Monthly Archives: December 2011

Bearing One Another’s Burdens

30 Friday Dec 2011

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"Bearing" Each Other's Burdens

…If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. (Galatians 6:1-3, MSG)

The Holy Spirit teaches us that each one of us must take care of one another; thus, one of the many ways that we can minister through the Holy Spirit is through “bearing one another’s burdens,” and yet this specific “bearing” is an area where most of us fall way short. Nevertheless, Scriptures tell modern-day believers that we must minister this way to the brethren (brothers and sisters), the people Apostle Paul refers to in his epistles as the “one anothers.”

In addition to “bearing one another’s burdens,” we are to comfort one another, to edify one another, to exhort one another, to love one another, to pray for one another, to rebuke one another, to teach one another, and to minister to “one another’s” other needs. For sure, when we are living and walking in the Holy Spirit, the Word of God tells us that the Holy Spirit will determine for us what practical and spiritual helping deeds we should do for one another. In other words, the Holy Spirit’s inner witness inside each one of us will confirm for us what God has called us to do for others, which means that our ministry is determined by our submission and sensitivity to the teaching, leading, and prompting of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14:25-27; John 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13).

Because every believer within the Body of Christ is called to minister to others, God sends His Holy Spirit to lead each one of God’s ministers to “bear each other’s burden,” as well as to lead each one of God’s ministers to do other ministry tasks. The fact that the Holy Spirit leads every believer to minister to others by “bearing their burdens” also means that His leading is why we cannot assume that this “bearing” ONLY falls upon one person’s shoulders (mainly a pastor’s shoulders), nor can we assume that this “bearing” falls upon anyone else’s shoulders but ours. As ministers, we also cannot pass the buck to “other” ministers for them to do our ministry work in our place. For these reasons, one of the best ways to begin achieving unity in the institutional CHURCH is for EVERY ONE of us to do the same service work, which in the case of Galatians 6:1-3 means “bearing the burdens” of the brethren (see also Romans 15:1-2). 

In the King James Version of Galatians 6:1, the situation is such that a believer has been “overtaken in a fault.” This “overtaken” term in the Greek language speaks of a person being trapped or in bondage to either a sin or to a deviation. Nevertheless, what the Apostle Paul doesn’t tell us to do is to tell our “overtaken” brothers and sisters to find a good psychologist, psychiatrist, marriage counselor, Greek philosopher, or whomever to help them. He instead instructs us who are spiritually strong believers to deal with another believer’s “fault” ourselves, no matter whether we have or have not been trained according to the world’s wisdom and knowledge that pertain, for example, to psychology, psychiatry, counseling, philosophy, and so forth! 

That’s right! Spiritual Christians (consecrated and Spirit-born creations who are no longer driven by their old human nature, but are instead Holy Spirit enlightened by the Gospel’s “Harvest of Souls” Message) MUST bear ALL of the responsibility for reconciling and restoring any brother or sister in Christ, who has been ensnared by any sin or any deviation from the Gospel’s Truth.

However, one of the first objections to this responsibility is that believers will say they are NOT TRAINED to handle this or that sin or this or that deviation from the Gospel’s Truth. Now, the reason why the objection that is based on the NOT TRAINED excuse is nothing more than a copout is because our Bible says that EVERY Spirit-filled believer (EVERY spiritually mature believer) not only MUST minister to these “overtaken in a fault” people, but also that EVERY Holy Spirit-filled believer is commanded by the Head of the Body of Christ (Jesus the Christ) to demonstrate special treatment for all of the Body’s members (cf. John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 12:12-18).

Moreover, not only are we who are spiritually mature supposed to reconcile and restore fallen believers back to living a Holy Spirit-led life, but also we are to bear their burdens in a gentle and loving manner. Lastly, we are not to use the excuse that an “overtaken in a fault” person hasn’t asked for our help, because this is just another a copout!

The bottom line is that we who are spiritually mature are commanded to take the time and to make the effort to help every “overtaken in a fault” individual, at the spiritual level in which he or she finds him or herself, so that this person will prefer to grow in the Holy Spirit and, as a result, become better able to (and more willing to) digest and incorporate the Gospel’s stronger spiritual food (the deeper Gospel Truths). Put differently, if we actually are becoming transformed into the image of Jesus the Christ, who is our Lord and Savior, then the idea of sharing a mutual concern for every Body of Christ member, and the ideas of sharing in one another’s joy (mutual gladness) and one another’s sorrow (mutual sympathy) are not only to be internalized but also practiced!

In summary, if the answer to any of the following questions is YES, then we need to find out if we truly are born again, saved (justified), AND filled with the Holy Spirit. Those questions are: Are we consecrated and Spirit-born creations and, thus, no longer driven by our old human nature? Has the Holy Spirit enlightened us with the Gospel’s “Harvest of Souls” Message? Are will filled with the Holy Spirit? Is there anyone we have chased out of our local ekklesia (or ecclesia) into the counseling offices of non-believing and/or unbelieving professionals for help with their sin or deviation from the Gospel’s Truth, all because we either refused to attempt to give him or her the help he or she asked for, or we lacked the Holy Spirit’s fruit, which causes us to respond to that “overtaken in a fault” person with a loving and gentle spirit (cf. Galatians 5: 22-24)? Then too, have we sometimes been too afraid to confront that “overtaken in a fault” person, primarily because that individual hasn’t asked us for any help? 

~ Have a spiritually prosperous New Year 2012!

It’s New Year 2012!

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

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Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. ~ Ecclesiastes 12:9-10, ESV

 

 

Praying for

God’s abundant blessings to

Spring forth

In your life,

Manifesting themselves frequently

Throughout the New Year.

 

Happy New Year to you

And may it be

A prosperous year, too!

Conceiving A Miracle

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Faith and Wisdom

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The Madonna in Sorrow by Sassoferrato

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. ~ Hebrews 11:3, ESV

since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ~ 1 Peter 1:23. ESV

 

It definitely is time for today’s Christian spiritual leaders to teach nonbelievers and carnal believers about the reasons why God follows His established laws and principles, both in the spiritual and natural realms, which means spiritual leaders need to start teaching those individuals who profess that they believe in Jesus the Christ that they also must follow God’s established laws and principles in both realms. Indeed, since this is the Season of Giving, the time when believers reflect on the greatest miracle ever, which is the Virgin Birth (the virgin Mary miraculously conceiving the Lord Jesus the Christ), hopefully modern day Christian spiritual leaders already know that their close examination of Christ Jesus’ incarnation (the embodiment of God the Son in human flesh as Christ Jesus) will prove, beyond a shadow of doubt, that Father God not only followed His own reproduction laws but also kept almost everything about the Lord’s birth typical.

In fact, the only untypical aspect about Jesus the Christ’s birth—the only aspect that differs from all past, present, and future human births—is the Holy Spirit’s power overshadowing the virgin Mary so that Father God then could use His Word, which the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary, as the sperm that makes the conception of Jesus the Christ possible! Even though the sperm that impregnates the virgin Mary is not human in nature, normally speaking, this miraculous virginal conception still requires a Father and a mother (male and female), the union between sperm and egg, the nine months’ gestation period (period of time from conception to birth—the time for carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body), and the birth process (cf. Luke 1:28-38; Luke 1:56-57; Luke 2:1-7).

The bottom line is that, where the laws of reproduction are concerned, the spiritual realm operates the same way as the natural world. According to the Apostle Peter, in 1 Peter 1:23, in the natural world, EVERY person’s first birth ALWAYS is the result of his or her father’s sperm uniting with his or her mother’s egg. The end result is a baby who has inherited both the characteristics and sinful natures of his or her biological father AND biological mother. On the other hand, in the spiritual realm, EVERY person’s second birth ALWAYS is the result of his or her Father’s Word/the Gospel (sperm) uniting with his or her Holy Spirit influenced positive volition (egg). The end result is a miracle (God’s supernatural intervention)—a new man/new boy, or a new woman/new girl who is a child of God, spiritually born from above and having God’s likeness.

Then too, since God creates EVERYTHING and EVERYONE by His spoken Word, it should be obvious that if humans want to have a miracle, then they need to begin to speak God’s Word into their own lives. However, this speaking is not the same as praying, because humans cannot spiritually conceive ANY kind of miracle through their prayer or by their faith.

For sure, a miracle’s conception is ONLY possible after the incorruptible seed (God’s spoken Word or sperm) supernaturally has been united with the Holy Spirit influenced positive volition (or egg). After the Word of God (seed or sperm) unites with the Holy Spirit influenced positive volition in hearers, prayer then becomes the water and fertilizer and faith becomes the source that brings what God already has nurtured and matured for believers in the spiritual world into their physical world.

The point here is that, if the Word of God (seed or sperm) had not first been implanted in each hearer’s spiritual womb [heart or the center of each hearer’s moral and spiritual activities]), the spiritual union between that Word (seed or sperm) and the Holy Spirit influenced positive volition (egg) could never have taken place. Moreover, if the spiritual union between the spiritual sperm and spiritual egg never took place, then both water and any kind of fertilizer (in context, believers’ prayer) would be useless, because it is absolutely impossible for a miracle to be conceived where the Word of God has not been received!

For this last reason, the people who profess to believe in Christ Jesus also must know and understand that the second greatest miracle—humans being spiritually born from above—also cannot happen just because they prayed for their rebirth. The Divine Truth is that those unsaved individuals who want to be born from above, and those believers who want to receive every kind of miracle, first need to conceive (become pregnant with) the miracle they are seeking. In other words, the virgin Mary is the New Testament example. She first receives into her natural womb God’s Word, which the angel Gabriel speaks to her. The evidence that proves this last statement is true is Mary’s response to the angel Gabriel. She says: “…Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word…” (Luke 1:38, ESV). Shortly thereafter the conception of the Messiah takes place. Therefore, nonbelievers also must FIRST receive God’s Word into their spiritual womb (heart) before conception of any miracle can take place, and believers must continue to allow the Holy Spirit not only to plant God’s Word in their spiritual womb (heart) but also to germinate that spiritual seed (God’s Word) so that it will grow to its God expected spiritual maturity. Put differently, believers must allow the Holy Spirit to plant and germinate the seed (Word of God) long before they ever will need to reap the fruit from their harvest.

Likewise, nonbelievers also need to let the received/planted Word of God (the preached and/or read incorruptible seed of God) germinate (sprout or grow) on the inside of them. God intends for soil (all hearts) and seed (the Word of God)  to work together (see “The Parable of the Sower and the Seed” Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15). If soil or heart of nonbelievers does not cooperate with the Holy Spirit, if they do not allow Him germinate the sown seed (Word of God), the initially received/planted Word of God will lay there in their soil/heart accomplishing nothing. Indeed, in the abovementioned parable ONLY the good soil/heart hears (receives), understands, and produces a significant harvest.

This aforesaid Divine Truth, thus, also means that unsaved individuals who intellectually know the Word of God are NOT guaranteed that they will conceive a miracle, either. As the Apostle Paul writes:

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. ~ Romans 10:14-17, ESV

In the above quoted passage, the Apostle Paul makes it clear that the received/planted Word of God will not germinate in believers’ spiritual womb (heart) if God has NOT given these Word of God hearers the supernatural gift of His saving faith. For this reason, the Christian spiritual leaders who are more concerned with counting again and again just how many unsaved believers “they” have gotten saved must stop ignoring the fact that no one can believe on Jesus the Christ until, by God’s Grace and the power of His Holy Spirit, the supernatural gift of God’s faith is imparted to him or her! This Divine Truth means that some professed Christians who are without their God-given faith are neither born again nor saved believers, because if God’s faith is not working in a spiritually dead man/boy or a spiritually dead woman/girl, he or she neither can cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that he or she can receive his or her rebirth nor can he or she accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. In other words, because a spiritually dead man/boy or a spiritually dead woman/girl is without the God’s faith, it is virtually impossible for him or her to be Holy Spirit born from above, and virtually impossible for him or her to be saved!

For these very crucial reasons, intellectually believing in Christ Jesus NEVER will cause any nonbeliever to conceive miracles, especially not the kind of miracles like God’s saving faith, regeneration, salvation, and sanctification. Moreover, it is important to note here that God-given faith alone also cannot regenerate any nonbeliever; additionally, saying a Sinner’s Prayer cannot save any nonbeliever, either! That’s why it is important for unsaved individuals to know and understand that only Father God is able to perform the spiritual acts of getting sinners’ hearts to believe truly that Jesus the Christ is their only Lord and Savior and of getting sinners’ hearts to trust absolutely in (have faith in) Father God, His only begotten Son, and His Holy Spirit.

Therefore, unsaved believers must be taught the Gospel Truth, which is that it is by God’s saving Grace and the power of His Holy Spirit that God’s Word (incorruptible seed) supernaturally and initially is planted in humans’ spiritual womb (heart).  Additionally,  unsaved believers must be taught the Gospel Truth, which is that, according to “The Parable of the Sower and the Seed,” some hearts are incapable of letting the received Word germinate in their spiritual wombs, because the devil immediately snatches the Word out of their hearts, which is an act that keeps these hearers from getting saved. There also are some hearts that let their trials and tribulations stop the germination process (stop their spiritual growth). Other hearts receive and understand the Word, but they let this world’s cares, riches, and pleasures choke the Word, and this choking makes the Word unproductive in their lives. Lastly, as already stated, there are some hearts that receive the Word, understand the Word, and they let the Word produce different measures of fruit in their lives.

Likewise, unsaved believers must be taught the Gospel Truth, which is that it is by God’s saving Grace and the power of His Holy Spirit unsaved individuals are given God’s faith gift at the same moment that God supernaturally and initially plants His Word in the heart/spiritual womb of those individuals who both hear and understand the Word of God  (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9). That is to say, this God-given faith is neither affected by these hearers’ own strength, nor affected by these hearers’ own will; furthermore, this supernatural faith is an invisible and sensationless act of God—humans can’t see this faith as it is being implanted inside them, and they can’t feel their God-given faith, neither when the Holy Spirit is putting God’s Faith inside each hearer’s spiritual womb (heart), nor after God’s Faith is implanted completely on the inside of each Word of God hearer’s spiritual womb (heart).

Once the abovementioned spiritual act is completed, unsaved believers must be taught the Gospel Truth, which is that it is by God’s Grace and the power of the Holy Spirit that these Gospel hearers’ God-given faith makes it possible for God’s Holy Spirit to change their DNA—God’s faith gift makes it possible for these hearers of the Gospel to receive their God-given spiritual rebirth (cf. John 3:5-8; Romans 6:4; Ephesians 2:1; Titus 3:5). Then, by God’s Grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, their God-given spiritual rebirth makes it possible for these Gospel hearers to be receptive to the Holy Spirit’s conviction about sin (the singular sin of not believing on Jesus), righteousness, and judgment (cf. John 16:8-11), as well as their need to accept Jesus the Christ as their Savior and Lord (cf. Matthew 9:13b; Luke 19:10; John 3:17-19; 1 Timothy 1:14-16).

It is important to note here that there can be no doubt that God’s Holy Spirit, who also is the Spirit of Faith (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:13), is the Author of the supernatural God-given faith that inclines previously disinclined sinners to receive in their heart the Word of God’s invitation (God’s call to repentance from sin). This is another reason why coming to Jesus the Christ is solely the work of God’s internal, spiritual action rather than the work of any human’s external, natural achievement. Even the Lord declares: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…” (John 6:44a, ESV).

In summary, for believers to conceive and give birth to the miracles they need, they must first receive God’s Word like a seed in their heart. Once they are born again, saved, and guaranteed an eternal life with Father God, these believers then must meditate on both the initially received/planted Word of God, and every subsequently received/planted Word of God, so that God’s Word can become living and active on the inside of them. In other words, believers must know the Word of God for themselves—they must know the Word of God not just intellectually but intimately, as well, and this intimate Word knowledge happens during believers’ spiritual germination process!

Without a doubt, just like humans cannot see, feel, hear, smell, or taste the life in a physical seed, their five senses  also are incapable of determining if there is life in the spiritual seed (Word of God). Nevertheless, the spiritual seed (Word of God) most definitely is alive, and the Word of God contains the power for believers not only to have a spiritual life but also for believers to grow in their spiritual life, especially when, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, that Word of God is planted in the good soil/a noble heart!

Moreover, humans also cannot tell if a physical seed is growing, without either digging it up or waiting for the plant to appear above the soil. Similarly, the only way for humans to tell whether or not the spiritual seed (Word of God) is growing on the inside them is by purposely meditating on the Word of God and by having the God-given faith that trusts that the seed (Word of God) is doing in their heart what God created His Word to do. In essence, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, believers’ meditation and their God-given faith will cause the Word to abide (live and grow) in them.

Finally, for believers to conceive and give birth to the miracles they need, they must realize that while the prayers of others who have the gift of healing can cause many people to receive their miracle of healing, the best way for believers to get healed is for them to take all of the promises that God makes in His healing Scriptures and let the Holy Spirit plant them in believers’ hearts until these scriptural promises release their healing power in these believers’ own lives. Likewise, just like the words (seeds) that believers who have the gift of prophecy, or the gift of the word of knowledge, or the gift of the word of wisdom can plant in other believers’ hearts so that these believers might receive the miracle of a bountiful harvest, the Divine Truth is that no one can produce a more bountiful harvest in any believers’ lives than the believers who speak God’s Word into their own hearts. In other words, believers who speak God’s Word with their own mouths into their own hearts are planting the seed (God’s Word) inside themselves that will produce the results they desire.

For this last reason, it definitely is time for believers to understand that even God follows His established laws and principles, both in the spiritual and natural realms, which means those individuals who profess that they believe in Jesus the Christ also must follow God’s established laws and principles in both realms. Likewise, it definitely is time for believers to understand that the bottom line is: Where the laws of reproduction are concerned, the spiritual realm operates the same way as the natural world!

A word to the wise should be sufficient!!!!

Ministering to Others

16 Friday Dec 2011

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Servanthood--Helping Others Fulfill Their Needs

The time is near when all things will end. So think clearly and control yourselves so you will be able to pray. Most importantly, love each other deeply, because love will cause people to forgive each other for many sins. Open your homes to each other, without complaining. Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God’s various gifts of grace. Anyone who speaks should speak words from God. Anyone who serves should serve with the strength God gives so that in everything God will be praised through Jesus Christ. Power and glory belong to him forever and ever. Amen. ~ 1 Peter 4:7-11, NCV

We are not saying that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do. He made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. This new agreement is not a written law, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life. ~ 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, NCV

 

Every believer has been “called” (summoned) TO God for the purposes of having a personal relationship and so that they would be able to unite with God. Additionally, every believer has been “called” (summoned) FOR God. Father God calls every believer for the purpose of working in the Lord’s vineyards while they live out their God-appointed roles, responsibilities, values, attitudes, and positions in the places Father God wants them to live. Put differently, God “called” believers in Christ so that they could minister to others on behalf of God and Jesus the Christ.

To be sure, every believer’s primary spiritual “calling” pertains to the Caller (God) summoning the “called” (every believer) TO Him FOR Him. Moreover, any secondary or specific spiritual “callings” that come as a result of the primary calling would pertain to EVERYTHING the “called out ones” do in response to that primary calling—everything they would do for Father God and the Lord Jesus the Christ in response to being “called out” into a relationship and a communion with God.

Furthermore, this spiritual “calling” (the receiving of God’s summons or directive to live life entirely to His Glory) means that every believer FIRST MUST surrender to Jesus the Christ’s Lordship and Leadership while, simultaneously, purposing in his or her own heart that he or she would live the God kind of Christian lifestyle that allows Father God to use him or her to His Glory, as he or she serves God in the Army of the Lord. Once again, serving God and Jesus the Christ is what believers do when they minister. In fact, according to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, to minister means to serve or help others by attending to their needs. So then, as Father God and the Lord’s servant, every believer “called” TO God and FOR Him is “called” to serve God and Jesus the Christ by serving or helping people satisfy or fulfill their spiritual, physical, financial, material, communal, familial, emotional, mental, and/or psychological needs.

There are, of course, many ways that believers can minister to other people. However, before believers would be able to minister to (before they could satisfy the needs of) others the way Jesus the Christ ministered to the people in His day, today’s believers must be able to show every individual the God kind of Love. Since, servanthood to Jesus the Christ concerns doing good deeds for others without having any strings attached, and since servanthood equals Agape (godly Love), then it should be obvious that the servanthood our Lord demonstrated is the same servanthood that we need to copy.

God has “called” us to be His children who are like their Big Brother, Jesus the Christ. For this reason, we too should show the same God kind of Love to others (servanthood), which is the kind of Love that doesn’t expect anything in return. ONLY when believers truly love one another—truly love ALL people—could believers then begin to develop the necessary God kind of GREAT Compassion that it takes for believers to minister successfully to people.

Secondly, before believers would be able to minister to others, contemporary believers must care so much about other humans that genuine believers always would tell others the truth, even if that truth would hurt someone’s feelings, or if that truth is not what anybody wants to hear. Thirdly, before believers would be able to minister to others, modern-day believers must be accessible and approachable to those who are in need. For sure, believers must get involved with (interact with) the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the imprisoned, the orphaned, the widowed, the abused, the neglected, and so forth. Lastly, before believers would be able to minister to others, 21st-century believers must be knowledgeable about the Gospel’s Truths. Additionally, these believers must be able to express those Gospel Truths in ways that other people would be blessed.

When true believers are loving, caring, accessible, approachable, and Gospel Truths knowledgeable individuals, then the Holy Spirit can prompt, teach, and lead them in the ways that they should minister to others. As earlier stated, there are many ways that believers can minister to other people.

The first way that the Holy Spirit prompts, teaches, and leads us in our ministering is in serving/helping saints (ministering to fellow believers in Christ) by coming together (being in an assembly or ekklesia) for the purposes of worshipping and praising God, and so that we can motivate or encourage each other to perform acts of Love and good works (cf. Hebrews 10:24-25) for those who are in need. Some of those acts of Love and good deeds include, but are not limited to, showing hospitality; making meals for those who are unable to cook for themselves; doing yard work, doing house work, taking care of children or the elderly, and being a good listener, when dealing with grieving families; sending beautiful cards and encouraging letters, in the hope of brightening someone’s day; visiting the hospitalized or in the home bedridden sick; visiting inmates; providing food, clothing, toiletries, and shelter, the primary physical needs for most of the poor; sending care packages to sick people, military personnel, college students, etcetera; sponsoring a child; and so forth.

A second way that the Holy Spirit prompts, teaches, and leads us in our ministering is in serving/helping saints and unbelievers through the use of our spiritual gifts (cf. 1 Peter 4:7-11). To begin with, we must remember that spiritual gifts are NOT talents, and they are NOT the results of specialized/professional training, nor are spiritual gifts innate abilities and skills. A spiritual gift is the means by which the Holy Spirit edifies (educates, enlightens) and exhorts (encourages, urges) the whole Body of Christ. In other words, spiritual gifts are Holy Spirit specially assigned/given Divine endowments that enable/prepare Holy Spirit-filled believers for spiritual service—spiritual gifts enable/prepare Holy Spirit-filled believers to accomplish an assigned/given ministry job God’s way, according to His Grace, His Perfect and/or Permissive Will, and His Spiritual Discernment.

As previously mentioned, spiritual gifts are to be used, first and foremost, to edify and exhort the whole Body of Christ. Some of the super supernatural spiritual gifts used while ministering to others are: Word of wisdom, Word of knowledge, faith gifts, healing gifts, miracle-working gifts, prophetic gifts, spiritual discernment, speaking in different kinds of tongues, and interpreter of those different kinds of tongues (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Other special spiritual gifts used in ministering to others are those such as church building (specifically apostles’ work), prophesying (specifically prophets’ work), evangelizing or preaching (specifically evangelists, missionaries, and/or pastors’ work), teaching (specifically Word of God teachers’ work), administration, helps, and so forth (cf. Acts 13:1; Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:28-30; Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Peter 4:11). 

It is important to note here again that being “called” and having a “calling” both pertain to the Caller deciding the specific purpose for which He uniquely creates the “called out ones,” which is to glorify ONLY Him! In other words, from before the foundation of the world, and all for the purpose of glorifying the Caller, Father God (the Caller) chose the places (where) His “called out ones” would put into practice their predestined roles, responsibilities, values, attitudes, and positions.

Now, even though God has given the Body of Christ His five-fold spiritual leaders, who are apostles, prophets, evangelists (those who go and share the  Good News with unbelievers), pastors (those who take care of the Lord’s sheep), and teachers (those who teach the Word of God and discipleship), EVERY believer must understand that he or she is “called” to be an evangelist! Moreover, many of Jesus the Christ’s believers also are “called” to function in multiple spiritual positions, for example, as: apostle-pastor-evangelist, or prophet-teacher-evangelist,  and so forth.

Put differently, the Holy Spirit gives each believer who has been baptized (infilled) by Him a unique combination of the abovementioned, as well as many other, spiritual gifts—those spiritual gifts that are especially appropriate for each individual believer. The Holy Spirit then persuades the spiritually endowed persons to use their spiritual gifts to minister to the Body of Christ, first, and then to minister to the unsaved masses.

For Holy Spirit filled, empowered, and endowed believers, gathering together to encourage and help one another grow spiritually through the use of their individual spiritual gifts within the context of holy and righteous relationships is the foundation for mutual encouragement and accountability between the members of the Lord’s ekklesia. Therefore, when and wherever true believers meet, they should do so, first, to worship and praise God, and then, secondly, to reach inwardly for the personal power, authority, and spiritual gifts they need to reach outwardly to others, which means they would be ministering not only to their brothers and sisters in Christ (saved people) but also to the unsaved world.

The Divine Truth is that our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, ministered to repentant and unrepentant people. For this reason, God “called out” every born again, saved, justified, and being sanctified believer so that the Lord could assemble each of them together into ONE spiritual body by perfectly fitting each of them in place (in an assembly or ekklesia that is located in different global cities, countries, and continents), and according to each individual’s spiritual gifts and his or her assigned function (e.g., apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, and so forth). God confirms these statements in Apostle Paul epistles. The apostle writes:

And Christ gave gifts to people—he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God’s people. Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. ~ Ephesians 4:11-12, NCV

and

…Speaking the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head. The whole body depends on Christ, and all the parts of the body are joined and held together. Each part does its own work to make the whole body grow and be strong with love. ~ Ephesians 4:15-16, NCV

and

A person’s body is one thing, but it has many parts. Though there are many parts to a body, all those parts make only one body. Christ is like that also. Some of us are Jews, and some are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some are free. But we were all baptized into one body through one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit. …Those parts of the body that seem to be the weaker are really necessary. And the parts of the body we think are less deserving are the parts to which we give the most honor. We give special respect to the parts we want to hide. The more respectable parts of our body need no special care. But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it so our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor. Together you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of that body.  ~ 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 22-27, NCV

In other words, ONLY Jesus the Christ, who is the Head of His spiritual body of believers, has the unrestricted authority and power to add new believers, daily (cf. Acts 2:47b), to this spiritual body of “called out” Christians. More important, if the spiritual body, like the natural body, were to be separated from its Head, then the spiritual body, like the natural body, would be a lifeless body. On the other hand, whatever the Head owns, His spiritual body also owns; thus, if Jesus the Christ, who is the Head of the spiritual body of believers, has ultimate power and authority, so does every believing member of His spiritual body.

As a result, the united body of believers, we who are under the leadership and Lordship of Jesus the Christ who is our Head, according to the Apostle Paul, are the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way (cf. Ephesians 1:19-23). That is why, as it was in the first century, we 21st century truly born again, saved, justified, and being sanctified believers in Christ could have our worship, praise, thanksgiving, prayer, fellowship, spiritual strength, spiritual growth, and edification needs met, when we gather together with other true believers in public and private places located throughout the entire world.

For these abovementioned reasons, as we, who are the Lord’s added believers, seek to emulate the kind of servanthood that our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ demonstrated, we also should remember that our ministering to others, which is our reaching outwardly, is about more than what we do to and for people. As genuine believers in Christ, our ministering to others predominantly must be about who we are in Christ, as well as who we are becoming, which is more and more like Christ Jesus. Becoming more like our Lord means that, by God’s Grace and the power of His Holy Spirit, we also are gaining more of our Lord’s ministering attributes—His ministering characteristics that help us show our love, compassion, accessibility, approachability, and knowledge about the Gospel’s Truths with those believers and unbelievers who are in need of spiritual, physical, financial, material, communal, familial, emotional, mental, and/or psychological help.

Finally, let us not only develop pure motives for fulfilling our service to others, but also let us act upon those pure motives according to the purposes for which we have been “called” TO God and FOR God. Then too, let us not only acknowledge our God-given duty and role in the spiritual Body of Christ, but also let us understand that there are no lone wolves in said spiritual Body! In essence, we each have our own duty (or duties) to fulfill, and we have our own role (or roles) to play. However, when we either refuse to fulfill our duty (or duties) and/or refuse to play our role(s), or when we respond to our duty (or duties) and to the role(s) we have been given to play in the spiritual Body of Christ with impure motives, we need to know that we not only would be hurting ourselves, but also we would be hurting each other. More important, we would be hurting our Lord!

As Jesus the Christ says:

…Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. Whoever wants to become first among you must serve the rest of you like a slave. In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people. ~ Matthew 20: 26-28, NCV

So then, the question we repeatedly need to be asking ourselves is: As we minister to our Household of Faith siblings, and minister to the unsaved masses, are we using, to God’s Glory, our positions in the Body of Christ and our spiritual gifts?  If ever our answer is NO, then we would need to return to functioning in our assigned offices/positions of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, and so forth, according to the way God meant for us to function. Furthermore, we would need to rediscover the main reason for our spiritual gifts. Certainly, our spiritual gifts are given to us for us to perform a specific ministry function that will glorify Father God and Jesus the Christ. In the end, we must understand that it is by God’s Grace and the power of His Holy Spirit that our humble servanthood—our altruistic display of God-like and Christ-like attributes and characteristics—could ever encourage, enlighten/educate, and strengthen the Body of Christ,  as well as satisfy or fulfill the spiritual, physical, financial, material, communal, familial, emotional, mental, and/or psychological needs of unbelievers.

Bewitching Galatianism Is Alive And Well

11 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by in Faith and Wisdom

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Believers Still Get Bewitched By Galatianism

Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up! (Galatians 3:2-4, MSG; cf. Galatians 4:8-11).

 

In Galatians 3:1-5, the Apostle Paul reminds the Galatian believers that it is by the freely given Grace of God, in the freely given Power (dunamis) of His Holy Spirit, and through God’s freely given Faith that their Christian life began. The apostle also lets these Galatians know that their Christian life must continue the same way—by the freely given Grace of God, in the freely given Power (dunamis) of His Holy Spirit, and through God’s freely given Faith! 

Just as the Galatian first-century believers could not reach spiritual maturity by human efforts, apart from the Grace of God, Jesus the Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice, the Power (dunamis) of God’s Holy Spirit, and the Faith of God, neither can we twenty-first believers increase our spirituality. We also cannot sanctify our lives by our own efforts, because our human attempts to purify and transform our lives to the image of God’s only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, are and always will be ineffective. Put differently, Jesus the Christ did not come to help us save ourselves through our Mosaic Law obedience, traditions of men observances, and ritual commands. For sure, Jesus the Christ came to do EVERYTHING God asked Him to do so that the Lord, and Him alone, could have God’s authority to purge us of our sins, and save (justify) EVERY ONE of us who completely TRUSTS and believes in Him.

However, the Gospel of Jesus the Christ tells us, in many Scriptures, that before we can be saved (justified), and before we ever reach spiritual maturity, we need the Holy Spirit’s regenerative power—we need Him to rejuvenate our dead spirits. Without our rebirth, without being born from above, there is no way for our conviction process to begin. Furthermore, we need to go through our conviction process, because this process leads to our acceptance of Jesus the Christ as our Lord and Savior, whose blood not only covers our sins but also initially cleanses our bodies, spirits, and souls so that the Holy Spirit, by God’s Grace, is able to complete the sanctifying work of God in us. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the One who jumpstarts the work of conversion in us, with our rebirth, and He alone is the One who is able to complete this work in us, which is our final, ultimate, or perfect sanctification/transformation (also known as our glorification).

Even Jesus the Christ speaks of the Holy Spirit’s help in convicting the world of sin, judgment, and righteousness (cf. John 16:8-18). Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s FULL ministry is also why we cannot take any credit for the Grace of God reigning over the sin in our lives, for it is ONLY by the aid of the Holy Spirit that the preached Word of God is heard and the allocation of our measure of Faith take places. This Faith is needed before the Holy Spirit is able to influence our dead spirits and unbelieving souls/hearts (the seat or center of our spiritual life) to be receptive to our rebirth. Once again, it is this rebirth that leads to our conviction process. Put differently, our rebirth, our genuine repentance, and our subsequent salvation (justification) always have been the work of God’s Grace, the regenerative Power of His Holy Spirit, Jesus the Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and God’s measure of Faith gift!

Be that as it may, even though there are many contemporary Christians who believe in the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit, modern-day believers still are facing that old Galatianism, which is a bewitching, or a turning away from Grace, the Giver of Grace (Father God), and the Ones who make it possible for Grace to be freely given and freely received (Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit). Moreover, Galatianism is a turning, instead, to the legalism of Judaism—a turning to the false belief, which maintains that we non-Jews must become Jews by taking on the yoke of the Mosaic LAW so that we non-Jews truly not only can be in but also grow in Christ Jesus. Galatianism also is a bewitching that causes us (the born again, saved, and justified believers) to reject the authority of the Word of God—to reject the Gospel message on Holy Spirit guided progressive sanctification. Consequently, instead of allowing the supernatural Power of God’s Holy Spirit to sanctify us, we attempt to be sanctified by our human works. Indeed, just like the first-century Galatians, many contemporary believers also have been so successfully bewitched that we are not holding fast to nor standing firm in our Faith.

The Apostle Paul makes it clear that we, indeed, must holdfast to our Faith, and this Faith must be rooted in the Word of God. In other words, we must not allow ourselves to be bewitched by that old Galatianism, which preserves the false belief that the justification we initially received by God’s gift of Faith ONLY can be sustained by our human efforts to keep the Mosaic LAW, in particular, the rules and requirements about circumcision, the Sabbath, and the seven annual Festivals. Then too, we must not allow ourselves to be bewitched by that old Galatianism, which maintains that our “final salvation”—the time when we believers, the sheep who, at the final judgment, have been separated from the goats, and, as a result, have been permitted to enter the millennial Kingdom of God—rests on whether or not we have lived a life in which we endured to the end, and we endure to the end only because we have produced good works.

Now, there are numerous Scriptures that teach us that no amount of human goodness, human works, human morality, or religious activity can gain us acceptance with God or get us, or anyone else for that matter, into Heaven. That’s why, those of us who are called to preach and teach the unadulterated Word of God must preach and teach ONLY the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, because we truly would be preaching and teaching a bewitching Galatianism, whenever we preach and/or teach ANOTHER (a totally DIFFERENT kind of) Gospel. Then too, we must allow ONLY the Holy Spirit to do the necessary purifying work (progressive sanctification and final or perfect sanctification . . . our glorification) in our lives, which means we must remember that the works of the flesh (the works of our natural sinful state, which often is presented as a power that is in opposition to the power of the Holy Spirit) cannot save us, change us into the image of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, nor guarantee that we will receive glorified bodies. 

Likewise, those of us who are hearers and doers of the unadulterated Word of God also must avoid being bewitched—being placed under the power of the flesh, as if the flesh is capable of working a spell or some “magic,” especially the kind of “magic” that is needed to bring the legalism of Judaism back to life. Through Jesus the Christ, we have been redeemed (set free, rescued, ransomed) from the curse of the Mosaic Law. Thus, because we come to believe that keeping the Mosaic Law is the ONLY way we can stay saved, justified, and righteous, we end up putting ourselves back under the Mosaic Law, which is an unmistakable indication that we are indeed bewitched! Unfortunately, following such Galatianism also would mean that we no longer are under Grace. In other words, we would be living in a state of rebellion. Therefore, in order to avoid Galatianism, we never should put our total trust in the old rules and traditions of Judaism, and we should never allow ourselves to get to the point that we count on said rules and traditions to fulfill any part of our salvation.

It should be noted here that while we are free to rejoice in our freedom from parts of Judaism’s ceremonial and civil laws, we are not “free” from any part of God’s moral law. Even though Jesus the Christ fulfilled the ceremonial law, which points to the coming of the Messiah, as well as relates to Israel’s worship, we still must apply the principles of worshipping and serving a holy God.

As for the moral law, this law is pretty much the Ten Commandments. While we do not need to keep these Ten Commandments in order to receive our salvation, we, however, cannot live a holy life without obeying every one of God’s moral laws. In fact, our Lord actually expects us to go over and beyond the letter of the moral law, by keeping the Spirit of the moral law, for He desires that we not only demonstrate an outward observance but also an inward observance of the moral law! This inward and outward observance is now possible, because in the hearts of born again, saved, justified, and being made holy believers God individually has written His Laws.

Furthermore, since God gave us a new covenant in Jesus the Christ, the civil law or judicial law, which was meant to separate God’s chosen people, the Jewish nation, from the Gentile nations, primarily just sets down rules and requirements for Israel’s daily living. However, when the Lord fulfilled the civil law, He made it so that nations no longer separated Jews from Gentiles. Now, it is God’s Grace that separates believers from non-believers (cf. Ephesians 2:1-10; Ephesians 2:14-15; Matthew 26:26-29; Hebrews 9:11-15)!

The bottom line is that, because we are now under Grace (have been pardoned or justified), the Mosaic Law no longer can condemn us or subject us to harsh punishment. However, once we are bewitched by Galatianism, we would be entangled again with the yoke of slavery—we would become slaves of Judaism’s legalistic Do’s and Don’ts, which means that if we failed to obey those Do and Don’t rules and requirements, then we could expect to be severely punished or even condemned to death. For this reason, the Apostle Paul warns the Galatians, and us, as he writes:

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. ~ Galatians 5:1, MSG

As a final point, just because we are “free” to walk around without fearing that at any moment we will be condemned to death, we are not “free” to keep on sinning. In fact, the Scriptures make it clear that because God’s Grace has given us this freedom, then out of gratitude and love for the One who gave us Grace (the One who pardoned us from a death sentence) we should desire to keep the Kingdom of God’s laws. Indeed, Jesus the Christ declares that everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from the Greatest Commands (cf. Matthew 22:36-40; Matthew 5:17-20), and the Greatest Commandments emphasize love—loving God, loving self, and loving others.

For this reason, Grace must be balanced with the Law. Important to note here too is that balance does not mean a mixture (blend, combination); balance does not mean that, where Grace and the Law are concerned, that one is more important than the other, nor does balance mean that we should be married to both Grace and the Law, as each of these definitions would mean that balance is a kind of Galatianism. Balance, as it pertains to Grace and the Law, means that both Grace and the Law are counteracting weights or forces, for they both deal with the weighty (most important) issues of faithfulness, justice, and mercy. In other words, God’s Grace, Faithfulness, Mercy, and Justice are consistent or agree together, in such matters as pardoning sin, justification, redemption, and salvation. Put differently, God’s acts are in harmony with His attributes, because with God His acts and attributes are one and the same!

That is to say, there is no Law without God’s Grace, for the Law is an extension of God’s Grace. Point in case, God gave the Israelites His Law, because the Israelites, by the Grace of God, were now in a relationship with their God—the One who redeemed them from their Egyptian enslavers. Thus, by revealing the Law to Moses, God is acting in harmony with His eternal holiness, which means that the Law is actually an extension of His Grace given to the Israelites for the purpose of getting them to understand what it means to walk with God while living holy and righteous lives for God!

The point here is that we were saved to live holy and righteous lives for God, and to do that we need God’s standard—His Word, which includes His Law. Moreover, since God’s Laws confirm our relationship with Him and with His Son, and since our Lord demonstrates for us how the balance between Law (Justice) and Grace (Pardon) is maintained, then we need to follow His example, because without a doubt Jesus the Christ’s life and death demonstrate that by God’s Grace, by His Faith, and with the aid of the Power (dunamis) of His Holy Spirit, it is possible for God’s Law to be kept, even unto death (cf. Titus 2:11-14). 

Once again, being in a relationship with God and Jesus the Christ means that, because of God’s Grace, we are expected to live holy and righteous lives. Furthermore, it is obvious that the real test of our relationship, with God, with Jesus the Christ, and with others, is found in how we show God’s Grace, Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness. Therefore, for us to follow our Lord’s example and avoid Galatianism all together, we need to be full of His Holy Spirit, taught and led by His Holy Spirit, deeply rooted in His Word, and patiently holding fast to plus standing firm in His measure of Faith, which is a supernatural gift He has given to us.  

AMEN, and AMEN again!

Dress Rehearsal

04 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by in Spiritual

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Front-Page News - The Christian Life IS A Dress Rehearsal

And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people. ~ Luke 2:52, MSG

Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! The Marriage of the Lamb has come; his Wife has made herself ready. She was given a bridal gown of bright and shining linen. The linen is the righteousness of the saints. ~ Revelation 19:7-8, MSG

 

Most believers understand that their Christian life is merely one perpetual dress rehearsal, a full-scale practice of the life they will live with their Bridegroom and Father God in Heaven. This full-scale practice, thus, is intended to perfect believers’ lives before they are resurrected from the dead and/or raptured (translated) alive so that they will be worthy to enter into the Bridal Chamber with their Bridegroom, which is the Bride of Christ’s main event! For this reason, true believers have to make sure that they understand that every detail of their dress rehearsal must meet Father God’s expectations.

Therefore, we have to make sure that we please God by living out the kind of life Jesus the Christ lived (cf. Hebrews 11:5-6), and by coming to the spiritual understanding that our God is more interested in developing His character in us than He is interested in providing comfort for us. We also must understand that our God is more interested in making our individual lives holy, like He is holy, than He is interested in making our lives happy. 

So then, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, we must get the dress rehearsal right. To get it right, the most important goal of our born again and saved lives must be for us to grow in Christ-likeness, for the Lord Himself matured physically and spiritually, and increased in favor with God and mankind (cf. Luke 2:52). Additionally, we must complete God’s holiness (sanctification) process. In essence, we must be Holy Spirit driven instead of being driven by money, greed, lust, materialism, fame, bitterness, jealousy, envy, hatred, discrimination, immorality, and so forth.

In every community of saints, we believers not only need to practice how to praise and worship God sincerely and completely, but also we need to practice how to be ONE with our Household of Faith siblings. Without a doubt, eternity will not be all about us lifting up our holy hands and shouting or singing “hallelujah” to God. We will not spend every moment of eternity prostrate before God. The Scriptures do indeed tell us that we also will rule with the Lord FOREVER (cf. Revelation 22:3-5). For this reason, we MUST learn how to love, to forgive, and to be kind to sandpaper people (people who in the present or in the past have rubbed us the wrong way). Indeed, we MUST learn how to love, to forgive, and to be kind to anyone we currently think is unlovable!

There is no way that God will let us wait until we get to Heaven before this necessary godly behavior is perfected in us—before we are transformed into, never failing, forgiving, loving, merciful, gracious, righteous, and holy people. That’s why He gave us His Holy Spirit, whose ministry work includes, but is not limited to, conforming us into the image of Jesus the Christ and helping us to become overcomers (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 5:4). Without the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit, there is no way we can get the Christian lifestyle correct while we are living down here, and if we can’t live holy and righteously down here without the Holy Spirit’s help, then how on earth can we think that God will give us less than conquerors or non-overcomers the opportunity to become forgiving, loving, merciful, gracious, righteous, and holy people in Heaven?

Living totally surrendered holy and righteous lives on this side of Heaven is what God always had in mind for humanity. That’s why He made our Christian life a dress rehearsal, because He knew that in this dress rehearsal we, the righteousness of Christ participants, would be given plenty of opportunities to learn what TO do and what NOT TO do, how to correct our mistakes, and how to do something better the next time, and every time thereafter.

As the Bride of Christ, we know that the real production—the main event or the beginning of the rest of our eternal story—will not start until we are hidden, from the 7-year Tribulation, in the Bridal Chamber, which our Bridegroom (Jesus the Christ) has been preparing for us (cf. John 14:2-3). To earn the right to skip the Tribulation Period or the right to be permitted to wear the Bride’s fine, clean, white linen gown (cf. Revelation 19:8), or both, clearly the Bride of Christ must do more than just profess that Jesus the Christ is Her Lord and Savior—She must do more than become born again, saved, and justified. Once again, She, like Her Bridegroom, must mature physically AND spiritually, and She must increase in favor with God and mankind (cf. Luke 2:52).

Since we cannot win souls for the Lord, when we are behaving like believers who are uncaring, deceitful, jealous, envious, bitter, hateful, cold-blooded, discourteous, sarcastic, foul-mouthed, and so on, then it should stand to reason that we certainly will not have favor with God and mankind if we treat believers AND non-believers this way. In essence, if we do not have a desire to get along with others, particularly those people we’ve labeled as sandpaper or unlovable, then we won’t get along with them, especially if we are without the Holy Spirit’s help.

Now while we cannot control the thoughts and actions of others, and while we cannot make others like us, or fellowship with us, we can do our part in living peaceably. Indeed, the Word of God instructs us, for the Apostle Paul says, “If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody” (Romans 12:18, MSG). If we are full of the Holy Spirit, then the desire to get along with everybody will be in us, because we will have the mind of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:16b)! Therefore, there is no way for any of us who are born again, saved, justified, full of the Holy Spirit, and being sanctified believers to get out of having to get along with others. God commands it, and we true believers, who have the Holy Spirit’s help, will seek to obey His commandments, which in this case means doing whatever we can to get along with everybody.

Even though the born again, saved, justified, full of the Holy Spirit, and becoming holy life, which we are living now, possesses eternal significance, this life is still only our dress rehearsal—the preparation for the real production that no doubt will be far more splendid (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Then too, although this rehearsal for some will be longer and more challenging than it will be for others, God has promised that every true believer will be transformed into the perfect image of Jesus the Christ. Put differently, by the time every true believer reaches the final dress rehearsal, his or her filthy rags will be completely replaced by the Bride of Christ’s fine, clean, white linen gown!

Knowing that the Christian life is just a dress rehearsal should make the life true believers live much different from the life the individuals who are without spiritual meaning live!!! Thus, a word to the wise should be sufficient.

Christian “Birds Of A Feather” Were Meant To Flock Together

02 Friday Dec 2011

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Christian “Birds Of A Feather” Flock Together

…And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. ~ Acts 2:47b, KJV; cf. Romans 8:30

 

Clearly, God knew the literal meaning of mankind’s wise old saying: “Birds of a feather flock together.” There can be no doubt that the Creator of birds knew that single species of birds would form flocks. Likewise, the figurative meaning also did not escape God. He knew exactly what Greek philosophers like Plato would mean when they used the ancient proverb: “Birds of a feather flock together.” Of course God knew that one of the fundamental laws of social interaction would be that people with a similar character, interest, and/or background naturally would flock (gather) together—that humans would be the most comfortable when they are around individuals who are more like them.

Perhaps this knowledge is why God doesn’t give the writer of the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul, or any other first-century writers of biblical Scriptures, the word “church” to use when He speaks about a “called out” or a special assembly of God’s people who, in essence, are Christian “birds of a feather” flocking together. That’s right. “Church” is not even in the unadulterated Word of God; “church” is not in the New Testament Greek manuscripts. In fact, the English word, “church,” in the above Acts 2:47b Scripture, and in 111 other biblical occurrences, is an incorrect translation of “ekklesia,” because “ekklesia” doesn’t mean a brick and mortar building used for public Christian worship.

Indeed, in the 112 of the 115 places “ekklesia” is found in the Greek New Testament, the translators of the 1611 Authorized King James Version (AV) of the Holy Bible translate “ekklesia” as “church.” In the remaining three places “ekklesia” is found, the English translation is “assembly” (see Acts 19:32, 39 and 41).

So, then, there are 112 times, in the AV, that “church” is a poor translation for the word, “ekklesia” (or “ecclesia”), which is a transliteration of “ejkklhsiva.” Once again, the Greek New Testament “ekklesia” NEVER is defined as a physical structure like a modern day brick and mortar building. 

For sure, in the 112 times that “ekklesia” is translated as “church” in the AV, “ekklesia” always means a gathering of born again, saved, justified, full of the Holy Spirit, and in the process of becoming sanctified believers who have ALL things in common. In the first century, such a gathering would meet in places that were either “without walls” (out-of-doors), or in rented halls, or inside homes. Put differently, even though the first-century Christian “birds of a feather” flocked together at multiple locations, like various places in Jerusalem, Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, Rome, and so on, each SINGLE “ekklesia” (each different congregation of the “called out ones” of God’s Household of Faith children) was merely one part of the Body of Christ that was demonstrating the same kind of “koinonia” or fellowship—the same strong spiritual characteristics of inner AND outer “oneness.”

The inner “oneness” is the combined spiritual relationship between every believer and his or her God, every believer and his or her Savior, and every believer and his or her Household of Faith siblings. When this combined spiritual relationship expresses itself in an outward display of “oneness,” as each believer’s joint participation with the infilling Holy Spirit, with other full of the Holy Spirit believers, and in an unconditional surrender to the Lord for service, the end result is that the Body of Christ/Bride of Christ is accomplishing God’s Perfect Will on Earth. In short, each part of the “ekklesia,” no matter where it might be located on this globe, would have all things in common and would be doing God’s Perfect Will together.

Once again, in the first century, the “ekklesia,” or Christian “birds of a feather,” was an assembly of believers (and ONLY believers) who gathered for worship and fellowship (“koinonia”) purposes. Moreover, in spite of the rapid growth of the first-century “ekklesia,” the believers in each portion of God’s “ekklesia” maintained the aforementioned strong spiritual characteristics of inner AND outer “oneness,” by having ALL things in common, which was demonstrated primarily in the area of their Daily “koinonia” or DAILY fellowship. Other measurable strong spiritual characteristics were these “called out ones’” doctrinal conformity, which the apostles demonstrated in every preached, taught, and testified to Gospel message, and these “called out ones’” observances of communion ordinances, apostolic miracles, prayer, communal sharing of property, and displays of godly love and joy. In essence, the real spiritual meaning of “koinonia” or fellowship that the first century’s assembly of God’s people experienced is: Doing together—that is, “koinonia” or fellowship means ALL believers were doing God’s Perfect Will together (cf. Mark 3:35; Acts 2:42, 44-47; Acts 4:23, 32-37).

Even though Jesus the Christ’s modern-day “ekklesia” isn’t growing in numbers as rapidly as the first-century “ekklesia,” the Lord’s “ekklesia” continues to consist of born again, saved, justified, Holy Spirit filled, and in the process of becoming sanctified believers (and ONLY them) who, while purposely seeking to maintain the strong spiritual characteristics of inner AND outer “oneness” and doctrinal conformity, DAILY continue to gather together and gladly worship, pray, share, and break bread with one another. Furthermore, it is the Lord, these believers’ Savior, and ONLY Him, who adds (joins) new “members” to His “ekklesia”—His spiritual Body of Christ/Bride of Christ. This last Divine Truth is why ONLY Jesus the Christ knows who should be added to any portion of His “ekklesia,” and why ONLY Jesus the Christ knows when to add each new person!

The point here is that the Lord NEVER promises to build a religious institution (a man-made organization consisting of numerous physical buildings, or meeting places also known as churches, where Christians publicly worship God). What the Lord promises to build is a spiritual House that is exclusively His; therefore, this House cannot be built by human hands. In other words, the Lord promises to build an “ekklesia”—His spiritually “called out” assembly, group, community, family (cf. Hebrews 9:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 5:1). The bottom line is this: God always meant for the Lord’s Christian “birds of a feather” to flock together!

Since born again, saved, justified, full of the Holy Spirit, and in the process of becoming sanctified believers are designed to be Christian “birds of a feather” who are predisposed to flock (assemble) together (cf. Hebrews 10:15-25), today’s true believers cannot stop gathering DAILY in their God-appointed assemblies, groups, families, or communities where they joyfully share the unadulterated Gospel, as well as gladly share their worldly possessions, praises, prayers, miracles, worship, the Lord’s Supper, and fellowship (having ALL things in common, including a similar character, interest, and background).

In the majority of the members who attend the brick and mortar building that you currently call your “church” home, have you witnessed all of the aforementioned measurable strong spiritual characteristics—the inner “oneness,” doctrinal conformity, and outer “oneness,” as seen in sharing, loving, and caring actions? If not, then it is time for you to seek out the Lord’s true “ekklesia”—His spiritual House, where genuine Christian “birds of a feather” will be found flocking together and doing the Perfect Will of God, together! AMEN.