What does it mean to be a doer of the word?

What is a doer of the word? Is it one who reads the bible and obeys its edicts? Well, when you look at the definition of *the word* by Jesus and his first century followers it changes the meaning quite a bit. Jesus and his followers redefined the term word, word of God, to be either the gospel, or Jesus the living gospel. Let’s examine James to see how he defines the term word. James 1:18  “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures.” In James view, the word of truth is the gospel which is what brought him and his followers forth to be first-fruits. However, James goes on to really nail down what he means by the term word. Look at this passage; James 1:21  “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” The implanted word, which is able to save your souls is the gospel.

So when James states in verse 22 “don’t be only a hearer of the word, be a doer of the word also” He is saying be a doer of the gospel. Let’s rephrase the verse with this proper understanding. James 1:22  “But be doers of the gospel, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” So now let me ask this question. What does it mean to be a doer of the gospel? How does one do the gospel? The first thing that should come to mind is this; to be a doer of the gospel one must apprehend the gospel and believe it with all their heart. The first step in doing the gospel is believing that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting sin. Doing the gospel is *believing* the gospel in spite of what you see. Doing the gospel will create peace with God, and provide one the opportunity to really love God based upon being at peace with him. Being at peace with God because of the gospel will promote a Sabbath Rest. The term resting in Jesus is doing the gospel. The epitome of the gospel message is resting in Jesus.

It is the gospel that will produce all of the fruit and works. If you pay attention to James, you will see that doing the word is loving your neighbor as yourself. When James goes on in chapter two to say that faith without works is dead being alone… the works that he is referring to is love works; it is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless and visiting the sick and prisoners.

It amazes me that we have so misunderstood the scripture. Most evangelicals believe that doing the word is reading the bible and following its instructions. I have shown beyond doubt by James own words that doing the word is believing the gospel and allowing peace with God to transform one into a loving person. Still, people use the passage to cause people to fear. My prayer is that we will shift our paradigm to the one that Jesus and his first century followers had.

To root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, build and plant

Jer 1:4-10  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:  (5)  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."  (6)  Then said I: "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth."  (7)  But the LORD said to me: "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak.  (8)  Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.  (9)  Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.  (10)  See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant."

Do you believe that each of us was put here on earth for a purpose? I do. I think that it is very important for each of us to fulfill this purpose and complete our mission. The question to ask yourself is what are you passionate about? The answer to that question could well be your purpose, your mission in life. Fulfilling it will bring you happiness and joy… In a way, it will help complete you as a person, and it will also fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

I bring this up because I want to share my passion with you. Actually, every time I write a blog post I share it, but I want to take this opportunity to state specifically how I see it and why I write this blog.  I guess you may call me a Christian mystic. By that I mean that I believe that I commune and communicate with God via his Holy Spirit. Most evangelicals are mystics in one way, shape or form. As I think about my ordination service, I recall the speaker that day, Dr. Lacy, coming from the above quoted passage. No doubt this is a common passage to be used for ordinations. But, I take it more personal than that. I believe that the Holy Spirit inspired Dr. Lacy to bring the ordination sermon from this passage and that it was a personal message to me. Yes, I realize the historical context. It was written about the prophet Jeremiah. It explained his purpose. I just think that the Holy Spirit wanted me to think about having a similar purpose and mission.

Let’s look at it for a minute in bulleted list form

• Before I formed you in the womb I knew you
• Before you were born I set you apart
• I ordained you to be a prophet to the nations
• Don’t be afraid of their faces
• I am your deliverer and with you at all times
• I have put my words in your mouth and on your finger tips

You are here to

• Root up and pull down
• Destroy and throw down
• Build and plant

With the Lord’s help and grace I will continue to write without fear. I will share openly what the Lord has given me. I will rethink and reexamine orthodoxy, dogma and tradition. I will try to, lovingly if possible, to root up, pull down, destroy, and throw down false doctrines, those that go against what Jesus and his followers promoted; even when it is unpopular; even at the risk of alienation. And by the same token, I will try to build and plant the pure gospel of the kingdom of Christ.

There, I have plainly stated my mission and life’s purpose as I see it. Thanks for taking the time to read it and I welcome any interaction.

Accepting the kingdom of God as a child

Luke 18:17  “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."

We are in a series of posts that I call “in search of the kingdom of God.” Over time I have established some interesting and challenging facts. Jesus and his followers defined the phrase “word of God” as either the gospel, or Jesus the living gospel, and not scripture. Jesus and his followers gave scripture a solely redemptive purpose. Jesus and his followers believed and taught that the kingdom of God, and the end of the age were contemporaneous with them… that is, within the forty year generation that was alive during Jesus ministry.

It is well accepted within evangelical dogma that the exodus was a metaphor for the spiritual exodus that Jesus brought about. The book of Hebrews likens the believing Jews to Joshua and Caleb. They are a type of the believer. They were able to enter the Sabbath rest after the death of the unbelieving Jews. Hebrews (chapter four) says that the believing Jews in the time of Christ are able to enter the Sabbath Rest for believing the gospel. Let’s look at Joshua and Caleb. They believed God when he told Moses that the land of rest was given to them, and that all they had to do was lay hold of it. They were fearless. The reason is that they trusted God and his word to Moses. They had childlike faith.

Let’s look for a minute at childlike faith. Some people think little children are gullible. Why? The answer is simple; they believe what you tell them and take it at face value. Little children are wired to trust. They do not easily see the danger that the world poses for them. They are trusting, and have simple faith in everything. They easily believe in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. It is part of their nature to trust, and only as they are let down… only as they are hurt for trusting, do they begin to build up the distrust that is very prevalent in adults.

Yet, Jesus says that unless one becomes like a little child… that is… develops childlike trust in God, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Again, let me reiterate that the kingdom of God is simply the reign of God. One cannot enter into a trusting relationship with God without childlike faith. What exactly must one believe? The answer is simple… believe the gospel; Believe that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting sin. This is very difficult for adults to do. It doesn’t make sense… religion does. Religion makes sense because it gives us a set of rules to follow… it gives us something to perform to become acceptable to God. That is antithetical to the gospel message. It is antithetical to the Sabbath Rest.

The problem is this… without childlike faith, one cannot really trust God to give him or her the Sabbath Rest. I have observed an interesting phenomenon in my lifetime. Most of the people that I know who were told of Jesus when they were young; who really believed in him as a child, hold on to that throughout their life, and if they per chance have periods of doubt, they always somehow return to a deep and abiding faith.

What does all of this mean for the kingdom? It means that the kingdom is established solely by trust devoid of religion. If one is trusting in religion… Trusting in a formula… Trusting in a mode of behavior … Trusting in tradition… trusting in any obedience except the obedience of faith, they are lacking the childlike trust and completely missing the kingdom (reign) of God.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness

Matthew 6:33 says this: Two directives are given.“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Two things show up in this verse:  1. first, seek the kingdom of God 2. seek His righteousness. If one wants the abundance added by God, they must first seek the kingdom and then His (God’s) righteousness. Interesting… How many church folk ever even speak of the kingdom of God let alone seek it? Are they too busy seeking and building the kingdom of church? This is an important question to ponder.  Are church folk so busy with programs and auxiliaries that they do not have time for the kingdom of God? Are they so consumed with the government of church and church authority that they neglect the rule of the King?

Further to the point, there is little real agreement as to the make-up of the kingdom of God, the timing of the kingdom of God, and the rule of the kingdom of God. I think that it would be very important indeed for most churches to begin a sincere quest for discovering the kingdom of God. Since Jesus said that the kingdom of God was at hand… right around the corner… two thousand years ago, is it not a legitimate question to ask where it is?

Moving on to point two; the righteousness of God. What does it mean to be seeking the righteousness of God? What is the righteousness of God? Let’s look to Paul for the answer. Rom 3:21-26  But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,  (22)  even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;  (23)  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  (24)  being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  (25)  whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,  (26)  to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Yes, that’s right… the righteousness of God is imputed righteousness. It is the righteousness that comes from faith. It is NOT righteousness that is achieved by obedience to the law. What? Did I hear that right? Paul has so much to say about imputed righteousness… the righteousness of God. A lot of *new perspective on Paul* theologians  have tried to downplay the idea of imputed righteousness but, I think it is a serious mistake. Even N.T. Wright, and I love what he has done theologically, misses this important point. Imputed righteousness is the foundation of the Christian transformation process.

Why do I say that you ask? Well, because of Romans 10:1-4. This is one of my favorite go to passages of Pauls. Romans 10:1-4  Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.  (2)  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  (3)  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.  (4)  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Here it is made plain. It cannot be twisted. This passage can apply to most of evangelical Christianity today. People are still trying to establish their own righteousness by following the law and what they think the law is.

Even when you understand Greek, and realize that the word translated *end* in verse four is telios with the best meaning being goal… and, if you read the verse as Christ is the goal of the law for righteousness it removes the legal sense in which Christians follow the law with fear and trepidation.  In the kingdom of God, one is granted righteousness for faith in a loving Father who was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and who was not counting their sin against them. This is the source of peace with God. Yes the righteousness of God is the source of peace… and the peace is the source of love for God and the love for God brings about the obedience of faith.

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel

Mark 1:15 represents the first words Jesus spoke after returning from the wilderness after his baptism. The message is very simple. First the kingdom of God is at hand. That means that it is very near the time. The Greek word translated as at hand, eggichen means near at the time of the hearers and readers. It is not near 2000 years later, and cannot be construed to mean that. The kingdom of God came essentially by two things. First, one must change their minds from their current belief system, and second, one must believe the gospel. Faith in the gospel is more than mental assent. As I have stated in the past it is apprehending it. Believing it so much that one holds on to it no matter what.

Notice also that Jesus says that the time is fulfilled. The Greek here is important. Time is kairos, the ripe time, and fulfilled is pleroo, complete. So, the statement is this…. The ripe time is complete, the kingdom of God is near, change your mind and believe the good news. How is anyone going to push that into the distant future and have it be a true statement? It simply cannot be done. The kingdom was near, the time was complete and ripe. This is very easy to understand. So, if that was two thousand years ago and if the kingdom was near back then, where is it today? Is the kingdom the church? No, I don’t think so. The church is the called out ones the ecclesia. The kingdom is the reign of God. That means that God is in charge. Since God is in charge what should be done? Jesus answer was to change one’s mind and believe the good news.

So then let’s look a little farther into this matter. The called out ones, the assembly, is to believe the gospel that God reigns. That is, the called out ones individually, and corporately. The reign of God becomes evident when individuals in community believe in the reign of God, and agree what that means practically. This is precisely why the church is not the kingdom of God. There is no essential agreement on what the reign of God means practically. Rather, there are thirty thousand various denominations all believing differently. That is merely the kingdom of confusion.

Has prophecy failed? Did the kingdom fail to materialize? Or… did the prophecy of the strong delusion come about just as prophesied? Did the church miss out on the kingdom of God and instead build the kingdom of church? I think this is precisely what happened. While it is true that the kingdom of God was available from the first century forward, the fact is that Christians did not really believe it. They missed the signs and are awaiting the fulfillment of the kingdom promise; still waiting today. They are looking forward to the establishment of the kingdom and it is available by merely changing the mind and believing the gospel. So then, in a way Jesus is still saying to anyone who will listen, “the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel. What does repent mean? It means to change the mind and embrace the reality that the kingdom is a spiritual kingdom and it is here for the apprehending today.

My kingdom is not of this world

I have been thinking a lot about the kingdom of God lately. The gospel according to Jesus is the gospel or “good news,” “glad tidings,” of the kingdom. I want to be real clear; I am not referring to the kingdom of church. We as believers should be in the process, about the business of, establishing the kingdom of God. In order to do that it is imperative that we know exactly what the kingdom of God is. I will be doing a few posts that will be in search of the kingdom of God. Hopefully, they will discuss both what the kingdom is and what it is not.

I want to begin with Jesus exchange with Pilate. He clearly told him that His kingdom, the kingdom of God was not of this world. It must therefore be transcendental. It must transcend the kingdom of this world. We hear the phrase “in the world but not of the world” all the time. What bible verse is that found in anyway? Oh… it is not in any… at least that particular verbiage is not to be found anywhere. The concept is found in John chapter seventeen. Specifically in John 17:14 -15:

John 17:14-15  I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  (15)  I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Something that I have come to realize lately is, that when in John’s gospel one sees the term world, it does not mean the world as we have defined it in church doctrine. It is not the world that does not know Christ and is non-religious. When John uses the word world, in context, he always means the religious unbelieving Jews. It was the religious unbelieving Jews who hated Jesus. It is very clear that Pilate did not hate Jesus (John 18:28-38). He was basically oblivious to Jesus. It was not the pagan world that hated Jesus, and he was not referring to the pagan world when he spoke the words in the above passage of John. We really need to re-evaluate our use of the term world in Christianity.

At any rate, Jesus says that His kingdom is not of this world. He does not go on to say that it will one day be of this world. The kingdom of God, is the reign of God. The reign of God has always been and always will be so the kingdom of God, reign of God is eternal. The good news of the kingdom of God is that God reigns. Added to that is that God loves humanity. Added to that is the forgiveness of sin. Sin is separated from humanity as far as the east is from the west. God will remember sin no more. We are reinstated in a relationship with God because of Jesus and the cross. We can believe the truth about us, and about God. He thinks we are very good (Gen 1:31.) He is happy he created us and wants a relationship with us.

This is the knowledge that will help transcend the kingdom of men. This will transcend the kingdom of church, and religion that has a death grip on so many. We can be smack dab in the middle of the kingdom of men and still be citizens of the kingdom of God. We can begin to follow the rules of the kingdom of God. We can love. We can love one another. We can control our greed. We can feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless and clothe the naked. We can see that the kingdom of God operates in the man-made kingdoms whether it is the kingdom of earthly government or the kingdom of church.

Fear not little flock for it is your Father’s good pleasure to GIVE you the kingdom!

I watched our DVD of the movie “The Secret” a couple of times today, and it pointed out something that will help me change my MO (modus operandi.) I have been critical of evangelical doctrine and dogma, and unfortunately in so doing, have brought more of the same into many of my readers. I shall try from here forward to write about what is good, proper and motivates improvement. In other words, I will emphasize as Jesus and his followers did their new definition of the word of God and explain the redemptive focus of the scripture, and will leave the criticism to others if there is to be criticism at all.

It is fitting that we focus on this glorious promise that Jesus made in Luke 12:32. It should bring joy to our hearts and minds to realize that the God of the universe, our loving Father... by the way as Jesus assured us, has made such a grand promise. The kingdom is ours for the establishing. If it is in fact the Father’s good pleasure to GIVE us the kingdom, then it will behoove us to explore exactly what the kingdom is and what it means to be a citizen thereof.

We can rest assured that the main emphasis of this kingdom is the gospel of grace. Father God has righted the wrongs in Christ Jesus, and has restored us to the fellowship that Adam enjoyed before the fall. We once again can walk and talk with the Father in the cool or warmth of the morning, noon, afternoon or evening. We are in relationship with Him based upon the faithful act of Jesus his beloved son and our elder brother. We have been afforded a grand opportunity. We can love if we trust in the gospel message. We can find real peace with God and develop a deep and abiding love for God that we can show by loving each other.

The kingdom which the Father desires to GIVE us has only one rule. It is the rule of love. It is not a rule that must be followed, nor is it a rule that can simply be followed. We can only genuinely obey the rule of the kingdom if we actually love. It must be that we first love God, and then an offshoot of that love will be the impetus for our love for one another. Yes, my dear friend, I am afraid that we must genuinely love one another. So much so that we would be willing to lay down our lives in that love. This cannot be accomplished because we have read somewhere that it is a rule. We must genuinely first and foremost love one another. It must be in the way in which the Father and Christ have loved us. This is supernatural love, and we cannot achieve it on our own. It has to be infused into us from the Father by his Spirit, and that must needs be the result of genuinely believing the gospel. I hope you will go along with me on this journey in search of the kingdom of God.