FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
RENEWING
THE MIND – VIII
THE
GOSPEL - 6
…..
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of IAUE.
Today, we begin our
6th lesson regarding “the gospel.”
Remember that the larger picture is that we are studying “renewing the
mind.” We must learn to think with the
thoughts of IAUE in order to understand and know His will for our lives; because
as living sacrifices THAT is what we are dedicated to perform. We must eradicate wrong thinking and “programs”
that have been written into our minds and heart in order to be delivered from a
carnal mind unto a spiritual mind wherein is life and peace (Rom 8:6). The gospel is the beginning point because the message to which we
responded when we “came to Messiah” is responsible for our foundational thought
processes. Most of us came to Messiah through
a false message; therefore the core of almost everything we have come to
believe is corrupt. This readily
explains why so many believers live joyless and powerless lives, constantly
succumbing to temptation and selfish ways.
That kind of life is not the heritage of the saints of IAUE. It is the consequence of a carnal mind.
Over the past five
lessons we have discovered that the “gospel” was in essence the joyous
announcement (the “good news”) that Messiah has finally appeared in fulfilment
of thousands of years of prophetic promises.
We saw in last week’s lesson that it was necessary also to declare that
the Scriptures confirm that Messiah had to die to pay the penalty required for
the sins of the world and to rise again the third day. Thus, the resurrection of Messiah is an indispensable
part of the good news.
1 Corinthians 15:17 And if
Messiah be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
We have also seen
that the Scriptures make it clear that when the good news is announced the
authority of the message should be confirmed by signs and wonders, healing the
sick and casting out demons. The Scriptures stated that by these miracles you
would be able to identify the Messiah; and they are what Yahushua empowered his
disciples to do whenever they went out to proclaim the good news. Where these evidences accompany the good news,
people repent and bow the knee to Yahushua Messiah as their Master. When the good news is proclaimed and there
are no signs and wonders accompanying the message, people are not as quick to repent
and embrace Yahushua as Messiah. (A study of the book of Acts is very revealing
in this point. Where the
apostles/disciples “reasoned” with their audiences, their message was generally
rejected and the preachers of the gospel were mocked. Where a miracle was performed, multitudes responded
to the good news.) Paul explained the
difference in this experience to the Corinthian disciples.
1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the
wisdom of men, but in the power of IAUE.
His commitment to
this format of preaching the gospel marked his ministry.
Romans 15:19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of IAUE; so that from
Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel
of Messiah.
What I want to
address now is the difference between “the gospel” and “the children’s bread.”
Mark 9:25 For a certain woman, whose
young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his
feet:
26 The woman was a Greek, a
Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the demon
out of her daughter.
27 But Yahushua said unto her,
Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's
bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28 And
she answered and said unto him, Yes, Master: yet the dogs under the table eat
of the children's crumbs.
29 And he said unto her, For this
saying go thy way; the demon is gone out of thy daughter.
30 And when she was come to her
house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.
If you have been
reading this blog from the beginning, you will remember the distinction made
between the “epistle-based” gospel, and the gospel as preached in the book of
Acts. Today, Christendom draws its “gospel
message” from the epistles of Paul…largely from the books of Romans and
Galatians. This has resulted in
preachers proclaiming to the lost the wonderful things that will be theirs if
they should just receive the free gift that Yahushua is offering to them. Their message, more often than not, is a
loving invitation to “accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.” They promise them that all their sins will be
forgiven (past, present and future) and they will have a wonderful reservation
in Heaven to live in peaceful bliss for all eternity.
The epistles were
written to the churches and to specific individuals who had already responded
positively to the good news. The
epistles were not letters for the lost to read.
All of the books of the New Testament that are placed after the book of
Acts were written to believers. They are the “children’s bread.” The content of those books are not intended
for the eyes and ears of those who still reject Yahushua as the Messiah.
Virtually nothing
that comprises contemporary Christianity’s “gospel” message is found in the
book of Acts. Men do not receive
forgiveness of their sins when they embrace Messiah. Messiah’s death has already paid for their
forgiveness. IAUE is no longer imputing
trespasses against mankind. The
sin-issue has been obliterated in Messiah whether a person wants it or not. Where the penalty has been paid, the offense
no longer is considered.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the
truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he
will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of
sin, because they believe not on me;
The Holy Spirit is
not calling men today to repent of their sins.
He is “reproving” them (elegcho:
convicting to the point of shame) of one sin, only…that of not believing that
Yahushua is the Messiah. The Holy Spirit
works with the preaching of the good news to convince men that Yahushua is the
Messiah, and bringing shame upon them if they reject the good news. (I, for
one, would not want to stand before the judgment of IAUE with only one thing on
my resume…that I rejected His son.)
Nowhere in the book
of Acts is it even suggested that a person will go to heaven if they accept Messiah.
Nowhere in the book
of Acts is the good news declared as an invitation that one may accept or
reject.
Nowhere in the book
of Acts is an appeal made to those who are undecided about responding to the
good news. (Paul did meet in synagogues for repeat
visits in order to work through the Scriptures to demonstrate to the Jews that Yahushua
was the Messiah; but not as a repeated appeal for his fellow Hebrews to accept
an invitation to accept a free gift. He
endeavored to shine light upon their understanding of the Scriptures regarding
the need for Messiah to suffer and die and rise again. Without that understanding, no Jew could
embrace Yahushua as Messiah. Paul later
realized that a blindness had been placed upon the Hebrews until “the times of
the Gentiles had been fulfilled.”)
Nowhere in the book
of Acts is Yahushua ever presented to be deity. Today, preachers spin a fairy
tale of how “God loved man so much that He came in the form of a man to die for
them to forgive them of their sins.”
This message is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures; and especially
not in the book of Acts. The most important sermon in the history of the world
was the first sermon preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost, giving birth to
the church of Yahushua Messiah; and this is how Peter identified Yahushua:
Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these
words; Yahushua of Nazareth, a man approved of IAUE among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which IAUE did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know…
33 Therefore being by the right hand of IAUE
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,
he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
36 Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly, that IAUE hath made the same Yahushua, whom ye
have crucified, both Master and Messiah.
The epistles provide
us glorious insight into the things Yahushua both has accomplished for us and
has become to us. They tell us of
righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, redemption, and great and precious promises
whereby we may partake of the divine nature.
They tell of the gifts of the Spirit, the hope of glory and the power of
the ages to come; but NONE of that is discussed with the lost in the book of
Acts. The gateway to learn of these
treasures is repentance and obedience to Yahushua as Messiah.
If the content of
the epistles is presented to the unbeliever the result will necessarily be a decision
based on motivated self-interest (selfishness) rather than humble repentance
and obedience to the Master. They will choose to receive the children’s bread
before they have become the children. This is exactly why the contemporary
Christian church is filled with self-serving, selfish people who have no clue
what it means to do the will of IAUE. They have been lead to believe that by
praying “the magic prayer” they get the golden ticket. They have no interest in renewing their
minds. They have what they want already…at
least they think they do; and because they responded to the epistles and not to
the gospel, they have no awareness that they have still to repent and believe
the good news. In fact, they tend to have
a hardness of heart towards repentance because it places a claim upon their
lives that they have been lead to believe is not required in order to receive
all of the precious promises they believe they have already received.
Messiah has
come. He has risen from the dead. Repent
and believe the good news.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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