DISCIPLESHIP 101 (Part 1 - The Heart of a Disciple)

WBS.204

FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

DISCIPLESHIP 101

Part 1 - The Heart of a Disciple

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Four year ago, I began this blog to pass down to the next generation of believers the knowledge and experience that I had acquired from 40+ years of walking in the Spirit and experiencing the dealings of Elohim in my life.  My introductory post was intended to call out the “2%” of the congregation in churches throughout the world who sit in a pew every Sunday morning knowing that the contemporary congregational church experience could not possibly be why Messiah came and died.

Many years ago, I was one of those 2-percenters.  The Holy Spirit had injected my mind and heart with John 14:12.  As a young Christian, I knew that this verse had to be true, but I could not see its outworking anywhere in the church.  It was true but unreachable.  That simply was not acceptable to me; so I sat in church waiting to find the way to the expression of this truth in my life.  Where most believers never see what is possible, who never find that door to a larger reality of life in Messiah, the Holy Spirit has always showed me someone who was walking in something that I did not have in my own experience. Once I saw it was active in someone’s life, I knew it was possible for me to have it; and I pursued it until it was in my own experience. Through the years, this has been the Father’s way with me.  He always shows me operating in someone else’s life something I have not yet possessed.  I believe this has been a chain of experience that has worked its way throughout the entire history of the church.  One person’s light shines to bring light to another person’s life, which then brings light to another person’s life. This is one of the operations of discipleship. All of us should be shining to our brothers and sisters as a constant source of encouragement to walk in righteousness and obedience to the will of IAUE and to our Master, Yahushua Messiah.

We have come around full circle to the beginning:  Discipleship 101, the Basics of Discipleship.

Luke 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed…

Anyone who has been a believer for any length of time should be familiar with the parable of the sower.  This blog dedicated a lengthy in-depth study of the parable.  Many ministers have preached on the subject and have written books on the subject; and they ALL (including me) have focused on the four grounds upon which the seed was sown:  The wayside, the stony ground, the thorny ground, and the good ground.  Most of that teaching has been good and profitable; but this morning, I awoke to the voice of the Holy Spirit saying “They have all missed the point of the parable.”

What is this parable called?   The Parable of the Sower. 

What is the one feature totally ignored by every teaching on this parable?  The Sower.

This passage of Scripture begins with this comment:

Luke 8:1 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of Elohim: and the twelve were with him,

Messiah was always teaching the good news of the Kingdom of Elohim.  Everything he taught focused on this singular subject.  When he presented the parable of the sower, he was teaching on the Kingdom of Elohim.

“The sower went out to sow.” What did he sow?  He sowed the word of the Kingdom, the good news, the gospel.  The sower was not sowing the word of prosperity or the word of the gifts of the Spirit, or the word of order in the church, etc.  Where did he sow? It says that he went OUT to sow. This was not something that happened in church on Sunday mornings.  Now the most important question:  Who is the sower?  The sower is every single disciple.

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Messiah to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Matthew 28:18 And Yahushua came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations

Now, the last question: What are the four different kinds of grounds?  They are the different kinds of hearts found in the lost of this world.  When the sower (you and I) goes out to preach repentance and remission of sins in the name of Yahushua, healing the sick and casting out demons, and setting the captives free, we are going to find four different kinds of reception from the people we meet.  One type will simply not listen to you.  One will be interested, even excited, but they have no real commitment to the gospel, so it will be there one day and gone the next.  One type will respond pretty much like contemporary Christians respond.  They will recognize the truth of the gospel and “accept it,” but they will not lose their life to the gospel.  They will never love Messiah more than they love themselves.  Only one ground will become disciples; and disciples are what we are commanded to make of all nations.

The object of this parable is that the disciple of Yahushua, in going “out” to share the good news of repentance and remission of sins, must not waste his time on those with the first three kinds of heart condition.  Even when Messiah sent out his apostles to preach the good news and heal the sick throughout the region, he instructed them to shake the dust off their feet from those who would not receive the good news.

Contemporary Christianity wastes its time and energy and finances on people of the first three types of ground, and they ignore the fourth type.  Current Christian ministry focuses almost entirely on people who have not forsaken their own lives for the gospel.  Why is this?  It is because they are in constant need of care.  Why is this? It is because they are incapable of discipleship.

In May 2013, this blog introduced the subject of The First Lesson in Discipleship with this verse:

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Discipleship does not begin until we choose to be yoked.  Once yoked, we are no longer in control.  One yoked, we cannot go to the left when the plow is going straight.  We cannot opt to take the yoke off and go to the movies, or cater to our personal whims, or pursue a financially successful career path for our life. We cannot hear the Master say “Do this,” or “Don’t do that,” and choose to disobey. We are resigned to be used to do the work of the Kingdom of Elohim; and in meekness and lowliness of heart, we gladly embrace whatever kind of life the Master brings to us. We are in a yoke.  Where else are we going to go but where we are steered?  What else are we going to do but pull the plow?  The Master tells us, however, that his burden is light, and within his yoke we shall find rest for our souls.

The yoke harnesses us to the work of the Kingdom.  If this isn’t what you signed up for, your heart condition is ground #1, ground #2 or ground #3.

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Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance of the will of IAUE.

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WHO AM I? – VII (The New Man - 6)

WBS.203

FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

WHO AM I? – VII

The New Man - 6

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar

people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of Elohim: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

This is who we are.  We are no less.  If you think yourself to be angry, bitter, unworthy, timid, shy, weak in faith, etc., you simply are wrong.  You just don’t know who you are, yet…Say to yourself and to others, “I am a chosen generation.  I am a royal priesthood.  I am someone to be revered.  I am the purchased possession of the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  This is who I am; and any thought, word or idea to the contrary is a lie.”

Last week, we focused on 1 Peter 2:9.  We did not address verse 10.  That is because we needed to understand the answer to the question, “Who am I?”  As a disciple of Yahushua Messiah; you are a member of the 14^th generation.  Your spirit and Messiah’s spirit are intertwined as one. All that he has is yours; and all that you have is his.  Yahushua’s inheritance as the son of IAUE is now your inheritance.

One might think that IAUE is taking a great risk in trusting us with such a position that we have become heirs and joint-heirs with Messiah.  That kind of thinking simply betrays an unrenewed mind that fails to recognize the significance of what IAUE has forged in the New Creation, the New Man that now is the power of our life in this world. 

We are what the Scripture says we are.  We may not see it, smell it, hear it, taste it, or feel it; but we can believe it.  The five physical senses are what the flesh uses to glean information and knowledge for our life from the world around us; and that is what produces a carnal mind.  A carnal mind is the enemy of IAUE.  Faith/belief is what the heart uses to glean information and knowledge of the world of the spirit, and that is what produces a spiritual mind.  A spiritual mind pleases IAUE. So, you can see the conflict.  Do we rely on “Seeing is believing,” or do we rely on “Let IAUE be true and every man a liar?”

Over the past five weeks we have seen in the mirror of the Scriptures what the New Man is.  It is the only thing that reveals to us the condition of the New Man we have become in Messiah.  It is our mirror.  When we look into it, we see Yahushua.  We see the son of IAUE who is the fullness of the image of his Father, the Creator of Heaven and Earth; and THAT is what our spirit looks like.  We look like IAUE.  Yahushua has the nature and image of His Father; and we have the nature and image of Yahushua.  The more we “see” that in the Scriptures and our heart believes it, the more we are changed from glory to glory on the outside…in our soulish man and even in our body.

Let’s turn now to the following verse.

1 Peter 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of Elohim: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Isn’t it interesting that a man who was specifically noted as being unlearned, on the day of Pentecost preaches a message that is laced with numerous Old Testament prophecies and passages and applies them with precision in the first sermon of the “church age” (Acts 2)? Every time Peter preached, he brought illumination to the Old Testament Scriptures (and in so doing was writing New Testament Scriptures).  The Holy Spirit can do that within a man given wholly to His leadership.  In this verse, Peter, the unlearned fisherman, is quoting from the book of Hosea. 

Hosea 2:23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my Elohim.

To understand the meaning of 1 Peter 2, we need to understand the context and meaning of the verse he is quoting.  In Hosea, IAUE makes the point that the Hebrew people had estranged themselves from him in the same way that a wife becomes estranged from her husband when she leaves him to go after other lovers.  The Hebrews expressed their unfaithfulness to IAUE by worshipping other pagan deities that were recognized by the heathen nations around them.  He said He blessed their produce only to find them offering grain offerings to other “gods.”  He blessed their vineyards only to find them bringing drink offerings to other “gods.”  Because of their faithlessness, their divorcing themselves from IAUE, they ceased being recognized as the people of IAUE.

Because of their faithlessness, they were scattered among all the nations of the earth.  In His amazing wisdom, IAUE set up the Hebrew people to observe the second half of the Abrahamic covenant coming into effect:  “…and through your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”

Do you remember what was said in the first council of the church in Jerusalem when the issue of the gospel being spread to the gentiles was discussed?

Acts 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to Elohim:

20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

The only conditions that the council placed upon the spread of the gospel to the gentiles were designed to prevent the Hebrews from being offended by the liberty that is produced by the gospel.  Why is this?  It is because they were everywhere.  They had been “sown” everywhere by IAUE in fulfillment of Hosea’s prophecy.

When the New Covenant was initiated, that of blessing the whole earth by the seed of Abraham, (that seed being Yahushua Messiah) the gospel spread to the gentile nations in signs and wonders and in much power. The people who had NEVER been the people of IAUE became His people.  The people who had NEVER obtained the mercy of IAUE were now the objects of and recipients of His mercy.  The apostle Paul describes this wisdom like this:

Romans 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.

20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.

21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? Elohim forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

The Hebrews were scattered everywhere, and yet, they were quick to reject the gospel when they heard it preached.  The Gentiles, however, did not reject it, and the Gentiles, who had not been a people, quickly discovered what the mercy of IAUE was like when they discovered He forgave them, healed them, raised up new life within them, united them with the spirit of His Son, empowered them in righteousness to walk free from bondage to wicked practices and from disobedience to live faithful lives unto IAUE. They became the people of IAUE, a distinction that had formerly been associated only with the Hebrews; but the Hebrews had lost that distinction through their faithlessness and pursuit of pagan deities.  Now they are looking at the people they called “dogs” enjoying an amazing relationship with IAUE.

The purpose of this was to make the Hebrews remember IAUE and to remember the special relationship from whence they had fallen.  It was to turn their hearts back to the time when the Hebrew people were the people of IAUE.  Today, Jews comprise a significant portion of the atheist population.  Many are not atheist, but they are also not spiritually minded.  Many are simply bound up in religious tradition but have no real sense of relationship with IAUE.  For the wisdom of IAUE to bear His intended result, it requires the disciples of Yahushua to live and walk in the spirit, in the New Man; so the Hebrews can see that we are the people of IAUE; and they can realize what they are missing as a result of their faithlessness.

It sounds like the Gentiles are being “used” doesn’t it?  Well, you got that right.  We are.  We were NOT a people; but now we ARE the people of IAUE.  We had NOT received mercy; but now we HAVE received mercy.  What difference does it make that we have become His people and have received mercy because IAUE wants to use us to redeem those who were FIRST to be His people? We are now blessed to be the people of IAUE and can be a part of restoring the Hebrews to their first love.

Romans 11:12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

30 For as ye in times past have not believed IAUE, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:

31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

The part we have missed in this transaction is back in our first verse.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar

people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

We are to demonstrate by our lives and our words the praises of IAUE.  Hosea said it like this:

Hosea 2:23 …and they shall say, Thou art my Elohim.

If we know who we are; if we know we are the children of IAUE; if we know we are the redeemed who have been translated out of darkness and transferred into His marvelous light; if we know we have been purchased by IAUE, we are to walk in holiness and declare that we are the people of IAUE. We shall say unto IAUE, “You are my Elohim.”

We know who we are. Can we proudly declare to others in our current lifestyle, attitudes and behavior that we are the people of IAUE?  Or would that be embarrassing to attribute to IAUE ownership of our lives the way they are currently being lived? 

“Who am I?”  We are the people of IAUE.  Unto us has been given ALL THINGS that pertain to life and godliness.  We are the people of IAUE.  Say it.  Declare it.  Live it.

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Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance of the will of IAUE.

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WHO AM I? – VI (The New Man - 5)

WBS.202

FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

WHO AM I? – VI

The New Man - 5

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of Elohim: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

We must acknowledge the reality of the New Man, and live in the spirit, not in the flesh.  The soul makes the choice to actively respond to the flesh, choosing to respond to its affections and lusts; or to humbly yield to the spirit and allow the mind of Messiah to lead.

There are so many directions one might go at this point in our study; and I suspect that to some degree, we will touch upon them all.  Today, I want to move toward what I would call “The Identity Factor.”  By that, I mean, how do you look at yourself?  How do you perceive of yourself?  Is it the way IAUE looks at you or perceives you?  Our identity locks us into the parameters within which we conduct our life.  It either limits or removes the limits on our expectations.  Let me illustrate.

This week, I met with some people who have had difficult pasts.  One of them told me he was an alcoholic.  He did not mean that he is currently addicted to alcohol.  No, he meant that he USED to be addicted to alcohol; but now, he attends AA meetings and no longer drinks.  Do you see his identity problem?  He identified as being an alcoholic; and yet, he no longer drinks alcohol.  This identity defines him to himself as a permanent failure; and one that, given the right circumstances, will demonstrate that he is exactly what he believes himself to be, an alcoholic.

Did you notice the significant word in that illustration?  It was “believes.”  When we believe something about ourselves, it defines us.  We cannot rise above it.

Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Belief is just another word for faith.  Faith is not a mystical term.  It doesn’t have a “spiritual” or “religious” meaning.  We err by confining the term to a religious context.  Man is made in the image and after the likeness of IAUE.  IAUE calls things which be not as though they are…and they become (Rom 4:17).  Why?  Because He believes what He says.  This is why belief (faith) is such a powerful aspect of humankind. We are made to be like IAUE.  Belief is constantly at work in our lives; and one of the most powerful manifestations of that belief is demonstrated in the Identity Factor.

Just think of all the things that disciples of Yahushua Messiah believe about themselves.  Some say, “I am a worrier.” “I am afraid.” “I am too shy.” “I am always angry.” “I am unworthy.” “I am bitter.” “I have little faith.” “I am too judgmental.” All of these identities are functions of the old man. They represent a belief that the old man is still very much alive. None of these identities reflects what the mirror to our New Man shows us we really are. This represents a big problem to successful discipleship.  How can we do the will of IAUE; or how can we do what the Master Yahushua asks us to do when our perception of ourselves is not up to the task?  

Many believers will read the Scriptures and see passages that tell us what the New Man is.  They can even quote the verses that tell us who we have become “in Messiah,” but the problem is, they don’t “believe” it.  Whatever it is that they do believe about themselves is their identity.

Let’s take a quick look at how IAUE looks at us.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of Elohim: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

We ARE…not, “we might be,” or “we might become,” or even, “some of you are.”  No, Peter tells us quite emphatically that we ARE:

a chosen generation – This refers to the 14^th generation from the carrying away into Babylon unto Messiah (Matthew 1:17).  Yahushua was born the 13^th generation; but Yahushua, the only begotten of the Father, died.  When he rose from the dead, he was the “firstborn among many brethren.”  The resurrected Yahushua was the Messiah; and we are in him, and he is in us; which makes us a part of Messiah, the 14^th generation.  This also refers to:

Psalm 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise IAUE.

We who are in Messiah are a created generation.  We are chosen by IAUE.  That means hand-picked.  If we were hand-picked by IAUE, we can know it was not a choice based upon any of our perceived strengths or weaknesses; so they simply do not factor in to how He sees us.  They are not the identity of the New Man.

a royal priesthood – The word “royal” means “kingly,” or “of the king.”  A person who is a royal is of the bloodline of the ruling family.  IAUE gave all authority both in Heaven and on Earth to His Son. Yahushua Messiah is the King.  In fact, that is what “Messiah” actually means.  It means “anointed to be the king;” hence the Great Commission to go out and make disciples,  teaching them to observe to do everything that the King had commanded them to do.  

King Yahushua is in us and we are in him.  How can we NOT be royal…of the royal family?   But that isn’t all.  We are a royal “priesthood.”  A priesthood represents the people to IAUE.  (By way of contrast, a prophet represents IAUE to the people.)  A priesthood offers up acceptable sacrifices to IAUE on behalf of the people. (We see, in this passage, that it is the sacrifice of praise that defines the nature of our priesthood.) Yahushua is our high priest after the order of Melchisedec (Hebrews 7:13).  That priesthood was both of royal blood and of a higher order than the Levitical priesthood; and we are in him and he is in us.  If Yahushua is a king-priest, how can we not be a royal priesthood.

an holy nation – Literally, this means that we are a “revered people.”  If you read in the book of Acts 5:13, the early disciples were revered by the populace, and held in high esteem.  This speaks more to the way others will identify us, rather than how we will identify ourselves; but we can understand from this that the New Man is of such a nature that this is how it will cause others to perceive us.

a peculiar people – This does not mean that we are an odd people.  It means that we are an acquired people.  IAUE purchased us out of the slave market.  That is what “redemption” actually means.  We are bought out of the slave market unto one Master, forever; never again to be subjected to being sold to another task master.

Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

The New Man is the possession of IAUE.

This description by Peter is not a new idea.

Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

This has always been the identity by which IAUE has desired to define His people; only the Old Covenant was insufficient to produce such a people.  It took the New Covenant which produces the 14^th generation, the New Man, to produce this identity in His people.

This is who we are.  We are no less.  If you think yourself to be angry, bitter, unworthy, timid, shy, weak in faith, etc., you simply are wrong.  You just don’t know who you are, yet. If you did not notice it (being helped by the repeatedly underlined phrase), we are in Messiah Yahushua, and he is in us.  He is our identity because the New Man is one with him.  “As he is, so also are we in this world (1 John 4:17).”

You should describe yourself out loud and often as being these attributes until you actually begin to believe this is the real you…the New Man which is inside of you.  Speak them.  Say to yourself and to others, “I am a chosen generation.  I am a royal priesthood.  I am someone to be revered.  I am the purchased possession of the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  This is who I am; and any thought, word or idea to the contrary is a lie.”

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Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance of the will of IAUE.

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WHO AM I? – V (The New Man - 4)

WBS.201

FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

WHO AM I? – V

The New Man - 4

John 3:5 Yahushua answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of Elohim.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Much of the writing of the apostle Paul reads like codes of conduct: things we should do, ways we should behave, things we should not be doing, etc.  We tend to read these things from a soulish perspective and intellectualize Paul’s words.  What Paul is really saying in all of his epistles is to allow the new man to control the way we live, the way we behave and think.

For the past few weeks, we have been discussing the reality of the new man we have become in Messiah. We ARE a new creation.  Old things HAVE passed away. All things HAVE become new; and all of those new things are of IAUE; and yet, we cannot see it, taste it, hear it, smell it, or feel it.  It is not something we are made aware of by the physical senses…by the flesh. The problem is, until we are born again, the physical senses are the only receptacles of information through which we determine something to be real, and by which we understand the nature of our reality.

We have spent many lessons discussing our condition before being born again, that the spirit that animated our bodies before we came to Messiah was separated from the life and light of IAUE.  Our spirit was darkness, and its nature was no different than the nature of our flesh.  There was no contradiction within us to the nature of the reality of the world we perceived with our five physical senses.  The moment we were born again, the very instant we became a new creature in Messiah Yahushua, our heart “sensed” life and light in the new spirit that now animated our bodies.  It sensed the righteousness, the purity, the holiness, the power.  It sensed the life and light of IAUE that now permeated our conscience, where before, there was just nothing.  We illustrated this in prior posts as living in a duplex where no one lived in the adjoining unit for the longest time.  Then, one evening we come home from work and there is noise coming through our shared wall.  We are aware that something now occupied the adjoining unit.  You could not mistake it.  You could not be unaware of the change to your existence. 

Such is the new birth…the new man.  When he is birthed within us, the heart knows it.  When the heart knows it, the mind becomes aware of it.  Once the mind becomes aware of it; the body, the flesh, begins to war for control of the mind. Until then, the flesh had no opposition to its lusts and desires.

This is where most believers are thwarted in their discipleship.  The first thing the flesh attempts to accomplish is to convince you that your mind is still your boss; that your intellect, your knowledge and wisdom are still the place from which you should make every decision for your life. “After all, wasn’t it your mind that chose to embrace Messiah?  Wasn’t that a smart decision?  See how wise you are?  The mind is king.  The mind is in control.”  As long as the flesh can keep your mind, your soulish man, as the part of you that is in charge of your life, it has a place of comfort and satisfaction, because the flesh trained that part of you from birth until the time you were born again.

When Paul instructs the disciples to “put on the new man,” he is suggesting that the nature of the new animating spirit of your life can permeate your soulish man and literally adorn your flesh like a new garment.  It does that by renewing your mind; by replacing your thought processes with the mind of Messiah. When the soul of man bows to the New Man as the leader of your life, the nature of the new man adorns your entire life. The New Man is in Messiah, and Messiah is in the New Man.  You have become one.  Sin cannot touch the Master within us. 

Romans 6:9 Knowing that Messiah being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto IAUE.

This is who lives inside of us, now.  The spirit of Yahushua, the spirit of him who died to sin; who seized the keys of Hell and of Death (Revelation 1:18), and who rose to live unto IAUE; this is who now animates our body.

The flesh only has impulses, desires and lusts.  That is the entirety of the realm of its ability to influence our lives.  The flesh cannot make a single decision for us.  Think about that.  The flesh cannot choose.  It cannot decide.  It only entices us to WANT to choose and decide. The flesh is little different than being with a friend who suggests you eat something when you are fasting, or go somewhere that you know you should not go; or do something you know you should not do.  You are able to tell your friend, “No. I am not going to do that.”  When the flesh attempts to influence you, it is the same thing; only you have become more intimately acquainted with letting it get away with influencing you to do what it wants to do; so you have less will power to resist its encouragements.

Fortunately, living in the spirit is not about will power.  In fact, it is quite the opposite.  It is more laying down our will to allow our life to be directed by the spirit of Yahushua within us; like the Master demonstrated for us in the Garden before he was beaten and killed.  “Not my will; but thine be done.”  His soul was not keen on his body being brutalized and tortured, then killed; but what his soul preferred was not what was important.  Even in that circumstance, Yahushua understood that doing the will of IAUE was the purpose of his being.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Messiah’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

No doubt you have heard many people teach on the fruit of the Spirit.  You may not have heard someone say that the word “Spirit” should not be capitalized.  Walking in the spirit does not mean walking in the Holy Spirit.  It means walking in the New Man.  The New Man is created in the image of IAUE and in the likeness of His nature.  It is perfect; and its nature is in all love, joy, peace, etc.  The fruit of the New Man is what the world sees when we put on the new man.  It also sees that we are a people who are not ruled by the flesh.  In fact the New Man is dead to the dictates of the flesh.  The affections and lusts of the flesh which war against the soul are not even taken into consideration by the New Man. The nature of the New Man is such that the appetites and desires of the flesh are as alien to it as air is to a fish.

The New Man is powerful.  The New Man was created within us through the exercise of the very same power that IAUE used when He raised Yahushua from the dead; and it is the same power that is being exercised through the New Man constantly (Ephesians 1:18-19).  Most of us just never have had anyone to tell us that, before, now.  The contemporary Christian church is still attempting to live through the soul.  It has embraced a religious culture based on the codes of conduct it finds in the Scriptures; but it does not engage the New Man to be those things naturally in them and through them.  That is why the church is still steeped in sin and experiencing, for the most part, powerless lives; and yet, the Scripture declared that Messiah was coming to save his people from their sin.

Mark 8:35 For whosoever will save his life (soul) shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life (soul) for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

All of the power we could ever need to walk uprightly before IAUE, and to walk in obedience to His will moment by moment is already within us in the New Man.  All of the righteousness and holiness for which Christians plead and cry aloud for in prayer was already within them at the moment they were born of the Spirit. 

2 Peter 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Notice that the only limitation to our walking in the divine nature is our lack of knowledge of the one who has called us to it.  It is absolutely the Father’s intention that this be the normal life of the disciples of Yahushua Messiah.  This is the Kingdom of Heaven within us; and as emissaries of the Kingdom of IAUE, we should be demonstrating this divine nature at all times.  It will draw men to us to seek the same power that has rescued us from our own sinful lives.

Who are we?  We are a soul (mind, will and emotions) that is permeated by the New Man, empowered by the resurrection power of IAUE to do His will.  We are caterpillars that have metamorphosed into butterflies by the power of IAUE.  Unfortunately, most believers still think they are caterpillars.  They are still too conscious of who they were before the NEW MAN was created within them.  They are like the sergeant in our illustration a couple of posts ago who received a battlefield promotion to Captain.  Even though a commissioned officer now, he still thinks and behaves as an enlisted man.  That, however, is beneath the dignity of his current status; and it is an insult to the authority that raised him out of the enlisted ranks to become an officer.

We must acknowledge the reality of the New Man, and live in the spirit, not in the flesh.  The soul makes the choice to actively respond to the flesh, choosing to respond to its affections and lusts; or to humbly yield to the spirit and allow the mind of Messiah to lead us.

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Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance of the will of IAUE.

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