A KINGDOM HEART - VII

WBS.037

 FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

A KINGDOM HEART - VII

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

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Hebrews 4:12  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

We ended last week’s post with this comment:

Believing that we have acquired a “ticket to Heaven” and living our lives pursuing our own interests is not mixing the gospel with faith.  It does not profit.  If after reading this post, you still cannot see yourself living the kind of 24/7 life of dependency upon the Master that is demonstrated by the early church disciples; then perhaps the root of the problem is that your response to the gospel is not mixed with faith.  

The gospel not mixed with faith is like attempting to bake bread using flour not mixed with water.  It is a necessary ingredient in the recipe.  You cannot obtain the desired product without it.  If we fail to understand the relationship between the gospel and faith, we will accept a counterfeit, and live out our lives with a false hope. 

Masses of “believers” are living with this false hope. They know instinctively that they are lying to themselves, trusting in an incomplete recipe.  Their trust is in doctrines that say they are safe; all the while knowing in their hearts that they are not safe; because they know they are still living for themselves rather than for the one who died for them. 

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of IAUE: 

Here is our starting point in understanding the relationship between the gospel and faith.  First, we must state clearly what the gospel actually is.  In a sentence, it is:  “Repent for the kingdom of IAUE is at hand.”  Secondly, we must understand what the objective of the gospel is; and that is “salvation.”  This is where the problems begin.  The contemporary church has no clue what salvation means.  If you were to ask a dozen people in any church across the planet, “What does it mean to be saved?” you would likely receive ten to a dozen different answers.  This question was answered in our post: WBS 034; A Kingdom Heart – IV.  The only definition in the New Testament of “salvation” is found in the prophecy of Zaccharias upon the naming of his child, Yohannes (John).

Luke 1:71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us,,,

74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

“Salvation” is not a religious term.  It doesn’t mean going to Heaven when you die.  It means “being rescued or delivered from one condition to another condition.”  The condition man is in is bondage to the flesh, which is at war with the will of Elohim.  Salvation is deliverance from that condition, resulting in lives that are able to know and do the will of Elohim.  No other purpose is intended.  There are many benefits that inure to the disciple who has escaped one condition unto the other; but those are by-products and not the essential purpose of salvation.

With this in mind, we can better understand why the gospel can be so easily pronounced in a single sentence:  “Repent, for the Kingdom of IAUE is at hand.”  Repentance is the part we take in recognizing that our lives are marked by rebellion and resistance to the rule of the King.  In repentance we turn from that rebellion and resistance; but unto what do we turn?  That question defines the problem that has plagued the church for centuries.  That which has wrongly passed for the gospel (but is no gospel) for generations has been a call to recognize that one is a sinner and that Messiah has died to save them from their sins.  If one merely asks the Master to forgive him of his sins and invites him into their heart, they will be saved; meaning, they will go to Heaven when they die.  It is a message that says, “If you pray the right prayer, everything will be done TO you; and nothing will be required OF you.”  Surprisingly, many believe this lie. 

The Truth is that no one needs to ask the Master to forgive them of their sins.  He has already forgiven them. Not one person who has yet to bow the knee to Messiah Yahushua is living with sins that need to be forgiven.  The message of reconciliation is that man’s sins have already been forgiven; but just because a person has been forgiven does not mean the man lives like he has been forgiven.  The relationship destroyed by sin is not repaired simply by the act of one of the two parties involved.  The primary hindrance to restored relationship has been resolved; but man still must turn his heart back to IAUE; and in particular, to doing the will of IAUE. 

2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of IAUE, who hath reconciled us to himself by Yahushua Messiah, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19  To wit, that IAUE was in Messiah, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Messiah, as though IAUE did beseech you by us: we pray you in Messiah’s stead, be ye reconciled to IAUE.
21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of IAUE in him.

See that despite the fact that man’s sins have been forgiven, Paul beseeches (entreats, exhorts) and prays that they be reconciled to IAUE.  We should also note an obvious fact that is universally overlooked in this passage of Scripture.  Paul has written it to people who have already responded to the gospel.  This is an on-going message.  Its relevance does not end upon praying some “magic prayer.”  Once a person turns to IAUE through repentance, he is always able to turn back to the life he formerly lived doing his own will.  When a believer turns back to doing his own will, the Scripture says he is of a carnal mind; and that puts him at enmity against IAUE.  There is only one will that is pursued in the Kingdom of IAUE.  When we are not pursuing IAUE’s will, we are pursuing the will of an enemy of the Kingdom. 

Looking again at the passage above, we find the reason why we are continuously being exhorted to be reconciled to IAUE.  It is so the one whom IAUE made to be sin for us could also be made righteousness to us.  Just because a man’s sins have been forgiven does not make him pure and spotless before Elohim.  It simply means that IAUE is not keeping an account of his sins any longer.  Being pure and spotless before Elohim requires that we reconcile our lives to Elohim, continuously. With this understanding, we can resolve our original question regarding the relationship between the gospel and faith. 
   

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of IAUE:

Many read this verse and think that it is faith that saves us.  It is not.  We are saved by Grace.  The Scripture tells us that righteousness is by faith; but salvation is by grace.  Grace is the power that IAUE gives man that enables and empowers him to do the will of IAUE.  Without grace no one can do the will of IAUE.  Now, let’s look at this verse very carefully in the light of what we have already discussed.

When we repent, we are initially turning from our own will to the will of IAUE.  By reconciling ourselves to Him, we are restoring His right to rule over us.  This is something that must be attended to continuously, lest we fall back to pursuing our own will.  By faith, we trust in and depend upon the completed work of Yahushua Messiah to make this relationship with Elohim possible.  In response to our faith, IAUE gives grace.  Receiving grace enables us to do His will. THIS is the basic mechanics of our salvation.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The primary thing we need to learn from this verse is, “NOW faith is.”  Faith wasn’t, and faith will not be.  Faith is a present tense activity.  If we look back to the 14^th day of some month, fifteen years ago and say, “That is when I was saved,” we are mistaken.  We may have experienced faith in that moment; but faith must continue ever presently in order for IAUE to respond with grace.  When faith ceases to exist, so does the Father’s grace toward us cease to exist.  The power to do His will is not provided to those who are seeking their own will.

Let’s look at this in a practical setting.  Consider when you are contemplating a choice to do what you know is not the Father’s will.  At that moment, can you truly say that you are trusting in Yahushua to provide you with access and relationship to IAUE?  Can you really say that you have present tense faith in Messiah, that you are actively trusting in Messiah to be reconciled to IAUE if the objective of your life at that point is to do what you know is not the will of IAUE?  No, it is simply not possible.  In that moment, your faith (which can only exist in the present) ceases, and so also does the supply of grace from Elohim; and it is by grace that we are saved.  Now you can see how it is by grace THROUGH faith.

Let’s look at it again in another example.  A vacuum cleaner (carpet sweeper) is useless to do what its creator has designed it to do unless it receives the power to fulfill its purpose.  It must be plugged into an electrical outlet in order for the power to reach the vacuum cleaner and empower it to do what it is designed to do.  Faith is like plugging the cord into the outlet. Grace is like the electricity that is sent to the vacuum cleaner in response to faith.  The vacuum cleaner will have the power to rise above its uselessness only as long as the cord remains plugged into the outlet.  Plugging in the cord and keeping it plugged in is reckoned as the right thing to do, and represents righteousness.  

Now, consider how we routinely live our lives wanting to do IAUE’s will and NOT wanting to do His will.  We waver back and forth from moment to moment, from day to day; because our hearts are not purposed to cleave to the Master (Acts 11:23).  (Cleaving to the Master is present continuous faith in him to restore us to IAUE.)  This is largely due to an inadequate message being presented as the gospel.  The contemporary gospel has MAN as the focus: “This is so YOU can have life at its best.”  This is why we retain the idea that we are have the liberty to continue to do what we want to do, and not be concerned about doing the will of IAUE.  The true gospel has IAUE as the focus, and His right to rule over us.  Our effective discipleship is dependent upon present continuous faith.  Any time we consider sin, it should alert us to the fact that we are not trusting in Messiah in that moment, because a reconciled relationship with Elohim is not our desire in that moment.  Without faith, there is no grace.  Without grace there is no salvation.