The Supernatural Ways of Royalty

One of the four things the earth cannot handle, is a servant who becomes a king (Pro 30:21-22). A servant doesn’t know how to rule – he hasn’t been trained. Worse, an abiding sense of insignificance combined with a poverty mentality means he will undermine, even destroy, those he would govern. We were born slaves to sin but now we reign with Christ. We are servants-turned-kings. Yet we will not walk in our true identity unless we lose the pauper mindset we grew up with. Although this book lacks focus and is weakened in places by religious jargon, it will open your eyes to your royal inheritance. Vallotton’s personal stories of supernatural experiences are inspiring. This is definitely a book to read and talk about.

Do Christians Still Have a Sinful Nature? Revised Edition, by Ryan Rufus

Recently I asked the question, “Do NIV readers have a sinful nature?” This was a tongue-in-cheek jibe at some sloppy translation done in the New International Version of the Bible. The title of my post was inspired by the book Do Christians Still Have a Sinful Nature? by Ryan Rufus. Many Christians have been told that they have two natures and the one that wins is the one they feed the most. It’s the old black dog/white dog story. But this simply isn’t true. As Ryan Rufus explains, you are a new creation and the old has gone. This book is more than an answer to a question (and the answer is “No!”). It’s a primer on how to live by grace. It deals with questions many Christians have, such as, “Why do I still keep on sinning?” and “How can I stop sinning?” The revised edition comes with discussion questions and is suitable for a 5 week study course. The book is also available on Kindle.

So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore, by Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman

I was initially put off reading this book because I thought it was just another church-bashing piece written by a burnt-out pastor. It’s not. For starters, it was written by two people, not one, and it’s a novel. It’s basically a conversation between a disillusioned Christian called Jake and someone who just might be the original apostle John. Jake starts the book enslaved to institutional religion. He knows something is wrong but he can’t put his finger on it. Then, through a series of conversational discoveries, Jake comes to realize that the religious system which has locked many Christians into task-based friendships based on performance and accountability, is nothing like the body-life that God wants for all of us. Grace is not just for individuals; it’s for families and communities. God is the God of community and His nature draws us into community. Church life is not about putting on a show but celebrating His work in the lives of His people. This is not our obligation, but His gift to us. This book is a is a tornado of fresh air. It will help you get real in your relationships for it shows you what grace looks like when it is experienced together with others. Jacobsen and Coleman’s book has been around for a few years now and you can get your free pdf-copy here. Alternatively, you can find it at Amazon.

The Battle for Middle-earth, by Fleming Rutledge

If you’re looking for an epic read over the holidays and you’re a Tolkien fan, this one will interest you. In The Battle for Middle-earth, Fleming Rutledge reveals that The Lord of the Rings contains not one story but two. On the surface there is the well-known story about a fellowship working together to rid the world of an evil ring. However, just beneath the surface lies a deeper narrative where the hero is no hobbit but an unseen God operating for good through the “little ones” that nobody else notices. By drawing on Tolkien’s letters to fans, Rutledge reveals the biblical motifs that frame the action in both The Lord of the Rings and its predecessor, The Hobbit. On their own, the hobbits never stood a chance against the might of Sauron. But they weren’t on their own. Although Tolkien never explicitly mentions the hand of Providence in either story, he left so many hints that you’ll wonder how you missed it. Rutledge’s carefully researched book is a fascinating read that will change the way you read Tolkien.

See all E2R’s book reviews for more gift ideas here.

Paul describes the Christian life as a tug of war between the flesh and the spirit. The flesh is that part of us that lives purely by natural experience – what we see, hear and smell, etc. – while our spirit is that part of us that is united with Christ and lives by the word of God. Did you know it’s possible to be in the Spirit (i.e., saved) yet walk after the flesh? Indeed, this is exactly how many Christians live. They are trusting in God for the forgiveness of their sins, but in most every other respect they live no differently from their unsaved neighbors. When they get sick they queue up in the waiting room and when they get in debt they look for extra work. (I’m not against doctors and hard work!) They may be moral and decent people, but their lives are untouched by the supernatural power of God.

I suspect most Christians walk after the flesh simply because they don’t know any better. They don’t know that Christ’s atonement provided not only for their complete forgiveness, but also for their healing (1 Pe 2:24), deliverance (Mk 16:17), and provision (Ph 4:19, 2 Cor 8:9)). They are not receiving the full benefits of the cross because they don’t know the full benefits of the cross or, if they do, they think they must work to get them. They live like this because their minds have not been renewed. If this sounds like you, here are two good books that will help sort out your thinking and set you free.

“Spirit, Soul and Body” by Andrew Wommack

When you were born again, your spirit was instantly made new but your mind and body were essentially unchanged. If you battled with health or emotional issues before you were saved, there’s a good chance you continue to battle with those same issues now that you’re saved. Don’t misunderstand me. There is a huge difference between a sinner and a saint! But until the saint learns to think like a saint, he will continue to think like a sinner and in many ways this is fatal (Rm 8:6).

Paul didn’t challenge the Roman Christians to renew their minds in order to get saved but so that they would see the will of God manifest in their lives – His will for healing, deliverance, and provision. This is a life-long process. At every decision we either choose to walk after flesh (what do our five senses tell us?) or we renew our minds and walk after the spirit (what does God say?). You can walk by sight or you can walk by faith. Some Christians try to do both! They say they’re trusting God to come through for them but at the same time they’re busting their humps trying to fix things themselves. Perhaps they think they’re mixing faith with works but in reality they’re just walking after the flesh. They may talk differently from their unsaved neighbors, but their walk is exactly the same.

A book which will help you grasp this distinction is Spirit, Soul and Body by Andrew Wommack. In this book Wommack explains that merely believing the promises of God is not enough. If I told you that there was a rich treasure hidden in your yard, you would either believe me or reject me, but nothing would actually change until you started digging. Similarly, we will never see the spiritual blessings that God has already given us revealed unless we dig. Whether your need is healing, deliverance, or provision, this book teaches you how to dig.

“Extra Virgin Grace” by Ryan Rufus

Another good book on this subject was published just yesterday. Extra Virgin Grace, by Ryan Rufus, provides a sweeping study of many topics that have long been misunderstood and misrepresented, including the Beatitudes, holiness, eternal security, discipline and one of my all-time favorite subjects, true rest.

In Extra Virgin Grace, Ryan Rufus takes a close look at Galatians 5 and asks “What does it mean to walk by the spirit?” Traditionally “the spirit” has been interpreted as meaning the Holy Spirit. To walk by the spirit thus means doing whatever the Holy Spirit tells you. But if you look at the context of Galatians 4, you will see that Paul was referring to our reborn spirits. Your spirit is one with Christ and is in constant fellowship with the Holy Spirit. So the choice Paul was describing was whether to walk by the limited sensory experience of the flesh, or the unseen reality of our perfectly sanctified spirits. To live by the spirit means learning to make decisions from our spirit rather than our minds. Sometimes we just know things that reason cannot explain because they are spiritually discerned. We sense a prompting to pray for someone only to learn later that it was for them a moment of great need. This is how Adam and Eve lived before the Fall – their thinking was spirit-led rather than flesh-based.

If we understood that our spirits are perfect already (see Heb 10:14), and that we lack nothing (1 Co 1:7), we would spend less time teaching godly character and more time renewing our minds to live by the spirit. Instead of preaching on faith and sanctification, we would seek to reveal our true identity in Christ. As Ryan says, “The church preaches too much about who we aren’t.” Knowing who you now are and Who lives in you is the key to Christian living.

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Related posts:

- What do you think? Two must-read books about transformed minds

- Fear and trembling

- see all E2R’s book reviews here

The following is a special guest post from my friend Ryan Rufus:

The Fear of God in the New Covenant

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2Ti 1:7)

We need to keep this scripture in mind when we talk about the fear of God. God doesn’t want us to have a fearfulness of Him. Our relationship with Him, and consequently our relationship toward others, is one of power (God’s empowerment), love (God’s love) and a sound mind (a supernatural sound mind).

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because He first loved us.” (1Jn 4:15-19)

According to this scripture it is wrong to fear God’s judgments! If we fear God’s judgments it means we don’t understand His love!

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12:28-29)

Let us have grace to serve God acceptably. What’s acceptably? It’s faith! It takes faith to acknowledge who He is. A reverence and a godly fear is about seeing God – the magnitude of His being and ascribing that greatness to His name. It’s not taking the greatness for yourself and it’s not playing down who God is. That would be the opposite of grace – i.e., self righteousness.

The fear of God that the Self Righteous have is that God will judge them for not being righteous enough. The fear of God that the Christ-righteous have is that God has qualified them to share in the Kingdom and that He is on their side and they therefore cannot be shaken or moved and that this awesome God will judge their enemies with fire! It’s not saying let us serve God because if you don’t He will judge you with fire, but let’s not be afraid to serve God because God is on our side and will judge our enemies!

The context of Hebrews 12 is that the saints were being persecuted for their faith and feeling like giving up because the opposition was too much. But the writer is saying, see who God is, how great He is, that He is on your side, that you’re in an unshakable kingdom, that your God is a consuming fire.

You’ve got God and heaven for you, backing you! When you see that, you will have the boldness to serve God the way that He has called you to serve Him – with boldness and confidence in His grace and power and authority. To see this is to “fear God.” To not see this is to have no “fear of God.”