Reconciliation and the Abiding/Continuing

We must continue to believe that Christ through His death has reconciled everyone and has made peace between God and mankind.

That is the truth. The Father is the Spirit of truth. There is one Spirit, and He dwelled in the Son and did miraculous works (Eph. 4:4; John 14:10). Christ promises that the Father “shall be in you,” also (14: 17).

This promise is astounding! But what is the catch? What activates this promise of the Father taking up residence in us? What knowledge brings the promise into a reality in our Christian lives?

We need to know that it is a conditional promise; it sets up like this: If you do this and this, then He will abide in you. The promise is that the Father, who is this invisible Spirit, will come and dwell in us—if we continue in the faith. If we abide in the faith. If we dwell in the faith. If we remain in the faith. If we continue in the faith.

Faith. Belief. In what exactly? There is a whole lot of invisible action going on here. It takes faith to believe that the invisible Creator Spirit God would take up residence inside our bodies. But this is what He is asking us to do—trust Him. To maintain the Father’s presence in our hearts in a powerful reality, we must “continue in the faith.”

We see “continue in the faith” in Colossians 1:23. “If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…” The thing we must continue to believe is that Christ through His death has reconciled everyone and has made peace between God and mankind (Col. 2:20-22).

That sounds wonderful, but Christ’s death and the reconciliation involves so much more. The question becomes: How does His death bring about reconciliation with God? Reconciliation comes through our old sinful self dying on the cross with Christ. Then we are buried with Christ, and then by faith in His resurrection “we are raised to walk in a newness of life.”  Our sin has died with Him. “The soul that sins must die,” the law says. We fulfill that at the cross.

The Spirit through the apostle Paul lines this out clearly. “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:3-7 NIV).

Christ the Lamb of God took on the sins of everyone. “He was made to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Our sins died with the sacrificial Lamb, for He carried our guilt and sin to the cross, and when He died, our old sinful self died, was buried, and—Praise Yah—was resurrected with Him!

[Someone reading this will say, “I knew that about the cross.” Yes, many have experienced the cross, but can they teach it to others? Is your belief of Romans 6 strong enough to weather the storms and trials both past and future?]

Back to the beginning of this article: Reconciliation with God is when we are at peace with Him, when there are no doubts and worries about our relationship with Him. For it was the sin nature that separated us from Him. When we realize that our sinful old self has already died on the cross with Him, things begin to clear up. The scriptures open to us. Things make sense.

This clarity He honors and reveals more of His truth. Reconciliation with God happens if we “continue/abide in the faith.” If we continue believing what He did for you and me at the cross and walking in that truth as seen in Romans 6: 3-12, then we will be ready through reconciliation to go deeper by adding His “divine nature” to the faith. [The Additions to the Faith is my latest book. Peter talks of seven additions that are vital to our growth in Christ (II Peter 1:1-12). If you have read this far, I know that this book is for you. The book is free with free shipping. It is my offering to God. Instead of money in an offering plate, I give a book to you…Please share your testimony in the comments section. It is very edifying to hear how God has touched your life.  Be sure and share this and give us a “like,” if we have edified you].    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

The Father Abiding in Us

God wants to inhabit us and abide and dwell in us. This is how He fulfills His purpose: To reproduce and multiply Himself, which is agape love. We know that we are His temple. He made us for Him to dwell in. Many times, we see Yahweh meeting Moses and Joshua [Yahshua the Savior, same name]. They met in the tabernacle in the wilderness. They carried on conversations there. This is His will, His desire that all God’s people be prophets (Numbers 11:29).

It is first the Father who dwells/abides in Christ; the Father speaks the words and does the works through the Son (John 14:10). [Newsflash! We are “members in particular” of the Son’s body; we are the “body of Christ.” Since we are a part of Christ’s body, then the Father, the Spirit of truth, is in us, too!

Can we believe this? Christ believes it. He has faith in the word of the Father. And, of course, we can believe it! It is His faith in operation here. We are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God, (Col. 3:3). Our life is Him now. And that Him is the Spirit of truth that has come into you and me.

If anyone knew God this way, it was the apostle John, “the man whom Jesus [Yahshua] loved.” For John leaned on His chest and was literally comforted by Christ. Let us now lean on Him as John did. He is right there by you and me in spirit. Lean into Him and be encouraged that we all have this opportunity to draw close to Him. For the Holy Spirit through the apostle James said, “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8).

Nevertheless, some of us have thought, “If only we had the Father dwelling in us, then He would speak and work through us.” If. There are no if’s nor but’s. It is all “Yes!” The power is there at hand. “The works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Heb. 4:3). We are not talking about the Father being way out there somewhere, but rather, closer than close.  He is inside of us.

[All these things written down by Christ’s apostles are maddeningly difficult to grasp while held hostage by a trinitarian three-God conception of the godhead. Yahweh dwelt in His Son; Yahweh is the Father and is an invisible Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Once that is straightened out in one’s heart and mind, then eyes see more clearly as to what God desires and how He wants to make it happen. ]

The Comforter, the Spirit of Truth

He has given to us another Comforter, which is the Spirit of truth “that He may abide/dwell” with us forever” (John 14:16). His presence is already promised and prepared.

The Comforter is the Spirit of truth. And the Spirit of truth is the Father who has promised to dwell/abide with us. Now, since we have that promise—that the Father will be in us—then by the Father’s presence within us, He will do the same works as He did through the Son of God. It is all in His timing, of course.

Final thought: Faith is the key. For His spiritual offspring, the Father abides in us when we believe that the Father dwells in us. We have to reckon it so by faith in His word. It is already done in His mind. He is waiting on us with great patience/endurance. He now wants us to be a witness here on earth of His magnificent glory. That is not just to witness His glory, but to be the witness. Remember this enigmatic concept? Man is the glory of God (I Cor. 11:7). And the good man will be humbled by this love that His Creator has bestowed upon him. And he will realize that he is only a speck of dust floating in a brilliant ray of light that is God’s mercy.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

King David—A Man After God’s Own Heart

Oh, to have our Savior say that about us! What did David say or do to garner such a testimony from the Father? For God “gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart.” David was “after” God’s heart; he was in accordance with God’s desire. But most stop right there when quoting this passage. However, God continues in the next breath, “which shall fulfill all my will.”

These last six words of Acts 13:22 are revelatory. King David is a man after God’s own heart because God knew that David would fulfill all of God’s will. He would champion all of His desires. AndGod desired to have His name glorified through the destruction of Goliath.

God would use the giant as a symbol of the evil world system headed by Satan. Goliath would come on as an undefeatable foe, too big and powerful to conquer and destroy. I am talking about the current world system in which we live. They have it sowed up. The system is rigged, and it looks like they are going to win. Remember how the Israelites said that the “giants are too big” to try to conquer.

David, a Type of God’s Elect Today

Then God would use David, a “stripling,” a “ruddy” complexioned youth, to battle the giant. David loved Yahweh, and it showed. God wanted Goliath confronted and killed. No soldier in Israel’s army stepped up to fight him; they were all afraid. At this, David said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” Then David said to King Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” [Look at David’s belief in Yahweh.]

“And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth and he a man of war from his youth.” [This is the unbelief of the world.]

Then David tells of his adventures in killing a lion and a bear to protect his flock of sheep. “Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” [David has had experiences of doing battles with God by His side.]

You know the rest of the story (I Sam. 17:32-54). David defends the God of Israel and says to Goliath, “You come to me with a sword and with the spear and shield, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of host, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day will Yahweh deliver you into my hand, and I will smite you, and take your head from you, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, unto the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that Yahweh saves not with sword and spear, for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hands.”

This miraculous defeat of Goliath by a mere youth has been discussed by people for over 3,000 years, thus fulfilling the purpose of God: “That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” And this same God shall return on a white horse in magnificence and shall call to the “fowls of the air” to come to the “supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains and the flesh of mighty men…” (Rev. 19:11-18).” [Note David’s statement about giving the carcasses of the Philistine army “to the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth.” His words are a living prophecy as to what will happen to all who follow the beast system at the time of the end.

David is a type of the elect of God for these end times. Satan’s world looks too big, too corrupt, too unbeatable. But the elect sons and daughters will rise and answer their calling like David did. Only this time it won’t be with a physical sling, stone, and sword.

It will be a spiritual battle. We will put on the spiritual armor of God. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but… against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Our battle today is with satanic spirits who rule the masses here on earth. The time of their deliverance draws nigh. “And saviors shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S” (Obadiah 1:21). [Christ called out and exposed the “mount of Esau” in John 8:44.]

It is our honor—you and me—to be used by Yahweh to do His will like David did. He answered the call and set the precedent for us today. David’s faith in our God Yahweh is palpably stirring. He tells the bully Goliath that he is fighting Yahweh. This is the same faith that Christ walked in, the faith of the Son of God. Study this belief in Yahweh that David walked in and spoke of. Study it good, for it holds the keys to becoming “a man after God’s own heart” (That goes for women, also, for “He called their name Adam.”). David believed that it was God’s fight and that he was the vessel that God was using. No pride. David was defending the name and honor of His God, as well as defending God’s army. He was doing the will of God.

Where Do We Find Virtue to Add to Our Faith?

Chapter 24 of New Book Additions to the Faith Scheduled to Be Published Next June

Christ wants us to bear much fruit. That means spiritual growth. We do that by adding attributes of His “divine nature” to His faith, His belief system. The first element is to add virtue.

But how do we add virtue? How do we add any of the elements of the divine nature? We add them by realizing that it is not something that is coming to us from without, from outside of us. It is coming to us from something that is within us, if so be that we have risen with Christ spiritually [1].

The addition of virtue happens when we understand that it is a component of Christ’s divine nature. He is not adding it to weak flawed characters who still believe that they are sinners. That is not Christ’s belief system that He has given His friends. That is not His faith [2].

We are spiritual members of the body of Christ. And Christ contains all seven attributes already. When we “put on Christ,” we will have added virtue because virtue is part of His nature; it is part of Him [3]. {This in bold is crucial knowledge that He has given us! Prove it out and then believe it with your whole heart. And then you will feel His Spirit grow within you. And if you agree with this teaching, please help me get this to others by just hitting that “like” button.}

We are dead, and our new life is hidden with Christ in God. And His life is full of virtue, moral goodness, vigor, and power. But it takes faith—His faith—to believe it. This is what the Spirit through Peter meant when He said to add to our faith virtue through agape love [4].

We miss the mark when we try to add spiritual components of Christ’s divine nature to flawed and immature concepts of how Christ works. It is only when we believe and recognize that “it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.” And now I live “by the faith (belief system) of our Savior Christ [5].

Christ adds more of his divine nature to us as we judge our old nature dead and our new nature in Christ alive in us. We have the one faith when we believe that Christ lives in us and brings with him the seven additions, the first of which is his moral goodness and power—virtue [6].

[1] John 14:17      

[2] I Peter 1:1-12

[3] I Cor. 12:27  “Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular.”  Col. 2:10: “And ye are
complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

[4] Col. 3:3   “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

[5] Gal. 2:20 [6] Rom. 6:6-12

Believing the Secrets of the Son’s Name

Man wrestles with God over belief. It is all about faith, or a lack of it. Hence, all will not believe the following words about belief. Yet these words are written down and are essential for the future 100-fold fruit bearers, the elect for these latter days. The following knowledge is crucial for those predestined to sit with Christ on His throne when He returns to earth: “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne…” (Rev. 3:20). These following words are better swallowed and digested in small contemplative bites.

“Belief” and “faith” are translated from the same Greek word. Faith is being sure of the things that we hope for based on God’s promises to us. Belief/faith is also being certain of the things that cannot be seen (Heb. 11:1 NIV).

We are told to believe in God. But what does that mean exactly? Belief in God is believing the words of God spoken and written down. Try to believe something—anything–without putting it into words first. Our minds immediately formulate words to cradle our belief. Thoughts come to us in words. Consequently, we believe words. Belief cannot exist without words.

To express our belief that the sun will come up in the morning, we use words describing this ball of fire rising in the east. To believe in the truth, we must believe the words of truth. With this in mind, we read the words of the Spirit written down by the apostle John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).

In the Beginning Was the Word

There is something to be believed that existed from the very beginning. And that something is God, and He was and is a Spirit, and that invisible Spirit was comprised of words. For Christ said, “The words that I speak they are spirit, and they are life.” God wants us to believe in Him. Of course, he also knows that words are the things that are believed. Therefore, for belief to take place, something must be spoken or written in the form of words.

The spoken word has invisible spiritual qualities. Invisible because, like the wind, you can’t see them in the physical and natural sense. But also, like the wind, you can see and feel their effects on those in their path. Words spoken can destroy the hearer like a hurricane wind, but words can also comfort and cool like a summer breeze.

So, to believe God, we must believe the Word. For the Word was God, and the Word was in the beginning. And this Logos, this Eternal Thought/Word, who is the Father, “was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This Anointed One (Christ) “has declared Him” (v. 18).

Christ’s life was the life of the Father—eternal life—and was read of all men who saw Him 2,000 years ago. And many millions afterward have believed His witness of just who the Word is. And the Word, the Son of God, spoke many words to us. To believe God, we must believe the words of the Word, who is God. For the Son of God is “the expressed image of the invisible God.” The Son expressed the words of the Word.

Again, for us to believe God, we must believe His words. There is a vast difference between saying, I believe God, and saying, I believe that there is a God. To believe God, one must believe His words, words that he declares about Himself and us. When He says, “Repent of your sins,” we must not only believe that it is possible with His help, but also mandatory as part of His initiation into His Kingdom. But to say, I believe that there is a God, is to speak hollow, lukewarm words that He will spue out of His mouth. “For even the devils believe in one God and tremble.”

Believing in the Name of the Son of God

[The following paragraphs are some of the secrets of the Almighty. The Spirit of Christ still speaks to us: “I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” These are some of the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” It is given unto the elect to know them. “Whosoever has [been chosen to receive the secrets and mysteries] to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance…” (Matthew 13:10-12).]

We are talking about believing God’s words. He that believes in Christ is not condemned. “But He that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). Believing in Christ’s name is crucial. But how do we believe in His name? We saw above that “belief/faith” believes words. So, believing in His name is believing the message contained in His name.

Believing in His name is believing what His Hebrew name means. For the Son’s name has meaning! It literally means “Yah is the Savior.” Yahweh is the Father; He is a Spirit that dwells inside the Son; He is the Savior (Isa. 43:11; 45:21; Hosea 13:4). And our Savior’s Hebrew name is Yahshua, the same name of the patriarch Joshua–Yahshua. And it literally means “Yah saves or Yah is the Savior.

Christ’s Hebrew name is encased as one of the Father’s secrets. But they can be ours. For “the secrets of YHWH belong to them that are in reverential awe [fear] of Him.” This secret and many more are like tree ripened pears, ready for our hands to grasp them and hold them to our hungry lips. All we need do is to believe His words about His name.                                  

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[I wrote a book on this entitled Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality. Order your free copy with free shipping. Just email me. Include your name and mailing address and the title of the book: wayneman5@hotmail.com ]

Secrets of the Sabbath, Part Two

In Part One, we saw what man’s conception of the Sabbath is not. Reviewing, the sabbath commandment is not made for a righteous man (I Timothy 1: 8-9). This goes for the other nine commandments called the Law. [Much more on this in my latest book, The 11^th Commandment. Yours free. See end of article for ordering info.]

The sabbath is not a hoop to jump through to prove that we are righteous before God. Trying to keep the sabbath day holy is not the way for us to become righteous in God’s eyes.

Yet, an awakening Christian keeps on trying to keep the sabbath, always looking over their shoulder at the guilty conscience lurking close by, never knowing for sure if they have sinned or not. “Will it be a sin if I don’t go to the sabbath meeting?” many have wondered.

But God sees all; He sees the trepidations, but He is weary and tired of the lack of faith/belief. He sees those struggling in vain to obey the law that only His Spirit can keep.

He cries out to us through Isaiah: “Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.” Yahweh considers the sacrifices of “trying to keep the sabbath” of no profit. All the physical accoutrement that man uses in trying to keep the Law is an abomination in His sight (1:13-15).

As our High Priest, we thank Christ for obtaining for us a better covenant that has purged our “conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9: 9-14). No more recriminations, nor guilt, nor shame. No more guilty consciences, for He has wiped the slate clean. We are new spiritual creatures in Christ.

What the Sabbath Is

And with new clarity, we now see what the sabbath really is in God’s sight.

First, the sabbath, as we know it in this earthly dimension, is a shadow. This is mankind’s conception of the sabbath. It is not the reality. It is a physical metaphor for a spiritual reality. The sabbath day was instituted under the Old Covenant, which is a physical representation to lead us to the spiritual reality.

The sabbath is a shadow. It has never been the real deal.  Shadows are made from a lack of light.  Shadows are in the shape of things or people, but they are not the real thing; they are not a part of reality. Shadows merely imitate reality; they simulate what is real; they intimate that which is true; they suggest obscurely as to what or who made their image possible. But they are not the real thing.

The Spirit of truth tells us that the sabbath is a shadow. After believing our cross and resurrection experience with Christ, the Spirit says to us, “Let no man therefore judge you… in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come…” (Col. 2:11-17). They will judge you concerning the feasts of Yahweh and for using or not using the lunar calendar. And they will judge you for keeping or not keeping the seventh day sabbath (the way they would have you keep it). Pay them no mind. The sabbath is a shadow. [See more about this here: Feasts, New Moons, Sabbaths–Mere Shadows of Christ in Us | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)].

So, What Then is the Real Sabbath?

The real sabbath is Yahweh’s sabbath. “Sabbath” means “rest.” So, the true sabbath is Yahweh’s rest. We first see His rest in Genesis 2:1-3. “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.”

And He has promised us that we can enter into His sabbath rest, too. However, we must not do what the children of Israel did. They could not enter into His sabbath rest because of their unbelief. Christ appeared several times to them, led them, performed many miracles, and yet their hard heart of unbelief prevented them from joining God in His rest (Heb. 4:1-2).

We keep Yahweh’s Sabbath when we believe the gospel good news that Christ’s sacrifice has washed away our sins. Gone. And that only happens when our old self dies with Christ, is buried with Christ, and is resurrected with Christ (Romans 6:1-12). When we believe that, then “there remains therefore a rest [“a keeping of the sabbath,” a sabbatismos in the Greek] for the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

Yahweh entered into His sabbath rest after completing His work. We enter into Yahweh’s “rest” when we “cease from our own works, as God did from His” (v. 10). We “cease from our own works” when we complete the cross, tomb, and resurrection experience IN OUR OWN HEARTS. That was our old sinful selves up there on that cross. Christ took our sin upon himself. And when He died, we died. “And he that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom. 6:7).

Many professing Christians believe that Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead. But in order to be like Him, we have to do what He did. And that is to “present our bodies a living sacrifice.” We “are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:12).

We cease from our own works when it is “no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.” We must let it go and surrender to the cross experience. That is the key. And that is the message to both Non-Christians and Christians. The cross experience is where the old self ends and where Christ’s Spirit begins to reign in our hearts. Ceasing from the actions of self and then entering into the dimension of His rest and peace—this is walking with Christ. This is doing His will. This is holding His hand and walking through this corrupted earth. This is us crying to Him, asking Him to lead and guide us and speak through our vessels the Word of life. This is entering into His Sabbath Rest. This is one of His precious secrets. Embrace it. Never let it go.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[To further study this, I recommend my second book The Unveiling of the Sons of God, pp. 1-20. It is free with free shipping to all seekers of the truth. Ordering info below.]

[Ordering My Free Books in Paperback]

I am now able to send you a copy of my books absolutely free with free shipping.  Please specify which one.

Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality explores the deeper meaning of our Savior’s Hebrew name Yahshua, which means Yahweh is the Savior.

The Unveiling of the Sons of God explains how the whole creation is waiting and longing for the manifestation (the unveiling) of the sons of God for these latter days. Christ will be totally formed in His elect as they will have grown and matured spiritually into His likeness and power.

The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It explores God’s vision for us, to be kings with Christ and how He will use us to reproduce His nature of Love.

My latest books are The Apostles’ Doctrine and The 11^th Commandent. Their doctrine was Christ’s teachings. And the early church walked in those teachings. These books reveal just what they are and how to walk in them.

Send your request, specifying which one of my books you desire, to my email address:  wayneman5@hotmail.com 

Include your name and mailing address. For those outside the United States, or who may prefer a pdf copy of the last two books mentioned, please specify.  Also, you may read the first two books online at my website Immortality Road found here:   https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com

The Flimsy Foundation and the Sure Foundation

The additions to the faith are seven attributes of the divine nature of the Spirit of God that are added to the sure foundation of Christ.

The problem for most “babes in Christ” is that they try to superimpose the Holy Spirit onto their old unregenerated nature that they were born with. They believe that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. That is a good start. But they think that this belief makes them “born again” without their abnegation of their sinful nature at the cross.

Yet their pastors tell them that they are saved. Because they are so close to His truth and power, they do feel the first flush of change come over them. They feel sorry for their sinful life and begin to look longingly to the Savior for help.

Yet, something is missing, for many revert to old ways, old habits, old sins, and old thoughts. It recalls the proverb, “As the dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly (Proverbs 26:11).

That may seem harsh in the 21^st Century. But why does the dog do this? It is because it is in the dog’s nature to do this. His nature has not changed. Why do new converts fall into temptation, fail spiritually, and return to their old ways? Because it is in their nature. They still have the old nature inside. Their old heart has not experienced the cross and died with Christ. He is our Example, not our substitute.

“We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6: 4-7 NIV). [Every Christian group claims to be going by every word of God. Well, there it is in plain English. Every version says the same thing: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” Col. 3:3]. Whether we feel it today or not.

Somebody may say, “Hey, Wayneman, why do you keep on and on about the crucifixion of our old sinful self in Romans 6?” The Spirit will keep on teaching it until we all get it. How do we know if we got the message? We will be jumping up and down praising God that He in His great mercy has delivered us from sin and sinning. This is the Sure Foundation.

So, as a parable teaches us, when the winds of life blow on the house built on a weak foundation of sand, it falls. It falls because it was not built on the Rock, the sure foundation of truth.

That sure foundation is Christ. We are now in Him and He in us by faith “in the operation of God who raised him from the dead we too now walk in a newness of life.”

After going through the cross and resurrection experience, we are now born from above, as He gives us a new heart and a new nature. “Behold, all things are become new!” New King of our life! New attitude! New thoughts! New purpose in life! Can’t go back now. Don’t want to! Our allegiance is to our King.

That is the difference between the flimsy foundation and the sure rock foundation that our spiritual house is built upon. It is built upon faith/belief. For there is only “one faith,” and that is Christ’s faith. We now live “by the faith of the Son of God.” We must remember that we are dead in His eyes, and we now live by the power of His resurrection. We need to reckon ourselves “to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God…” (Rom. 6:11). He has already reckoned it done; He’s just waiting on us to do the same.

We are now ready to build upon this foundation by adding seven facets of His “divine nature.”

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

The “Sure Foundation”–The True Christ

The sons and daughters of God need a “sure foundation” upon which to build their new spiritual life. They need a foundation that is sure and steady. And, of course, we know that the sure foundation is Christ.

But it must be the true Christ and His vision for the world. For many teach a false Christ based on their imaginations as to who Christ is. And therein lies the problem. Many talk about Christ, but few have met Him at His special meeting place–the cross. Few speak of their own cross experience in their testimony. Their pastor would not dare lead them to the old rugged instrument that puts to death their sinful heart. They teach a soft Christ, a feel-good Christ, a different Christ than what the apostles wrote about in the Scriptures.

Dare I say it? The hireling pastors teach false doctrines about the entity they call Christ. They do not know that this meeting place is where their old sinful lives have perished with Him on the cross. Few want to go there. Few speak of their spiritual death with Christ. Few are buried with Him. But a few “are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead.” (Col. 2:11; Romans 6:1-12).

The apostles and Christ Himself warn us about false Christs in many passages of scripture. They teach a rapture and an escape from the tribulation. They say that they have made an agreement, that they will be spared when disaster strikes. They believe that they will be mystically delivered from the horrors coming upon this world (Isaiah 28:15).

But God calls this “believing a lie.” Instead, the Spirit through Isaiah says, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (verse 16).

And then He slams the lid on those who trusted in the erroneous false doctrine of the rapture: “Your agreement with death [that you will be spared] will be annulled…When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.” The disaster is likened to what God did at Mount Perazim and at the Valley of Gibeon. He rained down meteorites upon them. And he will do it again through the trumpets and vials of wrath in Revelation (I Chronicles 14:10-11; Joshua 10:10). David and Joshua had Christ as their “sure foundation.”

Now we, like them, are “lively stones,” a part of Him, and He in us. A huge part of Christ’s foundation is having the true knowledge of His purpose and His plan to fulfill it. His purpose is to reproduce Himself, for He is agape Love. And He has a plan to do that. His purpose and plan are sure; nothing can prevent Him from carrying out His plan. Our part is to surrender to Him and learn of His purpose and plan.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

The Invisible Dimension–How Do We Enter?

Christ turned the water into wine at the marriage at Cana. That is another dimension. Christ raised up Lazarus from the dead after four days.  That is a different dimension than the one we wake up in every morning.

Peter and John healing “a certain man lame from his mother’s womb”—that miracle came out of a dimension that the public had never seen nor experienced before. The apostles took no credit, for they had crossed over into that new, heavenly dimension. They said that the miracle was from “the Holy One and the Just.”

How, then, did they do it? They said, “His name through faith in His name has made this man strong.” Faith/Belief had allowed them to enter this new, invisible, powerful, and spiritual dimension (Acts 3:1-16).

[Faith/Belief in His name? What does that mean exactly? Christ’s Hebrew name is Yahshua, which means  Yahweh is the Savior. That is the message encrypted into His name. We believe in His name by believing the message in His name. “I, even I, am Yahweh; and beside Me there is no savior” (Isa. 43:11; 45:21)].

So, we see that Peter and John crossed over into the spiritual dimension through “faith in His name.”  Or, believing in the message contained in His name. The miracles came from an invisible dimension. One of faith/belief, not sight. In fact, show me a miracle, and we will see it ushering forth from this invisible dimension. A few humans have walked in that spiritual dimension where miracles were on the menu. Think of Elijah, Moses and all the apostles and prophets whose walks on earth intersected with the heavenly dimension. The Holy Bible is record of their spiritual journeys into the heavenly dimension.

But how do you and I enter this dimension? That is the question.

[Share your thoughts on this by leaving a comment. I would love to hear your take on “dimensions.”]

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Renewing Our Minds Changes Us

To renew our mind—how do we do it? We do it by adding Christ’s divine thoughts to our faith.

Peter tells us to “gird up the loins of your mind” (I Peter 1:13). The first item of the armor of God is to stand, “having your loins girt about with truth” (Eph. 6:14). Every Christian knows that the truth is in Christ. But the young Christian [and the old as well] has thoughts and concepts about Christ that are not Christ’s thoughts.

The apostles were writing to Christians who evidently needed to have their concepts of Christ’s gospel straightened out. Or they would not have been receiving those letters to the churches. It is the same today. The spiritual battleground is in the mind. We are led by our thoughts.

And God has given us the power to chase negative thoughts away and banish false concepts out of our minds. When our thinking has been purged and cleansed, then we will have been transformed, or changed. How is one transformed? “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove [discern, reckon as genuine] what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). We will be able to know what God’s perfect will is and how to walk in it. But our minds must be free from false doctrines. That is how the renewal begins.

Definition of Renew

To renew means “to make new again.” You mean, our minds were new once upon a time, and then they got sullied, and now they await a cleansing and a restoration to the purity they once held?

Could this “renewing of our minds” entail us thinking what Christ thought? We are admonished to let Christ’s mind be in us (Phil. 2:5). Think like Christ thinks. Let Christ’s mind be in you. You mean we must allow it to reside in us? We do this by moving out our old thoughts to make room for the new thoughts, which are Christ’s thoughts, thoughts that require faith/belief.

So what did he think about?  He thought of the invisible heavenly things, not the things consumed by the five senses. “Take no thought for your life,” your visible earthly life (Matt. 6:25-31). He was submissive to the father in all things and taught us to do the same. In so doing, he was humble, giving glory and praise to the Father.

We must “let” His mind take over our mind. To do this we must know the plan and purpose of God. Christ always said, “I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). He always did those things that pleased the Father.

Knowing the true plan and purpose of God is a big chore, but what is bigger is eliminating the old desires we had for our lives– our plans and schemes, our dreams for our own little futures. And they are little “compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us.”  Our old lives are but “dung” compared to eternally being at His side.

The Cross

Christ always taught His followers to repent from sin. This is the first step in getting rid of the false concepts about Christ. It is the cross that puts to death our old sinful selves, along with its desires, and enables us to “be raised to walk in a newness of life.” This shows us where our old thoughts were leading us and where the thoughts of God now bid us come.

First, we must get to that place of submission. We must leave the old life at the cross and take on Christ’s mission, which is establishing His Kingdom of love and righteousness throughout the earth and sharing his throne with his elect. That takes much study and prayer.

All this is for those human beings who renew their minds with Christ’s thoughts and are changed from selfish sinners into compassionate monarchs, soon ruling with Christ in His Kingdom right here upon earth. “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne…” (Rev. 3:21).