Protecting Zoe Life
Zoe Life is a living relationship based on God's presence actively living within us, through His Spirit.
Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a house of God where the Holy Spirit lives? God gave you His Holy Spirit. Now you belong to God. You do not belong to yourselves.
The fruit of Zoe Life is not only peace, joy and hope, it's also godly love expressing itself through obedience to righteousness, and obedience to righteousness expressing itself as an act of worship, and true worship expresses itself by how the Torah and the Prophets define righteousness and godly love, with Jesus' life and teachings as our example.
1 John 2:6 The one who says God lives inside him must walk just as Jesus walked.
The Torah consists of the first five books of the Old Testament, and the Prophets consists of the other portions of the Old Testament. The life and teachings of Jesus is what the Torah and the Prophets should look like in real life. The early believers called Jesus' life and teachings, the WAY. If we follow the WAY, as defined by Jesus, our worship, and what we believe, will be in accordance with the Torah, and the Prophets.
Acts 24:14 I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the WAY, which they call a cult. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Torah and that is written in the Prophets.
We can actually say we believe in God, and even know Him, and yet, deny Him by how we live, and express our worship.
Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
When we live life, by our old way of living, we are denying God. This kind of living affects our worship, and Zoe Life.
Romans 8:12-13 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
It's important that we use the Torah and the Prophets, and the teachings of Jesus, to define righteous, godly love and true worship. If we live by what man tells us is righteous and holy, instead of what God says is righteous and holy, our worship will be in vain, and worthless. It's like telling your spouse that you love them, all while you're cheating on them behind their back.
Matthew 15:9 Their worship is worthless, for they teach their man-made laws instead of those from God.
Mark 7:7 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Matthew 15:3 Jesus said to them, “Why do you break the Law of God by trying to keep their tradition?"
This is where Satan comes in to cause problems because he too wants to be worshiped, and be like the Most High God.
Isaiah 14:13-14 For you Satan have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
He even tried to get Jesus to worship him, but Jesus referred him back to the Torah, and the Prophets when He said, "For the Scriptures say".
Matthew 4:8-10 Again, the devil took Jesus to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him."
In order for Satan to steal worship away from God, he needs to deceive people by changing what God has said. He started this in the beginning when he deceived Eve, persuading her to eat of the forbidden fruit.
1 Timothy 2:14 It was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived by Satan, and sin was the result.
Satan, and his host of fallen angels, are still deceiving people, even today.
Revelation 12:9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.
1 John 5:19 We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.
Satan is using many of the pagan practices of sun worship to change what God has said. God does not want us worshiping him like the pagans worship their false gods.
Deuteronomy 12:29-31 When the Lord your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land, do not fall into the trap of following their customs and worshiping their gods. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations worship their gods? I want to follow their example.’ You must not worship the Lord your God the way the other nations worship their gods, for they perform for their gods every detestable act that the Lord hates.
Satan made these changes by creating a system of false worship. Satan's false system of worship has taken over the whole world. This system of worship is rooted in sun worship. It has a man at its head who changed God's times and Law.
Daniel 7:25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.
Satan is the one giving this man his throne, his power and great authority.
Revelation 13:2 The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
Satan had to change many things in order to steal worship away from God, let me give you one example. God created everything is six days, but He didn't stop there, He continued on to create a seventh day in which He blessed, and declared holy.
Genesis 2:3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
When God blesses something, and declares it holy, it's important to Him. The holy and blessed things of God are what produces holiness in our lives, and without holiness, we won't see the Lord, and Satan knows it.
Hebrews 12:14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.
When a day is special to God, He makes it a Sabbath. The word, Sabbath, means, to rest, or take the day off from work. God protected the seventh day Sabbath, with His law, so that people can have the day off to come together for worship. Gathering on the seventh day, because it's the Holy Sabbath, is in of it self, an act of worship.
Exodus 20:8-10 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
Leviticus 23:3 You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day Sabbath, On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the Lord, no matter where you live.
Saturday is the seventh day, not Sunday.
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
Sa-ur-day: The seventh day of the week. The day before Sunday, and following Friday.
Sun-day: The first day of the week.
Sunday worship is rooted in pagan sun worship.
In Roman culture, Sunday was the day of the Sun god. In paganism, the Sun was a source of life, giving warmth and illumination to mankind. Sunday - Wikipedia
God enacted a temporary law to protect His holy ways through what we know as, the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were enacted to help people see the basis for their spiritual death. Through the Ten Commandments, God protected the seventh day with the fear of being stoned to death for profaning it.
Exodus 31:15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
This way of dealing with sin was only to be temporary, it was only to last until Jesus came.
Galatians 3:24-25 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Today, the Sabbath is still a holy and blessed Day, so it's a sin when we reject it, but because of God's grace, people are no longer stoned to death for rejecting the Sabbath.
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
When we obey God, over man, we are expressing true worship. If we obey man, over God, our worship will be in vain.
Matthew 15:9 Their worship is worthless, for they teach their man-made laws instead of those from God.
Mark 7:7 In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.
Because the Sabbath Day is holy, when we gather on the Sabbath we testify to the world that we love and worship the one true God.
Ezekiel 20:20 Keep my Sabbaths holy; let them be a sign between me and you, so that they may know that I am the LORD your God.
When we gather on the Sabbath, we demonstrate to the world that we are being made holy by God, and for God. Satan hates that.
Exodus 31:13 Say to the people of Israel, ‘Keep My Sabbath holy, for this is something special between Me and you forever. So you may know that I am the Lord Who sets you apart for Myself.
It's important to keep the Sabbath holy in light of the life, and teachings of Jesus, because the law on stone (Ten Commandments) caused religious man to add many extra rules, and restrictions to Sabbath to where the Sabbath became nothing more than a heavy ritualistic burden. This is not how God intent the Sabbath to be. The Sabbath was supposed to be special time for God, and His people. For those who love God, and desire to worship Him, it won't be hard for them to obey Him.
1 John 5:2-3 This is the way we know we love God’s children. It is when we love God and obey His commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
Responding favorably to the holy things of God, such as the Sabbath truth, is just one example of maturing in our relationship with God. It's when we begin to reject truth, and turn away from it, that Zoe Life is affected. Zoe Life is not so fragile that just one sin destroys it. Zoe Life is destroyed when we willfully chose to turn away from God to go back to practicing a lifestyle of sin. Spiritual death is a process of three steps, as defined in James 1:14-16.
James 1:14-16 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
First comes temptation, but temptation is not sin, because Jesus was tempted, and yet he never sinned, because He never gave into temptation.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
The next step in the process of spiritual death is, sin. Sin happens when we give into temptation, and take it to the next level. At this point, if we were still under the law (Ten Commandments) we would be stoned to death, but thank God for His grace. In the temptation phase, we should seek God for strength to turn away from the temptation. If, for some reason we end up sinning, we are still not dead. It's in the sinning stage that we can confess to God, repent, and ask God for forgiveness. When we do this, the same blood of the cross, that cleansed our sin when we got saved, is the same blood that cleanses us of the sin we've just committed. If we sin, and admit to God that you were wrong, and ask to be cleansed, He is always faithful to restore us back to Himself.
1 John 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
This cleansing of our sin removes all the guilt, shame and condemnation in our conscience that can destroy Zoe Life. Confession, by admitting our sin to God, and repentance, by turning away from that sin with a desire to do better next time is what prevents the final step from happening, which is, spiritual death.
James 5:19-20 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
Sin can be very deceptive. Satan knows how to use it to deceive, and harden the heart of God's people. When we allow sin to harden our heart, we turn away from the living God. A hardened heart, who has turned away from God, has also turned away from Zoe Life.
Hebrews 3:12-14 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.
Galatians 6:7-9 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest destruction. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
If we harden our heart towards the Spirit's conviction when we sin, we can lose our desire to confess, and repent to where we end up back in our old way of living without God. This is not something we want to do to our heavenly Father, or His Son, who both love us so much.
Hebrews 6:3-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
There are many more things that we need to relearn what Satan has changed. This is our new journey in living the Zoe Life experience. Find a Sabbath keeping church who loves the Father, and His Son. A church that understands what Jesus taught about the Sabbath. Study, and test, what you learn through what Jesus taught, their are many things that God wants to teach us about living the holy life, and experiencing the Zoe Life.
1 Timothy 2:3-5 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 4:11-14 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
Now go out and love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Use the Torah and the Prophets to define holiness, godly love, and true worship. Use the life, and teachings, of Jesus as the example of what that looks like in real time.
Matthew 22:35-40 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend all the Torah, and the Prophets.”
My prayer is that God would help you to find fellowship of like minded people, and may He bless your studies as you grow, and mature, in your new life in Christ. Amen...