Faith defined. Years of Confusion settled.
As I write this, I have been a Christian believer for 53 years. Since December 1972, the majority of my time as a believer has been apathetic. That means days, even weeks, without praying or reading the Bible. Added to this, I hardly sang in a church service with the enthusiasm shown by others around me. And there were times when I questioned my salvation. And I couldn't understand why.
And in a society in which the culture stemmed from social class distinctions, I suffered from an inferiority complex. That is, a manual worker with little or no formal qualifications in a church which was filled with graduates from universities across the country, moving into our area to take up employment in high-tech companies that have set up trading in this area, a wedge of land lying between the M3 and the M4 motorways, sometimes referred to as the British Silicon Valley.
By fellowshipping in a church full of graduates, most of them a little younger than I was, I was also prone to being short-tempered, and on one occasion, I floored a haughty Christian graduate over a disagreement. This isn't meant to be boasting. Rather, this shows my spiritual state, even decades after I first believed. What was the underlying cause of all this?
It is my failure to rightly divide the Word of Truth as Paul instructed in 2 Timothy 2:15.
Divide is the proper translation of the Greek word orthotomounta, which means cutting straight. The word "divide" appears in the King James Version. The version I use most of the time is the New International Version, and the word handle is used. Hence, the KJV conveys the instruction more accurately. When I read about "cutting straight", I pictured a cake sliced into two halves with a knife. Then it's sliced into quarters. Four quarters cut with two straight lines. That is how the Bible should be handled. And so, why didn't I rightly divide the Word of Truth? Because, in all these years, nobody taught me to do that! Yet, even from the very beginning, I was aware of a discrepancy between the four Gospels, especially the first three synoptic Gospels, and Paul's letters to the churches.
The Bible I hold in my hand is divided into three sections: the Old Testament, the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the first part of Acts). Then there is the Gospel of Free Grace, preached by Paul the apostle in his letters from Romans to Philemon.
The whole of the Old Testament is addressed to Israel, as are the four Gospels, along with the letter to the Hebrews, the letters of James, Peter, and John's letters, and Jude. Although many, especially among Baptist churches, would raise their hands in protest, in the Kingdom Gospel, baptism in water actually did wash away sins. John the Baptist dunked repentant sinners in water, but also pointed to the One who would baptise them in the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, Peter cried, Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38 KJV).
In Acts 22, we read about Paul standing before a crowd of hostile Jews and talking about his conversion. He said that soon after he was encountered by Jesus in heaven, he received his sight under Anania's prayer, followed by the words, And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptised, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16). This was still the Gospel of the Kingdom, given only to Israel.
In Revelation, John wrote to the seven churches existing under Free Grace. Here, he writes, Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood...(1:5). In the Gospel of free grace, we are no longer cleansed by water baptism, but by the shed blood of Christ crucified. And this Gospel is appropriate for all mankind in the present church age, both for Jews and non-Jews.
So what has been my problem over the years? Simply this, my inability to rightly divide the Word of Truth into departments appropriate to the people, location, and time. The four Gospels were addressed to Israel. Paul's letters to us. My problem was that I mixed the two Gospels, bringing the Kingdom Gospel into the Gospel of Free Grace. Hence, the confusion, even to an extent, of slavery.
In the early years of my faith, I was deeply troubled by what Jesus said to the crowds following him. He said that if anyone does not hate his spouse, parents, his children, and his family siblings, he cannot be his disciple. And if he does not take up his own cross and follow him, he cannot be his disciple... Therefore, whoever does not forsake all that he has, he cannot be his disciple - Luke 14:25-34).
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| The traditional site of the crucifixion, Jerusalem, 1993. |
These verses troubled me for years, and these verses were the reason for questioning my salvation and suffering Bible and prayer blues. This tied well with our subconscious that salvation is to be earned. My subconscious says that yes, Christ died on the cross for little more than to annul the Law of Moses and merely open another way of earning our salvation, and that was take up our own cross and forsake everything, even putting my parents in distress, thus reinforcing what Christ said about the love of family ties placed above our devotion to him.
When Jesus spoke these words, first, he addressed a crowd who saw him, heard him, and touched him. Many were healed by him and followed him around. In short, a physical presence. Following him as a disciple back then was literal. Secondly, they were Jews under the Law of Moses, and the Atonement for sin hadn't yet been made. In Jesus' day, Temple sacrifices were still obligatory.
Yet Jesus cried out, The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel. Mark 1:15. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom. That is, Jesus came in readiness to ascend the throne of his father David in Jerusalem if the nation of Israel accepted him. But, as John writes, He came to his own (Israel), but his own received him not (John 1:11). Therefore, he had to go to the cross, to usher in something which was much better, free grace through faith alone. That is, by believing.
And here is what I consider to be the most important issue: justification by faith underlying the entire Bible. Remember the illustration of the cake cut into sections? Then think of the dish on which the cake sits. The knife cuts the cake, but it's unable to cut the dish beneath it. The dish represents faith, and what I consider to be the most important verse in the entire Bible.
It is Genesis 15:6. This verse says, Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited him as righteousness.
This verse could be glossed over while reading the narrative, without giving it particular attention. It could easily be missed. But Paul the apostle paid much attention to that verse, devoting a whole chapter of Romans to it, as well as in his letter to the Galatians. James, too, also quotes it in his letter.
Credited righteousness. That is God's righteousness imputed to the believer's account. And this imputation held true throughout history, from Adam to the end of the age. This is the dish that cannot be cut into sections like the cake on it.
In the Kingdom Gospel, baptism was by water to wash away our sins, and one had to endure to the end to be saved. But in this present age, the Church Age, our sins are washed away, at the moment of believing, by the blood of Jesus crucified. Hence, everyone who believes that:
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
Was buried,
And rose again from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)...
The believer receives eternal life. This life is eternal, and cannot be taken away or forfeited. The shed blood of Jesus washes away all sins, past, present and future, and his resurrection from the dead guarantees eternal life given as a free gift. The believer is forever accepted into the family of God and is made equally righteous in the Father's sight as the Son himself.
We all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and deserve the penalty, eternal separation from God in hell.
Jesus Christ, who was sinless, went to the cross to pay the penalty in our stead. He became sin so we could become his righteousness.
Everyone who believes is instantly washed from his sins by his shed blood.
At that moment, he receives the new man who is incapable of sinning. This is the new birth.
However, his flesh still sins after he is saved. Hence, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; instead, it dies and ends up in the grave.
The believer is adopted into the family of God, and his sonship is eternal.
At the Rapture, the believer will receive a new and glorious body and forever be with the Lord.
Salvation cannot be earned. It's a free gift. This is not to be confused with service, which merits rewards.
Eternal life is not a reward. It is a free gift given to everyone who believes.
No work can ever merit heaven. Salvation is a gift bought by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
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Next week, the cult which freed and then enslaved me.
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