Malcolm's Blog

Three Imperatives of Christianity

malscript — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:42:52 +0000

This is a test to see if i can post audios to this Blog.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Chronological Bible Reading Plan

malscript — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:25:56 +0000

Reading the Bible through in the order in which the events took place is a good way of understanding Scripture in its correct context. It is particularly useful to read the major and minor Prophets in relation to the various Kings of Israel to understand what their prophecies were addressing at the time.

The list of passages below is worked out to read the Bible in chronological order over twelve months, you could read as little or as much as you like, but this list will help you to keep track of where you are. (Thanks to Logos 4 Bible Software)

Chronological Reading Plan

Gen 1–4

Gen 5–9

Gen 10–11, Job 1–2

Job 3–7

Job 8–1

Job 12–16

Job 17–21

Job 22–27

Job 28–31

Job 32–34

Job 35–37

Job 38–42

Gen 12–17

Gen 18–21

Gen 22–25

Gen 26:1–29:30

Gen 29:31–31:55

Gen 32–35

Gen 36–38

Gen 39–42

Gen 43–45

Gen 46–50

Exod 1–4

Exod 5–9

Exod 10–13

Exod 14–18

Exod 19–22

Exod 23–26

Exod 27–29

Exod 30–33

Exod 34–36

Exod 37–40

Lev 1–6

Lev 7–9

Lev 10–13

Lev 14–15

Lev 16–19

Lev 20–23

Lev 24–27

Num 1–2

Num 3–5

Num 6–7

Num 8–11

Num 12–15

Ps 90, Num 16–17

Num 18–21

Num 22–25

Num 26–28

Num 29–32

Num 33–36

Deut 1–2

Deut 3–5

Deut 6–9

Deut 10–14

Deut 15–19

Deut 20–25

Deut 26–28

Deut 29–32

Deut 33–34, Ps 91

Josh 1–7

Josh 8–11

Josh 12–15

Josh 16–19

Josh 20–24

Judg 1–3

Judg 4–7

Judg 8–11

Judg 12–16

Judg 17–20

Judg 21, Ruth 1–4

1 Sam 1–4

1 Sam 5–10

1 Sam 11–14

1 Sam 15–17

1 Sam 18–20, Ps 11, Ps 59

1 Sam 21–24

Ps 7, Ps 27, Ps 31, Ps 34, Ps 52, Ps 56, Ps 120, Ps 140–142

1 Sam 25–27

Ps 17, Ps 35, Ps 54, Ps 63, 1 Sam 28–31

Ps 18, Ps 121, Ps 123–125, Ps 128–130

2 Sam 1–4

Ps 6, Ps 8–10, Ps 14, Ps 16, Ps 19, Ps 21

1 Chron 1–2, Ps 43–45

Ps 49, Ps 84–85, Ps 87, 1 Chron 3–5

Ps 73, Ps 77–78

1 Chron 6, Ps 81, Ps 88, Ps 92–93

1 Chron 7–10

Ps 102–104

2 Sam 5:1–10, 1 Chron 11–12

Ps 133, Ps 106–107, 2 Sam 5:11–6:23

1 Chron 13–16

Ps 1–2, Ps 15, Ps 23–24, Ps 47, Ps 68, Ps 89

Ps 96, Ps 100–101, Ps 105, Ps 132

2 Sam 7, 1 Chron 17, Ps 25, Ps 29, Ps 33, Ps 36, Ps 39

2 Sam 8–9, 1 Chron 18, Ps 50, Ps 53, Ps 60, Ps 75

2 Sam 10, 1 Chron 19, Ps 20, Ps 65–67, Ps 69–70

2 Sam 11–12, 1 Chron 20, Ps 32, Ps 51, Ps 86, Ps 122

2 Sam 13–15

Ps 3–4, Ps 12–13, Ps 28, Ps 55

2 Sam 16–18, Ps 26, Ps 40, Ps 58, Ps 61–62, Ps 64

2 Sam 19–21, Ps 5, Ps 38, Ps 41–42

2 Sam 22–23

Ps 57, Ps 95, Ps 97–99, 2 Sam 24, 1 Chron 21–22

Ps 30, Ps 108–110, 1 Chron 23–25

Ps 131, Ps 138–139, Ps 143–145

1 Chron 26–29

Ps 127, Ps 111–118

1 Kings 1–2

Ps 37, Ps 71, Ps 94

Ps 119:1–88, 1 Kings 3–4

2 Chron 1, Ps 72, Ps 119:89–176

Song 1–8

Prov 1–3

Prov 4–7

Prov 8–11

Prov 12–15

Prov 16–20

Prov 21–24

1 Kings 5–6, 2 Chron 2–3

1 Kings 7, 2 Chron 4, 1 Kings 8

2 Chron 5–7

Ps 136, Ps 134, Ps 146–150, 1 Kings 9

2 Chron 8, Prov 25–29

Eccles 1–4

Eccles 5–12

1 Kings 10–11, 2 Chron 9

Prov 30–31

1 Kings 12–14, 2 Chron 10–12

1 Kings 15:1–24, 2 Chron 13–16, 1 Kings 15:25–16:34

2 Chron 17, 1 Kings 17–19

1 Kings 20–22

2 Chron 18–23

Obad, Ps 82–83

2 Kings 1–4

2 Kings 5–9

2 Kings 10–13

2 Chron 24, 2 Kings 14, 2 Chron 25, Jonah 1–4

2 Kings 5, 2 Chron 26, Isa 1–2

Isa 3–8

Amos 1–9

2 Chron 27, Isa 9–12

Micah 1–7

2 Chron 28, 2 Kings 16–17, Isa 13–14

Isa 15–21

Isa 22–27, 2 Kings 18:1–8

2 Chron 29–31, Ps 48, Hos 1–2

Hos 3–14

Isa 28–32

Isa 33–39

Ps 76, Isa 40–42

Isa 43–48

2 Kings 18:9–19:37, Ps 46, Ps 80, Ps 135

Isa 49–54

Isa 55–61

Isa 62–66, 2 Kings 20–21

2 Chron 32–33, Nah 1–3

2 Kings 22–23, 2 Chron 34–35

Zeph 1–3, Jer 1–2

Jer 3–6

Jer 7–10

Jer 11–16

Jer 17–22

Jer 23–26

Jer 27–30

Jer 31–34

Jer 35–40

Ps 74, Ps 79, 2 Kings 24–25

2 Chron 36, Hab 1–3

Jer 41–48

Jer 49–50

Jer 51–52, Lam 1–2

Lam 3–5

Ezek 1–6

Ezek 7–12

Ezek 13–16

Ezek 17–20

Ezek 21–23

Ezek 24–28

Ezek 29–33

Ezek 34–37

Ezek 38–41

Ezek 42–46

Ezek 47–48, Joel 1–3

Dan 1–3

Dan 4–7

Dan 8–12

Ezra 1–2

Ezra 3–6, Ps 137, Haggai 1–2

Zech 1–8

Zech 9–14

Esther 1–10

Ezra 7–10

Neh 1–5

Neh 6–8

Neh 9–11

Neh 12–13, Ps 126, Mal 1–4

Luke 1, John 1:1–14, Matt 1

Luke 2:1–38, Matt 2, Luke 2:39–52, Matt 3, Mark 1

Luke 3, Matt 4, Luke 4–5

John 1:15–3:36

John 4, Mark 2, John 5

Matt 12:1–21, Mark 3, Luke 6

Matt 5:1–8:13

Luke 7, Matt 11, Matt 12:22–50

Matt 13, Luke 8

Matt 8:14–34, Mark 4–5

Matt 9–10, Matt 14

Mark 6, Luke 9:1–17, John 6

Matt 15, Mark 7, Matt 16

Mark 8, Luke 9:18–27, Matt 17, Mark 9

Luke 9:28–62, Matt 18, John 7:1–36

John 7:37–10:21

Luke 10–11

John 10:22–42, Luke 12–13

Luke 14–16, Luke 17:11–18:14

Matt 19, Mark 10

Matt 20–21, Luke 18:15–19:48

Mark 11, John 12

Matt 22, Mark 12, Matt 23

Luke 20–21, Mark 13

Matt 24–25

Matt 26, Mark 14

Luke 22

John 13–17

Matt 27, Mark 15

Luke 23, John 18–19

Matt 28, Mark 16, Luke 24

John 20–21, Acts 1–2

Acts 3–6

Acts 7–8

Acts 9:1–12:19

Acts 12:20–14:28, James 1–2

James 3–5, Acts 15–16

Gal 1–4

Gal 5–6, Acts 17:1–18:18

1 Thess 1–5, 2 Thess 1–3

Acts 18:19–19:41, 1 Cor 1–2

1 Cor 3–7

1 Cor 8–11

1 Cor 12–16

2 Cor 1–4

2 Cor 5–10

2 Cor 11–13, Acts 20:1–3, Rom 1–2

Rom 3–7

Rom 8–11

Rom 12–16

Acts 20:4–38, Acts 23–25

Acts 26–28

Col 1–4, Philem

Eph 1–6

Phil 1–4

1 Tim 1–6

Titus 1–3, 1 Pet 1–2

1 Pet 3–5, Heb 1–4

Heb 5–10

Heb 11–13

2 Tim 1–4, 2 Pet 1–3

Jude, 1 John 1–5

2 John, 3 John, Rev 1–2

Rev 3–9

Rev 10–16

Rev 17–22

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Bible, Reading

Vatican Fulfils Prophecy

malscript — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:52:59 +0000

The article below is posted by permission, written by a friend and colleague, Anton Bosch. This is a very significant development and well worth reading.

The Bible paints quite a clear picture of the major events that precede the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. Many of the smaller details may be difficult to interpret but the major events concerning the world’s religious, economic and political future are clearly spelled out in Revelation 13, 17 and 18:

A world religious figure will rise to prominence. He unites all the world’s religions into one universal religion. This religious leader looks like a man of God. He performs miracles and even looks similar to Jesus Christ (Revelation 13:11; 5:6). But, he receives his power from the Antichrist and, ultimately from Satan. He is known as the False Prophet (Revelation 19:20).

A second figure comes on the scene. Whereas the first world leader is religious and unites all people under a single world religion, the second man is political and unites all the world’s people under a single world government. We commonly know him as the Antichrist. The Antichrist does not only unite the world under one political system, but he establishes a single world monetary system which abolishes all private or individual business transactions that are not part of the global system (Revelation 13:17).

The relationship between the False Prophet and the Antichrist is an interesting one. The Antichrist (political) empowers the False Prophet (religious). But ultimately the False Prophet causes the whole world to worship the Antichrist (Revelation 13:12). The False Prophet also encourages the people of the world to subscribe to the world financial and economic system and to receive the mark of the Beast (Antichrist) which gives them access to the financial system. Thus the global economy, global political authority and global religion become intertwined. This all happens in the name of unity which sounds good but is not. It is a bad unity because it is man-centered and is a unity against the Lord and His Christ.

How do we move from a world of many separate economies, religions and governments to a single system? This will not happen by military might, but individual governments willingly become part of the world government. This comes about because of two factors: First the nations are deceived into believing that the Antichrist has the answers to the world’s political and financial problems. Second, it is part of God’s plan: “For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” (Revelation 17:17).

Practically, the world’s leaders will realize that their individual economies are so intertwined and the only way to solve the ever-increasing financial crises is to bring all the separate economies under one roof. Those who stay abreast of world affairs will recognize that there is an ever-increasing number of influential leaders who have begun to promote the idea of a global economy. The most significant of these is the G20 which in recent years has made several statements advocating such a global economy.

But the most startling statements were recently made by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in a 41 page “note”. It was published on October 24, 2011 in several languages. The Council speaks for the Pope and is filled with legal verbiage and complicated language, but is one of the most amazing documents I have ever read. It is amazing because it calls for a word-for-word fulfillment of the prophecies of Revelation 13, 17 and 18 and places Rome at the center of the drama![1]

The first half of the note deals with background and related philosophical issues. But the second half (points 3 and 4) calls for a single world government (point 3) and for a single world financial system (point 4)! Had I not read and studied the document, I would not have believed the statements made in it. I hope in the following few lines to summarize this document:[2]

They quote several recent Popes to show that support for a single world ruler is very much part of the core philosophy of Rome. For instance John XXIII “…also expressed the hope that one day “a true world political authority” would be created”. In the context of the document this means that John XXIII wanted to see a single world government. The document continues to state that today this teaching (of a single world government) is “even more vital and worthy of urgent implementation”

They continue to say of the current Pope that “Benedict XVI himself expressed the need to create a world political authority”. In the same paragraph they list all the reasons why a single world government is desirable. Things like peace and security, disarmament and arms control, the protection of human rights, the protection of the environment, the management of the (world’s) economy, the “universal common good”, the protection of weaker nations from the power of stronger nations etc.

John XXIII is further quoted as saying that in order for such a world government to be effective “it should be endowed with structures and adequate, effective mechanisms equal to its mission”. This simply means it has to be a real government with “teeth” and real authority over the world’s peoples rather than a United Nations type organization with little ability to enforce its will. They concede that the United Nations is the agency to bring this world government about, but at the same time, it needs to be a real government unlike the UN which is simply a committee.

They continue to say that such an Authority must have “global reach”, not by “force, coercion and violence but should be the outcome of free and shared agreement…”. Revelation 17:17 says that the world’s nations will willingly hand over all their authority to the Antichrist. Note their use of the word “Authority” with a capital letter. This is their term for what the Bible calls the Antichrist. They alternatively use the terms “Authority”, “world Authority”, “world public Authority” and “global Authority” – always with a capital “A”. Revelation 13 and 17 speaks seven times about the Antichrist having “authority”.

The document speaks about the need for all nations to be part of this system and that none should be excluded: “…the world Authority should consistently involve all peoples…”. Revelation 13:7 says “…And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation”. The note says that policies must be binding on all and that the Authority should have “universal jurisdiction”.

In the fourth section that deals with a global economy they say there is a need for “…the commitment to create some form of global monetary management” and “one can see an emerging requirement for a body that will carry out the functions of a kind of “central world bank” that regulates the flow and system of monetary exchanges…” They then speak of the need for such a world economy to be under the control of the world government. Revelation 13:16-17 says that the False Prophet “…causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” In this document, The Vatican has pledged its commitment to fulfill this prophecy to the letter!

Before continuing with the closing comments of this document, let me remind you that Revelation 17:5 refers to “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots”. In the past many have believed that this is an unequivocal reference to the church of Rome (the mother of harlots) and that the “daughter harlots” are the rest of the false religions. I used to hold that Babylon is not necessarily a reference to Rome alone but to all forms of false religion. However, this document is causing me to reconsider my view. Had I not verified that this document indeed was produced in the Vatican at the very highest levels, I would have discounted it as a fake. It seems simply too surreal that the note calls for the implementation of prophecy in such minute detail. I must assume that the Pontifical Council knows what Revelation teaches on this subject and yet, is willing to identify itself intimately with the False Prophet, the Great Harlot and Babylon the Great.

May I also remind you that the tower of Babel was man’s attempt at “global” unification centered on man, and against God, and that the Lord was so displeased that He made them speak different languages and so cause division and the scattering of mankind. God is all for unity, but it has to be a godly unity centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. God is against unity that has man as the focus, especially when that unity is used to oppose God as they did at Babel and as they will in the last days. Babel is the Hebrew name for Babylon – they are the same place, but more than a place, it is a philosophy and a spirit. The Babylon(s) of Revelation 17 and 18 are a revival of the Babel of Genesis 11 and represent the same anti-God and man-centered philosophy. Both are the pinnacle of all anti-God and Antichrist structures (puns intended).

The Vatican document concludes with the following lesson: Quoting the tower of Babel and Genesis 11, they say that Babel warns us that diversity (as opposed to unity) is as a result of selfishness and leads to division. It further states that Babel is a warning of what happens when we don’t stick together and when nations choose to separate. The document very clearly calls for mankind to reverse the effects of Babel and to return to the process of building a unifying (and God-defying) structure. I do believe I sum this up correctly by saying they are literally calling for the rebuilding of Babylon (not the physical but the spiritual, political, religious and financial Babylon of Revelation 17 and 18)!

I will quote the final sentence of the document verbatim: “Only a spirit of concord that rises above divisions and conflicts will allow humanity to be authentically one family and to conceive of a new world with the creation of a world public Authority at the service of the common good.” (Emphasis mine).

Allow me to remind you that what this document calls for is not a pipe dream. It will come to pass, exactly as they are envisioning it and precisely as the Bible has predicted. Let me also remind you that Rome is not isolated from the rest of the world’s religions. InThe Berean Call of November 2011, Dave Hunt provides detailed evidence that the most influential evangelical leaders in America all support and endorse Rome and its leaders.

All this tells me that the end is closer than we like to think and that everything is ready for the fulfillment of the final end-time prophecies. “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her (Babylon), my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4).

“And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! …”The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore” (Revelation 18:2, 9-11).

This article can be found here: http://antonbosch.org/Articles/English%202010/Rev13.html
It is also available on request as a MP3 message preached in Sun Valley on November 13, 2011.

[1] The full text can be read on the official site of Vatican Radio: http://www.news.va/en/news/full-text-note-on-financial-reform-from-the-pontif

[2] I have paraphrased their statements simply to strip the text of verbiage and make it more accessible to readers who are not lawyers or theologians. I have endeavored to not alter or exaggerate anything they have said.

Filed under: Prophecy

FUNDEMENTALS OF OUR FAITH – PART 5

malscript — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:44:14 +0000

The Principle of the Doctrine of Baptisms

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto maturity; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. “(Heb 6:1-2)

The aspect of this topic that needs clarification is the fact that some versions of the Bible have translated the ‘doctrine of baptisms’ as ‘the doctrine of washings’. The Greek word used in the original version of this passage is ‘βαπτισμος or baptismos’ which is where we get our word ‘baptism’ from. It is also in the plural, ‘baptisms’ which seems to contradict Paul’s teaching in Ephesians chapter four verse five, where he says that there is, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism”. This is one of the reasons why the translators of certain versions chose the word ‘washings’ to avoid this contradiction. We shall see in this principle however, that there is no contradiction to using the word ‘baptisms’ and in line with such important foundational principles, such as repentance, faith, resurrection and eternal judgment, ‘the principle of the doctrine of baptisms’ forms a vital part of this Foundation.

Another aspect of this topic that may need clarification is that certain theologians have suggested that because this book is addressed to the Hebrews, the writer is encouraging the Jews to leave their Old Testament styled ceremonial washings and embrace the New Testament message of grace through Christ and therefore contend that the word ‘washings’ is in keeping with this thought. A closer look at the content of these two verses however, will make it very clear that faith, resurrection and eternal judgment are not issues of the past, but are important aspects of the present and the future. Therefore the writer does not have Old Testament practices under the Law in mind, but is encouraging us to understand these important foundational principles as the Milk of the Word, to enable us to grow to maturity in Christ.

One Baptism

The word ‘baptism’ is derived from the Greek word ‘baptizein’ which means to ‘immerse’^{^[1]}

The Bible speaks of a number of baptisms, which differ in various ways, but are each a part of the one baptism; our baptism or immersion into Christ. There is one Lord, one faith and one immersion into Christ.

Before we consider the principle behind these baptisms, we need to draw clarity and the distinctions between the various baptisms that are taught in Scripture.

The Various Baptisms in the New Testament

1 Baptism into the Body of Christ

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”^{^[2]}The question we have to ask about this verse is, “When did this take place in our lives as Christians?” If we take this to be a reference to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, at some point subsequent to salvation, then we would have to conclude that those who have not experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit are not yet part of the Body of Christ, which is not correct nor is it Scriptural. It is however clear, that in this case the Baptizer into the Body of Christ is the Spirit. This is in keeping with Jesus’ explanation of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to us as unsaved people. He said that the Holy Spirit would convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment to come.^{^[3]}

The Holy Spirit is the ‘Agent’ who brings about our spiritual conversion and places us spiritually into the company of blood-washed saints called the Body of Christ or the church^{.^[4]}

“not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5).

We can conclude then that the baptism being referred to in 1 Corinthians chapter twelve and verse thirteen is our baptism or immersion into Christ, which happens at salvation and is also the one baptism that Paul refers to in Ephesians chapter four and verse five because without this experience we do not belong to Jesus and are therefore not saved. This is the one all-important baptism.

2 Water Baptism

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”^{^[5]}This command of the Lord Jesus is part of the great commission, instructing us to baptize believers or disciples. This is a reference to water baptism, which can be seen as the apostles’ practice throughout the Book of Acts. They baptized in water everyone who responded to the Gospel and repented of their sin.

Jesus Himself, although He was the sinless Son of God was baptized in water and He said that water baptism is the fulfillment of all righteousness.^{^[6]} To understand this more fully we need to look at Paul’s teaching in Romans chapter six. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”^{^[7]}In this passage Paul gives us an in-depth explanation of our baptism into Christ, which we referred to above in 1 Corinthians chapter twelve, verse thirteen. However, the way he describes this process in Romans chapter six, it becomes clear that water baptism is symbolic of this spiritual experience. The symbolic process of water baptism is that the believer is immersed into the water, ‘buried’ under the water and then comes up out of the water. This equates symbolically to death, burial and resurrection, which is the deeper truth and intention of the Lord for us, when we are saved, or baptized into the Body of Christ. We die to self, the old man is buried and we become new creatures in Christ and part of His Body of people. This is the ‘fulfillment of all righteousness’ that Jesus spoke about.

3 Baptism in the Holy Spirit

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”^{^[8]} This is the prophecy that Peter quoted on the Day of Pentecost, when God sent the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised the disciples.^{^[9]}It is worth noting that in none of the references to the coming of the Holy Spirit, does the Scripture say anything about getting saved or becoming a new creature, but the promise concerning the Holy Spirit is consistently related to receiving power to serve the Lord. Joel’s prophecy, which was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost indicates the kind of power that God had in mind; “your sons and daughters shall prophesy”. ‘Prophecy’ in this case is not necessarily foretelling future events, but rather forth telling the wonderful truth of God as people who have experienced Him and have a revelation of Jesus in their hearts, which they received from the Holy Spirit. They are therefore credible witnesses, who can speak by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

4 Baptism of Suffering

“But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.” So He said to them, t“You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.”.^{^[10]}Jesus was talking here about the baptism of suffering which He was about to go through and He said that we would also go through a baptism of suffering.

Paul confirms this to be true when he wrote, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”^{^[11]} Once we have been baptized into the Body of Christ (saved), declared our allegiance to Jesus through water baptism, been empowered for service by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of suffering is inescapable. The world will hate us because it hated Jesus.^{^[12]} There is a great benefit to suffering though, we will be strengthened to endure^{^[13]}, develop character^{^[14]}and learn obedience.^{^[15]} Even Jesus, although He was (and is) the perfect Son of God, He also had to learn obedience through the things that He suffered, in order to become our High Priest or Representative^{.^[16]}

Following our Master

In Jesus’ earthly life He led the way through all four of these baptisms. He was immersed into a human body by the Holy Spirit at His conception. We are immersed (baptized) into His spiritual Body by the Holy Spirit at our spiritual conception (salvation); Jesus was baptized in water and received recognition from His Father for doing so. He has commanded us to do the same. He received the Holy Spirit after His water baptism, demonstrating the need for the power of the Holy Spirit to start His ministry even though He was the perfect Son of God. Jesus promised that He would also baptize us in the Holy Spirit to empower us to serve him. Jesus then suffered through temptation and the hatred of the world and He said we would also be tempted and be hated by the world.

The Four Baptisms in Summary

You will note that in this article we have not given exhaustive or conclusive details on each of the doctrines of the various baptisms. The reason for this is that we are seeking to understand the ‘Principle’ behind these baptisms, rather than exploring the in-depth doctrine of the baptisms. To establish the principles of these baptisms, we need to understand the distinctive features of each baptism. For example, we need to ask who the baptizer is. Who the candidate is. What the element is into which we are being baptized and what result is produced in each case.

The Table below sets these distinctions out:

	BAPTIZER	CANDIDATE	ELEMENT	RESULT
1	Holy Spirit	Repentant Sinner	Spiritual Body of Christ	Salvation Eternal Life

2	Fellow Believer	Obedient Believer	Water	Declaration of fulfilment of all Righteousness

3	Jesus Christ	Thirsty Believer	Holy Spirit	Power for service

4	The world and the devil	Persevering Believer	Suffering	Obedience Endurance

The Principles of the Doctrine of Baptisms

Having considered some of the detail of the various baptisms and distinguished between them, we need to step back from the detail and get to grips with the overriding and governing principle of the doctrine of baptisms.

The principle is based upon these considerations:

We have been immersed (baptized) into Jesus Christ, which in practice means that we are part of the large company of blood-washed saints, both in Heaven and on earth, who form the church.[17]
As a member of the Body of Christ, I am obliged to declare this by being baptized in water and identifying with His death, burial and resurrection. [18]
As a member of the Body of Christ I owe it Jesus to be an active, participating member and therefore need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit to empower me for service.[19]
Having been baptized into the body of Christ, and having declared this through water baptism, and having been empowered by the Holy Spirit, I can expect to suffer hardships and temptations, as this is all part of being in Christ.[20]

The Principle of the Doctrine of Baptisms is therefore quite simply:

Our total immersion into and involvement with Jesus Christ and His Body or church.

While this principle is simply expressed, the implications for us are so enormous, that we could spend a lifetime discovering all that this entails.

The implications of this Principle

I am no longer my own, I’ve been bought with a price. I need to love every other true member of the Body of Christ and seek to be in fellowship with some of them in a local context. This makes me responsible for and accountable to other believers.
My declaration through water baptism sets me apart as God’s child and also marks me as an enemy to the world and the devil.
My baptism in the Holy Spirit places an obligation upon me to be a witness to the world and an active participating member of the Body of Christ, to inspire others to grow to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
My identification with Jesus Christ marks me for difficulties and opposition in this world and I will be faced with many temptations, but my High Priest will succor me through these difficulties and I will learn obedience by the things which I suffer.

[1] Oxford English Dictionary

[2] 1 Cor. 12:13

[3] John 16:8

[4] Titus 3:5

[5] Matt. 28:19

[6] Matt. 3:15

[7] Rom 6:3-4

[8] Joel 2:28-29

[9] Luke 24:49

[10] Matt 20:22-23

[11] 2 Tim. 3:12

[12] John 15:18-20

[13] James 1:3

[14] Rom 5:3-5

[15] Heb. 5:8

[16] Heb. 5:8

[17] 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 1:12-13; Eph. 5:30; Gal 3:27; 1 Cor. 12:26

[18] Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2;41; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:36-38;Acts 10;47; Acts 16:15; Acts 16:33; Acts 22:16

[19] Acts 1:8; Acts 2:38; Eph. 5:18-19; Acts 8:15-17; Acts 9:17; Acts 10:44-46; Acts 19:6; Eph. 4:16;

[20] James 1:2-4; Rom 8:17; Gal 6:13; 1 Thes. 3:4; 2 Thes 1:5; 2 Tim 2:12; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Pet 4:16; 1 Pet 4:1; Heb 2:18; Heb. 4:14-15; Heb. 5:8-9; 1 Cor. 10:13

Filed under: Fundamentals of our Faith Tagged: Baptism, Body of Christ, Fundamentals of our Faith, Holy Spirit

FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH – PART 4

malscript — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:15:08 +0000

The Principle of Faith towards God

“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” [1] It is important to remember that while this verse, speaks of ‘leaving’ these principles and ‘not laying again the foundation’; the Author of Hebrews is not hereby suggesting that the principles are unimportant, or that they should not be taught and learned. The motivation for ‘leaving’ or not having to constantly re-lay this foundation is that we should progress to maturity in Christ, rather than remaining spiritually immature, needing to be constantly taught these basic or elementary principles over and over.

Why do we need Faith?

God’s dealings with mankind and more specifically Israel throughout the Old Testament were very visible, tangible and material in nature. For example His blessings upon Israel were shown by the abundance of their crops and the fruitfulness of their wombs in producing physical children. He opened the Red Sea before their eyes and fed them with physical edible manna in the wilderness. Their enemies were physical armies and God gave them visible, quantifiable victories in battle. They were also given a Geographical land mass for their inheritance. Their faith was based upon what they saw and later generations of Israelites were reminded numerous times in the Psalms of God’s many wonderful works, by which they were to believe in and trust the God of their fathers.

In the New Testament Jesus introduced the ‘new and living way’ by which we are to interact with God. He did this in His discourse with Nicodemus [2] where He told him that unless a man is ‘born again’ he would not see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus, although well versed in Old Testament teaching, could not understand what Jesus was talking about because he could not grasp the transition from the tangible to the spiritual. Jesus also told the woman at Jacob’s well that “the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”[3] In other words, no longer a Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night to indicate the visible presence of God and no longer the visible glory of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple, but God is Spirit, invisible to us and incomprehensible to human minds. It is for this reason that we need to exercise faith in the invisible God. There is no other way to interact with an invisible and incomprehensible God.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”[4]

Faith vs Positive Thinking

Most of our blessings, interventions and interactions with God in the New Testament are spiritual and are therefore invisible, intangible and not physically quantifiable; it is for this reason that ‘Faith’ is essential to lay hold of and experience these blessings. It may be argued that this faith appears to be just wishful thinking or the ‘power of positive thinking’; however there is a very big difference between the faith of the New Testament and positive thinking.

So called ‘Faith’ that is in fact positive thinking and not Biblical faith at all is based on an imagination, dream or positive future outcome that we desire. This ‘power of positive thinking’ is exploited by false teachers and false prophets to stir people into a positive frame of mind. One of the distorted uses of this psychology of creating in an audience a positive frame of mind, is that it makes people more generous to give their money when urged to do so. This ungodly exploitation and manipulation is in fact wicked extortion. The so-called ‘Faith Movement’ also referred to by some as the ‘name it and claim it’ Movement , employ the principle of ‘positive thinking’, which is based on an individual visualising an item or an outcome and then applying their will and full concentration upon the desired outcome, until it (hopefully) occurs. It is also falsely taught that this ‘faith’ forces God to answer our prayer, but this is not Biblical faith at all.

Biblical faith is based upon the actual promises that God has made to us in Christ, through His written Word, understood in their correct context. And all truth in the Bible is only true in its relationship to Jesus Christ, because He is The Truth.[5]

Proponents of the ‘Faith Movement’ would argue that they base their teaching on what Jesus said; “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”[6]However, Jesus both demonstrated throughout the years of His earthly ministry and by His own declaration on many occasions, that He could do nothing Himself but that the works he did were only the works that His Father instructed and enabled Him to do.[7] Jesus further made it clear to His disciples that in the same way that the Father had sent Him, He was sending them.[8] The context in which John chapter fourteen and verse fourteen and similar verses is therefore to be understood, is that as we apply ourselves to do the Father’s will as Jesus did, we can ask anything in His name and the Father will respond to our request according to His will. John also confirms this understanding in his epistle; “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”[9]

God will never do anything contrary to His will no matter how much positive thinking or positive confession we can muster. James confirms this very clearly by saying, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”[10]

Do we need Blind Faith to believe in an invisible God?

It may also be argued that in order to believe in an invisible God for invisible blessings with no tangible evidence; that we need ‘blind faith’ like someone stepping off a cliff and believing they will fly. However, true Biblical faith is not about jumping blindly into the unknown; it is basing our confidence and absolute trust in what God has promised to do for us through His Son Jesus Christ.

God has provided an abundance of tangible evidence of His existence and His character and person in the whole of creation. We are told that God created the universe by speaking words. We know that words are used to communicate, therefore it is to be understood that the whole of creation is in fact a message. “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”[11] By close inspection of the immense creation and the amazing design in everything that has been made, we are given some understanding of God’s eternal power and Godhead or Trinity. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”[12]

God has also provided us with irrefutable evidence of His message to us in the Bible. The Bible in its original languages was inspired by God[13] and is completely reliant for its credibility on the accuracy of its predictions or prophecies. Many of these prophecies have already been fulfilled down to the tiniest detail. Jesus also endorses the credibility of the Bible by telling us, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”[14]

Our faith is therefore not mindless or blind faith, but is based upon the absolute assurance that God does exist and that He will honour His word and His promises to us. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”[15]

How is Faith generated in our hearts?

This is a very important aspect to understand. Paul made it clear that it is possible for our faith, confidence or belief system to be based on the wrong information, such as the wisdom of men. “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”[16]

It is a fatal error to measure our faith against the success or lack of success in obtaining answers to our prayers from God, for the simple reason that there are many other factors, other than our faith, why our prayers have apparently not been answered. We may be asking for the wrong reason, or we may be asking contrary to God’s will, to mention just two factors.

The basis of our faith must be very securely founded upon the Word of God and the power of God to fulfil His Word and not on what men say or what we think. The question is how do we do this? Paul answers this question with these inspired words, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”[17]This ‘hearing’ means comprehending deep in our hearts what God is saying through His Word. Comprehending, understanding, internalizing or hearing God’s Word is the unique and exclusive work of the Holy Spirit, whom God has sent to us for this specific reason. As Jesus taught, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”[18]

To understand this process we need to consider how faith was first sparked in our hearts. When the Gospel is presented to a sinner, the Holy Spirit convinces the individual of sin. In other words for the first time they are confronted with the offense that their sin is to God.[19] The Holy Spirit then lights up the reality and existence of Jesus Christ in their heart and for the first time they realise why Jesus died and that He is alive. All of this revelation can only come by the work of the Holy Spirit.[20] No amount of sales pressure or clever argument will bring about this supernatural understanding. It is at this point that faith comes by ‘hearing’ these facts, the sinner then needs to act upon this faith and respond to God’s call.[21]

The great emphasis on ‘hearing’ what the Spirit is saying throughout the first five chapters of Hebrews and in the message to all of the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three underline the importance of hearing and comprehending what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through God’s Word, throughout our Christian walk with the Lord. This hearing is our only source of true faith in Him.

The Two unbreakable Pillars of our Faith

Faith is the imperative requirement for a relationship with the invisible God and to enable us to embrace the wonderful benefits of eternal life in Jesus Christ. For this reason God has reassured the heirs of salvation (those who have responded to the Gospel) by two immutable things that can never be changed or broken. The first is that God has made a promise that Jesus will represent us as our High Priest until we are safely home in Heaven and the second is that God confirmed this promise with an Oath, using His own Name as security. In these two things it is impossible for God to lie, therefore we have the strongest possible reason to have confidence that what God has promised, He will definitely do.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. [22]

The Principle of Faith towards God

Based on all of the above considerations we are now able to define the ‘Principle’ of faith rather than the doctrine or teaching on faith. The principle of faith towards God is “absolute confidence in the Person and work of Jesus Christ” This principle is expressed in the verse previously quoted, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”[23] In other words we believe that God is everything that He says He is in the Scriptures and that He will reward us by fulfilling all His promises to us, if we diligently seek Him by faith. Further to this we understand that all that God is, is fully revealed in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.[24] Also, all that God has promised, He will fulfil by His Son, Jesus Christ.[25]

Faith should never be based on our feelings, circumstances, hopes and dreams, but firmly upon the revelation of the truth to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which truth is to be understood in Jesus Christ who is The Truth.

The Principle of faith towards God = Absolute trust (confidence) in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

[1] Heb 6:1

[2] John 3:1-12

[3] John 4:23-24

[4] Heb 11:6

[5] John 14:6

[6] John 14:14

[7] John 5:19

[8] John 20:21

[9] 1 John 5:14-15

[10] James 4:3

[11] Heb 11:3

[12] Rom 1:20

[13] 2 Tim 3:16

[14] Matt 5:18

[15] Heb 11:6

[16] 1 Cor. 2:4-5

[17] Rom 10:17

[18] John 16:13-14

[19] John 16:8-11

[20] 2 Cor. 4:6

[21] Acts 2:21

[22] Heb 6:13-20

[23] Heb 11:6

[24] Heb 1:3 and Col 2:9

[25] 2 Cor. 1:20

Filed under: Doctrine, Fundamentals of our Faith

FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH – Part 3

malscript — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:36:53 +0000

The Principle of Repentance from Dead Works

Good works can be dead works

In this section we are not dealing with repentance from sin, nor are we speaking about evil works, but rather good works that are dead works. If good works are done for the wrong reason or wrong motivation, they are considered by God to be dead works. This is what the Principle of repentance from dead works is addressing.

It is a fairly simple matter to identify what dead works are, when we look at all the many works of the Law in the Old Covenant, required to attain to God’s righteous standard; in comparison with salvation in the New Testament, which is given to us by grace and not by works that we have to do.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”[1] This dramatic change from having to keep 613 laws in the Old Testament in order to attain to a standard of righteousness acceptable to God; compared to the free gift of perfect righteousness by faith in Jesus; was a particularly hard concept for the Jews to understand.

One of the biggest controversies in the early church arose over the question of circumcision. It appears from Paul’s letter to the Galatians that after Paul and Barnabas had established various churches in that region, believing Jews had visited these new assemblies, comprising mainly Gentile believers (non-Jewish) and insisted that apart from believing in Jesus, they also needed to be circumcised and keep Moses’ Law.[2]

Paul’s whole letter to the Galatians deals with this subject very clearly and thoroughly. The controversy continued however, until it was necessary for the apostles and elders to meet in Jerusalem to get a consensus and clarity from the Lord as to how they should treat all the new Gentile believers.

In this meeting Peter declared, “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”[3]

The point being made in Galatians and in the Jerusalem conference in Acts chapter fifteen, is that if we base our salvation on any works, other than the work of Jesus on the cross, these works are in fact ‘dead works’ because they cannot produce life. Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Law and then bore our punishment for breaking God’s Laws, by dying on the cross in our place. It is therefore an insult to Jesus, to assume that something that we have done has also contributed to our salvation.

Application of this Principle today

As non-Jewish Christians living 2000 years after the Jerusalem Conference, we might feel that circumcision as a religious practice, is no longer an issue and therefore this question of repenting, or turning from dead works, is not particularly relevant to us anymore. However this is where we need to understand the ‘Principle of Repentance from Dead Works’ rather than the details and technicalities of this doctrine, as this principle is still vitally important to us in our relationship with Jesus Christ today.

The passage that we are examining in these articles is Hebrews chapter six and verse one. “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works…”[4] The Greek word used in this verse for ‘principle’ is ‘arche’ which means, “beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule.”[5] Therefore we are examining the first rule (principle) which governs our understanding and application of the doctrine. Many situations and many different works can be governed by this one principle.

For example, if I believe that I must acknowledge Jesus and His work on the cross, but I also must be circumcised to please God, circumcision is a dead work in this case, because I am adding a ‘work’ to the Gospel of grace. By the same principle, however, I could subconsciously believe that if I fast every Monday, God will be more pleased with me and find me more acceptable to Him. In this case my fasting on every Monday is a dead work. The reason for this is that God finds us pleasing and acceptable to Him only because of the work of Jesus on the cross. We cannot enhance our standing with God by any works that we do. That does not mean that fasting on every Monday is a bad thing, but our reason for fasting is the all important aspect because God sees our hearts. We may fast to seek God’s face and thereby focus upon the Lord and draw near to Him, which is a very good work. But, if our fasting subtly forms part of the basis for God’s acceptance of us, then when we forget to fast, we will feel that we are less pleasing or less acceptable to God, which is not true. If this is the case, then we have shown that our fasting is in fact a dead work and we need to repent of that attitude.

Let us consider another example of how a good work can become a ‘dead work’. If I have some desperate need and I go to the Lord in prayer, I may well be tempted to make promises to God that I will do a number of good works, if He would answer my prayer, in the hope that my good works will make God more inclined to hear me. The opposite situation could also be true; I may feel that I have failed the Lord in so many ways; therefore He is less likely to hear and answer my prayer. In both of these examples we are demonstrating a lack of understanding and appreciation for this first and vital principle of repentance from dead works. The truth is, God receives me and inclines His ear to my prayer, not because of the good things I have done, or haven’t done. He receives me because I am acceptable to Him on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross and for no other reason. [6]

The Power and Liberating effect of this Principle

This Principle is very powerfully presented in Hebrews chapter nine and ten. It is good to read both of these chapters, to gain an insight into what the writer is saying about this subject. He starts in chapter nine to sketch a picture of the Tabernacle in the wilderness that Moses was instructed to build. He presents us with the various items of furniture in the Tabernacle and talks about the different sacrifices that had to be made for sin. God gave Moses many detailed instructions in Mount Sinai regarding the service of the Tabernacle. The building of the Tabernacle and all the ceremonies involved a lot of religious works, but concerning all of this the Lord makes this astounding statement: “It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience.”[7]

This verse brings us to the crux of the whole matter; we are introduced to the important part that our conscience plays in our motivation. The Lord teaches us in this chapter nine, from verse one through nine that even though these works, sacrifices and buildings were ordained of God, they had no power to cleanse our conscience.

Applying this to ourselves, even though we have come to understand that our sins have been forgiven by the death of Jesus on the cross, it is possible that this truth may not have clearly registered in our conscience. Guilt in our conscience is therefore the strongest motivator, for us to want to try to justify ourselves by good works. But the very fact that we do good deeds to justify ourselves before God is an indication that we have not grasped nor applied the ‘Principle of repentance from dead works’.

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”[8]

In these verses, eleven through fourteen, we are given the most liberating and wonderful truth. That Jesus has cleansed or purged our consciences from dead works to serve the living God. This truth provides the basis or foundation for a wonderfully secure relationship with Jesus Christ that is not dependent upon our performance as Christians, but is solely dependent upon what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.

The Motivation of Guilt nullified by this Principle

Some soul-searching is required to check our motive for doing good works and if we are doing anything that is motivated by the need to make ourselves more acceptable to God, then we need to repent of these dead works. We are required to do good works, but these works should be motivated purely by our love for the Lord and our devotion to Him, rather than the need to gain His acceptance of us.

In Paul’s day some saw this principle as an excuse to continue in sin as seen in Romans: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” [9]“ And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say.”[10]

This principle may also be seen by us today as an excuse to sin or to become negligent in our walk before the Lord because “He accepts me anyway on the basis of what Jesus has done and not on the basis of my works”. However our motivation to not sin should be as a result of the change in our heart that has caused us to hate sin and love righteousness, rather than the need to find favour with God by not sinning, as this is a dead work.

The Principle of repentance from dead works, when fully understood and applied by faith, frees our conscience from the need to justify ourselves. We have been justified freely by His grace.[11]

This is the first building block of the Foundation forming our eternal relationship with Jesus Christ, which offers us the glorious security that we are eternally acceptable to God, not by our performance, but by His ‘once and for all’ sacrifice.[12]

The Principle of Repentance from Dead Works = Total reliance on Jesus’ finished work on the cross for my acceptability before God.

[1] Eph 2:8-9

[2] Gal 1:6-7

[3] Acts 15 10-11

[4] Heb 6:1 KJV

[5] Strong’s Greek dictionary, 746

[6] Eph 1:6

[7] Heb 9:9

[8] Heb 9:11-14

[9] Rom 6:1-2

[10] Rom 3:8

[11] Rom 3:24

[12] Heb 10:10

Filed under: Doctrine, Fundamentals of our Faith

FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH – PART 2

malscript — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:16:57 +0000

The Milk of the Word

The subject of the milk of the Word is given such importance in Scripture that we dare not guess or speculate as to what Paul and Peter were referring to. The Writer of Hebrews gives us very clear and important details about this subject, which we need to explore with all diligence.

The importance of the Son

Hebrews starts in chapter one and verse one to focus our attention upon the Son of God and the place of great prominence and power that is given to Him by the Father, because by inheritance He had obtained this great honour, not in His capacity as the second Person of the Godhead, but as a representative of mankind. We could say, all men have failed, but this one man has succeeded and has risen to a place of power and honour above even the angels. God spoke to the Old Testament fathers by the Prophets, but has now chosen in these days to speak to us by His Son.

What does this mean? If we are able to comprehend Jesus in His new exalted position at God’s right hand and if we do have a spiritual relationship with Him, we are able to hear from God because He is speaking to us by His Son. God has sent the Holy Spirit to us, so that we can understand the depths of Jesus Christ in His exalted position as the Head of the church. This understanding is not available to the natural mind, but is spiritually understood or discerned.

The importance of Hearing

One of the Scribes asked, “Which is the first (or greatest) commandment of all?” Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.”[1] Notice that Jesus starts with, “Hear, O Israel” which emphasises the importance of hearing what the Lord is saying. Hearing does not only mean hearing the sound of the words, but comprehending, assimilating and acting upon what God is saying.

The Lord also emphasises the importance of hearing in Hebrews chapter three, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness… “[2] Israel refused to hear what God said to them and as a consequence, God swore in His wrath that they would not enter into the Promised Land. The writer of Hebrews uses this as a very stern warning to us in the New Testament to ‘hear what the Son is saying to us by the Holy Spirit’ because God is speaking to us in these days by His Son. We are also warned in chapter two of Hebrews, “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”[3]

We are told in Hebrews chapter three and verse eight that we should be careful not to harden our hearts and we are also told that it is the deceitfulness of sin that hardens our hearts and then in verse twelve we are warned to, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God”[4] both the deceitfulness of sin and a heart of unbelief, will dull our hearing and render us incapable of hearing from the Lord, even though we still have the head-knowledge of Biblical facts.

This issue of hearing is so important that in the messages to the churches in the Revelation, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”[5]is repeated seven times and it is directed each time to the churches (plural).

It is this inability to hear or comprehend God’s message to us in and through His Son that the Writer of Hebrews addresses in great detail in chapter five.

Here we are introduced to the ministry of Jesus as our Great High Priest and we are told how He qualified to represent us as our High Priest. The Lord then tells us in Hebrews five verse eleven that the things concerning this Heavenly ministry of Jesus are hard for us to understand because we are dull of hearing. This dullness of hearing is obvious to the writer of Hebrews because he says that we all (all believers in the Body of Christ) should have the ability to teach others or communicate our experience in the Lord to enable others to find a deeper relationship with Jesus our High Priest. But these believers needed someone to teach them “again the first principles of the oracles of God” and as the Scripture continues,” and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”[6] It is vitally important for us to note that the believers being addressed in this chapter had been Christians for some time, but they had not matured spiritually. This is one of the greatest challenges in the church today; many believers have sat in hundreds of meetings and Bible Studies, but remain spiritually immature.

This being the case; all the problems of carnality spoken about by both Peter and Paul would be present in the church and no amount of counselling, revival meetings and preaching will cause them to grow, unless they are taught to understand and fully comprehend in their hearts, the ‘Milk of the Word.

A further limitation that the Writer of Hebrews highlights, for those who have not grown spiritually, is that they remain “unskilful in the Word of righteousness”[7] This means that they cannot spiritually digest what they are reading in the Scriptures. Or to put it another way, they are not hearing what God is saying to them through His Word.

We know that the Holy Spirit is our Teacher and that we have no need for any man to teach us.[8] Many Pentecostal believers and even Preachers use this verse as an excuse not to be taught by any man or even to study the Scriptures themselves but rather rely on instant inspiration from the Holy Spirit. To put this verse into context and correct balance, we must note that Paul encourages Timothy to “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”[9] Paul himself as a Pharisee was very well versed in the Scriptures. So what does John mean by “we have no need for any man to teach us”? John was specifically addressing the aspect of error and was speaking about the anointing that abides within us, will witness whether what we are hearing is the truth or not. This same principle applies when we listen to, or read an article where someone is teaching us. The Holy Spirit will give us insight and understanding of how, what we are hearing or reading, relates to Jesus Christ and how we can be brought into a deeper relationship with Him. No one can know the Lordship of Jesus, except the Holy Spirit reveals it to him.[10]

No matter how intelligent or knowledgeable we are, we are unable to appreciate the greatness and fullness of Jesus Christ, throughout the whole Bible, except the Holy Spirit reveals him to us. In this sense then, the Writer of Hebrews is saying that the believers have become dull of hearing and need to be taught again the fundamental principles of the Oracles of God.

Oracles of God

“Oracle” is a reference to the infallible words of God as recorded in Scripture. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”[11] These “First Principles” of God’s Oracles are identified as the ‘Milk of the Word’. We can therefore say with absolute confidence that a revelation and application of these “First Principles of the Oracles of God” constitute the Milk of the Word and it is these principles that we need to grasp in order to grow to maturity and to enhance our skilfulness in understanding the Scriptures.[12]

Principles of the Doctrines of Christ

This subject continues in chapter six, but note that the Writer subtly changes from “The Principles of the Oracles of God” to “The Principles of Christ” or as the King James version puts it; “The Principles of the Doctrines of Christ”. This change, although subtle, presents us with a vital fundamental corner-stone of understanding and interpreting Scripture, God’s focus and message to us is Jesus His Son. Or in the words of the Lord Jesus Himself, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”[13] God’s oracles are therefore all about Jesus Christ in one way or another.

What is the Principle of a Doctrine?

To open our minds and hearts to hear what the Lord is saying regarding the Principles of Christ, it is important to understand the distinction between a ‘principle’ and a ‘doctrine’. A principle is the over-riding and governing idea into which several doctrines could fit. For example the principle of salvation is the general over-riding idea of rescuing someone from something. The teaching of Noah’s Ark fits into this principle and so does the account of God delivering Israel from Egypt, as well as Jesus saving us from sin, by His grace. Therefore a number of doctrines fit into a single principle. On the other hand, a doctrine is a specific Biblical teaching on a specific subject, for example, the ‘Doctrine of Salvation” (the theological term used for this doctrine is ‘soteriology’). This is the specific teaching that describes the detail of how and by what means a sinner can become a Christian and is based on the many passages of Scripture that teach this particular doctrine. Noah’s Ark and the Exodus from Egypt are not part of the Doctrine of Salvation, although they are part of the same principle and can be used as illustrations of soteriology.

Another example to illustrate the difference between a Principle and a Doctrine, is the ‘principle of gravity’; very simply, this is the principle that “whatever goes up must come down.” The detail of where and how a tennis ball, a parachutist or a jumbo jet and in fact all objects, go up and then come down, is different in each case, but all are governed by the principle of gravity. The detail of how each item goes up, how long it stays up and how it comes down constitutes the different ‘doctrines ‘relating to each item used in our example.

The Principles of the Doctrines of Christ

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment and this will we do, if God permit.”[14]

The above passage spells out the elements of the Milk of the Word that both Peter and Paul spoke about, which is also the foundation forming the basis for our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is by comprehending and living by these principles that we are able to mature in our relationship with Jesus and have our spiritual senses exercised, so that we can discern between good and evil and become skilful in understanding God’s Word. [15]

We therefore need to explore each of these and above all, seek to grasp the over-riding principle in each case:

The principle of repentance from dead works.
The principle of faith towards God.
The principle governing the doctrine of various baptisms. (Please note: some translations use the word ‘washings’ rather than ‘baptisms’ but the Greek word in this passage is “baptismos” which is correctly translated as baptisms)
The principle behind the practice of laying on of hands.
The principle governing the resurrection of the dead.
The principle of eternal judgement.
The principle of going on to maturity (this is the whole driving force behind this passage and the motivation to “desire the sincere milk of the Word, so that we may grow thereby.”)

There is a wonderful passage of Scripture in the Old Testament that speaks of the seven pillars that form the foundation of the building.

“Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars; She has slaughtered her meat,
She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table. She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.”[16]

Each believer who constitutes the spiritual building of the church of Jesus Christ, needs to be firmly based on the seven pillars that form the only Foundation that we have, the Rock that the builders rejected [17]; the Lord Jesus Christ.

This Foundation of Jesus Christ in our hearts, comprehended in the principles of the doctrine of Christ, by the revelation of the Holy Spirit forms the basis of our relationship with the Almighty God throughout all eternity!

[1] Mark 12:29 & 30

[2] Heb 3:7&8

[3] Heb 2:1

[4] Heb 3:12

[5] Rev 2 & 3

[6] Heb 5:12

[7] Heb 5:13

[8] 1 John 2:27

[9] 2 Tim 2:15

[10] 1 Cor. 12:3

[11] Heb 5:12

[12] Heb 5:13 & 14

[13] John 5:39

[14] Heb 6:1-3 KJV

[15] Heb 5:13&14

[16] Prov. 9:1-6

[17] 1 Pet 2:7

Filed under: Doctrine, Fundamentals of our Faith

FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH

malscript — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:29:25 +0000

Preamble

There is a growing need throughout Africa and most probably in other parts of the world, for instruction and material that is Biblically sound, Christ-centred and spiritual, to enable Christians to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ…. to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. There is such a huge amount of material in the form of Bible courses and teachings that are not bad, and some even excellent, but many such courses tend to provide academic or head knowledge, rather than spiritual insight and genuine spiritual growth. It is with this in mind that I have attempted to introduce instruction that I am praying and trusting that the Lord will use, to open the door of revelation to seeking believers, that they may gain spiritual insights into the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ our Lord.

I welcome any comments or constructive criticism, which will enable me to communicate these great truths more accurately and clearly. Once these notes have been completed, they will be used in the various places, where doors have opened to us for this kind of input. It is imperative therefore, that this message is simply but clearly communicated.

Our Foundation

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. [1]

Our relationship with God in the New Testament is a partnership, or involvement or fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ. It is this fact that distinguishes true Christianity from all other religions on earth. Salvation is a work of God, through the Holy Spirit, causing us to become ‘new creatures’ in Christ. As new creatures we have been called by God into an intimate spiritual fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

This spiritual fellowship is the beginning of an eternal relationship with the Almighty God, through His Son, Jesus. All relationships require a basis of understanding and trust and our eternal relationship with God is no different. It is this fundamental basis or foundation that we will explore and seek to understand in this series of articles.

Let us consider the above text in its context. In this first chapter of the letter to the Corinthians, Paul was writing to the Gentiles in Corinth who had responded to the Gospel, but in his introduction to this letter he extends the addressees to include “all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord”.[2] The message of Corinthians therefore, has direct implications for us, who have also called upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. It should be noted with great interest to us that although, from the subject matter of this letter it can be seen that these Christians were unwise, fleshly and even sinful in their behaviour; Paul still greets them in glowing terms. He says, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”[3] This should in no way be seen as an excuse to live a fleshly or sinful life as a Christian, but it is rather an expression of enormous confidence by Paul, in the work of God in our hearts to present us blameless in the end.

This is an important point to keep in mind, when considering our own development in the Lord and also the growth and development of new saints that we may be ministering to. Like Paul, we need to remain focused on the end result; being presented blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is with this in mind that Paul then turns his attention to the problems in the church at Corinth and this is where we are given invaluable insight into our foundation and progressive development throughout the letter to the Corinthians to the resurrection, which Paul deals with in chapter fifteen.

Let us take a closer look at the problems:

The Problems

There were divisions among them. [4]
They felt qualified to pass judgement on Paul’s ministry.[5]
They were proud and arrogant. [6]
Their arrogance made them overlook very serious sin amongst them. [7]
They were taking fellow believers to court to resolve disputes. [8]
They did not take the Breaking of Bread seriously. [9]
They despised the poor.[10]
They allowed their liberty in Christ to be a stumbling block to the spiritually weak. [11]
They exercised Spiritual gifts to show off rather than seeking to edify the church. [12]
They were ignorant of the use and place of Spiritual gifts.[13]
Their women were disrupting meetings with questions. [14]
Some of them were saying that there is no resurrection from the dead. [15]

Many or all of these problems are encountered in the church today. Modern Christian leaders, when confronted with these same problems, often look to psychology or the wisdom of men to solve them and by so doing, treat the symptoms but don’t deal with the root cause of these carnal or fleshly problems. Paul tells us in chapter two that he does not rely upon the wisdom of men, but upon the power of the Spirit[16]. He explains that this is because our faith should not be based on men’s wisdom, but upon the power of God[17]. From this it is clear that Paul was more concerned about establishing believers on the correct foundation, than simply patching up their problems superficially.

The Solution to these problems

Wisdom

To help us understand the solution that Paul presents to us, we need to first grasp what he tells us about the subject of wisdom, as this is very important. He asks, “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”[18] Then in chapter two and verse eight, Paul demonstrates this truth by telling us that if the Rulers of this world had known who Jesus is, they would not have crucified Him. In other words, no matter how wise they were in man’s wisdom, they did not know the wisdom of God and therefore made the fatal error of crucifying Jesus, instead of worshiping Him. Paul explains that we do not have access to God’s wisdom, except through the understanding of the cross (crucifixion) of Jesus. “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.”[19]

Our relationship with Jesus and with our Heavenly Father is a spiritual relationship; for this reason Paul explains, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”[20] We see from this statement that our only access to God’s wisdom is to fully grasp and embrace the message of the cross. The understanding of the cross is the first spiritual revelation that we receive from the Holy Spirit. The cross cannot be understood by human reasoning or man’s wisdom. As we respond in faith to this message, acknowledging and repenting of our sin and embracing the risen Saviour by faith, we have made our first step into spiritual territory and have access to God’s great wisdom. This is what Paul acknowledged concerning the Corinthian believers and that is why he could refer to them as ‘saints’. Their problem though, was that they did not continue to walk in the spirit, but thought and acted as carnal men.

The big barrier to spiritual development and growth is the carnal mind, which cannot receive the things of the Spirit.[21]

The Root of the Problem

Paul diagnoses the root of the problem and tells the Corinthian believers; “I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?”[22] In other words, based on Paul’s statements in chapter two, he was saying that they were not walking in the wisdom of God, but in the wisdom of men. The implications being that they were not discerning things spiritually and were not in a position to receive the deeper things of God. Their perceptions were still immature spiritually. This meant that they did not know Jesus in a way that would unlock the depths of God’s wisdom, which are only to be found in Jesus.

Paul in the wisdom that God gave him, as a wise master builder[23], was laying a spiritual foundation in the lives of these Corinthian believers, which he refers to as the ‘milk’. Contained in this ‘milk’ was an understanding that Jesus is the only foundation that we can have in our lives. [24] We must conclude from this that it is necessary for each believer to have a spiritual insight into how Jesus forms our spiritual foundation. This understanding does not come through the wisdom of men, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who will lay this foundation in our hearts through the ‘milk’ that Paul refers to.

Peter refers to the subject of our Foundation

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”[25] Peter lists a number of the characteristics of immature Christians and offers the same solution as Paul did. He says that the new-born spiritual babies (immature Christians) should desire the pure ‘milk of the Word’. He tells us that we will grow to spiritual maturity in Jesus, by receiving this milk.

In the context of this second chapter of 1 Peter we find that Peter goes on to explain that if we have tasted the grace of the Lord, or found Him to be gracious, then we have come to the Living Stone (Jesus Christ) who was rejected by men, but chosen of God and precious.[26] He later explains that this Stone is in fact the Foundation upon which we are built.[27] It is very interesting to consider where Peter got this particular perspective of the Lord Jesus from. He was quoting Isaiah 28:16, but Peter had also had a first-hand experience of this, as recorded in Matthew 16:13-19, where Jesus asked the question, “Who do men say that I am?” Everyone had a different but wrong opinion of Jesus, and then Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responded to Peter by explaining that Peter’s name means a stone, but upon Himself as the Rock and Foundation, Jesus would build His church. Peter obviously understood this great truth and presents it to us very clearly in 1 Peter chapter two, concerning the fact that Jesus is the Rock and that we are the little living stones built upon Jesus our Foundation.

Comparison between Peter and Paul’s teaching on our Foundation

Both Peter and Paul address the carnality and immaturity of the believers, by pointing to their fleshly behaviour. Paul speaks of divisions or sectarianism in the Corinthian church and Peter speaks of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and all evil speaking. The solution in both cases is the need for the believers to receive the ‘milk of the Word’. Both Peter and Paul point to Jesus as being the only Foundation upon which we should be built. Both also speak of the rejection of this Foundation by men with human reasoning. Paul says that, the world through (their) wisdom did not know God and Peter speaks of the Stone which the builders rejected.

Jesus talks about having the correct Foundation

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”[28] We need to note that Jesus also refers to wisdom as an important issue and then the need to be built upon the rock. We know from Peter’s teaching and experience that this Rock is in fact Jesus Himself. Hearing and obeying the sayings of Jesus is what both Peter and Paul present to the believers in the ‘milk of the Word’, so that they can be established upon Jesus Christ their Rock and Foundation.

Conclusion

Let us remember that we are talking about developing a deeper spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and growing in our spiritual insights and perceptions of God. The wisdom of men would give us an academic insight into this subject, which will only give us head knowledge and no spiritual growth. It is vital therefore to have a revelation of the ‘milk of the Word’ and embrace this truth by faith as a prayerful and spiritual exercise. Simply put, just as we responded to the Gospel by faith, we need to comprehend the truth of the ‘milk of the Word’ and then receive it by faith, with a view to growing in our relationship with Jesus.

What is the Milk of the Word? ….. to be continued

[1] 1 Cor. 1:9 NKJV

[2] 1 Cor. 1:2 NKJV

[3] 1 Cor. 1:4-8 NKJV

[4] 1 Cor. 1:11-13

[5] 1 Cor. 4:3

[6] 1 Cor. 4:18

[7] 1 Cor. 5:2

[8] 1 Cor. 6:6

[9] 1 Cor.11:17

[10] 1 Cor. 11:22

[11] 1 Cor. 8:9-13

[12] 1 Cor. 14:12

[13] 1 Cor. 12:1

[14] 1 Cor. 14:34-35

[15] 1 Cor. 15:12

[16] 1 Cor. 2:4

[17] 1 Cor. 2:5

[18] 1 Cor. 1:20

[19] 1 Cor. 1:18

[20] 1 cor. 2:1-2

[21] 1 Cor. 2:14

[22] 1 Cor. 3:1-3

[23] 1 Cor. 3:10

[24] 1 Cor. 3:11

[25] 1 Pet. 2:1-3

[26] 1 Pet. 2:4

[27] 1 Pet. 2:7

[28] Matt. 7:24

Filed under: Doctrine, Fundamentals of our Faith Tagged: Fundamentals of our Faith

Holding the Testimony of Jesus

malscript — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:10:40 +0000

As a teenager I was involved in an evangelistic campaign, where we received instruction in the mornings, handed out tracts and invitations to people in the streets in the afternoons, inviting them to an evening Gospel meeting. In the evening meetings we were given turns to give our testimony, prior to the gospel message. I listened to many of my new-found friends, testifying of their gruesome experiences with drugs, drunkenness and teenage debauchery and then how the Lord Jesus had transformed their lives through the Gospel. My own testimony seemed fairly lame in comparison; I had grown up in a Christian home and had not indulged in any of the excesses that these young people spoke of, having been born again at an early age. I knew that I was as much a sinner as any one of them, but was at a loss for words to dramatize my testimony in keeping with the impact of theirs.

Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.“(Rev 19:10)

While pondering the above verse the Lord ministered the most dramatic truth to my heart, which left me quite stunned and silent. The ‘giving of my testimony’ incident, which happened ‘in the olden days’, as my grandchildren would say, was brought to memory as if it was yesterday and then the implications of Revelation 19:10 began to dawn upon me.

What is my testimony? What is your testimony? This question usually prompts us to recount a bit of our former life before we were saved, how we came to know the Lord and where we are at the moment.

But here is the real issue: I was without God in this world, with no claim to any of the promises of God, dead in my trespasses and sins, heading for a very certain eternal death in Hell, with no possible means of changing the course of my destiny! Then someone unknown to me stepped in, he bore my punishment; he took my beating; his back was ripped open by the lashes; they marred his face with their fists; they plucked his beard out; they drove a crown of thorns into his brow and then nailed him to a cross and left him to bleed to death for me. Through this my destiny has completely changed, my sins have been forgiven totally, all the promises of God will be fulfilled to me and I have a place in God’s eternal Kingdom and plan.

So what is my testimony? Let me offer an example of a generic, typical testimony: “I realised I was a sinner, I understood that Jesus died for my sin, I asked Him to forgive me, I believe that He rose from the dead and is alive, I asked Him to come into my life and save my soul. I no longer do the things I used to do, He is changing me, I read my Bible and pray and I am serving the Lord in my local church; all glory to Him.” This rather self-cantered explanation falls very far short of what has really happened!

The truth is, through the amazing work of Jesus on the cross and by His resurrection we now ‘hold the testimony of Jesus’ as the Angel told John. This means in reality, that Jesus has replaced my story with His and my testimony with His. His Father has become my Father; His righteousness has become my righteousness; His Kingdom is within me; His virtues have become my virtues, his family has become my family; his mission has become my mission, His inheritance has become my inheritance. I have been totally eclipsed by Jesus!

This of course applies to all those who are truly born again, but not too many of us realise the full implications of what it means to ‘hold the Testimony of Jesus’.

This Testimony of Jesus is the very essence or spirit of prophecy. That means that when Abel by faith, offered a better sacrifice than Cain, he was demonstrating that Jesus is the better sacrifice. When Noah built the Ark to the saving of his household, he was demonstrating that Jesus is our Ark and He will save us from the judgement to come. When all the Prophets through the Old Testament spoke, they were characterising Christ in all that they said. When the Prophets spoke about Israel’s sin and failure, they were characterizing what Jesus hates and when they spoke of God’s righteous judgements, they were characterizing what Jesus loves.

This is the Testimony that has been passed on to us to bear and to hold on to. We, as new creatures in Christ, carry His essence with us and demonstrate His character through words, actions and behaviour. It is not at all surprising to hear Jesus say, “I am the light of the world” (Jn 8:12) but for Him to say, “You are the light of the world” (Matt 5:14) Puts the testimony that we bear in a very different light!

To have been given the testimony of Jesus to have and to hold, to experience and to express, is the greatest honour and privilege that can be bestowed upon a human being. May we hold on to His Testimony until we see Him in all His glory.

Filed under: Doctrine

Have You Heard . . .?” The Plague of Gossip in the Body of Christ

malscript — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:58:31 +0000

by Jon Zens

Bob Mumford once said, “The Christian army is the only one that shoots its wounded.”

Regrettably, I have observed his statement to be all too true.

As long as I’ve been a Christian I have watched friends and their families undergo untold pain and hurt because of the incredible power of gossip and slander. Years ago we were traveling and after speaking in a church a brother came up to me and said, “I heard that you had quit teaching in churches and took up potato farming.” How and why such a rumor got started is anybody’s guess! This rumor was fairly innocuous, but imagine the untold harm done by vicious judgments on the life and character of others.

In this article, I would like to address this issue head-on. My hope is to raise the awareness of my brothers and sisters in Christ on this matter, so that we all will better follow the Lord’s teachings regarding our speech about and actions toward others.

What exactly is gossip?

Gossip is second or third hand information that someone dumps on you without your prior consent and without the consent of the person being gossiped about. Gossip can be true, partially true, or completely false. It can be motivated by good intentions, but it’s always negative personal information about another that puts them in a bad light.

What is slander?

The Bible defines slander as accusatory speech that is injurious to a person’s name and reputation. It’s essentially character assassination . . . the act of smearing someone. Gossip and slander color people’s perceptions of an individual unfairly and unjustly without their knowledge or consent. One major component in both of these sins is that the person being torn down is out of the loop. Talebearers usually avoid speaking directly to the one they are demeaning.

I will admit that I have listened to gossip in the past. At the time, the thought never occurred to me how deeply a person and their family could be hurt when someone attacks their character without their knowledge or consent.

It seems that most people who spread gossip never think about this. Nor do they realize that what they’re doing is engaging in gossip and slander. (Some people, of course, who intend to smear another human being know exactly what they’re doing. Many Christians, however, naively spread gossip without realizing what sort of destruction it brings in the lives of others.)

For this reason, I have raised a standard in my life. To the best of my ability, I always evaluate people based on my first-hand experience with them, not on what someone else tells me about them – for the obvious reason that second-hand information can be very misleading and inaccurate (sad to say, I haven’t always lived up to this standard in the past).

Gossip and slander violate the Lord’s own maxim: “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” If anyone has suffered the agony of being gossiped about, they understand the force of those words. No one wishes to be the subject of gossip and slander. There are few things so hurtful.

One of the problems is that gossip and slander seem innocent and they often come to us subtly. One doesn’t have to be operating in malice to be guilty of gossip and slander. Again, the motive is irrelevant. Spreading negative or shameful information about another person is contrary to walking in love. Love “thinks no evil” and “believes the best of others” (1 Cor. 13).

What does gossip and slander usually sound like? It usually begins with something like, “Did you hear about such and such . . .” The rest of it goes on to put an individual in a shameful or negative light. A.W. Tozer had these powerful words of advice about the sin of gossip:

Never pass anything on about anybody else that will hurt him. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). The talebearer has no place in God’s favor. If you know something that would hinder or hurt the reputation of one of God’s children, bury it forever. Find a little garden out back — a little spot somewhere — and when somebody comes around with an evil story, take it out and bury it and say, “Here lies in peace the story about my brother.” God will take care of it. “With what judgment you judge, you shall be judged.”

If you want God to be good to you, you are going to have to be good to His children. You say, “But that’s not grace.” Well, grace gets you into the kingdom of God. That is unmerited favor. But after you are seated at the Father’s table, He expects to teach you table manners. And He won’t let you eat unless you obey the etiquette of the table. And what is that? The etiquette of the table is that you don’t tell stories about the brother who is sitting at the table with you — no matter what his denomination, or nationality, or background (from Five Vows for Spiritual Power).

So what should we do if we hear a rumor about someone else?

If we are in conversation with a person and they begin to express words that put another brother or sister in a bad light, we have a responsibility to interrupt such speech and exhort them to speak directly with the person they are criticizing. If an email containing gossip is sent to us, we should disregard the content and ask the sender to go to the one being spoken against. In all circumstances, as much as lies with us, we should not be a party to gossip and we should confront those spreading evil speech. We must not forget that matters of concern about others must be confirmed with witnesses (Matt.18:16), and others should only be notified if the person refuses to repent – which means they refuse to stop their sinning. We sin by entertaining accusations against others that have not been confirmed by witnesses, or that have already been repented of. It is sinful to spread information about the past sins of others when they are already under the blood of Christ.

In addition to the above, we should go to the person being targeted and make them aware of it. We should then ask for them to confirm or correct it. This is the loving thing to do. Think about it: If someone was spreading something negative about you, would you not want to be made aware of it? Again, love treats others the way we wish to be treated.

It’s not good enough to ask the gossiper if they’ve spoken to the person gossiped about. In my experience, oftentimes a person spreading the gossip will say “yes,” but when I’ve tracked down the person being gossiped about, they will deny having had such a conversation. Or the conversation really wasn’t a conversation at all. Nothing can replace going directly to the person being spoken about.

Whenever we hear gossip, we should consider these questions: “Would I want someone talking about me like this? How would my family feel about this? My spouse, my mother, my father, my children, my best friends?” (These thoughts are typically never considered when a person listens to or spreads gossip about another individual.)

Have you ever noticed that speech that tears others down travels like a brush fire, but news of repentance and restoration seems to move along at a snail’s pace? Why is it that we often immediately believe and embrace negative assessments of people, but reports of repentance, change, or the dispelling of a false rumor are met with skepticism? As believers, the exact opposite should be our practice: we should be hesitant to entertain and skeptical of adverse words about others, and quick to rejoice in and embrace news of the dispelling of a rumor or another’s repentance!

Satan’s nature is to accuse. He is called the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12). In fact, the word “Satan” means adversary, and the word “devil” literally means “slanderer.” That should say volumes to us. One sister noted these warning signs of a spirit of accusation:

**Being suspicious of others
**Having bitterness toward others
**Being easily offended without cause
**Having envy and jealousy toward others
**Believing the worst about others
**Exaggerating the offenses of others
**Refusing fellowship with a person after they have changed
**Holding people to their past failures
**Imposing our perfectionism standards on others
**Basing harsh judgments on misunderstandings without seeking clarification
**Judging others for misbehaviors that we are prone to
**Becoming the Holy Spirit for others
**Using others as a scapegoat
**Tearing down others so we look better
**Bringing skeletons out of the closet
**Being unsatisfied with any amount of confession and sorrow from another
(Marsha Fisher, “Accusation,” Be In Health Conference, April 29, 2008, Thomaston GA)

Further, the union of Christ with his people should certainly give us reason for great caution with our words about fellow believers. Paul said in Romans 14:15, “Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.” I think we are also warranted in saying, “Do not by your words destroy your brother or sister for whom Christ died.” It is a very serious matter to hurt anyone in Christ’s little flock (Luke 17:1-4).

A careful reading of the Bible shows the destructive nature of gossip and slander. It says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts” (Prov. 18:8, 26:22). Gossip is likened unto poison that once someone drinks, they cannot get out of their system. And it always separates people. Even close friends and loved ones.

Put another way, gossip not only damages the person being gossiped about, but it also damages the person hearing the gossip, for it causes them to judge the other unfairly.

Consider these texts prayerfully:

“A perverse person stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends” (Prov. 16:28).

“Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down” (Prov. 26:22). “He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool” (Prov. 10:18).

“Brethren, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it” (James 4:11).

“The tongue has the power of life and death . . . ” (Prov. 18:21).

“The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:6).

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all people” (Tit 3:1-2).

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (Eph. 4:31).

“Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman” (Psalm. 15:1-3).

In conclusion, the next time you hear a rumor, go to the person being rumored about. And never spread something about another person without talking to them first and having an open mind to hear their heart. Unconfirmed notions about others should not be spread abroad.

In the pursuit of mutual edification and peace, our mouths play a very important role. Our words should be carefully chosen, and designed to build up, not to destroy (Eph. 4:29.31; 5:4; Col. 3:8,16; James 3:10; 1 Pet. 4:11). We must “slander no one” (Tit. 3:2), and be ready always to speak a good word about our brothers and sisters in Christ. In the human realm, words are most often the spark that leads to wars and atrocities, and there is a parallel in the realm of the church, for “if you keep on biting and devouring each other” with hurtful and damaging words, “you will be destroyed by each other” (Gal. 5:15).

May our speech to others and about others be “only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph.4:29). —

Filed under: Doctrine, Relationships