In this article/post I will demonstrate from the New Testament that the gospel (or good news) is basically the proclamation or glad tidings that God has begun seeding his new spiritual Garden (or Eden) in the form of transformed Christians or holy ones (meaning set-apart ones) who produce God's Garden: in the form of basically a good and just culture of fair-minded individuals who esteem each other as themselves. See the short online article God's Garden by Jonathan Mitchell, which provides a good outline for the following.
Note that the most common way Jesus-followers are labeled in the New Testament is not as "Christians" but as holy ones (often translated saints). Christian author Addison D. Bevere, even wrote a book on the subject titled, Saints: Becoming More Than "Christians."
Dr. Michael Heiser explains how this term holy ones to describe Christians by Paul, is deliberate in the New Testament; as it's a direct reference to God's Divine Council, composed of Jehovah (God) and his holy ones (the divine beings or lesser gods and angels, meaning messengers under God); so that Paul is talking about Christians as those who will inherit a divine status among the heavenly holy ones (gods). For more details see the Naked Bible Podcast Transcript for Episode 226 on Colossians 1:1-13 with Dr. Michael S. Heiser and Host Trey Stricklin (link to PDF here).
So what Paul is saying is that a Christian, in becoming a holy one, by partaking of God's divine nature, is in the beginning process of eventually becoming a fully divine being after their resurrection; and so they are no longer subject to the Mosaic religious laws and ordinances (like circumcision), which are for mortals not divinized holy ones.
Why this matters for the Latter Day Saint is because one will realize, as we progress, that LDS Scripture itself does not support a merit-based performance model of earning one's exaltation or working to become a "holy one" by being deemed "worthy" by Brighamite leaders. Instead we see that holiness is the nature of the Deity, who is named "Man of holiness" in Moses 7:35; and the origional doctrine of the LDS Church, as found in The Lecture on Faith, basically explains in Lecture #5 that God the Father's holiness (as Man of holiness) is his divine nature as a "personage of spirit, glory and power." The saints (LDS Christians) in turn also share in his same power and glory (i.e., they partake of the same divine nature) by recieving the same divine nature (emanating glory) through the sacred spirit (nooma): which glorifies them, making them instantly holy and a saved being just like Christ who is the prototype of a saved being (see Lecture 7). Thus instead of a perfectionist "worthy"-seeking Purity-policing shame and tame system, instead we have LDS Scripture actually teaching that we are already made holy (thus already worthy by grace) via the "baptism of fire" (as described in the Book of Mormon); and we are simply growing up and maturing into the completeness of our already noomatically gifted holiness status. This is why LDS scholars Terryl and Fiona Givens prefer Wuest's translation of Matthew 5:48 as not "Therefore you are to be perfect, ..." but instead Wuest translates it more accurately as, " Therefore, as for you, you shall be those who are complete in your character, even as your Father in heaven is complete in His being."
Seeking to earn "perfect holiness" and a "worthy" status (versus "unworthy" label) can lead to feelings of inadequacy from failing to measure up to high demand religious policies and bad luck during "Leadership Roulette": where you could "roll the dice" and get unlucky with a controlling puritanical Brighamite leader over you in an culture already fostering unhealthy perfectionism. Instead, one will find greater peace and existential relief in realizing that the goal in the actual Scriptures is not to meet a perfect standard but to mature into wholeness: by embracing one's already-accepted status of belonging to God's Divine Family by partaking of the divine nature through the baptism of fire. So that it's not about performing perfectly but growing into your gifted potential-wholeness like a branch naturally grows on a tree bearing ripe fruit as part of its nature.
This is why the New Testament describes Jesus as the true vine (i.e. holy vine), and the holy ones (Christians) are the branches on the vine, who are infused with divine fluid glory and power like sap flowing in a tree. It is an an inside-out transformational model of growing into a luminious identity, a divine identity, already freely gifted holiness by recieving divine DNA from Christ; like a pot gifted with a seed growing a plant body within it; so that rather than seeking to perform perfectly in order to obtain the higher status of being made holy, that is rather than thinking oneself "a self-made holy man," and a perfected being through your own merits, you are instead gifted an inherited holiness by grace as a co-heir with Christ; and you just need to endure suffering, "taking up your cross daily," and grow into the gifted divine nature already implanted within you. As the Book of Mormon puts it, Christ's "grace [is] sufficient for you, that by his grace you may be perfect in Christ; ... then are you sanctified [made holy] in Christ by the grace of God ... which is in the covenant of the Father ... that you become holy ..." (Moroni 10:32-33). So that you simply step into that already gifted status as a divinized holy one, through acting out that enlightened and loving holy status -- you aleady have gifted to you as a co-heir -- in that ideally one's greatfulness for the grace-gift makes one want to reciprocate the gift by doing what the gifter (Christ) asked of you: which is to simply shine with loving kindness and generosity from the inside out as a glory-filled being; just like the bright tree of glowing "white" lighted fruit in 1 Nephi 8, which is an allegory of Christians maturing/growing into smiling and luminious holy ones/enduring ones: which I interpret as a midrashic metaphor building off of the gospel of John's description of Jesus as the True Vine and Christians as the holy branches on said Vine that are maturing into a complete loving character; as branches already gifted with the divine nature symbolized as Christ as the Vine of Bright Holiness; and grapevine sap as symbolic of the pneuma (pronounced nooma) poured into holy ones so they can shine with good fruit into "wine": as a metaphor for noomatic contagion: as God's "fluid light" poured out/in, breathed-in/out, and spoken/heard, and through "doers of the word" (James 1:22-25) planting seeds of a good example to produce God's Shining Garden. A picture is worth a thousand words and so here is another Christian's illustration of what I'm saying:
Click Image to Enlarge
We will see below that all the horticulture images of planting and harvesting are metaphors for God implanting his spiritual "energy" (spirit/nooma) as well as His divine sperma (seed/divine DNA) into Christians; in order to grow a spiritual Garden (a New Eden), by producing those who partake of his divine nature (see 2 Peter 1:4), as he literally seeds a new divine species. As author Robert Orlando puts it:
"Paul believed the Messiah, Jesus, had given him a revelation that the Kingdom had come and with its arrival, old human distinctions had passed away, (2 Cor 5:17). This was a vision of Christ and his Kingdom, with no “men or women,” “masters or slaves,” or “Jews or Gentiles” (Gal 3:28). Human bodies (earthen vessels) would be transformed (Phil 3:21) and nations themselves (Romans 13:1) would be engulfed by God’s Kingdom, where Paul and other Apostles would reign over the angels (1 Cor 6:3)"
(Source, Retrieved 10/10/18)
So if Christians as holy ones are gifted with holiness by being gifted the divine nature, they don't earn the divine nature (heavenly status); but are already gifted the divine nature and celestial status already and simply need to grow into it like a seed growing into a plant and bearing fruit as part of its nature.
We will now explore what the New Testament means by partaking of the divine nature and we will see that this means that God literally implants his divine seed (sperma), so that Christians are literally in the beginning process of a later full divine transformation into divinized holy one (into a completed new creature/creation, i.e. a new species) at their future resurrection (see 1 Cor. 15). So the idea that you could make your own self perfect and worthy is nonsense. You are only slowly growing toward completion which is not fully completed until you die and are resurrected. This is why paul says the following:
Romans 3:22-24 (EXB): 22 God makes people right with himself [This righteousness comes] through their faith in [or the faithfulness of] Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same [there is no distinction/difference; between Jews and Gentiles]: 23 [For; Because] Everyone has sinned and fallen short [or is not worthy] of God’s glorious standard [or glorious presence; glory], 24 and all need to be made right with God [justfied; declared righteous] as a free gift by his grace, by being set free from sin [through the redemption that is] through [or in] Jesus Christ.
In other words, everyone has and will make mistakes and will error. All will fall short of perfection and are never able to make themselves perfectly "worthy" of God’s glorious presence. God's glory is like the radiant sun and no human can stand in God's luminous presence unless they are temporarily transfigured like Moses was; or the mortal human body they inherited from Adam is replaced with immortal genes and a noomatic-body gifted them from Christ; as Paul explains above that complete righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus, not one's own attempts to be perfectly pious. The Book of Mormon comfirms this in the following verses (emphasis added):
Moroni 10:33:
... if you by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are you sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that you become holy, without spot.
Moroni 6: 4:
And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.
You are saved and exalted as a co-heir with Christ through recieving a noomatic body once you repent and are born anew. As we read in Mosiah 27:24–27 (emphasis added, words in brackets my own):
24 For, said he, I [Alma] have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.
25 And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind...must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state [Adamic-bodied state], to a state of righteousness [through the righteousness of Christ], being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters [i.e. the seeded children of Christ, see Mosiah 5:7] ;
26 And thus they become new creatures [this is likely a midrash on 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV]; and unless they do this [become born of God's DNA], they can in nowise inherit [as co-heirs] the kingdom of God [i.e. eternal life].
Yet you endure trials of your faith to show loyalty to your divine Beneafactor (God). As we read in 3 Nephi 24:2-5, Malachi 3:2-3:
2 But who may abide the day of his [God's] coming, and who shall stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap.
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
This refining of metal with fire to mold it anew is a metaphor for the Christian with a gifted noomatic body willingly suffering challenges and enduring in the faith which further grows to fruition their new noomatic body within as a form of "spiritual anti-fragility." As we read in 1 Peter 1:6-8 (EXB):
6 This makes you very happy [or Rejoice in this], even though now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad [you have had to suffer various kinds of trials/testings]. 7 These troubles [trials; testings] come to prove that your faith is pure [to test and prove the authenticity of your faith; a test that proves the genuineness of a valuable metal]. This purity of faith [or tested and proven authenticity] is worth more [more precious; more valuable] than gold, which can be proved to be pure [tested and proven authentic] by fire [Ps. 66:10; Prov. 17:3; 27:21; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:3] but can [or will] be destroyed. But the purity [tested and proven authenticity] of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is shown to you [L at the revelation of Jesus Christ]. 8 You have not seen Christ [L him], but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled [rejoice] with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory [an inexpressible and glorious joy].
So the New Testament and Book of Mormon both emphasize that one is to endure to the end and take upon oneself the name of Christ and be a "doer of the word," but the finishing product (manufacturer) of your becoming a glorified being is God through the merits of Christ, the author and finisher of your faithfulness (despite your best efforts); as you are only perfected in Christ. In other words, you are only fully transformed into a luminous noomatic body at your resurrection, and then you are able to rest in the presence of the Lord (as the Book of Mormon puts it). Before that everyone "sins" and falls short of the glory of God.
Before we begin discussing the Bible’s conception of God's sperma (or seed) growing a New People as God's Garden, I found a Christian named Michael Pearl who explains it really well (emphasis added):
When Adam sinned he was the head of the human race [genus]. He was appointed by God to be the number one. And the soul that God breathed into Adam—he breathed the breath of life into him—was God’s soul [or breath]. And that soul Adam passed on to future generations. Whatever Adam did, the whole human race [genus] did because the whole human race was in his body. . . . Now, whenever Adam sinned you and I were in his loins.
... Now, the Bible said that death passed upon all men. . . . That is, when Adam sinned all of us were participants in Adam’s body and all of us received the same death sentence that Adam received.
... Jesus was born with God’s sperm. God artificially inseminated, created his generated sperm into the womb of the virgin Mary.
The article I retrieved this quote from goes on to explain that “this fits in perfectly with the historical understanding of procreation”:
Until the late 17th century it was believed that a new individual was entirely preformed in the sex cells of its male parent. Indeed, some scientists of the day claimed that by using microscopes, invented in the early 17th century, they could actually see tiny preformed people – called homunculi – in sperm cells ... The female was thought to act only as an oven in which the baby could grow until it was large enough to survive birth.
(Source, Retrieved 9/25/18)
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman explains that:
In Genesis 12:7, 13:5, etc., God makes promises to Abraham and his…— sperma (in Greek; also singular) or “descendants” / “offspring” / “progeny” in English. …. in Galatians 3:16, Paul refers to the grammar of the word itself: “The promises were made to Abraham and his sperma [“seed”]. It does not say spermas [“seeds”]” but “sperma, who is Christ.” … sperma in Greek can refer to one descendant or to many.
(Source)
So as we can see, the Bible teaches that by one man Adam’s sperma (or seed), caused all of humanity to die, while another man’s sperma (Abraham) can lead to a chosen people (Israel); and then another sperma implanted from Christ can lead to a new population of what Paul calls “new creations”: who even though they inherited mortal Adamic-bodies, as born of God holy ones they become a new genus with immortal spirit-bodies implanted into them through the pneuma. Again, this word is pronounced nooma and I will use the word nooma from now on for ease of communication. This is why the NASB Lexicon gives this definitional translation of John 20:22 as Jesus essentially implanting the divine seed through the nooma (pneuma: holy wind/breath), that is supernaturally God's divine nature into his disciples. So that John 20:22 reads: “He breathed into or upon [them]... ([i.e. to blow [into them or onto them]) [as in for them] to take, receive [the] sacred wind, …” (source, my words in brackets).
The "sacred wind" is the nooma (pneuma) carrying the divine nature, the holy-making DNA, that transforms a person into a pre-celestial holy one. This is not a metaphor but is meant literally. Because one is no longer of Adam's genus/human-race but implanted with a new genus, Christ's divine genus, then one can't "sin" religiously, as in religious sins in say the book of Leviticus are committed by mortals of Adam's genus who need Mosaic laws and oridances to become sanctified. But in Christ one is already sanctified through the merits of Christ and His implanted holy divine nature into you. The ressurected Christ, instead of religious legalism, institutes new more simple ethical codes of conduct simplified by simply acting more compassionately and hospitable towards others.
As a holy one the Christian is not subject to the Mosaic religious law that makes people religious "sinners." The religious law was that Gentiles for example are unholy and "sinners" if they joined Judaism but didn't become circumcised; and so Paul is saying that Gentiles are made holy without the religious law of circumcision and other religious rules and rituals designed to form holiness. So that in Christ one can't sin as "sin" was defined in the Bible as breaking the laws of Moses which were made for mortals and applied only to mortals. Paul thus taught that Christians had died to their mortal nature (Adamic nature) by being seeded with Christ's immortal genus so that the laws for mortals no longer applied to them. However, this was not an excuse to commit the "unloving sins" of cruelty and unkindness, for love fulfills all of the law. But it did mean one was not bound to follow the laws and traditions of the dogmatically religious who went around policing everyone calling nearly everything a "sin." Pauline and Johanine Christianity liberated people from that. Thus we read in 1 John 3:9, in the NET Bible translation:
“Everyone who has been fathered [31] by God does not practice sin, [32] because [33] God’s [34] seed [35] resides in him, and thus [36] he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.”
The footnotes 31-36 read:
31 tn The imagery expressed here (σπέρμα αὐτοῦ, sperma autou, “his seed”) clearly refers to the action of the male parent in procreation, and so “fathered” is the best choice for translating γεννάω (gennaw; see 2:29).
sn Does not practice sin. Again, as in 3:6, the author is making a clear distinction between the opponents, who as moral indifferentists downplay the significance of sin in the life of the Christian, and the recipients, who as true Christians recognize the significance of sin because Jesus came to take it away (3:5) ... This explanation still has to deal with the apparent contradiction between the author’s statements in 2:1-2 and those here in 3:9, but this is best explained in terms of the author’s tendency to present issues in “either/or” terms to bring out the drastic contrast between his readers, whom he regards as true believers, and the opponents, whom he regards as false. In 2:1-2 the author can acknowledge the possibility that a true Christian might on occasion sin, because in this context he wishes to reassure his readers that the statements he has made about the opponents in the preceding context do not apply to them. But in 3:4-10, his concern is to bring out the absolute difference between the opponents and his readers, so he speaks in theoretical terms which do not discuss the possible occasional exception, because to do so would weaken his argument.
33 tn Both the first and second ὅτι (Joti) in 3:9 are causal. The first gives the reason why the person who is begotten by God does not practice sin (“because his seed resides in him).” The second gives the reason why the person who is begotten by God is not able to sin (“because he has been begotten by God).”
34 tn Grk “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35 tn The closest meaning for σπέρμα (sperma) in this context is “male generating seed” (cf. BDAG 937 s.v. 1.b), although this is a figurative rather than a literal sense. Such imagery is bold and has seemed crudely anthropomorphic to some interpreters, but it poses no more difficulty than the image of God as a male parent fathering Christians that appears in John 1:13 and is behind the use of γεννάω (gennaw) with reference to Christians in 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, and 18.
36 tn “Thus” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to bring out the resultative force of the clause in English.
Source: https://net.bible.org/#!bible/1+John+3:7
1 John 3:9 in the Amplified Bible (AMP) reads (emphasis added):
... God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] ...
Footnote [1] reads:
in human terms, God’s seed is like a divine “genetic code” which is passed on to His children and produces in them the desire to live in a way which pleases Him.
God implants His seed (sperma) in two ways: through the Holy Spirit (Sacred Nooma) which implants the faithfulness of the Logos and a literal implanting of Jesus' genus; and through reading or listening to Scripture and thus the seeding of the Word as a mental code like software downloaded into a computer. This is why Jesus tells parables which are often metaphors about planting/seeding the Word (i.e. the Logos or God's Order and Character) and it (the divine seed as ideas and ethic) growing in good soil (receptive human souls or psyches). So that humans are the soil and the Word (the Logos embedded in Scripture) is also the seed of the Messiah.
This also makes sense of why the church (in Greek meaning the assembly of Jesus-apprentices) are called the “bride of Jesus.” What does a husband do? He implants his sperm in his wife to produce a family; and that is what Jesus is portrayed as doing metaphorically in the New Testament: that is God's Logos (Christ) is implanting God's "seed" (as ethical software) into the soil of the souls of converted Christians in order to produce those with Christ's character, thus growing a spiritual Garden (i.e. a Bright & Healthy Culture).
The implanting of God's sperma as Logos in you, is thus both literal (as an actual delivering of divine DNA) and as metaphorical: as the process of implanting the Logos is described in metaphorical language, like God's Sacred Breath being breathed on the disciples in John 20:22, presented below from The Passion Translation (TPT):
22 Then, taking a deep breath, he blew[a] on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.[b]
Footnote [a] reads: The Greek word used here does not appear elsewhere in the New Testament, however, it is the same word found in the Septuagint for God “breathed” into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). The beginning of new creation life came from the breath of Jesus. The mighty wind of Acts 2 was for power, the breath Jesus breathed into his disciples in this verse was for life. [Footnote b reads: Or “accept the Sacred Breath.”
So we saw that the breath of God or God’s “Image” was breathed into Adam so that he became a living soul, that is a breathing being (God’s breath/soul makes a human-soul). So God’s divine powers is exported through the breath, the breath of life. Yet Adam lacked the divine genus as a mortal and human mortals are subject to the Law of Moses. So when Jesus breathes on his disciples, he is breathing his actual divine DNA onto/into them, his divine Logos containing his immortal nature (replacing their Adamic/mortal nature with the divine gene) and also the encoding of Jesus' high character and complete life as a Jew perfectly fulfilling the Mosaic Law (so they don't have to as Gentiles); so that Christians are exempt from performing all of the Mosaic Law with Christ's Logos implanted in them.
The Book of Mormon explains this by saying we are saved through the merits of Christ and perfected through Him alone. What this means in context, as we can see, is that when Christ was resurrected and breathed His divine nature into the early Christians they began developing a noomatic body through his merits alone.
I tell you the truth [L Truly, truly I say to you], a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to make ·many seeds [L much fruit]. But if it never dies, it remains only a single ·seed [grain].
God's Sperm/Logos Implanted through the Sacred Breath:
John 4:24, in The Passion Translation reads, “For God is a Spirit, [Or “God is breath,” or “God is wind.”] ….” In the Orthodox Jewish Bible it reads “Hashem is Ruach (Spirit) and it is necessary for the ones worshiping Him to worship in Ruach and Emes. [Ezek 36:26-27; 37:14].” Ruach means wind or breath. So when we look up those passages in Ezekiel 36:26-27, in the Tree of Life Bible Translation we read:
26 Moreover I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the stony heart from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [a] 27 I will put My Ruach within you. Then I will cause you to walk in My laws, so you will keep My rulings and do them.
A commentary on John 4:24 states:
“God is a Spirit”; … like the wind therefore, to which He is likened, breathing and blowing where He will, penetrating everywhere, owning no circumscriptions, tied to no place, neither to Mount Zion nor to Mount Gerizim; but rather filling all space with His presence (Psalms 139:7; 1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 66:1) …
(Source)
Again, the Holy Spirit literally means Sacred Breath/Wind; and this would explain why in New Testament thinking, Mary was impregnated by the Sacred Breath (Holy Spirit). The Sacred Breath delivered or "inseminated" Mary with the divine sperma (God’s genus) so that the Word/Logos was made flesh (Jesus).
God's Grace as God's DNA
So we see from the TPT that the same metaphorical process of God breathed in Adam’s nostril is repeated only with Christ then breathing into Christians so that they become a new species; not an Adamic species (with Adam’s sperma) and cursed to be human and die as mortals, but in-breathed with a new divine-genus (being of Christ); so that they become a new Messiah-species that is immortal and it makes it so one no longer “sins,” meaning breaking the Mosaic rules, the religious laws and ordinances, as such religious rules were for mortals of Adam's genus; but upon recieving the nooma, through Christ the divine genus, they are dead in Christ as Paul puts it and made immortally alive though God's DNA. A religious Jew might sin (error) when he fails to perfectly obey the Mosaic Law, as "sin" simply means going against the Mosaic Law and the Laws like in the book of Leviticus and most of the Laws applied only to Israelites of Abraham's seed/sperm. For example, the Law of being circumcised applied to those of Abraham's sperm/seed. But not those who are implanted with the sperma/DNA of Christ. Those implanted with the DNA of Christ have God's law written on their hearts (see Romans 2:12-16), i.e. Christ's character is implanted in them and they are to imitate the example set -- as in 1 Corinthians 11:1: "You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ" -- by downloading the Scriptures into one's mind so that they have the mindset of Christ (see Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 2:13-16; 2 Corinthians 10:5; 1 Peter 3:8; all These verses can be read here). Can one see how an early first century Gentile who is attracted to Judaism would find this good news or glad tidings, that by partaking of the divine nature they are no longer subject to the 600+ Mosaic laws and ordinances (like circumcision)? The same ideas can liberate LDS Christians who might feel burdened by a culture of perfectionism and feeling perpetually inadequate from man-made traditions not found in Scripture.
What better way to sum all this up than by quoting Paul. I have pasted Romans 8: 9-25 (TPT Translation) below but have placed the TPT footnotes that are relevant to this subject within brackets for ease of understanding (words in [[double brackets]] are my own):
9 But when the Spirit [[Nooma]] of Christ empowers your life, [Or “makes his home in you.”] ...
10 Now Christ lives his life in you! And even though your body may be dead because of the effects of sin, his life-giving Spirit [[Nooma]] imparts life to you because you are fully accepted by God. 11 Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, he will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you!
... 13 For when you live controlled by the flesh, you are about to die. But if the life of the Spirit puts to death the corrupt ways of the flesh, we then taste his abundant life.
14 The mature children of God are those [The Greek is quite emphatic: “those and only those.”] who are moved by the impulses of the [Sacred Breath]. 15 And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” [Or “spirit of adult (complete) sonship.” The Aramaic can be translated “the spirit of consecrated children.”] enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!”[... Abba is the Aramaic word for “father.” … It is hard to imagine a closer relationship to have with God than to call him “Abba, our Beloved Father.”] 16 For the [Sacred Breath] makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!”
17 And since we are his true children, we qualify to share all his treasures, for indeed, we are heirs of God himself. And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that he is and all that he has. We will experience being co-glorified with him provided that we accept his sufferings [Or “accept his feelings” (of pain), or “things” (he experiences). By implication, “sufferings.”] as our own.[Or “if we suffer jointly we will enjoy glory jointly.”]
18 I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us.19 The entire universe is standing on tiptoe,[The Greek word used here means “intense anticipation,” or “anxiously anticipating what is about to happen” (with an outstretched neck)] yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious[Or “the manifestation of the sons of God.”...The verb tense in the Greek text is clear that this “unveiling” is imminent, soon to happen, and destined to take place] sons and daughters! 20 For against its will the universe itself has had to endure the empty futility resulting from the consequences of human sin. But now, with eager expectation, 21 all creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children. 22 To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labor for childbirth. 23 And it’s not just creation. We who have already experienced the firstfruits of the Spirit[[Nooma]]...The Aramaic can be translated “the awakening of the Spirit.”] also inwardly groan as we passionately long to experience our full status as God’s sons and daughters—including our physical bodies being transformed. 24 For this is the hope of our salvation. ...
I have now pasted 1 Cor. 15: 20-57 (TPT) below but have placed the TPT footnotes that are relevant to this subject within brackets for ease of understanding:
20 But the truth is, Christ is risen from the dead, as the firstfruit[The first part of the harvest is called the firstfruits. Jesus’ resurrection is the firstfruit of those who will be raised in resurrection power, never to die again] of a great resurrection harvest of those who have died. 21 For since death came through a man, Adam, it is fitting that the resurrection of the dead has also come through a man, Christ. 22 Even as all who are in Adam die, so also all who are in Christ will be made alive. 23 But each one in his proper order: Christ, the firstfruits, then those who belong to Christ in his presence.[Or “appearance” (Gr. parousia).]
24 Then the final stage of completion comes, when he will bring to an end every other rulership, authority, and power, and he will hand over his kingdom to Father God. ...
... 31 My brothers and sisters, I continually face death.[Some translations render this “I die daily,” implying a dying to sin. Yet this is not in the context at all. Paul faces death day by day because of the danger of preaching the gospel in a hostile culture. He is not referring to dying to sin daily, for our death to sin took place on the cross. We died once and for all to sin. See Rom. 6:6-11; Gal. 2:20.] This is as sure as my boasting of you [This statement by Paul may contain an ellipsis that could be supplied by saying, “I swear by the confidence I have of your salvation that I am confident also of a coming resurrection.”] and our co-union together in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gives me confidence to share my experiences with you. ...
... 35 I can almost hear someone saying, “How can the dead come back to life? And what kind of body will they have when they are resurrected?” 36 Foolish man! Don’t you know that what you sow in the ground doesn’t germinate unless it dies? 37 And what you sow is not the body that will come into being, but the bare seed. And it’s hard to tell whether it’s wheat or some other seed. 38 But when it dies, God gives it a new form, a body to fulfill his purpose, and he sees to it that each seed gets a new body of its own and becomes the plant he designed it to be.
39 All flesh is not identical. Animals have one flesh and human beings another. Birds have their distinct flesh and fish another. 40 In the same way there are earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. There is a splendor of the celestial body and a different one for the earthly. 41 There is the radiance of the sun and differing radiance for the moon and for the stars. Even the stars differ in their shining. 42 And that’s how it will be with the resurrection of the dead.
43 The body is “sown” in decay, but will be raised in immortality. It is “sown” in humiliation, but will be raised in glorification.[The Aramaic can be translated “They are buried in agony, but raised in glory.”] 44 It is “sown” in weakness but will be raised in power. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual [[noomatic]] body. 45 For it is written:
The first man, Adam, became a living soul.[See Gen. 2:7]
The last Adam [The last Adam is Jesus Christ. As the last Adam, he ended Adam’s race and began a new species of humans who are indwelt by the [[Sacred Breath]] and carry the life of Christ within them.] became the life-giving Spirit [[Nooma]]. 46 However, the spiritual didn’t come first. The natural precedes the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the dust of the earth; the second Man is the Lord Jehovah,[As translated from the Aramaic.] from the realm of heaven.[In God’s eyes there are only two men, Adam and Christ. Every human being is a copy of one or the other. To be in Adam is to be lost and merely human, but to be in Christ is to be wrapped into the Anointed One as one who carries the life of Christ within.] 48 The first one, made from dust, has a race of people just like him, who are also made from dust. The One sent from heaven has a race of heavenly people who are just like him. 49 Once we carried the likeness of the man of dust, but now let us carry the likeness of the Man of heaven.[That is, just as Jesus now has an earthly body transformed into a spiritual body, so we will have our bodies transformed into heavenly bodies.]
50 Now, I tell you this, my brothers and sisters, flesh and blood are not able to inherit God’s kingdom realm, and neither will that which is decaying be able to inherit what is incorruptible.
51 Listen, and I will tell you a divine mystery: not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. 52 It will happen in an instant—in the twinkling of his eye. For when the last trumpet is sounded, the dead will come back to life. We will be indestructible and we will be transformed. 53 For we will discard our mortal “clothes” and slip into a body that is imperishable. What is mortal now will be exchanged for immortality. 54 And when that which is mortal puts on immortality, and what now decays is exchanged for what will never decay, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says:
Death is swallowed up by a triumphant victory!
55 So death, tell me, where is your victory?
Tell me death, where is your sting?[The Aramaic can be translated “your scorpion sting.” See Hos. 13:14.]
56 It is sin that gives death its sting and the law that gives sin its power.[In reading vv. 55 and 56 together, we can see that the victory of v. 55 is the total victory over sin at the cross where we were co-crucified with Jesus Christ. The sting of v. 55 that is removed is the empowering of sin by the [[religious law]] 57 But we thank God for giving us the victory as conquerors through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed.
So to recap:
God's Ruach (Wind or Breath) was breathed into Adam’s nostrils making him a breathing-clay-man.
God's Nooma implanted into Mary His only unique divine DNA via the Sacred Breath so that Jesus became the Father (twin gene) and the Son (flesh)
The resurrected Jesus breathed on his disciples, giving them divine DNA through the Sacred Breath; thus spiritually "immortalizing" them with new divine-DNA making them immortal upon death and ressurection and with "immunity" from the Law Moses and its performative religious laws and ordinances.
Partaking of the Divine Genus
We see all this spelled out in 2 Peter 1:3-4 (words in brackets are the footnotes from the TPT):
3 Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power[...Everything we need to reflect God’s true nature has already been given to us. See Eph. 1:3]. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness. 4 As a result of this, he has given you [or us] magnificent promises[The Greek sentence that extends from vv. 3–5 is somewhat ambiguous. It could also be read as “Through a glorious manifestation of his goodness he has imparted to us his magnificent promises.”] that are beyond all price, so that through the power of these tremendous promises you can experience partnership with the divine nature [The Greek word koinonos means “to participate as a partner, to partake of, to be a companion with, to have fellowship with” the divine nature. This is one of the great mysteries of our faith, that God shares his nature with us. We are given birth by the Holy Spirit to be God’s true sons and daughters, and every father imparts his DNA and his “nature” to his children. The Greek word physis (nature) is taken from the word phyō, which means “to give birth, produce, bring forth, or to grow up.” Christ lives in us and transforms us into his very own likeness. In Christ we share with him the divine nature. We will all bear the image of the Man from heaven, Jesus Christ. See Rom. 8:9-25; 1 Cor. 15:12-57], by which you have escaped [The Greek word apopheugō also carries the connotation of being “acquitted”] the corrupt desires that are of the world.
From this we can see that the New Testament is presenting truly good news as a proclamation or glad tidings, a positive message that God has begun seeding a new spiritual Garden in the form of transformed Christians or holy ones (meaning set-apart ones) who produce God's Shining Garden (the New Eden). Again, see the short online article God's Garden by Jonathan Mitchell.
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Or, go back to the the blog series Restoring the Origional Mormon Godhead
