The Process of Apostasy page 1

Romans 1:15-17 (KJV) "15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. "

PAUL MADE THIS STATEMENT THAT HE WAS READY TO PREACH BEFORE HIS ENEMIES IN ROME IN THIS PERILOUS TIME BECAUSE HE WAS NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.

He is not ashamed, and we are not to be either. We are not to fear to proclaim boldly the message of the Kingdom… that we are saved, and that there is power in Jesus Christ to save any who would believe. This is the highest call of any believer, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ for there is power to save in that gospel! We are not to fear what will happen or fear of the cost, for there is power to save both others and ourselves in this message. God empowers it!

We have to be real about our faith and not have a secret one. The reality is that Jesus had something to say to you if you think that you can just blend in with the world and be some kind of Secret Christian.

Mark 8:38 (KJV) “ Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. “

Matthew 10:32-39 (KJV) “ 32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. “

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IS:

1. The Power of God unto Salvation – the gospel is POWER and it is the ONLY means by which you can be saved or delivered from sin, Hell, and the Second Death and the bondage that goes with that, when we believe it and walk in that faith.

2. It brings righteousness, or the ability of living right… doing the right thing through the power of God. It brings God’s righteousness that comes through us.

3. It is revealed from faith to faith, or begun by faith and continued by faith. It is not just a one-time thing, but a continuing condition of being saved. THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF FAITH !!!

4. WE live by FAITH… and are justified in God’s sight. This is the walk in the Spirit.

5. It is the means by which we are delivered from the wrath of God!

You see, we are to live in the Spirit and the Word, and walk in the gospel and by faith let God make it a part of our lives. We have power to live for God through the fruit of the Spirit. It is by HIS SPIRIT that we can live Christian lives.

Galatians 5:16 (KJV)“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.“

Galatians 5:22-25 (KJV) “ 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. “

THERE IS POWER IN WALKING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE! There is the power of God to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, which is the nature of Jesus Christ in the believer. We have it by faith and by submitting to God in prayer… and it becomes a daily walk empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Power is the Greek word dunamis, from which we derive dynamic and dynamo and dynamite. This is not just some person trying to read the Bible and turn over a new leaf. There is power in the gospel when mixed with faith to transform a person and bring abundant life and power to live righteously.

Understand this: the preaching of the gospel (and that is under the unction of the Holy Spirit to bring it alive) has within it the dynamic power to bring the new birth and transform lives and break the bondages of darkness. The preaching of the gospel must be understood to be primary in the ministry of the church and individual. This is where the power of God is released to bring abundant life!

There is no power to live righteously outside of the power of God that moves in us that we have received through the preaching of the gospel.

It not only is the revelation of God’s righteousness, but it is the power to bring that righteousness in and through us. The Law of Moses and the Old Covenant revealed the righteousness of God, but gave no power to really live it in power. The gospel of the Kingdom is different, and is under a new and better covenant. There is power from God to live righteously through the preaching of the gospel.

SALVATION (Greek soteria – salvation and deliverance): We are saved from the bondage and death of sin. We are saved from the power and tyranny of sin. We are saved from the manipulation and the world and spirit of sin. We are saved from the penalty of that sin. We have been DELIVERED!

Any bondage that binds us, and any enemy is overcome by the dunamis of the gospel! There is power in this living Word of God when we believe.

Fruit grows! And there is something wrong if there you are not more Christlike now, than you were say… a year ago or even 6 months ago. It is a continuing walk with fruit growing in us, with more and more as we go. If we pray and walk in the Spirit, then we will walk from faith to faith. But if we quench or grieve the Holy Spirit, then we cut off the fruit of the Spirit and our lives grow miserable.

Romans 1:17 (KJV) “ For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. “

God literally reveals His righteousness in us as the fruit of the Spirit grows in us from FAITH TO FAITH. As we walk by faith, God is God in us and increases holiness in our lives. We continue to be more Christlike and are filled more and more with Jesus.

We have this through faith, lets any man should boast. Through faith, we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, and the Holy Spirit reveals more and more Jesus in and through us. If we are walking in the Spirit as we are supposed to be, then we are closer to God now than we were 6 months or a year ago. If we are not, then we have slipped into some kind of sin are need to repent.

For without the fruit, there is no power to live the abundant life. If you don’t have the joy or the love or the peace that you used to have, then there is something wrong! If the joy of the Lord is gone, you will grow weak. If the love of God has grown cold and things like hatred or bitterness or jealousy has grown… then there is a vacuum of that love for those to rise up. Something is wrong! Even in the worst nightmarish situations, there is the peace of God that passes all understanding when we pray and give it to the Lord… if that is not there, then there is a problem, and we have cut ourselves off from the flow of God.

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THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

The JUST shall live by faith (justified, being seen by God as being innocent and not guilty). You see here the connection to the Word of God concerning the Kingdom (the Gospel) that is blended by faith, not only brings salvation, but continues in bringing a righteous walk that is justified in God’s sight.

As we walk in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed in and through us from faith to faith. As our walk in faith increases, so does the righteousness of God in us. This kind of faith brings a walking in and doing of the Word.

James 1:22-23 (KJV) “ 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: “

Romans 10:17 (KJV) “ So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. “

John 4:23-24 (KJV) “ 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth“

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (KJV) “17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. “

The Word of God is preached with the anointing (the Spirit) blended with it, and it brings the power of God to become and walk as the children of God! Faith is increased by the Word, and as that faith is applied to the Word of God, then the works of God comes forth from God out of the believer. This is a growing process… from salvation from faith to faith, from glory to glory into the image of Jesus Christ!

1 Peter 1:23 (KJV) “ Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. “

The fruit of the Spirit will grow this way in the believer’s lives. Its starts with the seed of the Word of God, and is sown in others through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.