The Operation of God: Part 1

 “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”-Colossians 2:12

Sometimes, in order to understand how something works it is helpful to take it apart.  By removing the integral pieces, you begin to understand the purpose of those pieces and how they function with one another as a whole.  The entire operation is the sum of many different parts.

We all have a birth date, and we all have a death date.  The birth date most of us know, and the death date none of us know.  When we leave this world, we leave behind this fragile flesh and venture out into the unknown.  For my part, it wasn’t the preaching of God’s love, or grace, or blessing that initially motivated me to seek God; it was fear.  The preacher told me that if I died a sinner then I was bound for a sinner’s hell.  That revelation motivated me to want to do something about my sin.  When I learned that there was a sinless, spotless Christ who died on a cross, rose from the grave and sent the Holy Spirit so that I could be free from sin; I believed, and when I heard the good news, that faith in one Jesus Christ was my ticket out of sin; this is really when two and two became four.  Holy Ghost conviction gripped my conscious, because I could not go on living this awful life of sin, rejecting the salvation that Christ bled for.  Jesus Christ died for me.  When I saw my sins as God did and saw myself a guilty sinner in need of a Savior I began praying “God forgive me.”  The first miracle of grace is that a person can kneel guilty but rise justified.  It was a wonderful feeling; it was so wonderful I thought “how could there be anything more?”  But there was more.  Though my past sins were gone, there was still the future to contend with.  I knew there would be ample opportunity to commit sin again, and I was afraid of what would happen when temptation came.  Those close to me said “if you don’t get the Holy Spirit in your heart; the carnal nature will overpower you and you will sin again.”  The stalk had been cut, but the root remained.  You have got to get at sin from the root.  In my option, herein lies the key to the whole matter; death.  Carnal sin is the “want-to” sin, it is the driving force.  At the heart of carnal sin, is self.  Your selfish desires are the lifeblood of carnal sin.  Adam and Eve wanted to be like God, so they took of the tree.  The taproot of sin is self.  It is that self which must be destroyed.  You must die so that Christ can live within.  There are so many people who seek God for forgiveness, and so few who seek for holiness.  You can be sorry and not saved.  You can feel forgiven, but not die.  The twenty-four-hour testimony is a common thing because it does not include your all on the alter.  The twenty-year testimony is an un-common thing because it does include your all on the alter.  If you die, if you give all, if you say God “whatever it takes I want You!”  He will raise you up a new life.  The second miracle is that God can take a unholy man, out of his unholy sins, clean him up, cleanse him entire, and sanctify him wholly.  That the same man who was once a habitation of devils, can now be a habitation of God.  He will sanctify you and you will be holy.  Holiness is the power needed to destroy sinfulness.  When God came into my heart, the devil moved out.  Now every day is His day.  The old man is dead, and the new is Christ.  This is what it means to be a Christian.    

To remove, any one part is to undermine the entire operation of salvation.  Salvation is not merit based, like a diploma.  It is faith based.  You put your faith in the whole operation of God through Jesus Christ.  When you do, that is what will save you.  You don’t have to understand it all, you just believe it all.