights’,
and according to the Strong’s concordance reveal the number as the same,
#5457.
According to Thayer
definition on the word “Light” in contest with the Greek word - phōs
Metaphorically the meaning is presented
as follows:
1. God is light because light has the
extremely delicate, subtle, pure, brilliant quality
2. of truth and its knowledge, together
with the spiritual purity associated with it
3. that which is exposed to the view
of all, openly, publicly reason, mind
4.
the power of understanding especially moral and spiritual truth
Based on this knowledge, the armour of Light
comes from the Father of Lights and you can just imagine the awesome power
in applying the Scripture as fact, not wavering as a double minded man.
Let’s go back to Scripture in Romans 13:12,
the second part that states in part, “…Let us put on the armour of light.”
This is proof that this is something that you should ‘put on’ in the spiritual
sense.
·
Put on - the Lord Jesus Christ
(Rom 13:14)
The Scripture reveals the following;
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”
In this case I’m again going to draw on
the commentary of “John Gill’s Exposition of the entire Bible”.
He stated that in part which only refers
to the first part of the Scripture; e.g. “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ”
the following;
“As a man puts on his clothes when he rises in the morning: the righteousness
of Christ is compared to a garment, it is the best robe, it is fine linen,
clean and white, and change of raiment; which being put on by the Father's
gracious act of imputation, covers the sins and deformities of his people,
defends them from divine justice, secures them from wrath to come, and renders
them beautiful and acceptable in his sight: which righteousness being revealed
from faith to faith, is received by faith, and made use of as
a proper dress to appear in before God; and may be daily said
to be put on by the believer, as often as he makes use of it,
and pleads it with God as his justifying righteousness, which should be
continually: moreover, to put on Christ, and which indeed seems to be the
true sense of the phrase here, is not only to exercise faith on him as the
Lord our righteousness, and to make a profession of his name, but to imitate
him in the exercise of grace and discharge of duty; to walk as he walked,
and as we have him for an example, in love, meekness, patience, humility,
and holiness:”
As I understand it, to put on the
Lord Jesus Christ is to be totally cover with His Righteousness and by that
also His shed Blood in order to stand before a Holy God who will only accept
the one Sacrifice for since forever, and that was the Lamb that was slain
since the foundation of the world. (Rev 13:8)
·
Put on - the New man, created in righteousness and true
holiness (Eph 4:24)
The Scripture reveals the following:
“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness.”
I want to stress that the phrase
‘put on’ is still applied here to be ‘daily’ and therefore I also
see this as being ‘commanded’, being something that you as a ‘true born-again’
son / daughter of God should be obedient to.
John Gill gives us this commentary
on the Scripture;
“Whose righteousness is a
garment, pure and spotless, and which is put on by the hand
of faith: though rather by the "new man" is meant, the new
nature, the new principle, or work of grace in the soul, elsewhere called
a new creature; and it bears this name in opposition to, and distinction
from the old man, or corruption of nature, before spoken of; and because
it is "de noro", or anew, put into the hearts of men; it is not
what was in them naturally; nor is it any old principle renewed, or wrought
up in another and better form; but it is something that is infused, that
was never there before: and because it is new in all its parts; such who
have it, have new hearts and new spirits given unto them; they have new
eyes to see with, and new ears to hear with, and new hands to handle and
work with, and new feet to walk with; and they live a new life and conversation.
So to put on the new man, is to walk according to the principles of grace
and holiness formed in the soul.”
I believe that John’s exposition
of this verse only give us an idea as to what was intended for us to understand,
seeing that no prophecy is for private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20)
·
Put on - the Whole Armor of
God (Eph 6:11)
This Scripture I believe is one of the most
preached and taught across the denominations, and therefore I will not be
re-inventing the wheel, but rather stay on the principle of this teaching
on the phrase to put on;
The Scripture reveals the following;
“Put on
the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.”
Special attention is drawn to verse 13, where it is again specifically mentioned
that you must take the whole armour of God in order to be able to withstand
in the evil day!
Notice again not evil week nor evil month or year.
Again, John Gill’s commentary reveals that following;
“So that the whole armour of God
should be put on, which is proof against all his (enemy) might and
craft, in order to stand against him, oppose him, and fight,
and get the victory over him, which in the issue is always
obtained by believers; for they not only stand their ground in the strength
of Christ, and by the use of their armour confound his schemes,
and baffle all his arts and stratagems, but are more than conquerors through
him that has loved them.”
So by analogy, when I was prepared
for war in 1983, the weapons and armory that was supplied to me, was not
to be placed in a bookshelf and forget about it, but it was stressed that
the weapons should always be as close by and some was always on your body
for instant readiness for attacking the enemy. Some nights we were told
to sleep in our outfit for battle with only your shoes in the ready position,
next to your bed, open to just slip into it. Notice this is not written
as defensive but offensive.
I will make a bold statement and
I might be criticized, but this is how I see it. The devil and his demons
are not our enemy…we are theirs! Because we are more than conquerors, and
greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world! (1 John 4:4)
·
Put on - the New man which is renewed in knowledge (Colossians
3:10)
The Scripture reveals the following:
“And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him:”
And here you’ll notice that the
writer to the Colossian church, speaks in the past tense as if it was a
common thing to do so, which is renewed in knowledge, which tells
me again, present tense, renewed define as in the Greek with Strong number,
#341 and is explained as follows;
G341
ἀνακαινόω
anakainoō
Thayer Definition:
1) To cause to grow
up, new, to make new
1a) new strength
and vigour is given to one
1b) to be changed
into a new kind of life as opposed to the former corrupt state
It all boils down to the fact that there
is a new process as opposed to the former corrupt state, so by putting on
the NEW man, there is a process of ‘new strength, changed into a new kind
of life’, which implies that there is growth, to make new into the knowledge
after the image of Him that created Him.
·
Put on - Bowels of Mercies,
Kindness, Humbleness of mind, Meekness, and Long-suffering. (Colossians
3:12)
The Scripture reveals the following;
“Put on therefore, as the elect of
God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, longsuffering;”
I believe that this is one of the most beautiful attributes that the Lord God
has bestowed upon us and in the process command us ‘as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, to put on “Bowels of Mercies”;
Two other Scriptures make mention of the phrase ‘Bowels of Mercies’ which are;
Isaiah 63:15
“Look down from heaven, and behold
from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy
zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies
toward me? are they restrained?”
Philippians 2:1
“If there be therefore any
consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,”
John Gill expounded on the phrase
as follows relating to Colossians 3:12;
“A sympathizing spirit with saints
in distress, weeping with them that weep, suffering with them
that suffer, being touched, as their high priest is, with a feeling
of their sorrows and weaknesses: it denotes inward pity and compassion
to distressed objects, the most tender regard to persons in misery, and
such compassion as is free from all hypocrisy and deceit, and therefore
is expressed by "bowels"; and what is very large, and reaches
to multitudes of objects, and is displayed and exerted various ways, and
therefore signified by "mercies". Now such a spirit is a very
beautiful one; the apostle begins with the innermost of these garments,
adding to it,
kindness, which is this inward, tender,
unfeigned, and abundant mercy put into act and exercise; this
is doing good to all men, especially to the household of faith, distributing
to the necessities of the saints, and a showing mercy with cheerfulness,
and is very ornamental to a Christian professor: as is also
humbleness of mind;
which lies in the saints entertaining mean thoughts of themselves, looking
upon themselves as the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all
saints; as inferior to others in knowledge, experience, gifts, and graces;
in esteeming others better than themselves; in ascribing all they have,
and are, to the grace of God; in doing works of mercy and righteousness
without ostentation, and boasting of them, or depending on them; owning,
that when they have done all they can, they are but
unprofitable servants; and this
is a beautiful dress for a believer to appear in: be ye clothed with humility;
see 1Pe_5:5. And of the like nature
is
meekness; which shows itself in not envying
the gifts and graces, the usefulness and happiness of others, but rejoicing
therein; in quietly submitting to the will of God in all adverse dispensations
of Providence, and patiently bearing what he is pleased to lay on them;
and in enduring all the insults, reproaches, and indignities of men with
calmness. This ornament of a meek and quiet, spirit is in the sight
of God of great price, 1Pe_3:4.
And what follows is natural to it, and explanative of it,
longsuffering: whereby a person patiently
bears the evil words and actions of others, and is not easily
provoked to wrath by them, but puts up with injuries, and sits down
contented with the ill usage he meets with.”
John has explained this Scripture
for the edification of the saints and one can understand the significance
to the fact that one needs to be obedient to God’s Word and apply the Word
by putting on the principles which reflects the character of our LORD and
Saviour Jesus Christ by acting upon it.
·
Put on - Christ (Galatians 3:27)
This Scripture reveals the following;
“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
Notice the difference here in the
Scripture, and it become clear that this baptism do not reflect the baptism
of John, because John himself said “I indeed baptize you with water unto
repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes
I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost,
and with fire:” (Matthew 3:11)
John Gill has this to say in his
commentary;
“But this way of speaking supposes
that there might be some of them, who though baptized in water, yet not
into Christ; and that those who are truly and rightly baptized, who
are proper subjects of it, and to whom it is administered in a proper manner,
are baptized into Christ: not that by baptism they are brought into union
with Christ, but into communion with him; for they are not merely baptized
in his name, and by his authority, and according to his command, and into
his doctrine, and a profession of him; but into a participation of the blessings
of grace which are in him, and come through his sufferings and death; for
they that are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death and resurrection
from the dead; they are led by faith to behold the cleansing of their souls,
and the remission of their sins by his blood, and their justification by
his righteousness; how he was delivered for their offences, died for their
sins, was buried in the grave, and their iniquities with him, and rose again
for their justification; of all which, baptism, performed by immersion,
is a lively emblem; and this is to be baptized into Christ, namely, being
baptized believing in him, and calling on his name: and such
have put on Christ; both before
and at baptism: before it they put him on as the Lord their righteousness;
his righteousness is compared to a garment, is called the best robe,
the wedding garment, fine linen,
clean and white, the robe of righteousness, a garment down to the feet; this is imputed to the elect of God by the Father, through a gracious
act of his, and what they are clothed and covered with by the Son, and is
put upon them and applied unto them by the Spirit.”
Therefore my fellow brothers and
sisters in the LORD, let’s us put off the work of darkness / carnal / fleshly
lusts, that comes with the old man, and put on by FAITH “the Armor of Light, the Lord Jesus Christ, the New man,
created in righteousness and true holiness, the Whole Armor of God, Bowels
of Mercies, Kindness, Humbleness of mind, Meekness, and Long-suffering,
and have put on Christ, to stand in the evil day because we have to redeem
the time.”
Now the Lord of peace himself give
you peace always by all means.
The Lord be with you all.
Steven Braun
Pretoria
South Africa