To turn them from darkness to light

 

 

『To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. 』(Acts 26:18)

God opened his eyes and moved from darkness to light  This is what Jesus said directly to the Apostle Paul. This is divided into four steps. First, from darkness to light, second from Satan's power to God, third, forgiveness of sin, and finally inheritance. If there is no change of master from Satan's power to God, no matter how long people have faith, God does not forgive their sins. In order for the owners of men to change, they must drink the blood of Jesus. Drinking a cup of blood in sacrament meeting is that I am dead with Jesus. This is baptism, which once again confirms baptism. Baptism is to die with Jesus.

In Acts 2:38 it says: 『Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 』 The form of baptism is not important, but repentance is important. When a sinner repents, God causes him to be born again. Thus the repentant receives the Holy Spirit from God as a gift. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are building the body of the Lord. The believer is the church and is able to worship directly. So “inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.』 The Apostle Paul preached to the Gentiles.
『But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance』 (Acts 26:20)

If the sinner does not repent, God will not forgive sin. Repentance is to deny yourself. In Mark (4:12) Jesus quoted Isaiah the prophet.『That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. 』

There are four parables in the Bible concerning repentance. Those who repent are good fields. To be a good field, you must plow a firm field. The field is the heart of the spirit. The hard field (heart) is the greed that wants to be like God.

This greed is like evil angels in God's kingdom breaking God's command, and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in violation of God's command. So God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden into the world. This greed causes the spirit to die. Greed of possession is included in greed. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai, God said, "Do not make any image for yourself," while the people made the golden calf idols while Moses listened to God. It was not long after the Israelites saw the miracle of the Red Sea breaking up. The miracle may have been deep in their memory, but they have made the idol of greed because the root of greed was deeply embedded in the heart. When this greed disappears, the spirit can live. When this greed ceases, the dead spirit can be revived, returning home.
The book of Hebrews speaks of the home country as the kingdom of God.

『These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 』(Hebrews 11: 13-16)
The home of the flesh is where the flesh was born, but the home of the spirit is the kingdom of God. God is saying to repent and return. Jesus tells us that the dead spirit must rise again.

『It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 』(John 6:63)Man will eventually either go to god of wealth or go to God. The choice between the two is the difference that repentance or not. A good field repents and bears the fruit of patience. Faith in Christ requires patience, not just joy. God's Word is not in harmony with the world. Do you want the world or the kingdom of God? Those who say, "We must work together in harmony with the world and the kingdom of God" are fakes. The Bible says in 1 John (2: 15-17):

 『Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, 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. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 』

God's Word is the opposite of the world's way. The mind of the flesh is the enemy with God. If the flesh is good, God is not happy, but my  flesh is happy. Everything in this world is the passion of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. What this world gives is not even one thing that God gives. Jesus said, "I do not belong to this world." In John 18:36,

『Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 』

All are blind if they do not open the eyes of a sinner and turn from darkness to light. Without knowing where they should go, rhey becomes a living being in this world.『For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 』(2 Corinthians 5: 1) Jesus describes the state of the spirit when the human body dies.

『For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 』(Matthew 22:30) Only when we repent can we return to the kingdom of God. Repentance is the way of self-denial, dying on the cross with Jesus.

Today, we live in an age that says, "If you believe in Jesus without repentance, you can be saved." Say that if you accept Jesus, you can be saved. Repentance is the death of sin. Only those who die on the cross with Jesus can be saved. It is not sinners who can receive Jesus, but are repentant and dead with Jesus. Faith cannot come from heaven unless we repent. In Galatians 3:23 says:

『But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 』 Faith must come from God. God gives faith to those who repent. Thus, the repentant receives life from heaven and is born again into the spirit body. Those who have realized the revelation of Christ must die with Jesus on the cross. God does not count the sin of the dead.

『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. For he that is dead is freed from sin. 』 (Romans 6: 6-7)

 Romans (3:19) says: 『Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.』 Means that if we do not die with Jesus on the cross, we will be under God's judgment.