Romans 8:26-39, 'The assurance of salvation'
In Romans 8:12-17, the apostle Paul assures us that Christ-centered spiritually minded believers are no longer debtors to the flesh, to live according to the mind of the flesh. They realize that living according to the mind of the flash produces spiritual blindness, spiritual deafness, spiritual sleep and spiritual death. Because they now live according to the mind of the spirit, under the dominion and guidance of the indwelling and incarnate Christ of Faith and the Holy Spirit, these believers have the assurance, like the historical Jesus, that they are sons and daughters, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, in the kingdom of God and kingdom living, here on earth (Luke 17:20-21).
By faith, repentance, turning to the indwelling Christ of Faith, and following the historical Jesus in living the Paschal Mystery, Christ-centered believers are delivered from bondage and slavery to sin. By personal, daily, practical application and appropriation of the inner spiritual meaning of the historical Jesus' suffering, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and second coming (Paschal Mystery), they pass over into the freedom of God's love, in and through Holy Spirit, and the indwelling and incarnate Christ of Faith, God's Image and Likeness, in the spiritual body of the historical Jesus and the spiritual body of all persons (Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 8:32-33).
Now the indwelling Christ of Faith is God's Divine Presence, Spirit and Life contained in God's Word. The Christ of Faith is the Logos, God's indwelling Presence that purifies, by pouring into penitent and receptive believers' souls, hearts, minds, emotions, relationships and lives, new and pure streams of Divine Life. By faith and the proper conditions of spiritual and mental alignment, that is living the Paschal Mystery, the indwelling and incarnate Christ of Faith cleanses the human consciousness from slavery to sin and the dead works of the mind of the flesh.
In Holy Scripture, the universal indwelling and incarnate Christ of Faith is often symbolized as the precious blood of the Lamb. The Christ of Faith is the undefiled primal life of Being, in the spiritual body of the historical Jesus and the spiritual body of every person. Through proper spiritual and mental alignment, and full incarnation, the historical Jesus revealed and made the universal indwelling Christ of Faith fully available and accessible to all people (John 3:16, 14:6). The indwelling and incarnate Christ of Faith is the believers assurance and certainty of salvation, regeneration and eternal life, when following the historical Jesus in living the Paschal Mystery (Romans 8:35-37, Revelations 7:14).
Spiritually awake believers in Christ-centered, witnessing faith communities within all traditions, religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups live no longer as debtors to the flesh, to live according to the mind of the flesh. They now live according to the mind of the Spirit, because they desire to successfully follow the historical Jesus in living the Paschal Mystery. The Christ of Faith and the Holy Spirit are the believer's assurance of salvation, regeneration, redemption and kingdom living here on earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10, Luke 17:20-21, Romans 8:26-27).
When following the historical Jesus in living the Paschal Mystery, God works out his sovereign will, while at the same time preserving human choice. All people may therefore act freely to accept or reject the historical Jesus and the Gospel of the indwelling and incarnate Christ of Faith that he proclaimed. Those who choose follow the historical Jesus in living the Paschal Mystery, have the assurance and certainty that nothing living or dead, animate or inanimate, can separate them from the Grace, Love and Truth of God, in and through the indwelling and incarnate Christ of Faith, as revealed in the historical Jesus (Matthew 16:24, Romans 8:38-39).
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