Category Archives: false doctrines

January 14, 2018 · 5:34 pm

Vain Worship–The Opposite of True Worship

Truth is free from error, by definition. The Father is searching for “true worshipers.” Christ said, “The true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4: 23-24). You want to get God’s attention? Start repenting of error filled worship and get into worshiping Him in a true way, and He will definitely take notice of you. Because He is seeking out somebody like you–somebody who will get rid of the errors and get into the true way of worship.

Christ taught us that our worship of the Father must not only be spiritual in nature, but also full of truth and free from error. Since He is the truth, our worship of Him must be grounded in truth, or it becomes “vain worship.” Vain worship is fruitless, futile worship. There is no profit in it; it affects nothing. God tells us to repent of error filled worship. This is part of “continuing steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine” of repentance from dead works.

For vain worship happens when erroneous concepts about God are taught by the preachers, pastors, and priests. When natural men concoct doctrines out of the thin air of their imaginations, vain worship is born. “In vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” They disregard God’s words and teach unregenerate man’s traditions (Mark 7: 7-8). Their imaginations become doctrines, and these talking points become traditions, and then finally these false traditions become commandments for the masses to obey. This is error-filled vain worship.

Some Examples of Vain Worship

Churchianity is rife with false doctrines. Its foundation lies rotting on the sand. They say that repentance occurs when a sinner feels sorry for their sins and accepts Christ as their personal savior. Sorrow for sinful past actions is a good thing, but “godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation” (II Cor. 7: 10). The sinner wants to change his ways, but the preachers won’t tell them how He effects that change in their hearts.

They have prospective Christians being baptized in water as a mandatory action before joining the church. But they don’t teach them that the real baptism happens when the old sinful self is immersed into Christ’s death. The sinner’s old heart and spirit must die with Christ and be buried with Him, and be raised with Him through belief in His resurrection. This is the truth that we should rejoice in and worship in! This is true repentance from sin. But does anyone ever speak of our escape from sin and sinning, symbolized in water baptism (Rom. 6: 1-12)? Sadly, no. We all should ask the preachers, “Why aren’t you teaching Romans 6? Just read it aloud to the people, and let the Spirit reveal His truth to those that can receive it.”

Then there’s the matter with being “born again.” They say that feeling sorry and “coming down to the front” in an altar call is being born again. But there can be no new birth without the old seed of man’s sin nature dying first. Christ said, “He that loses his life for my sake and the kingdom’s sake will save it.” There has to be a losing of one’s old sinful life before one can be “born again” or born from above, which is being born of that incorruptible seed, the word of God” (I Pet. 1: 23).

Furthermore, they teach that “faith” is us believing God’s word—accent on “us” doing the believing. They say to the young Christian, “You gotta have faith,” as if that person’s faith is a different commodity than the one that God has. There is only one faith; the Spirit in Paul made that clear in Ephesians 4: 3-5. The true faith is “the faith of the Son of God.” It is His faith. When we receive Christ’s Spirit we receive His belief system; we now possess in our hearts the very same faith/belief that Christ displayed in the gospels!

It is not, “I have faith in God.” But rather it is, “God’s faith now is in me!” Paul gives us the secret that he lived by: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which 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). Paul was dead, yet alive with Christ living in his earthly body. And the life on earth that he was living, he lived by Christ’s faith. Nobody else’s. Notice that Paul did not say, “I live now in this flesh body because of my faith in God.” No.

Newsflash! The Spirit of Christ is not just living in apostles like Paul; Christ lives in our hearts, too!

We are told by Christ to worship the Father “in spirit and in truth.” But the Christianity of the churches lies seething in error taught today by their preachers, pastors, and priests. These false concepts prevent sincere Christians from worshiping in truth. You cannot worship God in truth if your mind is full of error. When we comprehend that the Father is the Spirit of Truth, then we will realize that no room exists for error in His house of worship. And we are His house.

His Love Is Greater than Falsehoods about Him

And yet, despite the false teachings about our King and Savior, His love still touches hearts. The story of Him giving up His earthly life as a ransom for us all reaches down deep into the core of our existence. When we glimpse that inscrutable, boundless love—the greatest love the world has ever heard of—it still pierces harden hearts and leaves an indelible imprint. Today, at this very moment while you read these words, Christ’s story is touching thousands in spite of all the false concepts and traditions about Him.

After all, He is Love Incarnate and is come down from above, filled to overflowing with abundant mercy upon all who opens their heart to Him. No matter the dastardly sin nor the craven crime, He will touch all who come to Him sincerely. Even as He prayed for His mocking torturers, “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” That’s our King; that is who He is.

His love calls many, but He chooses but a few to fulfill the spiritual life cycle and be His elect; they are chosen to grow to full maturity during these latter days. When you read the gospels, you will hear Christ speaking to those destined to be “conformed to the image” of the Son of God. Christ does not dumb the message down. It is open to all; “whosoever will may come.” That’s the God we serve.

But He now commands us to learn of Him. Learn the true path, the uncharted narrow path that the eagle of Rome has not seen. The time has come to put away childish things—things that will stunt our spiritual growth, things that will prevent us from becoming like Peter, John and Paul, things that will block us from becoming fit to inherit the earth upon His return to this sad, corrupt globe.

When Christ returns to earth, little children of God will not be admitted into Christ’s inner circle where He will assign His manifested sons and daughters their duties for the rulership of the planet.

If we want to be one of these 100 fold over comers, it is time to put away the childish desires for oneself. It is time to seek Him and His purpose and plan and not material things that will all waste away. It is time to lay hold of the plow that will turn this world over, instituting His righteous government in its stead. It is time to quit playing church and begin to repent of the errors in our worship. For He is the only hope for the survival of mankind. Our destiny is to be used by Him to save the world. He is seeking a people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. When He returns, will He find us doing that?       Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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December 6, 2017 · 9:58 pm

The Prosperity Doctrine Debunked

[Turn on to any of the televangelists, any time of day or night, and the vast majority will be preaching the prosperity doctrine. Simply put, it goes like this: Support them with your dollars, and God will bless you financially in return.]

As the Spirit of Truth shines more light into the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” it is easy to get sidetracked, wandering down side paths in His glorious garden of knowledge. And then there’s the constant Sirens’ song enticing the pilgrim to believe their false teachings about Christ. By wandering around, we can lose sight of the central purpose of God, which is a compass that leads us north to His throne. And that purpose is, of course, that God is using us to reproduce Himself in. He calls it “the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8: 19). His purpose should be our meditation.

We must keep God’s truths in context. Knowledge of Him must be tempered with decency and  order (I Cor. 14: 40). We are “to know, and by knowledge to lift up the mind from the dungeon of the body to the enjoying his own divine essence” [1].

Hundreds of denominations are born because someone thought that they had received some insight on “faith” or “grace” or some other idea, and they built an organization around that soundbite, and it became a denomination. And the kicker is that most of the time their “revelation” was unscriptural and just plain wrong. One of the most insidious and onerous of these false doctrines is the prosperity doctrine. Exulting over this teaching is against God’s word, and it needs to be repented of.

The Prosperity Doctrine

Christ’s very first warning when He gave prophecy about the time of the end was this: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” And they will speak about Christ, but they will deceive many (Matt. 24: 4-5). The preachers are slick. They concoct convoluted doctrines of how money will pour into your life. The prosperity teaching is pervasive and is a perversion of the law of harvest. They say that your offering or tithe of money is the seed of faith that must be sowed. They say that this is the way to show your faith in God. They say that giving money to keep their church house doors open and their TV airwaves humming is a seed of faith that God will give back many more dollars as a harvest blessing.

The Problem

There is only one problem with this teaching. It is against Christ’s teachings. Let me explain from the scriptures.

Yes, the law of harvest with the word “seed” and “harvest” is in there, but “money” is not the seed. The seed is a spiritual thing that we sow with God—not a material thing like money. The apostle clears this up. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap…For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6: 7-8). God wants spiritual change, not pocket change.

The “seed” in the passage just quoted is a spiritual offering, not a fleshly one like money. And the harvest is eternal life not financial blessings. Besides, our offering should be our very lives. We are to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (Rom. 12: 1).

God Warns about Preaching for Money

Moreover, the Spirit of Christ in the prophet Micah makes it very clear what God thinks of pastors, preachers, evangelists, bishops, priests, and prophets who get paid for ministering. Yahweh says, “Concerning the prophets that make my people err.” While they lead the flock into error, they are devouring them. Therefore, God will not give them His vision. “The sun will go down over the prophets.” There will be “no answer from God.” He is also talking to the heads of the house of Jacob and the princes of the house of Israel (Ten tribes), you “that abhor judgement, and pervert all equity” (3: 5-9). He is castigating the political leaders as well as the religious.

Here is the warning about preaching for money. Yahweh continues, “Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD’s support and say, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us.” Political  leaders are corrupt, taking bribes. Religious leaders preach and pastor for money. Cut their salaries off and see if they are around in a couple of Sundays. And the televangelists today give prophecy for money. The people in the pews are getting fleeced, and they are not being fed the milk of the word (Micah 3: 11).

This false prosperity doctrine is a snare, couched in Christian terminology. Our center should not be on material blessings. Our Savior told us to not be concerned with the physical and material things. “Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on…neither be of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after… But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Luke 12: 28-31.

This prosperity doctrine is a trap. Giving money to pastors and preachers is a modern day example of the old pagan worship. The people offered their flocks, their grain, and even their children to their pagan idol gods in hopes of a bigger harvest of grain and animal fertility for the next year. We all must take this very seriously and repent from this dead work, which is the first of the apostles’ doctrines.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

  1. Sir Philip Sydney, The Defense of Poesy, “Poetry, Philosophy, History.”

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November 25, 2017 · 3:59 pm

Seeing and Entering the Kingdom of God

Oh, how we need the Prince of Peace to return! Our hearts break when we see a toddler’s legs reduced to jelly in a Syrian minefield, when we see a sobbing volunteer who could not save her. Oh, how we need Him to come and rule with a rod of iron the forces who have strangled the earth with merciless savagery! We need His righteous judgement on the masters of war, the rulers of darkness. Oh, how we need His Love to rise like the sun across the blood-soaked earth, and with its light begin to heal our wounds and dry our tears. We here on this crimson plain ask You to come back soon. We need your kingdom to come. Come back and heal us. Take away our fears of each other. Banish hatred from the land. Sow in its stead tender grains of love and peace. Everlasting Father, please help us. We won’t make it without your touch. We won’t make it without your righteous government coming to earth.

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With a broken spirit, we will begin to see the kingdom of God after being born from above (translated “born again” in the KJV). We then may enter the kingdom of God after being born of water and of the Spirit (John 3: 3-5).

We receive a new heart and new spirit, and this is the start of His kingdom within. For now a portion of the King’s Spirit dwells inside of our hearts. He begins His rule within us. Our desires change for the better. We are less and less selfish; we begin to think of others instead of ourselves. When He is ruling in our hearts, the kingdom is present in us. His Spirit of Love enters our hearts, and God’s reproduction of Himself in us begins. The kingdom of God is the spiritual and physical location where this reproduction is taking place.

The kingdom of God starts small like a tiny grain of belief in Christ in a person’s heart. Then this little light, this little seed of faith grows as others are won to His cause. But they will only seek Him desperately when their creature comforts are taken away. Then they will find  Him. It was always so. As more respond to the kingdom message, then it grows into a nation, which is Christ’s body of believers. Inside them, Love (God) is growing and maturing by His Spirit within them. Then this kingdom goes national, international, worldwide, galactic and universal.

The Spirit in Isaiah speaks eloquently of the King of this Kingdom: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (9: 6-7). The underlined and bold words prove that the Kingdom of God is a government with political as well as religious overtones because it institutes peace and not war.

Let us dig deeper into this passage. Everyone agrees that the “child” referenced above is Jesus Christ, Yahshua the Messiah. But let us see what the Spirit says about His kingdom. The kingdom of God is a “government.” And it is Christ’s government, for He is its sovereign ruler. He shoulders all of the responsibility of rulership. He is called “The everlasting Father” because the Father Yahweh resides fully in Him. He is called “The Prince of Peace” because through His rule, 1,000 years of peace will permeate this planet. And there will be no end to Christ’s government and peace, for He will be “upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom.” Christ will rule here on earth with righteous judgement and justice forever. The zeal of Yahweh will make it all happen.

Being a Citizen in His Kingdom

The Kingdom of God at present a spiritual one. Upon Christ’s return to assume His throne and rule, it will add a political dimension, for He will rule all nations. For now, to be a part of His government/kingdom, we must give up our earthly life with its lusts, desires, and aspirations for self. That is what it costs to be a citizen in His kingdom. Then we must replace our petty desires with His desires. We must take Christ’s yoke upon us and pull the plow with Him, never looking back.

What are we plowing with Christ? He’s plowing up the whole earth in order to plant His righteous word everywhere. Unregenerate man is the ground that is plowed and then planted. When the Sower begins to sow the seed, only the broken ground will receive the seed (Matt. 13). The broken ground is a broken heart and a contrite spirit in a humbled person. That is the ground that is able to receive the seed, the word of God.

Many nations and peoples will flow into His government. And He will bring some of us to His throne room. Those chosen for this honor will sit with Him, and He will make them “rulers over ten cities.” If chosen for this honor, we will be viceroys, ambassadors, and administrators for the King (Luke 19: 17; Rev. 3: 21; Isa. 2: 2-4).

It’s All about the Kingdom

For 1,300 days, both pre- and post-resurrection, Christ taught exclusively about His Kingdom. He spoke of Himself as a soon-to-be exiled King. His teachings are centered in the government/kingdom of God. His doctrine separates the good and true from the bad and false concepts, ideas, and assumptions of false teachers. By purging the doctrinal errors, He brings His subjects into a closer walk with their King.

The Kingdom is the place where God is growing. His Kingdom is the realm of His influence. He is not fellowshipping with those in error. He commands all people everywhere to repent from what they are doing and who they are serving because the Kingdom is here. Right now the King through His Spirit of truth has taken up residence in the hearts of His saints. His presence is growing and will grow until His kingdom fills the whole earth.

Many Are in Error

Many professing Christians are in error. Christ has harsh words for those who claim to know Him and fail to seek first His kingdom. Again, His kingdom/government is utmost in His mind. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’(Mat. 7: 21-23).

There will be much weeping on that sad day for lukewarm Christians. These professing Christians thought that they were worshipping and serving God. They knew the lingo and the outer trappings, but not Him and His purpose. They will be rejected by Him and they will weep bitter tears. It would have been much better for them to have wept for the widows and orphans and little children who were being slaughtered in the killing fields of this wicked world system—much better had they sobbed and cried out for Him and His kingdom to come and end the injustice and suffering. Much better had they not relied on the pastors’ and preachers’ faulty vision for them.

Nevertheless, upon being rejected, millions of people will try to justify their brand of Christianity to the King Himself! And they will weep in shame after He says to them, “I never knew you.” And why will this happen? Because they did not know Him as He really is! They did not believe the Son’s own witness about Himself, when He commanded us, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” They had Him as a third person of a Trinity; they did not believe that the fullness of the Father dwelt bodily in Christ. They missed it. They missed His oneness; they missed the “Holy One of Israel.” That will be a sad  and dreadful day.

“Only the one who does the will of my Father” will be allowed to enter the kingdom. And what’s the Father’s will? “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life…” And to “believe in Him” one must believe His words, especially His words about Himself, which are these: “The Father is in Me” (John 6: 40; 14: 11). And, of course, this further proves that God is One and not three. Simple belief in what He says about Himself emanating from a clear mind free from false doctrines—that is all He wants us to do. That’s the kingdom walk.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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November 18, 2017 · 11:37 pm

What Christ Taught–The Kingdom of God

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We have learned that the anointing is “truth and is no lie.” And we know that Christ, the Anointed One, is the truth, for He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Christ expressed this with words; He is, after all, “the Word made flesh.” And this fact makes these words come alive: “Thy word is truth.” Consequently, to be anointed by God is to have God’s word of truth in one’s heart and pouring through one’s mouth. If preachers are operating in falsehoods, fabrications, and imaginations about God, then they are not anointed by Yahweh. Period. And they are legion. For the anointing is no lie (I Jn. 2: 27; John 14: 6; John 1: 1, 14; Dan. 9: 25-26 NIV).

Christ Is the Truth and the Word

So what did our Master, the greatest Teacher, teach? What words came out of His mouth when He was speaking? He is the Anointed King, so what truths came forth from Him? They were the Father Yahweh’s words. “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, He does the works” (John 14: 10).

And what exactly did Yahweh’s words coming out of Christ’s mouth say? In other words, what exactly did Christ teach? And by extension, what should we all be teaching?

  • “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is right here, right now on this earth (Mt. 4: 17). When He began to preach and teach, these were His first words.
  • “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” The very first thing in our search should be His kingdom and righteousness (Mt. 6: 33).
  • Christ came “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.” The good news is the kingdom.
  • Christ sent out His twelve disciples to preach, and He had them say, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom message was multiplied through His disciples (Mt. 10: 7).
  • All of the parables that He spoke convey and conceal at the same time secrets and mysteries of His kingdom—what it is like, where it is, when it is to come, etc. Some of the parables are in Matthew 13: 3-52.
  • “…Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven…” The Lord’s Prayer is the model prayer that our prayers should emulate. Having His kingdom come to earth is the first thing that we should ask for. His kingdom is the fulfillment of His purpose and plan and will be accomplished in the earth (Luke 11: 2).
  • Christ spoke constantly about the kingdom of God during His 3 ½ year ministry.
  • The kingdom was so important to Him that He was still teaching it after His death, burial, and resurrection! For forty days He was seen of His apostles. During that time, He was “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1: 1-3).
  • After the resurrection, the very first question that the disciples asked was this: “Will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” They wanted His government to come for their time, in which the fleshly children of the Hebrew patriarchs would receive power to rule the nations. They must have been talking about this, for it to be the first thought and question out of their mouths. This question points to not only a religious government, but also a political one. They said, “to Israel.” And Christ had said, “I am sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” Meat to chew on (Acts 1: 6; Mt. 15: 24).
  • We could go on and on with quotes about Christ’s government coming to this earth. The word “kingdom” appears over 120 times in the four gospels alone. Christ spoke the Father’s words out of His mouth, leaving us an example. Yet, the vast majority of preachers today do not teach His kingdom. The word “kingdom” seldom escapes their lips. But they insist that they have the anointing, the truth, the word of God. They mention Christ, but they do not teach the same words that He taught. Therefore, the Father is not speaking through them, for they speak not His words. So one must ask, Has God anointed them? Short answer: No.

After they had received the Spirit of Truth, the disciples later realized that the kingdom of God is where the Spirit of God is residing. The kingdom is wherever the Truth is. Wherever the King is, the government of God is there. The kingdom of God was foremost in Christ’s mind. It was all about the kingdom. And we are to have the mind of Christ.

Having the Mind of Christ

In order to have the mind of Christ, we must reprogram our thinking. It does not happen overnight. It takes time and study and prayer.

There is a process. God’s little children, upon receiving a new heart, receive “an earnest of His Spirit,” which is a down payment portion of His Spirit. This allows them to see and enter the kingdom of God (John 3: 3-5). This will take them through the thirty fold realm of spiritual growth. This is a beginning part of the kingdom of God. Or better put, the Spirit begins to guide God’s little children.

And as they begin to grow, they are given trials to overcome, which purifies their walk. Then God begins to execute His plan within them. His Spirit grows in them to fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself, which is multiplying love. We are told, “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” It is all part of His plan and is part of the sufferings of Christ (I Pet. 4: 12-13). It can be difficult. To grow, there must be painful purging out of old leaven at times. Those who overcome all things will be the citizens of the kingdom of God upon the King’s return.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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October 21, 2017 · 5:49 pm

Oneness of God–Key to 100 Fold Growth

Newsflash to All Future Manifested Sons of God

The Trinity concept of the Godhead is a grievous error; it is an abominable false doctrine that aspiring sons and daughters of God must repent of. It is ubiquitous in its reach, spread by the minions of the Catholic and Protestant churches. “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible. Neither do the words “three persons.” If we stubbornly cling to this false concept the way its tentacles cling to our minds, our spiritual growth will be stunted, and we will never bear 100 fold spiritual fruit, never be in His inner circle, and never fulfill the royal destiny that we are called to do.

To be like Christ, we must see Him as He really is. We must know Him the way He was and is in the beginning. The Oneness of the Godhead explains all this, and in so doing, it disproves the Trinity.

Children, Young Men, Fathers

The apostle John wrote to all three growth level Christians—30 fold, 60 fold, and 100 fold, as seen in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13. He called them children, young men, and fathers. He gave a specific reason why he was writing unto the spiritually mature fathers. I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning.

We see here that he makes a definite distinction among little children, young men, and fathers—30, 60, and 100 fold Christians.

The future manifested sons of God for these latter days will be the fathers that John is writing to. You fathers will know Him in a pure unadulterated state—knowledge of the Self-Existent One prior to fallen man’s false concepts about who God is. You fathers, you manifested sons of God, will know Him as He really is and was. There will be no false concepts or imaginations seeping into your minds about the truth of God’s nature and Godhead. You will have purged out all false teachings and the old leaven of man’s thinking as to who God really is and what He is really like and is about. You, sons, will know Him as He is from the beginning. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. I John 3:3.

The sons of God will not have false concepts of who the Holy One of Israel is. They will, therefore, become just like their Father. Each seed bears its own kind. Like begets like. They will become fathers and, yea, kings on the same throne as their Father King. They will, in fact, be able to engender others with this great power and essence from above. They will have everlasting life generating in and out of their new spiritual bodies. They will be fathers like their heavenly Father. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. John 1:12.

David knew Yahweh well. In fact, Yahweh said that he was a man after God’s own heart. Let’s learn from this pattern son about Him that is from the beginning.

David is pouring his heart out to the Father Yahweh all the way through Psalm 102. He talks to Him throughout, expressing his faith in the great One who created all things. What is astounding about this is that this very same passage is quoted by Paul referring to the Son of God!

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

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

David Goes Back to the Beginning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The mystery is this: Yahweh, the Creator, poured Himself into the Messiah. Everything that that Anointed One did, it was Yahweh Himself doing it. Christ said as much: “The Father that dwells in Me, He does the works” (Jn. 14: 11). Yahweh created everything, in His pre-existent form, which is Yahshua. Yahweh is an invisible Spirit; He is not a man sitting up there. The only place He resides is in the high and lofty place in His Son and with those of a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

This Oneness doctrine enables us to “see Him as He is,” which, in turn, enables us to be like Him. “We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (John 3: 3). We shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is. And He is the Holy One of Israel, not three.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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October 14, 2017 · 5:07 pm

Purging Out Erroneous Concepts of the Godhead

*****[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.]*****

We have learned that the apostles’ doctrine is Christ’s teachings. His apostles “continued steadfastly” in them. They are called the “milk of the word” and are utterly necessary for spiritual growth in Christ. And spiritual growth is what our Father is all about. Learning these teachings and applying them in our life enables us to grow from “one degree of glory into another.”

Applying them is what insures our spiritual growth. At each level of fruit production—30, 60, and 100 fold—each of the seven apostles’ doctrines are seen.

The first doctrine is “repentance from dead works.” This doctrine is the entry point into the Kingdom of God, for one must repent from sin and be born from above before one can see or enter into it. Christ came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repenting once and for all of sinning in your life enables you to bear 30 fold fruit.

But to grow into 60 fold fruit bearing, one must repent from erroneous teachings passed down to us from purveyors of false doctrines. Just living on this planet subjects us to old leaven concepts. They come from sermons, Sunday school lessons, gospel songs, televangelists, books, movies, next door neighbors, parents, grandparents, and our own dreams.

False doctrines must go, for they are teachings, traditions, and concepts conjured out of the fervid imaginations of deceived minds. They must be excised from our thoughts. The apostles called it “purging out the old leaven.” To bear optimal fruit, a young tree’s wayward branches must be pruned.

Which Doctrines Must Go?

Where do we begin? How do we find one of the false teachings in our thinking? I suggest that we start with our concept of the Godhead. I know that it is perhaps the biggest and grandest concept of them all. But once we get this one straightened out in our minds and hearts, it will open doors of light to see other wonders in the next room.

Our goal and purpose in life is to be like Christ and His apostles. That is His goal and purpose for us. To accomplish this, we must “know Him that is from the beginning.” We must see God before man was created out of the dust of the earth, before man’s governments and armies and religions and societies ever came into being. To be like Him we must stand before Him, filled with His Spirit. We must have decreased so much that it is no longer us standing there but Christ in us doing the greater works. We must see God as He really is; we must see Him before man was deceived by Satan’s wiles, before the devil’s whispered lies about God took root in man’s imagination.

In order to fully understand the Oneness of God, we must get back to the beginning, before sin and self and Satan, and before false teachings marred the mind of man. We must go back to that time before sin entered the world, before tears and sorrow, before greed and hatred. We have to go back to the time in the Father’s heart when it was good, “when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38: 7).

To comprehend how God really is, to perceive of His purity, we must go back, back, back to the beginning, when we were together in His heart, when we were in one body, with one Spirit and one hope and one faith and “one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all” (Eph. 4: 4-6). Those chosen by our Father to go on to full perfection and maturity will go back there, back to the beginning. The future manifested 100 fold sons of God will repent of self and go back to the beginning before ego ever existed.

But we who have the “high calling” aspire to grow into the 100 fold manifested sonship walk. We desire to become spiritual fathers to those whom our God is calling and choosing. John addressed the fathers: “I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning” (I John 2: 13, 14). Knowing Him from the beginning is knowing Him before sin entered in and shrouded men’s eyes, before imaginations supplanted the Truth that our elders in the faith saw and knew. The apostle John is telling us, “And now, you, like them, know.”

John, what do we know that is from the beginning?

“You have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things” (I John 2: 20). We have an anointing of truth, an unction, from the Holy One. The Holy One shares Himself, the Spirit of truth, which is the anointing, out of His reality of Oneness. God is One, not two or three persons. He is the “Holy One of Israel.” The “truth” spoken of in the Scriptures of, well, Truth, is the  Oneness of the Godhead. There, I have said it—again. If we get this one right, it will carry us on down the road a long ways.

Ferreting Out the False Doctrines

If you want to know what is not the truth about the Godhead, just go to the source of falsehoods—“the woman arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus…” (Rev. 17: 4-6). This proves that John saw the Catholic Church as this Mother of Harlots (denominations).

The Mother Church, the Roman Catholic Churcht is born of Babylonian confusion, its existence a great mystery. Its teachings are false in every way. Find out what they say about the Godhead and the truth will be its polar opposite. Case in point: the Trinity. The concept of the trinity has permeated almost all of Christianity. Hundreds of books have been written about it, but most will admit that it is unexplainable. The word “trinity” is not in the Bible, yet the whole world accepts the concept of “three persons” in the God head. And all that is left is confused minds after trying to understand it.

So before you call me a heretic, let me share a couple of chapters that illustrate and bear witness to the truth that our God is One. [To be continued]     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

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October 5, 2017 · 10:53 pm

“Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees,” Christ Said…But Why?

What was so wrong with their teachings? They were religious, after all. They prayed publicly. They gave money to the poor and homeless, and they supported financially their place of worship. They referenced the law of Moses, the prophets and followed the commentaries of their elders and rabbis. They were devout. So what was the problem at its core? What was this “leaven”?

Christ warned: “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Lk 12: 1). In a word, they were hypocrites. “Hypocrite” in biblical Greek means “a pretender.”  Christ said as much. “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15: 7-9).

There it is. The Pharisees claimed to be teachers sent from God but were only teaching “commandments of men.” Other translations flesh out what they were teaching: “human rules (NIV), precepts of men (RSV), human commands (CSB), and man-made ideas (NLT). They were hypocrites, for they disguised themselves as God’s representatives. They “transformed themselves into angels of light,” but were only teaching false doctrines out of human imaginations.

These doctrines of men are the “old leaven” that we are admonished to get rid of. “Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened” (I Cor 5: 7-8). We are the unleavened bread; God has faith that we will respond and become un-leavened bread, for He calls things that “be not as though they were” (Rom. 4: 17). We must repent of false concepts that will permeate our whole being, as yeast spreads throughout the whole lump of dough. We are the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Therefore the leaven that must be repented of is insincerities, hypocrisies, and falsehoods.

Leaven consists of the list of errors in our worship. God looks at the intent of our hearts. Coming into Christ, we carry old baggage with us. We do not intend to worship Him with false concepts and beliefs about Him. Growing up, we were all taught many false doctrines about God and His plan. However, the gravest error is to cling to them rather than proving from the Scriptures their veracity or not. We must repent of the errors if we are to grow unto full maturity (perfection). If we really desire to go all the way to the throne room to be in His presence, if we sincerely want to walk with Christ as Peter, James, and John did, we have to get honest with ourselves about the leaven and purge it out. Getting rid of the false doctrines is a major part of the apostles’ doctrine of “repentance from dead works.”

Those that don’t purge out the old leaven will be like the five foolish virgins who had no oil in their lamps and were not ready. They will be like those who asked the Lord, Did we not cast out devils in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And He will say to them, Depart from Me; I never knew you. There will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” for those who had a chance to be very close to the King and blew it. Why? Because they were stubborn, and they would not study to be approved of God to be one of His kings in His Kingdom. They hardened their hearts and would not repent of the old false concepts about God.

So which teachings about God are false and have got to go? Which comfortable traditions come from the imaginations of the human mind and which things are from the mind of Christ? How are we to know for sure? The answers will come from the written Word, which is  “given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine…” In this worldly hothouse of emotions, we will quietly trust and “watch to see what He will say” to us out of His word (Hab. 2: 1). For in the end, that is really all we have.  In the end, that is really all we need, for Christ is the Word now being made flesh and dwelling among us–again.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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September 30, 2017 · 3:29 pm

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

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September 23, 2017 · 4:55 pm

Two Major Concepts Concerning the Apostles’ Doctrine

*****[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.]*****

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

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June 17, 2017 · 3:25 pm

What Do We Do Next? We Continue Steadfastly in the Apostles’ Doctrine

A brother the other day asked me, “I am understanding about how the walk with Christ is training us to be kings with Him. But what exactly do we do next?”

The operative word in his important question is “do.” Do we just “go to church” like the generation before us did? Do we pay our tithes and offerings, sitting patiently in the pews for something remarkable to happen?

That is not what the apostles taught the early church. Somebody will say, You cannot work for salvation; you cannot “do” anything; it is a gift. Yes, salvation is a gift. But we obey His commands because of the gift–not to receive the gift. That would be “works” that we do in order to be saved. We do not do things to be accepted by our King; we do what He has told us to do because we love Him, His purpose, and His plan. To grow spiritually we do what He has commanded us to do; this helps us to “make our calling and election sure.” In a word, He wants us to grow out of spiritual childhood and into fully matured spiritual giants in the faith.

The following are a few of those things that He has asked us to do after we receive salvation:

(1) “Put on the whole armour of God” (Eph. 6: 11-18). Here the Spirit uses an extended  metaphor that compares the spiritual arming of our hearts and minds to the physical armour used in mortal combat.

(2) Moreover, we are to “add to your faith” certain attributes of the Spirit; this is “partaking of the divine nature” (II Peter 1: 4-10). These seven additions must be studied out and applied by faith.

(3) Also, we are to get rid of false concepts about God, which is called “purging out the old leaven” (I Cor. 5: 7). This is a tough one. For instance, can we ditch the Christmas tree and the Easter eggs and bunnies and especially, what they represent?

(4) We are also told to pray in accordance with the model prayer the Savior gave us called the Lord’s Prayer. It is not to be mouthed by rote with little understanding, but as the pattern prayer. We are to study its concepts and mold our prayers to reflect what is on the Master’s mind.

(5) We are to follow the New Testament examples and “continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2: 42). There are more things we are to do, but these will get us started. [I have shared extensively on these things on this website; just use the “search” slot on the home page to get to them or click on the subject headings on the right column]

The Acts of the Apostles is, of course, the complete title of the book of Acts. It is a recounting of the things that the early apostles did, right after the resurrection and ascension of Christ. It is a record of their actions. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preaches to the crowd repentance from sin and faith toward God and told the new converts to be baptized. And these newly added souls to the body of Christ “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2: 38-42).

If we want to be like the early church, then we need to do what they did. They “continued.” To continue with something, we first must have that something working in our lives. What the early church had was the doctrine of Christ. He gave His teachings to His disciples; having His doctrine made them apostles. And they in turn shared His teachings with those gathered at the Feast of Pentecost where 3,000 believed and were added to them that day.

The Doctrines of Christ and His Apostles

So what doctrines did Christ and the apostles teach? We have already cited three of them two paragraphs up. We can pour over the New Testament again and again, looking for “the apostles’ doctrine” that the early church continued in. We can take somebody’s word for it next time we talk to a preacher. Or we can go to where an apostle has already listed them for us in the scriptures. We can listen to the office of teacher show us where to find it and explain it to us. The teacher is the Spirit of Christ.

The “apostles’ doctrine” is called “the first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb. 5: 12-14).  The apostles’ doctrine is the elemental, foundational precepts of the very utterances of God. These teachings are also called “the principles of the doctrine of Christ.” It is at this juncture that the apostle writing Hebrews lists them: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. Christ builds His house on these principles—nothing less. And these teachings will infuse His life within us unto perfection, which is the fulfillment of Christ reproduced in us (Heb. 6: 1-2).

They should sound familiar. Peter in Acts 2 mentioned four of them. We need to first know about them and then study them out so that they are a part of our heart and soul. And then we are to continue in them. But this takes the gift of a God-sent teacher to introduce and then expound on them and their relevance to our new life.

These doctrines make up the foundation of His house, “whose house are we.” Taking them seriously and learning about them and getting them deep within our hearts is “building our house upon the rock.” When the winds and rain come from Satan, then these teachings make us strong to weather the storm. Having them solid in us helps us spiritually grow out of babyhood and childhood and makes us ready for the strong meat of His word. These are the teachings about the governing of His kingdom during the 1,000 year reign of Christ. The meat of the word is beyond these doctrines; the meat of His word brings into us a preparedness to rule with Him in His kingdom, bringing peace to a chaotic earth. He is going to use those who are prepared and “fit for the Master’s use.” Those who count His teachings as a light thing will be sorely surprised when He says, “Depart from Me…I never knew you.” This thing is real and heavy and we better take heed to His voice while it may be heard. For there is coming a day…   Kenneth Wayne Hancock         {To be continued…}

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