THE
DIVIDING ASUNDER
©
Morris Ruddick
“Enter
by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction and many are those who go in by it.
But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to
life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13
The
King James translation of Hebrews 4:12 refers to the “dividing
asunder.” “Asunder” is the place of key distinction between
different parts. The “dividing asunder” is where those distinctions
are blurred and veiled. Since the days of Adam and Eve, the evil
one has sought to mask key distinctions between soul and spirit.
The
times have become uncertain. Nations, cultures and communities
have been subjected to wide swings of change. People are looking
for answers. People want to be enlightened. Yet, historically
the search for enlightenment has instead more often produced masks
over what should be spiritual distinctions.
The
Enlightenment Illusion
Black
has been called white and white black; evil has been called good
and good evil, with the resulting contagion referred to as enlightenment.
In the early twentieth century the “enlightened” were liberated
from personal responsibility when Freud's spin on psychology became
the rage, blaming ones' shortfalls on their upbringing and adherence
to chaste mores. Its precepts released a subtle force undermining
the virtue upheld by the culture at that time.
Jesus
pulled back the veil of confusion that masked the pathway into
true enlightenment. Introducing His earthly ministry with the
words, “the Kingdom of God is at hand,” He prepared His
disciples to enter by a different dimension. It was the gateway
to restore God's original mandate for His people to rule over
the work of His hands. It was the narrow path to releasing His
Kingdom “on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Paul
began his letter to the Romans by applauding them for their faith.
He noted that their faith was being spoken of throughout the world.
In that same sequence Paul mentioned the mutual faith he shared
with them. Yet, in verse eleven he expressed his desire to impart
“a spiritual gift to them, that they might be established.”
Then in the fifteenth verse, he tells them that he was “ready
to preach the gospel to them.”
Paul
was unmasking the dividing asunder between those who believe and
those whose faith will make a difference. His reference to “preaching
the gospel to them” was to the Kingdom distinction that would
establish the Romans in the destiny entrusted to every believer
to “turn world upside down” (Acts 17: 6).
The
Fine Line
The
dividing asunder: it's the fine line faced by all believers in
making a difference by establishing God's Kingdom rule. It's the
distinction between the gospel of salvation and the gospel of
the Kingdom. It's the fork in the pathway between the impact made
by the good intentions of the soul and the perfect result of the
Spirit. It's the difference between having your ears tickled and
paying the cost of a high calling. It's the reality-of-God needed
to restore godliness in a world seeking the secular enlightenment
that has minimized the power in God's people, as the pathway of
destruction has been widened.
The
masks that have blurred soul and spirit have created potent spiritual
counterfeits, counterfeits of destruction that have added to the
very turbulence people have sought to avoid. Paul's opening words
to the Romans goes on to refer to those who suppress the truth
in ungodliness and unrighteousness.
The
Key Distinction
Jesus
said that it would be by knowing the truth that we would be set
free. Yet today even those, like Paul was writing to in Rome ,
who we share a mutual faith with, have need of an “impartation
of a spiritual gift, that they might be established.” They
need the gospel, the full Gospel, preached to them. When Jesus
referred to the gospel it was to the gospel of the Kingdom, which
restores the original purpose God had for His people: to rule
over the work of His hands.
The
truth Jesus imparted, that would set us free, involves reestablishing
God's authority. It is what the Scripture refers to as dominion,
the mandate for God's Kingdom rule. It bears on the dividing asunder
between soul and spirit.
Dominion,
the foundation for God's Kingdom rule, is what is lacking in the
quest for enlightenment among believers whose sights have been
limited to conforming to the standards of those around them. It's
the blurring of the spiritual realities resulting in believers
whose aim is to become like the world around them. In so doing,
they quench the Spirit's power and potential to bear world-changing
fruit.
Kingdom
Identity
Jesus
said to: “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”
In short, we muddy the pathway, by going head to head with the
world around us, when we hold the Kingdom advantage and the Spirit.
Proverbs 3:5 tells us that in trusting the Lord, not to lean unto
our own understanding. Walking in the Spirit is an entirely different
dimension. It's where it all begins. It's beyond our limited understanding.
It's the catalyst to true enlightenment.
“It
is the Spirit who gives Life. Human effort accomplishes nothing.
And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
John 6:63 NLT
Every
believer is given a measure of faith. To what end that faith is
applied is the distinction Paul was making. Until we truly yield
ourselves to be vessels of His purpose and bridge that dividing
asunder, we will remain spiritually anemic and stuck between soul
and spirit. It was what distinguished Joseph the Patriarch in
the eyes of the Egyptians around him, as the scripture describes
him in Potiphar's house.
“The
Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man; and everyone
saw that the Lord was with Joseph and made all that he did to
prosper.” Genesis 39: 2-3
Paul
went on to explain to the Romans about the most basic spiritual
gifts, by which their pathway would be established; gifts that
would distinguish them and their efforts from everyone else.
“So
it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows
mercy.”
Rom
9:16 NRSV
The
Dividing Asunder of Culture
The
blurring of the arena of culture has been diabolically subtle.
By penetrating and establishing itself in societal cultures, the
kingdom of darkness has confused the genuine cultural identities
of unique social groups with the standards of destruction that
become known as “the world.” This is the reason Paul admonished
the Romans not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed
by the renewing of their minds, that they may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 NKJV
Paul
was unveiling the steps needed to become established and reach
for that perfect will of God. In that same sequence, he outlined
seven key gifts whose unique operation in each believer would
determine not only their individual identities and callings in
the Lord, but the distinction they would embrace as a people in
a world gone amok.
The
Heart of Darkness
Rome
spiritually represented the seat
of power of the world of its day. It was the heart of darkness
in the struggle between soul and spirit. Its significance in Paul's
day should awaken us to the distinctions that, like Joseph the
Patriarch, we might establish God's Kingdom rule and bring transformation
to the seats of power in the world around us.
Paul,
schooled in Jewish tradition spent the first three years after
his conversion in the desert communing with the Spirit of the
Lord. The resulting revelations gave clarity to the distinctions
that had been blurred in the covenant calling of the Jewish people.
Paul then went on to plant the seeds of transformation in the
Gentile world that was described in Acts 17 with the words: “these
who have turned the world upside down have come here too!”
Yet,
here the church is in the twenty-first century; building buildings
and creating programs of relevance that attract new members while
the world sets both the standard and the pathway to which we conform.
We seem blind to see the distinction beyond an identity of a higher
level of ethics and of being such nice people.
That
which once pierced the impossible with the possible is explained
by human reasoning. The prospect of the ordinary becoming the
extraordinary is swallowed up by those seeking to be like everyone
else.
Crossing
the Threshold
Entering
the narrow path Jesus spoke of represents both the start and the
challenge. The gateway into God's Kingdom is narrow, indeed. Yet,
it serves to form the very distinction that bridges the natural
with the supernatural, naturally. It leads in a pathway that consists
of the power of God that changes nations.
In
the early eighties, as a committed believer called with a calling
into uncharted waters, I was facing some unexpected challenges.
I was grounded in God's Word, but operating beyond my natural
abilities. My pastor imparted some advice that I didn't understand
at the time, but that I heeded. His advice was to take three or
four days alone with the Lord and do nothing but pray in the Spirit.
I found that easier said than done, but I pressed through and
emerged changed. That change might best be described as the gate
to the bridge crossing the dividing asunder between soul and spirit.
It provided and provides the release tied to the gifts Paul describes
in Romans 12 that operationally were previously only trickles
comparatively.
The
gateway is that leap of faith we consciously take, after counting
the costs, into what the scripture describes as walking in the
spirit.
“If
we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians
5:25
The
Amplified version of Hebrews 4:12 reveals: “Every word that
God speaks is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division between soul and spirit.”
The dividing asunder between soul and spirit is simultaneously
the battleground and the bridge into the supernatural. It is the
narrow path into the arena where the Kingdom of God reigns and
brings the kingdom of darkness to its knees.
It's
the path in which we lead by serving, we live by dying, we advance
by yielding, we gain by giving. In God's kingdom, wisdom comes
from simplicity, honor is a byproduct of humility, and order comes
from change. It's in our weakness and humility that God's strength
is manifested most fully.
It's
the simple things that confound the wise. The narrow gate into
God's Kingdom defines a pathway marked by the power of God. The
power of God is predicated on hearing the voice of the Lord and
obeying. It is the dividing asunder between what we can do for
God and what we allow Him to do through us.
“Are
you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying
to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much
for nothing -- if it really was for nothing? Does God give you
his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the
law, or because you believe what you heard?”
Galatians
3:3-5 NIV
_________________________________________
Morris
Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God
in the marketplace. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling"
and "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations," which address
the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to
impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available
from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.
Mr.
Ruddick is also the founder of the Global Equippers Entrepreneurial
Program, which imparts hope and equips economic community builders
where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world.
To schedule a speaking engagement, sponsor a workshop, make a
donation or to get more information on how you can help, contact
Global Initiatives at 303.741.9000.
2009
Copyright Morris Ruddick - response@strategic-initiatives.org
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is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor.
Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has
mobilized prophetic intercessors committed to targeting strategic-level
issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous
posts or more information on SIGN, check: http://www.strategicintercession.org
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