Life

Life

There is only one life. Everything else is death. People are alive, but they are dead in trespasses and sins. Eph. 2:1, 5. Therefore we have the exhortation to arise from the dead. Ch. 5:14.

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil . . . .” Deut. 30:15. Only those who do the good live in life; the others live in death. God has given us the promise of life in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 1:1), and it was Jesus who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. V. 10. He came with eternal life which was with the Father from the beginning. He manifested this life through His body so that the apostles could see it and handle it.

The apostles proclaimed life—not just a doctrine, but life. The apostles had partaken of this promise concerning life. They lived the life—the life that was with the Father—and they had fellowship with the Father and the Son. Now they proclaimed life to others so that they, too, could enter into this same fellowship.

Theories and knowledge do not result in fellowship, but life does. You cannot be subject to sin and then proclaim life. You can speak about life as knowledge without living it, but only as doctrine and because of your oratorical gifts. Proclaiming life is to have faith and to have experienced it. The intention is that what you proclaim will be reality.

Life can be manifested only by a body. Our body serves either death or life. Jesus’ body served only life. It did not see corruption. Death could not keep it. Our body must not serve death either. Rom. 6:19. Set free from sin, we give our body as a living, holy, and acceptable sacrifice to God, being led by God’s Spirit. Then our body serves life, and the Spirit of Christ who uses our body will also give it life so it will be conformed to His glorious body. Rom. 8:11; Phil. 3:21. This is the difference between those who are along in the rapture and those who will remain. Those who have served life with their body will be along, and those who have served death will remain.