Examine Yourself

When God set his hand to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, he commanded a Passover sacrifice to be offered, and afterward, it was to be offered yearly on the fourteenth of the first month of the sacred calendar. Only those who were ritually clean were, under ordinary circumstances, permitted to partake of the Passover sacrifice.

To be ritually clean, one had to know what that meant, what measures had to be taken to meet the standard of cleanliness required. To do that implies that one had to examine his behavior, and his condition, based on certain standards.

Faithful Christians baptized into the body of Christ, having learned to keep his festivals as he commands, are also expected to examine ourselves, especially as we approach the Passover, not only at this time of year, but on a continual basis. Let me explain from the Scriptures what that means and how to go about it.

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Thirst For Living Water

Without water you can’t live. In fact, your physical body consists largely of water. And the supply of water in your body must be constantly replenished for you to thrive. Usually we rely on our sense of thirst to tell us when and how much water to drink. Sometimes, however, for various reasons, our sense of thirst may fail us. And when that happens individuals may become sick or even die from dehydration. At other times, people may thirst, but seek to satisfy their thirst with impure water that, either slowly or quickly, produces disease and death. Do you thirst for living water, pure, flowing, abundant and life-giving?

Thirst For Living WaterThe Spirit of God is analogous to water. “On the last day of the Festival–the great day–Jesus stood up and cried aloud. ‘Whoever is thirsty,’ He said, ‘let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, from within him–as the Scripture has said–rivers of living water shall flow.’ He referred to the Spirit which those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not bestowed as yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:37-39, Weymouth translation).

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The Two Covenants (Part 4)

What is the nature and effect of sin? Why is the Holy Spirit essential to salvation? How are these questions related to the “Old Covenant” that God made with Israel? Continue reading to find the answers!

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The Power Behind the Spiritual Creation


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Published on June 1, 2018
The Spirit of God is the power by which God’s spiritual creation is being formed and perfected in the Church. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of power, but do we understand how powerful God really is? God is a Workman, a Builder, a Creator and the power by which He is perfecting His creation is His Spirit.

“The Power Behind the Spiritual Creation” by Messenger Church of God released under a cc-by-nc-nd Creative Commons License:
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Jesus Our Savior

When the people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt they were living under a very powerful government. While in Egypt they were forced to live under the rule of Pharaoh – who was not only king but considered by the Egyptians to be a god as well. The Israelites were oppressed by the laws of Egypt and the whims of its ruler – Pharaoh (Exodus 3:7). To escape the oppression of Pharaoh in Egypt, they needed a Savior.

Egypt typifies the rule of sin – the law of sin which operates in the flesh – and in the fleshly mind (Romans 7:23). This law, rule or dominion of sin which operates in the flesh is something we must overcome in order to please God.

Yet within our own flesh, within our fleshly minds, we simply do not have the power of and by ourselves to cast out the law of sin that rules us. The fleshly mind is too weak to exercise dominion and power over sin, even if it wants to. That’s what Paul is referring to when he writes in Romans 7:23 about the law in our fleshly members warring against the mind, and bringing us into captivity to the law of sin.

Just as without God – without a Savior – the Israelites were in captivity, in bondage to the law of Egypt, so our flesh without a spiritual savior is in bondage to the law, dominion and rulership of sin. Even with the Old Covenant, wherewith the laws of God were written on tablets of stone, but not written in their hearts and minds, the Israelites were powerless to break the dominion of sin in their lives (Deuteronomy 5:29; 10:1-5; Romans 2:27-29; Jeremiah 31:33; Mark 7:6). In the same way, our human flesh of itself is powerless to break the bondage of sin.

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