______________________________________
History
records a diametric polarization between the prophetic community hearing the
Living Word of God and the priestly guardians of the written word. This enmity
is something of a mystery to many. From the priests of old who killed the
prophets to the Pharisees to the Christian fundamentalists of our day, this
common thread of antipathy is seen throughout.
The word "enmity”
describes the mutual hatred of enemies. The American Heritage Dictionary defines
an enemy as, "One who feels hatred toward, intends injury to, or opposes the
interests of another; a foe." There is no middle ground; either we are God's
friend or His foe.
When we consider the
enemies of God there is one that stands out above all others--the arch-nemesis
Satan, alias "slew-foot." However, far and away God's enemies are most often
those who lay claim to the greatest piety--those most loudly professing their
undying loyalty to Heaven. Such were the Scribes and Pharisees to whom Jesus
spoke these solemn words: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the
righteous, and say, ‘If
we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with
them in the blood of the prophets.'
"Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who
murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers'
guilt" (Matthew
23:29-33)
Later Stephen, who had
been charged with blasphemy, stood before the same caste of priests and elders
bringing the following indictment against them. "You
stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always
resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets
did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the
coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers"
(Acts 7:51-52). Stephen formally charged them with the crimes of persecuting
the prophets and killing the Just One. The reason for this is
significant. They persecute because they resist. Because they
resisted the Holy Spirit they were unchecked in their brutal persecution and
murder of those who spoke by the Spirit. They were in a constant state of enmity
toward God--always resisting, always persecuting. Only moments
later they validated Stephen's words. They would fill up the measure of their
fathers. Stephen's stone covered, blood-soaked body lay as a testimony and
memorial of the truth he had just uttered. Only God knows the number of those
from that day to this who suffered like fate by like men. Suffice it to say that
this great enmity is ongoing--carried on by a new generation of those who
"always resist the Holy Spirit." Those who say, "If we had lived in the
days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of
the prophets."
The word
and the WORD
The prophet Amos came
bringing the Word of the Lord--the present voice of God--a word of judgment
against king Jeroboam. As is often the case, the religious leaders did not
receive it. At that time, the apostate priest class of the northern kingdom,
Amaziah,
a priest who served in the court of King Jeroboam, sent orders to Amos, "Get
out of here, you seer! Go on back to the
Amos' reply reveals the
typical conflict between prophet and priest. "I'm
not one of your professional prophets. I certainly never trained to be one. I'm
just a shepherd, and I take care of fig trees. But the Lord called me away from
my flock and told me, ‘Go
and prophesy to my people in
Amos brought Spirit
uttered truth--present truth what God was saying to
This did not mean that all
the copies of the scripture would be lost. Amos was not speaking of scripture
here but of the Living Word, hearing the words of the Lord.
Robert D.
Brinsmead wrote, "Throughout the Old Testament
‘the Word' or ‘the Word of God' primarily pertains to what is spoken and heard.
It seldom refers to what is written and read. As a general rule in the Old
Testament, while the Law may be read, the Word is heard."
This prophecy of Amos was
spoken in or around the year 760 B.C., well preceding what is now called the 400
silent years. Where indeed, for
How and when did
Because
Frank E. Hirsch wrote,
"The more highly esteemed
the Law became in the eyes of the people, the more its study and interpretation
became a lifework by itself, and thus there developed a class of scholars who,
though not priests, devoted themselves assiduously to the Law. These became
known as the scribes, that is, the professional students of the Law. During the
Hellenistic period, the priests, especially those of the upper class, became
tainted with the Hellenism of the age and frequently turned their attention to
paganistic culture, thus neglecting the Law of their
fathers more or less and arousing the scribes to opposition. Thus, the scribes
and not the priests were now the zealous defenders of the Law, and hence, were
the true teachers of the people. At the time of Christ, this distinction was
complete. The scribes formed a solid profession which held undisputed sway over
the thought of the people. In the New Testament they are usually called (grammateis),
i.e. "students of the Scriptures," "scholars," corresponding to the Hebrew (copherim)
= homines literati, those who make a profession of
literary studies, which, in this case, of course, meant chiefly the Law. Besides
this general designation, we also find the specific word (nomikoi),
i.e. "students of the Law," "lawyers" (Mt 22:35; Lk
7:30; 10:25."
This gives us a sense of
the gradual and yet ever-changing shift from the prophetic to the scholastic.
Dependence on scholastics is far greater during times of apostasy. Like a blind
man whose other senses become more acute by way of compensation, when man does
not receive truth through the Spirit he seeks to fill that void through too much
study.
In post captivity
Hence we see the emergence
of the first synagogue, reminiscent of the Nicene counsel, wherein men set in
conclave establishing new traditions and laws. Under Judas "the
Hammer" Maccabees a new feast was introduced,
"the feast of the dedication of the
"Since the
Babylonish exile, at least four revisions of the
Canon took place within periods sufficiently distant from each other."(Alfred
Edersheim)
The words of the prophets,
which had been vehemently resisted, had since been proven true and were also
preserved in writing. Hence
Regarding this idolatrous
shift James A. Fowler wrote,
" Judaism
became a book-religion based on the textualized
Torah and reinforced by rigid, written tradition. Rabbinic theologizing and
moralizing became inflexible and legalistic. Jewish religion centered around
exegeting, interpreting and implementing precisely
the truth of the Torah text, precept upon precept (Isaiah 28:10,13).
The minutia of the written record became absolutized.
The Torah and its traditions were regarded as eternal, inerrant and absolute.
Religious reverence and allegiance to the Torah became idolatry. They had made
an idol out of the Law and were worshipping the Book, the Law, the Torah, rather
than God."
Suffice it to say that
from the captivity on, there was a subtle shift of dependency from the Living
God to the letter of the law and the traditions of men, until finally the law
was given all the known attributes of God. When John referred to Jesus as the
"Word" it was a deliberate affront to this imbalance, an obvious attempt to
address this bent toward exalting the letter over the living Word. Jesus
repeatedly referred to himself using language currently being applied to the
law. The Pharisees said that the law was "the way, the truth and the life,"
Jesus said "I' am the way the truth and the life." They hoped to find
life in the law. Therefore Jesus issued this warning, "You search the
Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they
which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come
to Me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40). In their search of the
scriptures they were in error. The search itself, the way they searched for the
word and the results of their search were flawed. This subtle shift that
resulted in an over-exalted view of the law and set the stage for the drama of
the ages, where Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, who rightfully exalted Himself
above the law, would be tried and killed as a heretic.
Overall, we see the
development of the traditions that Jesus would later confront. Christ met the
prevailing religious consensus of His day head on. This consensus was based on
the traditions of the fathers and propagated by the schools of Hillel and
Shammai. Jesus came to emancipate
Any student of history
cannot help but notice the similarities between this portion of Jewish history
and that of the church during the second through fifth centuries. The two
histories perfectly parallel each other. Like
The
Enmity-Children of Abraham or Moses?
Abraham had no scriptures.
Therefore we know that the faith of Abraham involved much more than mere mental
assent to a text. The Faith of Abraham was based upon hearing the Living Word of
God--proceeding from the mouth of God. Likewise, the faith of the primitive
Christians was also based upon hearing. The faith that spread throughout
Faith comes by hearing
what God IS saying. The late first century call is still going forth, "He that
has an ear let him hear what the Spirit IS saying to the churches” (Rev 2:11).
Should it not be our individual responsibility to
hear what God is saying NOW? Or do we prefer to keep a safe distance, like the
children of
Today there is much
confusion concerning the New Covenant, resulting in even greater confusion
regarding God's purpose in the earth. Preparatory to an understanding the New
Covenant is the comprehension that it is the very covenant God made with
Abraham, long before the law was given. We each need to access our relationship
with God in this light. Do I relate to God in a dead-letter "Mount of trembling"
manner? Or does my faith, like that of Abraham, rest upon the hearing of
faith? It is important that we understand that a law-like covenant was never
given to the Gentiles, but we were grafted into the "Root"--Abraham. It is also
important to note that the covenant made with Abraham was based upon promise not
law--of the Spirit not of the letter.
Not that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency
is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not
of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives
life. (2
Corinthians 3:5-6)
The
Galatian Error
The
Galatian believers were being bewitched. They had begun gloriously but
something tragic had happened. The Judaizers had
deceived them with the lie that faith in Christ was not enough, teaching that in
order to be a Christian one must also be circumcised and keep the law. These
Judaizers resisted the Living Word Just as their
predecessors, the priestly guardians of the written word (the Scribes and
Pharisees), had tried to silence the living Word (Jesus). So the
Judaizers were attempting to silence the Living Word
in
When reduced to few words,
Paul's question to the Galatian church was, which
will it be-- Moses or Abraham--the ministry of the letter or the Spirit--the
works of the law or the hearing of faith? The use of the words hearing of
faith as applies to Abraham is very significant. Which leads us to ask, how
did Abraham hear God? How did Abraham come to believe God? As we have said, he
predated the scriptures so it is certain that his faith was not based upon a
written text. Abraham's faith was based upon what he heard God say directly by
His Spirit. Thus the words the
hearing of faith. Paul bore
this out when he wrote, "Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God"
(Romans 14:22). For this reason there was no specific standard of performance
listed in Romans 14 except that of considering one another, not to offend. The
rudimentary issue is this, ". .
.whatsoever is not
of faith
(between the individual and God) is sin" (Romans 14:23). Whatever does
not come directly by the hearing of faith, resolved between God and the
individual believer, misses God's mark altogether.
God spoke directly to
Abraham. Abraham believed God! Faith can be built on nothing less than this. All
truth remains in the realm of theory until it is heard directly from God.
Therefore Faith is based upon Him who supplies the Spirit (NOW), who works
(NOW). It is faith IN God (NOW) and therefore belief in what He IS saying. The
blessing of Abraham is the Spirit who spoke to Abraham. "That the blessing of
Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith" (Galatians 3:14).
Foundational to this
understanding is the knowledge that the Abrahamic
covenant, of which all believers are now a part, was ratified 430 years before
Moses. Therefore Paul reasons, "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises
made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to
your Seed," who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four
hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed
before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For
if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to
Abraham by promise. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added
because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was
made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator"
(Galatians 3:16-19).
Perhaps the following
graft will help us understand this vital truth.
The entire white portion
of the timeline above represents a single covenant--"the covenant that
was confirmed before of God in Christ." A covenant made with Abraham and His
Seed (Christ). We see then, that the gospel was first preached to Abraham
(Galatians 3:8) Paul understood that the covenant with Abraham was a covenant
with Christ, Abraham's Seed. The covenant made with Abraham not only predated
but also outranked and outlasted the Mosaic covenant. So what we call the new
covenant is really an old one that was signed sealed and ultimately delivered in
Christ. "The law is not of faith" (Galatians 3:12). "Only those who are
of faith are sons of Abraham" (Galatians 3:7). The law was added parenthetically
430 years later because of the transgression of
The Seed of
Abraham versus the seed of the Devil
Jesus at one point
challenged the religionists of His day as to how well He was being received. The
argument He uses is very significant. The Pharisees claimed Abraham as their
father but Jesus disagreed. He accused them of practice totally uncharacteristic
of Abraham. His argument was quite simple, "If you were Abraham's children
you would act like Abraham, but instead you are trying to kill me--a Man who has
come telling you the truth that he has heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
You do act like your father though." Somewhat impatiently they replied
"We were not born out of wedlock; we have one Father--God!"
To which Jesus
replied, "If God were your Father, you would love Me,
for I proceeded from Him. I did not come of myself. He sent
Me. Why is it that you do not understand My
speech? It is because you cannot hear to My word. You
are of your father the devil, and the longings of your father you delight to do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him." (My own translation See-John 8:39-44)
In what way could they
have behaved like Abraham? Answer: by receiving the Living word, by the hearing
of faith. Just as was the custom of Abraham. This is
very typical of the ongoing battle between those who serve the "letter" and
those who serve in the newness of the Spirit--a battle wherein the guardians of
the text and the prophetic community are at odds. Typically, when the Spirit
comes prophetically to lead on with a "speaking word," "present truth"
the guardians of the text declare war on God. Remember Stephen's words to the
elders, and the scribes, "You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers
did, so do you." (Acts 7:51). This is an
ancient cycle seen repeatedly throughout the history of
Law/Flesh-Enmity against God
Often, when Paul wrote of
"the flesh," he referred to it in the context of the law or more correctly, the
Christian's freedom from the law. (See Romans 2:28-29, 3:20, 7:5,18, 8:1, 3-5,
2Corinthians 11:18, Galatians 2:16, 2:19-20, 3:3, 6:12-13, Ephesians 2:3-16,
Philippians 3:3, Colossians 2:13-14, 2:23).
This
I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary (adversaries-enemies) the one to the other: so
that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you are led of the Spirit,
you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16-18)
Those who attempt to keep
the law are on the grounds of the flesh and manifest the deeds of the flesh.
They have not yet learned the lesson of Romans chapter seven and are destined to
struggle until they do. They may haltingly conform in action but will always
come up short in spirit. The same is true of the New Testament. The moment you
relate to the New Testament as ordinances to be kept, as commandments for
righteousness, you immediately fall from grace to the level of the law
(Galatians 5:4). Christ is become of no effect to you because you they take upon
yourself the responsibility to do what only Christ can do, i.e., live out His
life and righteousness through you. "Christ in you" (Colossians
1:27 ) is no longer your hope of glory. As a result,
you are left to struggle until you learn the lesson the Schoolmaster was sent to
teach; ". . .in
me (that is in my flesh) dwells no good thing!" In short, you can't do it!
I have learned this lesson
the hard way.
Early in my walk with
Jesus, I was taught how to relate to the love-letter (the Bible) as a rule-book.
As so many others, I complied, feeling duty-bound to do so. I began to read and
attempt to do what I read with all the energy within me. I could not have known
what misery would result. Before long I was living out the graceless curse of
Galatians 3:10. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse:
for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which
are written in the book." I searched the scriptures for in them I thought I
would find life.
Soon, a foreboding sense of dread filled my heart whenever I picked up my Bible to read. Like the law, it had come to expect much but gave no grace. It served as a constant reminder of sin and failure. It now became the instrument of condemnation, all because of how I related to it. I could not do what I read. The things I wanted to do, I could not do, and the things I didn't want to do, that I did. In some areas, which I felt I was doing rather well in, I compensated by browbeating those that were weak in those areas. In a perverted way this made me feel quite good, as it would any Pharisee. "God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican" (Luke 18:11). But no amount of compensation could help. Soon I would find myself back to misery as usual, groaning under the weight of it all ."Who will deliver me from the body of this death?"
Thank God! He turned the
lights on! In His mercy He delivered me from the curse resulting from relating
to the New Testament as law. I experienced anew the life of wings. I realized
that I had been duped into believing that God had delivered me from one law (The
Schoolmaster) to a New Testament law.
My life had been reduced
to an agonizing struggle, rather than the glorious workmanship of God (Eph
2:9-10), working in me to will and to do (Philippians
2:13 ). This is why I have such strong feelings about correctly relating
to the Bible. It cannot be our all in all. I read the Bible every day. That does
not make me righteous. I think I have a fair understanding of it. That does not
make me wise. For he (Jesus) has been made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption (1Corinthians 1:30). He is the stumbling
stone, the Rock of offense that continues to offend our righteousness.
The law was designed to manifest sin--to convince man of the enmity of his flesh toward God. Here are the words of one who had fully learned that lesson. "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find" (Romans 7:18).
This is the lesson that
the law was designed to teach. A lesson learned by the man of Romans chapter
seven, who understood that sinful passions "were aroused by the law"
(Romans7:5). What Paul was teaching here was the difference between those who
serve in the "oldness of the letter" and those who serve in the "newness of the
Spirit."
But now we are delivered
from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in
newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
(Romans 7:6)
This brings us to Romans
chapter eight, which is really a continuation of chapter
seven. Paul did not write the chapter divisions. So we should not read
chapter eight as a separate thought. In fact Paul sums up the chapter seven
dilemma as follows.
There is therefore now no
condemnation to them, which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh ("the oldness of the letter"), but after the Spirit ("the newness
of the Spirit"). It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that sets
us free from the law of sin and death. "For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
. .
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things
of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit"
(Romans 8:1-5 Emphasis mine)
The word condemnation
(GreeK katakrima) in the above passage means
a "damnatory sentence." This condemnation is not the condemnation of the overt
sinner but is descriptive of the Romans seven dilemma and the sentence passed on
all those who would try to be righteous by the law. "The sentence
pronounced, the condemnation with a suggestion of the
punishment following. . ."
(Vines) The condemnation persists when we refuse to accept God's sentence on the
flesh. When we continue to offer works for our righteousness, in effect, we
refuse to accept God's verdict on the flesh, i.e., ".
. .in.
. .flesh, dwells no
good thing" (Romans 7:18).
Remember the context of
these scriptures. "They that are after the flesh" and "those who serve in
the oldness of the letter" are one and the same. They are those who "mind the
things of the flesh." Elsewhere Paul wrote of such people as "the enemies of the
cross," who "mind earthly things," choosing a form of godliness, "Touch not;
taste not; handle not" ordinances over the living Word. (See Philippians 3:19,
Paul commonly shared this
knowledge wherever he went, which brought the fury of both Pharisee and
Judaizer alike. The doctors of the law
reacted, bring charges of blasphemy against him
saying, "This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy
place and the law" (Acts 6:13). The Judaizers were
among those who accused Paul of irreverence toward law.
And so we see the enmity
between those who serve in the oldness of the letter and those who serve in the
newness of the Spirit. Those who depend upon the Spirit, who are led by
the Spirit, are offenses to those who find their sense of righteousness in their
adherence to the letter. There is an enmity between the two--a flesh versus
Spirit repulsion, seen in Abraham's two sons, one by a bondmaid, the other by a
freewoman (Galatians 4:22). The one born of the bondwoman was born after the
flesh. He was the fruit of Abraham's act of desperation and unbelief. He was
born out of Abraham's attempt to fulfill the promise in his own energies.
However, the son born of the freewoman was by promise. He was the miracle child,
born of Sarah, who was barren. In her we have the picture of how the church
ought to be. It is those who are bankrupt of the hope of bring forth the
purposes of God in their own strength, that the Son of promise will be manifest.
These things are symbolic.
For these are the two
covenants: the one from
"Now we, brethren, as
Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the
flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, EVEN SO IT IS NOW."
(4:28,29).
The enmity continues even
unto this day! Nothing has changed. The consequent division continues to
disunite God's children. It is the chief cause of strife.
The enmity between those
who gather at Sinai and those who gather in
The Son of Promise (Jesus)
remains an offense and a stumbling stone to those who want their own
righteousness by adherence to the letter. Saving faith is trust in Him, not in
the letter.
What shall we say then?
That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness,
even the righteousness of faith; but
Christ or Righteousness is a stumbling stone to those who look to the letter for righteousness.
The Enmity
and The Law of Commandments
For He Himself is our
peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of
commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one
new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might
reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to
death the enmity. (Ephesians 2:14-16)
Contained in the passage
above is the key to unity. Not unity as man would attempt it, but God's unity!
Christ himself is our peace! He has broken down the wall of hostility that
separates. By his death He abolished the deep-seated, hatred between Jew and
Gentile. There can be no doubt what Paul is saying here. That enmity is the
schoolmaster, the law of commandments. Christ, in His death on the cross,
abolished the Law! The Greek word for abolished in the above passage is
katargeo [2673], which is defined as
follows:
"1) to render idle,
unemployed, inactivate, inoperative 1a) to cause a person or thing to have no
further efficiency 1b) to deprive of force, influence, power 2) to cause to
cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish 2a) to cease, to pass away,
be done away 2b) to be severed from, separated from, discharged from, loosed
from any one 2c) to terminate all intercourse with one." (Strong's)
The entire system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles was rendered idle, unemployed, deprived of its influence and power. All this was done that He might make peace between Jews and Gentiles and in doing so creating "one new man." This could not be done however without first abolishing the enmity--the law of commandments.
Sadly, the conflict is
still raging between the messianic and Gentile churches today, wherein the
finished work of Christ is undermined by the ongoing enmity.
Both sides refuse to yield the law of commandments. In attempting to
preserve what Christ has abolished, the enmity is nurtured and the two that
Jesus died to make one new man remain divided. The messianic community attempts
to get the gentile believers to join them in the keeping of feast and ceremonies
that have long since been fulfilled in Christ, attempting to convert them to a
Jewish brand of the Christian faith. Meanwhile the Gentiles endeavor to convert
the Jewish believers to their westernized creedal brand of Christian faith.
Hence they are divided because neither will yield their orthodoxy. Neither will
let go the letter. So the middle wall of partition stands. The enmity remains
and God's purposes in Christ go unrealized. The Gentiles must let go their
creeds, counsels, bylaws and traditions of men that they, like the Scribes and
Pharisees, have exalted above God. The Jewish believers must let go the
schoolmaster. Both must live by the newness of the Spirit NOT the
oldness of the letter.
So we see the fleshly
tendency to return to Sinai, to repeat the Galatian
error. Marked by the endeavor to be made perfect by the
flesh--the works of the law. For the Christian this is Satan's strongest
and most effective delusion. For it turns the glorious gospel of Christ into a
dead letter. Causing the greatest love story ever told to be codified and lost
in a morass of theological legalism. Which has set the feet
of many on the path to bondage. Leading away from the
true faith back to the mount of trembling. Resulting
in the emergence of the New Testament law--a rigid Christian rulebook--the
pretext for bondage. The prophetic, living Word is resisted by a new
generation of Christian Scribes and Pharisees. Hence the Church has ceased to be
a prophetic community, led by the Spirit of God and is now an institution led by
the traditions of men. Wherein orthodoxy so thoroughly confounds the hearing of
faith, that systematized theology is referred to as
"the faith." Faith in ones adherence to the prescribed rituals (ones own
righteousness) replaces faith in the finished work of Christ. He who has been
made unto us wisdom is set aside and there in His place is the wisdom of man
shared through platonic sermonizing. He who is himself our righteousness is
replaced by the touch not, taste not, handle not,
legalistic righteousness of the law. He who is our sanctification is ignored in
deference to humanistic trust in our own abilities. A strange mixture of the old
Levitical and pagan priesthood fills the place of
the priesthood of all believers. In refusing to drive out the bondwomen and her
son, much of Christianity today substitutes the letter for the Living Word, and
in doing so, continue to scale the craggy, hazardous peaks of Sinai.
Such was not the case in
the early church. "There was one mistake into which the early Church was
never in any danger of falling. In those early days men never thought of Jesus
Christ as a figure in a book. They never thought of Him as someone who had lived
and died, and whose story was told and passed down in history, as the story of
someone who had lived and whose life had ended. They did not think of Him as
someone who had been but as someone who is. They did not think of Jesus Christ
as someone whose teaching must be discussed and debated and argued about; they
thought of Him as someone whose presence could be enjoyed and whose constant
fellowship could be experienced. Their faith was not founded on a book; their
faith was founded on a person." (William Barclay The
Mind of
As it was with the
Galatians who were bewitched to return to a dead-letter relationship with God,
likewise history records a massive defection from the hearing of faith back to
the "schoolmaster." Where once all believers were encouraged to speak as the
oracles of God, sharing the present truth of God, now they would dutifully and
quietly sit as men rehearsed rhetorically what God had said and done in the
past.
"If anyone speaks, let
him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it
as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and
ever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:11)
The shift from the
prophetic to the current scribe-like existence of most of today's Christianity
has resulted in a very studious, seminarian, dead-letter relationship to God.
Wherein men do not speak as oracles, sharing present truth--the words now
proceeding from the mouth of God, but as holy philosophers pontificating yet
unrealized ideals derived from the recorded words of men who once spoke the
living Word of God. The prophets of old testified of a coming change in man's
relationship with God. They spoke of a day when all would be taught directly of
God and that it would be anticlimactic to say, "know
the Lord" for all will already know Him. They spoke of a day when sons and
daughters would prophesy as surly as had Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. (See
Heb.8, Acts 2) They spoke of the end of the famine of
the Word. However, dispite these great and precious
promises people are yet staggering "everywhere from sea to sea, searching for
the word of the Lord, running here and going there.
. ."
They are running to conferences, going the meetings of highly sought-after
Apostles, Prophets, evangelists, etc. They seek the word of the Lord, but they
do not find it! What they most desperately need they do not find! For what is
needed is the hearing (present tense) of faith--the Spirit bearing witness (continually)
with their spirits, NOW, every moment, everyday--the close encounter with God in
which faith is formed. This is the heritage of the children of Abraham, who have
received the promise of Abraham (the Spirit) through faith. They have returned
to the primal bases of the faith--a bases predating the law or "letter." The
faith of Abraham is not "biblical-faith" finding its origin in the letter. It is
based upon the hearing of faith, of the Spirit not of the letter. It is not
theological faith--the letter-induced, slightly sanctified wisdom of man, but
faith resting in the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Again, the
basis of faith is not theological. It is not a mental ascent to the letter.
Faith rests in the "power of God." So that "faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (See1Co 2:5) I am
speaking of a prophetic declaration of the gospel--the prophecy, which is the
testimony of Jesus--the Word spoken by oracles that speak what God speaks.
Unity and
The Enmity
Any serious treaties on
unity must address the enmity that is caused when men attempt to reach a
letter-based uniformity. For it is this very thing that has
disunited us. The myriad of excuses, offered for the fractured state of
the church today, are all based upon scripture. So there are great biblical
grounds to justify the current chaotic condition among God's children--which God
has strictly prohibited. 2000 years of church history bears witness to the
futility of attempting to be united around doctrine and creed. Even among the
particular denominated groups of our day there is disunity. The reason for this
is simple; their means of unity is replete with enmity. The enmity Jesus died to
abolish. This means of unity has never worked. For it, like the law, is weak
through the flesh. Because it is not God's unity, men must police it by
their own energies, which leads to tyranny and abuse.
Only Truth can unify--the
Spirit is Truth (1John 5:6). There is the Spirit of truth, but there is also the
spirit of error. Truth and error are not doctrinal issues, but are first and
foremost a matter of Spirit. If the spirit is wrong everything is wrong.
We are of God. He who
knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this
we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
(1 John 4:6) Remember the explanation Jesus gave for why the Pharisees, the
children of the devil, did not hear Him. They did not hear Him because,
like their father, there was no truth "IN" them. Conversely the
indwelling Spirit of Christ brings truth to the inward parts (Psalms 51:6).
Bringing a right relatedness to God as Father--a Spirit
crying Abba, Father. And because we are sons of the same
Father all true believers are brothers and sisters (Galatians 4:6). And
because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. Rightness (righteousness) is a Spiritual
matter, dependent upon God's workmanship, not our diligence in keeping dogma.
Dogma is not truth. It is
man's attempt to systematize truth. Because Truth is Spirit and can be known
only by the Spirit, man's dogmatic perceptions of truth, which are as varied and
numerous as are the people who hold them, cannot be other than divisive.
Philip
Schaff describes the antagonism between Truth and
dogma as follows.
"We must not confound
truth with dogma. Truth is the divine substance, doctrine or dogma is the human
apprehension and statement of it; truth is a living and life-giving power, dogma
a logical formula; truth is infinite, unchanging, and eternal; dogma is finite,
changeable, and perfectible." (Schaff, Philip
History of the Christian Church 1819-1893)
Dear Brothers/Sisters, we
must return to God's basis of unity--the unity of the Spirit that precedes the
unity of the faith (Ephesians 4:3, 4:13) In His death Christ has abolished the
struggle for doctrinal unity. We can no more be united around dogma than we can
the law. Both bring enmity and division. Christ must be our peace or there will
be no peace.
The following quote from
Tozer's classic, "The Pursuit of God" serves as a
perfect summation of this article
"The Bible is the written
word of God, and because it is written it is confined and limited by the
necessities of ink and paper and leather. The Voice of God, however, is alive
and free as the sovereign God is free. 'The words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.' The life is in the
speaking words. God's word in the Bible can have power only because it
corresponds to God's Word in the universe. It is the present Voice which makes
the written word powerful. Otherwise it would lie
locked in slumber within the covers of a book." (A. W.
Tozer)
God bless and keep you!
Your brother and
servant
George
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