I am apprehended of Christ Jesus

 

I am apprehended of Christ Jesus

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(Philippians 3:12)『 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.』

The Apostle Paul read and mastered the Old Testament from a young age, and he waited for the Messiah, but he did not know whether Jesus, who was crucified and died, was the Messiah. His inner life has become a life that seeks to kill those who believe in Jesus because he read the Bible. What he found was the law, for he awaited the Messiah in the law. He kept the law and waited for the Messiah, but he killed the Messiah. The law did that. The death on the cross is the death by the law. Many church people today say that I am breaking from the law and following the law of the Holy Spirit, but all unrepentant people are bound by the law before they come to faith as in Galatians 3:23.

The Lord took pity on it and revealed Himself in Damascus. “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.”

Those who are surrounded by the law like this must realize that even those who have mastered the Bible like Saul are persecutors of Jesus. The Lord is with those who suffer.

We can see that Jesus is with those who may be arrested and killed by Saul because of him. The Lord is with those who are persecuted because of Jesus today. Who are the persecutors? They are not those who have nothing to do with their faith, but those who do not repent of their self-death and say, “They confessed that they believed in Jesus and were saved.”

When Saul heard the voice of Jesus, he was astonished. He was shocked and blind. This Saul was changed to Paul and even came to see the third heaven as mentioned in 2 Corinthians. However, the Bible does not testify in detail. What he wants to know is that it is not about the Damascus experience or the visit to the third heaven. “Being conformed to his death, that I might know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and the sharing in his sufferings.”

He wrote about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. He wrote about how he met the resurrected Jesus, the witnesses of the resurrection and the spiritual principles of resurrection that remain on this earth. But everything on this earth will perish, he said. What he was looking for was "I die every day." Received the Holy Spirit, and it was not “I will live every day.”

Many churches today may think of the cross as a necessary tool for baptism, and the cross as a tool for salvation. They also see them trying to be baptized with the Holy Spirit by relying on the merits of the cross. The Holy Spirit is given to those who repent. The Lord said, "Whoever wishes to follow me must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." They must be disciples so that the truth sets them free. If they don't become disciples, they only know with their heads, and it doesn't work. No matter how much you recite the truth, it doesn't work. When they experience the truth, it sets us free. “To know the truth is to experience and experience it.” On the cross, Jesus died for all mankind. It's not important to know that. To know the truth is to experience it. You have to experience the cross. Only then will the cross become the truth and set you free. That is why we must take up our cross every day. It is a way to deny yourself. Paul said, "I conform daily to his death."

Baptism is union with the death of Jesus. From that day on, what the saints seek daily is to imitate his death. It is daily for the saints to take up their cross. People seem to think that being baptized and receiving the Holy Spirit is the end of everything. They think salvation is complete. So they are talking about the assurance of salvation. Paul said, "I am trying to reach the resurrection from the dead by any means, conforming to his death." Does "I am trying to reach the resurrection" mean that there is no resurrection? Once salvation has begun, salvation must continue.

In Philippians 2:12, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

However, in many churches today, we often see cases where people who have just joined the church say they are saved if they confess their sins and believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died on the cross to atone for his sins. And they say, "The Lord will be with you forever." They like to speak of confirmatory and immediate salvation. Salvation is determined by God.

Since they have all sins forgiven, past, present, and future sins, they do not even go through sinning in the world. So they come to church, confess their sins every day, and seek forgiveness for their sins. These people have the truth in their heads and do not know the truth. To know is to know that Adam knew Eve. The cross is nothing more than an escape from sin. They are not those who enter the cross. The believer must die to sin, not to forgive sins. He who dies to sin thinks of the source of sin. But those who seek forgiveness of sins look to the fruits of their sins. He who contemplates the root of sin realizes that the cause of greed is the self, but he thinks that he who beholds the fruit of sin can only be made holy by removing its fruit. Therefore, those who look at the fruits of sin do not know the meaning of the cross and can be said to be those who do not know the truth. Because they do not know the truth, they are not disciples of Jesus, but persecutors of Jesus.