Hidden: Revelations Concealed Now Revealed

By Justin Whitney

In this book “Hidden,” God has given me a revelation about myself and the time we are in. This book is an autobiography of my life as well as a commentary on the book of Romans, but also revelations that God has given to my heart and spirit. I hope you see God’s illuminating light in my story as well as a comparison and parralel to the issues we face today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 30, 2024
• ISBN: 9798385017300

Justin Whitney

As a Christian and a person, Justin Whitney has been known as wise and intuitive. He has been known as knowledgeable when it comes to life, the Bible, Entertainment, Music, etc. As he struggled in life, writing was a sense of therapy, meaning, and understanding for him. As an introvert, he may not always talked much, but his wisdom and insight has been something he has been long to share. When displayed, people see something special in him and he desires to use this for God’s glory and display His kingdom come.

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HIDDEN

REVELATIONS CONCEALED NOW REVEALED

JUSTIN WHITNEY

Copyright © 2024 Justin Whitney.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-1729-4 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-1730-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024901293

WestBow Press rev. date: 1/25/2024

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Salvation: The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Chapter 2 Idolatry: The Greatest Idol is Me

Chapter 3 Sexuality: The View of The Divine

Chapter 4 Consecration: Purification of A Vessel

Chapter 5 Justification: God’s Declaration of Righteousness Over Us

Chapter 6 Baptism: The New Life In Christ

Chapter 7 Sanctification: The Monster Inside Me Needing To Be Tamed

Chapter 8 Predestination and Election: Vessels of Wrath Become Vessels of Mercy

Chapter 9 Conformity: Being Conformed to The Spirit of Christ, Not to The Ways of The World

Chapter 10 Conformity to Authority: Our Struggle of Rebelling V.S. Submission (Or Honoring V.S. Subjugation)

Chapter 11 The Formation of Our Purpose: Our Molding into The Image of Christ

Chapter 12 Awakening and Realization: Burdened by A Glorious Purpose

Works Cited

INTRODUCTION

H i, my name is Justin Whitney. All of my life I have felt hidden. I felt like my voice and my being have been concealed. Now, I am alive, and I am human; however, the story of my life has always felt buried. In Elementary, I was a nice kid and I had good amount of friends. In Junior High, I was kind of bullied and seen as less than a person. I was invited to church at young age during this time frame and I accepted Christ in my life around High School. In High School, I somewhat started to flourish on my own, yet I always felt hidden. I formed deeper friendships and my gifts started to form. Since High School, I feel like I have been gifted with a form of perception and insight that has astounded people at times, but scared people at times. Within this perception and insight, I have photographic memory. I can remember things over a portion of time as I commit it to memory. I can quote books, movies, shows, music, actors, etc., with pinpoint accuracy and efficiency, which has garnered awe and wonder from my peers. However, I am an introvert. I am very shy around people, and I don’t seek out companionship, even though, I desire people and know that God designed us for each other. Yet, when I express myself by allowing my true feelings to come out usually it is well-received, and at times, celebrated; other times, it is not.

In High School, I had times where my true self was heard and not. Yet, I always knew I had a gift and I wanted it to be nurtured. People tried, but I still felt hidden. After High School, I felt kind of lost and as I connected with people in college, I felt like I was starting to discover this gifting a little more as I read a book from Adam S. McHugh called Introverts in The Church. In this book, it stated that society and/or the church is basically crafted for extroverts, people that are go-getters and attention grabbers; however, there is a way to function as an introvert as well. As life continued on, I came to the realization of all that this book entailed. I have been grafted with this gifting of perception and insight, and the closer I get to a person I can discern their heart and ways, which at times, can make them mad, for maybe we don’t always want to face the truth. Now, I don’t want to say I am a human lie detector, but I feel like I can discern and ascertain the truth from people, which maybe they or I don’t fully understand. Yet, this gifting goes beyond that. At a camp, I feel like God revealed to me the motives of every of thing that I had ever gone through. It felt like a full circle moment. Since then, I have come to a crystal-clear understanding of the Bible as with Scriptures that I have read from my youth that now are making clear and complete sense, movies, T.V., music, history, government and politics, and past experiences from school, church, friends, and family. The point of this book is to delve into the revelations that I believe God has given me, but also use the book of Romans as a template to compare our lives from here to now, the similarities and differences of life as with mine, as well as what salvation and our own individual gifting and calling means to the world at large. So, basically, this book is going to be part-tell all, part testimony, part-expository commentary on Romans, as well as revelations I believe God has given me about salvation as well as the period of time we are at.

Now, by all means, I cannot ever truly compare myself to Paul. He is the epitome of what a Christian is, but he would completely state that it had nothing to do with him. Jesus changed the nature of who he was to persecutor of Christians to a Christ follower himself. Yet, I truly believe if I was to be able to truly hone these gifts and become mature in Christ within my calling then I could be a Paul or an apostle. I know it is not about being the greatest, but if my gifts were not hidden, but awaken just like others imagine what we could do with the Spirit of God inspiring us. If our gifting would be activated and use strategically, what could we do as the true body of Christ? I long to use this book to delve into what I believe God has begun to awaken in me and I long to focus on core issues of life, our faith, and salvation as a whole. I long to move from hidden to awaken and I long to truly operate in my God-giving crafting as well as others to learn to do the same. Here is a truer statement and encouragement from Paul in Philippians 3:12:

¹² Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

CHAPTER 1

Salvation: The Revelation of Jesus Christ

I feel like everything starts with salvation. The message of Jesus Christ awakens you to holy living and the true measure of what it means to be good. The first person that introduced me to salvation was my mom. She became a Christian when I was in Junior High. She took me to church, and I have to admit at first, I fell asleep during it. She would try to wake me up at times, but usually, I would fall asleep; however, the more I got involved with the church and heard the message of Jesus it resonated with me, but I don’t think I completely understood the message completely as a c hild.

Yet, as Paul was given the revelation of Jesus in Acts Chapter 9, it began to change his nature. He began as a renowned Pharisee and was persecutor of the way. Paul had everything going as he states in Philippians 3:5-6:

circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. (HCSB)

Paul had everything going for him. He was high up on the Jewish totem pole, a man of royalty, seeking to destroy this new movement based upon Jesus’ teachings with righteous zeal, which it is interesting to note that it states in Psalm 69:9 that:

because zeal for Your house has consumed me,

and the insults of those who insult You

have fallen on me. (HCSB)

Yet, Jesus comes to Paul and known as Saul and asked, Why are you persecuting me? As Paul was given this revelation, he asked who Jesus was, but it was interesting to note that in Acts 9:5 he calls him Lord. Even though, Paul didn’t who know who Jesus was intimately, he knew who God was and Jesus stated that Saul’s actions was causing an offense, so Jesus’ revelation changed Saul to Paul, and converted him into a new way of life and new way of thinking.

Well, I have to say I don’t have Paul’s resume for being a superstar follower of Jesus Christ, who under Jewish law, was considered perfect, but this salvation message is for anyone. It is for the ultra-religious, as well as for the downtrodden, as well as for the innocent, as well for the rough in nature. This revelation is for all! Yet, when I was introduced to this message, I felt like it was right, good, and acceptable, yet I didn’t realize everything it entailed. The salvation message is that the sin of our forefather, Adam, was inherited in all of us when he was enticed by Eve, as she was enticed by Satan, to disobey God. Eventually, God sends His son, Jesus, to be the perfect example of righteousness, which in turn causes the religious leaders to seek his death, for they believe he isn’t who he says he is. Jesus sheds His blood for humanity as a perfect sacrifice for sin or as Paul states a propitiation for sin. (Romans 3:25)

Because of His death, Jesus left us with the Holy Spirit as it states in John 16, which gives those who believe in His sacrifice access to the Father, God, as well as a helper, who will help purge us from sin and come into God’s holy way of living. Yet, that seems so much for a kid to understand. I was always a good kid and tried to do what was right but being introduced to this message felt somewhat hard to understand and comprehend. It seemed I have been a bad person since birth. Yet, I was always innocent and liked people. Yet, I did lie, and at times, did whatever it took to protect myself. Sometimes, not enough, though. But the older I got I understood this message in my head just not always in my heart. I knew the knowledge, but it took time to experience the full understanding of it as Paul did. As Paul begins to mention this starting in Romans 1:1-7:

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and singled out for God’s good news— which He promised long ago through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures— concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh and who has been declared to be the powerful Son of God by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations on behalf of His name, including yourselves who also belong to Jesus Christ by calling:

To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (HCSB)

It is interesting how Paul calls himself a slave of Jesus Christ. In other letters, he calls himself a bondservant. What is a bondservant? A bondservant is someone who chooses to voluntarily be bound to someone without any sense of obligation or pay involved. Paul was given this revelation of Jesus and he just started to live in it. He eventually met the disciples and told them of his transformation and eventually they worked together some, but Paul usually embarked on his own to preach this glorious message. When one becomes saved, they are consumed with this message that they know and seek to share it as it becomes a consuming fire; however, our own human frailties seek to get in the way at times. Even so, we, like Paul, desire to speak this message and become an apostle or a messenger of the good news, for it is Good News! Yet, this good news message was proclaimed through the Holy Scriptures. As Paul later mentions in Romans 9:3-4 that the nation of Israel carried the Holy lineage and history of Christ, and the holy Scriptures, which we will talk more in detail in a later chapter. Through the genealogies found in the 4 gospels, he was declared to be the son of God by spiritual descent as well as by human lineage. Through Christ, we have received grace and have been initiated into a calling that far goes beyond us, which brings about obedience through faith and brings glory to Christ.

Right now, I seem to be regurgitating material, but, as a kid, this is just seems like heavy and lofty knowledge, too heavy for understanding. Yet, as I was introduced to this salvation, I have known that I have a calling on my life. I just never known how to use it. As I went about my life, I had the knowledge and part of the revelation of this gospel, but still, I felt hidden. As a kid, I really didn’t do anything bad. I was very wholesome and tried to be good as I could be. Yet, I realized especially in High School, anything you do or don’t do gives you a reputation. If you are doing what almost every High School kid does and exploring your surroundings by doing drugs or drinking, you will have a reputation, and if you are just trying to be good and get by, you will be seen as a goody two-shows. I realize your lifestyle can either be a pleasing aroma or a stench to people depending on your attitude and what you specifically do or don’t. As we become aware of this salvation, we are supposed to take on this new nature and become it; therefore, we will become pleasing aroma that will point people to Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:14, 16; Colossians 3)

Some kids seem to understand this and some don’t. This message seems hard to comprehend, but it is possible to be lived. Jesus lived it, for crying out loud! Yet, as I became part of the church crowd, I think that is what I got used to. I have always been smart and I have always had knowledge. I could recall things like songs, movie actors, and the like, and for that reason my friends were drawn to me. Yet, to go outside of the scope of my friends was hard, for my friendships gave me a sense of security. As a kid, you long to be comfortable and adults are supposed to take you out of your comfort zone. Yet, as an adult, it seems like you are so used to the same comfort zone you are trying to get kids out of, for you are used to repetition. As a kid, you are trying to find understanding, love, and acceptance among your peers, which is also very hard, for so are they. Kids bully and tease each other so much. Sometimes, it is out of pure jealousy and hatred of an individual; other times, it is a means to say that they like you as they pick on or push the girl they like. Being a kid is very challenging time. You are still trying to figure yourself out or know yourself, as this lofty message about God, faith, love, and how you are supposed to behave and conduct yourself comes to mind.

It is very hard to see this message as Jesus or Paul did, as a mission to be carried out, but more importantly, as something to be lived out. It seems scary, for you are forced as a person to come out of your comfort zone and take on hostile environments that don’t desire to hear the message of Jesus, or not really thinking about the reality of eternity, or may have their own set individual beliefs of God handing to them by their parents or culture. Yet, Paul and Jesus traveled to various places motivated by the Spirit of God to tell the good news. What do you have as a kid? Your school. As you grow older, what is the environment you have? Your job or your career. Yet, as the Great Commission that Jesus left with disciples states in Matthew 28:18-20:

Then Jesus came near and said to them, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (HCSB)

As this verse states, you are commissioned to go and save the lost. Yet, as a child, you don’t feel like you are ready, and you don’t know really how to convey it. As you grow in the Bible, you are supposed to learn how to convey and seek to share it. You are supposed go outside the bounds of your friends to the people you don’t even know and the people you know are living ungodly, hedonistic lifestyles and share this love that found you, but often times, it seems like you either talk yourself out of it because of fear or you feel inadequate, or someone has a better story than me. Yet, what if we saw this salvation as not as just a mission to carry out, but something that we convey as we go about our day? The church has mentality to just go to places and objectively preach the gospel. Yet, what if we convey this message in our normal lives with the people we normally hang with? What if, as we live, people would see the pleasing aroma of Christ and be drawn to that. Often times, I think I have been so focused on the book knowledge that maybe I forget it is also relational as well. People have to see the love inside of you. People have to see how this message has affected you. Often times, I could only convey the desire to be in His word. Yet, the desire to preach His message was very difficult for me, for I am not a people person and I withdraw into my own little world due to being an introvert. Yet, maybe what has escaped me is the fact that God has gifted me with knowledge to use it to preach this gospel message and as a kid, I just couldn’t grasp it. Yet, what is the measure of faith? To strengthen and mature one another in holy living. Faith also inspires us to achieve great feats that we never thought we could or would. We see this in sports, how one competes and reaches levels in it that they never could imagine by putting in the time, the work, and the effort. Faith is supposed to inspire us so that there is a goal to reach, and encouragement helps us to reach it. We should be inspired by the feats of each other’s faith as our lives should reflect the progress of holy living within each of us.

Yet, often times, it seems our progress is either stymied or stifled. Still others completely understand the message of salvation and take it to the world without hesitation, for they truly understand they are loved and forgiven for their sins, so they long to proclaim it. But others seem scared or don’t truly understand what it means. They feel like it’s an obligation to do instead of a passion to testify to. However, how do you convey this message that is authentic not only to an audience, but to you? Usually, people will look at the actions of your heart as the example of this new life in you. If they don’t see anything in you or your progress by your actions, they may feel like you are a fraud or nothing worth hearing. Yet maybe God takes a lot longer to bring what He wants out of a person.

This love goes beyond the lines of what we think. Some believe because they don’t have the biggest, most dramatic salvation story that they can’t be use by God. Yet, they can, but we feel like our voice is too small or people won’t hear us. Yet, His message will be heard if we are willing to go. We all have a calling and sometimes we really don’t understand fully our calling as a kid. Sometimes we like to be with this group or that, but maybe our calling has to do where God places you. Sometimes you wish you could be where you would like to be, but God allows you to be under what He wants you to do to prepare you and deepen your faith. Paul felt called to both the Greeks and the Barbarians, the wise and the simple. (Romans 1:14)

As a kid, I wasn’t a very popular kid. I was a loner and I always gravitated towards the underdogs, the people that were like me. I wanted to be with the popular kids and be well-liked and well-accepted like everybody else. Who doesn’t? Yet maybe God was calling me to be with the people that He placed me under. During my High School years, I had some very intimate conversations with some people. Some people were more honest than I thought they would be. Yet, if