Category Archives: death

April 29, 2025 · 1:11 pm

Our Death and Resurrection with Christ—The Power of God

Our Death and Resurrection with Christ—The Power of God

The Savior told Paul, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Cor. 12:9). There is nothing weaker than dying on the cross. But the cross is proclaimed as “the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18). How does that work?

By placing our old nature and mind on the cross, we acknowledge our weakness and helplessness apart from God’s strength. In doing so, we renounce our carnal powers, declaring through this act: We are nothing, and He is everything.

This is the supreme paradox. By submitting to the death of our old selves, we admit our utter vanity and worthlessness without our Creator, Father, and Savior. This act of negation is the first step toward aligning our thoughts with His. For He views us in our unregenerated state as nothing: “In me dwells no good thing… all things are meaningless, a chasing after the wind…all  have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 7:18; Ecc. 1:4; Rom. 3:23).

Recognizing our spiritual ineptitude, we come to Yahweh-in-human-form, the fountain of life, from whom flows the water of true, eternal life. Yet the path to life is through death—a paradox. Only by the death of our selfish hearts can we enter His Spirit-filled life. We must remember Christ’s words: “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:24).

Through faith, we trust in His resurrection—not only His, but also our own. We believe that, just as He was raised, we too are raised to walk in newness of life. This faith energizes us to receive His Spirit, which transforms our hearts. “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” (Rom. 6:4 NIV).

And transformed we are! The hand that once stole steals no more—not by our own strength but through His Spirit. By relinquishing our old lives, we take on His life. This miraculous change is the power of the cross—the death, burial, and resurrection shared with Christ. As Paul wrote, “I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

God’s power is life from death. He establishes life where none existed, calling “those things that are not as though they are.” This revelation is vital. It is through overcoming this paradox—life emerging from death—that we are delivered from the inevitability of physical death.

This is the way to salvation, the way to life, the way to an immortal spiritual body that He has promised us. It all flows from understanding, believing, and enacting this profound truth: eternal life out of death.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock [From a journal entry dated May 4, 2001. By liking, sharing, commenting, and subscribing, you attest to these writings, that they come by the Spirit of truth. May God bless you all]

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February 24, 2025 · 9:06 am

Introduction of “The Abiding”—The In-dwelling Spirit of Love

The abiding of the Holy Spirit in us is a definition of God’s ultimate growth within a believer. The abiding is when He, the Spirit of Love, comes to dwell in us and remain in us, thus fulfilling His purpose. And God does have a purpose and a plan to fulfill that purpose. He created human beings to carry out His plan.

“God is love.” Agape love. His purpose is to multiply or reproduce Himself—Love—in man and woman. That is where you and I come into focus. This happens when we spiritually grow the agape Love He has planted in our hearts (I John 4:16). We show the greatest love in the universe, like Christ did by laying down our selfish lives for Him. We show our love for Him when we give up our old life and take on His life.

 [This is the Major Leagues. Christ is assembling His team. Game time is at hand.  The denominational churches contain many who are called, but sadly, they will not hear this message about dying with Christ on the cross and resurrecting with Him. Once this truth sinks in, it burns a hole in your heart. The fire of God’s reality will consume you. Romans 6 is not preached or taught in 99% of church houses.

I love all of you; With each post that He shares with me, I give it my best to bring light to the road you are travelling. I know. It is a thankless vocation, marching on in the Savior’s army. But we thank Him for everything, and He thanks all of us with the fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, and peace.

Being Called and Chosen

God calls many to be a part of His plan. It is an invitation to be adopted into His royal spiritual family. “Many are called, but few are chosen.” The chosen are called His elect.

Since “God is a Spirit,” it takes faith to enter His Spiritual realm (John 4:24). It takes belief. It takes belief that the sin in our life is dead. And it takes belief that we have now a new, sinless heart. Belief. “For they that come to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6).

We are born into this old 3-D life with a selfish, sinful heart. To be a part of God’s plan, mankind must surrender to God. He then will give them an escape from the earthy, sinful life.  

The old heart must go. But how does one get rid of it? God has provided passage into a new life! First, we must learn about and then believe in the sin sacrifice that the Father has provided. Our sacrificial Lamb is known as Jesus Christ in English speaking countries, but His Hebrew name is Yahshua. He is the Son of God, our Savior.

How does he save us? Christ took all of mankind’s sins upon Himself. When He died on the cross, our old sinful heart died with Him! Then we were buried with Him. Then the Father raised Him from the dead. When He was raised, then we were “raised to walk in a newness of life,” too.    

The Apostle Paul Explains

“Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin” (Romans 6:3-7 NLT).

This is how sin is conquered. It has already been defeated! This is true repentance from sin. This is our testimony. We need only to believe it and walk in it.

When you believe, you are walking in the doctrine of Christ. Repentance and Belief are the first two doctrines that the apostles walked in. Through believing this, you now are continuing in the truth that the apostles had.

But this is only the beginning of spiritual growth. This is only 30-fold fruit bearing. Our destiny is to sit with Christ on His throne. It is to bear 100-fold fruit. To see what 100-fold fruit bearing looks like, look at the lives of the early apostles. They healed the sick and raised the dead, and they taught righteousness.

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…” (Acts 2:42). Christ’s seven doctrines are His major teachings. We will continue in Part Two next time. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Order your free copy, with free shipping, of my book The Apostles’ Doctrine. Send your name, mailing address, and the name of the book to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com Yes, it is free. Christ took money off the table.]

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March 28, 2024 · 7:43 am

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

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December 14, 2023 · 11:47 am

Thoughts on Death and Life–He Is Trustworthy

(From a journal entry, 5-30-19)

Humans are the only beings that contemplate their fate after death. Even the self-described atheist fears death. If it is not a door to another destination, why fear death?

Of all the living, it is mankind that wonders about eternity and their place in it. Where do I fit in, he asks himself. Why did I as a youth believe I would live forever and never die? Why did I act like I was an immortal one—only to splash down into the mud of mediocrity?  This dethrones our high thoughts—thoughts of a Christless immortality, which come from the good/bad cycle and the wretched throes of war and peace and abundance and famine.

Of all the living, only humans ponder eternity. The human is the only species that is wired with waves of eternity’s thoughts. The singsong cadence of the lives of mortals—living today, dying tomorrow—confuses them when clothed in their first earthen body. They do not know when mortality’s final trip is scheduled.

But we who have died and have risen with Christ have taken the first step on the way to immortality. He has promised us passage into His immortal kingdom. He has promised us a new spiritual body, free from the physical decay of our weakening “mortal coil.” HalleluYah! Praise Yah for His “way, truth and life.” He is the answer to all questions.

The Father plans to “gather together in one all things in Christ.” That means things in the heavens and earth. He has predestinated you and me to fulfill His purpose of spreading His love in a sublime oneness. He is working it all out through His will (Eph. 1:10-11).

It is all Him, brothers and sisters. Christ is the head; He is running the whole shebang. It is His feast and festival; we are the invitees. He is “the feature; we are just the trailer.”

All Human Beings Should Trust Him

The earth we stand comfortably on is hurling through space around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. We are spinning at about 1,000 miles per hour (How fast is Earth moving? | Space). Yet we do not feel it; we do not see nor hear anything about these astronomical speeds. It is a well-planned miracle that our Creator has done for life on earth. He has provided the perfect amount of gravity to counterbalance the speeds we travel. We trust Him to continue providing for us.

Death and eternal life. There is no death without first a life being taken. And there is no eternal life without death being conquered. Christ is the “resurrection and the life.” He is trustworthy. It is our honor to serve Him. 

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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October 21, 2020 · 4:34 pm

Saying Goodbye to My Sister

Never speak bad about someone until you’ve walked a mile in their moccasins, goes the old saying. Don’t judge until we have experienced the same sorrow, pain, and despair.

In my sister Vicki’s case, it was too easy for me to judge her, for I did not live her life of needles and spoons.

But she is at peace now. She’s sleeping, not needing to artificially fill that ancient void in her heart and soul. She’ll no longer wander aimlessly, cruelly tossed by the white powdered tyrant of her wants and needs.

God is her Judge. Not me. And yet, I wish it could have been different between us, that we could have been closer, but our paths did not peacefully align.

And so I commend her now into the arms of God’s angels, those kind spirits that carry our spirits back to God, when we fall asleep for the last time here on earth.

I love you, my little sister, my only earthly sibling, the little blonde-headed thing that tried to play catch with me, her big brother, the big brother she never failed to express her love to—until the end.

Goodbye, my dear.

Wayne

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July 4, 2018 · 3:24 pm

If You Ain’t Knowin’, You Ain’t Growin’

A wise voice once spoke to me, “If you ain’t knowin’, you ain’t  growin’.”

And so later I asked myself, “Knowing what exactly?” And then a few scriptures came to me.

“Be still and know that I am God.” First, be still. Get out of the traffic of your life, slow down, and take that country road and pull over, and with a calm mind, know that He is God.

But which God, or rather which version of the God of the Bible? “What is His name?” Moses asked. “I AM THAT I AM” was God’s reply. YHWH in the Hebrew. And it was the same I AM that spoke through Christ when He said, “Before Abraham was I am.” Know that “the fullness of the godhead dwelt bodily in Christ.” “Be still and know that I am God” (Psm. 46: 10) [For much more on this subject, read Chapters 11-14 in Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality found here:  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/book-yah-is-savior-the-road-to-immortality/ ].

Knowing and growing in Him. And then the much quoted passage from Christ’s lips came to mind: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8: 32). But free from what exactly? He answers that two verses later. “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”  I.e., if you are sinning, it is because you are Sin’s slave. Sin is your master. You do Sin’s bidding. You are not free from sin. You don’t know the truth that will free you from sin and sinning (the breaking of the Ten Commandments [I John 3: 4]).

To know the truth that will free us from having to sin. What is that knowledge that will liberate mankind from sin’s slavery? HalleluYah! This is gigantic information!

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom. 6: 6-7). Same verses in the NIV: “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.” We have got to know that our old sinful first nature “was crucified” with Christ on the cross. It is already accomplished! The only thing that we need to do is believe it. That is all. And through believing it, we know that it is done by Him. It just takes faith/belief.

I don’t get it. This is so fundamental. Why aren’t pastors and ministers preaching this in their churches? Oh, I don’t know. Could it be that they just do not believe it? And it is not a very popular message. Hey, people, repent of your sins and die with Christ on His cross! Not real popular. Probably it will get you fired. Hirelings get fired. God’s prophets and apostles and teachers don’t. They are not in it for the salary. And so, the pastors and ministers blather platitudes about Christ and never by His Spirit speak of this knowledge.

Brothers and sisters, we’ve got to know this: God gives us His word that if we submit our old sinful selves to spiritually die with Christ on the cross, that He will free us from sin and sinning. Because “he that is dead is freed from sin.” And now we also know that being spiritually buried with Him, and being raised up with Him secures a brand new life in Him, free from the bondage to sin and its consequences. It is all laid out there in the sixth chapter of Romans. This is where the knowledge of the truth that will free us from sin is crystallized.

Of course, there are many passages of scripture that deal with knowing. But I will close with one that seems to fit nicely here, again from Christ’s lips: “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them” (John 13: 17). And we are growing when we do Christ’s things. Knowing and doing equals growing. “If you ain’t knowin’ you ain’t growin’.”       Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Order your free copy of any of my books—free with free shipping in the USA. Just email me your snail mail address, mentioning which book—the latest being The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect.  wayneman5@hotmail.com ]

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May 13, 2018 · 6:36 pm

Thirty Fold Understanding of the Seven Teachings of the Early Apostles

The early church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine,” which was Christ’s doctrine or teachings (Acts 2: 42). This truth is greatly neglected in the churches because they fail to recognize that the teachings of the early apostles were Christ’s doctrine, found in Hebrews 6: 1-2.

Seven doctrines are mentioned. Each of them are seen in three levels of spiritual growth. This mystery of three levels was inserted in the parables, insuring that only those who were predestined to understand the truths hidden therein, would. The disciples asked Christ why He spoke unto the masses in parables. He replied, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matt. 13: 11, 1-10). And now He has given them to you and me.

In the Parable of the Sower, He mentions the three levels of spiritual growth—30 fold, 60 fold, and 100 fold (v. 8).

Tying the two concepts together, we have seven doctrines with three levels of understanding in each. The seven doctrines found there in Hebrews 6 are “repentance from dead works…faith toward God…baptisms…laying on of hands…resurrection of the dead…eternal judgment…perfection.”

In each of these there is a knowing (30 fold), a doing (60 fold) and a being (100 fold). Right now I want to touch on the 30 fold “knowing” in each of these doctrines. I say “touch on” because we are dealing with the unsearchable riches of Christ here.

  1. The first teaching of Christ is repentance from dead works. The 30 fold fruit of that doctrine in one’s life is the crucifixion of the old self on the cross with Christ. It is the getting rid of the sin nature we are born with. Our old self is dead already in God’s eyes. We must reckon it so. This is true repentance from sin and sinning; it frees us. “For He that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom 6: 6-11). This speaks of a spiritual death of our old sinful nature. When we really believe this way down deep in our hearts, then we will experience the chains of sin falling off of us. Before we are slaves to Sin; now we are free. Why? Because our old sins died with Christ the sin sacrifice. This is the cross experience. The early church continued in this teaching. We should be doing the same.
  2. “Faith toward God” is the second apostles’ doctrine. In the 30 fold child-of-God context, we then believe that Christ was raised from the dead, and that we are raised with Him. He had faith that He would be raised. Now we have faith that we are raised up along with Christ—raised from the death that sin had held us in. [For much more on these first two doctrines, read online Chapters 26-32 of Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality found here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/book-yah-is-savior-the-road-to-immortality/  Or better yet, order your free hard copy with free shipping by sending your mailing address to wayneman5@hotmail.com Mention the book]
  3. “Doctrine of Baptisms” is the third teaching that the apostles stayed in. There are several baptisms, but for a 30 fold child of God it is their immersion into Christ’s death. When He died, our sin nature died with Him. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death” (Rom. 6: 3-4)?
  4. The Laying on of Hands is the fourth doctrine of the early church. There are many instances where hands of the righteous are laid upon people. What would constitute the 30 fold level of growth in this teaching?

To answer this, we must cross connect other things we know about the theme of “being children” in the faith. “Becoming a child of God” is an extremely important milestone in a Christian’s life. It is when Life enters into our hearts. Before, we are one of the “dead” burying our dead.

So 30 fold fruit in this context would tie in with “laying on of hands.” Hands are laid upon a person at the baptism into water, symbolizing being immersed into “Christ’s death.”

There is also the concept of “putting one’s hand to the plow.” In the passage, our Master says, “Follow me.”

The first one said, “Let me go bury my father.”

Christ replied, “Let the dead bury the dead.”

The next man said, I will follow you, but I need to go home and say goodbye to the family.

To which Christ said, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”  (Luke 9: 57-62).

These two men could have become children of the kingdom. They could have begun their new Christian lives as 30 fold children. But they looked back to their earthly family. To be worthy of our new life in God, we must lay our hands to the plow and not look back to the old earthly life. Christ also said for us to take His yoke upon us. The world is the field in the parables. And this field needs to be plowed up and then planted with the see, the word of God. We are His yokefellows. We are to be equally yoked together with His Spirit intent to do his plan to accomplish His purpose. We need to be working with Him to accomplish Christ’s goal. When we pull together with Christ we will bring in the Kingdom of God (Matt. 11: 29-30).

  1. The Resurrection of the Dead is the fifth teaching. 30 fold understanding is a child of God believing that Christ was raised from the dead and that we also are raised up with Him into a new life with His Spirit now living within our hearts (Rom. 6).
  2. Eternal Judgment is the sixth doctrine that the early church continued in. We need to reckon our new life in Christ as a done deal, secured eternally with Him as our Savior and King. We must judge it so and not look back. “Remember Lot’s Wife.”
  3. And the seventh doctrine is “Perfection.” This word in the Greek is “maturity.” Thirty fold is the knowledge about this maturity concept.

Of course, there is so much more to all of these as the Spirit leads us into the 60 and 100 fold understanding. I know that some of these things are new. I offer these thoughts to you as a jumping off place in your own studies. We all have the responsibility to study Christ’s teachings. A teacher sent from God plants the seed in the  hearts and minds, but to grow, it must be watered through study and prayer.

After doing all that, most importantly, His children will have earned God’s approval and a promotion. He will look upon us no more as spiritual children, but as young men and women. We will have grown to be trustworthy heirs of the King, ready for more responsibility, ready to not just know about his purpose and plan, but to “be strong and do exploits.”

This is our calling and election, brothers and sisters. He has chosen a few to reveal the whole shooting match to. Christ is passing out his goods, His truth, to us. Will we hide it? Or will we use it to become “fishers of men”? Will we hear Him say to us, Well done thou good and faithful servant. You were faithful in a few things; I will make you ruler over many. Or will we hear a doleful and heartbreaking rebuke like the one He gave to him   who was afraid and hid the pound that was given to him? (Matthew 25: 15-30).

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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May 6, 2018 · 4:43 pm

Seven Teachings with Three Levels of Growth

I greet you now with encouraging words, words from the heart of Christ who grants us courage and strength and power. He is that positive One, the “Holy One of Israel,” who is all “Yes” and  all Love for us all. And His Spirit now lives in us.

And we are His body, despite the world that tries to corral us into a box of their own imagination as to who God is and what He want us to do and to be. We must continue to walk worthy of His great calling and election that rests upon us.

I know that many of you are seeking God fervently, longing to know His will for your lives. As I stated before in my latest book, The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect, God has a steadfast purpose, and that purpose is to reproduce Himself in us. “For consider what He has done—before the foundation of the world He chose us to become, in Christ, His holy and blameless children, living within His constant care” (Eph. 1: 4-5 Phillips).

He chose us before the foundation of the world! We are His elect, His chosen ones. (“Elect” and “chosen” are translated from the same Greek word). Brothers and sisters, the Almighty is for us! And “if God be for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8: 31). He has chosen us to be recipients of Christ’s most precious and endearing qualities.

He has a plan to accomplish our transformation. His will is that we surrender to His commands to be holy as He is holy. We become holy when we set ourselves apart for His purpose. And His purpose is to magnify and multiply Himself in a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (I Pet. 2: 9).

Enduring the Sojourn

I know that many of you have been bounced around from church to church, rejected and ostracized and betrayed by those you loved. Think not that God has turned His back on you. Oh, no. He allows these things for our good. He ordains hardships, reluctant goodbyes, and mindless  misunderstandings to temper and then hone the sword of the Spirit within us, that we can “endure hardships as a good soldier of Christ.”

And, yet, we wander on, like Paul, shipwrecked at sea. We still cling to a bit of driftwood called “hope.” And as we are tossed to and fro, longing for a spiritual home that’s true, we wait like those poor souls in Casablanca. We wait for a word that signals passage into the Captain’s good ship.

I write to you who are still hoping to find a clarification as to what God wants for you to do. Your vision will clear as you simply believe His vision for your life. His vision for you is His purpose for you.

Doing His Purpose

To fulfill His purpose, our feet must tread in the footprints of giants—the giants of the faith, the apostles and prophets. Step one is to acquire true knowledge of their teachings. Then we must study and continue in their doctrine, which are Christ’s teachings (Heb. 5: 12-14; 6: 1-2). Then we share them, and sharing His teachings is breaking the bread of life. This is the communion so dear to His heart.

Seven doctrines of Christ were paramount in the early church. The early church “continued steadfastly” in them (Acts 2: 42). There are three levels of spiritual growth in each of the seven.

We see this three-leveled motif at work in several passages. In the Parable of the Sower, the word of God produced three levels of fruit production—thirty, sixty, and one hundred (Matt. 13: 3-9, 18-23). John writes to “children, young men, and fathers” (I John 2: 12-14). Christ likens the kingdom of God to a man who sows seed. It grows, and he does not know how it all works. “For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head” (Mark 4: 26-29).That’s how the kingdom grows. Then you have Justification, Sanctification, Glorification. And the three sections of the Tabernacle. There are many more examples of the three levels of spiritual growth. There importance is indisputable.

7 Teachings, 3 Growth Levels in Each

Each of the seven doctrines of Christ have a 30 fold growth, a 60 fold, and a 100 fold growth. Let’s just look at the 30 fold level of understanding.

  1. Right now, let us take the first teaching of Christ—repentance from dead works. The 30 fold fruit of that doctrine in one’s life is the crucifixion of the old self on the cross with Christ. It is the getting rid of the sin nature we are born with. Our old self is dead already in God’s eyes. We must reckon it so. This is true repentance from sin and sinning; it frees us. “For He that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom 6: 6-11). This speaks of a spiritual death of our old sinful nature. When we really believe this, way down deep in our hearts, then we will experience the chains of sin falling off of us. Before, we are slaves to Sin; now we are free. Why? Because our old sinful heart died with Christ, the sin sacrifice. This is the cross experience. Someone says, “I know that.” But the churches rarely get into the death of our old man  nature.
  2. “Faith toward God” is the second apostles’ doctrine. In the 30 fold child-of-God context, we then believe that Christ was raised from the dead, and that we are raised with Him. He had faith that He would be raised. Now we have faith that we are raised up along with Christ—raised from the death that sin had held us in. [For much more on these first two doctrines, read online Chapters 26-32 of Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality found here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/book-yah-is-savior-the-road-to-immortality/ Or better yet, order your free hard copy with free shipping by sending your mailing address to wayneman5@hotmail.com Mention the book]
  3. “Doctrine of Baptisms” is the third teaching that the apostles stayed in. There are several baptisms, but for a 30 fold child of God it is their immersion into Christ’s death. When He died, our sin nature died with Him. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death” (Rom. 6: 3-4)?

{To be continued…I will share a 30 fold understanding of the other teachings a bit later. These first three are what the people need. We must understand them first and then share these keys to those trapped in sin. Be sure to order my latest book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. Absolutely free.}

A big agape-love hug to all of you.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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March 31, 2018 · 4:09 pm

The Importance of the Apostles’ Doctrine

The doctrines that the early apostles taught were Christ’s very own teachings. And Christ’s doctrines were the Father’s. Christ said, “My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent Me” (John 7: 16). That is why they are so important to God and should be important to us.

The apostles’ doctrine is the foundation. Period. When Christ admonishes us to dig deep and lay our house upon the rock, He means for us to have that solid foundation of His teachings of truth, for He is the truth.

We cannot go any farther in our preparation to fulfill God’s purpose of reproducing Himself in us without these principles established in our hearts. This is the major reason that millions of mute professing Christians sit in the same pew every week for decades. Some feel stagnant, ossified, and stunted.  These beautiful and wonderful people spiritually grow very little, for they were not taught the doctrine of Christ, which are the teachings that the apostles embraced. The people in the pews hear sermons about Christ, but not messages from Christ.

At best, Christ’s teachings are not presented as a purposeful curriculum. Preachers accidentally hint around at a biblical theme, but precious few know where Christ wants us to go and how to get there. And yet, it is right there in the scriptures. His teachings are right there, written down in the Bible, but one needs the key to gain “entrance…into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ (Yahshua the Messiah). His doctrine is plainly laid out for us (Heb. 6: 1-2).

Millions of Christians have read the apostles’ doctrine, but without the compass pointing to God’s purpose, the knowledge of God becomes just another nice story, another promise of going to heaven, escaping the woes of this earth. Escaping hell and going to heaven—is that all there is?

No. Christ has promised that “few there be to find this way of truth.” That means that few will be seeking the “high calling of God in Christ.” A few will learn the apostles’ doctrine like the early apostles did. And these few in our day will do the “greater works” that Christ promised some of us will do. They are the remnant; they are the first fruits.

For there is a stark distinction between those on the milk of the word and those on the strong meat of the word. Those desiring the milk are little children spiritually; those on meat will grow strong and brave and will do the same mighty works that Christ did. That is His promise. And by doing what He did, God fulfills His purpose of reproducing Himself. But the strong meat can only be digested by those who have the strong foundation in the apostles’ doctrine. Only those who have studied and shared the milk of the word with the young ones coming into the body will grow into fathers of the faith like the apostle Paul. The apostles’ doctrine is Christ’s pure teachings without the old leaven, which is the error-filled doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herod.

So, yes, Christ’s teachings are important. They are the yellow brick road leading to us fulfilling our very purpose in being here on earth, which is to glorify God. But here is an example of just how humble and great our God is. He will glorify us by filling us up with Himself first, and in so doing, He is glorified. When He will have multiplied Himself in us, then He will be glorified. You talk about giving and thinking of others. What Love!

In God’s Mind It Is Already Done

The key to implementing every step in our spiritual growth is this: In God’s mind and heart, it is already done. His work and purpose is already finished in us. He sees us that way, as already having all of His holy attributes. For He “calls those things which be not as though they were” (Rom. 4: 17). That is a good description of His faith in Himself and in us. Through His apostles and prophets, He has spoken prophecy about us. And He believes His own word concerning us and sees it as accomplished. That is His faith, which now is our faith since He now lives within us.

Take repentance from sin. Nobody wants to talk about that concept. Most preachers equate it to feeling sorry for the bad things that they have done. But that is “godly sorrow which leads us to repentance.” Feeling sorry is good but it is not repentance. Repentance from sin happens when we surrender our old heart, our old nature, our old self and let it die with Christ on the cross. “And he that is dead is freed from sin. Feeling conviction and sorrow and walking the aisle and joining the church does not constitute repentance from sin. For past sins keep rearing their ugly heads in a person’s mind. There is a remembering of sins, and one’s conscience bothers them, and they feel guilty and defeated again. It is only the blood of Christ that can “purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” These dead works are produced by a sinful old nature.

But here is the astounding thing. Our old sinful self, in God’s eyes, is already dead. He is just waiting for His people to believe it. He has reckoned our old nature dead, and He considers us alive unto Him. What we must do is believe it in faith, confess it with our mouth that the Father has raised Christ from the dead, and we then may begin to “walk in a newness of life.” Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him…Rom. 6: 6.

This walk is a huge part of the first two of the apostles’ doctrine: repentance from dead works and faith toward God. The apostles’ doctrine is not only important, but also vital in us fulfilling our destiny here on earth.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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March 21, 2018 · 2:14 pm

Aging, Humility, and Immortality

The aging of our physical bodies humbles us and brings us low. The decades crumble us down, and the years of storms and winds weather us. We sense a melting back into the earth like the old adobe walls of a Santa Fe cabin, left open to the elements. It is only the joy and laughter and love that once abode inside those walls that make it all mean something.

It is a lot like God’s Spirit as He inhabits His people, bringing love and joy into our hearts during our brief sojourn here on earth.

We bear the burden of aging that we might walk more humbly before our Maker. Speaking of the Spirit, He said through His apostle Paul that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.” Our finite, mortal bodies at present actually serve to draw us closer to the immortal God. For He “resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

We gaze into the mirror and see the face of vulnerability, the face of one incredibly close to death, yet we now are not dismayed. For we are reminded by Him that it is no longer “I” that lives but the Spirit of Christ that lives in us. “We are dead and our lives are hid with Christ in God.” And He said that if we faithfully follow Him, He will give us a new spiritual body at the end of the age. Furthermore, if we are physically alive when He comes back, these old earthly bodies will be swallowed up by the new spiritual body He has prepared for us. It is all good (II Cor. 4th and 5th chapters).

Moreover, it is fascinating to see how God works out His plan. He has ordained the weakness of the human body as a tool to manufacture divine attributes, made to be displayed in the arena of human relationships. “All things [‘good’ or ‘bad’] work together for good for them that love God, who are the called according to His purpose.”

It is God’s will that we suffer with Him in these fragile earthen bodies, as we face the fact that man must go “to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets…Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecc. 12: 5-7). Facing our own mortality has a way of humbling us. He favors those who know they are weak and need Him.

Nevertheless, through God’s grace, you and I have hope of an everlasting future in an everlasting body composed of spirit. That’s the word of His promise to us. He loves us and has given us His best—Himself. It’s just that before all this can take place, He has us walking “through the valley of the shadow of death.” That painful and sometimes lonely trail is the only road to immortality.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{I would love to read your comments and thoughts. Be sure to send for my latest book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It is free with free shipping. Just send your mailing address to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com   And I will get it right out to you}

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Filed under death, hope, immortality, sufferings of Christians