In order to be “I am” as the Lord is “I Am” one must leave all religion behind–out of sight, out of sound, out of thought. He tells us this in Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1. Why? Because God’s church has absolutely nothing in common with the world’s Catholic/Protestant Religious System which calls itself “THE church.” The counterfeit church and God’s church are as different as darkness and light, death and life. God governs His church; Satan governs his church. Regardless of what so-called “sinners saved by grace” believe, man cannot serve both. Man is either “I am” as God or “I am” as the devil. There is no such thing as dual governance. We will now explore God’s divine Word relative to His governance over every aspect of His saints’ lives.

Jesus Christ is the LORD of His church. Satan is the Lord of his church. A Lord is obeyed–period. Jesus warned those who called Him their Lord but refused to obey Him, calling them “workers of iniquity” (Lawless) whom He “never knew” (Mat. 7:24). In 15:9 He had declared that they had worshiped Him “in vain.” In Luke 6:46 He asks why people call Him ‘Lord, Lord’ but refuse to obey His Word. On the Day of Judgment, why will He say such terrible things to those who will have spent most of their lives “in church?” BECAUSE THEY HAD NOT OBEYED HIM. As stated in part I: God has one rule concerning His Word: OBEY IT. Note that Jesus spoke to and about, and His apostles dealt with and wrote to SALVATION SEEKERS.

The Almighty made it clear from day one that this ministry was dedicated to professing Christendom–“the church”–people who would hate it the most. I have one message to the religious masses: OBEY GOD’S WORD. This message includes the hated and rejected “fine print”–the conditions that must be met in order for Biblical “headlines” to come to pass. “Jesus loves you” is a “headline” that church people believe. Read Psalm 5:5 for a blast of “fine print” reality. Note this gut-punch reality: God loves man because He created him in His image and likeness. Beyond that, man must EARN His love through obedience (WORKS) as the Holy Scriptures reveal repeatedly. Read John 14:15,23; 15:10/ 1 John 2:5; 8:31/ Mat. 19:17/ 1 John chapter 3.

Due to the above-stated Biblical Truths, the Apostle Peter tells us that judgment is necessary, and that, for the salvation seeker, judgment is on-going in the church. Read “Judge Not.” Key word–Judge. That series reveals who is judged now, by whom and why.

In Ephesians 6:17 the Word of God is called the “sword of the Spirit.” God uses His written Sword to inform man concerning His (God’s) commands–what they are, the rewards for obeying them and the curses for disobeying them. The Bible is His “RULE (not suggestion or option) BOOK FOR LIVING.” In it He tells us how we must live in this world now so that we can live in paradise eternally. IF, and only IF we live as Jesus lived while on earth we will live with Him in the future (1 Jn. 2:6/ Rev. 3:21). Jesus lived under God’s governance. He walked together with the Father. “Can two walk together unless they agree” (Amos 3:3)? We must agree with God, meaning with His word, as did Jesus. There is only one way to walk with God–UNDER HIS GOVERNANCE. He governs His subjects by His Word–all of it, including the fourth commandment by which “Satan has deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9) into remaining separated from God (Isa. 59:2) while believing that they are walking with Him. Read the series on the Sabbath. Key word–Sabbath.

In Isaiah 14:21 the prophet told us that God’s Messenger would come to earth to “TO MAGNIFY THE LAW AND MAKE IT HONORABLE (AGAIN).” In Romans 15:8 the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus came to “confirm the promises (God) made to the (Israelite) fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob–Israel) concerning their descendants along with those Gentiles who would choose to obey Him. For those people He would, through the Holy Spirit, “write His Law on their hearts” (minds) so that they could obey the commandments from within themselves (Jer. 31:31/ Heb. 8:8). The Law would be part of their spiritual make-up. They and the Law would be one. This brings us to the Lord’s “I am” command. To reach that level of faith and holiness, a believer must undergo a total and permanent metamorphosis. There is no place for the old man in the new man. One is the man of death, the other is the man of life. We must choose either life or death. Contrary to popular opinion, one cannot choose both.

In order to walk with the Lord, “all (old) things must die, behold all things must be made new” (2 Cor.5:17/ Eph. 4:21-24). In order to begin this reversal-of-life process, all of one’s PAST sins (“transgressions of the Law–1 Jn. 3:4) must be repented of and forgiven. This cleansing process results in “justification” (Rom. 3:25) and is awarded based on the salvation seeker’s faith. Once having been justified, the convert is now holy, without sin and filled with the Holy Spirit. The question then becomes, “now what?”

To answer this question we must search out, believe and obey the Lord’s “fine print.” In summary, one must “live as Jesus lived” and “overcome as He overcame” (1 Jn. 2:6/ Rev. 3:21), IF, that is, one is to rise to meet Christ in the air during the first resurrection (“headline”). As is always the case with God’s promises, the “fine print” must be manifested in order to receive the “headline.” For example, to get paid for mowing the yard, the yard has to have been mowed, and mowed correctly. This Law is rejected by the church masses who claim that faith alone is all that is needed to receive salvation. As Jesus said, few will find the strait (right) gate (church) and walk the narrow (strict) way that leads to life. Many will be led through Satan’s wide gate (Catholicism and Protestantism) and walk his broad (only believe) way that leads to death (Mat. 7:13,14). We will now examine some of the Lord’s specific “fine print” commands that must be accomplished in order to attain the “I am” level of life that only first resurrection people will attain. These are they who will have walking with the Lord in agreement with Him during their Christian lives. These are they who will live with Him in Kingdom headquarters that will be located in the Promised Land. Read The Kingdom of God and God’s Very Elect: Future Caretakers of the Universe. Key words–Kingdom and Caretakers respectively.

In John 1:16 we are told that, upon true conversion, we “receive of His (Christ’s) fullness,” then grow (mature) in all spiritual areas until we attain “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13)–walk the walk of Christ (1 Jn. 2:6). At this point we have “Christ in us, the hope of glory (salvation)” (Rom. 8:14). Read Hope and Salvation. Key word–Hope. Like their Savior, true saints are God’s Word made flesh, meaning that whoever sees them sees both the Father and the Son. This command is graphically declared IN FIRST PETER 1:14 AND LEVITICUS 1:44,45 WHERE WE ARE COMMANDED TO “BE YOU HOLY FOR I AM HOLY,” AND “BECAUSE HE IS HOLY.” The Lord’s singular, all-encompassing command is clear: OBEY HIS WRITTEN WORD AND BE AS HE IS BY LIVING AS CHRIST LIVED. In other words: BE “I AM.”

The Word “Christian” means “little Christ.” Jesus is our “Big Brother”–“the Captain of our salvation” Who leads us in our “I am” quest. The things of this world are nothing compared to the promise God made to those who achieve that quest, who are “on earth as He is in heaven,” who “walk as He walked” while on earth and Who will appear one day in the clouds with His mighty angels. At that time He will call those who spent their converted lives obeying His Words, walking His walk, talking His talk and looking up to where God is looking down. His way is not the church way, which is man’s self-serving version of His way. We must learn the way of Jesus and walk it.

Warning: the way Christ’s walk will take you is the way of isolation. Therefore, very few follow in His footsteps. Catholicism/Protestantism avoids it like the plague. In most cases, this truth includes the saint’s relatives. Jesus warned that our enemies will be those of our own family (Mat. 10:36). The holy life is a segregated life because darkness hates light (Jn. 3:19/ 2 Cor. 6:14). We are warned to beware when the world approves of us. People, especially religious people, shun those looked upon as “peculiar.” Religious people refuse to be peculiar. God’s true saints are indeed peculiar (Ps. 135:4/ Eccl. 2:8/ Titus 2:14/ 1 Pet. 2:9). If one is not peculiar, one is not God’s child. How many spiritually peculiar people do you know? Not many, I would guess. For this reason Jesus said that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He will be in their midst. To me, three would be a crowd. Notice that He said nothing about being in the midst of a crowd of 10,000 well-liked, acceptable church people. He is not in the midst of “the church” because He does not abide where He is not wanted–where His Word is rejected. L.J.