What Is the “Old Leaven” That We Must Purge?

After boiling it all down, there are really only two spiritual doctrines on the earth today: the doctrine of Christ that was adopted by His apostles and the doctrine of His arch-enemy Satan.  After receiving our initial salvation, we are told to purge out the old leaven, the old erroneous teachings about God passed down by friends, family, and the churches. This getting rid of old concepts is an important part of the first apostles’ doctrine, repentance from dead works. But what is the “old leaven”? And where did it come from?

A stout dualism in spiritual matters pervades to this day. From the very beginning, a hostility and an animosity has existed between the offspring of Satan and the Seed of God. In fact, God said that He “put enmity between” Satan’s seed and the woman’s seed (Gen. 3: 15).

Each camp provides doctrines explaining their purposes and plans. Christ has His teachings that when followed, helps us fulfill His purpose and ushers us into His heavenly city New Jerusalem. Over two thousand denominations claim to have the true teachings of Christ. None can agree. Schisms abound. But one truth emerges, which is expounded in Christ’s doctrine. He changes not.

The Root of Satan’s Doctrine

To learn what the “old leaven” is, we need to understand Satan’s teachings that loom so desirable to the mind of man. His doctrine entices men to lower their eyes unto the “weak and beggarly elements” of this world’s imaginations, which is the wisdom from beneath (James 3: 14-17).

Satan deceives men by masquerading as Christ’s preachers and teachers! “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness…” (II Cor. 11: 13-15 RSV). They use “enticing words of man’s wisdom,” to expound “a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (I Cor. 2: 4; Prov. 16: 25). According to the apostle Paul, Satan’s ultimate deception comes out of the world’s pulpits! Erroneous teachings about Christ are rife, so much so that we must ask ourselves, Is Christ divided? (I Cor. 1: 13).

Satan’s doctrine exploits man’s inner weaknesses. “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” are the road to man’s demise (I John 2:16). Most men trade their souls for the feigned fulfillment of their earthly desires. They are suckers for what their five senses experience. And as a bird rushes headlong into the snare, even so do fools trust their eyes and ears. Foolish men are easily deceived by their five senses; they are trapped by their own desires (Prov. 7: 6-23).

And yet, natural man continues to trudge on down the same road that his elders trod, leaning on what he has seen and heard. He has been told lies about politics and the economy and spiritual matters. But most of all, the deception dives below his ability to discern between what is right and true, and what is wrong and false. For all of his life, man’s mind has been plied with error. And because no one challenges these packaged pre-conceived notions about God, they become unproven assumptions. And then man’s pride deceives him into believing the errors. The same thing happens to little children of God who are admonished to “prove all things” using the Holy Scriptures as the standard of truth (I Th. 5: 21; 2 Tim. 3: 16). If we seek, we shall find (Matt. 7: 7).

Therefore, any doctrine other than Christ’s doctrine that His apostles taught is from our enemy who masquerades as a messenger from God. These false teachings and doctrines are called “old leaven” by the Spirit and they must be repented of. They must be renounced and utterly removed from our hearts and minds. And they are many.

In Christ’s day, Satan’s doctrine came primarily through the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Herodians. They controlled what was taught about God in the houses of worship of their day. Christ had it out with them; He said to their face, “You are of your father the devil” (John 8: 44). Christ told us to “take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” We know that leaven in the natural world is the yeast that makes bread rise. And a little bit of it quickly spreads through the whole lump of dough (Matt. 16: 6; Gal. 5: 9).

Christ explains the spiritual aspect of leaven to His disciples. They had thought that Christ was talking about the yeast in the Pharisee’s bread, to watch out for it. He went on to tell them that the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees was their doctrine. It was their teachings about God that they should beware of, for they will spread quickly through your hearts and minds—like yeast. “Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16: 6-12). Their teachings, their walk, and their manner of life were a false representation of the true teachings of God. Today when we walk in false concepts about God, we are leavened bread, and bread with old leaven does not please our Father because He wants us to grow spiritually to be like Him.                 Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Two Major Concepts Concerning the Apostles’ Doctrine

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Two Major Concepts Concerning the Apostles’ Doctrine

The apostles’ doctrine builds a sure spiritual foundation in a Christian’s heart. These teachings are the “milk of the word” and are the perfect food to help us grow spiritually. In fact, we grow up as “calves of the stall,” fed with the milk of the word of God (Mal. 4: 2). This ensures that we will be ready to receive the more difficult truths to contemplate and believe. The seven general teachings that make up the apostles’ doctrine are absolutely necessary for followers of the King to grow and be strong in God.

For these teachings are the “principles of the doctrine of Christ,” the “first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb. 5: 12; 6: 1-2). And they are the only way to soldier on to full maturity in spiritual growth, which is perfection, the seventh doctrine.

The scriptures of truth are the place where we find His teachings: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment, and on to perfection/maturity. The very first purpose of the Holy Scriptures is for doctrine. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect [mature], thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (II Tim. 3: 16).

Intertwined and Multi-Leveled

This doctrine that the apostles continued in are the teachings that Christ taught. In a rush to get to the “meat of the word,” people have taken them for granted because they are just milk, just so much food for children. They have ignored them in their desperate search for quick enlightenment. Yet God says that everything must be done decently and in order. Skipping to the meat of His word, without having the depth of the milk’s sustenance, leaves seekers unstable and weak, unable to “discern both good and evil.” They will inevitably fall prey to false teachings. They will fall because their foundation is not secured by a deep study of Christ’s teachings.

So as we go on deeper into His teachings, we must remember two concepts concerning them. First, the seven doctrines are intertwined. Like gold is found with silver in a vein of whitish quartz, even so teachings go side by side. Two, three, and four of them can be found in one passage of scripture. Rarely do we find them alone. As we mine the truth from the scriptures, we will see them surface in groups. For instance, you can’t have repentance from sin without faith toward God. Nor can you comprehend and apply baptism without repentance.

Second, Christ’s doctrine is multi-levelled. Each teaching has many spiritual depths. We should know this, for we are contemplating “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3: 8; Rom. 11: 33). The principle of the multi-level harvest in Matthew 13’s Parable of the Sower holds true here. For example, there is a repentance from sin and a repentance from faults. There is also repentance from old leaven false concepts about God learned before our deeper walk began. All of them are applied on a personal, national, international, and universal level. Such is the power and scope of the Kingdom of God and its King. But no matter what level we are walking in, the humility of the cross empowers our way.

We are talking about Christ’s very teachings and how they will dramatically affect lives. “And they were astonished at His doctrine, for His word was with power.” Christ’s teachings are inexhaustible, past finding out, even though we continue steadfastly in studying them. They are a deep well of the everlasting water of life. And He wants us to go after it and drink with great gusto.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Why Must the Righteous Suffer?

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For Christ our King, it is all about His kingdom, which is the new government of God that He will set up worldwide after the Great Tribulation Period ravages the earth. Right now, He has established a beach head in the hearts of His followers, and they are sprinkled to the four corners of the earth. Their hearts hold a portion of His Spirit, and He reigns there in that soft citadel.

Moreover, Christ’s followers are growing, applying His teachings, waiting for the culmination of this current world age. They are the “children of the kingdom” growing up into mature wheat, as the wicked tares grow also (Matt. 13: 24-30, 37-43). But they are growing up in a savage landscape, fraught with fear and suffering.

And so, many have often wondered, If the God of peace and love is in                       control, then why all the suffering in the earth? Why does He allow mankind to suffer through thousands of years of man-ruling-over-man? Man’s overlords have financed brutal armies clashing on blood-soaked fields next to villages and towns and grand cities razed and burned to the ground, spawning enslavement, rape, and pillage for the few survivors.

Why? Why does the great merciful Hebrew God Yahweh allow all this? Why didn’t He just create us as mild-mannered righteous beings, incapable of making mistakes, placed in a world that never posed a trial or temptation? Why all the misery?

Short Answer

To accomplish His purpose of reproducing Himself (“God is Love”), mankind would have to suffer the fires of physical and spiritual affliction to purify within himself a spirit unto honor and love and gratefulness.

Let’s just call the condition of man-governing-man over the last 6,000 years for what it is. It is sin. It doesn’t matter which man or group of men rules, they are creatures of sin, which is the breaking of the Ten Commandments (I John 3: 4). And sin is rooted in the old Adamic nature that does not love God or his neighbor.

For instance, let us take Russia’s last 200 years. The Romanov family’s empire ruled over the people, keeping them in serfdom and deprivation. There was no love there. Sinful selfishness ruled. In 1917 the Russian revolution was commandeered by the Communist Party by lying to the people, saying that it was a dictatorship of the proletariat. In reality, three per cent of the population that were Communists would brutally rule, causing starvation, genocide, and famine for tens of millions.

When old man Adam rules other men, sinful atrocities abound, created by the innate selfish nature of unregenerate man. The same holds true for all manmade governments down through history. And it will only change when the Head of State is righteous. And this righteous and just government will only be established if the righteous Head of State has a cadre of righteous administrators who will carry out the King’s plan.

The Bible paints this final scenario like this. The Son of God, Jesus/Yahshua, will come back to Jerusalem and will meet the over comers. These are the first fruits, the 100 folders, the first group of Christians that will have grown to full maturity with Christ’s Spirit fully developed within them.

Christ will send these ambassadors out into the earth to establish His Kingdom of righteousness. They will stride forth into the four corners of the earth doing the greater works that Christ promised they would do (John 14: 12). No weapon formed against them by the survivors on earth during the 1,000 year reign of Christ will prosper, for they will have been changed from mortal to immortal. Their bodies will no longer be composed of moist dust, but spirit. For at Christ’s return, they will receive a new spiritual body, immortal and imperishable. Such is the apostle’s doctrine called “the resurrection of the dead” (Isa. 54: 17; I Cor. 15: 42-57).

Christ will regather a remnant of His Lost Sheep of the House of Israel, setting up His government. And of this “government and peace there shall be no end,” and He shall “establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.” Here we find another of the apostles’ doctrine—eternal judgment. Throughout eternity righteousness shall reign through Christ’s judgments (Isa. 9: 7).

Christ’s return and the restoration of His kingdom/government will end the present corrupt world age headed by greedy rich men who pull the strings behind the curtain of lies out there. The politicians are their puppets, doing their bidding. This evil system that chains men down in the gutters will be judged and destroyed at Christ’s coming.

By enduring the sufferings, our hearts and minds are being prepared by God to be worthy princes and princesses in His Kingdom. It takes fire to forge the sword of the Spirit within us. That is the “fellowship of His sufferings” that we endure with our King (Phil. 3: 10). For “if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (II Tim. 2: 12).    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

The Apostles’ Doctrine–Road Map to Perfection

*****[BE SURE TO ORDER YOUR FREE COPY OF MY NEW BOOK THE ROYAL DESTINY OF GOD’S ELECT. JUST SEND YOUR MAILING ADDRESS TO MY EMAIL wayneman5@hotmail.com for your free promotional copy with free shipping in the USA. If outside the USA, email me and we will see that you get a copy. Put “New Book” on the subject line. It discusses God’s purpose of reproducing Himself in us! He is Love and He has a plan to be Love Incarnate in us. And all this has royal implications for us, the over comers! Don’t miss this book. It is my love gift to God and to you.]*****

To become like Peter, James, Paul, and John and the rest of the early apostles, we must do what they did. Christ left us with not only Himself as our example, but also His disciples. To become like them, we must learn of their actions leading up to and after their receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

We find out their actions in the book of the Acts of the Apostles in our Bibles. We find that Christ “through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen” (Acts 1: 2). Christ appeared unto them for forty days after His resurrection, teaching them about the kingdom of God (v. 3). He commanded them to wait in Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father.” And that promise was that the Holy Spirit would come upon them and that they would receive power to be His witnesses, preaching “repentance and remission of sins” to all nations (Acts 1: 4-8; Luke 24: 44-49).

The thing to take away from the above is that Christ kept on teaching them His teachings. He kept on teaching them His doctrines–even after the resurrection, for forty days. These teachings were and are His doctrines. No idle words were coming out of Christ’s mouth. He was freshly out of the grave, back from the dark and dank tomb. He was not light hearted. He was teaching them the information that they needed to carry on His work in the earth. And His work is ruling His kingdom, and He is sharing the rulership with us!

In fact, for 1260 days, 3 ½ years, Christ taught His disciples about His kingdom. The word “kingdom” is found in the four gospels 120 times and 30 times in the apostles’ letters to the churches. Moreover, the good news is the kingdom of God coming to this earth.

This was heavy stuff that He shared with His apostles concerning His kingdom. He was going into exile, and they needed His teachings in order to carry on His true ministry. Brethren, Christ and His apostles have left us these very same teachings that He shared with His apostles! We have those doctrines. They are called the “first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb. 5: 12-13). They are also called the “principles of the doctrine of Christ,” and they are listed for us (6: 1-2).

They are called one more thing, and this is the key to understanding how the early apostles grew into God’s power houses. Christ shared with them His teachings, His doctrine. These teachings became their doctrine. Christ’s doctrine became the early apostles’ doctrine.

One Verse Contains the Key

Here’s the key: What did the early apostles do to gain godlike miracle working power? “They continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…” (Acts 2: 42). They continued in the teachings that Christ had taught them. For the “principles of the doctrine of Christ” that the apostles walked in. For the “doctrine of Christ” is the early apostles’ doctrine! If we go “all in” on these teachings, then the same wonderful things will happen through us. If we believe the same things with the same understanding as the early apostles, then the fruit will be the same. Isn’t that what we want? Is that not the law of harvest? Christ—the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Teaching these doctrines that Christ first taught His disciples is what this book is about. The Apostles’ Doctrine is huge. It is what we need to clarify God’s purpose, which is the Multiplying of Himself. Let that person who can receive it, receive it and remain steadfast.

So they continued in Christ’s teachings. Christ’s doctrines show us the thoughts of His mind. We are to have the mind of Christ. This is the way to get there. We must learn what these teachings are and what they mean. And they are lined out in Hebrews and elucidated in all the books: “repentance from dead works, faith toward God, doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgement, and perfection”/maturity (6: 1-2).

Learning the apostles’ doctrine is the only way to have the mind of Christ. It is the only way to have the “one Spirit” and “one body” of Christ. It is only when we put importance on the things our King cherishes that we will walk in the light of His smile.

And there is a reason that I am stressing the importance of all this. After almost thirty years of teaching high school and college, I know when I am losing my audience. In this case, all I have to do to is mention the word “doctrine.” It is as if it emits an ether-like sleeping potion, that when poured into the ear, the hearer falls into a deep slumber. But His teachings are what the sons and daughters of God need to be like Him.

Christ’s doctrine is there for us. The sections of this book address each one of His doctrines. Just enough understanding of each doctrine will be taught so that you can parlay the information into a deeper walk in His Spirit.

Just remember this. These teachings are Christ’s doctrines and were given to His apostles. Now they are ours to the glory of God.