The Law of Love

John 13:34-35 KJV “ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  (35)  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Rom 13:8 KJV  “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Jas 2:8 KJV  “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:”

I get a daily prophecy in my inbox from Prophet Russ Walden over at Father’s Heart Ministries. Today’s prophecy was: “The Father says today that I am raising up a people to radically walk in the law of love. The only way to master the law of sowing and reaping is to ascend into the higher law, the law of love. As you ascend into the law of love you become a lord of the harvest. You will sow into a barren land and reap a bountiful harvest. You will sow in a time of famine and bring back a hundred fold return in the same season. You will see in your life the plowman overtake the reaper and the seed sown produce a harvest before it hits the ground.

This isn't fantasy says the Father. It is the no-fail zone of the love that NEVER fails. If love never fails then why would you ever step out of love. The wisdom of the world rejects this fact. This is the LOVE-FACT says the Father. It is not possible to fail when you live your life according to the law of love. So let love's sowing bring love's reaping and mount up with those wings of favor I have overshadowed you with into the new territory I have annexed you into - even the territory that lords over all small minded selfishness and causes you to think with My mind and love with My heart this day!”  ABOVE QUOTE FROM FATHERS HEART MINISTRIES PROPHET RUSS WALDEN.

This is why Romans 5:1 is so important. This is why the gospel is so important. The gospel alone is the only thing that will bring REAL LOVE for God into the heart of an individual. This is why it must be rehearsed over and over again. This is why no one can ever outgrow their need for hearing the gospel daily. This is why God has given us imputed righteousness. This is why God has separated our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. Yes, it is to produce in us supernatural love… agape love.

This highlights the importance of Deu 28:1. This is the condition for all of the blessings following in Deu 28. One has to somehow fulfill Deu 28: 1. This is where the gospel comes into play. Jesus did fulfill Deu 28:1-2. If I rest in him alone and not any of my works, I will love him… I can’t help but love him, and when I love him as I rest in all that he accomplished on the cross, all that his blood purchased on my behalf. That alone, and NOTHING ELSE, will make me the recipient of the blessings. That is how the Amos prophecy of the plowman overtaking the reaper will come to pass.

Believe the gospel!

prosperity from properly understanding the gospel

There is no doubt that there are many lessons in the parable of the sower. There is one however that can greatly affect how we view the scripture. In the parable of the sower Jesus defines the phrase the word of God. It comes from looking at two parallel accounts of the explanation of the seed in Matthew and Luke.  Let’s look at the explanation from both passages.

Matt 13:18-19 KJV  "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

Luke 8:11 KJV  “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”

In the Matthew passage, Jesus explains to his disciples that the seed is the word of the kingdom or in other words, the gospel. Luke records him saying that the seed is the word of God. It follows then that in Jesus vocabulary, the gospel of the kingdom and the word of God are synonymous. Actually, we have established this in many other posts in this blog, however, it is instructive to see that the redefining of the phrase word of God came from Jesus himself. Luke’s understanding is that one can substitute the phrase word of God for the gospel of the kingdom. This means that when he thought of the gospel or word of the kingdom, he automatically thought of the word of God. The two phrases become interchangeable.

This becomes very important in defining how the phrase word of God was used in the New Testament writings. For example, when Paul writes: Eph 5:25-27 KJV “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;  (26)  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  (27)  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” The gospel is the washing water. Jesus has cleansed the church with the washing of the water of the gospel. This is why the gospel is so important.

It sounds like this should be an ongoing process from the Ephesians five passage. It is the way that we look continually to the cross. The cross is God’s answer for everything. It is his answer for justification, it is his answer sanctification, it is his answer for health, it is his answer for prosperity, and it is his answer for the washing process. When you add anything to the work of the cross you offend God.

So then, if one looks at this passage from Deuteronomy and believes that it is for all the seed of Abraham, both Jew, and Gentile, then one must simply look to the cross for all of the promises that follow because the cross of Christ handled these two passages once for all:

Deu 28:1-2  KJV And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:  (2)  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

All of the blessings that follow in Deu 28 will overtake the one who trusts the cross and nothing else. There is nothing else to do. The passage has been handled by the cross. Perhaps one of the reasons that we don’t see more of these blessings is that we are still trying to add to the cross with our effort. That immediately offends God. When will we stop trying to do and just begin to trust?

The person trusting in the cross will give from the love for God just for knowing that Jesus did it all. Real prosperity is found only in the cross.

 

Foundational apostles and prophets: What about the five-fold ministry? Part 2; Apostles

Eph 2:20  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, … and… Eph 4:11-13  And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,  (12)  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,  (13)  until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

I find it difficult to believe that anyone could assert that we have anything that remotely resembles unity of the faith. In fact, with all the denominations and divisions, it seems profoundly clear that the opposite is the case. Therefore, in my view apostles and prophets still must be necessary to the body of Christ. Further, the office of evangelist, pastor and teacher is still widely revered and accepted so why not apostles and prophets?

So then, if there should still be apostles in the body of Christ, what would that look like? What is their function? I think that it is answered in Ephesians 2:20. They should lay the foundation of the gospel of the kingdom. When you look up the Greek word apostolos as it is used in the New Testament, Strong provides this definition, [From G649; a delegate; specifically an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (“apostle”), (with miraculous powers): - apostle, messenger, he that is sent.] Therefore, an apostle is one with a specific call to be an ambassador or emissary of the kingdom of God and the gospel of Christ. This gospel/kingdom focus will be the main driving force in the life and mission of an apostle. Since they are sent forth, they actually have within them the qualities of all of the five gifts. They can function in any of the gifts for a period of time but they are called first and foremost to be staunch defenders of the gospel of grace.

Here at the turn of the twenty-first century, considering the condition of the church, realizing that the leaven of the Pharisees has a strong hold within the evangelical church, apostles should be busy trying to establish the foundation of the pristine gospel. Apostles should be strong proclaimers of the grace of God. They should be encouraging the saints to comprehend and accept the deep unconditional love of the Father. They should comfort and console those who are being led astray from the pristine gospel. If they are to rebuke at all it should be to those who have taken leadership roles that are not promoting the pristine gospel of grace, and are trying to lead the people into achieving righteousness by works through fear.

They must insist that the mixture of gospel and works righteousness be ended. The main reason that the church today does not experience real profound signs and wonders is that the signs and wonders are meant to establish and confirm the gospel of grace (Acts 14:3.)

I especially like the way it reads in the NLT;

(Act 14:3 NLT)  But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.

There you have it in the plainest of speech… The signs and wonders confirm the Word of His Grace, the gospel.

I can see that this series will need several posts to cover the topics properly… especially in the 500-700 word per post format…….. More to come!

 

What about Lordship Theology?

Have you ever heard someone say that Jesus must be Lord of all or he is not Lord at all? Have you ever heard someone say that if you do not make Jesus your Lord he will not be your savior? These are two statements that can be often heard from those who teach Lordship theology. Again, like in the last post of the leaven of the Pharisees, so too, there are Lordshippers in both the Pentecostal and Cessationist movements. This is a serious error in my view. Why? Because when you really think about it, if obedience to Christ proves that he is Lord or it is the way that you make him Lord then, without perfect obedience no one can be saved.

It finds its roots in the following passage that used alone is taking it out of its context. Luke 6:46  "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? The result of using this particular verse alone is that it robs the context. Literal context is very important in interpreting what an author or a speaker is saying. Equally important is the audience that is being addressed and the situation that is being addressed. This was spoken to Jews before the cross. Why is that important you ask? The answer is found in the situation or occasion that was being addressed. Look at the historical occasion; it was spoken to Jews who were expecting an earthly deliverer that would gather the people into a Jewish army that would expel Rome from Israel and Jerusalem. As he was calling the Jewish people to his Messiahship there was an anticipation of his kingdom. He was advocating a peaceful kingdom and many of them wanted to use the army of Israel under their anointed king to take the kingdom by force.

The real answer however comes into play after the cross and the day of Pentecost. Look at this verse from the Acts; 10:36  “As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),” after the resurrection no one can make Jesus Lord… He IS Lord… Lord of ALL! And further, look at what Paul wrote. Php 2:10-11  “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  (11)  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” It should be obvious that no one can make Jesus Lord of their life. He is Lord period. The important question to ask is this; is he your savior?

Think about it saint. In this year of the Lord 2013, who is your president? The answer is Barak Obama. If I ask the same question to a Tea Party supporter the answer is the same. We cannot make Barak Obama president. It does not matter whether we like him or not he is still the president. Conversely, had Mitt Romney won the election, no matter how much we liked Barak Obama we could not make him our president. So then, quit telling people that they must make Jesus Christ their Lord. He simply is the Lord and he is the Lord of all. Trust him to be your savior and the love that you have for the Father will help you to submit to him as Lord.

The transformation process flows from love that is birthed by the gospel of unconditional grace. Peace with God through Jesus Christ is the way in which God changes our stony heart into a heart of flesh. Lordship theology works in the opposite way. It forces us to legalistic obedience and therefore is obvious error.

Tell the truth and shame the devil; Living openly and honestly before God and men

(Psa 32:1-2 NLT)  A psalm of David. Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!  (2)  Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

One tragic result of the legal, constitutional reading of scripture is rampant hypocrisy. Jesus said that the leaven of the Pharisees was their doctrine and that it was hypocrisy (Matt 16:12 & Luke 12:1.) So, breaking this down Jesus said that the teaching of the Pharisees, including their legal, constitutional reading of scripture was hypocrisy. It meant that their teaching ultimately led to hypocrisy because in reality they could only be righteous by imputation. I say without fear that the current evangelical teaching-doctrine about scripture ultimately leads to hypocrisy. As I have shown over and over on this blog it is akin to the teaching and doctrine of the Pharisees and it flies in the face of the teaching of Jesus and his apostles.

The result is that few if any evangelicals can truly be open and honest with their lives. They have their Sunday face, Sunday clothes, Sunday behavior, Sunday way of speaking, and Sunday way of thinking and in large part it is simply a façade. In reality they are fearful of ever showing the real person that they are. This is truly so sad because it is completely unnecessary and totally unbiblical. Thus they are merely play acting and that is the very definition of hypocrisy. David essentially said, tell the truth and shame the devil… well, actually he said live the truth and shame the devil. When one lives their lives completely honestly they avoid hypocrisy.

ALL OF US have messy lives to one degree or another. And, if our lives are not obviously messy at this moment, trust me, they have been very messy in the past, and there is potential for mess up the line. David did not worry about it because he knew that his sin was not imputed to him. He also knew that God’s righteousness was imputed to him for his faith and belief.

Solomon wrote this; (Pro 3:5-6)  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  (6)  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

I once preached a sermon entitled “in ALL YOUR WAYS acknowledge Him. *All your ways* means precisely to live life honestly. Acknowledge the Lord in your good ways, and acknowledge his presence in your not so good ways. Be honest, be yourself… don’t try to hold yourself out as some great example of righteousness, ( I speak this especially to those in ministry) Take yourself down off the pedestal… Lift up Jesus and his amazing grace. After all, didn’t he say “if I be lifted up I will draw all people to me?”

Let your hair down, let your guard down, live life honestly!

Observations of a recovering evangelical 1; Walking humbly with God

There are many kinds of addictions in our world; sex, alcohol, drugs, food… but, one of the most dangerous ones in my view is the addiction that evangelicals have with their religion. Let me just say that there is really a way that one can honor and love Jesus… can have a vibrant relationship with him… and not be a victim of religious addiction brought about in large part to control people and to get them to do things a certain way that end up benefiting a powerful few. I am beginning a series that will look at the flaws of this addiction, and will offer sound, reasonable, and even biblical ways to journey into recovery. I chose this one because of the insanity that surrounds the up-coming election.

Micah 6:8  “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”

So many people are hung up with holiness and obedience. They are continually striving to live up to the letter of the law. Why are Christians caught up in Old Covenant righteousness? What is the cause of striving? Why are they burned out spiritually, and locked in continual fear? All too often it is because they are frantically trying to establish their own righteousness from law obedience. Yet, even under the Old Covenant, as the prophet Micah so poignantly points out, Gods requirements are relatively simple… do justice, that is, act justly… love mercy, that is love the mercy that God has given, and love to be merciful… and walk humbly NOT PROUDLY, but humbly before God. Those words produce two feelings with me. First, God is not looking for perfection but an attitude… a working towards these things. And secondly, let humility reign in the heart… be just a little humble.

Do you see how far off the path the Christian right is? There is no room for doing justice… they are too busy making sure that multi-national corporations can have no stumbling blocks in greed... Do not worry about the poor receiving justice and mercy in the gate (in governing.) And most of all, do not be humble… rather be proud of your right stance, and condemn anyone who would dare to strive for justice, who would love mercy to the point of being merciful, and who would show humility in allowing others to have their points… being tolerant.

I think that it is because most of orthodox evangelical Christianity is brainwashed. They operate like a cult… they are a cult. There is a need for de-programing. It is time for an intervention of a grand magnitude. There needs to be a broad change of mind… repentance if you will allow the term. It is time to look for the source of the gross lack of mercy and the propagation of pride. it is easy to find… it is in the doctrine and dogma… that is, in the teaching. The dogma and teaching is informed by the hermeneutic; by the interpretive lens used for scripture interpretation. De-programing demands education. De-programing demands an open mind. De-programing demands using logic to develop logical conclusions. One of the main problems that perpetuates the brainwashing is fact that evangelical Christians are asked to check their intellect that the church house door.

Why did Jesus and his followers change the hermeneutic? Why did they redefine the phrase word of God from Torah to gospel? The obvious answer is to help overcome the brainwashing that had been perpetuated by the scribes and Pharisees. It was to return to a simple use of common sense; the kind of common sense that can see the simple meaning of Micah 6:8. Do justice… love mercy… walk humbly before God!