Why We are Failing the Great Commission
Chapter twenty-five
Life is an Investment of Time in the
Eternal
The "Fellowship of the Mystery" versus the "Mystery of Inequity"
However, when people become preoccupied with things that
trigger the release of these chemicals into the pleasure centers of
their brains, this pursuit is something known as Hedonism. Hedonism is the pursuit of
pleasure; sensual self-indulgence.
The Hedonist (or Sensualist) believes Heaven is a place to enjoy
all the pleasures available at the whim of any moment. Solomon explains the Hedonist’s view of life
in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon
gives us a list of his pursuits to fulfill the pleasure centers of his brain in
Ecclesiastes chapter two. Men are still
trying Solomon’s failed experiments thousands of years later and are still
learning the same things Solomon learned.
Solomon records the conclusion of
his Hedonistic experiments with the words; “all is vanity and vexation of
spirit” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). This
statement simply means a carnal life is empty of purpose and frustratingly
unfulfilling. This is known as the Fatalistic
view of life. We do not need to
personally pursue each of Solomon’s many carnal happiness experiments. We can just read the results of Solomon’s
experiments and the conclusions given to us by God in His inspired Words. The conclusion summary is simple: TRY TO CARNALLY
FULFILL YOURSELF AND YOUR LIFE WILL BE REMAIN UNFULFILLED AND SHALLOW! In other words, do not waste your time on any
of these experiments.
“14
There is a vanity {something
transitory and unsatisfactory} which
is done upon the earth; that there be just {saved people living righteously}
men, unto whom it happeneth {they die} according to the
work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men{unsaved people living
unrighteously}, to whom it happeneth {they die} according to
the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity. 15
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the
sun {the this life only or this world only view of
existence; Existentialism}, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for
that shall abide with him {the only thing that lasts is the memories
of joyous self-indulgence} of his labour the days of his life {upon what
he spent his gained resources}, which God giveth him under the sun”
(Ecclesiastes 8:14-15).
Solomon’s
experiment with Hedonism and Existentialism lasted most of his lifetime. He wasted his life on carnal experiments that
discovered truths from which every person can learn if we will just read his conclusions
given us by the inspiration of God. We
should make it our careful concern and consideration not to waste what Solomon
learned through the waste of his life.
Solomon was asked by God in I
Kings 3:5; “Ask what I shall give thee.”
We all remember that Solomon asked for wisdom to discern right and wrong;
“Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that
I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so
great a people” (I Kings 3:9)? Solomon
understood the grand responsibility of leadership decisions and the impact of
those decisions upon millions of lives. Your
decisions carry an equal weight of responsibility. You are leading the next generations who
will then lead their next generations.
You are beating down the pathways through the wilderness of sin
upon which they will walk.
A great deal of Solomon’s
wisdom was gained through Solomon’s carnal life decision experiment failures. This is the lesson of Ecclesiastes: YOU CAN
LEARN FROM ANOTHER PERSON’S SUCCESSES AND FAILURES IN LIFE. Learning to “discern between good and
bad” can be taught by the careful explanation of God’s Word, or these things
will be learned through life’s failures repeated over and over again until we
learn them. Repetition is the mother
of learning. If you do not learn
from your failures, you will be doomed to experience them again and again.
Ecclesiastes is a life
lesson about gaining the wisdom that it took Solomon a lifetime of
failures to learn. God gives us that
wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes free to us and without the pains that
accompany those failures. However, these
lessons of wisdom that Solomon learned not only cost him dearly, these lessons
of wisdom that Solomon learned cost his family dearly. Most of Solomon’s children and descendants
lived in total rejection of God, ignorant of salvation by grace through faith,
or any pursuit of righteous living. Most
of Solomon’s generations lived in pagan Hedonism and died to go to Hell. We need not make the same foolish carnal experiments
as Solomon. Our generations need not be
destined for the same destiny of Solomon’s generations if we are to ask God
early in life: what is the purpose for my existence?
Ecclesiastes chapter twelve is the
final record of Solomon and his conclusion about the singular fulfilling
purpose and objective of life.
Ecclesiastes chapter twelve is an old man speaking to the young about
what God taught him about life through a lot of failed experiments;
“Remember
{be mindful; keep God at the forefront of your decisions and devotional
thinking} now thy Creator {you are God’s creation for God’s
purposes} in the days of thy youth, while {before} the
evil days come not {the physical decay of old age of which he describes
in verses 2 through 7 and you cannot serve God as you could when you were young},
nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no {sensual}
pleasure in them {left in my later years of life; Hedonism
never gives what it promises}” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
“13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep
his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it
be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
For
most people, life is just a series of ultimatums that must be obeyed or else. What a sad existence. This certainly does not describe a life of
faith. A life of faith is a passion
for the pursuit of the knowledge of God through the knowledge of God’s
Word. However, the passion to know
God and His Word then immerses the believer in God’s loving passion and purpose
of revelation to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to make
disciples (Christ-followers) out of those saved; who then possess the same
passions. To transfer knowledge of
truths without a passion for the souls and lives of people is a corruption of
the purpose for the teaching of those truths.
“13
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and
continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye
know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live,
and do this, or that. 16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all
such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:13-17).
Passionate communication,
whether it is written or proclaimed, without communicating God’s purpose for
that passion is just sensationalism. As
sensual sinners, we relish in sensationalism. Sensual sinners want to be excited until that
enthusiasm comes with moral responsibilities.
Then, those moral responsibilities bring us under the discomfort and
guilt of conviction. Truths that stir
your soul must move your heart to move your feet or you are just an emotional sensationalist!
Religious sensationalism has
learned to produce the feelings of worship without the accompanying
moral responsibilities of the passion for righteousness before God and without
a passion for the lives and souls of the lost. All of this creates an appearance of
worship and an appearance of godliness, but nonetheless it is
false. Such people present “a form {appearance}
of godliness, but denying the power” of godliness (the supernatural power of
God released into the world through true godliness; II Timothy 3:5). Such people have no real passion for
godliness nor any real passion for God.
They certainly have no passion for righteousness or any real passion for
winning souls or making disciples. We
know this true because of their easy willingness to compromise the doctrines of
salvation and separation from worldliness to gather a crowd of people. Such people can barely define what
worldliness is let alone define was it is to “love not the world, or the things
of the world” (I John 2:15).
The power of godliness
is to what Paul refers in Ephesians 3:9 as the “fellowship of the
mystery.” In another place, he refers to
this power as “the mystery of godliness” (I Timothy 3:16). The power of godliness will never be
generated apart from a personal passion for godliness in a believer’s
life. This is an conditional essential,
not a mere preference.
In Ephesians 3:9, the Apostle Paul
begins to address his intent of the text by the words “to make all men
see what is the fellowship of the mystery.” This teaching will continue through the end
of the epistle with another reference in Ephesians 5:32 – “This is a great
mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” This addresses the priesthood of all
believers “in Christ” in “the work of the ministry” to which every believer
is being perfected (Ephesians 4:12). We might say that Ephesians 3:9 is the introduction to “the mystery” while
Ephesians 5:32 is the summation of
the mystery.
“8
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints {priests; sanctified
ones set apart unto the ‘work of the ministry’}, is this grace given, that
I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ: 10 To the intent that now unto
the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by
the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11 According to the
eternal purpose {the New Creation} which he purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord: 12 In whom we have boldness and access
with confidence by the faith of him. 13 Wherefore I desire that ye
faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory” (Ephesians 3:8-13).
What
then is “the fellowship of the mystery” of which Paul speaks? “The fellowship of the mystery” is the “one
flesh” of the New Genesis through salvation and regeneration of lost souls. “The fellowship of the mystery” is “the eternal purpose {the New Creation}
which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “The fellowship of the mystery” is the
ultimate glorification of all “born again” believers as the literal family of
God. “The fellowship of the mystery”
is the intimate, personal, interdependent relationship of all believers within
a family partnership in the “work of the ministry” (preaching the Gospel
and making disciples).
Paul describes this “fellowship of the mystery” in
Ephesians 4:2-6 - “2 With all lowliness and meekness, with
longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavouring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is
one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5
One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all.”
In other words, all believers are made part of
something much larger than themselves or the petty little mundane issues of drama
with which we so often preoccupy ourselves.
This “fellowship of the mystery” is the present-day responsibility
for the believer to keep at the forefront of everything he does in this
world.
The “fellowship of the mystery” is spiritual warfare
against any thing and everything that opposes God’s purposes in the redemption
and salvation of souls lost in sin and corruption. The “fellowship of the mystery” is spiritual
warfare in discipleship that teaches saved people the will of God, the love of
God, and the enabling grace of God through “fellowship” with Him. The “fellowship of the mystery” is the purest
and ultimate goal of Biblical evangelism – restoring God-kind righteousness in
the world through the lives of believers fully yielded to and trusting in God’s
will.
“Fellowship” is from the Greek
word koinonia (koy-nohn-ee’-ah). Koinonia
is a working partnership, joint participation in some work or effort, or
sharing the distribution of personal resources.
This “fellowship” is experienced both on an individual level with Jesus
Christ and a corporate level with other believers within the context of a local
church ministry. We must be careful to
retain these two different perspectives in understanding the supernatural
elements involved in the “fellowship of the mystery” - personal fellowship with God and corporate fellowship with God.
“the
mystery of iniquity” (II Thessalonians 2:7)
The
individual Christian’s part and the part of every local church of
believer-priests in the “fellowship of the mystery” (Ephesians 3:9) is
God’s solution to “the mystery of iniquity” (II Thessalonians 2:7). In other words, these two mysteries are in opposition to one
another in both their methodologies and outcomes. The “the mystery of iniquity” is a working
network of evil that opposes all that God proposes.
The “the mystery of iniquity”
is to what Paul refers in Ephesians 6:11 as “the wiles of the devil.” In
Ephesians 6:12 “the mystery of iniquity” is described as “against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Most Christians are babies when it
comes to understanding the dangers that they oppose or even the dangers that
oppose their ministries. They ignorantly
align themselves with “spiritual wickedness” even disguised as worship of
Jehovah. Thereby, they ignorantly turn
something designed to be good into evil and something designed to
bring light into darkness.
This is the warning of Christ to the multitudes that followed Him
looking for the sensational and miracles; “Take heed therefore that the light {the
spiritual eye of the soul} which is in thee be not darkness {blinded by
doctrinal corruption}” (Luke 11:35).
Understanding the enemy against which we fight, and the devices he uses,
is critical to understanding the absolute essential to living in fellowship
with God fully yielded to the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ.
“10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power {sovereign
dominion} of his might {‘fellowship of the mystery’}. 11
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places” (Ephesians 6:10-12).
Another phrase for “the mystery of
iniquity” is the phrase “the world” (I John 2:15). The phrase “the world” is used by God to
describe the cursed original creation now fallen under the dominion of “the
devil,” cursed to ultimate destruction, and presently being demonically
influenced by varying degrees of evil to bring it to a global government
composed of everything evil and antichrist.
“15
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust
thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:15-17).
The phrase “the world” is a phrase that describes Antichristism,
which is another word that refers to “the mystery of inequity.” This is to what God refers in Isaiah 5:20
with a proclamation of condemnation; “Woe unto them that call evil good, and
good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” God
seeks to bring clarity of His will and righteousness with Biblical revelation
(truth). The “mystery of inequity” seeks
to bring confusion (“hath God said,” Genesis 3:1).
“3
Let no man deceive you by any means {regarding
the rapture of the Church and the second coming of Jesus to the earth}: for
that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and
that man of sin be revealed {who now works in the shadows and darkness
because the world is blinded to the spiritual realm because of the fall and the
curse}, the son of perdition {the
antichrist}; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not,
that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye
know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For
the mystery of iniquity doth already work {how the fallen angels influence and corrupt by using humans and why God
simply does not immediately intervene and bring His judgment upon them}:
only he who now letteth {restrains} will let, until he {the
Holy Spirit as he came to indwell believers on the Day of Pentecost and since}
be taken out of the way {at the rapture of the Church, the Spirit’s
restraint upon the “mystery of inequity” will be removed as the Church is
removed}. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after
the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (II
Thessalonians 2:3-10).
The
“mystery of iniquity” (II Thessalonians 2:7) is an undercurrent of evil
that seeks to corrupt everything that is righteous in the world and everything
good that humanity seeks to do. This is
what defines worldliness and the all-encompassing corruption of all humanity
through doctrinal deception, human sexuality, human emotions, and the
corruption of every desire of the heart towards complete selfishness. Therefore, anyone involved in the “work of
the ministry” understands without reservation the meaning of the statement “the
mystery of iniquity doth already work.”
In other words, Antichristism is actively alive in the world and
is converting the masses to its doctrines.
What are its methodology and goals?
The methodology of “the “mystery of iniquity” is “with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish” and its objective is “because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved.”
The
“mystery of iniquity” is to what Paul refers in Ephesians 6:11-12. The “fellowship of the mystery” (Ephesians
3:9) is to what Paul refers in Ephesians 6:10.
The word light is often used
to describe the person living within the “fellowship of the mystery.” The word darkness
is often used to describe the person living within the “mystery of
iniquity.” Most Christians believe they
are totally committed to the “fellowship of the mystery” of Ephesians 3:9. Satan is getting a lot of mileage out of Christians these
days. The truth is that Christians are
often involved in worldliness in various degrees, which activities really
nullify their influences on the glory of God.
Varying degrees of worldliness in the Christian’s life make him more a
part of the darkness, than he is a
part of the light.
Never
underestimate what the “mystery of iniquity” will be able to accomplish with
one selfish moment of self-indulgence in your life. Never underestimate what the “mystery of
iniquity” will be able to accomplish when a Christian gives in to his lusts for
one day or even one hour. The “mystery
of iniquity” will magnify those few moments of selfish indulgence in ways you
cannot imagine and to degrees of which you will never be aware. Therefore, Paul warns us about the “mystery
of iniquity” in Ephesians 6:10-12.
The
point of the warning of Ephesians 6:10-12 is that Christians can become major
contributors to the “mystery of iniquity” if they fail to live in fellowship
with Christ “and in the power of his might.”
This is what happens when moral standards are lowered, when Christian
ethics are compromised, and when holiness is no longer the priority of the
Christian’s living.
When doctrinal purity is
compromised, the believer’s walk in light
is also going to be compromised. When
the believer’s walk in light is
compromised, that believer becomes part of the “mystery of iniquity” to the
degree that compromise negatively influences another person’s separation from
worldliness. The point is not just that
the forces of evil, the “principalities … powers … the rulers of the darkness
of this world … spiritual wickedness in high places,” corrupt our
influence on glorifying God. The point
is that the Christian loses the supernatural strengthening of the Lord and “the
power of His might.”
The
“mystery of iniquity” is an all-encompassing phrase that refers to the
collective corruption of truth, theology, moral righteousness, behavioral
ethics, human sexuality, progressive permissiveness towards immorality, and
satanic influences that are completely invisible until they become embodied and
expressed through a corrupted life.
The important thing for every Christian to understand is that until we
are glorified and completely delivered from our sin natures, we are going to be
part of the “mystery of iniquity” to some degree.
The ONLY REMEDY for this
corruption of our natures is complete yieldedness to the indwelling Holy Spirit
and the revealed will of God in the Word of God. Since this is an absolute reality, how
important is it for you to understand your Bible and be fully established in
right doctrine (orthodoxy)? Since right
living can only exist if one has right doctrine, how important is making sure
you have right doctrine? What nuance of
God inspired Scripture becomes unimportant or insignificant? Since most newly “born again” people come to
a local church with a boat load of
false doctrine, how important is it to find a local church that does not
marginalize doctrine so as to maximize numerical growth? Any person who marginalizes doctrinal
purity for the purpose of some type of pseudo-unity
exposes himself as a major contributor to the “mystery of iniquity.”
The “mystery of iniquity” extends
far beyond religious apostasy within Christianity. The “mystery of iniquity” extends into the
areas of paganism, Atheism, and into every fiber of world politics. By the end of every Dispensation of God,
every New Beginning by God, the “mystery of iniquity” becomes an
all-encompassing force of evil that literally has captured and engulfed almost
every aspect of world culture.
It is the ultimate goal of the
“mystery of iniquity” in every Dispensation to conquer the “fellowship of the
mystery” to which Ephesians 3:9 refers. We
have numerous occurrences of the “mystery of iniquity” engulfing and dominating
the world. However, in every occurrence,
God intervened with a New Beginning and with a successful remnant of
faithful believers. This was certainly
true just before the Great Flood of Genesis 7:17-24. Genesis 6:5-12 tells us of the moral
environment of the world just prior to God’s judgment.
“5
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will
destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and
beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me
that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the
LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just
man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10
And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also
was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12
And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh
had corrupted his way upon the earth” (Genesis 6:5-12).
Of course, Noah would plant a
vineyard shortly after the Great Flood, make wine from the grape juice, get
drunk, and carelessly expose his nakedness to his son Canaan. In that transgression, Noah would become a
major contributor to “the mystery of iniquity.”
He would curse Canaan and divide his own household. Such a division was an operation of “the
mystery of iniquity.” Although most of
humanity was killed by the flood, “the mystery of iniquity” remained and
continued to corrupt humanity by using humanity’s sinful innate corruption of
the human nature. Therefore, an ongoing
major contributor to the “mystery of iniquity” is the fallen sin nature still
engrained within every believer should that believer not habitually yield
control of his will to the indwelling Spirit of God. Any time, and to whatever degree of
compromise, a believer fails to live totally surrendered to the indwelling
Spirit will be the degree to which his/her life contributes to the “mystery of
iniquity.”
Our inability to see God, or
know Him in any other way than faith, causes us some grave misunderstandings of
God purposes. For instance, why
would an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator want to formulate a
partnership with His creatures in “the work of the ministry”? Why would such a perfect and holy Being want
to have anything to do with people who, by their very nature, are a
contradiction against His character and nature?
We will never understand the “fellowship of the mystery” to which Paul
refers in Ephesians 3:9 until we understand that God must make us righteous and
sanctify us unto holiness before the “fellowship of the mystery” can ever
actually happen.
The answers to any of these questions
regarding why God would have anything to do with sinners is always answered by
one word –GRACE. God wants all sinners
to be saved AND live in fellowship with Him because “God is love.” The “fellowship of the mystery” is once a
sinner is saved then God’s love and grace begin to flow through the believer
who is in fellowship with God.
“7
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every
one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He
that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was
manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12 No man
hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and
his love is perfected in us. 13 Hereby know we
that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to
be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And
we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love;
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” (I John
4:7-16).
In I Timothy 3:16, Paul refers to
the “fellowship of the mystery” as the “mystery of godliness.” Paul then
explains in that same verse how God’s gracious benevolence provides the
believing sinner with the gift of God-kind
righteousness (justification) and positional
sanctification (set apart to serve Him).
All of this happens “by grace through faith” in the finished work of
Jesus the Christ, the incarnate, dead, buried, resurrected, and glorified Son
of the living God.
“14
These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: 15
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 And without controversy great
is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in
the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, received up into glory” (I Timothy 3:14-16).
The point of I Timothy 4:16 is
that no one can achieve God-kind
righteousness. No one can be godly,
or like God in righteousness, to be either saved or sanctified. True faith understands the impossibilities
regarding achieving God-kind righteousness and yields those realities to the
Holy Spirit. Faith understands the
hopelessness and helplessness of the righteousness
dilemma. We cannot be saved apart
from having God-kind righteousness
and, once we are saved, we cannot be used by God unless we practically live in God-kind righteousness. Therefore, the only solution to humanity’s righteousness dilemma is the gift of the
grace of God that gifts the sinner the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Secondly, the only hope of ever being used of
God to combat “the mystery of inequity” is to understand the gift of grace
enabling that is provided to any believer who will completely yield his body,
soul, and spirit to the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.
The issue of the word “mystery” in
the Word of God is the invisible
supernatural aspect of what is happening.
Therefore, “the mystery of inequity” is humanity’s inability to see and
understand the forces of evil in fallen angels (demons) that are manipulating
the corruption of all that is righteous and holy in the world. This is something only Bible believers can
know about and understand to any degree.
We certainly will not learn about “the wiles of the devil” from the
secular schoolbooks and apostate religious leaders who deny the verbal, plenary
inspiration of Scripture. These people
become partners in “the mystery of inequity” because they deny the verbal,
plenary inspiration of Scripture. How
can anyone know what “the mystery of inequity” is about if they refuse to
believe the revelation that exposes the mystery?
The “fellowship of the mystery”
to which Paul refers in Ephesians 3:9 is the supernatural partnership that is
necessary between a believer and God before any believer can bare spiritual
fruit to the glory of God. We cannot
see this partnership because it is invisible to our eyes. We can only know of its availability by faith
in God’s Word. Also, we can only know
that we have this fellowship with God in the “work of the ministry” by
faith. We can see the manifestation of
this fellowship with God through the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians
5:22-25). We can also see that God is
using us to bring souls to Christ and disciple believers (John 15:12-8).
What is visible (knowable)
to us in our own lives is complete yieldedness to the will of God, total
commitment in personal separation from worldliness and unto God, and the
all-consuming desire of our hearts to magnify God within the realm of our influence. If Jesus is the Lord of our lives, He will be
the Lord of the realm of our
influence. Then, the “fellowship of
the mystery” will be evident within the realm
of our influence. When Christians
live in the “power of His might,” the realm
of our influence becomes the realm of God’s influence through our
lives. Such a miracle is an invisible
mystery seldom experienced but by a small minority of Christians. Sadly, such a miracle is an invisible mystery
seldom even known about by the vast majority of Christians. Those believers will live out their lives
without ever really being part of the miracle that is evangelism and disciple
making. They will never experience the
fruit of the “fellowship of the mystery” because they will never comprehend
that God wants to partner with them in the miracle of bringing souls to
salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus taught several parables in
Matthew chapter thirteen that provide an overview of the outcomes of the
“mystery of inequity” and the “fellowship of the mystery.” The point of these parables is that there are
invisible spiritual forces in the world that work through their influence upon
human beings. One of the central means
by which the “mystery of inequity” is affective is the corruption of the Gospel
of salvation as a gift given “by grace through faith.” In Matthew 13:36, Jesus explains this in the
parable of the “tares” sown among the “wheat.”
There are only two messages of salvation in the world. One will guarantee condemnation and the other
will guarantee salvation and eternal life.
The first false gospel is salvation by “works” (Moralism or Ritualism). The second and only true Gospel is salvation
as a gift of God’s grace received through faith in the finished work of Jesus
Christ. The first and false gospel will
put you in the category of the “tares.”
Anonymous comments will not be allowed.
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 50 years.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment