Author: Gary Witcher

Promises

	"If then you have been raised up with Christ," Colossians 3:1-4 urges, "keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."
	Notice the promise that is made to us here.  God offers the opportunity for us to be revealed with Christ in glory.  Even if we don't entirely understand what is involved in this, we must admit that it is quite a privilege.  We should recognize, though, that there are conditions to receiving this promise.  The passage states that, for one thing, we must set our minds on things above.
	"This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord," Paul writes in Ephesians 4:17-32, "that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.  But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in {the likeness of} God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.  Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one {of you,} with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.  Be angry, and {yet} do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.  Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have {something} to share with him who has need.  Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such {a word} as is good for edification according to the need {of the moment,} that it may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
	"Finally, brethren," Paul instructs in Philippians 4:8-9, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you."
	We can be revealed with Christ in glory.  But we must first set our minds on things above.  The passage goes on to limit the promise to those who have died and whose lives are hidden with Christ.
	"May it never be!" Paul responds to an accusation in Romans 6:2-11.  "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with {Him,} that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
	"I have been crucified with Christ;" Galatians 2:20 explains, "and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the {life} which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."
	Those who have set their minds on things above and who have died and their lives are hidden with Christ can look forward to being revealed with Christ in glory.  The only other requirement is that they be raised up with Christ.
	"Now if Christ is preached," Paul comments in 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, "that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.  Moreover we are even found {to be} false witnesses of God, because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.  But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep."
	"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren," we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, "about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.  For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of {the} archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words."
	Some will be revealed with Christ in glory.  They will have set their minds on things above.  They will have died through baptism and had their lives hidden with Christ.  They will definitely be raised up with Christ when He returns.

	We have seen the wonderful promise made to those who set their minds on things above, who die and have their lives hidden with Christ and who have been raised up with Christ.  In John chapter eight we have another wonderful promise.  Actually, it is a three-fold promise.
	"If you abide in My word," Jesus promises in John 8:31-32, "{then} you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
	Three things await those who abide in the words of Jesus.  First, they are truly His disciples.
	"By this all men will know that you are My disciples," the Lord notes in John 13:35, "if you have love for one another."
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we are truly His disciples.  And this discipleship will be evident through our love for one another.
	"And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined {at the table} again," John 13:12-17 records, "He said to them, 'Do you know what I have done to you?  You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for {so} I am.  If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.  Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither {is} one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them."
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we are truly His disciples.  And this discipleship will be evident through our service to one another.
	"By this is My Father glorified," Jesus explains in John 15:8, "that you bear much fruit, and {so} prove to be My disciples."
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we are truly His disciples.  And this discipleship will be evident through the fruit that we bear.
	Jesus promises that, if we abide in His word, we will also know the truth.
	"Pilate therefore said to Him," we read in John 18:37-38, "'So You are a king?' Jesus answered, 'You say {correctly} that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.'  Pilate said to Him, 'What is truth?' And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, 'I find no guilt in Him.'"
	Some people don't believe in the existence of truth, in the reality of right and wrong.  Some people may not even recognize the truth when they are looking it in the face.  But it exists nonetheless.
	"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us," John 1:14 affirms, "and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
	"For the Law was given through Moses;" verse 17 adds, "grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ."
	Truth does exist, and those who want to know God listen to it.
	"We are from God;" 1 John 4:6 states, "he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."  
	There are those, however, who choose to ignore the truth.
	"Why do you not understand what I am saying?" Jesus wonders in John 8:43-47.  "{It is} because you cannot hear My word.  You are of {your} father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own {nature;} for he is a liar, and the father of lies.  But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear {them,} because you are not of God."
	Some listen to the truth.  Others do not.  This is because some love the truth and others don't.
	"And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming," 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 says, {that is,} the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.  And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness."
	If we abide in the words of Jesus we will truly be His disciples.  If we abide in the words of Jesus we shall know the truth.  The third promise is that the truth shall make us free.
	"If therefore the Son shall make you free," John 8:36 offers, "you shall be free indeed."
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we shall be made free.  And we shall be made free, indeed.
	"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death," Romans 8:2 pledges.
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we shall be made free.  We shall be made free from the law of sin and death.
	"Now the Lord is the Spirit;" 2 Corinthians 3:17 points out, "and where the Spirit of the Lord is, {there} is liberty."
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we shall be made free.  We shall be made free in the spirit of the Lord.
	"It was for freedom that Christ set us free;" Galatians 5:1 teaches, "therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."
	"For you were called to freedom, brethren;" verse 13 adds, "only {do} not {turn} your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we shall be made free.  But we will not turn this freedom into an opportunity for the flesh.
	"So speak and so act," James 2:12 prompts, "as those who are to be judged by {the} law of liberty."
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we shall be made free.  We will abide by the law of liberty and be merciful to others.
	"{Act} as free men," 1 Peter 2:16 proposes, "and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but {use it} as bondslaves of God." 
	If we abide in the words of Jesus, we shall be made free.  We will act like free men and not use our freedom as a covering for evil.
	Jesus promises three things for those who abide in His word.  They will truly be His disciples.  They shall know the truth.  And that truth shall make them free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."