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Gone Fishin'

~ …“Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”

Gone Fishin'

Monthly Archives: August 2013

Are There Really Only Five LOVE Languages?

29 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

agape love, conscience, diverse wisdom, Golden Rule, healthy and hurting people, Holy Spirit, human condition, human relations, instinct, love languages, marriages, right living, romantic relationships

The Languages of Love

When We Practice Real Love

My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. ~ 1 John 3:18-24, MSG

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. ~ Ephesians 5:25, MSG

 

There are many how-to books on understanding and expressing our love for our spouse, our children, our friends, our parents, our coworkers, and so forth. Perhaps the most popular how-to book on understanding and expressing our love for others, at least according to many Christians, is New York Times bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate (1992, 1995). Note: This blog entry is not a review of his book!

Now while this blogger will agree that Chapman touches on something very true in his book, and while this blogger will admit that he does give some realistic ways of putting in action the five basic love languages that he describes, this blogger also has to say that Chapman’s book has many limitations. The one limitation that sticks in this blogger’s craw is that Chapman implies that there are only five basic love languages. On the contrary, love that is God’s Agápe Love will speak to believers in many languages (read David Powlison’s Love Speaks Many Languages Fluently—a book review of Chapman’s The Five Love Languages…). 

Powlison’s critique is lovingly brutal. Unfortunately, Powlison has to be. Moreover, this blogger agrees with Powlison’s title to his review. The God kind of Love (Agápe Love) truly does speak fluently in many languages.

Without doubt God’s Agápe Love is so much more than giving the people we love compliments—Words of Affirmation. His Love is so much more than us spending time doing things with the people we love—Quality Time. The God kind of Love is so much more than us making sure that the people we love receive gifts on their birthday, anniversary, graduation, wedding, or any other special occasions for gifts, and God’s Love is so much more than us just giving ourselves as a gift to the people we love—Receiving Gifts. Then too, God’s Love is so much more than us doing what would bless others that we normally aren’t doing for them—Acts of Service. Lastly, God’s Agápe Love is so much more than us sitting close to the people we love, or hugging them, or holding hands with them, or gently touching them—Physical Touch. Again, while Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch truly are basic love languages, Chapman has left out so many other necessary basic love languages.

There is no way that an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator God did not foreknow that the human beings He would create not only would come in all shapes, sizes, and colors but also would possess different temperaments, personalities, desires, interests, experiences, and so forth. That’s why there can be no doubt that He absolutely decided before creating mankind all the basic Love languages His children would need, before He put His Agápe Love inside them. That is why God’s Agápe Love includes, but is not limited to, the following basic Love languages: self-sacrifice, long-sufferance, kindness, compassion, love, devotion, sensitivity, friendliness, generosity, cheerfulness, tenderness, gentleness, likability, self-control, praise, good wishes, tributes, support, service, helpfulness, cooperation, forgiveness, mercy, grace, blessings, nobility, accountability, redemption, hopefulness, trustworthiness, honesty, dependability, consistency, holiness, righteousness, decency, goodness, agreeableness, hopefulness, faith, optimism, acceptance, willingness, fairness, confidence, boldness, strength, steadfastness, endlessness, ongoingness, and so forth. Without mentioning all of these Love languages, as well as those not stated here that definitely are included in God’s Agápe Love, Chapman’s book just comes off as a long informative essay on how husbands and wives should scratch their mates’ backs in order to get their mates to scratch their backs too.

Additionally, even though Chapman’s five love languages are touted as some kind of magical cure for the husbands and wives who aren’t being loved the way they want to be or expected to be, his book only tends to point out the lustful worldly side of human love instead of the pure spiritual side of God’s Agápe Love. Even so, the funny thing is that Chapman really hasn’t said anything that is unknown.

Put differently, Chapman isn’t sharing any secret to the only kind of love that lasts (Agápe Love), because everything he mentions in The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate God has mentioned first in His Holy Bible. In fact, readers only have to look, for example, at God’s Golden Rule and see that Chapman has no corner on the market, when it comes to expressing how people want to and even expect to be loved or treated. Furthermore, if there is any secret Chapman is revealing it is the ways people abuse the well-known principle Christ Jesus gives—the biblical principle that everyone should follow in order to obtain success in any and every kind of activity or situation. This biblical principle has come to be known as the Golden Rule. The Lord says:

Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get. ~ Matthew 7:12, MSG

In other words, in the Golden Rule, the Lord is confirming that hidden within the human nature is our instinct to want to treat people better so that they will treat us better. Moreover, the Lord indicates that, without exception, this Golden Rule (principle) applies to every single human situation, including all romantic relationships. However, in the last part of verse 12 and the two verses that follow, the Lord lets us know just why most of us fail to behave according to what we instinctively know is right. Christ Jesus says:

…Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get. Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. ~ Matthew 7:12b-14, MSG

In another English translation, we read:

…This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. ~ Matthew 7:12b-14, NLT

The bottom line is that the Golden Rule embodies the entire Holy Bible’s teaching on the holy and righteous way we should live. However, according to what Christ Jesus says before Matthew 7:12, in particular, what He says in verses 1-5 and 7-11, and what He says after verse 12, specifically verses 13-14, there can be no doubt that without the help of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift inside of ONLY born-again believers in Christ Jesus, none of us can keep the Law or what the prophets of God teach/reveal about holy and right living, no matter if God’s Law is in our conscience. For as Christ Jesus says, the path that leads to life, or the Golden Rule path, is not an easy path to take or an easy path to stay on, once it is chosen. That’s why so few of us actually carry out the Golden Rule.

The harsh truth is that it is much easier to ignore others and live an inconsistent life, which for many of us means choosing to travel the wide path that leads to a life that has us choosing to point out specks in the lives of other people, even though we know that we have logs in our own life. For the few of us who find and choose Christ Jesus’ narrow Golden Rule path, some of us often fall off this path, whenever our mind tells us it is okay to forget about the Golden Rule, and we listen to our mind’s voice instead of to the still small voice within our spirits (hearts). As a result of our disobedience, we too will choose to point out the speck that is in the lives of other people, even though we know that we have a log in our own life.  

Concerning Chapman’s reason why many people fail to carry out the Golden Rule, Powlison says:

Obviously, the most basic violations of the Golden Rule occur when we simply mistreat others, doing and saying malicious things we’d hate to have done and said to us. But perhaps the most common misunderstanding of the Golden Rule is that even in attempting to love others we do what we would want. It’s a less heinous form of self-centeredness, more clumsy and ignorant than hateful. Such clumsiness and ignorance is the problem that 5LL, at its best, actually addresses. (Though Chapman makes the further claim that a person will mistreat other people—violate them, act hatefully—because others, out of ignorance of the right love language, haven’t loved that person and filled his tank of needs….) ~ The Journal of Biblical Counseling, Fall 2002, p. 3

However, Powlison adds the following criticism about Chapman’s book:

The 5LL model fails the class ‘Human Nature 101.’ Like all secular interpretations of human psychology (even when lightly Christianized), it makes some good observations and offers some half-decent advice (of the sort that self-effort can sometimes follow). But it doesn’t really understand human psychology. That basic misunderstanding has systematic distorting and misleading effects. Fallenness not only brings ignorance about how best to love others; it brings a perverse unwillingness and inability to love. It ingrains the perception that our lusts are in fact needs, empty places inside where others have disappointed us. The empty emotional tank construct is congenial to our fallen instincts, not transformative. It leaves what we instinctively want as an unquestionable good that must somehow be fulfilled. It not only leaves fundamental self-interest unchallenged, it plays to self-interest. Chapman gives tax collectors, gentiles, and sinners something they can do on their own that might work to make them happier. The case studies end with, ‘My love tank has never felt so full and I’ve never been happier.’ It sounds more like opiates for the masses than The Revolution needed to bring in the kingdom of solid joys and lasting treasures. Chapman’s model is premised on a give-to-get economy: ‘I will give to fill your love tank. But in the back of my mind I’m always considering whether and when I’ll get my own tank filled.’(p. 5)

So then, not only is the Holy Bible the original love languages’ source that not only provides many more love languages than the 5 Chapman mentions but also the Holy Bible is the original source in which the secret to the true kind of love that lasts (Agápe Love) is found, as not one of Chapman’s 5 love languages is sufficient in and of itself. Then too, the Holy Bible is the only book that has been the bestselling book for ages, selling an estimated 6 billion copies in various translations!

Since God’s Holy Bible has the 5 love languages and more, and since God via His gift of the Holy Spirit is the One who makes what the Holy Bible says about the most beneficial way to pursue God’s “good gifts” and the most beneficial way to seek how we should use our “good gifts,” once we have received them (both natural gifts and spiritual gifts, including the gift of sex and the institution of marriage), why then do so many believers in Christ Jesus “love” what Chapman has written to the point that they have recommended his book to other believers and/or have held countless book discussions about his book? What is it about Chapman’s book that has moved famous talk show personalities to have Chapman on their shows to speak to their audiences about his book? More important, what is it about Chapman’s book that moves pulpit ministers (and other Christian spiritual leaders) to use in their sermons or to teach in their Bible Study classes Chapman’s 5 love languages, as if his book were a tried and true supplement to the Word of God?

Perhaps Chapman’s book appeals to so many, because it is easy to read and understand. Maybe people “love” his book because he is telling them something they never really thought about before they read his book. However, where spiritual leaders who are doing God’s ministry work are concerned, it appears to this blogger that they prefer to use “half-decent advice” that doesn’t address in full detail the human condition, as well as doesn’t point to Christ Jesus—doesn’t explain why mankind needs a Savior. It also appears to this blogger that they prefer to use “half-decent advice” that doesn’t point to the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit.

God gives His Holy Spirit to every born again, saved, justified, and being sanctified believer for Him to reveal Divine Truths, as well as to teach, to comfort, and to guide them. Once the Holy Spirit is inside each believer, He then gives the believer God’s additional spiritual “good gifts,” which include all of the diverse wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (both natural and spiritual) that he or she needs to live a holy and righteous life on this Earth, and in the Kingdom of God.

The bottom line is human relations are difficult, especially sexually romantic relationships such as marriages. Because human relations are difficult that’s why everybody needs help (needs wisdom, needs knowledge, and needs understanding) with his or her relationship(s).

God freely offers His spiritual help and diverse wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (both natural and spiritual) to every person who has the God kind of Faith to listen to what He says. This kind of listening involves having a receptive heart (spirit). This kind of listening also involves hearing the Gospel from any or all of Christ Jesus’ called, appointed and anointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors (shepherds), and teachers—His spiritual human gifts that He gives to the Body of Christ.

Because there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors (shepherds), and teachers everywhere, no one has to wait until he or she is in an organized “church” setting before he or she can hear (or read) what God says in His Word about His Agápe Love’s diverse love languages, and the tried and true (trustworthy, dependable) way men and women should apply the wisdom inherent in His copious love languages. The main way men and women should apply the wisdom inherent in His numerous love languages is by keeping Christ Jesus’ Golden Rule. For this reason, Christians, especially spiritual leaders, always must point healthy and hurting people to the loving and caring Lord, because He positively is the only One who not only desires but also is more than able to bless every area of everyone’s life.

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Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

25 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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Tags

agape love, complete, Day of the Lord, entreatable love, fulfilled, God's wrath, Judgment Day, mature, perfect love, punishment, pure, teachable love, torment, unconditional love of God, unselfish love

Agape Love

…we have come to know and trust the love that God has for us. God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them.  Here is how love has been brought to maturity with us: as the Messiah is, so are we in the world. This gives us confidence for the Day of Judgment.  There is no fear in love. On the contrary, love that has achieved its goal gets rid of fear, because fear has to do with punishment; the person who keeps fearing has not been brought to maturity in regard to love.  We ourselves love now because he loved us first. ~ 1 John 4:16-19, CJB

 

Anything that causes strong feelings of resistance, reluctance, hesitation, dislike, aversion, unwillingness, loatheness, disgust, hatred, insecurity, agitation, agony, anguish, foreboding, self-punishing, worry, uneasiness, humiliation, trepidation, distress, fright, dread, panic, or alarm, and etc., is the kind of fear the apostle John says involves punishment. This kind of fear is not the type that causes godly fear or reverence of God; this fear apostle John says is not in love is not the kind of fear that causes people to not want to offend God.

That’s why, unlike some of this world’s types of love, the God kind of Love doesn’t cause any of the already stated unpleasant feelings. For sure, the God kind of Love never torments (punishes) or distresses those individuals who receive His Love, even though God’s Love is self-sacrificing, patient, kind, compassionate, friendly, generous, good-natured, tender, gentle, calm, warm, sensitive, supportive, fearless, noble, hopeful, trustworthy, honest, easy-going, encouraging, accepting, unfailing, willing, cooperative, agreeable, likeable, fair, merciful, gracious, confident, bold, strong, determined, long-lasting, never-ending, and so forth.

Furthermore, the fear the apostle speaks of repels, but the love he talks about attracts. Even so, there are times when fear and love will coexist, especially when love has not been perfected—when love doesn’t have everything that is needed to make it full; isn’t complete; hasn’t fulfilled its purpose. Put differently, the kind of love that is not “perfect love” is the self-centered, self-absorbed, “me” first kind of love. In contrast, the “perfect” kind of love that has NO fear is pure, mature, and unselfish love.

When love is pure, mature, and unselfish, there absolutely is no fear in this type of love—fear positively cannot exist in pure, mature, and unselfish love. So then, the kind of love apostle John is referring to as “perfect love” is God’s agápe Love (God’s unconditional Love, which He gives to His sons and daughters [cf. Romans 5:5], AND the unconditional love His children give back to Him, as well as give to humanity). Of all of the types of love that are in this world, it is only the bold, confident agápe love (“perfect love”) that can drive out every kind of repellent fear, including the fear of Judgment Day.   

The reason why the Day of Judgment, and every day leading up to this day, does not cause the true believer in Christ Jesus to have fear is because God’s agápe Love inside of every believer’s spirit (heart) is fulfilling its purpose—is giving each believer everything he or she needs to become full or spiritually mature; is giving everything each believer needs to become like Christ Jesus (cf. 1 John 4:17). That’s why every believer can be boldly confident about having no fear of or having no anticipation of punishment (God’s wrath)—just “perfect love.” Put differently, no genuine believer in Christ Jesus will fear the wrath of God on Judgment Day, because God’s agápe Love (“perfect love”) will have been matured (fulfilled, brought to completion) within every born again, saved, justified, imputed righteousness, and sanctified believer. Without a doubt, long before Judgment Day begins, the “perfect love” in each true believer will have driven out all fear of being condemned on that Day of the Lord. Indeed, this Divine Truth is why the Scriptures declare that the “perfect love” in every believer lets each believer know that he or she has passed from death to life (cf. 1 John 3:14).

Now another Divine Truth is that the ones who will have fear of or have anticipation of Judgment Day’s punishment are those individuals who remain in death (cf. 1 John 3:14). They have not passed out of death into life, because the love within them has never been “perfect love.” As a result, they have not matured, spiritually speaking; they haven’t received everything they need to have a love that is full or complete, and their love hasn’t fulfilled the purpose “perfect love” fulfills.

Sadly, while many of these left-behinders might dread God’s wrath to the point that they stop sinning, unfortunately all of them will have failed to realize that their fear of God’s punishment will not and cannot lead them to salvation—their fear of God’s wrath will not and cannot rescue/deliver them from that end-time torment, if they have not been born again, saved, justified, imputed righteousness, and sanctified. Indeed, according to apostle John, it is God’s Love that eventually leads to salvation. John writes: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed” (John 3:16, CJB).

More to the point, without regeneration and salvation, there is no way that those who fear God’s punishment could have received God’s agápe Love in their unregenerate spirit. In their dead-to-God spiritual state, there is no way that they could be united with God and, more important, no way that He could unite with them!

The bottom line is that only born again, saved, justified, imputed righteousness, and being sanctified believers who have God’s agápe Love inside their individual heart (spirit) will positively be able to love God with all of their heart (spirit), soul, mind, and might, plus love their neighbors as they love themselves. For sure, because the “perfect love” inside genuine lovers of God and authentic believers in Christ Jesus will cause that good work begun in them to be completed (cf. Philippians 1:6), this Divine Truth is why their “perfect love” also will get rid of any fear of destruction and death they might have had and leave true believers with boldness and confidence about their salvation.

Even though “perfect love” is gentle, kind, teachable, and loving in how it pleads with believers to avoid sin (darkness) by coming to and remaining in the Light, unfortunately there will be many people who will remain in darkness. Many of them are those individuals who will continue to fear God’s punishment, because God’s agápe Love has not been made perfect in them. Sadly, this last fact means God’s unconditional Love isn’t (and never was) inside them.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen!

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True Spiritual Worship

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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born-again spirit, earthly, God's nature and character, heavenly, increased knowledge about God, inwardly, outwardly, praise tongues, prayer tongues, regenerated spirit, sensuous, spirit and truth, spirit to Spirit, Spiritual

Worship To God

But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration. ~ John 4:23-24, MSG

We are born again ONLY in the spirit (heart)—not in the soul and not in the body. Indeed, only our born again individual spirit is our new nature—our new man; a new creation. In other words, our born-again spirit is no longer dead to God (no longer separated from God).

Moreover, our now born-again spirit not only is righteous and holy but also our regenerate spirit is filled with God’s agápe love (cf. Romans 5:5), His Law (cf. Hebrews 10:12-17), His spiritual gifts (e.g., cf. 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4:11-13), His power (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8; Romans 15:13; Ephesians 3:20), and His Perfect Will, which is in the form of the Holy Spirit—the Holy Spirit is that Source of God’s Perfect Will (that Divine enablement), which God Himself put inside every believer (cf. Philippians 2:13). As such, we now can enter into God’s presence to develop our relationship with Him, fellowship with Him, and worship Him.

Then too, because we love God with all of our heart (born-again spirit), soul, and might (totality) [cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30], our agápe love for Him, which is in our spirit (heart), is what influences our desire to worship God in spirit and truth. Put differently, worshipping all of God (The Father, who is Spirit; the Son, who is Spirit; and the Holy Spirit, who is Spirit) in spirit and in truth only happens when we worship God with all of who we are. All of who we are is in our new man identity (our born again spirit), which means, since God is an uncreated, unmeasured, infinite and eternal Spirit, the only way we can worship our God is with our born-again spirit, and with EVERYTHING He has put within our regenerate spirit.

That’s right! When we worship God in spirit and in truth, we are not worshipping Him with our bodies (our raised arms and hands, or bended knees, or praying hands, or dancing bodies, or musical instruments, or the songs we sing during a worship service, like, for example, three praise songs, one prayer song, one communion song, and one invitation song). That kind of worship is sensuous (the Old Testament’s way of worshipping God, which is outwardly and earthly). Under the New Testament’s covenant of Grace, believers in Christ Jesus worship God in a true and spiritual way, in particular, inwardly and heavenly.

Put differently, only our sin-free spirit can touch or communicate (no doubt, in tongues) with God, who is the Spirit who created spirits, including our individual spirit. Therefore, when our individual spirit worships God in spirit and in truth, our individual spirit is worshipping God in the only true (properly informed, precisely described) spiritual manner suitable to His Nature and His Character, both of which are holy, righteous (morally good; morally right), loving, kind, patient, joyous, disciplined, gentle, faithful, peaceable, triune, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, and so forth.

That is to say, God has given us His Nature so that being like Him would come naturally to us. In other words, the parts of His “Nature” He put in us are how we should be living and behaving naturally. Our praise and worship in spirit and truth, then, happen when God sees our born again new nature (spirit) doing what it is naturally expected to do—when God sees us living holy and righteous lives that are totally Christ-like! 

The bottom line is that none of our humanly devised formulas for our worship services is true and spiritual worship. For sure, the Word of God properly informs and precisely describes for us our true and spiritual worship. For example, with our praise tongues (in the Spirit), we are to sing praise songs, prayer songs, and communion songs (cf. Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16); and we are to use our prayer tongues (in the Spirit) when communicating with God (cf. Romans 8:26; 1 Corinthians 14:2).

In summary, the only life that is holy and pleasing to God is our new spirit-man’s life. For this reason, the way we worship with God will be spirit to Spirit, which is why we can worship Him anywhere at any time. Since our bodies are the temple of the Lord, our spirit goes with us wherever our body goes, and yet, once again, no unregenerate body or soul will be used in our true and spiritual worship.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost indeed is that time that has come and engaged our spirit in a pursuit of truth (more knowledge of who God really is and information about how He truly wants us to worship Him). This current Age is no doubt the prophesied time of increased knowledge (cf. Daniel 12:4), and this truth is why we no longer have any excuses for why we don’t understand what Christ Jesus means by worshipping God in spirit and in truth. Clearly this kind of worship means more than being indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and worshipping God in spirit and in truth means more than singing three praise songs, one prayer song, one communion song, and one invitation song during an organized worship service. A word to the wise should be sufficient.

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Agápe Each Other!

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

agape, altruistic, endures insults and injuries, God's Love, Good Samaritan, kind, long-suffering, patient, self-denying, self-sacrifice, selfless, supportive, unconditional

Love One Another

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16, ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. ~ John 13:34-35, ESV

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ~ John 15:13, ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends… ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, ESV

The main way that agápe differs with the other kinds of love that are in this world is that agápe means self-sacrifice. Thus, when God commands us to show agápe love, He is telling us to show His nature and His character—God is love (cf. 1 John 4:8, ESV). Put differently, just like God demonstrated His agápe love for us when He sent His son into this world to die for us, and just like Christ Jesus demonstrated His agápe love for us by willingly dying on the cross in our place, God is demanding that we love each other the same way—sacrificially (altruistically), unselfishly putting other people and their needs first (read about sacrificial love in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, ESV).

Love doesn’t get any nobler than agápe. For sure, agápe is the highest type of love there is. No other kind of love can come close to God’s unconditional, self-denying, long-suffering, kind, and supportive type of love. Also there is no other type of earthly love that can come close to being the kind of love we are commanded to show our God and all mankind, which means even our enemies are included in every love command (see Matthew 5:44; Matthew 22:37-39).

Furthermore, very few people would die for an enemy, let alone for people they love with a lesser kind of love than agápe. Yet, this is exactly what God’s agápe has moved Him to do. We were sinners, rebels, children of the devil and thus enemies of God who didn’t deserve to be redeemed. For this reason, we not only are to sacrifice our good for the good of our brothers and sisters in Christ, but also we are to sacrifice our good for the greater good—for the good of all mankind.

In addition to the self-sacrifice meaning, agápe also means long-sufferance. In other words, agápe is patient. It takes a person with agápe love a very long time to get angry. In the case of loving one’s enemy, the person who has agápe love endures insults and injuries while patiently attempting to win over his or her adversary.

Agápe also means kindness. When a person is kind to others, he or she usually is demonstrating true compassion and/or tenderness, as well as being sincerely generous and/or friendly. For sure, kindness holds in check every kind of abuse. Thus, when any Scripture tells us that we are to be kind to every person, that Word of God only is reiterating that we must agápe each other—show love to everybody.

Agápe also means support (it bears all things; puts up with anything). The person who has agápe love is supportive either by being slow to expose the sins and mistakes of others or, figuratively speaking, by standing under the person who has fallen or who is in trouble and lifting that individual up with encouragement and help.

Since agápe means self-sacrifice, long-sufferance, kindness, and support, the person who displays agápe love definitely will not be envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, self-centered (always “me” first), cantankerous (easy to provoke), or resentful/bitter (a recorder or keeper of other people’s sins and/or the hurts they cause). Additionally, this person who has agápe love won’t rejoice in what’s wrong but will rejoice in the truth. Ultimately, because the person who is displaying agápe love also is demonstrating the God kind of Trust (gives the benefit of the doubt; believes all things; always trusts God), is demonstrating the God kind of Hope (has the highest expectations; hopes all things), and is demonstrating the God kind of Determination (never gives up; endures all things; never looks back), as a result, the agápe love this person shows others is the kind of love that keeps going until the end—never fades, never becomes obsolete, and never is done/finished.

The bottom line is that it takes God pouring into us His agápe love before we ever would be able to release agápe love to Him or to all humanity. That’s why His agápe love commands are painlessly achievable and not burdensome in the least bit. We can love God and others the way God loves us, because He first loved us enough to decide He would give us a part of His nature and His character.

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Why We Love

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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agape, brotherly love, Eros, family love, mental love, natural affection, passionate love, Philia, physical, sensual, spiritual Divine Love, Storge, temple harlotry, temple of Aphrodite, unconditional love of God

We 1 John Chapter 4, Verse 19ourselves love now because he loved us first. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if a person does not love his brother, whom he has seen, then he cannot love God, whom he has not seen. Yes, this is the command we have from him: whoever loves God must love his brother too. ~ 1 John 4:19-21, CJB

 

Long before God ever created us in His image He loved us. Since love is reciprocal, it should be obvious that God created us primarily so that we would choose to love Him back. He also created us so that we would choose to love everyone He created. In other words, both our temporal life (limited by time) and our eternal life (existing outside of time) are about LOVE—God’s love for us and our love for Him and others.

Since love started with God (cf. 1 John 4:19), who graciously gave us the ability to love, we should seek to understand how much God loves us, as well as learn how to recognize His love, especially during those times when we don’t seem to feel His love. We also should seek to understand why it is impossible for us to love God and not sincerely demonstrate to EVERY person the same kind of love He shows us.

In this world we live in, there are many different kinds of love. Some of these types of love are addressed in the New Testament. In the New Testament we find:

  • Agápe, which is the highest type of love. In the Holy Bible, this spiritual kind of Divine Love (the unconditional love of God) is the love that Christ Jesus showed Father God and humanity.
  • Philia, which is a general type of love that usually is used between family members and friends, plus used when a person is conveying a desire or the enjoyment of an activity. In the Holy Bible, this mental kind of brotherly love is the love that the early Christians showed one another.
  • Storge, which is a natural affection type of love that parents show to their children. Storge also expresses patience (putting up with) or acceptance of situations. Throughout the Holy Bible, this caring kind of family love is seen, even though storge is a word that is never mentioned in the Holy Bible.
  • Eros, which is the basest type of love. This sensual, physical, passionate love usually is shared between individuals who are physically attracted to one another. In the Holy Bible, in particular in 1 Corinthians, this kind of intimate sexual love is forbidden, even though the word eros is not used. In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul admonishes the Corinthian believers who were engaging in temple harlotry—fornicating with the temple prostitutes in Corinth, who were priestesses of the temple of Aphrodite (see 1 Corinthians 6:15-20). Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of erotic (eros) love.  

Of these four types of love, God’s agápe love is the kind of love He commands us to demonstrate. Even Christ Jesus commanded us to show the agápe kind of love to God, ourselves, our neighbors, and our fellow believing brothers and sisters  (see Matthew 22:37-39; John 13:34; 1 Thessalonians 4:9). Indeed, to make sure that we could fulfill this command to love with the agápe kind of love, God gave us His Holy Spirit, and His Holy Spirit then poured into our hearts/spirits this unconditional love of God. As proof, the apostle Paul writes that “…God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5, ESV).

Lastly, since God’s agápe love is a sign that we are Christians (see 1 John 5:1-2), let us who are born again, saved, justified, filled with the Holy Spirit, and being sanctified believers seek to please God not only with the Faith He has given us, but also by loving Him with our whole heart, strength, mind and soul, and by loving others as we love ourselves. 

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Matthew 16:13-17 – AN INSTAGRAM IMAGE OF JESUS

10 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Reblogged

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A very timely piece . . . . I certainly have seen my share of people who promote themselves daily on Twitter via their tweeted Instagram “Selfie” images, which scream: Check me out! I am all that, a bag of chips, AND some Ranch Dressing! Who can count the number of “Selfies” that have been tweeted? Thank God that Christ Jesus doesn’t need to promote Himself. He doesn’t need to brag about how important and great He is by tweeting numerous “Selfies”!

Words of Life

Matthew 16:13-17 – AN INSTAGRAM IMAGE OF JESUS

“Enough about me. Tell me what you think about me.” Narcissus, a young man in Greek mythology, fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool. Now, instead of a pool, Narcissus looks into the screen of an iPhone and takes Instagram Selfies. He documents his day from the food he eats to the songs he listens to, to the fleeting thoughts he has. He uploads his images and comments about himself to social media sites. Nothing is out of bounds. Nothing too ordinary to share. What if in the middle of posting his ego he received a post from God Himself? Would he notice?

Rampant in our social media Narcissus demands “Follow Me!” In his numerous self-aggrandizing conversations on Twitter he brags about expertise and exaggerates personal achievements. He sends endless Selfies; ingrown images, craving the admiration of others…

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Your Old Man Is DEAD!

06 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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adultery, Bride of Christ, divorcee, enslaved, first and second husbands, marriage analogy, metaphor, new man, obligated, old man, sin nature, sinless nature, slave-master relationship, Torah (the Law), under Grace, under the Law, wife

Old Man or Sin Nature

Surely you know, brothers — for I am speaking to those who understand Torah — that the Torah has authority over a person only so long as he lives? For example, a married woman is bound by Torah to her husband while he is alive; but if the husband dies, she is released from the part of the Torah that deals with husbands. Therefore, while the husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress if she marries another man; but if the husband dies, she is free from that part of the Torah; so that if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress. Thus, my brothers, you have been made dead with regard to the Torah through the Messiah’s body, so that you may belong to someone else, namely, the one who has been raised from the dead, in order for us to bear fruit for God. For when we were living according to our old nature, the passions connected with sins worked through the Torah in our various parts, with the result that we bore fruit for death. But now we have been released from this aspect of the Torah, because we have died to that which had us in its clutches, so that we are serving in the new way provided by the Spirit and not in the old way of outwardly following the letter of the law. ~ Romans 7:1-6, CJB

The Old Testament’s Law was not given to God’s Jewish people to perfect each Jewish person’s old man or sin nature. That is to say; the Law was not given to make Jewish people holy and righteous, because the Word of God makes it clear that if they stumbled and broke one point of the Law, then they were guilty of breaking the whole Law (cf. James 2:10).

Therefore, the reason why God gave His Ten Commandments and His other directives was for the purpose of producing the kind of guilt that would make His Jewish people understand that they are in bondage to and, thus, under the dictatorship of their “old man” or sin nature (see Romans 3:19, 23; Romans 5:12; and 1 Timothy 1:9-10). Since they were sinners who, apart from God and His Grace, would never live a sinless life, this Divine Truth is why God commanded them to make amends for their sins through sacrificed animals and burnt offerings, as well as through some non-animal offerings like repentance, prayers, and charity/good deeds (see 1 Kings 8:46-50; Hosea 6:6), or else suffer the consequence of the sin(s) they committed. The bottom line is that every Jewish person sinned, and every one of those sins ultimately leads to the sinning person’s physical  death.

Put differently, the Jewish people living under the Law were in essence SLAVES to that Law—they were obligated to serve the Law through their obedience to the Law. Whenever they were disobedient to the Law, they legally were required to make the appropriate sin sacrifice and sin offering (read Leviticus 4:1-6:30) that were necessary for Jewish sinners to receive forgiveness, or they had to suffer the consequences of their sins that the Law described (read Deuteronomy 28:15-68 for descriptions of the many curses God will send because of their disobedience). Then too, the Law even dictated where the Jews could make their sacrifices and their offerings. They couldn’t do so wherever they wanted (see Deuteronomy 12:4-6, 8-11, 13-14).

Be that as it may. When a person becomes a believer in Christ (a born again, saved, and being sanctified believer), this is when that person’s legal obligation to the Law ends. There no longer is that old slave-master relationship with the Law, like every Jewish person had from the time of the giving of the Law, and like each Jewish person still has, if he or she is not a Messianic Jew. Now the chief reason why a believer’s slave-master relationship with the Law has ended is because he or she has died to his or her old self, and as a result also has died to the Law. Thus, for the believer in Christ Jesus, the Law that was given to kill and condemn (see 2 Corinthians 3:7, 9) no longer could strengthen sin (see 1 Corinthians 15:56), for sin that has been strengthened ultimately defeats humans.  

In other words, the reason why every believer no longer is under the Law is because each believer’s old man or sin nature no longer exists. The believer’s spiritually DEAD heart (spirit), in which the old man used to live, has become a New Creation (see Romans 6:4, 6; Ephesians 2:5-6; and Colossians 2:12-13). Because of God’s Grace, each believer in Christ Jesus now has new life—is a new man with a sinless nature. The Lord has set the believer free (released him or her) from the Law so that he or she could marry Christ Jesus, the Messiah! Conversely, the only way a Jewish person could get out from under the Law—could be legally released from the Law—was through a physical death, as only death could end every legal obligation to the Law. For this last reason, the apostle Paul uses marriage as an analogy or metaphor to illustrate the similarities between the Jewish wife who is no longer married to her first husband, because his physical death has released her from the marriage part of the Law, and believers in Christ Jesus who are no longer married to their old man or sin nature (their first husband), because the death of their old man or sin nature has released them from being SLAVES to the Law.

Once again, for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, our “old man” is DEAD. Now here’s where we need to know what the Torah (the Law) says about marriage, in order to understand the apostle Paul’s marriage analogy (how he compares the relationship a Jewish woman has with her husband and the Law TO the relationship believers have with Christ Jesus and the Law). Then too, what is important to know about biblical analogies is that, like parables, they are used to get across one point of Divine Truth. In the apostle Paul’s marriage analogy, that one point of Divine Truth is: Death removes a person from the bondage of the Law. Moreover, making just one point is why analogies are not specific in EVERY detail, which is why when analogies are pressed too far they then will fall under the category of allegorical interpretations, where every part of an analogy will have an analogous counterpart.

Having said that, there can be no doubt that the apostle Paul knows that the Jewish marriage Law, indeed ANY marriage law, whether Jewish, Roman, or whatever, has the power and authority to bind a man and a woman together, yet if either the husband or the wife dies then the marriage law that bound them together is cancelled. More important, unlike Roman and other Gentile marriage laws, where either the man or the woman could divorce a spouse, the apostle knows that, in accordance with the Mosaic Law, a woman who is married cannot divorce her husband. She, thus, is bound to her husband by the Law, even if he decides to divorce her for the legal reason of conjugal infidelity. As a divorcee she is forbidden to marry another man, as long as her first husband is living, and this point in the marriage Law is what Christ Jesus emphasizes in the New Testament (see Deuteronomy 24:1; Matthew 5:31-32; and Romans 7:3). The bottom line is that since only death can set aside the Jewish marriage Law obligations, a married Jewish woman is bound to her husband by the Law until her husband dies.

Once again, the Torah only has authority/dominion over that wife, as long as her husband lives. When he dies, she is free from the very Law that otherwise would have prevented her from divorcing her first husband and/or prevented her from marrying someone else, as a divorcee, as long as her first husband is alive. If she remarried before the first husband died, she would be committing adultery.

Since the Law no longer plays a role in salvation, for as the apostle says, “But now, quite apart from Torah, God’s way of making people righteous in his sight has been made clear — although the Torah and the Prophets give their witness to it as well” ~ Romans 3:21, CJB, the apostle’s marriage analogy, thus, really is a salvation issue. His marriage metaphor is a salvation issue because the power of both sin and the Law ends once the believer belongs to a new realm—to the spiritual realm, as opposed to the natural realm. Indeed, believers, who now are the spiritual Body of Christ, obtain salvation by Grace through Faith in Christ Jesus, and not by the Law. It is salvation, then, that initiates believers’ new marital relationship that is both lifelong and eternal.

Since the Law does not save anyone, the apostle Paul’s marriage analogy (metaphor or comparison) definitely is describing how believers in Christ Jesus = the wife/married woman; how believers’ old-man nature = their first husband; and how believers’ new-man nature = their second husband, as every believer’s new nature is being transformed into the image of Christ Jesus. Now, it is important to note here that the apostle Paul is not saying that the Law is dead, as many seem to believe. Why would the Law die, when the Law is NOT sin but rather reveals sin and informs about sin (see Romans 3:20 and Romans 7:7)? Then too, why would the Law die, when the Law is holy, righteous, and good (v. 12), and the Law is spiritual (v. 14)? No, the Law isn’t dead, but it does produce death, as well as sin (vv. 9-11), and the Law also sensitizes both Jews and Gentiles to their need for God’s Grace and Mercy.

For these above reasons, the apostle Paul, with his marriage analogy or metaphor, is saying that it is each believer who has died to the Law through Christ Jesus’ death, and every believer died so that he or she could take Christ Jesus as his or her new spouse (cf. Romans 7:4). In other words, the apostle is saying that it is the believer in Christ Jesus who experiences a spiritual death (the old man dies to the “spiritual” Law, once and for all). However, unlike how it is with a believer’s dead and gone old man or sin nature, a believer’s soul and body are left in their unregenerate state. This Divine Truth is why the soul and body of a believer have to die daily—a death that occurs with every renewal of his or her mind, with every daily change in his or her thinking and his or her attitudes about God’s Perfect Will  (cf. Romans 12:1-2).

Certainly, the apostle Paul also is saying in his marriage analogy that as long as believers (the woman in his marriage analogy or metaphor) are married to their first husband (bound by the Law to their individual old sinful self; see Ephesians 2:3), even if they wanted to, they never would be able to get out of that first relationship, as long as the Law controlled them—had authority and dominion over them. They also would not be able to get out from under the Law, as long as the Law made them aware or conscious of sin and then produced guilt in them (see Romans 3:19-20; 1 Timothy 1:9-10). However, because of God’s Grace and the power of His Holy Spirit, when believers’ first husband (old man) died a spiritual death (when they were born again, regenerated), the Law which legally bound them to their first husband (old man) no longer could condemn them or prevent them from marrying their second husband (new man; new self; which by the Holy Spirit is being transformed into the image of Christ). That is to say; unlike the natural marriage in which the Law had dominion over the wife, neither the Law nor sin has dominion over Christ Jesus’ spiritual Bride, which is every new man (see Romans 6:14; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10). 

Put differently, when our first husband (our old man of sin) becomes dead in the eyes of the Law (is put to death in Christ and, thus, has risen with Him as a NEW Creation), this death means that the “old man” no longer exists. In essence, neither our old sin nature nor our new sinless nature is under the Law! Now that we, who are the New Creations being compared to the woman in the apostle’s marriage analogy, no longer will be guilty of committing adultery, should we remarry, we are unlike the Jewish wife who might obtain a divorce certificate. For her, as long as her first husband still lives, she would be considered, by the Law, to be married to two different husbands at the same time, if she remarried. The point here is that, if we who are New Creations had two natures (our old AND our new natures), as some believe we have, we definitely would be living in adultery, because we still would be married to our old man (sinful nature), while in a second marriage to our new man (sinless nature), which is being transformed into the image of Christ Jesus.

Instead, contrary to popular opinions, we born again, saved, and being sanctified believers do not have both an old man or sinful nature AND a new man or sinless nature. That would make us somewhat schizophrenic! Furthermore, unlike a husband and a wife who become one through intercourse, we who are the collective Wife or Bride of Christ (New Creations) have become One with Him spiritually, by becoming just like Him. In other words, our regenerate spirits are IN Christ and IN the Holy Spirit. We are no longer who we used to be, when the Law had authority over us.

Do believers who are born again, saved, and being sanctified still sin? Yes! Occasional sinning is why born again, saved, and being sanctified believers in Christ Jesus struggle with the reasons why they still sin. However, the Divine Truth is that these believers are NOT hopelessly doomed to sin, even though they will not want to sin, but then sin anyway.

Moreover, the real struggle is between believers’ born-again spirits (hearts), which have them choosing to live a holy and righteous life, and their unregenerate souls and bodies, which have them choosing to participate in unholy and unrighteous behaviors. Indeed, when the desires of the regenerate spirits in believers, which make them so sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit inside them, are overruled by the desires in believers’ minds and bodies, that’s when believers really “feel” the ugliness and the shame of their rebellion, which sin causes, and when they are most aware of their struggle. 

In other words, the struggle true believers in Christ Jesus have is because of the Law that is in their minds. The Law makes them ashamed of their sin, which they became aware of as soon as the Holy Spirit convicted them of it. Furthermore, the struggle true believers in Christ Jesus have is because of the Holy Spirit who is inside them, teaching and/or reminding them that every sin a child of God commits diminishes the amount of Glory God should have been getting from the NEW lives believers are supposed to be living. So then, the Law is not dead, but rather believers are under new management, so to speak. Because they now belong to Christ Jesus, who fulfilled the demands of the Mosaic Law, they now serve and obey God a new way, which is by living in the Spirit.

Believers struggle with the reasons why they sin, then, not because they still have their old sin nature (their old man; their spiritually dead spirit) inside of them, but because only their spirits (hearts) have been perfected—born again from above, justified, presented as if believers had never sinned, and then credited with the righteousness of Christ Jesus. This Divine Truth is why, when Father God looks at the Lord’s Bride through Christ Jesus’ blood, Father God sees His holy and righteous children, even though He knows their souls and bodies occasionally still act as if they’re married to sin, despite the fact that believers’ new-man spirits are married to Christ Jesus.

This struggle is best illustrated by the apostle Paul, who writes:

I can anticipate the response that is coming: ‘I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?’ Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. ~ Romans 7:14-25, MSG

Once again, the true believers in Christ Jesus are His believers’ born-again spirits and not believers’ souls (their individual mind, will, emotions, desires, intellect, conscience, and so forth) or their physical natural bodies. Actually, Christ Jesus is holy and righteous, so how could all of a believer (spirit, body, and soul) live in Christ Jesus, when the soul and body still are unregenerate? NO sin can live inside a holy and righteous Christ Jesus. Again, only the human spirit is a new Creation, and this new Creation is IN Christ Jesus. That’s why, for the most part, the born-again spirits of true believers in Christ Jesus do live and walk in the Spirit (cf. Romans 8:4-9), but since their souls and bodies have not been perfected sometimes believers make a choice to walk after their fleshly or soulish desires. So then, because believers’ souls and bodies have not been completely perfected, this is the main reason why believers have to renew their minds, daily, so that the spiritual Truths and the Will of God that have been deposited in their born-again spirits are flowing through their souls and bodies, manifesting outwardly as holy and righteous living—as lives that produce good fruit.

Now this produced good fruit is what the  apostle Paul calls “fruit for God,” which he speaks about in Romans 7:4. Obviously Paul’s “fruit for God” means the good fruit of a sanctified (holy) life, which no doubt also would include the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, as well as believers’ righteous/good deeds. However, in contrast, the apostle also speaks about the people who are without Christ Jesus, who have unregenerate spirits, and because they are unbelievers they ONLY can bear the fruit for death (cf. Romans 7:5).

Lastly, our struggles aside, the apostle Paul makes it clear that Christ Jesus did not free us from our first husband (from our marriage to our old man or sinful nature) just so that we could wallow in sin—return to sinning habitually; return to being slaves to the Law of sin and death. The Lord freed us from our first marriage so that we could marry Him—become His pure and holy Bride. He also freed us so that we now could serve Him in the new ways the Holy Spirit establishes (serve Him with our new-man nature we have been given) [cf. Romans 7:6]. This service would not be possible, if we had two natures, for Christ Jesus declares that:

No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money. ~ Matthew 6:24, CJB

Now, if men and women can’t serve both God and money, then it stands to reason that men and women also can’t serve at the same time their new husband (Jesus Christ), to whom their new sinless nature is married, and serve their old husband (sin; wickedness, rebellion, Satan), to whom their old sinful nature was married. This Divine Truth is why our old man is dead, never to live again.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen

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Christ’s Elect Is His 144,000 Jewish Evangelists PLUS . . .

01 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Study

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144000 Sealed Jewish Evangelists, appointed, Body of Christ, Bride of Christ, choice, commissioned, Day of the Lord, ekklesia, eklegomai, eklektos, elect, God's wrath, Great Tribulation, interpretive mistake, Jacob's trouble, Judgment Day, Olivet Discourse, The CHURCH, The Rapture, Tribulation's survivors

The Giving of the Seven Bowls of Wrath;The First Six Plagues,Matthias Gerung (1500–1570)

The Giving of the Seven Bowls of Wrath / The First Six Plagues, Matthias Gerung (1500–1570)

And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. ~ Mark 13:20, KJV

And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. ~ Mark 13:27, KJV

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. ~ Matthew 24:22, KJV

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. ~ Matthew 24:24, KJV

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ~ Matthew 24:31, KJV

 

 

One of the primary reasons why many followers of Christ Jesus do not believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture is because they think that Christ Jesus is prophesying about the destiny of His Bride (the Body of Christ; The CHURCH), when He uses in His Olivet Discourse the word “elect.” The English word “elect” actually is eklektos in the Greek language, which is an adjective that means “choice” or “selected.” Therefore, the “elect” Christ Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 24:22, Matthew 24:24, Matthew 24:31, and also in Mark 13:20 and Mark 13:27 clearly refers to the “choice” individuals who will be living on the Earth at the end of the Tribulation Period.

Now “choice” (elect) definitely is a description God uses for His Jewish people, and a description the apostles use for the Bride of Christ. That is why it is important to note here that one of the main reasons why so many believers see the “elect” Christ Jesus speaks of in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 as the Bride of Christ is because they fail to distinguish between God’s plan for Israel and His plan for the Bride of Christ. These believers often forget that at the time Christ Jesus is speaking to His Jewish disciples in the Olivet Discourse that there was no Bride of Christ—no Christians! For sure, the Lord had not yet been crucified and resurrected, and the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon His Jewish disciples.

Thus, when believers declare that the “elect” in Matthew 24:22, 24, 31 and Mark 13:20, 27 definitively is the Bride of Christ, they actually have made a colossal interpretive mistake. The huge mistake they’ve made is taking the Olivet Discourse, which is a conversation a Jewish Jesus is having with His Jewish disciples, and then reading back into this conversation the destiny of the Bride of Christ (Body of Christ or The CHURCH). The Book of Acts explains exactly when the Body of Christ/Bride of Christ/The CHURCH/The Ekklesia was established on this Earth, and that was 10 days after the resurrected Jesus ascended to Heaven, when God then sent His Holy Spirit to fill the disciples (see Acts 1-2).

Without doubt, the Lord’s conversation with His Jewish disciples still today is NOT about the Bride of Christ per se. His conversation is about the destruction of the Jewish Temple and the Jewish city of Jerusalem, the signs of the end of the Age, and the sign of His Parousia, as in the sign of His coming (when He will establish His Messianic Kingdom for His Jewish people)!

The clear interpretation is that in the Olivet Discourse the Lord is focusing on Israel—His Jewish people as a whole. Now there are passages in Matthew 24 that have promises in them that the Bride of Christ also will receive. For example, the passages about two men being in the field, with one taken one left; and two women grinding at the mill, with one taken, one left certainly describe the promise of a rapture, so from these passages believers can imagine what The Rapture will be like for Christ Jesus’ Bride, who is raptured before the Tribulation Period begins. However, the images in these passages also depict God’s rapture plan for His Jewish people who, just before the start of and during the seven year Tribulation Period, will come to believe in Christ Jesus, and some of them will be raptured. The same is true of Matthew 25. The image of a Bridegroom coming for His Bride, with some virgins being caught up and some being left behind, can apply to the Bride of Christ (The CHURCH) and to God’s Bride (Israel).

Then too, unlike the many passages in which the apostle Paul calls the Bride of Christ “saints,” or in the verses that the apostle Peter calls Her the “chosen” and the “elect,” the “elect” ones Christ Jesus refers to in Matthew 24:22, Matthew 24:24, Matthew 24:31, the “elect” and “chosen” He refers to in Mark 13:20, and the “elect” in Mark 13:27 are not the Bride of Christ’s saints. The saints, in this case, the ones who survive the Tribulation, are the “elect” and “chosen” the Lord is speaking about in His Olivet Discourse, but they, first and foremost, are those end-time Jewish people the Lord says should flee to the mountains, once they see the prophesied abomination of desolation, because Jacob’s Trouble (cf. Jeremiah 30:7) or the Great Tribulation is about to take place (cf. Matthew 24:21).

As earlier mentioned, in the New Testament, the English word translated as “elect” or “chosen” is the Greek word eklektos, which, once again, is an adjective that actually means “choice” or “selected.” So Matthew 24:22 really should read as: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the choice [ones’] sake those days shall be shortened.” Then too, a better translation for Matthew 24:24 would be: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very choice [ones].”

Where Matthew 24:31 is concerned, Christ Jesus definitely is making it very clear in this verse that the “elect” He mentions in Matthew 24:22, 24 mainly is the Jews who have gone through the Great Tribulation (Jacob’s Trouble). Borrowing from Isaiah 11:12, the Lord says, “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31 KJV). Once again, “…his elect…” should read “…his choice [ones]…”

Be that as it may; there can be no doubt in the above quoted verse that Christ Jesus is referencing the gathering of the Jews as prophesied in Isaiah 11:12, which reads this way: “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (KJV). Put differently, the prophet Isaiah is foretelling of a time when the ten tribes of Israel (the outcasts) and the two tribes of Judah (the dispersed) will be gathered together from the “wings of the Earth” and restored as one whole nation.

Since Christ Jesus is referencing this prophesied gathering of the Jews in Matthew 24:31, which Isaiah 11:12 vividly describes, this is an excellent reason why Matthew 24:31 is not about The Rapture of the Bride of Christ, even though Messianic Jews are included in the Bride of Christ. More accurately, Matthew 24:31 obviously is about the Lord sending out His angels at the end of the Tribulation primarily to gather His now believing entire nation of Israel. Since this is an end of the Age gathering, there no doubt also will be some believing Gentiles out of many nations included, but neither these surviving “elect” Jews nor any of the surviving “elect” Gentiles are the Bride of Christ.

Additionally, the fact that it is the Lord’s angels who are gathering those Tribulation Period’s survivors whom the Lord calls His “elect” should alert believers to the fact that this gathering is not The Rapture of the Bride of Christ, because The Rapture involves the Lord Himself descending from Heaven and snatching away His Bride! Angels have nothing to do with getting the Lord’s Bride together, even though She also is His “elect” or “choice” one!

Next is another verse in which some translators have wrongly used the English words “elect” and “chosen.”  That verse is Mark 13:20. In fact, it really sounds redundant to say, in the KJV of this verse, “for the sake of the elect…whom he has chosen.” For this reason, a better translation would be: “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the choice [ones’] sake, whom he hath [commissioned], he hath shortened the days.”

Like in the Matthew 24 verses, the English word “elect” in Mark 13:20 really is the Greek adjective eklektos, which once again means “choice” or “selected.” However, the English word “chosen” in this Mark 13 verse is the Greek verb eklegomai, which means “commissioned” or “appointed,” as in having a specific responsibility to fulfill.

Clearly it is the “choice” 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists who are the ones who will be given the very important as well as specific commission to fulfill during the Tribulation Period, and not the Bride of Christ or THE CHURCH! Beginning in the Old Testament, for the “choice” individuals who qualified for an “appointed” or “commissioned” office or responsibility, such as the judges for Israel, the Temple’s Levitical priests, Joshua’s warriors, and so on, they knew that their office or responsibility was expected to be fulfilled to the best of their ability. The same is true about the New Testament’s “choice” (elect) Jewish people. When they qualified for a commissioned or appointed office or responsibility, they knew it always came with the obligation of fulfilling it to the best of their ability. Therefore, there is no doubt that this fulfill to the best of their ability is the same obligation that comes with the commission to evangelize the end-time world, which is why the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists are the only ones who could qualify as Christ Jesus’ “choice” or elect.

The point here is that Christ Jesus NEVER was chosen from among many other possible Sons to be God’s “choice” One, for God appointed Him because Christ Jesus was the ONLY “choice” One (cf. Luke 9:35, KJV) and therefore the only worthy One—the Only begotten One. Similarly the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists NEVER will be chosen among many possible Jewish evangelists to convert the lost world during the Tribulation Period. God will commission them, because they will be the ONLY “choice” ones worthy to receive God’s seal. 

Moreover, understanding who really is worthy to be considered the “choice” ones who will be the “elect” Christ Jesus speaks about in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 without doubt is settled in the aphorism “…many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14, KJV). The Lord uses this particular aphorism in the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast (cf. Matthew 22:1-14, KJV). Once again, there is a better translation of Matthew 22:14, and this better translation is “…many are summoned, but few are choice.”

The crux of the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast is that the “choice” ones are not “choice” because the King “chose” them, for in the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast the King (God) didn’t choose anyone. He sent an invitation to one entire group, and after everyone rejected His invitation, the King (God) extended the invitation to every person His servants could find (good and bad). The point here is that the few “choice” (chosen; eklektos) individuals in this parable are “choice” only because it is by the Grace of God they have responded correctly to the King’s invitation or summons. Their ‘right’ response not only is accepting the King’s invitation to the feast, which is done by accepting His Son as Lord and Savior, but also is coming to the feast wearing the appropriate heart clothing—having the right inward attitudes (a born-again spirit), which manifests outwardly in their holy and righteous deeds.

In other words, the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast proves that it always was God’s Plan that, even though He appointed the Jews to be His “choice” people and Israel His “choice nation,” because the Jews, as a whole, failed to fulfill their invitation’s responsibility, God then appointed the Bride of Christ (Jews and Gentiles) to be His new “choice” people (cf. 1 Peter 2:9, KJV). What’s more, after the Bride of Christ is raptured, God then will appoint the 144,000 Jewish men to be His “choice” people. They will be a remnant of the Jews living in the Tribulation Period who will have accepted God’s Grace, will be redeemed and therefore will be blameless (“without fault”) virgins (“without blemish”) who have not been defiled by women, and who will be followers of the Lamb (cf. Revelation 14:3-4).  

Finally, as earlier mentioned, in the Old Testament, God promises that He will save Jacob (both Israel and Judah, or the entire nation of Israel), out of the time of great trouble, Jacob’s Trouble, or the Great Tribulation (cf. Jeremiah 30:7). Then in Jeremiah 30:10-11, God adds the following promises:

Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. ~ KJV

In the above verses, God is confirming that He not only will discipline His Jewish people but also He will rescue them from the Great Tribulation—save them from total annihilation. God also promises to destroy all of His Jewish people’s enemies so that the Jews never will have to fear them again. Additionally, God promises to return His Jewish people to their Promised Land of Israel where they will live in peace. Since God has yet to fulfill these promises, it should be evident that the “elect” that Christ Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 24:22, 24, 31 and Mark 13:20, 27 only can be the Tribulation’s surviving elect (“choice”) Jews. However, some surviving Gentiles also will be the elect (“choice”) ones who are rescued from total destruction.

For sure, both the Tribulation’s “elect” Jews and Gentiles will be those believers in Christ who are sold out for Him, either because of the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists/servants’ preaching or the preaching of those once unwatchful and unprepared believers who got left behind. Put differently, the “elect” at the end of the Tribulation will be believers who remain loyal to Christ Jesus, especially when they face death. Clearly, the believers who will face martyrdom in the Tribulation Period definitely would be God’s “choice” ones, but so would the specific remnant of believing Jews who find safety from the Antichrist’s persecution and God’s wrath (God’s judgment on the unbelieving world and His discipline of Israel during the Great Tribulation).

According to the Scriptures, around mid-Tribulation, a remnant of the Tribulation’s Jewish “elect” will be the ones who flee to the hills. Of the numbers of the “elect” Jews and Gentiles who do not hide in the hills, the Scriptures warn that they must be very careful not to be found by the Antichrist, because he either will force them to take the Mark of the Beast, or he will behead them. These “elect” who did not flee to the hills also must be aware of all the false christs and aware of all the other deceptions that are initiated during the Tribulation, because these deceptions could cause them to abandon Christ Jesus. Their goal should be to survive the Great Tribulation and be ready to stand and worthy of standing before Christ Jesus as His wheat/sheep, when the Lord makes His bodily return on the Day of the Lord.

Now, since the Lord’s Second Coming is all about destroying the wicked (wiping them off this Earth), it also should be evident that the Bride of Christ is not Christ Jesus’ “elect” in any of the abovementioned Matthew 24 and Mark 13 verses. The definitive Scriptures that prove the Bride of Christ won’t go through the Tribulation are Isaiah 26:19-21 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. Not only do these verses prove that the Groom comes for His Bride and raptures Her before the Tribulation Period begins but also these verses have the same order of events, which are: 1. The dead rise first; 2. The alive righteous individuals are snatched away, then hidden behind a shut door; and 3. The Lord comes to punish the world and/or God pours out His wrath.

Then there are the verses in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3. Where 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 is concerned with The Rapture and the HOPE of being rescued from the wrath to come, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 is concerned with judgment or the wrath of God. That apostle Paul has changed the subject from hope to judgment means he is now speaking about the Day of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, which is a day that will not include The Rapture!

Instead of being the day of The Rapture, the Day of the Lord is the day Christ Jesus will send His angels out to gather the “elect” or “choice” survivors of the Tribulation Period, primarily the Jews and those left-behind unprepared, unwatchful believers whose lives needed to be sifted like wheat. Now, the only ones the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night for are the Tribulation’s surviving unbelievers, because they are living in darkness, and more likely than not they are not aware of what the Scriptures say about the Day of the Lord. More important, the Day of the Lord is not The Rapture of the Bride of Christ, because the Day of the Lord is mainly about the outpouring of God’s punishment/discipline on Israel and the outpouring of terror and death on Israel’s enemies (chiefly the Arabic nations).

The bottom line, once again, is that the “elect” Christ Jesus speaks of in Matthew 24:22, 24, 31 and Mark 13:20, 27 is not the Bride of Christ. This “elect” is primarily the Tribulation’s surviving Jewish people. As earlier stated, to declare that Christ Jesus definitively is speaking about His Bride in said chapters is a colossal interpretive mistake. Why is that such a huge mistake? Well, it is because the Olivet Discourse is a conversation the Jewish Jesus is having with His Jewish disciples about the destiny of the Jewish Temple, the Jewish city of Jerusalem, and the Jewish people as a whole. Forgetting who the Lord’s audience is and the questions His Jewish disciples ask Him to answer invariably will lead to the usual oversight—mistaking the Bride of Christ for the Tribulation’s “elect.”

The Bride of Christ absolutely is not the Tribulation’s “elect,” because the Scriptures show that it is the spiritually blind Jewish people, the unbelieving Gentile masses, and the unprepared, unwatchful Body of Christ members who are the ones who will experience the Tribulation Period. Where’s the Bride of Christ during the Tribulation Period? She’s in Heaven with Her Groom, because the Bride of Christ (the faithful, obedient, prepared, and watchful Body of Believers) is raptured before the seven year Tribulation Period ever begins! A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen

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Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen

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