Beware of a Spiritual Cancer in the Body of Christ

A cancer is growing in the body of Christ, the church. It is a heresy that is spreading throughout the land. Many are being bewitched by a rather “righteous and holy” appearing doctrine. It is a false doctrine that seems true to the uninitiated and unlearned. It is the very same doctrine that was running wild throughout the era of the early church during the first and second century A.D.

This doctrine deceives people into thinking that by their own might and will they can keep the Ten Commandment Law–that by working to keep the law, they can be righteous in the Savior’s eyes. In fact, they are led to believe that by keeping the law, they will be justified by God; God will see that they are righteousness.

Someone will say, What’s wrong with that? Why are you putting them down? Keeping the Commandments is a good thing, isn’t it? Yes, the law is holy and good; it is the perfect law of liberty. The catch is that the old carnal nature cannot successfully keep it on its own strength. Only through the Spirit of God dwelling in us can we keep the law.

Paul writes about such matters. And because the apostle’s writings are diametrically opposed to this cancerous doctrine of trying-to-keep-the-law-on-our-own-strength-and-not-by-His-Spirit-dwelling-within, some people are rejecting Paul’s teachings! I have heard people say that Paul is in error! They reason that he could not be correct because he does not agree with their interpretation of scripture.

Well, God has news for them. Paul has a direct revelation from God, and the world would do well to take heed to what the Spirit through Paul is saying.

If You Throw Out Paul, You Must Throw Out the Rest of the NT Writings

If you get rid of his letters to us, then you will have to finally reject the rest of the New Testament. Peter will be the next one that the cancer consumes, for Peter believed that Paul was a prophet and an apostle of God (II Peter 3: 14-15). Peter said that Paul was a beloved brother, had wisdom from God, and that Paul was writing things that agreed with Peter’s thoughts. Peter did say that Paul wrote things that were hard to understand for the “unlearned and unstable,” who wrestle with his writings, “as they do the other scriptures.” Peter considered Paul’s writings of the same caliber and quality as the other inspired writings of the prophets and patriarchs.

Consequently, if you throw out Peter, you will eventually have to throw out James and John and Matthew and the other original disciples because they were all “in one mind and one accord” on the day of Pentecost in the upper room. They all saw eye to eye spiritually. And they all received the same immersion in the Holy Spirit and fire (Acts 2: 1-4).

The exploits of the early church are set forth in Luke’s book of the Acts of the Apostles. Luke, who had “perfect understanding of all things from the very first” (Luke 1: 3), vindicates Paul’s ministry, devoting 2/3 of Acts to it.

So let’s take an inventory. Those who throw out Paul must throw out also the gospels, Acts, Paul’s letters, James, the letters of Peter, John, Jude, and Revelation. Not much left of the Savior’s first coming and of His death, burial, and resurrection. All that is left is a looking forward to a first coming of the Messiah. This cancerous doctrine will leave you hopelessly  wandering to the nearest synagogue in search of others who are hopelessly trying to keep the 10 Commandments on their own strength.

This cancer is devouring the faith of many who have discovered the Sacred Names of Yahweh and Yahshua. Since they are names in the Hebrew tongue, the unlearned think that all things Hebrew is the answer, including getting into the Law of the Old Testament. The cancerous teaching is called “the works of the law” being our way to be justified, as if we could keep them in our own strength. The law leads us to Christ and His Spirit. After receiving His Spirit, His Spirit keeps the commandments by faith in the Christ of the New Testament.

As you explore the beauty of the sacred names of the Father and Son, beware of this cancer that is a “cunningly devised fable” that would deceive the very elect if it were possible. Oh, by the way, Paul and Peter warned us of it.                    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Light of Love from Above

[ Full article found here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2016/10/15/the-light-of-love-from-above/ ]

Light is that ephemeral miracle we take so much for granted. It physically exposes the dark corners of our rooms, and it also spiritually makes known the hidden recesses of our hearts and minds.

Light is that essence of the divine that heals our blindness and ends our vain gropings to make meaning of the hopeless darkness of our first earthly estate.

Of course, God is Light, and He is Love which casts out the fear of remaining in the dungeon of despair. God’s Son is the way out of that calamitous corridor of personal corruption. Through Christ’s Spirit we no longer inflict collateral damage to all who crossed our path. We now shine the light of love.

We who are called and chosen by the Redeemer to escape this dungeon of darkness have laid hold of His outstretched hand. He has snatched us up out of that selfish march to death that we were on and has shined the truth of His words into our hearts. His thoughts are like the early morning rays of the sun that sharpens our perception of just what our world can be.

Instead of the coarse commonality of our selfish old nature, our Creator has now enlightened our eyes as to His desire to use us to reproduce Himself in us. Astounding as it may seem, He is now shedding more light onto His plan to “bring many sons (and daughters) unto glory.” And this glory is the unearned privilege to sit with Christ on His throne when He returns to set up on earth the 1,000 year reign of His kingdom. He is, after all, the “King of kings” [1].

In a word, His purpose is to reproduce, like a seed, His Love in us. Since God is Love, when we love others with His Spirit of Love, God is reproducing Himself [2].

God has a plan to make all this happen. He has written it down on how to walk in the light of His love. He has left us instructions as to how people will act when God’s Spirit of love is leading them.

These instructions are called in the holy scriptures “the law.” The “testimony” is the witness of one who through God’s Spirit follows the instructions as to what Love looks like walking around in a human being.

Love–agape love–the love from above–this love is God. And this love, when poured into the heart and mind of man, fulfills all the descriptions of what love is. We look to our example, the Son of God. He is Love incarnate. And the Love that He is, now resides in His children’s hearts. And we are growing in His plan and purpose as He grows in us.

This love from above follows the instructions of the law as to our actions. In a nutshell, the ten commandment law requires that we love our neighbor as ourselves. Therefore, the Spirit of Love-from-above-within-us fulfills the law [3].

God’s Love is the Light that now shines into and through our hearts and minds to others.

Christ has left us teachings to help us fulfill His purpose. They are like a treasure map with footsteps leading to a throne room. He has entrusted the map to His apostles. The apostle Peter exhorts us: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; which you do well to heed, as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star rises in your hearts” [4].

1. Rom. 8: 18-19, 28-31; Rev. 3: 20-21; I Tim. 6: 15
2. 2. I John 4: 8-12
3. Romans 13: 9-10
4. II Peter 1: 19; Rev. 22: 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resurrection of the Dead–Apostles’ Doctrine #5

Vital for Today’s Church

The apostles’ doctrine was the teachings that the early church walked in. Many Christians want what they had, but few in the pews (or pulpits, for that matter) know what those teachings are (Acts 2: 42).

In fact, some will say, We don’t want doctrine; we just want Jesus. Newsflash: You can’t have Jesus without His teachings. For the word for “doctrine” in the Greek means “teachings.” As the apostle states: “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9). So the doctrine of Christ is vitally important.

And His teachings are plainly listed in the scriptures: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgement, and perfection (Heb. 6: 1-2). Of course, there are seven of them.

The Resurrection of the Dead

To understand this teaching, we need to remember two things. First, there can obviously be no resurrection without a death. Self-preservation is built into a mortal’s DNA. We want to live forever, but our longings for immortality exist in a clay body that will die. So, ironically, the immortality that we long for will only come as a result of our inevitable death.

We cannot prevent our own demise. We need a Savior. We need One who understands, who has conquered death. We need someone to take our hand and lead us through this minefield of mortality and across the river of death to the green fields of everlasting life. We have that Savior who has tasted death for every man and woman. We see Him now, “who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2: 9).

Second, in this doctrine there are several distinct types of resurrection. We have Christ’s bodily resurrection without which there would be no other resurrections. There is the spiritual side of His resurrection that provides our spiritual resurrection while still in these earthly bodies. There is the resurrection of the souls that lead into “eternal judgment.” And there is the resurrection and restoration of the House of Israel (12 tribes)–the dry bones of Ezekiel receiving life after so long a time. And then there is when we receive our immortal spiritual bodies at the end of this age.

Our Individual Spiritual Resurrection

This spiritual resurrection comes when we believe the following: He took upon Himself our sin, and when He died on the cross, it was our sinful old self dying with Him. Then we believe that we are buried with Him. And when we believe that He rose from the dead, we, too, receive a spiritual resurrection inside our current mortal bodies. We through faith and belief do now walk in “a newness of life.” He provides a new heart and a new spirit through faith where “all things are become new” (Romans 6: 1-11; Gal. 2: 20; Col. 2: 11).

His resurrection provides the way for our spiritual resurrection in Him. For by faith we have now received His Spirit. We are now “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest (down payment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1: 13-14).

What “possession”? Us. We are bought with a price–His blood. He owns us. What “promise”? He has promised us that He would grant us everlasting life if we go with Him on this great spiritual adventure. Immortality is our “inheritance.” He is our Redeemer. He bought us out of the chains of sin and misery. We owe everything to the King.

It is this personal resurrection where we receive a new Spirit while still in these earthly bodies. This admits us into the receiving of our new spiritual bodies at the end of this age. Our earthly bodies can’t handle a fullness of the Spirit. God wants to reproduce Himself; that is His overriding purpose and plan. And He cannot do it in us as long as we are in these mortal bodies. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” There’s that “inheritance” we talked about. Our inheritance is immortality. But we cannot receive it as long as we are in these aging, decaying, curruptible earthly bodies. We need a new spiritual body, a new wineskin, to contain the new wine of His spiritual fullness. Read I Corinthians 15; 35-58, the resurrection chapter, with new eyes. And rejoice knowing that in Him it is all worthwhile. For “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

In the end, these old decaying and aging earthly bodies have got to go. They must die in order to fulfill God’s purpose. He is reproducing Himself–in us.  This is the key to understanding everything else.

[I understand that the riches of His teachings are unsearchable. We haven’t even scratched the surface of the depth and breadth of His doctrine. I am humbled in this attempt to put into English a tiny bit of them. It will take us ages to search His treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Perhaps that is why He is granting us everlasting life].

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

The Mystery of the “Holy One of Israel”

“I and my Father are One…”

A major prerequisite in becoming a manifested son of God is knowing Him that is from the beginning. The sons of God will know Him and the power of His resurrection. They will have solved the puzzle, the mystery of godliness.   “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.”

Things kept secret from before the foundation of the world will be understood by the sons of God. “The secrets of Yahweh belong to them who are in awe of Him, and He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.” Yes, the sons of God are destined by Him to know all the mysteries of Deity; they will know their Father that is from the beginning. They will be just like their Father and will, in fact, be spiritual fathers to nations and kings.

Learning the Mystery from King David

David is pouring his heart out to the Father Yahweh all the way through Psalm 102. He talks to Him throughout, expressing his faith in the great One who created all things. What is astounding about this is that this very same passage is quoted by Paul referring to the Son of God! Let me repeat that: Paul quotes this psalm when referring to the Savior, the Son of God, Jesus/Yahshua of Nazareth.

“Hear my prayer, O Yahweh” (rendered “LORD” in most versions). Hear me, please, he is saying, in my hour of need, for I am in trouble. His enemies are all around him; he fears for his life. His literal time here on earth is running out; the sun is going down to the dark night of the grave. His flesh is soon to be consumed and turned back to dust. “My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.”

But he says that Yahweh (v. 12) shall endure forever. He is from forever and shall go on forever. Yahweh will appear (v. 16) and hear the prayers of His people. “The people that shall be created shall praise Yahweh.”

David Goes Back to the Beginning

 And then David remembers and acknowledges Yahweh as the One who looks down from above and hears our groaning because of our mortal state and comes down to loosen us from this death (vs. 19-20). It is Yahweh who gives us this hope of transcending our mortality. And then David reaffirms his belief in the One who has “laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands” (25).

Paul quotes this very same passage from Psalms in Hebrews 1: 10. He establishes early on that he is talking about Yahshua the Messiah. First he says in verse 2 that Yahshua, Yahweh incarnate, created all things. He mentions the Savior purging our sins (3).   And then he quotes Psalm 102: 25, speaking of the Savior: “And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.”

Paul is quoting the psalmist who addressed all of 102 to Yahweh. And David said in that psalm that Yahweh created all things. But Paul in Hebrews 1:2 says that the Son created all things. Now there seems to be a contradiction here. If Yahweh, the Father did create all things, then how can Paul, and the apostle John also, say that the Son created all things?

The answer is that both are right. Yahweh did create all things, while He, being the Spirit that He is, resided in the glorified vessel we know as the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son. Yahweh, the Spirit/Father dwelt bodily in His “expressed image,” the Son, and created all things through Him. For Yahweh did create all things.

This is the mystery of God. This is the secret; this is the enigma. Our finite natural thinking minds have difficulty in conceiving the answer to this mystery because we want to see two Gods up there. That is the way we deal with this problem as to just who did the creating. If there are two up there, the Father and the Son, then which did the creating of the worlds? The scriptures in many passages state that Yahweh did the creating. And in many other passages, the apostles say that the Son did the creating. So we begin to think, Well, the Father delegated the creating for the Son to do, by just telling Him to do it.

But this is natural thinking. Could we not just as well believe the scriptures and have the Father be this invisible Spirit who resided in a form, a human looking form, a form from which human beings were patterned? And this form with Yahweh the invisible Spirit/Father dwelling within—could not this One God have done the creating? There is no contradiction in this concept of the Creator. Both accounts are correct and do not contradict anything. You have Yahweh inside a special vessel doing the creating. This concept coincides with the scores of times that He is called the “Holy One of Israel.” It confirms all the times that the prophets said that Yahweh is not only the Creator, but also the Savior! It confirms all the times that the NT writers said that the Messiah did the creating. In fact, it does not contradict anything at all.

In this concept of the Godhead, the Father and the Son are one. Is not that what the Messiah said? “I and my Father are one…If you have seen me you have seen my Father.” The Father is in me and is doing the works. This is the central core message that will solve the mystery of God: the eternal Spirit Yahweh was in the Messiah, reconciling the world unto Himself. This is the great mystery.

Paul speaks of this mystery of God to the Colossians. He says in chapter 2: 1 that he is concerned. Something is already at work to corrupt the vision of the Holy One of Israel in their eyes. He longs for their hearts to be as one in love, “to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.” Here we have God, the Father, and the Anointed One all mentioned together as making up the mystery. And then he goes on and says that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are hidden in the Messiah.

Just what was in the Son, the Messiah? Whatever that was, was “all the treasures.” Christ said that the Father was in Him. Paul said that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” Other apostles said that the Son was full of the Spirit of the Father. This is an important point to Paul—for his brothers in Colosse to know this mystery of the Godhead. In fact, he warns in v. 8 for them to beware of the traditions of men that will come in with man’s philosophy and vain deceit. And then he drops the bombshell in v. 9: “For in him (the Messiah) dwells all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

He said all. “All” means that there is not any more to be placed in there. All of the Spirit, all of the Father, all of God, was in the Messiah. But man’s philosophy teaches that the Father is still sitting in heaven in some kind of form watching the proceedings below. Traditions teach us that there are really two up there now. But Paul teaches us that all of the Deity dwelt bodily, that all of the Great Father/Spirit God Almighty was comported about in the body of the Son of God. It is difficult for people today to agree with Paul just as it was hard for the Pharisees and Sadducees to believe, too. It is just unbelief that tricks a heart into not admitting and believing that the Father was fully in Him.

Be that as it may, the mystery of Elohim/God is that the Son has all of the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily. For in Messiah all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. Col. 2:9, NIV. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. KJV. For it is in Christ that the complete being of the Godhead embodied, and in Him you have been brought to completion. NEB. For in Christ there is all of God in a human body, so you have everything when you have Christ. Living Bible.

No matter how you slice it or dice it in whatever version of the Bible, it still comes out the same. All of Deity was in the Son of God. Period. And the Father Yahweh, the Great Spirit, “was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.” Col. 1:19.

Back to Col. 2:3, speaking of Yahshua, Yahweh in human form:   “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge was hid in the Son.” The Father Yahweh, was Himself in the Son, the Anointed vessel who was to carry Yahweh around in on earth.

The mystery is this: Yahweh, the Creator, poured Himself into the Messiah. Everything that that Anointed One did, it was Yahweh Himself doing it. Yahweh created everything, in His preexistent form, which is Yahshua. Yahweh is an invisible Spirit; He is not a man sitting up there. The only place He resides is in the high and lofty place and with those of a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

Moses confirms that Yahweh created all things. In the song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32, he begins by praising Yahweh. “He is the Rock, his work is perfect.” And in v. 6, “Is not Yahweh thy father that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee, and established thee?” Right here in the torah we see that Yahweh is the Rock that created the children of Israel. But I thought that the Son created all things.

A contradiction? No, for Yahweh, the Great Spirit Father “was in Messiah, reconciling the world unto Himself.” It is Yahweh in human form that did the creating. The Father was in the form, the Son, doing the creating. “And his name shall be called…the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Isa. 9:6. How can this be? Only with the invisible Father/Spirit residing in the Son (“all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in the Messiah”) can this be.

The Father dwells in the Son, “who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Col. 1:15. Yahshua the Messiah is the visible image of the invisible Father/Spirit Yahweh. Yahshua cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. John 12:43-44. Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been   among   you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?…Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. John 14:9-11.

I believe that it is the Spirit of God within me at this moment that is writing down these things. But how does the reader know that these things are really true? How can the reader be sure?

     The scripture reveals a sure way to tell if someone has the Spirit of truth—a sure way to know if a person is of the truth and is telling the truth.

You will know you have really come in contact with the Spirit of Truth because the person who has the truth will speak about the Savior as He really is. The Master said so. “When the Spirit of truth is come He will testify of Me.” John 15:26. When someone receives the Spirit of truth within themselves, they will speak of the Savior. But the Spirit of truth will speak of the Savior truthfully. The Spirit of truth will tell the truth about the Savior. The Spirit of truth within a person will tell of the true nature of the Savior.

But that is tricky because everyone speaks about the Savior. Everyone speaks of Jesus Christ. Some even speak of Him using His true Hebrew name Yahshua. There are thousands of denominations and organizations speaking about a savior, and they all have different concepts of who He is. Consequently, they all could not have the Spirit of truth. Yet everyone thinks they have the Spirit of truth.

How can one be for sure? The Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, will guide us into all truth; He will show you things to come; and He will glorify the Savior; He will receive the things about the Savior and will show us them (John 16:13-16). You will know that you really have the Spirit of Truth because He will speak of Yah-is-Savior; He will testify of the fact that the Self-Existent One-is-in-human-form and is Savior. The Spirit of truth = Comforter = sent to us by Yahshua = proceeds from the Father = the Spirit of truth shall testify of Yah in human form. The Spirit of Truth shall lead us into all truth about just who the Savior is, which is Yah-in-human-form.

And it is by that very same Spirit of Truth residing within us that we will be a witness of just who the Savior is. And you also shall bear witness, or testify, of Yahshua by that same Spirit of truth within us. The Spirit of Truth is the Spirit of Yahshua. Yahshua the Savior said that He is the truth. And Father, the eternal Spirit, dwelt bodily in the Savior, the Anointed One.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock  {This is Chapter 23 taken from the book The Unveiling of the Sons of God. Here’s the link to the entire book: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/ebook-the-unveiling-of-the-sons-of-god/ }