The Daily Word of Righteousness

Israel—Spirit and Flesh, #17

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. (I John 3:10)

Imputed righteousness has been emphasized far beyond its actual place in redemption. The unscriptural emphasis on imputed (ascribed) righteousness has destroyed the churches of our day.

The Kingdom of God is not ascribed righteousness. The Kingdom of God is the doing of God's will in the earth as it is in Heaven. The revival of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is a revival of righteous, holy, and obedient behavior on the part of the believers in Christ.

Imputed (ascribed) righteousness is the means by which sinners approach God, not an eternal way of relating to God. Imputed righteousness is associated with the sinner. The new creation is associated with the mature Christian, with the victorious saint.

While it is true that the blood of the Lamb continues to forgive the sins we have not outgrown, a new creation is coming forth in us that does not sin. That new creation is the Kingdom of God. Ascribed righteousness serves until Christ is formed in us, until the Kingdom enters us and we enter the Kingdom (I John 3:9).

At the same time, Christ is drawing closer to the land and people of Israel. There is an unprecedented interest in Israel on the part of Christians. This interest is coming from the Lord. He is preparing the Jews for their awakening, for the coming of their Christ in His Kingdom.

The Jews associate the feast of Tabernacles with the coming of Christ. We Christians are being brought past the feast of Pentecost. Now we are being confronted with the spiritual fulfillments of the blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles. There is a converging of the spiritual and natural dimensions of the Kingdom of God. The two are becoming one.

As we have stated, the Blowing of Trumpets, the feast observed after Pentecost, is the Jewish New Year's Day. It is the first day of the year of kings and contracts. It signals the transition from the religious year to the civil year. Can you see the significance of this?

There is a converging. The Gentile believers are being awakened to the reality of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. The body of tradition that has been built on the sure foundation of the blood atonement and triumphant resurrection of Christ is being blown away by the fresh winds of the Holy Spirit of God.

We understand now that the concept of a forgiven "Gentile Church" being carried off to live in mansions in the spirit realm is without basis in the Scriptures. The Spirit of God is calling to the Church of Christ to repent of its sins and self-seeking. The Kingdom of God, the doing of God's will in the earth as it is in Heaven, is at hand.

At the same time, and as part of the spiritual fulfillment of the Blowing of Trumpets, of the Day of Atonement, and of the feast of Tabernacles, the Jews are being brought closer to their final acceptance of Christ in their own land and as an integral part of their own Jewish inheritance and culture. Not a Gentile Jesus but a Jewish Yeshua.

To be continued.