Who is Testifying with Your Spirit? You? Your Leaders? Your Bible?

Romans 8:16
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

How do we know we are children of God?

• Is it because you are in the right church? 
• Because you believe the right things?
• Because you submit to your leaders? 
• Never miss a Sunday service? 

How do we know we are children of God?

• Is it because you're a "good person"?
• Because you're a missionary? 
• Is it because you read the right translation?
•  Give all your possessions to the poor? 
• Never wear jeans? 
• Never cuss?

The fact of the matter is... none of these things make us confident we are God's children. No matter how right your church is, your beliefs are, your leaders are; no matter how good you are, sacrificial, or moral; nothing gives us security that we are adopted sons and daughters of the Most High, save one -- that the Spirit Himself testify with our spirit.
 

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16

There are a thousand different voices in a day, all telling you things about yourself. One says this. Another says that. Each of them shape your identity; your view of yourself. The world's gone crazy talking about self esteem, and no wonder. The world seeks a confidence it cannot gain by earthly means or measures.

By Faith. 

Only by faith can we be saved. And this salvation is not only a future dwelling with God. It is a here and now LIFE in Christ, a Life reclaimed by His sacrifice. He made a way for us to receive God's own Spirit, a deposit guarenteing our inheritance. But let me ask you... If you knew you were to inherit, say, 400 million dollars when your father died, would it change your identity now? Would it change your hopes and dreams, and draw your future back here to the moment. Would you have peace knowing of the financial security of both you and your children and your children's children. It would me. But I'd rather have eternal, Spiritual security than financial. Fortunately, that's exactly what the Father wants to give you and me. 

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

How do we KNOW we are God's children. It's only known when the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit. How is this done?

• Is it done for a good teaching? 
• A great worship experience? 
• An exercise of spiritual gifts?  
• A book burning? 
• A picket sign?
• Tithing? 

Think of it this way. What is the ONE thing in the world that cannot be taken away from you? Think for a minute. Your family? Your spouse? Your clothes? Your home? Your church? Your Bible? Your health? All of these can be stripped away. There is only one thing in the world that cannot be taken away from you... if you believe... and that is the testimony of the Spirit Himself to your own spirit that you are God's child. What did Christ mean when he said, "I have come to give you abundant Life"? Did he mean cool possessions? Cool friends? A cool church? These can all be stolen away. Christ came to give us that which rust and moth cannot destroy... that is... LIFE! Not "bios" - physical life, but "zoe" - spiritual life. Where does this eternal life come from -- from God's Spirit Himself testifying with our spirit that we are God's children. 

But you say don't FEEL like God's child. I understand. Your life has been hard. Your church has not fed you. Your parents divorced. You don't understand the Bible. Your father abused you. You never finished high school. You are... not good enough. You say and you think these or other things. Unfortunately, there is another spirit who continually seeks to testify to your spirit, and that spirit seeks to steal, kill, and destroy you. He is God's arch enemy. And his very first target is your mind. If he can get you to avoid that still small voice of God's Spirit Himself then his battle is half won. He'll always keep you down. In depression. In tears. Insecurity. Frailty. Poverty of the soul. That's his goal. To keep you -- by any means possible --- from actually hearing that testimony from God's Spirit Himself to YOUR spirit, that you are God's Child. 

So what should you do? What should we do? 

First, recognize that when the scripture reads, The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children, it IS in fact talking about YOU. Not just your Pastor, your Mom, your ubber-spiritual friend, your Deacon, or you Dad. This means you.. and me. The question is not is the Spirit "REALLY" testifying to MY spirit or is that selective? The question is, "If the Spirit is testifying to my spirit that I am God's child and I do not hear this testimony clearly, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?" 

Second, get still before God. Be still and KNOW that I am God, he says. Clear your mind of the things you've hear and stare at this verse in scripture. This is about YOU.

Third, pray. Now don't start babbling on in prayer. Instead, simply ask God to help you hear and OWN this truth that you are indeed HIS child. Receive this word from the Spirit to your soul. And thank God. Say, "God, THANK YOU, for making me your child! Thank you for the testimony of the Spirit to my spirit that I am your son, your daughter. Thank you. I love you, Lord. I love you."

Now it begins. Do this everyday for a while, taking ownership of this truth. Because it IS truth. And there's no reason whatsoever that you shouldn't count yourself among the brothers and sisters of Christ. You are God's child. And for the rest of your life this will continue to be true:

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16

"Think About Jesus -- We are God's house."

Hebrews 3

Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

Jesus Is Greater Than Moses

So, my brothers and sisters, those chosen by God to be his holy people, think about Jesus. He is the one we believe God sent to save us and to be our high priest. ² God made him our high priest, and he was faithful to God just as Moses was. He did everything God wanted him to do in God’s house. ³ When someone builds a house, people will honor the builder more than the house. It is the same with Jesus. He should have more honor than Moses. ⁴ Every house is built by someone, but God built everything. ⁵ Moses was faithful as a servant in God’s whole house. He told people what God would say in the future. ⁶ But Christ is faithful in ruling God’s house as the Son. And we are God’s house, if we remain confident of the great hope we are glad to say we have.

I really do like this "Easy-to-Read Version." It's a very smooth translation. 

First order of business? "...think about Jesus." The writer of Hebrews is apparently making sure the reader know Jesus is more important than Moses; that Moses should be honored, yes, but that he should be honored less than Christ. Moses was a faithful house keeper, telling the tenants what God would say in the future. But Christ is a faithful, ruling, SON. But what is this house? 

"We are God's house." 

This is a major, "huge, ginormous" (as my 3 year old likes to say), transition in thinking. It's one thing for God to declare His own Son greater than Moses. But for centuries the people of God knew the place of God was a "building." First it was a tent. Then a tabernacle. But now it is the people themselves. The prophecies declared the "coming King of glory" but I imagine the eager generations imagined this new King residing in the places built by human hands, just as Yahweh had done for ages. But "oh no." God desires to live IN US! Is the idea easier for us to grasp than the original hearers of this message? Are we so different than the Hebrews? 


"We are God's house." The writer includes himself. And we should include ourselves as well. Do you see that your church "building" is not special? It does not contain God anymore than the next one. Nor does your living room, your land, or your joy bus. "We are God's house." Your "place of worship" does not make your worship more acceptable, lovely, or powerful. "We are God's house." With God dwelling within, where we go, God goes. We are the tent and the tabernacle, the new buildings for the Most High. Now we, like Moses, tell the people what God would say in the future... an what God is saying now. 

And what is God saying now? 

What is He saying to you? To your heart? To your mind? 

Be still and know that He is God. 

What does He speak from deep inside you? What does He move you to do? 

What does your conscience whisper to you? 

"Think about Jesus -- We are God's house." 

How do we know we have the Spirit?

In a previous post I wrote about the evils of proof texting. Unfortunately, it's a regular practice, and it's all around, raising it's ugly head anytime we write without considering all the passages on a certain topic. But there are couple of topics where proof-texting is not a danger: Salvation through Christ and the Spirit by Faith. You can take any one scripture on salvation and they all point to the same conclusion: We needed a Savior -- God sent His only Son. And you can take any Scripture on the Spirit and there is only one outcome -- God desires to make His home inside of us by His Spirit and this is begun and sustained through Faith.

These are foundational truths. Just as our bodies need water and air to live, our soul needs Christ and God's Spirit to Live. What is the one thing NO ONE can take away from you? It is not your home, your clothes, your church, your wife, your husband, your children. It's not your money, friends, freedom, health, or possessions. What no one can take from you is the one thing only God can give you -- salvation through Christ and an indwelling of His Spirit. These are a matter of faith. But what if you lack faith? 

So you say, "Father I believe. Help my unbelief." It's that simple. Ask God for more faith. Do you think he wishes to withhold faith? By no means. He pines for us to know Him more. He's given all for us but never taken away our own choice. So He lays our the love for us with the clarity we need -- No greater love is there than that of His own Son laying down His life for us. We can believe this truth and even accept this gift. But what of a growing faith? A faith that allows us more days of security in Christ and more joy of knowing God by His Spirit. 

Faith. That's how we know we have the Spirit. Fortunately, faith can grow. And the author and perfecter of our faith can indeed do just that.  

The Myth of Christian Leadership [repost]

The Myth of Christian Leadership
Frank Viola

In Reimagining Church, I argue that there is no special position or office called “leader” in the New Testament. Some who haven’t read my work have misconstrued my position to suggest that I believe there are “no leaders” in the church . . . or that there shouldn’t be any. Not true. My position is the opposite. I believe that the New Testament envisions all Christians as leaders in their own sphere of ministry and gifting. To put it another way, according to the New Testament, there is no clergy/laity distinction. Instead, all Christians are kleros (clergy) and all Christians are laos (laity).

The clergy/laity dichotomy is a tragic fault line that runs throughout the history of Christendom. Yet despite the fact that multitudes have taken the low road of dogmatism to defend it, this dichotomy is without biblical warrant. The word “laity” is derived from the Greek word laos. It simply means “the people.” Laos includes all Christians—including elders. The word appears three times in 1 Peter 2:9–10, where Peter refers to “the people [laos] of God.” Never in the New Testament does it refer to only a portion of the assembly. It didn’t take on this meaning until the third century. (I trace the historical roots in Pagan Christianity.)

The term “clergy” finds its roots in the Greek word kleros. It means “a lot or an inheritance.” The word is used in 1 Peter 5:3, where Peter instructs the elders against being “lords over God’s heritage [kleros]” (kjv). Significantly, kleros is never used to refer to church “leaders.” Like laos, it refers to God’s people—for they are His heritage. According to the New Testament, then, all Christians are “clergy” (kleros) and all are “laity” (laos). We are the Lord’s heritage and the Lord’s people.

To frame it differently, the New Testament doesn’t dispose of clergy. It makes all believers clergy.
Therefore, the clergy/laity dichotomy is a postbiblical concept that’s devoid of any scriptural warrant. It’s also a bothersome menace to what God has called the church to be—a functioning body.
There’s no hint of the clergy/laity or minister/layman schema in the history, teaching, or vocabulary of the New Testament. This schema is a religious artifact that stems from the postapostolic disjunction of secular and spiritual.

In the secular/spiritual dichotomy, faith, prayer, and ministry are deemed the exclusive properties of an inner, sacrosanct world. A world that is detached from the whole fabric of life. But this disjunction is completely foreign to the New Testament ethos where all things are to bring glory to God—even the stuff of everyday life (1 Cor. 10:31).

I’m not alone in taking this view.

The term ‘laity’ is one of the worst in the vocabulary of religion and ought to be banished from the Christian conversation.
~ Karl Barth
The clergy-laity tradition has done more to undermine New Testament authority than most heresies.
~ James D.G. Dunn

The clergy-laity dichotomy is a direct carry-over from pre-Reformation Roman Catholicism and a throwback to the Old Testament priesthood. It is one of the principal obstacles to the church effectively being God’s agent of the kingdom today because it creates a false idea that only ‘holy men,’ namely, ordained ministers, are really qualified and responsible for leadership and significant ministry. In the New Testament there are functional distinctions between various kinds of ministries but no hierarchical division between clergy and laity.
~ Howard Snyder

So what is the myth of Christian leadership?

The myth is that some are leaders and others aren’t . . . that some are part of the “clergy” class and others are part of the poor, miserable “laity.” Now if all Christians are leaders, as I’m suggesting, then what is leadership? That’s an important question.

For years, I’ve held that leadership contains four elements:

1. Persuasion. I recently discovered that Stanley Hauerwas defines leadership this way also.
2. Influence. I recently learned that John Maxwell, the leadership guru, said, “Leadership is really nothing more than influence.” I’ve never read a book by Maxwell, but I stumbled across this quote last year on Twitter and found it interesting.
3. Giving direction – leadership is showing others “the next step,” which goes along with persuasion and influence.
4. Leadership “leads” or “points” to something/someone – for the Christian, it always points to Christ. Either in faith or action. As believers we lead/point/guide/direct people (both Christian and non-Christian) to the ultimate Leader, Jesus.

All four aspects of leadership are accomplished by precept and/or example.

For instance . . .

If you have a Facebook page and you recommend a book to someone, and only one person is persuaded or influenced to buy that book, then you just led them by your FB update.
If you decide to leave Facebook, stating your reasons why, and one person is persuaded by what you wrote to also leave Facebook, then you just led them by your example.

In both cases, you were leading.

If you’ve ever given direction to someone and they’ve heeded it, you were leading.
If you’ve ever corrected someone, and they received it, you were leading.
If you’ve ever led (brought) someone to Jesus Christ, you were leading.
If you’ve ever written a blog post, article, or book, and you influenced someone to take an action or adopt a viewpoint, then you were leading them.
If you’ve ever persuaded another human being to do anything, be it your spouse, child, parent, friend, co-worker, employee, etc., then you were leading them.

This makes all Christians leaders.

I lead every time I post a blog post, write a book, counsel someone, speak in front of an audience, or release a podcast message. And so do you (if you write or speak).

Leadership can be good or it can be bad. It can be helpful or harmful. It can be effective or weak. And, of course, some people influence more people than others based on the size of their “platform.”
“Great leaders” are people who by virtue of their lifestyle and wisdom have many followers who safely trust their guidance.

But the fact that they have large followings doesn’t entitle them to wield the special title of “leader” at the exclusion of everyone else. Unfortunately, many Christians obsess over being a “leader” today.

Some to the point of frenzy.

Leadership exists, period.

And we all lead in various and sundry ways and arenas. We just differ in the kinds of things into which we lead others. That said, here are 10 things to consider about “leadership” and why the common idea that some Christians are leaders and others aren’t is a myth in my view (note that an entire book can be written to expand each point):

1. The New Testament never uses the term “leader.” In some translations, you’ll find the word “leader” only in a few texts. Hebrews 13:17, 14 and Romans 12:8, namely. But these are questionable translations of the Greek words. Those words are better translated as “guard,” “give care,” or “guide.” It’s the verb, not the noun. These texts almost certainly have in view the more spiritually mature overseers and elders. Overseers/elders are not “the” leaders of a local church. They simply lead in a specific capacity that’s different from the other members of the church. For details, see Reimagining Church, Chapter 9-10.

2. Overseers (also called elders and shepherds in the New Testament) are part of the DNA of the church, but we have misunderstood these functions as “offices” that have inherent authority over other believers. Overseers/elders/shepherds certainly lead, but so do prophets, apostles, evangelists, teachers, exhorters, those who have gifts of mercy, helps, and every other function in the body of Christ. Christians have authority only in so far as they are revealing the mind of Christ is the authority. Again, all Christians lead according to their specific gifting. That’s the argument of 1 Corinthians 12.

3. Jesus Christ turned the common idea of leadership on its head. He did this in two ways. He took dead aim at the positional/titular view of leadership that was common among the Jews (Matt. 23:8-13). And He took dead aim at the hierarchical/top-down view of leadership that was common among the Gentiles (Matt. 20:25-28; Luke 22:25-26). For details, see Reimagining Church, Chapter 8.

4. Many Christians and churches have adopted and baptized the business model of leadership over/against the New Testament vision of leadership. Properly conceived and functioning, the ekklesia is a spiritual organism whose source is divine life. It’s not a human-constructed institution. Once this is fully understood, our understanding of leadership changes dramatically.

5. The New Testament doesn’t emphasize leadership. It emphasizes following Jesus (who is now in the Spirit) and living as a servant of Christ and a servant to others. According to the New Testament, all are gifted, all are servants (“ministers”), all are priests, and all have ministry as members of the body. In addition, all are called to be examples of Jesus.

6. None of the many words used for “office” in the Greek language are ever employed to describe a function or role in the church. New Testament scholar Robert Banks makes an indisputable case for this in his seminal book, Paul’s Idea of Community.

7. The doctrine of “covering” was invented in the post-apostolic period, and it has no biblical merit. See Reimagining Church, Chapters 11-13 (entitled “Who is Your Covering?”) for details.

8. The modern obsession over leadership isn’t helpful. If Christians spent their time focusing on following Jesus Christ and sharing whatever He has given them with others (= functioning as a member of the body), opposed to obsessing over how to be a “leader,” the Kingdom of God would be better off. So it seems to me anyway. (My friend Len Sweet has written a book emphasizing followership over leadership. I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve heard good things about it.)

9. Hebrews 13:17 confirms the idea that leadership is linked to persuasion. In that text, some translations have, “Obey them that are over you.” The Greek word for “obey” in this passage is not hupakuo, the garden-variety word for obedience used elsewhere in Scripture. It’s peitho (middle-passive form), which means to yield to persuasion. The author of Hebrews was simply saying, “Allow yourselves to be persuaded by those who are more mature in Christ than you are.” The word “over” and “rule” in some translations is a horrible reflection of the Greek. And according to Peter and Luke, elders/overseers aren’t over the flock, they are among it (1 Pet. 5:1, NIV; Acts 20:28, NASB). See Reimagining Church, the lengthy Appendix for details.

10. Throughout the New Testament, only Jesus Christ is said to be the “head” of the church, which implies both source and rule. All leadership flows from His headship organically when a member of His body reveals His mind and will in a given situation. Christ has the power of speech, and He speaks through His body (this is the argument of 1 Corinthians 12:1ff.). And we all share the mind of Christ. His mind is not the exclusive property of a few.

Point: you don’t have to be an author, a pastor, or an elder of a local church to be a leader. In fact, some of the greatest Christian leaders I’ve known were neither.

Focus on following Jesus and you will be leading others naturally by your example, let alone by the things you say.

No doubt, someone reading this post may object to some of these points. And that’s fine. None of us can claim perfect insight. However, I address every objection to them I’ve heard (and more) in detail in Reimagining Church, which is a 320-page book. This is merely a preface to the subject.

For whatever it’s worth . . .

Is it possible that much of Christianity today is focused on being a leader when it should rather be focused on how to follow an indwelling Christ?

Be sure to read the comment section where “push-back” challenges are answered.
Related:
Epic Jesus: The Christ You Never Knew
Living by the Indwelling Life of Christ

The Finger or the Hand? (...Accuser of the brethren) [Repost]

The Finger or the Hand? By Viola

There’s a big difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the accusation of the enemy.

It’s the difference between the finger and the hand. Let me ‘splain. The word “devil” means slanderer. The nature of our enemy is to slander, defame, and accuse. In the book of Revelation, satan is called “the accuser of the brethren.” One way he accuses is in our conscience, overwhelming us with a sense of condemnation and unworthiness to the point of despair and even hopelessness. Standing in the virtue of the blood of Christ is the remedy for the enemy’s accusations. “The overcame him by the blood of the Lamb . . . “The blood was enough to satisfy a holy God, and it looms larger in His eyes than any sin you or I could ever commit.

So one of satan’s chief weapons is the sense accusation, which obstructs our fellowship with God. It causes us to withdraw from the throne of grace instead of “boldly coming to it” as Hebrews exhorts.

By contrast, when the Holy Spirit convicts us, He points to a specific issue in our lives from which to repent or deal with in His light. Like the finger, the Spirit’s conviction is very specific. And it always leads us to Christ. (In fact, the Spirit always draws us to Jesus.)

When the enemy accuses, it’s often a vague sense of guilt and condemnation. Like the hand, it’s unspecific. Learning to distinguish between the finger and the hand — the Spirit’s conviction and the enemy’s accusation — keeps us from being debilitated by the paralysis of self-analysis. Keep your eyes focused ahead, on Christ, rather than on yourself. And you will make progress in the spiritual path. Stand in the virtue of the shed blood of Jesus . . . the only thing that makes us worthy to come before our Father who is pure holiness and light.

See also 20 Things the Blood of Jesus Does.