By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” 1 Corinthians 2:12-13

As believers, it is important that we have a working understanding of salvation or the devil will cheat us. Salvation is a gift from God with many privileges. Salvation brings the riches of heaven and blessings to the believer, which no human could have ever imagined or thought about. The gifts that were freely given to us are unfathomable. It elicits joy. Although David did not witness the salvation that Christ Jesus brought us, he had an insight into what salvation provides, and he enumerated them. David being a prophet, manifested the gift of WORD OF WISDOM. This gift is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit to reveal to a man the future plans and purposes of God. This is not the same thing as the wisdom of Solomon. Or the wisdom the book of James says we need to pray to receive from God. Every believer needs to have this wisdom James talks about in order to deal with the affairs of life.

This gift of word of wisdom is a special manifestation of the Holy Spirit, when He wills and not when we will or want it. It is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. Not every Christian manifests this gift just like not everyone has the gift of healing. Only those to who the Holy Spirit uses in these areas manifest them. Unlike the wisdom to deal with daily affairs of life, which every Christian should have, David saw this salvation ahead of time and it stirred joy in him., which was why he said “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; Who Forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases: Who redeemeth all thine life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103: 1-5. This is called the gift of word of wisdom. God giving an insight into the plans and purposes of God in the future to someone through which this gift manifests as the Holy Spirit wills not as man wills.

Many Christians don’t understand salvation as a result they don’t experience the benefit in some aspects of their lives. They are yet to have victory over demonic challenges, victory over their flesh and emotions. Some also lack the understanding of salvation because they mostly focus on the law and sin. Experiencing salvation is therefore strange to them. All they know is that Christ died for their sins. Even then they do not have a good grip on the implication of The Lord dying for their sins. They still try to atone for their sins by fasting or doing some other type of penance. They still seek God’s favor by afflicting themselves whenever they need God’s intervention. When you focus on the laws and sin, you cannot produce faith. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. So, if you want to develop faith, you simply do what the Bible says; looking unto Jesus not looking unto Moses and his laws. You cannot experience the blessings of salvation without faith. They are all received by faith and were freely given. Again, without faith, you can’t please God!!! IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD WITHOUT FAITH.

Romans 5:2. “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” NLT

Salvation makes it possible to share in God’s glory! What a privilege to stand where Christ stands and sit with Him in heavenly places, far above principalities and powers and every name that is named, to share in His life and become partakers of His Divine nature and become members of His body, amazing!

SINS STOP DOMINATING US BECAUSE WE HAVE A NEW LIFE AND THAT LIFE WAS GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST THE LORD COMING INTO US WHEN WE RECEIVED HIM INTO OUR LIVES.  THIS IS THE FREEDOM THAT COMES WITH SALVATION.

Romans 6:14“For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”  We are no longer slaves to sin, and sin has no dominion over us because Christ Jesus by His grace saved us from our sinful nature and gave us a new righteous and holy nature. We received a new life. The life of Christ who lives in us. OLD LIFE HAS PASSED AWAY AND NOW NEW LIFE HAS BEGUN. Now the greater one now lives in us. He is greater than anything in the world, more powerful than our flesh, more powerful than sin, more powerful than any power at all in this world that wants to control us. So, the flesh can no more dominate us and neither can sin. Jesus is now our Lord and He is our life. We surrender our lives to Him to live through us as Paul did. Then His light will be shining through us His vessels of honor.

This happens as we enter into His rest and walk by faith in Him. We cast the burdens of life on Him and take His rest, then He does what we cannot do. He takes on the flesh and sin and puts them where they belong while we enjoy His faithfulness. Just like a branch enjoys the hold of the vine in a storm and draws life and food from the Vine. Then naturally produces after the nature of the Vine with no effort on the part of the branch. The branch needs only to remain attached to the branch to be as strong as the main tree carrying and holding it. Through us, the Vine shows forth His life and glory. Like Paul, we live simply by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor at Fountain at The Living Word Church, New Jersey.