This Particular LIFE (Part 1)
Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. (Acts 5:20)

What an Altered Life!

It is obvious that THIS LIFE, as indicated by the angel of the Lord, is different from every other type of life. Therefore, it would be wise of us to investigate the distinctions that make THIS LIFE so particular. For it is a life that the people, to whom the apostles were sent, did not have. The people who would gather in the temple in Jerusalem did not possess or live out THIS LIFE. They were people who would gather regularly at the temple to bring their offerings to God and receive instruction from the leaders of their day. They, from man‘s point of view, were respectable and moral people who made every effort to conform their lives to the standards given to them by their teachers. (Pr. 16:25) Laws and regulations were lifeless tools that were being misused by their guides. These tools became instruments of torture and manipulation in order to control the carnal nature of perishing men. They were oppressed by men on the outside and condemned within by their own guilty conscience that they were not rightly related to a Holy God. The results of this guilt was manifested in their fear of being caught and found in sin. Therefore, they continually sought to reform their own ways by conforming to, and repeating again and again man made traditions. They were normal people living normal lives. Like people today who do what they can to obey the law and be a good citizen. They worked and raised families and planned for the future. They invested in their children, homes, lands, and communities, and were interested in the bottom line like men and women today. Yes, there were different classes of people who came from different backgrounds, yet they all shared very common and similar LIFESTYLES.

The apostles, at one time, were on this same course of life. (Eph. 2:1-5) Their professions were different but the way they lived life was the same. Some were into politics, while others fished for a living. Some worked for the government, and others were in rebellion to the established system. The one Person that tied all of them together was Jesus of Nazareth. Previous to Jesus uniting them for His cause, each of the apostles lived like the rest of humanity. They were sinners who lived with a conscience that condemned themselves in their sin. The problem they each faced was a self-centered issue of sin. Everything centered around themselves. (Rom 2:7-8) Even the attempts of clearing a guilty conscience was self-motivated in order to be personally free from the fear of being caught and condemned in their sin. They like us were motivated in everything and in every way for selfish reasons. The life they lived prior to being interrupted by Jesus, along with everyone else, was consumed with self and corrupt at every point. (Gen. 6:5 ; 8:21 ; John 3:3-5)

What happened to the apostles? They were granted repentance unto life! “When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, ‘Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life’. ” (Acts 11:18) God turned them from their sinful and self-centered life to THIS LIFE that they are now instructed to go speak about. This would mean that the Lord interrupted the life they were living and invade them by His grace to grant unto them a new life. The Bible calls it being RECONCILED. (Col. 1:19-23) When a man is regenerated and converted (born again) he is forgiven of his sin, made a new creature, reconciled from hostility and rebellion toward God and put in a position free of guilt and shame to live in intimacy and fellowship with a Just, Holy, Loving, and Merciful God. They are given the Holy Ghost of God to authentically represent Him upon the earth. (2 Cor. 5:14-21) When this happens, which is by the hand of God Himself, it is undeniably nothing short of a Divine Miracle and a Eternal Interruption. Disciples are given a new life. It’s a life that is unmistakably different from any past lifestyle, which was once consumed with self-centered living. It is a PECULIAR LIFE that takes ownership of its Possessor, and will be lived out by everyone who has been RECONCILED and INTERRUPTED by the Lord Himself. (Titus 3:3-8) It’s not a prayer, or plan, or a self-motivated decision that interrupts and reconciles sinners. No, it is Jesus who gives LIFE. He is the One who grants repentance unto this new life. Has He interrupted you? Is He your LIFE? Have you been told to “Go, stand and speak all the words of THIS LIFE?” Go tell all the people who do not possess THIS LIFE! (Luke 24:46-48)

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. (Col. 3:3-4)