“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God” – Romans 8:19.
The Holy Spirit through Peter says: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” – 1 Peter 1:13-20.
Gird up the loins of your mind; be sober; hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, do not fashion yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but be ye holy in all manner of conversation; and pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. Thus are we admonished! Why? ‘Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you’.
Lessons from the first Manifestation of Jesus Christ
Jesus Himself was manifested for us. ‘Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you’. That has already taken place. That was when He came for our salvation; when He went to the Cross to pay for our sins and to redeem us from them all; if so be that we have gone to Him to properly acknowledge our sins, with true penitence, genuinely ask for forgiveness, and repent. The result is salvation of the soul from sin and Satan, the father of sin.
But thereafter the race called ‘Christianity’ starts properly, and with all grace abounding to all who understand the nature of this blessed race and are ready to play by the graciously rewarding rules. These are they that do not belong to them who draw back unto perdition but, rather, are of them that believe to the saving of the soul (Hebrews 10: 39), which is the second salvation or when Jesus comes again or is manifested again to take His own eternally home. By this second manifestation, or His second coming, we mean its first phase called ‘the rapture’, when He stops in the cloud to manifest Himself to the New Testament ‘Elishas’ in the cloud after catching them away from among the dead and living (see “The Manner of the Catching away of the Saints” in Chapter Eleven of this volume; and, indeed, nothing can be more startling and unsettling to Satan, his host and the whole world); the second phase of His second manifestation or second coming being when He returns with the saints to the earth to rule for a thousand years.
At salvation we have the forgiveness of sins; the seed of eternity with God is planted in us; we are translated into the kingdom of Christ Jesus; and made qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light through Him. “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” – Colossians 12-14. But we have to keep from sin, grow the seed of eternity with God in us, keep living as Christ’s kingdom citizens while still here on earth (which is what the pilgrim’s walk is about), to remain qualified as partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
The same Colossians Chapter 12, verses 20-23 of it, put the life we must live after that glorious transformation and translation at salvation already represented, in the preceding paragraph, this way: “And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”
The purpose of the first salvation is for Him to present us holy, un-blamable and ‘unreproveabe’. That is how the saved soul is presented if he happens to die immediately after salvation or forgiveness of his sins. But most don’t die immediately after that but must be here and out there to carry out the great commission for others to be drawn into the Kingdom as well. So, immediately after salvation they become pilgrims or remain here for the main purpose of giving out the gospel unfeigned and uncorrupted in season and out of season. But as he reaches out to the world, he must reach out as a pilgrim or heavenly citizen or must continue in the faith grounded and settled, and must never be moved away from the hope of the gospel, which he has heard, for that is the only way now he can be presented holy, unblamable and unreprovable by Jesus Christ which is one of the first goals of the rapture or of the first phase of His second manifestation.
So, as many as know why He was first manifested then and remain true to that purpose shall themselves be manifested when He comes in this first phase of His second revelation: ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ’. The Church has known grace, grace and more grace. Yet, there is coming a grace to be revealed! When He comes again and the sons of God are manifest: O what Grace that separates His own forever from Satan and his hosts, from sin and all wickedness, and ushers them (His own) into life, glory and bliss eternal with Him that inhabits eternity! THEN GRACE SHALL BEGIN TO OPEN ITS PAGES FOREVER.
‘He that commits sin is of the Devil’: And what does it mean?
The Holy Spirit also tells us through John the beloved of the manifestation of Jesus Christ more than two thousand years ago. “And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And everyman that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that He was manifested to take aw
ay our sins; and in Him is no sin.
“Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin); for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother” – 1 John 2:28-3:10.
We need to clarify the use of the word ‘commit’ in that scripture because of errors of interpretation here and there. The Greek word used here is ‘poieo’ and it means to do; commit; practice; perform. The margin reading of the word ‘commit’ in 1John 3: 8 and 9 is ‘practise’. And Dake would want us to know what he calls “Seven Fallacies Based on 1 John 3:9” viz.: That a born-again person cannot sin; That his sins are not real ones; That God automatically forgives his sins without confession; That God does not see his sins; instead He sees the blood of Christ which he is trusting in; That sins are not imputed to him; That he does not practice sin, but commits occasional sin; That all his sins—past, present, and future—are already forgiven; and then added very instructively:
“At the best these fallacies are vain attempts to explain this verse and all of them are unscriptural. The secret of a proper understanding of this verse is in the word ‘in,’ which means in harmony with or in union with and not physical entrance into, … The seed is the Word of God by which a man is born again (1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18). The simple idea is that as long as one remains in union with or in harmony with the seed, or the Word of God, he cannot sin. One who is consecrated to obey the Bible and refuses to sin, cannot break the commandments of God. Therefore, he cannot sin, for sin is transgression of the law (1 John 3:4). The reason given here for not being able to sin is that ‘His’ (God’s) seed (the Word of God) remains (abides) in him. That is, the one born again refuses to transgress the commandment of God and commit sin. As long as this consecration remains he will be unable to sin. If he grows cold in his love for God, ceasing to pray and maintain his spiritual life, he then may be overcome again and sin by transgressing the Word of God (1 John 2:1; 2 Peter 1:5-10)”. It adds up or boils down to the question of the fear of God or the want it!
