Speaking for myself I am devoted to Biblical Whole Testament Theology; (By His Grace, may Yahweh make me even more so). At the same time I am also firmly persuaded that even if you are not exactly on the same page with me theologically, Yahweh Almighty God will teach you, and bring you closer and closer to the image and desire of Messiah as long as you are willing to cooperate with Him. Even if we only believed that the so-called red parts apply to us (the words of Messiah usually being in red), we would still be much better off as a body of believers than most Christians are today. Even if we only believe that the words of Messiah were authoritative and binding, most Christians would not walk as they do today. Even if we just believe the red parts, and take Messiah and His Words seriously then we could not define grace as we most often do today. Take a look for a moment at how Messiah defines who His family members are. As it is written:
“And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.” But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”” (Mark 3:32–35, NKJV)
Even if we believe that only the so-called New Testament was authoritative for the Christian, then shouldn’t Messiah’s own definitions be authoritative for the Christian? If we claim that Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) is our Lord and Master, and our Savior, then shouldn’t the Savior’s definitions of who His family is matter to us as Christians? Yeshua the Messiah and Christ specifically declared that those who DO the will of Yahweh Almighty God the Father are counted as being members of Messiah’s family.
Yahweh Almighty God who made heaven and earth is perfect love (1 John 4:8). There is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5). He is not double minded or schizophrenic. He cannot contradict or deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). Therefore, by definition, His Laws, Commandments and Instructions CANNOT contradict His Will. By definition, it is impossible to DO the WILL of the Father without learning and then doing His Commandments. When we teach people to break, to violate, or to do the opposite of what the Father has commanded, we are literally teaching people how NOT to be counted as members of Messiah’s Family, and we don’t have to go any further than reading, understanding and believing the red parts to learn that key lesson.
I cannot speak for the rest of you, but for myself, whether or not Yeshua the Messiah TRULY counts me as being a member of His Family; that really matters to me. That’s the whole shooting match, so to speak.
The Modern Understanding of Grace
As difficult as it may be to believe, today’s modern Christianity often teaches that the way that we prove that we are under God’s grace is to actively do the OPPOSITE of God’s Will. How does that happen? Well, 1st it is often taught throughout modern Christendom, that God’s Laws Commandments and Instructions have been nailed to the cross, and so it is often believed and taught, that the Christian no longer needs to pay attention to, respect, or obey God’s Laws, Commandments and Instructions, because we are under Grace.Moreover, it is often believed and taught by tradition and practice that the way that we prove that we are under grace and that we are not trying to justify ourselves by works of the Law, is to actively break God’s Law and to do the explicit opposite of what God said that He desires and requires in His Laws Commandments and Instructions.
That can sound plausible based on what we have been taught through long-standing tradition and misapplying Scripture. The great problem with it though is that it runs directly contrary to something else that Messiah taught. Just as it is written:
The reality is that one knows and recognizes an Apple tree because it produces a harvest of apples. If a pear tree insisted that it was an Apple tree, but it kept producing pears instead of apples, then you would quite naturally say that the pear tree which insisted it was an Apple tree but continued producing pears was deceived or delusional, wouldn’t you?““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15–20, NKJV)
The simple reality is that the sinful nature produces certain fruits in the human being (Galatians 5:19-21; Romans 1:18-32; 2 Timothy 3:1-13).
Conversely, the Holy Spirit produces vastly different fruits in the human being (Galatians 5:22-25)
Love produces certain fruits and characteristics in a human being (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Genuine faith produces works of obedience in agreement with what God said. If we do not act according to what God said, then we really did not believe Him (James 2:18; James 2:26). And so genuine faith than produces certain identifiable fruits - mainly acting in obedience to what God has said, because that’s what truly demonstrates that we actually BELIEVE God.
Heavenly God-given wisdom produces certain fruits and characteristics. Likewise, earthly human wisdom has certain other identifying characteristics (James 3:13-18). We can tell the difference by properly assessing the fruit.
The grace of God is no different. God’s True Biblical Grace has unique and peculiar, clearly identifiable traits, but we have forgotten what the fruit of biblical grace truly looks like, and since we have forgotten what the grace of God really looks like, we have changed the definition of grace into something that God never intended.
We have gotten so enamored with the idea that our salvation does not originate or come about by our obedience to God’s Law, but through Christ, that in the process we have forgotten how the grace of God truly functions, we have forgotten the real fruit that grace produces, and in the process we have actually turned the grace of God into lawlessness, even without being aware of it.
If we take a careful look at what most Christians identify as being Grace today (which I describe immediately before the passage of Matthew 7:15-20 above), our modern definition of grace looks an awful lot like the New Testament definition of Lawlessness. That’s not Grace.
Most of us identify grace as being the unmerited undeserved favor of God. Most of us understand the function of grace to provide us forgiveness when we sin, and most are content to stop there. However, that is not the only function of Grace, far from it. Although the grace of God can and does wipe the slate clean when we sin and we recognize and admit that we have violated God’s Instructions, God’s true grace accomplishes far more than simply wipe the slate clean and to merely forgive us when we sin and violate God’s Commands and Instructions. We have often become so completely Lawless in our interpretation and application of Grace, that we have largely forgotten what the Biblical Grace of God truly looks like and how Grace truly functions.
Let’s Play Spot the Grace
For the next few blog entries , I would like to earnestly entreat you to play a game with me called “Spot the Grace.” I will give you a set of A & B choices. With each set of questions, you have to decide which of the 2 choices requires more of God’s Grace working within the believer, in order for the believer to successfully accomplish the task. At the end, hopefully you will get a much clearer picture of how God’s True Biblical Grace actually functions inside a person. Which of these is truly operating in God’s Grace? Which of these requires God’s grace for the person to accomplish it successfully?As it is written:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”Which of these is the fruit of grace?
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A. I want to let God and His Word set my definitions. When God and His Word characterizes something as being loving, then I want to agree with God and call it love also. Something is worship when God calls it worship. Something is good when God calls it good. When God calls something sinful or wicked, I don’t want to call that thing something other than sin. B. My definitions about right, or wrong, truth or false are based on what I personally feel comfortable with. It changes with the circumstances, or according to majority opinion.
Which of those 2 mindsets and ideologies really puts God in charge instead of making a god out of myself and my own preferences? Which of these 2 ideologies and mindsets requires that God’s grace and power must be working in me in order for me to be able to do it successfully? Which of those behaviors is truly a product or the fruit of the Grace of God working inside a person?
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“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.Which of these is the fruit of grace?
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A. I allow God and what His Word says that He desires to determine what I bring to Him in worship, and the manner with which I bring it before Him. B. What I bring to God in worship is determined by my own opinions and personal preferences about what is good. I base my worship practices on what is popular, on what is commonly accepted, and traditional. Seeking in doing what God says He wants is secondary. I invent my own ways of worshiping and honoring God based on what pleases and satisfies me, and I cherry pick Scriptures to make it seem okay for me to choose and do what makes me feel good, but I do it in Christ’s Name, so it’s all right then. Which of these requires more of God’s grace and power working in me for me to do it successfully, A or B? Think about it.
To be continued in part two.
Brother R.Michel Lankford
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