Tag Archives: sin

Introduction to The Abiding—Indwelling Spirit of Love, Part Two

When we believe that Christ was resurrected and we were resurrected, too, with Him, then we were “born from above,” [translated “born again” in the KJV].

We receive the seed, the word of God, and His word speaks of Christ being the sin sacrifice. He laid down His life, accomplishing our salvation through His love for all of us. And the Word of God is the Seed that will spring to life when we fully believe that our old life died when the Sin Sacrifice died. “The life is in the blood.” When Christ’s blood was shed, the life of sin died. Our sinful self died. This is how His blood cleanses us of all sin [See more on this: blood | Search Results | Immortality Road].

And activated by our belief of this report, His Spirit begins to grow inside of us. As we grow, we begin to walk the walk of a Christian. Through study and prayer, we begin our growth, ending in the harvest of His Word in us and, then, He casts us throughout the world.

We must walk in this knowledge. Walking in the Spirit is studying this out and then being able to share it with others. Christ’s elect becomes the Sower of the Seed (Matthew 13). It’s like being a farmer who sows the seed. Some comes up; some don’t. We followers of Christ are at once a member of the collective Sower, and we are a part of the Seed itself.

God’s plan is couched in secrets and mysteries. If all this is making sense to you, then “blessed are your eyes for they see, and blessed are you ears, for they hear.” “For few there be to find this way of truth” (Matt. 13:16; Matt. 7:14).

When we first come to Christ, we all become spiritual babies, no matter our earthly age. The spiritual foundation is the food that is most digestible. The strong meat of the Word is for those who have reached a level of maturity. This growth continues until the harvest, called 100-fold by the Savior.

The Foundation Is Important

Laying the spiritual foundation is to give the King’s word context. For truly the spiritual foundation in our new life is “the foundation of repentance from dead works [sin] and of faith toward God” (Heb. 6:1). But we are not to keep laying it. These two doctrines are the “first principles of the oracles of God (Heb. 5:12-6:2). It is crucial to obtain an accurate bearing on the walk to the Heavenly Jerusalem. But we must leave 30-fold’s safety, secured in His loving arms to grow into “the fulness of Christ.” We are to grow in the Spirit and begin partaking of the “meat of the word” and not the milk. We are to grow up and stop being spiritual babies, mostly alive for what they can receive from the Father.

We must grow to become young men and women in the Spirit and on into being fathers and virtuous women. We need the meat of the word for us to grow into the 60-fold and 100-fold growth levels. “But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). A young Christian needs time to mature. The Abiding presents a banquet of visionary food that will help them grow properly.

This book, with Christ’s help, shares knowledge of the secrets and mysteries of Christ and His Kingdom. It is an attempt to illuminate the path of those He has chosen. His elect will choose to “go all in.” They will understand that half-stepping lukewarmness won’t make it.

The Abiding explains the 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold growth levels. But its main focus is on the 100-fold harvest of maturity. That is why I have spent so much time on spiritual growth. This book discusses the maturity [think apostle-like power] that He has called us to.

For He has called us to His throne. Those who reach maturity will sit with Christ on His throne, ruling “over ten cities” during His thousand-year reign on earth.

Understanding Matthew 13 Parable of the Sower unlocks the door into the Father’s spiritual treasure house. The early apostles knew and understood what it all meant. They wrote about it, and time has preserved the scrolls of that sacred writing.

Knowledge of The Parable of the Sower unlocks the secrets of Christ’s other parables. Speaking of the Parable of the Sower, Christ said, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? (Mark 4:13 ESV)?

Christ admonishes us all: Walk humbly as stewards of His truth.

With agape love,

Wayne

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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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There Is Only One Faith–God’s Faith in Himself

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Tired of Playing Church? Hungry to Go Deeper into His Word?

Introduction to the Book The Unveiling of the Sons of God

The thoughts expressed in this book explore the deep things of God—things that can only be spiritually discerned. These things pertain to our perfection and how we get to that perfected state.  These deep things of God explore what He desires to do with us, His sons and daughters, after He takes us to where he wants us to be.  And all of this will be done right here on earth.

This book has been written as a tool for the future manifested sons and daughters of God. Its subject matter is of a mature spiritual nature. It is not for children who are “tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.” This book is for those who have been called to partake of the strong meat of the word.  It is for those who are tired of “playing church” and want the real plan of God operating in their lives.

The inspired author of the book of Hebrews had much to say concerning perfection, but it was difficult to teach his readers, for they were “dull of hearing” and “slow to learn.” What he had to say was not what they thought in their own wisdom to be true. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food…Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…Hebrews 5:12; 6:1. NKJV.

And so it is today. If the first principles of Christ’s teachings are not solid as a rock in a person’s life, the deeper things will not be understood by them. The foundation of any house must be solid, built upon the Rock.

This book is for those who have a solid foundation in the first principles of Christ’s teachings: repentance from dead works and faith toward God. It is for those who are “going on unto perfection.”

I can already hear the cries coming forth. Perfection? Did you say perfection? Wait a minute. You are talking about perfection, and I am still grappling with sin in my life? No way. No one can be perfect.

A typical response, and yet, the Savior Himself told us to “be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The apostle Paul says that God’s gifts to us were the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And they are for the “perfecting of the saints…till we all come…unto a perfect man…and no more children, tossed to and fro” (Ephesians 4:11-14).

Many sincere Christians earnestly desire to walk with their Master like this, yet they cannot even think about their own perfection while still grappling with the sin question in their lives. They will justify their circling Mt. Sinai by saying, “Nobody can be perfect. You can’t be like Jesus!” To which I will reply, “Okay, but will you let me be like Paul or Peter or John?” They are the ones that taught us that we are to go on to perfection and not be children anymore in the word.

Yet, many questions abound in many hearts concerning sin. What is sin? What do we do about it in our lives? Can we overcome it in our lives? Is it possible to have the victory over sin while still here on earth? How do these questions relate to “repentance from dead works and faith toward God”? [Introduction to be continued]    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{Order your copy of The Unveiling of the Sons of God. It is free with free shipping. Just send your name, mailing address, and the name of the book to my email: wayneman5@hotmail. Some put $20 in the offering tray; I write and send my books to my brothers and sisters. This is my offering. We must remember: Christ took money off the table…Take a moment and order your copy today.}

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Qualities of a Teacher of God

How does one discern who is a true teacher of God and a false teacher? First, a true teacher will reveal the eternal purpose of God, which is this: He is “bringing many sons [and daughters] unto glory.” God is reproducing Himself in a chosen group called His elect. They will share God’s vision of our perfection, which is spiritual maturity. It all starts with the conquering of sin and sinning in their life.

Repentance and Faith

God’s teachers will teach “repentance from sin and faith toward God.” These are the first teachings of the “the apostles’ doctrine.” They will expound to the “little flock” all seven of Christ’s doctrines. [For a deeper dive into this subject, I have written a book entitled The Apostles’ Doctrine which explains in depth the seven doctrines of Christ. To receive your copy, send your name, mailing address, and name of the book to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com It is free with free shipping.]

His teachers will explain how to receive a new heart with a new spirit from God. This new heart obeys God’s Ten Commandments. Breaking them is sin. Unlike most pastors and teachers, they will not try to keep you a sinner. They will not limit God and His power to change us fundamentally at our core. They will show us how to “follow our example” Christ, guiding them through the “cross experience.” They will explain how we die with the sin sacrifice Christ, how we are buried with Christ, and how we are raised to walk in a newness of life–with Christ’s Spirit now within (Rom. 6:1-12).

True teachers will start by telling you that you can be like Peter, James, John, and Paul. They were sinners, all too human, and they were changed by His Spirit. So much so, that many miracles were done by the Spirit through their hands. Nevertheless, there will be many doubters and gainsayers. So, I will ask them this: If you won’t let me be like Christ, is it okay if I be like His apostles? That’s a good enough walk. They healed the sick and even raised the dead. Through their hands the Spirit worked miracles.

Laying the Foundation

God’s teachers will first lay the spiritual foundation on which a Christian is built as a habitation of the Spirit. We are the spiritual temple of God, the place for the Holy Spirit to dwell and abide.

So, what is the foundation of the temple? Later, in Hebrews, the answer is outlined in plain English. “Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection [maturity], not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works [sin] and of faith toward God” (6:1). These are the first principles of Christ’s doctrine, and they make up the foundation.

Herein lies a real checklist of essential knowledge for the Christian. A God-sent teacher can explain what “repentance from dead works” means. The God-sent office of Teacher is the Holy Spirit speaking through a son or daughter of God. They will explain how the one and only faith is Christ’s faith. There is only one faith (Eph. 4:5). And we are living “by the faith of the Son of God…” (Gal. 2:20). By His faith.

The reason there are not more of God’s teachers is because people lack knowledge of God’s purpose and plan. “For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat” (Heb. 5:12). God wants us all to be His teachers. But how can we be His teachers when we do not have the foundational doctrines of Christ?

The teachings of Christ in Hebrews 6:1-2 are “the oracles of God.” Because most don’t know them, they need to be taught “the milk of the word” and not the “strong meat.” The milk, the beginning foundational teachings, helps one to get stronger and more able to digest the meat of the word. A user of the milk of the word is “unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat belongs to them of full age,” for they are able “to discern both good and evil” (5:13-14).

Teachers of God will not only lay the foundation for spiritual growth, but they will also teach us how to grow. For they understand that there are different growth levels in the body of Christ. Moreover, there are different offices of God in the body to help us reach spiritual maturity. The five offices of God are apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher.

These words about His teachers are not meant to doubt the sincerity of any teacher. It is a matter of receiving the hidden wisdom and knowledge from above and then sharing it with those whom He has called. Teaching is all about The Spirit of truth communicating through a vessel, as opposed to a person speaking things about Christ. Big difference. No matter where we stand with God, we must put on humility and learn from Christ. He is the Master and Teacher. He channels His Spirit of truth through humans that He has called into His service.

May our King Yahshua use you as a teacher and prophet. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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In the beginning was the Seed

In the beginning was the Seed, the Word, the Logos. And the Seed was God. And God was Yahweh. He existed in a spiritual Seed. And inside the Seed was the spiritual DNA of God Yahweh/himself. The Seed contained His thoughts, intents, and His plan.

This was at the beginning, the arche, which is the beginning of all things. This Greek word translated “beginning” does not mean the beginning of a movie or the beginning of starting college classes. No, this is the beginning before anything else was. This is at the very beginning of all things. We know this because the same exact word, arche, appears in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word was God.”

The whole purpose and plan of God is written in the Seed, the Logos. And this intent and plan was all in a spiritual Seed. “In the beginning was the Word,” the Seed. This truth unlocks the doors of understanding. “And the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.”

God’s very nature of unconditional love was in the DNA of the Seed. That is who he is—unconditional love. That is the record. But that agape love laid unfulfilled and dormant until it could show and give testimony as to how the greatest Love operates. It would be a grand witness, but a witness to whom? There was no one to show how agape manifests itself.

Creating Mankind

So, inside the Seed’s spiritual DNA, was the plan to create mankind. These human beings would have His spark; they would be able to feel, respond, and react to God’s plan. He created them to be predisposed to follow the green light of His beckoning. And He would bring them into being with the purpose of becoming witnesses of His glory. However, they would have to first fall and succumb to sin, and then God would save them.

Through this process, God would show His incomparable love to both these humans and to the angelic beings in heaven. “God’s purpose in all this was to use the church [us] to display His wisdom…to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places,” thus, bringing a oneness to both of God’s families—the one in heaven and the one in earth.

The great Spirit Yahweh would send the Seed down in a word into a virgin, and she would believe, thus conceiving and bringing forth the Son of God. He would be human but would be engendered by the righteous Seed of Yahweh His Father.

Now Yahweh has His Son, and His Son would lay his earthly life down unto death, thus showing the world the greatest love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Christ considers all who believe this testimony His friends. He has opened the prisons of death and despair. He has provided the way to redemption and glory for fallen man–if they but believe His report.

It takes faith to be assured of God’s promises to us, especially when the only tangible evidence of His testimony being true is invisible. Walking by faith is believing without seeing him in this 3-D world. It takes a heart reaching out into the heavenly spiritual dimension. That heart is the good ground that will bring forth 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold fruit—fruit that will be used to edify others in his Kingdom of righteousness (Matthew 13:1-23).

Finally, in the beginning, all things did not start with a Big Bang. Everything started with the Seed. And what is the Seed? The Seed is He, the living Word/Logos, and He contains all the wisdom and knowledge that will always be. For “in the beginning was the Word.”

And “the parable is this: the seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). Therefore, “In the beginning was the Seed, the Logos, the word of God. Inside the very beginning of all things–before there were the heavens and the earth, there was the Seed. And that Seed was Spirit. And that Seed was the Word/Logos. And that seed was Yahweh. And that Seed “was made flesh and dwelt among us.” And that Seed fell into the ground and died as the sacrifice for our sins. He forgave us, loving us and showing us the greatest love, thus showing us what God is. He is Love. For that Seed is the word of Love. The Logos, the Word, is the logical rendering of what was, what is, and what shall be.  

[I know this is strong meat. But embrace this knowledge, for it is vital to our spiritual growth. The apostle John wrote, “I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning” (I John 2:13). “Fathers” are Christians who have fully matured producing fruit “one hundred-fold.” They have had mysteries of the beginning cleared up by Him (Rev. 3:14-22).

These are the overcomers of this last Laodicean church age. Those who overcome will be invited to sit with Christ on His throne! This is not an empty promise. We have a chance to be called up to the Major Leagues! This honor will only go to those who have studied and have run the race, a race of endurance that ends in His arms. He is revealing more and more of His plan and purpose. Ask Him that you may be a beacon of light guiding many into the harbor of His love.

Please like, share, comment, and subscribe if you have been edified and desire more of this truth.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock]

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The Cross, Repentance from Sin, and the New Birth

You are a Christian. You want to win souls to Christ. But what is the exact message that you need to deliver? Christ is our example. What did He say to them?

Christ did not mince words. The first words out of His mouth were these: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Abrupt, perhaps. Straight to the point. Yet that short message is packed with meaning. He is saying, You must repent of your sins because God’s kingdom is right here, right now, waiting for you to enter. But you must make a spiritual entrance. If you do not change your old ways, you will miss this opportunity to be with Me in My kingdom, for I am its King.

The Spirit of Christ in the apostle John continues explaining what He is talking about. Unless you are born from above—born again—you cannot see nor enter the spiritual kingdom of God. This is being born of the Spirit. Except a man be born again [born from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God…Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3: 3-5.

Everybody has heard that, but few know what it means. In order to be born of the Spirit, thereby guaranteeing your entrance into His kingdom, there must be a dying of the old seed within us. And that old seed is the old heart, the old Adamic sinful nature. “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it brings forth much fruit” (John 12: 24).

Our old sin nature is like a bad seed that keeps producing sinful actions. And there is only one way to rid ourselves of it, and that is to surrender it to the death of the cross with Christ. That will bring the change of heart when we believe that He plants a new righteous seed in our hearts. This new seed germinates by faith in His resurrection. It sprouts forth love, joy, and peace. This is the born again experience. It comes out of repentance from sin. When a man gets this right, then he will have seen and entered the kingdom of God.

The Cross Experience

Many preachers speak about Christ suffering and dying on the cross for us. They say that He was our substitute; they say to just believe in His death and resurrection and you are saved. Many speak of this, but few explain what God requires of us concerning the cross. Just acknowledging Christ’s death is not enough to get rid of the old sinful nature. The old nature that we are born with has to die, or it will keep sprouting up. That’s why so many people back slide into sin. They back slide because their old sin nature is still there.

What the preachers fail to realize is that when Christ died on the cross, mankind’s old sinful nature died with Him. We are to examine ourselves. God is now asking, Has your old sin nature died on the cross with Christ? As professing Christians, have you laid down willingly your old sinful life, letting it die with Christ? Or have you just felt sorry for your sinful ways and “walked the aisle” like they encouraged you to do? Most mistake this experience as being “born again.” It is good to feel sorrow for the sinful way we have lived. “Godly sorrow leads us to repentance.” However, it is not repentance from sin (II Cor. 7: 10).

To the Cross

Godly sorrow leads you to the cross, the spiritual place of your repentance, which is the first of the apostles’ doctrine. Next, you must realize that Christ took upon Himself the sins of all mankind, and He died as a lost man. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. II Cor. 5: 21.

When Christ died on the cross, the sin of all mankind died with Him. In God’s eyes, everyone’s  old sinful self died when He died. He could take all the sins of the whole world on Himself because He is the only man in history who was perfect–a perfectly sinless human being. He was the only One pure enough to be the sacrificial “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29). He was the only One pure enough to wash away your sin and mine.

This is how the shedding of His blood cleanses us of all sin. The life is in the blood. When Christ bled out on the cross, the life of sin, the strength of sin, the force of sin died. That is the power of the blood of Christ—because sin’s life force, sin’s blood, drained out, leaving sin lifeless within us. God just requires us to believe it, to believe His word about it. It is through belief that we become new creatures whose life force is restored by the power of His resurrection.

Our old nature died with Him on the cross. It is a spiritual death, not a physical one. Our old selves are already dead in God’s eyes. Why would any one knowing this continue to go on sinning? “Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” And they won’t come to the light lest their “deeds should be discovered” (John 3: 19-20).

But I Am Baptized

Yet, some believe that after they are baptized in water, somehow mystically they are okay. But baptism is an outward symbol of a spiritual event called the cross experience. Do you not know that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? We are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 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. Romans 6: 3-6.

Our sin nature died on the cross. We are free! Free from the guilt, the shame, the mental torture, the indignity, the pain, and the fear. Free!

Sin is the breaking of the Ten Commandments, and it is the written record of what the old sinful nature can and will do (I John 3: 4). Sinning is the old nature still manifesting itself through actions that break the law. “And we know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin” (I John 3: 5). By dying with Him, we are freed from the bondage of sinning!

Free! Free from sin and sinning! Free now to grow spiritually to the point where we will bear much fruit like Peter, James, John and Paul. Free! Are you kidding me? Believe this truth in Christ, and you’ll be walking in a new life, freed from sin, for He has given us a new heart (Ezek. 18: 31).

This is true repentance. This is being born again of His incorruptible seed, the word of God (I Peter 1: 23). By faith we have to reckon our old self dead and gone with Christ on the cross, and also reckon ourselves alive unto God by faith in Christ’s resurrection. He said it; we believe it, and now we walk in its light. He gave His word on this. He is way ahead of us. He already sees us as righteous before Him. He is just waiting on His elect to believe His word, to believe like He believes. He with great patience waits for His chosen ones to awake unto righteousness, thus fulfilling His purpose of reproducing Himself.

This freedom from sin and sinning is the fruit of repentance wrought at the cross. It is the key to being born again and entering into His kingdom. This is why, to win souls, Christ spoke these words: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{If this article helped you, hit the “like” button. Comment, share if the Spirit moves you. And be sure to send for my book The Apostles’ Doctrine. It is free with free shipping. Just send your name, mailing address, and the name of the book you desire to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com }

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…With Me from the Beginning

(from journal entry, 12-8-21)

It was early morning, and I was still in bed. I opened my eyes, and the first thought that crystalized out of the foggy dream mind was – “The Beginning.” The “beginning?” Why was I thinking that? Then another thought came that answered the question: “… with Me from the beginning.” With ME. I was with Christ. I knew that it was the Spirit speaking to me through thoughts. I began then to ponder these cryptic words. What did the Spirit mean?

So, I looked the word “beginning” up in the Greek. The “beginning” comes from the word arche, #G746 in Strong’s. It means “the origin, the active cause, used absolutely of the beginning of all things.”

Christ said, “I am the beginning and the end.” Christ is the “active cause.” He is our origin (Revelation 1:8-11,17-18). “In the beginning was the Word.” Christ is the beginning. Therefore, in Christ was the Word. Word = Logos [the purpose and plan of God]. Christ is the “active cause” in the creation of heaven and earth. “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3).

Our Savior, the “Word made flesh,” came to earth to bear witness to the truth, that He is the truth. And we, too, are to bear witness to the truth because we were with Him in the beginning. Christ said, “And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:27). This is not speaking of the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry. The Greek word arche is used for the beginning of all things. It is used as such in this verse: “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1).

 We are a part of the record in heaven of the things that will occur on earth. We were with him in the beginning. He knew us before because He created us as a member of His body in heaven before the earth was formed. Then He dipped us into the earth as we slid out of the matrix of our mothers’ wombs, and then we were cast out into the sea of lost mankind.

We, who had once basked in the glorious light of our Father in heaven, were now left to grow up, barely afloat in the treacherous rip tides of sin. Sin was our task master, and we obeyed his desires. The bondage to sin weighed heavily to the point of us drowning, and then we cried out in anguish and disillusionment, and then a hand reached down, a strong hand of love, and He pulled us up out of the quagmire.

He cleaned us up at the cross. He allowed us to identify our sinful selves with the Lamb, the sin sacrifice, and we died with Him. With the death of our old man, we believe that we are now buried with Him and raised with Him, now to walk in a “newness of life.” We now know and believe that “he that is dead is freed from sin.” We now spiritually step out on the water and walk in the Spirit (Rom. 6:1-11).

And then our earthly past died, and we began to grow as a seedling, tasting its first rays of light. Through study and communication with the Spirit, we grew and grew until He showed us that we had a special calling to fulfill, a special job to do. We are to share the love that saved us, by telling others the story of deliverance through His great love.

As we grow, we become a part of the witness in the earth of the record in heaven. God already knew that we would respond to His voice. He knew us and knew what we were made of. He made us, before the things we can see with our earthly eyes were made. For we were with Him in the beginning. And He has chosen us and given us a destiny way back there at the “Beginning.”

“…God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30). Yahweh predestined us, not to just be saved, but to be “conformed to the image of his Son.” At Christ’s return to earth, He will change our weak, earthly body, “that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body” (Phil. 3:21).

We are talking about being like Christ and His apostles! Nothing less. But before this greatest of honors is bestowed upon us, we must “arm ourselves with the same mind.” We must know and do the apostles’ doctrine and add to our faith seven spiritual attributes of Christ.

We have so much knowledge to receive. Knowing His mind will finally drive out every thought that is contrary to His purpose and plan. The mind is the battlefield where we conquer the enemy’s errant desires for us. Amid the battle, it is easy to forget that we have already won, for “we are more than conquerors through Christ.” In Him lies our power, strength, and will.

O, let us shower Him with thanks for granting us the exit visa at the cross. Repentance from sin comes when we realize that we “are dead and our life is hid with Christ…” We are a part of His body now, unencumbered by that spiritually corrupt old life. We now believe that we are a part of Christ, and the Father’s heart of love dwells within us. All this happens because He mercifully allowed us to be with Him in the beginning.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Forgiveness Is at the Heart of Repentance

(from Journal,  5-11-15)

Repentance is the first step on the path of righteousness. “Unless you repent you shall all likewise perish,” (Luke 13:5). Repentance is a grave concept, not to be misunderstood. A seeker of God must not get this wrong.

Nevertheless, the way to repentance is guided by the warm arms of forgiveness. For had not Christ forgiven us all, we would never be able to come to the altar of repentance from our sins.

Many believe that past sins are forgiven them by God, but they don’t believe that the sin nature within them—the old nature that produced the sin—is gone away for good. And therein lies the problem—the recurrence of sin in a person’s life. Why does sin keep cropping up? It is because of unbelief that our old sinful self has died with Christ on the cross. Through this unbelief, the old heart will still produce sin, the breaking of the Ten Commandments.

Sins Sent Away

The word “forgiveness” is translated from the Greek word aphiemi, a verb which means “to send away or depart.” Christ has sent our sins away.

We see this in the types and shadows of the old Mosaic law. One remembers how the Aaronic priest laid his hands on the scapegoat, transferring the people’s sins onto the goat. And then the goat was sent away into the wilderness, taking their sins with it. The scapegoat was a type of the Lamb of God “who takes away the sins of the world.” Christ had the heavy responsibility of being that Sacrifice. Christ took upon Himself all the sins of humanity. Shockingly for some, He died as a lost man that day; I say, in the similitude of a lost man. “For 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).

He was our scapegoat offering. He has forgiven us in that He has sent our old selfish heart away. He is saying to us, Thy sins are forgiven. Your sins are sent away; they are departed and gone. They are no longer there. “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).   

Forgiving the Debt

The Greek word translated “repentance” has another nuance of meaning. It means to “to forgive a debt.” When we owe someone money, for example, we have a debt until either it is paid or until the debt is forgiven. When forgiven, the debt is gone, poof! It is no longer a reality; it no longer exists.  

It is the same with the old heart that sins. That person has a debt to love his fellow man, for God has said, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8 NIV). That is our debt: to love our neighbor as ourselves.

And yet, sin is the opposite of love, and it resides in unregenerated man. These are those that Christ has commanded us to love. We are to love the unlovable, those who have hurt us. We love them by forgiving them. This is how our debt is paid.

But our debt can never be paid by trying to do good works in our own strength. Yahweh takes away our sin through the sacrifice of His Son. We can repent through His grace to us.  This happens when we identify our sinful nature with Christ. Then the sin dies with Christ, and by belief/faith in His resurrection in us, we now walk in a “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).

Once this revelation sinks in, then we can say as Paul did that it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me (Gal 2:20). We need only read and believe Romans 6:1-15 and not question it.

When we do this, the sin will depart forever. The debt is paid. Our sins are forgiven. For good. All gone. Departed. Christ is big enough to make this happen. No more sin in our lives. It is a wondrous thing. This is His doctrine, and it is astonishing!

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Forgetting, Reaching Forth, and Pressing

The mind is a funny thing. It seems to have its own, well, mind. It seems to have a keen desire to dwell on the past—either to lounge in nostalgia or shudder in regret and shame.

We will never be transformed into the image of the invisible Yahweh if we dwell on our past actions. As long as guilt, regret, and shame are the fruit of the garden of our minds, we will never bear the “much fruit” that Christ foresees for us.

That is why our Father has provided the way to put a finality to all sins, faults, and recriminations sourced from our old lives. This finality Christ has already done for us at the cross. When we acknowledge and believe that our old selfish nature died with Christ, then we are freed from all negativity and become new creatures in Him.

This is the preliminary step that triggers not only real spiritual growth, but also clarifies our minds today as we walk with Him. The cross experience is the end of our old adamic nature; it also is our beginning a new life when we believe that we are raised from the dead with Christ.

Remembering these things cleanses our mind. It is deliberately thinking on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy, “think on these things. Those things, which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me [Paul], do, and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phil. 4:8-9). It is thinking on His eternal purpose that will drive our mind’s thoughts out of the  garden of our mind.

This subject is the lifeforce of the apostle Paul’s being. In all humility, he knew that he was not “there” yet. He, therefore said, “but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus [Yahshua]”. Forget the past and embrace the things to come in the future. That’s past and future.

What about the present? What do we do now? We keep on pressing; keep on growing spiritually through studying the apostles’ doctrine, through adding the seven attributes of the Spirit to our faith, and obeying Christ’s New Commandment to love like He loves. Doing all these is how we love Him. We must “cast our care on Him.” We do this by caring about what He cares about. It is all about Christ.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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