What is the fruit of your gospel?

Good news

The greek word euaggelion is translated in english translations of the Bible as the gospel or the good news. The word is used to describe the good news: of the kingdom (Mt 24:24), about Jesus Christ (Mk 1:1), of God's grace (Acts 20:24), of God (Ro 15:16), of the glory of Christ (2 Cor 4:4), of your salvation (Eph 1:13), of peace (Acts 10:36), about the Lord (Acts 11:20), etc.

The Kingdom of God

"Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" Mk 1:14,15

Jesus' primary message was of the good news of the kingdom of God. For 40 days, before He ascended to heaven, Jesus taught on the kingdom (see Acts 1:3). Most of Jesus' parables were about the reality of the kingdom of God. His purpose in sharing the good news of the kingdom was that people would believe in the reality of God's kingdom and enter into it (see Jn 3:1-8).

Christ crucified

The apostle Paul's primary message was the good news of Christ's death and resurrection. He writes, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). The purpose of Paul's message was to bring people into right standing with God through continuing dependence on Christ's righteousness (1 Cor 1:30).

Eternal life

The apostle John's primary message was of the good news of eternal life in Christ. He writes, "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 Jn 5:11,12).

The purpose of the gospel

Clearly, the message or the gospel has different forms but its purpose is always the same. This is very important. Unless we understand the purpose of the gospel, we will seek to lead people to believ

e a message rather than help them enter the Kingdom of God! 

Preaching the gospel is not the goal. 

Leading people to complete and ongoing dependence upon Christ and devotion to Him is. 

Aquaintance or disciple?

We are called to make disciples (Mt 28:18). A disciple is not an aquaintance of Christ. A disciple is married to Christ. Do sinners understand that we are leading them to be married to Christ when they say "I do" to Christ?

Whatever happened to unconditional commitment?

The sad truth is that the principle of unconditional commitment is leaving the gospel and consequently the church. Many preach a gospel that says, "Come to Jesus and receive everything you need. All you have to do is pray the sinner's prayer and you're in." There is a huge difference between receiving Jesus and surrendering one's life to Jesus. The first does not require any commitment, the second costs you your life. Unless people are led to commit their lives to Christ and to enter a covenant relationship with Him, they will also treat His Body, the Church, like an aquaintance rather than the Bride of Christ.

The fruit of the gospel

When I look at the book of Acts, I see a people who were cut to the heart by the Holy Spirit, who repented of their sinful, independent lives, who were baptised because they truly believed, who depended on Christ to be right with God and who devoted their lives to Christ and His bride (see Acts 2:42-47). That is and should always be the fruit of the gospel.Anything less and we're preaching an incomplete or at worst a different gospel!

The bride of Christ

Saying "I do" to Jesus is entering into a relationship with Him that ever depends on Him and is ever devoted to Him and His people. We leave our single status and enter into a covenant relationship with Him and His people. We live our lives as those who belong to Christ and belong to His Body. Paul says, we are not our own any longer. We belong to God and one another. Christian, does your life reflect that you belong to Jesus and His bride?

Jesus will return for His Bride - not an aquaintance. He will present those who depend on Him and who are devoted to Him to Himself, "as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph 5:27). Hallelujah!

Conclusion

Let us be sure to preach the true gospel in the Spirit's power to lead people to make a proper and considered decision for Christ. Let us not be hasty in getting people to pray a quick prayer (for our sake). Let us help others make a genuine, unconditional commitment to Christ that will lead them to live a life dependent on and devoted to Christ and to His people.

Israel and the Church

"His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit." Ephesians 2:17,18

The Glory of the Church

God's desire is for both Jew and Gentile to be reconciled to Him. His eternal purpose, which He accomplished in Christ, was to enable Jew and Gentile through faith in Christ, to be gathered to Him when Jesus comes again  (Eph. 3:11; 2 Thess. 2:1). The Church, made up of Jewish and Gentile believers is the revelation of God's wisdom and the demonstration of the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:7; 3:10). The Bible is clear that when Christ returns, "He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of the our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed" (2 Thess. 1:8-10). Christ is the hope of glory and it is He who indwells the community of believers, His Body the Church. Apart from Christ there is no hope of glory. This applies to both Jew and Gentile. 

Has God rejected Israel?

Christ came first for Israel and then for the Gentiles (Rom. 1:16). God says of Israel, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people" (Rom. 10:21). However, God has not rejected His people but has made provision for them through Christ to come back to Him. The apostle Paul testifies to God's patience with Israel when he declares that even though he was an Israelite himself, God rescued him through faith in His Son (Romans 11:1)!

Is God gathering Israel?

Many people believe that God is gathering the Jewish people to the land promised to Abraham so that at some point in the future God will pour out His Spirit upon Israel and all Israel will be saved. However, this is a view that completely disregards the purpose for which Christ came. It assumes that God will rescue His chosen people apart from faith in Christ. God apparently has a special plan for Israel that is different to His plan for the Church. So while the Church is to go out from Jerusalem and be dispersed among the nations to make disciples of all people (Matt.28:18-20; Acts 1:8), God is gathering the Jews to Israel for His special plan for them. 

The truth is that God poured out His Spirit at Pentecost and Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, explained that this outpouring was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy (Acts 2:16-21). The Jewish people in Jerusalem were urged to believe in Jesus, to repent and be baptised. This was God's way to restore His chosen people to Himself and to create in Christ one new man, the Church. Instead of building a temple of stone, God chose to build a dwelling of living stones, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Church of Christ. The Church is looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth when Christ comes forth from Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:18-29). 

The Church's responsibility toward Israel

It is because of Israel that salvation has come to the Gentiles (John 4:22; Rom. 11:11-24). Although there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, we owe our "spiritual blessings" to the Jewish people and therefore we should be praying for their salvation as we would for a family member. The Church's responsibility toward Israel is to share with them the Good News of reconciliation to God through Christ. That is what we are called to do as ambassadors of Christ (Rom. 15:27; 2 Cor. 5:18-20). We should not comfort them in their disobedience and obstinacy but urge them to believe, repent and be baptised into Christ. Let us pray fervently for the veil to be removed from their hearts, "because only in Christ is it taken away" (2 Cor. 3:14,15).

Prayer for Israel

Pray for opportunities to witness to Jewish people

Pray for the veil to be removed in the hearts of the Jewish people

Pray for the Church to have a burden for Jew and Gentile alike to be saved

Pray for workers to be sent to share the Good News in Israel and the nations

Pray for the truth to be revealed in the Church concerning God's heart for Israel

Pray for the Prince of Peace to be revealed in Jerusalem and in Israel   

For more reading on this subject I recommend the following article by Adrian Birks: http://thinktheology.co.uk/papers/article/israel-the-church

"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." Romans 10:1-4

Are you producing the fruit of the Spirit?

What kind of question is that? Surely I cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit. Is the fruit of the Spirit not His fruit? Is it not the Spirit's work to produce the nature of God in my life?

In my dealings with Christians I have discovered that there are essentially two schools of thought that believers live by. Some believe that the Christian's life is about becoming like Christ whilst others believe the Christian life is about being like Christ. 

Progressive sanctification?

Those who believe that God's children are in a process of becoming like Christ, believe that God is at work in their lives to transform them to become increasingly Christ-like. This process is described as God's sanctifying work that He is doing in the believer's life. Consequently when these believers face challenges, sickness, hardship etc, they attribute their "suffering" to God's disciplining work in their lives to produce Christ-likeness. It is described as God's refining work to produce Christ-likeness. The bottom line however is that God is held responsible for making the believer increasingly Christ-like.

Those who believe that God's children are to be Christ-like, believe that God has sanctified the believer and it is the Christian's responsibility to be like Christ. Challenges, hardship and sickness are attributed to the consequence of living in the world and the work of the Devil. Suffering is understood to be the consequence of obedience to God in this world and punishment is understood as the consequence of disobedience to God. Having received fullness in Christ and the power to be Christ-like (Col. 2:10; 2 Peter 1:3), it is the responsibility of the believer to be like Christ.

The believer's understanding of sanctification will influence and determine the way he or she lives his or her life! Those who believe in progressive sanctification wait for God to do the work while those who believe they have been sanctified do the work according to God's will. For example, the first wait for God to produce His love in them in order to love like Him while the latter have faith in the love they have received and live accordingly in obedience.

The conflict within

Every believer has two desires operating in his or her life. The apostle Paul puts it like this,

"The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other." Gal. 5:17

There is battle going on in the believer's life and it is up to the believer to choose which desire to fulfill! The child of God must choose to follow the desires of the Spirit in order to produce the fruit of the Spirit. Following the desires of the flesh or self-centredness will produce the fruit of the sinful desires. Who produces the fruit?

That is why Paul says the following,

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:8

"Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it." Romans 8:12

The apostle Paul says the believer has an obligation or a debt (Greek: opheilo) to love. 

It is therefore the believer's responsibility to follow the Spirit's desire and to obey Him and thus reveal the nature of God. The believer doesn't become increasingly loving through progressive sanctification! The believer must choose to live from the Christ within because he or she is sanctified (1 Pet. 1:14-16).

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ephesians 5:1

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24

Choose to follow Christ within you and produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Since we live by the Spirit let us keep in step with the Spirit." Gal. 5:22,23

 

Do you have Eternal Life?

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13

Introduction

The purpose of the apostle John's letter is to help believers know whether they have eternal life or not. John looks at the evidence or fruit of the life of one who is truly saved to help us know what the life of a believer should look like. Before we look at some of the fruit of a born again believer we need to understand what it means to be saved.

Salvation

Many Christians think that salvation is about believing in Jesus Christ so that when they die they will not go to hell but will be given eternal life in heaven. Although that is true, it is only a limited understanding of what salvation is all about! What many people don't understand is that through faith or trusting in Jesus Christ, the believer is "born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable" (1 Peter 1:23). That means that the believer receives life that is imperishable - eternal life. This eternal life is not an impersonal force but the very presence of the One who lives forever because He has conquered sin and death - Jesus Christ. The believer therefore receives the indwelling presence of Eternal Life. John writes,

"God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:11,12

Eternal Life

So we see that eternal life is not just something believers receive after they die, but it is Jesus living in them, the moment they believe in Him and confess Him as Lord of their lives (Rom. 10:9,10; 1 John 4:15). Those who don't believe in Christ Jesus are separated from Eternal Life, the life of God, but anyone who does believe, "God lives in him and he in God" (Eph. 4:18; 1 John 4:15).

The proof of Eternal Life

The question then is, "How can I know that I am born again and have received Eternal Life?" The apostle John explains that believers can know that they have Eternal Life because,

• the Holy Spirit testifies with their spirit that they are children of God (1 John 3:24; 4:13; 5:10)
• they are walking in the Light and don't keep on sinning (1 John 1:6; 3:6,9; 5:18)
• they don't deny their disobedience when they have sinned (1 John 1:8)
• they obey God's will (1 John 2:3,4; 2:17; 5:2)
• they are like Jesus (1 John 2:6; 3:2)
• they love the children of God (1 John 2:9,10; 3:14; 4:7,11; 5:1)
• they overcome the evil one and the world (1 John 2:13; 4:4; 5:3)
• they don't give in to their sinful desires (1 John 2:15-17)
• they have an anointing from the Holy One (1 John 2:20)
• they know the truth (1 John 2:21)
• they are confident and unashamed (1 John 2:28; 3:21; 4:17; 5:14)
• they do what is right (1 John 2:29; 3:10)
• they have hope (1 John 3:3)
• they love with action and in truth (1 John 3:18)
• they have peace with God (1 John 3:19)
• they please God (1 John 3:22)
• they speak from God's viewpoint (1 John 4:5,6)
• they live in love (1 John 4:16)
• they don't fear punishment (1 John 4:18)
• they receive understanding (1 John 5:20)

The reasons for lack of fruit

The fruit of Eternal Life is simply the revelation of Christ in the believer. The problem, however, is that many believers are not seeing the fruit of Eternal Life in their lives. Does that mean that they are not saved? I believe the lack of evidence is due to three reasons. Clearly there might be the possibility that the person is just a nominal Christian who has not entirely surrendered his life to Jesus as Lord of His life and is therefore not born again. The second reason is that believers don't respond to the Eternal One in them. They simply continue doing their own will and ignore the presence of God in them and with them! The third reason believers don't see more evidence of Eternal Life in their lives, is simply the fact that they don't remain in fellowship with God. 

Fellowship with God

Fellowship with God means I live my daily life with an awareness of God's presence in me and with me all the time. This awareness of God means I include God in every aspect of my life. As I do so I become sensitive to His presence and learn to respond to His leading. I get to know God and learn what grieves Him and what pleases Him. I spend time in the secret place to draw near to Him in worship, to meditate on His Word and to receive from Him. I learn to acknowledge His presence and become sensitive to His every movement as I go into the day. As I become increasingly sensitive to God, I have my mind on what the Spirit desires so that I avoid giving in to the desires of the flesh. Fellowship with God will cause me to produce the fruit of Eternal Life! Those who remain in Christ know that what John describes as the evidence of Eternal Life is possible! (Rom. 8:1-16; Gal. 5:16-25).

Fullness of joy!

Jesus came to give us fullness of life (John 10:10)! Those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, receive Christ who is Eternal Life itself. Having received fullness in Christ, the believer has received everything he needs for life and godliness and can participate in the Divine nature as he remains in Jesus and continues to have fellowship with Him (Col. 2:10; 2 Peter 1:3,4; John 15:4,5).

I encourage you today, to spend time in God's presence and enjoy fellowship with Him. Practice the presence of God and you will produce the fruit of eternal life as you obey Him. I write these things so your joy will be complete (1 John 1:4).

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What are we saved for?

"God saved us and called us to live a holy life." 2 Tim. 1:9

I want to ask you a life-changing question:

Does God save people for them to become like Jesus or does He save people for them to be like Jesus?

Your answer to this question will determine your Christian life! Before we can address the difference between "becoming like Jesus" and "being like Jesus," we must have a clear understanding of what it means to be saved.

Salvation

Mankind was created in God's image to live in close relationship with God, to reflect the very nature of God and do His will on earth. As God's offspring, we were created to be like God (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:8). Because of man's disobedience he separated himself from God's will and consequently God's presence and nature. Having become ungodly (no longer like God) mankind became God's enemy as he continued to walk independently of God and in rebellion to God's will. The apostle Paul describes man's separation from God like this,

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." Eph. 2:1-3

God's image that was to be revealed through mankind, became distorted. Consequently, mankind is ungodly by nature.

The last Adam

In order for God to restore man to His original nature and purpose, God sent Jesus to both reveal man in his original image of God as well as to restore man to his original godliness. Jesus came to rescue, restore, reconcile or save man from ungodliness and separation from God. Paul writes,

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Rom. 5:6

So we see that God made a way for man to be restored to Himself so that man would be in close relationship to God, reflect His nature and do His will.

Saved to become or saved to be?

Understanding God's purpose for creating man and for giving us His Son, it should be clear that we are not saved to become like Jesus but to be like Him. That is why we read in Scripture:

"Be holy, for I am holy" 1 Peter 1:16

"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:6

"Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" Matt. 5:48

"Be imitators of God" Eph. 5:1

Created for what?

Let me ask you: What was God's purpose for creating Adam? Was it so that he would become like God? Was the whole purpose of the creation of man an experiment to see how he would develop in God-likeness? Clearly not!

The problem with thinking that our purpose in life is to become like Jesus is that it paralyses the believer and causes him to be introspective and ineffective in "reigning in life" (Rom.5:17).

Preoccupation with self-improvement and responding to the accusations of the enemy keep the believer caught in a satanic trap that stops him from fulfilling God's purpose for his life!

Grace

After explaining to the believers in Ephesus that their previous nature and behaviour separated them from God, Paul shares the amazing truth that because of His great love for man, God has provided a way for us to be restored to Him and therefore restored to fellowship with God and to godliness. The restoration to godliness cannot be accomplished by man's own effort (works) but is retored by faith in Christ! Grace restores man to God and to the Creator's original purpose for mankind.

God's workmanship!

Having described God's gift to mankind, Paul says,

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do." Eph. 2:10

God restores us to Himself and to our original godliness so that we will do God's will and fulfill His purpose for us. 

The believer is not created in Christ to become like Jesus but to be like Jesus, doing the Father's will in the Father's image out of fellowship with the Father!

That is exactly how Christ lived on earth (see John 14:8-14).

The problem of sin

I believe that God hates sin. He hates rebellion and disobedience to His perfect will. However, let me ask you this question:

If there weren't such a thing as sin, how would you live your Christian life?

The answer to this question will reveal whether you are preoccupied with self-improvement or whether you are set free to pursue the "good works, which God has prepared in advance" for you to do. Let me repeat what I said earlier: Preoccupation with self-improvement and responding to the accusations of the enemy keep the believer caught in a satanic trap that stops him from fulfilling God's purpose for his life!

Grace is risky

God took a risk when He gave us the gift of grace. He knew that we could either ignore it by still trying to become godly in our own effort (see Gal. 3:1-4; 5:4) or misuse it by continuing to live in sin. However, regardless of the ignorance of grace and the misuse of grace do you realise that grace empowers? Paul writes,

"You then my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. 2:1

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and wordly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himslef for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:11-14

God saves us to be like Jesus. Having received this indescribable gift of grace, will you ignore it or misuse it or will you walk in it to be like Jesus, enjoying intimacy with the Father, revealing the Father's nature and doing the Father's will?

Reconciled to Culture or Christ?

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sin against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God." 2 Cor. 5:18-20

Jesus modelled the ministry of reconciliation

Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He entered the world in the form of a human to reach those who were separated from God in order to reconcile them to God.

Jesus not only came to provide a way for man to be reconciled to God but also modelled God's method of reaching the lost that I believe the Church in general has moved away from. Just as Jesus came to seek and save the Lost, the Church is called to go and seek and save the lost.

God's method to reach the Lost

Jesus came to seek!

God took the initiative! Jesus entered humanity's darkness (John 1:1-18; Hebrews 2:14-18). He did not wait for broken humanity to find Him. As the Light of the world, Jesus made His dwelling amongst imperfect humanity to draw mankind back into fellowship with God.

Just as the Father sent His Son into the world to reconcile man to Himself, so He sends His Body, the Church into the world to reconcile man to God. Just as Jesus came as the Light of the world, He sends the Church into darkness to be light (see Matthew 5:14).

Sadly the Church, for the most part, expects broken humanity to find its way to her meetings instead of her entering into the darkness.

Jesus came to reconcile man to God and not to a culture!

Jesus sought the Lost to reconcile man to God. He did not seek out the Lost to convert them to a christian culture! Christ's priority was to bring man back into fellowship with the Father and with other believers. The believer's christian culture (the way he responds to God with his life) becomes a barrier for the Lost when it is inauthentic, inconsistent and only reserved for church meetings. Christian culture becomes attractive and influential when it is the fruit of sincerity and an authentic relationship with God and other believers.

The moment the Christian has to adopt a form to be acceptable in the church, a cultural wall is erected that becomes a barrier to the unchurched! 

The reason many Christians are uncomfortable with inviting the Lost to their church meetings is that there is often a discrepancy between the way they are in the world and the way they are in their church meetings.

Authentic Christianity

The solution is not to force a different church culture that will be less offensive and more palatable for the Lost but to ensure that the church is authentic in her relationship with God and others, both in the church meetings as well as in the world! God is more concerned with the heart than with our christian culture (the form we choose to express our relationship with God).

When the Church strips herself of her man-made form she will be able to enter the darkness of broken humanity and be able to reconcile man to God.

The church that seeks to impose her form on broken humanity seeks to convert man to culture rather than to Christ!

Floyd McClung, in his book entitled "You see bones, I see an army," states,

"The church that does not carry a passion to reach the world isolates people behind walls of cultural irrelevance."

I believe the Church is called to be uncompromising in essence but flexible in form. That way the Church can be light in the darkness and be "all things to all men" (form) without compromising the Truth (essence).

I agree with McClung when he writes,

"The Spirit of God calls each generation to re-imagine church for their own context and culture, and to a fresh encounter with God to live the Gospel."

The Church must get rid of old wine skins - old ways of doing church and adopted christian culture, if she is to make room for new wine - revival and awakening as real believers connect with a real world with the real love of God.

The role of the Church is to enter the darkness to seek and reconcile broken humanity to its loving Creator so that believers can enjoy fellowship with God and one another (1 John 1:3)!

It is time for the Church to be revived and for the "grave clothes" to be removed so that she will "come out" (John 11:43) in newness of life to reconcile man to God. This is the ministry of reconciliation that has been entrusted to Christ's Body!

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Whose kingdom do you belong to?

Everyone belongs to a kingdom. The question is, "Whose kingdom do you belong to?"

A kingdom is made up of a king and that which he rules over. Those who belong to a kingdom are subject to their king and that which he commands. The kingdom each person belongs to is determined by who is king and who he obeys.

Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords even though not everything has surrendered to His rule and reign yet. In the letter to the Hebrews we read,

"In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him." Hebrews 2:8

3 Kingdoms

Every person belongs to a kingdom, whether it is a self-created kingdom, someone else's kingdom or Christ's Kingdom. A self-created kingdom has self on the throne and lives in a realm that is governed by self and does what self desires. The self-created kingdom lives according to self-created values, beliefs, and standards.

Who is king?

The moment a person responds to the offer of eternal life through Christ, the believer surrenders his life to Christ. In other words, the believer gets self off the throne and invites Christ to take His seat as King in his life. What was once ruled by self is now ruled by Christ (1 Peter 3:15). However, the believer only truly lives as a subject of Christ's Kingdom if he is living in obedience to his King!

Whose Kingdom?

Many Christians would say that Christ is King in their lives but their lives bear the fruit of their belonging to another kingdom!

Jesus confronted the religious leaders concerning this very issue in John 8. Jesus even went so far as to say that the Pharisees were of the devil because they did what the devil desires (John 8:44). The religious leaders had created a kingdom for themselves that operated according to self-created values, beliefs and standards. When Jesus exposed who was on the throne of their lives and whom they were subjecting themselves to, they took offense.

The revelation of God's Kingdom offends the self-created kingdom!

The religious leaders responded to the revelation of God's Kingdom by taking offense. They could have chosen to repent of living according to their own, self-created kingdom but they took offense and rebelled against God. They chose to disobey and live according to their own kingdom.

Daily surrender

Daily, every believer faces the choice between living according to the old, self-created kingdom or God's Kingdom. That is why Jesus tells His followers (His subjects) to take up the cross and deny themselves daily (Matthew 10:38).

When God reveals truth to the believer, the believer always has a choice to either believe and obey or disobey. Either we believe God and submit to our King's will or we disobey Him.

Excuses, excuses

Most believers would never blatantly disobey what they know to be God's will. So the only way to avoid submitting one's self to God's will or standard is to create another standard that can replace God's standard. In other words, the believer creates an excuse not to have to obey God's will. By creating another standard for himself, the believer no longer feels convicted to obey God's revealed will but rather has peace, living according to another "godly", self-created standard. The word excuse literally means free from accusation. If the believer can create a standard that does not accuse him, he can fool himself into thinking that he is still doing God's will! This is the essence of self-righteousness - living according to self-created values, beliefs and standards (see Phil. 3:7-11) to be justified before God.

Deceptive excuses

Let me give you an example of this deceptive process. The believer reads God's Word which says, "I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:44,45). Immediately the Holy Spirit brings to mind who one's enemies could possibly be. Perhaps it is a neighbour or a relative or a brother or sister in Christ. The moment the Holy Spirit puts His finger on an area in our lives that needs to be aligned with God's truth, the believer has a choice. Either he will repent by obeying God and changing his attitude toward that person and praying for him, or he will disobey God's will. No believer would say, "I am not going to do what God clearly says!" That would be blatant disobedience and sin.

The believer rather begins to reason with God by creating a new standard. The self-created standard can sound godly but it is still disobedience! The believer may think something like this: "I don't need to love that person because of all he did to me. And anyway, he doesn't accept me and love me either." This form of reasoning makes an excuse so that the believer can live with his disobedience. A self-created "godly" standard is created that seemingly justifies one's disobedience (see 1 Samuel 15)!

Just as man can replace the King with his self-created king,

so he can replace the Kingdom with his self-created kingdom!

(See Romans 1:18-32)

Still itching?

The believer who lives in disobedience by living according to a self-created standard is still living according to his self-created kingdom with self ruling on the throne. It is these people who enjoy listening to teachers who agree with their self-created standards, who reject the truth and those who preach the Kingdom! Paul warns us in his letter to Timothy where he says,

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers

to say what their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3

God is calling His people to absolute obedience to further His Kingdom! Disobedience furthers every other kingdom but God's Kingdom! We must stop making excuses and stop living according to our self-created righteousness - our kingdom!

Ask the Lord today to search your heart and to expose any disobedience in your life. Don't allow your self to make any excuses but rather repent and obey. Self desires what is contrary to the Spirit. They are in conflict with one another (Gal. 5:16,17). Who will you obey? Who is seated on the throne? Whose kingdom do you belong to?

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Are you being sanctified?

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." Romans 8:29,30

Sanctification?

There is a teaching in the Church today that goes something like this:

Believers have been predestined by God to become like Christ. This becoming like Christ is termed, sanctification and is understood as a process by which the believer increasingly becomes more and more like Jesus. God's purpose for the believer's life is therefore to use circumstances and life to conform His children to Christ. Every hardship and difficult circumstance is then embraced as God's will to refine the believer to become Christ-like. Scriptures such as Romans 8:29,30 and Hebrews 12:5-11 are quoted to substantiate this teaching and you will hear Christians speak of God taking them through the desert; God breaking them; God disciplining them so that they become more like Christ. It sounds spiritual but is this really what the Bible teaches?

The Problem

The problem with this teaching is that it is not only unbiblical but also deceptive.

Let us suppose for a moment that the teaching is true and that every believer is undergoing a process of sanctification.

First of all one needs to ask, why? What is God's purpose in saving us and then working on us to become like Christ? If it is to prepare us for heaven, then surely it is unfair when some live longer than others. If the goal of sanctification is to make us Christ-like, then who will be included as the Bride that God is coming back to that is "a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph. 5:27)? Will it be those who have completed the process of sanctification?

Confused Christians

Those who believe this theology live lives of condemnation and fear and interpret the work of Satan as God's work of sanctification! These poor Christians live their lives in misery and even thank God for His "discipline" when the Devil is having a field day, tormenting the deceived child of God. "It's my cross to bear," they explain and continue faithfully and miserably serving the Lord. I thought the Gospel was Good News and that the teaching about God our Saviour was attractive (Titus 2:10)!

Sanctification explained

The root of the problem is in the wrong understanding of sanctification. Wrongly interpreted, Romans 8:29,30 is said to show us that the believer is predestined to be conformed to Christ in the sense that once saved, the believer becomes more and more like Christ. However, the Bible is clear that once the believer is saved through faith in Christ, s/he is sanctified! The believer is therefore predestined to be conformed to Christ, the moment s/he believes. In other words, the believer is Christ-like, the moment s/he is baptised into Christ (Gal. 3:26). The believer's union with the Holy One makes him holy - sanctified! The NT always addresses the Church as God's holy people (sanctified people).

Be holy!

"To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy." 1 Cor. 1:2

God says "Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15,16

God does not say, "become holy"; He says, "BE holy"!

You can only be what you are! I cannot be holy unless I am holy!

You ARE sanctified!

Those who are in Christ are holy - they are sanctified. The believer is called to live a holy life because s/he is holy and not in order to become holy. Click here for more on "Are you holy?"

Does God not dicipline His children?

Yes, certainly! Hebrews 12 confirms that. But, what does God discipline us for?

The context in Hebrews 12 is not character-building but disobedience (sin). God disciplines His children when they sin so that they will continue to live holy lives. God is faithful and will help us continue in holiness (see 1 Thess. 5:23). Hardship is used by God to test our faith and for us to persevere in holiness (see James 1:2-4).

Good News!

The Good News is that through faith in Christ, the believer is sanctified and is made "a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph. 5:27). This is the believer's assurance and hope and it is from this hope that faith springs up that drives out fear and condemnation (Col. 1:5; Rom. 8:1, 33-39; 1 John 4:18).

Where is your joy?

Where is your joy? The fruit of the Spirit is joy (Gal. 5:22).

"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Romans 14:17

Satan is intent on stealing your joy. As long as you believe that the purpose for your life is to become holy, the Devil will continue to accuse you, condemn you and and make you completely ineffective for God's Kingdom purposes as you continue your self-improvement program and live in misery and continuous failure. Don't let Satan deceive you, child of God! Jesus is your holiness (1 Cor. 1:30)! Depend on Him! He has made you holy!

Jesus, your Brother!

You have been predestined to be like Jesus so that He can be your Brother (Rom. 8:29).

"Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." Hebrews 2:11

As a son of God, you have been made holy; you have been justified and you have been glorified (Heb. 2:10; Rom. 8:30). That is Good News! Rejoice in your holiness and don't allow the enemy to deceive you and rob you of your joy!

Recommended reading: "The Believer's Secret of Holiness" by Andrew Murray.

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Are you being saved?

"And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:47

Salvation is present continuous. Christians are in the process of being saved as long as they believe and remain in Christ.

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:8,9

You are receiving the salvation of your soul. Salvation is present continuous.

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." Col. 1:21-23

As the believer continues to believe, he continues to receive salvation.

"And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming." 1 John 2:28

The believer continues in Christ as he continues to trust in God's grace. By faith the believer enters into this grace and it is by faith that the believer must continue to live in this grace until Christ comes again!

"After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" Gal. 3:3

"..if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9,10

As the believer continues to believe and continues to confess he is saved and will be saved.

Salvation is union with God that is realised (worked out - Phil. 2:12) by daily and abiding fellowship with Him.

"This is how we know we are in him: whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:6

Your initial "prayer of faith" to be saved has gained you entrance into the grace in which you now stand. To stand firm, you need to continue to have faith by continuing to abide in Christ. Your abiding in Christ will bear fruit which will give you confidence on the day He returns.

"...as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world." 1 John 4:17

"...those who obey God's word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him." 1 John 2:5

Are you being saved?

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Cor. 1:18

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?" 2 Cor. 13:5

When do you approach the throne of grace?

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infimities; but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16 (KJV)

Jesus has overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. It is by Christ's overcoming Spirit, resident in the believer that we overcome.

Most of us approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace because we have sinned but the above verses encourage the believer to come to the throne to receive from God in order to overcome!

So often we start in the flesh and when we fail we end in the Spirit. Surely God's invitation to His children is to begin in the Spirit and remain in the Spirit by depending on Him for mercy and grace in order to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil?

Paul encourages Timothy and says, "..be strong in the grace that is in Christ." 2 Tim. 2:1

God's mercy means we don't receive what we deserve but God's grace means we receive in abundance what we don't deserve.

Come to the throne of grace and receive mercy and then in your time of need today, find the grace God has given you in Christ to overcome trials and temptation! Don't start in the flesh! Start in the Spirit and end in the Spirit and hold firm to the faith that you profess.

Be strong in the grace that is in Christ!

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Are you playing God?

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

Christ came to set us free but what exactly is the believer liberated from?

Freedom from guilt.

Jesus says in John 12:47 that He came into the world not to judge it but to save it. The apostle Paul writes,

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." Romans 8.1-4

Taking God's place!

Sadly many believers don't realise this truth and instead of walking in God's mercy and grace, they live a life of self-condemnation and self-righteousness! This comes about when believers usurp God's judgement seat and condemn themselves and others when they do not measure up to their own standard of perfection or righteousness. In their minds they still think that they have to attain perfection to be acceptable to God and so they try their best to live a righteous life. When they sin they condemn themselves until they have confessed their sin to be able to consider themselves to be righteous once again.

Who is on the Judgement Seat?

The problem with this mind-set is that the believer determines when he is righteous and when he is not. With the same usurped authority to condemn himself, the believer then considers himself righteous once he has confessed his sin or is living a righteous life according to his own standard. Those who have taken a seat on God's judgement seat try to live up to their own standard of perfection and expect others to do the same. They are burdened by a yoke of slavery to their own legal system - the very thing Jesus came to set us free from!

God's mercy

A woman was caught in adultery and was brought before Jesus by her accusers. Jesus' response was to say to the accusers (those who had placed themselves on God's judgement seat),

"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." John 8:7

"At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' 'No one, sir,' she said. 'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.'"

The One who was without sin had every right to judge the woman and condemn her but he did not (see John 8:7)! Jesus set her free by extending mercy and grace to her.

The pride of self-righteousness

The believer who condemns himself and others will also exalt himself in his pride. Many believers think that self-condemnation is humility but fail to realise that it is our pride that usurps God's right to condemn when we condemn ourselves and consequently exalt ourselves!

Paul writes, "My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God." 1 Cor. 4:4,5

Depending on Christ

In other words, the believer cannot declare himself innocent just because he is not conscious of sin. Our righteousness is dependent on Christ's righteousness since it is in Him that the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us!

What are some of the indicators that the believer is walking in slavery?

• Sin-consciousness rather than grace-consciousness (Heb. 10:1-10; Gal. 5:4)

• Feelings of guilt rather than blamelessness (Col. 1:22)

• Experiencing condemnation rather than freedom (Rom. 8)

• Pride (depending on self) rather than humility (depending on Christ's righteousness)

• Judgemental toward self and others rather than loving, accepting and forgiving of oneself and others (Rom. 2:1-4)

• Legalistic toward self and others rather than gracious toward self and others

• Slave to self-created standards rather than living in the freedom of sonship

• Tendency to feel the need to confess sin before feeling able to "enter into God's presence" (however, see Heb. 4:16; 10:19-22)

The purpose of judgement in this life is to keep us on the right track but not to condemn us. 1 Cor. 11:32

Christ is our Righteousness

It is our dependence on the grace we receive in Christ that sets us free from guilt and condemnation.

"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'" 1 Cor, 2:30,31

Let's not play God and usurp His judgement seat! In humility receive and depend on the grace of God that has been revealed in Christ. Walk in the freedom of the sons of God! Don't allow the devil to accuse you and tempt you to condemn yourself when God has declared you blameless in Christ! It is for freedom that Christ has set you free!

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Are you really a member of a church (part 2)?

As we continue to explore what the Word of God reveals about what it means to be a member of a church, we need to consider cetain elements that differentiate the local church (a group of believers) from the universal Church (all believers).

"Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:41-47

On the day of Pentecost about three thousand people were added to the Church in Jerusalem. These new believers devoted themselves to meeting together, either in the temple courts or in their homes. They did this to build relationships, to encourage one another, to grow in their knowledge of God, to honour the body of Christ and to share their lives with one another.

The writer to the Hebrews confirms the importance of this when he writes,

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:23-25

As the Church grew and believers in different towns and cities were added to the Church, certain essential characteristics can be observed that differentiated each group of believers.

Location

The Church met in their locality and so we find that the letters in the New Testament are addressed to different churches according to their location - Corinth, Thessalonika, Ephesus, Laodicea, etc.

Location differentiated the churches.

Leadership

At the birth of the Church, the leaders of the Church were the apostles (see Acts 6) but as the Church extended to other cities, leaders were appointed over each church in her various locations.

"The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you." Titus 1:5

Leadership differentiated the churches.

Resources

The church in Jerusalem modelled the nature and behaviour of the church in other locations. Just as all the believers in Jerusalem shared what they had with all the other believers so that no one was in need (Acts 4:32-35), so the church in other locations would have done the same. The believers in their respective locations would have shared their resources with the believers in their location. Out of their relationship with one another, the believers cared for the needs of those they were joined to. Sometimes the believers in one location would take up a collection to meet the needs of the church in another location (see 2 Cor. 8,9).

Sharing of resources differentiated the churches.

Organisation

Just as the believers in Jerusalem had to organise themselves so that the believers met together regularly for prayer, communion, training, equipping, collection and distribution of resources, etc so we see that the churches in other locations also had to organise themselves to grow and be effective. In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul explains that God gives each believer in Christ gifts that are to be used for the building up of the body (see Eph. 4:7-16). God combines His people so that the local body is organised (see 1 Cor. 12).

Organisation differentiated the churches.

Doctrinal emphasis

In the beginning the Church was devoted to the apostles' teaching. Everyone was being taught the same truth and there would have been complete unity in heart and mind concerning what was being taught, believed and lived. However, as the Church spread to other locations, so the Church became more and more prone to false teachers and corruption of the truth. Paul's main concern for the churches was that they would persevere through trials and persecution and stand firm in their faith and that the churches would not be misled by false doctrine. Elders were appointed in each city to make sure that the church was being taught "what is in accord with sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1). Paul even had to confront Peter with regard to his behaviour that was contradiciting what was supposed to be taught and practised (see Gal 2:11 - 3:5). Today there are many different churches due to differences in doctrine or differences in emphasis of doctrine. Consequently believers will choose to be part of a church where they agree and identify with what is being taught.

Doctrinal emphasis differentiated the churches.

Style

It seems that the churches differed in their style of worship and meetings. Apparently the Colossians were "orderly" (Col. 2:5) but the Corinthians were rather disorderly (see 1 Cor. 11:17-34). How the churches met together would have differed form city to city. Just as people differ in their preferences concerning style and form so believers choose a group that they can identify with and feel part of in terms of how the church meets together.

Style differentiates the churches.

Purpose

Clearly every church was committed to her locality. However just as each member of the body has a different gift and calling to fulfill God's purpose, so each church has a unique calling and purpose within the greater body. Those who are part of the local body will identify with, and be devoted to the purpose of the local church.

Purpose diffentiates the churches.

So we see that within the greater body or the Church, there are many churches that can be differentiated because of:

Relationships, location, leadership, resources, organisation, doctrine, style, and purpose.

Clearly then, for the believer to really be part of the local church he will:

1. be devoted to the group of people, relationally
2. meet regularly where the church meets
3. honour and submit to the leadership of the church
4. give time, energy and resources to the church
5. support the organisation of the church
6. agree with and apply what is taught
7. be comfortable with the style of meetings
8. be devoted to the church's purpose

These, I believe, are the essential elements that differentiate the various churches that make up the greater body of Christ.

Kingdom-minded

Now, although the believer is to be part of a local church, he must not lose sight of the fact that he is still part of the greater whole - the Church. A Kingdom-minded believer sees other local churches as part of the Church of which he also is a part of. The priority for the Kingdom-minded believer is that every believer is part of a church even if it isn't his own local church. It is more important that a new believer find a local body he can be part of rather than which body he is part of (assuming of course it is Christian)! If the local churches would only have a Kingdom mind-set, then they would stop competing with each other and stop taking offense when believers "move" and devote themselves to another group of believers (church-hoppers don't devote themselves to any church).

I encourage you to think about whether you really are a member of a church. Enlarge your thinking concerning the Church and see how the Church is God's plan to further His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Be part of it.

"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." Eph. 3:10,11