Regaining your first love

Rev 2:4-5  Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  (5)  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

What was the first love the author writes about? …And, what were the first works? These two questions need to be answered to help the saint of God progress properly in the transformation process. Well, the answer is simple when you examine it. The “first love” is the incredible joy and peace that one felt the minute they believed the gospel. Once they realized that they were declared righteous by the blood of Jesus, and that they were accepted by God as an heir and joint heir with Christ, that all of their sins were completely forgiven they experienced a peace that surpasses all understanding. that was the “first love.”

Think back to that moment saint. Think back to the moment of your acceptance of the gospel. How did it make you feel? Do you remember the peace and joy? It was indescribable wasn’t it? So then, what would cause one to lose that “first love?” Why are so many saints burnt out, tired out, and overwhelmed? There is a simple yet profound answer. It is simply because they think that they are on a working contract with God. They essentially read the scripture as a legal constitutional document and they believe that God is unhappy with them when they fail to live up to the letter of the contract.

Further, many judge themselves against others in the body of Christ and believe that so in so is really living holy, and that somehow they are not as righteous as the other person. Comparing yourself to others is absolutely devastating. Yet further, all too many leaders set themselves on a pedestal of sorts and do not allow the saints to see the real true them. If you were to ask them if they do this they would deny it but in reality they do it merely by not being honest. I have heard so many preachers and pastors say that they need to shield the congregation from any of their short comings. All of these various attitudes and beliefs work together to rob the saint of the “first love.”

So then, what is the cure? What will restore the “first love?” This is also a profoundly simple answer. The pristine gospel is the answer. The gospel reassures the saint that they are not on a working contract with God. It assures them that they are righteous and holy because of the blood of Jesus. The gospel puts the saint at peace with God and in this place of peace and rest… the “first love” resides. The gospel presents the fact that the saint is always in the presence of God and can be there with boldness because of the blood of Jesus. It creates an atmosphere of holy boldness in which the first love is a natural outflow of God’s incredible, unlimited grace. Repenting is as simple as changing your mind to believe the gospel all the time!

Peace with God; the catalyst for the transformation

Rom 5:1  Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

Here in a nutshell is the catalyst for true and real spiritual transformation. Grace via the gospel of Christ Jesus is the source of the peace. Peace with God means the removal of all fear of God, and removal of all fear of God removes all fear of punishment. Being made right in God’s sight by faith is the love that casts out all fear (1John 4:18.)

So then, peace with God produces love for God. Once all fear is gone, and one is resting in the goodness and grace of God, amazing love for God is the result. Grace is the offer that one cannot refuse. The gospel message is really truly good news. Look at this passage from 2 Corinthians 5. It is a very concise statement of the gospel. 2Co 5:19-21 NLT  “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.  (20)  So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!"  (21)  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” Peace with God comes from being reconciled. This leads to a deep profound love for God.

Basking in the peace of God brings about the ability to reflect on what pleases God without fearing God. This is the source of real spiritual transformation… transformation that results in genuine loving obedience. This is almost nonexistent in today’s evangelical environment. The reason is simple. Current evangelical doctrine focuses on self-induced obedience. It focuses on self-reformation.  This is impossible to do because of the nature of our flesh. It drives us to the depths of fear and discouragement because of our failures. People who are involved in reformation secretly are miserable and devastated. The reason is that self-reformation of necessity involves legal obedience and self-righteousness. Ultimately the saint involved in this always ends up unable to really rest in Jesus and have true peace with God.

That is why peace with God is so very, very important. Peace with God eases the mind. It produces joy and love… joy with, or in spite of our circumstances... and also love for God. It actually produces the fruit of the Spirit. Peace with God produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.  How you ask? The answer is simple… it casts out all fear.

Isn’t it interesting that having faith in God’s unlimited grace does just the opposite of what most evangelicals fear. So often I hear folks say that if you teach grace people will feel confident in sinning. Isn’t that the most absurd idea you have ever heard? Actually, God’s unlimited grace produces peace with God that leads to spiritual transformation.

Peter defines the word of God; He was following Jesus and the other apostles

1Pe 1:23-25  since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;(Jesus)  (24)  for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,  (25)  but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

I have devoted a lot of key strokes to the indisputable fact that first Jesus, and then his first century followers redefined the phrase word of God to mean, either, Jesus the living word or the gospel (the good news of Jesus.) I have shown that Paul defined the word of truth as the gospel (Eph 1:13)… and likewise, so did James (James 1:18), and here we have Peter as yet another witness of the first century Christ follower who has redefined the word from Torah to gospel.

I recently did a word study on this and would like to include it here for you. I confess that it is more words than the usual blog post because it is quite exhaustive.

Jesus defines the word of God as the gospel:

Jesus defines the phrase “word of God” as the gospel in the parable of the sower.

(Mat 13:18-19)  "Hear then the parable of the sower:  (19)  When anyone hears the *word of the kingdom* and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.” So then, in this account from the gospel of Matthew, Jesus equates the seed with the word of the kingdom or the gospel of the kingdom. Now look at the same parable in Luke’s gospel. (Luke 8:11-12)  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.  (12)  The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Here Jesus defines the seed as the word of God. So then, in one place he calls the seed the word or gospel of the kingdom and in another place he calls it the word of God. One can conclude from this that Jesus defined the word of God as the gospel of the kingdom.

This becomes especially important when you look at the way that all of his first century followers who wrote the New Testament defined the phrase *word of God.* It was always gospel or Jesus the living gospel. In the New Testament writings, when you see the phrases *word of God*… *word of truth*… or just the word *word.* It always means *the gospel* or Jesus the living gospel and conversely, it never means scripture. You can easily test this out. Do a concordance search of the phrase *word of God* and then substitute the phrase with either scripture or gospel. You will soon see that it only makes sense when the word gospel is substituted.

Here is an exhaustive list with the substitution made and commentary that follows to justify the meaning.

(Luk 5:1)  On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,… to hear the gospel makes sense… to hear the scripture does not. They went to the synagogues to hear the scripture read

(Luk 8:11)  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God… In this passage as shown above the seed is the gospel of the kingdom.

(Luk 8:21)  But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." Hear the gospel and do it, not hear the scripture and do it

(Luk 11:28)  But he said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"… hear the gospel and keep (believe) it.

(Act 4:31)  And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness… The continued to speak the gospel with boldness.

(Act 6:2)  And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables… preaching the gospel not the scripture.

(Act 6:7)  And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith… the gospel continued to increase

(Act 8:14)  Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John… Samaria received the gospel they already had the scripture.

(Act 11:1)  Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God… received the gospel not the scripture

(Act 12:24)  But the word of God increased and multiplied… the gospel increased and multiplied, the scripture was already very wide spread.

(Act 13:5)  When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them… they proclaimed the gospel not the scripture.

(Act 13:7)  He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God… sought to hear the gospel

(Act 13:46)  And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles… gospel be spoken first to you… first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.

(Act 17:13)  But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds… the gospel was proclaimed

(Act 18:11)  And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them… teaching the gospel, not the scripture

(Rom 9:6)  But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel… not as though the gospel had failed

(1Co 14:36)  Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?... the gospel came?

(Eph 6:17)  and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,… which is the gospel

(Col 1:25)  of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known… make the gospel fully known

(1Th 2:13)  And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers… received the gospel which you heard from us

(1Ti 4:5)  for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer… by the gospel and prayer

(2Ti 2:9)  for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!... the gospel is not bound.

(Tit 2:5)  to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled… that the gospel may not be reviled

(Heb 4:12)  For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart… for Jesus is living and active… see verses 13-15 for context and proof.

(Heb 6:5)  and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,… tasted the goodness of the gospel

(Heb 11:3)  By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible… created by Jesus

(Heb 13:7)  Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith… spoke to you the gospel

(1Pe 1:23)  since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

(2Pe 3:5)  For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,… Jesus

(1Jn 2:14)  I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one… Jesus abides in you

(Rev 1:2)  who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw… bore witness to the gospel

(Rev 1:9)  I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus… on account of the gospel

(Rev 6:9)  When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne… slain for the gospel

(Rev 19:13)  He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God… Jesus

(Rev 20:4)  Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years… testimony of Jesus and the gospel

Word of truth

Both Paul and James actually define what they mean by the phrase word of truth.

(Eph 1:13)  “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”

(Jas 1:18)  Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures… brought us forth by the gospel and Jesus

A question to ponder:

Here is my question; if Jesus, and his followers re-defined the word of truth and the word of God to be the gospel, and Jesus the living gospel… why… do all evangelical pastors and theologians insist on calling the scripture the word of God? Does this alone not show that they are walking in error?

Note: **I acknowledge that Psalm 119 defines the word of God and word of truth as the Torah. I acknowledge that Jesus referred to Torah as the word of God in Matt 15:6, Mark 7:13 and John 10:35. It really just speaks about two times because the Matt and Mark passages are both referring to the same instance. In each of these instances he was speaking to unbelieving Jews who thought that the Torah was the Word of God and he was being critical of how this belief had affected their theology.

Contending for the faith; What should that mean to modern day reformers?

Jude 1:3  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

What was the specific occasion that the epistle of Jude was written too? When you read the context is was most likely to overcome Epicurean Gnostics. What essentially did the Epicurean Gnostics believe? To put it simply, they believed that the flesh was not permanent and that what one did in the flesh did not really matter. They believed in a direct divide between flesh and spirit and thus only were concerned with what the spirit believed. It was this particular heresy that Jude, and the author of second Peter addressed.  

In fact, these are the ones that Peter likely made the following statement about… (2Pe 3:15-16)  And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,  (16)  as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. Unfortunately, current evangelicals along with Messianic Jews have simply relegated these scriptures to those they accuse of antinomianism. This is overly simple and patently false.

There is no connection between those who believe that the penalty of the Law has been abolished to promote deep, abiding love for God, and these Epicurean Gnostics that taught that there was no reason to control the flesh. Paul taught that the grace and mercy of God would lead to a real love for God that would in turn lead to genuine repentance and transformation. He never excused the flesh and neither does anyone who teaches, and believes that the penalty of the Law has been abolished.

The fact is that the antinomian accusers, and the Messianic Jews distort Matthew 5:17-21. They deny that jots and tittles have in fact been removed from the Law, and that all has been fulfilled. (see this blog post)… So then, what application can the statement contending for the faith have in today’s Christianity?

The answer is that we should contend for the gospel in its pristine purity. What is the gospel in its pristine purity you ask? It is the fact that God has reconciled humanity… God was in Christ reconciling the world… not imputing sin and rather, imputes righteousness for believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We should vigorously contend against all who view and read the scripture in a legal, constitutional way. Jesus taught a solely redemptive hermeneutic and redefined the word of God to mean the gospel, or Jesus the living gospel. We should vigorously contend and demand that… *the faith* once delivered to the saints is the above defined gospel of God’s grace… that it is grace and grace alone that will produce true love for God and that ultimately, the love for God will produce transformative obedience.