The Cross (My own cross after salvation)

Today, the problem of Christianity is to quench the Holy Spirit without maintaining it after numerous Christian people are filled with it. Quenching the Holy Spirit is to crucify Jesus Christ all over again. With regard to this, the Bible says that there is only a fearful expectation of judgment (Heb 6:4-6, 10:26-27). Accordingly, receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit is not the problem but how to keep and maintain the Holy Spirit after receiving it is a more important problem for Christianity. In order to continuously maintain the Holy Spirit, every Christian has to carry his own cross by taking the example of Jesus Christ who carried His cross. The one and only way for people to maintain the fullness of the Holy Spirit is to carry their own crosses. Now, I would like to deeply consider the cross which every Christian should take.

● Cross represents death in regard to sin as a tool for death.
As a tool for death, cross represents death which is the price of sins that sinners should surely pay. There are two kinds of crosses. First, as a cross that was carried by Jesus Christ, it serves as a scapegoat and a model for mankind. Second, the cross is the one that Jesus Christ commanded people to carry in order to follow Him. The first cross which was carried by Jesus Christ is the one as a sacrifice to be reconciled to God who was disconnected due to the flesh such as sin and evil since the fall of Adam.

God created man in the image of God. The image of God is love (1Jn 4:8). Adam who was created in the image of God had been through a lot together with God and was at peace with God as one spirit with God in the Garden of Eden. However, Adam ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and became fallen flesh. Fallen flesh means to become the desires of the flesh (immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish, ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies (Gal 5:19-21)) from love which is the image of God. Like this, the fruit which caused Adam to fall means to judge between good and evil. Judgment of good and evil is an inherent right for only God as omniscient and omnipotent God, but Adam judged between good and evil and condemned with his own wisdom like God after he was tempted by the serpent. As a result, he became fallen flesh (Gal 5:19-21). Fallen flesh is a decisive reason not to share pleasures and pains of life with God (Gen 6:3).

"My spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal."

Like this, due to the incident of the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, men who were banished from the Garden of Eden established their own independent world without God and have enjoyed and developed their own civilization in a disconnected state from God. Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (Jas 4:4). As a result, men have paid the price of living in sorrow, anxiety, unhappiness, failure, distress, disaster, etc. under the power of death. Like this, because the first Adam failed due to the incident of the fruit, God needed Adam as a resurrected man (1Co 15:45), and it is Jesus Christ (Jn 17:2). The birth of Jesus Christ is to prevent the destruction of the world and save mankind as a resurrected Adam on this earth.

Namely, as a scapegoat for mankind, Jesus Christ bore all the sins of mankind without a word like a sheep before her shearers, he was mocked, flogged, crowned with thorns, crucified, and raised to life. Through such a case with the cross, God opened the way of salvation for mankind to be reconciled to God only with the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Jesus Christ as a mediator. Accordingly, the true salvation in the Bible is to restore mankind to what Adam was before the fall through Jesus Christ.

In order to do that, the first thing is to return to love which is the image of God by discarding the body of the flesh. The second thing is not to eat again the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that was the cause of the fall of Adam. Namely, human tricks and wisdom should be put away and only the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus Christ, should be followed. Like this, salvation will be fulfilled when these two conditions are satisfied.

As the sign of salvation will be proved by itself (Gal 5:22-23), my spirit should be filled with the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All of my sinful nature desires which have been bothering me should be vanished without a trace. Such a state is salvation i.e. the restoration to Adam’s image, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Apostle Paul summarized and declared two things in the Bible and these are as follows: "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18) and "be led by the Spirit".

The first declaration, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, is the restoration of the image of God in man. The second declaration, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is to live and communicate with God forever in the Garden of Eden, the kingdom of God, by doing good which is God’s will without being tempted to vice by the serpent as not eating again the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is the true meaning of the salvation which is in Christ Jesus as mentioned in the Bible and God has devoted all His interests in this matter.

Although Christian people are filled with the Holy Spirit after salvation, they are not able to maintain the fullness of the Holy Spirit and they are always tempted by Satan if they do not overcome the desires of the sinful nature. In order to take the fullness of the Holy Spirit away from them, Satan provides them with temptations and tests in their lives sometimes fiercely like a roaring lion or deceitfully like a snake by many faces with three desires such as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life and desires of the sinful nature (Gal5:19-21).

The Christian people who receive such Satan’s temptations and tests are in a fierce spiritual battle between flesh and spirit in their hearts because they wish to follow God’s law in their conscience, whereas they wish to follow physical desires in their flesh. The loser in this battle will be a slave to whatever has mastered him (2Pe 2:19). Namely, if the spirit which wishes to keep the commandments and words of God wins, then they will live as Christians who maintain the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If the flesh wins, then they will live as worldly men who believe in Jesus Christ only with their lips. In order to be always victorious in such spiritual battles, the message of the cross which carries their own crosses as the example of Jesus Christ should be applied to their lives in every moment like a math formula because carrying their own crosses is the only way to maintain the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

● The way to take up your cross is to deny oneself.
The way to take up your cross is to deny oneself and this self-denial is as follows: first, God’s commandments should be kept to maintain love which is God’s image, and the three desires and sinful nature desires which are the comprehensive components of the world should be denied to keep God’s commandments. Second, not to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, ‘good’, the guidance of the Holy Spirit i.e. God’s words should be kept by faith and human wisdom, knowledge, experiences, etc. should be denied.

To put it more concretely, first, the only way to maintain God’s image is to keep the love commandment as the Lord commanded. However, Christian people are always challenged to meet the need of the sinful nature desires within themselves to keep and practice the love commandments. Whenever there is a chance, the sinful natures are trying to meet the needs of their desires with complaint and dissatisfaction if they are in difficult situation or if there is no benefit to them. On the other hand, in the midst of conflict between the spirit (which wishes to accomplish love no matter what) and the flesh, their consciences should deny desires of the sinful natures which have power over them and do everything in love. But this means that they should become downright foolish in the world. While people in the world mobilize all of human knowledge, deeds, ways, and means as much as possible, we should deny such things although we are able to do that like them but do everything in love that is the commandments of God. This is as if we get punched and kicked with our eyes open and with our hands and feet tied behind our back until the last moment by the opponents.

In order to keep the commandments, we always face such situations. Then, those situations are so one-sided that we tend to feel resentful. In addition, we feel frustrated and confined in this whole world because it seems that the whole world is fully blocked somewhere. Moreover, we feel so foolish that we continuously vent our rage and anger within us and we are tempted by the desires of the sinful nature shouting to ourselves to use the same ways like others. Such situations are repeated again and again in our life. However, we have to deny our endless desires of the sinful nature until the point of death. Because loving the Lord is only proved by truly keeping the commandments of the Lord without asking for reasons, we should keep the commandments until the point of death. In addition, the ultimate flower of the cross is completed by blessing those people who harassed, slandered, and insulted us for their spirits to meet God. By doing so, we do not damage the image of God in our spirit. Since Jesus Christ showed that example, we also have to follow that example as it is.

Second, not to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil which is the cause of Adam’s fall, the guidance of the Holy Spirit which is only God’s word i.e. ‘good’ should be kept and done by faith. In order to do that, human wisdom, knowledge, experiences, etc. should be denied. Namely, you should not judge and condemn others at your disposal.

No one knows ‘good’ of God except the Spirit of God (1Co 2:11). Therefore, to keep ‘good’ which is the word of God, numerous criticisms, slanders and misunderstandings will be poured out to you and finally you will be excluded from the world. It is because you testify ‘prior knowledge’ such as prophecies, teachings, etc. ‘Prior knowledge’ is ahead of your time. In addition, it is not common sense. Like this, God’s words are not accepted because such transcendent ‘prior knowledge’ is always testified. Moreover, modern people want to resolve doubts first by asking a question "why?" in the way of faith. Likewise, people require basic knowledge, theory, persuasion, logic, validity or power but God wants us to just believe God’s words as the faith of the centurion. At this point, Christian people should go through labor to deny their own wisdom, knowledge, common sense, etc., and just believe only God’s words.

Even if Christian people are despised and humiliated, and heard as being foolish and crazy like Noah because God’s words cannot possibly be understood in the world, they should deny and transcend uncertainty, lack of common sense, irrationality, ignorance, etc. about their present work. In addition, they should keep the words guided by the Holy Spirit and practice as they are commanded without any question as the faith of truly believing the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, Christian people become betrayed, silly, foolish, and stupid; they are deprived of everything, collapsed, reproached and mocked at last. Even their own selves raise doubts whether it is wrong or not and face with this endless fight, which is a tormenting crown of thorns, etc. Christian people should go through great sufferings just as Jesus Christ did. However, as our Lord Jesus Christ went until "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" at last, we should go silently until that state. Such spirit of Christian people crying out on the cross corresponds to that of the Beatitudes in the New Testament. The Beatitudes are essential elements in the process of Adam’s restoration which is the resurrection that is the fruit of the cross i.e. salvation. If we are true Christian people, we have to attain up to this state. Only then we will be clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit from above, coming down from God.

BLESSED are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

BLESSED are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

BLESSED are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

BLESSED are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

BLESSED are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

BLESSED are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

BLESSED are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

BLESSED are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven (Mt 5:1-12).

Like this, the Beatitudes are the exploding outcries for salvation, and these will be done by only those who keep the law of Jesus Christ. In addition, these are the outcries of the last moment for the hope of salvation for the sake of those who will be born again as the last outcries of the pregnant woman in her labor pains. As Jesus Christ said on the cross, "it is finished," and gave up his spirit, and resurrected after he cried out in a loud voice, "Elli, Elli, lama sabachthani?", we also should take up our own crosses and truly cry out to the point of death in order to only keep the love of commandments and guidance of the Holy Spirit on the basis of the Beatitudes. The end of such sincere and truthful cry out is salvation, which is the fruit of the cross and this state is called the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the end of the cross is to be born again as the fullness of the Holy Spirit which is the resurrection of life.

As the Spirit of Jesus Christ becomes one spirit with us, God has poured out faith, love, and power in Jesus Christ into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Ro 5:5). Naturally, we can overcome and believe lack of common sense, irrationality, unreality, illogic, etc. as mentioned above. Moreover, we will be provided with the power of Jesus Christ who walked on the lake with full confidence in the faith that he could walk on the lake. Such faith has been made known to accomplish miracles, wonders, and works of God as it is believed, so it testifies to the world that ‘good’, the word of God, is always right. Like this, it testifies that glory of resurrection is far greater than the suffering on the cross and just to see that glory is enough for complete comfort. The Lord’s glory is that the Lord is directly made known to the world through us as mediators (Gal 2:20). When people in the world see such a thing, they realize the presence of the living God, fear Him and voluntarily return to God.

As mentioned above, our Christian faith is completed by taking our own crosses. Taking our own crosses is to die for the restoration of Adam that is the ultimate goal of salvation. It is to take the pain of denying our own wisdom, knowledge, experiences, etc., and the death through suffering in order to believe and keep the love of commandments and the word which is the guidance of the Holy Spirit until death followed by abandonment. In this process, the Beatitudes are the outcries by crying and seeking on the cross to keep faith and these are to be born again as the fullness of the Holy Spirit which is the resurrection through such outcries. In Christian faith, the fullness of the Holy Spirit is maintained through such a process. Therefore, salvation cannot be achieved by one time believing. We have to deny our passions, desires, wisdom, and knowledge occurring every moment in our daily lives and nail them on the cross by desperately fighting against our own selves. Only when we win this fight, the fullness of the Holy Spirit will be continuously maintained within our spirit. Therefore, Jesus Christ said, "anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Mt 10:38).

Christian people should receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and guidance of the Holy Spirit without fail because this is a restoration to Adam and salvation as well. This can be restored not by might nor by power but by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Because we become one spirit with God through the Holy Spirit, we are able to know the will of God by distinguishing between good and evil through a revelation which is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, if we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we are under the reign of the flesh i.e. the power of death, which means that we are not saved as being still in exile after the fall. As a result, we are judged by the Lord as being spiritually blind without knowing the will of God.

As the Lord said that he came into the world for judgment, the Lord’s judgment is to make the blind see and make those who see become blind (Jn 9:39). Namely, the Lord let the poor in spirit like children seeking and crying to see "good" (the will of God) see; and the wise and the prudent who see in their own eyes become blind by hiding God. This is an everlasting way for the Lord to judge the world. No one knows except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him through the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Mt 11:27). As the will of God, the word guided by the Holy Spirit is ‘good’ or ‘light’. As this word is an everlasting covenant of God, this is the salt between light and salt which is the Christian work. Namely, it is an everlasting covenant of salt (Nu 18:19). As Christian people should believe, keep, and practice this covenant of word as it is, they have to live lives of witnesses to testify to the world that the word is right and a community for Christian people is a church. However, churches have not brought God’s complete glory to the world because until the present they have been blind about the word of "good" i.e. "light" which is they have to testify. In order to make God known, Christians should take their own crosses by taking ‘the example’ itself as Jesus showed and follow the same way. Accordingly, now churches should set the broken Cross right once and for all by taking the example of greatest sacrifice and love as Jesus Christ showed on the Cross in Calvary 2,000 years ago and carrying out the same way without changing the smallest letter or stroke after ending long wandering lives.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Hallelujah! To whom be glory forever and ever.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen!

Love: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1Co 13:4-7).

Desires of the flesh: immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish, ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies (Gal 5:19-21).

Three desires: The elements of the world under the rein of Satan the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life (1Jn 2:16).