Kingdom Responsibilities and Benefits

Hey, hello again, we continue to be exploring Jesus' words. The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. That's from Mark 1, verses 14 and 15. This is Dave Scherrer, and we've been exploring this verse for a while now here. We are well on our way, I think, after these several podcasts, towards answering the essay question that I floated some weeks ago. What is the gospel of the kingdom and what difference does it make in my life? As I said early on in this podcast series, I don't think most who claim to be Christ followers can give a very good answer of that question, at least not with very much confidence. And in my mind, having a personal confidence in this gospel of the kingdom is transforming personally for me and for my world. So we've explored what it meant when Jesus said, the time is fulfilled. We've also tackled the very big idea of the fact that the kingdom of God is at hand. The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. And there's more to explore on that subject, but we're gonna do that at another time. And we've also spent a couple of conversations on what it means to repent, to repent and to renounce the world. So if we still can't answer the question, what exactly is the gospel of the kingdom, we're at least closing in. I think we'll make some headway this week. In fact, let's get started on what it might mean when Jesus says the believe part in this passage. The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God's at hand, repent and believe in the gospel. So believing is its own thing and then understanding the gospel is another thing too. So first, maybe it's really, really obvious, but is the idea of believing, because that's a big deal in scripture, it's a big deal in the Christian faith. So let's just run through some verses, kind of back to back to back, just to prove the point that it's a big deal to scripture. Let's start with a famous verse. It's found in the gospel of John chapter three, verse 16. There it says, for God so loved the world, and this is Jesus talking, that he gave his only son, speaking of himself, that whoever, what, believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Paul later writes in Romans 10, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. Believe in your heart that Jesus raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. So it does make you ask the question, well, I wonder what authentic belief is, because I do wanna be saved. Paul also writes in Ephesians, for by grace you've been saved through faith and this is not of your own doing, it's the gift of God. We can only lay claim to that if we have a firm belief. You see, our faith is only as good as the object of our belief. I believe the chair will hold me up, but it only has three legs. Well, it probably won't. You see, my faith isn't in a substantive object. And so when I say that I've been saved through faith, it means that the object of my faith has substance. James says, you believe that God is one, you do well, but even the demons believe and shudder. Now, see, that's an interesting question because belief apparently is a spiritual world phenomena, not just a this world phenomena, because the demons believe, they just don't obey. John writes, but these things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. There's a consequence of believing. It's a beautiful consequence, and it's life, life eternal, life abundant. Goes on to say, John does, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes, again, Jesus talking, believes him who sent me has eternal life. Whoever believes who sent me believes in the Father. So there's much to think about in terms of the gospels and the letters of the New Testament, speaking of the truth of believing. So I guess we better know what that means. Believing is important to Christians. The doctrine of belief is a big deal too. And frankly, I have some concerns that many who claim to believe in Jesus Christ are either misled or they're misinformed as to what that constitutes. The church that I'm a part of, the Evangelical Covenant Church, has a saying that goes way back in time that says, all who are true believers are welcome at the communion table. Well, that's all well and good. I like that, actually. I like the openness of the table in the eyes of the Evangelical Covenant, but we still have to agree on what makes a person then a true believer. So I wanna stop midstream here and make a bit of a disclaimer or maybe a clarification. Because you see, no one person has the right or responsibility even to assess whether another person is a true believer in Jesus Christ. That is God's purview. We remember that when the prophet Samuel was looking to identify the king of Israel, who would one day be David, God instructed him with some pretty good advice as found in 1 Samuel 16. The Lord said to Samuel, "'Do not look on his appearance "'or on the height of his stature, "'because I have rejected him.'" Speaking of the brothers of David. For the Lord sees not as a man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. So apparently, when we start deciding who is and is not a believer, we tend to do that based on what our particular bias is about Christian behavior. But it's only the Lord that has the capacity to know a person's heart and a person's motives. So when we get involved in that game, we are stepping way outside the boundaries of appropriate Christian life. Maybe you remember Paul's words when he's describing the conditions of faith in Christ. He says in Romans 10, that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. You can see here again, the continuing emphasis on belief and belief in your heart. In fact, this verse reminds us that the center of our faith resides in our heart in contrast to supposing that our faith mostly resides in our mind alone. So just to make the point, it is possible to believe in your mind many things about Jesus, that he lived, that he was a great teacher, that he was a moral and social prophet. We can believe all of these things in our mind and still not be in fact measured to be a true believer. The New Testament Pharisees and the scribes are maybe a good example of this. They invested deeply in religious law. They knew the scriptures well. Their mind was well fixed on God. They had much of the Torah memorized. Still, Jesus called them out as false and not true believers. I've been reading in a substantive book by the theologian, John Frame. He wrote a readable, but huge systematic theology. And when he's writing about belief, he has a kind of a threefold way of looking at it. He has a threefold test of what it means to be a true believer. And the first is to have an accurate knowledge of who God is. The second is to have a belief that this knowledge is true. And then third, trust enough in this reality that we then adjust our actions and behaviors according to this knowledge and faith. I think John Frame does a pretty good job here with this summary. So when we talk about believing, we talk about the gospel of the kingdom and believing in the gospel. We have to then ask the question, what are we believing in? Believing is very, very important. What do I believe in? Because this is all critical in terms of our walk in Christ and our faith. So if you go back to that sentence that we've been banging on for the last several weeks, Jesus says that the kingdom of God is at hand. And then he says, as a consequence to that reality, that we should repent and believe. The kingdom of God is at hand, therefore repent and believe. Seems clear to me that what Jesus is saying is, he says, believe in the good news of the coming king and his kingdom. Believe in this. This is why we're engaged in this essay question. What does it mean to explore the gospel of the kingdom? I think Jesus is asking us to believe and obey this good news, that we should all be able to define that good news of the gospel of the kingdom. So I wanna get to a place where we can wrap up for today. So I wanna float an idea that there are two sides to the good news proclaimed by Christ. And that is further outlined in the epistles of the New Testament. I guess you could say two sides of the same coin, or you could say a first flush of good news followed by an even greater good news, a more comprehensive good news. There's really one terrific verse in the New Testament that describes that first part of the gospel, the good news of the personal forgiveness and the redemption that's been earned for humanity in the obedience of Jesus by his death on the cross. And that's found in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse three. That's where it says, for I delivered to you as first importance, Paul speaking to the church in Corinth, I delivered to you of first importance what I received. And here is that, there was first importance that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scripture. That is a summary of all the good news. Christ died for us in accordance with all of the scriptures. And there's so much more to it than that. In accordance with all of the scriptures. And there's so much to speak of here. That means that, for instance, he's called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. He's called you from death to life, from slavery to sin, to being cloaked in righteousness. This gospel of personal salvation tells us that we've gone from being shackled in shame and fear and guilt to now living abundantly, not just being alive, but truly living in hope and faith and love. This is the good, good news, great news, staggeringly good news of the redemptive love of Jesus Christ. But I don't want to stop there. There is so much more good news to be had, if that's possible at all. And that would be the continuing, the expanding good news of the gospel of the kingdom. That follows the good news, that expands on the good news of the salvation gospel in Christ. The good news of the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus said, the moment has finally come. The kingdom is at hand. And now he tells us to believe in this kingdom, to believe in his absolute authority over all things and in his kingdom rule and reign. You see, there's a responsibility that falls upon us who have yielded our hearts to Christ to now recognize that I fall within the responsibilities and the benefits of the kingdom. He tells us that to whom much is given, much is expected. And we learn that God is a for-profit God who intends that we invest as good stewards our talents as given to us by God himself, so as to bring increased glory to God. And now then with these new responsibilities, we're told that one day, crazy as it sounds, we will co-rule with him in heaven. We will experience his glory. We will have every tear wiped away and we will feast at the banquet table of the bridegroom as his bride, the church. There is good news in this kingdom gospel and much to explore. So we're gonna continue after this a couple more times because so much has yet to be unpacked. In fact, who doesn't want it all? So we're gonna stop here, but we are on a roll. So in our next podcast, we're gonna continue to unpack our responsibilities and benefits, what it means to be living into the gospel of the kingdom as kingdom citizens, kingdom citizens now. So these spiritual offerings, they just keep getting richer and richer. So thanks for listening. Let's keep after it. The blessings just keep rolling. So this is Dave Scherrer with 100 Fold Ministries. And I do invite you back here to the website, 100FoldMinistries.org, where you can participate in the ministry by giving and praying for us, where you can take part in the blog of our backyard conversations and just get to know us a little bit more. I invite your comments. So take care. Let's keep at it. Peace to you. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪