THE POWER OF NOT

      "The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" 1 John 2:16. This verse is a New Testament description of the fruit of the results of the biblical symbolic description of the tree of life which Eve was tempted to partake of by her own volition in the Garden, and the very thing which would separate mankind in a resultant lost state forever. Man has been partaking of its fruit ever since, including born again Christians. The book of Genesis tells us this tree was sought after because it was desired to make one wise, albeit in a worldly way. It therefore becomes very important for the Christian to distinguish what is of the world and what is not. Again I wish to thank J. B. Stoney for giving this concept legs when he said: "The distinction is simply this; when what is visible influences and controls our feelings or actions, it is the world; and when it is not seen, and faith is the evidence, then we have victory over the world". "This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith" 1 John 5:4. The question we must ask ourselves, is it the mind of God that is influencing me, or is it the order of things around me? The world system and the detraction it affords is after all the domain of the evil one and should be easily identifiable. Many Christians find safety for salvation in faith, but nevertheless are not safe from the world. Why is this so? And where and how is the power disclosed in us to be not of the world?

      Mans efforts to live up to the bible command to not be of the world are quiet interesting and very reveling. Early on in Christian history men developed schemes and rituals to attempt to form, by their behavior, a settled place in the not of; think of monks, and priests closing themselves off behind walls from the things of the world and its temptations. Men even resorted to, and still do, to self punishment, to literally beat the world out of themselves. We could go on and on with examples; but what about us? What do we do to attempt to avoid the confrontation with this radical concept? I wish I could believe we use simple self delusional rationalization for our delving in the prince of the power of the air and his domain, perhaps there then would be some excuse. Or maybe we are under a false impression as to what it means to be not of the world, so we have a wrong definition. Then there's always the self contained selflessness of duty, busy helping others and good old church activities, by which we might define a feeling of being in the proper place. But alas my friends I am afraid its none of these or the many excuses and self deluded actions we involved ourselves in to form a supposed religious place to dwell in the not. No its simple profound ignorance of biblical facts and unbelief that the words we read there are true and apply to us here and now! So really then if this is true of us, the answer to enter into the not is simple; read and believe the Word of God! Here's what it says about where we are; "Set your affections on things above...for you have died and your life is hidden in Christ Jesus" Col. 2:2,3. "Alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord" Rom. 6:11. "If you are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God" Col 3:1. " As is earthly such are they which are earthy; and as is heavenly such are they also that are heavenly" 1 Cor. 15:48. "And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" Eph. 2:6. And last but not least the verse that unflinchingly describes your present location: "For our citizenship is in heaven FROM WHICH we eagerly await a Savior the Lord Jesus Christ" Phil 3:20. Note the place we are, where we wait, is heaven...not the world. A place where we are in spirit, which is unseen, requiring faith to live there now, from here. I firmly believe no man or women will be able to engage in the fullness of the joy God offers, until they abide in this true truth of the position we occupy in Christ by faith, of our presence in Him, in heaven; "This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith".

      When we read the word "world" in the New Testament, we are reading the Greek word cosmos. As this word is used in the context we are dealing with here, the bible is referring to the inhabited earth, its people. Simply defined world refers to a system. Satan is the ruler of that system, John 12:31, 1 John 5:19. This should be forever in the for front of our thoughts as we analyze our dealing with it, our discernment of our presence in it. Its obvious God left us here, but He gave us the power to be aware of our plight and overcome, providing a new dwelling place by faith. Well where is that power found and why do we fail to live in it? In order to be free from the system a man must either remove it from his presence or he must remove the state he is in; that is he must be defined in his inward man as being above and outside his own nature. The only way this can be done is by presenting him to a alternative in which to believe, and the Word of God declares that alternative is available if we only have faith, but faith in what specifically? The word shows we must see ourselves relocated to overcome, we must be presented to a new definition of ourselves, becoming new men and women in our minds eye. A place is provided to do just that by God in the person of His Son Jesus Christ who is in heaven, If we believe that by faith, we may see that The Father has established by His estimation, that we are positioned there also. "Who is he that overcomes the world, he that believes Jesus is the son of God" 1 John 5:5. It is nor merely faith which effects our deliverance from the world system but a person, hence by that person, a position we occupy. Forever held and seen by The Father in Him, the power to enter the "not" by faith.

      I hope my dear friends you can now see that it is not any specific physical or emotional action we take, by which we will gain entrance to the not of. Nor is it our thoughts, lust, sin, or improper religious attitude that prevents our obtaining this most precious gift of freedom from Satan's system. We dwell in freedom by a Man, The Holy Spirit has presented to us a Man, not a experience. He is our entrance, and it is how we perceive our self by God own definition; being found identified and positioned in that Man, His Son, that shows the way. We will gain the power to do this by adopting a godly attitude and trust toward His word which in a clear and certain declaration presents this absolute truth. Then we may remain in the place of not by faith and contemplation of the words which The Father wrote down for just that purpose.

      I know this is not a easy concept to hold and make your life, it has been a huge struggle for me. However the more I live in belief in The Word, the more I believe it is true and find rest; I also realize few reading this will take the trouble to relegate there valuable time to search for freedom in faith, from the world, as they choose to remain captured for lack of knowledge. In pre- Pentecost times [before Christs Resurrection] faith was something which required proof, i.e. as Abraham trusted God he found results; in other words the faith based man in that time was by his belief holding a standard above the things in the world which surrounded him, by his flesh convictions of the provision of his faith, he only had his natural man to hold on to, he was not called to a higher standard, of things unseen. In Christ all that was set aside, for in His death on the Cross all to do with the former function of man in the flesh, for faith, was abnegated by God, which is the act of renouncing or rejecting a thing.

      In the power we have been given by the rejection of man in the flesh, on The Cross, by the Father our separation from the world is no less than His. We, seen in The Son, are not of the world; "He has overcome the world', and therefore we too; as we are identified by God, in Him. Not by our own estimation only, but by The Father's! If, my good friends and fellow seekers for truth,we can just but see this reality by our faith, then we in what Jesus did, in His person-hood, representing us, will find the true meaning, as it was intended for us to understand. The Word has told us to; "Love not the world, neither the things in the world' 1 John 2:15. We must believe the bible to overcome, as we are declared by the Holy Creator of the universe that; "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation...all things have become new". It is by and in these truths we may live in the power of not!

      "The Holy Spirit is the power to separate us from the world and its ways, because He gives the only enablement to preserve us from the flesh and its ways. If we walk in the Spirit we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh Gal. 5:16. We are sustained by union through the Spirit with the heavenly Man. We move in the sphere of the first man, but our fellowship is with the Lord Jesus Christ above, therefore we walk down here by faith".---J.B. Stoney