Responding to the Good News
This Gospel has given me real life! This Gospel continues to transform lives all around us as we share about what JESUS has done and why He did what He did. The Gospel is more than just religion and definitely more than just a nice history lesson. As we share with others and minister to hungry souls we find that many have heard about Jesus, His miraculous and much anticipated birth into a dark world, His 3 or so years spent walking with His disciples, His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to the Father not long after. Many already know how to answer the question about why Jesus came to the world? They tell us “He came to die for the sins of the world”. But why? Why did He have to die?
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit”
There had to be a sacrifice made for our sin, but not just any sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice! For hundreds and hundreds of years the Israelites made sacrifices under the Old Covenant to atone for their sin but they had to continuously make them because they were continuously sinning and the sacrifices they were making could not cleanse them perfectly.
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:1-10
In order for us to have a relationship with God we have to deal with this issue of our sins. There are many skewed and incomplete versions of the Gospel shared throughout the world and in Nicaragua it is no different. In some Gospel presentations sin is hardly mentioned while most of the emphasis is placed on God’s love and His finished work; so now we are already forgiven and made right with God without having to take any action on our part at all. They say “It’s all God, He did it all and we just need to wake up to the reality that we’re forgiven and loved by God no matter how we’re living or what we’re believing.” NO NO NO! This woefully incomplete version of the Gospel may tickle ears and cause sentiment to rise up in the hearts of its listeners, but it has no power to free a life from sin as it chooses not to acknowledge the problem of sin and our need to repent from it and turn to God. Choosing to acknowledge our sin and to repent from it and turn to God show a response to the Gospel and without a response made with our own will the sacrifice He made for our sins is not received.
There are others who say that in order to be saved we have to do do do! It’s not enough to be born again, we have to put in the hours in church service, tithe, pray, fast, read the Bible, avoid the big sins like smoking, drinking and adultery and if we do enough good things then there’s a good chance we may make it. In this version of the works-based response to the Gospel there is a heavy dose of fear placed on falling into sin and so we must do many religious activities in order to prove to others and to God that we are on the right path. Here it’s all about maintaining the appearance of freedom when really slavery to sin and self is still the reality. They say “We’re all still sinners and that’s just the way it is and will aways be until we die so let’s try to manage our sin so as not to totally fall off the wagon until our time is up.” Sad isn’t it? There is no belief in truly living a life free from sin, although Jesus came and gave His life and suffered as He did so that we would be set free from the power of sin! In the complete and true Gospel we do acknowledge that sin is the problem that Jesus came to resolve, but once we truly get born again and begin walking the narrow path of righteousness led by the Holy Spirit sin no longer is our master!
“You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”
Jesus did not come to the world to die for our sins so that we would go to heaven. I have found that most people who identify themselves as Christians think that being “saved” means being saved from hell. The scriptures teach that one day if we continue running our race as obedient sons of God who are saved from sin, then when our race comes to an end we will enter into the presence of God and receive the crown of righteousness. But for now no one who is reading this blog, or anyone else for that matter, is saved from hell! If we are in Christ because we have given our lives to Him through repentance, faith, baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit, then we have begun our race and are called to run it with perseverance until we reach the end of this temporal life. In the scriptures there are many warnings to the church of Christ about beginning the race but not continuing till the end:
“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end”
So it’s not all about a prayer we prayed in faith one time years ago, or maybe that time we even got baptized in water as a child because we wanted to avoid hell and do what others were telling us is the “right thing to do” if we wanted to escape the wrath of God. Being saved is much more than that and we need not look any further than the scriptures to see what one must to do be “saved”. First we must understand that Jesus came to the earth to save us from our sins. As we have already touched on, sin is a big issue with God and if we want to enter into relationship with Him we need to understand that since we were formed in the womb the seed of sin was inside of us.
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
There is a reason that we don’t have to teach children to do wrong things, rather we have to teach them not do what is wrong and to do what is right. Naturally we choose to do what is wrong because we are sinful before coming to Jesus and there is no amount of social reprogramming or helpful counsel that can change the deep reality of sin in humanity. That’s not to say that people can’t do good works or be kind to each other; my Josiah is 5 years old and can be a sweet and kind boy at times, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is sinful and one day needs to be born again because he is still ruled by sinful flesh and that to me, his father, is a very clear truth that I see verified time and again as we live life together. So what can be done about sin?
“Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Repent of our sins and turn to God. That is the first step that we must take in order to respond rightly to the Gospel. As a youth growing up in a Baptist church I remember much emphasis being placed on the need to be baptized but far less on the need of repentance from sin to be present in the life of the one who would be baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. I saw many baptized in water but don’t remember any transformed lives, including my own. I was baptized in water around 16 years old but since I did not understand that I was a sinful person and that I needed to repent of my sin and what that even meant, no life transformation followed my baptism. I was not aware that I was to reject my old life of sin and give everything to Him, including my corrupt and hard heart; not so that He could clean it up and give it back to me, no, I was supposed to receive an altogether new heart of flesh! Once we choose to turn our back on the sinful life and confess our sin and put it into the light, the scriptures say that we are given a new heart of flesh and lose the heart of stone that we are born with.
“Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. ”
I did not now that in the waters of baptism the sinful nature is cutoff and all the sin that we repent of to the Father is buried there with the old man. Once we repent of our sin to the Father we take the sinful life and we choose of our own will to lay it down forever in the watery grave of baptism. Water baptism is more than just an outward symbol of what has already taken place inwardly. That belief is such a lie and sadly it has passed throughout the church at large and robbed water baptism of the supernatural power that it should always carry. Water baptism is also more than just a step of obedience; yes it is obedient to what Jesus commanded to be water baptized, but it is also so much more! Look what Paul says:
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Now look at what Peter says about water baptism in 1 Peter 3:21
“After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…”
Wow that’s amazing and so beautiful! We see that even in the times of the Old Covenant (Moses and the parting of the sea) and yet even before (Noah and the flood) that water has been an important element that God used to bring an end to sin/evil through washing it away and putting it to death. That same message of death to sin/evil leading to a new life of righteousness continues into the New Covenant with being water baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, all that we read in the Bible leads up to the Father’s master plan to abolish sin and free us from it through faith in the Gospel, repentance from sin, baptism into Jesus Christ, and now baptism into the Holy Spirit so that He may be our guide from the inward man, no longer needing commandments written on stone tablets.
“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
1 John 1:7 says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and praise God for that! Hallelujah! When we place our faith in the Gospel, repent of our sin, and bury that sin by faith in the waters of baptism, then we shall receive the promise of the Holy Spirit! The problem is that many do not believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues is biblical or for all who are born again. Some people simply have never been told about the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2) and yet others have only heard comments here and there about Him. Still there are others, like me, who have grown up in religion and have been taught incomplete and unbiblical doctrines that say that you already received the Holy Spirit when you got baptized in water and there is nothing left to receive.
After I was baptized in water for real at 27 years old with true repentance from sin I did feel that a significant change had taken place in my life, but I also felt that a hunger for more with God had began to form in me and I simply could not live with that hunger for “the more of God” without it being satisfied somehow any longer. I had already seen many sinful habits and desires fall away from my life almost immediately upon placing my faith in Jesus and being water baptized into repentance from sin, but there were still strongholds holding me back and I felt like I needed supernatural help in order to walk into the freedom that had been purchased for me through what Jesus had done for me. I would read the New Testament and feel like my life was not found in the pages of the book of Acts, but I longed for it to be! So I began crying out for help to God; asking Him to give me all that He paid for and that I simply could not do what He was calling me to do without Him! One day the Lord answered my cry and while I was all alone in my sister’s home crying out to God He came and filled me with His Holy Spirit and my life was once again forever changed!
Now, fast forwarding a bit it did take me some time, a few years to be exact, to clear out the religious cobwebs and traditions I had always believed about the Holy Spirit so that I could begin walking in the power that He had given me. Victory over sin did become my reality and miracles, signs, and wonders began breaking forth in my life as I stepped out in faith obedience to what Jesus called His disciples to do: share the Good News, heal the sick, and cast out demons. It’s simple really, in order for us to be lead by the Holy Spirit and not fall back into the fleshly ways of the world, we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit so that He can make His home on the inside of us and truly be our guide! Look at this in Romans 8:14
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ..For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
The filling of the Holy Spirit is not optional for those who truly want to live a life led by God to do the works of God! Often in our walk with God we can fall into places of comfort that we find hard to leave behind; maybe truth comes knocking at our door but we know that if we accept the truth being revealed that means that our lives will have to change and that will mean going through an uncomfortable time of repentance and humbling ourselves. I have found that there are many people who just don’t find that appealing and would rather stay on the broad road in which they are walking. That just breaks my heart, but I know that if it breaks mine it must be even more difficult for Jesus to see people that claim to know Him and love Him choose the easy path when He Himself chose the narrow and difficult path. The discipline of God is such a gift because He disciplines those He loves:
The writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12 verses 5-7:
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
The Lord teaches, corrects, and disciplines us through His Holy Spirit’s indwelling us and if we are not allowing Him to have His way in us, rather we are wanting to go about serving Him and living the Christian life our way, we may be missing it completely and not even know it, perhaps until it is too late. What a tragedy that would be! To be all the time walking the broad path but having believed that we were on the narrow one!
I want to close this blog by also explaining that we are saved from our sins to life a life of obedience to the commands of Jesus. Jesus’ words WERE NOT these:
“Go into all the world and go to church. Whoever believes is saved from hell, but whoever does not believe can maybe be saved if they have done enough good things in their life. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will pray nice prayers; they will dress really nicely when they go to church; they will read their Bibles; and when they sin they will not talk about so as to not lose face amongst other church goers; they will askGod to heal the sick and maybe if God feels like it He will grant it, but it won’t happen too often.”
Clearly I am being sarcastic with the above interpretation of Jesus’ words to His disciples, but sadly a great many who call themselves Christians live as if those truly were His words to them! We know that Jesus gave us commands to follow that weren’t optional, but a surprising few are actually living the “disciple life”, the type of life we see laid out in the scriptures for us to live if we truly desire to be obedient sons and daughters.
“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; hey will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Since I have lived in Nicaragua I have tried my best to live a life obedient to Jesus’ commands to those who follow Him. Sadly I cannot say that my born-again life always looked like it has over the last year, but I can say that I was sincere and loved the Lord. I explain to others that my last 13 years or so of new life in Jesus has been a progressive walk into deeper truths and realities of the Gospel, which has in-turn produced more fruit in my life personally and in my interactions with others as well through ministry and otherwise. I truly do feel like now, since roughly April of 2020, Jessica and I, Fervent Fire Ministries as well, has found what we’ve been looking for for so long! Fruit! How to produce lasting fruit that remains! We are now sharing the Good News more completely and efficiently, leading others to new life in Jesus and seeing them grow up in the faith as they too begin producing fruit as all disciples of Jesus should! It has been so beautiful to see so many born again and their lives transformed completely by the love and power which impregnates the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
In this blog I wanted to be as clear as I can with everyone that follows us and supports us about what it is that we are believing and henceforth doing as a ministry. This is much more than ministry for us, it is our lives, our everyday, and Fervent Fire Ministries lives and breathes through this same heartbeat and desire to share the Good News with everyone and helping others find true freedom through complete surrender to the truth of the Gospel. I know much has changed in the ministry over the last year and a half, so I feel that laying these basics out as clearly as I can is necessary for you all to really understand where we are coming from. I hope this blog has blessed you and maybe even answered some questions for you about where we are at as a ministry and what we are believing now. It has always been about Jesus, but now the fruit we are seeing is evidence that we are walking in His will more closely and consistently than ever before! If you have any questions, doubts, concerns, or want to talk more with me about all this please feel free to message me on facebook or email me.
Freedom from sin, shame, condemnation, and demonic oppression is real! If you need freedom, let us know! JESUS is the answer!
Bless you!
Michael
