SOUND THE TRUMPET

~He Opened My Closed Heart~

2011-11-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

By Hazel Holland

"I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me." Matthew 25:45

The other day on my way to work, I stopped by the gas station to fill up because I noticed that my car was running on low. As I opened the door, I was not only very focused on the tutoring lessons I was going to teach that afternoon, but I was also feeling very relieved that today I had given myself enough time so that I wouldn't have to rush to get to my first student on time.

Before I could get fully out of the car, I was startled by a stranger who approached me from behind. She apologetically asked me if I could please help her with gas for her SUV that was parked at the pump right behind me.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you jump," she offered. I'm not homeless!" she continued. "I can pay you back if you give me your cell phone number. It's just that I need to get my aunt to the hospital in Fontana for some important tests and my credit card is being rejected..."

There she was, right up in my face, and I was supposed to decide if she was legitimate or not, right? I noticed the children in the back seat of her SUV, and her aunt watching me from the passenger seat with her left arm wrapped in a bandage.

As I moved toward the gas pump beside her van, I silently prayed for wisdom as to know how to respond to this stranger's need. "How much gas should I put in, Lord?"

Just as I was about to use my debit card, I changed my mind and handed her a five dollar bill instead. "Hope this helps!" I offered weakly. She thanked me warmly, then walked into the gas station to pay the attendant, and I proceeded to use my card to fill up my tank.

Although my back was towards her I could hear the gas going into her car. It didn't take very long. Five dollars doesn't go very far these days.

Suddenly, the Holy Spirit confronted me with my closed heart! In an instant I knew that I was turning my back on Him. Yes, I had given this stranger a poultry five dollars for gas so as to appease my conscience, but had I really listened to her heart... and even more importantly had I really listened to God's heart... for her? Or had my fear of possibly being taken advantage of caused me to "wash my hands" of further responsibility?

Immediately I came to my senses when I heard her gas pump click. I knew she was done...but my five dollars would never get her aunt to the hospital in Fontana! Abruptly I stopped filling up my tank as the price reached $20.

"God, how much more money should I give her?" I pleaded. At once I sensed a witness in my spirit and knew I was to offer her another ten. So I reached into my car for the money, and turned to face her just as she was about to get back in her SUV.

"No, wait! Here's another ten dollars" I offered. "I'm so sorry for having closed my heart towards you just now! Please, forgive me!" I sobbed. "Although I'm a Christian, my heart was not open towards you because I was preoccupied with getting to work on time..."

Now I was the one who was taking her by surprise. "No! No! That's alright! Are you sure you want to do this? I can pay you back if you give me your cell phone number." She smiled and hugged me tightly as the tears rolled down my face.

"No, you don't need to pay me back. This is my gift to you. Now you're be able to make it to the hospital," I stammered.

"Yes! Yes! Thank you so very much!" she warmly responded. Then she turned around and walked back into the gas station to pay the attendant...again.

Before I got back into my car, the aunt who had been watching this whole scenario from inside the SUV mouthed, "Thank you!" and "God bless you for what you did...!"

As I got back into my car, it really didn't matter that my gas tank was only half full, because God's Spirit had filled up my love tank to overflowing! Although my heart had been momentarily closed to the needs of a stranger, God's Spirit had healed my fear and set my heart free!

See original link to this painting: Lover & His Beloved

Failsafe Power

2011-11-12T15:10:00.000-08:00

By Hazel Holland

Do you remember the power crisis in California on that hot Saturday afternoon, August 10, 1996, when thousands of people in nine western states, including parts of Canada and Mexico lost power for many hours? I do.

Two days after that power crisis the local newspapers tried to assure us that next time there was a power shortage the power system managers would determine who should receive power, and who should be cut off so that another complete blackout could be avoided in the Western power grid.

“There are islands of power within the darkness” was how one newspaper article described this power failure. Another commentary stated: "It is impossible to build an entirely failsafe system.”

Since electricity is something we are all very much dependent upon, it caused quite a stir to have our natural source of power cut off for such a long period of time. In fact the newspapers warned us that outages will become more common in the future as increased competition changes the face of the power industry.

As is often the case, what happens in the physical realm often parallels what God is doing in the spiritual realm. So what is God saying to His children through His Spirit in regard to His Power System? How does He determine who should receive power and who should be cut off? In the natural realm we are told that it is impossible to build an entirely failsafe system. How about in the realm of the Spirit?

God’s Power System

Over the years many of us in the body of Christ have tried to "help" God manage His Power System by trying to control the work of the Holy Spirit. We have wanted to make changes in the way He ran His Power Grid because we felt uncomfortable with the way He chose to distribute His power. So, at times, we decided to depend on our own source of spiritual power rather than His, and wondered why we found ourselves in darkness.

But God assures us that those who live by the Spirit will have no shortage of Holy Spirit power. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

As we stay connected to Him, we are connected to His failsafe system. Although man’s source of power has failed, and will continue to fail, God’s Power Grid will never become overloaded because of our excessive use of it during dry seasons of spiritual drought. We will never be cut off. For this reason we can rest in Him 24/7 knowing that His power will never fail us.

Since God is for us, "nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom.8:39). As long as we stay plugged into Him, we have all the power of the Spirit that we need.

Our God is at work making sure His "customers" receive all the power they need. In fact, God has marked His customers with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing their inheritance until their redemption (Ephesians 1:13).

In view of the fact that we are called to be the light of the world—“islands of power” that will illuminate the darkness around us, let us let the Treasure that we each carry in our earthen vessels shine forth—Jesus Christ’s’ agape love.

He is the Light that lights up every man. He is the love that the world is waiting to see. Yes, we are called to be His fingers of light pointing the way to the heart of the Father that is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

See: Islands of Power

God has a "Yes-face!"

2011-10-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

This morning I read this devotional from Grace Mail.

One day Thomas Jefferson and some of his friends were riding on horseback cross-country. They came to a stream that was flooded and had to cross it. At the water's edge was a man who was traveling on foot, obviously waiting for someone to help him across the swollen stream.

He waited at the edge until several of the party crossed and then asked the President to help him across. Jefferson took him on the back of his horse and carried him across the stream. On the other side, one of the men asked, "Tell me, why did you select the President for this favor?" The man answered, "I didn't know he was the President. All I know is that on some faces is written the answer 'no' and on some the answer 'yes.' His face said 'yes!' "

Here's what I want you to know today: God has a yes-face! When you confess your sins to Him He is faithful and just to forgive you. He removes your guilt and your sins from you forever!

"But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness" (1 John 1:9).

"He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).

Facebook

Empowered to Love as God Loves

2011-10-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love (agape) one another; as I have loved you" (John 13:34).

This agape love had not been previously known to us. Jesus was the very One who introduced it when He died in our place. He defined it with the phase “as I have loved you."

He has empowered us to love as God loves!

See: Facebook
Link: What God Joined Together at the Cross

What God Joined Together at the Cross...

2011-09-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

We're all familiar with the phrase that pastors use during marriage ceremonies, "What God has joined together, let not man separate". The Scriptures tell us that when a man and a woman choose to marry they no longer are two, but become one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man should not separate (Matthew19:5-7)

I believe that this phrase, "What God has joined together..." also applies to Jews and Gentiles in Jesus Christ. What God joined together at the cross now applies to believing Jews and believing Gentiles!

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace , who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation...to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross" (Ephesians 2:11-16).

Just as there is no physical wall separating East and West Germany today, so there is no spiritual wall separating believing Jews and believing Gentiles today! At the cross they became one body in Jesus Christ. They became the church. Jesus Christ's blood brought down the dividing wall that separated both Jew and Gentile believers...forever!

But over the centuries respected teachers have invented false teachings that have erected the wall of separation that Jesus Christ brought down with a thunderous crash at the cross! Some of these inventions of men have become such sacred cows within the church that they are thought to be impregnable.

But God through His Spirit will expose the layers of error that have been laced with truth and used to erect the dividing wall that God brought down through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Although the traditions of men continually seek to divert us away from what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross, the One who loves us and gave Himself for our peace has joined together believing Jews and believing Gentiles into one new body-- His church. No cunningly devised fable will ever be able to separate His Body from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

See: Facebook
Link: Empowered to Love as God Loves
See Art Link: What God Joined Together at the Cross

"Please Put Your Words in My Mouth!"

2011-09-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

Many years ago before I ever attended a church where people raised their hands to praise God, I received a dream from the Lord that opened my eyes to the biblical precedent for worshiping God in this beautiful way. Having previously been taught to believe that openly expressing my feelings to God in corporate worship was wrong, because it could lead to emotionalism and therefore to deception, I was very much surprised by what God revealed in this dream.

In the dream I entered a building through a set of double doors into this large room. From the back of the room where I entered it looked very much like a large gymnasium that could double up as an auditorium for meetings. It appeared to be packed full of people who were standing up with their backs to me.

As I entered through the doors and turned right, an usher was waiting for me in the back corner. He walked up to me and proceeded to take me by the right arm and walk me down the side aisle in the hopes of finding a seat...or so I thought.

When we got to the front row he walked past it, still holding on to my arm as he led me to the bottom of the steps that led up to the front of the stage. Obediently, I followed his direction as he indicated that I should go up the steps. When I reached the top step, he turned to leave and I turned around to face the sea of faces.

Up until this point in the dream everything had been quiet. But when I turned to look at the room packed out with people I saw that they had their hands uplifted to God in praise and were singing some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I was overcome by deep feelings of love toward God and I spontaneously raised my hands and began to join them in worship. Although in real life I had never rasied my hands in worship to God, I couldn't help myself in the dream. Tears poured down my cheeks as I experienced His tangible presence.

We continued to worship God in this manner for some time. After awhile I opened my eyes and noticed that there was a bright beam of light coming from the ceiling that was directed on to me. Being in the spotlight made the features of the people in the crowd nearest to me rather blurry. It didn't matter that they were there, because I was so locked into God's presence that everyone else kind of faded away. I wanted to worship him forever like this as I was being emersed in his glory!

In the dream I finally became aware that at some point in time the worship would stop, and I was expected to speak to this auditorium full of people. Because the room reminded me of a large gymnasium I had a sense in the dream that these were college age students.

But as I continued to worship God and bask in His awesome presence (something I had never yet experienced in real life) I became aware of the fact that I had no notes and was unprepred for what I should speak about. In real life I would never have been caught off guard like this! But up there on that stage, soaking in His presence, I had no fear of what to say even though I had no idea what I would say.I remember thinking to myself, "Ok God, I have no notes and I'm not prepared for what you want me to say. But I will trust you to give me the words you want me to speak. So please put your words in my mouth and I will tell them what is on Your heart."

Suddenly the singing stopped. A quiet hush came over the place. The moment had come for me to speak. The light beaming down on me continued to give me strength and great joy. As I opened my mouth to speak I suddenly woke up from the dream.

For the next two weeks I continued to bask in God's awesome presence that I had begun to get a taste of in the dream. I wanted more of Him. And so I began a spiritual jorney to find out what was on His heart that He wanted me to share with His beloved children.

By nature I am shy...not the kind of person that naturally enjoys being up front in the limelight. I have always been afraid of public speaking for fear of making a fool out of myself. So to be placed in front of a roomful of people and be asked to give an impromptu speech or share anything about my life off the top of my head would cause me to break out into a cold sweat!

What I am saying is that for me to feel relatively comfortable up front in a speaking situation I would have to be in someone else's body! I guess the closest I can get to that in this life is to be in the Spirit so my flesh doesn't have control. Then my natural panic is dissolved by His supernatural peace.

As I look back over the years God has been faithful to continually put His words in my mouth as He has called me in various situations to speak words from His heart into people's lives. As I have opened my mouth He has always been faithful to fill it.

If you will seek God with all your heart and wait on the leading of His Spirit, He will be faithful to give you His heart and put His words in your mouth, too.

Church Fulfills Promises Made to Israel

2011-09-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

The Bible reveals that God’s elect of all the ages are one people, with one Savior, and have one eternal destiny. This continuity can be seen by examining the following Old Testament passages of Scripture and noticing that promises made to Israel find their fulfillment in the New Testament church, and words spoken to Israel are applied directly to the church.

Promise to Israel

“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” Hosea 1:10 (NIV)

Fulfillment in the church

“What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” Romans 9:22-26 (NIV)

Promise to Israel

“I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one. I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” Hosea 2:23 (NIV)

Fulfillment in the church

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)

Promise to Israel

“On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.” Amos 9:11 (NKJV)

Fulfillment in the church

^“Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: ‘After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the LORD who does all these things.’ “Known to God from eternity are all His works.” Acts 15:14-18 (NKJV)

Spoken to Israel

“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.” Joel 2:28-32 (NKJV)

Applied to the church

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place… But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. and on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’” Acts 2:1, 16-21 (NKJV)

Spoken to Israel

“You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” Exodus 19:6 (NIV)

Applied to the church

Spoken to Israel

^“My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Ezekiel 37:27 (NIV)

Applied to the church

^“What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God:. As God has said: “ I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV)

Spoken to Israel

“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.’” Leviticus 19:2 (NIV)

Applied to the church

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV)

Spoken to Israel

"The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.” Jeremiah 31:31 (NIV)

Applied to the church

“In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Luke 22:20 (NIV)

Conclusion

If the church (comprised of both Jews and Gentiles) fulfills these promises made to Israel, shouldn't we be repenting of teachings that view Israel and the church as having two distinct eternal destinies?

According to the New Covenant there is not an eternal earthly Kingdom for Israel, and an eternal heavenly Kingdom for the church. There is only one eternal inheritance for both the church and Israel. That eternal inheritance is Jesus Christ!

Link: What God Joined Together at the Cross
Link: Promised Land Issues

This is the Day which the Lord has Made!

2011-04-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

Imagine the scene. Knowing that He would soon suffer and die as the Passover Lamb, Jesus commanded His disciples to make the necessary arrangement for this special meal. Jesus wanted to eat the Passover lamb with His disciples before He became the Passover Lamb (Luke 22:15).

The Scriptures tell us that following the Passover meal they sang a hymn, and then went to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30). Did you know that the hymn that they sang has been sung by Jews down through the centuries as they have celebrated the Passover? It’s called the “Great Hallel” and is taken from Psalm 118, verses 22 and 24.

The words of this song must have been a source of encouragement to Jesus and a vivid reminder that His death would not be in vain. Knowing that the time and place of His crucifixion was drawing near, Jesus joyfully sang, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!” Can you hear His words of victory as they echo down through the corridors of time? “The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner!”

Jesus knew as He sang this song that He had a divine appointment with destiny. He knew that He was born for such a time as this. Now His time had come. His approaching death would provide redemption for all those who would put their trust in Him. That is why He could sing in glorious triumph, just hours before His death, “This is the day which the LORD hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Are you rejoicing in His glorious triumph over death and the grave? You can you know! Ever since that day when Jesus chose to lay down His life for you and me, we have been forgiven of our sins and restored back into right relationship with the Father. Will you allow God's goodness to break your heart so that you can now have an intimate relationship with Him through the Spirit?

THE LION OF JUDAH HAS TRIUMPHED!

2011-04-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze... whose love many waters cannot quench, has destroyed every work of darkness, and purchased men and women for God through His blood. To Him be praise and honor, glory and power forever!

(For further reading about this water color painting of Jesus Christ's triumph over death see: http://artfromhisheart.blogspot.com/2008/04/lion-of-judah-has-triumphed.html).

YES! YOU HAVE RISEN

2011-04-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

Yes! You have risen! Thank you Father for giving us eternal life in Your Son, Jesus Christ! I am full of joy and forever grateful!

An Urgent Call to Love our Enemies

2011-04-04T12:48:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

Recently I've been receiving, and continue to receive, repeated "pictures" in my mind of the face of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran. I believe that these images that continue to interrupt my normal thought processes throughout the day are God's way of calling my attention to the desires and purposes of His heart for this leader, and for all those who have been schooled in a similar cultic mindset.

Although the ultimate desires of Ahmadinejad’s heart are to kill all Jews and Christians, and destroy the western way of life, purposing to bring the world under Shariah law, the desires and purposes of God' heart towards him are not to harm him, but to bring him a revelation of the agape love of God that will ultimately change his heart. God's ways are far higher than our ways. God does NOT want to kill and destroy this man or any other man, because God does not coerce people into His kingdom. Rather, God loves all people and wants to save them from eternal separation from Himself.

As I've been asking God about all this I keep receiving reminders from Scripture like: "Love your enemies... pray for those who despitefully use you, etc.!" God's desire for us is in the body of Christ is to love and pray for our enemies, because they are people for whom He died and wants to save, heal, and restore to Himself.

This has got nothing to do with politics. It doesn't matter if we are republicans or democrats, conservatives or liberals, leaning towards the left or towards the right, or anything else in between, we are first and foremost called to be God's children. This has got nothing to do with where people stand on the positions President Obama is taking on Libya, Iran or any other place. It's not about taking the side of any human leader who espouses ideas and beliefs that we feel most comfortable supporting, but rather choosing to be on God's side... ultimately the winning side.

This is an urgent call for those of us who know God personally to lay aside our own personal fears of persecution and Shariah law coming to America. Apparently it has already made inroads into some of our courts and banking system in various places, striking fear into the hearts of those who clearly understand the goals of Islam.

This is a call for us in the body of Christ to lay aside our own personal needs, and our American way of life, and to seek first God's kingdom and what is on His heart. This is a call for us to love and pray for those who want to kill and destroy us. Most certainly we cannot do that unless we get God's perspective on them, and receive His heart for them!

The Nations are Our Inheritance

The Scriptures tell us that the nations are on God’s heart. The nations are on God’s heart because all the nations are His inheritance. He died for all the people on planet earth. “Ask of Me” the Father said to the Son, “and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession” (Psalm 2:8).

This means that all the people in every nation that do not know the Father's heart for them are also His inheritance! He died for all, but we know from Scripture that not all people will respond in repentance towards God, and allow themselves to be broken by His goodness for them.

Since every one of the Father’s promises that were made to the Son will be fulfilled, we can be sure that this promise given to Him will be fulfilled, also. For every one of God’s promises are “Yes!” in Christ. But we need to ask Him for the nations. They are our inheritance, too. I was born in England, but have the people of England been born in my heart? Now I live in America, but have the many people of America been born in my heart?

Let’s bring it closer to home. These nations that are our inheritance are made up of diverse people of many races and different ethnic and cultural groups. They belong to different faiths, and worship God in a variety of different ways… especially here in America where freedom of religion has allowed both Jew and Gentile alike to peacefully co-exist side by side for many years.

Before 9/11 those of us living in America generally felt “protected” and insulated from the violence that we have witnessed from a distance in the Middle East over the years. However, that feeling of security appears to be dwindling fast. As we watch the nightly news we see people within the Arab world taking to the streets and calling for revolution—a revolution they hope will destroy Israel, along with the western way of life. We witness oppressed and angry people who want to take down and overthrow their own respective governments as well as ours.

Naturally these signs of turmoil and unrest in the Middle East bring about a certain amount of apprehension into the hearts of people here in America. We’re afraid that these protests could spread into our country, and bring the collapse of law and order here, and our American way of life.

So let’s get to the difficult questions. Why are we more afraid of losing the comforts of our American way of life than we are afraid of seeing people from radical Islam sell their souls to the enemy? Which is more important to God’s breaking heart—the comforts of our American way of life, or the salvation of their lost souls? You already know the answer. God first needs to change the hardness of our own hearts before He can ever use us to change the hardness of theirs.

So unless we as believers radically repent of clinging to our material world and the American way of life, God will do whatever it takes to shake us loose from placing our faith in our nation’s strength instead of in His strength. Although America has been a great melting pot where people from every nation have come to find a safe haven—that is changing fast. Many from within and without the melting pot want to destroy the pot.

Does this mean that the many freedoms we have enjoyed in the America way of life are slowly coming to an end? Is God allowing this so that we as believers might place our faith in the One who alone can bring us real freedom? Have too many American believers put their faith in the glory of their nation equating it with the glory found in Jesus Christ alone?

If so, then we need to repent of this idolatry and get our priorities back in order. If we fail to repent and choose to wash our hands of the responsibility we have as Christian to be His witnesses, then doesn’t it mean that we are not His after all? Although we have professed to be His, we are actually turncoats! We are on the wrong side!

The command given to us by Jesus to "love your enemies"—whether they are the enemies within our own households, or within our own state or nation, has been given to us because agape love is the chosen method that God uses to reach people’s hearts. For only agape love can break down the wall of fear and separation that exists, preventing people from knowing God’s heart for them... and hearing the truth of the gospel.

I believe that as the church receives more of God's heart, and begins to express God's agape love in radical ways towards those we consider our enemies, and begins to boldly pray for His will to be done in their hearts, some who are now Saul’s will eventually become Paul’s! Our love and faith in God will storm the gates of hell and snatch back those whom Satan has wrongly deemed as his property.

People like Ahmadinejad need to have their hearts broken by the agape love of God just as much as we do as believers. This is what repentance is all about. God is calling people everywhere to repent and turn away from sin. He's calling the church to repent for our lack of faith in expressing God’s love in authentic and tangible ways towards those who need to see it the most... those we consider enemies of the gospel. And He's calling our enemies to repent of the evil in their hearts towards God’s children because evil begets evil. Only God can bring good out of evil as people are brought into the light of the cross and see God’s goodness expressed towards them while they were unrepentant sinners.

May the love of God so fill our hearts and minds that we will willingly choose to lay down our own agendas, and instead begin to carry the burden that is on God’s heart—the many people in nations like Syria, Libya and Iran who do not yet know the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ that can conquer the hardest hearts!

The Meaning of "The Package" (Excerpts from "The Naked Truth...)

2011-03-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

By Hazel Holland

Our history as a denomination reveals that generations of Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs) have been involved, to some degree, in striving to obey the Ten Commandments, especially the fourth. The idea we inherited from our forbearers was that in order to please God we must obey His law. In the dream our striving to obey the law was represented as our holding on to endless columns of indecipherable fine print inside the magazines (packages) that were impossible to read without the aid of a magnifying glass (p. 59).

The man-made rules and teachings of Adventism that have been added to the old covenant lists of requirements for proper Sabbath observance have replaced the list that the Pharisees added, but both have caused a heaviness on the people. However, those who were carrying the packages in the dream did not realize this heaviness. As long as the content of Adventism’s package remained tightly sealed it didn’t appear to be a heavy burden to those carrying it. It was only after the content of my package was ripped open and exposed to the light of the cross that the growing “weight” of Adventism’s package became unbearable (p. 59).

I remember well my striving in the dream to hold on to Adventism’s package after the brown paper covering was ripped and the “package” contents exposed, because I supposed it was a “gift.”… As a third generation Adventist I initially felt that the special truths of Adventism had been handed down to me as a “gift” that I was fortunate and privileged to have received. Therefore, it was my responsibility to become a good steward and take care of this “package” I had received and pass it on. In a million years I would never have dreamed of discarding this “gift” or letting it fall to the ground or of throwing it away. That is why I was so horrified and dismayed in the dream when I was thrown headfirst across the top of a desk and the “package” was ripped open… (p. 34)

In the hope of disguising the darkness of the inner contents of the “package” that people were seen carrying, the corporate leadership of the SDA church has covered up the true nature of the “package” contents by making the outer covering appear attractive and desirable. In fact each generation of SDAs has tried to package Adventism’s message in such a way as to make it even more desirable and more attractive than the generation before them. However, the attractive packaging does not change the nature of what is inside the “package.”… No matter how hard we try to make Adventism’s package attractive to others, from God’s perspective Adventism’s “package” can never be dressed up to look like anything but filthy rags! (p. 35)

In essence, the graphic imagery portrayed on the front covers of the magazines ( Adventism’s package) reveal that the Adventist people are having an adulterous relationship with the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). Fear of being lost has caused many to cling to the false savior—the Law—rather than the Groom—Jesus Christ. The futility of trusting in our own obedience instead of Christ’s obedience for us is equivalent to spiritual adultery (p. 53).

An equally offensive betrayal of His grace is the belief that He gives us the ability, through the Holy Spirit, to obey the old covenant law. I believe that God is revealing, through the imagery in the dream, a systemic problem of spiritual pornography and adultery within the body of Adventism about which most members are oblivious. Yet, unbeknownst to them, they are most certainly victims of this most subtle form of spiritual impurity (p. 54)

One of the most alluring attributes of pornography is its promise of intimacy. In fact the entire porn industry is founded upon the premise that everyone needs intimacy. So victims of pornography, having being lured in by loneliness, lust or desire, discover too late that they have become addicted to an empty, false and destructive imitation of their true needs. This false intimacy momentarily gratifies lust but leaves their deeper needs untouched as they slide toward a black hole of death. Using the pornographic industry as a metaphor for illegitimate fulfillment of legitimate needs helps to identify some of the ways in which Adventism has appealed to the need for intimacy with God through their man-made solutions (p.54).

Adventism’s foundational teachings are spiritually destructive in nature precisely because they deceive people into thinking that they will find true intimacy and acceptance with God by striving to obey the Ten Commandments. Consequently, millions have been lured into slavishly striving to obey the Sabbath of the 4th commandment. Instead of finding the true intimacy with God they desired, they strive, out of fear, to obey a poor facsimile (the law of sin and death) of the real thing—Jesus Christ (p. 54).

Since the truth of the gospel has been perverted by Adventism’s unbiblical teachings, I believe most Adventists are unaware of the fact that the brand of “Christianity” being promoted by the SDA church at large is cultic in nature. From the outside, the church looks good as its slick marketing techniques present worthy programs and admirable community endeavors that can fool the casual observer. However, all of the spin in the world is no substitute for the intimacy with our Maker that comes from living in the reality of the gospel by the power of the Spirit.” (p. 54).

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~Exposing Our Spiritual Blindness~

2011-03-28T01:27:00.000-07:00

by Hazel Holland

Recently the story of the rich young ruler was brought to my attention by a friend who was questioning why Jesus appeared to give this rich young man a message of "works" in order to be saved. At first glance it would seem that this story offers a seemingly endless supply of ammo for those seeking to defend the keeping of the Ten Commandments as a necessary work for salvation.

Although this familiar story may seem to convey a message of “salvation by works”, after a more careful reading of the passage, Jesus words suddenly become laser beams of truth that affirm the goodness God’s grace. They expose the deeper issues, not only of this rich young man’s heart, but our hearts, too.

Jesus had just told the rich young man that he lacked one thing. If he wanted to inherit eternal life and have treasure in heaven he must sell all his possessions, give to the poor, and then follow Jesus. The rich young man’s face fell. He sadly walked away from Jesus because he had great wealth.

The Bible tells us that the disciples were amazed by Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler. “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God?” (Mark 10: 23-24). Why were the disciples so taken aback by Jesus’ words? Why are we?

Why didn’t Jesus tell the rich young ruler to simply believe in Him in order to be saved? After all, Jesus told many others to believe in the One God had sent. Why were Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler so different, so puzzling? Why did Jesus seem to suggest that a “work” needed to be performed in order for him to be saved? Why did Jesus say, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21)?

Material Blessings—a Reward for Obedience

While recently reading a book[1] that challenges us to seriously consider how we have manipulated the gospel to fit our own cultural preferences, I received further insight into our bewilderment over the mixed messages in this story. I believe the answer can be found in the way God established the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant.

From the very beginning God promised to pour out material blessings on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants (the children of Israel) as they chose to obey Him and keep His law. We also know that these material blessings were withheld when Israel failed to obey God’s law. The Bible teaches us that God was forming a nation for Himself through whom He wanted to demonstrate His greatness to all other nations.

In the process of forming this nation of Israel God also established a physical place for His people to worship, and a physical place for His glory to dwell. Remember how Solomon and David amassed great amounts of wealth as they established this kingdom, and part of that wealth was used to build Solomon’s temple? After the temple was built Solomon dedicated it to God and asked God to make his glory known through His people at that place (1 Kings 8:56-66).

The prophet Isaiah puts it most eloquently when he says; “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).

God wanted to make His glory known to the Gentile nations. As a result of the sacrificial system that God instituted through Israel God wanted to bring hope to all people of all nations that a Deliverer was coming! But when the Deliverer came He wasn’t recognized by His own people. They had been expecting deliverance from Rome, not from sin. They had been expecting a physical kingdom, but Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world.

A New Phase of Redemptive History

Having briefly established the Old Covenant background of Israel’s material prosperity, perhaps we can better understand why the disciples were so astounded by Jesus words to the rich young ruler. Throughout Israel’s history God had been showering material blessings upon them as they obeyed His law. So why would obedience to Christ’s command to “Follow Me” lead this rich young man to lose his material possessions when Israel’s history was steeped in God doing just the opposite? Was the God of the Old Covenant different from the God of the New Covenant? What was going on?

I believe the answer lies in the radical shift that was taking place in redemptive history as Jesus spoke these difficult words to the rich young ruler. God’s eternal plan to redeem and deliver His people from sin was further unfolding as Jesus ushered in this new phase of redemptive history—a phase that would forever affect the relationship between faith and material blessings.[2]

We see this new phase of redemptive ministry clearly expressed in the way the early church loved one another and used their material possessions to bless one another—including taking care of the poor among them. We see the Father’s heart revealed in the way their actions were motivated by the law of love rather than the works of the law!

Manipulating the Gospel

Even though material blessings were promised as a reward for obedience under the Old Covenant there are no such teachings in the ministry of Jesus or the ministry of the apostles. Furthermore, since there are no explicit or implicit teachings in the New Testament that promote material blessings as a reward for obedience, the “prosperity gospel” taught in many American churches, must be “imported” from the Old Testament.

But how can we in good conscience import Old Covenant teachings that Jesus and the New Testament writers never taught because the Law of Moses became obsolete after the resurrection? Have we no sense of how we are wounding our brothers and sisters, and bringing terrible confusion to the body of Christ by our take on the health and wealth gospel? Even believers in America who struggle financially to make ends meet are apt to be told by those who have plenty that a “poverty” mentality is the root cause for their lack of material prosperity.

Where is God’s heart of compassion in all of this? How have we drifted so far from Him? By manipulating the gospel of God’s agape love to fit our own cultural preferences, many of us in the Western church have totally lost sight of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel that bids us to die to self, take up our cross daily and follow Him will never be popular in our churches, our culture, or our world.

Let’s expose more of our spiritual blindness. Unlike the Old Testament there are no verses in the New Testament where God’s children are commanded to build luxurious churches or magnificent temples for worship. That’s because the veil of the temple that represented Jesus body was torn from top to bottom the moment that Jesus died. When Jesus gave His life once and for all as the Sacrificial Lamb for the sins of the world, no more sacrifice for sin was needed.

Instead, the Shekinah glory that was once veiled behind the temple curtain in the Most Holy Place is now revealed in earthen vessels. God’s presence has been transferred to the church—not a building, but people that make up the body of Christ. We have become God’s temple in which He now chooses to dwell by His Spirit. This temple is made up of precious living stones—Jesus being the Chief Cornerstone.

What’s more, we, as God’s temple of living stones, have been commissioned by Jesus to carry this gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth. We have been chosen to become the carriers of God’s goodness to the world. But unless we know God and have His heart of agape love for others, including our enemies, He cannot use our brokenness to carry the Light that will dispel the darkness. If we don't have His heart, we will misinterpret and continue to manipulate the simple gospel that He has commissioned us to take to the world. For without His agape love we are nothing more than resounding gongs and clanging cymbals (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Relationship and Intimacy

As I write these words the imagery of the disciple John leaning his head upon Jesus’ chest at the last supper comes to mind along with these two words—relationship and intimacy. I believe that God wants us to understand the urgency of the hour. Unless we press into Him and have our ears tuned to hear the heartbeat of the Father that compelled Jesus to go to the cross because of the agape love that He has for all people, we will misunderstand His heart. We will not be able to identify with the things that break God’s heart becomes our hearts will eventually become cold and hardened to the love of God.

Although the rich young ruler had been schooled to believe that he would be saved by keeping the law, his great riches did not give him the assurance of eternal life that he desired. That is why he asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Although he had kept the Ten Commandments from childhood, he knew something was lacking in his heart. Do we sense that perhaps something is lacking in our hearts, too?

Just as Jesus met the rich young ruler where he was at, He will meet us where we are at. Although Jesus knew that the rich young ruler had kept the commandments from His youth up, Jesus never told him to keep the commandments in order to be saved. Instead he exposed the young man’s heart issues that were motivated by the works of the law—rather than the law of love.

But wasn’t the rich young ruler’s great wealth a sign that he had been blessed by God because of his obedience to the law? That’s how people interpreted material blessings under the old order of things, but the old order of things has passed away. The new order of things has come.

God’s Goodness Changes Hearts

A radical shift has taken place as Jesus directs us to look at the only One who is good—God! A radical shift has taken place as Jesus reveals that His kingdom is spiritual, not material. A radical shift has taken place as Jesus tells us plainly that His kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is ruled by the law of love—not by the works of the law!

Suddenly the rich young ruler’s world began to crumble when Jesus confronted him with his deeper heart issues. We’re not told if he ever had a change of heart and accepted Jesus as His Lord and Master, but we are told that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. It is God’s goodness revealed in Jesus Christ that will bring us to the end of ourselves so that the agape love of God might live in us.

For this reason, I believe Christians, especially in America, are being called to repent of the way we have been exporting a false gospel that equates faith in Christ with material prosperity. Understanding that Jesus died the death that we deserve so that we can live the life that He alone deserves ought to radically affect, not only our love relationship with Him, but also the way we express love to one another.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is our very great reward—a reward that we cannot earn, and that we don’t deserve, but is freely given to us because of the agape love of God. Since all our needs are met in Him, shouldn’t this alter the relationship between our faith and our material possessions? A faith that works by love does not guarantee us material blessings, but faith in Him does open the door of our hearts to the agape love of God so that we can know His heart and be a blessing to others.

That’s what Jesus wanted for the rich young ruler. He wanted that rich young man to begin to experience the hidden treasures that are stored up for us when we bless others for their sake instead of our own. When the rich young ruler saw that he would have to let go of his material kingdom before he could experience the riches of God’s spiritual kingdom, he walked away. He couldn’t do it. God’s goodness must first change His heart.

Radical Repentance

I want to believe that the seeds of truth that Jesus sowed into the rich young ruler’s heart that day took root and accomplished what Jesus desired for them to accomplish—a revelation of the goodness of God that eventually changed his heart, and caused him to embrace the risen Lord. I want to believe that it will be the same for us in the church. Only when God’s goodness changes our hearts will we hear His call to repent. Only when God’s goodness changes our hearts will we be able to identify with God’s kingdom and reveal His love to the world.

Just for the record, Jesus was not condemning the rich young ruler for his riches or us for our acquisition of material things. Material things in and of themselves are not evil. Rather, Jesus is seeking to radically change our perspective on our possessions, as we open our hearts to the needs of the world around us. As we allow Him to change the desires of our hearts we will be led by the Spirit to give of ourselves, our resources, and our time for the glory of God’s kingdom.

Let’s remember that in God we have a King who guarantees for us a kingdom. His kingdom of agape love will last forever. It cannot be shaken because it is not of this world (Hebrews 12:28). We are heirs to this spiritual kingdom, and co-heirs with our older brother, Jesus Christ. Everything in God’s Kingdom has already been given to us, and everything we have and are already belongs to Him.

“Father, in view of this truth we choose to allow Your goodness to expose the blindness in our hearts so that we can radically repent of the things that we have done in Your name, but not with Your heart. Lord, when everything is shaken that can be shaken, and you have removed the last vestiges of dross from our lives, may the one thing that cannot be shaken remain—our faith in Your goodness towards us that continues to expresses itself in works of agape love.”

Notes:
[1] David Platt, “Radical”, p. 116.
[2] Ibid. 117.

The Truth is not a Package!

2011-01-30T18:08:00.000-08:00

Liberate Yourself from the Package

2010-12-22T01:17:00.000-08:00

by Keith Fredrick Allen
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 2:17am

How to advance from religion into the Kingdom of God's Son.

How to be a real lion and get your roar back.

How to live in Jesus the Way instead of living in The Package.

Watch this promo video and order Hazel Holland's new book: http://thurly.net/0ecn.

See: http://www.facebook.com/hazel.holland2

Hidden Bondage Revealed (An Excerpt from "The Naked Truth: Exposing the Deception of Adventism"

2010-12-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

..."Beyond its obvious sexual connotation, incest in essence is an abuse of the legitimate authority that a parent or guardian has over a child. It is a generational family dysfunction, passed down through the generational genes, destroying trust and distorting the healthy parent-child relationship.

For example, in the normal order of things, a parent or guardian is in the position of exercising control and authority over a child by virtue of age, knowledge and experience. The parent is presumed to know better than the child does what is right and wrong, what is safe and unsafe— essentially what is good for the child. Until the child is old enough to be accountable for his or her own decisions, choices and behavior, the parent or guardian stands in the place of God for the child.

Following this line of reasoning we begin to see that parental authority becomes abusive when the parent uses the position of power to satisfy selfish wants or needs at the expense of the child. Because the child is dependent upon the parent or parent figure, the child becomes the victim. Since the victim has generally been taught to admire, trust and respect the one who has abused him, the victim unknowingly becomes a collaborator in the abuse cycle. The conflicting emotions of love and hate, courage and fear, trust and distrust, towards the offending parent leave an indelible mark of fear and shame on the child as the child is forced to deny his or her own reality.

... Just as incest was a generational sin, passed down through the generational genes on both sides of my biological family, so spiritual incest is a generational sin passed down through the denominational genes of the SDA church. As incest is the abuse of parental authority, spiritual incest is the abuse of spiritual authority exercised by spiritual parents and those in authority over us in the church.

Another way of saying this is, “Spiritual abuse is the misuse and abuse of spiritual authority by church leaders who set themselves up as gate keepers, using religious performance rather than faith in Jesus as the criterion for accepting or rejecting their followers.”1

For the purposes of this book I am dealing specifically with the generational sin of spiritual incest in the SDA church. In fact generational spiritual incest has been the best-kept secret within the SDA church for the past one hundred and fifty years. Understanding our spiritual roots and the process our spiritual forbearers used to arrive at their system of beliefs will help us understand why this present generation of Adventists shown in the dream is behaving like incest victims.

As we look at our church history it will become crystal clear how our spiritual forbearers set themselves up to become not only victims but also perpetrators of spiritual incest, and why this cycle of spiritual abuse continues to be experienced in the lives of many of its members to this day."

(Book may be ordered through the following links:

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The Naked Truth

2010-09-22T14:05:00.001-07:00

by Hazel

This book is now available to purchase through the following two links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Truth-Exposing-Deception-Adventism/dp/143926662X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287621413&sr=1-1

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Also see author review and customer reviews at: http://thenakedtruth-hazel.blogspot.com/

Chapter 5: Chosen for Service NOT Privilege (Who are the Israel of God?)

2010-08-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

After the call of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God’s election was passed on to Jacob’s twelve sons. Since God had changed Jacob’s name to Israel, Jacob’s sons became the sons of Israel, who in turn later became the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. Some well known descendants from these tribes are Moses from the Tribe of Levi, the Apostle Paul from the Tribe of Benjamin, and King David and Jesus the Messiah from the Tribe of Judah.

This election of the children of Israel was a corporate election and a call to service, not privilege. However, in trying to interpret the Old Testament prophets by the letter instead of by the Spirit, we have more often than not established a place of privilege for the children of Israel that God never intended.

After four hundred years of slavery God delivered the children of Israel (also called Israel or Israelites) from Egyptian slavery and brought them into the land of Canaan so "that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws”. Since God loved all nations, Israel was called to serve the nations by being an example of what it meant to love and worship the Lord. The Scriptures reveal that Israel as a nation was summoned to be God’s priestly people in the earth because God wanted all the nations to come to Him.

I was moved to tears when my friend, Ramone, expressed the following thoughts about the children of Israel. “I believe that God’s sovereign purpose in bringing the children of Israel into the land of Canaan was so that He might teach them, through His law and sacrificial system, of their human inability to remain a faithful covenant partner with God. God wanted to teach them, along with the nations around them, about the reality of sin and man’s total inability to be faithful to God’s covenant. But most importantly, God wanted Israel to share with the nations around them that a faithful covenant partner was coming!”

Israel was chosen to teach the Gentile nations by example of God’s coming salvation for all people. The prophet Isaiah puts it most eloquently when he says; “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).

God chose the children of Israel because He had a special task for them to perform, not because He loved them more than the other nations, or because they were better than the rest. No. The children of Israel were elected to a ministry of redemptive servanthood. They were chosen to be a living demonstration to the nations around them of what it meant to worship God.

The Old Testament prophets repeatedly tell us that the sons of Israel were God’s chosen ones—God’s chosen servants to teach the nations around them about the reality of sin and man’s total inability to be faithful to God’s covenant. Through the sacrificial system God wanted to bring hope to all people of all nations that a Deliverer was coming!

“O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones” (1Chronicles 16:13).

“O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones” (Psalm 105:5).

“He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy” (Palm 105:43).

The following passage of Scripture reminds us that the nation of Israel was a chosen “son” who was a type (shadow) pointing forward to the coming Reality, Jesus Christ—the Chosen One.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me” (Hosea 11:1-2).

However, in Matthew 2:15, we find that Hosea’s prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus’ parents took Him to Egypt to protect him from Herod’s slaughter of innocent children.

“When he (Joseph) arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matthew 2:14-15).

Here we see Matthew taking a passage from Hosea, which clearly refers to literal Israel, and telling us that this passage was fulfilled in Jesus Christ! The shadow had been fulfilled now that the Reality had come! I feel sure that Matthew also wanted his largely Jewish audience to know that Jesus was the Chosen One foretold throughout the Old Testament Scriptures.

Then we see how Matthew again takes the following prophecy from Isaiah and applies it to Jesus Christ.

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations” (Matthew 12:18; Isaiah 42:1).

Israel was “chosen” because God wanted them to be a servant community to the nations around them in order that God might teach them through His law and sacrificial system about the reality of sin and man's total inability to remain faithful to God's covenant. More importantly God wanted Israel to prepare the Gentile nations around them for God's coming salvation. A Deliverer was coming! A Chosen, Faithful Servant and Covenant Partner was coming!

(See Isaiah 51:1-8; Jeremiah 23:19-26; Ezekiel 33:23-29; Micah 7:14-21).

(Next: Chapter 6: Go here.

Chapter 9: Our Higher Spiritual Calling (Who are the Israel of God?)

2010-08-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

by hazel

In our study to determine who are the "Israel of God?” we have found that the election of the physical nation of Israel (Israel after the flesh) was but a sign of a higher spiritual calling. This calling is not based on the lineage of Abraham, but it is based on the faith of Abraham. The following Scripture reveals that this was God's plan even before the creation of the world.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6).

Jew and Gentile alike, children of Abraham by faith in the promised Seed are being called to enter into Christ and become part of His new creation, the “Israel of God”. We who belong to Christ no longer put our faith in our law-keeping (legalism), or in flesh-based circumcision (Judaism), but only in the cross of Jesus Christ.

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:14-16 (NKJV).

Notice that these verses reveal that those who are "in Christ Jesus" are the “Israel of God." Since Jesus Christ is the new Creation, we are a new creation in Him. As God’s new creation we can only boast of His great salvation.

In our study we have seen that the Old Testament prophets spoke of the great salvation that God would provide in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham. That righteousness, like the righteousness of Abraham, was not a righteousness which men earned by their law-keeping, but it was a righteousness which God Himself provided through the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Now as we read the Old Testament Scriptures and interpret them in the light of God’s final revelation in Christ, we see that Jesus is not only the new Creation, but Jesus is also the Chosen One, and the new Israel.

Furthermore, since the cross, Christ’s flesh became the new Temple which fulfills and replaces the old temple in Jerusalem. Only through this new Temple may you and I (Jew and Gentile alike) enter God’s kingdom.

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” Hebrews 10: 19-22 (NASB).

Suddenly the dispensationalist’s view of these prophecies being fulfilled in a future millennium begins to unravel. They vanish in Jesus Christ, because He has already fulfilled them!

This means that in Christ, you and I are also chosen. Based on our higher spiritual calling in Christ you and I are also the new Israel who will inherit every spiritual blessing in Christ. May God’s mercy and peace rest upon the true “Israel of God”, His very “treasured possession”, whom He keeps as the “apple of His eye” (Deut. 7:6; 26:18; Psalm 17:8).

Chapter 8: Children of the Promise (Who are the Israel of God?)

2010-08-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

The calling of ancient Israel as a nation to be God’s priestly people on earth could succeed or fail. In fact Paul speaks of the failure of this mission when he says, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Romans 2:24). Furthermore, we get a brief glimpse into Paul’s heartfelt sorrow and unceasing grief for those of his fellow Israelites who rejected Jesus as their Messiah.

“I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons… But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: ‘THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.’ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants’” Romans 9:6-8 (NASB).

Here Paul paints a picture that identifies the characteristics of the true “Israel of God”. Contrary to what many ancient Jews believed, although the nation of Israel descended from Abraham’s bloodline, being a part of that literal nation did not make them the children of promise, the “Israel of God”. Even though many of the ancient Jews believed that they possessed salvation (being privileged) solely on the basis of their being a descendant of Abraham, the Scriptures teach us otherwise.

Those who are the descendants of Abraham are not necessarily the “Israel of God”, instead that blessing belongs to Jew and Gentile alike who receive the promise of the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. Being a descendant by Abraham’s bloodline and being a part of literal Israel does not guarantee that we are heirs of the promise, but being a part of the “Israel of God” by faith in Jesus Christ does guarantee that we are heirs of the kingdom.

Now that the promised Seed has come, we can clearly understand that those who are children of the promise put their faith in Jesus Christ and are recipients of eternal life. Only those who are in Christ are truly the “Israel of God”, but those who are not in Christ are not Israel.

This is a clear declaration that Israel is not a geopolitical nation, or even a genealogical one, but rather a remnant, spiritual people saved by God’s grace from every nation, kindred tongue and people. (Romans 11:5).

First fruits of a New Creation

Paul confirms that the Old Testament doctrine of election remains unchanged in the New Testament. Clearly we can see that God’s love for the human race is universal. God’s election of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Israel, or of the church is the way God implements His love for all of humanity.

Because God loves the world He chooses a people, he chooses patriarchs, he chooses prophets, he chooses apostles, and He chooses the body of Christ in order to implement His love for the entire human race. Election has nothing to do with the eternal salvation of individuals, but refers to God’s way of bringing His salvation message to the ends of the earth.

Christians are God’s chosen people in the same way that ancient Israel was chosen. Jews and Gentiles are chosen in Christ to be a servant community and witness to the kingdom of God. We have been called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light in order to declare God’s praises to the ends of the earth.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” 1 Peter2:9-10 (NIV).

Our calling in Jesus Christ is to be the first fruits of the new creation as we anticipate a much larger harvest to come (James 1:18). We are chosen to serve God by issuing the invitation to all people in every nation to come for God’s end time banquet.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV).

However, calling ourselves Christians does not necessarily make us Christians. Being a part of the visible body of Christ does not guarantee that we are actually a part of His new creation anymore than being a descendant of one of the tribes of Israel guaranteed that you were part of the “Israel of God”. There’s no difference between a natural Jew and a natural Gentile as far as God is concerned, because children of the flesh are not the children of God.

What makes the difference is if we (Jew and Gentile alike) are children of the promise, born of the Spirit! If we are, then we share a common spiritual ancestry in Christ. Abraham is our father and the Jerusalem that is above is our eternal home.

(Next: Chapter 9: Go here.

Chapter 7: "Unveiled" in Christ (Who are the Israel of God?)

2010-08-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

It seems that many in the church have forgotten that Abraham wasn’t looking to possess the land of Canaan as his inheritance at all. For his eyes were on the Jerusalem that is above, the city of the living God, the church of the first born, the Promised Land of the saved (See Hebrews 12).

“By faith he (Abraham) lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” Hebrews 11:9-10 (NASB).

Furthermore, Hebrews 11 goes on to say that there were many other "heroes of faith" besides Abraham who died without seeing the promises, but welcomed them from afar by faith.

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” Hebrews 11:13-16 (NASB).

There are many references besides the one mentioned above that refute the idea that God wants His land. More to the point, didn’t Jesus clearly said that His kingdom was not of this world? If it had of been I feel certain that other disciples besides Peter would have been out on the front lines brandishing swords, ready to cut off more than high priest’s servants ears!

Moreover, since the old covenant has been fulfilled in Christ, it is now obsolete! So what would be the purpose of hanging on to literal land in the Middle East that was given to Abraham’s offspring when God’s primary purpose was not the land that was important, but the lives of the people in the nations that God wanted to bless with His salvation?

Why have so many in the church forgotten that God’s goal in giving ancient Israel the land of Canaan in the first place was so they might freely worship Him, and in so doing become a witness to the nations around them that the God of Israel loved all men and wanted all men to know Him.

By failing to let the New Testament interpret the Old, our understanding of ancient Israel’s mission as being a call to service, NOT privilege, has been tragically misunderstood by the church and the nation of Israel alike. Many in the church today have joined Israel in her blindness. My prayer is that the “veiled” Scriptures that cause men to stumble will become “unveiled” in Jesus Christ!

(Next: Chapter 8: Go here.

Chapter 6: Promised "Land" Issue (Who are the Israel of God?)

2010-08-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

In the last chapter we discussed how Israel in Old Testament times was chosen by God for service, not privilege. Israel was chosen to be a blessing because she had been entrusted with the privilege of being the bearer of “Light” to the Gentile nations around her.

However, although ancient Israel was chosen by God to be a “light” to the Gentile nations around her of God’s coming salvation, she failed miserably in her mission. Even as we remember Isaiah’s eloquent words, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6), we recognize that this Scripture only began to be fulfilled after Pentecost.

The veil was lifted from the minds of the disciples as they were filled with the Spirit, and they began to testify that Jesus was the “Light”. After persecution came and the early church was scattered the “light” of God’s salvation went to the four corners of the earth.

Having said that, consider with me for a moment how God’s original plan to use Israel as a “light for the Gentiles” has become very complex, because a parcel of “land” in the Middle East has become more important than the lives of the people who occupy it?

The present Arab-Israeli conflict continues because both the natural children of Abraham (Israel after the flesh) and the Palestinians continue to fight over “land” that each side claims belongs to them. In spite of the fact that the Scriptures tell us that God restored all the land that He promised to give Israel’s descendants, many in the church fail to believe that God kept His promises to them.

“So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled” (Joshua 21:43-45 NIV).

What further complicates this whole “land” issue is the fact that many Christians have taken sides. They believe that Israel is still God’s “chosen” people, and the literal land they occupy belongs to God because He gave it to them as their inheritance forever.

But that belief totally contradicts God’s heart for all people. Contrary to popular opinion within the church, God does NOT show favoritism. There is no partiality with God!

“There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism” Romans 2:9-11 (NIV).

No one group, or any certain territory, like the land of Israel, holds a favored position in relation to salvation. God is bringing these blessings to all people on earth. Exclusivity and elitism are out of the question. Peter declares after his change of heart:

“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35).

If God doesn’t show favoritism, why do so many of us in the church? Is it because we do not understand God’s heart for all people? Is it because we see “Israel” as a nation rather than “Israel” as people? Is it because we sadly favor and value an earthly inheritance over an eternal inheritance?

For years many Christian have believed that a necessary condition for the return of the Messiah was for the Jews to return to their land. This belief also ties in with the precursors of modern Zionism who also believed that the return of Jews to the land of Israel was a precondition for the redemption of the Jewish people.

Thus, many Christians, believing that the formation of the state of Israel in 1948 was a miraculous intervention of God, offer their support to Israel by insisting that the land belongs to them, because they are still God’s “chosen” people.

However, if we in the church would take a hard and honest look at the bloody history of how the state of Israel was actually “born”, it could hardly be considered a miraculous intervention of God! Yes, it’s a miracle how God has preserved the existence of the Jews around the world, but NOT the formation of the state of Israel.

My friend Ramone reminded me that to take someone’s life because God said, “This land is my inheritance” neglects the truth that the nations are Christ’s inheritance. He further suggests that "when we kill people for whom Christ died are we not robbing Christ of His inheritance? Furthermore, because we are “co-heirs with Christ” are not the nations our inheritance also? That means our neighbors are also our inheritance. So if we kill our neighbors to possess their property, aren’t we trading our eternal inheritance (our neighbor’s lives) for an earthly inheritance that is temporal?"

By saying that God’s hand was in the establishment of the state of Israel, many in the church are unknowingly declaring that it was God’s will for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to be evicted from their homes so that “God’s people” could get their land back. That kind of wounding takes a long time to heal! By the church sanctioning that kind of spiritual abuse doesn't it place future generations of Israelis in a grave position where they will continue to inherit a cycle of violence?

From my perspective, the church has done the state of Israel a great disservice by not proclaiming to her the cutting edge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By not calling her into accountability and repentance for her acts of violence against the Palestinian people we have neutered the gospel of Jesus Christ. God is calling us to speak the whole gospel of God’s love and grace into the Middle East situation. God's Spirit is calling the church to minister to both Jew and Gentile alike, and help them enter into the true Promised Land--the true promised rest found in Jesus Christ?

It’s shocking to realize that land has become more valuable than lives for whom Christ died. Many of us in the church have a serious heart issue. Can you hear the cry in the Father’s heart for the people of this land? I do. My friend, Ramone, heard, “I don’t want My people to have land, I want them to have Me!” What will our response be?

Link: What God Joined Together at the Cross
Next: Chapter 7: Unveiled in Christ

Chapter 4: Broken for Blessing (Who are the Israel of God?")

2010-03-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

The same covenant promise that had been given to Abraham and Isaac was then passed down from Isaac to his son Jacob. Although Jacob and Esau were full-bloodied, twin brothers of Isaac, God sovereignly chose the lineage of Jacob, the younger brother, to continue the line of salvation history before the twins were even born. Thus, God’s choice of Jacob had nothing to do with Jacob’s good works, but rather God’s sovereign purpose in preserving salvation history.

We already saw in the previous chapter that Abraham had to wait for twenty-five years before God fulfilled His promise to him in the birth of Isaac. Now we find out that Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, had a similar problem as Sarah. She was barren also.

“Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife… Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived… So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb… Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them” (Genesis 25:20-26).

I had never noticed until now that hidden away in the statement, “Isaac pleaded with the Lord ...and Rebekah conceived,” is the fact that Isaac prayed for twenty years before God answered his prayer for a son. Since Abraham was still alive at this time, I feel sure that he must have prayed too, because he knew what it was like to wait for the promised seed. I’m confident that Abraham encouraged Isaac to persist in prayer and not falter in his faith as he had done. Abraham would most certainly have discouraged Isaac for even thinking for a moment about “helping” God bring about the fulfillment of the promise through Rebekah’s maidservant.

The Nature of Faith

Both Abraham and Isaac prayed believing that God would fulfill His promise even though they both had to wait many years before they saw the fulfillment of the promise in their immediate offspring. In fact, the book of Hebrews reminds us that many of the Hebrew patriarchs never in their lifetime saw the fulfillment of what God had promised them. Nevertheless, they continued to believe right up to their dying day that God would fulfill His promise by someday sending a Deliverer. The promised Seed, Jesus Christ would come in the fullness of time—God’s time, NOT theirs.

Essentially, this is what faith is. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Walking by faith is taking hold of the promise of God and refusing to let go. Faith is persistently holding on to the promise while waiting for God to fulfill it in His timing. Although Abraham prayed for twenty-five years and Isaac for twenty for God to give them the promised son, they never saw the ultimate fulfillment of their offspring—the promised Seed that would eventfully come.

These men of faith, along with other men of faith in the Old Testament waited for the fulfillment of the promised Seed for hundreds of years. They never stopped believing that God would do what He had said He would do—send a Deliverer. And we already know the end of their story because we can look back and see that the Deliverer came in the fullness of time. But I’m getting ahead of the story…

Jacob’s Lack of Faith

Let’s pause for a moment and remember how Jacob’s life began in Rebekah’s womb. This child of destiny, who began his life by grabbing his twin brother by the heel, later gained the blessing of God by grabbing on to God and refusing to let go. This child, who had been chosen by God before he was born to carry the blessing of the promised Seed, later manipulated his older twin brother, Esau, and deceived his aging father, in order to gain both the birthright and the blessing that had already been promised him. Instead of trusting God to fulfill His promise, Jacob deviously worked behind the scenes to grasp what was already his by God’s sovereign choice.

Jacob’s name (means “supplanter, schemer, cheater, one who grabs from behind) accurately described his inclination to take things into his own hands and wrestle to get his own way in life. Ever since he deceived his father into thinking that he was Esau so that he could obtain the spiritual blessing reserved for the eldest son, Jacob had been on the run.

We all know the rest of the story. After Esau learned about what Jacob had done he was so angry he threatened to kill him. So Jacob was forced to leave his father’s house and flee for his life to his uncle Laban’s place. On the way to this unknown country Jacob had a dream in which God confirmed to him the covenant that He had made to both Abraham and his father Isaac (Genesis 28:10-15).

Furthermore, Jacob’s family struggle didn’t end once he got to Laban’s. For years Jacob continued to wrestle and struggle with his uncle over flocks and herds and Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel, who eventually became his wives. In spite of the fact that Laban treated Jacob very poorly during this time, Jacob became extremely wealthy as a result of his effective management of the flocks.

Although Laban had been in agreement with Jacob’s ideas, it had cost Laban dearly, even to the point of bankrupting him. So again, twenty years later, Jacob was forced to flee, this time from his uncle, because Laban’s sons had become jealous of his wealth. So he headed back to his father’s house in Canaan, with his wives, children, and many flocks (Genesis 30:42-43; 31:14-16).

Wrestling with Fear

On his return journey he became fearful one night when he leaned that his brother Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men the next day. Not knowing what Esau’s attitude toward him might be, he placed his wives, children, servants, and all his possessions on the other side of the river Jabbok* for safety. Then he withdrew into the darkness to spend the night by himself as he sat beside the Jabbok River, a frightened man, searching for answers.

Suddenly, he found himself wrestling with a “Man”. The Bible doesn’t tell us what went on during that wrestling match or how many hours it lasted. All we know is that everything that had happened in Jacob’s life so far had brought him to this crucial moment in time when the pre-incarnate Christ would change the direction of his life.

I believe that God in his grace and mercy allowed Jacob to grapple with his fleshly desires as he struggled to overpower this unseen Man. I feel sure that Jacob’s life must have passed before him many times during that crucial night. How he must have longed to be delivered from fear. Little did he know that the One with whom he wrestled was the promised Deliverer who would soon deliver him from fear.

Wrestling with God

As Jacob wrestled with God, he may have remembered his mother’s words as she described the wrestling match that had gone on within her womb before her boys had been born. It was true that this wrestling for dominance had plagued him throughout his life. He knew that he had depended on his own strength and resources to help God answer His promises that He had made to him.

Jacob remembered that God had repeated the same words to him at Bethel in a dream that he had made to Abraham and Isaac years earlier. Surely, in order for those promises to come to pass God needed Jacob to help Him by exercising his cunning mind so that all families on earth would be blessed through his offspring.

Jacob, like so many of us, continually struggled throughout his life to help God answer His promises by attempting to make them happen in the natural (flesh) instead of waiting for God to have them manifest in the spiritual realm. This promised blessing that Jacob had plotted to obtain for his offspring was the same blessing in “seed form” that had been given to Adam and Eve? Jacob could no more alter God’s sovereign plan than he could bring it about by his own conniving schemes.

While Jacob wrestled with his own tormenting thoughts, He must have struggled to understand how he was supposed to be heir to the promises of God if Esau was going to kill him. He must have fought to come to grips with the timing of God’s plan as he remembered the dream God had given him twenty years earlier at Bethel. Perhaps God had changed His mind about Jacob being an heir to the promises of God after all.

Now, failing to trust God once more with his destiny, Jacob had sent drove after drove of animals ahead of him as a gift for Esau in an effort to appease him and gain his acceptance. Jacob was obviously rich in the things of this world. But hadn’t so much of his material wealth been achieved by his own shrewd thinking and conniving ways? For that reason, how could he honestly trust God to deliver him from Esau when he had so wrongfully manipulated his brother in the past?

Perhaps he deserved to die and forfeit the coveted blessing after all. On the other hand, maybe if he addressed his brother as “my lord” and “your servant, Jacob”, and Esau saw all the gifts he had sent, Jacob might find favor in his brother’s sight (Genesis 28:3-20). I feel quite sure that as Jacob fought to win this wrestling match within his own mind he must have agonized over his checkered past. Possibly, a sense of hopelessness and despair filled his heart at times during the night’s struggle as he assessed the bumpy road he had chosen in life.

The Turning Point

Finally, a turning point came in Jacob’s struggle after the pre-incarnate Christ touched his hip, weakening and immobilizing him on the spot. Now Jacob had been broken for blessing. Although he had repeatedly tried to gain that blessing by his own devious ways, God allowed him to come to the end of himself so that he might see that it was God who was in control and not Jacob. Jacob suddenly stopped wrestling out of fear and started clinging to God in faith as he cried out in pain, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26).

During that awful night, Jacob finally learned that the blessing of material wealth that he had gained by his shrewd business dealings was not the blessing that he really desired. He must know for sure that he hadn’t forfeited the privilege of being chosen by God to have the Promised Seed come through his offspring. He desired that blessing now more than anything else.

After that night of struggle Jacob knew that neither his good works nor his bad works caused God to withdraw his covenant promise from him. Seeing God’s goodness towards him changed him. Thus, in keeping with Jacob’s change of heart, God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. In spite of all his conniving schemes Jacob finally knew that God truly loved him. He was no longer a deceiver, but one who prevailed with God.

Jacob said of God after his night of wrestling, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:30). Not only did God preserve Jacob’s life and change his name to Israel (prince of God), but He preserved his seed, because it was through Jacob’s offspring that the Seed would come. Salvation history was being preserved that night so that in the fullness of time, the TRUE SEED, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, would come.

Jacob-like People

That is why the Scriptures remind us that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and, yes, He’s the God of Jacob, too. God knows that deceitfulness is one of the characteristics that we all share in common as a result of our fallen nature. Although not one of us likes to admit it, we are all Jacob-like at times, yet God loves us anyway. God knows our hearts. He knows that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?” Jeremiah 17:9 (Amplified Bible).

I’m weeping right now in the Spirit as I realize that God’s sovereign love that was poured out upon Jacob has also been poured out upon you and me. God chose us in Christ before we were ever born, just like He chose Jacob. In fact, God reminds us in Hebrews 11 that He is not ashamed to be identified with Jacob. This means that God is not ashamed to be identified with all Jacob-like people.

For that reason, when our hearts deceive us, God does not reject us when we become Jacob-like in our attitudes and desires. No. God not only knows our hearts, but He already knows those who are His. Just like Jacob, God chose us in Christ before we were even born. As we are confronted with this Good News, God’s amazing goodness leads us to repentance as it did Jacob.

Instead of resisting God, we are irresistibly drawn to the One who loved us first. We find out that God does not credit the deceitfulness of our hearts to our account, but instead credits our account with Christ’s truth-filled righteousness. All our deceitful ways and manipulative schemes have been credited to Jesus Christ account, not ours. He became sin for us so that we can be known by God as the righteousness of God in Christ.

I want to intimately know and love a God like that. I want to believe in the One who has a future and plan for my life just as He had for Jacob’s life. God wants to continually bless us with His presence while He assures us that He will never let us go, just like He blessed and assured Jacob. He has a new name for us, too—a new name that I feel sure will reflect not only our struggle here on earth, but how God sees us forever in Christ. He has a new name for all His beloved children that we will receive on that Day when we see God face to face (Revelation 2:17).

*Jabbok means "wrestling".

(Next: Chapter 5: Go here.

Chapter 3: World's Only Innocent Man (Who are the "Israel of God?")

2010-03-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

The fact that Isaac continued to believe and trust God as his father did is revealed in Isaac’s demonstration of faith when he found out that God had asked Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. Isaac knew that God had told Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. Ishmael, Abraham’s first born son, had been sent away because he was not the child through whom the promised Seed would come. So all God’s promises to Abraham depended on Isaac, didn’t they?

Even though Isaac didn’t understand God’s request, he didn’t try to resist his father Abraham by trying to figure out some alternate plan to save himself. Instead, he trusted himself to God. He placed his faith in his father’s God, and obeyed. Isaac must have “reasoned” like his father did that since Abraham and Sarah were “dead” with respect to child-bearing, then God gave life from death in his conception and birth. If God could bring him into existence from the “dead”, then surely God could raise him back to life again after he was offered up to God as a sacrifice. The following verses reveal Abraham’s reasoning faith.

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death” Hebrews 1:17-19 (NASB).

We all know the rest of the story. God stopped Abraham from offering his son because God didn’t want Abraham’s son, He wanted Abraham’s heart. God wanted to give Abraham His heart for the nations. He wanted Abraham to enter into the most precious things that were on God’s heart. In the same way that God wanted Abraham’s heart, He wants your heart and my heart.

Let’s remember that Abraham didn’t have the benefit of God's revelation to Moses and the Old Testament prophets when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac. All he knew was that child sacrifice was practiced by some of the Canaanites, and so he had no option but to believe that God required that he sacrifice his son. So why did God put Abraham through this severest of tests when God condemned child sacrifice in the first place? (Deuteronomy 12:31)

I believe God gave Abraham this test because this “acted out prophecy” would announce to the world in type and shadow the unimaginable thing that God had planned to do from the creation of the world! God would offer up His Son (the promised Seed), whom He loves on the cross, “as a Lamb that only He can provide, to accomplish what only He can accomplish”—to take away the sin of the world (http://www.jesuswalk.com/abraham/10_sacrifice.htm).

Innocent Blood

The New Testament further clarifies for us the lessons that the Old Testament sacrificial system was supposed to teach us in types and shadows. The main lesson was that the shedding of innocent blood was required for the remission of sin. However, although the animals sacrificed as sin offerings were innocent, their blood wasn’t sufficient for the remission of our sins. The blood of those innocent animals only allowed man’s sin to be set aside until the world’s Only Innocent Man would die for the sins of the world.

An animal couldn’t die in the place of a human being—it had to be like for like, a Man for mankind. That’s why an angel couldn’t die for the human race because angels are a different order of being. Man was created in God’s likeness, angels were not. So God chose to come in the likeness of human flesh and be born of a woman. What humility! What unimaginable love! Remember the Scripture we read earlier in chapter one of this study? “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” 1 Corinthians 15:22 (NASB).

The reason that Christ’s suffering and death was sufficient for the remission of our sins is because He didn’t have any sins of His own to pay for. He was innocent. For that very reason, no amount of good works on our part can ever redeem us because we are not innocent. We lost our innocence when Adam and Eve sinned. As a result of the Fall their sinful human nature got passed down to us. That’s why Jesus had to die in our place, because Jesus is God’s only remedy for sin.

The truth of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ now becomes crystal clear. Not one of us will go to hell because of our sins, but because we rejected Jesus Christ, God’s sole remedy for sin. What becomes even more apparent to me now is that the “conditional” view of hell that I grew up with in Adventism is actually the mirror image of works-based salvation! Why? For the reason that this false teaching supposes that the fewer the bad works we have on our record here, the lighter will be our punishment there!

I must hasten to add that this false doctrine presumes to further teach us that after we have suffered for an unspecified period of time in hell (depending on the amount and degree of our sins), we will then be annihilated. That might sound comforting to those who prefer to believe that when their lives end here they are going to be just as if they had never been. But that isn’t what the Scriptures teach. Every man is given a choice. The final destiny of each one of us is either heaven or hell.

By rejecting God’s only remedy for sin we have only our own works to offer as a remedy for sin. However, even our most honorable and good works are considered by God as filthy rags! Why? Because they are tainted by sin! Nothing in us or anything that comes from us is free from the curse of sin. Furthermore, not even eternal punishment can redeem us from sin that is why the punishment for not believing in the One He has sent, is eternal.

But the Scriptures teach us plainly that the only work God requires of us to be saved is to believe in the one He sent (John 6:28-29). If that’s all God requires of us, then that’s all He can judge us on! Since there are no degrees of belief (either we do believe God or we don’t), our choice of eternal life or eternal punishment is based on who we will believe.1 Will you believe God’s remedy for your sin right now and choose to believe in the one He sent?

We know that the Scriptures tell us that Abraham believed God. Abraham believed in the promised Seed to come. He knew that no amount of good works on his part could ever redeem him from his sins because he was not innocent. Through this awful experience of being asked by God to give up his son, God put into Abraham the heart of a Father who had lost His Son! For the Scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ was the “Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

In view of the fact that Abraham was called to be the father of many nations, God wanted to give him the “Father’s heart”. Unless God had put him through this severest of tests I believe that Abraham could never have understood God’s heart of love for the nations—Abraham’s spiritual sons and daughters. Perhaps Abraham's anguish and resolve to be obedient to God’s request in spite of the cost can help us understand in some small way God’s love for us all and his determination to save us, no matter the cost.

1 http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/more-on-conditional-hell/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gracethrufaith+%28GraceThruFaith%29

(Next: Chapter 4: Go here.

Chapter 2: The Faithfulness of The One (Who are the "Israel of God?")

2010-03-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

In the last chapter we briefly saw God’s plan in action of choosing one person after another from one generation to the next to make known His saving purposes to the rest of the world. We saw that the decision God made to call Abram revealed the path He had chosen to bring about the salvation of the many through the “faith of the one”.

In spite of the fact that the “faith of the one” faltered, the “faithfulness of the One” who had chosen Abram did not! Although God had said to Abraham, “Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that—too many to count!” (Genesis 15:5), Abraham’s faith grew weary. Fulfillment of God’s promise lingered.

So after waiting for around eleven years for a son, Abram and Sarai came up with a scheme to accelerate the timing of God’s promise. Abraham would have Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant, give him a son. Since Abram knew that the meaning of the word “nation” (“goy” in Hebrew) meant “Gentile, foreign nation, or heathen”, he and his wife might have reasoned that having a son by the slave woman would be acceptable to God, because after all Gentiles were going to be a part of this great “nation” that God had in mind.

In view of the fact that God had told Abraham that all nations on earth were going to be blessed through him (the promise of the coming Seed) what harm could possibly come from helping God get the ball rolling by having Hagar give Abram a son? History reveals that our godless schemes and hidden agendas cannot frustrate the will of God.

God Confirms His Covenant

Ishmael must have been around twelve years old, and Abram ninety-nine years old when God confirmed His original covenant promise to Abram. Besides adding further details and instructions to the original promise, God also changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai’s name to Sarah, because they were going to be the father and mother of many nations.

God said that Sarah was going to give Abraham a son, and God would establish his covenant promise through his son Isaac whom Sarah would bear to him “by this time next year.” Abraham immediately fell down on his face. “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" (Genesis 17:1-23).

A year after God confirmed His covenant promise, Isaac was born. However, it was a quarter of a century after God had first given Abraham the promise of making him into a great nation (Genesis 12). Can you imagine waiting for twenty-five years to see the fulfillment of a promise that God has given you? We have enough trouble waiting for a week, or a month, let alone a year for God to fulfill His word to us sometimes. As we have already seen, Abraham had trouble waiting, too!

Scripture goes on to tell us that on the day Abraham held a feast to commemorate the weaning of Isaac, Sarah saw that Ishmael, Abraham’s eldest son, was mocking. Sarah knew that Ishmael despised Isaac, and that Abraham still had his heart set on Ishmael as the heir. So she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac” Genesis 21:8-13 (NIV).

This malice that Ishmael had in his heart toward his younger brother, Isaac is confirmed by the Spirit in the following statement by Paul. “He that was born after the flesh (Ishmael) persecuted him that was born after the Spirit (Isaac)” (Galatians 4:29). We know the rest of the story. The next day Hagar and Ishmael left the household of Abraham and went into the desert, and God blessed Ishmael and his descendants and made them into a great nation.

Two Covenants

Now let’s go to the New Testament and read Paul’s allegory about these two women, Hagar and Sarah, who were in Abraham’s household. The Spirit reveals that these women represent two covenants, the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.

“For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.

"These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother…

"Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.’ Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman’” Galatians 4:22-31 (NIV).

This allegory calls our attention to the distinct difference between the old covenant of works (represented by Hagar and Jerusalem) and the new covenant of grace (represented by Sarah and the New Jerusalem); between the physical seed of Abraham and the spiritual seed of Abraham. We shall begin to see how Ishmael and Isaac’s diverse seed separate the people of this world into two distinct groups. This spirit of enmity toward God that was first witnessed in Cain’s attitude towards Abel rises up again in Ishmael’s attitude towards Isaac.

The Ishmael’s

The Ishmael’s represent those who give their allegiance to the old covenant law of works. This Law from Sinai demands spotless righteousness and perfect obedience from all men. God’s words are brief and clear. Compliance ensures life, but any deviation or infringement of the law is inevitable death. The law says, “Do this, or die!” The law is like a slave master, giving lashes to its slaves, demanding that they work faster and harder while frowning on their failure to meet its demands.

Those who live under this covenant of works live as men according to the flesh. They live and they die trying to do everything that the law demands, but their efforts will always prove futile. Eventually, they will meet their judgment at the judgment seat of Christ, and the verdict will always be the same—“Guilty!” For the slave children who walk according to the flesh there is no rule of mercy in favor of eternal life, but only eternal death.

The Isaac’s

By contrast, the Isaac’s represent those who gratefully embrace the new covenant of grace. All that the old covenant of works demands, Jesus Christ has already performed and fulfilled. All the dreaded penalties for failure to measure up to the righteous demands of the law, Jesus Christ has already suffered for when He endured the shame of the cross. We are not left in hopeless bondage under Sinai's law, because One Man has utterly fulfilled every jot and title of that holy law. That One Man, Jesus Christ, gives us credit for His perfect obedience to that old covenant law of works!

Therefore, all men who embrace the new covenant gospel of grace, place their faith in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross. They become the spiritual sons of God who have been born by the power of the Spirit. Consequently, they are free from the terrors of not measuring up to God’s holy law. Instead, they have peace with God, are heirs of salvation, and know that they have eternal life.

The Conflict

In these verses we begin to understand why the earthly Jerusalem is still in bondage with her children (and it’s still true today!) because she still gives her allegiance to the old covenant law of works, demanding that her slave children, “Do this, or die!” On the other hand, the heavenly Jerusalem that is above; the city of the living God (also called the holy city or New Jerusalem) is free to all who believe that Jesus Christ fulfilled all the demands of the old covenant law for them See Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2).

Throughout this masterful allegory Paul builds upon what he has already shared with us in the previous chapter regarding Abraham being acceptable to God based on his faith in the coming Seed. Now, through this passage Paul gives us further evidence that it is through Isaac, the child of promise, that the spiritual Seed—Jesus Christ, would come.

These verses reveal that Christ is the Seed of that Promise, the same covenant promise in “seed” form that was given to Adam and Eve. Furthermore, Paul tells us that unless we are born by the power of the Spirit, we will not only remain slave children, and forfeit the promised inheritance (eternal life), but we will be cast out!

Consider with me for a moment the warning Christ repeatedly gave to those in His audience who were hypocrites; those who deemed themselves a part of the kingdom, but refused to believe on Him. Jesus told them that they would eventually be cast out into “outer darkness”, a place where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 24:51, 25: 30 and Luke 13:28).

The Enmity

Remember what God declared to Adam and Eve when he promised them a Deliverer? He told them that there would be enmity, scorn, and yes even hatred between those born of the flesh and those born of the Spirit. This has been the pattern throughout all time ever since man sinned. As already mentioned earlier, Cain and Abel are our first example of two sons, one born of the flesh; the other born of the Spirit.

Sadly, Cain lived under the bondage of the covenant of works, evidenced by the fact that he thought he could satisfy God’s requirements by offering vegetables as a sacrifice instead of the required lamb. He didn’t believe in the future promised Seed that pointed to the Lamb who would take away his sins.

On the other hand, Abel lived under the covenant of grace, evidenced by the fact that he obeyed God’s requirement by offering a lamb as a sacrifice. He chose to believe in the future promised Seed that pointed to the Lamb of God who would come and deliver him from his sins; not only him, but all those who believed.

The following Scriptures further remind us that those who are born of the Spirit will suffer persecution at the hands of those who are born of the flesh:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

“Because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).

“All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

“Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

The book of Hebrews briefly recounts for us the lives of many more men and women who maintained their allegiance to Jesus Christ while suffering persecution and even death. Church history also gives us similar accounts of the Isaac’s who became martyrs, victims of savage cruelties. Even as they were on the rack or in the flames they glorified Jesus Christ, while the Ishmael’s looked on, relentlessly taunting them in their pain.

Go to Chapter 3: Go here.

Chapter 1: Chosen to Bless the World (Who are the "Israel of God?")

2010-03-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

In order to determine who “Israel” originally was and why she was chosen, we need to go back before “Israel” existed in order to see a pattern of how God chose or elected certain people throughout history. As we saw in our last study, He did this to preserve the lineage through which Jesus Christ would eventually come. God’s choice of people had to do with preserving salvation history, rather than securing their eternal destiny (See last post at: http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2010/02/election-determines-history-not-eternal.html).

In order to discover “Israel’s” roots, we will begin our study with the book of Genesis since it is here that God first chose to make a covenant promise in “seed” form to Adam and Eve. He promised them He would eventually send a Deliverer (Jesus Christ) to redeem mankind from the curse of sin that came upon the whole human race as a result of their sin (Genesis 3:15). In fact, Genesis is sometimes called the "seed-plot" of the entire Bible, because it is here where most of the major doctrines in the Word of God are introduced in "seed" form.

Subsequent to God's covenant promise to Adam and Eve, God chose Abel to preserve the lineage through which the Deliverer would come because Abel "believed", but Cain did not. This is evidenced by the fact that Cain refused to offer a lamb (a shadow of the Lamb to come) as a sacrifice for his sins, preferring instead to offer the fruit of his own labor as an offering to God. When Cain saw that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God, but his was not, He killed his brother it a fit of jealous rage.

After Cain killed Abel, God gave Adam and Eve another son, Seth, whose name meant "the appointed one". Later, the Bible tells us that God chose “righteous” Noah, a descendant of Seth, to save mankind when God judged the wicked men on the earth in the time of the Flood. Then through Noah’s son, Shem, in the ninth generation, God chose another man named Abram (meaning “exalted one”) to be the next person in line through whom His saving purposes would be made known to the world.

This pattern of representation, where God repeatedly chooses one person after another through whom His saving purposes would be made known to the rest of the world, is clearly seen from the very beginning of the Bible. The covenant promise originally given to Adam and Eve prepared the way for the blessing of all nations through the covenant promise God chose to make with Abram.

“The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV).

I believe that it’s vital that we grasp the meaning of the call of Abram (later changed to Abraham) and to his seed after him to be a special nation in the context of God’s concern for all nations. The fact that God chose Abram to be a blessing to all nations shows that God chose him for the sake of the world, not for his own sake (Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV). In fact the covenant promise that God originally made to Adam in “seed form” and that was passed on to his “righteous” descendants was a promise of the coming Blessing that was to be shared with the world. It had been God’s plan right from the very beginning.

Thus, God’s election of Abram was not a sign of God changing His mind about the other nations, wanting to save some and reject others. No, not at all! The decision God made to call Abram reveals the path God had chosen to bring about the salvation of the many through the faith of the one. This is most clearly emphasized in Scripture by Jesus being presented to us as the new Adam, the one who represents the race as its Redeemer. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” 1 Corinthians 15:22 (NASB).

Saved by Faith

Ever since God gave His covenant promise to Adam, there must have arisen a great yearning within the hearts of the “righteous” (those who “believed” in the promise of a coming Redeemer) in every generation that perhaps their generation would be the one who would see God’s promise fulfilled. How they must have longed for the coming Redeemer, the New Adam, who would buy back the world from the curse of sin.

After seeing generation upon generation dying as a result of Adam’s sin, the Hope that they held on to by faith must have brought them great joy! Simeon in the New Testament is an example of those who held on to their hope in the promised Seed. Remember his testimony on the day that he was moved by the Holy Spirit to go into the temple courts? The Scriptures tell us that when he saw Mary and Joseph he took the child Jesus in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” Luke 2: 27-32 (NIV).

So what we have seen so far from our study is that the “righteous” in the Old Testament were those who “believed” the promise that God originally made to Adam. Contrary to what some teach, it was not by works that they were saved, but by faith—faith in the coming Seed, Jesus Christ.

Now let’s look at a passage of Scripture from the New Testament that confirms this. Abraham is an excellent example of how people were saved in Old Testament times because he lived in a day when neither the Law of Moses nor the rite of circumcision existed as a part of Israel’s religion. In these verses the apostle Paul is censuring the Galatians for their lack of faith, and reminding them of their father Abraham who chose to put his faith in God’s covenant promise of a coming Deliverer.

“You foolish Galatians… Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

"Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer…

"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us… in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith… Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to One, ‘And to your Seed,’ that is, Christ.

"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants (seed), heirs according to promise’” Galatians 3: 1-3, 5-9, 13-15, 26-29 (NASB).

After reading these verses we can see beyond a shadow of a doubt that Abraham was chosen by God and acceptable to God by faith, apart from any works of law. And to think that this all happened many years before he was circumcised! So by Jewish definitions, Abraham was really a Gentile when he was saved, making him indeed “the father of all believers”.

This had been the pattern ever since the fall of Adam and Eve. Men like Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, just to name a few, who “believed” in the promised Seed were considered “righteous” by God. They were acceptable to God based upon God’s faithfulness to His promise, not on their human performance.

In other words, God considered Abraham righteous because of his faith in God’s promise, and in God’s ability to provide what He promised. Although the Jews in Jesus’ time considered Abraham the star of the show, Paul insisted that it was the greatness of God that must be the center of our attention, NOT Abraham.

We don’t have to read very far in Abraham’s life to discover how often his faith failed. Although He believed God’s covenant promise, he had a son by Hagar. Although he believed God’s covenant promise, he lied about the identity of his wife Sarah to Abimelech, King of Gerar (Genesis 16, 20). The greatness of Abraham’s faith cannot be extolled here in any way, but only the greatness and mercy of the God in whom he trusted.

The point Paul is making in these verses we just read is that only those who receive the promise of the Spirit through faith in the coming Seed are the true children of Abraham. If we belong to Christ then we are Abraham’s children and joint heirs according to promise. Just as Abraham was chosen to be a blessing to the nations of the world because of his faith in the coming Seed, Jesus Christ, so are we.

The Reckoning Process

The way that God was able to provide salvation for those who “believed” in the promised Seed during Old Testament times was through the “reckoning process”. In fact, this has always been God’s way of providing salvation for those who “believe”—then and now. What this means is that our sins have been “reckoned” or “imputed” to Christ so that He was punished in our place. Additionally, Christ’s righteousness has been “reckoned” or imputed to us so that we are regarded and treated by God as righteous, because we are in Him by faith.

An example of God not imputing our sins against us is found in the story of King David’s sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and the murder of her husband, Uriah (Psalm 32). David knew all too well that the law could only pronounce him guilty and worthy of death. Even though he knew that the law made no provision for his salvation, he knew the grace of God. So he plead for mercy and forgiveness on the basis of his faith in the coming Salvation, and He received it. Although David deserved to die, God did not impute his sin to him on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (still future). Instead, God imputed Christ’s righteousness to David in response to his faith.

Both Abraham’s “righteousness” and King David’s “righteousness” was not due to their law-keeping or their good works, but only to God’s grace. On the basis of faith alone, apart from works, God reckoned both Abraham and David to be “righteous”, and they are listed along with many other Hebrew Worthies in the Bible’s Hall of Faith (See Hebrews 11). Neither of these men, nor any of their offspring, had anything to boast about in and of themselves except God’s grace revealed in the promised Seed. Neither do we.

Thus, God’s plan right from the very beginning has been to announce to the world that a Deliverer was coming. People who chose to “believe” in the promise were reckoned as “righteous”. With each successive generation we will notice that God reveals a little more of His plan to bring His salvation to all peoples of the earth. The next chapter will be another link in the chain of salvation history that will help us to better understand who “Israel” was.

(Next: Chapter 2: Go here.

Who are the "Israel of God?" (Introduction)

2010-03-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

With so much at stake these days with the “nation” of Israel being considered by many in the church to play a vital role in God’s prophetic timetable for the end times, let’s examine the Scriptures in order to find out if the hands on God's time-clock point to the modern state of Israel, or to God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Is it biblically correct to believe that God's covenant which He made with ancient Israel still applies to the “nation” of Israel today? Does God still consider the literal Jews His “chosen people” and regard them as His “treasured possession”—the “apple of His eye” (Deuteronomy 7:6; 26:18; Psalm 17:8).

In order to find answers to our questions we will study God’s Word in order to learn who “Israel” originally was, for what purpose God chose “Israel”, and if God’s covenant to “Israel” still applies today. To further help us in our study we will also look at two expressions that Paul frequently uses, “Israel of Promise” and “Israel after the flesh”. We will find out who the “Israel” is whom Paul is addressing and referring to in both of these phrases, and how he applied these terms to the people who made up the nation of Israel in his day.

Hopefully, as a result of our study we will be able to appropriate the spiritual truths we have gleaned from God’s Word so that we will see how to relate them, not only to the present “nation” of Israel today, but also to ourselves. Thus, we will come to understand who the people were that made up the “Israel of God” in Paul’s day, and who they are today.

Moses “Unveiled”

I believe that the main reason there is so much confusion in the church today about this subject is because we fail to let the New Testament interpret the Old. Since God has brought greater clarity to us through His Word as to how we are to interpret the Old Testament Scriptures, let’s remember to depend on the Holy Spirit to help us interpret and even reinterpret His Word in the light of God’s final revelation in His Son, Jesus Christ. When we allow the inspired authors of the New Testament to be our starting point for interpreting Old Testament passages, then we will truly be allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. The New Testament must always interpret the Old, never the other way around.

After Jesus Christ died on the cross for all peoples on planet earth, God poured out His Spirit at Pentecost, and the old covenant veil of Moses was removed from the apostle’s eyes. The apostles who were witnesses of Christ’s life, death and resurrection only began to understand the meaning of His mission after the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

Prior to Pentecost they could not understand what was behind that veil unless they received a special revelation from God, or a specific teaching from Jesus. For instance, Peter needed a revelation from the Father to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They had to repeatedly ask Jesus, “Explain to us…” because their understanding of the Scriptures was based upon the teachings and traditions they had received from the Scribes and Pharisees.

However, after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all believers, the apostles understood the mysteries of God in the Scriptures, and were explaining them with such confidence that even the Scribes and Pharisees marveled at their wisdom, knowing that they were uneducated and untrained men. Before the cross they had been hoping (like most Jews) that Jesus, their Messiah, would deliver them from the Romans and set up a literal earthly kingdom. But after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit transformed their thinking in how they should interpret and understand the Old Testament types and shadows.

That is why everywhere in the New Testament the gospel writers announce that all the promises made by the prophets, and all the shadows of the Old Testament law have been fulfilled in Christ. They saw that Jesus was in reality the new Adam, the new Moses, the new Israel, the new Temple, the new King, and that His kingdom was not of this world. By not only fulfilling the law, but also the prophets, Jesus came to transform Israel’s hope and understanding of what the prophets had only seen in part.

However, when we go back and read the Old Testament prophecies we often fail to realize that the prophets were using language and imagery of the Palestinian culture to try and describe the salvation event. So they used phrases such as “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose”, and “water shall break forth in wilderness” and “sorrow and sighing will flee away” to describe the mighty act of God in Christ, because it was utterly beyond the limits of their prophetic expression. So if we try to interpret the Old Testament prophecies literally according to the letter of their Palestinian language and tradition, we do great injustice to God’s Word. We end up trying to squeeze the awesome act of God in Christ into a narrow Judaistic framework.

Mystery Revealed

Unfortunately, instead of interpreting the Old Testament through the lens of the New, we often tend to do just the opposite. However, the Old Testament cannot be fully understood without the help of the New, because the Old Testament contains mysteries and truths that were not fully revealed, but shrouded in darkness, waiting for the flood of light that would be shed upon them by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What was a mystery before, veiled in types and shadows, now became clear to the New testament apostles and prophets as the Holy Spirit revealed to them how God’s final word, Jesus Christ, fulfilled the law and the prophets. This is confirmed by the following passages of Scripture.

“Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it’” (Luke 10:23-24).

“…according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest…” (Romans 16:25-26).

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is… the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery… is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace… this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known…” (Ephesians 3:1-11).

As we begin our study of who “Israel” originally was, and for what purpose God chose her, let’s keep this biblical principle in mind and always let the New Testament interpret the Old. I pray that the “veiled” Scriptures that have brought so much confusion to so many in the church will become “unveiled” in Jesus Christ so that we will understand, not only who the people were that made up the “Israel of God” in Paul’s day, but who they are today.

(Next: Chapter 1: Go here.

Election Determines History Not Eternal Destiny

2010-02-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

In the past I have recoiled with abhorrence every time the following passage of Scripture has been quoted to prove that God elects some individuals to be eternally condemned, while choosing others to be eternally saved. Somehow this explanation of how God predetermines who will be saved and who will be lost, without ever giving the individual any choice or responsibility in the matter, never seemed to line up with God’s righteous character, or His already revealed will in many other places in Scripture.

“What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles” Romans 9:21-23 (NASB).

Today, instead of running from this Scripture in horror, I chose to ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in my study so that I might be able to gain a better understanding of what God is saying to us through these verses. In order to better understand the context, I decided to read the whole chapter of Romans 9, hoping that it would perhaps shed further light on what was being discussed.

As I studied the chapter I began to understand that these complex verses, along with other previously difficult verses in this same chapter were not proof texts for predestination. Instead, the issue at stake was not about the eternal destination of individuals being predetermined, but rather the election of peoples and nations so that God’s purposes in salvation history would be fulfilled. Moreover, I learned that even though certain groups and people are elected to fulfill God’s sovereign purposes, it is still the individual’s choice as to how they will respond to God’s call.

Paul begins Romans 9 by sharing his sorrow and grief over the fact that not all who profess to be Abraham’s descendants truly are.

“But it is not as though the word of God has failed for they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel” verse 6 (NASB).

He goes on to further explain that it is not the children of the “flesh” (Ishmael) who are the children of God, but rather the children of the “promise” (Isaac) who are children of God, and true descendants of Abraham (Romans 9:7-9).

In these verses God is not issuing eternal damnation for Ishmael and eternal salvation for Isaac. Instead, He is describing the history of Israel by using the analogy of these step-brothers. He is illustrating how he uses both nations to accomplish His eternal purposes in history, NOT their eternal destiny.

Next Paul goes on to describe the history of Israel by reminding us of the analogy of the two twin brothers, Jacob and Esau.

“And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED" Romans 9:10-13 (NASB).

Here Paul goes a step further to explain that we cannot define “Israel” on the basis of genealogy. Jacob and Esau were full-bloodied, twin brothers, and God sovereignly chose the lineage of Jacob to continue the line of salvation history before the twins were even born. Thus, God’s choice of Jacob had nothing to do with his good works, but rather God’s purpose by means of sovereign election.

Now let’s take a further look at the problem phrase, “Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated” and find out where it originally was spoken, and what it means. I discovered that this phrase is not a quote from the book of Genesis, but rather a quote from the prophet Malachi.

“I have loved you,” says the LORD, but you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob's brother?” declares the LORD “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the LORD of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the LORD is indignant forever.” Your eyes will see this and you will say, “The LORD be magnified beyond the border of Israel!” Malachi 1:2-5 (NASB).

As we look at these verses in context it is clear that God is not talking about the eternal destiny of either Jacob or Esau, but rather the deeds of the descendants of Jacob and Esau, namely the Israelites and the Edomites. God is saying here that he hates the behavior of the people of Edom. Again, going back to the context of Paul’s discourse in Romans 9, God is saying that no one can make a claim to election based on their ancestry.

Now let’s go to Genesis 25 and see how God identifies Jacob and Esau as two nations even before they were born.

“Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If it is so, why then am I this way?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger." When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb” Genesis 25: 21-23 (NASB).

It must be noted here that even though God sovereignly chose Jacob to carry on the line of promise before he and his brother were even born, God did not reject Esau, or refuse to be gracious to him. In fact the following verses from Deuteronomy reveal that the Israelites were forbidden at one point to make war against the descendants of Esau, the Edomites.

“And the LORD spoke to me, saying, 'You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, and command the people, saying, "You will pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, even as little as a footstep because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. You shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink” Deuteronomy 2:1-6 (NASB).

Clearly we see from this passage that although God didn’t elect Esau to carry on the line of promise, He provided land for his descendants. Furthermore, He told the descendants of Jacob that they must respect the sons of Esau and not try to make war with them.

Now before we come back to the difficult verses in Romans 9 that began this study, I think it will be helpful if we take a look at Romans 1 and see how Paul outlines the progression of events in a person’s life as they are headed down the path of destruction.

“Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them” Romans 1:24 (NASB).

“For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural” Romans 1:26 (NASB).

“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper” Romans 1:28 (NASB).

From the following verses we learn that God allows men and women to choose to reject Him because we are all free moral agents. God did not cause these people to do these evil things. They chose darkness rather than light. Therefore, God allowed them to choose their own destiny, and gave them over to their lusts, degrading passions and depraved minds.

Now let’s return to the original verses in Romans 9 where the issue of “vessels of wrath” and “vessels of mercy” is being discussed.

“What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles” Romans 9:21-23 (NASB).

In order to clarify the meaning of this passage let’s go back to the original Greek. “Vessels of wrath” are described as being “prepared for destruction” or “fitted for destruction” in some translations. In Greek, as in English, there is the passive and active verb. So it is important for us to realize the difference between the passive and the active verb that is being used when reading this passage of Scripture.

In the active verb it means the subject of the sentence does the acting, and in the passive verb the subject receives the action. These two serious distinctions make all the difference in how we interpret this passage of Scripture!

In verse 22, the verb “prepared” is passive, and the subject is the “vessels of wrath” that receive the action of “destruction.” God is not the subject here at all! However, in verse 23, the verb “prepared” is active, and the subject is “God” who does the acting. He prepared “vessels of mercy beforehand for glory”.

In other words, God is saying, “I prepare vessels for glory”, but “vessels are prepared for destruction”. The meaning of this passage now lines up with the rest of God’s revealed Word. Everywhere in Scripture the responsibility for such preparation for destruction always lies right in the very heart of the man or woman who will eventually go to their eternal destruction in hell. Although we as human beings were never designed to occupy hell, because it was only created for the devil and his angels, we are preparing ourselves for destruction if we continually refuse to respond by faith to the Spirit of God, and choose eternal life in Christ.

If the Holy Spirit is revealing to you right now that the progression of events in your life are leading you down the path of destruction, stop and listen to His voice! God never chose you to become a “vessel of wrath”. Never! In spite of what you may have been told by well-meaning Christians, the Bible never teaches us that God elects some people to be saved and others to be lost. As we have seen in our study today, the Scriptures clearly teach us that God sovereignly elects people groups and individuals to fulfill His sovereign purposes in fulfilling salvation history, not to determine their eternal destiny. Election determines history, not eternal destiny!

The Scriptures teach us that Jesus Christ took God’s wrath against sin upon Himself, so that you and I do not have to experience His wrath. God’s alternative to wrath is mercy. Instead, God’s wants you to become a “vessel of mercy” that He prepared beforehand for glory. He wants you to experience the mercy of God that has been poured out upon you through Jesus Christ’s finished work for you. He has already taken your sins upon Himself and given you His perfect righteousness. Your eternal destiny is Jesus Christ! Choose to believe this gift that God has already given you in His Son, and you will become His “vessel of mercy” forever.

Link: The Sun that Melts Wax also Hardens Clay

The Sun that Melts Wax also Hardens Clay

2010-02-14T00:40:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

In spite of the fact that God sovereignly displayed His supreme power through the supernatural signs and wonders of the ten plagues that fell upon Egypt, Pharaoh hardened his heart. This display of God’s sovereign love for His people in Egyptian bondage hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Initially, Pharaoh was responsible for hardening his own heart as the plagues began to fall. Then as he refused to submit to God’s plan of freeing the Israelites from slavery, Pharaoh’s already proud and unbelieving heart was hardened by God.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened because he resisted divine revelation. He resisted the illuminating grace of God that was revealed in how God had compassion on a bunch of stiff-necked Israelites. He hated this truth about God’s sovereign grace being displayed on behalf of a nation of unrighteous slaves. So he suppressed the truth about God’s mercy in further unrighteousness by refusing to listen and fear God. Since Pharaoh considered himself to be a god, He bucked against the sovereignty of the true God that showed Himself to be greater than Pharaoh.

By arrogantly resisting God’s will to deliver the Israelites after 400 years of slavery, Pharaoh’s hardened heart was used by God in order to spread the good news of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt to the surrounding nations. Even though Pharaoh didn’t fear and have respect for the God of Israel because of the plagues that He brought upon Egypt, we later learn how the Philistines did (1 Samuel 4:8). In fact, perhaps that is why some of the Egyptians chose to leave Egypt when Israel did, because they feared and had respect for Israel’s God (Exodus 12:38).

It must be emphasized here that God was not determining the eternal destiny of Pharaoh when He chose to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Rather, God was using Pharaoh’s own desires to further God’s own purposes for delivering the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, thus furthering salvation history. In the same way that the sun that melts wax also hardens clay, so the same sovereign mercy of God displayed on behalf of a nation of Israelite slaves was received by some hearts, but resisted by others.

As believers, we also were once a “nation of unrighteous slaves” before God chose to display His sovereign grace on behalf of a lost world by sending His Son to become our Deliverer. In the same way that the sun that melts wax also hardens clay, so the same sovereign mercy of God displayed on behalf of all people on planet earth will be received by hearts that have been softened by the Spirit of God, but resisted by hearts that have become hardened to the Sovereign work of God though His Spirit.

Just as the sun melts wax, may our hearts continually melt with gratitude to God for His sovereign grace and mercy displayed towards each one of us in Jesus Christ. Let us continually remember that while we were dead in our sins Christ died for us in order to redeem us from sin’s slavery. If we do not resist the illuminating grace of God that has been poured out upon us by His Spirit, our hearts will remain soft and “melt within us” as we behold God’s sovereign love towards us revealed in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Link: Election Determines History not Eternal Destiny

Accepting God's Goodness

2010-02-07T15:21:00.001-08:00

by Hazel

The Bible tells us that we as believers are the righteousness of God in Christ (Romans 3:21-26). Therefore, as believers we can boldly say to the enemy when he tempts us to doubt God's love for us, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ!"

I don't have a righteousness of my own, but I'm wholly dependent on the righteousness of the blood of Jesus Christ. So when I'm reminded of my shortcomings, and I battle the accusations of the enemy, I can still say, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin, and sets me free from the lies of the enemy!"

When I'm having a difficult time forgiving someone who has hurt me, I can still say, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ! Since the blood of Jesus Christ has already forgiven them, I choose to forgive them, too."

When I'm faced with sickness or I'm grieving over the loss of a loved one, I can still say, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ! The blood of Jesus Christ heals me and comforts me in my loss."

What if I were to live my life each day recognizing that what God says about me is true? No matter what circumstance I find myself in, I am the righteousness of God in Christ!

Would the truth of what God has said about me make a difference in the way I live my life? Would I relate differently with the people around me? Would I begin to long to share with others the power of His resurrection?

I can't earn the righteousness of God that He freely gives me in Christ. I can only accept God's goodness. I can't work at it or make myself more worthy to receive it. No. It is God's free gift to me. It is a blessing of the gospel.

As believers in the finished work of Jesus Christ, you and I are the righteousness of God in Christ. I want to live the rest of my life with this truth firmly fixed in my mind and spirit. How about you?

Deliverance from "Correct Theology"

2010-02-07T00:20:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

Having grown up in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church, I was taught that everything I believed could fit tidily into an assortment of various little SDA “boxes” of truth. This belief system claimed it had an answer for every teaching in Adventism and a Scripture, or a quote from Ellen White to prove it.

Although it’s been a number of years now since I left the SDA church, I recognize that growing up on the “proof text” method of understanding the Bible has left many of us unable to read the Bible as it is, and be comfortable with paradoxes that we don’t understand. Our comfort level is upset, and we feel compelled to try and harmonize paradoxes that threaten our belief system. To a certain extent I would venture to say that this is true of most belief systems.

However, the Bible is full of paradoxes. Some can be explained by rational thought, but others cannot. Sometimes my view of God is far too small, and sometimes my view of man is far too big. I believe the Scriptures reveal truths regarding God and man that, as hard as I try, I cannot logically reconcile.

For instance, I believe that God predestines, and that everything is fore-ordained, but at the same time I believe that man is responsible for all his actions and choices. These two biblical truths seem to logically contradict each other. In our human endeavor to try and figure out the mind of God revealed in Scripture, do we sometimes forget that we lack wisdom and understanding, and that God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts?

Could it be that these two biblical truths, along with other apparently contradictory biblical truths, are like two parallel lines? For centuries man has been diligently trying to discover where they converge. My answer right now is that they converge somewhere in eternity in the heart of God. Someday in eternity we will understand. Until then we must live with the paradox, trust that God knows all things, and has chosen to reveal to us what is necessary for our salvation, and not try to twist and distort the Scriptures in order to make sense of what we don’t understand.

The Scriptures tell us that “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” and “Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:3-6). So I need to believe what the Bible says before I believe what a certain orthodoxy (for example: Calvinism or Arminianism) says about that Scripture. When the Holy Spirit tells us “all men” He means all men, not “some men.” However, although He desires that all men be saved, we know that some men will be lost, because they do not choose God back. They choose to reject His offer of grace.

We human beings have been struggling for years to somehow posses a self-consistent creed that will logically explain every truth in the Bible. However, in doing this, we are in great danger of throwing out much of divine revelation because we can’t reconcile it. We minimize one teaching in God’s Word, because we can’t understand how it fits together with another teaching. So we choose one teaching over another instead of choosing to believe both.

Another danger we need to face is that in our desire for logical consistency in interpreting God’s Word, we end up ignoring, rejecting or twisting Scripture that doesn’t fit our chosen theology or belief system. This happens, not only in Adventism, but in every belief system. Unfortunately, in doing this we become our own ultimate authority, our own god.

I believe that theology is a good thing as long as it’s a reflection of what the Scriptures teach, and helps us understand it better. However, when theology replaces Scripture’s authority, and causes us to reinterpret Scripture rather than accept it by faith, then it gets in the way of shedding light on God’s Word. Wherever Scripture seems to teach apparently contradictory ideas, shouldn’t our theology embrace those ideas, rather than reject part of God's revealed Word? I believe so.

My prayer is that as we read Scripture, we will ask the Holy Spirit to help us embrace the full breadth of God's revealed truth even when it disturbs out comfort zones. After all is said and done, our faith must not rest in our correct theology. Correct theology will not save us or give us the rest that our souls desire. Our faith must rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ, the One to whom all Scripture points.

I believe that God is calling us as His beloved children, no matter what theological camp we are in, to lay down our burden of “correct theology” at the foot of the cross. He wants to deliver us from our burden of “striving to be right”. All our correct theology and striving to be right will not save us, or bring us the rest that our souls desire.

In exchange for our “correct theology” and “striving to be right”, the Holy Spirit wants to reveal to us the Good News of what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ. After we release our “good” works at the foot of the cross we will be free to enter into the joy of His “good” work. We will be free to enter into His rest, and compelled to share Jesus Christ’s work of victory for us with the rest of God’s children.

Grace Under Fire

2010-02-06T02:23:00.001-08:00

by Hazel

The sovereignty of God’s grace was brought home afresh to me recently while reading an article entitled, “The Pelagian Captivity of the Church” http://www.bible-researcher.com/sproul1.html.

After studying and pondering the seriousness of the subject, I began to better understand why I was hit so heavily by the Spirit when I read the title. Multitudes in Evangelical Christianity do not understand the truth of how a man is justified before God because Pelagianism has taken the gospel captive by its erroneous teachings.

Although Christianity initially turned the ancient world upside down with the Good News of God's way of reaching man, this central truth of how a man is justified before God was so contrary to classical thought that the world desperately opposed it, it was never fully accepted by the Church, and finally it was fiercely attacked by the papal system which grew out of the early church.

Pelagianism

So in order to further understand what Pelagianism is, let’s take a brief look at the teachings of the man who advocated these ideas. Pelagius, a monk who lived in the fifth century, believed that there was no such thing as original sin. Contrary to the Scriptures that tell us we are sinful from the moment of conception, he believed that Adam’s sin only affected Adam, and that there was no transference of guilt or corruption to Adam’s offspring. Pelagius believed that human beings are born without a natural inclination toward sin. However, the Scriptures tell us just the opposite.1

Additionally, Pelagius believed that it was possible for a person to live a life of moral perfection without any help from Jesus or the grace of God. He said that divine grace made it easier for you to be perfect, but you could actually be perfect without it.2

Augustine, a contemporary of Pelagius, vehemently disagreed with these aberrant teachings. He insisted that ever since the Fall our human nature has been infected by sin to the very core of our being. Consequently, we don’t have the moral power within ourselves to cooperate with the grace of God, because our human will is in bondage to its evil desires and inclinations.

Eventually, Pelagius was condemned as a heretic. Although Pelagianism ceased to exist as a movement after the 6th century, its erroneous ideas continued to live on and cause disputes within the Church.

Semi-Pelagianism

However, some within the Church continued to believe what is now called semi-Pelagianism. They believed that while we can’t be saved without grace, we are not so fallen that we don’t have the ability to cooperate with God’s grace on our own. Although our will is weakened, it’s not enslaved by sin. However the Scriptures do not describe humanity as being only partially tainted by sin.

Semi-Pelagianism taught that there remains in the core of our being a “little island of righteousness” that is untouched by the Fall. So when God reaches out to us, we must exercise that “little island of righteousness” that is at the core of our being, and take the important step that will determine whether we go to heaven or hell.

That “little island of righteousness” was mythical as far as Augustine was concerned, and the Church initially agreed. It condemned semi-Pelagianism as fervently as it had condemned Pelagianism.

Yet, by the time of the sixteenth century Reformation, the Church had done an about-face on the concept. It renounced what Augustine taught, and re-embraced semi-Pelagianism. The papal Church decided there still remains this “little island of righteousness” intact in the human will. They taught that if we cooperate by using whatever powers we have left, we will be saved.3

The Reformation Struggle

So how did the Reformers understand the human will to operate in relation to salvation? At the time of the Reformation, all the reformers agreed that we as fallen human beings are morally unable to incline ourselves to the things of God, because we do not have free will. They believed, as did Paul, Augustine and many others, that there was no such thing as a “little island of righteousness” at the core of our being. They understood that the sinner’s entire salvation is by free and sovereign grace only. They believed that apart from God’s sovereign grace, we are enslaved to Satan and sin, and unable to save ourselves. Hence the slogan, “sola gratia.”

In order to be saved, the Reformers believed that all people everywhere are totally dependent, one hundred percent of the time, upon the Divine work of regeneration in order to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Furthermore, they stressed that faith itself is a gift of God.4 Faith comes by way of grace from the Spirit that moves as the wind, blowing wherever it pleases so that we “were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” John 1:13 (NASB). Again, Paul emphasizes, “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” Romans 9:16 (NASB).

The truth is not that when we hear the offer of salvation we will be born again if we choose to believe. No. That’s backwards. But my guess is that this is the way most of us have been taught and believed. The truth is, we can’t even believe until God in His grace and mercy first changes the disposition of our souls through His sovereign work of regeneration.

In other words, what the reformers all agreed upon was that unless a man is born again, he can’t even see the kingdom of God, let alone choose to enter it. And being born again is the fruit, NOT the cause of the regeneration that is wrought in us by the Spirit of God. So the necessary condition for anybody’s faith and anybody’s salvation is always regeneration.5

Regeneration must come first, because we are not just sick in our sin, we are dead. When we were born into this world we were born spiritually “dead on arrival”. We are spiritually stillborn. I’ve heard some people liken our condition to the swimmer who gets leg cramps in the ocean and calls out to the lifeguard to be rescued. However, the truth is, we’ve been lying for days at the bottom of the ocean, unable to breathe or cry out for help, because we’re already dead!

This is why the gospel is indeed good news! We sinful human beings, dead in our sins, spiritually stillborn, can do absolutely no good thing to save ourselves, or to cause God to accept us. God sovereignly chooses to bring us back from being spiritually dead by regenerating us by the work of His Spirit. We are justified, NOT by our own works, but by the saving work of God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This essential truth of the New Testament that teaches that man is justified by the work of Another, Jesus Christ, became the central article of our Christian faith and gave birth to the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation.

Sola Scripture

Let’s take a brief look at the Scriptures and see how they line up with the Reformation teaching on the human will in relation to salvation. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus Christ came into the world to save us from our sins.

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" Matthew 1:21 (NASB).

“…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” 1 Timothy 1:15 (NASB).

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all” 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NASB).

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” John 3:17 NASB).

The Bible tells us that we are sinners by nature, because sin entered the world through Adam.

“Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” Ephesians 2:3 (NASB).

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” Psalm 51:5 (NASB).

“Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…” Romans 5:12 (NASB).

The Bible also teaches us that we cannot come to Jesus Christ to be saved unless the Father first draws us. Our salvation depends on the Father drawing us by His Spirit before we can ever respond to the gospel invitation to come to Jesus Christ and be saved.

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” John 6:37 (NASB).

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him… Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me” John 6:44-45 (NASB).

And why must the Father first draw us before we can come to Jesus Christ? Because our human wills are enslaved to sin. Here are some Scriptures that shed light on our enslaved wills before the Father draws us.

“…if perhaps God may grant them repentance… and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will” 2 Timothy 2:24-26 (NASB).

“Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness” Romans 6:16 (NASB).

“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin” Romans 7:14 (NASB).

“They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” 2 Peter 2:19 (NIV).

The Bible teaches us that we are morally unable as fallen human beings to incline ourselves toward the things of God. We are so totally powerless to do good that we cannot of ourselves choose God. We are unable to do God's will because were affected by the fall of Adam, contrary to what Pelagius taught. Therefore, our salvation is entirely a work of God from start to finish. We make absolutely no contribution to it at all.

“They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one” Psalm 14:3; Psalm 53:3 (NASB).

“All have turned aside, together they have become useless, there is no one who does good, there is not even one” Romans 3:12 (NASB).

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone’” Mark 10:18 (NASB).

This all means that we are TOTALLY dependent on the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration in order to come to faith and salvation in Jesus Christ. It is not that we will be born again if we choose to believe. We can’t even believe until God first changes our souls through his sovereign work of grace. In other words, unless a man is born again, he can’t even see the kingdom of God. He has to see it first before he can ever enter it.

So if we manifest genuine faith in Jesus Christ, it is because God has sovereignly chosen us first. He has called us to Himself, and put within us the ability to believe and respond to the Gospel message. God has breathed life into our dead wills and quickened our power of choice by His Spirit so that we no longer remain dead and unresponsive to God.6 Sovereignly God regenerates us by His Spirit BEFORE we can ever choose to come to Him.

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit…” John 15:6 (NASB).

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air…” Ephesians 2:1-2 (NASB).

Let’s summarize what we have learned so far. Our salvation does NOT depend upon our will, because our will is enslaved by sin. Rather, our salvation depends on the Father first drawing us by His Spirit BEFORE we can ever exercise our will to choose to accept Jesus Christ.

After God chose us and called us to Himself, He gave us the gift of faith so that we can choose to believe the gospel. Furthermore, the faith that receives Christ for justification is itself the free gift of a sovereign God. It is the God-given means whereby God-given justification is received. Faith is NOT a condition of justification which is left for us to fulfill.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB).

Upheaval of Faith

As we look back and study church history we see so much debate and strife over the different ways people have interpreted the Scriptures regarding this whole subject of how we are saved. I do not plan to even go into any of that right now, except to briefly mention one of America’s most revered evangelists of the nineteenth century, Charles Finney. Since Finney’s teachings have had such a profound influence on the Evangelical church, particularly here in America, I want to briefly address how he understood the human will in relation to salvation.

What is disturbing to me is that in no uncertain terms Charles Finney viciously attacked the doctrine of justification by faith alone and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. He adamantly believed that we didn’t need the imputation of the Christ’s righteousness. He also believed that there was no such thing as original sin. Here are several quotes taken from Finney’s Works.

“Gospel Justification is not the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. Under the gospel, sinners are not justified by having the obedience of Jesus Christ set down to their account, as if He had obeyed the law for them, or in their stead. I can only say that this idea is absurd and impossible, for this reason, that Jesus Christ was bound to obey the law for Himself, and could no more perform works of supererogation, or obey on our account, than anybody else.”

“When we say that men are justified by faith and holiness… we mean that they are treated as if they were righteous, on account of their faith and works of faith.”7

“Do you wonder what influence Adam's sin has had in producing the sin of his posterity? It has subjected them to aggravated temptation but has by no means rendered their nature in itself sinful.”8 “Sinners make their own wicked hearts”.9

Finney adamantly wanted nothing to do with original sin, a substitutionary atonement, or the supernatural character of the new birth, and he proceeded to attack “the article by which the church stands or falls”— justification by grace alone through faith alone.”10 Finney insisted that justification ultimately hinges on the believer's own performance, not Christ's.11

Finney not only rejected the biblical essentials of justification by faith alone through grace alone, but he also abandoned the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, as revealed by his constant appeal to rationalism in support of his new theology. In essence, the movement that Finney led represents the wholesale abandonment of historic Protestant principles.12

If the Reformers are correct in their assessment that the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ are essential and biblical truths of Christianity, then Charles Finney was a full-blown Pelagianist. Despite the fact that he is a patron saint of twentieth-century Evangelicalism, and in the Hall of Fame of Evangelical Christianity in America, was he really a Christian?13

Are Finney’s denials of historic Protestant principles allowed to sit unnoticed in our evangelical Hall of Fame because in our tolerant age of discomfort with biblical doctrine we want to avoid almost all disagreement? Although Finney is a hero to many evangelicals, I believe no man is more responsible for distorting Christian truth, particularly the doctrine of salvation.14

What is additionally troubling to me is that our modern "evangelistic efforts" have been modeled after Finney’s evangelism style, including his embracing the heresy of Pelagianism. Adventism (my former belief system) also grew out of the same stream of theology from which Methodism arose, and Charles Finney's aberrant teachings.

As I ponder the implications of what all this means, I’m forced to ask some very difficult questions. Have multitudes of people been "accepting" Jesus Christ by human will power, rather than by a Spirit-created act based on humanity's total spiritual bankruptcy? Having started off wrong, have multitudes of people, continued to try to live the Christian life by continuing to rely on willpower they don't really have?15 Although many may say "Lord, Lord," do they know Jesus Christ? More importantly, does He know them?

Although most people within the Evangelical church today believe that nobody’s perfect, according to a recent George Barna poll, many people within the church believe that man is basically good. But that’s NOT what the Scriptures teach us. God says that no one is good, not even one.

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil” Jeremiah 13:23 (NIV).

To say that we’re basically good is the Pelagian view, not the biblical view. We do not have the capacity within ourselves to turn from sin and do what is right and good. God must first choose us, and draw us to Himself. Then as He sovereignly regenerates our human hearts and frees our wills, we can choose Him back.

Yes, we are surrounded by Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism in the church and in our culture. This false teaching that denies the truth about our fallen condition, and God’s sovereign grace in saving us is so pervasive in Evangelicalism today that it is hard to find a church that is really biblical. In fact, I’m going out on the limb to say that modern day evangelicalism has more in common with Rome and Pelagius than historical and biblical Christianity.

So here’s the Big Question. Is our salvation wholly of God, or does it partially depend on something we do for ourselves? Let’s remember, relying on our faith response to Jesus Christ is just as bad as relying on our works. It is still a false view of salvation and is not Biblical. Relying on our faith response means that we turn faith into a meritorious work (sound Catholic?), and deny the sovereignty of God in saving us. It means that we turn our backs on the central article of faith that was the very lifeblood of the Reformation. It means that we are more Catholic than Protestant.

In essence, to rely on ourselves for faith is no different in principle than to rely on ourselves for works. For saving faith, in and of itself is a gift from God. It’s not something we have in and of ourselves. Faith doesn’t rise up from within us. No. It’s God grace that gives faith to us in the first place. Jesus words still ring true. “No man can come to me unless it is given to him of the Father.”

Spirit-led Protest

Ponder with me for a moment what has happened to Protestantism since the time of the Reformation. Is the gospel of grace—the central pillar upon which the Reformation stood, still standing today? Or is the center pillar falling as the Evangelical church fails to understand man's nature and weakness, and so pursues a different gospel and a different Jesus?

Initially, the truth of how a man is justified before God blazed its way through the Western world like a wild fire as it changed the course of human history. Now man’s experience and man’s good works seem to be taking the center stage in almost every church instead of what God has done. But the gospel does not talk about man’s experience or man’s good works.

Instead, the gospel talks about what God has done through Christ’s experience, and Christ’s good work. The gospel does not tell us how man can get to God. Instead the gospel tells us God's way of reaching man. The gospel is the record of what God has done, not the record of what God has done in man.

Protestantism was born out of protest as believers refused to allow the blinding light of the gospel to be extinguished. Although many perished at the stake for their protest against the heresy of the Church, the truth of the recovered gospel continues to shine forth.

Will there be another Reformation? I don’t know. Will believers in the body of Christ be led by the Spirit to protest against a thinly-veiled version of Pelagianism that is destroying the central article of Christian faith today? I don’t know. But I do know that the center pillar of our faith is no longer standing. It’s falling! God’s grace is under fire! How will we respond? My prayer is that we will be among those who protest so that the blinding light of what God has sovereignly done for man will continue to shine forth into hungry hearts.

Footnotes:
1.See Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10-18; Romans 5:12.
2.http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Pelagianism.
3.http://www.bible-researcher.com/sproul1.html
4.Our salvation is brought about by God's grace alone and for His glory alone. http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/Murphy01.html
5.http://www.bible-researcher.com/sproul1.html.
6.Thoughts shared by a friend.
7.http://www.gospeltruth.net/1837LTPC/lptc05_just_by_faith.htm.
8.http://www.gospeltruth.net/finney-101/101serm/101-royalpardon.htm.
9.http://www.gospeltruth.net/1836SOIS/01sois_sinners_bound.htm.
10.http://www.mtio.com/articles/aissar81.htm.
11.http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/finney.htm.
12. http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/finney.htm.
13.Thoughts shared by a friend.
14.http://www.mtio.com/articles/aissar81.htm.
15.Thoughts shared by a friend.

See: http://www.bible-researcher.com/sproul1.html.

Living in a World Without Grace

2009-01-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

By Hazel

From time to time God's wonderful message of grace gets diluted in this earthly vessel of mine. Although I don't want to pass on the awful legalism of my upbringing, at times I know I am guilty of perpetuating the very judgmental attitudes I grew up with, particularly in the way I criticize or condemn myself.

Although I know that I'm accepted in Jesus Christ and I'm so thankful that I don’t have to earn God’s approval, I still continue to beat myself up at times when I don't accomplish everything on that dreaded “to do list”.

My failure to accomplish certain tasks on that list is often met with harsh self-criticism at the end of the day. Even my New Year's Resolutions recently fell by the wayside long before the first day of the New Year ever ended. Sadly, Christianity’s best gift to the world became momentarily lost to my aching heart when I chose to give myself ungrace instead of grace.

I have discovered that if I measure my worth by how far I have progressed down that list, my “to do list” becomes my cruel taskmaster, and I find myself struggling to live in a world without grace.

If I do give in to that uneasiness that grabs me by the throat and won’t release its grip on me until I finish doing one more chore even though it’s late and I’m dead tired, then I’m choosing to live in a world without grace.

Every time the tentacles of ungrace try to wrap themselves around my weary soul I must refuse to receive their harsh message of unforgiveness that is an echo from my past. I must choose to see my failures in the glorious light of God’s overwhelming grace.

Perhaps my flaws and blemishes are the very places through which God’s grace can pass so that I can get a better view of how He sees me—of how He sees all His precious children.

As I acknowledge my weaknesses and see myself as a sinner who cannot please God by any self-help method of improvement, I find that I freely receive the much needed help that God offers me—His perfect life is credited to my account in exchange for my imperfect life and many failures.

The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. God’s grace is given free of charge to people who don’t deserve it. I am one of those people. And so are you.

As I continue to give God’s grace away to others, I hope it will become easier to receive more of God’s grace for myself. I am tired of living in a world without grace. How about you?

The Righteousness that Saves Me

2008-09-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

Having grown up in the Seventh-day Adventist church, I had always understood that it was Jesus Christ’s righteousness plus my obedience to His law that would save me. It was never spelled out as directly as that, but that was what I understood to be the teaching, because of the emphasis the church placed on keeping the law, especially the 4th commandment. Most definitely our “Sabbath-keeping” was a necessary good work that would insure our salvation.

After many years of struggling to do the good works, I remember a time period in my life when the light of the new covenant gospel began to shine into the darkened recesses of my soul. It was like Someone suddenly turned on the blinding headlights of a car. I could see nothing except Jesus and His glorious work for me.

From that time on, although I was still a member of the SDA church, I had a deep longing in my heart to really know the One who gave His life for me. This hunger in my soul propelled me to want to know the truth of the Scriptures, and to search out truth for myself. So when I received a prophetic dream from the Lord in 1996, it only drove me further into God’s Word. I believed that the Holy Spirit would lead me into ALL truth as He opened up my mind to understand the meaning of the symbolism in the dream.

As I avidly continued to pray and study the Scriptures, especially Paul’s letters to the Romans and Galatians, the words leapt off the page as I saw that God’s saving work for me through Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection completely justified me in His sight. Christ took the punishment for my sins upon Himself, and in exchange credited me with His perfect righteousness. My good works, including my Sabbath-keeping, had no role whatsoever in my being justified before God. Furthermore, none of my good works could ever be added to the righteousness of the One who had saved me. I must completely place my hope and trust in the “good work” that God’s Son alone had done.

This of course was certainly a different message from the one I had grown up believing. The uniqueness of the Adventist message represented bondage to the law, and stood out in stark contrast to the freedom offered me by Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. Although good works are the inevitable result of my being declared righteous by God, they in no way lead to my being justified. “For it is by grace (I) have been saved, through faith—and this not from (myself), it is the gift of God— not by works, so that (I cannot) boast. For (I am) God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for (me) to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

As I chose to believe and embrace Christ’s redemptive work through faith alone, I turned away from trusting in the unfinished work of the Holy Spirit in my life as the basis of my acceptance with God. I gave up believing that saving grace is the assistance God gives us through His Holy Spirit to keep the law. Without a doubt the basis of my acceptance with God is Christ’s finished work that took place outside of me on the cross. Justifying righteousness can be found in Him alone, never in what the Holy Spirit does in me.

Recognizing that even my good works fall into the category of filthy rags, I had a new urgency to share with others Jesus Christ’s glorious “good work” that will always trump our good works. As I focused my attention on His saving work on the cross, I noticed that He was not only beginning to equip me for the works He wanted me to do, but I also noticed that I was beginning to study myself right out of Adventism.

Since my hope is now built on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone I let this one defining truth direct my thoughts each day—I can never move beyond the glorious work of the gospel. His “good work” must take center stage in my life as I proclaim the good news of His death and resurrection until He comes. The righteousness that saves me is the righteousness of Another—Jesus Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:21) Thank you, Lord!

Is the Gospel the Whole Deal?

2008-09-08T02:49:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

Ever since leaving Adventism I am compelled by the Spirit to place every teaching from the Bible through the litmus test of the new covenant gospel. The gospel has become the plumb line by which I test all my beliefs. That means that if a teaching is assumed to be biblical, but no direct Scripture evidence can be found, then it must be studied further in order to see if it agrees with God’s already revealed will, or if it is just a popular teaching that is held by some, but has no basis in Scripture. Beliefs or teachings that are assumed to be biblical, but actually have no biblical foundation must be discarded as men’s doctrines—not God’s witness through Scripture.

Is the Gospel Just the Beginning?

I became aware over the last few months that some people are teaching that the gospel that brings us salvation is only the first part of the message of Gospel of the Kingdom? They believe that the rest of the message of the Kingdom has to do with transformation—God’s plan to use the church to impact our world by changing our neighborhoods, restoring our cities and transforming our world. In other words, is the gospel that brings salvation just the beginning of the restorative process? Is it what gets the ball rolling towards the larger goal…restoration?

I’m sure many of us at times have felt like there was a “great divide” between hearing the truths of the Kingdom, and actually experiencing the freedom that comes from letting those Kingdom truths change our lives. Perhaps we wonder why we see no clear and measureable impact of a community living out such Kingdom principles as we see recorded in the early church.

If it’s because we have not been doing the right things, how do we do the right things? What do we need to do in order for Kingdom truths to change our lives and transform our world?

Acts 1:8 says that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us we will receive power to become God’s witnesses… to the ends of the earth. So why then are we seeing so little of God’s power displayed by our witness… at least here in the western world?

Looking Inward instead of Outward

I believe the reason we are seeing such little power in our witness is because many of us coming from an evangelical or charismatic background are far better at looking inward than we are at looking outward. We are often more focused on our own inner feelings and experience than we are on looking outward toward the cross. As a result we often allow our feelings to guide our thinking so that our feelings become vested with final authority that should only be reserved for God’s Word.

As I read the Scriptures I believe that God is calling us to look outward (beyond ourselves) to the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf (justification)—not inward at His work in us (sanctification). True biblical faith is never directed to what has happened in us as believers, but rather to what has happened for us as believers. Paul says in the following verses that faith looks outward not inward.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3 (NIV)

We are called to live our lives by focusing all of our attention on the Person of Jesus Christ who willingly gave His life on the cross in order to redeem us from our sins so that we can be restored back to intimate fellowship with the Father. This is the heart of the gospel—the objective truth that is never-changing and constant—that is perfectly reliable and completely true.

The gospel is a powerful proclamation from the Father’s heart of what He has already done for us in Jesus Christ for all the inhabitants of planet earth. The gospel is an announcement of pardon from sin that Christ’s good work alone has accomplished for all mankind. But this Good News demands a response from us.

What will our response be? There is really only one choice. To repent of our pride and release our "good" works at the foot of the cross. Then we can be free from our bondage to enter into the joy of His "good" work. As a result of our choice to believe the gospel, the Holy Spirit empowers us to share Christ’s work of victory for us with the rest of His children, and enter into His glorious rest. People will be transformed into Christ’s image by the Holy Spirit as they behold the glory of His finished work in the new covenant gospel.

The Gospel Is the Whole Deal

Is the gospel that brings us salvation only the first part of the message of Gospel of the Kingdom? Is the gospel only the “beginning of the story” because transformation is the desired end result? Is the gospel only the beginning of the whole deal—not the whole deal itself?

If we answered “yes” to these questions I believe we are minimizing what God alone has done for us in the gospel, while maximizing what the Holy Spirit does in us by transformation. In essence, we are taking the fruit of the gospel (transformation) and elevating it over the root, the gospel itself. In doing this we are robbing Christ of His glory by putting the Spirit's work in us above what Christ has done for us in His doing and dying on the cross. Christ’s doing and dying becomes subordinate to the inner life of the Spirit, and the reconciliation of the sinner is nothing more than just the “beginning of the story”.

Is the greatest news in the whole world what happens in us as believers at the new birth and the resulting transformation? Or is the greatest news in the whole world what God did for us on the cross in the doing and dying of Jesus Christ for our sins? By focusing on the transformation of ourselves and our communities aren’t we actually teaching that a good thing is the best thing—that the work of the Spirit is greater than the work of the Son?

This emphasis suddenly shifts our attention away from the glory of God seen in the face of Jesus Christ to ourselves (2 Corinthians 4:6). We have moved away from the objective truth of the gospel that Paul is describing in 2 Corinthians 3:12-17 to the subjective truth of what God does in us as we are being transformed into His image by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). Transformation (sanctification) then becomes more important than justification. What God does in us then becomes greater than what He has already done for us on the cross. We become the objects of God’s glory instead of Jesus Christ who died for our sins.

Since God is the One who sanctifies us and transforms us as we are being led by His Spirit to believe on His Son, we can take no credit for any of this. It is all of God and not of us. He is the One who deserves all glory and praise and honor for coming up with this wonderful plan to restore us to fellowship with Himself before the creation of the world.

Paul is not teaching us in 2 Corinthians 3:18 to strive to attain some higher level of glory and blessing beyond the cross as if we are climbing some sort of spiritual ladder. Being transformed into Christ’s likeness as we reflect the Lord’s glory is not an achievement that we are to strive to attain. It happens as a natural result of being in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and resting in His finished work. We can’t get any higher or go beyond “finished”. We can only go deeper into the heart of the Father as we behold the cross and experience the ever-increasing glory that shines forth from the face of Jesus Christ.

Why so little Transformation?

The sad truth is that dangling these “glory” carrots in front of believers often works, because our sinful human natures are very works oriented. Perhaps we strive to reach the next level of glory because we've heard there's a greater anointing there. We want to have something to do to confirm our salvation. Our proud hearts want to add to what Jesus has already finished for us on the cross. We often feel better about our lives when we see ourselves as having accomplished something for God. The trouble is that when we start to look within ourselves for confirmation that we are on the right path (going from glory to glory) instead of keeping our eyes on Him, there's a danger that we have actually gotten off the right path.

I believe that the reason we see so little transformation in people’s hearts when we try to share the gospel is because many of us do not know the gospel—all we know is the fruit that we see in people’s lives and we think that is the gospel. Consequently we cannot be led by the Spirit to share what we have not experienced ourselves. So we share some watered-down, man-made formula that has no power behind it, and wonder why it doesn’t change people’s hearts or cause them to turn away from their sins.

The Unshakable Gospel

Since the gospel exists independently of us, it cannot be affected by how we feel about ourselves or what is going on in our changing circumstances or daily lives. It is the one objective Truth in a swirling sea of subjectivism. But this one objective truth can change and transform our lives forever if we will choose to believe what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

Therefore it is vital that we come to know what the Good News of the gospel is so that we can enter into an intimate relationship with the Father and the Son through the work of the Holy Spirit who continually points us to the flame of God’s love—the cross. The cross then becomes my theme and my song as I am drawn by agape love into the very heart and presence of the Father.

As I obediently lift up the cross of Jesus Christ, and share the true gospel message, the power of the Holy Spirit will come upon me as Jesus promised in order to bring conviction of truth that will transform people’s hearts.

The Gospel Equips the Saints

What will bring conviction of truth and transform people’s hearts? Hearing the true gospel. Then after people have responded to the gospel message, how does the Holy Spirit begin transforming people’s lives? How does He equip us for works of service “so that the body of Christ can be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God”? Ephesians 4:12-13

I remember being troubled after hearing a pastor say one time that he would not be preaching a gospel sermon on most Sundays, because that time was going to be spent for the “equipping of the saints for the work of service.” He went on to explain that the place for the gospel to be shared was by members during the week as they met together in various small, cell group settings in people’s homes. His words perplexed me because I thought, "What if an unbeliever comes to church that day and leaves without hearing the plan of salvation offered to them in the preaching of the gospel?

After mulling over his words in my mind for several weeks, it finally dawned on me why his words concerned me. It is the hearing and sharing and praying of the gospel that equips us saints for the work of ministry! Jesus is our very great reward! Lifting Him up draws us to the Source of Life and agape Love from which we receive our strength. Lifting Him up draws us to continue to trust in His righteousness alone and release our own filthy rags at the foot of the cross.

I, as a saint, need to hear the gospel message just as much as those who have never heard it. Why? So that I don’t fall back into trusting in what the Holy Spirit does in me instead of what God has already completed for me in the Person of Jesus Christ. The gospel equips us to keep first things first. It empowers us to bring our priorities into order as we choose to depend on His righteousness alone. It reminds us that we must leave all of our spiritual trophies on the other side, because they won’t fit through the Narrow Gate. Jesus plus anything is simply not Jesus!

Therefore, I can never compare what Jesus did for me on the cross with what He does in me through His Spirit. They are not even in the same ball park. Good works that He has prepared in advance for me to do still give me no advantage as far as salvation is concerned. They are only the natural outcome of living a spirit-filled life.

Conclusion

The transformation that the Good News works in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit is the result of believing the gospel, but it isn’t the gospel—it’s still the fruit of the gospel. The Holy Spirit continually points us to Jesus who is the Source of Life—the Living Water. The Holy Spirit never draws our attention away from the Source in order to cause us to inspect the fruit of what He is doing in our lives.

Ultimately, the Good News of the Kingdom proclaims that Jesus Christ’s “good work” trumps our good works. In view of the fact that even our “good works” fall into the category of filthy rags, we must focus all of our attention on His saving work on the cross that will inevitably equip us for good works. Since our hope is built on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone let this one defining truth direct our thoughts every day—we can never move beyond the glorious work of the gospel. His “good work” must take center stage as we proclaim the good news of His death and resurrection until He comes.

Conclusion: Putting the Pieces Together (10)

2008-09-04T01:59:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

Although we have by no means covered every passage of Scripture on the topic of healing and the atonement, I believe we have studied the important ones. After briefly studying the essential “healing” Scriptures in their context I have come to the firm conclusion that the primary purpose of God’s saving work for us through Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection, was to deal with the spiritual sickness of our souls—sin.

Sin deserved the penalty of death, so Jesus took the punishment for our sins upon Himself and bore that punishment in our place. But in no sense can the same be said for sickness or disease. Christ forgave sin, but He never forgave sickness or disease, because sickness and disease didn’t need atonement. These natural consequences of sin didn’t separate us from God. If we are honest we will have to admit that some of the most important spiritual lessons of life have been learned when we have been flat on our backs from sickness or disease.

I most certainly believe that the spiritual healing of our souls that Christ purchased for us through His atonement extends from the spiritual realm of our souls into the physical realm of our bodies. By bearing our sins upon Himself, He also ultimately took care of the natural results of sin—sickness, disease, demonic activity and death.

We can emphatically claim with confidence that all who turn to Jesus Christ by faith for spiritual healing will find forgiveness of sins and a restored relationship with God here and now. However, we cannot claim with confidence that all who turn to Jesus Christ by faith for physical healing will always obtain the blessing of health here and now. We battle disease and death every day of our lives, because we still live in a sinful world that is groaning to be delivered from the curse of sin. Although physical healing is a benefit of the atonement, it is not an irrevocable gift that Scripture promises we are entitled to receive here and now.

Scripture clearly commands us to pray for the sick so that they may be healed, but Scripture also emphasizes that spiritual healing for our souls still takes precedence over the physical healing of our bodies. Besides being confirmed by Scripture, I have also found it to be true in my own life that confession of sin and the resulting forgiveness often prepares the way for the physical healing of our bodies.

When we pray for the sick we must always pray in faith, and according to His will, because God always answers our prayers according to His sovereign timing, not ours. Although Christ did not provide universal exemption from physical sickness or physical death in the here and now when we pray based on the grounds of His finished work on the cross, these blessings will be eventually realized by all of us who put our faith in Him.

Although it is true that all blessings come to us from the cross, there are many blessings in the atonement that we have to wait for until the fullness of time when God will restore all things in Jesus Christ.

For example, in the cross deliverance from death is ours through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, yet death is very much present with us here and now. While death was conquered in the atonement when Jesus rose from the grave, we will not experience complete freedom from death until the Second Coming of Christ. Only deliverance from spiritual death is promised here and now when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but deliverance from physical death is not guaranteed until death is swallowed up in victory at the Second Coming of Christ.

Therefore, I believe it is acceptable to say that physical healing is a benefit of the atonement, as long as we do not presume that physical healing will always be experienced here and now like the forgiveness of sins. Although the atonement removed the curse of sin, this curse is still very much present upon the whole creation as it groans to be delivered from this present state of things.

"For while we are still in this tent, we groan under the burden and sigh deeply (weighed down, depressed, oppressed)--not that we want to put off the body (the clothing of the spirit), but rather that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (our dying body) may be swallowed up by life [after the resurrection].” 2 Corinthians 5:4 (Amplified Bible)

Every New Testament passage that has teaching on the atonement is significantly silent about physical healing. For example, when Christ instituted the Lord's Supper, He stated that His blood was poured out so that we could receive spiritual healing for our sins.

“Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” Matthew 26:27-28 (NIV)

Furthermore, the apostle Paul states that there is only one single purpose for Christ's death:

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” 1 Corinthians 15:3 (NIV)

If there were Scriptures which could legitimately be interpreted to teach that Jesus Christ died for our sicknesses like he died for our sins, then Christians who are not healed would have good reason to doubt their salvation. Unfortunately, some believers still do doubt their salvation, because they’ve been taught that all healing promises apply here and now to physical healing. So they are devastated when God doesn’t answer their prayers for healing in the way they believed He should.

Sadly, well known proponents of the faith-healing movement continue to vigorously teach that since both healing and salvation are derived from the same atonement, it is just as easy to be physically healed as it is to be saved. But what they fail to understand, in my opinion, is the eschatological nature of the atonement, and the fundamental difference between the physical healing of our bodies and the spiritual healing of our souls.

Understanding that the Kingdom of God exists in the present age makes us want to spread the Good News of salvation as we minister to the needs of those around us. However, we must not forget that the completion of the Kingdom is still a glorious future reality. We cannot transform this present world into God’s future ideal kingdom no matter how much we try to live in a way that reflects God and His Kingdom.

Why not some may ask? Because I believe the Bible teaches us that God’s Kingdom will finally come through apocalyptic intervention. After destroying Satan and his kingdom, the Scriptures reveal (See Daniel 2:44, 7:13-14, 22 and Revelation 11:15, 19:11-16). that God will finally set up His everlasting Kingdom that will cover the earth—a Kingdom of love and peace where sin and sickness will be no more.

In closing, I would like to say that after finishing this study on healing and the atonement I have come to a place of deep rest where I can now choose to trust in God's sovereign timing and will as far as physical healing in this life is concerned. Because physical healing is a blessing of the atonement that happens in this life, but is not guaranteed here and now, I can now pray in faith for the sick and leave the timing of that healing with God, knowing that physical healing, if not received now, will be ultimately realized when we all receive our glorified bodies.

If God chooses to heal now, I praise Him! But if He chooses the healing to be future (like He did with my friends who died of cancer) I can wait, knowing that His promise of healing is sure, and will be fully realized at the Second Coming when death will be finally swallowed up by Life!

Is our Emphasis on the Gospel or Healing? (9)

2008-09-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

I am wondering if perhaps this following passage of Scripture has been misunderstood by many of us in the body of Christ today? Therefore, I am including the verse that comes before the well known “Go ye into all the world.”

“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:14-18 (NIV)

After reading the verse and looking at the context we see that in verse fourteen Jesus first rebuked the eleven disciples for their lack of faith, and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him alive after He was raised from the dead. Then He told the eleven disciples to go into all the world and preach the Good News! He told them that specific signs would accompany those who believed. When we read the book of Acts we see that what Jesus prophesied to these eleven disciples was fulfilled in the establishment of the early church.

However, we need to keep in mind that Jesus was not saying that every sign mentioned here would follow every person who believed the gospel , but rather that these signs would be seen by those who believed the gospel. The Scriptures plainly teach us that not everyone has the power to work miracles or to heal diseases or to speak in tongues, etc. (See 1Corinthians 12:29-30), because God is the one who chooses to whom He will give the various gifts (See 1Corinthians 12:10-11).

Paul and Stephen are examples of men in the book of Acts who received power to perform miracles and wonders.

“And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.” Acts 6:8

“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.” Acts 19:11-12

"Paul also raised the dead." Acts 20:9-12

On the day of Pentecost the prophecy of the gift of tongues was fulfilled. Then when Peter first preached to the Gentiles they also began to speak in other tongues.

“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:3-4

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.” Acts 10:44-46 (NIV)

Is it possible that the disciples were informed by this prophecy of Jesus so that they would not be surprised by what they saw when Paul was bitten by a snake?

“Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live." But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.” Acts 28:3-6 (NIV)

Thus, all these signs that were promised in the Great Commission were literally fulfilled in the lives of the apostles and early Christians as they proclaimed the gospel message. I believe these miracles were necessary so that the Kingdom of God could be established through the early church. However, since God’s Kingdom has now been established, are these miraculous signs and wonders just as necessary today to confirm the Good News of the gospel message as they were two thousand years ago?

I believe that they are just as necessary in parts of the world today where the Kingdom of God still needs to be established by the preaching of the gospel. In areas of the world where the preaching of the gospel message is breaking down the walls of fear and superstition we sometimes hear of miraculous signs and wonders happening in order to confirm the authenticity of the Good News. But where the Kingdom is already established, especially here in the West, it is very obvious that God doesn’t seem to perform miraculous signs and wonders anywhere near the degree He did in the days of the early church.

Is the reason for this lack of “signs” in the western church because, in general, the church has already been established here in the western world, so we don’t need miraculous signs to affirm the Good News of salvation anymore? Or is the reason for this lack of “signs” in the western church because in general our gospel message has become so contaminated by false teaching that we have lost the true meaning of the gospel that was once for all delivered to the saints? (Jude3)

I believe both are possibly true, but especially the latter. If what is being preached in general here in the western church is not the true gospel, but a confusing mixture of men’s ideas, then surely God must be patiently waiting for us to respond to the call of His Spirit in godly repentance. Surely He wants to break our hearts with the things that break His heart, because godly repentance and sorrow for sin are far more precious and important to Him than physical healing?

I know that God has already begun to move upon the body of Christ with Spirit-led intercession and travail so that the lost will hear the call of His Spirit and respond to the gospel invitation. I have experienced intercession that has been quiet, and travail that has been rather loud, and I know that the weeping and groaning that can accompany travail is generally not understood in the church.

I believe the reason for this is because of a lack of biblical teaching on the subject. People fail to realize that when someone is truly overcome by the Spirit with intercession their crying and groaning is not coming from their soul, but rather from their spirit. God’s Spirit wants to communicate with our spirits in order to speak forth His purposes as He wills. Without a doubt, the spiritual healing of our souls is far more important to God than the temporary physical healing of our mortal bodies.

(To continue this study go to "Conclusion: Putting the Pieces Together" at:http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/conclusion-putting-pieces-together-10.html)

Meaning of "Greater Works" Promise (8)

2008-09-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

I am aware that many of my brothers and sisters interpret the following verse to mean that anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ will not only do the works He did, but will do greater works than He did. Usually they mean that we will perform greater miracles than Jesus did.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” John 14:12 (NASB)

However, it seems difficult to me to believe that Jesus was referring primarily to physical healing when He made this declaration about “greater works”. The truth is, the healing of the sick, the giving of sight to the blind, the curing of the lame, the deliverance of the oppressed by demons, and the raising of the dead were the hallmark of Jesus’ ministry—a hallmark that has never been duplicated in all of history—not by the apostles, and not by those who continue to teach that physical healing in the atonement is guaranteed here and now.

If Jesus, in talking about the “greater works” we will do, was talking about miraculous physical healings, what could be a “greater work” than raising the dead? There’s only one. Raising those who are spiritually dead! After all, isn’t that the reason He came—to save and deliver us from our sins?

It is the opinion of many scholars, and the belief of this writer, that Jesus was anticipating the preaching of the gospel to all creation when he made this promise of “greater works” to his disciples. Since He was soon to die on the cross and return to the Father, He knew that His ability to continue to reach the world with the Good News of the Kingdom was about to end.

Yet His prophetic eye looked into the future and saw that through the disciple’s enactment of the Great Commission after the Holy Spirit was poured out, men and women would be saved and the Kingdom of God would be established on earth through the Church.[1] The book of Acts confirms that the promised greater works were fulfilled as thousands of men and women believed in the Lord Jesus Christ after hearing the preaching of the gospel. Thousands were continually being added to the church daily through the ministry of the apostles, and millions more since that time are continually being added to the church as the Holy Spirit speaks to people’s hearts.

To insist that the “greater works” are miraculous physical healings that believers will be given the power to perform is to totally miss the very heartbeat of the gospel message. Jesus ultimately came to save us from our sins—to heal the spiritual sickness of our souls. He took our punishment for sin so that we could be delivered from eternal punishment in hell. It is a far greater work for someone to receive salvation in Christ than for someone to receive physical healing of the body, because the work of salvation is eternal in nature. Most definitely the greater work is salvation! Most definitely God’s free gift of eternal life to “whosoever will believe in Him” is the greatest work of all!

Besides, there’s great spiritual danger in placing so much emphasis on supernatural signs and physical healings. Over the past few months we have seen the truth of this played out as much emphasis has been placed on supernatural signs and miracles by those in the charismatic body of Christ who have been involved in the Lakeland Revival.

Unfortunately, the questionable doctrine and extra biblical supernatural experiences of Todd Bentley, the leader in this revival, were, either glamorized, or entirely overlooked by the leadership of the charismatic body of Christ as people flocked by the thousands to get healed by someone whom they believed moved in miracles and signs. In all the hype and confusion people not only threw discernment out the window, but they forgot that miracles and signs are intended to validate God and His message of salvation, NOT the messenger.

Jesus knew that supernatural signs and wonders alone do not change the hardness of people’s hearts. That is why Jesus condemned those people in His day for demanding a supernatural sign to prove that He was the Messiah. In fact, He told them that no sign would be given them except the sign of Jonah. They all knew who He was talking about. But did they really believe that Jonah came back from the dead? The Ninevites to whom Jonah was sent did, and they repented. Would the scribes and Pharisees believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah after He was resurrected from the dead? Would they also repent? History reveals that many still refused to believe.

(To continue this study go to "Is our Emphasis on the Gospel or Healing?" at: http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/is-our-emphasis-on-gospel-or-healing-9.html)

[1] Ibid.

Is the Prosperity Gospel part of the Atonement? (7)

2008-09-03T05:54:00.001-07:00

by Hazel

We have already mentioned the danger in the way some in the faith-healing movement are teaching that we can just speak healing or wealth into a situation because of the creative power of the spoken word. The reverse is also taught to be true—that we can speak destructive things into being by our negative words.

Although there is definitely some truth regarding the power of our words to heal and wound people, I'm wondering if this preoccupation with the creative power of our human words has more to do with occult philosophy than any sound biblical theology?

The root of this error has its source in an incorrect Bible hermeneutic (rules for biblical interpretation), combined with a desire for perfection here and now instead of waiting on God’s timetable. Thus many in the faith camp are led to deny the reality of sickness and disease, believing that if we would just exercise our faith, and our authority in Jesus Christ by standing on God’s promises, God would be forced to act in response to our faith when we pray for healing.

Many in the faith healing movement have interpreted the following verse to mean that it is God’s desire for us to always prosper and be in health.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 1:2 (NKJ)

It is true that from the general reading of God’s Word we can see that this is what He ultimately wants for His children, but there are no guarantees in this Scripture (or any other scripture for that matter) that health and prosperity are what God desires for us in the here and now. Health and prosperity will still be according to His sovereign will and timing, not ours.

I found it interesting to discover that when we add verse one and read verse one and two together in context we get a different picture of the intended meaning of this passage.

“The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth: Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 1:1-2 (NKJ)

Now we see that John is wishing his friend, Gaius, good health. It is a greeting very much like the greetings we give one another today when we say, “How have you been?” or “I hope you are well and in good health.” Another example of greetings such as this is found in Romans chapter 16. Throughout the whole chapter Paul is sending various greetings and good wishes to believers in the Lord.

As we go back to third John again and add verses three and four to the passage we have already read, we will see that the context is not even talking about physical health, but spiritual health—faithfully walking in the truth.

“The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth: Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:1-4 (NKJ)

The problem with taking Scriptures out of context is that we can make the Scriptures say anything we want. Remember what Paul said to the Galatians?

“So then, what about troublemakers who try to get others to be circumcised? I wish they would go the whole way! I wish they would cut off everything that marks them as men!” Galatians 5:12 (NIRV)

Does this mean that God wants men to castrate themselves? Of course not! Taking Scriptures out of context and deciding that they have a double or extra meaning is NOT a good practice, because we can manipulate them to say anything we want them to say.

So what’s behind the “Prosperity Gospel”? Nothing more than John's personal wish for his friend, Gaius. Obviously this personal wish should not be taken as a universal promise of health and wealth for all believers in Jesus Christ.

(To continue this study go to "Meaning of Greater Works Promise" at:
http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/meaning-of-greater-works-promise-8.html)

Relationship Between Healing & Suffering (6)

2008-09-03T05:44:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

Having briefly considered those Scriptures most often used to support biblical healing in the atonement, let us now try to arrive at a more biblical understanding of the relationship between physical healing and suffering as it relates to the atonement.

We can all vouch for the fact that God has not designed that sickness and death be totally removed from our life experience here and now. But one day it will be. The following promise is a guarantee of the Hope we carry in our hearts.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4 (NIV)

Those who teach that it is always God’s will to physically heal us NOW usually advocate that it is always God's will for us to be prosperous, too. However, I believe this is because those who teach this are not only unwilling to wait for the day when the old order of things will pass away, but they are also unwilling to face the full extent of the cross that God has called us to during our life here on earth. They cannot accept the fact that God has called us to many sufferings for a short while.

As we read the following Scriptures it does NOT appear that it is God’s will for us to live a life that is free from suffering.

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:16-18 (NIV)

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)

“That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)

“But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1Peter 4:13 (NIV)

“So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” 1Peter 4:19

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1Peter 5:10 (NIV)

“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10 (NIV)

After reading these Scriptures I came away with the realization that if God never allowed Christians to be sick or experience pain, how would we ever have compassion for unbelievers who are ill and in pain? In the last Scripture we read James even quotes from Job’s experience of suffering as an example for us who live under the New Covenant to persevere in our walk with the Lord. Then Paul reminds us in the following Scripture that just as God comforts us so we are to comfort others with His comfort.

“who comforts us in all our troubles (sufferings), so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” 2 Corinthians 1:4-5 (NIV)

I believe that spiritual growth in sanctification comes through overcoming adversities as we look forward with hope to the restoration of all things in Christ. This seems to be Paul’s thought pattern too in the following verse.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)

When we read about how Old Testament prophets and saints often suffered for the cause of Christ it would be inconceivable for them to imagine that the anguish they endured was their own fault because God didn’t want them to suffer or die.

“Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.” Hebrews 11: 35-38 (NIV)

I think Paul had a well-balanced perspective when he said,

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12 (NIV)

In spite of the fact that these Scriptures we have read clearly reveal that suffering is a part of our existence in this life, there are believers who refuse to acknowledge they are suffering and claim that they have been healed, while it is obvious the symptoms of sickness linger on. I have asked myself many times what good does it do to claim that we have been healed of the flu (for instance) when the flu symptoms clearly remain.

When we refuse to acknowledge the reality of the troubles that are in the world in which we live, (which holds true for both believer and non-believer) we are forced to enter a world of unreality where our beliefs no longer work. In our failed attempts to make God fit our belief system we eventually end up confused and disillusioned. Job tells us in no uncertain terms that troubles in this life hold true for both believers and non-believers. God does not defer to believers by exempting them from suffering and pain.

"Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. Job 14:1 (NIV)

Without a doubt the Bible tells us that the time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine but will follow after teachings that tickle their ears.

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” 2 Timothy 4:3 (NIV)

Could it be that those of us who do not want to hear that God may choose to have us suffer at times in this life run after the faith movement’s teachings, because we would rather hear that God always chooses to heal us now? But in order to do this we must deny suffering in whatever form it comes upon us. We must also believe that it’s God’s will that we prosper and be in health. And finally we must believe that through the power of our spoken words we can create a positive healing experience. Of course we would always add that our words are spoken with the authority that we have received from Jesus Christ, and so we speak the healing word in “Jesus name”.

But I believe many of us who have become derailed by the faith movements teachings fail to realize Paul’s teachings that tells us that our suffering in this life is inextricably linked to our mortal bodies and sin.

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. “ 2 Corinthians 4:10-12 (NIV)

(To continue this study go to "Is the Prosperity Gospel Part of the Atonement?" at: http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/is-prosperity-gospel-part-of-atonement.html)

Dual Application of Healing Scriptures (5)

2008-09-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

In our study so far we have clearly seen that forgiveness of sins has been provided for us in Jesus Christ, and is guaranteed in this life here and now because of the atonement. However, although God clearly stands on the side of physical healing, it does NOT appear that physical healing is guaranteed here and now in the same way that spiritual healing is. In order to understand the reason for this I believe we need to be aware of the eschatological nature of the atonement.

The physical healing we are guaranteed in the atonement is eschatological in nature. This means that it is “completely fulfilled at the end of time, at the final resurrection, when God's Kingdom comes in all its glory.”[1] Only then will we exchange our mortal bodies for glorified ones. However, things which are eschatological in nature can also to a certain extent be present here and now.

An example of this was when God the Son became man in the person of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God was present in the Person of Jesus Christ and began to break forth on earth. However, His Kingdom was not of this world, because it was a spiritual Kingdom that resides in the hearts of those who embrace the Good News. Although the Kingdom was present and described by Jesus Himself as being “within you”, it was also still yet to come. It was present and future at the same time.

At the present time, the Holy Spirit, who is our down payment guaranteeing our salvation, gives us assurance of these ultimate realities which we receive here and now by faith as we wait in hope for the final restoration of all things in Christ. In the same way, here and now by faith we receive assurance of forgiveness for our sins because we believe in the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Similarly, here and now by faith we follow the command to pray for the sick (James 5: 14). Sometimes when people are physically healed, they are healed as a sign of the Kingdom of God present here and now on earth (See Romans 8:23-24 and 2 Corinthians 5:1-4). While physical healing proclaims God's glory and is an affirming sign to the believing community and a witness to unbelievers, it is NOT guaranteed here and now.”[2]

However, those believers who support the word of faith teachings advocate that physical healing is guaranteed here and now, because they apply a theology of future glory to the believer in the here and now. This root error of the “name it and claim it” faith movement treats God as if His entire purpose in heaven is simply to do our bidding.[3] But sound biblical theology teaches us that God, who is the creator of all things, is sovereign in all things, not man.

Therefore, as believers we should not claim here and now what God in His sovereign grace has promised only for the future. When we do cross over that line we are not only forced to ignore texts that do not support our belief system, but we also fail to consider the original intent of certain Scriptural passages. Unfortunately this results in completely wrong interpretations of key passages of Scripture, and brings untold heartache and confusion to many in the body of Christ.

We have already addressed the fact that Christ’s work on the cross for us is finished, while the total effect of our redemption is not yet complete. This tension between the atonement being completed at the cross, and the reality that we have not yet received our glorified bodies is sound biblical truth that Paul clearly states in the following verse.

“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Romans 8:30 (NIV)

Paul reminds us here that the first three stages, predestination, calling, and justification have already happened, but the fourth stage, glorification, while assured the believer is still in the future. It has not yet taken place. The physical aspect of our redemption—the glorification of our bodies is our great hope that we grasp by faith, but it is still future.

As we read further in the same chapter of Romans, Paul says,

"But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his children and set our whole being free. For it was by hope that we were saved; but if we see what we hope for, then it is not really hope. For who of us hopes for something we see?" Romans 8:23-24

What Paul is explaining to us here in very clear terms is that the physical aspect of our redemption, the glorification of our bodies (See Philippians 3:21) is our great hope—something in the future that has not yet taken place. While Christ did buy perfect health for us at the cross by dying for our sins, that perfect health will not go permanently into effect until the glorification of our bodies, and thus cannot be claimed now.

(To continue this study go to "Relationship Between Healing & Suffering" at: http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/relationship-between-healing-suffering.html)

[1] www.does-god-always-heal.com
[2] Ibid.
[3] Kenneth Hagin, “How to write your own ticket to God”.

When God says, "No!" (4)

2008-09-03T05:24:00.001-07:00

by Hazel

The Bible is clear. Sometimes God chooses NOT to heal us physically. Paul is an outstanding example of someone who was not physically healed even though he prayed three times to the Lord to have the “thorn” in his flesh removed.

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV)

I believe it would be totally ludicrous to believe that Paul, who had the gift of healing, was denied healing because of His lack of faith.

“As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.” Galatians 4:13-15 (NIV)

Furthermore, Paul would be considered totally out of line with some of the current wind of faith teachings today because of the medicinal advice he gave Timothy. Instead of telling Timothy, “Claim your healing, brother!” he told Timothy to take a little wine with his water for the sake of his frequent stomach problems. Thus, Paul acknowledged Timothy’s ongoing illnesses, rather than speaking healing into the situation (1 Timothy 5:23).

“Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” 1 Timothy 5:23 (NIV)

We find that sickness had an effect on the ministry of the apostles, and they had to make adjustments in their ministries just like we do today.

"Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus.” 2 Timothy 4:20 (NIV)

“But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.” Philippians 2:25-27 (NIV)

There is absolutely no indication in either of these passages that there was a lack of faith on Paul’s part or on the part of those with whom he ministered. Although Paul had the gift of healing (See Acts 19:11-12; 20:9-12) apparently God did not always choose to heal through Paul’s ministry. Since Paul believed that Christ’s grace was sufficient for him, it follows that he would also believe that Christ’s grace would also be sufficient for others whom God chose not to heal. In the same way, Christ’s grace will also be sufficient for us.

To continue this study go to "Dual Application of Healing Scriptures" at:
http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/dual-application-of-healing-scriptures.html

Issue of Faith & Healing (3)

2008-09-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

Let us take a look at the context of this familiar passage of Scripture in James and see if we can more fully understand the type of healing being talked about here.

“Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore (or save) the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:14-16 (NASB)

In order to interpret this passage correctly I believe that we must not only look at the context in order to understand the nature of the healing being talked about, but also weigh it against other Scriptures so that we will be in harmony with the whole counsel of God in the way we apply it. Above all else we must understand that God is sovereign, and He answers our prayers for healing or anything else according to His will as the following passage of Scripture teaches.

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” 1 John 5:13-15 (NASB)

As we look again at the context of James 5:13-15, notice that the final part of verse 15 helps verify the importance of what is being promised here when James says, in speaking about the sick person, “and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” I believe that the spiritual sickness of the soul is again being talked about here rather that the physical sickness of the body, because James ends his discourse by saying: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” This of course in no way rules out physical healing, but it again emphasizes the spiritual healing of our souls that takes precedence. In fact confession of sin and the receiving forgiveness often prepares the way for the physical healing of our bodies.

I also found it interesting to note that the word “save” is used here rather than “heal” in many translations. As I have already suggested that doesn’t exclude physical healing, but I believe it puts physical healing in a secondary role because the primary role of healing is to heal our souls from sin. That is why I believe James says “and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” Knowing that we have already been forgiven for our sins because Jesus took our punishment as our Substitute is a healing and restorative truth.

Yes, of course God wants us to pray in faith and anoint the sick with oil, but all of our prayers for physical healing must still be submitted to His sovereign will and timing and be within the context of other scriptural teachings. If we insist on believing that physical healing is always guaranteed when we mechanically follow the steps outlined in James 5 we will be forced to not only ignore our own reality, but also to take the responsibility for our lack of faith if we are not healed. The worst part of this kind of belief system is that it totally fails to factor in the sovereignty of God in physical healing. As we have already seen, John clearly tells us that we must be submitted to God’s will in this healing business, because God is still sovereign and He decides whom and when to heal.

Moreover, if we choose to believe that Jesus healed everyone during His earthly ministry, we have not taken note of a number of occasions where Jesus passed by many people that he could have healed in order to reach the one person that He did heal. An example of this would be the story of the man Jesus healed by the pool of Bethesda. Jesus could have healed all who were sick that day by the pool of Bethesda, but He only selected one man to heal, and then He “slipped away into the crowd that was there.” John 5:13 (NIV)

I’m sure there were many times Jesus passed by that pool during His three and a half years of ministry, yet this is the only biblical record of healing in that place. Similarly, Jesus could have healed everyone around him in the story of the blind man in John 9, but He chose to heal only this one man who was blind from birth so that “the works of God should be revealed in him.” In other words it was for the glory of God!

Instead of saying that Jesus healed everyone when He was here, it would be more biblically correct to say that He healed all who came and asked. But He did not heal everyone, because the Scriptures tell us that there were places that He went where He would not heal anyone, or he healed very few because of their unbelief in Him (See Matthew 13:54-58).

So how much faith did a person need to exercise in order to get healed by Jesus? At times Jesus would tell someone that they would be healed according to their faith (the Roman Centurion’s servant). At other times the faith of the person wasn’t involved at all as in the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead for four days so he couldn’t be a participant in his healing. What’s more, the people gathered around Jesus waiting to see what He would do certainly didn’t believe Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead for the glory of God (John 11:40).

I also found it interesting to discover that Jesus miraculously provided food for 5,000 people and later 4,000 people without their faith or lack of faith being an issue (See Luke 9:13-14; Matthew 14:17; Matthew 15:33). He did it because He saw they were tired and hungry and “He was moved with compassion for them.” Matthew 15:14; Matthew 14:32 (NKJ)

Therefore, I think we can safely conclude from these situations that we have looked at so far that God is NOT dependent on our faith in Him before He can perform miraculous healings and wondrous signs on our behalf. He sovereignly chooses when and whom to heal. At times our faith or lack of faith in Him does not determine whether He will heal us or not.

If our level of faith was always the determining factor in healing then we would all be looking within ourselves for the power instead of trusting in the power of God outside of us. This is man-centered theology and has nothing to do with the real faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

We must not believe those who tell us that we are not healed because of our lack of faith. Neither must we believe those who insist on informing us that the devil stole our healing because we failed to keep our faith built up. Besides being a manipulation of Scripture, it is false. The object of our faith must always be Jesus Christ, but Scripture also reveals that God isn’t limited in healing us if we lack faith in Him. Yes, faith always pleases God. But God still chooses whom He will heal or not heal because He is ultimately sovereign.

Gathering from what we have just read apparently there is no list of rules that Jesus gave believers to follow that will insure physical healing every time we pray for one another. If Jesus didn’t choose to heal everyone during His earthly ministry, why do we measure the success of someone’s healing ministry today by the number of documented physical healings? Is it because miraculous physical healings take precedence over spiritual healings because they can be seen? But what takes place in our hearts when we repent of our sins and follow Jesus Christ is far more miraculous and precious in God’s eyes that what we can see with our natural eyes.

To continue this study go to "When God says, No!" at: http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/when-god-says-no-4.html

Healing Scriptures (1)

2008-09-03T04:58:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

The first thing that came to mind as I began preparing to study the subject of healing and the atonement was this picture of a bronze serpent being lifted up on a pole in the wilderness. You remember the story. Sometime after the Israelites had come out of Egypt they began to murmur and complain against God and Moses. So God sent fiery serpents upon them, and many of the people who were bitten died.

After the people confessed their sin to Moses and pleaded with him to ask God to take away the serpents, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it up on a pole. Everyone who had been bitten by the serpents was to simply look at this bronze serpent and they would live (See Numbers 21:4-9).

What happened to the people who looked at the bronze serpent? They were healed from the poisonous bites and they lived. The healing being provided here for the Israelites was spiritual healing for the soul from sin that resulted in the physical healing of their bodies from the venom of the serpents that represented sin.

In the the midst of the judgment upon their sin, God provided a remedy for the Israelites. But even though that solution was simple many still refused to “look and live”. I wonder if they had been instructed to do something that would require some effort on their part would they have considered looking, and lived.

This lifting up of a bronze serpent on a pole in the wilderness was a symbol of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross that the Old Testament prophets foretold. The following verses indicate the kind of death by which Jesus was to atone for our sins. When Jesus said to Nicodemus:

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” He added: “Whoever believes in Him (who was lifted up on the Cross) should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:14-15 (NASB)

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” John 12:32 (NASB)

Before we examine further Scriptures, it should be noted that the promise that Jesus would atone for our sins was made before the foundation of the world. He was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8 (NKJ)

Christ being “slain from the foundation of the world” illustrates that the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice is not limited by time. God had all ready ordained a Savior before there was sin. The beneficial effects of that death had been made before the creation of the world. It was as good as “done” from the time that God ordained it.

“who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:9 (NIV)

Before we look at further “healing” Scriptures I think it is important to note that the Hebrew word for healing (rapha) in the Old Testament usually does not refer to the physical healing of the body, but it is more commonly used to refer to the spiritual healing of the soul. On the other hand the Greek word for healing (therapeu) in the New Testament is from which we get the word “therapeutic”, and it always refers to physical healing.

Let us now look at two well known verses of Scripture and consider the context of both of them.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (rapha)." Isaiah 53:5 (NKJ)

"He Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (rapha)." 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)

I believe the context is salvation. These two verses are talking about what Jesus Christ endured on the cross as He provided atonement for our sins. Clearly they cannot be interpreted any other way. When Peter quoted Isaiah 53:5 it is clearly in reference to spiritual healing by the fact that Peter says in the very next verse, “for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2: 25 (ESV)

However, when these verses are used by some of us who have been indoctrinated by the word of the word of faith teachings we feel that it is perfectly legitimate to change the context from salvation to physical healing. In fact, every time some of us see the word “heal” in the Bible we immediately assume it refers to healing for the body even if the context indicates otherwise.

It cannot be over emphasized that there are many places in Scripture where the word “healing” has specific reference to spiritual healing. This is because there are diseases of the soul that have to be healed, the primary disease of the soul being man's unregenerate state which is rooted in sin. The good news of the gospel is that God has provided healing for this disease of the soul.”[1]

I believe this is what Isaiah and Peter are talking about in Isaiah 53:5, and 1 Peter 2:24. Neither Peter nor Isaiah is saying that physical healing is guaranteed to every believer in Jesus Christ in the here and now as some want to believe.

Let’s read 1 Peter 2:24 again from another translation and see without a doubt that the healing mentioned in this verse is healing the soul from sin!

“Jesus took upon Himself our sins [when] His body was placed upon the cross so that we, [through] dying to [i.e., giving up] the sinful life, would live for righteousness. You were healed [from your sins] by His being brutally treated" (The New Testament: An Understandable Version).

As we look at further passages of Scripture from the Old Testament let’s notice how the context gives us clues as to what type of healing is being mentioned.

“If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals (“rapha”) you.” Exodus 15:26 (NIV)

“Who forgives all your sins, and heals (“rapha”) all your diseases..." Psalms 103:3 (NIV)

"Return, O faithless sons; I will heal (rapha) your faithlessness." Jeremiah 3:22 (ASV)

"I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal (rapha) my soul; for I have sinned against thee.” Psalm 41:4 (NKJ)

“And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed (rapha) the people.” 2 Chronicles 30:20 (ESV)

“Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed (rapha) them.” Hosea 11:3 (ESV)

“When I would heal (rapha) Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed, and the evil deeds of Samaria; for they deal falsely; the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside.” Hosea 7:1 (ESV)

“He sent His Word and healed (rapha) them, and delivered them from their destructions." Psalms 107:20 (NKJ)

Notice that the healing being spoken about in all of these verses is largely spiritual in nature because it is dealing with Israel’s unfaithfulness, iniquities and sin. Therefore it would be safe to say that the healing promised by God in these verses is primarily the same as the healing already mentioned in 1 Peter 2:24 and Isaiah 53:5 where God promised to provide spiritual healing for the disease of the soul—sin. Of course that does not rule out physical healing, but I do not believe the context guarantees it as many of us want to believe.

So why does "rapha" in the Old Testament refer more to spiritual healing than to physical healing? Why does God place much more emphasis on spiritual healing than physical healing in the Old Testament? Surely it is because without spiritual healing for our souls we would indeed die for our sins and be eternally separated from Him. God does not view physical healing as importantly as we do because He knows that the end result of physical healing in this life will still result in the death of our mortal bodies. Only at the final resurrection when we receive new glorified bodies will death finally be swallowed up in victory.

(To continue study go to "Difference Between Sin & Sickness" (2)at:http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/difference-between-sin-and-sickness-1.html)

[1] Document by the Christian Research Institute (CRI), Copyright 1994.

Difference Between Sin and Sickness (2)

2008-09-03T04:53:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

I think it is important for us to consider for a moment the primary difference between sin and sickness—between the spiritual healing of our souls and the physical healing of our bodies. Some believers have wanted to lump sin and sickness together as one and the same as far as the atonement is concerned, but I don’t believe it is biblically sound to do that.

Let us think about it for a minute. Sin deserves the penalty of death, but in no sense can the same be said for sickness or disease. Christ forgave sin, but He never forgave sickness or disease, because it is only sin that has separated us from God. It is sin that demands punishment by a blood sacrifice. It is sin that demands punishment by death. Jesus Christ took the punishment for our sins upon Himself and bore that punishment in our place.

Of course, one of the natural consequences of sin is sickness and disease. But if sickness and disease needed atonement, wouldn’t that imply broken fellowship with God? If we are honest we will have to admit that some of the most important spiritual lessons of life have been learned when we have been flat on our backs from sickness or disease.

Most certainly I believe that the spiritual healing of our souls that Christ purchased for us through His atonement extends from the spiritual realm of our souls into the physical realm of our bodies. By bearing our sins upon Himself, He also ultimately took care of the natural results of sin—sickness, disease, demonic activity and death.

However, having said that, I believe we have to admit that this secondary benefit of the healing of our physical bodies cannot fully be realized here and now. We battle disease and death every day of our lives, because we still live in a sinful world that is groaning to be delivered from the curse of sin.

But the word of faith teachers tell us that the healing promised us in the atonement covers our sins as well as our sicknesses. For them there is no primary difference between the spiritual healing of the soul and the physical healing of the body. Furthermore, they claim we are entitled to receive both spiritual and physical healing here and now by faith. Although they believe that we will receive new glorified bodies at the final resurrection (Philippians 3:21), they also believe that physical healing is guaranteed here and now by faith as we await the end of all things.

I pray that it will become clear as we study the Scriptures that the primary purpose of the atonement was to deal with the spiritual sickness of our souls—sin, whereas the secondary benefit of the atonement was to begin to correct the effects of sin in our bodies such as sickness and disease. Hopefully, we will see that physical healing is a benefit of the atonement, but not an irrevocable gift that we are entitled to receive in the here and now.[1]

(To continue this study go to "Issue of Faith & Healing" (3) at: http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/issue-of-faith-healing-3.html
[1] www.does-god-always-heal.com

Healing and the Atonement: Introduction

2008-09-03T04:38:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

When the question is asked, "Is healing provided in the atonement?" the answer we are essentially asking is, “Is physical healing guaranteed in this life as a result of God’s saving work for us through Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection in the same way that spiritual healing is guaranteed?”

We know that Jesus Christ came to save and deliver us from our sins, but does His atonement also deliver us from our sicknesses—now? Is physical healing from disease promised in this life when we pray for people in the same way that spiritual healing is?

What prompted me to begin this study on healing was seeing many friends die from cancer over the past seven or eight years. In spite of the fact that they all received the best medical treatment, along with much healing prayer from many members of the body of Christ, they all went to be with the Lord.

One of the things that troubled me the most as I watched these friends suffer was hearing other brothers and sisters prophesy over them that the Lord was going to heal them, because it was His will that they live and not die. The same “healing” Scriptures were repeatedly quoted to support their prophetic words. They sincerely believed that they just had to speak the healing word and my friends would be healed. They adamantly reasoned that God does not want us to be sick.

For years I agonizingly watched as some of these friends became very discouraged as the healing word they received didn’t stop the spread of cancer in their bodies. Although prayer seemed to encourage them to trust in God’s love and rest in His faithfulness, it didn’t restore their sick bodies back to health as the word of faith proponents promised.

In spite of seeing no physical healing manifest in her body one of my friends continued to believe right up to the very end that she would be healed. She truly believed that “by His wounds she had been healed!” “I’m just waiting for the healing to manifest,” she explained “because physical healing for my cancer has been provided for me in the atonement!

I remember another one of my friends grieving over what she supposed was her inadequate faith to be healed. She kept striving to muster up more faith, or be touched by the “right” anointed person. When physical healing did not happen after many months and then stretched into a couple of years of praying and running to get in various healing lines, she eventually became seriously depressed and wondered why God didn’t answer the many prayers of faith that had been offered up on her behalf.

As she began to question God’s love for her I began to question the biblical soundness of some of the faith-healing teachings. Since God wasn’t answering our prayers of faith in the way we wanted, I began to question if we rightly understood the “healing” Scriptures that we had been encouraged to claim by our word of faith friends.

Although so many of us longed to see physical healing manifest in the here and now, all my friends eventually died. But it certainly wasn’t because of any lack of faith or cherished sin on anyone’s part that prevented God from answering our prayers.

So I had to ask myself some difficult questions as I began this study on healing. Hopefully, as we search for a more biblical understanding of the healing that has been provided for us in the atonement, we will find answers to the questions listed below. I will try to discuss them in the order they are presented.

1. Have we inadvertently been violating one of the primary rules of biblical interpretation by taking “healing” Scriptures out of their context, and in so doing have misinterpreted the type of “healing” being promised?

2. What is the primary difference between sin and sickness?

3. Is faith in Jesus Christ always a condition for our healing, and if so, is there a certain degree of faith required on our part in order for God to heal us?

4. Does God sometimes say, “No” to physical healing?

5. Have we also misunderstood the dual application of some healing passages by believing that physical healing is always guaranteed here and now when in reality it is only guaranteed at the final resurrection of the righteous?

6. What is the Biblical relationship between healing and suffering?

7. Is the “Prosperity Gospel" found in the atonement?

8. Have we misunderstood the “greater works” prophecy of Jesus by thinking He was primarily speaking of miraculous signs and physical healings?

9. Have we failed to understand the primary focus of the Great Commission by majoring on the “signs that will follow those who believe” instead of the preaching of the Good News of salvation?

In order to answer these questions we will look at some familiar “healing” Scriptures in their context in order to see what the Word of God has to say about the subject of healing and the atonement. I believe it is crucial as we begin this study that we recognize that God’s reconciling work for us on the cross is grounded on His unconditional love for us and His sovereign knowledge of our desperate human need.

His knowledge and acceptance of us in our lost condition, is more important than our knowledge and acceptance of Him. Being known by God is more important than knowing God! (See Galatians 4:9). The truth that “the Lord knows those who are His” 2 Timothy 2:19 is a glorious and comforting truth because our relationship with God turns upon His knowledge and acceptance of us! Our eternal destiny is determined, sealed and secured by His knowledge of us, and His giving of Himself for us. Having said that, let us go on to discover what His sovereign knowledge and acceptance of us has provided for us in the atonement.

(To continue this study go to "Healing Scriptures" (1) at: http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/09/healing-scriptures-2.html)

He Who Does the Will of My Father

2008-06-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

As I finished reading the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:3-9, this familiar phrase of Jesus at the close of the parable caught my attention. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” I was reminded that the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation each end with that same familiar phrase. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Obviously then what is being taught by Jesus in this parable is important. He desires that we grasp the significance of His parabolic teaching.

Later when Jesus was alone, the disciples came to Him wanting to understand the meaning behind this parable that He had spoken to the large crowds that day. They had ears that wanted to hear. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding…’” (Mark 4:11-12).

Then Jesus asked them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” (Mark 4:13). He then began to explain to them the meaning of the seed that fell by the wayside, on stony ground, among thorns, and on good ground. He told them that the seed represented the word of God and that the ground represented people’s hearts (Mark 4:14-20).

The Secret of the Kingdom

So what is the “secret of the kingdom” that this parable reveals that was not only given to the disciples, but has also been given to us? What is the parabolic teaching that Jesus wants us to hear and understand? In fact Jesus seems to be saying that without an understanding of this parable we will not be able to rightly discern the hidden meaning behind His other parables.

The point that Jesus is making here in this parable is that there are different types of ground (hearts) upon which the gospel seed falls. But only the good ground (prepared heart) receives the gospel seed and produces a lasting harvest. The soil of the good ground (heart) is called “good” because it has already been plowed up by the work of the Holy Spirit in order to break up any hard ground and make it soft and ready to receive the gospel seed.

In other words, Jesus is teaching in this parable that when the gospel is preached there will be true conversions resulting from hearts that have been prepared by the work of the Holy Spirit, and false conversions that have not been prepared by the work of the Holy Spirit. Evidently, the fruit of a lasting harvest distinguishes the true from the false.

As I thought about this principle of true and false converts being alongside each other in the church, the light began to dawn about what Jesus taught in other parables about the kingdom of God. Parables such as, the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30), the wise and the foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), and the parable of the dragnet (Matthew 13:47-51), all teach that the true and the false remain together until the Day of Judgment.

Apparently false believers have a degree of spirituality about them so that they are not easily recognized for what they truly are. Clearly, none of the disciples suspected Judas would betray Jesus. Instead they suspected themselves! “Lord, is it I?” they each asked.

So it seems to me that the thrust of Jesus’ message in His parables is to challenge us as believers to honestly examine our own hearts in order to make sure we are continuing to walk in the way of the Master. Are we the “good soil” that produces a fruitful harvest? Are we wheat and not tares? Are we the wise and not foolish virgins? Are we sheep and not goats? Does our profession of faith reveal that we not only know Him, but more importantly, does He know us?

Recognized by Our Fruit

Scripture teaches us that God knows us because He recognizes us by our fruit—the fruit of obedience. In the same way we will recognize those who know Him by their fruit. A good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit anymore than a bad tree can bear good fruit (Matthew 7:17-18).

Furthermore, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evil-doers (literally means you who practice lawlessness)!’” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Listen to what Jesus will say to many people on that day. “Although you healed the sick, and you cast out demons, and you did many mighty miracles in My name, I NEVER knew you! Although you professed to know Me, I NEVER knew you because you did not do the will of my Father! Therefore, you cannot enter My kingdom. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

How tragic! How could this possibly happen? Apparently the list of “good works” that the many people performed is not the good fruit that Christ or the Father are looking for! These people cannot enter the kingdom, because Jesus did not know them because they did not do the will of the Father!

So if I understand this passage of Scripture correctly, it becomes vital that we understand how to do the will of the Father. What obedience is the Father looking for that will give us entrance into His kingdom? Usually I have stopped reading with verse 23, but today I continued to read the next few verses and discovered the answer as to why “many” people will be barred from entering the kingdom of heaven on that day.

I Never Knew You

Notice that the very next word in verse 24 says, “Therefore…” That means we are going to get an answer as to why many people who say, “Lord, we did this… and we did that… in Your name” will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Instead they will be told to depart from Christ because He never knew them.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it has its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matthew 7:24-27).

Aren’t these verses telling us that Jesus is the Rock upon which we must build our house of faith? Only if our house of faith has its foundation on the Rock—Jesus Christ…only if we are grounded securely in Him, will we be able to withstand the winds of adversity and the flood of overwhelming deception that is coming upon the earth to deceive those who do not have the Father’s name written on their foreheads. (See Revelation 14:1). The Scriptures tell us that everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that what cannot be shaken may remain (Hebrews 12:26-27). We may and indeed must remain in Him—our Rock!

God wants our faith firmly rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ. For it is Jesus’ finished good work that God is looking at—not our good works. Because the Scriptures tell us that even our good works—even our righteousness is still filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)! Our confidence and hope must be in Him—not in ourselves!

Hence, it appears to me that the “many” who will say to God on that day, “Lord we did all these wonderful things in your name” have not built their house of faith on the righteousness of the Rock—Jesus Christ, but rather on their own righteous accomplishments (sand). Tragically they proudly believe that their good works (sand) have some merit that will entitle them to an entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Christ’s Good Work Alone

In essence, the Father will say to the “many” who hold up their good works as a ticket to enter the kingdom of heaven, “No! Only those who do My will have the ticket that entitles them to enter My kingdom. And what is My will? What must you do to do the works I require?

You must believe in the One I sent (John 6:28-29). For My will is that all those who enter My Kingdom will trust only in My Son’s righteousness—not their own. For it is my Son’s perfect obedience—My Son’s good work that fulfills the demands of the Law.”

“Your prophesying, your casting out demons, and your performing of many miracles are not the good works that can ever fulfill the demands of the Law, because the Law demands perfect righteousness. You have not attained what I require. You have falsely believed that your righteousness—your good works have some merit that would gain you an entrance into My kingdom.”

“By your erroneous beliefs you have trodden underfoot the blood of the covenant. You have trodden underfoot My Son—the ONLY righteousness that I freely provided for you in the atonement (Heb.10:28-29). You proudly thought that your good works could be added to My Son’s good work. But your good works that you offer Me are nothing more than filthy rags that are an offense to My nostrils!”

“Sadly you stand naked before Me in your own righteousness instead of My Son’s (Revelation 3:16-17). You failed to obey My will by placing your faith in My One and Only Son—The Rock that cannot be shaken! You are a lawbreaker because your “good” works do not fulfill the demands of the Law. Therefore you are an evil-doer—one who practices lawlessness, and I must cast you away from My presence…”

And the many houses that were built on sand fell with a great crash. And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church!

The Rock is Forever

"My beloved children, this is the hour when everything that can be shaken will be shaken (Hebrews 12:26-28). I would remind you that these days were prophesied about long ago."

“These are the days of Elijah”, not because you (would-be "Elijah’s") are performing more "signs and wonders" in My name, but rather because these are the days when there is increased lawlessness, not merely in the world, but more importantly in the church."

"These are the days to stand up and cry out in repentance! All your flesh—all your works must fade away and fall to the ground like the grass and flowers of the field (Isaiah 40:8). This is the time to let go of trusting in your good works. For only the work of the Son of God abides forever. All the sand is washed away, but The Rock is forever!"
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This post can be considered as "Part 2" to the post I wrote earlier at http://sound-the-trumpet.blogspot.com/2008/05/ears-that-hear-what-spirit-of-truth-is.html.

Also several years ago Yoko (Ramone's wife) had some 'apocalyptic' visions about being weighed on the scales. Specifically, the "rock" vs. "sand" parable in Matthew that I have written about seems to be exactly what she saw! The pictures can be seen at:http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com/2007/11/balances.html.

Ears that Hear what the Spirit of Truth is Saying to the Church...

2008-05-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

It has been a couple of months now since I posted anything on my blogs. Breaking my toe slowed me down tremendously. Adjusting to life with crutches and a wheelchair while trying to take care of my "adopted" mom who has Alzheimer's was quite a challenge. Thankfully the worst is over now, and I'm slowly getting back to writing and painting what I sense is on God's heart...

My mind was restless last night as I tried to grapple with what I have seen and read online over the past couple of weeks regarding the healing revival that is breaking out in Florida. I was equally concerned with the many ministries and well known “prophetic” people (in the charismatic movement) who appear to be giving their total support to the “supernatural” events happening in the Lakeland Revival led by Todd Bentley.

Those of you who know me know that I am not against supernatural manifestations that have their source in the Holy Spirit of God, and I am not against divine healing. But last night I was troubled in my spirit as I watched this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGCTMEoifqQ&feature=related on Youtube. I continued to toss and turn until five o'clock this morning.

To be quite frank and blunt, I received a strong witness in my spirit that there is a mixture of spirits in what I witnessed online here. I have great concern that the Holy Spirit is NOT behind this kind of stuff. I believe this is opening up the door to spiritual deception!

I have had reservations and discomfort about some of Bob Jones' and Patricia King's teachings for awhile now, because I have sensed a lack of biblical support for them. Learning that Todd Bentley is also eager to participate in this “third” heaven teaching, I am very concerned and saddened by what I see--people flocking to get on this bandwagon.

I don’t deny that something “supernatural” is going on in Florida, but I do not believe that everything I am witnessing online regarding these “revival” meetings has the Holy Spirit as the source of that power. I believe there is a mixture of spirits at work… Knowing that people are flocking to these meetings from all over the world to “come and get some” as Todd Bentley has suggested disturbs me greatly!

Since leaving Adventism, I have a very strong desire NOT to repeat the error of falling into cultic teachings that have no foundation in God’s word. So when I hear Todd Bentley talk about an “angel” talking to him and telling him that he’s the healing angel that Bob Jones said was coming to bring a healing revival to Florida, I get concerned because this doesn’t seem to ring true with God’s Word. Immediately I see a red flag! Since when do angels bring healing and revival anyway?

Or if someone whom others consider an “apostle” or “prophet” describes an “experience” they had that seems to go off on a tangent and beyond what God has already revealed in His Word, and does not draw attention to Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, then I receive a caution in my spirit to wait and see the fruit of such an “experience”. I am not one to run after everyone who says, “Come and check out this person or this teaching or this supernatural event.

After watching many of my friends over the years run after this “anointed” leader and that “anointed” teaching or word, I realize that we do not have to go anywhere to experience more of God’s presence, love or words than right where we are.

We don’t need to climb up to the "next level" to get God’s attention! We don’t need to follow some religious protocol or ritual in order to get more of God. God is NOT more accessible during one month than another month. He is not in one place more than another place. God has already made Himself accessible to you and me in Jesus Christ. We only need to respond (usually in repentance) and by the obedience of faith to the urging of His Spirit.

I believe that trying to achieve a higher realm of awareness in the Spirit realm by accessing the “third heaven”, as Todd Bentley and others are teaching, is opening doors for satanic delusion. Believing that some victories can only be obtained on certain “watches of the Lord” (Jews divided the night into military watches instead of hours, and each watch represented the period for which sentinels remained on duty), and that certain spiritual dynamics happen in each “watch”, finds people clamoring after “products”, such as various scented candles (Elijah List promotes and sells such things) that are supposed to be “tools” that the Holy Spirit can use to help develop our prayer life in each watch.

Tickling People’s Ears

What I am seeing and hearing lately disturbs me greatly! It appears that many people in the body of Christ are not studying God’s word to see if what is being taught is sound doctrine! For instance, I recently heard Kim Clemente on YouTube (who is revered as a “prophet” by many), say that the difference between an Old Testament prophet and a New Testament prophet is that the New Testament prophet is more fun, because he is now under grace and not the law.

Kim Clemente claims he is in the office of a New Testament prophet, and he says he “does not deal with the sin factor as much”. He says that he is not going to direct a people, but rather “affirms and reveals” what people already know and “releases” what is inside of them so they can move to the next higher level. He says, “Usually all hell breaks loose after that”. He says, “I am not going to join preachers speaking against sin. I am here to draw the treasure out of a person so they can be what they were destined to become…”

Isn’t this kind of “prophet” tickling people’s ears? Isn’t this a people-centered gospel instead of a Christ-centered gospel that is being promoted? Isn’t this kind of theology self-absorbed? Doesn't it encourage people to run after another “high” in the Lord? Doesn't it encourage people to run after excitement and hype instead of the cross of Jesus Christ?

Elijah List Quote

Here’s a quote from the Elijah List this week that troubled me also. “Last year's Growing in the Supernatural conferences gathered together prophets, preachers, and expectant believers from all over the world. As we worshipped, dug into the Word, prayed, and combined our faiths to put a demand on Heaven, something was unlocked in the Spirit, releasing believers to all new levels of supernatural encounters and experience.

This year, we continue to press in by again gathering together with some of the weightiest prophets in the land and hungriest believers on earth to reach out and receive more of God. More presence! More encounters! More miracles! More signs and wonders! More revelation! More of the fruits! More of the gifts! And more of His heart!

Gather with us to add your faith to the cry for more. Receive revelation, impartation and downloads from the glory realm that will leave you forever changed and fueled to advance the Kingdom in more glorious ways. Come and... grow in the supernatural!”

Here are a few of my comments about this quote… Since when does our faith in Jesus Christ put a “demand on heaven”? God is sovereign! We don’t tell Him what to do and “demand” Him to act. He is a holy, righteous and awesome God. He knows what our needs are before we ever ask Him!

Believing that praying unlocks something in the Spirit that releases “believers to all new levels of supernatural encounters and experience” suggests that we don’t believe what Paul teaches us in Ephesians--that we already have the fullness of the godhead bodily dwelling in us by faith.

How can we go to higher levels when we have the fullness of the Spirit in us already?Perhaps it is our lack of faith in that reality because we do not feel that we do. Perhaps we are waiting to have a spiritual experience that will confirm the truth rather than accept by faith what Jesus has already revealed to us in His Word. Scripture must be the final test, not my experience. My experience must line up with Scripture.

Finally, to be encouraged to come to a conference and “grow in the supernatural” instead of to come and “grow in the Lord” is another huge red flag for me! I’m sorry, but something is just OFF here that it makes me want to run in the opposite direction!

Protection from Deception

I read the first chapter from Derek Prince’s book, “Protection from Deception” this week and found some very helpful reminders that can help us navigate through the minefield of supernatural signs and wonders. I was reminded that signs and wonders in and of themselves do not determine truth. Truth is already determined and established—it is the Word of God that point to Jesus as Truth. Here are some thoughts that I gleaned from my reading…

Remember the first thing Jesus said about the events leading up to His return in Matthew 24? "Take heed that no one deceives you." In these verses I discovered that Jesus actually warns us four times against deception. Therefore, we can conclude that the greatest single danger in these end times is not sickness, or poverty, or persecution, but deception!

Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2 that there are lying signs and wonders. Scripture here make is very clear that Satan is fully capable of supernatural signs and wonders. True signs attest the truth. Lying signs attest lies.

Sadly I find that many in the Charismatic movement today have the attitude that if something is supernatural, it must be from God. But there is absolutely no scriptural basis for that kind of assumption. Satan will produce signs and wonders to confirm his lies, and the reason people will be deceived is because they did not receive the love of the truth.

The Scripture says that God will send strong delusion on those who do not receive the love of truth. I think that is one of the most severe judgments of God recorded in Scripture! People will receive a delusion and be condemned, because they did not believe the truth.

There is only one sure way to know the truth that makes us free, and that is to, not only know the Word of God and apply the truth of God’s Word to our hearts, but to know the heart of the Father who gave us His Son. The Father’s will is that we be found in His Son, because the Son is the only One whom the Father is looking at! It’s His righteousness alone that gives us access 24/7 to God’s throne. With all the talk of the “glory cloud” coming down and feeling the “glory” in Todd Bentley’s meetings, I am reminded that the Scriptures talk about the “glory” that is found in the face of Jesus Christ!

My heart is heavy as I realize that this recent explosion of signs and wonders appears to me to be a mixture of the biblical and the bizarre. To me there seems to be a mixture of spirits, both the Holy Spirit and unholy spirits. Truth and error are mixed together, and it is something which the Scripture warns us against.

This mixed message brings confusion because part is true and part is false. People respond in one of two ways. Some will see the good and focus on it, and therefore also accept the bad. Others will focus on the bad, and therefore reject the good. In either case, it does not accomplish God's purposes, and confusion is the result!

Some of the unusual manifestations that accompanied the ministry of John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney, etc. were always preceded by the strong preaching of God's Word, and they always made a strong call for repentance. That was their primary demand on the people to whom they ministered.

Some people call what we are seeing in this revival today "a refreshing”, but in Acts 3:19 Peter says that refreshing must be preceded by repentance. Any refreshing that bypasses repentance is not scriptural.

Also in the ministry of the above mentioned men there is no record as far as I know that any of them laid hands on people. Although it is scriptural to lay hands on people, is there perhaps a danger that a mixture of spirits could be transmitted by way of a “vessel” which is not always pure.

Since Todd Bentley is laying hands on everyone every night during this revival in order to impart the healing anointing, it seems that the important question to ask then is, “Are Todd Bentley’s hands pure channels through which only the Holy Spirit can flow? Since this “anointing” seems to be very contagious and easily imparted to others, I am seriously concerned about what is being imparted.

Listen to the following comment by a British Bible teacher: “Some Christians take the text "God is love" and turn it around to mean "Love is God." In other words, nothing can be wrong if it is rooted in love. However, any love that comes between us and God is an illegitimate love… Likewise any love that diverts us from obedience to God's Word is illegitimate.

Distinguishing the Holy Spirit from other spirits

So how do we recognize the Holy Spirit? How do we distinguish the Holy Spirit from other spirits? I believe witchcraft is the attempt to control people and get them to do what we want by the use of any spirit that is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, and no one uses God.

It is important to see that there is a difference between the Holy Spirit as a Person, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 11:29, Paul tells us that the gifts of God are irrevocable. In other words, once God has given us a gift, He never takes it back. That means the opportunity exists for the gift to be used to bless others, but also it can be misused.

Paul tells us that when the gift of tongues is misused it is an empty clanging noise. Of course it is possible to misuse other spiritual gifts also, such as a word of knowledge or a gift of healing in order to promote a person, or a movement, or for personal gain.

Jesus gives us a glimpse of the Holy Spirit's ministry and activity when He says, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak on His own authority (literally: from Himself) but whatever He hears He will speak: and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:13-14).

The Holy Spirit does not speak from Himself—He only reports to us what He is hearing from the Father and the Son. His aim is NOT to glorify Himself, NOT to attract attention to Himself, but ALWAYS to glorify and focus His attention on Jesus Christ. Therefore, any spirit that focuses on the Holy Spirit and glorifies the Holy Spirit is not the Holy Spirit. His purpose is ALWAYS to glorify the One who sent Him.

Father, You say in your Word that love is expressed by the obedience of faith. Any kind of love that we express to You that does not result in that kind of obedience is NOT scriptural love. It is a counterfeit—a substitute for the real thing.

God, You say in Your Word, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent" (Revelation 3:19). If we are disobedient, Your love is expressed in rebuking us and correcting us in order to bring us to repentance. Lord, once again You know that we have this problem of trying to get what You have promised us, but bypassing repentance. You call that deception.

Oh God, break our hearts with the Truth of who You are and what You have already given us in Your Son! We do not want to be in that group of professed believers who receive a spiritual delusion because we will not repent and receive a love of the Truth! In Jesus Holy name I pray that You give us ears to hear what the Spirit of Truth is saying to the church. Amen.

The Lion of Judah has Triumphed!

2008-04-10T00:04:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

"Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed." Revelation 5:5

I was compelled to paint this picture of Jesus Christ’s triumph over death after discovering that He wasn’t in soul sleep while He was dead in the grave... After a lifetime of believing error, I was overwhelmed with joy and many tears as I discovered the length and depth that Jesus Christ went to for you and me. He literally left no stone unturned! His powerful words from the cross reverberated throughout His creation causing even the rocks to be torn apart when He cried out, “It is finished!”

Unfortunately, the KJV translates both the words Sheol and Hades as grave, death and hell, but this can be shown to be incorrect as it does not accurately represent their meaning. Prior to Jesus Christ’s ascension to Heaven biblical writers tell us that both believers and unbelievers alike entered Sheol (Hebrew) or Hades (Greek)—the destination of the spirit and soul at death.

Apparently Sheol was divided into two separate sections, an upper part and a lower part, denoting the differences of where the righteous and wicked dwelt. In the Talmud the wicked were in torment, while the righteous were in bliss. This is probably what Christ was referring to when he told the story of the rich man and Lazarus…

So while Christ’s body was laid in the tomb, His spirit/soul went to Hades (the lower parts of the earth), because he died under the conditions of those living prior to the resurrection. That is why the Scriptures make several references to Christ’s entry into Hades that are distinct from being in the tomb.

“Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, ‘He was not abandoned to Hades (where souls are in the lowest parts of the Earth), nor did His flesh experience corruption (in the grave)’” (Acts 2:31; NRSV; See also Psalm 16:10). Since Christ was not abandoned in Hades, this can only mean that He was actually there, but not left there! "I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction?" (Hosea 13:14; ASV).

There’s an interesting Scripture in 1 Peter 3:18-22 where it seems that Jesus went into Hades while His body was resting in the tomb in order to announce the completion of His atonement. “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison…” (1 Peter 3:18-19; NASB).

In the next chapter Peter says, “For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they may be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit” (1 Peter 4:6; NIV). It seems to suggest that after all things were accomplished by Christ, He went to Hades to reveal the rest of the story of salvation and to announce to them that “It is finished!” “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15).

After the resurrection we see in Ephesians 4:8-9, “Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high. He led captive a host of captives, and gave gifts to men’ (Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth (Hades)?" This could not be referring to His grave because His tomb was above ground as were the other graves of that day.

Now that Christ has ascended to heaven and taken a train of captives with Him we know that it is clear that believers now go directly to be with Christ in heaven when they die. Paul says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain… But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better…” (Phil. 1:21-22; NASB). Paul continues, “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; NASB).

The author of Hebrews clearly states where the spirits of righteous men made perfect in Christ go after they die when he says, “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire…But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God… You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant…” (Hebrews 12:18-24; NIV).

Now the Scriptures that used to be so confusing make perfect sense… Speaking of the Second Coming of Christ, Paul says, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).

Paul is saying that when Jesus comes back the second time He will bring back the spirits of the righteous (those who have died in Christ) to be united with their new glorified bodies, and we who are alive will also be changed and receive glorified bodies, and be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air (See 1 Thessalonians 3:15-18).

Surely, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has triumphed! (Revelation 5:5). By faith we enter into His triumph!
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Go to this link to read further details about the painting: http://artfromhisheart.blogspot.com/2008/04/lion-of-judah-has-triumphed.html.
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(I want to give credit to Dr. Cherry Brandstater for many of the thoughts I have expressed in this post. I also want to publicly thank her for her labor of love in making the "Shadow or Substance?"--State of the Dead Studies available for those eager to know truth. My life has been changed forever by His Truth!)

Midnight Call to Intercession

2008-03-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

About a year after God miraculously healed me from painful childhood memories (http://a-prophetic-journey.blogspot.com/2008/03/inner-healing-of-damaged-emotions.html), He spoke very clearly to me one weekend while I was attending a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Women's Retreat in Flagstaff, Arizona. Not only was this experience another turning point in my spiritual journey, but it also demonstrates for us how God determines the gifts we will receive. Through this spiritual encounter, the Spirit began to place within the womb of my heart the passionate love of the Father's heart for His children, especially those within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In May of 1995 I was part of a team of people from Celebration Center (CC) who presented “A Wedding Drama” at the Arizona Seventh-day Adventist Women's Conference. After the Saturday evening program some of us were relaxing in the hotel Jacuzzi, sharing our thoughts about God's presence in the events of the evening. In the course of conversation I learned that Myrna, the fourth lady in our room who had not been with us Friday night, would be joining us shortly. Quietly I excused myself and hurried up to my room ahead of the others, hoping to be asleep before they arrived. I had heard that Myrna snored loudly, and because I sleep lightly, it seemed in my best interest to fall asleep first.

As much as I tried, sleep would not come. Although I was tired from the intense evening schedule, my mind insisted on recounting each scene in the wedding drama we had just put on. I wondered how many of the people watching it had been touched by the Spirit’s presence as I had been.

All too soon the women returned from the Jacuzzi. Seeing I was already in bed and appeared to be asleep, they moved about in hushed tones. Soon the lights were out, and everyone was quiet. But not for long. My snoring sister was in good form. As her snoring began, I pulled the covers over my head. When that didn't muffle the sound, I tried the pillow. Feeling exhausted and helpless, I began complaining to God. Immediately, I heard a very clear internal command. "PRAY!" Perhaps that would take my mind off my own selfish desire for sleep. As I began to pray, I received another strong urging; this time it was to lift up my hands as I prayed. I obeyed.

Never before had I lain in bed with my hands raised up in prayer to God. And now God was compelling me to do this in a hotel room with three others to witness my strange behavior. To my amazement the snoring stopped. I continued praying, thanking the Lord for a few minutes, before slowly lowering my hands. As I turned over on my side, planning to quickly fall asleep, the snoring resumed with greater intensity than before. Quickly, I raised my hands again in prayer, and the snoring ceased.

"Lord, what is going on?" I complained. “It's midnight! I can't keep my hands up all night. I'm tired. I need to get some sleep. You know I’ve got a long drive tomorrow.”

As I lay there facing the wall opposite from the snoring, I felt Debbie (my bedmate), who was nearer to Myrna than I, reach across to the other bed and gently give her a little shake. Immediately the snoring stopped—for a minute. Then it started up again.

This scenario was repeated several times. As soon as I lowered my arms, the snoring would return. Then Debbie would reach over and shake Myrna, and the snoring would cease for a time. As it started up again, I would lift up my hands in prayer and the snoring would stop. To make matters worse, a gnawing pain in my right leg began to bother me, the late result of a pinched nerve in my thigh that I had received months earlier. Knowing I had some pain pills in the bathroom, I climbed out of bed, hoping I could at least do something to alleviate that problem.

On my way back from the bathroom I had to walk by the foot of Myrna's bed. Again came the strong urge to lift up my hands and pray. I obeyed. Again the snoring stopped.

“Lord, I know you're trying to teach me something.” I was getting nervous. “But please don't let Myrna wake up, or anyone else for that matter, and see me standing like this at the foot of the bed. I'll scare them to death!”

I hurried back to my bed, hoping to fall asleep while everything was quiet. But after a couple of minutes the snoring resumed again. Debbie sprang into action. She gave Myrna one last bold shake that shook both of our beds. Instantly Myrna stopped snoring and quietly slipped out of bed. I heard a door close. Now is my chance, I thought. "Lord, please let her stay long enough in the bathroom for Debbie and me to get some sleep!"

Some time later in the early morning I woke up. Everything was quiet. Then I heard God's voice speak clearly in my mind. "You asked Me earlier what is going on. Let Me explain... Myrna is My child. She represents the church—the SDA church that is asleep. She not only must be shaken awake, but hands must be lifted up in continual intercession1on her behalf."

I lay there in bed with tears streaming down my face as I pondered those weighty words, and felt the deep, deep love of the Father's heart for the SDA church. I don’t know for how long I wept and prayed. But I do know that God’s heart of love is so deep and so wide and so high that it encompasses the whole world, and yet He has room in His heart for you and me. He has room in His heart for the leadership of the SDA church who has so misrepresented and distorted the new covenant gospel of Jesus Christ. (Even though I was still an SDA at this time I was beginning to realize that the church's teachings didn't line up with the new covenant gospel that was becoming more andmore precious to me).

Several hours later I woke up again as I heard the bedroom door creak open. Myrna crept apologetically into the room. It was then I realized that she had not gone to the bathroom earlier as I had supposed, but had gone to another room to sleep.

"Don't apologize!" I insisted as I held up my hand. "God used you last night in a powerful way!"

"What? He did? How?" she challenged.

Excitedly, I recounted to her and the other women the "events" of the night, and what the Lord had revealed to me. Debbie was surprised to hear of my strange behavior because she never saw a thing.

Soon the women were up and about, hurrying to get bathed and dressed so they would be on time for breakfast. Hoping to catch a few more minutes’ rest, I decided to skip the meal, and volunteered to be last in the bathroom. When the room was quiet, I reluctantly got out of bed, hoping I still had enough time to make it to the last morning session.

Audible Voice of the Lord

I was in the bathroom drying my hair. Suddenly, above the din of the hair dryer, I heard a clear, audible voice from above me say, "I want to give you a double portion of My Spirit!" Unlike the earlier inner message that had been spoken to my heart by the Holy Spirit in the early morning hours, this voice was unmistakably real, audible, and outside of me. It also was the voice of God!

I spun around. No one was there. Immediately the story of Elisha flashed through my mind. I remembered how he had asked Elijah for a double portion of His Spirit before he was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot. It was years since I had read or even thought about that story. I was awed by the possibility that God wanted to give me a blessing like that. To my mind at that time, such giftings were reserved for rare, special people—like prophets in the Old Testament—not for single, divorced women like me.

As soon as I shared my incredible experience with my friend Margo, she understood the word she had received from the Lord earlier that weekend. Together, she and another friend, Donna, obediently laid hands on me and prayed for me to receive whatever gifts the Holy Spirit wanted to give me.

My request from the Lord at that time was to receive more of His unconditional love so I would have a greater capacity to love His children—particularly the learning-handicapped students that I taught in public elementary school at that time. As my Adventist friends laid hands on me and prayed I felt a certain amount of discomfort because Margo’s hands began to shake uncontrollably as she poured out her heart to God on my behalf. This was something I wasn’t used to and hadn’t witnessed before, so I felt a little cautious and amazed.

However, since that May morning over eleven years ago now, my life in the Lord has not been the same. I have become consumed with an insatiable hunger to know Him intimately. As I have chosen to spend more time lingering in His presence He has faithfully made Himself known to me through His Spirit and His Word. Intimate communication with the Father throughout the day has become my greatest joy and source of delight. To know Jesus is to love Him passionately. I desire to obey His voice more than the clamoring of my own heart. He has become my life.

Receiving a Double Portion

As I began to review how God called various people throughout history to do a specific work, I realized that I had also been called and set apart for God’s purposes. Since I had responded with a “Yes, Lord!” when God had told me He wanted to give me a double portion of His Spirit, I had received that blessing by faith. Although no precious oil had been poured over my head like Aaron and other biblical characters had experienced, I was lovingly anointed2 by God and inducted into His service. I knew by faith that I had received a double portion of God’s Spirit even though I had no special feeling or physical evidence of it at the time. Like Elisha who grabbed hold of Elijah’s mantle as it fell from the heavens, I grabbed hold of God’s promise and held it close to my heart, knowing that He would reveal what His purposes were for me in His time.

Ever since that day when hands were laid upon me and friends prayed that I might receive whatever gifts the Holy Spirit wanted to give me, I have been experiencing a growing and deepening awareness of the passionate love in the Father’s heart for His children. I didn’t realize until many months later that during my midnight encounter with the Lord, He had planted a seed in me. As the months and years have gone by I am able to look back to that time in my life and trace that experience to the birthing of God’s heart in me for prophetic intercession. This was the beginning of the call upon my life to “stand in the gap” and cry out to God for those who did not know the Father’s love.

God didn’t have to speak to me in an audible voice in order to get my attention. He already had my attention. I had already committed my life to loving and serving Him. But from that moment to this He has had my undivided attention.

Undivided Attention

God has a plan to get your undivided attention also. I am reminded of a story I read recently that illustrates how God sometimes has to get our attention by using unconventional methods. In this story it was a brick. What will He use to get your attention?

A young executive was driving his brand new Jaguar in an area where there were usually several children playing in the street. He thought he saw something darting out from between parked cars and slowed down.

As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's passenger door! He slammed on the brakes and spun the Jag back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. He jumped out of the car, grabbed some kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?" Building up a head of steam he went on. "That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"

"Please, mister, please. I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do!" pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..." tears were dripping down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked car. "It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."

Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be okay.

"Thank you and God bless you," the grateful child said to him.

The man then watched the little boy push his brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long walk back to his Jaguar—a long, slow walk. He never did repair the passenger door. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone had to throw a brick at him in order to get his attention.

God whispers in our ears and speaks to our hearts through His Spirit all the time. But sometimes when we don't take the time to listen, He has to throw a "brick" at us. It's our choice. Will we listen for the whisper of His voice—or wait for the brick?

As you read some of the words that I have received from the Lord, and posted on my blogs, you may recognize that God has thrown a “brick” at you in order to get your attention. Others of you will perhaps see that the Adventist church is like the crippled little boy in this story who fell out of his wheelchair. Others may see that the Adventist church is more like the executive driving the brand new Jaguar, and that fixing the dent in the passenger door is going to cost the church a lot of money. Still others may see that the dent in the “door” should be left alone. Perhaps some will say that God can use it for His glory if the corporate leadership of the SDA church publicly repents of covering up its unbiblical teachings, confesses its deceptive practices, and changes its foundational beliefs to be in line with the new covenant gospel.

One thing becomes very clear to me in the above analogy. We can’t lift our handicapped “brother” back into his wheelchair. We need a Good Samaritan to come along who will pour healing oil into the scrapes and cuts and bandage up his wounds. Only in Christ is there healing from this kind of a fall!

I am reminded of how God set a bush on fire out in the middle of the desert, because He wanted to get Moses undivided attention? When the Lord saw that He had caught Moses’ attention (Exodus 3:4), He began to share with Moses His plan to use him to free a nation crying out to God because of the oppressor. Moses was being called to be their deliverer after dwelling in the desert for forty years. Gone was the proud and independent spirit of the former prince of Egypt. As a broken and repentant man, he humbled himself before the Lord and felt totally inadequate for the job God was calling him to do. It was in this place of weakness, brokenness and submission that God could now use him. It will be the same with us. It will be the same for the corporate leadership of the Adventist church. Repentance is the key that opens the door for God to rebuild upon our ruins.

Why did God choose to get Moses undivided attention through a burning bush? Perhaps because one of God’s attributes is that He is a consuming fire. Although He is a consuming fire, the bush was not consumed. Although He is a consuming fire, we are not consumed. The refining fire of His presence consumes only the dross in our lives, but the gold remains. If we submit to His loving discipline the remaining gold will be polished until we become transparent vessels, able to reflect His glory—the glory of His finished work.

If the Lord has now got your undivided attention, remember—He is the Relentless Pursuer! He will do whatever it takes to capture your heart so that you have only eyes for Him!

Notes:

1 Definition of “intercession” [Webster’s Dictionary]: to come or go between, mediation between conflicting parties with a view to reconciliation, prayer or pleading on behalf of another or others.
2 “anoint” means to rub or smear with oil

A Spirit of Lawlessness

2008-03-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

by Hazel

I painted this watercolor this afternoon to illustrate something I saw in the Spirit about twelve years ago. It was something that I didn't really begin to understand until today.

The Vision

In this vision I saw someone dressed up like Robin Hood, holding his bow and arrow, getting ready to take aim. All of a sudden he pulled back on the bow string, and an arrow went flying through the air beyond my line of vision.

Immediately, a large group of "spectators"who had been watching this "sports" event off to the right began to loudly cheer with seditious laughter as "Robin Hood" hit his target. Having successfully "hit" his intended victim, the marksman reached around to get another arrow out of his bag.

Just as he was about to release the second arrow, I heard the Spirit say, "Lift up the shield of faith!" Again the crowd of "spectators" applauded their "hero" as his second arrow hit its mark again.

I knew by the sound of the ugly laughter that this crowd of "spectators" was not human, but rather a gathering from the hordes of hell. I shuddered as I saw that they were unable to contain their demonic glee and their foul appreciation of seeing another human being fall prey to their trickery and lies.

But I was stumped as to why God was using "Robin Hood" as the archer, and his "merry men" as the hordes from hell in this vision. Although I'm well acquainted with the story of this character in English history, I will briefly share the gist of it in case some readers are not. That way you will get a better grasp of what the Lord may be saying through this word.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood was a man who lived in Nottinghamshire, England. He was discouraged that the forests near the king no longer belonged to the people. King Richard was away at the Crusades and his brother, Prince John, forbid hunting on his land and taxed the poor heavily. Land was stolen from rightful owners. Murders were committed, including Robin's own father.

So he fled to Sherwood Forest, and he and his band of "merry men" vowed to help the less fortunate who were Prince John's and the Sheriff of Nottingham's victims. To survive in the woods they would "relieve" rich travelers of their valuables, and they made suits to blend in with the forest.1

In a nutshell, Robin Hood, stole from the rich to give to the poor. He took the law of the land into his own hands in order to try and right the wrongs of a government with unjust laws.

Misuse of Law

I read an article to day that emphasized the facts that throughout history tyrants have used an extensive legal system to control their people. It has been through the instrumentality of the law that these rulers gained inordinate control over the lives and "loyalty" of their people. They held them in subjection and bondage through threats of punishment or death, and used the law to establish their dictatorship, event to the point of passing additional laws that outlawed opposition parties.

In essence, dictators demand a godlike obedience that not even God requires of his subjects. The irony is that tyrants use the laws of the land to justify their lawless behaviors. In other words, the law, or the power of law, is misused by tyrants to cloak evil behaviors. It is this misuse of the law, to make what is evil appear to be good, that is at the very heart of lawlessness.2

In a similar way the old covenant law, as well as the power of that law to condemn people, has been misused by the church down through the centuries. It is this abuse of the law, to make what is evil appear to be good, that is at the very heart of lawlessness. Since Paul says, "...the secret power of lawlessness is already at work..." doesn't that make legalism a trademark of a lawless spirit?

(To be continued...as we see what the Scriptures have to say about this spirit. You can scroll down to the bottom of this page to see a larger copy of this painting)

Notes:
1. http://www.robinhood.ltd.uk/society/members/Jessica%20Dodson%20and%20Richard%20Baker.html.
2. http://www.scholarscorner.com/eschaton/manlaws.html

Prisoners of the Law

2008-03-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

"...Only in Christ is it (the veil of the old covenant) taken away" ( 2 Corinthians 3:14).

I painted this watercolor painting several days ago to illustrate a scene I had seen in a vision several months ago. Why is this "army" on all fours? Why are they not able to get up, stand, walk and fight?

To find the answers to these questions, read about the vision and its interpretation at the following links:

Vision: http://transformed-by-truth.blogspot.com/2008/03/army-in-disarray.html.

Interpretation: http://transformed-by-truth.blogspot.com/2008/03/army-in-disarray-interpretation.html.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see a larger copy of this painting, "Prisoners of the Law".

I AM will Calm your Sea

2008-02-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

When the situation looked the most impossible to the disciples, that's when Jesus came walking on the water...stepping through the whitecaps
towards them as if the angry sea were mere asphalt. Can you hear His welcome voice as it thundered with power and authority in the midst of that storm?

"It is I... don't be afraid!

Just as Jesus, the great "I AM",calmed the sea that stormy night and brought the disciples safely to the shore, so He comes striding across the turbulent sea of your life. With a voice more powerful than any wind of adversity, He says to you right now:

"I am Yahweh! Don't be afraid! I AM with you! I will calm the sea of your troubled heart. I will go deeper than the deepest ocean and heal the source of your fear and pain."

"I AM the Word by whom all things were made, and My Word will not return to Me void. It will accomplish that which I have purposed in My heart for you, My beloved!"

"Two thousand years ago I would not let the crowds make Me a King, but today I will let you make Me King of your heart. Let Me step into the restless sea of your anxious thoughts and emotions and quiet your spirit with My love."

"Let Me hold you as I sing over you. Let Me lead you as we dance over the whitecaps on this turbulent sea of life together. Let Me bring you safely to the shore on the other side..."
___________________________
After writing this word from His heart this morning I was inspired to paint this water color this afternoon as I thought about Sara, a young friend of mine, who is going through a difficult time in her life right now.

Also see this link:http://art-for-jesus.blogspot.com/2008/03/great-raging-love.html

Vision of the Trees

2008-02-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

by Hazel

About twelve years ago a group of us from the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church I use to attend were on a weekend prayer retreat up at Cedar Falls, because we wanted to hear the Spirit speak more clearly in our lives. So I decided to go out on a solitary walk to listen to what He might want to say to me…

I ended up lying on my back on the floor of an old, broken down and discarded wagon. It was part of the set-up that contributed to the pioneer spirit of Wagon Camp at Cedar Falls. As I stretched out on the weathered floor of the wagon, I was immediately struck with the beauty of a white fir towering above me. Sunlight was pouring down on each individual needle, causing the evergreen to sparkle like glistening dew. The reflection of the soft rays of sunlight made the fir look like it was wearing a crown of diamonds.

Immediately I was reminded of a similar scene I had seen of a white fir in a vision five months earlier on December 15, 1995. The pastor had been preaching on our need to renounce our arrogant spirit of individualism, our spiritual pride and superiority. As he began to pray, I began seeing a series of pictures (back then I had a hard time calling it a “vision”) of stately evergreen trees in a forest…

The Vision

Out of the darkness of the night a pine tree appeared, perfect in symmetry and beautifully decorated with sparkling white lights. The miniature white Christmas lights were clear as crystal and perfectly spaced throughout the tree’s branches. But the many artificial lights only lit up the tree, not the darkness around it. After thirty seconds the pine tree faded and was replaced by a second pine, a little bigger than the first.

The second pine tree that appeared was covered with blue Christmas lights that were evenly spaced, and perfectly placed throughout its branches. Like the first pine tree it had perfect symmetry, but only magnified itself. It gave off no light to the darkness around it. After thirty seconds it too faded, and was replaced by an even bigger pine.

Like the other two pines before it, this third evergreen was also perfect in symmetry and decorated with multicolored lights that were evenly spaced throughout its branches. However, even though each successive tree was bigger and decorated with more lights, each seemed to give off less light. After another thirty seconds this third pine tree also faded and was replaced by a dense forest of artificially lit trees.

Then quite unexpectedly, a long string of unlit multicolored Christmas lights (like the ones I had seen on the last tree pine tree), appeared from the right and began to circle the forest of trees. I saw the long strand of unlit multicolored lights pass before my eyes a couple of times as it bound the forest of trees securely together. Gradually the forest faded from view and its artificial lights disappeared just like I had seen the others do.

Immediately a ray of Light pierced the darkness of the night and revealed a white fir standing with such beauty and grace. Every needle on every branch glistened like the morning dew. Although no artificial lights decorated its branches, it sparkled and shone brighter than all the other trees had done as it beautifully reflected the Source of Light that shone upon it. All of a sudden the tree was bathed in breath taking colors of every kind as a rainbow of promise rested on each needle. Its glory and splendor surpassed the grandeur of a mighty cathedral. As it beautifully reflected the Source of the Light that continued to shine upon it, it illuminated the darkness of the forest around it.

Interpretation

As I continued to lay on the old wagon floor looking up into the trees, meditating on what God was saying through this vision, I noticed that there were a number of trees that were totally dead standing beside living trees. I also noticed that surrounding the white fir that stood in front of me were many dead branches among the living trees that needed to be pruned.

Had these dead trees and branches failed to receive the necessary Son-light? Is that why they had died? I wanted to remove the ugly dead wood because it marred the beauty of the surrounding forest, but I knew that was the job of the Master Pruner. He would eventually separate the dead wood from the living branches. Until then the “dead” and the “living” stood together waiting for the Pruner…

In a similar way God wants to prune the dead wood in our lives. He wants to lop off the dead branches and make room for new growth so that we can continue to grow and flourish as we sink our roots down deep into Him… For apart from Him we have no Life.

As I continued to lay there on the bed of the wagon, God brought the following passage of Scripture to my mind. “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. But now, all of you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment” (Isaiah 50:10-11).

God is saying, “I am the Light. I am the Source of Light. You were created to reflect My light; not to make your own light. Any light that you create will eventually go out in darkness. I am the Light and in Me there is no darkness” (Isaiah 50:10-11).

Later that day after I got home from Cedar Falls the Lord began giving me more Scriptures that seemed to confirm what He had earlier revealed as I lay on the broken down wagon. Just as He confronted ancient Israel with her spiritual pride and idolatry, He is confronting the church today with our spiritual pride and idolatry. “Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars!”Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down” (Zechariah 11:1-2).

"Once you were a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest. You towered on high, your top among the thick foliage... Your branches grew long, spreading because of abundant waters. You were majestic and beautiful because I made you beautiful... Because you became proud of your height and your thick foliage, I handed you over to the ruler of the nations to deal with your wickedness... You are destined for death… “(Ez.31:3-14).

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh…even the whole house of Israel in uncircumcised in heart” (Jeremiah 9:23-26).

Although the Lord was originally confronting unfaithful Jerusalem in this allegory given in Ezekiel 16, He is also confronting spiritual Israel (the church) as He sees that many of us have fallen into the same spiritual condition. “I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels… But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute” (Ezekiel 16:6-15).

Ezekiel goes on to say in the rest of chapter sixteen that Jerusalem preferred strangers to her own Husband because she engaged in "prostitution" with the nations around therby breaking the covenant with the Lord. Although Israel broke the covenant time and time again, the Lord remembered His covenant with Israel and established an everlasting covenant--the new covenant that is built on better promises--God's promises --not ours.

Not Connected to the Source

Several years later I began to understand more fully that the only way we can remain faithful to our Husband and not run after other lovers is if we stay connected to Him--the True Vine. We must stay connected to the Source of Love, Jesus Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit (Sap) if we are going to “stand firm” and not be among those whose “love grows cold”.

In the church I believe there are two kinds of branches holding on to the True Vine. One kind of branch is on the Vine but not tapped into the Source (the Holy Spirit), and is therefore cut off because it bears no fruit. The other kind of branch is connected to the Source, and is therefore pruned so that it will bear even more fruit.

A professed Christian who is on the Vine, but not connected to the Vine (the Holy Spirit Sap) is weak and unable to bear fruit. Remember the fig tree that Jesus cursed? It had leaves but no fruit. That was because the sap went straight to the leaves. The sap was not supposed to go to the leaves but to the fruit. Remember we’re not called to produce fruit—we’re called to bear fruit? We’re called to reflect Him!

A branch only gets its strength from being connected to the Sap in the Vine. When we receive our strength and nourishment from Him alone there’s no effort in “abiding”—in “resting” in Him. In that way we show ourselves to be His disciples when the Sap is running through us, because then as we are pruned by Him we will bear much fruit that will last.

Trees Already Dead

Seven years ago as I stood with the rest of the congregation in a particular church for closing prayer, I was slain in the Spirit as God brought upon me His heart of travailing intercession for those who were superficially attached to the Vine, but not connected to the Source.

As I lay on the floor of the church I saw what I had failed to see seven years earlier regarding the pine trees in this vision. The trees that I had seen artificially decorated with man’s light were already dead. As God “showed me” the vision of the pine trees for the second time I realized that the artificial lights were actually exposing the dead branches, but I had failed to see that earlier. My attention had been focused on the perfect form and shape of the trees, along with the perfect placement of artificial lighting instead of recognizing the true condition of the “trees”.

I became overcome with travailing intercession for the church as I realized with greater clarity what God is saying to us through this vision. Those who are on the Vine, but not connected to the Sap in the Vine are eventually going to be cut off from Him, because they are already dead. Uncontrollable weeping and wailing overcame me as I found myself interceding and repenting for those who were physically alive but spiritually dead—for those who have a profession of godliness, but have no Holy Spirit power in their lives.

But nothing is impossible with God! He can make dead bones live! His love can demolish all the idols that we have set up in our hearts to replace Him! He’s calling us now to repent of our pride and idolatry, and turn to Him. Only when we turn to Christ is the veil taken away. When we see Him in His beauty, we will be transformed into His likeness, and reflect only Him (1Corinthians 3:16-18).

Forgive us, dear Lord, for what we have done.
We repent of our pride,
We submit to Your Son.
Break the chords of our bondage,
And we will be free.
Bring us back from captivity.
We renounce our own light.
We receive Your fire.
You are our Light,
Our heart's desire.

SOUND THE TRUMPET

~He Opened My Closed Heart~

Failsafe Power

God has a "Yes-face!"

Empowered to Love as God Loves

What God Joined Together at the Cross...

"Please Put Your Words in My Mouth!"

Church Fulfills Promises Made to Israel

“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” Hosea 1:10 (NIV)

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” Romans 9:22-26 (NIV)

“On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.” Amos 9:11 (NKJV)

“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.’” Leviticus 19:2 (NIV)

This is the Day which the Lord has Made!

THE LION OF JUDAH HAS TRIUMPHED!

YES! YOU HAVE RISEN

An Urgent Call to Love our Enemies

The Meaning of "The Package" (Excerpts from "The Naked Truth...)

~Exposing Our Spiritual Blindness~

The Truth is not a Package!

Liberate Yourself from the Package

Hidden Bondage Revealed (An Excerpt from "The Naked Truth: Exposing the Deception of Adventism"

The Naked Truth

Chapter 5: Chosen for Service NOT Privilege (Who are the Israel of God?)

Chapter 9: Our Higher Spiritual Calling (Who are the Israel of God?)

Chapter 8: Children of the Promise (Who are the Israel of God?)

Chapter 7: "Unveiled" in Christ (Who are the Israel of God?)

Chapter 6: Promised "Land" Issue (Who are the Israel of God?)

Chapter 4: Broken for Blessing (Who are the Israel of God?")

Chapter 3: World's Only Innocent Man (Who are the "Israel of God?")

Chapter 2: The Faithfulness of The One (Who are the "Israel of God?")

Chapter 1: Chosen to Bless the World (Who are the "Israel of God?")

Who are the "Israel of God?" (Introduction)

Election Determines History Not Eternal Destiny

The Sun that Melts Wax also Hardens Clay

Accepting God's Goodness

Deliverance from "Correct Theology"

Grace Under Fire

Living in a World Without Grace

The Righteousness that Saves Me

Is the Gospel the Whole Deal?

Conclusion: Putting the Pieces Together (10)

Is our Emphasis on the Gospel or Healing? (9)

Meaning of "Greater Works" Promise (8)

Is the Prosperity Gospel part of the Atonement? (7)

Relationship Between Healing & Suffering (6)

Dual Application of Healing Scriptures (5)

When God says, "No!" (4)

Issue of Faith & Healing (3)

Healing Scriptures (1)

Difference Between Sin and Sickness (2)

Healing and the Atonement: Introduction

He Who Does the Will of My Father

Ears that Hear what the Spirit of Truth is Saying to the Church...

The Lion of Judah has Triumphed!

Midnight Call to Intercession

A Spirit of Lawlessness

Prisoners of the Law

I AM will Calm your Sea

Vision of the Trees

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” Romans 9:22-26 (NIV)