Dear Reader, this is part one of who knows how many regarding some recent revelations I have been working through. I don’t want to just accept a new revelation (new to me) and not have the scriptural backing for it. For there are no “New Revelations” there are simply Revelations that are “new” to us. And I don’t want to pick and choose scripture to “build” a theological base that is not revealed contextually in Scripture. As a result, it has taken some time to come to the place where I can share it with you.

And so, I begin regarding my understanding of the Gospel “then and now”

When I was learning about Christ and what it meant to follow Him, the next step we were encouraged to take after conversion was to share with others so they could follow Jesus too. It took many forms of outline memorization to "elevator speeches" to cold calls, and friendship evangelism. Bringing other believers "into the fold" would be the fulfilling of Great Commission found in Mark. The Gospel message I was taught to share and scriptures I memorized centered around the reward of Heaven as opposed to the Threat of Hell.  It was a personal faith. Life with Jesus was all about the destination of heaven when death arrived for me. It was up to me, as a believer, to be the hands and feet of Christ upon the earth doing good works and sharing and living the salvation message so everyone could make the choice between heaven or hell.  In return, Jesus would take care of everything else.

But it wasn’t all about works, as the story of the Sheep and the Goats tells us. We could think we were headed for heaven, but at the last minute, Jesus could say what we did was “all works,” and He never “knew us” (the denominational doctrine I was familiar with taught this). Our heart had to be involved in our faith response to salvation. So how did that work? “The heart is deceitful,” says another verse. With heaven as the goal, and the heart as not always doing the right thing, then where is the assurance? Is it a feeling? If I don’t feel close to God, am I in danger of being among the “goats?” I couldn’t seem to do the right thing. I always fell short somehow. Was I saved? It was enough to make a person give up entirely and walk away from the fallacy of being “perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect” ... (Matthew 5:48)

Since I was convinced, God did not lie and the Bible was true, then surely, I was missing something…. but what?

So not so long ago, I began searching for that missing part or parts and it has led me on a journey of faith and discovery that has dispelled the confusion and replaced it with the assurance for which I had been searching.  

A  discovery that has been a bit of a “brain stretch” for me most recently has been the Truth that the Gospel Message is not about going to heaven when we die. Dear Reader, maybe you knew that. God bless you if you did! I didn’t.

For those like me who didn’t realize this, maybe your reaction is like mine was, “WHAT??!!”

I know! Right? It kind of messes up the whole “true north” feeling of believing in Jesus and receive a ticket to heaven message, doesn’t it?

“If the Gospel message isn’t about going to heaven when we die, what is it about?”

I’m glad you asked. First let me say, the Gospel message DOES contain the message of salvation. But what is different in my focus now, is that salvation is just the beginning of the story. Jesus’ work on the cross, his death and descent into hell and victory over the devil and ascension is the starting point, not the end goal. There is more and there is a reason why it was “left out” because it means we must CHANGE AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. Not a "come as you are" message many are eager to receive. This is a, "put on your big kid pants" and let go of childish things kind of message. (1Cor 13)

Hang in there, don’t abandon me yet. Let’s continue….

The sudden passing of my son this year has taught me quite a few things this year. While it did not change my theology his passing has highlighted a number of truths regarding what I believed. It caused me to refine and look closely not being afraid of the questions I had for God to answer. I didn’t adjust to make anything true that wasn’t before…. such as who is in heaven and who is not, etc.  But what I did do was discover MORE.

For example,  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about and for, living. It is not about a destination. It is about choices that facilitate an abundant life of faith and freedom. I knew this generally, as I grew in my faith as a young adult. However, my understanding was incomplete. For example, I was caught up in the “feelings” which served as a type of thermostat for my spiritual "temperature." This led to my “assurance” of what it meant to be a Christian and if I qualified. If I did all the right things, thought all the right thoughts, then I would feel good about myself and that would mean I was close to God. If the right songs were sung on Sunday and a message realigned my thinking and empowered me to do the right thing, then I felt close to God because I “heard” His voice and received correction (or affirmation).  It was all I knew, and I had not considered any other way to experience the Christian life. Why? Because I did not understand the difference between the soul and the spirit. It was all muddled in my brain. I didn't know it was an important distinction. From my recollection, it was never taught. Appeals for salvation and Christian living were soul (feeling, reasoning) centered and rarely, if ever, spirit centered (see Colossians 3). Feelings and emotions played a LARGE role in convincing people to do the right thing, to be saved, to serve and to believe.

When I began to investigate this truth in Scripture regarding the soul, the spirit, the heart, and mind (yes, it’s all there), then my focus moved from soul to Spirit and as a result, my personal questions and “mysterious parts of scripture” all fell into their proper places. The more I focused on Christ and not myself, the more the prophecy and the fulfillment of prophecy from Old to New Testament finally connected. I could SEE the truth beyond the Sunday school stories and apply it.

I discovered the Gospel begins with the Plan of God to redeem humanity. And he LOVES His creation and so He wanted to allow them free will to choose life or death (Deut 30).   Choosing life in Spirit meant choosing life in the Kingdom of God over the kingdom of darkness (All of Romans, but the pivot point is Romans 8.) Moses admonished Israel in Deuteronomy 30 that the choices of life and death are set before each one every day, choose that which gives life. Because of Christ, we have Spirit life available. What Israel could not do consistently in their own strength; we CAN do through the Holy Spirit made available to us to be within us because of the work of Christ. This is the victory by which we live as believers. Jesus silenced the devil’s accusatory voice that resulted in condemnation hanging over our heads because of sin. The devil’s voice no longer reaches the throne of heaven. With the taking of the keys by Jesus from him in hell (Eph 4; Rev 1:18), his access was cut off from accusing believers of sin. Why? Because in receiving Christ, through our baptism, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, we are no longer identified as “sinners.” We are a new creation learning to live as Christ upon the earth with a life of faith. With His faith, strength and wisdom, the old sinful thought patterns which once held us captive are broken and realigned with Truth and Righteousness. He will accomplish this. He will complete the work He has started in us.

 Living as a citizen of the Kingdom and member of the Church Jesus is building (Matthew 16), is about being equipped Spiritually with the Faith of God from where we are seated with Him in the heavenlies (that’s in scripture too, Eph 2) so we may respond in the natural to the world system in which we must live according to the Truth revealed in Christ (in the world not of it, John 14-17). This understanding equips every believer to deal with darkness and destroy the works of the devil without being overcome by that darkness.

And this is the point of conversion:  the Faith of God within through the power of the Holy Spirit, equips believers to accomplish the will of God upon the earth.  God has always worked through His people. He is not working on an escape plan. To venture into the kingdom of darkness without being equipped with the tools and Truth of the Kingdom, invites temptations and challenges that will ultimately lead to defeat. It is only through the power of God that the Gospel is operative, and the tools of the Kingdom (armor of God) can be effectively wielded.

Part 2 explores this point further. The revelation of Christ, the knowledge of the Truth and the Understanding of the entire Gospel revealed in Scripture will yield wisdom regarding strategy when dealing with darkness.

May the Truth be strengthened in every believer uniting them in One Faith, One Lord, One Baptism and One Father of us all. May my brothers and sisters in Christ in every nation be empowered by the Holy Spirit with wisdom, courage and armed with Truth to employ the strategy Christ reveals. ,

Grace and Peace, 

Anne