Martin Luther taught that there are only two foundational messages God is teaching us in the Bible: HUS LAW AND HUS CRACE. They form the two edges of the Sword of the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12,
Revelation 1:16). In God’s plan for mankind, they are both absolutely crucial, both supplying a message the church must believe, embrace, stand firm upon, and then proclaim.
The sword of the word of God always has these two edges. As we have been investigating the Ship of the Kingdom diagram, we’ve been sharpening the “Law Edge.”
The Two Edges of the Sword is the name of the final iteration of my 60 year ministry, because all I teach now is the outworking of learning to wield that sword using both of those edges: the LAW OF GOD to cut us open to expose our sin, and the GRACE OF GOD to cut out and remove the sin that is exposed!
When both are fully and fearlessly preached, Satan is resoundingly defeated and victory assured! The Lord’s prayer will then be answered. Jesus WILL reign over the earth, through us, just as He does in Heaven!
In these twilight years, I have discovered a crucial question for me to ask myself as I consider my eternal purpose of ruling over the earth. Even though I am severely limited in my activities, Jesus is still actually empowering me from within to rule right now, but ONLY as I walk, not “according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4), i.e., as I learn to live or walk “by faith.” “Am I walking by faith?” is my only concern.
How do I know I’m living this way? Simply “believing” the historical fact that Jesus died for me as I live each day, is not “walking by faith.” Walking or living by faith is an experiential, trust relationship with the God Who lives inside me by His Holy Spirit. When I am walking by faith, I believe what He tells me, just like a little child believes his Daddy.
My consistency in living this way is very spotty, at best. My addiction to still “try my best to be like God” persists daily. Having all the answers and being everyone else’s Holy Spirit is an addiction that I cannot shake. Even if I have learned not to say anything, being a know-it-all is STILL IN MY DNA! Why is being like a little child and simply believing what my Heavenly Daddy has told me in my heart so difficult?
I am seeing progress, however, and I am encouraged! I am starting, on occasion, to recognize that God has others on different paths than I am on, and I can let God work in their lives without my help, just as He is at work in me! I see things differently than they do, but a sovereign God has got them right where He wants them, and He doesn’t need my input. When this is my attitude, I am “walking by faith,” trusting God with their lives, as well as mine!
I believe the Apostle John, in His first epistle, told us how we can know when we are “locked and loaded” and walking this way, genuinely sending fear into the hearts of Satan and his minions. John helps us know when this is happening in our lives:
“ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:6-10).
So, neither the professional preacher with the biggest crowds, nor the TV evangelist who sends shivers down my spine, is necessarily “walking by faith.” It is the one who walks in the light of the law of God with his brothers and sisters in the faith, and then openly recognizes, confesses, and repents of the sin that light of God has exposed!
All pretense, climbing and desire for recognition will evaporate. I know all my sin is forgiven, past, present and future. God has forgiven and forgotten them all (Jeremiah 31:34); they are irrelevant to Him, (though in His divine providence I will live with the human, earthly results of them). He PLANNED those glitches purposely, to use in our lives for His inscrutable purposes (“Who works all things according to the counsel of His will” – Ephesians 1:11). It is His job alone to change us all, and I am slowly, painfully learning to let Him do His job without my help (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
Just imagine when all God’s children begin to understand the concepts of:
1.) Walking by faith like “little children,“ only knowing and believing what Daddy has told us experientially, in our hearts (Matthew 18;2-5).
2.) As “little children,” we “walk in the light,” owning and repenting openly for the sin that light exposes.
3.) As “little children, walking in the light,” we will leave the house every morning, and interact with the world wherever we go. naturally, spontaneously and unconsciously (NSU). There is no thought of “witnessing,” “extending the kingdom,” or “winning the world for Christ.” No! Only, “Daddy, I can’t wait to see who you will touch, be involved with, and love on today, through me! Let’s go!”,
We will be spreading out over the world, not proclaiming the “Law of God”—that is designed to kill us (Galatians 2:19) as it becomes “the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). Instead, we will find ourselves proclaiming the “Truth of God”— that same Law of God, but applied and proclaimed by the Grace of God—through one who is “walking by faith” (John 1:17)!
The Truth will flow from this mighty army as we learn to be willing, joyous, forgiven, SINNERS—embracing the fact of our sin openly and triumphantly—with the result being vibrant NSU ministry, touching everyone we meet! Hallelujah! Our commission to rule over the earth is being realized!
