And to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels, In flaming fire
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with aionios destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power
I want to begin with this quote
from 2 Thessalonians because it places a particular importance on obedience to
the gospel. This should give any
Christian pause because of the penalty associated with a neglect of this verse
is quite severe. In our first installment
we examined what the church today calls the gospel and compared it to what
Jesus determined to be the actual gospel.
Sadly the two are not the same thing.
This is reason for concern; since God places so much emphasis on the
gospel and our obedience to it then it behooves us to get this concept right so
as to fulfill our obligation to him.
We established the gospel firstly
as the gospel of the kingdom
of God
What does all of this have to do
with establishing the primacy of righteousness in the life of the
believer? It has everything to do with
it. You see once we understand the true
gospel of God then we can correctly go on to being obedient to it and that
obedience is called righteousness.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God
Jesus, while speaking to the crowd,
instructed them to seek first the kingdom.
This ‘seeking first’ involves making the gospel of the kingdom your
primary goal in life. To understand it
should be your utmost quest; its pursuit and elucidation should be the
overarching theme of your life. Consider
a parable of Jesus:
Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a
man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he
hath, and buyeth that field. (Mathew 13:44)
Jesus is giving us one of his ideas
so that we can understand the importance of the kingdom of God
We are commanded to seek first the kingdom of God kingdom of God
Jesus gave us ideas, principles and
precepts that he called the gospel of the kingdom. He expects our total obedience to this
gospel. When we obey the things that he
said we are called righteous; i.e. we are in compliance with what he says. When we do not do the things he says or are
not even interested in finding out what he says then we are considered
unrighteous. It is as simple as that! So our primary task should be to find out
what the gospel of the kingdom says and to seek to comply with its standards.
Why do we make such a
mess of life?
Have you ever wondered why we humans,
Christians or not, make such messes of our lives? Teenage pregnancies, adulteries, broken
families, truce breakers, fornicators and that is just in the church! You would faint to consider the full
depravity of what takes place in the rest of the world. Why do we make such a mess of life? I am talking primarily to Christians
who should know better? Those who are on
the outside are blind, but you who carry his name what is your excuse?
It is because we make decisions based on our wisdom (on what we think is right)
that in doing so we destroy ourselves partaking in things Paul talks against in
Ephesians 5:3:
But
fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.
Consider the words of God to his called out ones:
Even the
stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the
thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the
requirements of the LORD. (Jeremiah 8:7)
Listen then to what he says of them
in verse 9:
The wise
will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the
word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?
God says since you rejected the
word of the Lord, and for our purpose that is the gospel of the kingdom, he asks
what kind of wisdom do you have. Well he
answers it in James 3:14-16:
But if ye have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This
wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where
envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
Who was James talking to? Not some heathen or pagan, but to the church
is this discourse aimed. If you reject
the wisdom of God the wisdom of the world is what you have left. And what is this wisdom from God?
But by His
doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom
from God… (1Corinthians 1:30a)
God sent us wisdom, he packaged it
in his Son, who spoke it for 3.5 years and called it the gospel of the
kingdom. If we obey this gospel, God
says that our lives would be fruitful and will bring Him praise and glory.
What then are the
elements of righteousness?
If we are to be rightly aligned
with the gospel of the kingdom
of God
- Personal Modification
- A Commitment to Act
Personal Modification
When I talk of personal
modification it involves rightly aligning one’s self to the tenets of the
gospel of the kingdom, and it pertains to correcting the way that you think and
operate; modifying your ways to conform to God’s way as outlined in the
gospel. To examine this we must
acknowledge the paradox of salvation: Salvation
occurs in an instant, but is also an ongoing process. Consider the following:
…praising
God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their
number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47 )
For the
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
For we are
to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. (2 Corinthians 2:15)
Salvation as described in these verses is depicted
as an ongoing process. 2 Corinthians 7:1
bears this out; Paul addressing our lifestyles said:
Having therefore these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear
of God.
No one can claim this happens in a
day, but all can say that this is an ongoing process that God has designed to
make us spotless before him. Peter says
that we achieve this state of spotlessness through diligence:
Wherefore,
beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and
blameless. (2 Peter 3:14)
So this personal modification is
essential to the completion of our purification on the earth through the
washing of the word of the gospel.
How then are we to be righteous? We
have to find out what the gospel of the kingdom says and then DO
what it says ALL THE TIME. Here are
some examples how the gospel is designed to modify are person:
And as ye
would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. (Luke
6:31)
Therefore
all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them: for this is the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)
What would happen if we did
this? What would happen if we were always
rightly aligned with these verses? Well, are you? If not then you are disobeying the gospel!
Consider these verses:
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good
to them which hate you, Bless them
that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him
that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh
away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. (Luke 6:27-29)
The gospel tell us to love, we are
to love EVERYONE ALL THE TIME! No exceptions! Are you doing this? If not then you are NOT righteous!
Ok, maybe you are in compliance with the following:
Ye have heard that it hath
been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law,
and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give
to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou
away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and
hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love
you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute
your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5: 38-48)
Well now, how are you doing? Do you see yourself as a shining example of
this verse? Do not deceive yourself, he
knows who you are?
These are just some of the examples
found in the gospel of the kingdom.
Righteousness is only found when we are in compliance with theses
tenets. He demands nothing less. That said you must know that his word is not
optional. If you are his then you are required to live as he did!
Do you know what it means to ‘deny
the Son’? Consider the following:
For
certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked
out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into
licentiousness and deny our only Master and
Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 4
If we
endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny
and disown and reject Him, He will also deny and disown and reject us.
2 Timothy 2:12
How do we deny the Son of God? We do so by our refusal to allow his words to
govern our lives. It is the gospel of
the kingdom which is comprised of guidelines and principles that should
determine our behaviors. When we
disallow these words to change us then we have denied him as these verses say.
They profess
to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient
and worthless for any good deed. Titus 1:16
Do you see what this verse is
saying? He says that by
their deeds they deny him. Some would
think that denying God has to do with not standing up and being counted as a
Christian. Paul says no, it is when we
profess that we know him but deny him by continuing to live as we please. Rightly aligning yourself with the tenets of
the gospel of the kingdom is not only demanded it is required.
Excuses
Ah excuses, I can hear them now:
- I am only human, born to make mistakes
- God understands
Are you serious! Do you see what he
says at the end of the verses in Matthew 5?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect.
He expects us to be perfect
(whatever perfection entails) the same way our Father in heaven is perfect. And in regards to finding refuge behind evoking
the classic ‘God understands’ consider the following:
Be not
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)
These excuses are common among the
body of Christ, because there is demonic thought that exists that declares that
it is not possible for us to live a sin free life. Unfortunately Satan has deceived us into thinking
that we will always fall and continue to stumble until we die. This is utter rubbish!!! If this were so would Jesus be able to tell
us be perfect as God is perfect? Or
consider the following:
But as HE which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be
ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:15-16
Become sober-minded as you
ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God I speak this to your
shame. 1 Corinthians 15:34
Sin is always a choice it is
never forced upon us, and neither do we fall into it. Every time we sin it is our choice. From the above verse we can see that God
expects us to live holy, and it is possible to live life without sin. Consider what Jesus said:
Afterward Jesus findeth
him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. John 5:14
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her,
Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. John 8:11
Do you see these verses? Jesus was addressing people who were
sinners. THEY DID NOT HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT.
What does he say to them? Go and sin no more. Could Jesus tell them to go and do something
that was impossible for them to do? It
is therefore possible and expected that we do likewise. Obey the gospel!
A Commitment to Act
The second element to righteousness
involves our service to God. This is
often an overlooked part of righteousness because most of us think that we
stand right with God because we regularly attend a Sunday morning service or
when we hold some position in a church. This is not so! In fact you can go to a church service
for years on years and still not be righteous!
Why must we commit to action in
order to fulfill righteousness? It all
came about because of the command that Jesus gave to the church:
And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world. (Matthew 28:18-20)
We call this the great commission. I will talk later in another paper on how the
power of this verse has been lost, but let us now just examine our part in this
affair. Jesus expects all of us to
comply with this verse. Let us scrutinize
the key element here:
Teach –
what does he want us to teach? He did not leave it up to our imagination to
figure it out. We are to teach
observance to all things that he commanded them. Well what did he command them? The gospel of the kingdom was his only
message.
This tells us that we have a job to do regardless
of our station in life. When we think of
this verse today we instinctively think about going up to someone and telling them
about how Jesus died for our sins and how they can go to heaven by being born
again. By now I hope you see that this
is not the gospel, and that is in fact not what he is saying here. He is telling us to proclaim to the world a
new way of life. (In fact the early church was called the followers of the
Way!) This should be our message, for
this is what the world needs to know.
But what of our responsibility? How pray tell am I to do what you are saying
without a backwards collar, a twenty pound bible and a pulpit? How ever shall we obey God?! We do it by finding out the purpose that he
has established for each of our lives, and we approach the world on this basis. I will address it in its fullness when I talk
of the illegitimacy of the clergy but consider for a moment: We have essentially cast off our individual
purposes and left it to the church. We
pay them to work for us! More on this
later.
How do we fulfill the purpose element of
righteousness? The answer is found in
the commission. Teach – teach them
what—all the things he commanded us. Each of us should have some way in which
we are doing this every day. The world
is in a mess and we Christians have the answers to that mess. Where is it?
In the gospel; that is why he says to you teach them what he commanded
you. Your purpose entails spreading the
gospel throughout your sphere of influence.
If that means opening a preschool or a computer technology store,
working in government or establishing a medical practice the
end should be to teach what he commanded.
Please do not misunderstand me.
This command is not satisfied with a ‘Jesus loves you’ bumper sticker or
an ‘I love Jesus’ pin. It requires that
we instruct those who are without about the true gospel of the kingdom. That is his plan and that is his way. Look at what he says:
And he
gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry… (Ephesians 4:11-12a)
There you have it; God’s design is
to perfect his people for works of service.
What are these works of service?
To the person following the gospel and being obedient to it their life
will bring forth a good reputation that can not be denied. Quite frankly the gospel will cause you to
shine like a light bulb in this dark and dreary world:
Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
This is the work of the ministry
that we are prepared for. Our acts of
righteousness produce the good works that will in turn cause our light to shine
among men. Jesus is our example so let
us see how he handled his purpose:
I have brought
you glory on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do (John
17:4)
How does one give glory to
God? Here is your answer. Jesus says you give glory to God by doing the
work that he gave you to do.
It never ceases to amaze me how
many people quote ‘well done thou good and faithful
servant’ as they fantasize about hearing these wonderful words from
Jesus on their arrival into heaven. But
let us look at the passage in context:
His lord
said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few
things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy
lord. (Matthew 25:23)
Did it occur to the pious that this
verse is pointing towards people who actually do the work that God has
given to them? Not the work
some preacher or prophet tells you to do, but God. God does not hand out these words because you
said a prayer fifty years ago. For those
who think they can get by on this notion consider what he says:
And that
servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not
himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes. (Luke 12:47)
It is incumbent upon us all to find our own particular purpose for which he has called
us and act accordingly. Attending church is not it! That is not fulfilling his will! What happens when we walk in this element of
righteousness? Jesus tells us:
… men will
see your good works and glorify God
Do you see that? These men who do not know God will come to
know God through your fulfillment of righteousness, both in your life and in
the purpose for which you have been called.
I would like to make one final
observation on this section on the importance of finding and doing the purpose
(will) of God for your life. Consider
the following:
Not everyone
who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will
tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from
me, you evildoers!' Matthew 7:21-23
This verse is a stunning wake-up
call to anyone who understands the word of God.
Look carefully at what it says to us.
He is addressing the judgment of the people of this world. Do you see what he says? Not everyone who
says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the
will of my Father who is in heaven. Please try to understand this verse. He is saying that your rejection into his
heavenly kingdom is based upon your compliance with the will of the Father here
in earth. This is a sobering thought
because for the most part people – so-called Christians – do not even give a
second thought to the will of the Father or doing it. They go along their merry way seeking out
their own lives and neglecting his call for them. To what does he say to them? Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from
me, you evildoers!' Well now, I
think that this is a bit serious don’t you?
He is proclaiming that he only knows those who do the will of the
Father!!! My advice to you is ‘If you do not know you had better get to finding out’.
To what do we look for
righteousness?
Our understanding of words is very
important. Words communicate our
thoughts and intentions. The problems we
face in communication occur because of our failure to understand the words that
are being said to us. This particular
concept of righteousness is no different.
What do we as believers today look to in order to satisfy our vague
ideas on righteousness?
- Regular church attendance
- Giving money to some church organization
- Singing and praising God
These, and concepts like them, are
all distortions of our misunderstanding of righteousness. God did not leave us in the dark for he has
shown us the things that will please him.
Glorifying God: The way
to attain righteousness
The concept of righteousness is so
important that Jesus tied it directly to the gospel of the kingdom. But why does God want us to act
righteously? It is because in doing so
we bring glory to God. The word glory
means the true nature of a thing or what a thing is. Consider the following:
And the
LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou
hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
(Exodus 33:17,18)
Moses here has found favor with God
so his request is for God to show him his glory. This is important to note because we feel
that glory has to do with singing and worshipping God, but from this passage
God shows us what it really is:
And he
said, I will
make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before
thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy
on whom I will shew mercy. (Exodus 33:19)
There it is, God did not only define
what glory is but showed his glory to Moses.
And what was his glory (true nature revealed)? His
glory is goodness. Moses asks to see
God’s glory and God said I will show you my goodness.
So what does this all have to do
with the believer? If you are to obey
the gospel we are then called to walk in righteousness. But what does this righteousness call us to
do?
In whom
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That
we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
There you have it we are called
through the inheritance given to us through the gospel to be the praise of his glory. So in this light Matthew 5:16 makes more
sense:
In the
same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and praise your
Father in heaven.
And in another place it is written:
It was he
who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and
some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service (Ephesians
4:11,12a)
These good deeds bring praise to
God from the people of the world but what exactly are the people of the world
seeing. If we live in accordance with
the gospel then they will see the good works inspired by the gospel that Jesus
brought to us. And Jesus said that if
you see him you see the father; so what we are displaying is the glory of God
which is called goodness. That is the end
result of our righteousness; to show the world the goodness of God through the
works of service that the gospel leads us to do. Let us see this expressed in another
passage. Paul in 2 Corinthians 9 was
preparing to accept financial aid that the church at Corinth
For the ministry of this
service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also
overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by
this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the
gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your
contribution to them and to all,
What is interesting here is what
Paul tells them in the very next verse.
He shows them that their righteousness that is part and parcel with the
gospel brings forth fruit:
Now He who
supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your
seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;
Paul here tells them that their
righteousness in accordance with the gospel led them to give. What then happens to those who received the gift? Paul said they glorify God. They praise God on their behalf! Why, because the nature of God had been revealed
to them. And what is that nature? His goodness. And what is his plan to display
that nature in the earth? It is
your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ.
Our world today is full of
corruption and a good deal of it is coming from the body of Christ. How can we hope to reach the world if we
ourselves do not obey his gospel? There
is no distinction in our midst. Divorces
amongst our leaders and the stench of greed permeate our very core. These are all things that obedience to the
gospel is supposed to prevent, but sadly because we do not walk righteously in
accordance with the gospel this filth has overtaken us. I admonish all of you, obey the gospel it is
the only thing that will purify us and keep us pure before God.
The apostles gave this admonition
in one of their talks to the people:
"Therefore having
overlooked the times of ignorance, God
is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because
He has fixed a day in which He will judge
the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has
appointed, having furnished proof to all
men by raising Him from the dead." Acts 17:30-31
They said that God calls everyone
to repent. Remember that repentance has
to do with changing your mind and subsequently your behavior. He calls us to repent, but why does he do
this? It is because he has set a day
when he will judge the world in righteousness.
Do you see the word righteousness?
He will judge the world in righteousness, but what is this righteousness
and on what basis does it come? It comes
through Jesus Christ the one who came with words of life that were designed to
cause us to live as God would have us live.
We all will stand before him and he will determine our worthiness not based
on what we achieved or how many people we preached to. No, he will determine it by comparing our
lives to Jesus’ life. To be qualified we
MUST walk as he walked in complete righteousness which is based on the gospel
of the kingdom.
Obey the gospel of the Kingdom of God
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