Man has not changed, from the time Jesus walked this earth until the hour we now live in. In that day, men searched the scriptures, because they thought in them they had eternal life. But Jesus said, "They speak of Me, and you will not come to Me." (John 5:39,40) As long as man tries to figure out God, put God into a set of doctrines, and study the Word of God only to know facts about God, he will never know the reality of experiencing God.
Many are trying to say, "Salvation is by grace"--and it is. But grace is God's ability to bring us into this vital relationship with Him, which is a union. Jesus prayed, "Father, make them one, as we are one." That is exactly what God is doing by His Spirit, and He also is taking us farther and building us together as a habitation for Himself. God has given the abundance of His grace, He has made every provision for us, and He has clearly told us that we must believe Him. We must enter in. We must have faith in God, because without faith we cannot please Him.
Attached to that walk of faith is diligence--we must believe that He is a "rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." If God gave us promises without bringing us into the reality of true sonship now, we would have only a religion of the mind. But Jesus Christ did not come to give us a religion; He came to give us life, an abundant life that allows us to experience God and know God, in every step of our life and walk down here on earth.
"I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live" (Ezekiel 37:14). This is what we need today. Let us lay aside anything that comes short of what we have stated in these few lines from the Word, and know that God has given us something far superior to the "cheap believism" of our day. Let us enter in to know God, and to walk in the fullness of His power and anointing and grace. It is the difference between life and death.
This is not by works of man; it is what God has done and what God will do, if we will believe Him. Let us not be those that continue to have a form of godliness, denying the power of God. Let us go on to know God in the fullness of His blessing.