When you did a good confession in front of many witnesses, the testing of your faith begins. Jesus’s faith wasn’t tested until He was born again. Jesus knew no sin, so why did He need to be baptized? Jesus’s seed was by the Holy Spirit, but He was stillborn through Adam. Eve was taken from Adam, “And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’” Even though Jesus knew no sin, He was stillborn in sin. Hence the reason He was born again to fulfill all righteousness. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Then he allowed Him.” Right after He was led into the wilderness to be tested. Every born-again believer will be tested to see if their faith is genuine. Jesus wasn’t just tempted in the wilderness, He has tempted the rest of His life, even while He was on the cross. “And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! IF YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD, come down from the cross.’“
Many Christians don’t understand why they are being tested. Your faith is being tested, yes, but you being tested because of what you now carry. Jesus was born again to fulfill all righteousness. When you are born again, you have fulfilled all righteousness because you are following Jesus’s faith. Jesus told Philip when He was asked about showing him the Father, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to THE FATHER except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known MY FATHER also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “LORD, SHOW US THE FATHER , AND IT IS SUFFICIENT FOR US.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen THE FATHER; so how can you say, ‘Show us THE FATHER’? Do you not believe that I am in THE FATHER, and THE FATHER in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but THE FATHER WHO DWELLS IN ME does the works. Believe Me that I am in THE FATHER and THE FATHER in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to MY FATHER.’” Jesus knew that Father was in Him, and we are to know that Jesus is in us. The way we live proves what we believe. It’s a testing of your faith to see if you will live this way, a new and living way. The church today, like Philip can’t see if someone is walking with Christ. Jesus was walking as one with Father, “I and MY FATHER are one.” Today, we are to walk as one with Jesus. “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” Since you are one with Jesus in the spirit, then walk in the spirit. “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” All the testing that you will go through, like Jesus, is to see if you will walk in the spirit or the flesh. “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” John the Baptist was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus added to what John was preaching. He added a baptism in the spirit. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This is the testing that everyone goes through, to see if you live from the flesh or spirit. The righteousness that you live from is not of yourself, but from Jesus. You now live by His righteousness because you have been made right with Father; not by what you have done, but by what He has done. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is THE GIFT OF GOD, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” The gift is Jesus’s righteousness. “And THE GIFT is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but THE FREE GIFT which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL REIGN IN LIFE THROUGH THE ONE, JESUS CHRIST.”
I hope this blesses you, my friends. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. FOR IN IT, ( the gospel of Christ) THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM FAITH TO FAITH; as it is written, “THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BT FAITH.” “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, MIGHT LIVE FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS––by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
