#374 Kingdom: The Pseudo Gospel
The “True Gospel” IS the Gospel of the Kingdom. THIS IS the Gospel those we see in the New Testament preached. This IS the Gospel that Jesus came to preach. 150 Scriptures confirm that the Kingdom Gospel is what EVERYBODY should be preaching. 34 parables are about the Kingdom. The Gospel of the Kingdom IS the end time message.
Mat 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.
Act 28:23 And when they had set a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.
Act 28:30 And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.
Luke 4:43 But He [ Jesus ] said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." 44 And He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Unfortunately for the modern church, there has been a counterfeit message that has been introduced that has presented a “pseudo gospel” that totally ignores the Kingdom Message that the New Testament Apostles introduced. After 2000 years the Gospel of the Kingdom has nearly been lost or ignored. ANOTHER Gospel has been accepted as the “real gospel” which is called the “Gospel of Salvation.” These other “gospels” is what we are calling “the Pseudo Gospel.”
The dictionary meaning is this; pseudo >adjective not genuine; fake, pretentious, or insincere.
Today the Gospel of the Kingdom is considered as a false message simply because very few are even aware that the Gospel of the Kingdom IS the only authorized gospel in the Bible. The “gospel of salvation” that is being preached permits people to “be saved” outside the Kingdom Government of God. This “salvation” only requires us to believe something about Jesus as “Savior” but doesn’t require us to live under His Government OR to be obedient.
Heb 5:8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
The main reason “obedience” is ignored is because of some supposed factor, that overrides the necessity for obedience, that is called “grace.” This GRACE ,which means the “unmerited favor with God,” is assumed to mean that God accepts us simply on the grounds of what we believe and rejects “obedience” as “works” that are to be avoided at all costs.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;
The “grace of God” teaches us how to live. That “ GRACE” is a living person not an exemption from obedience!
Act 20:24 "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.
Gal 1:6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
My theory is that the “gospel of the grace of God” IS the “gospel of the Kingdom of God” and NOT this other modern gospel that ignores the gospel of the Kingdom. I could only find this one verse speaking about “the gospel of the grace of God” and one verse speaking of the “gospel of salvation.” While both of these “Gospels” are valid, my speculation is that these “gospels” are intricately linked within the “ Gospel of the Kingdom.” That means that “salvation” and “grace” both function under the Government of God and are NOT separate gospels OUTSIDE the Kingdom of God. In Other words, God saves those and showers grace upon those who are functioning under the Government of God, within the realms of the Kingdom!
This “pseudo gospel” is not just incorrect but it is subversive because it has done so much damage to the church by NOT presenting the demands of the Kingdom and the inner rectification and creation of the new inner man necessary for fulfilling our place in eternity. The “gospel of only believe” and accept Jesus as “personal Savior” has usurped the place God has given Jesus, as the New King-Priest after the order of Melchizedek, over a vast eternal Kingdom called the Kingdom of Heaven.
It does acknowledge Jesus as “SAVIOR” now and “coming King” someday. The thought is; Of course “someday” we will HAVE TO OBEY Him but not now! That is because the grace of God now covers our rebellion and ignorance and now we are free to do our own thing in this life. Why? Simply because “we are saved.” By whose standards? By the church’s standards! But what about the Kingdom? Well, that hasn’t come yet! The Matra is this; Of course the Kingdom WILL come AFTER Jesus returns for His bride (church).
Mark 9:1 And He was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."
The fact IS that the Kingdom already came BEFORE the ones standing there died. They ALL have died, therefore, the Kingdom has come. Then why don’t we see it? Because the Kingdom is invisible and is established within the New Inner Man, who IS a New Creation. Now, the Kingdom of God is within those who will submit to His Government by obedience to the demands of the Kingdom and who walk within its Laws that are “put”in our minds and are written upon the heart of our new inner man.
Hebrews 8:10 "FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM UPON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
Is it possible that after 2000 years we could have a New Covenant people who never knew that obedience to these Laws is a necessary part of our salvation that is given to us by God’s grace as we receive HIM and walk in obedience to these Laws? The answer generally is this; we are New Covenant people but because of God’s grace we do not need to obey these laws. Besides we can not read or understand these laws so we doubt if these Laws even exist. If there are such “laws”, obedience to them would be just “works” and works have nothing to do with our salvation. The Bible even warns us against these “works.”
This ignorance has such a stronghold upon the Evangelical Church that any mention of obedience is attacked as a false doctrine. Why would any knowledgeable Bible scholar say that? Because this “pseudo gospel” is ingrained in the mind of Christians everywhere and accepted as “truth.” Also, the “truth” about the Kingdom is considered to be a lie. Then How is it possible to preach the gospel of the Kingdom to the visible church? This “gospel” is preached “in the whole world” as a witness to every nation and that must mean that we must go outside the established church to share this “gospel.”
One of the problems in preaching to “believers” is the dualism in each one of us. We are two people living in one body. One is the old creation and the other is the new creation. The first we refer to as the “old outer man” and the other as the “New inner Man.” The question is to which one are we preaching? Some ministers specialize in designing their message to fit the “old outer man” who always needs encouraging and lifted up through the songs or the message. Not so many ministers are designing their message just for the “new inner man” because it is difficult to understand if the new inner man even exists or if he can actually hear anything. If he does exist it is not clear if he is growing and developing.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he wanted to speak to the “new inner man” but discovered that the new inner man was not mature enough to instruct so he had to limit his message to the “old outer man.” He called this outer man “mere man.” This is what we call the “unchanged man” that has not been redeemed from his old life. However, some in the Evangelical Church are calling these people “SAVED.” Why? Because they believe something about Jesus and have accepted Him as personal Savior.
IF Christianity is really limited to the “NEW INNER MAN” and the “old Outer Man” is not included in “salvation” then what “gospel” should we be preaching. Of course the majority of preachers believe that the “old outer man” can be “saved”, because of the thief on the cross, and that he can be reborn by saying certain words similar to what the thief said. The fact that the thief went to “paradise”does not mean he went to the highest heaven or to the throne of God. There is a place in heaven that is reserved just for the overcomers and it is certain the thief was not an overcomer. However, he is a thief that didn’t go to hell.
One of the reasons we have such difficulty comprehending and discerning the difference between the earthly and the eternal, the carnal from the spiritual, is because there is a dualism in each of us.
The dictionary meaning of dualism is; dualism >noun 1 division into two opposed or contrasted aspects, such as good and evil or mind and matter. We could add flesh and spirit that create a war within us. There is the “old” us and the “new us.” This “DUALISM” is seen as two kinds of about everything affecting our lives and our experience.
The obvious goal of the Christian life is to grow up into ONE PERFECT MAN in which there is NO DUALISM. Today we are faced with two kind of things within each of us. This list is just a suggestion and certainly not complete.
Two Kinds of Government; Man’s Government and God’s Kingdom Government.
Two Kinds Of Life; Psuche and Zoe, Man’s natural life and God’s Eternal Life.
Two Kinds of Wisdom; One from below and one from above.
Two Kinds Of Love; Phileo and Agape. Human love and God’s Love!
Two Kinds Of Truth, natural and temporal and God’s Truth (Christ) eternal.
Two Kinds Knowledge; intellectual knowledge and revelation knowledge.
Two Kinds Of Vision; temporal and earthly and eternal and heavenly.
Two Kinds Of Reality; One for the outer man, the other for the new inner man.
Two Kinds; Rationalism; one from the natural mind and one from the mind of Christ.
Two Kinds Of Relativism; One that is moral, cultural and historical and that which relates to God, Himself, and His purpose.
Two Kinds of Reckoning; From earth viewpoint and one from heaven’s viewpoint.
Two Kinds of Laws; Man’s laws on the outside and God’s Laws on the inside.
Two Kinds of Discernment; Natural and Spiritual.
Two Kinds of Intellect; One of the natural man and another from the new inner man.
Two Kinds Of MIND; Natural mind and the renewed mind of the Spirit.
Two Kinds Of Spirit; Human spirit and the other the new inner spirit; the Spirit of Christ.
Two Viewpoints; Temporal and Eternal.
Two Kinds Of Hunger; natural hunger for food and the other a “famine for the word of God.”
Two Kinds Of Curiosity; Religious curiosity of natural things and Spiritual curiosity of the eternal.
Two Kinds Of Poverty; one of money and one the lack of spiritual insight.
Two Kinds of Blindness; One of natural eyes and the other in the spiritual eyes.
Two Kinds Of Goals; Earthly and temporal and heavenly and eternal..
Two Kinds Of Restraints; One imposed by man and another imposed by our Revelation of God.
There are two kinds of man which is the inner man and the outer man, the “old self” and the “new self,” the natural man and the spiritual man! This “dualism” extends to all facets of our existence. It is little wonder that we have difficulty preaching to the church because we have no idea to which person (or in which realm they are hearing) that we are trying to communicate with.
Rom 7:21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good.22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
2Co 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying,
yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
Eph 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man;
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things
passed away; behold, new things have come.
Col 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him
Eph 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
The function of both the “new self” and the “old self” is what we are calling “dualism.” These two opposing factions are in each of us until the “old self” or “old inner man” is put off and out of action within us.
The real problem appears when we preach just to the “old natural man” and expect him to change. God has no plans to correct, enlighten, sanctify or instruct the “old natural man or the old outer man.” God’s only plan is for his death and burial so that, out of resurrection, there emerges a “new inner man” who after Christ is created in the image of Christ.
The “old self” or the “old outer man” will easily accept a gospel that promises that the “old self” can prosper and be in health, be strengthen and receive a ministry through the laying on of hands, so he can receive the power to prophesy, cast out demons and then do his own thing.
The “old man” has no desire to hear a gospel that does not include him in anything God is doing. He negatively responds to the Gospel of the Kingdom that only wants to eliminate the “old man” immediately through death and burial. The “old man” is seeking recognition and a ministry with titles, robes, positions and authority. In vain the “old man” tries to exalt himself in the things of God and then complains when he has no anointing to even do simple things in the spiritual realms.
This conflict between the “old man” and the “new inner man” is present in Christians on every continent, in every race and in every denomination. The “old man” will continue to strive for position simply because he has not been clearly informed that God has NO PLAN for him and God CANNOT use him to do anything. Why? Because those who are in the flesh can NEVER please God, even if they stand in the pulpit and preach every Sunday. Whenever the “old man” hears the Gospel of the Kingdom he will immediately reject it because that Total Government cannot fit into the “old man’s” plans.
The “old man” in the pulpit will always preach to the “old man” in the pew. The “New Inner Man” in the pulpit will try to preach to the “New Inner Man” in the pew. Immediately there will be problems in the congregation because there ARE TWO FACTIONS PRESENT. After you get a “New Inner Man” in the pulpit ALL the “old outer men” will immediately try to get rid of him and want to begin interviewing some “old outer men” to install in the pulpit. I am guessing that this can be traced through the history of the church. Therefore, the trend in the church is always downward and the “natural man” never changes and the “old man” refuses to die and be eliminated from the visible church.
The successful preacher who is a “New Inner Man” must have a congregation of “New Inner Men” or he will always be in conflict in the visible church. Unfortunately, the greatest majority in the visible church are of the “unredeemed old man nature” and there are few places the “New Inner Man” can fellowship. The “old inner man” in the pulpit can NEVER “feed” the New Inner Man in the pew. Therefore, we see an exodus or a transfer of people from one visible church to another visible church. No one should complain about the people in continuous change We should complain against a system that cannot minister to them or help them after they are clearly redeemed.
Things get real confusing when there is a “New Inner Man” in the pulpit but he still just ministers to the “old inner men” in the pew because his goal is to be successful and build a big assembly of “old inner men.” Even if many “New Inner Men” leave, if there is a influx of “old inner men”, the assembly continues to “grow.”
The “New Inner Men” are not as easily conned into giving to this kind of organization but the “old inner man” has no discernment so the tithes and offerings increase which appears to indicate success. Huge church buildings can seat a multitude of “old inner men” who are excited that they are accepted into the fellowship without any change in their lifestyle.
“The First Church Of The Old Creation” will prosper until there is a real conversion to the Gospel of the Kingdom and the development of a New Inner Life that has been infused with His Life through a series of births from above.
Heavy handed “old creation leaders” will always “correct” according to their own fallen nature. These “leaders” will become outraged over another person’s failure. They can easily see the imperfections in others but are blind to their own imperfections. It is evident that the “self-love” in one person will be outraged by the “self-love” in another person. The fact that too much of the church is just superficial is not in question. The cause of this shallowness can only be attributed to the “blind leaders of the blind.”
Within the visible church there is very little emphasis upon a “changed life” or an “exchanged Life” which means “ours for His. There is no appeal for the church to live under the Government of God because that is considered as “legalism” and the church is supposed to be free. There is no demand, in the message of the visible church, to forsake our false views of God and a counterfeit “man centered gospel” and to fully adapt to a God centered viewpoint and be transformed into a new Kingdom Government of God controlled Life.
The visible church always seems to be majoring on minor changes in our interpersonal relationships and focusing just upon marginal issues when compared to the Eternal Issues of the Kingdom of God and to His Eternal Purpose for mankind.
God’s Eternal Truth is like an endless ocean of the revelation of the mysteries that have been hidden from past generations. The fact that we presently comprehend very little of His Eternal Truth points to 1700 years of irrelevant religious activity that offered NO TEACHING BY REVELATION of the very things that God purposed to reveal though the church. The marginal issues have a much greater place in the church than the Heart of God and His Purpose for mankind. Therefore, the church has fallen into a “man centered gospel.”
The problem, as I see it now, is that the low state and fallen mentality of the average church is not able to comprehend spiritual things. The Gospel of the Kingdom will require a total readjustment of our method of thought and perception away from the natural and into the realms above the earth realms. In other words how can we comprehend spiritual truths of the Kingdom realm-- which is above the earth realm-- if we continue to just live in the earth realm and by the natural life of the natural man?
In this “gospel of man’s needs” the natural man can be “saved” just by what he believes, if that involves Jesus as Savior. While I don’t understand that kind of salvation, I am certain that concept is outside the Gospel of the Kingdom and the inner transformation that “Kingdom Salvation” requires.
A truly redeemed person cannot survive in an empty, meaningless and purposeless atmosphere of the average church routine. Many that we knew in the early Charismatic Movement that were on fire for God soon lost their fire because they could not move out of their church system. The “system” drained the life out of them because they thought they must stay in the system as evangelists to change the system.
In others that began in the Charismatic Movement, the empty routine of the religious “Christian activity” sooner or later caused a revolt against the system and they began to seek “life” elsewhere. When they couldn’t find anything better they stayed home. Many of those that “began” never finished the race simply because they just quit running.
The Christian “church” is not presenting an absolute from which we can reason down to all this kind of relativism today that we see in the various church systems. The goal always seems to be changing and many are running toward a moving goal that has no fixed position. The goal moves according to which book we read, which preacher we hear, what tape we listen to or what conference we attend.
The “Gospel of the Kingdom” presents an ABSOLUTE that is exactly the same on every continent and in every nation and for every person in every generation. It is unshakable!