“For a nation lost to counsels are they, And there is no
understanding in them. ”
(Deut 32:28, YLT)
As these teachings advance toward the building of a spiritual house (1 Pet 2:5) one of the main themes that we need to look at is that of the calling on and purpose of your life. We will examine this in greater detail later. For now it is important to accept that each person has a calling in Christ (Rom 8:28-30), in other words a particular purpose that must be fulfilled. It is possible to be born again, even busying yourself with great spiritual activities, and yet not fulfilling your purpose of creation.
In Matt 7 we find Jesus explaining this enormously important aspect of our walk of faith to his followers. He compares it to a number of things, for example a narrow gate (verse 13), saying there are few who find the gate of life and enter the Kingdom of God (where God reigns). In verses 16-20 he compares it with the fruit a tree bears, stating that the believer will be known according to his fruit, not his external spiritual gifts or activities. There are thus obviously people who are spiritually very active, but who do not function within their callings, and are thus technically not part of the Kingdom of God. Jesus makes this very clear in verses 21-23 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
For the charismatic church, which had always placed such a great emphasis on charismata, the gifts of the Spirit, this is an enormous warning. It is much more important to guide believers through the narrow gate of their calling and purpose in life that leads to an abundant life in Christ (John 10:10) than only equipping them in the gifts of the Spirit. On account of this distorted emphasis the modern-day church has become a bit of a freak show, a strange flea market exhibiting spiritual curiosities, mainly for the benefit of its members, as Webster’s explains the word – “A strong desire to see something novel … a desire to gratify the senses with a sight of what is new or unusual, or to gratify the mind with new discoveries.” It has little concern for God’s greater plan for the world or how he has called you to be part of the fulfillment of that plan.
We should not miss that when God reprimands these Spirit-filled and driven believers, he says, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Also consider 1 John 3:4 – “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness”, which suggests that this is the core of what causes people to miss God’s greater plan.
- Sela: Are you perhaps missing God’s plan for your life?
- Read: Joshua 7; Job 42; Isa 23
- Memorise: Job 42:2
