Zoe Life and Agape Love

Topic: Zoe Life and Agape Love

Greetings:

In the previous message we talked about the two components of Zoe life, the Word and the Spirit and the question is because the Spirit is invisible how will someone know that you have the Spirit?  Let’s answer that with the Scriptures:

Matthew 7:16: Ye shall know them by their fruits.   Do men gather grapes of thorns  or figs of thistles?

Galatians 5:22,23:  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 

So it is by the fruit of the Sprit that they will know that the Spirit of God dwells within us.  But I want to take the first one the fruits because this is the one that really sets all the others in motion.  Love.

There are so many Scriptures on Love but I want to share a couple to show how when we show God-like love, Agape love, Zoe life is manifested.  

1 John 4:7-13:  Beloved let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth  not God; for God is love.   In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.  No man hath seen God at any time.  If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.  Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. 

Because God sending His Son was the ultimate show of love it is no wonder Apostle Peter can say this:

1 Peter 4:8:  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover shall cover a multitude of sins. 

We need to not separate ourselves from the Body of Christ, whether it be by individual or even by church.  This mentality is pride and the end result is destruction.  We must always seek to be amongst the household of God.   If we all have one Spirit and in one Body then we should be ale to fellowship with anyone of the household of faith. What has divided us is doctrine.  So many people have made their own doctrine which is a portion of Scripture, some misinterpreted Scripture.  Because someone does not hold our doctrine then we find it hard to fellowship with them.  A divided house or family will not stand and the enemy can then pick off the sheep because of the lack of unity.  The love of God is what unites us as a household of faith.  Let us seek to be perfected in love in word and in deed that the Zoe life that we have as a gift from God is manifested for the world to see. 

Peace and Grace

Calvin Calhoun Jr.   

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Contents and Components of Zoe Life

Topic: Contents and Components of Zoe Life

Greetings:

Let get right to it and start with the three things contained in Zoe life:

John 1:16: And the fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.

The first content within Zoe life is grace.  We have discussed grace extensively and we know that grace is power and authority.  We know we need power and authority to protect us from the schemes of the enemy that we may overcome not only him but his systems that he has placed in the world that attempts to take advantage of us by our blindness or ignorance. 

The second thing contains in Zoe life:

John 1:12:  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. 

The second content is our sonship.  There are many believers or Christians but unfortunately they are unaware or misinformed about their sonship.   The devil does not see you as a threat when you do not understand who you are.  But within Zoe life we learn of our sonship and who we truly are.

The third thing that contains Zoe life:

John 1:4:  In Him was life (zoe) and the life was the light of men

The third content is light.  We know in Scripture that darkness is symbolic of sin but also of ignorance.   When we have Zoe live we are not called to be ignorant but to be knowledgeable of the Son of God of whom we were birthed.  We are children of the light not darkness because there is no darkness or sin in the Father.  When we access Zoe life our path is lit for us to see and we come into fellowship with the goal of becoming to the stature of Christ where God will be all in all. 

So the three things that Zoe life contains are grace, light and sonship.   So when we examine the Body of Christ, we can see that many have not accessed this gift within and for many religion has locked them out and put Zoe life in the future or even the sweet by-and-by.   Not true at all Zoe life is for the hear and now.  Paul admonishes Timothy, his spiritual son to lay hold of eternal life.

1 Timothy 6:12:  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called , and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 

Paul admonishes us to lay hold of zoe life.  In other words seize it or grab it.  We have access to this life now but we must be spiritually minded first to lay hold of it.  Those who are carnally minded cannot see this nor access it because it is spiritually discerned.  

Now let’s look at the 2 major components.  The first major component of Zoe life is it is Word-Driven. 

John 6:63:  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the word I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life (zoe).

The Word of the Lord is Zoe life.  It gives life.  You must love the Word of God.  Anyone that does not love the Word of God cannot access Zoe life let alone obtain it because Jesus Christ Himself is Zoe life. 

1 John 1:1,2: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life (zoe);  (For the life (zoe) was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness , and shew unto you that eternal life (zoe), which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

The second component of Zoe life is it is Spirit-Driven.

Romans 8:10:  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life (zoe) because of righteousness.

We know that the Spirit of Christ is Zoe life and even though our flesh is dying on the outside we are eternally alive because we have Zoe life, we have Christ.   Now we know that the Spirit is invisible but how will someone know that you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you? 

Matthew 7:16: Ye shall know them by their fruits.   Do men gather grapes of thorns  or figs of thistles?

In the final message in this series we will look at one of the nine fruits that is a major indicator of the Spirit of God dwelling in you.

Peace and Grace

Calvin Calhoun Jr

Accessing Zoe Life

Topic: Accessing the Zoe Life

This has been a phenomenal study and one I have truly enjoyed.  In the previous message we got a solid foundation for who and what Zoe life is.  Today I desire to teach you how to access the Zoe life.   Let’s look at the three aspects to accessing this life.

Romans 8:6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life (zoe) and peace

To access the Zoe life, one must be spiritually minded.  One must have the mind of Christ.   This should not surprise us because Christ is Zoe life and the Scriptures say this:

John 4:24:  God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

So we must be spiritually minded because it is the fellowship between our spirit and the Holy Spirit that revelation, truth, authority and power flow.  This is the only way we can be spiritually minded, by submitting the flesh and the soul to the Will and rule of the Spirit.   It is the fellowship with our spirit that gives us Zoe life. 

The second aspect comes from this Scripture:

1 Peter 3:10:  For he that will love life (zoe), and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:  Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him see peace, and ensue it.

To access the Zoe life one must guard his tongue.  Now this is a problem for many believers because when someone says something it is almost a natural reflex to say something back, no matter what is said or how it is said, as long as you get either the final say or “your piece” in.  Here we see the Apostle Peter let no evil speech come from your lips.  But let him do good and seek peace.  We will be amazed at how God works through this principle.  If we just close our mouths and silence our soul, much of the gossip within the church will cease but our curiosity and wanting to know put us in a unusable position.   One who is able to guard their tongue can be used because of this major condition:

James 1:19:  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. 

We need to learn to be quiet and listen in the midst of situations because when we can listen we can hear God and the words we speak, if received will bring about good and peace.   Let me share this last Scripture of the importance of guarding the tongue

Proverbs 18:21:  Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. 

Proverbs 21:23:  Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

Finally, the third aspect of accessing the Zoe life:

Galatians 6:8:  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life (zoe) everlasting. 

We must learn how to sow into the Spirit.  A few ways we sow into the Spirit is repentance, forgiveness and fellowship to name a few.  The Scriptures say when we sow into the Spirit we will reap Zoe life.  

So to access Zoe life, we must be spiritually minded, guarding of our tongue and sow into the Spirit.   In the next message we will look at the two components of Zoe life and the contents of Zoe life. 

Peace and Grace,

Calvin Calhoun, Jr. 

New Teaching Series: "The Foundation of Zoe Life": Three Scriptural Meanings of Life

The Foundation of Zoe Life

Today’s Focus: The Three Scriptural Meanings of Life

Greetings Sons of God:

What is the Zoe Life?  I asked myself that question because I heard many people say it but it was not until recently that I began to inquire of the Lord about this Zoe Life and what was revealed was so powerful and it truly nourished my spirit and increase my desire more to understand.  So it is my prayer and desire that we come to understand what the Zoe life is and began to live it as purposed by our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

As we know with any language, one word can mean different things.  As we have seen in Scripture we can look at the word world and see two different meanings for example:

“If any man love the world....the love of the Father is not in him” – the meaning of the word world here is systems of ways of the world

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son” – the meaning of the word here is humanity

So as you can see the word world can mean two different things depending on how it is bring used.  This is the same concept as it pertains to the word life as it is used in Scripture let’s take a look at the three Scriptural meanings of the word “life”.

2 Timothy 2:4:  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier

The word life here in the Greek is the word “Bios” which means, visible life or natural life.

Matthew 6:25:  Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

The word life in this Scripture is the word in the Greek, “Psuche” which means breath of life, heart, mind, soul or seat of personality. 

John 5:39,40: Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have this life.

In both times the word life is used here in John 5, the Greek word for life is “Zoe”.  Zoe is the God-kind of life.  It is the life that God has.  It is the supernatural life.   It is this life that makes us a s the sons of God different from every other human on Earth.   Notice in the Scripture of John 5 you see Jesus speaks to the fact that He is the giver of Zoe life.  Jesus makes this declaration also to not only being the giver of Zoe life but being Zoe life Himself

John 14:6:  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life (zoe); no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

The carnal man cannot come unto the Father.  Only those who have obtained Zoe life.  Jesus Christ is Zoe life and He gives it to all who come to Him.  The way Zoe life comes to you is by the word of the gospel.  So in every believer, every son of God, is Zoe life.  Now this life is not something you get in the after-life when you die and go to heaven.  It is not a futuristic life.  This is a right now reality and let me show you this in Scripture:

1 John 5:11:  And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life (zoe), and this life (zoe) is in his Son.  

Therefore:

Colossians 3:3:  For ye are dead, and your life (zoe) is hid with Christ in God

Before we were born again we were the walking dead because there was no Zoe life within us.  However, when the Spirit of Christ who is Son dwells with our spirit and we are Sons, Zoe life has entered us and resurrected us from the dead.  Zoe life is the Heavenly life lived on Earth. And let me show it a step higher scripturally:

John 4:14:  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (zoe). 

Zoe life is the fully satisfied life.   For so long we look for satisfaction and happiness and God has freely given it to all His sons. The problem we have had is transitioning to the Zoe life and accessing it through submission, sacrifice and obedience.   In the Zoe life you reach full contentment.  Circumstances do not affect the Zoe life.  But it is Zoe life that can affect our circumstances.  Let me show you.

2 Corinthians 4:7-11:  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed but not in despair; Persecuted but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.  For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 

Despite our circumstances the Zoe life is not affected but even better it shows up through our mortal flesh.   One of the beautiful was Zoe life shows up is through sufferings for Christ and suffering in Christ.  When we suffer for and in Christ, Zoe life is manifested.

1 Peter 4:12,13:  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trail which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 

The Zoe Life is the glory of God.  It is time for us to enter and access the Zoe life by which we are purposed and destined.  This is the life of Son.  This life is a fully satisfied life but it starts with repentance and death to the sin nature.   

Peace, Love and Grace,

Calvin Calhoun, Jr.