I hope you did not put your bible away after yesterday’s post; you’ll need it again today. At least those of you who came back for more. :- )

We are living in interesting and challenging times these days. I suppose every generation previously has thought the same thing about the time period they lived in as well. But that is not a need to be overly concerned or worried; that is, if you are following The Good Shepherd. He is the same yesterday, today and forever; and He never changes. (Heb. 13:8; Mal. 3:6).

I pray that those who read my post yesterday did not take that as a call to ‘flee’ whatever church you’re attending these days. But you do need to be mindful of what is coming across your pulpit and holding those in leadership accountable. Even when I pastored a small congregation for 17 years, I used to remind those in attendance that they better make sure themselves that what they are hearing from the pulpit can be supported by scripture. At the end of the day, it really does not matter what men’s opinions and ideas and doctrines have to say; what matters most is: What does God’s word have to say?

I’m going to use an illustration here that I have used before to make a point. Then, I am going to share with you some critically important ‘building blocks of truth’ that every believer should be made aware of. How or why these are absent in many church’s teachings today is rather disheartening. It might explain though why so many sincere ‘believers’ are struggling in their faith. Hosea used more dramatic language when he indicated that God’s people are being ‘destroyed’ for a lack of knowledge. (Hosea 4:6)

Paul spoke of a ‘falling away’ from the faith in the times leading up to Christ’s return. He wasn’t necessarily talking about declining church attendance either. When the best we can do is offer up a ‘form of godliness’ devoid of genuine power (2 Tim. 3:5), is it any wonder people searching for genuine truth will move on and seek it elsewhere? Or maybe they just get tired and decided to return to the darkness. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened. (John 6:66) Have you ever read in Judges 2:10 where we learn: “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.”

So about that illustration I promised: Imagine if you would, your ‘forever dream home’ is nearing completion. The 3-story, 3500 sq.ft. home will be finished any day now and you can start moving in after the final paper work is completed. When the contractor hands over the keys of your new home, he whispers to you with a ‘wink and a smile’ that he was able to save you a ton of money on the home construction. Curiously, you ask ‘how’ he did that; and he then informs you that he put no rebar or any type of steel reinforcement in the concrete slab. Then he drives off in his truck.

For those of you who are clueless to basic building techniques, let me just assure you that this would be no ‘small thing’; you will have some serious foundation problems ahead. Now it might not be evident at first, but this is not any kind of news you can ignore. In fact, I would hesitate to even move in to the home to be honest. The first question that might be asked of the contractor was ‘How could anyone in their right mind...do such a thing to omit such a fundamentally important part of any building’s foundation?!’

What I want to begin doing here today, is share with you three components of basic Biblical Christianity that I would call foundational truths that have been omitted, or barely addressed in our church’s teachings. I have no hesitation in sharing with you, that these three areas of biblical truth are the three areas that the Lord has been bringing to light for me these past four years straight out of my Bible. It will require you spending some time on your own to study and look up these verses while asking the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and confirm....if what I am sharing here with you is true or not. (Acts 17:11). I am not here to rant, rave, and argue. I simply feel compelled to point out some very important passages that simply were not brought to the attention of so many new believers early on.

You are certainly welcome to ask me questions, or share what you learn with whomever, even the pastor or SS teachers you sit under at church. I would only advise you to listen carefully to how they respond to any assortment of verses you offer up. And listen to their responses – do they include other Biblical passages for consideration, or just a lot of ‘empty words’. (Eph. 5:6). A good verse to just run by them as a ‘trial balloon’ would be 1 John 2:6, 3:6,9; 5:18 and see what they have to say about this idea that anyone who abides is Jesus is no longer sinning.

So here are the three areas that I would want to begin teaching any new convert or believer, and they have to do with 1) The Law, 2) the ‘Old Man’, (carnal/flesh nature), and 3) The Enemy; a.k.a.-Satan, the devil, (forces and powers of darkness). You might think of these as being some missing ‘puzzle pieces’ that you came across that are supposed to fit with your understanding of the kingdom of God. There is no need to force them in to place anywhere; just think of it as laying them out there to see where...they should be applied. And I’m confident that the Holy Spirit will do just that. I would also bet that a lot of these verses you have come across over the years will begin ‘making sense’ to you in a new light as well.

Also, bear with me here, I am not attempting to take on nor explain the ‘whole Bible’ here; I’m simply sharing the part that God has given me to study and then expound upon. There is so much I still do not know! So let’s dive in and take them on one at a time...

1) The Law. This is a topic that probably is the least understood in the modern church world where most believe this walk of ‘faith’ has nothing to do with the ‘law’, and is all about grace and mercy and forgiveness. We are not ‘under the law’ today, many will remind you as they quote Romans 6:14. Which is why I need to point out a ‘qualifier’ from Galatians 5:18 where we are told ‘those who are led by the Spirit’ ...are not under the ‘law’.

Did you catch that? Those who are ‘led by God’s Spirit’...are the ones who are not ‘under or subject to the law’ and the penalties and judgments and curses the law brings. So can a person profess to ‘believe in Jesus’, yet not really follow His leading? (Luke 6:46). Why of course! And how might one know if they are being led by, or ‘walking in the Spirit’? Well, Galatians 5:16 says they won’t be ‘fulfilling the lust of the flesh (nature)’ if they are. And you need only read further down to verses 19-21 if you need reminding what those ‘evident’ traits are. Oh, Paul also adds here in that last verse that those who continue to practice these traits or deeds “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” We can revisit this later.

When we talk about the ‘law’, we are talking about the law (Ten Commandments) that God handed down to Moses some 430 years after He had established a covenant with Abraham. And for what reason was this law established? Well, according to Galatians 3:17,19, it was given because of sin. Why are most laws instituted in any society? It is for the sole purpose of maintaining order and keeping people safe. Break the law, and you will be penalized. What would happen today in our country if all the laws were wiped off the books and abolished? There would be total chaos and anarchy which would lead to our collapse.

Why even Paul points out the purpose of the law and why it is still ‘good’. (1 Tim. 1:8-10) Let me also say here that we are not talking about the dietary restrictions nor all the blood sacrifices and rituals as those were done away with after Jesus came.

But here is where the confusion can easily settle in... When Jesus arrived on the scene, He made it quite clear that He did not come to do away with or abolish the law. He said He came to ‘fulfill it’. (Matt. 5:17). So the response you will hear people say in almost a flippant, matter of fact way is...”But Jesus fulfilled the law”; which for some peculiar reason people think that since He did, and "we can’t"...that all one needs to do is ‘put their trust in Jesus’ ...and that alone ‘makes us good’. Or in other words, we benefit from Him fulfilling the law simply by having faith in Him. That would be like suggesting that the one ‘brainiac-nerd’ in class aces the end-of-year exam, and if we classmates agree to be his BFF, then we get the same grade as he did on our exam; an exam we are told we could never pass on our own.

That sounds good, but nothing could be further from the truth. That is NOT...the way God intended this to play out. There has probably been more confusion and misinformation wrapped up in bad, if not deceptive teaching regarding all this. And the Lord, I believe, is wanting to clear this up for us.

IF...the ‘law’ was going to have little if any relevance to us NT believers, then why did Jesus always point people to the law when they came asking Him what they must do to receive or inherit this ‘eternal life’? (Matt. 19:16-17;Luke 10:25-28). And what on earth could Paul have been talking about when he wrote that “it’s not the hearers of the law that are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.” (Rom. 2:13). Or how about him pointing this out in Rom. 4:31- “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish/confirm/uphold the law.”

I hate to end this here for now, given we have so much more to cover. But let me help simplify some of this for you now. Don’t think of the ‘law’ as a bunch of ‘rules’ you have to keep up with and follow. Matt. 22:34-40 condenses this for us rather well: “Love God with ALL your heart, soul, and mind and love others as yourself. (or as Christ loved us -John 13:34-35) This is the essence of all the law and the prophets. There’s just one catch: You can’t do this on your own or in your own strength and power. This can only be accomplished by ‘abiding in Jesus’. (John 15:4-5). And simply ‘believing’ in Jesus does not equate with ‘abiding in Jesus’. (Heb 5:9). Spend some time with this today...and I’ll see you tomorrow. (Lord willing)