17. Grace as Completion

We have three more slides to complete in 8.3 Form and Flow in Our Glorious Salvation. In this lesson, we will complete just two of those, “The Completion of Grace,” and “The Offering of Grace.” To complete those two slides, however, we have two full pages to fill in for the JS2. The first is in 2 Corinthians, titled, “I Complete All Devotion,” and the second is in Romans, titled, “I Give My Body as a Living Offering.” Then, as we continue writing Our Glorious Salvation, we will draw from this wondrous study of Grace in writing “9. Knowing One Another” and “10. Resurrection Life.” Resurrection is Grace made visible.

I Complete All Devotion. Both of our pages, completing devotion and offering back to God, carry a similar theme, each of us “knowing who I am.” This knowledge is critical in the present hour, as things are changing and about to change mightily in heaven and earth.

We know who we are only by placing the Lord Jesus upon ourselves, and seeing Him sharing with us every circumstance of our life. But to know ourselves personally, we must draw out from Jesus sharing with us in those hardest of places, when we chose against ourselves, either so that we might know the Lord to walk with Him or so that we might be true to others in gentleness of heart, whatever the cost. I suddenly see clearly, with complete purpose. No darkness or loss can affect my present task.

God Has Prepared Us. I would suggest that knowing our set purpose in these last days is also, very much, Grace inside of God. I can share only of myself, but view what I share in two ways. First, there are similarities that we share together inside the Heart of God, similarities caused by that Heart. But outwardly your purpose and meaning inside of God must be quite different from mine. Use what I share only as an example to engage with God yourself, in placing Jesus upon the hard places of your own life, that you might know God’s meaning as you inside the present cataclysm.

It is not possible for God to have done a better job in preparing you for His revelation than He has.

Thy People Willing. Our text in the King James is – “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. – Perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 6 & 7). There is a place in our lives where we want these words to have full sway, no matter how stark they might be. This same text in the JSV is – “Come out from the midst of them and be separate…” says the Lord. – Completing devotion inside of the fear of God.”

Yet here is the larger context. – Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning… (Psalm 110:3). We are birthing the new day, and it is beautiful.

The Purpose of Devotion. The purpose of our devotion is found in the words best expressed by the Covenant. – And I will be God inside of you and you will be a people inside of Me, says the Lord. When I made covenant with God at age 22, I had no idea that I was casting myself upon and requiring of God the fulfilment of His Covenant and purpose in my life now. All I knew was that I must be part of a people who KNOW God.

Separation is separation-from, but devotion is devotion-to. Without devotion-to, separation-from has no meaning. God in the midst of a people together is life shared together; it is Grace upon the earth. It is God winning all His Desire; it is you and me becoming all we are meant to be. Let’s start with our statements of faith.

Statements of Faith. I am the living temple of God. I am wholly for His presence; I care only for His desire. For that reason, I keep myself separate from the affairs of this world. I have no interest in any other purpose than knowing God and walking with a people who know God. God is my Father; I am His son or daughter. I possess all the promises of God. All that God speaks is fulfilled in me. For that reason, I cleanse myself from every lack of flesh or spirit; I take advantage of no one, and I rejoice inside of all pressures within and without. I complete all devotion inside of the fear of God. I value God’s true fear, for by it, I know that He keeps me for Himself. I belong wholly to God; my belonging is utterly complete.

Why “Devotion.” As you know, I am using the English word, “devotion,” as the better choice for the Greek “halig” or the Latin “sanct.” The words “holy” and “sanctified” bear only religious meanings; they are never used in common conversation. We have only vague impressions of what they mean.

“Devoted” on the other hand, carries a full intimate and personal meaning. If I say, “She is devoted to her music,” or, “He is devoted to his wife and children,” everyone knows what that means. Devotion means belonging, and it means, no other. Devotion has become a significant word in the JSV, carrying a deep and personal meaning wherever it appears.

Defining Devotion. Before we can know the completion of devotion, we must know what it means, and so we begin with definitions.

To Devote: 1. To appropriate by vow; to set apart or dedicate by a solemn act; to consecrate. 2. To give up wholly; to addict; to direct the attention of, wholly or chiefly; to attach.

Devotion: 1. State of being devoted; addiction; eager inclination; strong attachment; ardent love and affection; zeal, especially feelings towards God expressed by worship. 2. An act evincing devotedness; act of worship; prayer.

To Belong: 1. To be connected with as an adjunct, attribute, or part. 2. To be the property of. 3. To be the proper concern, business, or function of; to appertain to. 4. To be suitable for; to be due to. 6. To be attached or bound to or connected with.

Devotion (from Webster’s 1926). I am devoted to God because God is first devoted to me. God gives Himself wholeheartedly to me; I give myself wholeheartedly to God in return. God’s eager inclination and ardent attachment is towards me; my eager inclination and ardent attachment is towards God. God feels that He cannot live without me inside of Him; I feel that I cannot live without God inside of me. God honors, even worships me by planting Jesus as word inside my heart; I honor and worship God by sharing His Heart as well. I am attached to and part of God, designed to fit Him; God is attached to and part of me, designed to fit me. I belong to God because God first belongs to me. God means all to me because I mean all to God.
 
Life Is Fragile. Now, we are talking about Grace as a living thing, best pictured as a living cell inside of which God and each of us – and – God and us together, share life together. The thing about Life is that it is fragile; it has to be protected by its outer shell, that is, the Cross. But in order to be alive, the living cell must be able to move, and to move, that outer shell must be flexible, it must allow into the cell what is needed, but keep out what is not.

We can see exactly what Paul means by the cross separating us from the world, even while we are in the world (Galatians 6). Then, if some deadly thing penetrates that living cell, the life that is in it “bleeds out.” Thus we can also picture Paul’s statement, “fallen from grace.” (Also Galatians.)

“Fallen from Grace.” The deadly thing is the false story of self. “I am my own source, I generate myself, I direct my own steps, I am unthankful,” and so on. The law is the most powerful generator of the false self, but so are countries and flags and all worldly associations or self-devoted pursuits. The false story of self is deadly BECAUSE we immediately become hostile to God, and, being at war against God, we whole-heartedly devote our lives to something not-God.

With God, we enjoy all good things freely, but hostility against God is death and the mind of death. The Cross is the strength of our protection, but Devotion makes the outer form of Grace flexible and gentle.

Devoted to One Another. Devotion, then, must be personal, and Personal is Jesus. The problem is that knowing God must include knowing one another. This is why Devotion is complete only inside the fear of God. The question is, how do I treat you? Adam chose death in order to control and abuse his wife. I choose Life in order to receive you as Jesus to me inside of Grace. Thus a central word inside of Grace and inside of the Devotion of Grace is – Receive one another in just the same way that Jesus receives you.

As I devote my life and all that is me to a Personal Jesus inside of me, so I devote my life and all that is me to that same Personal Jesus inside of you. This is living inside of Grace, inside of sharing Life together.

The Jesus Secret. My Beloved, you mean more to Me than My own life. My presence inside your heart is the proof of God your Father’s complete devotion to you. But it is My complete Devotion to you that shows you the Father’s same Devotion. More than that, I am also the completion of your devotion to God in return. My son, My daughter, know just how much I genuinely care for you. Know that every moment and particle of your life is Me sharing Myself with you. I belong to you, My dear one, and you belong to Me. I make you to FIT God, just as I cause God to FIT you perfectly, just as you are. You share all Hheart with God because you share Me with God. I complete you; I am your complete devotion; know Me, that I am.

The Purpose Behind. Devotion is also devotion to Father’s Heart. For that reason, devotion is the purpose behind all our movements through our world, that Father might receive His Desire. To complete devotion, then, means to be given utterly and wholeheartedly to the Father’s desire and business, sealed into such Devotion by the Spirit of Devotion.

Here is what God Love says to each of us, His Purpose. “Bring your brothers and sisters with you, all whom I have brought into your life, just as Jesus did, and I will raise you up, just as I raised up Christ out of death with you inside of Him.” It was nearly 48 years ago that I first heard “Take your brother with you.” I knew it then, and I know it now as the meaning of my own life.

The Bottom of the Jordan. To stand as the Ark at the bottom of the Jordan means this. It means that, though I am committed to know God, I am also committed to know Him together with all my fellow Christians. Therefore, I will stand, right here against all death until every little one who belongs to Jesus has passed out from death and into all the Life of Christ.

God shared this again with me, seeing all my fellow Christians in their desire to know Jesus and in their great confusion and obstinacy of soul. God asked me, “Will you give your life for their sake?” I said, “God, I give myself utterly to you, that through me, You might be what You are.” I knew such a placement of myself upon my Father. And I said, “I want one thing only in return for my life, Father, that You would keep me utterly inside the depths of Your Heart.”

The Devotion of Grace (OGS). We are devoted to God because God is first devoted to us. This shared devotion is the devotion of Grace. This Grace of a life shared with God is a living thing that requires protection. The Cross is that protection, keeping our relationship with God safe from all that is in the world. Yet it is the Devotion we share with God that allows us to move freely even as we interact with that world.

We give our lives utterly to God for the sake of our brethren, knowing that God keeps us and that God raises us out from death with them. We trust utterly in God’s Devotion to us that this Grace we share with God prevails against all and brings forth all Life and Joy.

The Devotion of Grace (JS2). Devotion is the sweet bond of Grace that keeps me fully aware of God sharing all with me as I maneuver through the circumstances and interactions of my daily life in this world. I trust utterly in the Cross to protect me and the life I share with the Father from all sin and death coming from without. Nonetheless, it is Devotion, the bond of the Devoted Spirit that keeps me from my own pretending of self.

My devotion to God is always a reciprocal response to God’s devotion to me. I bring that reciprocal devotion to completion by sharing that same devotion with my brothers and sisters. As I receive them inside God’s presence, and as they receive me, carrying one another in our hearts into God, so the Father has His dwelling place inside creation. We give our lives utterly to the Father so that He might be free to be what He is through us, that He might with us carry all who belong to Jesus through death and into all the life of Christ. Devotion completes all Grace.

I Give My Body as a Living Offering. The text for this next page in Romans is 12:1-2. For this reason, I encourage you, brothers and sisters, through the favors and compassions of God, to present your bodies a living offering, devoted to God and well-pleasing, for this is your reasonable service and worship. And do not share the same outward pattern of expression with this age but be metamorphosed [share the same pattern of expression with Christ Jesus], by the renewing of your mind, into God’s desire proven, that which is intrinsically good, well-pleasing, and complete.

As I brought boxes into this page, I realized that these two verses are a continuation of Romans 8:28-30.

The Covenant. Our careful thinking through “completing devotion” has brought us immediately to this verse. Thus Romans 12:1-2 is also a direct companion with 2 Corinthians 6:14 to 7:1. We also see that all three passages reference the Covenant, the contract God has with us whereby He gains all His desire and we gain all our desire. God is known by all creation through us His Church, and we are made just like Jesus towards the Father and towards one another. “Symmorphosed with the image of His Son” and “sharing the same pattern of expression with Jesus” are the same thing.

But here’s the thing. Romans 12:1-2 is NOT speaking of our redemption, which we once falsely imagined. These verses are speaking of the Salvation of God through us into our world.

Statements of Faith. I present my body a living offering to God. My body is clean and pure; my body is devoted to God. My body is well-pleasing to God for His own body. I am metamorphosed by a renewed mind, the mind of Christ, so that I share the same pattern of expression with the Lord Jesus. God proves all His desire through me. I am good, well-pleasing and complete. I do not think highly of myself; rather, I think like Jesus, meek and lowly of heart. My body is an offering of Grace to Him.

We Beheld His Glory. Consider this line from John 1. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, filled with Grace and Truth. – Filled with sharing life with God inside of the honesty of protected human weakness. Just as “we beheld His glory,” so, in the same way, when creation sees us walking together as the Body of Christ, they will see the same pattern of expression that is Jesus. They will see God manifest in the flesh.

Now, the Greek word is metamorphosis, which we have already covered. Yet the context of this verse defines metamorphosis by presenting its opposite, thus “sharing the same pattern of expression.”

A Living Offering. We are talking about a living Grace, a bubble of Life inside of which we share all things with God our Father. And this bubble of Grace that we are with Father, moving through our world, has a “pattern of expression,” an image, we might say.

Now, Paul said, “Present your bodies a living offering.” He did not say “sacrifice.” There is only one death, only one sacrifice for sins forever. – It is finished. Our bodies as a living offering is the means of Grace, how God makes Himself visible, how God gets to be Himself inside all creation. Our devotion is incredibly pleasing to God. We are saying, then, that Grace is the Body of God, His visible form moving through our world, as we share our lives together. Resurrection is the visibility of Grace.

Gifts, Fruit, and Fellowship. The phrase “patterns of expression,” is a wondrous way to think about the movement of Grace, this flow and movement of the life I share with God inside my world. Patterns of expression certainly include all the gifts, the charismas, of the Spirit. The Greek “charisma” is actually “the expression of grace.” And they include all the fruit of the Spirit, the kindness and joy of God.

Now, the word “you” and the word “bodies” are plural, and thus Paul is speaking of Grace as the Body of Christ, that which must always flow out from Grace as each one of us. And so “patterns of expression” also include all the expressions of care and fellowship in Christ Community.

The Same Pattern of Expression. As my brethren and I spend time together inside of Jesus, we take on His same pattern of expression. We move together in all the expressions of Grace; we reflect the qualities of Jesus as the fruit of the Spirit. Inside of our life together, I exhibit all the expressions of care and fellowship. The very resurrection life of Jesus is made visible through my mortal flesh. I become just like Jesus as I see Him as He is. We together are filled with the same Grace of life shared with God; we are His glory revealed.

A Life Mind. The mind is critical. What words govern our thoughts? What story do we tell ourselves about ourselves? The hostile mind claims that there is a mixture, good and evil, back and forth. The mind of the Spirit knows only LIFE, Jesus our only Life.

There is a Life-mind, the mind of Christ. And that Life-mind, that is, that way of thinking, is formed as Life only by every Word God speaks flowing through our thoughts made personal as us. You have never come across any exercise of faith that will cause you to think like Jesus more, than to speak out loud The Jesus Secret II, and to believe that your words are true inside of the Spirit of Devotion.

Thinking Like Jesus. I share the same pattern of expression that is the grace and glory of Jesus because I think like Jesus thinks. I possess a renewed mind, the mind of the Tree of Life. I never see myself separate from Jesus, but I see Jesus always and myself complete inside of Him. Yet it is by every Word God speaks that I know Jesus and how He thinks. As I speak what God speaks, now made personal as Jesus in me, my only life, my only voice, so my mind becomes brand new, my mind becomes Life itself. I speak the Jesus Secret because Jesus is True in me. I speak until I know that Jesus is my Life. I think just like Jesus thinks.

A Swarm. Now, I want to show you the most frightening development in human history, the POWER to subdue all humans under FEAR. https://corbettreport.com/the-drone-wars-you-are-not-prepared/ Watch the video of the dragon. The dragon is a swarm of drones coordinated by AI. Picture 10,000 drones the size of dragon flies, all swarming together, changing their overall shape in front of you, surrounding you, speaking to you. You can’t shoot them down. They will command your submission through fear – or easily kill you.

Yet against this grotesque and powerful image of fear, God is assembling His own body, a body filled with and moving by GRACE. Grace, then, is the rapid gathering together unto Christ, the “swarm” that expresses the care and joy of God.

An Offering of Goodness. This is exactly how Paul positions the offering of our bodies to God as His expression through us. One against the other.

But let’s switch quickly back to “God’s desire proven,” through each and us together, knowing what it means. – That which is intrinsically good, well-pleasing, and complete. As each of us gives our small bodies of weakness as a sweet-smelling offering to God, so we together are guided by the mind of Christ, by the Spirit we share together. The rest of Chapter 12 is how Grace moves us as one body together, overcoming evil with GOODNESS.

But to know the offering of our outward form to God, in utter trust that He will cause all to be out from His own Desire, we must bring back in “Devotion” defined and applied.

God Proves Himself. Now, this word, “prove” is very important for the revelation of Jesus Christ. God does not prove us, to see what we are. We do not prove God to demonstrate what He is. Rather, it is God who proves Himself through our Devotion to Him, our utter trust that He does. God proves Himself, and He proves Himself through our faith. Faith is evidence as the proof of God, faithful and True.

Yet it is God’s DESIRE that He is proving through us, that which He calls intrinsically good, well-pleasing, and complete. And so we return to the picture of the Ark of the Covenant at the bottom of the Jordan, giving ourselves utterly to God that His Church, all who believe into Jesus, might escape all that is death and might enter into all the life of Christ.

The Proof of God. Here is the proof of God, all the proof that is needed to demonstrate God as He is. – Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! …For there the Lord commanded the blessing—Life forevermore (Psalm 133). We eat together, we work together, we make life decisions together, we worship God together, for inside of this daily togetherness is the Father made known – Life forevermore.

Notice our three words from Romans 12:2 – intrinsically good, well-pleasing, and complete. Or, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Christian Community swallowed up by Resurrection Life is God made visible forever.

God’s Desire Proven. God proves His desire through me as I gather together with my brothers and sisters inside of Christ. God desires a body, a temple, a dwelling place inside of creation; we give our bodies as our offering to God, that He might reveal Himself as He is through our movement together inside of Love. As we dwell together inside the completion of all devotion, so we are well-pleasing to God, and He shows His intrinsic goodness to all creation through our life together. As we offer our bodies to God as His dwelling place inside of Love, so God shows His Desire to all creation, Life forevermore.
 
The Offering of Grace (OGS). Grace as life shared with God is also Grace as life shared with one another. Together, we are the Body of God, His dwelling place inside creation. We know the Father even more as we know one another inside of this living Grace. We together present our bodies to God as a living offering, that the same patterns of expression that are Jesus might be our life together inside this world.

It is the Father who proves His desire to be known by all, then, through our offering. As we cast all that we are upon His Devotion to us, we are well-pleasing to Him, and through us, God makes all things good. Grace is Resurrection Life, knowing God together, Life-forevermore. The offering of Grace is the blessing of God.

The Offering of Grace (JS2). Grace is a living thing. Grace is life shared with God inside the protection of the cross and a shared Devotion. This living Grace, then, is a continuous circle of Life. God gives Himself first to me; we share life together, second, Then, I give that same life and grace to my brothers and sisters inside God’s dwelling place, Christ Community. Finally, as my brethren and I offer our bodies to God as a living offering, both as individuals and as one body together, God proves Himself as Grace through us into our world.

Inside of this offering, God has commanded the blessing. Through this offering, God and we together make all things intrinsically good. As the offering of our bodies together returns all creation to the Father, God is well-pleased, for His Desire to be known by all becomes our desire to love as God loves. It is in this offering of our bodies to God, just like Jesus, that the Spirit does His greatest work, swallowing up our mortal flesh into Life; Life forevermore.

Devotion Complete. I feel that I have hardly scratched the surface of the wondrous meanings opening to us in our two short passages, the outward expression of Grace, that is, of God. Yet now we know what these two passages are about and why they must be close companion verses to the ruling verse of the Bible in all future study.

You see, the thing they add to Covenant is the word devotion. Devotion is the glue of our bond with God. – Be devoted to Me, for I am devoted to you. Devotion is Personal Belonging, and we together make that devotion COMPLETE, for us and for God through Jesus, the revelation of the Father.

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is titled “Grace as the Capstone.” Now, this is wondrous. You see, we have one JS2 page to finish in 2 Corinthians, “I Care for All the Churches,” AND the next page in Romans is “I Am One Body Together With All Who Are Inside Of Christ.” We also have one more slide to finish in Lesson 8.3 “Form and Flow,” titled “The Capstone of Grace.”

I am convinced that this is no “coincidence,” but that God is intent on imparting to us the most important EFFECT of Grace, you and me placing GRACE upon the entire Church. Thus both of our JS2 pages will have the box, “The Capstone of Grace.” The wording will be different, affected by each context, but in both, we will SHOUT – “GRACE, GRACE” upon the dwelling place of God.

Let’s Pray Together. “God, our Father, Your All-Devotion to us fills us with such Grace. Inside of Your Devotion, we freely give our lives and our bodies in Devotion to You in return. Prove Yourself, Father, through our offering. Show Yourself as Love through us into all the world. Let the offering of our bodies be a sweet-smelling pleasure to You, that You with us might make all things good.

“Father, just as we are complete inside of You, so You are made complete now inside of our lives shared together. We give You our lives for the sake of Your people, all who belong to Jesus right now, that You would make them Your dwelling place together with us, that we might share Gory with Jesus. Father, in all things, You are with us, and You answer us.