In understanding spiritual maturity, one thing I’ve found to be vitally important is that mere knowledge of the Word of God without knowing, understanding, believing and experiencing the unconditional love of God will rarely, if ever, enable us to interpret, understand and communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ correctly!

NOW ABOUT food offered to idols: of course we know that all of us possess knowledge [concerning these matters. Yet mere] knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature]. 2If anyone imagines that he has come to know and understand much [of divine things, without
love], he does not yet perceive and recognize and understand as strongly and clearly, nor has he become as intimately acquainted with anything as he ought or as is necessary. I Cor 8:1-2 (AMP) 

Paul is addressing one of the many problems the early church was facing at that time—food that had been offered to idols.

In issues of disagreement within the church, there will always be people who have their particular doctrinal opinions and scriptures to prove their point of view.

That’s why Paul said, “…of course we know that all of us possess knowledge concerning these matters”

But he continued, “Yet mere knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud)…”

Paul was saying that if all we have is mere knowledge of scripture, it will cause us to be lofty and proud!
Then he said, “…but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature].”

The J B Phillips translation says: “…Now to deal with the matter of meat which has been sacrificed to idols. It is not easy to think that we “know” over problems like this, but we should remember that while knowledge may make a man look big, it is only love that can make him grow to his full stature.”

This means: No matter how much scriptural knowledge we think we have or how much we know about the Bible, without also knowing, believing and experiencing the unconditional love of God for people, we may still be quite ignorant of things we ought to know.

That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Eph. 3:17-19 (KJV)

With our hearts firmly established in the finished work of Christ and deeply rooted in the unconditional love of God, we are able to comprehend (to lay hold of so as to make one’s own, to take into one’s self, or to appropriate with beneficial effect) the deep things of God.

Comprehending the deep things of God’s unconditional love clearly supersedes mere knowledge!
True spiritual maturity is not how much scriptural knowledge we accumulate or how many scriptures
we commit to memory.

True spiritual maturity is when we are firmly rooted, grounded and persuaded
of the unconditional love of God for people! Then we are empowered to interpret the Bible!
Knowledge of scripture without a healthy revelation of God’s love for people is powerless to touch, heal, and transform lives!

Only within the unconditional love of God demonstrated by Jesus Christ are we able to have a healthy biblical understanding that will enable us to grow to our full stature in Christ.

-Blessings, Arthur

Get the Holy Spirit’s help for your situation now!: 

As a rule, the majority of believers in the church do not really understand faith!

Many have come to believe that living by faith is virtually inaccessible for them and only really meant for the Super Saints. Others believe they have to “grow faith.” 

Still others feel that they are too weak or fallible to ever experience something good from God through faith. But nothing could be farther from the truth!

Whether you are cultured or uncultured, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, strong or weak, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for you and will work for you!

I like what Paul says in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth;…” But guess what? He also says that faith comes by hearing the Gospel or the Word of God!

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Our word for salvation comes from the Greek word soteria which speaks of “a condition where nothing is missing, nothing is broken and nothing is withheld—wholeness.”

It is more than simple forgiveness and going to Heaven; it includes deliverance, protection, prosperity, peace, and healing. And according to Paul, faith is the agent that activates it in our lives.

“But I just don’t have that kind of faith,” you say. That’s the beauty (and power) of the Gospel—it’s not about you! It’s about Jesus!

I remember a time in my life when I was just beginning to grasp this concept.

One spring while we were still living in South Africa, I realized that no one in my family had been to the doctor all year. (This was very unusual for our family.)

It stopped me in my tracks. Because as a faith preacher, I realized that I hadn’t purposefully believed God for healing, so I couldn’t understand how I was experiencing the benefits of salvation without “fighting the ‘so called’ good fight of faith.” That’s when God revealed and explained the true definition of our fight of the faith to me.

He said, “Arthur, the scripture says when you are rooted and grounded in my love, you experience the fullness of my benefits!” (Eph. 3:17-19)

I realized it wasn’t so much about my “faith,” but it was about me becoming fully persuaded and absolutely convinced of God’s extravagant, unconditional love for me in and through what Jesus did for me on the cross!

So I stopped trying to do faith and began to believe and rest in the fact that God completely and unconditionally loves me.

Because faith and living by faith will not make any sense, unless in the depths of our hearts we become fully persuaded that God “LOVES US UNCONDITIONALLY AND EXTRAVAGANTLY—without respect, boundaries, caution, limits, and without regret!

This is the true message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

No matter what has happened in your past, or what is happening right now, or what might happen in your future, God cannot and will not (He refuses to) stop LOVING YOU!

Blessings on you this month, Arthur

Enjoy a “debt-free” relationship with God

The Bible is full of Truth—but not all truth is created equal. The best way that I know to describe it is to say that the Bible contains truth from cover to cover. Some truth is unimportant, and some is extremely important. But there is truth that is essential to our Christian walk. It’s what we believe about the essential, foundational truths of the New Testament that determines whether or not we experience the kind of guilt-free living God designed for us to live.

Many people know about God. They may even know the Bible or have been influenced in some way by biblical thought. But most people have never experienced God for who He really is. Even those of us who desire to know God and read our Bibles daily often misjudge what it says because we read it as a regular book and tend to think that it is a progressive revelation of God. But as New Testament believers, it is important to realize that there is only one true revelation of God, and that is—Jesus Christ, His Son.

John 1:18 in the Amplified Bible says:

No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].

Jesus, is the only One who has ever seen God for who He really is. He is the sole and exact representation of God. It is through Him alone that we can correctly interpret what the Bible says about God and about us. Only through Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, can we rightly understand the truths of Scripture—both Old and New Testament. He is the lens we look through to know and experience God for who He really is.

Jesus is the foundational and essential truth we must use to build and establish our beliefs and doctrines. But what if I read something, Arthur, that doesn’t line up with who Jesus is? Then that truth is not essential; it does not apply to us—even if it’s in the Bible. But Arthur, the Bible is true. The Bible is true—but Jesus, who He is and what He accomplished in and through His finished work is “The Truth!”

Everything written in Scripture is “God-breathed” or “God inspired” according to 2 Timothy 3:16. God inspired the writers of the Bible to record their experiences with Him to reveal Christ. Does that negate their experience? No. But does that mean their experience becomes Truth simply because it is in a book we call the Bible? No. We must learn to discern scripture just like we discern someone’s testimony experience today.

A little old lady stands up in church to testify of God. She begins by praising God for getting her through another week of Satan’s vicious attack. She thanks God for testing her patience like gold in the refiner’s fire through her chronic sickness. She blesses God for teaching her humility through her failure to read and pray like she should. On and on she goes, attributing things in her life to God that are nothing like His character—things that we know God would never do to His children. Does her belief system define who God is? No! Was her experience real to her? Yes! Does that real experience constitute real truth? No! Can her understanding dictate other people’s experiences? Yes!

The same thing happened in Scripture. In the book of Job, we find a man of God experiencing tragedy. His friends come to “encourage him” with their opinions of who God is and what he needs to do to reconcile himself to God. Nine chapters consist wholly of their opinions—it is recorded in Scripture and Holy Spirit inspired, but they were all wrong! God even spoke to Job and said, “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2 NIV) And Job himself had to repent. Not for anything he’d done that brought about his experience, but because he had misinterpreted and misrepresented God. He said, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand…My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you…I repent” (Job 41:3, 5-6 NIV). Job essentially said, “I’m sorry, God. I let others tell me who You were and did not know you for myself.”

It’s essential to know God for yourself—and vital to build our doctrines and beliefs on the rock of Jesus Christ—the essential Truth. We can’t attempt to lay a foundation on the sandy shores of our limited knowledge or experience. Standing on the Rock of Truth, we are able to experience the guilt-free life God designed for us in Him!

…But now you have had every stain washed off: now you have been set apart as holy: now you have been pronounced free from guilt; in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 (Weymouth)

Everyone has a built-in desire to live a successful life. But this can mean different things to different people… 

For some, it’s money and stuff. To others, it might be fame and recognition, etc. Success for a believer is a life full of wholesome, life-giving relationships with family and friends. These relationships are mutually beneficial as we advance the Kingdom of God together. This is real success. We were created for relationship!

People were not made for money. Money was made as a tool for our time here on the earth. Therefore, a materialistic, temporal view of success will be extremely disappointing. At a much deeper lever, what we all desire is emotional stability. If we don’t have peace, we will give anything and everything we do have to acquire it. Fame, fortune and all the “friends”real peace and emotional stability is impossible without an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father.

The Christian life is all about living easy and free from the inside out. Grace and peace are meant to dominate our hearts as we enjoy our relationship with our Abba-Father. The greatest benefit of our eternal inheritance is relating intimately to our beloved Father.

Though others would tell me that Christian living ought to be like this, my life of faith was strained. In fact, the longer I lived as a believer, the more strained my life became! It took me a long time to grasp that the life of Christ is something that flows out of my heart. It’s not some holy standard for us to conform to that’s against our true nature. Freedom happens as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth—day by day, for the rest of our lives.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14

Being led by the Spirit is not some mystical, spooky thing. This verse is simply telling us to follow what is true in the spirit. When we begin to believe what’s true about us in the spirit, we experience our son-ship in Him. What is true in the spirit is that we were made righteous, holy, healthy and prosperous (successful) in Jesus Christ!

Once I understood this, God was able to affect great change in my life and ministry. And it was effortless for me.
Change that is not effortless is not real change.

The moment you begin to try to change yourself, it just becomes behavior modification, and it won’t last because your heart stays the same.
A successful Christian life becomes really easy when you allow the truth to sink into your heart and soul. You begin to change on the inside. Then that truth manifests effortless change on the outside. When you truly know that you are righteous, holy, prosperous and totally whole in Christ Jesus, a successful life comes naturally—just like it’s supposed to!

-Blessings on you this month, Arthur

Stressed out trying to be successful? Check out this resource!

We are all in different stages of our journey and growth in the revelation of righteousness. We may mentally assent to the fact that Jesus’ death and resurrection put us in right standing with God, but we all are learning to continually walk out that reality in our day-to-day lives. In some areas, we may find ourselves fully persuaded of this truth. In others, we may need to consciously work on establishing this truth in our hearts. The only way we can completely rid ourselves of the feelings of guilt and condemnation that accompany our relationship with God is to become fully persuaded of what Christ accomplished for us on the cross.

Are you struggling with guilt or addiction? Do you have a financial or a relationship problem? Is there an area in your life where you feel that you’ve failed? Those may be clues that you may not be fully convinced that God loves and accepts you, He is pleased with you, and that He desires good for your life—including intimate relationship with Him.

You have been made right before God (Rom. 2:13). But you may not consider yourself holy (Heb. 10:10). A person who does not know they’ve been made holy will continue to act as if they are unholy. But when you are established in the fact that you are holy and right with God, you will start acting like it! The fruit of that understanding will spill out and show itself in every area of your life.

Does that mean you will never make another mistake or that you will never miss the mark and sin again? No. At some point or another, you will violate your conscience; you will hurt someone with your words or disappoint them with your actions. When that happens, seek forgiveness from the person you wronged and try to make it right so you can live at peace and keep your mistakes from becoming an issue in your relationship with them (Rom. 12:17-21). But know that your mistake (your sin) will never become an issue between you and God. Jesus has taken care of that issue permanently (Heb. 10:14)! He has completely removed your sin and signed a covenant of peace between you and God!

For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion and mercy I will gather you [to Me] again. In a little burst of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with age-enduring love and kindness I will have compassion and mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. For this is like the days of Noah to Me; as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:7-10 (Amplified)

Your sin is not hiding and waiting for an opportune moment to revisit you and shout to God that you are “unclean.” It isn’t attached to your hip, hoping to trip you up whenever you aren’t looking so that you can’t enter God’s presence. It’s not even buried in your heart trying to dig its way out. Your sin has been removed!

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm103:11-12 (KJV)

I am fully persuaded, and that’s good news, my friend!

Everyone has a built-in desire to live a successful life. This means different things to different people. For some, it’s money and stuff. To others, it might be fame and recognition, etc. Success for a believer is a life full of wholesome, life-giving relationships with family and friends. These relationships are mutually beneficial as we advance the Kingdom of God together. This is real success. We were created for relationship!

People were not made for money. Money was made as a tool for our time here on the earth. Therefore, a materialistic, temporal view of success will be extremely disappointing. At a much deeper lever, what we all desire is emotional stability. If we don’t have peace, we will give anything and everything we do have to acquire it. Fame, fortune and all the “friends” money can buy may be there. But real peace and emotional stability is impossible without an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father.

The Christian life is all about living easy and free from the inside out. Grace and peace are meant to dominate our hearts as we enjoy our relationship with our Abba-Father. The greatest benefit of our eternal inheritance is relating intimately to our beloved Father.

Though others would tell me that Christian living ought to be like this, my life of faith was strained. In fact, the longer I lived as a believer, the more strained my life became! It took me a long time to grasp that the life of Christ is something that flows out of my heart. It’s not some holy standard for us to conform to that’s against our true nature. Freedom happens as we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth—day by day, for the rest of our lives.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14

Being led by the Spirit is not some mystical, spooky thing. This verse is simply telling us to follow what is true in the spirit. When we begin to believe what’s true about us in the spirit, we experience our son-ship in Him. What is true in the spirit is that we were made righteous, holy, healthy and prosperous (successful) in Jesus Christ!

Once I understood this, God was able to affect great change in my life and ministry. And it was effortless for me. Change that is not effortless is not real change. The moment you begin to try to change yourself, it just becomes behavior modification, and it won’t last because your heart stays the same. A successful Christian life becomes really easy when you allow the truth to sink into your heart and soul. You begin to change on the inside. Then that truth manifests effortless change on the outside. When you truly know that you are righteous, holy, prosperous and totally whole in Christ Jesus, a successful life comes naturally—just like it’s supposed to!