Power Loss

The Two Natures of the Believer

Chapter Eight

Power Loss

          The filling of the Spirit of God is prefaced by hungering and thirsting “after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6).  This is practical righteousness in the believer’s life.  The believer wanting the purest form of intimacy with God wants what God wants in his life – PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS.  The paradox that is soon discovered is that the more a believer pursues the righteousness of God, the more he discovers how short he comes from ever truly reaching that goal (Romans 3:23).  Although the believer hungers and thirsts for Godkind righteousness, he comes to understand the pursuit is futile as long as he is still in human and fallen flesh.  Understanding all of this brings the believer to understand the dilemma of practical sanctification apart from the filling of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. 

          In this dilemma of God’s expectation of perfect righteousness, we are confronted with the same problem in practical sanctification as we are in God’s requirement of people possessing perfect Godkind righteousness before anyone can enter His presence.  We know from Scripture, in the doctrine of salvation, that Godkind righteousness can NEVER BE ACHIEVED, but only RECEIVED.  This Godkind righteousness IS the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the “born again” believer’s body. 

          Practical righteousness never be ACHIEVED by keeping the moral Law.  Practical sanctification can only be ACHIEVED through a partnership (“fellowship”) with the indwelling Spirit of God.  Practical Godkind righteous can only be RELEASED through the believer’s life through the “filling” of the Spirit.  This “filling” of the Spirit cannot happen until the believer totally surrenders his will to the indwelling Spirit.  There the pursuit of Godkind righteousness demands the pursuit of the most intimate personal relationship possible between two beings – the FILLING OF GOD’S SPIRIT. 

“¹ If ye then be risen with Christ, {then} seek those things which are above {‘on the top,’ above or beyond; the things of the Spirit in your new existence ‘in Christ’}, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God {as the believer’s representative, perfect, sinless High Priest} . ² Set your affection on things above {‘on the top,’ above or beyond; the things of the Spirit in your new existence ‘in Christ’}, not on things on the earth. ³ For ye are dead {positionally; Romans 6:6}, and your life {lifetime of sinfulness} is hid {perfect, passive, indicative} with {implies an intimate personal connection} Christ in God {positionally}. ⁴ When Christ, who is our life {positionally}, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory {practically}” (Colossians 3:1-4).

The pursuit of this most intimate of relationships with God through the kind of faith that is willing to totally trust God and totally yield one’s life to the indwelling Spirit is what defines hungering and thirsting after righteousness in Matthew 5:6; “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”  The ONLY people that will ever be filled with the Spirit in the truest sense of the theological meaning are those willing to totally trust God and totally yield their lives to the indwelling Spirit.  This is the primary arena of the “trying of your faith” described in James 1:2-8).  James 1:7 tells us there is a loss of power with God (God’s blessing) for those wavering in their willingness totally trust God and totally yield their lives to the indwelling Spirit. 

“² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations {various kinds of life trials}; ³ Knowing this, that the trying {proving or testing} of your faith worketh patience. ⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷ For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ⁸ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:2-8).

When God says, “count it all joy,” He wants us to understand that He is working to bring us to a functional maturity and faith in Jesus Christ that can trust Him through every situation in life.  He is doing this in a faith partnership through various kinds of testing, trials, and difficulties.  A few of the things with which we are tested are:

1. Doubt

2. Temptations

3. Anger

4. Wrath

5. Obedience

6. Self-control

7. Love

8. Works

9. Accountability

10. Worldliness

11. Materialism

12. False Prejudices

          God wants moral responsibility and spiritual responsibility in His children.  Yet, God knows that believers cannot be morally responsible and spiritually responsible without Him help (grace-enabling).  God wants all fleshly patterns to be cast away.  “Counting” trials and difficulties a necessity to accomplish those ends is part of God’s growth process.  You are to become a partner with God in His making you a TELEIOS Christian: spiritually mature, complete, entire, and lacking nothing (James 1:4). 

How is a mature Christian spiritually defined?  James defines it in five areas.

1. A mature Christian is a person who is aware of the innate nature of sinfulness due to his fallen nature and is constantly in the process of resisting and overthrowing it.  This person’s faith in God grows stronger every day and is becoming unwavering.

2. A mature Christian is a person who is becoming soul conscious with genuine concern for people.

3. A mature Christian is a person learning to live by prayer and use prayer as an effective tool to realize spiritual goals.

4. A mature Christian is a person who knows how to use a trial, using it to learn and teach everything that can be gained from it.

5. A mature Christian person has learned not to view conflict as a problem, but as an opportunity to teach and learn.  As a result, a mature Christian becomes spiritually alert to God’s working in difficulties and trials.

          If God’s perfecting work never ends, can we ever say we are “perfected”?  Yes, but not the way man defines perfection.  In the book of James, God will give us several spiritual fronts on which He wants us to grow (to advance).  Therefore, the “perfect” (mature) Christian is the person who is constantly working to grow on all fronts, without exception, in his Christian growth.

          Growth becomes the measurement of maturity, and that maturity can exist at many levels.  We expect a six-year-old to act like a six-year-old.  We expect a thirteen-year-old to act like a thirteen-year-old.  But sometimes we expect a six-year-old to act like a thirteen-year-old and a thirteen-year-old to act like a thirty-year-old.  That is unfair.  It is also unfair when a thirty-year-old acts like a thirteen-year-old or a thirteen-year-old acts like a six-year-old. 

          In the church, the latter is usually the problem more than the former.  It is not that we expect too much, but that we expect too little.  A thirteen-year-old Christian ought to know and live better and more consistently than a six-year-old or a two-year-old Christian.

          God allows trials to come into our lives to test our growth levels.  He wants to know our spiritual strengths and weaknesses.  God is constantly testing us for spiritual integrity.  God is looking for gaps in our growth.  That is what James 1:2-4 is saying.  In every circumstance of life, God is working to perfect us and our ability to look to Him for the spiritual resources to be victorious over our flesh.  This is power WITH God!  God wants us to live in dependence upon Him in spiritual partnership to be victorious over our flesh.  To understand all of this is to understand the blessing and curse of the New Covenant.  “The just shall live by faith” dependence upon their partnership with God to be victorious over the “flesh.”  This is very PRACTICAL THEOLOGY!  

          The incredible shallowness of understanding the spiritual dynamic of power with God through practical sanctification has created an incredible superficiality in the lives of professing Christians.  There is NO POWER with God apart from the filling of the Spirit of God through abiding “in the Vine.”

“¹ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. ² Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. ³ Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. ⁶ If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. ⁸ Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:1-8).

To argue that the conditions defined in John 15:1-8 and the Sermon on the Mount cannot be for Church Age believers because they are presently impossible conditions, is ridiculous.  If they are intended only for glorified believers, as some argue, they will not be needed in that glorified believers will be delivered from the corruption of the flesh in their glorified bodies.  If they are intended only for Kingdom Age believers living in fleshly (non-glorified) bodies, what would be the difference between those Kingdom Age believers and Church Age believers?  It would be just as impossible for them to live up to these conditions as it is for Church age believers.  In fact, this impossibility is the main emphasis of the understanding of the doctrine of Grace (God’s supernatural enabling through the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit).  

We must grasp the impossibility of producing spiritual fruit apart from the blessing of unity with Jesus Christ through the filling of the Spirit of God.  Then perhaps Church Age believers could finally grasp the essential essence of the total yieldedness (Romans 6:11-13).  Total yieldedness is necessary before the Priesthood of any believer can be used of God so that we can be consecrated by our High Priest, Jesus Christ, to be used in the “work of the ministry” to which we are perfected (Ephesians 4:12).  It is a matter of fact, without the supernatural enabling of the indwelling Christ, the believer “can do nothing.” 

 

The conditions of the blessing and curse of the New Covenant (Matthew chapters five through seven) are not based upon perfection in sinlessness.  These conditions of the blessing and curse of the New Covenant are intended to reflect an important reality.  Being right with God is conditioned upon a proper understanding of what we are and who we are apart from the supernatural operations of the indwelling Spirit of God from within us through our lives.  Once a believer understands the depth of his own degradation in corruption, only then can he understand that what God merely wants is for fallen sinners, now saved by grace, to have a complete change of heart regarding what he wants God to do through their lives.  Even if we could somehow never commit an act of sin again for the rest of our lives, every believer still thinks about sin, is tempted by certain sinful desires, and is emotionally corrupted.  These are the issues upon which Matthew chapter five, six, seven and Luke 6:20-49 expound. 

God simply wants us to WANT what He wants and depend upon Him to accomplish what He wants through us.  Yes, there must be a turning from our corrupted emotions, our perverse desires, and outward acts of sin, but there also needs to be turning to God in a declaration of dependence.  This defines the altar work that needs to be done before the Throne of Grace by the broken sinner. 

1. There must be a declaration of the sinner’s understanding of his spiritual brokenness.

2. There must be a declaration of the sinner’s understanding of his spiritual helplessness in meeting God’s expectations.

3. There must be a declaration of the sinner’s dependency upon the indwelling Spirit to supernaturally work through the yielded believer’s life.

4. There must be a determination to live in unbroken fellowship with Christ through the continual communication of the above three things during each moment of the day.

5. There must be a determination to be a vocal witness for Christ and a willingness to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the first moment an opportunity arises.

According to John 15:7, we must “abide in Christ” to have our PRAYER answered.  The place where answers to prayer are received is always the “abiding” place in Christ.  God cannot, and will not, answer any prayer that is contrary to His will.  The only way we can know God’s will is when His “Words abide” in us.  Then we can pray in God’s will.

The importance of what Jesus teaches in John 15:1-8 will probably never be fully realized until after we are dead, glorified, and finally standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ.  Then we will see the outcome of all those moments of selfish inconsideration when we lived for carnal pleasures and worldly pursuits.  

In John 15:4. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you.”  The word “abide” is an aorist, active, imperative.  In other words, the believer is COMMANDED to abide in Christ and to ensure that Christ abides in the believer.  The word “abide” means to stay or remain.  To not abide in Christ is a serious act of sinful disobedience.  

The context of John 15:1-8 demands we understand the meaning is to do whatever is required to ensure that we live in continuous Spirit-filled fellowship with Jesus Christ.  The believer’s will must be so fully surrendered to Christ that their two wills seems as one.  This reality should be the condition of the heart before any person makes any request to God.  Such a person wants intimacy with God before He wants things from God.  This factor defines living faith.  Anything less is simply a foolish attempt to manipulate God into doing what we want Him to do.  What depth of ignorance and unbelief do such attempts manifest in the lives of those trying to do such foolishness as trying to manipulate God? 

John 15:7 connects this responsibility to the blessing of answered prayer.  “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  Notice that in John 15:7, Jesus defines that living in unbroken fellowship with Him necessitates that His “words abide in” us.  In other words, this is not some metaphysical spiritual experience without definitive parameters.  This is not the acceptance of some anything goes syncretistic religious expression.  The necessity that Jesus’ “words abide in” us defines pure Christianity; the Word of God living through the believer’s life.  

What is the first question you ask yourself when you do not receive answers to your prayers?  Are you FULLY surrendered?  Do you have any area of known disobedience to God’s Word in your life?  Have you sought the counsel of someone you respect spiritually?  Will you give this person permission to speak to you frankly about these questions?  What really defines the prayer of faith?  Is faith somehow disconnected from our walk with the Lord?  The redundant pattern of Scripture is that faith has more to do with the way we live our lives than it is about anything else. 

“⁷ But the end of all things is at hand {the Church Age is the “last days”}: be ye therefore sober {of a sound mind meaning doctrinally sound; understanding the timetable of the second coming keeps believers from fretting the events and affairs of the world}, and watch {stay free from intoxicants; keep your mind clear and sober} unto prayer. ⁸ And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ⁹ Use hospitality one to another without grudging. ¹⁰ As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ¹¹ If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:7-11).

In I Peter 4:7-11, we see several words that describe the overflow of the Spirit of God that manifest His indwelling power flowing through our lives.  There are seven ministry areas of the Christian life that are intimately and intricately connected to having a right working relationship with the Lord.  Understanding these words is critical to understanding how God releases His power through our lives in ministry to one another.

1. Sobriety: from the word sophroneo (so-fron-eh'-o), meaning sound of mind or thinking. Sound mindedness comes from thinking things through and taking into consideration all the Truths of God’s Word as they weigh upon any given subject or situation.  Sophroneo was a word that described a person who did not allow his mind to come under the influence of alcohol.  This is very much what Jesus means when He says, “my words abide in you” (John 15:7).

2. Watch unto prayer: the word “watch” is from the word nepho (nay'-fo), meaning to abstain from wine drinking and connecting sobriety (right mindedness) with prayer (God-dependency) in power with God in all matters of life.  Contradistinctively, failure in nepho (abstaining from wine drinking or any similar worldly practice) would disconnect the believer from power with God. Worldly desires manifest a weak mind (the opposite of a strong or sound mind).

3. Fervent charity: literally, unceasing sacrificial love for other true believers. The idea is the willingness to make extreme sacrifices for one another, to help one another grow in grace, and to escape the shackles of our own selfishness.  The words “charity shall cover the multitude of sins” in I Peter 4:8 is a quote from Proverbs 10:12. “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.”  The idea is that our love is not constantly stirring up the dunghill of a fellow Christian’s past failures of which he has confessed and that have been forgiven.

4. Use hospitality: from the word philoxenos (fil-ox’-en-os), it simply means being fond of guests.  Christians ought to enjoy the company of other Christians and “use hospitality” to encourage one another.  Notice this comes with the qualifier, “one to another without grudging” (grumbling or complaining about having to do it).  Remember, “God loveth a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:7). Hospitality costs both time and money.  If love does not cost us something, we have not loved.

5. Minister “the gift:” “gift” is from charisma and “minister” is from diakoneo (dee-ak-on-eh'-o). In other words, God did not give us the supernatural gift of spiritual enablement to consume upon ourselves.  He has gifted us with the intent we will use that “gift” and spread it as a resource to the widest possible scale of our influence “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  Notice, there is a stewardship involved.  Stewardship means we will be held accountable for this “manifold grace of God.”  This accountability defines the Dispensation (stewardship) of Grace.  Salvation is a gift of grace, but with it comes overwhelming spiritual responsibilities for which we are accountable to God.  He expects “fruit.”

6. Speech: “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (I Peter 4:11).  The word “the” is not in the Greek text in front of the word “oracles.”  It should read, “Speak as oracles of God.”  The idea is like the “thus sayeth the LORD” proclamation of the Old Testament prophets.  The idea is that you are not communicating some philosophical idea or some great thought from your own mind.  There is no option for debate or dissension.  Truth is to come forth from the mouth of the prophet of God, as if God is speaking Himself.  Therefore, when you are speaking forth the Word of God, you are to do so with the authority of its Author.

7. Ministry to the glory of God: “If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:11b).  We often hear the word charismatic used to describe people who can attract large crowds.  Often, these types of people are self-glorifying empire builders.  They are like fly paper.  The fly was just looking for a place to land to get something to eat and then he found himself stuck.

When God uses the word charisma, He uses it in the context of His supernatural enabling of a believer for the “work of the ministry.”  This gift of grace is never to be used for some guy to build himself an empire of loyal followers.  God’s gift of grace should be used to make followers (disciples) of Jesus Christ where all that we do is intent upon bringing God glory - revealing Him in all His wondrous attributes to a blind, cursed, and dying world of sinners.  Sometimes there is a narrow line between a man building himself a kingdom and a man working to win souls and make disciples for the Kingdom of God.  That line is sometimes difficult to discern.

“⁷ But the end of all things is at hand {the Church Age is the “last days”}: be ye therefore sober {of a sound mind meaning doctrinally sound; understanding the timetable of the second coming keeps believers from fretting the events and affairs of the world}, and watch {stay free from intoxicants; keep your mind clear and sober} unto prayer. ⁸ And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ⁹ Use hospitality one to another without grudging. ¹⁰ As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. ¹¹ If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:7-11).

In I Peter 4:7-9, God gives an admonition to believers within a local church union about living during the last days.  The Church Age Dispensation will end with the death of every lost soul on the face of planet earth.  Only the lost that enter the Tribulation and then repent of sin and trust in the finished work of Christ for their redemption during the seven-year Tribulation, will enter the Kingdom Age Dispensation alive.  Every other person who has received the mark of the Beast will be destroyed by the glory of the coming of Christ.  With this view in mind, the believer should carefully follow the admonitions of I Peter 4:7-9. 

Along with what we are told in Revelation chapters four through nineteen and numerous other prophecies, this is the world view of every Christian who believes in the imminent (any moment) second coming of Jesus Christ. This is the looming dark cloud of God’s promise of His unleashed wrath in His judgment of the nations.  This is the theological foundation of the any moment pending reality to which the words: “⁷ But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. ⁸ And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ⁹ Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (I Peter 4:7-9) are addressed.  Perhaps if we truly understood this any moment pending reality, we might begin to take these words seriously.

The word “end” in I Peter 4:7 is from the Greek word telos (tel’-os).  This word refers to the point aimed at as a limit or the point of termination.  The Church Age Dispensation is the next to the last age of God’s longsuffering grace upon this fallen creation.  Then comes the “day of wrath” that Paul speaks of in Romans 2:5: “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. . .”  This is the future horizon that all Church Age believers must constantly keep in their sights.  We must keep this prophecy as part of today’s possible realities.

This scenario is equally true of local churches where the “meat” of Bible doctrine has been removed.  Take the definitive Truths of God’s Word away from the admonitions to a local church and you take away the spiritual nutrients that lead us to power with God.  A believer cannot “abide” in the Words of Christ if he is ignorant of those Words.  Although that local church may look like and act like it is growing, it is dying of malnutrition at the same time.  The only hope for the lost souls of this world is for Christians to live the Christ-life!

          Every Christian is commanded to be both “salt” and “light” in this world.  Yet, the Christian that is not empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit will be savorless salt and hidden or covered “light.”  The point is that we are going to be “lukewarm” if we are not willing to make some extreme, radical changes in our priorities and how we live this new life we have “in Christ.”  Before we fool ourselves into thinking that we have achieved some type of success because we have convinced a large group of people to join our multitude, we better examine what kind of multitude we really are and what we are trying to become.  Jesus tells the crowds following Him to take careful consideration of the personal costs of being a TRUE DISCIPLE in Luke 14:25-35.  If you are willing to pay the price, DO NOT take the title!

“²⁵ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, ²⁶ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple {this refers to the kind of total surrender to Christ that is willing to die for the mission of Christ}. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? {Carefully consider the personal costs of being a true disciple of Jesus.} ²⁹ Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, ³⁰ Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish {count the cost before calling yourself a disciple, or Christian}. ³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace {count the cost before calling yourself a disciple, or Christian}. ³³ So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. ³⁴ Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? ³⁵ It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out {worthless for the purpose it was created}.  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 14:25-35).

The eyes of faith see every task or difficulty in life through the possibility of grace enablement.  Confession of sins and cleansing of “all unrighteousness” is the first essential to being grace enabled by the indwelling Christ (I John 1:7-9).  Prayer is the medium through which confession is communicated and the grace of cleansing is received.  This defines the cleansing of the vessel through which Christ and the Christ-life flows through us.  There is a moral obligation as children of God to live clean lives according to the teachings of Jesus Christ; i.e. the Word of God.  This is what I Peter 4:10 refers to as being “stewards of . . . grace.”  “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  The word “stewards” translates into the practical reality of accountability for this supernatural spiritual endowment of power that is given to all true believers “born again” of the Spirit of God. 

Although the believer can experience sickness that is not the direct result of chastisement for some sin in his life, he cannot experience sickness that is not the direct result of God’s curse upon sin.  Sickness and death are parts of the curse. 

“¹² But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation {hupokrisis; hypocrisy or dissimulation}. ¹³ Is any among you afflicted {undergoing some hardship or difficulty}? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. ¹⁶ Confess your faults one to another {humbling ourselves to avoid having people think of us to highly}, and pray one for another {present imperative; when people know that we all struggle with the same temptations, this prompts us to continually pray one for another}, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent {grace supernaturally enabled and energized} prayer of a righteous man {this is practical sanctification not justification} availeth {enables} much. ¹⁷ Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are {he had a corrupted and sinful nature}, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. ¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. ¹⁹ Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth {wander away from living the Word}, and one convert him {turn him around or bring him back to the path of Truth trough persuasion and repentance}; ²⁰ Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way {from his wandering away from living the Truth} shall save a soul from death {the death here is the death of the Christ-life, not eternal damnation}, and shall hide a multitude of sins {the intent here is that love refuses to see the failures of the past that have been repented and forgiven as present realities}” (James 5:12-20).

          It is the responsibility of every local church member to lovingly help other believers within their local church context and the whole community of Christ to live godly, Christ-like lives – to abide in His Word.  The central objective of the local church, consisting of individual believers united together by salvation and the New Covenant responsibilities, is to ensure that the Words of Jesus are being lived through our lives (John 15:7) by grace through faith.  Any person that has a vested interest in the Kingdom of Christ will seek to abide in the Word of God and want the Word of God to be lived through his live by the enabling grace of the indwelling Christ.  

By the time of the writing of the epistle of James, about thirty years had passed since the resurrection.  Many people had begun to take many of the practical truths of the Word of God for granted.  For those who have been Christians for many years or for young adults and teenagers who have grown-up in the faith, there is a natural tendency to begin just going through the motions.

          People come to their local church’s services with many different things on their minds.  They think about the friends they will see, the songs they will sing, if their kids will set still, or the potluck dinner after services.  How many of us stop to remind ourselves that today we will meet with our God?  How many planned and prepared to worship Him? 

          I think we get into such routines so often that we give little, if any, thought to the presence of our God in what we do.  Even when we pray, we often say the words without any real consciousness of the presence of the Lord.  Our minds think about all those around us and what we are saying, but we are not consciously aware of the presence of the Lord.  We read and study our Bibles without consideration that God is intending to speak to us through the Words on the pages.  We witness to others without any awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

          In James 5:13, God states that our conscious awareness of the presence of God in our lives is measured by our attitude towards Him when we are either “afflicted” or “merry,” under difficulties or blessings, by what we do.  It is in the arenas of PRAYER and PRAISE that God measures the depth of our spiritual integrity.  When “afflicted,” do we pray with a real conscious dependence on the Lord?  When we are blessed, do we praise God from the depths of a grateful heart.

“Afflicted” is a general term for suffering, misfortune, or troubles (James 5:13).

          It is the same word used in James 5:10 to describe the difficulties of the Old Testament prophets.  Trials produce emotional reactions such as stress, worry, anger, and fear that sometimes bring a person into depression when not dealt with properly.  These can all be by-products of AFFLICTION.  The question is, do these things promote prayerful dependency upon the Lord in faith?  They can either PREVENT or PROMOTE spiritual growth, depending on our response to difficulties.  This will determine if we will abide in the Word or flee from the pathway of righteousness. 

James 5:13-18 completes the full circle in the quest for the integrity/wholeness of our faith begun in God to James 1:2-11.

“² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; ³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. ⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ⁵ If any of you lack wisdom {the real treasure in life}, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷ For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ⁸ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways {the context implies the pursuit of worldly wealth that is temporal as opposed to godly, biblical wisdom that is eternal}. ⁹ Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: ¹⁰ But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. ¹¹ For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways” (James 1:2-11).

Our response to affliction, suffering, misfortune, or trouble should be to look for the growth opportunity through which to gain godly wisdom.  We must learn to pray through these difficulties in that such afflictions reveal the temporality of our existence in the flesh.  In God’s plan, affliction always has a purpose.

          Affliction takes the person who has grown complacent towards the Lord, or who has become apathetic towards the things of God and focuses his attention on the PERSON of his faith, Jesus Christ.  A little spiritual meat from a simple spiritual truth: when we forget that we are living in the presence of a holy God every moment of our lives, when we forget Him when we worship, sing, or pray, we have fallen into a trap of Satan.  We have become preoccupied with the things of this world. 

          Let me ask you, did you stop to consider the condition of your heart and life before reading God’s Word?  Did you have a time of self-examination, confession, repentance, and cleansing?  When you sing the hymns, is your mind wandering to other things, or is it focused on bringing glory and praise to our heavenly Father?  Are you thinking about what you are going to do later, a problem at work, your kids, or is your heart and soul fastened upon the wonderful grace of Jesus, His mercy and goodness?  When the tithes and offerings are collected, what are you thinking?  How much?  How little? The burden of it all?  Or are you worshiping the Lord, praying that each dollar given might be used to magnify and glorify His Name a thousand-fold with souls won and lives changed.

          Something here describes every one of us.  You see friends, how easy it is to slip into the snare of the devil and forget our God.  When we forget God, we not only have slipped into the snare of the devil, but the whole concept of worship is lost as a practice of our lives.  Ensuring that the Word of God abides in us is the first step to answered prayer! 

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 40 years.

You Know Better than That!

Why Are We Failing the Great Commission?

Chapter Twenty-one

You Know Better than That!

  

        For most of professing Christians, who have spent their lifetimes wading in the shallows of doctrinal truth, every truth seems “deep” and over their heads.  The Epistle to the Hebrews was written to professing Jewish Christians sometime before 70 A.D.  Therefore, the historical context is within about thirty years after the crucifixion/resurrection of Jesus. 

According to Hebrews 5:12-14, central to the problems addressed by the epistle to the Hebrews was the doctrinal ignorance rampant among Jewish believers at this time period.  Although they had made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, many were being seduced into returning to the Mosaic Covenant thereby abandoning their New Covenant responsibilities of the priesthood of all believers.  The epistle to the Hebrews confronts this inconsistency of Mosaic Covenant Christianity as equal to “unbelief” (Hebrews 4:6).  This is a very serious situation that would impregnate Christianity with false doctrines that continue to this day in Replacement Theology. 

“¹² For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. ¹³ For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. ¹⁴ But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

Jewish believers in the epistle to the Hebrews are being addressed as hypothetical unbelievers because their practices of faith in Christ are inconsistent with the necessity of understanding the “finished” propitiation of God through the crucifixion and shed Blood of Jesus.  This doctrinal error is posited as “unbelief.”  Therefore, religious practices MUST be consistent with doctrinal truth or the inconsistencies reveal unbelief and false faith.  Such inconsistencies are to be confronted evangelistically and corrected because such people are still living in unbelief and therefore still lost in their sins. 

The word “faith” as used in the Bible ALWAYS connects to the PRACTICES OF BELIEFS.  Faith NEVER refers to mere beliefs apart from corresponding practices.  This corruption of the meaning of “faith” is confronted in almost every epistle in the New Testament.  Biblically, the practices of religion and life MUST be in alignment with the correct understanding of Bible doctrine.  Paul addresses this definition of “faith” as “doctrine” eight times in I Timothy, four times in II Timothy, and four times in Titus (16 timers in all three epistles).  These are the three Pastoral Epistles establishing the correlation between true, Biblical faith with right doctrine.  James’ epistle does the same. 

The problem addressed in Hebrews 5:12-14 is serious regarding why the Church is failing to fulfill the Great Commission for two main reasons. 

1. The main responsibilities of the new priesthood of all believers in the New Covenant are to evangelize the lost bringing them to faith in Christ and to disciple the newly “born again” believers in knowing and living the Truths of God’s Word.

2. The failure to understand the distinction between the nature of the unfinished work of redemption in the shadowy sacrifices of the Mosaic Covenant, at which the Mosaic Covenant merely pointed its finger, manifested a serious misunderstanding of the “finished” nature of the New Covenant in the Blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  This problem manifests unbelief in the “finished” work of the propitiation of God and the gift of God-kind righteousness to the believing sinner.  This failure reproduced itself in generation after generation. 

“¹³ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: ¹⁴ But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. ¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. ¹⁶ Do not err, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift {everything that is good and righteous} is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. ¹⁹ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: ²⁰ For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. ²¹ Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. ²² But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. ²³ For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: ²⁴ For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. ²⁵ But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed {James is not referring to works FOR salvation, but rather the works OF born OUT OF genuine salvation; Ephesians 2:10}. ²⁶ If any man among you seem to be religious {appears to be a practitioner of ‘the faith’}, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion {practices of ‘the faith’ thereby revealing genuineness or hypocrisy} is vain {empty or worthless}. ²⁷ Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father {works OF the genuinely ‘born again’ person} is this {two general examples are given}, To visit {for the purposes of relieving their distress}the fatherless and widows in their affliction {distressed condition; repeated many times in the Old Testament books; Deuteronomy 10:18; Psalm 68:5, 82:3; and Isaiah 1:17.  This defines moral responsibilities to those in need before the eyes of God and before the world.}, and to keep himself {this defines moral responsibilities for himself before the eyes of God} unspotted from the world” (James 1:13-27).

          This statement and warning of James cannot be over emphasized; “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead” (James 2:20)?  In other words, professed faith in God’s Words without a corresponding obedience to those Words in the way we live before God and the world is self-deception in the worst form.  Such a person will ultimately discover he was never truly “born again,” but that discovery will be TOO LATE!  This does not imply that someone that was truly “born again” had somehow lost the gift of salvation.  The implication is that their faith was never in the objective facts of the accomplished “finished” Cross work of Christ manifested by His resurrection from the dead.  Salvation is a gift and once it is received “through faith,” it is eternally sure. 

The Bible says, as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he:” (Proverbs 23:7a).  God is not talking about what a person thinks, but the way he thinks.  The way a person thinks will determine what kind of person he will be.  God wants to change the way we think, not just what we think.

“³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: ⁴ (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) ⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; ⁶ And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (II Corinthians 10:3-6).

          The way a person thinks determines how he sees himself, how he sees other people, and how he sees life in general.  A few good examples of this are some of the famous painters in history.  As we look at their work, we can get a glimpse into their minds to see the way they think.  Vincent van Gogh was a troubled man and his paintings reflect the way he thought.  His paintings are a continuum of distorted images occupied with the base things of this world.

          Pierre Renoir’s impressionism is that of blended colors without clear-cut lines and distinctions.  Michelangelo’s art was occupied with the details of muscle, movement, and body construction.  Rembrandt van Rijn was a portrait artist who painted people in dark shadows and colors.  Perhaps he saw the sinister darkness behind everyone.  The works of these men reflect the way they thought.  James says we can also see the way another believer thinks when we look at his Christian work (how he practices his Christianity; living faith).

          Sometimes the truths of Scripture are viewed as ivory tower ideologies.  For people who think this way, the Bible is a book of things to know, but are so far beyond man’s abilities they could never be realized.  However, God uses the words of Scripture to detail His expectations for our lives; not in abstract ideologies, but in practical realities.  What God gives us to know, He expects us to do.

          The epistle of James details the practical realities of the Christian life.  These practical realities define Christianity by what we do (not by what we know).  This little epistle takes all the apparent ivory tower ideologies and translates them into grassroots realisms expressed in the works of the professing Christian.  The epistle of James takes those truths out of the mind (knowing) and translates the knowledge into a reality of Christian ministry (doing).  Whenever our Christianity fails, it fails in the transition from knowing to doing. This outcome of false faith is what defines the corruption of the doctrine of repentance to mean merely a change of mind. 

Pure religion (true living Christianity/faith) is not expressed in flowery speeches and beautiful words, but in concrete tangible actions of ministry (James 1:22 & 27).

          True Christianity (“the faith;” “pure religion”) is defined by practice, not knowledge.  The things listed in James 1:26-27 are intended as a few examples.  The three things listed in these two verses are a beginning, not an end in themselves.

Ø A professing Christian, who fails to control his tongue, denies his profession (beliefs) by his practice (vs. 26).

Ø A professing Christian, who refuses to minister to other believers in need, denies his profession by his practice (vs. 27a).

Ø A professing Christian, who fails to live separated from the world and separated unto God, denies his profession by his practice (vs. 27b).

Knowers, who are not doers, deceive themselves about the reality of their Christianity (James 1:22), maybe even their salvation.

          Dr. Bob Jones Sr. once said, “You can’t be religious without religion; you can’t be Christian without Christ; you can’t deliver the goods unless you got the goods to deliver.  You can’t get water out of a dry well, so quit putting on.”

          If your Christianity is one of knowing without doing, it is not Christianity at all.  If your Christianity never ministers to your neighbor’s need, it is not Christianity.  If your Christianity never seeks to bridge the gap between broken relationships and unforgiveness, it is not Christianity.  If your Christianity is not constantly aware of the lost people around you and does not do everything possible to personally share the words of life in the Gospel of Christ with them, it is not Christianity.  If any one of these is true of your life, your Christianity is not real.  It is nothing but a conglomerate of ivory tower ideologies.  If this describes the reality of any person’s faith, it should be the greatest concern for every believer-priest. 

“Doers of the Word” translate the wonderful truths of God’s Word into the practice of their lives. 

          “Doers of the Word” become a vehicle to transport God’s love, God’s mercy, and God’s grace to the souls and lives of lost people.  This is what defines “doers of the Word.”  It is hands on Christianity.  “Hearers only” are people with their heads in the work, but not their hearts and hands.  God’s Word is an instruction book for ministry.  He never intended for us to know what He wants without doing what He wants.

Everyone has dreams.  Many people can get a vision of what God wants for their lives.  However, every great Christian became great not because of ideas, dreams, or visions, but because they did whatever needed to be done to translate their ideas, dreams, and visions into realities.  They were “doers of the Word”, not mere ideologues.

          Modern day Christianity seems content to bask in the glory of the successes of years gone by while failing to translate their own personal faith into the practical reality of doing.  Read James 1:21 again; “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”  The reason for this duplicity of contradiction between professed faith and living faith is because the knowledge of the Word of God is head knowledge only.  Faith in God’s Word is not being “engrafted” (integrated) into the practices of life.  This is to what Christ is referring in Revelation 3:14-19 in His message to the Laodicean period of Church history.

          How can a professing Christian determine if he is just a hearer only or a doer?  To whom are you reaching out to minister and what are you doing to accomplish the Great Commission?  Is there real and tangible evidence of concrete spiritual growth and change in your life?  Is it measured by what you have learned (knowledge) or by what you have learned to do (doing)?  If there is no measurable spiritual growth, determined by personal ministry and practical faith (work), your Christianity is merely intellectual.  In other more direct words, your faith not Biblical faith.

          Real Christian faith is always a working, practicing faith (doing).  The word faith never separates beliefs from practice.  The word faith means we practice what we believe.  This is always the meaning of faith in Hebrew and the Old Testament.  For instance, if you believe all mankind is condemned to an eternal hell, real faith compels you act (“works,” James 2:14-20) upon that belief.  If your professed Christianity (“faith”) does not act upon your belief, your professed faith is “dead, being alone” (James 2:17 &20). 

          When it comes to the real Christian faith, there is no such thing as an armchair Christian.  Real Christian faith does not allow for spectators.  In real Christianity, everyone must be a participant.  Stop praying for a burden for people and begin to do what God tells you to do.  When you begin to do the work of the ministry, you will have a burden for people.

          How then do we escape this façade of image over substance; the pursuit of knowledge without an equal effort at living what we learn?  Here we enter the spiritual struggle common to all true believers with the desire to live for the Lord and produce fruit for the Lord – PRACTICAL SANCTIFICATION.  

          The greatest enemy of the believer is not Satan.  He is the Destroyer and the accuser of the brethren, but he is not the believer’s greatest enemy.  The believer’s greatest enemy is his own fallen, corrupted sin nature, the OLD MAN.  The “old man” can never be spiritual.  The “old man” can never be righteous because he is conceived a sinner and is born a sinner.  The “old man” can never be anything but a sinner.  Being “born again” adds the Holy Spirit’s Person to the believer’s body thereby enabling that believer to live righteously and obey God’s Word.  The Bible word for this enabling of the indwelling Spirit is “fellowship.”  “Fellowship” with God empowers the “born again” believer through yielding to the indwelling Spirit of God and is the ONLY solution to carnality!  To KNOW this truth and not DO THIS TRUTH, is pure self-deception. 

“¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For that which I {want to} do I {the ‘old man’ or sin nature} allow not: for what I {the new ‘born again’ man} would, that do I{the new ‘born again’ man} not; but what I{the new ‘born again’ man} hate, that do I {the ‘old man’ or sin nature}. ¹⁶ If then I {the new ‘born again’ man} do that which I {the new ‘born again’ man} would not, I {the new ‘born again’ man} consent unto the law that it is good. ¹⁷ Now then it is no more I {the new ‘born again’ man} that do it, but sin {the ‘old man’ or sin nature} that dwelleth in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. ¹⁹ For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. ²⁰ Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin {the ‘old man’ or sin nature} that dwelleth in me. ²¹ I find then a law {a spiritually governing principle}, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. ²² For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ²⁵ I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:14-25).

          Escaping the facade of image over substance and the pursuit of knowledge without an equal effort at living what we learn is more than a very difficult endeavor.  It is an impossible endeavor apart from the enabling grace of God.  We cannot do this is our own strength.  This is a supernatural work requiring supernatural abilities.  We must be constantly cognizant of that fact. 

“² Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, ³ According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: ⁴ Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Peter 1:2-4).

          The essential truth of the supernatural enabling (grace) of a “born again” believer through total surrender to Christ permeates God’s instruction to believers in the epistle of James about living the Christian life and producing God-kind righteousness and spiritual fruit through our lives.  Since the Scriptures are redundant with this truth, it must be a truth of which most Christians are ignorant.  Or, this is a truth most Christians simply ignore. 

Therefore, we have two probable problems for why we fail to escape the façade of image over substance and the pursuit of knowledge without an equal effort at living what we learn.

Ø The image we project to others about our Christianity is more important to us than the reality of our Christianity. 

Ø Impressing people with what we know is more important to us than actual fruit being produced to the glory of God through the truths that we live and proclaim.

          This brings us to the place of an honest evaluation of our Christian lives before God.  It is a critical evaluation in that apart from it our lives will never escape the façade of image over substance and the pursuit of knowledge without an equal effort at living what we learn.  Unless we are brutally honest with ourselves about image over substance and knowledge over living truth, we will be doomed to live our lives in the shadows of spiritual obscurity and fruitlessness. 

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 40 years.