The Qualifications to Receive Scriptural Blessings

Unlock the Key Principles behind Spiritual Anointing and Power through Fellowship, Obedience, and Knowledge

May 13, 2024

This article is a longer article as it is the first chapter of the book titled, “Are You Walking in Christ’s Anointing?” In this article we will explore the qualifications to receive scriptural blessings, beginning with an understanding of how and why we do not qualify by default as we are not walking in obedience and God cannot fellowship with or bless our sin. We will then explore the two primary principles for receiving God’s blessings: fellowship through a lifestyle of no unconfessed sins, and our three functions as believers of our Priesthood to God, our ministry of reconciliation to the lost, and our ministry to build up and edify the Body of Christ. We will then explore how to walk out these blessings through growing in true, experiential knowledge of God and walking out scriptural principles in our lives.

Conditions of God’s Promises

When we read scripture, we should read it with a believing heart and an analytical mind. If we don’t, we can miss some of the deepest truths that God has carefully placed therein. We must remember that, although Jesus was the perfect sinless incarnation of the Son of God, the people he was dealing with were in many ways just like people today, flawed and imperfect. As such, we often knowingly and unknowingly disqualify ourselves for receiving God’s blessings.

God Chooses Flawed, Imperfect People

This would also include the Apostles themselves as the Apostle Peter demonstrated when he denied Christ three times on the night he was arrested. Of course, that was before Peter received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. However, after Pentecost, the Apostle Paul had to correct him in Galatians 2:11-14 when he effectively shunned the Gentile believers and kept aloof along with the Jews that had come from James for fear of being judged by them according to the law. Verse 13 records that

The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. (Galatians 2:13, NASB)

Perhaps, the clearest proof of the imperfection of even the Apostles came from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans 7:15-25. Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible summarizes these verses this way:

“Thus, every Christian can say that he does not choose to do evil, but would wish to be perfect; that he hates sin, and yet that his corrupt passions lead him astray.”

The Apostle Paul restates this principle in Galatians 5:16-18:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. (17) For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. (Galatians 5:16-18)

God chooses flawed, imperfect people, but then, like Peter, fills them with His Spirit and power to walk out a transformed life that is increasingly conformed to the image of Christ, laying aside the flesh and walking in the Spirit.

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, (10) and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him (Colossians 3:9-10)

Is Prayer Sufficient to Receive Blessings?

One of the errors most people make in reading scripture is to believe that the prayers of the Apostles will automatically come to pass. They believe they can pray scriptural prayers and lay claim to the promises regardless of whether they are walking in the Spirit or the flesh.

So, to demonstrate what the meaning of reading with an analytical mind can entail we will examine the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the believers in Colossae:

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, (10) so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (11) strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously (12) giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. (Colossians 1:9-12)

Whenever we read prayers in scripture like Paul’s prayers for the Colossian believers, we should ask ourselves a question: Is Paul suggesting that his prayers are sufficient by themselves to accomplish what he is praying for the Colossians? Can we pray these words after him and expect the resulting blessings?

The answer to that question is a resounding “No!”

First, we must realize that Paul is aware that all God’s promises and blessings are based on qualifications we must fulfill to be available to receive them.
Second, we must understand that Paul believes he is praying for true believers who are walking in these qualifications based on the information that has come to him.

Qualifications of the Colossian Believers

We have no evidence in the letter to the Colossians that Paul has ever been in Colossae. But he makes it clear in 1:3-8 that he has heard from Epaphras, who is with him in prison (Colossians 4:12, 18), that the Colossians are evidencing faith and love in the Spirit and are bearing spiritual fruit in Colossians 1:3-8:

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, (4) since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; (5) because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel (6) which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; (7) just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, (8) and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:3-8)

The portions that are in bold are actions that require the operation of the Spirit to truly be accomplished and to be accorded to them as righteousness. Since Paul has most assuredly schooled Epaphras in the foundations of the gospel, he is confident that Epaphras has imparted the knowledge to those in Colossae of what is required to be walking in the light, in fellowship with God, and available to receive God’s grace (anointing) through the Spirit.

This information is evidence that would indicate to the Apostle that the Colossians to whom he is writing are truly saved and fulfilling the basics of the gospel that are necessary for them to be walking in righteousness and therefore are anointed to bear fruit. This gives him the confidence to pray this prayer asking God to magnify His grace in their lives as they would seem to be qualified to receive that grace.

Now, much of that may sound strange to a large majority of Christians in this nation as the majority of American churches have not been teaching and emphasizing some important gospel basics for decades, probably for fear of offending their congregants. Moreover, this failure on the part of church leadership is what has opened the door to the powers and principalities to invade the body of Christ in this nation with worldly sin. This has resulted in professing Christians and church organizations accepting things like abortion and homosexuality, and most recently the infiltration of many churches, denominations, and seminaries with the Marxist ideologies of Critical Race Theory, Social Justice Theology, and other anti-biblical doctrines, which are really doctrines of demons:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Timothy 4:1)

God Can Not Fellowship With Sin

We will now explore the main reason why God cannot and will not release scriptural blessings whenever we ask.

Scripture makes it clear that unconfessed sin makes a separation between us and God. When we have unconfessed sin God won’t even hear our prayers that don’t start with true repentance and confession:

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)

What right has My beloved in My house When she has done many vile deeds? Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster, So that you can rejoice? (Jeremiah 11:15) [“Disaster” refers to a lifestyle of disobedience, an unrepentant heart, and unconfessed sins.]

Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-- I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly... (15) So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. (Isaiah 1:13,15)

If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear; (Psalm 66:18)

He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9)

He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. (Proverbs 28:13)

King David expresses this truth effectively in Psalms 32:1-5 and Psalms 51:1-19.

“For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. (17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalms 51:16-17)

Merriam-Webster defines “contrite” as

“feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for improper or objectionable behavior, actions, etc.”

Wikipedia rightly states:

“In Christianity, contrition or contriteness is repentance for sins one has committed. The remorseful person is said to be contrite. A central concept in much of Christianity, contrition is regarded as the first step, through Christ, towards reconciliation with God.”

In case you are thinking that these are all Old Testament verses and that our relationship through Christ has changed this dynamic, the following verses make it clear that, although our sins may be under the blood and we are positionally righteous in Christ at salvation, our sins can and do make a functional separation between us and God that cuts us off from scriptural blessings:

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions. (Mark 11:25, also see Matthew 5:23-24)

But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6:15) [Unforgiveness is one of the most prevalent sins of omission that continues unrecognized for years in a believer’s life]

But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. (7) For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. (James 1:6-7)

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures… (6) But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD [unrepentence is the chief form of pride], BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE [contrite]”… (8) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:3,6,8)

Unrepentent sin, prideful opposition to the Spirit’s convicting of sin in our hearts, and a lack of humility and contrition cuts us off from God blessing us as He desires and intends according to scripture.

Qualifications for Receiving God’s Blessing

The two major guidelines for satisfying God’s qualifications for being blessed in ministry once we are saved are found in the Doctrine of Fellowship and in the Doctrine of the Three Christian Functions that all believers are commanded to fulfill in scripture. These two guidelines are based on fulfilling the principles of:

A lifestyle of confession and maintaining a life of unhindered communion and fellowship with God, and
Obedience to the indwelling Spirit’s work within our hearts as reflected in the commandments we see in the New Testament

The Doctrine of Fellowship

The doctrine of fellowship is clear throughout all of scripture but is brought into operational focus in 1 John chapter one in verses 5-10 with the central dynamic being in verse 9:

And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light [perfect righteousness], and in Him there is no darkness [sin/unrighteousness] at all. (6) If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness [unconfessed sin/unrighteousness], we lie and do not practice the truth; (7) but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (8) If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10)

“To cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” means that when we confess our known sins, God cleanses of all our sins, including those we are unaware of or have forgotten as long as we are not trying to hide any.

2 Corinthians. 6:14 would then be a logical corollary to this passage:

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (2 Corinthians. 6:14)

The Process of Salvation

When we ask God to forgive us of our sins and receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, then God, who is judging our hearts and not our lips, indwells us and seals us with the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a pledge (1 Corinthians 1:21; Ephesians 1:13-14). In the moment of salvation, God places the payment for all the sins we have or ever will commit to our spiritual account. This is made possible because Jesus paid the price for all human sin from Adam to the last human to be alive on earth at the Cross (1 John 2:2):

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). At this point all of our earlier sins committed prior to the moment we are saved are under the blood as God applied the payment from our spiritual account to every sin. In that moment, we are sinless and imputed with the righteousness of Christ, which is necessary for God to seal us with the Spirit. This just leaves the payment for future sins in our account.

Sin Breaks Fellowship

However, the first time we sin, we are immediately out of fellowship as the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is God and God cannot fellowship with sin. He doesn’t leave us, we have just broken relationship.

Subsequently, any good work we perform out of fellowship is not accorded to us as righteousness and we forfeit any reward that work would have gained for us if it was done in fellowship. In addition, when we are out of fellowship we are not available to any supernatural guidance or insight from the Spirit, which means we are operating completely in our flesh. During these times we are more vulnerable to our sinful nature and the insidious influence of the powers and principalities of darkness (1 John 5:19).

This is why we are warned:

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)

Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Confessing our Sins

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

When we do sin, we should immediately repent and confess our sins. This results in our being forgiven for the sins we confessed and cleansed of all unrighteousness. “All unrighteousness” includes the sins we are unaware of or have forgotten, as long as we are not trying to hide any.

As we confess our sins, the payment is withdrawn from our spiritual account and applied to each sin. Thus, those sins are now under the blood (Christ’s payment) and God removes them as far as the east is from the west and remembers them no longer (Psalm 103:12; Isaiah 43:25; Micah 7:19). Not that God has a bad memory; He simply has a perfect "forgetter."

We are then immediately back in fellowship with full ministry power and anointing. Moreover, we need to immediately accept God’s grace and walk in victory in it. To punish ourselves further or to operate in some form of self-imposed shame or punishment before or after confessing is simply being of little faith. Christ’s sacrifice is enough to cover your sins - you can’t add anything to it if you tried, and to do so is an offense to God!

Perhaps the most severe admonishment in scripture concerning being in fellowship is from the Apostle Paul regarding taking communion in 1 Corinthians 11:27-30:

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. (28) But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (29) For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the (his) body rightly. (30) For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. (1 Corinthians 11:27-30)

The only way for a true believer to come to the communion table in an unworthy manner is to be out of fellowship and/or treat the bread and wine as just another meal. Doing so dishonors the sacrifice of Christ, as some believers were doing (verses 11:17-22), which again is sin and takes them out of fellowship.

So, to be safe even if someone is unaware of any unconfessed sin, it is only prudent to humbly ask God to forgive them their sins of omission and commission and to cleanse them of all unrighteousness. In this way, if they have forgotten any or have committed sin they were unaware of then they can be sure to be in fellowship.

In verse 30, the Apostle indicates that “many among you” are guilty of this resulting in weakness and sickness, and some have even died. Clearly, God regards this faith failure extremely seriously. This is especially concerning when you realize that the majority of churches today do not even teach the doctrine of lifestyle fellowship. The pastors will be held responsible for the judgment that befalls their congregations due to their failures as shepherds over their flocks to teach right doctrine.

In Fellowship and Available to the Anointing of the Spirit

Unless we maintain a lifestyle of obedience, confession, and fellowship, we will not grow, be of use to Christ, or be pleasing to God! But if we will cleanse ourselves and remain in fellowship with God as we are commanded to do, then we will have life and it abundantly in productive service to God:

Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21)

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. (37) FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. (38) BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. (39) But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:36-39)

Scripture makes it clear that for us to function in Christ we need to be available to the guidance, power, and anointing of the Spirit in us:

…Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; (13) for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12a-13)

And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. (Colossians 1:29)

Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, (Ephesians 3:20)

And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

True believers who practice confession will also experience the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). However, the true riches of God’s blessing in the gospel, the “Good News” to all of mankind, is more than victory over our sin and living in joy here below, and even more than eternal life in the kingdom of God; it is Jesus Christ in us the hope of glory! (See Colossians 1:27).

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, (5) that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, (6) even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, (7) so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, (8) who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:4-9)

I have covered these principles in greater detail in The Doctrine of Fellowship.

The Doctrine of the Three Christian Functions

Being in fellowship moment-by-moment makes us fit and available for the anointing of the Holy Spirit, but if we through ignorance go on committing sins of omission by failing to obey what God has called us to do, we will be continually out of fellowship. We need to both walk in fellowship and in obedience to the Spirit.

Perhaps, the most misunderstood aspect of our Christian duty is in fulfilling God’s commandments concerning our relationship to God, to those who are unsaved, and to our Christian brothers and sisters in Christ. Understanding these three functions will help you understand the obligation that lies nearest to you at any given point so that you will know how to walk in obedience to the Lord.

Our Priesthood: Our Relationship to God

Every believer is a priest to God and has the right to present himself before the throne of grace while in fellowship.

You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… (9) But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (10) for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. (1 Peter 2:5, 9–10)

In Hebrews 10:19–22 we are urged to "draw near" to God, from the Greek proserchomai, which means "to come face-to-face." Because our approach is built on fellowship through confession, we can walk boldly into the throne room of God knowing every sin has been paid for up to that point and we have been redeemed and imputed with the righteousness of Christ (Hebrews 4:14-16). God wants us to live face-to-face (connected) with Him.

Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)

Our priesthood is private, between us and the Lord. We function as priests through the study of the Word (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17), which is God's written communication to us, and prayer, which is our communication with Him. Our responsibility is to stay in fellowship (1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:7–9), to pray (Hebrews 13:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:17–19), and to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:2-10; 3:14-18).

The Ministry of Reconciliation, our Ambassadorship for Christ to the Lost: Our Relationship to Unbelievers

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (18) Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, (19) namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (20) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

God has given us the Ministry of Reconciliation so that we might serve as Ambassadors of Christ. We have a duty to the unsaved (Act 1:8). Jesus Christ came to earth "to seek and save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). He began his ministry in the flesh but He continues it in us.

So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you. (John 20:21)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Our responsibility is to urge men to be reconciled to God by presenting the good news of the Gospel to them.

To put this into perspective, consider the following example. If I go into an AIDS ward with a pocket full of pills that will cure AIDS and I help change their bedpans and treat them with kindness but don’t give them a pill, then I have hated them unto physical death. However, if I know the Gospel, the cure for the human condition of being lost, and do not share it with a lost person, I have hated that person unto eternal damnation. This is arguably the worst sin of omission we can commit. Of this, the Apostle John wrote:

The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. (10) The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. (11) But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:9-11)

Encouraging the believers to maintain their witness of the gospel in the face of intense opposition, the writer of Hebrews 10:23 tells his readers to "hold fast the confession of our hope." Katecho, "hold fast," is a nautical term that means "to steer a straight course toward an objective." Elpis, "hope," is with absolute certainty. Confidence in God produces courage before man. As our intimacy with God grows through the function of our priesthood, so does our effectiveness as ambassadors for Christ.

Ministry to Build Up and Edify the Body of Christ: Our Relationship to Believers

Key scriptures for this function which I would encourage you to read through prayerfully include: 1 Corinthians 12:7, 11-31; Romans 12:1–8; Ephesians 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

Each one of us is called to be a servant to every other Christian. Our spiritual gifts define the area in which we are to concentrate our service. At salvation, every believer is given a spiritual gift(s) through which he is to minister to the Body of Christ. That gift(s), bestowed sovereignly by the Holy Spirit as He wills, outlines the plan of God for our lives (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 7:7). Through the gifts of the Spirit the Body of Christ (the church) is built up and strengthened.

In Hebrews 10:24–25, we are exhorted to "consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds encouraging one another." The word translated "consider," katanoeo, means "to bear down with the mind, to concentrate." In the exercise of our spiritual gifts, we should bear down in intense concentration, meditate, and exercise some mental energy in considering other people and their needs.

We should constantly ask ourselves:

How can I stimulate someone else to live in the energy of the Spirit?
How can I use my gift today to encourage and strengthen someone else?

In Ephesians 4:15-16, we are instructed that the body of Christ is built up and held together by each believer in the body doing their part (as led and anointed by the Spirit in us is implied).

In a Barna Group survey that was published in the early 1990s, they reported that their surveys indicated that only 5% of professing Christians had ever shared the gospel with another person. However, since every Christian has been given the ministry of reconciliation and to refuse to be obedient to this command is a sin, then 95% of Christians have been out of fellowship virtually their entire Christian life if they were actually saved. So, it is little wonder that we see very few Christian churches that are operating in spiritual power. It also might help explain the recent Barna surveys that indicated that only 4% of professing Christians after the pandemic have a Christian worldview. The surveys indicated that 40% believed that Christ sinned at some point and 60% believed that Christ was not the only path to eternal life. Clearly, these are alarming statistics.

A more complete explanation of this topic is found in The Three Functions of Believers.

How to Correctly Understand and Apply Biblical Principles

At this stage, we have reviewed the Doctrine of Fellowship and the Three Functions of Believers in our exploration of how to qualify to receive scriptural blessings. We will now explore how to rightly understand and interpret scripture and be diligent to act in obedience to those scriptures in order to qualify to receive the promises found in those scriptures.

True Knowledge through Obedience

Repeating Apostles Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:9-12, we find that one of his key prayers is for their increase in knowledge:

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, (10) so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (11) strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously (12) giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. (Colossians 1:9-12)

This passage can be understood in more depth by studying the following corollary in 2 Peter 1:2-4:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; (3) seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (4) For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:2-4)

What will readily be missed by people who do not study in the original languages is tucked away in verses 2 and 3. “Knowledge” (verse 2) and "True knowledge" (verse 3) are epignosis not gnosis, the alternate word for knowledge in the Koine Greek of the New Testament (NT). This is the same word translated as "knowledge" in Colossians 1:9-10 of Paul’s prayer (above). Gnosis is book or classroom (sermon) knowledge, second-hand knowledge. Whereas, epignosis refers to the “application knowledge” received from the Spirit by actually being obedient to do what God’s word has commanded.

We cannot divorce our knowledge of scripture and God Himself from obedience and fellowship. If we are willing to obey the truth we know, God will immediately take our superficial knowledge (gnosis) of His word and write it on the fleshly tablets of our heart and make it experiential knowledge (epignosis) of Himself.

I can read everything written about rebuilding a transmission but I will never gain the "application knowledge" until I actually tear a transmission down and rebuild it. In the natural realm this is called active learning, but in the spiritual realm it is a much deeper concept as the Holy Spirit empowers this process from the inside out.

This is why any scripture involving epignosis is always in the passive voice, meaning it is being received through anointing from the Spirit. If we could get it in our strength and effort it would be in the active voice.

We see this concept emphasized in Philippians 1 in terms of its ongoing effect on a believer:

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge [epignosis] and all discernment, (10) so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; (11) having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11)

The Apostle Paul stresses the importance of receiving epignosis from the Spirit “in order to be sincere and blameless” and to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness.” “May abound” is in the present or continuous tense again requiring that we are in fellowship as a lifestyle.

These passages are clearly telling us that to gain everything “pertaining to life and godliness,” it is not enough to know these things by having heard or read scriptural truth. No, we receive the fullness of Christ’s promises through the Word and the Spirit only when we are obedient to follow God’s instructions in our three functions.

Moreover, the Apostle James tells us clearly in James 2:17 that “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself,” and further in verse 26, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” Then James deals the final blow to lack of obedient action in James 4:17 where he deals with sins of omission: “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

The following is a quote from Oswald Chambers in his devotional “My Utmost For His Highest” for July 27, the most popular devotional in history:

“The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience. If a person wants scientific knowledge, then intellectual curiosity must be his guide. But if he desires knowledge and insight into the teachings of Jesus Christ, he can only obtain it through obedience.
No one ever receives a word from God without instantly being put to the test regarding it. We disobey and then wonder why we are not growing spiritually.”

This is further testified to by our Lord’s words in John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” and in John 15:10-14:

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. (11) These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. (12) This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. (13) Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.(14) You are My friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:10-14).

So, you can see that Christ is clearly defining how we have a relationship with Him and the closer that relationship is through our obedience the more supernatural grace and epignosis we will receive.

The bottom line is that for a believer to qualify to receive any of the promises in scripture, they must first be in fellowship, having no unconfessed sins, and then they must be diligent to act in obedience to God’s mandates in scripture when the opportunity arises, as failure to so is sin. Fulfilling these requirements will result in immediate blessing, insight, understanding, and the power to obey these commands and grace to face whatever circumstances God places us in.

Learning vs True Knowledge

This is further testified to by 2 Timothy 3 which is dealing with weak women weighed down with sin. It describes them in verse 7 as “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Again, “knowledge” here is epignosis.” “Learning” is translated from manthanō and means “to learn or understand from teaching or reading” and is in the active voice and is therefore through man’s own faculties. Verse 6 indicates they are “weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses.” So whether they are truly saved or not, they would not have been qualified to receive insight or anointing from the Holy Spirit, which is the only way to receive epignosis.

We read in Psalm 34:8 "O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" However, what is meant is to obey God's commands while in fellowship having no unconfessed sins, then you will experience (taste) His blessings. Moreover, “taking refuge” in Him requires having a sincere faith, or truly "trusting in and relying upon" Him, which is the very Koine Greek definition of pisteuo, which is translated as “believe” throughout the NT, and the implication of "sincere faith" in 1 Timothy 1:5.

Diligence - Bend Every Effort

The concept of fellowship is even stressed in scriptures like 2 Timothy 2:15, but you have to parse the participles (verbs) in the original language to discern this:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Wuest interprets “be diligent”, spoudazo in Koine Greek, to mean, “to bend every effort” with emphasis on immediacy. Spoudazo is from the noun spoude, which means “earnestness” or “zeal”. Spoudazo is in the active voice indicating that the motivation and volition must come from the hearer, in this case Timothy.

“Accurately handling”, translated “Rightly dividing” in the KJV, is the compound Greek word orthotomeo. The word is from orthos, meaning “straight” and temno, which means “to cut or divide.” The principle is to be able to accurately cut or traverse the full counsel of God from Genesis to Revelation on any subject systematically (topically and in context), without cutting out any “paper dolls” along the way on the line of our own biased selective agenda.

Very importantly, however, this verb is in the present passive middle participle.

The present tense indicates that believers must be able to perform this function continuously as a lifestyle.
The passive voice indicates that we cannot accomplish this in our own power and understanding, but rather that we must receive the requisite insight from beyond our human understanding – obviously from the indwelling Spirit of God.
The middle voice is more difficult to translate as we have no middle voice in English, but it represents the subject as acting in some sense upon himself or concerning himself. In this case, it implies that the person must be in fellowship (having no unconfessed sin). In addition, we should have a positive mental attitude that is conditioned upon believing that the Spirit can and will anoint our understanding.

The Goal of Our Instruction

So, let’s examine how these principles apply to 1 Timothy 1:5:

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5)

“The goal of our instruction” means just that, the goal of all of our Christian teaching.

“Love from a pure heart” addresses the fact that we are to be operating in agape love for those around us, which means we are to be sacrificially devoted to working for their highest good with no regard for our personal agenda or the cost to us. Of course, their highest good is achieved by being in the closest possible relationship with Christ.

So to accomplish the highest good in the lives of others, we must be an agent of the Holy Spirit to build them up in their faith and do everything to draw them into closer intimacy with Christ.

However, to be this sacrificial, we must believe that as we do for others God will do for us and provide our every need supernaturally. This and the belief that God can do more for us in a nanosecond than we could do for ourselves in 40 years of hard labor is what gives us the faith and confidence to live sacrificially for others as Christ did. Additionally, this gives God glory and is pleasing in His sight!

“A good conscience” refers to walking in lifestyle fellowship through the practice of confessing our sins immediately as we commit them and thus continuously abiding in Christ and right relationship with the Father (see 1 John 1:5-9, Psalms 32, 66:18, Isaiah 59:12, Proverbs 28:13, and Mark 11:29).

“A sincere faith” is faith that believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and that completely “trusts in and relies upon God,” which again is the actual Koine Greek meaning of the word pisteuo translated “believe” throughout the NT. It is true or sincere faith that gives rise to the belief spoken of in 1 John 5:5:

Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:5)

This is the whole secret of the overcoming life in all its simplicity and complexity. “Overcomes” here and throughout the NT is translated from nikao in the original Greek text. Nikao means “to conquer or to be victorious.” In this verse, nikao is in the present active participle. The present tense is the continuous tense, so the question here is really, “Who is victorious over the world system moment-by-moment as a lifestyle?”

The answer is simple but profound – “he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” “Believes” again is translated from the Greek word pisteuo, which is the action word for faith, which comes from the noun pistis translated as “faith” in English. Pisteuo means, “to trust in and rely upon,” and it is also in the present or continuous tense in this verse. “Believes” is not talking about a matter of mental ascent or “head belief”, it is talking about a belief that results in action on the line of one’s faith while being in fellowship.

Hence, the verse is saying “Who is the one who is victorious over the world continuously, but he who continuously operates on the unwavering assurance that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Biblical Principles in Practice

First, let us always remember that if we are praying while out of fellowship God doesn’t even hear our prayers (Isaiah 59:2; Psalms 66:18; Proverbs 28:9); and Mark 11:25, 5:23-24). Moreover, if we expect to get credit for any good works or to be the recipient of any promise in scripture we must be operating in fellowship having no unconfessed sins.

Secondly, it is imperative that we read and understand God’s instructions in scripture to the extent that we can apply them in every circumstance in our lives as we are commanded in 2 Timothy 2:15. Failure to strive to be obedient to this instruction is a sin of omission. God tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that reading, understanding, and obeying His word in scripture is critical for being equipped to fulfill our three functions in serving God in our daily walk:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (17) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Therefore, it is a good practice to periodically take a fearless inventory of our behavior and to test ourselves to make sure we are walking in righteousness and in accordance with scripture:

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Active Participants or Passive Spectators?

God expects each one of us to be active participants with the Spirit in the work of the kingdom here below. The need for each believer to operate in his calling and gifting is critical to the operation of the body of Christ:

‘But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, (16) from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

If you think for a moment that a Christian is fulfilling their kingdom responsibility by showing up to church services every week and joining the league of mute spectators sitting in a pew and then spending the rest of the week ignoring their three Christian functions and indulging their rights to themselves in worldly endeavors, you are sorely mistaken. Scripture makes it exceeding clear in James 4:4 that living a life focused on worldly priorities is a snare that corrupts our very souls:

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 2:4)

During the Cold War, a pastor came to the U.S. from Romania, which was behind the Iron Curtain. At this time the Communist Soviet Union being Marxist was atheist in ideology and did everything to suppress the Christian faith. After being in America for a short time the pastor made a fairly disturbing observation. He said that it seemed clear to him that Christianity prospers under persecution but does not fare well in the face of affluence and advantage. It seems that people living quite literally in the lap of luxury as the large majority of Americans do have a strong tendency to be lulled to sleep spiritually and to cause them to lose sight of the fact that we are in the midst of a daily spiritual warfare.

As Matthew Henry wrote:

“The combat is not against human enemies nor against our own corrupt nature only; we have to do with an enemy who has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls. The devils assault us in the things that belong to our souls, and labor to deface the heavenly image in our hearts. We must resolve by God's grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee.”

So, the fact that recent Barna surveys indicate that only 4% of professing Christians hold a Christian worldview would be a strong indicator that the church in America is failing in a very decisive way. We would all have to agree that a grade of 4% on any test is about as low of an F as you can get.

Crippling Effect of our Pastoral Paradigm

Perhaps, the fact that the pastoral paradigm we follow in this nation completely ignores two of the most basic scriptural instructions concerning our assembling together has something to do with this failure. The first scripture is 1 Corinthians 14:26:

What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. (1 Corinthians 14:26)

God clearly did not intend for the congregation to be mute spectators; quite the contrary. Moreover, this would suggest that the congregation was to come to the assembly prepared to share a testimony from their daily experiences in their walk with the Spirit. This also suggests that the Spirit would control the meeting by anointing different ones to bring a message that was timely and for the moment.

This would be consistent with Ephesians 4:29:

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)

Unfortunately, “grace” has become somewhat of a cliché in the American church as we witness very few supernatural manifestations of God owing in large part to the fact that our society has slipped so far into immorality that sins like fornication, adultery, homosexuality, sodomy, abortion, euthanasia, New Age religion, and violence have become commonplace and are enthroned in a large percentage of our books, movies, and television programs.

However, when one reads reports coming from groups like Gospel for Asia and Voice of the Martyrs they are filled with the supernatural manifestations of God. “It will give grace to those who hear” is talking about releasing supernatural anointing into the lives of the hearers, an anointing that has the power to transform people and circumstances.

1 Corinthians 14:25 also would seem to indicate that God intended to continue the First Century pattern of the church being led by a multiplicity of elders, who were mutually accountable and led from the rear according to Ephesians 4:11-13:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Clearly, the leaders were to be training up the congregation to do the work of the kingdom. How better to prepare the believers to share the Gospel and impact the world for Christ than to have them constantly contributing in the assembly where they can be corrected and groomed by the elders?

In the Barna survey mentioned earlier which found that only 5% percent of professing Christians had ever shared their faith, the main excuse given was that they didn’t feel adequate to present the Gospel effectively.

By analogy, think what would happen if when soldiers went to boot camp and all they got was lectures and were only able to watch the drill instructor run the obstacle course and fire his weapon on the range but were never allowed to experience those things for themselves.

This leads into the second most ignored passage which is 1 Corinthians 12:22-27:

On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; (23) and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, (24) whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, (25) so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. (26) And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (27) Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:22-27)

Clearly, this passage is talking about working with, encouraging, and grooming the less presentable members to become effective witnesses for Christ. As every management manual indicates, giving people gradually more and more responsibility as a member of a team and building them up when they fall short is the most effective management style to build an effective and cohesive staff.

It appears obvious from the very poor results that we have attained in the mainstream church in this nation through the pastoral paradigm that we need a change in tactics. What other alternative would be more logical than to go back to God’s original design?

Maybe it could have been a sign from God that the term “pastor” only occurs one time in the New American Standard Bible. After all, it would appear that Christ was instructing us against labels including Rabbi, the Jewish equivalent of pastor. Certainly, it would be a significant change and would challenge congregants who have spent decades being mostly apathetic and mute spectators.

But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. (9) Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. (10) Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. (11) But the greatest among you shall be your servant. (12) Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (Matthew 23:8-12)

The picture is clear - Jesus is and intends to function as the Head and Leader of His Church, the Holy Spirit as the Teacher, and the Father to reign above all. People are ever prone to seek someone to go between them and God, from the children of Israel rejecting God at Sinai in favor of Moses to their appointing a king in place of God when in the land of Canaan. And so today we hear prayers every Sunday that God would speak to His people through the pastor.

Something has to change - if not in the church at large, at least in your life. You have read the scriptures in this article and you understand how to walk in fellowship, how to walk in your three functions to God, the Lost, and the Body, and you know how to read the word and walk in His promises for you.

God wants to bless you with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He has poured out His Holy Spirit within you to lead and guide you, to convict you, to teach you, to empower you, and to help you experience the life of Christ flowing through you. Step up into your inheritance in Christ!

Realistic Application

If you find that you cannot function effectively in your giftings and ministry to the Body in the church service, I would encourage you to prioritize a smaller fellowship in your week. You could find a few people of like precious faith based on the principles you have just read and meet in a home for a Bible study or ministry night once a week to walk out these commands and to genuinely minister Christ one to another, share communion, and fellowship.

It is important to be led by the Holy Spirit and the patterns laid out in scripture in how and where to fellowship. It is Christ who composes His Body how He desires and places us where He wills. It is for us to function where we are planted and find ways to be obedient to His commands in ministering to and edifying the Body.

Be Blessed in Christ!

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

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