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Ministry Qualities Part 4 – The Word of Truth

19 Jun

I’m continuing my look at the qualities Paul describes to the church at Corinth.

…in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left…
2 Corinthians 6:7

As I was studying for this installment, this verse caught me totally off guard.  The phrase, in truthful speech, is not what Paul wrote.  He literally said, in the Word of truth.

That made a big difference to me.  That’s especially the case because we’re talking about the earmarks of true ministry.  One of the defining qualities of ministry is that it proclaims the Word of truth.

That phrase is found throughout the New Testament.  So I felt led to devote this whole article to it.  The question is; how do I know if someone or some group is declaring the Word of truth?

Here’s what to look for.  Keep in mind that even though you may not like the methods of some ministry, that doesn’t mean that they’re not walking in the truth.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…
Ephesians 1:13

This is an important point.  The Word of truth is synonymous with the Gospel of your salvation.  Simply put, the Word of truth gets people saved.

The Word of truth releases the Holy Spirit to convict the unsaved and draw them to Christ.  So the first thing to look for is the saving work of the Spirit.  Are people receiving Christ as their Lord and Savior through this ministry?

But there’s more to it than that.  Jesus prayed for His disciples as He was preparing them for His departure.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
John 17:17

Not only does the Word of truth bring salvation, but it sanctifies us as well.  As we continue to receive this Word, our lives are changed.  Most of us can look back to who we were when we were first saved and we don’t even recognize that person.

The Word of truth is anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit.  It does continual work in us.  As we submit to the Lord’s presence, we find that change is an ongoing process.

We can ask, are lives being changed through this ministry?

In writing to the Colossian church, Paul comments about their faith and love…

…the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
Colossians 1:5-6

This is the power of the Word of truth.  It should be a part of every Christian ministry.

Question: How have you seen this demonstrated in a Gospel ministry?

© 2020 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on June 19, 2020 in Ministry, Spiritual Walk, The Gospel, Word of God

 

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Three Components of God’s Wisdom

17 Dec

In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul is laying out the basis for walking in the power of God.  According to the apostle, it’s through the Word of the cross that this power is accessed.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:30-31

Never forget that all the power we need for life and godliness is from one source.  It’s all because we’re in Christ.  It has nothing to do with how good I am, or how faithful I’ve been to God.  It’s His work, only, that’s given me this blessing.

We know from the rest of this chapter that the cross was the supreme revelation of the wisdom of God.  When I grasp what happened there, I can embrace and walk in the power of God.  Of course, we have to wait until chapter 2 to see what it takes to lay hold of this wisdom.

But for now, Paul gives us a description of what are the major components of this wisdom.  There are three specific parts to how God operates in us.

The first is His righteousness.  Simply put, righteousness is being seen as right or correct in God’s eyes.  Because of what Christ did on the cross, we can be seen as righteous no matter what our past is like.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21

Because I’m in Christ, God the Father sees the righteousness of Christ, rather than my personal failures.  That allows me into His presence, where my life can be changed, daily, into the walk of righteousness.

Next is holiness.  This is the description of anything that has been made clean and consecrated for God’s use.  In the Old Testament, everything used in the Temple had to be made holy.  Giving us a position of holiness was another work that Christ did on the cross.

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith…
Colossians 1:22-23a

By trusting in what Christ did on the cross, I’m now seen as holy; set apart for God’s personal use.  This is an important truth because nothing impure or unholy can enter God’s presence.

On my own, I have no holiness to offer.  Because of this, I would have no right to come into God’s presence.  The problem is that I can only be made clean in His presence.

Now, because I’m seen as holy in Christ, I can come before God without any accusation.  In that way, I can be purified to live a life of holiness in Him.

The third part of God’s wisdom is redemption.  This is probably the greatest gift of all.  It’s what the enemy never saw coming.  Redemption means that on the cross, Christ made the complete payment to buy us out of slavery to Satan and the world.

Righteousness and holiness would have been little help to us if we were still under the authority and control of sin.  Because of the work of Christ on the cross, we are free to serve God as a part of His kingdom.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace…
Ephesians 1:7

The wisdom of God is the most wonderful part of our life with God.  In the next few posts, we’ll see how Paul says that we can access it in our walk with the Lord.

Question: What blesses you the most about God’s wisdom?

© 2018 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on December 17, 2018 in Faith, Power of God, Spiritual Walk, The Gospel

 

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From Holy to Holy

26 Nov

In my last post, I finished my series on First Thessalonians.  The next Scripture that was inspired by the Holy Spirit was Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church.  The background for these is found in Acts 18-19.

The Apostle Paul ministered in Corinth for about two years, establishing the church.  After some further travels, he came to Ephesus, where he stayed for almost three years, working with that church.

During his stay at Ephesus, Paul began to hear rumors of disorder in the Corinthian church.  He then made a hurried visit, but matters only got worse.  He then started to receive numerous visits and letters from the leadership of the church in Corinth.

As a result, Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to write his first letter to the Corinthian church.  This is probably the most practical of all his letters.  It deals with many of the issues that believers face in their daily lives.

His opening statements are important in setting the tone for this letter.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:1-3

This is probably one of the most important things that believers of any generation need to hear.  I think that sometimes we miss it in our present walk with God.  It’s Paul’s statement that we are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy.

We don’t get it because of the words used in the translation.  Both the word, sanctified and the word, holy are the same Greek word, just different tenses.  Sanctified means to be made holy.

The next question that arises is; what does holy mean?  The definition of holy is to be pure, clean, and blameless in a religious sense.  It’s used in speaking about something that has been set apart and consecrated to God for His purposes.

In the Scripture, holiness has two important uses.  We need to know both.  The first is the position of holiness that we’re given in Christ.  Because the Holy Spirit lives in me, I’m holy in Christ; set apart by God for His use.

There’s also the walk of holiness.  That’s when I actually live like I’m set apart to God.  The Bible speaks of both kinds of holiness.

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.  If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
2 Timothy 2:20-21

When I submit to the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit, He can work God’s holiness into my life.  Then those around me will recognize the fact that I’m set apart to the Lord.

We need both the position and the walk of holiness if we’re going to fulfill our callings in Christ.  That’s why Paul starts this letter on that foundation.  He’s going to be explaining this in detail to the Corinthian church.

It’s something that I believe we also need in our generation.  As I’ve said before, the first letter to the Corinthians is one of the most important messages to strengthen our walk with the Lord.

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

© 2018 Nick Zaccardi

 
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Posted by on November 26, 2018 in Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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Holiness – Walk or Position

19 Jun

In my last post I talked about how church leaders need to spend quality time in God’s presence. They need to hear a Word from God to pass on to their people.

Much of church teaching today has no effect on the people. I believe it’s because most church people know that it doesn’t come from the Holy Spirit, but from the training and study of the teacher. Of course a leader must train and study, but the goal should be to hear what God wants said at the meeting.

Now Paul is going to talk to them about a segment of the known will of God.

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-6

In my last post I explained why 1 Thessalonians was one of the foundational books. In this verse we see another “first”. This is the first time that the word sanctification or holiness appears. This is important to us.

Paul tells us that we should be sanctified – made holy – and uses an example of what it looks like. One of the signs is an avoidance of sexual immorality. The word Paul uses for this is the general term for any sexual sin.

I know that there are a lot of believers who like to deal with people about the sin. That’s not the right place to start. We should be stressing holiness. If we understood true holiness, then sin wouldn’t be an issue.

The problem of understanding stems from the fact that there are two forms that holiness takes. When we’re saved, God immediately declares us to be holy in Christ. We’re set apart to Him and are free to approach His throne whenever we want. This is called positional holiness.

Paul isn’t talking about positional holiness in this verse. Because he explains a sanctification that can be seen in your lifestyle, he’s talking about the walk of holiness.

One of the imbalances I see in the church these days is the overemphasis on the position of holiness. The Holy Spirit felt that it was important that the first mention of this principle in Scripture, be the walk of sanctification.

I believe that when an immature Christian hears about their positional sanctification, without hearing about the corresponding change of lifestyle, they become apathetic to the life-changing work of the Spirit of God.

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

This passage sums up what’s been said so far. Paul is talking about a lifestyle of holiness. We should expect to see our lives changed by the salvation of God at work in us.

If there’s no ongoing change in a person’s life, that’s evidence that they’re rejecting God. After all, when we’re saved, God places His Holy Spirit in us. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit to change us into the image of Christ.

We must allow the Holy Spirit within us to continue making us holy.

Question: How would you describe the difference between the position of holiness and the walk of holiness?

© Nick Zaccardi 2017

 
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Posted by on June 19, 2017 in Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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