who are
the children of Elohim - part 1, by C.J. Koster
We firmly
believe in the born again experience. But instead of being a means to an end,
it is just the other way round for many, if not for most. A well-known American
evangelist - using Acts 19:27-28 as a simile, where the Greeks were extolling
their "great" female deity - once lamented and said, "Great
is the American religion that begins, and ends, with a born again
experience." Others call it, "Saved and stuck."
Sadly, some denominations even boast about their teaching of "Once
saved always saved."Let me quickly add: This lack of Scriptural
growth, this complacency, this inertia, is not confined to the born again
groups. No, this easy-going Spiritual "life", or rather Spiritual
"death," is prevalent amongst all denominations and groups, without
exception.
Those who
say they are now born again (as well as the staunch church members of the
non-evangelical churches) then call themselves "children of
Elohim," and speak of so-and-so and say. "He, too, is a child
of Elohim."
Before we
continue this study I wish to point out that those who only know the Old King
James Version might be a little confused, at first. The reason I am saying this
is because in the Messianic Scriptures of the KJV the words "children"
and "sons" are very often the wrong way round. Readers of
modern translations won’t have this problem. An example of this is Yoch. 1:12 which reads, "But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of Elohim ..." Note
well: it is "children," and not "sons"
like the KJV renders it.
In this same Yoch. 1:12 we should also notice the words
"to become." Most believers mistakenly interpret this as if it
reads "to be." No, it is "to become," so
whatever you have been taught, or else would like to believe, it is "to
become." If one has come to belief you haven’t "arrived" yet,
no, this is only the beginning of what ought to be a life of being "a
taught one," being taught by the Only Teacher, Yahushua (Yehoshua), as He teaches us His Father’s Words, Teachings,
Commandments.
Once you
are born again, you are instructed by Kepha to do the
following, "as new-born babes, desire the
unadulterated milk of the Word, in order that you grow by it ... drawing near
to Him ... being built up, a spiritual offering acceptable to Elohim, through Yahushua
(Yehoshua) Messiah" (1 Kepha
2:2-5).
As you
grow spiritually, you progress from milk to "solid food for the
mature," going "on to perfection." Read this from
Hebr. 5:12 up to Hebr. 6:6. This is the same message contained in the Parable
of the Sower - to grow and bring "fruit to
perfection," to "bear fruit with endurance." (Luke
8:11-15).
Who then,
are the Children of Elohim? If my father was a child of Elohim, am I then one
too because of that? Definitely not, for Elohim has no
grandchildren! Search the Scriptures and see it for yourself. In Rom. 9:8 we
read, "those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of Elohim..."
In Yoch. 8:41-47 our Messiah had a discussion with some Yehudim, unbelieving Yehudim.
Previously, in vv. 33-39, they were trying to rely on having Abraham as their
father. Now, in vv. 41-47 they were attempting to rely on having Elohim as
their Father. Yahushua (Yehoshua), however, was
confuting them, was proving them wrong, and said, "You are of your
father the devil." (verse 44). Then He says
in verse 47, "He who is of Elohim hears the Words of Elohim, therefore
you do not hear because you are not of Elohim." So here we find the
first fact pertaining to our question, "Who are the children of
Elohim?" Here we find that they are those who at least "hear
the Words of Elohim."
In Luke
8:21 Messiah says that His brothers are those who hear the Words of Elohim and
do it. He is our elder Brother, so if we are His brothers, then we too are
children of Elohim, provided we hear the Word of Elohim and do it. He is our
elder Brother, so if we are His brothers, then we too are children of Elohim,
provided we hear the Word of Elohim and do it.
In Rom.
8:14 we read that the sons of Elohim are those who "are led by the
Spirit of Elohim." Remember that Sha’ul said
in Rom. 8:1 "that the law is Spiritual." He further elaborated
on this and said in Rom. 8:1 that those who are IN Messiah are those "who
do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit," and
in verse 7 he says that "the mind of the flesh is enmity towards
Elohim, for it does not subject itself to the Law of Elohim," or "does
not obey the Law of [Elohim]" as the NIV renders it. In this passage "flesh"
is used as a synonym for "sin" or "carnality."
What Sha’ul was saying here in Rom. 6, 7 and 8 is that you are
either Spiritual, or else you are carnal (fleshly).
Those who are Spiritual are no longer servants of sin and have become servants
of righteousness resulting in apartness (Rom. 6:16-22), while those who are
carnal are servants of lawlessness (Rom. 6:17 & 19-20). The
Spiritual-minded believer subject himself to the Law of Elohim, while the
carnal-minded person does not subject himself to the Law of Elohim. It is as
simple as that!
To
confirm what he said in Rom. 8:1 about being "IN Messiah Yahushua (Yehoshua)," as well as describing in Rom. 6:1-23
the difference between the unregenerate sinner and the born again believer
after Immersion, Sha’ul continues in the same vein in
Galatians 3:26-27, For you are all sons of Elohim through belief in Messiah
Yahushua (Yehoshua). For as many of you as were
immersed into Messiah, have put on Messiah."
Whether we are IN Messiah or whether we have put on Messiah, are just two
different aspects of the same fact, of the same Spiritual condition.
As we
study all Scripture, we clearly see what the attributes are of the children (or
sons) of Elohim. We see who they are, and also what is expected of them.
Another characteristic of them is the following, as we read Matt. 5:9, "Blessed
are the peacemakers because they shall be called sons of Elohim."
Living in a world filled with violence, fighting and hatred, it is most
difficult to make peace between nations and groups, but we simply have to do
whatever we can - even if only to make peace between individuals and between
brothers. Above all, make peace with Elohim: See to it that you are truly
reconciled with Elohim. We read in Philip. 2:12-15, "work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is Elohim working in you, both to
desire and to work for His good pleasure. Do all matters without grumblings and
disputings, in order that you be blameless and
faultless, children of Elohim without blemish in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding on to
the Word of life ..."
To "be
a child of Elohim" is the same as to "be of Elohim"
or to "belong to Elohim." In the same way the children of the
devil is also described as being "of the devil." With this in
mind let us study the epistles of Yochanan, and see
if our lives conform to the Word of life. Let the Word speak to those who
profess to be "the children of Elohim," and to those who wish
to become "the children of Elohim." If the Word reproves us,
let us repent of our sins or shortcomings or faults, and ask Yahushua (Yehoshua) forgiveness.
We read
in 1 Yoch. 3:6-10, Everyone
staying in Him does not sin. Everyone sinning has neither seen Him nor known
Him. Little children, let no one lead you astray. The one doing righteousness
is righteous, even as He is righteous. The one doing sin is of the devil,
because the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of
Elohim was manifested: to destroy the works of the devil. Everyone having been
born of Elohim does not sin, because His seed stays in him, and he is powerless
to sin, because he has been born of Elohim. In this the children of Elohim and
the children of the devil are manifest: Everyone not doing righteousness is not
of Elohim, neither the one not loving his brother." To summarise what Yochanan was saying this: The children of Elohim are those
who do not sin, those who do righteousness; while the children of the devil are
those who are sinning, those who do not do righteousness.
What is
righteousness? It is the opposite of sin. It is to do what is right in the eyes
of Elohim - to keep His Commandments, to keep His Teaching. This is how we find
it clearly defined in Devarim / Deut. 6:25, Ps.
119:172 and Yesh. 51:7. Of
course, Yahushua, (Yehoshua) is the embodiment of
righteousness. (Yirm. 23:6).
Let us
heed the warning Yochanan gave us, "let no
one lead you astray." Let no minister or pastor lower the standards,
and compromise, just for the sake of getting more members. The Almighty will
not compromise with sin, with the devil!
To become
a child of Elohim, or to be a child of Elohim, everyone
of us has to overcome the deep-rooted problem of sin, the Adamic
nature all of us have inherited. We also have to overcome the deception which
the Great Mother Harlot and her Daughters wrought by making the inhabitants of
the earth drunk with the wine of Her fornications, getting them to drink from
her cup filled with abominations and filthiness. (Rev. chs. 17-19).
Let all
those who earnestly seek, let all those who truly strive to be one of the
children of Elohim, let all those who "have overcome with El" (=Yisrael), be encouraged by what we read in Rev. 21:7, "The
one who overcomes shall inherit all this, and I shall be his Elohim and he
shall be My son."
In part 2
of this article we are going even deeper into this question, Who
are the children of Elohim?"