My Experience With Tithing

I went through that experience like so many disenfranchised believers of the church.  I tithed to be blessed, I even thought that when I purchased my first home, I believed that it was due to my tithing efforts.  Then the bottom fell out,  I couldn't find a good paying job and therefore could not tithe. Like many believers who believed in tithing the way it is popularly taught,  I went to the church for assistance, but was told they could not help me and that I ought to have more faith.  After a while, as my economic conditions worsened,  I was told that I was cursed because I couldn't tithe.  I went into deep depression, but I hung on to Jesus and started searching the Bible on the topic of tithing for myself. 


What I discovered that tithing is in the Bible and it can bless a believer but it is taught incorrectly.  I discovered that tithing is no longer commanded to be observed.  Tithing will still be honored by God, if the believer activates it.   What is directed by Christ is that we give in order to be blessed.  Tithing is just one form of giving that a believer can use to control the amount he is giving.  Now Tithing is not limited to money,  a believer can tithe food, time, etc. There is a teaching that says that tithing is not for Christian believers.  After a lot of study in the bible and of early church history, I discovered that the first church was comprised of mainly Jews until the Holy Spirit revealed to Peter that the Gospel message was also to be shared with the Gentile world. 


Now what did those early Jewish Christian believers do regarding tithing?  In order to not offend unbelieving Jews that practiced Judaism, they observed tithing and other legal matters stipulated by the Law of Moses.  How do I know this? I know this is because of the mention of the circumcision party which was a group of supposedly Jewish Christian believers that held on to some practises of Judaism.  They believed that no one could be saved unless they obeyed the Law of Moses.  They viewed the baby Christian community was another sect of Judaism or another extension of Judaism, like the Essenes, or the Zealots.   They believed that they were doing the right thing in turning the Gentile believers of Christ into Jews via the act of circumcision and make them obligated in keeping the Law of Moses. It all came to a head in Jerusalem where Peter, Paul and James gave cause to not forcing upon the new Gentile believers the very Law that they could not keep.  Among the things they suggested the new Gentile believers to observe, no mention of observation of the tithe was required. (Acts 15:1-32) Did this mean that Gentile believers did not have to tithe as perscibed by the Law of Moses?  Yes it meant exactly that.  However,  the writer of Hebrews wrote this phrase:


"And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth." (Hebrews 7:8)

Hebrews was written by a Jewish Christian scholar, of which many attribute the authorship of Hebrews to Paul.  The author of Hebrews is unknown, despite this he points to the fact that "one  of whom it is witnessed that he lives" receives tithes.   The Writer of Hebrews was comparing the fact that under the old Leviticus order the priests that received tithes of the nation died off, but under Christ we have a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, a high priestly order that predates the Levitical and Aaronic priestly orders,  which also receives tithes. The point is,  in order for Christ to receive tithes, believers would have to be giving tithes.  Another point is that this letter is speaking to the time period after the event of the passion of our Lord took place. This means that the practice of tithing did not end with the fulfillment of the Law by Christ's sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.   Upon further studies, I discovered that Abraham gave tithes, not of any commandment but out of an attitude of wanting to bless God for blessing him.  Abraham did not give tithes to get blessed, he gave tithes because he was blessed.  Another point I discovered is that Abraham gave tithes under the promise.  Why is this important? Because the Bible says this:

"And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." (Galatians 3:17)

The tithe that was first enacted upon under the promise by Abraham was not discontinued when the Law of Moses was ratified by the blood of the first Lamb slain in the wilderness.   The Law of Moses codified the act of tithing and placed it under the laws of vows in the book of Leviticus. (Leviticus 27).   Because tithing was placed under the Laws of vows,  tithing is a vow and is governed by the Law of Vows which says he who vows something must pay whatsoever he has vowed.  But Christ is the end of the Law, for everyone that believes in him (Romans 10:4).  This means that if someone tithes he is now tithing under the ratified promise of God to Abraham through Christ.  If someone chooses not to tithe he can not be condemned by the Law of Tithes as perscibed in the Old Testament.  For Paul wrote:

 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."(Romans 8:1)

and

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (Galatians 5:16-18)

Did we hear that right?  If we be led of the Spirit we are not under the authority of the Law?  So if we are not under the authority of the Law of the tithe as prescribed under the Law of Moses.  What law are we under?  We are under the Law of the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:2).  What does that mean?  It means that the same duty, obligation and obedience that was once required by the Law of Moses  is now required by Jesus, the Christ, the High priest of our profession.  So Jesus, being our eternal high priest receives tithes of us if we are willing to bless him with it. For the tithe is not of legal obligation, but of a willing and grateful heart.

Question: How can we give Jesus tithes if he departed the earth over 2000 years ago?  Jesus left his body on the earth, namely the church.  It is this body that represents Jesus on the earth and by giving our tithes to the church we are giving tithes to Christ.  Now supposed we can not give tithes due to a financial downturn or tragedy?  There is no obligation to continue giving tithes if you run into financial problems. and you are not less than a believer for not doing so.  Give what you can and God will bless you.

Update:

I have been listening to an ongoing debate between believers in the obedience to the Law and those who do not believe the Law has any bearing on believers today in relation to this subject of tithing.  Look, The writer of Hebrews stated that a Testament, a legal binding agreement between the one who going to die, called a Testator, and the ones assigned to carry out his or her last wishes, known as the, Executors of the Testators will, will not go into Legal force until the Testator dies.  Question: Did Jesus die on the Cross? Yes He did.  Therefore, from that time forth what ever the Testator, Jesus, the Christ, commanded his disciples to do as Executors of his last will, that is what they must carry out.

The writer of Hebrews and the Apostle Paul wrote expressly how the Law of Moses, as good and Holy it is, could not make righteous or holy those who adhered to it.  A change of Law was required and a change of priesthood was also required.  So by Christ's death on the cross, Jesus fulfilled the righteous demands of the Old Law and by dying put it out of Legal power, simultaneously Christ by his death ratified with his own Holy blood the promise of God which the inception of the Old Law could not end by its ratification by the blood of Lambs and Oxen.  In other words the Promise ran concurrent with the dispensation of the Law, even though the Promise proceeded the Old Law by 430 years. ( Galatians 3: 17; Hebrews  7:11-16) Both were radically changed at the Cross of Calvary when Christ died.  For when Christ died the curtain leading to the Holy of Holies in the sanctuary in the Temple was torn from top to bottom.  Now this was no easy feat, for the curtain of the Holy of Holies was several feet high and about a foot thick.  They had to use a rope to pull it open enough for the High Priest to enter in once a year to plead for the forgiveness of the people.  This tearing of the curtain of the Holy of Holies signified that God has made himself accessible to all people that believe in Him.  This way to the Holy of Holies was made by Christ and His sacrifice on the Cross.  This also signified that the old priesthood was no longer needed to interceded for the people.  Christ now is our High priest goes and intercedes for us before God (1 John 2:1), who believe in Jesus. How could Christ do this?  He wasn't born a Levictical Priest or an Aaronic Priest, how could Jesus be a High Priest.  Like I stated before, Jesus is of the Melchizedekian priestly order.  This order preceded the Levitical and Aaronic priesthoods and operated under the promise.  So for those who say we ought not to tithe because there is no levitical priesthood to receive the tithes, must also acknowledge that there is now a ratified Melchizedekian Priestly order in Christ. This priesthood also receives tithes. Tithes under the promise are not to be given under commandment but with gratefulness  and thankfulness, in the same way that Abraham the father of faith in God gave his tithes to the king of Salem, Melchizedek.  (Genesis 14)

Those who seek to obey God through the keeping of the Old Law which has no more legal power before God, is adhering to dead works.  For the Bible states if one choses to keep the Law, he must keep all of it or be deemed as a trangressor of it all. Also if one does keep the law he must pay the consequences of falling short in the obedience to it.  Who wants to keep a law that cannot justify him or her? Who wants to keep a Law that promises life, but proves to be unto death for him or her?  For the Law is Holy, just and pure.  We are all sinners before the Cross, under the Law for the Law of Sin and death is made evident by the Old Law.   The Law of the Spirit of Christ in us puts to an end the Law of Sin and death  and the legal power of the Old law that gave it life. Christ is that Law and our Law now is Christ.

If anyone searches the practice of tithing in the scriptures they will discover as I did that God only intended those who were able to tithe.   It all hinges around the word "increase".  Now many preachers will tell you that word is synonymous with the word "income".  This is not true.  Income is the flow of revenue into you possession, Increase is exceeding from a previous level.  Now if you experience an increase in your income it is the increase that God desires a tithe out of. This is very different from what has been taught, which is 10 percent of your income.   God concern is not with money, he is concern with you thankfulness and gratefulness.  Tithing your increase in income is showing that thankfulness and gratefulness. 

After I gained this revelation,  I tested it.  I will tell you now that I have received a good paying job that I have been able to hold on  for 11 years and allow me to go back to school to get my CIS degree in college and obtain another better paying job  which I plan to hold on to it  until God releases me into full time ministry.  I have a home and a car.  In short, I have been continually blessed because I give what I can to the Church which represents Christ on the earth.  I have had preachers that told me that I am cursed for sharing this testimony, but I testify that God's word works if you work it. I am no longer influenced by erroneous teaching about tithing.   I hope that it blesses anyone that reads this.

Triune Man in Two Dominions: Part 4 Man, the Body

I. Introduction

A.   This is a continuation of the Triune Man in Two Dominion Bible Study. In the last article:  Man, the Soul, focused upon the fact Man, the Soul is used by God to transact communications to a triune man.  We also found out further evidence that God made mankind in the God class, for we discovered that God himself has a soul and made man after his image and after his likeness. That is evidence that mankind is an earthly reflection of God’s image and not an attitude or a disposition of swagger. Through this discovery we also learned of the importance of Man, the Soul. We discovered that Man, the Soul is the decision maker in the triune man.  That is, whatsoever Man, the Soul, decides to do it will and can be acted out through the body. We learned all these things about Man, the Soul, in the third part of this Bible Study, but it would be all for nothing without understanding how the Body of man is to function with the soul of man. Therefore, this article, which will also appear as a blog article on my blog site page, which is a location I will share later at the end of this bible Study, will focus upon the body of mankind. We will discuss certain Bible passages that deal with the created body of mankind.

B.    As mentioned before in the previous article, God speaks to the heart of man and imputes revelation and knowledge to a man. The question is what good is that if there is no way for a man to obey the promptings of God on this earth?  This is where Man, the Body comes in.  Earlier in the previous articles, I stated that Man is a Spirit, that possesses a Soul and lives in a Body.  Why does Mankind need a body? Well when the Creator God formed this planet He made it so that every living thing upon it had a body of some type as it pleased him. (1 Corinthians 15:38-40 ) So when he made Mankind, He formed a body for mankind to house the Spirit of Mankind and Soul of Mankind within.  The point is that the only way to do things on this planet is with a body.  Even God, took the form of many earthly things to convey and do his will among men.  For example God was the voice that walked in the garden, (Genesis  3:8) God was the Voice that Spoke out of the Whirlwind to Job, (Job38:1-41:34) God was the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of Clouds by day to lead the Israelites as they traveled in their flight from Egyptian captivity (Exodus 13:21+22) and more than 2000 years ago God, manifested himself in the flesh as his only begotten Son, Jesus, the Christ  (Hebrew 1:1-3). The point is that if God needed to take different forms to convey and do his will upon this physical planet, what sense would have it been to give all the other forms of life He created each a body and not give Mankind, the very reflection of himself a body?  That would have made no sense at all, even though there are a few of us that wished that God had stopped right there and never created a physical body for mankind, thinking we would have fared better without one.  Never the less, God our creator deemed it necessary to make a companion for himself that had a free will unlike the Angels of Heaven, which do not have a will of their own. Angels simply obey God, there is no choice involved.

C.    Oh yeah? Someone will say to my last statement, “What about Satan? Wasn’t he an Angel that disobeyed God? Didn’t he convince many Angels to willingly disobey God and that is why they all were thrown out of Heaven?”  I will comment on this briefly because it relative to the Bible Study even though it is not the main thrust of it.

1.     Now, it is very true Satan was an Angel, before his fall, his name was Lucifer when he was an Angel and he was an Arc-Angel by status, meaning he was one of the top Angels that ruled over and governed the behavior of many angels. It is taught that he had rule over a third of the heavenly host of Angels. However, Lucifer did not only disobey God, for there was only one command he had to follow and that was to lead the heavenly chorus in its praise of God the creator. All angels have no will of their own, they do as they are instructed or commanded.  It was for disobedience and also for another reason he and all his Angels got tossed out of Heaven by God. That reason was that Lucifer committed treason against the Most High God, for Lucifer thought he could over throw the rule of God in Heaven by exalting himself above God. (Isaiah 14:12-15, Luke 10:18, Rev 12:3,4,7-11) Lucifer and His Angels, these were angels that he had control over, moved against God, which was contrary to their nature, to which, God pronounced judgment upon them and cast them all out into outer-darkness. (Jude 1:6)  It was in this darkness God created the heavens and the earth and then formed Adam, the first man.  So it was not only disobedience that caused Lucifer to be thrown out of Heaven, it was rebellion that caused him and his angels to be cast out of Heaven.

2.     Now how come God did not just allow Satan to repent and return to Heaven?  The answer to that question is that when God created all his Angels they did not have a will of their own, so for any Angel to move against God was a violation of their nature and only not the disobedience of God’s will. God designed Angels with no will of their own, they only were to obey God, Lucifer and his angels were moving against God contrary and in violation to their nature. 

a.      When an Angel does not do what it is designed to do it becomes removed from the life and power of God. Since God is the father of life, light and Spirits, Lucifer lost all his power and all the Angels lost their power also and was thrown out of heaven.  God changed Lucifer’s name to Satan and Satan’s Angels became evil Spirits and Demons.  There was and are no means of repentance for any angel, so angels cannot be redeemed. So they remain under the authority of darkness until the day of judgment.

3.     Now it is only after the fall of Satan that God makes Mankind upon the earth, Satan corrupts Mankind through his disobedience of the command of God so that he can capture their souls and enlarge his camp, so that he can move at an opportune time on God once more to overthrow Him. (Genesis 3:1-6) This is Satan’s plan.

4.     Why is Satan so interested to capture as many souls of men?  So that he can influence souls to do his bidding on this earth against the Almighty God and the host of humanity. Remember earlier in the previous article I stated that Jesus said that God is Spirit, not a spirit.  A Spirit without a body on this planet cannot do very much, (Hollywood however would have you to believe differently) but a body possessed by a spirit can do many things both good and evil (Mark 5:1-17, Luke 19:1-10, Ephesians 2:10).  So Satan’s stratagem is to get as many souls as possible so that he can remove the idea of God from the earth through the thoughts and actions of men.  For Satan is a fallen angelic Spirit and a Spirit can’t do anything physical any on this earth. A Spirit must use a body to do anything on this planet, that is how God designed it. 

5.     Now by Adam’s disobedience in the Garden, Satan was able to accomplish three things: 1) Break the fellowship between God and Mankind .2) Usurp the authority from Adam that came from God. 3) Gain power over of Adam’s soul, thereby gaining the souls of all mankind through the act of sin and Adam’s fallen nature. (Romans 5:19-21, Hebrews 2:14+15) For each soul that died back then and now dies under his control. Each soul died from the time of Adam  and now dies condemned in his sin (John 3:18, 36). Unless they repent and gets his sin atoned for (Psalms 32:1+2; Romans 5:11-19).

6.     Equally by Jesus’ obedience on the earth, Jesus was able accomplish three things: 1) Restore the fellowship between God and Mankind. 2) Take back the authority from Satan that came from God and restored it to mankind. 3) Restored the power over Adam’s soul to the obedience of God, thereby gaining all the souls of those who willingly choose to believe in his redemptive act on the cross of Calvary. (Ephesians 6:12 , 2 Corinthians 10:3-6)  It is therefore every believer’s mission to convey the good news to every soul.

D.   Now back to the Bible Study on Man, the Body. Also remember in the last article, I stated that the soul communicates with the Spirit of Man and God through his heart and to his mind through the word of God.  It is because of God’s great love that at the time of Adam’s disobedience, God himself proclaimed mankind’s redemption.  That the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent and the serpent will bruise his heel. (Genesis     3:15) From that time onward Satan was influencing a spiritually dead mankind to do and get involved with so many things in the hopes of corrupting God’s plan of salvation for mankind.  It didn’t work, Jesus still arrived right on schedule and redeemed all of Mankind from the power of sin in the flesh. (Romans 5:6, 8:1-3)  Jesus destroyed the very corruption Satan put into mankind through the disobedience of God’s command. (1 John 3:8)  So what does this mean?  It means that for every person, every soul that chooses to believe in Jesus and his redemptive work on the cross is restored to the condition and position that Adam had in the Garden before the fall. This means that each believer has Spiritual authority restored to each of them and each must be careful on how he or she expresses his or her faith.  For all the angels that God created, both evil and the good are designed to obey the words a spiritually restored Adamite. (Hebrews1:14)  Therefore Angels will obey all of those who by expression of their faith confess and call forth the will of God in their lives and the Evils Spirits or Demons will perform all the expressions of faith that calls forth evil and destruction in their lives. (Mathew 18:18, 16:19)

E.    This restored position of Mankind upon the earth puts each believer on Satan’s hit list.   This is why: If each believer discovers the spiritual authority they have over Satan and his angels, he is defeated.  So he and his angels work very hard to keep Mankind deceived and lost in his sin. Never finding his true purpose of his existence, that is to fear God and keep all his commandments, this is the whole duty of mankind.  (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

II. Understanding the Laws that govern Man, the Body

A.   This part of the Bible study turns us to the things that God commands us to do as believers in God. A large part of this is the laws that govern man, the body.  Now before we begin, there are a few things we must be clear about.  These laws do not condemn any believer to Hell, rather these laws govern how a godly man or woman is to operate on the earth.  So do not get this confused with the Law of Moses’ administration, also known as the Ten Commandments and the 600 or so supplementary commandments that are clearly stated in the OT of the Bible.  The laws that govern a godly person in Christ are the laws of the Spirit of life in Christ. (Romans 8:1-3) What is the difference?  Didn’t God through Christ give us the Ten Commandments to obey?  Uh no, Jesus our lawgiver (James 4:11+12; Isaiah 33:22) gave us the two commandments that fulfills all that the Ten Commandments also known as the royal law requires (James 2:8 Roman 13:8-10) if we do them.  So if we behave so what laws are we under now, since God through Christ has redeemed us?  We are under the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.  Simply put Jesus’s life is now our law.  Well someone will reason, “Didn’t Jesus subject himself to the obedience of the Law of Moses’ administration? So it is not beyond reason that we too be subject to the same obedience, correct?” Uh no, let me explain this circular faulty reasoning, because I used to think this way myself and believe me it left me in a quandary. Really it leaves many believers in quandary as to whether or not to attempt to obey the Law of Moses or the life of Jesus.  Some have relented to think that the Law of Moses’ administration and the Life of Jesus is one and the same.  They cannot be, why you ask, it is because God said through his prophet Jeremiah that when the New Covenant comes it will not be like the one he forged with Israel in the wilderness. (Jeremiah 31:31+32) The one Covenant that the Israelites and no one else could not live up to or keep (Romans 7:14+15). If the Law of Moses’ administration and the Law of life in Christ Jesus are one and the same then the New Covenant did not come as prophesied and we all are still in bondage.  However, we all know that the New Covenant has come as prophesied and its chief author is God through Christ.  So the Law of Moses’ administration is not the same as the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ. 

B.    So what is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ?  It begins with the adherence to the two commandments: Love God with all your heart, mind and strength and the other; Love your neighbor as yourself as its foundation. (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-33)  Therefore, without obedience to these two commandments it is impossible to obey the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ, neither could anyone fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses’s administration.  Now let me be clear, failure to obey the Law of the Spirit of Christ will bring a person back to the spiritual status of walking by the flesh and there is where the Law of Sin and death will regain a foothold on a person’s life. (Galatians 5:16 +17) Obedience to the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ is characterized by a person purposely living and walking in the Spirit of God.  Now we can get into the laws that govern man, the body. First we must discuss one Law that both the Laws of Moses’s  administration and the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Share. That is the Law of Sin and Death.

1.     The Law of Sin and Death (Romans 7-8:3)

a.      This law is still in effect for those who decide to walk not by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ. Those live in sin purposely will reap the consequences of their deeds, even eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire.

b.     It is important to point out that this law can be broken, through the obedience of the laws of the Spirit of Life in Christ.

2.     The Laws of the Spirit of Life in Christ:

a.      The law of the love of God (Matthew 22:36+37)

i)                   This is the foundational Law to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ. As already expressed and explained, it is impossible to follow the other Laws of of the Spirit of Life in Christ without submitting to obey this Law.

b.     The law of the love of Jesus (John 15:9+10)

i)                   This Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus is conditional, because it depends upon how much each believer loves Jesus.  He who loves much, does much, he who loves does little.

c.      The law of Community love (John 13:34)

i)                   This Law stipulates that the same love that causes one to keep the Royal Law is the same love that believers must use to respect and admire one another with.

d.     The law of faith (Romans 14:23)

i)                   This law is one of the most important laws of the Spirit of Life in Christ. Why?  It is the Law that allows a believer access to all that God, the Father has and all that God is.  It is the receipt of ownership of the things believed for. Now there are elements to the Law of faith that make it very potent.

1.     Physical action element, if you have faith about something that you know is in the will of God for you, then you must act in agreement with that faith.

2.     Spiritual element, faith requires that you don’t necessarily need to physically see whatever is being believed for right away, but it is an acknowledgement that whatever is being believed for exits or is soon to come to pass

3.     Seasonal element, faith requires patience to be exercised, it is the belief that whatever is being believed for will come in the season that God has designated. Even if it is not according to a believers personal timetable or schedule.

e.      The law of Conscience (James 4:17)

i)                   This Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ covers everything moral that the Law of Moses’s administration did not cover. It promotes moral behavior and uses guilt as a goad to prompt a believer into more moral and righteous living.  The danger hear is becoming self-condemned, but all a believer has to remember is that God is greater than his heart and that there is no condemnation for him that is in Christ, Jesus and that forgiveness is available

f.       The law of seed time and harvest (Galatians 6:7-9)

i)                   This Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ is one of the laws that the whole of creation, the Kingdom of Heaven operates by. The danger here is that just as a person who believes in Christ may sow seeds toward the blossoming of  righteousness, he also can sow seeds to his own destruction and death.  Therefore, a believer can change his life conditions through his proper use of this law.  This is why I say, where I am does not determine where I am going to be, because I am constantly placing good seed out to out-harvest the bad seed that has been planted against me.  So that when that day of reckoning comes, and the sickle is put in. I will have more wheat in my barn than the tares that threaten to ruin the field of my life.

g.     The law of the spoken word (Mark 11:23)

i)                   This Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ is another of the most potent laws that are in effect for a believer in Christ. Angels and Demons wait upon the words of a believer to either bring life and prosperity or death and destruction.  It is therefore every believer’s responsibility to take charge of the words he or she speaks without a word of doubt over his or her life and the lives of others or else he or she will reap the fruits thereof.

h.     The law of exaltation (Mathew 23:12)

i)                   This Law of exaltation is the Law that Lucifer disobeyed. By not staying humble he rebelled against God and paid the ultimate price.  This Law shows the way to rise above the present condition one might find himself or herself in.  I always say the way up is the way down on your knees.  Now don’t get confused about being humble with being weak, or being sheepish, that is doing things without question. Being humble is purposely not taking any glory, any credit for any good work God used you to do and attributing that credit and glory to God. When someone is humbled, he is brought to the end of himself and it is at that critical junction of his life that life changing choices can be made.  The prodigal son in the Gospels was humbled and came to himself and decided to return to the arms of a loving and forgiving father. He was restored to his status he had before he left home and squandered his share of the inheritance. Sad to say this is not the rule with believers, as many of them choose to not humble themselves and through pride try to exalt themselves from the condition they find themselves in.  Only to find that once they achieve success, to have it taken away and given to another.

i.       The law of our witness of God (Luke 12:8+9)

i)                   This Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ is where our testimony of the good news of Jesus meets the challenge of being silenced by outside forces.  Each believer has to be creative in the manner and degree he or she can testify for Christ through their words and deeds.  Always ready to defend his or her faith against those that cause men to not believe the Gospel. If a believer does not bear witness of Christ in the sight of men, what makes a believer trust that he will bear witness of the Good news of Christ before the throne of God?

j.       The Law of forgiveness (Mark 11:25)

i)                   The law of forgiveness is one of the most misunderstood laws of the Kingdom of Christ. First forgiveness is not letting someone get away from offending you, it is giving the offending soul time to repent and correct himself.  Once you forgive someone of an offense, they automatically fall into the hands of God and are subject to his judgment.  Think of it this way,  a father forgives a child for stealing a cookie after the child is caught and apologies for doing the deed. The father makes the child promise he will not steal another cookie again, but instead will ask for it the proper way. Now the child has an opportunity to correct himself or continue to do things the wrong way in offense to his father’s will. If the child loves the father, the child will obey the father and ask for a cookie the proper way, if the child is selfish and greedy he will disobey the father’s will and steal another cookie. Now let us say that the child is greedy and selfish and disobeys the fathers will and steals another cookie, will the father forgive him? Yes he will but like any good father, he would chastise the child for not being obedient to his will. Now say that a neighbor came in and stole the cookies, should the father forgive him too.  No because the neighbor did not respect the father of the child and took something that did not belong to him. That person falls under the judgment and wrath of God and of men.  God is this way with every one that names his Son as their Lord.  If any one of his children takes something that God does not want them to have at the time, he may forgive them but he will teach them that is not his will and give him time to correct himself.  The next time one of his children commits the same error, God may punish him, but in the light of getting him to repent to do the right thing.  Now if an unbeliever commits the same error, that soul is under the judgment and wrath of God and men.  So forgiveness is not letting someone get away with wrongdoing, it is giving time for a person to repent and do things the right way.  Now that we have that defined, forgiveness also frees the forgiver from the control of the offender.  If a person cannot forgive another person for his offense, then the person that cannot forgive is continually in bondage in figuring out how to extract justice from the offender.  It is this bondage that gets people in trouble with the Law of God, in Christ and the laws of men.  Even if the person that cannot forgive the offender, but executes justices by his own means, even though he may be happy that the offender got what he thought the offender deserved, he will never be free and will set in motion the wheels of revenge.  Jesus said it this way, “Whosoever lives by the sword, will die by the sword” (Mathew 26:52) Self administrated justice is a two way sword as a soul inflicts it on others that offended him, it also inflicts wounds upon the soul that is motivated by it.  Now we must talk about unforgiveness: Unforgiveness is a person not forgiving someone for an offense. This is as serious as forgiveness and it is very powerful.  Unforgiveness in a person’s heart will hinder his prayers from being heard by God.  Prayer is the believers power, if a believer can not forgive, his prayers will not be heard by God. (Mark 11:25+26)  How can I say that? You don’t think that the Bible says that? Well think about it for a minute,  if you pray with unforgiveness in your heart towards another,  if you ask God for forgiveness it shall not be awarded to you, correct?  So by harboring unforgiveness toward another you retain the sins you wish to be pardoned for. God judges sin, which places you under the Judgment of God.  What is that you say?  God would not judge me, I am one of his children. You are correct in saying that you are one of His children if you believe in Jesus, but that does absolve you from his judgment as a father over your soul. What do you think God, the Father would do concerning your prayers? That is right, He would do nothing until you behave like the child of God He designed you to be.  That is why many believers are not receiving from God, the Father through Jesus the requests they have asked of him, because they have not released those who have offended them.  That is what harboring unforgiveness in your heart does to the effectiveness of your prayers.

k.     the Law of giving (Luke 6:38)

i)                   This law encompasses all forms of giving. From giving of our substance, to the giving of our time, to the giving of our efforts.  Whatsoever you give, good or bad it will come back to you. Men will deliver it to you in spades. Many a preacher concentrates only on the financial part of giving, when God in Christ requires so much more. For instance, the rich young ruler who wanted to know how he may obtain eternal life, was instructed to surrender all that he had and to come and follow Jesus. He went away sorrowfully, and Jesus’ disciples where confused and asked Jesus how then can a man be saved? Peter stated to Jesus that they have left all to follow him, what are they to receive for doing so. Jesus then revealed to them the truth, that whosoever has left houses, lands, etc. for the kingdom sake will receive a hundred times more in this life and in the life to come houses, lands, etc.(Matthew 19:16-29) Jesus wasn’t trying to bankrupt the young man, he was trying to get the young man to a place where he would not have to worry about losing wealth ever again. For this is the reason he came to ask of Jesus on how to inherit eternal life.  It had nothing to do with being saved, it had everything to do with the priorities one sets when he gives. Is it for God’s glory and his kingdom or is it for himself?

These are some of the laws of the Spirit of life in Christ that was revealed to me as I studied the Triune Man in two dominions over the years.  I am still digging for some more, but this is a good start for you, dear reader, in that you can discover the other laws of the spirit of life in Christ for yourself.  I certainly do not have the corner of the market on the revelation.  Please understand though,  that these laws of the Spirit of Life in Christ are not subject to the Laws of Moses’ administration, neither they can be subject to any law of man.  Rather, these laws of the Spirit of Life in Christ fulfill all the laws of  God and of men that are not contrary to them.  These laws reveal that every believer who receives this revelation is held now to a much higher standard of conduct, a much higher standard of living.  Now heed this warning, if anyone who believes in Christ or claims to do so purposely and willfully disobey these laws on a consistent basis.   That person has fallen from Grace and is now back under the Laws of Moses’ administration.  (1 Timothy 1:8+9; Galatians 5:17; Hebrews 6:4-6)  With their life choices and lifestyle they have contented to live, they have openly testified that the death of Jesus was not enough to save them and change their person.   As I have said before in many of my inspired writings, it is better that these persons who bring the loving grace of God to an open shame to have never heard the Gospel and made claim to have ever believed.  For they have opened the door of their lives to the deception of evil spirits and Satan to be tempted by them and to cause such persons to do their bidding .  Which mission is to hide from others that would believe, the light of the glorious Gospel from them that would believe. (2 Corinthians 4:3+4) Look within each of yourselves and judge, for the scriptures say, if you judge yourselves truly, you will not be judged. (1 Corinthians 11:31+32;  Matthew 7:1;  Luke 6:37) If you find yourselves lacking faith, look to the scriptures, for therein you shall find hope.  Ask the Lord to forgive you and cleanse yourselves with his shed blood of your guilt and sin. (1 John 1:9) Repent and commit yourselves to strive to live a better testimony and to those who doubt your transformation.  Testify of this:

What I have said about Christ and his way was in, error and now by His matchless Grace I have repented from those things and have turned to live a godly and righteous life for Him, who gave his life for me. 

Then live up to that which you have proclaimed to the doubters and the tempters.  For we overcome Satan and his minions through the shed blood of Christ and our testimony. (Revelations 12:11)  By this, you reclaim your souls.

Now we moved from Man the soul to Man the Spirit to Man the body, but all this is a waste if you are not saved. None of this means anything to you if you haven’t taken advantage of the life God has prepared for you in Christ. Do you want to know how to become his child and learn all the secrets of his kingdom?  Just say the following prayer with all your heart.

Dear heavenly Father,

In Jesus’ name, I come to you now as a repentant sinner.  I confess all of my sinfulness to you and ask you to forgive all of my sins for Jesus’ sake. Wash away all of my sins by the blood of your Son Jesus.  For I now believe that Jesus died for my sins according to your Holy Word, the Bible and that he was raised from the death according to the Bible.  I now invite your Holy Spirit to come and live inside of me and make me your child. I promise to strive to live holy everyday with the Help of your Holy Spirit and by studying the Bible every day. I thank you Lord for saving me.

If you have recited the above prayer with all sincerity, I welcome you the Family of God! Right now the Angels of heaven are rejoicing because you have repented and believed in the hope of all men’s salvation.  Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.

The next thing you need to do is find a bible believing church, so that you can grow up in Christ and in God. To become what God designed you to be.  Isn’t that exciting!?!

This study is titled “Triune Man in Two Dominions”, it is a long study and we have only covered the areas that deal with the constitution of a human person, or more simply put a man.  We are not done yet,  we now  ready to investigate and evaluate the setting that this triune man that was created by God was placed.  This will be in the 5^th part of this study.  We will look at the natural, earthly dominion first, then we will look at the spiritual dominion second.  Now I have hinted and pointed to these two dominions briefly throughout this Bible study.  It the next section we will dive in more in depth.

Triune Man in Two Dominions part 1: Introduction and Background

I. Introduction:

A.  What we are about to embark upon is very complicated and is still being learned by many.  It is the illustration  and hopefully demonstration of what a human being, a man's, constitution is in relation to the two dominions in which he interacts with each day.  What follows in this section is the background information.  I must encourage you to study out whatever back ground information I share in this bible study as I go through various related issues. So that you the reader will know the direction of the study and lay a good foundation for understanding the points conveyed in this series.  This study will consist of five separate blogs, each covering a specific area of the subject matter. These separate blog titles are:  Part 1: Introduction and Background; Part 2: Man, the Spirit; Part 3: Man, the Soul; Part 4: Man, the Body; Part 5: The Two Dominions.  Again I must stress this study is quite extensive and any part can stand on its own as a Bible study. So take your time, read enjoy and if there is any part you disagree with, that is fine, like I said in the first line, this subject is still being learned by many, which also includes me.  Now why am I teaching something I haven't completely learned about.  It is because this subject matter is developing and no one person on earth completely understands the human condition, which is fickle and complex at best. The closest we will come to understand about it is the fact that God created mankind and has dealt with his creation for thousands of years and have documented his dealings with mankind in the Bible.  From which we learn about God and about ourselves.

B. Before we dive into the the first part that deals with spiritual side of mankind, it would be prudent for me to supply some background information about the subject matter.  Get ready, we are going on a trip through various biblical concepts and teaching that is the foundation of this whole study.  There are some points and concepts that will not have scriptural sources,  but many points will have biblical sources, it is here that I challenge the reader to study to show thyself approved and determine if it is agreeable or disagreeable. If it is disagreeable to you, you can cite your reason in your comments to this blog.  I go through my blogs every month to see what feed back I receive from it.  I do not shy away from criticism as long as its constructive. Prejudice and ignorance will be addressed and confronted all in the name of christian love. Enough about that lets get on with it.

C. We must start at the beginning to have a good foundation for this Bible study into the triune nature of mankind in two dominions. First of all we must understand that two dimensions of life have existed ever since the earth was created. They are the Spiritual and the Natural dimensions. The Spiritual dimensions is made up of God, Heaven, His Angels and Satan, Outer Darkness, and His Angels (Devils). The Natural dimension is made up of nature, Mankind, his activities and designs upon the earth that God created.  How did the arrangement got this way is another bible study, but you can pause here and study that out before going further.  It would take up too much time to discuss how the arrangement of the Spiritual and Natural dimensions came to be and would change  the focus of the study which is the nature of triune man in two dominions. Heck we didn't even cracked the surface yet. Anyway, it is evident that since the beginning that both dimensions have been intertwined together. This is because of the relationship the two dimensions have with each other through two parallel dominions: The Kingdom of God and Outer Darkness.  The two dimensions are reflective in that Earth is an reflection of what Heaven is and at certain points and at certain times, the earth it is also the reflection of Outer Darkness.  It is not a complete picture it is only a reflection, to give mankind an idea of what both dimensions are like. Saying that, we therefore must understand that the same rules that governs Heaven and Outer Darkness also governs the earth and visa versa. (Matthew 18:18+19)

This blog is an invitation to those who wish to study or hear another view point about our nature that was designed by God.  If you, dear reader, accept the invitation then go on and read the other four blogs concerning Triune man in Two Dominions.