Archives: Episode

Embracing Our God-given Roles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
(Shakespeare,  As You Like It)

We enter the world as dependent babies and often exit as dependent old folks. In between we play many roles. Most of us, at least traditionally, become either husbands or wives and mothers or fathers. Some of us may become bosses at work. More will become employees. Some will become military leaders. Others, military followers. Some will become political leaders, maybe a president, governor, senator, or congressman or woman. Most of us will be citizens who have the privilege and responsibility of voting them in and out. All of us who live long enough will play the role of baby, child, student, teenager, young adult, and middle-aged adult. Many of us will eventually become seasoned citizens and grandparents, maybe even great grandparents!. Our roles in life come and go. They are all important, but none of them truly define us.

The only truly defining role in life, that not everyone gets to experience unfortunately, is “child of God.” From that we derive our core identity.

Born again believers are first and foremost and always God’s children. That will never change. (John 8:35) In fact, all followers of Christ can rightly claim to be “sons,” the whole lot of us – men, women, and children. This is because we find our true identity in Christ, and our relationship with Abba Father is Jesus’ relationship. He is the Son, and we are in Him; therefore, we are all sons, too. Everyone’s core identity is being God’s son.

See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don’t know God, so they don’t understand that we are his children. 1 John 3:1 (NLT)

Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  Galatians 4:6 (NASB)

Building out from this core identity, God gives us various roles to play over a lifetime. We must be careful not to let any of these roles begin to define us in our thinking. They do not. They are temporary, yet very important. How we fulfill them will affect our eternal reward.

First and foremost our roles come from our gender. When a baby arrives in this world, or now when we get the ultrasound results, the key question is whether “it” is a boy or a girl. Then we can accurately label “it” a “he” or “she.”

We experience life through the filter of our gender.

No one can fully know what it is like to live as a member of the opposite sex, regardless of claims to the contrary. Infusions of sex hormones may alter some things, but our chromosomes cannot be changed. Gender is assigned by God and is a determining factor in our life experience.

The wise person embraces God’s gender choice for them.

Over a lifetime, we play many different roles, some which are gender-based and some which are not. We begin as children whose main responsibility is to obey our parents. Next we move into adolescence, when we begin to take on adult responsibilities and privileges, in addition to experiencing adult temptations. Adulthood provides us with many role options – husband, father, wife, mother, breadwinner, boss, employee, leader, follower, disciple, mentor, etc. None of these roles change our core identity.

Each role carries its own responsibilities and privileges. Each of us should attempt to excel at the roles God allows us to play in life. None are insignificant or unimportant to God.

One huge problem with role playing is when we start to think that our roles define us. When those “under” authority start thinking that those “over” them are superior to them, it strikes a blow at our identity. Unfortunately, those in authority often see themselves as actually being superior and communicate that directly or indirectly to those they oversee, thus denigrating and diminishing the perceived worth of those people. This is a serious violation of the authority role. Those in authority have the responsibility to serve and build up those under their care, as well as lead them.

Since I am a man, that is the focus of this series. Women cannot experience or partake of the roles God gives to men that are gender-based, just as women have roles that cannot be experienced by men.

Two unique male roles are being a husband and a father. Each of these roles has specific responsibilities and privileges, which is the theme of this series.

These roles, when properly played, constitute a very high calling, just as being a wife and mother do. I hope this series will help you to gain a greater appreciation for manhood and stir up us men with a determination to be faithful with what God has placed in our hands. Husband and fathers are given the role and responsibility of being the loving “head” of the wife and family, respectively. Wives and children are assigned the role of being under the benevolent headship or authority of the husband or father. It takes faith and humility to properly function in any of these roles.

As is obvious to most women, there may be nothing inherent in the man that makes him better qualified than the wife to be the head of the family. Sometimes wives have more wisdom, discerning, and leadership abilities than the husband God has placed over them. Unless the husband, in such a case, handles his headship with humility, wisdom, and grace, he may make it extremely difficult and unlikely that his wife will submit properly to him. Unless the wife understands her role and identity properly, she may find it next to impossible to follow the husband God has put in her life. We all must see that God is at work in all of these things and is bigger than we imagine.

It requires tremendous faith to be the head of a family or other organization or group, but perhaps it takes even more faith to be a follower. Husbands and fathers, especially those who are aware of their own deficiencies, may be reluctant to lead, but they must do so nevertheless. Failing to lead betrays our calling and the grace supplied to us by God. So, whether we are gifted leaders or reluctant ones, it is vital that we humbly accept the roles God gives to us. Our humility as leaders and heads can make it possible for others to develop fully under our care.

Click here to access all articles in this series.

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Roles and Responsibilities Given to Men: Part 1 – Introduction

Introduction and Overview

We live in a time in which many minimize the God-given distinctions between men and women. Some even insist that gender is fluid and optional. The source of this dangerously flawed thinking is a deeply embedded rebellion and hatred against God.

Many people do not like how God made them and seek to overthrow his choice for them.

Without the change of heart and thinking that comes through Christ and because of our sin nature, people insist on governing their lives as they see fit, without reference to God or his ways. Even those of us who follow Christ must battle the destructive impulse to try to live independently from God. When we choose to submit to Christ’s lordship, the Holy Spirit begins to transform our thinking, which will result in a change in how we live.

The Spirit’s goal is to bring every area of our lives into alignment with God’s perfect order and will. Not only will this glorify God, but it will also maximize our fulfillment and happiness.

What does it mean to be a surrendered man? What are our unique privileges as men? What is the burden of our responsibility? This series will look at the two important roles God may give us – husband and father and the importance of leaving a positive legacy.

The New Resurrection Order

Christians live in a tension between that which was, already is, and that which is coming. Sometimes the lines blur between the last two, making life challenging to navigate.

When Jesus died on the cross, he put to death much of the old order of things and birthed a new resurrection reality.

Paul wrote:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 (NASB)

When Jesus died on the cross, the following aspects of the old order of things died with him.

  1. Racism – When Jesus the Jew died on the cross, God destroyed the inherent spiritual difference between the Jews and those outside the covenant promises. Jesus’ resurrection created “one new man” in Christ – the church. All forms of racism were dealt a death blow.  (Ephesians 2:15)
  2. Legalism – The Law’s power to point out our failures and condemn us was put to death on the cross. Jesus’ resurrection gave birth to a new age of living in the power of the Spirit. There is a fundamental difference between trying hard to please God and life in the Spirit.
  3. Religion and Ritual – Sacrifice, circumcision, Sabbath observance, and the Temple were rendered obsolete after the resurrection. Jesus fulfilled all of these shadows that pointed toward his life, crucifixion, resurrection, and lordship.
  4. Gender and Socio-Economic Distinctions – When Jesus rose from the dead, he put to death the old order of things which often focused on outward distinctions, such as race, gender, and social status. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

In the new “resurrection reality,”  there is no longer male-female distinction in the Spirit.

A Dynamic Gender Tension

Jesus said that in heaven there will be no marriage because gender roles will be a thing of the past. (Matthew 22:30)

However, we now live in the dynamic tension between what is and what is to come. We live in bodies that are part of the old Adamic order of things, but we have born again spirits which are in union with God and the new resurrection reality. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

We are born into this world as either a male or a female. Our sexual identity affects us physically, emotionally, and in countless other ways. We are wired differently in our brains, have different muscular and skeletal structures, and have been given radically different functions in the reproductive process. To pretend that there are no essential differences is to be in willful denial. God separated Adam into male and female to illustrate that we need each other for completion. Together we are able more perfectly to reflect God’s image.

As Christians, we must navigate the challenging tension of the “already here – not yet” aspect of God’s kingdom. Spiritually there is no male or female, but naturally there is. How do we integrate the two?

Since God created us with the ability to interface with the natural and spiritual worlds, we are challenged to discover what aspects of each dimension have priority at the present time in a given situation.

In this natural world which we presently inhabit, we have God-given gender-specific roles. Only a man can be a father and a husband, despite the protests by the radical Left to the contrary.

To rebel against this creation order of things is to rebel against God himself.

However, to limit our understanding and application solely to the natural order of things is to miss out on some of the wonders of the resurrection and revert back to legalism.

God can take any aspect of the resurrection and apply it to our present natural reality any time he desires.

Before Christ’s resurrection, the only way to be included in God’s covenant with Abraham was to join the Jewish covenant community. This meant adhering to the Law with all its commandments and regulations. It also meant that every male had to be circumcised as an external sign of his covenant inclusion and commitment. Circumcision was uniquely male, of course, signifying that males had greater privilege and access to God. This was reinforced in the Law of Moses with regard to sanctuary access. Women were kept on the outside. Women were not regarded as reliable witnesses and not afforded the same educational opportunities as men. Their intrinsic worth was valued below men by the Law of Moses.

Jesus came to undo all these inequalities through his death and resurrection. The “one new man” created in him through his resurrection includes both male and female, slave and free, and Jew and Gentile. It blurs every distinction that formerly separated us. The church is the greatest of all melting pots.

At first, the early Christians assumed that the requirement of circumcision was still in effect. Why would it not be? It was clearly stated in the Scriptures. (Genesis 17:14)

It was shocking to Peter when he witnessed an uncircumcised Gentile named Cornelius begin to speak in tongues, proving that God filled him with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 11:15-18) Such an event demanded a revision of his practical theology. After all, our theology should be one that God follows!

Paul became the spokesman for this new theological understanding, which he clearly laid out in his Letter to the Romans. He explained that circumcision is no longer necessary under the new resurrection order of things called the New Covenant. Now what is required is faith in the finished work of Christ.

For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. Galatians 5:6 (NLT)

Christ fulfilled the Law, thereby making it’s ritual aspects obsolete. True “circumcision” is now something spiritual that happens on the inside, in the heart, as a result of the new birth and the indwelling Spirit. (Philippians 3:3) For followers of Christ now to submit to outward circumcision as a means to obtain a right standing with God would be reverting to Old Covenant externals and legalism and would result in our “falling from grace.” (Galatians 5:1-4) New Covenant believers must stand on faith in Christ’s finished work or not stand at all.

What does this have to do with our topic? Not only is circumcision no longer critical in the resurrection reality that Christ introduced, but other things have changed as well. What about the distinction between men and women in God’s kingdom? Judaism offered women greater nobility and protection than other religions, but Jesus took things to a whole new level by including women in his band of disciples. He dignified women by first appearing to them after his resurrection, making them the very first to witness his resurrection glory. Women were also significant ministers in the early church.

How did Paul make the huge leap to go from including women in the band of disciples to saying there is “neither male nor female?” He saw the Spirit at work in women, just as he saw evidence of the Spirit’s work in the uncircumcised Cornelius. He also knew that there was an Old Testament antecedent. God raised up Deborah to lead Israel and command generals.

When we observe a present work of the Spirit that is corroborated by a biblical antecedent, we have the ability to declare a theology of resurrection reality. This is what Paul did regarding circumcision and regarding women.

But please do not assume at this point that I am throwing all teaching on male headship out the window. I am not. In this present male-female oriented natural world, we still have gender specific roles to play. Some of these roles are non-transferable. Others are more malleable. Hopefully this series of articles will help to shed some light on these things and help us to better understand and fulfill our gender specific roles in life.

Click here to access all articles in this series.

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Are We Developing Disciples or Coddling Immature People?

 

 

 

 

Without constant attention and steadfastness, pastoring a church can easily devolve into enabling codependent, lazy, and fearful churchgoers who want nothing to do with the Great Commission besides paying it lip service.

Jesus, the greatest shepherd of all time, taught his followers that a good shepherd would leave the flock in order to go after missing and lost sheep. This seems strange to many pastors, who make it their life mission to tend to every need of the already safe sheep. (Matthew 18:12-14)

If we think of pastoring as raising children, things will probably get clearer for us regarding our pastoral priorities.

One of the worst things parents can do is hover over their children in order to try to protect them from every danger imaginable, instead of allowing them to explore and learn on their own, under limited parental supervision. A derivative of this kind of unintended parental “abuse” is to do everything for the child, which sends the perhaps unintended message that the child is incompetent to manage life on his or her own.

Parents harm their children by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Well-intentioned parents can hurt their children despite having the best of motives, if they fail to understand that their mission in child rearing is to produce responsible self-governing adults, not permanently dependent offspring.

Sometimes pastors adopt the same misguided strategies and make it their goal to keep people in a constant state of needing them.

Instead of training their church members to read, understand, and apply the Bible’s teachings for themselves and to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit for themselves, they want their people to rely on them for guidance and wisdom. Instead of equipping and teaching their people to take initiative in sharing the gospel with those who yet do not know the Lord, we may train them that the extent of their missionary responsibility is to bring people to church so that the pastor can do all the ministry. The list could go on. What are we trying to do? This is certainly not how to make disciples.

What if pastors taught their people that their main duty and occupation is to learn what they need to learn in order to leave “the 99” to go after those who are lost or straying? How would our churches be different if pastors prioritized preparing their people to be active disciple makers instead of passive churchgoers? Would it cause our churches to lose members, or would it infuse them with new life and vigor? Probably both. The ones who want nothing to do with growing up into spiritual adulthood will be able to find other pastors who will coddle them, but the ones who relish the challenge of being a disciple who makes disciples will be very grateful.

We cannot make it our top priority to gain members, if we embrace making disciples. Instead our goal is to prepare and send out Great Co-missionaries.

Missional pastoring will lead us to nurture, equip, motivate, and launch people into their communities to go and make disciples. Our programs and priorities should be reevaluated regarding how they help make and send disciples. Our people should be told that our goal is to help them grow up to spiritual maturity, which is the work of missional pastoring.

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Developing Missional Churches – Part 3: Using the Equipping Model for Mission

 

 

 

 

In the first article in this series entitled Developing Missional Churches, I looked at some tensions that challenge our attempt to fulfill our God-given mission. The first is the tension between attracting consumerist church shoppers to meetings and making disciples. For those churches which choose to be missional, a second tension involves choosing between using the attractional model to win people to Christ or using the equipping model to train people to do ministry themselves. In my second article, I examined how some missional churches use the attractional model to effectively preach the gospel to large numbers of seekers. This article looks at how the equipping model can be employed to make disciple-making disciples.

Leadership Goals of Equipping Churches

I have already established that Jesus charged the church to be missional when he gave us the Great Commission. Mission includes going, preaching, teaching or equipping, and launching. Whereas missional-attractional churches often are very successful at presenting the gospel to those who are drawn to their services, with many surrendering their lives to Christ, they may struggle to produce disciples who can minister in their own right. This is why the equipping model is needed.

The above continuum places attractional churches on one end and equipping churches on the other. Of course, real life churches are going to be somewhere in between. My continuum places what I call a “hybrid network” in the middle. I will talk about that later. Pure equipping churches do not employ attractional techniques or strategies. In fact, Hugh Halter, pastor of Adullam in Denver, sometimes deliberately makes his services less than perfect just to remind people that we do not go to church to be entertained. At LifeNet, we never have to try to do that. It comes naturally.

Equipping churches seek to develop disciples by giving them adequate Bible knowledge and competent ministry skills and launching them into the community to do the work of ministry.

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12  for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; Ephesians 4:11-12 (NASB)

Instead of adopting a strategy to invite people to church meetings to hear the gospel from a main speaker, equipping churches develop disciples who are competent to share the gospel themselves outside the four walls of the church.

Leadership Strategies of Equipping Churches

Leaders of equipping churches necessarily will be missional, and they also must be committed to training. This is the biggest difference in leadership strategy. Instead of maximizing their own pulpit time, they will seek to step aside to make room for their disciples.

This means equipping churches are willing to put less polished speakers and worship leaders in the forefront in order to develop them. This runs counter to the accepted attractional strategy, which always puts the best of the best in front of the crowd.

Think “teaching hospital” when you think of the equipping church. Think rock concert when you conceptualize the attractional model.

Equipping churches can be led by any of the “five-fold” ministry, but missionally-minded teachers always will have a large role to play.

Equipping churches do not rely simply on classroom or lecture style teaching. Instead, they use Jesus’ method, which blends instruction with demonstration and application.

This means their disciples will be able to effectively share the gospel, pray for the sick, cast out demons, counsel, and do other facets of ministry. The doing is part of the learning. Until the disciple does, he or she is not a disciple. Unless churches develop a way for people to have “hands on” opportunities to practice their ministry skills under supervision, equipping will not take place. Obviously, listening to a talking head for an hour each Sunday will never accomplish this. Equipping church meetings are designed to maximize disciple making. The small group setting is ideal; although, it is quite possible to break a large church down into small discussion groups on the fly. In order to facilitate the application of teaching, ministry opportunities must be created, ideally outside of the church meeting. All sorts of creative options are available, everything from door-to-door visitation to men’s nights out, to starting or joining some sort of affinity group or club.

A necessary part of equipping and launching disciples is decentralization.

Nothing bottlenecks ministry as much as forcing all decision making through a top-level choke point. Equipping churches expect to produce mature ministers who have the wisdom and courage to be spiritual “entrepreneurs.” Just as natural dads release their sons and daughters to establish their own families, equipping churches adopt a strategy of equip and release. For this to work ideally, launched disciples will maintain a healthy relationship with their mentors and launching churches, having the same values, mission, and strategies.

Integrating the Attractional and Equipping Models

Neither the attractional nor the equipping model is perfect. Both have strengths and weaknesses that can be complemented by the other. In his book, AND – The Gathered and Scattered Church, Hugh Halter advocates creating a hybrid church that incorporates elements of both. (You can read my summary here.) Having pastored both types of churches, I am intrigued with the possibility of integrating the two into one “mean, lean missional machine.”

Larger attractional model churches usually have nice facilities, established programs for youth and other sub-groups, and resources. Equipping churches, especially the small group variety, may have none of the above, but be rich with missional vision and committed people. The blending of the two can provide pastoral stability (modality) with missional passion (sodality).

Such a hybrid makes room for people who may not be willing to go the more radical missional route of the equipping church, but who support it. It also provides programs and resources not otherwise available to smaller equipping churches.

Such hybrids will necessarily be led by those who see the need for both expressions of the church.

The leadership team will need to make room for the more fluid expression of missional sodality within the protective covering of the modality, the larger “mother” church. Disciples and leaders that come out of the equipping ministry of the hybrid church, can be plugged into the various small groups as leaders or be encouraged to start their own through evangelization.

Hybrid missional churches will be able to conduct schools of ministry for training and equipping future leaders. This training will include hands on mentoring in the doing of ministry.

Hybrid leaders will need to resist the desire to “rein in” the more sodalic expression of the church, and sodalic leaders will need to properly relate to the modalic church. This will have to be worked out over time, but the possibilities for mission are huge and probably worth the effort.

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Developing Missional Churches – Part 2: Using the Attractional Model for Mission

 

 

 

 

The church was created for mission, namely the Great Commission, which requires the church to…

  • Go – There is an apostolic mandate on the entire church to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
  • Make Disciples – Disciples are followers of Christ who obey his teachings, his Spirit, and the Great Commission.
  • Teach them to obey – Disciples must train their disciples to do as they do.

Missional churches embrace the Great Commission and focus their resources and energy toward that end.

We live in a culture that has been warped by consumerism and has produced a church “clientele” that begs to be entertained. Recognizing and capitalizing upon this bent, attractional churches use their resources to provide the most attractive church services possible in order to gather the largest following. In this article, I assume their motivation is to advance the kingdom of God.

Ingeniously many very large churches use the attractional model missionally as a platform for preaching to seekers. I call these missional-attractional churches.

Many people are being drawn to these churches and are responding to the Gospel, and many of these churches take spiritual development and growth seriously. These churches are most likely led by apostles, evangelists, or missional pastors.

The Missional – Attractional Leader

Anyone who is an Ephesians 4:11 “five-fold” or “ascension gift” minister / leader (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher) may be primarily pastoral or missional. Every true apostle will impart an apostolic (sent or missional) mindset to the churches they oversee, making them apostolic in their own right. By looking at Paul’s and Peter’s apostolic ministries, we also observe a strong pastoral element.

Apostolic churches will take care of their own people while maintaining an outward thrust of evangelism and discipleship of new converts.

Evangelists are by nature missional. Prophets and teachers may be either. Pastoral leaders naturally focus on the well-being of the sheep under their care and can easily be consumed with doing so, at the expense of the Great Commission. However, Jesus advocated missional pastoring in his parable about the one lost sheep.

So he told them this parable: 4  “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7  Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:3-7 (ESV)

The Christlike missional pastor never loses sight of the lost, and even prioritizes his ministry toward them, but his work with those outside the church will always have a pastoral touch to it. Jesus exhorted his followers to pray for more shepherds to be sent out into the harvest.

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38  therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:35-38 (ESV)

These laborers by context are clearly shepherds. Hurting people cry out for caring individuals to wade into their world of sorrow and pain, bringing pastoral grace and ministry with them.

Caring for lost sheep is just as pastoral as taking care of the church.

Missional churches can be led by any form of the five-fold ministry, as long as mission is prioritized. But if only the core leaders are missionally minded or if the church’s ministry focuses on the use of the gifts and abilities of a select few, is that really being true to the Great Commission? Attractional churches that focus on winning the lost by effectively leveraging their resources and the talent of a few may win a lot of people to Christ, yet miss the mark when it comes to developing disciples who make disciples. We are seeing today what happens when attractional churches succeed in gathering lots of people who are not committed disciples. The center cannot hold in those churches. Either the people will leave or the leadership will cave to the soulish demands of their clientele.

There is a difference between serving the Great Commission by marshaling members to support the local church’s Sunday services and serving the Great Commission by equipping and launching all the members of the church into the harvest field as ministers in their own right.

Although I admire the effectiveness of attractional churches in drawing the lost, I still question their effectiveness in discipling them. The Great Commission is not to win the lost: it is to make disciples of the lost, which requires equipping. Equipping churches will be the subject of my next article. I hope you will continue on this journey with me.

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Developing Missional Churches – Part 1: Tensions

 

 

 

 

Developing missional churches is one of the great challenges facing modern church leaders who live in a consumerist world system.

By missional I mean prioritizing the pursuit of the Great Commission, Jesus’ marching orders to the church. This article will address two of the major obstacles to achieving this missional goal.

Tension #1: Attractional vs. Equipping

In the United States, we live in a pronounced consumer culture, in which people are trained from an early age to view life from a “what’s in it for me” vantage point.

This consumerist mindset has infected the church, too, resulting in many people having rather shallow reasons for attending or not attending a local church.

The culture has molded our people to look for a church that provides the most return on their investment, which is often measured by how a particular church blesses them personally. Unfortunately, because we are mostly selfish in our orientation, we gravitate toward those churches that are attractive, comfortable, and impressive. To put it another way, people will “shop” churches to find the one that offers the best programs, facilities, worship experience, preaching, and other benefits, such as being a place to network with other successful people in the area. Not surprisingly such a search often leads consumer Christians to the biggest and most successful churches in the area. This is to be expected because the church growth movement that began in the 1980s taught leaders how to market their churches to the masses. This leads us to a very important point that has proved to be a disaster in many cases.

Churches that want to attract Christian consumers must choose to provide the things for which people are shopping.

Consumers need to be attracted, which has led to the development of the attractional model of doing church. This way of operating tries to present the very best Sunday service possible in order to attract the largest number of seekers and church shoppers, as well as provide a great experience for its members in order to retain them. The disastrous aspect of this model is that many leaders have compromised the gospel to “keep ’em coming.”

In stark contrast, Jesus taught his disciples that they must be willing to lose everything for his sake, which is a direct attack on consumerism.

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33 (ESV)

The opposite of the consumerist church is the disciple making church, which prioritizes training and equipping its members to do the work of the ministry.

Comparing attractional churches to equipping churches is like contrasting going to a concert with going to school. It’s pretty easy to guess which one most people will choose. Disciple making churches cannot be consumer oriented by definition. The two ways of doing things are diametrically opposed.

Strong disciples are built through teaching them self-denial for the sake of the mission, which will alienate consumers, whose purpose in life is to consume blessings for themselves.

What draws consumers will pull disciples off track.

Leaders who wish to prioritize the Great Commission will have to face the giant of consumerism and choose to turn their backs on its allure in order to make disciples.

Tension #2: Modalic vs. Sodalic

A writer named Rob Yule, from New Zealand, wrote: “A modality is the static or geographical form of the church, the church as a local or regional community. A sodality is the mobile or missional form of the church…” Another, perhaps, better way to conceive of the difference is that modality is a function of the pastoral ministry of the church to its own people; whereas, sodality is its outward (missional or apostolic) thrust toward those who do not yet know Christ. This second definition is how I use the two words in this article.

Church leaders, because of calling, gifting, training, and/or personality, usually emphasize either modality or sodality in their ministry. These two ways of seeing and practicing church seem to be in opposition to each other, creating some tension in the church world.

Jesus launched a worldwide missionary organization called the church, whose marching orders are found in the Great Commission.

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20  teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB)

He promised his disciples that the gates of hell would not be able to withstand its missionary advances. (Matthew 16:18) The preaching of the Gospel turned the world upside down in a very short time, as bands of early disciples, often led by apostolic (sent) ministers, went forth with the sole objective of preaching the good news of Christ’s resurrection and lordship and establishing churches whenever groups of disciples responded to the message.

But just as a conquering army must organize and consolidate its gains, the church found that tending its new converts tended to be a full-time occupation.

The Apostle Paul probably spent more time tending the newly formed churches than he did in active evangelization of unreached people. Nevertheless, he never lost his zeal for and commitment for taking the Gospel to unreached areas. (Romans 15:20) He used established churches as bases from which to launch and sustain his ongoing missionary endeavors. (Romans 15:24) In terms of a conquering military army, churches can be viewed as outposts from which greater advances can be made while maintaining conquered areas.

Both the pastoral (modalic) and the apostolic (sodalic) callings are fairly all-consuming. Paul was one of the few, it seems, who was able to keep both front and center in his life.

It is my belief that true apostles have this calling and ability. They are essentially missionaries who care deeply for and maintain a pastoral relationship of some nature with the churches they help start.

Unfortunately, however, many churches are led by pastors who may unintentionally stray from the Great Commission and settle for being modalic self-absorbed institutions. This is because it is difficult to maintain both sides of the equation – mission and pastoring.

The tension between the pastoral and apostolic calling is a second challenge in developing missional churches.

Most church leaders I know are in favor of reaching out with the Gospel to those who still do not know Christ, but fewer feel the need to devote their resources and energy toward motivating, equipping, and launching their members into the harvest field. Those who have prioritized mission are divided between using an attractional model or employing the equipping model. Which is better at making disciples? Which is better at bringing in new converts?

Two questions will be addressed in the following articles in this series.

  • Should church leaders equip the entire church (modality) to become members of a Great Commission harvest team, or should the Great Commission be delegated to specialized sub-groups (sodalities) in the church?
  • Should churches rely on drawing people to evangelist-led attractional meetings or focus on equipping average followers of Christ to competently penetrate their neighborhoods and relational groups with the gospel in order to make disciples?

I hope you will stay with me as I look at these two questions in the next two articles.

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How God Removes Deeply Embedded Lies

This is the tenth article in a series entitled Wonderful Counseling. I sometimes use other names for this ministry, such as Personal Prayer Ministry and Biblical Healing and Deliverance. The adjective "wonderful" is used because Jesus is the "wonderful Counselor" of Isaiah 9:6. This ministry attempts to make room for Jesus to personally counsel people by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit, with human ministers acting as facilitators. This makes it different from most counseling. It is highly effective at teaching the recipient how to hear the voice of the Spirit and to receive his life giving words.

 

This article will show how God helps us to remove deeply embedded lies that are the building blocks for powerful logical arguments that seek to block us from knowing God or believing his promises.

One of the major ways Jesus sets us free from bondage is by identifying and removing these deeply embedded lies and replacing them with truth.

According to Paul, these strongholds are built upon a sinful logic or reasoning that sets us at odds with the truth of God’s Word and tempts us to impugn God’s character.

For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments 5 and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NET1)

Satanic lies are very deceptive, and often we do not even know we believe and serve them until the Holy Spirit shows us.

An important concept for us to grasp is that we can believe one thing in our intellects and quite another thing at the heart level.

We may have good theology at an intellectual level but be practical idolators or atheists at the heart level. What we say we believe may be betrayed by how we act or think. If there is a disconnect between what we say we believe and how we act, there are probably embedded lies hidden deep in our hearts that must be identified and expelled. If we react emotionally and negatively out of proportion to the provocation, that also may point to a lie-based stronghold in our lives.

What we do, say, and think when we are under pressure usually reveals what we really believe down deep.

Unless we allow the Lord to reveal what these lies are and replace them with a revelation of himself and his truth, we likely will stay in bondage. Lie-based strongholds resist most attempts to remove them; so, simple debate is usually fruitless. We cannot reason with fear and unbelief. It takes divine intervention.

Lie-based strongholds are built upon stubbornly held internal arguments and conclusions (or speculations) which are based on our observations and experience of life.

Example of a Logical Stronghold Built on Lies

Over the years I have been privileged to work with many sexual abuse victims. Any person who has experienced the betrayal and traumatic pain associated with abuse as a child at the hands of people who should have protected him or her, will often have great difficulty trusting God for protection as an adult. I think this should be rather obvious.

The argument will probably sound something like the following. God did not protect me from being abused when I was young; so, why should I trust him to do so now? Either he was not able to protect me or chose not to protect me then. Why is anything different now?

This logic seems to be impregnable because it is based on personal experience, which cannot be denied.

We must concede that God, since he is almighty and sovereign, did allow the abuse to happen. Logically, based on his or her interpretation of personal experience, the person holding this position feels justified in concluding that God cannot be trusted. This argument can hold us tenaciously in its grip in spite of clear Biblical teaching that God is our defender and Keeper. (Psalm 121:7-8) This is a perfect example of a lie-based stronghold, one which I have seen God help several people to overcome.

The lie at the root of the stronghold is that God is not trustworthy.

This is the same lie that Satan presented to Eve in the Garden. It is perhaps the most insidious of all lies, especially when we are presented with seemingly inescapable logical proof that it is so. Perhaps you know someone whose faith in God was derailed by such an argument. I do. Anyone captured by this satanic logic is in deep trouble, and without the help of God’s Holy Spirit, will likely stay enslaved by the lie. How does God liberate us?

We tend to believe what we see and experience more than we believe God and his promises because deep down we are fiercely independent in our sin nature.

When we are born-again, we receive a new identity. Our reborn spirit is joined to and loves the Lord. (1 Corinthians 6:17 and 2 Corinthians 5:17). However, even though our spirits are reborn, we still have a connection to Adam’s sinful independence through our yet unresurrected bodies, which the Bible calls “the flesh” (Greek: sarx). We are beings who are a combination of a new creation spirit and an old creation not yet resurrected body. Our souls (mind, will and emotions – the personality) are conflicted as a result. (I have written on this extensively in my series, Living Free in the Spirit.) We have a sort of “split personality.” Part of us loves God deeply and wants to serve him, but the “flesh” still wants to be an outlaw and live off God’s grid.

The “flesh,” still insists on making its own decisions and evaluations instead of relying upon the Lord and trusting his words.

The “flesh” never disappears and cannot be rehabilitated. According to Paul, the “flesh” was crucified with Christ and also must be constantly put to death by us. The flesh wants to be able to provide for itself rather than trust an invisible God. It wants to protect itself, instead of relying on God to be its defender. All of this reveals that we still hold to a presupposition that we are better off on our own in life, which is exactly what prompted Adam and Eve to reject God and choose independence so long ago. They failed in their test.

We must overcome this temptation to opt for self-directed independence, if we are gong to experience the freedom Christ died to give us.

Sinful logic has a very limited perspective and does not factor in God’s wisdom and understanding. It is not built on any sort of revelation of God or faith in his promises. Think of how modern TV shows and movies are written and produced. Most of them present a version life in which God is never in the picture and people fend for themselves. Marx called religion the “opiate of the masses,” a crutch for weak-minded people who cannot handle life on their own. The “flesh” laps up this sort of logic, which is one reason so many fall for the lies behind Marxism and evolution, which are God-denying, man-glorifying approaches to life.

The Way Out

If a person who is captured by such a stronghold wishes to experience freedom, he or she must eventually reject sinful logic and make a decision to rely on what the Bible says about God and his promises.

I can almost hear you thinking, “Yeah, right. That sounds pretty easy, but actually is close to impossible.” Exactly! That is why we need God’s help. When we approach God in prayer, asking for his help, he will never let us down. He is more willing to help us experience freedom than we are to seek it. Jesus already paid the price for our liberation. The Holy Spirit is waiting for us to ask for his help.

Changing how we think about things is called repentance, which comes from the Greek word metanoeo and means literally to “change the mind.” Changing how we think precedes changing who and what we believe.

Repentance moves us from trusting in ourselves to trusting in God.

Repentance and faith are gifts from God. (Acts 5:31 and Ephesians 2:8) Unless God reveals himself to us in a personal way, we cannot repent or believe using only our own abilities. The Holy Spirit is always at work when people truly repent and trust in God from the heart.

Bondage derives from sinful logic, but a heart that turns back to God in simple trust will experience freedom.

That is why it is vital for us to take any of our lie-based logical strongholds directly to the Lord in prayer and ask him to help us with them through his written Word and the Holy Spirit. Lie-based strongholds are always arrogant and proud obstacles that stand between us and knowing God. The only way to destroy such a stronghold is to confront it head on with repentance, humility, and a determination to move forward with faith in God and the truth of his Word. We cannot make it through this process without God’s direct help.

This brings us to story of Gideon, which I will cover in the next article. I will show you how God helped him to confront the lies he believed about himself and God and how he became an overcomer as a result.

Go back to Part 9: All Bondage Is Built on a Lie

Read Part 11: How God Moves Us from Fear to Faith

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Part 9: All Bondage Is Built on a Lie

This is the ninth article in a series entitled Wonderful Counseling. I sometimes use other names for this ministry, such as Personal Prayer Ministry and Biblical Healing and Deliverance. The adjective "wonderful" is used because Jesus is the "wonderful Counselor" of Isaiah 9:6. This ministry attempts to make room for Jesus to personally counsel people by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit, with the human ministers acting as facilitators. This makes it different from most counseling. It is highly effective at teaching the recipient how to hear the voice of the Spirit and to receive his life giving words.

 

The very first attack Satan made against humans was in the form of a lie. It has always been his most effective weapon.

Jesus said the following about our adversary while speaking to the Jewish leaders of his day.

You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44 (NET1)

The enslavement of the human race to sin, death, demonic oppression, and the world system began with a lie. Satan, disguised as a talking snake, suggested to Eve that God did not have her best interests in mind when He forbade her and Adam to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The lying serpent flatly contradicted God’s warning that they would die if they ate it. Instead he promised them that they would become like God, knowing good and evil, something that was obviously very attractive. Eve swallowed the lie hook, line, and sinker, and Adam followed her lead, failing to stand for truth. Believing that first lie and acting upon it opened the door to sin and death through a flood of deception that still works to undermine the revelation of God and our love and devotion to him.

As a result of that first sin in the Garden, every human being enters the world procreated in the image of our first parents, complete with a fallen human nature. The Bible calls it the “old man” or the “flesh”.

As a result of our inheritance from Adam, we are programmed to believe lies and reject God and truth.

Adam and Eve did not have this problem, since God had created them perfectly without any default leaning toward sin. This only shows how powerful deception is. Adam and Eve were unable to resist the lie, even though they did not have a sin nature. Where does that leave us who do? In need of a Savior!

Deception appeals to our inborn sinful desire to be “like God” without having to be dependent upon Him in any way. This is the fundamental nature of sin – self-will in contradiction to God’s will. Since we now have a bias toward deception, Satan easily locks down humanity in a web of lies, with our pride being a willing accomplice in the suppression of truth. We choose to believe that we do not need God, or, even better, that there is no God at all. The deception called evolution perfectly illustrates this. When Darwin first announced his theory, the Russian communist party embraced it as the perfect “scientific” paradigm to support its godless atheism. Evolution is built on the premise that there is no Creator. Rather, the universe simply “happened.” Order and matter proceeded from nothingness and disorder. The second law of thermodynamics guarantees that this is impossible, and even a small child knows that this sort of reasoning, if it can be called that, is ridiculous. Nevertheless, thousands of highly educated people have accepted this “theory” unquestioningly. Today many insist that it be accepted as scientific dogma. It is taught as fact by our public school system and by much of the academic community. This is a willful suppression of truth driven by a determination to be independent from God and deny him the honor he is due, thereby bringing God’s judgment upon us. (Romans 1:18-25)

Our love of the lie is so strong that unredeemed humans choose to suppress any attempt to reveal truth. This is why those who believe in creationism are ridiculed by the media and the followers of evolutionary dogma. This is why our Lord Jesus was persecuted and eventually murdered on a cross.

People do not like the truth. We run from it, hide from it, try to cover it up, and attack it.

Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. 21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God. John 3:19-21 (NET1)

But truth will eventually win the day. Jesus, who is the embodiment and definition of truth, will reign victoriously over every form of deception both in our own hearts and in the world. Eventually every knee and every lie will bow before the Lord of Truth!

The refusal to acknowledge and glorify God is behind our seemingly hopeless addiction to deception. Rebellion is the root of our refusal to believe the truth. This is not complicated. If God is Truth, then the desire to be independent from God is the same thing as embracing what is false. Anything that is anti-God is by nature deceptive. Satan can only deceive, because to tell the truth is godly.

The refusal to acknowledge, glorify, and worship God always results in some form of idolatry based on a lie.

Man was created to be a worshiper. If he does not worship the true God, he will worship something else that is a pretender to the throne. Just look at how people idolize movie stars and rock musicians. Evolution attempts to put man at the top of the evolutionary chain, making him a god of sorts, who is accountable to no one but himself.

But What about Me?

But what me? I am a follower of Christ, but I still battle with bondage and oppression. Am I also suffering because I believe a lie? This could well be so, and here is why. In addition to our inborn connection to sinful behavior and thinking called “the flesh” and the general power and deceptiveness of sin itself, bondage derives from four basic sources:

  1. Generational thinking, behavior, and consequences that are passed down along family lines,
  2. Unhealed traumatic pain,
  3. Deeply embedded lies, and
  4. Demonic oppression.

We will cover each of these in great detail in this series of articles.

What Jesus accomplished on the cross and through his resurrection provides deliverance in each of these four areas through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

If we are not experiencing that freedom, there are three possible reasons.

  1. First, we might be ignorant of what Christ has done. In that case, instruction from God’s Word accompanied by repentance, faith, and obedience to that truth will provide the desired liberation.
  2. In the second case, despite sufficient instruction in regarding God’s truth, a deeply embedded lie may still be present that hinders or blocks us from repentance, faith, and obedience. I call these lie-based strongholds, which Paul addressed in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. In this case, Jesus will help us to uncover and remove the lie, which is one of the main reasons for doing Personal Prayer Ministry.
  3. In a third possible scenario, in order to humble us, God may allow some form of oppression to remain in our lives so that we can learn to live by mercy and grace. To my understanding, this is what Paul experienced in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10.

I will concern myself with the first two cases, in both of which there is a lie behind the experience of bondage. The uninstructed person believes a lie simply because he or she never knew the truth that Christ’s finished work actually sets us free. The second person, who is captured by a lie-based stronghold, has chosen to believe a lie that opposes or nullifies God’s truth, quite often without realizing it.

For those of us who have embraced such a lie, it may seem more real than God’s Word, producing a type of practical idolatry in us. Jesus is the truth; so, to believe a lie is idolatry. Sobering, isn’t it?

Sin, by its very nature, is based on the deception that it provides something better than does obedience to God. When we are deceived, we choose the temporary pleasure that sin often affords, along with the death that results, rather than hold out for the eternal rewards associated with obedience to God. This is a form of temporary insanity.

It is only God’s grace ministered by the Holy Spirit that enables anyone to escape the clutches of deception and embrace the truth. In PPM, we ask the Lord to speak his truth to individuals, which breaks the power of the lie.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth...  John 16:13a (NET1)

May the Lord help us to be lovers of truth and lovers of God!

Go back to Part 8: Inside Out Truth

Read Part 10: How God Removes Deeply Embedded Lies

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Inside Out Truth

This is the eighth article in a series entitled Wonderful Counseling. I sometimes use other names for this ministry, such as Personal Prayer Ministry and Biblical Healing and Deliverance. The adjective "wonderful" is used because Jesus is the "wonderful Counselor" of Isaiah 9:6. This ministry attempts to make room for Jesus to personally counsel people by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit, with the human ministers acting as facilitators. This makes it different from most counseling. It is highly effective at teaching the recipient how to hear the voice of the Spirit and to receive his life giving words.

 

Let’s begin with a beautiful verse of Scripture that King David wrote just after admitting to Nathan the prophet that he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband and his friend to cover it up.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Psalms 51:6 (ESV)

Satan is a liar and master deceiver. He spews out deception as a means of misrepresenting God, subverting truth, and destroying people. Thankfully, God lovingly counters Satan’s every move. Whereas the Lord is never surprised by events, Satan never anticipates God’s wisdom and creative responses. Evil is clever but not wise. It may secure initial gains but always loses the war.

Since sin deformed humanity from the inside out by severing our connection to God in the spirit, God’s salvation works from the inside out, too. What our Lord does inside us who believe via the new birth is greater than anything Adam and Eve ever knew.

God, Immanuel, comes to live inside us! After giving us new birth in the spirit, God engages in transforming His people from the inside out by his Spirit.

When the eternal Logos, the Divine Son of God, became a human being (John 1:14), he called himself “the Truth.”

Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6 (NASB)

Jesus the Messiah maintained complete integrity between his inner thoughts, words, and actions, even though it eventually cost Him His life. He was a fearless embodiment and pursuer of truth.

A disciple is a person whose eyes have been opened through revelation to understand that Jesus is God’s Truth incarnate, the risen Messiah King. Disciples believe this in their hearts, confess it with their mouths, commit to a lifelong allegiance to Jesus and the truth, tell others about him, and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the process of inner transformation.

Being a disciple means being committed to living according to God’s truth.

Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (NET1)

Because of the way inheritance works, all of us received from Adam a default predisposition to being deceivers and liars. Jacob in Genesis has always been one of my favorite Bible characters, not because of who he was and what he did, but because, in spite of his many faults, failures, and sins, God still loved and remained faithful to him. Jacob’s name means deceiver and usurper. He is a picture of every person who comes into the world. Over time God changed him so radically that he was even given a new name – Israel. We serve an amazingly merciful and generous God!

Deception is so deeply ingrained in the human race that it takes an act of God to change us.

We must be spiritually reborn to start the process of transformation. This process continues over a lifetime. It involves God restructuring how we think about him, ourselves, and his Word.

Repentance is a word that literally means to change the mind. God works in us to change the way we think so that our lives can become conformed to truth.

Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God — what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NET1)

God gave Jacob a name that exposed his lack of integrity. Imagine being named, “Liar” or “Deceiver”. God is not afraid of telling it like it is, especially when he has a plan to redeem and change the person. Along the way, through God’s dealings, Jacob was forced to take a long hard look at his own deceptiveness. If we commit to following truth, God will also make us confront our sin, too. Today anyone named Jacob is a reminder of how God can take the most crooked of people and make them spiritual fathers.

God loves to force us into a corner from which there is no escape except by engaging in a wrestling match with Truth.

Jacob wrestled with the angel at the river Jabbok, and God prevailed in his life. The result was that Jacob became a prince with God and a great man in God’s kingdom. The same will happen to us if we commit to engaging the Truth.

Embracing truth is not easy. In fact, it can be one of the most challenging things we will ever do.

People often run from truth because we are afraid of it. We don’t want to face the truth about ourselves or God because we may think it is too painful or scary. According to Jesus, people prefer the darkness of deception to the brilliant light of truth.

And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. John 3:19-20 (NLT)

If we want to experience the freedom offered in Christ, we will need to squarely face truth with the help of the Holy Spirit.

We need not fear the One called the Truth who chose to die for us. He has no desire to destroy us with truth. Instead he wants us to be free because we embrace truth on the inside.

The only way we can properly relate to God and experience true freedom is through the avenue of repentance, which is the process by which we reject the lie and embrace the Truth.

When we admit that we are wrong and God is right we have begun the repentance journey. We make the decision to reject deception and become honest with God, ourselves, and one another. Repentance is the opposite of hypocrisy, which is when we pretend to be something we are not in order to look good to others and hide our sin.

One of the scariest things any person can do is become honest.

That is why people become so angry when their sin is exposed. We usually go into cover-up mode (denial) to try to keep damage to a minimum. Friendships can be damaged or lost by being honest if one of the parties is unwilling to embrace truth. That is why King David’s response to the prophet was so refreshing. When Nathan declared, “You are the man!”, exposing David as an adulterer and murderer, David responded, “I have sinned!” (2 Samuel 12:1-15) How rare is that? How many times have you seen someone instantly and openly admit a transgression?

Deception is rampant in society and honesty rare. but, in the church, it is supposed to be the norm.

Politics survives and thrives on lies. Hollywood is built on the unreal product it presents. Some of the biggest blockbuster movies depend on special effects to transport the viewer into a surreal world where God does not exist and sin often has no apparent consequences. But life is not like that at all. Life is built on the timeless truth of sowing and reaping. It eventually brings us face to face with God’s truth. We will either surrender to it or be destroyed by it. There is no escaping a confrontation with the God of truth.

A life based on sin and deception will always lead us into a dead-end alley from which there no escape except by admitting our sin and accepting God’s truth.

Jacob was forced into a confrontation with his older brother Esau, something he had avoided for years. He feared what Esau might do to him, because he had previously tricked his brother years before and taken his blessing and birthright. God forced Jacob to confront his fears, and, by so doing, to confront his own deceptiveness, all within the protection of God’s love. The result was that Jacob overcame his fears and gained a new status with his brother and God. He no longer had to skulk about in fear, but could walk in boldness and freedom. The same can happen for us if we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into truth.

God will help us confront things we have run from in the past so that we can experience Christ’s freedom. The more we grow in our knowledge of how much God loves us, the more we will trust him enough to be honest.

Prayer

Dear God, I have run from truth many times, but now I want to fully embrace it, no matter how scary it seems, because I know you love me and want me to be free on the inside. Jesus, thank you for dying and rising for me. Thank you for loving me even when I was your enemy. Thank you for being patient with me and helping me to get to this point. I rely on you to help me move forward in my truth journey. Come, Holy Spirit. You are the one who gives me the strength and ability to live for Jesus. You are the Spirit of truth, my friend, and my God. Have your way in my life. Make me a lover of truth. Amen.

Go back to Part 7.

Read Part 9: All Bondage Is Built on a Lie

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Part 7: Body, Soul, and Spirit: The Salvation of the Soul

This is the seventh article in a series entitled Wonderful Counseling. I sometimes use other names for this ministry, such as Personal Prayer Ministry and Biblical Healing and Deliverance. The adjective "wonderful" is used because Jesus is the "wonderful Counselor" of Isaiah 9:6. This ministry attempts to make room for Jesus to personally counsel people by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit, with the human ministers acting as facilitators. This makes it different from most counseling. It is highly effective at teaching the recipient how to hear the voice of the Spirit and to receive his life giving words.

 

Here is a most amazing and thought provoking verse.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:14 (ESV)

If you read my previous two articles, you probably deduced that, if there are past and future aspects to our salvation, there must be a present component to salvation, too. The verse above confirms this by referring to what Christ accomplished once for all in the past, our justification, to the ongoing work of God in the present, which many call sanctification or transformation.

We “are being sanctified” on a daily basis, which basically means we are being set apart to God and his purposes. This involves a transformation of our character to become more and more like Christ. This is accomplished inside us as we cooperate with God’s Spirit by faith. The goal of this transformation is obedience to God and his Word.

In other words, our spirits (the innermost part of our being where we intuitively connect with God) already have been made perfect once and for all, but we are also in the process of our souls (mind, will, and emotions) being made more and more like Jesus on a day-to-day, moment-by-moment basis.

Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God — what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NET1)

 

The Soul

The soul consists of the mind, will and emotions, what we call personality. Our daily battle against sin and the sin nature (the “flesh” or “old man”) is waged mostly in the mind. If the mind engages with temptation and the will caves to it, usually the body joins in to commit sin. Likewise the desires of the natural body, which are often amoral in nature, test the mind and will to see if we will be faithful to God or not.

We are tested every day to see if we will trust in the power of Christ’s finished work and the promises of God and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. God is teaching us to lean upon his daily provision of grace to see us through.

For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (NET1)

The God who justified us at Calvary, when we were still enemies and helpless to save ourselves (Romans 5:8-11 NLT), also gives us daily grace to live for Him. The God who will raise us from the dead, when we will be powerless to raise ourselves, is also the one who daily pours out on us the benefits of grace through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

We have little problem understanding that we could not deliver ourselves from the condemnation of sin. We also easily grasp that dead people are powerless to raise themselves from the dead, but it is usually not as clear to us that we are powerless to transform ourselves on a daily basis.

This accounts for the plethora of self-help books on the market. We think we can save ourselves, if we just try a little harder or learn some important key to success, but we cannot. Every part of our salvation depends on God; nevertheless, we always have a part to play, especially in our daily transformation. God will not do for us what he assigned to us, but he comes alongside to help us do it. (Romans 8:26)

Learning to cooperate with God’s Spirit in the transformation process is called “walking in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

It is done by faith. If you want to read more about this amazing process, click here for a more in depth series of articles entitled, Living Free in the Spirit.

Conclusion

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

Unless we understand the three-fold nature of salvation, many scriptures will be confusing to us. God wants us to correctly handle God’s Word, and part of that involves determining whether the text refers to the spirit, soul, or body. Additionally, unless we understand that our spirits really do love God and want to serve Him, we may falsely believe that the “real me” is our “old man,” which can be translated, “the flesh” – the part of us still linked to fallen humanity through the unresurrected body, which is hostile to God and His ways. For us to experience true freedom, we must come to the realization that the “real me” is the recreated spirit man inside us. (Romans 7:16-25)

There is a huge conflict between our spirits and our “flesh” that we experience most every day.

For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. Galatians 5:17 (NET1)

As a reminder, if we go back to the Genesis 2:7, the verse which describes the creation of man, we see that our souls are formed by the combination of spirit and body. I have shown that the spirit is made perfect through the new birth and the body still waits for perfection through the resurrection. Therefore, as I understand it, we have a built in conflict in our souls. We have the spirit, which is part of the new creation, joined with the body, which is still part of the old creation. How could there not be a conflict? Paul uses the term “flesh” because I believe he wanted to make a link to the mortal imperfect bodies in which we still live. Our bodies are not evil, just imperfect and still affected by sin’s curse via Adam. (This is proved by the fact that people who are truly saved still die physical deaths.) The combination of the imperfect body from the old creation with the perfect spirit of the new creation creates an inner conflict between the new nature and the old “sin nature.”

It is crucial that we are able to distinguish and identify with the new creation part of us rather than with the impostor called “the flesh,” which is derived from the old creation and still tries to rule us.

Paul makes it clear that through Christ’s death and resurrection the flesh’s power has been rendered ineffective. It no longer has the right to dominate us.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- Romans 6:6 (NIV) 

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Romans 6:14 (NIV)

From where then do we derive our true identity? Is it from the sin nature or the new nature? Paul answered that question decisively.

But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me. Romans 7:16-20 (NET1)

The devil seeks to hound and condemn us for the sins we have committed and continue to commit and the for evil desires that often still war in our souls. He continually tells us that we are “no good,” but Christ does not condemn us because he already took away our condemnation on the cross. (John 5:24 and Romans 8:1) The new birth makes us new creations in Christ.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (ESV)

In the midst of our struggles with temptation and sin (the flesh), some of us may even begin to question whether or not we are genuinely saved. How could a true disciple have such evil desires and do such wicked things? If we are deceived by such thinking and lapse into unbelief regarding the efficacy of Christ’s finished work and the Spirit’s ongoing work, the basis for our experiencing by faith the victory over the power of bondage through Christ’s finished work is removed.

We must see ourselves as God sees us – a finished product, complete in Christ, delivered from condemnation, free from sin’s power to rule us, victorious over our enemies, and able to walk in the Spirit.

Paul wrote:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 (ESV)

We must believe what the Bible says about us even if our current experience does not yet line up. Freedom from condemnation liberates us to live by faith in the finished work of Christ, which opens the door to the Holy Spirit’s daily transformation process.

God’s Word alone is the foundation for faith, not our experience or what we logically derive from our experiences. This is vital if we are to live out the freedom that is ours in Christ. Who we really are is who we are in Christ.

God wants us to base our current faith walk with God on what Christ has done in the past and what he has promised to do in the future.

Paul wrote:

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. Romans 5:1-2 (NET1)

We stand in faith by grace today because of what Christ finished long ago. Likewise, our motivation to press forward in obedience to God is also rooted in the future. Because we have a sure hope of resurrection, we have a strong motivation to live a holy life.

Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.  3 And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (NET1)

In summary then, understanding and believing the doctrine of body, soul and spirit is vital to our experiencing true freedom in Christ. God’s truth sets us free.

Go back to Part 6.

Read the next article – Part 8: Inside Out Truth

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