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SUPPLEMENTARY KEYS
21.THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
22.FAITH AND BELIEVING
23.WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
24.UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL
25.A WORD TO LEADERS
21.THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
Through the course of my addressing the new covenant, it should be evident that to become a follower of Jesus Christ, there is a price to pay. Now no amount of money can buy one salvation. Yet there is indeed a cost. That cost is your life. Everything! Your money, your possessions, your work, your reputation, your ambitions, your accomplishments, your prospects, your family, your self-governance, and your life - all surrendered to Him.
To follow Christ, you must forsake all. There is no bargaining, no negotiating, no deals. When you commit your life to Christ, you are effectively signing everything you have, you are, or ever hope to have or be, over to God Almighty. And He is free, with your full permission, to do with those things whatever He pleases; even if it means taking them away from this life permanently.
And God will not account to you for what He chooses to do with these things. Prior to committing your life to Him and entering into this agreement, He gives you no indication whatsoever of what He will do. Everything is on the altar of sacrifice and you must expect nothing returned.
Why is this price so high? Does God really expect us to give it all up, to forsake everything? Yes He does, without reservation! And He does so, on the basis of what He paid for us. God brings to the new covenant relationship His only Son, Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2 conveys part of the price God paid to redeem us, but the depth of His sacrifice is far more than we will probably ever comprehend in this life. If God makes such a costly sacrifice for the sake of establishing a new covenant with us, our contribution, being that we give our all, is but a token by comparison. In monetary terms it would be something like God putting in $100Billion and we put in $100.
When we have enjoyed the faithful blessings of God over many years, reaping the incomparable benefits relationship with Him brings, it is so easy to appreciate that we have paid but a pittance for such rich reward. Yet on the other side of salvation, there is no appreciation. All we are faced with is the stark reality, that this God whom we really do not know, demands we forsake everything for Jesus. We may as well be giving over our life to death. And this is true.
So what is it that is necessary to help people make this sacrifice up front? The answer lies in the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God. God knows that very few people would be prepared to forsake all on the basis of a blind punt.
We are naïve if we expect unregenerate man, many of whom in this day and age don't even believe a God exists, let alone acknowledge Him as a good and gracious benefactor, to forsake all to follow Jesus. We owe it to God to do justice to His cause. It is our duty, yes our responsibility, to fully preach the great and wonderful kingdom of God to every creature.
Tragically, we have not done that. We have preached a gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ without having preached the gospel of the kingdom; but much worse, we have reprehensibly diluted that message. We have failed to even do that well. Perhaps the motive for such a weak message has been more to get our pews filled and our coffers overflowing, than lost souls saved, but I'll let God be the judge of that.
Now as wonderful as the provision of Jesus is, it is conditional upon forsaking all. Just telling people they will go to hell if they reject Christ but go to heaven if they receive Him is not sufficient. In fact I believe a "repent or perish" message does not reflect the heart of God, and I believe He is often grieved at our deficiency in conveying Him to the lost of this world. We are the ones who should repent, at failing to preach the message God so desires we convey.
What then is the gospel of the kingdom of God? If we are to preach a message on the kingdom that will move a man to forsake all that he has to follow Christ, then we had better get the message right.
The answer is found, where all answers to what we should do and be is found, and that is in Jesus Christ. He is the consummate example in everything. So it is pretty obvious really.
Firstly, we should be doing what He did. Mat 9:35 "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." In 1Cor 2:4-5 Paul says, "And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." Also in Acts 14:3 we read, "Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands." Finally in Mark 16:20 we see, "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen."
I have concluded that where-ever the gospel is preached, there must be the power of the Spirit confirming the word and bearing witness - typically with signs and wonders. Perhaps if such signs do not accompany the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, the message (or the messenger) may not be approved of God. Without His endorsement, we have no real way of knowing.
Signs and wonders appear mandatory whenever the gospel is preached. Why? Because they demonstrate the mercy and love, of a good, gracious, and compassionate, all-powerful God.
The minimum is healing. Healing, above all else, manifestly demonstrates God's unconditional love. He often heals those undeserving of such mercy. Of course no-one is deserving of healing - we are only deserving of judgement and condemnation for all our wicked ways. But God's grace is poured out in mercy and power to clearly demonstrate to all that His kingdom is worthy of our sacrifice of all.
Deliverance is also mandatory. In Mat 10:7-8 Jesus commanded His disciples to go, saying, "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Because raising the dead is not included in other reports of his commissioning, we may be able to reserve our decision on whether this is mandatory where-ever the gospel is preached. But if there are not the other accompanying signs of healing and deliverance, as a minimum, then we cannot be confident God is with the preacher or his message. I wonder if he even has the right to be speaking.
Why are these signs and wonders so essential? Because, as I have said, they not only convey the existence of a mighty God in heaven, but they manifestly demonstrate He is a God of mercy, and power, and goodness. They also confirm that the word concerning Jesus is true, because He is validating it with the signs, wonders, and miracles. And above all this, it demonstrates that the kingdom of God is worthy of our forsaking all.
Furthermore, good preaching will typically include a proclamation of the impending wrath of God in judgement against all wickedness. Generally, I am not comfortable with predominantly "turn or burn" and "repent or perish" messages - the sort designed to invoke fear and/or guilt into the hearer. This is not because they are not valid - it is just that God never manipulates, coerces, blackmails, or bribes anyone into His kingdom. Fear as a primary focus for saving the lost is not a good approach. Sure, every unbeliever made aware of their sinful state and their just impending judgement and punishment will experience guilt and fear, it is just these ought not to be the primary focus in preaching the kingdom of God - they are but secondary factors in a gospel message and must always be balanced with God's mercy and love.
I believe an integral facet of any sound gospel message is that the hearer understand Jesus is their only means of escaping an inevitable and certain judgement for their sins. It is imperative however that the primary focus of the gospel message is the love and mercy of God - and of course Jesus' provision for their escape from judgement is an evidence of this manifest love and mercy.
Among His parables, Jesus likened the kingdom of God to a treasure hidden in a field and also to a pearl of great price. Such were the obvious value of these treasures, each of the finders, went and sold all that they had to purchase them. Unless we are able to convey in our preaching of the kingdom, the incomparable and immense value of the kingdom of God, we are unlikely to find much willingness from our hearers, to forsake all.
I am convinced, that many problems in the church of Jesus Christ today, are rooted in an inordinate array of pathetic preaching of inadequate messages. This is because we have not obeyed the Lord in the preaching of His full gospel of the kingdom.
We seldom see the Lord working with those who preach, confirming the word and bearing witness with signs and wonders. So what do we do? Rather than humble ourselves and seek God for a remedy and solution, we continue in presumption. This is understandable in the context of the Great Commission, given our mandate to proclaim the gospel, but any lack of God bearing witness with signs and wonders, has to be a pretty big caution point!
Because the demands of Christ are so great, we often feel a need to make concessions to get any response. So we tend to avoid conveying the true cost. We speak of carnal things not spiritual things, and how God would seem to do anything if they would just believe in Him. We fudge and we water-down, we rely on sentimentality and niceness, all PC, and we get weak converts.
The church is full of weak converts who have no concept of the price they need to pay to be a true child of God, and so many of them are not. God is an all or nothing God. In His grace I have seen how He receives these weak converts, but He will not compromise His covenant, and so without the full agreement from our side, He cannot fulfill His side. Consequently, all that I have related about God's commitment, under the new covenant, to "cause us to walk in His statutes", will have no effect on someone who has not forsaken all.
And who is to blame?...
22.FAITH AND BELIEVING
If one considers what the most important thing about our desire to know and relate to God is, I think it must be faith. Faith is something you acquire as a result of believing. In scripture, they are both part of the same Greek word, where faith is the root of believe. Therefore, to have faith is to believe.
Interestingly enough, both words have little part to play in the Old Testament. Faith is only mentioned twice while believe (together with its associated derivatives), is employed on less than 50 occasions. By contrast, believe is found in the gospel of John alone, about the same number of times it is found in the whole of the Old Testament. Both words are used prolifically throughout the New Testament writings.
What this indicates is that to believe and have faith is far more relevant to new covenant practice than it is to old covenant practice.
Conversely, the word obey (and its derivatives) are mentioned at least three times as often in the Old Testament writings as they are in the New Testament writings.
Do not mistake my point. To have faith has always been important, and God has looked for faith in man from the Creation. Hebrews chapter 11 gives a lengthy discourse relating the great faith of many Old Testament characters. The new covenant, unlike the old covenant, is open to people from all nations, tribes, and tongues. This is established on the faith of Abraham. His faith is one of the foundations of the new covenant.
Similarly, obedience has always been fundamental in any relationship with God, for both Old and New Testament characters. The objective of both covenants is obedience, and it is central to any relationship with God.
The point I do make, is that old covenant is primarily worked out in obedience to a set of laws, while new covenant is primarily worked out in faith, leading to obedience by grace. You cannot enter into new covenant relationship with God without faith. Heb 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." If we take faith away from the new covenant, we have nothing. So we see how critical it is to believe.
In terms of living new covenant faith, we must believe. Believe that through regeneration (made available to us through Christ alone), we receive a new heart, a new spirit, the Holy Spirit, and that God will write His laws on our hearts and put them in our minds and cause us to walk in His statutes and to keep His judgements and do them. All these things are received by grace, and appropriated through faith. No faith, no happen!
The implications are humongous. It is all very well having the knowledge of new covenant and how it is supposed to work, but we must believe it. We must believe it and apply it by faith before we will ever experience its benefits. We cannot "try" it out first - give it a test run to see if it works. Unless we are fully persuaded that what God has said in His word is true, and unless we are fully prepared to pay the price (to forsake all,) and to embrace it believing unquestionably that it is true, it will just not work.
I am convinced that most of what does not happen in the church of Jesus Christ as it should happen, is not because God is withholding such things because of our sin. No, the reason it is not happening, and we are not experiencing things the way God purposed and provided for, is because of our unbelief...
23.WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
New covenant faith and practice is all about life in the Spirit. New covenant life is the fulfillment of the Promise of the Father. His promise was: "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements and do them." This miraculous provision of God for His people comes through Jesus Christ following regeneration.
Regeneration (being born again) provides the new heart and renewed spirit that David cried out for in Psalm 51. Jesus' death on the cross of Calvary, simultaneously crucified the old man (the corrupt sinful life of Adam). Therefore, through our faith in Jesus' death, the grace of God enabled the Holy Spirit to birth in us a new life - the resurrected life of Jesus, creating in us a new man. The Holy Spirit is then also given, to empower us to live in the victory of the new man.
In Christendom today, we have such a hotchpotch of experience, it becomes very difficult to sort it all out. I can only speak from what 'should be', regarding faith and salvation. I cannot address what applies for someone who has not been baptized, or who cannot be sure if they are actually born again, or doesn't understand the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or any one of a number of anomalies.
I write concerning matters of the Holy Spirit from the following position: A person has been drawn by the Father and has been fully persuaded that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be. The person accepts that Jesus Christ is the only means to reconciliation with God. This person has acknowledged, desired, accepted, and committed to believing on Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. They have willingly forsaken all, laying down even their own life, confessed their sinful, helpless state, and cried out to God to save them. God, by the power of His Spirit, has regenerated them, and they have willingly been water baptized. In response to this commitment and obedience, God has baptized them with the Holy Spirit, who now dwells within them. They have become a genuine follower and disciple of Jesus Christ, a true child of God. They know within their heart God has accepted them and saved them. They know the joy of forgiven sin and the grace of God in their heart.
Now to the purpose and practice of being led by the Holy Spirit...
COPYRIGHT: This book and all excerpts are the sole copyright of author Grant Bowater. No reproductions for any purpose may be made without the prior permission of the author obtained in writing.