(12 of 12): ‘10,000 Instructors in Christ’ vs. Very Few ‘Fathers of the Gospel’ Called by God
Teachers Tell You What You Have to DO to be Right with God. Fathers Tell All the Good God Does for Us and All the Ways He Blesses Us.
Yes, this is the end of this series on Instructors v. Gospel Fathers. But I will have a brief ‘P.S.’ in summary of these.
These comparisons come from Paul in First Corinthians 4:15: “For though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, you do not have many fathers. In Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel.”
Instructors preach what we have to do ‘next’ to be right with God. And there is always a ‘next.’ Paul says the gospel is what births us into Jesus, makes us right with God, reveals who we are in him, and all the ways he blesses and empowers us as his kids: his sons and daughters.
God’s love, goodness, forgiveness and grace draw us to repentance. It’s not what we do wrong, and must be instructed in, so we repent, — although this is usually what instructors and teachers say to do.
Instructors in Christ
Instructors are quick to say God blesses us because of us when we do right and please him. They view everything in life being a contest between Jesus and Satan. They view Satan as being the counterpart to Jesus. They believe in a type of dualistic world where God is a major force, but so is Satan. They give Satan a lot of credit, and develop the fear, knowing we must be constantly on guard. We must put on every piece of the armor of God each and every day, to make sure we’re covered. We can’t forget a piece of armor or we’ll be attacked and defenseless and made into mince meat.
Fathers of the Gospel
Fathers know God blesses us in spite of ourselves, not because of us. They know the dividing line of John 1:17: “The law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” They know that God’s armor in Ephesians 6:14–17 isn’t something we put on daily. It’s always on us: (1) gospel truth, (2) gospel righteousness, (3) gospel shoes, (4) gospel faith, (5) gospel salvation, and then (6) the power the gospel even fulfills the word of God in us (Colossians 1:21–23). They know the gospel is our armor if we believe it. It’s always on us, from head to toe, and because it’s God’s armor, Satan doesn’t know if it’s God inside there or us.
Instructors in Christ
Instructors have a very performance-oriented view of faith. Are you seeing the results you want to see by the exercise of your faith? If not, you need to attend their faith seminar on 25 ways to make your faith work better, or buy their book on the subject. Their view of faith is very objective: if you don’t see healing when you pray for it, maybe something is wrong with you.
Fathers of the Gospel
Fathers are much more subjective-minded with regard to faith. After all, our faith is meant to be in God, at least initially, and then we’re meant to have such faith in God that we live in the faith of Jesus himself (Galatians 2:17, 20 — and many other passages in the King James Version only, not modern Bibles. They know our faith is in what God is planting in us by means of gospel truth, as the Parable of the Sower says. When we speak of what God is doing in us and acknowledge every good thing in us due to Jesus, our faith becomes even more effective (Philemon 6). Again, it’s not all about us, but it’s all about Jesus.
Instructors in Christ
Instructors believe Jesus must return to fight Satan in the great battle of Armageddon. It’s going to be an all-out war. They don’t notice all the constantly changing fantasies they believe are just conjured up by gurus of the future end times who sell countless theories, none of which have been right. This robs people of the truth of the finished work of the cross. They see everything hinging on the future, and the Antichrist, so the cross is ancient history. Their belief in end times is a lot more about the Antichrist than the Christ (SIC).
Fathers of the Gospel
Fathers are more entrenched in the truth of what the New Covenant says Jesus accomplished. Jesus asks, “When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on the earth?” Our faith is in the fact that Jesus is now the conquering Lion who is on the throne (Revelation 5). The whole spirit world sees him this way, both angelic and demonic. John was the only one only to see the Lamb.
Fathers know Jesus triumphed over Satan and trampled him (Colossians 2:14). They know Jesus destroyed the works of the devil (First John 3:8). He even gave us all authority over him (Luke 10:19). Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven.” They know that Satan is powerless to touch them (First John 5:18) — let alone Jesus when he returns!! They know Jesus is not coming back to fight Satan — the battle has already been won. He’s just coming back to mop-up things, and bring an end to history as it exists. This is faith in the cross. The cross is the center of ALL human history. It’s all about Christ, not the Antichrist.
