In Amos 3:3 the salvation seeker is asked, “Can two walk together unless they agree?” According to the Holy Scriptures, the answer is “No.” Isaiah 59:2 tells us that sin separates us from God. It is impossible to walk with someone while separated from that someone. This Truth is proven in no uncertain terms in Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1. Carefully study this passage to grasp the mind of God regarding who does and who does not walk with Him. “Separation” is the operative word when it comes to the association between true believers and false believers.

The word “walk” relative to one’s relationship with the Almighty refers to every aspect of one’s life. This includes such things as one’s thoughts, words, deeds, attitudes, choices relative to clothing, entertainment, destinations, friends, listening, reading and viewing materials, how one’s time is utilized, etc. In other words, the Bible-directed, salvation-producing “walk” involves the totality of one’s life which, in God’s view, is singular in scope and cannot be divided into different segments, some of which one can let slide and others of which must be strictly controlled. In God’s world, it’s all or nothing–all directed by Him or nothing directed by Him. Read what Jesus says about the “walk” of the end-time (Laodicean era) church in Revelation 3:14-20. In His world there are no part-time walkers, also known as “sinners saved by grace.” To walk with the Lord is to agree with Him all the time in every way concerning every aspect of one’s life. Our Standard, our Template is Jesus of Nazareth. Simply put, if we want to live with Him in the next life, we must “walk as He walked” in this life (1 Jn. 2:6). I was asked by a reader if I actually believed that my salvation involved obedience to the Law of God? I replied that my salvation DEPENDS on my obedience to God’s Law. She obviously believed herself to be a sinner saved by grace. The disturbing irony is that 99% of professing Christendom agrees with her. In the city and county in which I live, only one man stands with me relative to God’s Word. This does not surprise the Lord Who, “knowing the end from the beginning,” wrote that “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of them.” Recall that at one time the only church on earth, which I call “the Church of Eden,” had only two members, both of whom rebelled against Him. Following that, there was only one church member on earth–“righteous Abel” (Mat. 23:35). Following his martyrdom, there was no church on earth.

Question: How can we agree with God if we do not know with what to agree? Answer: We can’t. Question: How do we learn with what to agree? Answer: Obey His COMMAND found in Second Timothy 2:15: “Study to show yourself approve by God ….” Study what? God’s Word which is “alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword … and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (mind). There is no creature (created entity) that is not known to Him. All things concerning man are visible to the eyes of Him to Whom man must answer” (Hebrews 4:12,13). And what’s more, all things concerning each person’s “walk” will be made known publicly (Mat. 10:26). GOD MEANS BUSINESS. HIS BUSINESS IS HOLINESS which is commanded for salvation in First Peter 1:12,15,16; 2:5,9. Those who would spend eternity with Him will be about His holiness business. As the Apostle Paul stated, all church people “run the race” of life , but only ONE wins the prize (eternal life). This is the one who runs the race according to the rules laid down by the designer of the race and the awarder of the prize (1 Cor. 9:24). The “race” of life is the process we each must undergo successfully in order to qualify for salvation upon the return of Christ to earth to gather His Very Elect to Himself. He will then take them to the Promised Land where He will fulfill His promise to build the Kingdom of God where He and they will live forever and rule, first the earth, then the universe. Read the Three Resurrections, The Kingdom of God and God’s Very Elect: Future Caretakers of the Universe. Key words–Three, Kingdom and Caretakers respectively.

The steps that must be taken in order to successfully complete the SALVATION PROCESS are 1) to be forgiven of all PAST sins, making one righteous (Rom. 3:25), 2) to undergo true conversion (Acts 3:19) by entering God’s “strait gate” (church) and walking His narrow (Law-obeying) path (Mat. 7:13,14) and 3) to continue “walking” in holiness and righteousness until the end of life (Mat. 10:22). This is possible only by being led by God’s Holy Spirit (Rom. 2:13; 8:14). Read The Process of Salvation. Key word–Process. Which brings us back to the subject of this series–WALKING WITH THE LORD IN A HAND-IN-GLOVE RELATIONSHIP BY RUNNING THE RACE ACCORDING TO THE RULES WHICH GOD CALLS HIS LAW, which Paul called “holy, just and good” (Rom. 7:12) some 25 years after the founding of the New Testament Church. So much for Satan’s “Law nailed to the cross” lie.

By walking with the Lord in agreement with Him we demonstrate the “hand-in-glove” illustration mentioned in the series title. It is the glove that actually touches the article being dealt with. It is the glove that contacts the door knob, the wrench, etc. The glove in this illustration is the saint. The world sees the saint as he/she “walks” with the Lord Who, in the form of the Holy Spirit, is providing everything needed to do the “walk” from inside the “glove” (saint–“holy one”). This power is promised to all of God’s disciples in Acts 1:4,5 where Jesus is telling His disciples that they would soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit, at which time they would receive power to do what God had called them to do. Most would be called to simply live the “glove life” which reveals God Who, in the form of His Spirit, lives and “walks” within the saint.

As I was thinking about this last night the Lord mentally “showed” me a light bulb with its glowing filament within a glass bulb. The filament represents the Holy Spirit while the bulb represents the saint. Though the saint (bulb) sends out the light through his/her “walk,” it is the filament (Holy Spirit) that produces the light. No filament–no light. The electricity to make the filament work represents the Lord, the provider of all things. As the bulb sends the light in all directions so that the world can “see your light” and come into your “house” (presence). Your light will then light “all that are in the house” (Mat. 5:14-16). The “good works” that constitute the “light” that shines forth from God’s true saints (bulbs) is produced by the “filament” (Holy Spirit) that produces the light. What is that light produced by the filament? THE WORD OF GOD. The true saint is God’s Word in human form. He/she is God manifesting Himself through him/her, Jesus of Nazareth being his/her example–his/her light.

This is brought out by Jesus Who said of Himself: “As long as I am in the world, I am the LIGHT OF THE WORLD” (Jn. 9:5). While using His disciples to spread His Gospel (the good news about the Kingdom of God–Mat. 4:23), He said to them: “You are the light of the world” (Mat. 5:14). Consider this: Jesus and the 12 disciples constituted 13 men. They were all different, independent persons. But He called all 13 men the same thing–LIGHT. What was it that they all possessed that made each one of them LIGHT? It was THE WORD OF GOD–the one thing they all had in common. The Bible is the only source of Truth concerning God. Recall that He had miraculously preserved the Old Testament for thousands of years and had preserved the writings of the apostles so that John could form them into a book (Heb.–bible) which is still in existence today due to the invention of the printing press. Do you think God might have had a hand in that invention? Let us not forget that we would have no knowledge of Him without the Holy Scriptures. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:20 that the New Testament Church was founded on the writings of the PROPHETS and the apostles. He also noted that the Old Testament was preserved so as to serve as an instruction tool for “us,” meaning the true saints who would be alive at the “end of the age” (1 Cor. 10:11). We are coming to the end of that age now.

Jesus was called “the Word made flesh” in John 1:1-4,14. Jesus was God’s Word/will/light/Truth in the form of a man, Who was the physical representation of the spirit God. He was so full of God’s Word that “in Him was life, and the life (in Him) was the light of men.” Here we are told that Jesus’ light (the glove, the bulb) was seen by those around Him. The light within Him was God’s Word reflected in His works. Christ’s (and our) works consist of our “walk” of holiness and righteousness. Romans 5:21 and 6:22 tell us that salvation is the END RESULT of a “walk” of holiness and righteousness. No other “walk” will produce eternal life. Those two virtues result ONLY FROM OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD/LAW, WHOSE END RESULT IS SALVATION. The Process of Salvation series makes this abundantly clear.

In the not-to-distant future there will come upon the true church a persecution that will surpass the persecution that plagued the early church. The Institutional Church, in conjunction with the world’s governments, will come against true believers just as the world, including many in the church world, is now coming against the Jews. Why? The following is MY BELIEFS relative to what will take place in the future. I believe true believers will be hated by the church and others because their light will expose the world’s, including the church world’s, darkness. Not only will true saints be telling the world’s people why God is cursing them (see Matthew 24:1-8), but He will be providing for His people while the rest of the world is suffering. The world’s hatred toward God’s people will intensify as the beginning of the Great Tribulation approaches. Read the series which describes that time. Key word–Tribulation. Immediately before the Tribulation period begins the Lord will take His true church to “her place”–an area where they will be protected and provided for while the rest of the world suffers as no people have ever before suffered (Rev. 12:14). L.J.