FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE FIRST
PRINCIPLES - I
Heb 5:12 For when for
the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which
be the first principles of the oracles of IAUE; and are become such as have
need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Today, we embark on a new
discussion. The issues that we have
covered in our first 93 lessons have been designed to get the new disciple
headed in the right direction in his/her spiritual walk with Elohim our Father
and with our Master, Yahushua Messiah. Almost all of us who profess faith in
Yahushua were brought unto the knowledge of him through a false or incomplete “gospel”
message; so it was needful to overcome the wrong thinking produced by our
introduction to faith. Not being able to
live in community and fellowship with the reader makes it impossible to share
in the dynamics of daily life and to cultivate his/her discipleship at a more
rapid pace. Had we been able to walk
together in life’s experiences in a local relationship, by this time we would
all have been qualified to be teachers to guide others in their own
discipleship.
Our opening verse, then, applies to us
not as a reprimand, as it is found to be in the context of Hebrews 5; but
rather as a revelation, exposing us to the realization that there are “first
principles” we should know and understand and have implemented into our lives. It shows us there are certain things that we
should understand that form the concrete foundation that should be laid within
the disciple. Without this foundation,
we are incapable of digesting anything but milk.
1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire
the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
As newborns, milk is the appropriate
diet. There is absolutely nothing wrong
with a diet of milk. If we are new
disciples, we should actually desire the milk of the word. That is what makes us grow. A heartier diet is as inappropriate for the
new believer as is a steak for a 6-month old baby.
1 Corinthians 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with
meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Once we are no longer newborns, we
should be on an age-appropriate diet. As
silly as it is to imagine an adult having a bottle of warm milk for lunch, it
is equally silly to see disciples who have walked with Messiah for more than a
year or two still on a diet of milk. This
is actually one of the main reasons why the world mocks believers. The intense hypocrisy of our collective lives
is exceptionally obvious to the unbeliever.
The world looks at “Christians” who profess to have been in the faith
for decades still behaving as children, demonstrating that Messiah has very
little influence or power to change their lives. This makes their message undesirable to the
lost. Who would want to trust their
lives to a belief system that creates life-long babies?
So, it is necessary to lay the
foundation and then to move on to what that foundation is prepared to support.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,
which is Yahushua Messiah.
The church, today, quotes this verse rather
glibly, with very little understanding of what it actually says. The “western” man in particular, converts
everything he learns into formulas, snippets of doctrine, one-liners from the
Scripture that codify his statements of belief.
For example:
“I can
do all things through Messiah who strengthens me.”
“Believe
on the Master, Yahushua Messiah, and thou shalt be saved.”
“Greater
is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”
“We are
saved by grace through faith.”
“Faith
comes by hearing; and hearing by the word of Elohim.”
All of these “snippets” come straight
out of the Scripture; but can you guess what is missing from them all?
Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and
of the household of Elohim.
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Yahushua Messiah himself being the chief corner stone.
Colossians 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister,
according to the dispensation of IAUE which is given to me for you, to fulfil
the word of IAUE;
26 Even the mystery which
hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints:
27 To whom IAUE would make known what is the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Messiah in you, the hope of glory:
28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that
we may present every man perfect in Messiah Yahushua:
Paul
did not preach a doctrine or a belief system.
He did not preach a “message” to be believed. He did not preach a “what.” He preached a “whom.” Paul preached Yahushua Messiah…a person. The person of Yahushua Messiah IS the corner stone. HE is the foundation. HE is the message.
Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Messiah Yahushua the Master, so
walk ye in him:
7 Rooted
and built up in him, and stablished in the
faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
So the “first principles” that represent both
the foundation and the sincere milk of the word of IAUE are revelations of the
person of Yahushua Messiah. If we are
lacking in these revelations, we remain babes and are such as have need of milk
(the remainder of the revelation of the person of Yahushua that is still lacking
in us).
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of
Messiah, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation
of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward IAUE,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands,
and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
This is the passage that follows immediately
after our opening verse about the first principles and still needing milk. What many teachers and preachers correctly
refer to as “Foundation Doctrines” are actually the principal revelations of
the person of Yahushua Messiah that enable us to grow up and become adult
disciples. We will cover these six
foundational revelations of Messiah in this series of lessons. We will endeavor to see Yahushua and not just
a doctrinal understanding of some truth.
Doctrine is not our life.
Yahushua is.
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;
Peter had just explained that the new believers should desire the
sincere milk of the word; then explained that the milk was Yahushua Messiah, himself,
the chief corner stone of the church. In
this verse he explains what the milk was to produce: a people who show forth the praises of their
deliverer. Is that what the world sees
when they look at us?
Next week: Repentance from
Dead Works
Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance
of the will of IAUE.
Even
though we have moved on to a different subject matter, we can never leave this
basic concept of a Kingdom Heart; for this is what IAUE desires more than anything else in all His
creation.
No comments:
Post a Comment