And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
Peace and mercy rest on all who walk according to this rule, and upon the Israel of God. The rule means that outward circumcision or its absence does not matter, but becoming a new creation in Christ does, calling for a life changed and sanctified through the truth. The rule is to glory only in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the world crucified to the believer and the believer to the world, ever pressing on toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ without standing still or turning back. Walking by this rule means leaving righteousness that goes no further than external form, letting pride and self-importance die, confessing every sin, staying constantly on guard, and minding the same things in unity.
Those who so walk receive power to conquer in the strife with evil, the help of angels beside them in danger, and the crown of immortality to win. Living by the rule is living by faith in Christ. The Israel of God includes many who are not descendants of Abraham by birth, with God's people identified by their place in his purpose and the blessings promised to Abraham extending to people from other nations. By Christ's death Gentiles become fellow heirs with those who share in God's promises through Christ, so Gentile believers are included in Israel and are not to be treated as unclean or excluded from God's promises.
Those who yield themselves to God and observe his law are spiritual Israel, his church on earth, and people from the nations who joined themselves to the Lord were to be numbered among God's people. The Israel of God is the true church of Christ today, whose members represent heaven and are charged with finishing the work committed to humanity. The Israel of God is God's people now and in this age till the close of time, all who profess godliness, with great privileges and great light given that they may attain their high calling in Christ Jesus, yet they are not what God would have them to be.
The history of ancient Israel's wilderness life was chronicled for the benefit of the Israel of God, with the record of God's dealings with the wanderers in their marchings, their exposure to hunger, thirst, and weariness, and the striking manifestations of his power for their relief giving warning and instruction. The varied experiences of the Hebrews were a school of preparation for the promised home in Canaan, and reviewing with a humble heart and teachable spirit the trials ancient Israel passed instructs the Israel of God now in preparation for the heavenly Canaan. God's people as the Israel of God are called to follow Christ's principles in how they treat one another, which applied to them just as they applied to ancient Israel and will remain relevant in the judgment. The Israel of God must be strong where ancient Israel failed and advance unitedly, relying on God's power and serving others in a Christlike spirit, and the Lord's blessing attends this work.
The Israel of God as those called to awake and walk in the Lord's way must walk in humility before God, wholehearted consecration, childlike simplicity, and a life exercised unto godliness, seeking God's approval rather than people's. The Israel of God must rend the heart, not merely the garment, expressing inward repentance rather than outward display. They need to awake, put away every wrong, confess to God every secret sin, afflict the soul before him, and with great humility investigate the motives of every action knowing the eye of God reads all and searches out every hidden thing, with thorough work, entire consecration, and full surrender of all they have and are. Ministers and people need a new conversion, a transformation of the mind, without which they are not savors of life unto life but of death unto death.
Peace and mercy rest on all who walk according to this rule, and upon the Israel of God. The rule means that outward circumcision or its absence does not matter, but becoming a new creation in Christ does, calling for a life changed and sanctified through the truth. The rule is to glory only in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the world crucified to the believer and the believer to the world, ever pressing on toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ without standing still or turning back. Walking by this rule means leaving righteousness that goes no further than external form, letting pride and self-importance die, confessing every sin, staying constantly on guard, and minding the same things in unity.
Those who so walk receive power to conquer in the strife with evil, the help of angels beside them in danger, and the crown of immortality to win. Living by the rule is living by faith in Christ. The Israel of God includes many who are not descendants of Abraham by birth, with God's people identified by their place in his purpose and the blessings promised to Abraham extending to people from other nations. By Christ's death Gentiles become fellow heirs with those who share in God's promises through Christ, so Gentile believers are included in Israel and are not to be treated as unclean or excluded from God's promises.
Those who yield themselves to God and observe his law are spiritual Israel, his church on earth, and people from the nations who joined themselves to the Lord were to be numbered among God's people. The Israel of God is the true church of Christ today, whose members represent heaven and are charged with finishing the work committed to humanity. The Israel of God is God's people now and in this age till the close of time, all who profess godliness, with great privileges and great light given that they may attain their high calling in Christ Jesus, yet they are not what God would have them to be.
The history of ancient Israel's wilderness life was chronicled for the benefit of the Israel of God, with the record of God's dealings with the wanderers in their marchings, their exposure to hunger, thirst, and weariness, and the striking manifestations of his power for their relief giving warning and instruction. The varied experiences of the Hebrews were a school of preparation for the promised home in Canaan, and reviewing with a humble heart and teachable spirit the trials ancient Israel passed instructs the Israel of God now in preparation for the heavenly Canaan. God's people as the Israel of God are called to follow Christ's principles in how they treat one another, which applied to them just as they applied to ancient Israel and will remain relevant in the judgment. The Israel of God must be strong where ancient Israel failed and advance unitedly, relying on God's power and serving others in a Christlike spirit, and the Lord's blessing attends this work.
The Israel of God as those called to awake and walk in the Lord's way must walk in humility before God, wholehearted consecration, childlike simplicity, and a life exercised unto godliness, seeking God's approval rather than people's. The Israel of God must rend the heart, not merely the garment, expressing inward repentance rather than outward display. They need to awake, put away every wrong, confess to God every secret sin, afflict the soul before him, and with great humility investigate the motives of every action knowing the eye of God reads all and searches out every hidden thing, with thorough work, entire consecration, and full surrender of all they have and are. Ministers and people need a new conversion, a transformation of the mind, without which they are not savors of life unto life but of death unto death.