Being Kept in Christ

Roger Tointon—January 13, 2024

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I'm going to talk on a subject today that affects us all from beginning to end of our judgment for salvation.

How are we being kept in Christ? We would be astounded if we could literally figure out all the different ways!

As John said when he was ending his Gospel of John, 'Christ has done so many things, said so many things, etc., that if they could be known, there wouldn't be space to put them.' I mean, essentially, that's what he said. So, our relationship with Christ is critical.

We all know that God has a plan for mankind; that's why we are here. That's why all of the human beings that have ever been born were born. The God and the Logos developed a plan.

I want to do a little outline because I want to hinge being kept in Christ upon something. So, I'm going to do a little outline here, but it won't start at the beginning.

• How could we start at the beginning?
• The beginning of what?

God's Plan that we're talking about, and Fred has put it together in a big, thick book: God's Plan For Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days.

• When did it start? It didn't start until the plan for mankind had been developed.

We don't know what They did before that time; maybe we will find out one day.

When the plan for mankind started, there were certain things that had to happen. That's where I want to start.

So, #1 in the plan, and this is a plan for salvation, salvation that we can literally one day become a living son of God. We will no longer, of course, be physical. We will have to be spiritual, as Paul points out so well.

Christ had to come here below and die. We know that was to pay the supreme price for the penalty of sin, but it was to pay for the sins past, not for future sins.

Now, that comes in, too, in Christ's responsibility, but at first He had to come here to die for the sins in the past. Then He had to be resurrected.

IF Christ—there are many Scriptures that deal with this—had not been resurrected, we could not have salvation!

Now, that gets really into what I want to talk about. It's at the core of it. So, Christ had to be resurrected, because after He was resurrected and went back to the Father and sat down at the right hand of God Almighty, He had a job to do, and that's really what I'm going to be talking about.

Then what had to happen? We know that the Holy Spirit had to come.

• all things come from God
• all things were created by God

As it says in:

John 1:3: "All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him." That's what He did!

The Holy Spirit came on that Pentecost, 50 days after Christ went back to the Father, after He was resurrected.

At that time, as Peter says; 1-Peter 4:17[transcriber's correction]: "For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God…"

Then what did Christ have to do? He had to start selecting who would enter that time of judgment because as we can learn in the Old Testament, and the New, that this is the first time of judgment.

From the time of Christ being resurrected, the Holy Spirit had come. In the first century down to now and to however many years until Christ comes again.

Judgment has begun. The others in the other times of judgment will have to wait. They'll have to wait until that time.

We don't know why, but we were called by the Father. He personally chose us. We wonder many times: Why did he choose me?

• He didn't choose my brothers?
• He didn't choose friends of mine?

I know of no one of the past that has been called by God and in the Church of God! Now, there may be somebody out there and I just don't know it, but I rather doubt it.

After the Father called us, what did He do? He had to part the veil of our mind, because He had blinded mankind because of their absolute refusal to obey him.

All of the Gentiles that had come down from the beginning of creation of man, they did not know God. They literally did not know God. But God's people did, and He created them specially to Himself for a purpose.  We can't get into that right now, but they could not. They're just as He said, 'Oh, that there was a heart in them.' He knew they just could not do it!

After He called us, what did he have to do? He had to begin to open our mind to Truth, the Truth of God!

• What does Christ say?
• What is the Word of God that we use continually? It is Spirit and it is Life!
• Why is it Life?

Well, more than one reason. We say first, because if we follow what's in it, it will lead us to Eternal Life! But it is Life, because we cannot be counted worthy to become a son of God unless Christ is there to help us.

That's the beginning of how we are kept in Christ! Christ has many jobs and He is doing it 24/7. Before the Father gave us to Christ, what did He do? He opened our mind, and we began to realize that we needed help and we needed to repent from what we had been up to that time!

We were in darkness like everybody else and we had to have help that we could repent and then be in good standing with God, with God the Father Who called us.

At that time we were begotten by God, 'begotten again.' We were begotten physical, but we have to become spiritual! We had to be begotten again and that, of course, is through the Holy Spirit.

So, when we went into baptism and when we came out of the water and had hands laid on, then we were begotten by God and we could go forward, so the plan could go forward.

Well, that's really where I want to point out some things as to how Christ is critical in what He is doing. Willingly, yes, but He is doing it so that we could go through judgment to become a son of God and get a passing grade; be counted worthy.

Now, God and Christ have to determine that, but there are things of course we have to do once we understand them. The whole Plan of God becomes formed right there.

Jude 1: "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to the called saints…"

We are part of that group. We have been called by the Father and we have received an earnest of the Holy Spirit so that we can be in sync with God and with Christ.

What does Jude say? "…sanctified by God the Father and kept in Jesus Christ" (v 1). The Father is the One Who sanctifies us!

We have to be sanctified because before we were in darkness. We were under Satan, who is 'the god of this world.'

Now, that's what the people are that are not called, but we were there. So we had to be sanctified. And then it says, "…kept in Jesus Christ."

How are we kept in Christ? We need to find out! So many things are in Hebrews, but we will cover just a bit here.

Hebrew 4:14: "Having, therefore, a great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith."

We have faith because we have received the Holy Spirit and Christ has been working with us. We are learning and we believe what God says. We don't know all things, but we have been, some of us, several decades at this and we have learned. So, we have faith, the faith that comes from God.

Verse 15: "For we do not have a high priest… [Christ is our High Priest] …who cannot empathize with our weaknesses…"

Why? Because He had to go first! He had to come here below before judgment started. He had to come here below as a human being. Of course, a lot of people have a problem with that. But it's absolutely true, Scripture backs that up.

"…but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations…" (v 15).

In other words, He was the forerunner. He was breaking the trail. He knows what a struggle being in the flesh is. Whatever He wanted and thought about that was right, He could do it.  When you are in the flesh, it's not nearly that easy.

Verse 16: "Therefore, we should come with boldness to the Throne of Grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

And we have that continually. How many times do we fail? Christ is our intercessor! He reminds us when we have failed, when we have stumbled. Christ literally does that. He does it by the Holy Spirit in our mind. We realize we have sinned, and immediately—because we believe God and love God—we know we must repent. That's the way it works.

Hebrews 5:9: "And having been perfected… [Christ was perfected] …He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him."

It ends with our responsibility. We have to do that, but we cannot do it alone. We have to have Christ's help all the way, every step. And it's 24/7! But He is the Author of it because he came here below and paid the sacrifice that we could enter judgment to see if we would qualify.

But even then, His job was not done because he has to be with us and help us in so many ways.

We know Rom. 3:23 was one of the first Scriptures that we memorized back in the days when they said, 'You have to memorize these key verses,' back in Worldwide days; we were to memorize certain ones. Well, some of us did.

Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God… [we could not become a son of God] …but are being…" (vs 23-24)—present tense and it is ongoing.

That's exactly what has to happen, because we are in judgment for salvation that Christ has made possible. But we have to be continually seeking to make the grade, to pass the test, whatever you want to call it.

Verse 24: "But are being justified…"

We were not worthy; we still are not worthy. We are in covenant with God, and we are striving to become worthy; but we're not all the way there, yet.

• Have you obtained?
• Any of you obtained? No!

Reach out a pinch yourself or pinch the person next to you. No, we have not obtained, as Paul said. But then Paul followed up that statement with great confidence, 'I know there's a crown laid up for me.'
That's because of how close he was to God.

So, the closer we draw to God and to Christ, the more confidence we can have. Not our own confidence, but confidence that God will count us worthy if we do our part. That's the way it's got to work.

God had openly manifested to be a propitiation through faith in His blood in order to demonstrate the righteousness in respect to the remission of sins that are past. This is an ongoing thing with Him of what He had come here and actually done.

Romans 5:9—Paul says: "Much more, therefore, having been justified… [we just saw that we were justified by Christ's blood and all that He is currently doing for us] …now by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."

How are we saved through Christ? Christ has not ended His job, He is there for us. It's ongoing until the first resurrection in our case, because we were called to be in the first resurrection.

It's not any time after; we have to make the grade now in this time of judgment. That's why it's so critical that we be in sync with Christ as He helps us do what we have to do to be counted worthy.

Verse 10: "For if, when we were enemies…"

When we think back, we don't like to think that we were enemies of God, but we were! Paul points that out in

Romans 8:7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God; neither indeed can it be."

We were absolutely an enemy of God. That's because we did not know Him and we were not keeping His Law as He demands that we do. So, if we—when we were enemies—we were reconciled. We were reconciled to God through the death of His own Son! Again, it's Christ that paid that price.

Romans 5:10: "…much more then, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (v 10).

It goes right back to what I've been saying. We are saved through Christ's life because:

• He was resurrected
• He's on the right hand of God, on the Throne of God
• He is keeping track of everything we do; His eye is upon you

Do you feel that eye? It's right there behind you or He may be right out there looking at us head on, but we cannot see Him.

How do we function? Through faith that comes from God and enables us to go forward in spite of how lowly and how inadequate we are for this thing to come to fruition, which God wants!.

Or He would never have developed the plan and created mankind to become His literal sons. He wouldn't have done it, except He wants us to pass the grade, and Christ is there to make sure we do.

1-John 2:1: "My little children…" That shows the attitude of the apostles!

Not just John, but they were so filled with the Holy Spirit and spending time with Christ for three years almost night and day, and they were learning, they were being taught.

When they received the Holy Spirit on that first Pentecost, they were just like busting out with energy, busting out with conviction, like we need to be doing. That's our part now. They did it back then, and they recorded the Word of God so that we would have it. That we too then could become so convicted and so much in sync with Christ and the Father that we could make it.

Then the Plan of God, in our case, would come to fruition. It would do what God wants when He called us.

"…I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin…." (v 1). 

Well, we know we are not to sin, but didn't John realize that we would sin?

He says, "…And yet, if anyone does sin…" (v 1).

That's right, John knew, and he's letting us know. But when we sin:

"…we have an Advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous" (v 1).

He is, and He is acting as our Advocate to the Father. Why? Because He was here first as a human being, and He can empathize!

He can empathize with what we are going through and how hard it literally is. Now, we are able to read in Revelation and a few other places that being a first fruit is very special. We do not know all the ways. We know some of the things that God says we're going to be doing as priests, kings, rulers!

But those are just words. We're still physical and we're still here. We can get an idea, and we can especially get the idea because Christ is there for us.

Verse 2: "And He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world"—because there is more than one time of judgment!

We're in the first resurrection! Then there's the Millennium, a thousand years and all those different generations.

Then, of course, on the Last Great Day when all of the rest of the dead come up and enter judgment.

Verse 3: "And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments."

I will never forget when I was called by the Father, my mind opened, and very quickly He began to show me some very significant things that I maybe had wondered about, but I didn't know, and I couldn't get a good answer from anybody that had a starched collar. I mean they just weren't able to help me.

But when that moment came and I realized that the things I was receiving, I could see, I could turn to Scripture that I was told to turn to, and I could literally understand it, in part, but I could begin to understand.

It hit me that one night shortly after being called, actually I could feel Christ watching me. That was when God revealed Christ to me. I found out that He was the God of the Old Testament. Now, that was earth-shaking to me. I had no idea, but I could see. That changed the whole thing about understanding the Old Covenant. I could, from that time forward, begin to understand some things in the Old Testament. I came to the point that I said that I know that I know that I know the Truth!

You see, exactly what He says here. I didn't know but a part of it, a little, but I knew God had dealt with me. And that's critical if you want to go forward. It's critical to becoming convicted that you can go forward.

Heb. 7—we will see more about how Christ is so qualified to do what He's doing.

Hebrews 7:17: For He testifies…[that is the Father] …'You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedec.'"

He is our High Priest.  No one but Christ can occupy that position. He is the only one qualified.

Verse 21: "But He was made a Priest with the swearing of an oath…"

God the Father swore an oath and put Christ in that position. He will always hold that position.

Verse 25: "Therefore, He [Christ] has the power throughout all time to save those who come to God through Him because He is ever living to intercede for them [us]."

Christ is our intercessor continually, 24/7. That is the key.

Romans 8:26: "Now, in the same way also, the Spirit is conjointly helping our weaknesses because we do not fully understand what we should pray for…"

• How can that be? We go to God to pray!
• Don't we have something in our mind? Well, many times we do!

Yet, we do not know fully how to address God concerning that. We have up here in our mind what we think is a need, and we're going to God for that.

Aren't we asking for our will? More than likely, we are! Not always, but so many times we are asking our will.

Father, I want this or I need this. Can't you make it happen? Now, that's just saying it that way. But literally, who is it that lets us know? By the power of the Holy Spirit also working in our mind!

Who is it that lets us know? The Father's will must be done! The whole prayer can change, literally. Right in the middle of your praying to the Father that morning, it can change. That is Christ running intersession for us.

You see, He inspires us! He does that through the Holy Spirit. He doesn't talk to me audibly, and I thank God for that because that would probably blow me away.

Christ doesn't want to do that now. He wants us to do this whole thing by faith. It has to be by faith. Therefore, we cannot hear Him and we cannot see Him, yet.

Verse 27: "And the One Who searches the hearts…"

• Who do you think that is?
• Who is searching our hearts?
• It is Christ!

 "…comprehends what the strivings of the Spirit are because it makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God (v 27).

Now, everything Christ does is according to the will of God. Everything that we are assigned to do must also be according to the will of God. Then that makes, well, that makes v 28 possible, doesn't it?

Verse 28: "And we know that all things work together for good… [but it's got a kicker]: …to those who love God…"

It's only when we love God and are seeking to obey Him that that can work in our lives for good. It can, and it does!

Verse 29: "because those whom He did foreknow…"

• Christ did foreknow us
• the Father foreknew us

He wouldn't have called us if He hadn't foreknown us. He did that, I think, almost immediately after we became an entity. He has that kind of power.

He says, and we don't know why or what, but He says, 'I'm going to call this one.' He predestined that, but He waited. He waited a long time with some; He waited much less for others. But then when the appointed time came, He called us and opened our mind.

Verse 34: "Who is the one that condemns? It is Christ Who died, but rather, Who is raised again…"

That's why He can do this intercession for us so that the Plan of God can work. I think the vast majority of mankind can end up as a literal son of God. But a lot of things have to happen before that comes to fruition. What can you say? We're pretty close!

Hebrews 13:5: "Do not allow the love of money to influence your behavior…"

Well, maybe most of us don't have to worry about that. I don't know.

"…but be satisfied with what you have; for He has said, 'In no way will I ever leave you; no—I will never forsake you in any way'" (v 5).

So, what Christ is doing for us is that He has pledged right there in His Word, which is Spirit, 'I am behind you. I will not turn back.' It's only you that could make this thing fail that the Father started when he called us and opened up our mind!

We still have a very, very big job ahead of us. There are many other Scriptures. The pre-incarnate Christ in Deuteronomy said the same thing.

Paul was just recalling as they always did. They recalled what they learned in the Old Testament. So, I hope you have a good rest of the Sabbath.

Scriptural References:

• John 1:3
• 1 Peter 4:17
• Jude 1
• Hebrews 4:14-16
• Hebrews 5:9
• Romans 3:23-24
• Romans 5:9-10
• Romans 8:7
• Romans 5:10
• 1 John 2:1-3
• Hebrews 7:17, 21, 25
• Romans 8:26-29, 34
• Hebrews 13:5

Also referenced: Book {truthofgod.org}:
God's Plan For Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days

RT:bo/po
Transcribed: 1/17/24

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