As
long as we are living in these mortal bodies, our knowledge and
understanding of supernatural things will be unclear, tarnished, and
partial, until we come face to face with Jesus! Then, at that time we
will understand all things.
“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; But when the perfect
comes, the partial will be done away.”
(1 Corinthians 12:9-10)
In the simplest of terms, the partial is what we have now, and the perfect is what we
will have at the Second Coming. A better understanding might be that it is we who are partial — until we are complete in
Him.
Between our partial knowledge and
our lack of knowledge, let’s face it, all of us are in partial error. The
trouble with partial error, partial knowledge, or no knowledge is that we don’t
know what it is we don’t know! It is the nature of fallible, sinful, incomplete
beings to stumble.
The
Bible is the inerrant, immutable, universal Word of God, but our understanding
of the Bible is not inerrant or immutable. Therefore, we cannot preach the whole
counsel of God because we do not know the whole counsel of God.
The
New Testament is also perfect, but it is a partial, incomplete record of the
events in the lives of Jesus and the apostles. (John 20:30-31; 21:25)
Realizing these things should be
enough to humble us.
THE TWELVE
DISCIPLES DID NOT
UNDERSTAND
Not until the Second Coming will
Jesus complete all messianic prophecy and bring absolute perfection into His
Kingdom. Therefore, our present knowledge and understanding of spiritual things
is partial, limited, and unclear. Allow me to expound . . .
The Jews believed that ALL of the
blessings of the Kingdom of God would arrive in one coming of the Messiah. That
is why the followers of Jesus could understand the concept of the Kingdom of God
coming in the person of Jesus. But the disciples did not understand the form of
the Kingdom that Jesus brought until after they watched His
gruesome death.
Specifically, the disciples could
not embrace the idea that Jesus did not break the Roman yoke from Israel’s neck,
remove the presence of sin, wipe away every tear, destroy poverty, and throw
death and Satan into hell.
But when they experienced the
power of His resurrected life, then they were able to understand and embrace
this new Kingdom. It was only then that they realized that the Kingdom Of
God, as prophesied in the Old Testament, was to enter into this world through
two comings of the Messiah, and not just one (1 Peter 2:9-10).
We need to recognize that
conditioning and cultural assumptions are very stubborn and are not replaced in
our minds by a once-for-all decision.
The
disciples of Jesus could not grasp a two-part fulfillment and held firmly to a
one-part fulfillment. They needed to be told regularly that Christ had to suffer
and die. They certainly heard the message regarding the Messiah’s suffering and
death and perhaps, at last began to grasp it.
Even
so, the change of their worldviews regarding the Messiah’s work was a slow and
painful process. This two-part coming is what Jesus’ disciples stumbled over.
Perhaps we also stumble over our own worldview. After all...WE LIVE IN THE REALM
OF THE PARTIAL AND THE INCOMPLETE.
More than 200 years ago, William
Law bluntly declared that the church of his day was “in the same apostasy
that characterized the Jewish nation . . . The Jews refused Him who was the
substance and fulfilling of all that was taught in their Law and Prophets. The
Christian church is in a fallen state for the same rejection of the Holy
Spirit.”
He said further that just as the
Jews refused Jesus and quoted Scripture to prove their point,
“So church
leaders today reject the demonstration and power of the Holy Spirit in the name
of sound doctrine.”1
We know that the Old and New
Testament is the infallible Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. And
although fallible men penned them, the Scriptures remain infallible. That is
probably why Paul taught that all prophetic and revelatory utterances (and
writings?) are to be judged (1 Corinthians 14:29) and tested (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22).
Even though there were many
Christian writings in the first century, only a handful of them were canonized
(judged and tested, and declared to be perfect and of God) by a progression of
elders in the second, third, and fourth centuries.
It is possible — but rare — for a
Christian to be in tune with the Holy Spirit to such a large degree that they
can perform a complete and perfect work. To expect consistent perfection and
completion from humans is to have stumbled.
Again, here is a simple spiritual
law that should be self-evident to be true. If anything is good, and perfect,
and glorifies God — God did it!
WE ARE ONLY PARTIALLY COMPLETED
All
Evangelicals, whether charismatic or Baptist, agree that Jesus’
primary mission at His first coming was “to give his life as a ransom
for many” (Matt. 20:28). But although atonement is His chief and
central work, it was not the only work accomplished by Christ’s first
coming.
Jesus sent His
Holy Spirit to us (on the day of Pentecost) so that we could have
power to minister as He did (John 7:39; 14:26: 1 John 2:27; Acts 1:5:
1:8). His first coming also included bringing a piece of eternity into
time through the proclamation and demonstration of the Kingdom of God.
You are not
[consciously] falling behind or lacking in any special spiritual
(gift) endowment or Christian grace [the reception of which is
due to the power of divine grace operating in your souls by the Holy
Spirit], while you wait and watch [consistently living in
hope] for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and [His] being
made visible to all.
1
Corinthians 1:7(The
Amplified Bible)
In this verse,
Paul connects spiritual gifts with the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In fact, Paul is saying that Christians will not be lacking in
any of the spiritual gifts (until when?) until that glorious day of
the Second Coming of Christ. The gifts that Paul speaks of are given
free of charge . . . free of obligation . . . at the discretion of the
Giver—the Holy Spirit.
Things
are not simple in this age, because we lie between the already and the
not yet. But
knowing in part is better than not knowing at all!
Isn’t it
wonderful to know that we are children of God! And even though it has
not appeared as yet what we shall be, we know that when He appears, we
shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is (1 John
3:2).
God
desires to take us as we are and lead us to where we
need to be—conformed to the image of Christ. Where we are is always
less than perfect—we
are only partially completed.
Therefore, we need to quit lying to each other, the world, and
ourselves and admit that our doctrine, our understanding of the Bible,
and probably 95 percent of what we do is less than perfect.
That
would include prophecy and the prophetic ministry—healings and
miracles. This would also include the most overlooked
imperfection of all—our
teaching!
A person may
receive a healing from one disease, only to become sick again later.
Even Lazarus died a second time. And although Peter was miraculously
delivered from prison, Stephen was stoned to death.
Agabus
prophesied correctly concerning Paul being bound hand and foot, but he
did not properly understand that it was actually God’s will for Paul
to be bound.
Agabus believed that the vision showed what would happen IF
Paul went to Jerusalem. Paul understood the vision as showing what was
to happen to him WHEN he went to Jerusalem.
For that
reason, Paul saw Agabus’ vision as confirmation that God was sending
him. And the binding was in God’s plans and will for Paul (Acts 21).
This raises
another interesting question. Since Agabus (and all those present)
missed God, did that make Agabus a false prophet? I think not.
INCOMPLETE BUT STILL VICTORIOUS
Yes, we are
incomplete! Our salvation is incomplete! The gifts of the Spirit are
incomplete! And even the Bible is incomplete! Oh how we yearn for the
Second Coming of our redeeming Lord and King! In the meantime, we have
a Great Commission to fulfill, and we were given the power to
accomplish it.
That power is
the person of the Holy Spirit that is resident IN us,
who desires to manifest His great power THROUGH us. He
alone can bring this victory into our lives individually, and the
church corporately. He alone can instruct us in the infallible written
Word. He alone can teach us the voice of the blessed One who promised
us that His sheep know His voice (Greek: phone).
Our
tools and programs can only be of the flesh. Collectively and
individually, we are the walking, talking temples that the Holy Spirit
of God uses to accomplish His work through.
PRACTICING WHAT WE PRAISE
It isn’t
mandatory that we receive . . . but why would
any Christian reject . . . a blessing from his loving
heavenly Father? Any gift from the Holy Spirit is more
than acceptable . . . it is more than desirable!
Therefore, I am sure that most Christians would not knowingly reject God’s best.
It’s
clear that even though we are to study and believe the Bible, the
Christian religion is mainly experiential—not just mental agreement.
Jesus wants fellowship. He said: “My sheep know My voice.” We are to
subjectively experience His presence—the presence of His Holy Spirit
in us—and, objectively, experience the manifestation of His presence
through us.
We
can study and observe this, we can understand this, and we can believe
in this intimate fellowship. BUT, if we do not experience Jesus we are
missing the major aspect of the Christian faith. Christianity is an
experience, a fellowship, a relationship, not just scholarship or a
philosophical belief system.
On the day of
Pentecost the 120 believers in the upper room had a sense of
expectancy, but they didn’t know what to expect. They
simply were obedient to “tarry” and pray in unity until they “received
the promised Holy Spirit.” We also are to have a sense of expectancy
and pray in unity in order to come into the next move of God.
CONCLUSION
At this time
we are “the partial”, but perfection will come for us at the Second
Coming. Until that time—if Jesus is our Lord and Savior—we are
forgiven and have eternal life with Him.
Our
victory will be in direct ratio to our obedience to His perfect will
for our lives.
How obedient will we be?
Chapters 8, 9, and 10 are a
continuation of each other. You will want to read all three.
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It isn’t mandatory
that we receive . . . but why would any Christian reject
. . . a blessing from his loving heavenly Father? Any gift from the
Holy Spirit is more than acceptable, it is more than
desirable! Therefore, I am sure that most Christians would not
knowingly reject God’s best.
It’s
clear that even though we are to study and believe the Bible, the
Christian religion is mainly experiential — not just mental agreement.
Jesus wants fellowship. He said: “My sheep know My voice.” We are to
subjectively experience His presence — the presence of His Holy Spirit
in us — and, objectively, experience the manifestation of His presence
through us.
We
can study and observe this, we can understand this, and we can believe
in this intimate fellowship. BUT, if we do not experience Jesus we are
missing the major aspect of the Christian faith. Christianity is an
experience, a fellowship, a relationship, not just scholarship or a
philosophical belief system.
On the day of
Pentecost the 120 believers in the upper room had a sense of
expectancy, but they didn’t know what to expect. They simply
were obedient to “tarry” and pray in unity until they “received the
promised Holy Spirit.” We also are to have a sense of expectancy and
pray in unity in order to come into the next move of God.
Kenneth
Uptegrove
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