Category Archives: orthodoxy
Understanding church and kingdom, part 1
Proverbs 4:7 strongly encourages us to get an understanding in all that we do. And it can be said that much of our problems stem from a lack of understanding. Sometimes that understanding is because we just havent walked into yet, sometimes it is because we reject it when it comes. Thus, this post on understanding the Church and the Kingdom. I will try to keep it as simple as possible. Hopefully, it can clear up some misunderstandings you have had, if at all and consequently help you better understand certain situations and circumstances happening around us. Many times we question how can these things happen in the church? It is confusing and distressing. Why? Because we do not have a proper biblical perspective of church and kingdom.
There are a lot of religious people who are employing the word “kingdom” as a new buzzword of sorts. It gives the appearance that such people are in tune with God, but on closer examination some are simply playing a word shell game. To the unsuspecting, it can be a deadly one, both spiritually and naturally.
One very important distinction to remember is that Jesus said the kingdom of God ( per Romans 14:17 love, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost) is within you and eternal. Conversely, the kingdom of man (buildings, money, fame, positions, sexual desires) is external and temporal. Most people see the church as a building ( i.e. New Joy Church 1500 West Adams Street). A building can be called a church but it is not the church. The reason is because buildings can be destroyed and/or used for altogether different purposes, even evil. Changing your thinking paradigm about the church versus a church will significantly enhance your ability to endure when the sinful excesses in the building conflict with the purity of the kingdom of God.
While the terms “church” and “kingdom” are generally used interchangeably by people, in scripture there are distinct differences in the two. Both are present expressions of The Lord Jesus Christ, yet one has not reached its perfection. (Eph 4:11-15).
Let’s deal with the kingdom first. In simple terms a kingdom is the domain or residence under authority of a king. When applied to God, David said it best in Psalms 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. Thus it is clear that God’s kingdom comprises both heaven and earth. Heaven is under control, but earth is still in transition. As Jesus prayed: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
One theologian described the kingdom of God like this:
In today’s parlance the equivalent of the Kingdom of God would be something like the Presidency of God rather than the Nation-State of God; or the Episcopacy of God rather than the Diocese of God. This Divine Regime or Presidency which operates by gracious mercy (because of God’s love) and righteous justice (because of God’s holiness) is unlimited, eternal, spiritual, and sovereign over all. Since Christ came in grace and in the flesh and began His earthly ministry, the inward earnest of the Kingdom life became accessible as a present mediatory EXPERIENCE for whosoever believes in Christ. The full outward manifestation of the Kingdom is a future vindicatory EXPECTATION when Christ comes again in judgment (Eph 1:7-14).
The Kingdom (of God, of Heaven) are also used interchangeably in scripture. Jesus did in several places but there are differences that should be noted. Both the “kingdoms” are ruled by God. The main difference is time. The kingdom of God is within us now, while the kingdom of heaven has not yet come. (Matthew 16:19,Luke 17:20,21)
The Kingdom of God is physically represented by the earthly Church of Christ (this is not the denomination of the same name).
The tale of two churches
As with many situations in the bible paradoxes exist and quite frankly appear to the undiscerning eye to be contradictory. Such is the case with what I will call the church triumphant and the church universal.
The church triumphant is triumphant (victorious) both now and forever. It has both corporate and individual applications. I take that from 1 Cor 2:14. The CT isnt defined as a denomination. Nor is it a nondenominational, interdenominational or independent religious body. It is understood to be comprised of those out of every kindred and nation, every tongue and tribe, who have been washed in the blood of the lamb and whose names are written in the lamb’s book of life. The church triumphant has formed and is forming daily as the Lord adds to the church. It is the church which, according to Matthew 16:18, is indestructible, built on the Rock. It is this church-bride which will be presented in that day: pure, holy, blameless, faultless before the presence of God (Jude 24,25). While the church triumphant is universal, the church universal is not necessarily triumphant.
The church universal is universal because it worldwide in terms of its logistical placement and membership. Thus, it is comprised of those who are joined to the physical church of Christ. It is a consortium of the denominations, nondenominations, interdenominations, et al. The church universal includes the wheat and the tare, the hypocrite and the saint, the open homosexual and the downlow choir leader, the sheep and the goats. It is from this church which will come those who find out that their good works are useless because they feigned relationship with Christ or had none at all. They will discover that they will be rejected because they added or detracted from the words of the Lord causing others to be lost. The church universal is in essence a snapshot of the doctrine of inclusion pre-judgment day. All are included, but the day of separation has not come (see Matt 25:31-46).
The church has “membership” rolls and on any given Sunday whether a person is redeemed or not, they can step out into the aisle, walk up front, shake the pastor’s hand and become a member. Even if they never confess Christ and are never born again and filled with the Spirit, they can remain “members” of the church. Even become “leaders”.
But not so in the kingdom of God.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor 6:9-11
The entrance requirements are set not by the will of man, but by God. Only those who are redeemed, washed in the blood of the Lamb and sanctified by the spirit of Christ will come in. There’s no hand to shake , no secretary to see, no new members class to attend, no St Peter at the gate, just a change of heart and lifestyle. That’s not the gospel of inclusion, its the gospel of exclusion. And its 100% the will of God.
NO more moralistic theraputic deism
Juanita Bynum can keep her sheets. But please mam, for God’s sakes stop the madness.
Unfortunately, there’s scant evidence to suggest she will. So here we go again with “No More Sheets”. And look who’s joining her to tell us all that all we need is a good dose of celebrating ourselves.
Jonathan Nelson who recently appeared with inclusion heretic Carlton Pearson
Dorinda Clark Cole of the How Sweet the Sound controversy.
Darrell Hines. Cant help but be disappointed in this after the “holiness is right” speech on TBN. Et tu Bishop?
Is it the money? Do these people not care about what Juanita Bynum is doing and saying? Are they in agreement with her lunacy? Are they in such a deep vacuum of seclusion they have not seen and heard?
Do they just need to keep their faces out in the public with these appearances to help sell CDs and products? All of the featured faces except Woods has a new CD product on the market. Is this just one big CD sellfest disguised as a conference about dealing with sexual issues or whatever it is Miss Bynum is hawking now? Notice there’s no scripture references on the flyer. That’s so the tag is open to whatever interpretation you think it means. A scripture would add restrictions.
And the “preferred seating” thing still is just so very weird for a church gathering.
My brethren, you must not make distinctions between one man and another while you are striving to maintain faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our glory. James 2:1
This conference is aping the new american religion with its ” its all about you” message. Its a trending favorite of all the preachers turned life coach gurus. I was at a seminar last weekend and heard a term I’d never heard before describe the state of American Christianity. Its called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and is defined by researchers thusly:
1. “A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.” 2. “God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.” 3. “The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.” 4. “God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.” 5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”
Infused with a new world ethics of diversity and inclusion, people conclude that no one is in a position to judge anyone else. Thus, we are all left to determine what is morally right for ourselves. Add to that the idea that religion’s goal should be to make a person happy. Any talk of suffering, responsibility, self denial, sexual morality or sin is rejected because such things inhibit one’s “personal happiness”. The new cosmopolitan belief that God can only become involved in our lives when we want him to seals this false construct becoming so prevalent in the church today. God becomes God only by default. He is viewed almost like Santa Claus, rewarding good people when they die with heaven. Hell (if it exists) is for those who don’t want others to be good, loving and happy by telling them they cannot live in whatever way makes them happy.
Listen closely and you will hear these ideologies rehearsed over and over in popular Christian/gospel music, sermons by popular Christian speakers, in books by popular Christian writers and in conferences by popular conference conveners like Juanita Bynum.
Thats why blogs like GCM Watch is hated by the lovers of moralistic theraputic deism.
It also explains why people can call themselves Christians and at the same time promote concepts and ideologies contradictory to biblical orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right conduct). And why so many of the conferences and “sermons” we hear today are me-centered. God wants you happy, God saw the best in you, live your best life now, be a better you, “love yourself”, “do you”, ad naseum.
Watch Jaunita Bynum talk more religious goobley-gock where she says Prince, DMX and Michael Jackson had a “prophetic anointing”.
A gay christian Easter
In Luke 11:34 Jesus said “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.”
Over and over the proof of his words are manifested by adherents of gay christian theology. At its root is an old heresy which perverts the nature of Christ.
Rev. Jim Mitulski, leader of a gay church in San Francisco says Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem is like a gay pride parade. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
The story begins with Palm Sunday, Jesus’ jaunty entry into Jerusalem, where people placed their cloaks and tree branches on his path to welcome him. For Mitulski, it feels like a gay pride parade – a public and political celebration beyond government control.
Easter “evokes from us the experience of resurrection in our own bodies and in our own spirits,” said Mitulski, the pastor at New Spirit Community Church in Berkeley. “It’s not just a retelling. It’s an embodiment.”
Both religious and secular society have heaped messages upon gays and lesbians that their bodies are sinful or their sexuality a product of mental illness, said Rev. D. Mark Wilson, a pastor at Tapestry Ministries in Berkeley. AIDS is described by some Christians as punishment from God.
But Wilson and others believe the Bible repeatedly decouples the idea that sin is associated with the body or that illness is punishment.
A gay pride parade? In case you’ve never seen one, view a small sample of a gay pride parade here via the SF Chronicle (warning: some images may be offensive).
Bad theology on parade
Gay theology is threaded with heresy in order to make sense to them. In fact, the whole idea of disassociating sin with the body is a fundamental tenet to religious homosexuals. The idea goes like this: If what I do (sex with someone of the same gender) is not associated with sin, then what I do will always be right and good. Thus, any form of sexual activity is not viewed as sinful. Hopefully, that helps you can understand why homosexuals in religion fight so hard against the word of God which condemns same gender sexual activity.
But the Apostle John clearly refuted that ideology.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:5-8 NIV
John was responding to an old heresy called docetism. Docetism is a heretical teaching with several variations which primarily denies the true nature of Christ. According to CARM (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry):
[Docetism] taught that Jesus only appeared to have a body, that he was not really incarnate, (Greek, “dokeo” = “to seem”). This error developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil, that God could not be associated with matter, and that God, being perfect and infinite, could not suffer. Therefore, God as the word, could not have become flesh per John 1:1,14.
The variation promoted by gay christianity flips the disassociation to the benefit of the individual. Instead of the body (or matter) being evil, it is good. If the body itself is inherently good, then the body’s action’s are likewise good.
That’s why another gay cleric interviewed in the story could see a bible passage as affirmation, rather than condemnation of his homosexuality.
In Second Corinthians, the apostle Paul says he prayed three times for a thorn to be removed from his flesh. God doesn’t remove “the thorn” but says his grace is sufficient, which some interpret as God telling Paul to accept his body for what it is.
“Being 19, in the closet and doing everything I could to pray away my gayness, that scripture spoke to me,” said Wilson, 49.
The “homosexuality is a thorn in the flesh” theory is one that many think is divine approval, if not justification for their sin. In its broadest general sense a “thorn in the flesh” has come to embody a euphemism which means something you don’t want, but are powerless to get rid of.
But such a contemporary application is not biblical. Paul called his thorn “a messenger from satan” sent to fight against him. God allowed it but gave Paul grace to continue despite it. Whatever the thorn may be, it cannot be sin such as homosexuality. Paul’s problem wasnt sin, it was external and formidable enough to hinder his work for the kingdom of God. And its clear Paul never accepted his problem, he accepted God’s grace for his problem.
That’s a much different conclusion from Rev. Wilson’s conclusion. He interpreted it to mean God intended for him to be homosexual. He believe he should “accept his body for what it is”. Wilson’s conclusion is not based on the grace of God [read how grace produces holiness, not sin], but his own darkened interpretation that his body is good, therefore it can do nothing sinful.
Learn the truth about false teachers
This is such a powerful study guide/questionnaire to help you learn the truth about false teachers. There’s no denying we are contending with an abundance of them today. They are primarily attracted to the church by money, power, fame, prestige and control. Although such things lure them in, they are kept in power by self imposed ignorance (Hosea 4:6), passivity and biblical illiteracy. Some false teachers carefully cultivate public images as teachers of righteousness, yet their personal lives are filled with sexual immorality, lies and manipulation of God’s people. Again their goal is personal gain.
Whether they are in the gay christian movement, prosperity hirelings, emergent church, or any other the other false Christian they are ravenous wolves seeking to steal your money and damage your soul.
One thing is for sure, you do not want to fall under the seductive control of a false teacher. If you dont, do your self a favor and become familiar with their tactics, motives, agenda and lifestyle through the bible’s expose of false teachers in the first century church. They battled with the same thing.
The questions come from a teaching by John MacArthur. At the link are answers to the questions, but make sure you look up the passages and read.
1. Who were the first false teachers eliminated from the church at Ephesus?
2. What was Timothy’s responsibility in Ephesus?
3. What is significant about the sentence structure of 1 Timothy 1:3-4?
4. What kind of authority did Paul grant Timothy in verses 3-4?
5. Why was Ephesus a key city in Asia Minor?
6. How many false teachers were exerting influence in the church at Ephesus? Why do they go unnamed?
7. Explain the meaning of the Greek verb translated “teach no other doctrine”.
8. What were the false teachers using as the basis of their teaching?
9. What was Timothy not to occupy his mind with (1 Tim. 1:4)?
10. How did Paul characterize the teaching of false teachers throughout his pastoral epistles?
11. What does Satan endeavor to do wherever God establishes truth?
12. What did the apostle Paul warn the Ephesian elders about (Acts 20:20- 32)?
13. How is false teaching subtle?
14. What is the effect of questions that false teachers stir up ?
15. What are essentially the two religions in the world? What do they teach?
16. What was Paul’s analysis of any teaching that is contrary to the gospel of Christ (Gal. 1:8;)?
17. What does God desire to see in the church? Support your answer with Scripture.
18. What three things produces love? Explain each one.
19. What is the goal of a false teacher?
Let’s clear this up: about “natural affections”
Some Christians who oppose homosexuality have for the longest used 2 Tim 3:1-3 as a passage to condemn homosexuality. In the interest of rightly dividing the word of truth, we should know that it does not apply. Of course, that in no way makes homosexuality any more acceptable, but we need to clear this up.
Specifically, the phrase in question is “without natural affections”. The Apostle Paul used it in his list of latter day transgressions mankind will exhibit. Dr. Henry Morris, Ph.D. of the Institute for Creation Research explains why natural affection in this passage doesn’t apply to homosexuality:
This phrase “without natural affection” is the translation of one Greek word, astergeo. It was a characteristic of many pagans of the ancient world. Significantly, it is also prophesied to be a characteristic of the humanistic pagans of the end-times. “In the last days . . . men shall be . . . without natural affection” (II Timothy 3:1–3). These are the only two occurrences of this word in the New Testament.
The word stergeo (“natural affection”) is one of four Greek words for “love,” but it is never used at all in the New Testament. It refers to the natural love that members of the same family have for each other. It is such a common characteristic of all peoples that there was apparently no occasion to refer to it at all—except when it is not present, when people lose their instinctive love for their own parents and children, and thus are “without natural affection.” One thinks of the widespread abortionism of these last days, as well as the modern breakdown of the family in general.
Another Greek word for “love” is eros, referring to romantic love, or passion. Like stergeo, eros also is never used in the New Testament. The other two words, however, are used frequently. Phileo, referring to “brotherly love,” occurs over thirty times. It indicates fondness, based on a community of interest with the person or persons so “loved.”
Thus, the phrase “without natural affection” more accurately describes abortion and a host of familiar/relational sins, not homosexuality.
That being said, in Romans 1:31 , it does apply. Homosexuality is a result of unnatural affections, with the “nature” being understood as what the Creator’s intent is for each person’s sexual expression.
CARM Founder answers ‘stoning homosexuals’ question
We’ve often been accused of double standards, cherry picking and proof texting in our opposition to homosexuality. But is there an explanation as to why homosexuality is still sin although, the Old Testament death penalty by stoning is no longer applicable?
President and Founder of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM), Matt Slick attempts to explain it.
Critics of the Bible often cite Old Testament instances of slavery, violence against homosexuals, wiping out nations, etc., as evidence of a morally inadequate set of rules. They will also often ask why present-day Christians don’t follow these “barbaric” teachings today. They complain that Christians are inconsistent, and say that if we really follow the Bible then why don’t we advocate such things as killing both homosexuals (Lev. 20:13) and disobedient children (Deut. 21:18-21).
The reason we don’t is because the Old Covenantal system, that involved such harsh punishments, has been done away with. We are under a new covenant. Jesus said in Luke 22:20, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”
And lest you think that “done away with” means allowable per cultural mutations, think again. Slick says prohibitions against moral perversions still stand:
However, this does not mean that we are to approve of such sins as homosexuality, adultery, lying, and stealing. We are to not participate in the sins of the world. Instead, we are to avoid them. We are not to be violent to anyone since the old theonomic, covenantal system has been done away with (Heb. 8:13). Instead, we are to be kind to them (2 Tim. 2:24-25) and show them love (1 Cor. 16:14; 2 Cor. 5:14). But the moral condemnation of immorality still stands — as is clearly taught in 1 Cor. 6:9-10 and Rom. 1:26-28.
So, the reason Christians are not obligated to stone homosexuals, disobedient children, and adulterers, is because we’re no longer underneath the Old Testament covenantal system. It has been fulfilled and done away with (Heb. 8:13).
Read Matt Slick’s entire commentary on why we no longer stone homosexuals.
