7. I Live out from Faith

In my first conception of The Jesus Secret II, I included Romans, even though I had already included it in The Jesus Secret I. To save space, however, I included only half. Chapters 1-3, then, were not included. Not having these three chapters fresh and current has left a bit of a hole, however. In fact, I have not looked closely at them as a whole since 2007.

Of truth, from verse 16 of Chapter 1 on, Paul is driving the argument of his gospel straight towards Romans 8:29. Paul is relentless. He hooks everyone and does not ease up until he has proven his gospel fulfilled in us.

Quiet Determination. We know Paul’s mood and intention because just a few months earlier he had fired off his letter to the Galatians, a letter written from passion and filled with sarcasm. There would not have been time between Galatians and Romans for Paul to have received pushback from afar. (He is in Corinth when writing these two letters.) Nonetheless, I’m sure local people would have asked him piercing questions about what he had meant in Galatians.

Once Paul had calmed down, his passion and sarcasm would have changed into quiet determination and logical reasoning. Paul wrote his letter to the Romans in order to set out, once for all, the essence and meaning of the gospel he preached.

To Bring Them Down. Before Paul can take anyone to Romans 8:29, however, he must successfully bring them down to Romans 3:19.

– Mouth tightly shut, face on ground – “I am guilty, I am utterly and irrevocably WRONG!”

The person in this position imagines that it’s over with; they are toast. Yet this is not a temporary position; rather it transforms itself, in those who are honest, into the first part of being just like Jesus. “I can do nothing of myself.” – No sufficiency in self becoming all-sufficiency in God. That brings us to faith.

Our Two Verses. Now, the first part of the chapter is Paul’s approach to his credentials as to why people should give heed to his gospel. The last part of the chapter is a very clever man aiming to hoist every single reader “on their own petard.” In-between, Paul writes the two verses that are the entirety of the page we are writing for The Jesus Secret.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God carrying into salvation all who are actively believing, Judeans first, and also Greeks. For inside of the gospel, the just approval of God is unveiled out from faith into faith; as it has been written, “The one who is just and innocent will live out from faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

Our Page. There is a very large concept introduced in these two verses – the Gospel. In Galatians, Paul had said, “According to my gospel.” Okay, Paul, what, exactly is your gospel?” Then there are two other concepts that fill this gospel – first, power into salvation and second, to live out from faith.

We will begin our page with the statements of faith woven together. Then we need three more boxes, first “The Gospel,” second “Into Salvation,” what is this salvation, and finally, “Out from Faith into Faith,” what is faith. The Gospel is the power of God carrying us into Romans 8:28-30, through – FAITH. We really need to establish what faith actually is.

Statements of Faith. I am called of God; God has set me apart into His Gospel. And He has given me Grace, God with me, and ministry for service to others. I serve God inside my spirit inside the Gospel. I impart spiritual gifts to others that they might be strengthened and that we might fellowship together. I am ready to preach the Gospel.

The Gospel is the power of God carrying me into Salvation, into knowing the Father and loving the Church. God carries me into Salvation with power as I actively believe into Jesus. God’s just approval of me is unveiled out from faith into faith. I am just and innocent; I live out from faith, out from knowing that God speaks the Truth.

The Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God. This power is resident inside my human frame, but it is never of me. The power is only out from God who dwells inside of me. This Grace is God sharing all with me. And this power of God-with-me is active in me as I actively believe into Jesus. The Power alone takes me into Salvation. And this Grace is the active Presence of a Personal God carrying me. God carries me through all as I rest utterly inside of Him, giving to Him my all, including all my weakness and inability.

Truly Good News. I don’t know that this is “The Gospel” expressed in its simplest form, yet it comes out from what Paul actually said, an entirely different view of the Gospel than we once knew. As we allow what God actually says to be real inside our heart-gut mind, our mind changes until we see all clearly. It is truly GOOD NEWS to know that God Himself carries us with power all the way into whatever He intends.
And so, what is the Salvation into which God carries us? Even though Paul is beginning an explanation of his gospel here, we draw from all that we know to assert what salvation is to Paul. I would refer you to the mini-course Living in Paul’s Gospel, which I just listened to again.

The Flow of Life. Salvation has two parts, an inward and an outward. Salvation is the flow of Life, a circle of Life, if you will, out from God through Jesus into us, that we might know the Father. Yet this knowing of the Father can never be static. Rather we respond with devotion, giving that same Life back to God by sharing it with one another as the Church, loving one another with pure hearts fervently.

Then that same Life returns to the Father from us together as a sweet-smelling aroma, giving utter Joy to God, before being sent forth again through Jesus into us. This is the Life that unfolds the ages, the Salvation inside of which we dwell.

Our Glorious Salvation. Over the last few days, God has given me a renewed clarity concerning what Salvation actually is, from a different point of view than I have ever known. In my enthusiasm I wrote the first two slides of a new “lesson.” Then I realized that what I had written was a new approach to Our Glorious Salvation, and suddenly the flow of that text has become a present joy.

I can’t keep from writing what I presently love. This is the stated purpose of Symmorphy VII: Completion, however, that I might know exactly how to write Our Glorious Salvation, the third volume of three. It is “the pathways of power” that has brought the clarity. Nonetheless, we must keep it simple for The Jesus Secret II.

Into Salvation. I know the Salvation into which the Power out from God always carries me. I know all Salvation now; His name is Jesus. I never take my eyes off of the Salvation of God to look at “myself” or anything else. Jesus connects me with and causes me to know the Father. Jesus connects me with and causes me to know my brothers and sisters in commitment and love.

As we know God together, so we have become the Salvation of God as the Church. God makes Himself known through us, through our Love for one another. Jesus takes me to the Father; Jesus takes me to Church. Jesus makes me whole and complete inside Himself. Jesus fills all my human weakness with Himself, causing my life to become one seamless story of Christ. God carries me into Salvation; I am saved.

Definitions of Faith. If you were to scan across all I have written, I think you would find definitions of faith to be more numerous than anything else. I would like to see someone put that together. “From faith into faith” does not mean that you start with a little faith and then you progress to much faith.

We have always possessed the faith of the Son of God, if we are willing to call it our own. There is no more faith. Rather, faith is an essential dynamic inside of God and inside of Life, and it plays differing roles in the flow of the power of God. “From faith into faith” means from one function of faith to the next, in a continuous movement.

Faith and Word Together. Faith is always female, that which receives. Word is always male, that which gives. Both need each other before there ever could be Life. Faith is also the human trait of confidence. As such it can stand opposed to God. But the faith that pleases God is the absolute confidence that He speaks the truth through Jesus.

The faith that pleases God seeks only one thing – to share Hheart with God. Yet out from that one thing, faith continues as the dynamic that allows God to flow through. The flow of God is a Personal Spirit Word, now in our hearts and mouths and the gentle touch of our hands.

A Dynamic, like Lightening. Word comes as Source, as Lord, and as Savior. Faith receives Word as Devotion, as Submission, and as Reflection. Faith receives Life and yet gives Life in return. Faith submits to Jesus as Lord, yet sits upon the throne. Faith reflects the face of Christ, yet also sets others free. Faith is a dynamic, like lightning. Faith (you and me) reaches up from the earth, and Word (Father in Jesus) follows through faith down in a blast of light and power.

These things will all show up in our development of a pattern language for the Kingdom. Although we will include some of these things in our box, we begin with simplicity.

Out from Faith into Faith. Faith is a quality of the Spirit, now part of my human fabric inside of Jesus. Faith is the counterpart of the Word God speaks. Word comes out from God and enters into me through faith, as I believe that God is telling me the truth, regardless of what I “see” or feel. My faith is the faith of the Son of God inside of me. I have all the faith in the universe, all the faith I need.

I live out from faith, a faith that engages dynamically with every Word that is Jesus entering into me. As I receive Jesus through faith, so I return the same thing back to the Father in a perpetual and living dynamic. I live out from faith; I live into faith.
Jesus is my source; everything He is, He gives utterly to me. In devotion, I return His same life to God by giving life to my brothers and sisters. Jesus is my Lord; I receive His union with me with all thanks. I speak His word into others with authority. Jesus sets me free; I set creation free in return. I live out from faith into faith.

Singing Together. The last few verses of Romans 1 are part of our discussion next time. But I want to comment on the verses in which Paul describes the downfall of humans. As I have sought to understand what happened in Eden, I have often drawn my understanding out from these verses among many others, Old Testament and New. In the process, I have come to a clarity of understanding of the fall that rings true to the nature and being of God.

Yet now, as I have looked much more closely at the Greek words Paul used, in order to have a more accurate translation, I discover that the exact words sing together with how the Spirit has caused me to understand.

Romans 1:18-23. Indeed, the set opposition of God is unveiled {referencing the cross} from heaven upon all cursing of God and hurting of one another by people who suppress the truth inside of their injustice. Because the knowing of God is made visible among them, for God has made it visible to them. Indeed, His invisible qualities of unceasing power and divine personalness are clearly perceived from the creation of the cosmos, being understood by the things He has made, so that they are without excuse. For having known God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, but they became pointless, even psychotic in their thinking {a false story of self}, and their incoherent heart was darkened, misunderstanding everything. Asserting themselves to be wise, they became foolish. And they bartered away the glory of the incorruptible God {they were the likeness and image of God} in order to gain the likeness and image of dying man, and birds, fore-footed animals, and even creeping things {the serpent as the image of God.}

The Last Thing on the Page.
I live out from faith; Jesus is my Salvation.
God carries me into all.