Faith That Reflects Christ

 

Jesus is the prototype of our faith, so when God beholds Him in our faith He says of us, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” (Mathew 17:5)

The apostles and elders of the Second 8^th Week often talk about how we must now build faith in the image of Christ when before the new covenant, the children of Israel were building their faith according to the pattern given to Moses on the mount.

God has raised up a new steward like Moses in these last days whom He has given the pattern and blueprint of truth (Jesus Christ) for the Church to build and bond with.

To build faith in the image of Christ is therefore to follow this pattern for the expression of our faith, our faith taking the correct form of activity.

Faith is the element of the gospel that allows us to observe Christ in the pattern of truth to do righteousness, and to receive the things from above and to communicate back to God what He issued for a reward of increase in the soul with the fruits of the Spirit. Faith is therefore our obedience, believing, and willingness to reflect on the revelation of Christ (grace), and also our willingness to yield to the Spirit of God.

If we are the sum of our choices, then faith is the new man in Christ that the Holy Spirit gives witness to, to unfold the signature of Christ within us.

The Mirror of Truth (KSAT)

When we look in the mirror, we see our own reflection. If you put your faith in front of the mirror, you should see the image of Jesus Christ.

Apostle Eric has defined the Kingdom Standardized Admission Test (KSAT) as “covenant-based instruction that cleanses the heart and purifies the conscience, and eternal wisdom beyond the kingdom of the flesh which is short lived.”

It is basically an acid test to determine whether a believer is qualified to minister in the kingdom of God.

When we reflect on this covenant-based instruction and wisdom for our confidence and hope in Christ, then the mirror of truth will reflect Jesus Christ; but when we reflect on our hopes, dreams, problems and needs to find confidence and hope in Christ, then the mirror of truth will reflect the natural man who has a natural history to which he is naturally inclined to respond to in place of grace.

Faith must respond to the inspiration of grace to build with truth in order to reflect Christ. When your faith starts with a problem then it will build with the moral code and the scriptures which is a recipe for faith in crisis because spiritual transformation does not take place and the conscience continues to bear witness to the dead works of the flesh, crying foul.

It's much like looking in the mirror and cringing at your flaws then having your thought life tossing and turning in guilt, shame, and condemnation. When faith reflects yourself (natural man/flesh), you are condemned of sin.

What is most disturbing however, is the mitigating tools that false ministers have in place to soften the blow of the paradox in false faith and normalize it; this keeps believers coming back for more unwholesome instruction and wisdom of the false Church.

One popular mitigating tool is the sliding scale which false ministers use to set benchmarks for faith when there are paradoxes.

Jesus is the Standard for Likeness

I often reflect on how Satan has taught the world to survive using their aspirations and principles, but Jesus teaches us how to live.

If you look at celebrities, they use their own likeness or self-image (aspirations) to draw devoted followers who will reciprocate and confirm them. The Bible says we are gods and so when we look at facet #12 of the God-code, “We establish a memorial of ourselves in all things—everything is a mirror of self “, we can begin to understand why God is challenging the aspiration.

We were not created to reflect ourselves but to reflect Christ, soul, spirit, and body. Self is the flesh which originally was given as natural instincts to survive in this natural world. But being born in the system of sin the flesh became corrupt and replaced faith in God. Faith was meant to be our first instinct, and this is what we are returning to as we complete our Christian growth cycles.

Through faith we are alive in the kingdom of God and increasing our souls in the likeness of Jesus Christ which increases the kingdom of God. Our life in this body is now for knowing and serving God and taking on the likeness of Christ for an eternal inheritance. This does not mean we lose our uniqueness, but our character and what we say and do begins to reflect Jesus Christ but in a unique way.

We were meant to establish a memorial of Christ in all things – our thoughts were meant to reflect Him.

Whatever we think we are actually doing in the spiritual world. This is what God sees and what we tend to forget in the physical world. If we die to our aspirations and principles, the drive and power that sustains our disturbing thought patterns, then the new man in Christ increases and the natural man decreases.

Only those whose faith reflects Jesus Christ experience this spiritual transformation as they embrace covenant-based instruction from the apostles and elders of the Second 8^th Week.