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Category Archives: The Church

Let’s Talk about the Weather – Spiritually

23 Jul

Cloud2I believe that revival is coming to America. Many others do as well. The question I’ve heard a lot these days is; why is revival taking so long to arrive?

As I’ve been praying and reading Scripture, I think I know the answer to that one. But it’s not what we want to hear, and it’s certainly not going to be popular. The principle is found in the first sermon that Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you — even Jesus.
Acts 3:19-20

I believe that the times of refreshing he talked about is what we now call revival. It literally means times of catching your breath.

In talking with believers from many different places, I think it’s clear that America needs revival. The bigger question is; do we really want revival? By that I mean will we do whatever it takes to lay hold of revival?

The church needs to understand that revival doesn’t just happen. God doesn’t look down at the earth and say, “They sure need revival. I think I’ll help them out and send it.” Revival doesn’t come simply because it’s needed.

In talking to the people, Peter said that they needed to repent.   That word means to change your mind and turn around. He continued by saying, then your sins are erased and times of refreshing will come.

I believe that the key word there is times. If we’re ready, then God will send us revival times. As His people, we must understand that God wants to send us times of revival. It’s us that need to cooperate with His plan.

It’s all a matter of timing. We need to understand how God’s timing works. That was one of the things that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for.

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
Luke 12:54-56

Jesus rebuked His generation for being able to discern the weather, yet they were unable to discern the time – God’s appointed times. We must do better than them. We need to know both the times we live in, and what’s required of God’s people during these times.

I want to take a few posts to talk about this. God’s timetable. How does it work, and why revival seems to be taking so long to arrive. We need to be a people who position themselves to lay hold of God’s will.

Question: What does this present time require of God’s people?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on July 23, 2014 in Revival, The Church

 

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Effective Leadership = Clear Vision

18 Jul

transportIn my last post I talked about the need for leaders to have God’s vision for their ministries. This is not just a game we’re playing. It’s the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It can’t be broken down into rules and formulas. Eighty percent of it is relationship. We must be able to communicate and hear from Christ, the Head. Good leadership means hearing from God, and knowing the direction to be heading into.

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Proverbs 29:18

When the leader has no vision, no clear revelation from God, then there’s no clear direction in which the church should travel. At that point it becomes “every man for himself.” There’s no force holding the church together as a unit. There’s no goal ordering the people to march together in one direction.

When there’s a clear plan from God, the people are restrained from running off in all directions. Your resources can be targeted at the specific task ahead.

That’s where the spirit of excellence is born; in the realm of vision. Vision, knowing God’s strategy for your life and your ministry, is the deciding factor in whether or not you walk in excellence. Most of the ministries that are a part of the “normal pack” are just going by trial and error, hoping that someday they’ll stumble over the secret to success.

They look around for a ministry that’s growing and try to incorporate those methods into their own schedule. Most of the time, it simply turns the ministry into a conglomeration of disjointed programs with no clear goal in view. Personally, I would much rather know the direction of success before I start out.

Once I know God’s plan for my ministry, then I can see where my personal life vision fits into it. The Holy Spirit will see to it that the vision of the local church will be completed in the sum total of each individual vision of the members. Excellence must work on both levels.

Without knowing the overriding vision of the church, there’s no clear direction. But the church is the people. Without a people who know their personal vision, then the church can never move forward into the excellence God has prepared for it. Vision is required on both the corporate and individual level.

Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3

Vision is something that must be plain and clear. It can’t be so general that no one understands how he or she fits into it. Some will say, “The vision of our church is to win the lost.” That’s great, but how do you intend to do that?

Is there a specific group of “lost people” that you’re called to win? What are you going to do with these lost people once they’re found? The vision needs to be clear and specific. It needs to be personally tailored for your life and ministry. It needs to show what makes you unique and different from everyone else who’s serving the Lord.

This is important because it’s only after you have a clear vision from God that you can focus your efforts. You won’t be distracted by other activities which are good, yet don’t bring about God’s plan in your life.

Questions: Do you know God’s vision for your life? What is it?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on July 18, 2014 in Ministry, Prayer, Spirit of Excellence, The Church

 

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The Walk of Maturity

07 Jul

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAThis is the final post about the stages of spiritual growth. In my last post I talked about the frustration of an immature believer wanting a quick, easy way to the blessings of maturity.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.
Galatians 4:1-3

This is a truth that many have missed. Our position in Christ is not enough for us to experience the manifestation of His power. If you’re a spiritual child, you have the position of righteousness and holiness. But you’re still in slavery to the principles of the world.

Spiritually, you own everything that Christ has purchased for you on the cross. But practically speaking, you’re living out your life never experiencing the reality of it because you’re a child. We have to come to the realization that position only gets you into the presence of God. When it comes to the power of God, you need the freedom and authority of adulthood.

As spiritual children, we’re still under the supervision – literally the guardianship and training –of the law. I think you’ll be surprised by this aspect of childhood.

In the Faith Movement, we were taught the importance of trusting the Word of God. As a result, we learned that the promises of God could be embraced and applied to our lives. This was when we started to submit to the guardianship of the law of God.

We learned how to follow the requirements of the promises. For instance – if I tithe, then God will open up the windows of heaven and pour out a financial blessing upon me. Make no mistake about it. Even though this was a fundamental part of our growth process, it was still a part of our childhood. This is how children are trained to obey.

“If you’ll take out the trash every week, I’ll give you an allowance.”

“If you’ll tithe, I’ll open up the windows of heaven for you.”

Living on the level of “if you do this, I’ll do that” is the childhood phase of our walk. We all must go through it, but we’re not meant to stay there.

When I was a child, one of my chores was to put out the trash every week for pickup. I couldn’t wait to grow up so I could be free of my parents’ rules.

I’m now an adult with a family of my own. Actually, I’m still putting the trash out every week – but there’s a difference. I don’t put out the trash because I’ll lose the privilege to use the car. I put out the trash because THAT’S WHAT ADULTS DO. I’m not under a law that tells me that I have to do it to receive a blessing. I do my chores because I’m an adult.

I still give a tithe of my finances to the Lord, but, with an adult mindset. God blesses my finances because I’m His son. I tithe because that’s what mature believers do. Spiritually speaking, I’m in my Father’s family business. I get my salary from Him. I know that it would please Him if I reinvest 10% back into His business every week. Why would I refuse? He’s never failed to provide for me.

Since I’ve started to look at God’s kingdom from this perspective, I’ve had more peace and freedom than I’ve ever known before. I’ve seen more answered prayer than I ever have before. My prayer is that I can apply this to more and more areas of my life.

The Lord is looking for His people to rise up to this level of maturity in Him. We need a revelation of what sonship is all about.

Question: What’s the next stage in your spiritual growth?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on July 7, 2014 in Prayer, Revival, Sonship, The Church

 

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Spiritual Frustration

04 Jul

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’ve been posting about the stages of spiritual growth. In my last post I talked about spiritual maturity. I showed the blessings that come with it.

Here’s the problem. We know what it should look like. But many are trying to do it within the confines of a childish spiritual walk.

We’re always on the lookout for some new teaching or “move of God” that will give us our breakthrough. We want the Six Steps to Prosperity or the Ten Confessions that bring Healing. We’re trying to get the freedom and resources of maturity while desperately hanging on to our childhood. This is never going to happen. It’s only when we attain to the goal of spiritual adulthood that we’ll see these things accomplished in us.

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
James 3:2

There’s more to the mature walk than simply getting our needs met. This word perfect is the same word for mature that we have been talking about. When you reach this level in your Christian experience sin is the exception rather than the rule. It’s not about trying harder. It’s the Holy Spirit working in you to perfect you.

So much of our energy is spent on trying to “be good.” Many preachers are wasting their time using guilt and scare tactics to try and get their people to live a righteous life. That’s not the scriptural way to get there.

It’s the work of the Holy Spirit in us that overcomes the sin nature. We have watered down this good news by making it all based on what I can do. Then we get frustrated that we can’t live up to the lifestyle put forth in the Word of God.

I believe that we’re at the point, in this generation, where we don’t understand what maturity is. We read the Bible and see how far we are from the abundant life described by the Lord. We’re like little children looking up to their older siblings and saying, “Why can’t I do that?”

We need to break out of our childhood. We must enter into the adult world, spiritually speaking. That’s why it’s so important to understand the progression of sonship. We have to go from the initial paperwork of adoption to full-fledged, mature, revealed sons of God. I am convinced by all that I see happening in the church today, that this is the next step on God’s agenda for us.

The frustration comes in when we want to walk in the blessings of the mature without going through the stages of growth. We need to focus on becoming mature, instead of merely seeking God for things.

In order for us to get where we need to be, we must first acknowledge where we are. Then submit to the work of the Holy Spirit in us. There’s no quick solution.

It’s all about time in the presence of the Lord. That’s where true change takes place. As the life of Christ is birthed on the inside of us, the outside will become more like Him.

Question: What are you doing to submit to the Holy Spirit’s work in your life?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on July 4, 2014 in Revival, Sonship, The Church

 

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Spiritual Adulthood

02 Jul

Lion2This is a continuation of a series about the spiritual growth stages in the life of the believer. Today I’m talking about adulthood.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:48

This word, perfect, also means to be mature and complete. This is God’s desire for His people. That we attain to the same level of maturity as Christ.

The unfortunate thing is that many teach that this is impossible. Over and over we are told that to walk like Jesus is beyond our reach. I don’t buy into this type of reasoning.

When I see the lives of the Apostles in the book of Acts, I don’t get the idea that they’re immature. I see the same signs and wonders that were performed by the Lord. I see thousands of people drawn to, and changed by, the Word of God. If it was possible for them, then the same is true for us – if we’re willing to walk the same road they walked to get there.

One of the key ingredients to us reaching this level is the ministry gifts God has given to the body of Christ. In talking about apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, Paul said that they were given as gifts to the church. They have a very clear purpose.

…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:12-13

The goal of the five-fold ministry is the maturing of the saints. The level of that maturity is beyond question. It is that we would live and minister as the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Why would the Holy Spirit inspire Paul to write these words if it were not possible? We need to stop making excuses, and start working towards the walk of maturity.

Paul understood this aspect of his work as an apostle of Christ.

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Colossians 1:28-29

That’s the goal of the ministry. We are here to present everyone – not just a select few – perfect and mature in Christ. This requires supernatural strength and wisdom. We cannot hope to perform this on a merely human level. As a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I need to yield to the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this great task.

The belief that this is impossible to achieve in our lifetime only serves to undermine the Lord’s goal for us. We need to recognize where He’s leading us to, and cooperate with the Lord’s program for our development. After all, He’s bringing us on an incredible spiritual journey.

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:4

In the book of James we are shown the path it takes to get to maturity. The final piece he talks about is perseverance. But I want us to see the result of this work. What happens once you reach this mature walk?

James clearly states, from the Holy Spirit and his experience, that when you walk in maturity you lack nothing. Lacking nothing – that’s what the church is striving for in this generation.

If we’re going to operate at this level, then we need the spiritual walk of maturity.

Question: What would the ministry of a spiritually mature believer look like?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on July 2, 2014 in Ministry, Sonship, The Church

 

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Spiritual Adolescence

30 Jun

SkateboardI’m continuing to post about the growth stages of the believer. Today I’m talking about spiritual adolescence.

As far as I’m concerned, this is the worse stage of growth whether you’re talking about the spiritual or the physical. If there was one point in my life I wouldn’t want to go back to, it would be my pre-teen and teenage years.

The problem with life as an adolescent is that you’re coming into the height of your adult strength and intelligence. Yet, you lack the experience and permission to do things on your own. You see the freedom and resources that adults enjoy, yet you’re locked into a world where you have to wait for your turn to experience it.

In many ways, this is the place that most of the modern church finds itself in. We understand what should be ours in Christ, but walking in it seems to elude us. We need to learn how to overcome and make it successfully through this stage of our Christian development.

I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
1 Corinthians 4:14-16

In this passage, Paul urges his people to follow his example as a mature believer. That’s the toughest assignment for a growing Christian. It’s a very hard thing to move from a childish mindset to that of an adult.

There are behaviors that will work for children that adults will never get away with. The problem in most of the church is that we want the irresponsibility of childhood with the freedom and resources of adulthood. This will never happen.

There has to be a giving up of childish ways. We have to move into our role as mature followers of the risen Lord. Until this happens, we will never attain to our true potential in Christ.

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…
Galatians 4:19

This verse should wake us up. Paul is writing to believers who are in the adolescent stage of their spiritual growth. They are saved and on their way to Heaven, but he tells them something that should get our attention. His burning desire is that Christ would be formed in them.

This is the Greek word morphoo. It’s where we get our English word morph. We hear this word a lot in dealing with computer graphics. When we see special effects in a movie, where one thing turns into something else, we say that it morphed. That’s the spiritual change that we’re looking for.

I want to let the world see a change in me. I want to “morph” into the same life that Christ lived. This is the point where the change happens that brings me from being a child to living as an adult.

In life it happens almost unnoticed. Then one day you see what you’re doing and realize you’re not a child anymore. As Christians, we need to go through this change on a spiritual level. This is what Christ is looking for in us.

Question: What stage of growth do you find yourself in right now?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on June 30, 2014 in Sonship, The Church

 

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Spiritual Childhood

27 Jun

FallenI’m posting about the growth stages in the life of believers. Today I want to talk about spiritual childhood.

There’s a Greek word that is close to the modern word for children. They’re no longer infants, but they still need constant care and supervision. Scripture talks about this group. It’s interesting that Jesus used this word for the disciples at the Last Supper.

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:33-35

As He called His disciples children, Jesus was showing that they had not yet reached their full potential. The disciples’ response to Jesus’ command to love one another in the next verse shows exactly this point.

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
John 13:36

If that’s not the response of a child, I don’t know what is! Jesus gives a very important exhortation for the future leaders of Christianity. Yet, the only question Peter comes up with is, “Where are you going?”

This is still the mindset of the spiritual child. They hear and understand what’s being taught, but they seem to zero in on the superficial parts. You can give them an in-depth teaching on the righteousness of God, and all they come away with is – “I can live however I want and God still loves me.”

The Epistle of First John gives us the greatest insight into this stage in the growth of the believer. John uses this word throughout his letter to the church. It’s obvious, because of its frequency that those he was writing to were at this stage in their walk. He dealt with the basics of the spiritual walk.

John had to remind them that their sins were forgiven because of Christ (I John 2:12) and that now they were to endeavor to live a life without sin (2:1). He also went on to show them how and why to live a repentant lifestyle where you immediately brought your failings and sins to Christ.

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
1 John 3:7

In this verse we clearly see the Apostle explaining that they need to go beyond mere positional righteousness. They need to walk in the truth. This goes right along with what we saw in talking about infant believers. They are not acquainted with the teaching on righteousness.

At the child stage, you begin to understand about what the manifestation of the Lord’s righteousness should look like in us. In spiritual childhood you start seeing that there’s a difference between the lifestyle of God’s people and the world. We have victory over the world by the Holy Spirit in us (4:4) and we don’t worship the way the world does (5:21).

At this point we start to realize that we need to live differently than the world. We start to feel the Holy Spirit within us calling us to a deeper walk. At this stage we still don’t know how to follow this call, other than to live up to the rules we’ve been taught. We should desire to continue our growth in Christ.

Question: How do you deal with the spiritual children in your circle?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on June 27, 2014 in Sonship, The Church

 

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Infant Sons

25 Jun

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhen we are saved, we’re adopted into God’s family as infants. We then need to grow into the full-fledged rights of sonship. I want to take a few posts to go through the growth stages that we find in the Scripture. We start our walk with God as infants.

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:1

One of the main characteristics of an infant in Christ is worldliness. They run after the things that our society says will satisfy them. They have the same mindset as the world and place importance on obtaining things and pleasures.

Unfortunately, because we are unaware of the growth process, many overzealous believers will write these people off. Sometimes in our self-righteous fervor we may even accuse them of being unsaved. That’s as foolish as telling your 5-month old that he’s not a part of the family because he never takes out the trash. Instead of condemning them, we should be there to help guide them through the growth process.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
Ephesians 4:14

Spiritual infants are inexperienced in the Word. Because of this, they’re very trusting of anyone quoting a Bible verse. They tend to jump in with any new fad that comes out on Christian radio or TV.

That’s why they need to be firmly grounded in a local church where the basics of the Scripture are taught. That’s the only way they can learn to distinguish truth from flakiness.

The United States has become a hotbed for new doctrines for people to follow. Sometimes I watch Christian cable networks. I see people who use the Scriptures to convince you to take money from your wallet and put it into theirs.

Even though their doctrines and teachings are foolish, out of context from the Scripture, and, many times, illogical, Christians flock to their meetings. They rake in millions of dollars a year. Spiritually speaking, they’re “stealing candy from babies.”

But, more than anything else, the infant stage of our walk with God is characterized by the following…

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
Hebrews 5:13

The word acquainted in this verse literally means to test, attempt, or experience. This verse says that the infant believer has not yet tested, attempted or experienced the Word of righteousness. Yes, they are righteous by position in Christ. But they haven’t yet learned how to apply it to their daily walk.

So many American believers are living for themselves, yet they feel secure because they only know about positional righteousness.  When they read the Bible, or hear a sermon about the effects and blessings of righteousness, they think it automatically applies to them.   Little do they realize that so much of Scripture deals with the walk of righteousness rather than the position.

Because of the lack of teaching on the Word of Righteousness we have produced a generation of Christians who seem to be perpetual infants. They are continuing in their habits and sins. They follow after whatever the world offers them. Worst of all, they don’t realize their condition – total powerlessness in the spiritual realm.

It’s time for us to grow up in Christ.

Question: How do you treat the infant believers that are in your circle?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2014 in Sonship, The Church

 

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Sonship – Position vs. Walk

23 Jun

Different AnointingIn my last post I talked about women and sonship. Now I want to talk about sonship in a more general way.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Romans 8:15-16

This is a great truth of the New Covenant. When we came to Christ and received His salvation, we also received the Holy Spirit within us. At that point we were adopted into the family of God.

This is the foundation for the concept of sonship. But we need to understand it. In listening to what a lot of people are teaching, it sounds like a son is a son is a son. There’s no difference in any of our relations to God.

While the relationship of a son to a father is constant, what we fail to realize is that the dynamics of that relationship change over time. The Bible speaks about different levels of sonship. There are Greek words for adoption, son, infant, toddler, child, and fully matured adults. We miss the full impact of the Gospel when we treat all the levels of our relationship with God as the same.

In the original language of the above verse, the Holy Spirit was called the Spirit of Adoption. The concept of adoption into the family of God is very important for the believer. The word adoption literally means to place in the position of a son. When we received Christ as our Savior, and He placed His Spirit within us, we were brought immediately into the position of a son of God.

Remember – Jesus Christ is THE only begotten Son of God. However, we have been placed into the position of a son of God. This gives us all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the family of God. At that point we’re saved from our sin and on our way to Heaven. But we have to realize that we’re only in the very early stages of our relationship with the Father.

Knowing your position in Christ is important. We are placed in the position of being righteous before God. This means that we can come into His presence at any time, for any reason.

We have also been placed into the position of being holy before God. That means that we have been set apart by God for His purposes. This is great news, because in my own works I could never even hope to attain to such a high calling.

The problem comes in when we fail to understand that there is a vast difference between the position of righteousness and holiness – and the walk that is characterized by those qualities. I cannot assume that I’m living a holy life just because God calls me holy by position. The Apostle John makes it clear as he talks about the walk of righteousness.

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
1 John 3:7

Many are being led astray in this generation, thinking that because they have been placed in the position of righteousness, it also means that they are walking in righteousness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your position and your walk are two different things.

It is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to make the position of righteousness and holiness a present reality in our daily walk.

Question: How does the walk of righteousness differ from the position?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on June 23, 2014 in Sonship, The Church

 

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Sonship – It Includes Women Too!

20 Jun

WomanMany people accuse the Apostles of being male chauvinists. They say that in their writings they speak mostly to men and assign women to a lower position. I believe that this is an inaccurate assessment based upon a mere surface reading of the Bible.

I’m not going into a detailed discussion of women in the ministry. However, a careful reading of who Paul greeted in his letters, and how they were titled, shows that Paul ordained women as both pastors and apostles. There’s no Scriptural “glass ceiling” that would keep a woman from attaining to any position or calling. It’s all based upon the will of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Romans 8:15-16

What I really want to talk about is the use of the words son and sonship in Scripture. Unlike what many teach, it was not the Apostles trying to make the church a Patriarchy. In reality it was just the opposite.

In the cultures of the day, which included Roman, Greek, and Middle Eastern peoples, the place of women were at the bottom of the social ladder. At best, they were a piece of art to be seen and appreciated. At worst, they were treated as property, slaves, or a family pet.

In Peter and Paul’s letters this concept was totally done away with.   They elevate women to a new level of equality unheard of in their day.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
1 Peter 3:7

Peter used a word in this passage that is translated heirs with you. It’s literally the word co-heirs. This means that the wife is someone with an equal share and claim on the inheritance. This was unheard of in those ancient cultures.

Women rarely, if ever, shared in their family inheritance. But in the family of God, all this has changed. Now women are considered of equal importance in the spiritual inheritance of the Lord.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:26-29

In Christ there is no longer the differences and limitations placed upon us by society. These have all been done away with at the cross. Paul says that there is neither…male nor female. YOU ARE ALL SONS.

Why would the Apostle make such an absurd sounding statement? He did it to emphasize the truth that in the Kingdom of God women have all the rights and privileges of a firstborn son. God sees a woman on the same spiritual level as a man.

If you’re a woman of God, then never feel inferior or of less importance than a man. You can go as high in ministry as the Holy Spirit will bring you.

Question: How has the ministry of women positively affected your life?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on June 20, 2014 in Ministry, Sonship, The Church

 

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