Our Duality in Nature — Saved by God to do good
In a passage of scripture, the book of Titus Paul tells his disciple Titus to warn the people of certain behaviors and things. These were among the early believers and followers of Christ Lord of which Paul was an ambassador. I will copy this passage from Titus 3: 1–11 for you first, and then share the message the Lord gave me with you.
3 “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.”
Our duality is rather perplexing, to say the least. We are spirit beings living in a carnal human body with all that comes with being carnal. The body has a mind and nature of its own that compels us to do certain things whether we want to or not. This sinful nature comes with the turf so to speak. This is the fallen world that we find ourselves in that we did not create but nonetheless, we are here and must deal with the situation and circumstances we find ourselves.
It is said the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. That means until you begin to know who or what God is, who is your creator, you are ignorant of the truth that IS God. You being human only know the things of your human nature. However, until you discover that you are a spirit being created in the heavens by God, you will continue down the path of being a sinful human being because you do not know God in a meaningful way so you will start the transformation process of being made into righteousness.
Proverbs 9: 10–11 tell us of this mystery. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you. 12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”
Until and unless you recognize who and what God is you will be only wise in your own eyes knowing only what an unwise person knows, which is essentially only human wisdom and not Godly wisdom. Even if you scoff, you are on your own. To scoff is to speak derisively, mocking or jeering others which is sinful. Being mean or nasty to others would fall under that category.
This is where the Lord was sharing with me a message about our duality because until one realizes who and what they are it is hard to conceptualize a Holy God or what He would require of His created. If you do not realize that you were first created in the heavenly abode by the Creator of all existence, how could you know what you should be doing? Once you begin to conceptualize God the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One gives you understanding.
This notion of becoming righteous or made into something that God desires starts with the knowledge of the Holy One, being God. To fear God is to recognize His almighty power over all things created. Perhaps the term fear is confusing to some because it causes you to step back rather than come forward. God wants you to recognize who He is so it that causes you to ponder then sobeit. Once you realize who and what God is then you can come forth and get to know Him because it is He who draws us near to Him and sends us to His Holy Son who thereby sends us to the Holy Spirit for the transformation process.
Without the knowledge of God, it may be difficult to become a willing participant in the process of becoming what God desires of us. God gave us free will, so we are to willfully allow Him to transform us into the likeness of Christ Jesus. We are not forced by the hand of God but perhaps coheiress to do so by the circumstances and situations we face.
I realize we all do not worship the same way or even recognize the same God so if this does not represent your faith kindly pass over it. However, for those who follow Christ Lord, this should be of interest to you. I hope it blesses you. To almighty God be the Glory, Selah!
