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Gird Up the Loins of Your Mind
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Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ;
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(1 Peter 1:13)
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"Gird up thy loins" is an Old Covenant phrase that means get dressed and
prepare to move. When we read in 2 Kings 4:29, we see that Elisha gave
his servant Gehazi an instruction to get up and go somewhere.
In the instance as described below it is an instruction to born again
Christians to get their minds out of neutral, to stop listening passively
to the dissertations of others, but to find out what it is that the Lord
requires of them.
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To find out more let's read the rest of the passage:
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Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to
the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is
written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17 And if ye call on the Father, who
without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass
the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18 Forasmuch as ye know
that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21 Who by him
do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory;
that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Seeing ye have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 For all flesh is
as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth
for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
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(1 Peter 1:13-25)
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Firstly here is confirmation that once born again always born again is
a fallacy, as we saw in the study of the Blood Covenant. As we see "pass
the time of your sojourning here in fear" can only mean one thing.
This verse also makes it very clear that our sojourning (stopover)
here, our stay on planet earth in our worldly bodies, is just a passing
phase in the everlasting life of our souls, which is the real us.
We also see that we were redeemed (repurchased) by the precious blood
of Jesus Christ. This gives us the hope, the potential, to become the sons
of God one day.
Glory to you Lord Jesus for this priceless gift.
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But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name:
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(John 1:12)
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We have the power to become the sons of God, we don't have it now
as is preached in some denominations.
Before being born again we were without this hope:
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That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world:
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(Ephesians 2:12)
This is confirmed in the main passage above if read carefully.
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Going back to verse seventeen,
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And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according
to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
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(1 Peter 1:17)
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we see that there is no favouritism with God; also we will be judged according
to our work. If there is no work, and this includes charity, judgement
will be unfavourable. Most importantly, it is not what we believe is good
work, but what God knows is good work.
This is confirmed by that eye opening passage of scripture that is
so often misquoted or twisted by the workers of iniquity:
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That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them.
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(Ephesians 2:7-10)
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Finally it is confirmed in verses twenty three and twenty five that the
word of the Lord, the Bible, is a living word and further that it lives
forever.
This means that just as our souls live forever, so does the word. It
will always be with us, before our eyes, whether we are in heaven with
the Godhead, or in the lake of fire with Satan and his cronies.
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That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold
that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise
and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
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(1 Peter 1:7)
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