Author:
Apostle Ruhan Neethling
Ruhan serves as a called and confirmed Apostle in the restored government of God, and he is an IDCCST Spiritual Life Coach. Apostle Ruhan helps you to begin a new and final chapter in your search for truth. View my profile.
In Isaiah 1:18 we read: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
What does it mean to reason with God and how does that profit the righteous? To reason with God is a form of fellowship for exchange as we transition from being mindful of sin and death, to being mindful of Jesus’ righteousness, justification, sanctification, holiness, regeneration, peace, rest, and grace.
We can see this contrast brought out in Isaiah 1:18. God promised a transition through Jesus Christ who gave us a covenant to change our nature by His divine power.
In each grown cycle God challenges the fruits that Satan sowed in the heart while we were prisoners in the kingdom of darkness. And as we reason with God from the foundation of truth, the anointing divides the kingdom of the flesh from the kingdom of the Spirit to bring distinction to Christ for our obedience to be fulfilled.
We can see that reasoning with God requires the foundation of truth for our obedience to manifest those distinctions God is bringing to light, whereby we walk with God. We, the righteous, are thus assisted to overcome self, Satan, and the world and so partake of God’s glory. It is by reasoning with God that we are given life, as it is our joining with Him through the Holy Vine, which is Christ.
Faith Reasons whereas the Flesh Bargains
It might be easier to understand what it means to reason with God by looking further at the contrast that we see and experience in the flesh. We were born into the kingdom of the flesh and it is our first history, so we have much experience in that kingdom. Satan uses the features of the flesh as familiar ground and he is eager to bring the mind back under the shadow of his reasoning to begin to bargain with God.
What did we experience while in the kingdom of the flesh? While in the kingdom of darkness, we were ruled by ignorance and sought to increase our own light to fulfil our own desires. The tools we used to express who we are and what we desire were limited to the 5 features of the flesh: 1) our signature 2) our moral code 3) our God-Code 4) the knowledge of this world 5) the fruits of iniquity.
As God defines the flesh for us, we can see why the flesh falls short of the glory of God and why Satan would use these features of the flesh as tools of the mind.
However, these tools stand in contrast to that of the kingdom of God given to us by Jesus and sanctified by His blood. Jesus’ tools are not of the flesh, they are not of this world, they don’t refer back to us, they refer to Him.
The kingdom of the flesh is self-referencing and when brought under the power of the flesh, man begins to bargain with God. Bargaining with God will most often go something like this: “Lord, if you take away this affliction, I will dedicate more than my time and tithe to the church,” or “If you heal my son from this ailment, I will profess your name on social media as the healer of all.” It can also be much more subtle than this, for example, “If you give me a sign in this difficult decision I have to make, I will follow your way.”
When you look at these statements, you can see how the soul is seeking peace and increase according to its own terms, not the terms of God. It sets a condition to God that there will be some form of reciprocation when its needs and wants are met.
Christ is the True Pattern for Reciprocation to God
God does require reciprocation from us in righteous faith, but not according to the terms of the flesh. Our reciprocation is on the terms of the new covenant, which is according to the pattern of Christ. Jesus did not bargain with God, but was obedient to God, even unto death, in order to fulfill the plan of God that He shed His blood to give us a new covenant in Himself.
In contrast to Jesus’ pattern for obedience, we can clearly see the pattern of the flesh and the kingdom of darkness in the temptation Satan offered to Jesus. Satan tried to bargain with Jesus by saying “If thou be the Son of God, then…”. This is also seen in the way that the Pharisees demanded of Jesus to prove that He is the Messiah for them to believe. Take a close look at the kingdom that is being increased through this bargaining.
The Flesh Argues When Not Fulfilled
Along with bargaining, the mind that wars in the kingdom of the flesh also argues with God. The natural man, born into the kingdom of the flesh seeks the confirmation of the principle and wishes to subdue all by that principle. Of course, what I am describing here, we overcome these habits of the mind by our submission to God in each growth cycle.
When I refer to the mind that wars and the habits of the natural man, I am doing so to bring contrast and to highlight what we overcome as we take on the divine nature.
God’s knowledge stands in direct contrast to the habits of the natural man, and therefore God frustrates the principle of man. When this happens, when the mind does not labor with the foundation of truth, the flesh will continue to self-reference and thus argue with God in order to retain its own knowledge and obtain its own peace.
In this new apostolic season God has opened the eyes of the church and believers are now growing in this much needed discernment. Arguing with God used to be a sign of a person’s faith as he had to grapple with his fallen nature. Now you can clearly discern the kingdom that is used to bargain and then argue with God.
This discernment you are gaining between the kingdom of the flesh and the kingdom of God is important. When the kingdom of the flesh is the source of a person’s confidence it will also be the source of their justifications.
Faith brings the Flesh into Subjection
God, as the creator and origin of all, sets the standards for us to be joined to Him. He sets the terms for fellowship to yield the fruit of Christ in our soul. God is true only to Himself and does not bow to man. Unto those that serve Him with a pure heart, He reveals Himself by His truth.
God shares Himself with us and we daily receive many tokens, which the Apostle Peter called the manifold grace of God.
1 Peter 4:10
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Those who have been converted to Christ are the righteous who submit themselves to God by taking on the yoke of His knowledge. We agree to serve God with the tokens of Christ and to overcome Satan’s provocations to draw from the history of our first birth and former habits of the mind to trust the 5 features of the flesh. Reasoning with God reflect Jesus, not the kingdom of the flesh. It is by this submission to grace that we bear the fruit of Christ as self is put to death and He is formed within.
