Communion:
Why have we complicated a
simple request? - PART II
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. 34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
In last our last issue, we learned:
-
Verses 23 through 26 of 1 Corinthians 11 brought attention to the fact that what Paul had received, He had received from the risen, glorified Christ!
-
Paul had been told by Christ to deliver this particular news to us in order to "bring to remembrance" Christ's finished work until He comes again.
-
We as one body should honor, celebrate and enjoy this blessing corporately and individually when we eat or drink.
Please note
that these verses in Corinthians in no way
represent "The Last Supper" which was indicative of a future time where
Jesus Christ himself would again drink from the fruit of the vine with a
believing Israel as His Bride. Here, believers must note that Christ was proclaiming what was
prophesied in Jeremiah in regards to the coming of his new covenant
(testament) with Israel (see Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Mistakenly, these verses in Corinthians 11 (otherwise known again as "The Last
Supper") cannot be for the bible specifically says in Matthew 26:
"Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came
to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat
the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him,
The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the
passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as
Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. Now when the
even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did
eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And
they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him,
Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in
the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of
him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been
good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him,
answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. And as
they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave
it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the
cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament,
which is shed for many for the remission of
sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the
vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
The key words and phrases in red are highlighted for the following reasons:
-
Christ Himself said He would keep the Passover.
-
The "new testament" was to Israel as prophesied in Jeremiah 31
-
His blood would be shed for "many" and not "all" at this point.
As members of the Body of Christ, we must not read ourselves into Israel's promises unless we attempt to minimize who we are and what we have in and through Jesus Christ. Further, when we have communion under this administration of grace, our emphasis should be on the risen Christ for He is alive sitting at the right hand of the Father. In addition, communion as Jesus Christ revealed to Paul should provoke us to be thankful for the position, blessings and righteousness we have because of Him who loved us!
27Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
In
verses 27 through 29 some interesting doctrines have been developed
by our church leaders. Pastors and teachers have convinced believers that they could
lose their salvation or be guilty of the body and blood unto damnation which
would result in the loss of eternal security! If this is what I believed in
this instance when reading these verses, and I knew there was a chance I
could do something during communion to mess up, I would NEVER partake in
this! Why would I want to risk damnation? What could I do that made me unworthy to
the point of losing my salvation? In other examples, many fundamental
teachers believe that these verses somehow apply to non-believers who
partake in communion unworthily due to their sinful lifestyle. This was the way I believed, but it is not
consistent with why and who Paul was writing to; Corinthian believers, not
the lost!
“...As members of the Body of Christ, we must not read ourselves into Israel's promises unless we attempt to minimize who we are and what we have in and through Jesus Christ....”
To understand more history of what the crux of the issue was we need to go back a few verses in the same chapter:
Paul had
heard that there were divisions and although he didn't want to believe it,
he knew better! In addition, there were heresies among the Corinthian saints
to the point where Paul encouraged those "who were approved" to step
forward. Paul rebuked the carnal Corinthians and reminded them in
verse 20 that when they did come together, this was NOT the
Lord's supper. Some believers were hungry while others were drunk! Did
believers not have a place to go? Why were those who had food not sharing
with those who lacked? Worse, they were showing off! The church at
Corinth is in many ways a reflection of our congregations today.
Unfortunately, most of our churches have become show places of fashion,
wealth and automobiles as those who "do without" are forced away because
they don't measure up to the standard which is established by the church's command media of perfect,
holy people. Sound doctrine is set aside and replaced by appeal, aesthetics
and apathy towards "rightly diving the word of truth". The Corinthian
believers were celebrating communion in an "unworthy" fashion through their
gluttony, selfish motivation and ignorance of the purpose of this "love
feast". They would fall under further condemnation (also known as damnation)
by Paul himself unless they examined themselves in the matters discussed.
With a clear conscience of love, believers could celebrate their oneness in
Christ!
As we close out our mini-series on communion, the last several verses of chapter 11 describe the conduct of those involved in the celebration feast. Many were weak and sickly because they were famished and were only coming to the feast to get fed! Paul questioned them saying "are their not houses of which to eat in"? To the wealthy he rebuked: "21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? what shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not." On the other end of the spectrum, others were so drunk, they passed out or slept. Paul addressed them as many who sleep! These verses are in many instances interpreted that God inflicts some type of "on the spot judgment" killing believers due to their sin. This is in error for "God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation". Friend, either we are in Christ safe from judgment or we are under the wrath of God! If God exacted what a friend of mine calls " a pound of flesh" every time we sinned, the Body of Christ would all be home with Him! Or their are the legalists who would bemoan, "they were probably never really saved at all... " Paul goes on to tell us that when we are judged we are chastened by the Lord so that we would not fall unto further rebuking. How, you my ask, are we chastened by the Lord? The word "chastened" in verse 32 is described in Strong's as:
-
To train children
-
To be instructed or taught
-
To learn
-
To those who are molding the character of others through reproof or admonition. (warning)
Since we know that we are no longer under His wrath, how will the Lord chasten us? Through the bible my friend. The rest would be set in order when Paul again returned to Corinth.
DOES GOD GET MAD AT US
TODAY?
A dear
friend of mine asked a very good question a few months back and I
thought that I would finally take the opportunity to address it. What
does scripture have to say about God being mad at us today? Astute bible
students can certainly refer back to pages and pages of God meting out
His wrath against people. For starters, we could look at the flood in
Genesis chapters 6 and 7. Due to man's rebellion and sin
against God, a heavy driving rain flooded planet earth. In addition the
fountains
from
beneath sprung up:
"...And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood
were upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the
second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all
the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven
were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty
nights...." - Genesis 7:10-12
This was not a local flood as some scholars would teach, but instead the bible tells us that: And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. - Genesis 7:17-24
The next
renowned judgment of God involves the immorality and debauchery of Sodom
and Gomorrah and the destruction that followed shortly thereafter:
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire
from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the
plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon
the ground. - Genesis 19:24,25
We could go on and read about how the nation of Israel kindled the wrath of God against them. It is a biblical and scriptural fact that God did indeed get angry with mankind and He did pour out His wrath on many occasions and threatened to do more at other times. However, as stated earlier one must be biblical, scriptural and dispensational (or understand how God was dealing with mankind at that time of the scripture is referenced). The word "wrath" is used roughly 207 times in the entire bible with a good majority of it in the old testament. However, the good news today friend is that all at once, God the Father placed His full and unwavering wrath upon His Son at Calvary for our sins and on our behalf so that through His death, burial and glorious resurrection we can boldly say:
Romans 5:9 - Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him
1 Thessalonians 1:10 - And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
1
Thessalonians 5:9 -
For God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
God no
longer is mad at us! He does not allow things to happen in the world to
get our attention. I would like to confess of a time when I gave
an individual some of my infinite wisdom concerning a tragedy in a young
man's life. My idiotic, legalistic response: "Maybe God was trying to
get your attention." If I could only tell that person how wrong I
was and that He, under this wonderful dispensing of grace is not in the
"lightening throwing business". If there is a pastor or leader out
there that I can encourage not to make the same mistake I did, please
listen! For the last 2,000 years, God has withheld His wrath so that all
may respond to the glorious message of salvation through the finished
work of Jesus Christ. That we, through simple faith in His death, burial
and resurrection would not only be saved from the debt and penalty of
our sins but be made as righteous as God Himself (justified) through
Christ! He, under this age of grace, does not motivate by fear. We know
this to be true as we read the old testament. Mankind (even Noah)
himself fell immediately into sin, right after the flood. The nation of
Israel continued to belly-ache and long for the "cucumbers and leeks"
of Egypt shortly after God delivered them by the parting of the Red Sea
through Moses. God would show His power, mercy and goodness and mankind
would rebel in his response. Fear deep down, never motivated man to
serve God and it never will. However, for some reason, it is
the main motivator for believers today as many wait for "God to drop the
other shoe"! Worse, "helping" God appeals to our fleshy desires and is
further propagated through many ministries today in order to gain
"faithful attendance" and needed dollars. In other instances,
this self-affliction (the belief that God is waiting to zap us...) that
believers instill on themselves flies directly in the face of what Jesus
Christ revealed to Paul on our behalf! Paul starts each of his letters to
us with "grace and peace" from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. If we were under the watchful eye of a God waiting to pounce on
us when we stepped out of line, how then could we have grace and peace?
Shortly after the attack on 9/11, a well-known bible teacher and scholar
boldly stated that the attacks on the United States were a direct result
of God's judgment due to the immoral conduct of this country (if I could
paraphrase a bit...). If this were true, then God would not be stopping
there my friend! He should just keep it coming because we are all
morally bankrupt. However, those of us that have trusted in the
completed and finished work of Jesus Christ for our salvation have now
been placed in Christ (Ephesians 1:4, Romans 12:5)! So then, if God the
Father has a problem with me, He would then have to have a problem with
Jesus Christ which we know is impossible!:
Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Ephesians 2:19 - Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
"So then, if God the Father has a problem with me, He would then have to have a problem with Jesus Christ which we know is impossible!"
For
the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one
died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they
which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him
which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man
after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet
now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now
then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us:
we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath
made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. - 2
Corinthians 5:14-21
This article does not deal with the consequence of sin from a social perspective or what would be approved of by God when we have to give an account to Him (1 Cor. 4). However, all sin: past present and future has been dealt with at the cross so that when we sin today, God sees the righteousness of His Son! Let this fact, as well as further study of the love of God under this dispensing of grace, be the motivator to change our conduct for "we are complete in Him"!
COMMUNION (con't)
Before we close on this controversial topic, I want to be sure to emphasize that communion is not an ordinance, but instead a feast to bring to remembrance what Christ accomplished on our behalf. More importantly, the very essence of the message of grace expounds upon and teaches the believer of the liberty and freedom a person has in Christ! It is now a matter of us studying to be "workers" in order to stand approved of God. Communion is not a way of salvation and there is not a shred of scripture to say that it is. No man has the power to raise God from the dead or crucify Him again and again for the bible says in the book of Hebrews:
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." - Hebrews 9:24-26
Today's World News
Ephesus - A Secret Revealed!
Breaking news from our
bureau has indicated that there is extremely important
information now available to the public. This information came out of
Ephesus 2000 years ago and it pertains to the proclamation of
God's special dispensing of grace! This grace is free to all who
would just simply believe. We are encouraged to take full advantage of this
wonderful gift the Lord Jesus Christ has given to the Apostle Paul to
give to us! This news shows that when we read the
bible, we may understand Paul's knowledge
in the mystery of Christ. Again, this information was not made
known in other ages as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit of God. What is this news???? That Gentiles should
be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in
Christ by the gospel. Christ ordained Paul as our minister,
according to the gift of the grace of God given unto him by the
power of the Holy Spirit. Correspondent Tim Mothy caught up with the
apostle who stated: "I am less than the least of all saints,
and I am amazed that this grace is given to me so that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ to make all men see
what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the
world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ!"
The apostle also warns that as of late, perilous times
are ahead and the message of this grace will be under severe attack by
legalists and "angels of light" who will take on the form of godliness
while denying the power therein. Later, Paul emphasized that the message
of this grace is not attractive and you can be sure that your "friend
base" may be in jeopardy (2 Timothy 4).
What's For Supper by Dennis Kiszonas
Dennis Kiszonas started Grace For Today in 1986 and has served as its president and the host of the radio broadcast since then. He is a native of Chicago, raised as a Roman Catholic, went to 12 years of Catholic school and was later saved as a student in college. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois and pastored churches in Chicago and New Jersey for over 25 years. In the summer of 2002 he entered into a full-time ministry of church planting in New York City and is currently serving as the pastor of the new church started in Brooklyn.
***Note to our readers*** We are finishing up our re-print from last months issue in which Dennis discusses some awesome dispensational truths as God instructed men of the bible concerning what they were (and were not) permitted to eat over the course of God's dealings with them! CLICK HERE to go to last month's LSJ to read the article from the beginning!!!
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT “HOW TO UNDERSTAND
THE BIBLE?”
Back to our purpose in this study ...how do these things we have seen
about God’s food laws in the Bible help us to understand how to
understand the Bible?
First, we need to realize when
we’re studying the Bible, that God has given different commands to
different people at different times all through the Word of God. In
regard
to food, God gave one initial instruction to Adam and his descendants,
then changed the instruction when
He spoke to Noah. Then again a new set of instructions for Moses, that
were completely changed when he called the Apostle Paul and revealed
the dispensation of grace to
him for us today. The instructions would even seem
to contradict each other...to Adam: herbs and fruits only,
then to Noah: any living thing—animal, bird or fish—then to
Moses: only some living things, then for us: “every creature of God
is good [for food].” Unless we realize that God has different
instructions for different
people at different times, we would have to conclude that the Bible is
full of contradictions. Second: When we study the Bible, we need to be
careful to “rightly
divide the Word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15) to be sure that we are applying
God’s instructions for us today,
and not God’s instructions to someone living in another dispensation.
Just dropping the Bible open and randomly putting our finger down on any
verse is not “rightly dividing the Word of truth!” and is a good way to
become very confused about how to understand the Bible. Of course, the
instructions about food are only part of the Word of God. But many other
teachings in the Bible also have to be studied
“dispensationally.” For instance, the Lord’s teaching about prayer for
us in the dispensation of grace is vastly different from what He gave
the twelve apostles during His earthly ministry in Israel.
To Israel the Lord said, “If you abide in Me,
and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be
done for you.” And, “And whatever things you ask in prayer,
believing, you will receive” (John 15:7 and Matt. 21:22). Many today
have tried to “claim” these prayer promises, only to be
sadly disappointed when they didn’t work—they didn’t get “what you
desire” or “whatever things you ask.”
Some have even lost their faith in the Bible at this point. They tried
the “prayer promises for Israel” and found that they didn’t work, and so
concluded that the Bible isn’t true. What they failed to realize is that
God’s instructions to different
people living at different times have changed, about food and about
prayer and about many other things. When we want to know what to eat, or
how to pray, under grace, we turn to the letters of the Apostle Paul.
And when we do, we learn that even the Apostle Paul did not get
everything that he asked for—see II Corinthians 12:8-9 for one good
example, and there are a number of others.
Third, we see that a Bible teacher may be “biblical” and “scriptural”
but he will be wrong if he is not “dispensational.” Biblical, in the
sense that he is quoting Bible verses and passages, and teaching some
portion of the
Word of God and applying it to believers today. And scriptural, in the
sense that he is quoting Scripture to prove his point. But if he is not
dispensational, he will be teaching wrong doctrine for believers today.
Example: A preacher could easily
preach that we should be vegetarians today—he could find several verses
to base this doctrine on in the first few chapters of the Book of
Genesis where the Lord
commanded Adam to be a vegetarian. The preacher would be biblical and
scriptural, but he would be wrong, because he wouldn’t be rightly
dividing the Word of truth.
Yes, Genesis is God’s Word, but not God’s Word to us today! We live in a
time of great confusion even among Bible believers and Bible teachers.
In some neighborhoods there’s almost a church on every corner, and
they’re all preaching something different, yet they all have their
verses in the Bible to prove that they are right and the others are
wrong! And because they disagree about how to understand the Bible, and
how to apply the Bible to us today, they are divided into thousands of
different denominations and groups. We have seen in our simple study
about foods in the
Bible how it would be very easy to become confused—and then become
divided from other Christians. One church may be following
Adam’s instructions in Genesis 1 and 2. Another may focus on Noah’s, or
Moses’, or Peter’s, or Paul’s—they would all have verses to prove that
they were right, yet they would all disagree with each other, and none
would be able to eat with the others! We’ve been focusing on only this
one area, foods, but the same principle applies to many doctrines in
the Bible: salvation, eternal security, prayer, speaking in tongues,
healings and healers, the Lord’s coming again, and many other areas
of teaching. All of these areas
of doctrine must be studied, not only biblically and scripturally, but
also
“...God’s instructions
to different people living at different times have changed, about food
and about prayer and about
many other things.”
dispensationally—“rightly dividing the
Word of truth”—if we really want to understand what God’s instructions
are for us today.
Here is the simple answer to all the confusion that we find today in the
Body of Christ, and the only way of having unity among all the members
of the Body of Christ. We need to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ
saved a new apostle, the Apostle Paul, for a special purpose, to reveal
to him a new program called the “dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph.
3:2). Here is the key that opens up the Scriptures to our understanding.
PAUL’S LETTERS
ONLY?
Does this mean that we only read Paul’s Letters in the Bible? Some, who
first hear about studying the Bible dispensationally, draw the false
conclusion that we should only be reading or studying Paul’s letters
today. Paul himself wrote to Pastor Timothy: “All Scripture is given
by inspiration
of God and is profitable for
doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness...” (II
Tim.
3:16). The whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the inspired,
God-breathed, Word of God. We are commanded to study the entire Bible
because there are principles in every part of the Bible that teach us
doctrine, or reprove us when we are disobedient. The whole Bible is
profitable for our study and learning. But the way to get the profit out
of the Bible is to study the Bible the way God said to study it,
“rightly divided” (II Tim. 2:15), recognizing that the Lord Jesus
revealed from heaven the dispensation of grace to the Apostle Paul for
us today. If we forget this basic principle, the more we study the
Bible, the more confused we will become! This has been a very simple
study in the Bible, that began with a simple question, “What’s for
supper?” Yet the principle that we’ve discovered is profound in helping
us to start to understand how to
understand the Bible. As we have surveyed God’s different instructions
to different people at different times throughout the Bible, the answer
to the question What’s for supper?—has seemed to be obvious, yet, sad to
say, most Christians today have never seen this principle in the Bible.
We hope that our study together has been profitable to you...that you
have not only seen something new, or clearer in the Bible, but also will
apply this simple Bible principle in your continuing study of God’s
Word, and that you will want to share it with others.
For those who would like more
information about the radio ministry of
Grace For Today, or to receive copies of this article in booklet form,
you can contact Brother Kiszonas at: Grace For Today, PO Box 798, Times
Square Station, New York, NY 10108. The ministry can also be reached via
the Internet:
<www.gracefortoday.org>.
COFFEE CORNER
This issues' topic: "Evangelism For Today" - Part III
In the final installment of this topic, we are going to look at some relevant issues:
-
How are we to tell others (who may ask or show interest in trying to understand) how to be saved?
-
What would God approve of in regards to how we are to communicate "the mystery" under this age of grace?
-
Does evangelism today differ from God's previous dispensings (including Matthew, Mark Luke And John)?
How are we to tell others? Our immediate response on all questions should be centered around describing the finished work of His Son and the resulting riches of His grace. On too many occasions, salvation is made too complicated by meaningful believers in an attempt to play Holy Spirit. We must remember, that is His job. He catches them and cleans them! Our role is to communicate about the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3-6). Salvation occurs when one simply believes what has already been accomplished for us at Calvary through the finished and completed work of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Salvation occurs in 3 seconds once believed. You don't have to walk the aisle, give your heart to Jesus, or commit your life to Christ. These references are all poor, work-oriented ways to communicate a false gospel. I myself was taught in the same fashion several years ago. But it was He who committed His life to us. At this point, many legalists immediately look for an expression of faith by monitoring conduct so that if a new believer didn't stop smoking, drinking, cursing, or begin going to church 2 or 3 times a week, they were never truly saved. Funny how deceived people can be with this thinking, for we should then throw Corinthians and Romans 7 out of our bible! The "hard work" comes in the joy that a believer discovers while learning of the results of the cross which is foundational for the message of grace! This is the part that is mostly neglected in teaching today. Because of what Christ accomplished for us on our behalf, we are accepted in the beloved, sealed with the Holy Spirit, justified before God, joint-heirs with Christ, one with Him, with so much more available for us to learn! It is like a buffet table of your favorite food! Embracing the blessings of God's abundant grace are what will change a believers conduct in His time. To suggest anything else perverts the gospel of the grace of God. In "Part II" of the series, we closed with the discussion on how uncaring and horrific we can be when trying to communicate the "mysteries of God" to those who have not heard. In 1 Corinthians 13, love is the emphasis on all things. Paul says: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."
In summary, love should be our focus and we should be desirous of what one pastor described as good, best and right for another person. In our zeal to communicate the truth, we neglect "the needs of those in need" in order to shove them into a church or in front of their pastor. Unfortunately, salvation is tied to a religious system or building. I have driven by numerous churches that have on their outside marquee or signage: "Come visit Christ", "Salvation Lies Within", and similar phrases that would make someone believe that only their church is worthy to have God live there! As the prophets of God proclaimed of His greatness, let's read some passages that describe the issue at hand:
1 Kings 8:27 - But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
2 Chronicles 6:18 - But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
Somehow over the last 100 years, buildings
have supplanted the Body of Christ, the one true church! I have heard
several pastors over the past three years attempt to yoke believers
into membership or regular attendance with the following phrases: "If
you are not at church on a regular basis you are not under the umbrella
of protection." Or better yet: "Without fellowship
in a well-balanced, local, church, believers will be like coals that
roll away from the fire until they burn out." We must remember in
the early church, people met in their homes because they were all in
close proximity. Paul spent more time on encouraging leaders to
"speak those things which become sound doctrine", "to hold fast
the faithful word", to assure that others do not teach other
doctrines". Never do we read exhortation of group
meetings in the masses as if we could "save 5000 in one day". Paul
seemed to be teaching that men and fathers should be "pastors" of their
homes first (1 Timothy 3:1-5). Afterwards they would be available to
congregate with those men of like faith to fellowship in the true
sense of the word. Fellowship in this context is to discuss
doctrine pertaining to the mystery, exhortation, defense of the faith
and the like. Today, it is talking about the local sports team and
everything but foundational truths! The woman could then learn at
home from their husbands
(1 Corinthians
14:33-35) as they raised their families
(Titus 2:4,5). The bible
appears to make it clear that it is not an issue of whether or not a
women should attend church, it is a matter of priorities between
her and her husband. You read the passage and decide for yourself. Why
this rabbit
trail friends? Because we cannot begin to evangelize to the lost amidst
the confusion and hypocrisy within the Body of Christ. Men are not
prepared to teach their families because their own apathy is only
reinforced by bad teaching in the beautiful buildings that claim to have
a corner on God. Pastors, teachers, bishops and priests should be
teaching independency not dependency according to the revelation of the
mystery. This is what would be approved of by God and what we
will have to give an account for
(1 Corinthians
4:1-4).
Last issue, we discussed dispensational differences on evangelism for the kingdom at hand (as disclosed in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). We concluded that the failures of The Body of Christ included understanding how we are to "evangelize" under this current administration committed to the apostle Paul as he received it from the risen, glorified Christ! Also underestimated was the working of God the Holy Spirit. We reiterated if we wrongly "drag in" other parts of God's past dealings with mankind we foster fear and confusion. In an extreme example, it would be similar to look for the ark during a rainstorm. God has told us that this will not occur again! In an example closer to home and disputed by most church leaders is the instruction of the "Great Commission" as our marching orders for today . Not understanding this set of instructions was for the 12 apostles, many have "dragged in" this component under this age of grace. Read these passages and ask yourselves if this presents a conflict: "
These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. - Matthew 10:5-8
If these are my marching orders, then I better not witness to anyone who is not a Jew and head straight for Israel. In addition, I better be able to muster up the ability to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils (the latter gift does not work because I tried it on my new Border Collie puppy...). Many scholars will say, we are to "spiritualize" this passage and internalize it to our modern day situation. This mindset is dangerous, misleading and false for if we are given the liberty to wrangle scripture in this fashion then why stop there!
"....I have driven by numerous churches that have on their outside marquee or signage: "Come visit Christ", "Salvation Lies Within", and similar phrases that would make someone believe that only their church is worthy to have God live there!..."
It's easy to see why cults are so rampant today and churches are taking on the cultic tendencies of legalism as leaders can be biblical and scriptural, but in error if not dispensational. In our extreme example from above, I can preach of a coming flood during the next nor'easter and be both biblical and scriptural. However, most people are savvy enough to realize this will not happen because dispensationally (or how God is dealing or dispensing His instructions to mankind today) things have changed. In fact, He has given us a rainbow to show us of this particular promise. The point here is this; God has changed His dealings with mankind since the four gospels and various components of our doctrine have also changed including evangelism, (and prayer, signs, wonders and miracles and water baptism among other issues...) or how we are to tell people about Jesus Christ! Further proof of this fact is the difference in the proclamation of the good news for that day. Did the 12 ever preach about, justification through faith in the finished cross-work of Christ??? How about being one with the Jew and being completely forgiven of sins, past present and future? Never! Instead, they were to preach that Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God. That is all that they knew about Him and at times, even struggled with that as biblically referenced in earlier articles.
