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Do we need the Bible? Knowing Him, 2 of 4

8/31/2024

Hi all,

Last week I shared how most of the world's Christians do not own a Bible or New Testament, yet they grow in Him without it.

In the greatest 'revival' of all time, Christianity saturated the Roman Empire within 300 years after Pentecost, all before any of them had the New Testament as we know it today. Why then do so many believers today think 'the Word' should be the main focus of our spiritual lives?

The 'Word' to know is the person who IS the Word. The ink on the page flows from Him. Therefore knowing the Person who is the Word is first priority.

This is about those priorities.

How many times have you heard Hebrews 4:12:
"The Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and critiques the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

This verse has been used by countless pastors as the basis for sermons telling congregations to 'get into the Word'. Many Christians read a daily devotional, read 2 chapters a day to get through the Bible in a year, or read a verse a day. This motivation comes in large part because church culture continually bombards us with strong exhortations to get into the Word.

But Hebrews 4:12 is NOT talking about scripture.
We read 'the Word of God is alive and active and sharper than any two-edged sword', and have been programmed to think that means ink on the page is alive and active....but read verse 13 as the author continues his message:

"And there is not a creature hidden before Him. All things however are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him who is our reckoning....Therefore since we have such a high priest, Jesus Christ the righteous....let us come boldly to the throne..."

The Word who is alive and active is Jesus Christ Himself! He is the double edged sword critiquing our thoughts and intents, not ink on the page. Put scripture back in context and you will see throughout the NT it emphasizes relationship first and foremost!

"You search the scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life. But they testify of Me." John 5:39

Here Jesus tells us the priority and reveals error. He says people search scriptures because they think searching the scriptures gives them eternal life. Wrong. He said scripture is there to (just) testify of Him. This places the priority on knowing Him. It corrects the thinking that in scripture we have eternal life. No, we have eternal life by knowing the Lord.

Remembering they had no New Testament by which to know about the Lord, read the following passages realizing when they write of the knowledge of the Father and Jesus, they aren't talking about knowing by scripture. Neither are they writing about knowing about them.

Read the word 'knowledge' and 'know' and 'knowing' below as if you are in the 1st century. Read these verses realizing they are writing about personally knowing Jesus, knowing the Father:

I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know Me. John 10:14

I count all things loss for the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. Philippians 3:8, 10

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. I John 2:3

...until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, (and of knowing the Son of God) Ephesians 4:13

Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. (through knowing God and Jesus our Lord) II Peter 1:2

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will make you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (in truly knowing our Lord Jesus Christ) II Peter 1:8

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. (escaped the defilements of the world by knowing the Lord...) II Peter 2:20

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (casting down all things that exalt itself against what you know of God the Father) II Corinthians 10:5

Notice - this verse says we are to cast down our emotions and thoughts which rise against what we know of the Father and Jesus. We don't bring our thoughts and feelings captive to chapter and verse, but to the fact we know the Father and Jesus. This proper understanding can change everything.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:(give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Him) Ephesians 1:17

When you read through the NT:
Study the word 'know' and 'knowledge' with the understanding they met in homes and no one had a New Testament. When they write of knowing Christ and the knowledge of God, they are talking about actually knowing the Father, actually knowing Jesus. THAT is eternal life Jesus said.

Showing you are already have this proper priority is next week, and some practical tips. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

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Do we need the Bible? 1 of 4

8/24/2024

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Hi all,

Is Bible study the main way you know the Lord, or is it supplemental to your faith?

If you said Bible study is the main way you know the Lord, your priorities may not be in line with New Testament realities. Even though you said the Bible is the main way you know the Lord, in this study I'll show you the truth in your life is probably different from what you think. But first....

They had no New Testament in print
On the day of Pentecost the Old Testament was in place. But there was no New Testament to which believers could turn. It was about 10 years before Matthew was written. Paul's letters weren't written until the 50's and 60's. The gospels of Mark, Luke, and Acts came around the time of Peter and Paul's deaths in the early 60's. The gospel of John, his 3 letters, and The Revelation were written between the years 90 and 100 - at least 60 years after Pentecost.

Our New Testament wasn't organized into what we have today until the year 393 at the Council of Hippo. 393AD was 360 years AFTER Pentecost. (Hippo is a city in Algeria, North Africa. Remember, the gospel went to Africa before it went to Europe. Acts 8:27-40. It is not a 'white man's religion)

How did believers grow in the Lord during those 360 years without a New Testament? The letters from Paul, Peter, James, John and Jude were circulating in the Roman Empire in the first 100 years after Pentecost, but this was before the printing press. Individuals did not own scripture. On the few occasions it happened, someone with part of one of the letters might come to their (house) church.

Think it through - no New Testament, no study of the New Testament.
They had no means of learning about the Lord other than the Old Testament and the few bits and pieces of stories of those who had either been with Jesus or knew someone who had been - and that for only part of the first century before all died.

They didn't know the Lord through scripture.
They knew Him by His presence in their spirit. They had been trained to first perceive His Spirit in their spirit. "The Holy Spirit bears witness with our Spirit we are the children of God." Romans 8:16.

They had to walk with the Lord in their daily lives. Conversational prayer. Times set aside for prayer. They had to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit in their spirit. It is no wonder Jesus said in John 17:3:

"This is eternal life. To know you the only true God, and your son Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Do you know your Father and Lord? Or do you know ABOUT them? Consider that it was in this time of no New Testament that Christianity spread to saturate the Roman Empire. They were extremely successful without a single New Testament!

This is why today we have solid believers afraid for their salvation. They read a verse and they are afraid they will be rejected. Someone comforts them and shows them they are born again, and they have peace for a time - until they find another verse to feed their fear. IF they laid their Bible down for a few weeks and focused on knowing Christ in them, knowing the Spirit of God within, their fear would have no foothold. No opening. Why? Because they can then say to the fear, "I know Him! I know I am saved and won't be rejected. I know Him and have His peace in my spirit!"

In the first 360 years they didn't need a chapter and verse to turn to in leading someone to the Lord. They didn't pray with someone and then give them a Bible. There weren't Bible studies focused on the New Testament to bring that new believer to. They knew the Father, knew the Lord, and shared how the Spirit of the Father had transformed their lives. Additionally, because they met in homes in relationship based faith, miracles which proved what they were saying about the Lord, were common:

"When the Lord does miracles among you, does He do it by the Spirit through faith or the hearing of the Mosaic law? Galatians 3:5 (Written at least 20 years after Pentecost, miracles were still common in far away Galatia (modern central Turkey). Miracles are common in house churches today as well!

They shared with each other what the Living Word, the Person of Christ in them was doing in their lives. They grew through relationships with others who knew Him. These people shared how to walk with God in their daily lives.

Have you ever had a situation in which you or someone you heard about, were led by the Spirit to do the things in scripture even though you or they did not know the chapter and verse at the time? You were just simply following the Lord's leading and later learned you were following chapter and verse? It happens all the time. That's how they lived - following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Today most Christians around the world do not own a Bible.
American Christians often think THEY are the body of Christ. Reality is very different. American Christians are only about 10-13% of Christians in the world. The vast majority of Christians in our time do not own a personal New Testament or full Bible. (Links to some statistics below)

Most Christians in the world today must know Christ in them, and are growing that way, without owning a New Testament. Where the gospel is spreading the most, is in areas where the Bible is either outlawed or otherwise not available. So why do so many in the west think scripture is so important to their growth in the Lord? What if we emphasized knowing the Father and Lord instead of 'getting into the Word' to know them?

If you have been a believer for very long, you know the body of Christ is told over and over again to 'be in the Word'. Christians think the printed Word is the #1 way to know God. I submit that revelation in the printed page flows from first having a relationship with the Father and Lord.

Many know about the Lord more than they know Him, because of the emphasis on the Bible.
And that is where we start next week. Until then, blessings,

John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

ChurchTrac.com says 20% of Americans go to church weekly; 30% identify as born again.
https://www.churchtrac.com/articles/the-state-of-church-attendance-trends-and-statistics-2023

Barna:https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2021/08/CRC_AWVI2021_Release06_Digital_01_20210831.pdf

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Final thoughts giving/tzedakah in NT

8/17/2024

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Hi all,

Most pastors and Christians have no idea that righteousness is by its very nature, both vertical and horizontal at the same time. But now you do. All giving in the OT and New Testament are founded in us being generous with others because the Father has been and continues to be, generous, with us.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, soul and strength, AND your neighbor as yourself - These 2 elements together as one are righteousness (tzedakah). This is the basis for all giving of money, time, resources, talents, wisdom throughout the Bible. We give to our fellow man as an act of rejoicing we have been made right with God.

For instance:Matthew 6:25-34, Seek ye first the Kingdom and His righteousness...
Jesus said not to be worried about food, drink, or things needed (horizontal). He said those are things Gentiles seek for they don't have a heavenly Father providing for them. The Father demonstrates righteousness for He is righteous (vertical) and He provides for His children (horizontal).

In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus said at His return He will be as one who separates sheep (believers) from goats (unbelievers). The sheep are identified by these characteristics of righteousness in the horizontal:"I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was naked and you clothed me, I was a stranger and you took me in, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you visited me."

These are all characteristics of righteousness. Because we have been made right before God vertically, our Life in Him is naturally poured out to those in need horizontally.

We are a unique people
Tzedakah continues to be seen in Paul's letters:"And you he has made alive, who were dead in your sins (vertical) and trespasses (horizontal)." Ephesians 2:1

"...and to put on the new man, which is created to be like God in true righteousness (vertical) and holiness (horizontal)." Ephesians 4:24

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other (horizontal), just as in Christ God forgave you." (vertical) Ephesians 4:31-32

Remember that the whole of the New Testament was written by apostles doing church in the home, writing to people doing church in the home. For us doing house church, the horizontal elements take on special meaning. It's totally different if you sit in a large auditorium and don't know most of the people around you. But in house church, you know one another.

Priorities
The question for us is:How do we organize our heart to give? Some are so giving they would give away their food money to help someone hungry. Others have no budget, no sense that just because money is in an account it can't be spent because it will be needed in 5 days to pay a bill. Priorities established in our heart help establish order in our finances.

We have seen:Set aside something according to how the Lord has blessed you this week. Give yourselves first to the Lord, then give to someone. Giving is figured according to what you have and not what you don't have. God provides seed for sowing and bread for eating. If we give it enters into our future when it will come back to us in good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. I Corinthians 16:2, II Corinthians 8:4-5, 11-15, 9:8-10, Luke 6:38.

II Corinthians 9:8:'And He will make all grace about towards you so that you have all sufficiency in all things so you can abound to all good things.' I have seen this in our own lives. If you live to give, the Father keeps the flow going through you, and you will suffer no lack.

Decades ago...
...I began always carrying some cash on me to be able to give to someone in need. My heart had turned when I understood that tithing and giving in the New Testament had been swallowed up by Christ in me in a lifestyle of thankfulness expressed in giving to others.

Tithing and giving changed from feeling external pressure to do so, to flowing from internal joy as an expression of gratitude for having been made righteous before the Father. In my heart I felt like a kid at Christmas, having a $20 bill set aside as an offering to the Lord for giving to strangers.

One day:
I came out of a grocery store and noticed a young woman walking among cars asking for money. She approached me and asked for coffee money. She assured me she didn't do drugs, but she liked visiting the coffee shop next to the grocery store.

I knew something was not right in her thinking, and told her I needed to do something first if she would wait. I then went into the coffee shop and found out she was a regular there, and that she had lost a baby at birth and had never been mentally right since. She lived in a shed behind her mother's house so she could deal with her pain by herself.

I gave the $20 to the manager asking him to give her credit for coffee, and returned to her in the parking lot (car park) still wandering around asking people for coffee money. I told her what I did, and told her I would pray for her, not revealing what I knew. She said she prayed everyday and thanked me. I came away thinking her prayers were for her baby now in heaven, and perhaps for her pain.

I never saw her again, but that brief encounter stays with me to this day. I have often prayed for her, and rejoice that brief expression of tzedakah enabled me to express kindness to her, and has resulted in me praying for her these last 30+ years. So that $20 gift made first to the Lord and then given to her, has resulted in over 30 years of prayer for her - tzedakah.

As we've covered in this series, money either flows to you or away from you. It is up to us to change our ability for the Lord to trust us with money. Multiple streams of income is key to providing more than our basic needs. He provides seed and bread and it is up to us and Christ in us to decide which is which. Giving to others enters into our future to provide for us at a future time. A giver has all grace abounding to us in all things.

And all of these things are founded upon righteousness - tzedakah. We have been made right with God, therefore we want to be generous to our fellow man, having received His generosity once, and daily. We cannot help but to live a lifestyle of giving and generosity.

New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

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NT giving & prosperity 4 of 4

8/10/2024

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Hi all,

Now that we have renewed our minds to New Testament realities concerning righteousness (tzedakah) being both vertical rightness with God AND horizontal rightness with man in equal parts, we can look at NT giving.

We are living temples of God. Christ in us, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27
The adjustment the disciples had to make on the day of Pentecost was to switch their thinking of God living in a building and being more manifest in the building, to Christ in them. That means giving switched from giving into a building's (and personnel's) needs to giving directly into people's lives.

Acts 4:31-35:"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. (vertical) And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. (horizontal) For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."

They didn't live in a commune
Tzedakah was so overflowing that if anyone had a need beyond their ability to pay it, someone gave to them to meet that need. There were no needy among them. If you are on the outside as an unbeliever looking in, why wouldn't you want to believe in Jesus?

Freed from the temple system they had freedom to meet needs around them. They gave to those in need, including leaders. This means tithing and all the offerings have been swallowed up by righteousness, swallowed up by a lifestyle of giving.

On a practical side, many of us continue to use 10% as a starting place for giving.
And like the average Jewish person back then who gave about 22% in total in tithes and offerings as previously stated, so too do modern 'givers' who live and give by the Spirit and in principle. But NT giving is much more than mere money:Time, investment in the relationship, skills and resources too!

Paul wrote in I Corinthians 16:2:"Let everyone set aside something weekly as God has blessed them." There are no longer outside rules telling us when to give and how much. Christ has moved inside us. His Word is vague so that we have to walk with Him to figure these things out. You and Christ in you decide that amount to set aside and to whom it is given.

Tzedakah - righteousness/charity, is expressed by giving to people not buildings.
Paul established priorities as shown last week in his keeping of tzedakah - if one doesn't provide for his own he is worse than an unbeliever. Home and family come first as an expression of being right with God and man. (I Timothy 5:8)

Outward from family is the people you fellowship with:"Let us do good to all people, but especially to those who are of the household of God." This shows we are to be generous to all, but those we know in Christ have a higher priority than unbelievers around us. Galatians 6:10

And:"Let him who stole, steal no more (vertical rightness with God), but let him get an honest job, so that he has something to give to those in need (horizontal rightness with man). Ephesians 4:28

Tzedakah is woven throughout the gospels and letters if you look for it. To be right with God one must be right with our fellow man:"To the extent it is within you to be at peace with all." (Some won't let you be at peace with them, but that's on them.) Romans 12:18

Giving
The main instruction we have on NT giving is based on what I've been talking about these last weeks. It all leads up to II Corinthians 8 and 9, where Paul provides principles concerning giving.

In II Corinthians 8:5 he speaks of the Macedonian's who gave themselves first to the Lord, and then gave the money to Paul to give to the poor in Jerusalem. They gave themselves first to God, then to Paul. Because we give ourselves first to God, once it leaves our hands it is up to God.

He calls giving a grace:"For you abound in faith, in sharing your faith, in knowledge and growing in Christ, and your love for us, see that you abound in this grace too." II Corinthians 8:7

Then Paul gives principles which are in agreement with Jesus and tzedakah:
"If the willingness (to give) is there, do it, but it is accepted according to what you have, not giving what you don't have to give. Our desire isn't that you relieve the burden of others by placing yourselves under a burden." II Corinthians 8:11-14

If you follow the principle going back to the tithe, the person giving the tithe or offering sets aside that for the Lord, and then it goes back to themselves or others. No where does God want a person placed under a financial burden just to ease someone else's need.

In 9:6-12 Paul completes his thoughts on giving. In v10 he states:
"Now He who gives seed to the sower also gives bread for your food and multiplies your seed sown." He had said in v7:"...every person as he purposes in his heart, so let him give. Not grudgingly, nor out of need, for God loves a cheerful giver."

God will in fact provide seed to be sown and bread for our food. Look for it. Let Christ in you reveal what part is seed and what part is bread.

Back in 1980 we had someone give us the equivalent of our rent money. To us, that day, it was 'extra' so we sent it on to missionary friends. But just 2 days later I got laid off my job for lack of work (I was doing landscaping). We needed that money for our rent, but we had given it away. God intended it for our bread, but we thought it was for seed. Don't give away your bread, but don't eat your seed.

In Luke 6:38 Jesus stated:
"Give and it shall be given to you; Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will they put into the lap of you. For with the value you place (on giving) is how it will be measured back to you." ('Put into the lap of you' is the Greek)

Jesus stated in so many words, that giving enters into your future to provide for you in a time of need. Think of that. If you spend money on food, it is gone forever. But when we live to give, that giving enters into our future to provide for us in a time of need.

I hope this series has been a blessing to you. I do have a series that explores 'Balanced Biblical Prosperity' if interested. And as always, if I can clarify anything email me. But live to give. You have Christ in you, so you and He now must decide what you're going to do.

God's Word is purposely vague so that we have to walk with Him, Word & Spirit, to know how to apply His will. In NT giving, no one is there to pass a bucket beneath your nose to guilt you into giving. NO. We must take responsibility for our own lives, our own giving, our own budgets, our own debts, and we and Christ in us have to figure it out. It's called discipleship and it is a supernatural process. I pray you will abound in this grace as Paul prayed.

Final thought - a giving lifestyle is so much more than money. It is time, talents, resources, living to be generous first to our family, then to the household of God, then outward to others.

New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

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NT Giving & Prosperity 3 of 4, No tithe in NT?

8/3/2024

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Hi all,

Now that we've asked the average pastor, 'Which tithe do you want?'(lol), let us realize giving is a small part of the Jewish concept of righteousness.

Tzedakah....the Hebrew word for 'righteousness' and 'charity'
We non-Jews are taught we are righteous before God by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are taught vertically we are righteous. That's true, but it is only half of righteousness.

Tzedakah embodies and only includes rightness with God vertically AND rightness with man at the same time. You cannot separate the two in the word righteousness. Sadly, most every Christian only hears the half-truth that righteousness means being made right with God vertically.

The word 'righteousness' means right with God vertically and right with man horizontally.
It is also translated as 'charity' or 'giving' or 'alms giving' for that reason. It means we are so amazed that we have been made right vertically with God, that out of that overflow of joy and Life we give to our fellow man horizontally. To be right with God means being a generous person to our fellow man. Tzedakah is a lifestyle of generosity to our fellow man because we have been made right vertically with God.

The Old Testament tithe, which is first seen as a grace in his heart when Abraham gave voluntarily to Melchizedek, was made an external law in the Law of Moses. This was to 'force' Israel to live a life of generosity to their fellow man. It was made a law because in all the Old Testament no one was born again. They were sinners forced to live generously to their fellow man by the external law of Moses.

I can't emphasize this enough:Righteousness MUST include both the vertical right with God AND the horizontal right with man. The word 'righteous' means that. There is no dividing the word righteous to mean you are just talking of the vertical between you and God being right. Righteousness is always the vertical rightness with God AND the horizontal rightness with man. You can't have one without the other.

This is the law and prophets. This is the command to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is righteousness. It is also charity. Generosity. Giving. Tzedakah. To be right with God you must be right with man.

We have never understood to be right with God we must first be right with our fellow man.
The rabbi's teach the poor person receiving a gift is actually doing the giver a favor, not the other way around. It gives the person an opportunity to express their joy at being right with God vertically, so naturally they want to be generous with those in need horizontally.

The foundation of tzedakah (righteous) is that the home and family is first priority in giving.
One's family must be taken care of first. This is why Paul equates one who doesn't work to provide for his own home as worse than an unbeliever in I Timothy 5:8, stating he has denied is faith. He denies his faith because he isn't tzedakah - righteous - because to be righteous one must be right before God and man, and not providing for family is unrighteousness, which is a denial of one's faith.

After flowing to family, tzedakah (righteousness) then flows outward to those closest to them in the faith, friends, neighbors, co-workers, strangers in the community, in that order.

Jesus spoke of this in Mark 7:13-19. The Pharisees had made a law saying if you had a tithe or offering the temple got that even if your parents were in need of food. Jesus said that is wrong, for in tzedakah family comes first, they are the first recipients of giving. Jesus told them; "You make the Word of God of no effect to honor your tradition." There are pastors who tell their people their tithe to the church comes first, leaving people without money for food, rent and ability to live - shame on those pastors for they have become the pharisees of our day, not understanding righteousness includes and must include both the vertical and horizontal right-ness.

The foundation of all Jesus taught, all the NT teaches, is NOT our actions 'upwards' to God, rather horizontally, in our responsibilities to our fellow man.

In Matthew 19:16-22 the Rich Young Ruler comes to Jesus:"Good master, what must I do to have eternal life?" Jesus responded:"Why are you calling me good?"

This was the first opportunity for the young man to confess Jesus is the Christ. It was the first opportunity to say, "I'm calling you good because you are Christ, God's Son", as Peter did. But he said nothing. Jesus continued:"There is no one good but God." (Are you calling me God because you called me good?)

Still, there is silence from the young man. Another opportunity missed to express his faith in Jesus. So the Lord continued along a different path to reach him:"If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Here we see tzedakah in action.
After the young man claimed to keep all the horizontal commands since he was a boy, Jesus tells the young man:"If you want to be complete, sell what you have, give to the poor and you'll have a storehouse deposit in heaven, and come follow me."

The man's faith was very self-focused. Jesus listed the parts of the 10 Commandments that were horizontal - honor mom and dad, don't murder, don't do adultery, steal, lust or lie - and he said he had kept those since he was a boy. Jesus was looking for true tzedakah - a giving heart towards others.

How could Jesus have such a self-centered believer become a disciple? He was being invited to give his life for others in an expression of tzedakah that could lead to his martyrdom. Not just tzedakah, but tzedakah that could lead to his death, such would be a life of giving in the ministry.

Was his spiritual life so vibrant vertically with God that it spilled over in a life of generosity to his fellow man to the point he would be willing to die for someone?

To discover his heart, and to show his heart's deepest (stingy) truths to himself, Jesus asked him to sell everything and give to the poor in an act of tzedakah. The man went away sad, and Jesus let him go, for the life He had invited the man to required living generously from the heart. He didn't have that. He wasn't truly tzedakah, righteous, for his priorities were merely the vertical.

Notice how in the gospels when Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven, there is also the horizontal element:

"And Jesus went through Galilee teaching in their synagogues (vertical) and preaching about the kingdom of God (vertical & horizontal) and healing all manners of disease among the people (horizontal)." Matthew 4:22 (read also v23), Matthew 9:35 says the same.

The gospel of the kingdom must include both the vertical rightness with God and horizontal rightness with man. The purpose of healing in the NT therefore is first to demonstrate to the unsaved they can be made right with God. That He heals them is proof of His provision for rightness with the Father.

What does tzedakah look like with New Testament realities? That's for next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

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