To this day I remember how foreign things seemed when Jesus separated me to Himself and began teaching me the truths of God. The things He began showing me were so contrary to what men were preaching at the time. Back then the Full Gospel people were teaching that we should claim the promises of God. I was amazed at the ignorance and foolishness of people who were rushing headlong into this heresy.
I understand those who are taught by men are bound to have a little man-made theology. And, since the church has been in a state of sleep for centuries, the impact that teachings of men have had on the knowledge of Christ is bound to be detrimental.
Please tell me: why would anyone who wanted to please God claim something from Him? Only those who think they deserve something would do it. That’s the definition of the word claim. It means to demand something you think you have a legal right to. You’ve been set free from the law and now you want to use the law to get what you want? Sounds hypocritical to me.
We no longer live by the law. We now live by faith in the grace and truth in Jesus through whom we were crucified to the law. The promises of God are yes in Jesus, not in, or through, the law. Why would we who have been set free from the law bind ourselves to the law again just to receive the promises of God that come not from the law, but through grace and truth in Jesus. Those who claim the promises of God profess to have faith in Jesus, but use the law to bolster the littleness of their faith just in case it doesn’t work. They appeal to God on a legal basis as well as a faith basis just in case. This is referred to as double-mindedness in James 1:7,8. And that man will receive nothing from the Lord.
Some may think claiming promises is a small thing, and that God knows we don’t mean it in a bad way. My friends, if you claim a promise of God, you are doing something that is NOT in the Bible. You are doing something bad, whether you mean to, or not. And what about young Christians who hear you? Aren’t you afraid of them being influenced by what they hear? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLAIMING THE PROMISES OF GOD IN THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. And yet people attempt to do it. Just like sheep being led to the slaughter, these people follow blindly those who would distort the Word of God.
How long will this go on? When will the shepherds awake from sleep and feed truths to their flocks? When will they bow to the will of God?
This is only one area in which the shepherds have failed the sheep. There are more. Many went from claiming promises to claiming to have authority in Jesus’ name. Oh, my goodness, whatever happened to faith in the name of Jesus?
Ask this question to any of these super Christians and they usually reply, “We have faith that we have the authority of Christ.”
I have asked this question many times and get the same answer all the time. So I always reply, “How can you have the authority of Christ if Peter didn’t have it?”
I then show them the lame man at the Temple gate was healed on the basis of faith in the name of Jesus, and not by authority. At one time, Peter had authority, when Jesus was still on earth. Since He was glorified everything is done by faith! Read your Bible! (Just for the record, these people with authority can’t even make it rain. They just claim they can).
One can only ride the golden calves of the past for so long; soon he will be required to produce works that demonstrate genuine growth in the present time. The church will attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ, whether these complacent shepherds wake up or not.
Jon David Banks, God’s most unworthy servant
Please weigh everything I say on the scales of the word of God.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
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