Ryan Rufus Writing Again--On Sanctification!

UPDATE: PLEASE SEE THIS POST: City Church International Hong Kong: Ryan Rufus, New Nature Publications Etc…Grace For Control and Abuse?


For those of you who've been around my blog for any length of time, you're aware that Aaron and I and many of our friends have benefitted immensely from the ministry of City Church International in Hong Kong. We've often listened to the preaching and teaching of Rob and Glenda Rufus, Ryan and Kylie Rufus, and others from their church and various other places from around the world. And you might remember me linking to a free book online at their website by Ryan Rufus called "Do Christians Still Have a Sinful Nature?", a book I still very highly recommend to anyone who hasn't read it already.  

Well, in a recent mp3 from CCI, Ryan tells of a prophetic dream (Regeneration Dec. 30 2007 )he had and one thing that became clear to him was that teaching on grace empowered sanctification was to be a major part of his ministry. I was so excited to hear that in light of some things I've been struggling through myself that I e-mailed him and asked if he'd be interested in writing anything for me to post on my blog. I got more than I hoped for! He's started writing a new book called "Sanctification by Grace" and has forwarded me a rough draft of the first chapter with permission to post as much as I like. So you're all in for a treat! Here's the first part (all emphasis mine):

Chapter 1: The trinity of man.

'I am a spirit, I live in a body and I have a soul.'

Before we talk about sanctification it's important to understand the three part nature of man because sanctification affects all three parts. If we don't understand them then we'll struggle to understand how certain scriptures apply to each part and sanctification will become confusing. You may think it's weird that I've started here, but this is foundational to understanding true sanctification, trust me. I believe this is one of the most important studies a Christian can do. Revelation on this subject will transform your life. So let's look at the trinity of man. (I'm going to take it from a real basic level so forgive me if it insults your intelligence please.)

Every human being is made up of 3 parts:

Spirit, soul and body. (scripture)

All Christians, I'm sure, are aware of their body. But many are unaware of their spirit and soul or at least the difference between them. But the word of God declares that it can divide between the two (Heb 4: 12).

Now there are also 3 realms know to man:

The physical realm, spiritual realm and the mental realm.
We all exist in these realms but how do we have access to them? Well with our bodies we access the physical realm. That happens through our 5 physical senses. Sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. With our spirits we access the spiritual realm. God is Spirit and we have been created in His likeness-spirit beings. Those who worship God must worship in 'spirit' and in truth. And with our soul or our mind we have access to the mental realm. Our mind has to do with our will, our intellect and our thoughts.

See, you are not just the hunk of flesh and bones that everyone else sees. You are much more than that. In fact that is just one part of you. And in fact that is just your earth suit. Even though it's the part that everyone knows you by, it is actually the least part of you! The most accurate and helpful way to look at this is to say:

'I am a spirit, I live in a body and I have a soul'.

You are a spirit, you live in a body and you have a soul!
You are a spirit, you live in a body, but you are not that body. It is your earth suit! If it died, you wouldn't die. The real you, which is your spirit, wouldn't die, it would go on to be with the Lord. (scripture). If you are born again then you will never die! That is your flesh may die, but you, the real you, your spirit, cannot die! It just goes instantly to be with the Lord.

Now how does salvation affect each one of those parts of us?

Salvation happened instantly in your spirit, is happening in your soul/mind and will one day happen in your body. (Scripture)
It has happened, is happening and will happen. It has happened in your spirit which is the most important thing. The fact that it happened in your spirit means that it is happening in your mind now and will happen in your body when we go to be with the Lord. It doesn't have to happen in your body and mind in order for it to happen in your spirit. It happened in your spirit first and because of that it is happening in your body and mind now.

At salvation:

-Salvation was instant in our spirit and made us alive with Christ. That's when we instantly received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm (Eph 1). That's when our spirit was seated in heavenly places with Christ (Eph 2), hidden in Christ (Col 3), became a co-heir with Christ (Eph2). Our spirit was born again (Titus 2). Our spirit became a new creation at the point of salvation (2 Cor 5:17). Our spirits were born again.

-Nothing changed in our mind or our body. We didn't receive a new mind or a new body. It stayed exactly the same. We still have all the same memories in our minds and even the same thinking (accept for the fact that we believe in Jesus as our savior). That's why Romans 12, 2 tells us we need to renew our minds. We also still have all the same urges and appetites in our bodies. That's why Romans 12:1 tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. It's foolish to think that salvation changed the desires of our bodies and/or the thought processes and memories of our minds. It didn't.

Salvation changed the inner man and it's the inner man that needs to take control over the body and the mind and lead it into righteousness! It's the inner man that offers the body as a sacrifice. It's the inner man that subjects the mind to a renewing through the word of God. You can see how your inner man needs to be the one in control, otherwise your body will just naturally want to follow its appetites and your mind will continue to stay worldly and lead you into worldly thoughts and actions.
Now, God did something with your spirit/inner man- he expects you now (by that new spirit/inner man) to do something with your body and your mind.
Romans 12:1, 2

It wasn't your responsibility to do something with your spirit. That's the whole point, we couldn't. It could only be God! It was God's responsibility to do something with your inner man.

Now it's your responsibility to do something with your body and mind- not His! (Yes we surrender to Him and partner with him, but we can't give him control unless we are first in control.) That's why 'we' offer our bodies and 'we' renew our minds.
I want to talk about walking in the spirit and how we do that but first, let's talk about our heavenly eternal position and our earthly current condition:
When we were saved, what parts of us came into our eternal position and what parts of us remained in and become our current condition?

Well our spirit came into instant eternal position in Christ. (Hidden in Christ, anchored in Christ, seated with Christ, united with Christ etc). That can never be reversed or changed. If it could, it's like saying Jesus can be crucified twice which is absolutely impossible. Why? Simply because it's impossible for Jesus to die again.

Our position speaks about our spiritual position. Our spirits are with us currently now in our bodies and yet they are hidden in Christ in heavenly places as well. Try getting your mind around that! (Col 3)

Our body and our mind remained in their same condition which has become our current earthly condition. Our eternal position is not subject to change but our current condition is definitely subject to change.

Our eternal position cannot be influenced by our current condition. But our current condition can be influenced by our eternal position! That's what this whole book is about!!!
To be continued...

Anyone up for interpreting a dream?

This morning my daughter came downstairs and told me she had a dream that she thinks was from Jesus. So I typed furiously as she told me her dream and here it is as told by my newly turned 6 year old daughter Eva:

Eva's dream, Feb. 15, 2007


There was a thing that went over the top of the lamp and a light shone down on only me. It said something very special to me. It came down from the lamp and two lights shone on my middle fingers and put a ring on each finger. One ring was light green and the other was a really beautiful white and shiny one. I climbed up a mountain that was full of beautiful birds and trees and when I got to the top I looked up and I saw the lamp again. It shone down on me and said "you will be a special person in the world" and when I started climbing down again my two rings were shining. I didn't know what was happening so I asked the lamp why my rings were shining. It said, " because you are special your rings are shining to show everybody that those are the best rings I've ever given you." I climbed down the rest of the way and at the bottom were two creatures that looked scary but I had a feeling that my rings might be able to defeat them so I asked the lamp. It said, " your ring can defeat anything if you want to, just use your rings and those horrible creatures will be banished." So I did as I was told and the two creatures vanished.

I kept walking and then next turned up three persons that looked like the creatures but were different shapes. One looked like a bear, and one was shaped like the creatures I vanished and the other one I couldn't recognise. I asked the lamp what kind of creatures they were and it said " those creatures are the worst kind of creatures besides the ones you will defeat next". And then I decided to use my rings and it worked just like the first time. I kept walking and found four more and I remembered the lamp said " those creature are the forbidden creatures of the world". So I used my rings again and it worked and I kept walking and found nothing until finally I stopped and looked around and it looked completely different from anywhere I had been. I asked the lamp where I was and it said " you are in the forbidden castle. go inside and you will find the worst creatures you've ever seen. shark shapes and all different ones. if you defeat them you will win but you will have to defeat the very worst one but it will be the last one. You must kill him. If you can't , you must tell him that the Great Lamp will soon take over his kingdom." So I looked at my two rings and I realized that if I can't defeat the creatures than I would need better rings but I would try anyway and if I couldn't do it I would ask the Lamp for help. I heard the creature once but couldn't destroy him so I said to the lamp "I need help" the lamp said " I told you before if you can't defeat him tell him that the Lamp of the World will come and destroy his kingdom and if I destroy his kingdom you will have enough time to get more weapons from me to destroy him. I have one weapon that I've been saving for the person that has believed in me to destroy my next challenge."

So I figured to tell him what the lamp said. I walked over to his black throne and said " Soon the Light of the World will come and take over your kingdom. " Then I heard the ground shaking and the lamp told me to get out of the castle. I ran as quick as I could and got out and watched the castle. And before I knew it I saw it tumbling down into dust. When I looked back the king was no longer the king because his crown had been crushed by the falling castle. I said to him " if you wait a second I will be the person to defeat you " because that's what the lamp told me in my mind. The lamp came down and whispered to me " if you believe in me you can defeat him". Then I believed so much I thought these rings must mean something. So I asked the lamp " what do these ring mean, what are they for". The lamp said " these rings represent that I am the Light of the World". Then I thought so much of the Light of the World I just wondered why have I been put through all these test so I asked him " why have I been put through these tests" . The lamp said " this is a challenge. whoever wins my challenges I will pick to believe most because you can't win unless you believe in me". So I decided if I can't defeat him the lamp can so I got out of my spot. I had fists in my hand and I was believing that the lamp would help me so I stood up and waited the fallen king to come over. When he did the lamp told me to put my hand out and open it and when I did he put the most powerful weapon (it was shaped like a small sword) in my hand. So I took it and I realized I had this weapon and because the lamp told me I could keep it I realized that this might help me to defeat many challenges in my life. I used it for the king that is no longer king and it worked. He vanished and was gone.

And the lamp said " It's time for your next challenge but you must go home first" I said " how will l get home' he said "with your special gift (the weapon, the sword). Hold it in your hand tightly close your eyes and believe in me and when you open your eyes you'll be home" When I opened my eyes I was back home in bed. I realized my bed was different. My blanket was shining beautifully and my pillow had a roaring lion on it and my walls were just so beautiful. I laid down on my pillow and went to sleep. When I opened my eyes it was all gone because it was all a dream.