299. The Word and Its Effect on God’s People

Salvation lies solely in the Word of God. Christ Himself is the Word of life. 1 John 1:1. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:3. God is responsible for His Word, and our responsibility is to agree with the Word and to put it into practice. God sees to it that His Word is fulfilled.

“Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is salvation: to believe in Him. Faith draws the Savior into your heart and mind so that He lives there by faith. Once He has come into your heart, He works effectively there so that you, through Him, grow up from being a babe in Christ to become mature in Him.

The relationship we choose to have with the Word determines whether we become temple Christians or outer-court Christians. The same Word is preached to everyone, and that is the “Temple Word,” but not everyone obeys the Word so that they become temple Christians. Unbelief and disobedience to the Word will cause a person to remain in the outer court. It will be with them as it was in the days of Israel when they were all saved out of Egypt, but afterward God destroyed all those who did not believe. Most Christians are not able to come any further than the outer court. They settle down there and obstinately refuse to go any further. They never come into the temple. They form different denominations out there in the outer court and earn a living by preaching and making a business of God’s Word. Jesus prayed “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:21. Now there are probably 300 to 400 different parties out there in the outer court. This makes it difficult for the world to believe, because parties are works of the flesh, and those who live like this and defend such things do the works of the devil. You can go into any sect or denomination you like, and you will find that for them the work of Christ only goes as far as the forgiveness of sins. You will never hear about victory over sin. They do not have any kind of doctrine that leads to a godly life. For them there is nothing more than forgiveness of sins. This is evidence that they live in sin and that their consciences judge them. They do not grow up to the Head. The demands of the law are not fulfilled. Christ is no more for them than an Old Testament sacrifice, or as it is written about Israel: “For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” Rom. 11:27.

God’s Word is to be lived; but it is not being lived, and so judgment comes. Christianity has become nothing more than a pleasant social club where the flesh is spared and thrives. Woe to those who upset the pleasantness by coming with a Word of truth. They will be called deceivers and will be, as the Scriptures say, “Put out of the synagogue.”

Now where there is remission of sins, there is no longer a need for an offering for sin. Heb. 10:18. But when a person continues in sin, he sins against grace. Instead of sinning, we must resist sin to bloodshed, so that by the blood of Jesus we can boldly enter in to the Holiest. We can walk on the new and living way. Heb. 10:19-20. But people find this to be too heavy because, by nature, they would rather sin than suffer, so instead they live a life where they sin every day and pray for forgiveness every day. What they should be doing is taking up their cross every day, and then there would be less sinning every day. This is God’s intention and will for us.

Then we have the temple Christians. Most of them have wandered around in the outer court, but they were never satisfied there. The Word has drawn them further and further until they ended up inside the temple. Here in the temple, which is the body of Christ, the barriers which parties caused are gone because we have come to Him who “has broken down the middle wall of separation . . . the enmity.” Eph. 2:14-15. At last we have found the peace that we were longing for. Here we grow the growth of the body up into Him who is the Head of the church, and a new creation emerges from our inner man. Obedience to the Word brings us all the way to the Father. John 14:23.

The Lord is in His temple, and from there He speaks through His Holy Spirit. So then, there is one temple (the body), one voice (the Helper), “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.” This gives us purpose and faith.

Out there in the outer court we can hear the money changers jangling and begging. There they argue about baptism and communion, the millennium, and various doctrines. But they never get hold of the doctrine that is from God because it is only available to those who do God’s will.

The angel said “measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple. It has been given to the Gentiles to tread underfoot.” Rev. 11:1-2.

The outer-court Christians had not grown one single millimeter; they had only sinned, and there was no height to measure, no new creation, just sin and forgiveness. They had not labored to become one so that the world could believe. Therefore the outer court has now been given to the Gentiles to tread underfoot. There is nothing to measure in the outer court, only strife and wretchedness. The Word had not made them one. The priests and preachers had already received their reward. God did not owe them anything. They had also resisted the temple Christians with all their might; there was enough flesh in them to do that. The different parties could agree on the issue of killing the temple Christians. One day they will have to atone for this outrage. The folly that they practice divides the body of Christ into several hundred pieces. And they will reap the consequences.

Between all these sects there are varying degrees of enmity. What has become of unity? Has Christ come into conflict with Himself? Is He divided?

Therefore let us obey the Word and go out from among them to Him outside the camp. Heb. 13:13. It is a thousand times better to share reproach with Christ than to live in the midst of all the enmity and confusion about doctrines that have no point or purpose.

The Word liberates, the Word makes alive, and the Word will abide long after the outer court has been trodden underfoot.