BOUGHT WITH A PRICE

WBS.009

FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

BOUGHT WITH A PRICE

1 Corinthians 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify Elohim in your body, and in your spirit, which are Elohim’s.

For decades, it has been in vogue to ask “What is the Spirit saying to the churches?”  It is true that there have been documentable waves of kindred messages that have swept simultaneously through the churches.  One in particular, I noticed reappearing every five years.  “Repent.”  The churches heard the Spirit speaking a call to repent, and they thought it was a call to take the gospel to the lost.  It wasn’t.  It was a call to repent…for the church to repent.

The reason the church persistently fails to understand the Spirit’s message to repent is due to its degradation of the gospel message.  As we have seen in a prior lesson, the gospel is a call to repent in preparation of the coming Kingdom.  The gospel is a command, not an invitation. The message preached, today, tells the lost, “God loves you.  He gave His Son to die for you.  He wants you to ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to accept His Son as your personal Lord and Savior.”  Even today, I have watched a variety of televised religious broadcasts and every one of them emphasizes that “God loves you.”

This message is not the gospel.  It is also not true.   Today’s gospel says, “God hates the sin but loves the sinner.”  The Scripture says:

Psalm 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

The only book of the New Testament where we actually see the gospel being proclaimed is the Book of Acts; and guess what?  Not once is the word “love” found in the entire Book of Acts.  If proclaiming the love of Elohim is such an integral part of the gospel message to the world, one would expect to find mention of it repeatedly throughout the Book of Acts…but not once is it found there.  The reason we do not see “love” mentioned in this lone history book of the church age, but we find it over 80 times in Paul’s epistles (letters written to disciples), is because it is the children’s bread.  The treasures that belong to the children of Elohim belong to the children of Elohim.  The message to those who are not yet born of Elohim is “repent.” 

Why is this so critical?  When a person enters the “Christian culture” by accepting an invitation to be loved and forgiven by Elohim, and to be promised an eternity with Him, he is given the impression that it is all about him.  It produces a sense of self-importance; and he is given no reason to repent or to cease having confidence in his own flesh.  With this traditional message he is lead to believe he is eternally secure in his heavenly destination; and that his sins are all forgiven past, present and future, that he can never do anything ever again that is not automatically forgiven; he need never obey the Master in any aspect of life.  It would not be unlike my offering to hire you for a job; and telling you that you will always be well-paid, you can never be fired; and you can never be penalized for a poor work product or for how many hours you work, or if you even show up for work at all.  The only thing that would motivate you to do a good job would be your own sense of right and wrong.   My sense of right and wrong in your employment performance would not be the deciding factor.  I would have given all the power to you, to do as you please.

When a person responds to the true gospel, the command to repent, he understands that it is all about Elohim; and that there is nothing within himself upon which to have confidence.  In fact, to respond to the command to repent necessitates the end of self-importance, self-reliance, self-determination, etc. 

1 Corinthians 6:20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify Elohim in your body, and in your spirit, which are Elohim’s.

The contemporary gospel message produces “believers” who are free to do as they please. The true gospel produces “disciples” who know they are no longer their own; they have been purchased by the blood of Yahushua Messiah.  They have acknowledged that they have been the enemies of IAUE, and that they deserved the punishment that was received in their place by Messiah.  Their lives are now the property of the buyer.  If one does not want to lose his life to obey the will of another, he simply refuses to repent and remains the enemy of IAUE.  Alternatively, he can accept the free invitation that is preached by contemporary ministries and become a believer and join the Christian culture.

Repentance does not come easily to a believer.  There is too much doctrinal interference.  Like the illustration above regarding the job without boundaries, Christians must have a reason to do what is right; because what is pleasing to the flesh is more desirable than the sacrifice of obedience to another’s will.  When they believe they are secure in their “salvation,” there must be a powerful motive to overcome the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the pride of live (1 John 2:16).  They often find themselves living a “balanced life.”  They give occasion to sin for awhile; then compensate with spiritual activities until they no longer feel the guilt and conviction of their sins.  This is acceptable living for most Christians; and despite the occasional sermon that contradicts such living, even the ministers live this way.  It is the natural by-product of accepting an invitation, of embracing the Christian culture without genuine repentance.

Disciples are borne of repentance.  Obedience to the Master is their expectation.  The thought of disobedience activates the fear of IAUE, and that fear overrides the desire to disobey.  Disciples understand they have been bought with a price and their lives no longer belong to themselves.  This consciousness of being owned by Elohim must permeate one’s life. 

A question I have asked many Bible study groups through the years illustrates this concept.  I pose the option of two job offers.  One job pays $75,000.00/year in an office with a view.  It comes with vacation time, and medical benefits.  A second job pays $35,000.00/year in a cubicle. It has little vacation time and no benefits.  The question is, “Which job do you take?”  Invariably, everyone chooses the higher paying job.  That is a perfectly acceptable answer for a believer; but it is the wrong answer for a disciple.  A disciple’s answer is, “Whichever job the Master tells me to take.”  When you truly understand that your life is no longer yours to control, you understand that even a job which will “better your life” is not yours to choose independently of the direction of your Master.

I have heard some react almost violently to my explanation of this scenario.  They dispute the idea that Elohim would not want them to have the better job.  It is then that I tell them that the person who will respond to the gospel only from YOU works in the next cubicle in the lesser paying job.  If you take the higher paying job, you essentially condemn the worker at the other job site.  Alternatively, the higher paying job might be for a company that will cease to exist in six months.  You don’t know that, but the Master does.  Additionally, the lower paying job might be in a position that would propel you into a position that exceeds the value of the other job.  The point is, we do not know best how to direct our lives.  We do not have the information that is available to Elohim. 

If we recognize that we have been bought with a price and are no longer our own; we belong to another; we will learn the wisdom of obedience to the Master in ALL things.  This is a fundamental of genuine discipleship.