gricha1

I think the concepts of (a) strengthened by the Spirit in the inner person, ( and Christ dwelling in our hearts are the same. Paul essentially is praying that the work of the Spirit may continue to take place in forming Christ in our hearts, that is, Christ permeating our entire being; so that we may become more christlike.

The mystery is that in Christ Jews and Gentiles will be brought together in one body. This was very pleasing and encouraging to Gentile Christians as they were made to feel second class citizens when around Jewish Christians.

It's God who has created us and not we ourselves. As creator He has the right to establish the way to come to Him. In regard to inanimate object, humans have the ability to dissect, observe, analyze lesser beings to get to know them better. Concerning fellow human beings through communication we come to a better understanding of one another and know learn how best to approach one another. However, when it comes to God, a spirit, who is not does not have a material body, so is invisible, we first need to believe that He exists and furthermore need God to reveal Himself to us and to instruct us how to approach Him. The danger of minimizing or straying from God’s revelation, or superceding that revelation, or denying that God reveals himself to us is that we may not glorify Him as God, and end up worshipping birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Such will endure the wrath of God.

What does Ephesians 3:12 teach us about the manner of approaching God? In Christ by faith we now have the freedom to come with confidence before the Father to communicate with Him and worship Him at any time we so desire. And the good news is that the Father looks forward to His people coming into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise on their lips. What happens if we try to pray without these qualities? Without Christ we have no access to the Father; and Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that without faith it's impossible to please God. So, to come before the Father without these qualities, our efforts would be futile.

God was present amongst the people in the wilderness tabernacle and even in later years in the temple in Jerusalem; however, the people had no direct access to the great and mighty God. Access was through the priests. With Jesus' atoning death on the cross, we've been brought near to God, those of us who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, in fact He has taken up residence in us. We now have full access to Him at all times. During the Old Testament, God dwelt only amongst the Jews, just the Jews were 'Children of God.' With Christ's death on the cross access to God is available to all nations, tribes, peoples and languages; the gentiles could now also become 'Children of God'. Some hindrances are denominationalism, racism and pride

Jesus Christ, with His death on the cross has made it possible for us to go directly to the Father with our prayers. We have no need for a go-between. We were brought near through Jesus. Communication with the Father is on the spiritual level, our spirit through His Spirit.

The Mosiac Law established the sacrificial system which required the people to sacrifice animals for atonement of their sins. The blood of the animals were sprinkled on the altar where the sacrifice was made, signifying cleansing had taken place. However, this had to be done year after year. Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins; His pure and perfect blood was able to cleanse us once and for all. So, in this sense He fulfilled the Mosaic Law; His death on the cross made the sacrificial system obsolete. Animal sacrifices are no longer required to make peace with God for the Jews. Jesus' blood provided cleansing for all mankind, whether Jew or gentile, Greek or barbarian, man or woman, once they confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

It would be difficult, in fact impossible to convince someone that he or she has a need of a savior if they don't realize that they are lost or are sinners. The spiritual condition of someone who doesn't know Christ is hopeless and depressing; like a boat without rudder on the high seas being blown to and fro by the wind.

To save is to rescue; to rescue someone out from a situation that can be damaging to life. As sinners we were all destined to eternal punishment in hell; however by accepting God's love, His Son's death on the cross as a propitiation for our sins, we are rescued from that damning situation.

Q1. Why is it so hard for us to understand grace? Grace gives rise to the idea of something 'undeserved', which conflicts with our general thinking because we live in a performance based society. We work, we get rewarded; no work no reward. Likewise we are rewarded for good behavior and punished for bad behavior. Grace is totally walking in the opposite spirit. It's easier for us to hold grudges, not to forgive, to seek revenge, to hate; and to do differently, is to give grace. Being gracious is something we have to learn, it's not natural. The ultimate demonstration of grace, is the Lord giving up His Son on the cross for sinners like me. What commonly held life principle does it demolish? Grace demolishes the life principle, you get what you deserve. Translate the word "grace" into language a 10-year-old child would understand. My dear, you will be getting that toy for Christmas, although you surely did not deserve it.

God's love, mercy and grace describes His character. We were made alive in Christ and were saved by grace

People follow Satan unwittingly because in their spiritually dead condition, which is devoid of discernment provided by the Holy Spirit, they pursue like sheep after the value system of the world which is under the control of Satan. As many people don't believe in the existence of Satan or demons, they don't believe at all that they are under the control of evil forces.God has given us a free will and also a conscience with the ability to discern between good and evil. He also gave us His commandments, which are His standards for righteousness. So, we really have no excuse when we sin.

Death is the absence of life; the departure or the separation of the soul from the body. This is physical death. Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God. In Genesis 2:17, God warned Adam that should he eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. When he and his wife ate of the forbidden fruit, they didn't die physically there and then, however, they did die spiritually. They became separated from God. This condition is portrayed in Genesis 3:18, Adam and Eve went hiding from God when they heard Him approaching. Sin could not be found in the presence of a holy God; separation from God was necessary.We too were spiritually dead; separated from God. However, through our born again conversion experience, Christ's spirit was poured out in our lives making us alive spiritually.As born again Christians, it's our responsibility to share the Gospel with the lost, with those who are spiritually dead.

Today, God's special kingdom of blessing is manifested primarily in the church. It is through the ministry of Word that we learn what is means to bow the knee to Christ as Lord. Furthermore, it is through the church's ministry that we receive the blessings of sanctification and Christian growth, for the Spirit works through other believers to conform us to the Son.

It takes revelation from God through His Word to understand spiritual warfare. For the unskilled or immature believer spiritual warfare may be foreign to him or her. We could feel powerless in the face of spiritual enemies if we have no idea who we are battling. To combat those forces we need to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; put on the whole armor of God" (vv. 10-11). God's power is not only available to us it is in us. But this we have to be taught to the power of the Holy Spirit is available to us.