Spirit and Truth Ministries
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“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves.” 2 Corin. 13:5.
Constantly looking to self is destructive. A basic evil of the New Age movement is centering one’s attention on self. Naval gazing, looking within for divine enlightenment, merely gives the forces of darkness opportunity to take over.
As Christians our major focus always must be upon Christ. However, Paul warns us that from time to time we need to stop our perpetual activity to check where we’ve been, where we are now, and where we’re going. If we fail to do this, we’ll be unable to make necessary course corrections.
Yesterday I decided it was time to review my own path, and realized my life has been divided into four distinct parts.
C____________D
G__________H
1. A/B was from my birth in 1923 to 1937, a period of 14 years. Without a choice on my part, I found myself a fourth-generation member of a particular denomination. Denominationalism was never God’s plan for his people, but unfortunately this particular denomination is extremely legalistic and locked into tradition. Although I attended church faithfully from week to week, I didn’t learn about the love of God and his gracious plan of salvation.
Since religion brought me only guilt and fear, by the time I entered high school I was
old enough to refuse to attend church any longer. I can testify that this period of my
life had no true spiritual dimension, only an unrewarding religious form.
2. C/D ran for 10 years, from 1937 to 1947. This period included high school, business college, and a stint in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Since I’d already tried “religion” and found it wanting, I decided to thoroughly check out the world, the flesh, and the devil. This course also proved to be depressing, and by the time I returned from the South Pacific I was eager to turn to something spiritual.
3. E/F lasted the longest, from 1947 to 1991, or 44 years. After the war my spirit longed for spirituality, but I didn’t know where to find it. I took the most obvious course and joined the same denomination that had proved to be so lacking in my earlier years. Instead of a spiritual life I was treated to more religion.
At the beginning of this period I married, had a child, and attended a denominational college. It seems almost unbelievable, but I graduated from that church institution with a BA in religion but without an introduction to salvation by grace alone. After graduation I was given the oversight of four churches. However, I wasn’t equipped to lead them into true joy in the Lord.
Next my family was sent half way around the world as missionaries to a large Moslem nation. What the people there needed was to learn about Christ; what I gave them was my faulty understanding of prophecies from Daniel and Revelation. I spent nearly six years in that needy nation and never once preached the Gospel to a single soul. One cannot share what one does not have.
Years later, after a pitifully unproductive life, I finally learned that it’s my Savior’s sacrifice on Calvary that alone brings assurance of salvation. My works, important as they are, can never purchase eternal life. Good behavior simply grows out of a close relationship with God.
Once I embraced a pure Gospel, the veil of 2 Corin. 3:13-18 (clearest in the Living Bible) fell away. I could see that I’d been held most of my life in religious bondage, and in 1991 I asked that my name be removed from denominational rolls. The truth had set me free.
4. G/H began in 1991, and I expect it to end in the near future with the return of Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That timeline will have no end.
I can say without reservation that this latter period of my life is the only one that has brought me a richly rewarding experience in spiritual matters. All before was religious as opposed to spiritual. I would attribute this dramatic change to two principle factors:
a. A clear comprehension of, and embracing of, a pure Gospel.
b. A new understanding of, and interaction with, the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus made it clear that no one today can enjoy a full relationship with the Godhead unless he has a balanced spiritual life:
“The time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit AND in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23, 44.
It’s too late in human history to be anything except what Christ himself defines as a “true worshiper.” Such a person worships in both spirit and truth. It is my personal observation that the average Christian doesn’t fit the acceptable pattern. Most fall rather exclusively into either the “truth” camp or the “spirit” camp.
A lack in either area is lamentable, but Jesus seems to indicate that it has been easier for most to embrace truth while minimizing the Spirit. Millions of professed Christians are either ignorant of, or fearful of, the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is frightening in that since Pentecost we’ve been living in the special time of the Third Person of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is our channel to the heavenlies, and he is the one who leads in the things of God today.
For decades I lived the standard denominational life. As an ordained minister serving in positions of leadership I had ample opportunity to evaluate that course. Since that period I’ve spent 10 years in the Body of Christ/Spirit ministry path, which has allowed me to evaluate that as well. Having walked a significant period in each path, I now have the experience to carefully judge between them. I find the former woefully lacking, and the latter richly rewarding.
How about you, my friend? If you’ve been satisfied walking year after year in the same path, wouldn’t it be wise to do some evaluating? Are you certain that your course is the one God would have you walking in these climactic times? Has your former experience prepared you for whatever lies ahead? Is there another path you should at least examine?
“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves.” 2 Corin. 13:5.
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