FUNDAMENTALS
OF DISCIPLESHIP
Psalm 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
So panteth my soul after thee, O Elohim.
2 My
soul thirsteth for Elohim, for the living El: When shall I come and appear
before Elohim?
Last week’s post ended with this
comment:
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Make
no mistake about this. Christianity is a
religion. It has its own culture. It has its own rituals and traditions. It has its own standards of behavior expected
of its adherents. As long as what others
can see and observe in your life complies with these rituals, traditions and
standards, you are free to maintain as dark and secret a life as you want. You will be loved and accepted as a good
Christian; and no one will be the wiser.
You just cannot afford to be “found out,” or your ruse will be ended. If the
darkness in your life is exposed in an uncontrolled way, you will most likely
be rejected by the masses and never again fit in with the congregation. Christians have never really learned how to
deal with the revelation of blatant sin in the life of one of their own;
because the continued presence in the congregation of such a member threatens
the exposure of everyone’s darkness. It threatens the unwritten “don’t ask, don’t
tell” policy in the church; and that is unacceptable.
The
Scripture commands us to exhort one another daily, while it is still called
today, lest any should become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13);
but most Christians would consider it an insult to be asked by anyone if they
are concealing darkness in their life; or how they have been dealing with
temptation in their life, or if they have any specific repetitive sins in their
life. That is just no one else’s
business. Their mindset is: “I have
prayed “the magic prayer;” I have taken my place in the congregation; I pay my
tithes and offerings and have attended services on a regular basis; so I have a
right to be respected and to be left alone and my life unmeddled-with by
others, especially by people I do not know well.”
This
is by no means an exaggerated illustration of life within Christianity. This is the norm. It is reinforced with every single “worship”
service. Each member gets out of the
service what they put into it, insuring that their presence and participation
is “all about me.” Everyone leaves the
service either satisfied or dissatisfied or just numb; but no one leaves wondering
if IAUE has been served at all.
It
is imperative for one who would be a disciple of Yahushua Messiah to break free
of this religious culture, to be delivered of this church-going mentality. Real life is not taking place there. Cards are being punched as one’s sense of
obligated activity is being satisfied.
Before the Sunday service draws to a close, one is already contemplating
lunch, what needs to be accomplished that afternoon, what friends you might
want to spend time with, what football games are going to be on
television. Where are the thoughts for
IAUE?
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of Elohim:
Last
week I challenged the reader to determine if they are truly in the faith, or
just in a religious culture. This was not
a precursor to challenging the legitimacy of the Christian religion,
today. It was to awaken us to the
reality of the focus of our spiritual activity.
Is it selfish, or is it in humble obedience to the will of IAUE. We are saved through faith; but what is
faith?
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
This
is a very popular verse in Scripture that most can quote; but seldom does
anyone actually examine what it says.
Faith is the substance of things “hoped for.” What does it mean to hope for something? The essential element of all hope is “desire,” and the second is “the absolute
expectation of that desire to be realized.”
Romans
8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not
hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience
wait for it.
Once
again, it is important for us to sever from our mindset the religious meaning
of salvation. Being saved does not mean “going
to Heaven when you die.” Salvation is
deliverance from all that hinders us from being able to do the will of IAUE. With that in mind, there first must be a
desire to do the will of IAUE, otherwise what would be the purpose of having
faith in Yahushua Messiah? Whatever that
purpose might be, it would be utterly selfish.
Christianity
would have us think that Yahushua was born, lived and died, and rose again to
forgive men of their sins; and that being forgiven we would all become one
great big family of Elohim and enjoy His presence for eternity. There are many problems with this idea; but
the fundamental problem is that because of the death and resurrection of
Messiah, all men HAVE been forgiven their sins. The gospel message is not one of convincing
people to ask Messiah to forgive them.
They already ARE forgiven. So,
what is it they are NOT already? They
are NOT already living for the unhindered performance of the will of IAUE in
their lives; because doing that without the grace of IAUE being provided is
impossible to them.
So,
here we have it in a nutshell. We are
saved by grace THROUGH faith. Grace is
the power that IAUE gives to us that enables us to do His will. We receive His grace as a direct response to
our faith in Yahushua. Faith in Yahushua
is not just believing in what he did for us; it is an earnest desire with
absolute expectation that what he did for us will bring us into fellowship with
IAUE in such a way that we may receive His grace and thus be able to do His
will; because that is the longing or our heart.
Can
one say he has faith in Messiah if he has no interest in doing the will of
IAUE? Can one truly say he has faith in
Messiah when he repeatedly chooses disobedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit
in deference to his own will? Can one
really believe he has genuine faith in Messiah if he walks among the brethren
while living in secret sin? The proof is
in the pudding.
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is
dead, so faith without works is dead also.
If
a man’s spirit is within his body, the body is animated. If the spirit is no longer in the body, the
body is dead. In like manner, if a
person has faith, he will be obedient
to the will of IAUE. If a person is not obeying
the will of IAUE, that person does not have faith. Where faith exists, grace is given. Where grace is given, obedience to the will
of IAUE abounds. One cannot have faith
and walk in disobedience. One cannot be
in the faith and live for his/her own will.
We
would do well to contemplate the ramifications of this. Consider the selfish choices we make every
day. Consider the arguments and
disagreements that “believers” have with their spouses. Consider the contentions between so-called brothers
and sisters in Messiah; and the difficulty of some to forgive people who have
wronged them? All such living focuses on
self and the advancement of their own will.
Where is the desire to do the will of IAUE, instead of their own will?
Psalm
42:1 As the hart panteth after the water books,
So panteth my soul after thee, O Elohim.
2 My
soul thirsteth for Elohim, for the living El: When shall I come and appear
before Elohim?
King
David’s son, Absalom, had worked long and hard to garner the affection of the
people of Israel; and on a ruse, received his father’s permission to go to
Hebron. Once in Hebron, Absalom had
shouts go up throughout the twelve tribes of Isreal, “Absalom reigns as king in
Hebron.” Fearing his own son’s attack,
David and his men fled Jerusalem, taking the Ark of the Covenant with them; but
not long after leaving the city, David instructed the Levites to return the Ark
to the temple in Jerusalem; because that is where it belonged. While in his self-imposed exile from
Jerusalem, David pens the 42nd Psalm. “As the hart
panteth after the water books, So panteth my soul after thee, O Elohim.” His desire for the presence of IAUE was
great. He could not bear being away from the temple of IAUE for so long. He illustrated it as a parched deer that
longed for water to quench its thirst.
Strength wanes and life fades as one longs for that one simple drink of
water that could restore vitality to the body.
The presence of IAUE was that one simple drink to David.
David
desired IAUE. Do we? If we do not; then our faith is not
faith. It is just our religion.
Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance
of the will of IAUE.
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