Redeemed by God - 1 , livre ebook

REDEEMED BY GOD - 1
Spiritual Life Principles Associated with God’s Word
2 nd edition
 

 
By:
Douglas D. Reynolds, Ph.D.
 
 
Scriptures taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE® Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© Copyright 2023 Douglas D. Reynolds, Ph.D. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6987-0169-1 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-6987-0168-4 (e)
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Trafford rev. 02/22/2023
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TITLE PAGE IMAGE
The apostle Paul stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 we are born with a spirit, soul and body. The outer ellipse in the title page image represents our physical body. Our body interacts with the physical world through our five physical senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. The two inner ellipses in the outer ellipse of the body represent our spirit and soul. Our spirit gives life to our physical body and interacts with the spiritual realm where God exists. Our soul functions through our body and spirit as we interact with the physical world and the spiritual realm. Our spirit and soul are integrally linked. Our body dies and returns to dust when our spirit no longer can support physical life. Our spirit and soul continue in an eternal existence beyond physical death. They continue either in the Kingdom of Heaven in the presence of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit or separated from Them in Hades (hell) before and in the lake of fire after the great white throne judgement.
Our soul is comprised of our mind and heart. Our mind is the seat of our memory and intellect. Our memory is the repository of information and experiences we have processed and assimilated throughout our life. Our intellect is the knowledge and wisdom we acquire from this information and these experiences. Our heart is the seat of our personality and character. Our personality is the organized pattern of behavioral characteristics that identify and define who we are. Our character defines the moral and ethical qualities of our personality.
Our soul possesses memory, acquires knowledge, experiences emotions, creates thoughts, forms habits, and initiates actions through our body and spirit. It develops as our mind and heart process and assimilate information they receive through our life experiences. It controls how we encounter, interpret and respond to new life experiences based on how it has processed and assimilated information it has received from prior life experiences.
The Bible teaches we relate to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are three eternal Persons within the Godhead even though there is one God. They each possess all the eternal attributes of God and interact with perfect agreement. However, they relate to and interact with us in distinct and unique ways. God, the Father, is our Creator and the One who is behind everything and to whom everyone in Heaven and on Earth is accountable. God’s Son, Jesus, is our Lord and Savior. He is the One for and through whom all things have been created and are held together and through whom we approach God, the Father. The Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Helper, reveals the mind of God to us and makes our needs and requests known to God, the Father, through our prayers.
The Bible teaches we are born into this world with a sin nature that separates us from God. We are born spiritually dead because God’s spirit is not present in us. However, the Bible also teaches God loves us, desires to commune and fellowship with us, and is active in us through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes us aware of sins in our life, leads us to repent of these sins, and creates a desire within us to enter a relationship with God. God has made this relationship possible through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. God extends His mercy and grace to us, and He makes known to us His desire to redeem and reconcile us to Himself through Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, we must seek God’s grace and forgiveness and acknowledge and repent of our sins to enter a reconciled relationship with Him through Jesus. God loves and forgives us, and He communes and fellowships with us when we approach Him through Jesus.
Jesus stated in John 14:6 we can only approach God, the Father, through Him. Therefore, being a good, moral and generous person independent of a relationship with God through Jesus does not gain us entrance into the Kingdom of God while we are alive, nor does this gain us entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven after we die. God redeems and reconciles us to Himself through our faith and trust in and obedience to Jesus as a gift. This gift for us is free because we can do nothing to earn or obtain it independent of our relationship with God through Jesus. The Holy Spirit leads us to repent of our sins, profess with our mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart God raised Him from the dead to receive God’s salvation through His gift of grace (Romans 10:9-10). This saves us from eternal separation from God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit after we die. We are spiritually reborn because God’s Spirit along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit take up residence in us.
Paul instructed us in 1 Corinthians 3:10 - 15 to build our life on the foundation of Jesus. We begin building this foundation by reading and study God’s word in the Bible. The Holy Spirit opens our mind to understand and internalize what we read and study in the Bible. Our mind is renewed as we internalize and assimilate the words Jesus spoke in the four Gospels, and the Holy Spirit enters our heart to transform our personality and character as our mind is renewed. We are transformed into the person God has created us to be as we continue to have faith in and trust Jesus and become obedient to the words He spoke in the four Gospels.
To the members of my family
my wife, Linda;
my son and daughter-in-law, John and Latricia, and son, Jeff (deceased);
my granddaughters, Janet, Jennifer and Ashlin;
my grandson, Jerry; and
my great grandchildren, Jered, Michael, Hailey,
Alex, Dustin, Ian, Mason and Jackson.
To the Rev. James “JD” Hilliard who reviewed the manuscript for this book and provided helpful guidance for its improvement.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE IMAGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
ACTIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN MY LIFE
SPIRITUAL ORIGIN OF TODAY’S CULTURAL CONFLICTS
SIGNIFICANCE OF GOD’S GRACE
GOOD WORKS
KINGDOM OF GOD AND KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
OLD TESTAMENT SUPERSCRIPTS
CHAPTER 1     INTRODUCTION
THIS BOOK
MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH JESUS
UNIQUENESS OF THE BIBLE
ORTHODOX BELIEFS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
CHAPTER 2     NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT
NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD (CHAPTERS 2 - 7)
TWO POSITIONS
NAMES OF GOD
NATURE OF GOD
CHARACTER OF GOD
THE LAWS OF GOD
GOD’S PRESENCE IN OUR LIFE
CHAPTER 3     NATURE AND CHARACTER OF G OD SATAN AND SIN
NATURE AND CHARACTER OF SATAN
DOMINION VERSUS OWNERSHIP
NATURE AND CHARACTER OF SIN
THE COMING JUDGMENT
CHAPTER 4     NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD A CHOICE BETWEEN TWO KINGDOMS
TWO KINGDOMS
KINGDOM CHARACTERISTICS
RELATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
ETERNAL CHARACTERISTICS
EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
A CHOICE BETWEEN TWO KINGDOMS
CHAPTER 5     NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD JESUS - GOD INCARNATE IN MAN
WHY WE NEED A SAVIOR
JESUS AND THE BIBLE
JESUS - GOD’S AGENT OF REDEMPTION AND RECONCILIATION
CHAPTER 6     NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD JESUS - GOD’S ONLY PROVISION FOR SIN
JESUS IS OUR ONLY PROVISION FOR SIN
JESUS WAS BORN OF A VIRGIN
JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED
JESUS SUFFERED AND DIED
JESUS WENT TO HADES
JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD
JESUS IS OUR HEALER AND REDEEMER
JESUS IS OUR ONLY WAY TO GOD
CHAPTER 7     NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT - GOD WITH US
THE HOLY SPIRIT - GOD IN THE WORLD WITH US
CHAPTER 8     NATURE AND CHARACTER OF MAN SPIRITUAL DEATH, REBIRTH AND LIFE
NATURE AND CHARACTER OF MAN (CHAPTERS 8 - 9)
UNDERSTANDING OUR CONDITION
SPIRITUAL DEATH
SPIRITUAL REBIRTH AND LIFE
CHAPTER 9     NATU RE AND CHARACTER OF MAN OUR SOUL AND SPIRIT
OUR SOUL
THE STRUCTURE OF AND PROCESSES WITHIN OUR SOUL
OUR SOUL WHEN NURTURED BY GOD
YEARNINGS WITHIN OUR SOUL
OUR SPIRIT WHEN NURTURED BY GOD
STRUGGLES WITHIN OUR SOUL
CHAPTER 10   SPIRITUAL GROWTH WA SHING, CLEANSING AND BA PTISM
SPIRITUAL GROWTH (CHAPTERS 10 - 14)
WASHING OF REGENERATION
WATER BAPTISM
THE HOLY SPIRIT
CHAPTER 11   SPIRITUAL GROWTH GRACE, FAITH AND GOOD WORKS
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH OUR FAITH IN JESUS
GRACE
FAITH
THE RELATION BETWEEN GRACE, FAITH AND GOOD WORKS
CHAPTER 12   SPIRITUAL GROWTH R ENEWAL OF OUR MIND AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH
RENEWAL OF OUR MIND