Copyright
© 2007 Ron Schwartz
All rights reserved.
What
Is A New Testament Church?
Part
4. “Within And Without"
September
19, 2007
Ron
and Karen Schwartz
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Try
asking a group of people: “What does ‘New Testament’ mean?”
Some will tell you that it is the twenty-seven books of the Bible known
as the New Testament. Others will
tell you that it is the dispensation of grace in which we live.
Still others will tell you that it was the time in which Jesus’
original apostles lived. There will
be some who will maintain that it is a church that operates in spiritual gifts,
while others will define it as the manifestation of the five-fold ministry among
God’s people, or the format of house churches.
The list is almost endless. There
remains a great deal of confusion over this issue.
People tend to define the New Testament in a way that supports their own
goals and agendas. Is there a way to
cut through the doctrinal antiquities
to discover what God has in mind?
Within
And Without
Exodus 25:10-11 KJV
10
And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the
length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a
half the height thereof.
11
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou
overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
We
know that the tabernacle and its furniture served as “example[s]
and shadow[s] of
heavenly things (Hebrews 8:5),” “and
not the very image of the things (Hebrews 10:1)” that were to come.
So the Ark of the Covenant described here is a “shadow”
of the Body of Christ, and the Mercy Seat is a “shadow”
of its head, which is Christ.
The
Ark was to be overlaid with gold “within
and without.” It was to
be the same on the inside as it was on the outside.
By doing this, God was showing us exactly what would differentiate the
New Testament from the Old. God’s
plan for His New Testament church is that they be the same on the inside as they
are on the outside.
Old Testament law dealt
exclusively with the outward appearance and actions taken.
This is why Jesus’ teaching seemed so radical and profound: He taught
that the inside was as important as the outside.
Consider
His first sermon:
Matthew
5:21-22 KJV
21
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill [outward
actions]; and
whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry [inside]
with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.
Matthew
5:27-28 KJV
27
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit
adultery [outward
actions]:
28
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust [inside]
after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Paul
echoed this when he described the goal of Christian living:
1
Corinthians 13:1-3 KJV
1
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels [outside],
and have not charity [inside],
I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2
And though I have the gift of prophecy [outside],
and understand all mysteries
[outside], and
all knowledge [outside];
and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains [outside],
and have not charity [inside],
I am nothing.
3
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor [outside],
and though I give my body to be burned [outside],
and have not charity [inside],
it profiteth me nothing.
Both
Jesus and Paul explained that in the New Testament, the inside is as important
as the outside. Therefore, whereas
the Old Testament dealt with our outward appearance, the New Testament deals
with the heart.
Relationship,
Not Religion
A
supernatural event transpired the moment that Jesus died on the cross.
What was it?
It was NOT the creation of the twenty-seven books of what is today called
the New Testament.
It was NOT the outpouring of spiritual gifts.
It was NOT the establishment of the five-fold ministry.
It
was something personal and intimate to God.
The natural man may have witnessed the painful death of an agonized soul
in final relief from torment, but to God, the true achievement was much closer
to His heart.
Matthew
27:50-51 KJV
50
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.
God
did not need to rip the veil in two.
Christ’s death on the cross was enough to make a way for mankind to
enter into the presence of God.
But in tearing the veil apart, God made an eternal statement to mankind
– a statement that could not be ignored.
Now
hear what God says about the New Testament:
Hebrews
7:19 KJV
For
the law [Old
Testament] made
nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope [New
Testament] did; by
the which we draw nigh unto God.
The
purpose of the New Testament was to allow us to approach God and thereby provide
us a way to develop a relationship with God.
Hebrews
10:16-20 KJV
16
This is the [New]
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put
my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
19
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus
20
By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil,
that is to say, his flesh.
Through
the Old Testament, mankind could approach God through carnal rituals.
By renting the veil, God demonstrated that these rituals were no longer
necessary.
People can now come to God as they are.
They can know a true relationship with God without the need for religion.
Thus, the New Testament is all about our ability to approach God and have
an individual relationship with Him.
It’s about the heart.
It’s not about church, religion, truth, doctrine, spiritual gifts, or
the five-fold ministries.
It’s about your personal relationship with God.
Most
Christians will never be closer to experiencing the New Testament than when they
are first saved.
When a person experiences true salvation, they understand with perfect
clarity what the New Testament is all about: their relationship with God.
Nothing is more important to them.
This intimacy with God fans the flames of passion and zeal that drives
them into evangelism.
God’s primary aspiration for each of His children is not that they
manifest spiritual gifts, understand how to function in the five-ministry, or
become knowledgeable in the scripture.
The primary objective God has for each of His children is that they grow
close in their relationship with Him.
The
apostle Paul echoed this when he wrote:
Philippians
3:7-10 KJV
7
What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but
that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
faith:
10
That I may know him, and the
power of his resurrection…
The
manifestation of spiritual gifts and ministry are not the goals of true New
Testament churches and believers.
They are the result.
If you, individually or corporately (i.e., your church), pursue gifts or
ministry, you will find religion instead.
New
believers don’t need to read books on faith or go to special classes to
understand who they are in Christ because it is already apparent to them.
The intimacy of their relationship with God fills their lives.
If
you need to read books to “understand” concepts like faith or attend classes
in order to feel you are growing spiritually, then you are growing in religion
instead. Maturity
in the Spirit cannot be boiled down to a formula that can be taught or a recipe
that can be manufactured, because maturing in the spirit is unique to each
individual.
Far
too many Christian leaders focus on the issues that surround the believer’s
relationship with God.
They focus on issues regarding ministry, spiritual development, church,
spiritual gifts, and personal development like those regarding faith, love,
social and work ethics. These issues are, at best, ancillary to maintaining and
developing a relationship with God.
The practice of teaching on topical Christian living often boils down New
Testament Christianity into a religion.
Religion is a human attempt to create a relationship with God.
Christian leaders who dissect this relationship and then create a formula
for it usually achieve little more than an introduction of their followers to
more religion.
You
could say that religion evolves when men try to “reverse-engineer” their
relationship with God.
When embraced, religion WILL eventually replace a personal relationship
with God.
What
is religion?
Christians
who pursue things like “dying to self,” keeping the law, or other
“godly” virtues as a means of spiritual growth will tend toward religion.
In the New Testament, Christians do not grow from the outside in.
They grow from the inside out.
Jesus
often taught about a seed planted in the ground and that the ground represented
our hearts. All true spiritual
growth comes from the heart, not through religious processes, classes, books, or
other intellectual learning and discipline.
Religion
divides
Religion
is what Christians have when they lose their personal relationship with God.
Religion is what Christians have who enjoy a religious experience but
don’t enjoy a relationship with God.
Christians
who have embraced religion often love the pursuit of knowledge, and
consequently, they love to debate and argue with other Christians.
This is because, first of all, religion breeds division.
You can witness this hate in the major conflicts that plague this world,
which are usually about religion (i.e., the Muslim’s hatred toward Jews and
Christians). You can see it in the
way churches cannot unite in a common goal to win the world.
What separates God’s people is religion.
The degree of division that exists among Christians is a testimony to the
degree of religion and coldness that infects contemporary churches.
1
Kings 3:16-27 KJV
16
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before
him.
17
And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I
was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18
And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman
was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the
house, save we two in the house.
19
And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
20
And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid
slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21
And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but
when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did
bear.
22
And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy
son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus
they spake before the king.
23
Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is
the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the
living.
24
And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25
And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and
half to the other.
26
Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels
yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in
no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but
divide it.
27
Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay
it: she is the mother thereof.
Institutional
pastors are not the “real mother.” They
are fakes who are trying to steal what does not belong to them.
Because of them, the Body of Christ has been divided and split up among
them. It lies on the ground bleeding
to death because, like the false mother in this passage, institutional
churches/ministries are more concerned with getting their own part of the Body
of Christ than in seeing that it remains healthy and alive.
These men are not practicing or teaching the New Testament.
They are peddling religion.
Religion
is preoccupied with education and learning.
It seeks to develop the intellect instead of the relationship.
If you are knowledgeable in the scriptures and are able to advise and
console others but no longer burn in passion in your relationship with God or
for the lost, then you have become swallowed up in religion.
Religion
pursues “self” fulfillment
Religion
is an addiction to “self” fulfillment. It
creates an appetite for “self” that cannot be satisfied.
Religion can never give life because it pursues intellectual knowledge
instead of repentance and a broken spirit.
Religion is an unquenchable thirst. Instead
of being wells of life-giving water, religion pursues those wells.
Churches
that peddle religion are completely focused on the “religious experience” of
those who attend. They emphasize the
worship and teaching experience. They
attempt to keep your attention with a fast-paced service of great music, an
entertaining sermon, and a comfortable environment.
When people leave, they are intellectually stimulated but not spiritually
changed. That’s why their
religious encounter doesn’t even last them to the end of the day before they
are in need of more. These believers
have sacrificed their relationships with God for a religious experience.
A
relationship with God creates within Christians a passion for evangelism.
Those who have a relationship with God are already “self” fulfilled
and are therefore driven, compelled, to share their fulfillment with others.
Religion, on the other hand, creates a need for “self” fulfillment,
and consequently, a loss of focus and unconcern for the lost.
Few churches in the West have any passion for evangelism.
They are consumed with providing “fulfillment” to Christians.
True
spiritual fulfillment can only come from a relationship with God.
The fulfillment that institutional churches/ministries provide is only
religion. Christians were meant to
come together ALREADY FULFILLED to form a bonfire of passion.
Instead, contemporary Christians come together to try to get their
charred embers to, at best, smolder a bit.
Religion
creates consumers
Most
food distributors learned long ago that placing salt, fat, and sugar in food
creates people who are overweight, which in turn creates a craving in these
people for more of their food. Since
the number of consumers is a fixed number, they know that in order to get
greater consumption of their goods, food distributors must create consumers who
consume more.
This
is essentially what religion does. It
transforms Christians from givers into consumers.
And since the number of practicing Christians seems to be relatively
fixed (in the West, anyway), churches seek to draw consumer Christians to them
by giving them more and more to consume. Rather
than being servants, they look for a place where they can be served. Christians
in institutional churches choose churches based on where they can get the most
to consume. When service becomes
their motivation, then the place that provides the best service will win.
All institutional churches are little more than service providers for
consumer Christians. They have
little or no concern for the lost. Their
focus is on creating Christian consumers and getting as many as they can for
themselves.
Religion
is institution
Religion
is synonymous with institution. Religion
and institution are man’s attempt to create a recipe for service to God.
Religion is mechanical and therefore replete with duty and obligation.
Religion has to do with what we give and receive, whereas a relationship
with God has to do with what we are. Tithing
is an example of this. Churches that
teach tithing as an obligation to God and those Christians who practice it are
in religion. True Christians, those
who have a relationship with God, give far more of themselves and their assets
than the mere 3 - 5% that most churches require.
They don’t do it out of any sense of obligation but out of the
overabundance of spiritual life in their hearts.
All
through Christian history, men have dissected each “movement” and
“revival” of God and sought to create a recipe for how and why it occurred.
Each time you create a formula or a series of steps for spiritual things,
you have created institution.
Consider
the New Testament portion of the scriptures.
Many people have deified it. Yet
during the greatest achievements of Christian history (the First Century), it
did not exist. The gospels and
epistles were written over a period of forty to fifty years.
Many of the Christian groups of this era never saw a single letter.
Yet they grew, flourished, and overcame the world with unbridled
ferocity. But following this era,
Christians collected these letters, institutionalized them, and eventually
worshipped them. The deification of
the scripture is something God never intended.
He never intended the scripture (or any other writing) to become a
replacement for a relationship with Him.
The
same holds true for ministry, spiritual gifts, the church, and even music.
Each of these spiritual things has over time become institutionalized.
Today Christianity has reached a point where everything that has to do
with our Christian life has become institutionalized, even our faith.
Everything has been boiled down to a system, a recipe, a right way and a
wrong way. Consider what it is that
Christians fight and argue about. Isn’t
it simply institution? Isn’t it
about who is right and who is wrong about how things are done?
Religion
requires conformity
It
would be interesting to get Abraham, Moses, and David together and ask them,
“How is God worshipped?” If these men were like the Christian leaders of
today an argument would erupt. Abraham
would say, “By faith.” Moses
would argue, “But faith without works is dead.
Therefore you must obey Him.” David
would interject, “No. You’re
missing it. It’s through passion
and zeal.”
The
truth is that God preserves a unique relationship with each of His children and
each of them are at a different place in their journey with Him.
God demonstrates this in nature. Variety
is the law of creation (some studies suggest that there many be as many as
10,000 different species of cockroaches alone).
Nature is dressed with every color imaginable.
This variety does not breed confusion, but beauty.
People
who are wrapped up in religion do not understand the nature of God’s
relationship with His children. They
have taken their relationship with God, boiled it down into a system (or
religion), and conclude that their way is the
way to worship God. That is
conformity, and conformity is religion.
Religion
requires conformity whereas a relationship with God accepts variety.
Children
often rebel and reject Christianity because all their parents ever demonstrated
to them was religion by forced conformity, rather than offering them a
relationship with God. These
children often grow up never able to see the distinction between religion and a
true relationship with God.
We
are often amazed at Christian leaders who try to block the advances of Christian
music in their churches. Do these
Christian leaders plan to live forever? The
youth and their music that they try so hard to oppress will one day be the
leaders of their church. What do
they think they are accomplishing by holding them back?
Conformity
is the illusion of righteousness. It
is nothing more than Old Testament religion.
It
is the enforcement of outward control, but it can never bring conformity and
control of the spirit. You can force
your children and the members of your church to conform outwardly, but you
cannot change their spirit. What
they are on the inside is what really matters, and no amount of control and
conformity can affect it. Consequently,
all you have power over in the lives of others is their Old Testament religion.
When it comes to matters of the heart – the New Testament – well,
that area belongs exclusively to God.
Conclusion
Change
and transformation is not an art that can be boiled down to an intellectual
design. Even though it is taught
that way. Thousands of books, tapes,
sermons, and classes are produced annually to try to teach people how to
overcome their sin and weakness. But
this is NOT transformation. It is
self-discipline. It’s the same as
an alcoholic disciplining himself to stay away from alcohol.
Christians who pursue a method for change learn to become more
disciplined in their lives. But they
are not transformed. These methods
focus on death, or dying to self. But
there is no stairway to heaven. Self-discipline
does NOT get you closer to God.
Far
too many Christian leaders are preoccupied with death.
Most of their messages have to do with dying to self.
But the message of the New Testament is about life and living.
That is to say that no amount of self-discipline or dying to self can
bring about transformation. Spiritual
transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit.
We die to self when we repent, but that is not transformation.
Transformation can only occur when “mortality [is]
swallowed up of life (2 Corinthians 5:4).”
We are transformed, not through our own self-inflicted efforts at
crucifixion but through our relationship with God.
Transformation
ALWAYS comes through repentance.
When a Christian first experiences true salvation, it is through
repentance. Why would Christians
believe it would be any different once saved?
Transformation remains the same.
Repentance
is not simply an apology. Repentance
is a decision that we make with our hearts.
It’s when we say with determination, “From now on, it’s going to be
different. From now on, I’m no
longer going to be the same.” It
is this decision, coupled with true remorse and asking for forgiveness and help
from God, that releases His transformational power.
Repentance is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit.
Are
you interested in changing? Are you
interested in growing closer to God? Then
all you need is but to repent. If
you feel the need for change or a closer relationship with God, this means that
there are obstacles between you and God. Books,
sermons, and special classes will do nothing to remove these obstacles.
You need to truly repent. Only
then will you sense the loving forgiveness and closeness you desire.
Only then will your spiritual life be revitalized and your prayers
renewed.
The
recipes and methods you hear preached on how to serve God usually tend to be
religion. This is because
relationships are far too dynamic and spontaneous to be defined into a
procedure. Try to imagine what your
relationships with your spouse and children would be like if it was little more
than process and procedure. You’d
learn very quickly that process and procedure is the death of relationship
because they replace relationship.
Consequently, Christians who have an intellectual approach to their
Christian lives have a cloudy view of their spiritual priorities.
They don’t understand what the New Testament is, and they are usually
wrapped up in religion. Christians
who think that the New Testament is the Bible, spiritual gifts, ministry, or the
format of church are wrapped up in religion.
They have institutionalized their faith, and when they do that, their
priorities tend to become skewed.
What
makes up a New Testament church is New Testament Christians.
One reason we fail to see the type of church that the First Century
Christians knew is because Christians since then have institutionalized their
faith. They are practicing
intellectually what they believe to be a New Testament faith, when it is, in
reality, little more than living an Old Testament life.
The
Old Testament dealt with the outside. Consequently,
process and procedure were important (e.g., God told Moses, “See,
saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in
the mount (Hebrews 8:5).”). Christian
leaders and churches that focus on process and procedure are NOT New Testament
but Old.
In
the Old Testament, people approached God through following the “process” of
the Tabernacle and Temple. But God
is no longer there. The process for
growing closer to God no longer works. All
that these processes can achieve now is religion.
A
true New Testament church does not focus on processes, but on each believer’s
individual relationship with God. A
true New Testament church does not exemplify the five-fold ministry or
spiritual gifts. These come out of
our relationship with God. They must
not define it. Christian leaders who
exemplify their ministry or their gifts are wrapped up in religion.
They will distract you from what is really important.
Therefore, in a true New Testament church, there is no distinction of
“ministry” or “laity.” It
does not exist. There are no lines
separating Christian leaders from the congregation because spirituality is not
weighed by so-called “gifts” and “ministry” but by a personal
relationship with God.
Institutionalizing faith is religion. It desires to boil everything down to a recipe, a guideline, a process. If this describes you, then you need to repent and do the first works again. If your priorities seem skewed, if understanding what the New Testament is seems cloudy, if you are burdened by all the spiritual/religious things that you are supposed to be doing, then you are living in the Old Testament. You must learn again (like you did when you were first saved) what it means to have a personal relationship with God.
Amen.
kmsrjs@triton.net (use the same address for MSN Messenger)
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