Tag: Discernment

Spiritual Victory Part 3

As previously noted, here we are looking at Galatians 5, more specifically the contrast between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, which is followed by Paul’s exhortation to walk in the Spirit. Here we will also examine the role of repentance. Our background is that in Romans 6 we were instructed to consider ourselves dead to sin, as a recognition of what our baptism symbolized, and then to present ourselves, our whole being, to God as ‘being alive from the dead.’ We were called to live out our new life in Christ. Galatians 5 lists the types of things we are to consider ourselves dead to and what we are to be alive to, in two lists.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:19–26 (NKJV)

These two contrasting lists are illustrative, and come across as comprehensive. I think we can find any sin we are aware of or have committed falling in or subsumed somewhere in Paul’s list of the ‘works of the flesh.’ In a similar way, what more needs to be seen in our lives to reflect Jesus beyond the list we have of the ‘fruit of the Spirit?’  

Now while it is easy to say that we are to consider ourselves as dead to sin and alive to God, in practice it doesn’t seem to be that easy. This is where repentance comes in. The gateway to salvation is repentance. We may have heard or been told that repent means ‘to turn and go the other way.’ Yet that isn’t actually what John and Jesus were preaching.

4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Mark 1:4 (NKJV)

14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14–15 (NKJV)

The word in Greek means to change our mind not our behaviour. A change in behaviour is the fruit of repentance. John and Jesus were both after a change in behaviour but as the outcome of a changed mind and heart.          

Understanding this brings us full circle back to Romans 6. When we change our mind about how we view and understand what happened at our conversion and the implications, we engage in a corresponding change in behaviour. We need to see the works of the flesh in Galatians 5 as something we no longer are, nor need to participate in. Then as we consider ourselves alive to God our behaviour undergoes a corresponding change and the fruit of the Spirt grows in our lives.

Now, back to repentance. Imagine you are walking East, you realize you are going in the wrong direction and should be headed West. You stop and change direction. Your repentance was the realization that you were going the wrong way and needed to change direction. Changing direction is the fruit of repentance. Now there is an important qualifier. If we change direction from East to West but continue looking back East, longingly or otherwise, we will find ourselves continually being tripped up because we cannot see where we are going. We will apply this more practically.

Imagine that you struggle with bitterness toward someone over a wrong they have committed against you. You realize that it is constantly intruding on your thought life, and that you want to let go of it. So, you get alone with the Lord and repent of holding onto bitterness and pray for the individual as Jesus instructs us (Matthew 5:43-48). However, the negative thoughts keep returning, here is where we need to choose to consider ourselves dead to bitterness and alive to Jesus in this scenario. This is where our feelings begin to change. We begin to feel His peace in our lives, and we may begin to feel love toward the individual who wronged us.     

Now, I am not suggesting this is an easy process. It may be very emotionally painful and it may take a protracted period of time. We may find ourselves looking back and tripping at times. However, the important element is choosing to engage in the process to walk in spiritual victory in our lives. That has been my goal in these posts on spiritual victory, the practical application of scripture to our daily lives. I trust they have been helpful.

Spiritual Victory Part 2

In my last post I highlighted the reality of spiritual warfare and using the example of discouragement pointed out that spiritual victory was found in obeying the scriptural injunction to give thanks in all things to change our feeling state and perspective. Here we will look at a key passage related to spiritual victory.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:12–14 (NKJV)

Here in Romans 6 Paul directs us to not allow sin to reign in our lives, which assumes we are able to live this out. To facilitate our understanding we look at one more passage which is regularly looked at in relation to spiritual victory.

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NKJV)

We begin connecting the dots by looking at a key Greek word.

ὅπλον hoplon; a prim. word; a tool, implement, weapon:—armor(1), instruments(2), weapons(3).[1]

The word ‘weapons’ in 2 Corinthians 10:4 is hoplon, it is also the word used twice in Romans 6:13 and translated as ‘instruments.’ An instrument is a tool we can use. A translators note in my bible at Romans 6:13 points out that ‘instruments’ could also be translated as ‘weapons.’ So Paul could have just as easily written ‘instruments’ in 2 Corinthians 10. Now we can bring some things together.

Let me begin with a crude analogy. A hammer is an instrument that can be used to build a house or be handled as a tool to tear things down or a weapon used to harm. The use is determined by the user. In our case we need to see our bodies as both instruments and weapons of righteousness. This encompasses our thoughts, actions and attitudes.

In Romans 6 Paul’s primary point is that we break the dominion of sin over our lives by presenting our bodies to God is ‘instruments of righteousness.’ This echoes the well-known Romans 12:1-2, which Paul comes to later. However, the injunction in 6:13 also follows on the heels of Paul’s teaching on baptism. We need to see the precedent to achieve the outcome.

Paul focuses on the importance and impact of baptism in Romans 6. After explaining how going into the water is like going into the grave and rising to a new life Paul tells us that in Christ, we are called to consider our old life a thing of the past and leave it in the past. He states it this way.

11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11 (NKJV)

We are to let of the old and focus on the new. We are to see our body as in ‘instrument of righteousness’ set apart for His purposes. This obviously is to impact how we live.

We walk in spiritual victory over temptation and darkness by how we view what He has accomplished in our lives and our identification with His death and resurrection. Over two decades the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Become who you are.” This meant I needed to find my identify in Jesus as a new creation. However, the qualifier is that to live out a new creation identity I need to let go of my identity as an old creation. That is the point of baptism in Romans 6. I leave my old identity, habits and views in the grave and rise to walk in newness of life keeping in step with the Spirit and renew my mind based on His word. We may at times revert to our old identity but our call is to reckon the past as dead and gone and focus on our new life in Christ. This is the path to spiritual victory. As Paul put it elsewhere, particularly in verse 6.

4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Philemon 4–6 (NKJV)

Next week we will look at how to apply this in relation to Galatians 5 and the role of repentance.

[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

Spiritual Victory Part 1

I felt the need to address spiritual warfare as it is a part of our walk with Jesus whether or not we choose to embrace the battle. Knowing that, it is better to be equipped to fight and win, hence the title. I will cover a variety of areas, beginning with a practical approach to combating discouragement as I think it is at times common to all of us. However, first we need a scriptural foundation. Paul describes our battle.

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:12–13 (NKJV)

There are a few things we can see here. The first is that Paul is pointing out that the unseen spiritual realm influences us in the natural realm. He also compared our battle to wrestling, a close contact affair. The battle is happening in and around us, not in some distant place. In addition, while Paul will later in this chapter include prayer as the covering over spiritual warfare, the primary way we fight is by how we live and by wearing the armour Yahweh provides. Unlike some sadly common practices in the body of Christ, spiritual warfare isn’t about railing at the heavens, it is about living a godly life that influences the atmosphere and lives of those around us, prayer and intercession being a part of that life.  

An example of spiritual warfare is found in heeding the verses below. In particular these verses are the antidote to discouragement. As someone once said, our spiritual enemy uses two basic strategies against us, he tries to slow us down, generally through discouragement or a sense of hopelessness or futility, wanting us to give up or give in. The goal being our abandonment of Jesus calling and purpose in our life. The other approach is to push us to go beyond what Jesus is calling us to or to try and hurry His work in our lives. Abraham and Hagar producing Ishmael being a good example of the latter. Now to the verses we can apply to combat discouragement and related feelings.    

20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5:20 (NKJV)

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)

17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)

18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

Paul directs us to have a thankful attitude and practice no matter our circumstances. Ephesians 6:14-18 outline the various pieces of armour and the role of prayer in achieving spiritual victory. When I recognize that I have His righteousness through my conversion, embrace the truth of that and then choose to direct my thinking to thankfulness I am using the armour Paul describes.

To break this down a bit further, have you ever considered the role your thinking has in how you feel. You watch a sad movie and began to feel a bit morose. You watch a comedy and find yourself laughing and feeling better. There is an expression, ‘what you focus on grows.’ This is true of how our thought life influences our emotions. I once listened to a researcher being interviewed who was studying depression. He had his subjects create a composite of the saddest events in their lives, weave them into a single story and then think on these things while their brain activity was monitored. The result, they felt very said and their higher brain functions shut down. He didn’t study the opposite, having research subjects create a composite of the most joyful moments in their lives then dwelling on them but I can predict what would happen in their brains!

If we heed the scriptural injunctions around how we are to function it will lead to change in our lives. Let’s do that.

More to come.

Our Impact

Here I am going to address our impact on not just our culture but our environment. First, I need to lay out the concept of our impact and then connect it to scripture. Early in my career I was introduced to the idea of Systems Theory, more specifically Family Systems Theory, the way events and structures play out in a family setting. Later in some of my studies I came across the history of it and found pieces of it could be traced back to the early Greek thinkers of two millennia ago. The basic idea of Systems Theory is how different components interact and influence one another, whether that be family relationships or the parts of a car engine. My goal here is not a treatise on Systems Theory, rather it is to connect some dots.

A good example to illustrate Systems Theory is to imagine a mobile hanging over a child’s crib. The parts are all connected so that if one part moves it affects all of the other parts of the mobile. No part moves independently because they are all interconnected.   

Now for a dot. I don’t know if you have ever considered our impact on our culture and weather. I think about it from time to time and will explain the connection. First, I remember decades ago listening to John Wimber speak and he referenced the sanctifying presence of godly individuals. He said in one county in California there was a deeply devout and godly man and you could feel the difference in the spiritual atmosphere when you crossed the county line to where he lived. This was different in a good way and Wimber attributed it to this man’s sanctifying influence in and on the area.

In scripture we see this concept, for good and bad. The first example is the fall, seeing that Adam and Eve’s sin affected all of creation. Paul expresses it this way in Romans.

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned Romans 5:12 (NKJV)

19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:19–23 (NKJV)

Their sin, mor specifically Adam’s, affected not just their lives but the cosmos. We see the pattern in Yahweh’s dealings with Israel throughout the Old Testament. Sin brought judgment and destruction, godly behaviour brought blessing. Yahweh expressed it this way. Delineating a clear link between the behaviour of Israel and whether or not there would be blessing on the land.

13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:13–14 (NKJV)

We see the pattern expressed very succinctly in Proverbs.

11 By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 11:11 (NKJV)

34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34 (NKJV)

Seeing this pattern in scripture causes me to reflect on the impact we have on our communities, cultures and nation. This extends from our interactions with our neighbours to natural disasters. I think we need to weigh the impact and influence of our behaviour. Systems Theory is expressed in scripture in terms of impact, as scripture tells us that righteousness exalts and sin corrupts. Just like the effect of one part on all parts of a child’s mobile, there is no private behaviour. Sin and righteousness, private or public have a spiritual impact.

Given that, I pray that we are blessing our city, that our lifestyle of righteousness is affecting our neighbourhood and nation in a godly direction. I pray that through prayer and/or other actions that we moving to end things like abortion and corruption. Our calling is to be salt and light. Salt is a preservative and light drives back darkness. May we be both.

Give Yourself

This past week I had the opportunity to hike in the backcountry in the mountains for the first time this year. Hiking is a reflection opportunity for me and at one point in redirecting my wandering mind to His presence and purpose I was drawn to what Paul wrote to Timothy.

14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 1 Timothy 4:14–15 (NKJV)

6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 2 Timothy 1:6 (NKJV)

 While these words were written to Timothy, something else Paul wrote tells me it applies to our lives as well, in this case it is the correction of the direction of thinking and instruction or training in righteousness, right thinking lead to right actions.

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)

Paul obviously thought that Timothy walking in his gifts and calling was important because he addressed it in both of these short letters to Timothy. Equally important to the growth of His body is us walking in our gifts and callings. Obviously, we first need to know what gifting we carry, then we need to heed Paul’s injunction to Timothy. I am focusing on the latter.

In 1 Timothy Paul highlighted three things we can summarize as follows regarding our gift.

  • Pay attention to what we have been given.
  • Meditate, reflect deeply on the use of the gifts we carry.
  • Gives ourselves fully to seeing the gift(s) exercised.

Then in 2 Timothy Paul directed Timothy to ‘stir up’ his gift. Let’s address that aspect. The ESV translates the phrase as ‘fan into flame.’ I don’t know about you, but I like a wood fire, and we have a wood fireplace in our home. In the winter when the fire begins to die down a poker, appropriately named, can be used to poke the coals and look for ones that are still red hot even if the fire is dying. More wood can then be added and a bellows used to direct air onto the hot coals until the added wood bursts into flame. This is what Paul was communicating to Timothy and by extension us. He said a similar thing to Archippus, highlighting the need to pay attention to his calling.

17 And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.” Colossians 4:17 (NKJV)

When I was a child the Doris Day show was popular. If you have never heard of it don’t worry. The show began with Doris singing a song, ‘que sera sera whatever will be will be.’ It is expressed in first Spanish then English. It was very popular; however, it reflects not faith but fatalism. It is akin to the idea, “If God wants me to do X He will make it happen.” That is not what scripture teaches. Paul is telling us that to fulfill our calling and purpose we need to pay attention, focus on it and develop it.

Now to the practical part, some reflective questions.

  • Do you spend time reflecting on and developing the gifts He has given you?
  • Can you envision yourself doing what He has called you to do?
  • Are you taking practical steps to use your gifts to build up the body?

What will be is what we partner with Him to accomplish. Let’s seek to reflect on and be faithful with what He has called us to.

In closing a song from Brian Doerksen who stepped from time into eternity earlier this week. His music touched generations for decades and this song seems appropriate to our calling to partner with Jesus in stewarding well what He has given to us.

Light The Fire Again | Brian Doerksen feat. Marika Siewert | Live Performance

A Threefold Cord

The heading of course comes from Ecclesiastes.

12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NKJV)

We will look at the implications and importance of a New Testament threefold cord in this hour, but first some context. To paraphrase Amos, I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet (Amos 7:14). However, I can discern the signs of the times. Historically revivals and awakenings have been preceded by very spiritually dry and dark times. We have been in such a season for some time. We have also had many people prophesying a major move of the Spirit for literally decades now. Are we heading into one? There have been encouraging signs, the Asbury revival/move of the Spirit in recent years being one. I don’t know if a move of the Spirit is imminent, I pray it is, however whether it happens in six months or six years our responsibility is to be ready. That I know. If we want to succeed in passing a the final test in a course we don’t open the textbook for the first time the night before the final exam. So, let’s look at an aspect of preparing for a move of the Spirit.

 A regular part of my prayer life is a prayer for apostolic wisdom, prophetic understanding and teaching knowledge, a threefold cord. Let me explain the source and why it is likely important for you as well. Paul presented it this way.

28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:28 (NKJV)

You may have noticed my pairing of wisdom, understanding and knowledge with the apostolic, prophetic and teaching gifts. Whether or not we believe in these offices for the contemporary church, my prayer is for apostolic wisdom, prophetic understanding and teaching knowledge because of how Paul prioritizes them.

 When it comes to the pairing of wisdom, understanding and knowledge, we see it in two places in Proverbs.

19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens; 20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew. Proverbs 3:19–20 (NKJV)

3 Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; 4 By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3–4 (NKJV)

Wisdom is foundational to building, think of the church as His building, not ours. Understanding is necessary to further establish the church, a business undertaking or a marriage/family and knowledge is required to flesh out and sustain an undertaking, again whether it is the church (His people not a building), a business venture or a marriage. Note, these are illustrative not exhaustive and in referencing the need for apostolic wisdom, prophetic understanding and teaching knowledge I am primarily thinking of the church but to use another example, they are equally required for good government.

Let’s break the three down further. I have often said that wisdom is applied knowledge without including understanding. Understanding is comprehending the meaning of knowledge or information. Let’s use a practical illustration. Imagine standing in the middle of an intersection. A large truck is heading straight toward you. Knowledge is knowing or being aware that the truck is coming. Understanding is recognizing the implication, ‘if I don’t move, I will be run over.’ Wisdom, our applied knowledge, is moving.

Now let us use some wisdom and apply this to the church in terms of a move of the Spirit. The term waves or moves of the Spirit has often been used so we will use the wave analogy. If I discern and know that we are in a place of dryness, and have been for some time then I need to consider what that means. From the perspective of teaching, there is a need to recognize that this wave is going to have an impact. Our understanding points us to where the wave is heading to prophetically announce and declare it. Apostolic wisdom would be going to the place where the wave will arrive and gathering the body to meet it.  

If we take this further, imagine the wave has arrived and much is taking place. Teaching knowledge would tell us that things have shifted in the spirit realm and will impact the church. Prophetic understanding would lead us to recognize the need to respond appropriately and apostolic wisdom would be both teaching and directing teachers what to teach and when.

These are some simple examples, and because I believe there is something coming, I want to exercise wisdom and seek His heart for what to study in this season of preparation. Thus, I will continue to pray for apostolic wisdom, prophetic understanding and teaching knowledge as I seek to find my place in what He is doing today. Please join me!

A closing interjection, while we may pray for a move of the Spirit, church history tells us that they are messy, often opposed by the established church and require significant adjustments on our part to follow His leading. Are we ready?

An Indwelling Christ?

Raise your hand if your life feels busy. As a retiree I find it a truism that it is hard to book time with a retired person because they are too busy! We are enculturated to do, not so much to be. In writing this I thought of a line from an old song, ‘Looking for love in all the wrong places.’ In my mind I refocused it to ‘looking for life in all the wrong places.’ Jesus said that for us He is the way, truth and life (John 14:6). Thus, we need to know how to encounter the life that He offers.

This leads me to wonder how aware are we of an indwelling Jesus. In our busy lives we need to experience Him as our source of peace because as Christians we are all called into an ongoing relationship with an indwelling Jesus. This is expressed in a number of places in scripture, some of which I have included below. We start with Ephesians 3.  

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, Ephesians 3:14–20 (NKJV)

Here Paul expresses his desire for the believers in Ephesus. He wants them to;

  • be strengthened in their inner being,
  • experience Christ dwelling in their hearts through their faith in this reality, and
  • be rooted and grounded in love that they may know the fullness of His love.

This desire is also expressed by Paul in 2 Corinthians.  

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV)

Included in 2 Corinthians is more of the how. Internal transformation and a deepened relationship come about through intentionally beholding Him because we encounter “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Practically if we put Ephesians 3 together with 2 Corinthians 3 and 4, we start by praying along with Paul that we would be strengthened in our inner being, then by faith we spend time just focusing the gaze of our heart upon Him. One way we can do this is through time alone in His presence. In the gospels Jesus demonstrated a habit of getting alone to seek His Father’s face. We can also train our hearts to behold Him as we go about our daily activities. Whether that is commuting, having a cup of tea or coffee or sitting in a meeting at work, a portion of our attention can be attuned to His presence. This may just be a subtle awareness but it is something we can train our heart to do if we have faith in what the scriptures say about His indwelling.  

Is this easy? Not in my experience. Is it doable and fruitful? Yes, in my experience. I have succeeded at it to varying degrees over the years and am highlighting it again here because I think we are in a season where we need to better know both His heart and His voice. After all, Jesus is waiting for us to avail ourselves of His indwelling presence and purpose.

A song that expresses our desire to know an indwelling Christ is Eagles Wings by Hillsong. Enter into it.

Bing Videos

How’s Your Heart?

I have written about our hearts on more than one occasion, but due to the importance of the subject it is worth revisiting. After all, according to Paul it is the organ of faith.

10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10 (NKJV)

Paul also noted that our faith is activated by hearing.

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

Thus, what we hear affects our beliefs. Paul isn’t expressing a formula here; he is echoing what Jesus taught. After all, not everyone who heard Paul preach and teach responded with faith. However, his sharing of the gospel opened the door to an expression of faith. The importance of the heart in this process is why Solomon wrote the following.

23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

Due to its importance in our lives we are all called to guard our hearts. The Hebrew word translated as ‘keep’ in the NKJV is translated as ‘watch’ or ‘guard’ in other versions. All three options carry the idea of being alert and paying attention to the condition of our hearts. Jesus pointed to our heart as our ‘vault of values’ our capacity to treasure things, either things of this life or the things of the Spirit.

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 (NKJV)

Which now leads us to the parable of the sower. It is found in Matthew 14, Mark 4 and Luke 8. In Mark 4:13 Jesus in essence said understanding the principle of sowing and reaping was foundational to understanding His other parables. Now we have the parable both given and explained by Jesus so there is no mystery. The seed is God’s word and the soil is the condition of our heart. Luke recorded it this way.

15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. Luke 8:15

Our fruit bearing capacity is tied to the exercise of patience and having a ‘noble and good heart.’

The obvious need is to understand what having a noble and good heart entails. If we look at how people responded to Jesus, we see Nicodemus coming with questions in John 3. He came with honest questions, a noble and good heart. In John 12 we see Mary coming and anointing Jesus with precious perfume and wiping His feet with her hair, a noble and good heart. In Luke 19 we see Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, repenting of his sins in response to Jesus, a noble and good heart. The commonality among the three stories is a willingness to lay down their agendas and ideas and submit to Jesus’ presence.  

For more specific instructions on how to develop and maintain a noble and good heart we have clear instructions in Proverbs 4.

24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. 27 Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:24–27 (NKJV)

Solomon tells us to walk in integrity, speak the truth, keep focused on the right things and pay attention to the general direction of our life and avoid evil. Given that, how’s your heart?

Partakers?

Most of you who read this, and including myself as the writer, have evangelical roots. Our faith is rooted in Western theological traditions. The title is from 2 Peter 1:4. Here we explore the meaning by starting with the passage.

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Peter 1:2–4 (NKJV)

I referenced our evangelical roots as they are distinct from older Eastern Orthodox traditions. They embrace the concept of ‘theosis.’ The word comes from Greek and means deification or becoming ‘godlike.’ The process is described more fully in the article below from my Logos library

Deification. The process of becoming like God, emphasized primarily in Eastern Orthodoxy, as part of Christian salvation and sanctification. The notion of deification (Greek: theosis) finds biblical precedent in 2 Peter 1:4. Some have also seen the concept present in the writings of the apostle Paul (Blackwell 2011, 129). The language of deification was profuse throughout the patristic writings; the concept may even have been taken for granted, as no formal definition was offered until the sixth century (Russell 2004, 1). It is most famously expressed by Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–373): “For he was incarnate that we might be made god” (On the Incarnation 54).

The Eastern Orthodox present theosis as a three stage process. Wikipeadia describe it as follows.

  1. Purgative Way (Katharsis) – purification of mind, body, and soul through repentance, ascetic practices, and moral discipline.
  2. Illuminative Way (Theoria) – spiritual enlightenment and direct experience of God, often cultivated through prayer, contemplation, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Unitive Way (Theosis Proper) – full participation in God’s divine energies, culminating in sanctity and eternal communion with God, especially realized in the resurrection 

I raise this as in recent years more Christians have been moving to Orthodox and similar Roman Catholic beliefs and practices. What is always important to be, no matter who holds or promotes certain beliefs, is whether they align with scripture. To clarify, the teaching on theosis is not that believers become Christ, the Spirit, or the Father but it is that we become ‘godlike.’ To some degree this makes sense in that we receive a new nature at conversion. However, rather than focusing on theosis I will focus on what scripture says and you can decide.

The Greek word that ‘partakers’ is translated from is below.

κοινωνός koinōnos; from 2839; a sharer:—partaker(1), partakers(1), partner(2), partners(2), sharers(4).[1]

If you are familiar with the term koinonia, which we translate as fellowship or communion, you will recognize the similarity because koinonos is the root of koinonia. The idea being that we partake of or participate in something. Peter tells us how we partake in verses 5-7, he says it is through a process of adding virtue (right behaviour to our faith) then knowledge, followed by self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and finally love. Here love is agape, sacrificial other focused love.

Thus, we are told that partaking of the divine nature comes via the knowledge of Jesus, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Now, before we conclude that our growth in our relationship with Jesus is based on our good works. I think we need to shelve that idea. It is based on walking with Him in a deep and meaningful way.

I will explain and encourage you to search the scripture. We are told that we are spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12). At conversion our sprit is born again, we receive Jesus’ nature within (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21). As we continue to walk with Jesus and walk through the process Peter described, our soul (mind, will and emotions) begins to be reshaped into Jesus’ image. A process known as sanctification. Which is what Peter says is partaking of the divine nature. We draw closer to Him and begin to know Him in a deeper way. Our minds are renewed as we submit our wills to His as revealed in scripture (Romans 12:1-12).

I think another part of this process, in addition to submitting to scripture, is through spending time with Jesus based on 2 Corinthians 3:18 – beholding Jesus. We do this by simply sitting with Him, by faith beholding Him and worshipping Him.

In doing so we do in fact partake of the divine nature. Not by becoming godlike but by being changed in the presence of a holy God.

[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

The Place of Authority

Here we will briefly examine the role of gates in relation to authority in Israel’s history and the actions in Matthew 16 leading up to the Transfiguration and the significance of Jesus statement in Matthew 16. Jesus said that He only did the things He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). In Matthew 16 the Father said it was time, so Jesus asked His famous question of the apostles, “But who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15) The timing was connected to geography, they were in northern Israel near Mount Hermon in the region of Caesarea Phillipi, known as Bashan in earlier times. In Moses’ day it was ruled by one of the giants, Og, king of Bashan, Moses defeated Og and his tribe and it became the territory of Manasseh (Numbers 21:33 – 35, Deuteronomy 3:1 – 7, 11, Joshua 13:11 – 12). Mount Hermon was the place where it was historically taught in Israel that the fallen elohim descended from the heavenly realm, took on human flesh, took human wives and produced the giants as offspring (see Genesis 6:1-4). Genesis 6:4 refers to giants being in the land in that time period and afterward. These fallen beings and their offspring so corrupted humanity that is lead to the flood of Noah’s day.

With that background we look at what Jesus said to Peter.

18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18 (NKJV)

As a step in going deeper we take a look at three keywords in this statement, gates, prevail, and church. In Greek the word gates is simply a reference to a gate. The word prevail is a bit more interesting in Greek.

κατισχύω katischuō; from 2596 and 2480; to overpower:—have strength(1), overpower(1), prevail(1).[1]

Thus, we could say the gates of Hades shall not overpower or have strength against the church, which we will define shortly. Yet gates are not active things, they are points of access, which means we need to dig a little deeper into what the term gates historically refers to by looking at OT examples, the cultural framework for the statements Jesus made. There are two below (see also Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

1 Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there; and behold, the close relative of whom Boaz had spoken came by. So Boaz said, “Come aside, friend, sit down here.” So he came aside and sat down. 2 And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, “Sit down here.” So they sat down. Ruth 4:1–2 (NKJV)

23 Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. Proverbs 31:23 (NKJV)

The city gates were the courthouse of the day where legal transactions took place and matters were adjudicated. In essence the city gates were the authority structures. Once we see this, we can read Matthew 16 a little differently. Jesus went into enemy territory, the centre of ancient rebellion even before Israel existed as a nation, stood at the temple in the area known as The Gate of Hades/Hell and made a pronouncement that His followers would have heard as, “The authority structures of Hades shall not prevail against the church.”

This allows us to make sense of the passage and then act accordingly. First though we look at the word church. This word is critical as it has become popular in charismatic circles to refer to the church by the Greek term ekklesia. Which is fine if it is understood. The problem comes in with how it is often referenced as reflected in The Passion version of the bible. I have deliberately not used the word ‘translation’ as it isn’t. It is frequently an offering of one person’s opinion. Here is the best example, Matthew 16:18 in this version.

I give you the name Peter, a stone. And this rock will be the bedrock foundation on which I will build my church – my legislative assembly, and the power of death will not be able to overpower it!

Notice that this version refers to the church as a ‘legislative assembly’ and that is how many in the charismatic community view the church, as a legislative assembly uttering and enforcing decrees on the Lord’s behalf. The problem is that the idea of a legislative assembly is one aspect of the word. As we see below.  

The understanding of ekklēsia as a secular term of classical Greek is in part linked to its etymology. It is from ek (1523), “from, out from,” and kaleō (2535), “call”; thus the verb ekkaleō meant “to call out, to summon” (by a herald). The noun, therefore, means the resulting “assembly,” “congregation,” or “those summoned.” Normally this summoning was of people, and it was often for political or governmental functions such as a legislative “assembly” or any “assembly of the common people, populus” (Liddell-Scott; Schmidt, “ekklēsia,” Kittel, 3:513; Coenen, “Church,” Colin Brown, 1:291–307).[2]

When we look at the gospels John the Baptist, and Jesus in His earthly ministry, were heralding or calling out people to assemble with a purpose and calling. The subsequent believers who shared the gospel were doing the same thing. That purpose and calling, the reason for the assembly, is most clearly seen in Matthew 28:18-20, The Great Commission. Whenever and wherever the gospel is preached the church is being called to live the gospel and disciple others to do the same.  

Now back to what Jesus meant in Matthew 16. Jesus in essence was saying that the church, the people He would gather, would have spiritual authority over the authority structures of the spiritual opposition against them. Paul understood this, which is why he wrote the following.

6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Corinthians 2:6–8 (NKJV)

While it was religious and political authority structures that carried out Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus had led them into a trap and set them up for failure, which is Paul’s point. The principalities and powers Paul addresses in Ephesians in his teaching on spiritual warfare were the rulers of this age he referenced in 1 Corinthians 2. Their defeat by Jesus is what enables us to use the spiritual authority He has given us (Matthew 28:18-20) to preach the gospel and set the captives free. The authority structures of hell will never defeat the church. We carry His authority and are commissioned as He was to destroy the works of the devil (Acts 10:36-38).

The issue of authority is important because our use of it is tied to whether or not we believe we have it. I have read more than one account of people involved in witchcraft or the occult who later became Christians and stated that prior to their conversion they could see the authority that Christians carried but didn’t seem to be aware of. The awareness of authority is crucial for our operating in it. I recall a time many decades ago when I was pondering whether or not I had any spiritual authority. Later that evening an older lady (likely younger than I am now!) who had a prophetic/intercessory gifting called me at home and in the course of our conversation suddenly said, without any mention of the issue on my part, “Randy, you have the authority!”  

Thus, I say to you, as a believer, “You have the authority!’ So, let’s walk in the authority He has given knowing that our ultimate victory is assured. Let’s pray and proclaim the truth of the gospel. We may lose some skirmishes in the battle but if we do we need to adjust our armour and get back in the fight and be found faithful knowing the final outcome is assured for us, the called-out ones, His church.  

[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

[2] Thoralf Gilbrant, “Ἐκκλησία,” in The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary, The Complete Biblical Library (WORDsearch, 1991).