This Short Study will cover those areas relating to Grace and the Gift of the Office (Doma) as well as some “elements of ministering” or “that of being ministered to.” This short study will not cover all there is to Communication, just that which relates to Grace and the Gift of the Office (Doma.)
Communication and the Gift. Grace? Or the Doma?
By Pastor G. E. Newmyer
Gift of Grace and Gift of the Doma: This section will be one of the most important of our Lessons, in reference to ministering or being ministered to. Many in leadership roles can’t make the separation between the “Gift of Grace” and the “Gift of the Doma.”
Doma: The Doma is given by Jesus; and it relates to the Offices of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers (Eph 4:10). The purpose of the Gift is for the “perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ” (Eph 4:12). The Doma is support for the Gift of Grace; but it is not the Gift of Grace. The problem comes when one assumes that the power found in the Doma is Grace. They begin to trust in the “Doma anointing” as their means of Salvation. They see signs; they feel the anointing and then begin to think that the signs are related to their relationship with Jesus. They are not; they come with the Office and like “Aaron’s robe,” they serve a purpose. The New Man within is the Grace of God; and Grace is the “Word in us,” dividing asunder or separating to bring us into the perfection of a spiritual nature. This would be the same for a position in the “Offices,” relevant to what one’s fellowship with the Father is; because, to fellowship with the Father, one must walk in Mercy. To fellowship with God, one must treat the people of God, as God does.
The anointing of the office can on the one hand, motivate someone; and while people are being healed, the power is evident. But then something else can happen; the leader can go another direction and either open “the store” to fleece the sheep (begin charging fees outside the realm of free love offerings) or they can move away from the New Man perspective and engage in other behaviors such as slandering another brother to pieces. While they are “off track,” they have no fellowship with the Father; so will God still speak to them or use them? Yes, why not! He spoke to Balaam as well as Cain. Even Judas had an office, but it didn’t change Judas’s nature.
Relationship: In order to have a relationship, we must have some common ground with the person. In order to have Fellowship we must have a “like nature,” similar to the one we want to have fellowship with.
Paul explained what Concord has Christ with Belial; the word Concord is the Greek “Sumphonesis” meaning “Agreement.” There are the “Ways” (motives) of a person, and we do something, it is considered to be an “Act.” Acts are important; don’t think they are not. But when anyone trusts in the Acts as a sign of holiness, pride takes hold and soon they slip from Grace. How? The Acts happened at (through) their hands; and so they might start to think, “Man look at the power I have.” They might even begin to think the power is really them or coming from them; in some cases, they figure out some way to make money from the Gift of God which is the Balaam mentality and they end up “selling the Dove, which is not good at all.”
Spiritual-minded people expect the power of God to manifest; while carnal people are impressed by the power. When the power comes, the carnal will think that this is happening by their hand; and in so doing they have given pride a new home. The sin of the Seventh Church in the Book of Revelation is thinking that their power is a result of their own hand.
Anointing: The anointing of the Office comes with the Office in the same way that the world grants authority to an office. However, the Office forms the person; the person never forms the office.
The President of the United States can only make policy while in the Office; thus the Office grants the authority, not the person. The person in the Office can be a real jerk, morally corrupt, yet when the Office is operating among those in the Body; people are nonetheless, being set free which is the purpose of the Office, not something to accommodate the person in the Office. As potential leaders, this is a point we must recognize; the Office will function in spite of our current condition, but God working through us at times, has nothing to do with our Grace or Mercy stand with the Lord which is a separate matter.
Grace unto Salvation and the Offices Supporting Grace: Grace brings Salvation, while the Offices support Grace; they are not given to replace Grace (Titus 2:11). By Grace are you saved through Faith; it’s not by the Offices that you are saved (Eph 2:8). Lack of understanding about the difference between Grace (Charis) and the Doma, is the exact reason why Timothy was having problems. He began to trust in the Doma; thus Paul told him to “Stir up the gift (Charisma) of God in him” (II Tim 1:6). If the Doma was the source of his victory, then Paul would have told him to stir up the Doma.
Timothy was to do the work of the ministry, which is allowing the Doma to work; but he wasn’t to reject the Charis for the Doma. The separation between the two gifts has to be made, to understand the process of what each does. What has this to do with communication? Everything; attempting to communicate to God through the Doma is error. The Doma is designed to assist the Body, not make communication with God. Simply talking to God is not communication either or “hearing what we think is God” is not communication.
Communication takes an ear able to hear, not so much a mouth able to talk. The Holy Ghost teaches by comparing spiritual to spiritual, the Holy Ghost is spiritual in nature, the New Man is spiritual in nature; however if we are still carnal in the soul, we will not be able to communicate on a spiritual level with the New Man. Whatever we hear, we will filter it through carnal reasoning, twisting the spiritual into a carnal endeavor. The problem with the Corinthians centered on them having the Spirit, but refusing to become Spiritual (not submitting to the Spirit for a change in natures from carnal to spiritual).
Some of us spend a great deal of time telling God what we want, but not finding out “what God wants.” Once of the biggest complaints in marriage is the failure to communicate; yet Grace is the preparation for Marriage. God is Spirit; thus those who worship Him, do so in Spirit and Truth, by the Spirit of Truth.
The carnal mind cannot worship God, yet the person with the carnal mind gets all goose bumpy; they might feel good at a given moment, but it doesn’t mean they gave God worship. Rather, it means that the worship touched them. Communication is a two way street; it involves more than God granting us our desires and it also goes much further than goose bumps.
Communication and dialog are different. Adam had dialog with God; he never had communication. Adam didn’t understand anything about heaven, his realm was earth, and he was of the earth; thus he was concerned about the earth. Adam named the animals, not the angels. When we asked Jesus to forgive us, it was dialog; yet it was effective. Communication is different; it involves an interaction between parties of a like mind. Communication is the basis for Communion, which not only entails an interaction between parties; it demands the parties be of like minds. Our Communication is in the Will of the Spirit and it calls for an interaction of the soul; but our Communion is through the Spirit, calling for the soul to submit, in order to be joined to the Spirit by the Blood of Jesus.
We in the Body have Communication and Communion; both are based in Remembering. Our confidence in Communication is based on past experiences; and when we have a conversation with another person, we are cautious, unless we know that the person is faithful. If our belief in God holds that we can Trust Him to be faithful, then, we are open before Him, based on our past experiences in His faithfulness. The same is true on the other side; our faithfulness in God will pay off in our prayer life.
The evidence of Dialog is found in Adam, who was created by God, but his dialog with God was limited, so limited he didn’t understand God, but God understood him. We know there is a vast difference between Grace in the Old Testament and Grace in the New. God came to Adam, but Adam could not go to God. Adam was natural, hid flesh formed of the earth; and he was a living soul, while God is Spirit. The prophecy, “let us make man in our image” went beyond Adam to the “Second Adam” and then to us. The premise of that “Born of the Spirit is Spirit” is associated with the New Birth. Our souls are being formed into a spiritual nature by the Spirit. However, as a living soul we are still born of the flesh, as was Adam. Our souls think of fleshly elements; when Adam male saw Adam female his response was, “bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.” He said nothing about feelings, love, or his obligation to her. It was God who said that man must leave his family and cleave to the wife. Adam was a beginning, soul and flesh; the result is the New Birth, the flesh imputed dead and the soul being formed into a spiritual nature.
The New Man: Therefore, the New Man calls out, “ABBA Father” making our Communication connection by the New Man. We often say “the Lord told me,” when in truth it was the New Man who told us, as he heard from the Holy Ghost. The New Man is not some foreign element implanted in us, rather he is created (or formed same Greek word) after God’s true holiness and righteousness. If we are to seek the righteousness of God, we must seek the righteousness of the New Man.
The Commandment to be Born Again: In order to communicate with God we must be more Spirit, than natural. Therefore, it’s a Commandment to Born Again, as Jesus said, “you must”. In order for us to see (perceive) the things of the Kingdom, we must be Born Again.
Without the New Man we will have no idea what the Kingdom is about; like Adam when God speaks of the Kingdom, we will talk about the monkey we just named.
Grace: Grace came with Jesus; thus Grace is having the Seed of God in us by the Holy Ghost. The phrase “the gift of the Holy Ghost” doesn’t mean the Holy Ghost is the Gift; it means that the method of bringing the Gift is by the Holy Ghost.
God breathed into Adam and Adam became a living soul. The Breath wasn’t the Soul or the Life, nor was it a spirit; it was the means which God used to interject soul Life. The Hebrew word used there means “the method of transferring.” It’s not the same Hebrew word used for “spirit.” We can’t ignore First Corinthians 15:45-47, or claim Adam had some “spirit” based on the Adam being able to walk with God in the cool of the day. Walking with God in the cool of the day doesn’t mean that Adam had Fellowship. Fellowship with God is much different from the ability to communicate.
Wisdom of God: Communication comes on levels; and any of us can communicate to a small child on their level, but a child can’t communicate to us on our level. We cannot remain as a “living soul” expecting to have communication, or fellowship with God. The Spirit (New Man) is the ability to Witness Jesus; he is also our connection to God. Our souls are the treasure in this; the Spirit is the Word in us becoming engrafted to our souls. When we deal with people through the Wisdom of God, we are operating through the New Man, thus we are dealing with them in the same manner as God would.
Joining our soul to the New Man brings about the phrase, “the two shall be one”; but if we can’t communicate with the New Man, how is the union to take place? The New Man is able to understand our souls, as he trains us in the spiritual things; thus we find Paul talking to the Corinthians about how the Spirit searches the deep things. Thus, the Spirit knows more about us than we do. Knowledge is the basis used to save us, to wash away the dirt, but keep the precious. Communication lets us know that we are in “a Process and the cleaning” is a renovation from the flesh to the Spirit.
Difference between Fellowship & Communication: Some of us have a sound prayer life, but this still doesn’t mean that we Fellowship with God. You still might think, “Now wait; I have a relationship with God.” Fine; but do you have Fellowship? So, is there is a difference between a Relationship and Fellowship?
Relationships are often based on communications; but Fellowships are based on something different. First John talks about Fellowship; and one would think that fellowship is based on one’s relationship with God. But First John tells us, Fellowship is based on how we treat the people of God. God will not fellowship with anyone who treats His people poorly. Thus, if one says they are in the Light, yet they hate (slander) their brother, they are in darkness until now; and if they continue with the slanderous life style, they will drift from the light, further into the darkness, ending as antichrist in nature. This would not be “anti-God,” or “anti-Jesus” or “anti-Holy Ghost.” The concept of “antichrist” is against members of the Body of Christ as First John shows. To be “anti” is to be against something in one form or another. However, we have a hope; Greater is He in us, than the he in the world. The “He in us” is the Word, the New Man, Another Comforter, the source of the Living Water, the manifested Grace of God, as God’s true holiness and righteousness.
The Spirit in us: If we don’t know what the New Man is doing or how he is doing it, we will end up joining with the “he in the world” thinking we’re on God’s side. It’s paramount to know the activity of the Spirit in us and how He differs from the Holy Ghost. Jesus taught the disciples about the Comforter as well as about Another Comforter. The Comforter will teach us all things, and bring things to our remembrance (Jn 14:27). Another Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Wisdom, the New Man, the Greater He will abide with us forever, as he dwells in us (Jn 14:16-17). The Comforter will then bring the Spirit of Truth, then the Spirit of Truth will bear witness of Jesus (Jn 15:26 & I Jn 4:1-4). Our faith is to join in the process, although it may not appear as the Process is taking place, it is.
Anyone can have a working relationship with someone, or a family relationship, yet not have fellowship. Relationships are good, but they are based on similar “likes”; whereas a Fellowship is based on “like Ways.” The Father sought those who could worship in Spirit and Truth, but why? Because man was neither Spirit nor Truth; but God is. The Fellowship then is based in Truth (Jesus) and Spirit (New Man). How can man worship God without having the slightest idea about “Who” God is? Before we can Fellowship with God, we must first know God, reaching beyond just knowing “about God.” James says, the devils believe in One God; thus believing in One God and having fellowship with God are different.
Fellowship with God: On the same note, we can’t have Fellowship with God if we allow bitterness, hate, strongholds, or false doctrines to restrict our ability to fellowship. Fellowship with God means, we treat what belongs to God in the same manner that God does, thus giving us “like Ways” as God has. Do we think we could have fellowship with a relative if they came over to slander or curse our children, or beat them, write terrible books about them, tell lies about them, or be generally nasty around them? No, and God will not fellowship with anyone who treats His children in like manner. Once we love the Body as God does, regardless of the short comings or carnal attitudes, then our fellowship with the Father will flow with ease.
Testing the spirit: Ephesians tells us that we have access by the Faith of Jesus; and James tells us that the “Faith of Jesus” has “Ways” identifying His faith as Godly (Eph 3:12 & James 2:1-3). There is a test to this (wouldn’t you know); First John 4:1-4 talks about the “test of the spirit” and this would not be between fifty different spirits. Rather this would be to determine if we’re walking in the Spirit of Truth or if we have slipped into using the spirit of antichrist.
Lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, pride of life: The Spirit of Truth will have fellowship with God, the spirit of antichrist will not. First John 4:1-4 is not some separate book apart from the rest of First John. First John tells us, there are three elements of the world: the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life; and if we have fellowship with these, we can’t have fellowship with God.
So, what is the “pride of life”; in the Greek it reads, “Self-confidence” or “a confidence in the self.” One cannot deny the self and then have confidence in it. Jesus said that the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts for other things, chokes out the word. James said that the wisdom of man is natural, sensual (soulish), and devilish. The same three elements were seen in the beginning when Eve found that the tree was “good for food” (lust of the flesh, natural, cares of this world). She also found, it was pleasant to the eyes, (lust of the eye,) sensual, lusts for other things.
Then, she found it was able to make her wise in her own eyes, (natural wisdom, pride of life, and deceitfulness of riches). The old man not only existed in the three elements of the world, he loved them, played with them, trusted in them, as he fellowshipped with them.
The New Man has nothing to do with those things; so from where would the lust be drawing us away? Would this be from the New Man? No; it would be from the soul. The “tare” planted by the enemy, is attempting to draw us back to world to destroy our new found communication with God.
Strongholds and Tares: Just as “strongholds” can fog our perception, “tares” can block our communication. In relationships between people, we see it often, when a person says something to remind another, of an occurrence from long ago; and for the most part, the one telling the story had nothing to do with the prior event. But all of sudden the wrath is unleashed on them. The stronghold painted a picture of the prior event; and the wrath had to be vented. So, we took it out on the one who reminded us. God brings events to us to expose the corrupt strongholds in our souls; our reaction (not response) is anger, indicating that there was something in us to provoke the attack. We may think the devil is beating us up, when it’s actually God healing us. Communication removes the foolish error of blaming the devil, for the Good work of God.
Where is the Hope? Good question; our Hope is the “Greater He” in us (Spirit of Truth). Paul called him the “New Man” and Jesus called him the “Stronger One.” Grace is always sufficient, it will always be enough. We have to stop jumping in front of the New Man with our carnal sword of justice thinking we can do for God, what God can do for Himself.
More than conquerors: The New Man is centered on saving our souls and moving our thinking from flesh to Spirit; yet in the process, we usually become surprised at how much the flesh has damaged the soul. Whatever is required for our victory; the New Man has more than enough. We are more than conquerors, since the New Man is more than we need. The New Man is not a machine or toy; it’s the missing element to every person on the earth. He completes the prophecy, “let us make man in our Image.” The Spirit in us is the ability to bring it about; thus, we are being formed into the Image of God’s Son to be a son of God, not the exactness of Jesus, but His Image, His character, and what made elements the “Christ nature” of Jesus. The mere title of Christian means “Christ Like”, or “Like Christ”.
Victory in the Spirit: The New Man is a product of Grace; and Grace is a gift which we can’t buy, steal, or earn. If we took all the supposed good of mankind from the beginning of time and then gave it all to one person, it still wouldn’t be enough to earn what Jesus gave us. No one can walk in the Ways of God without Grace; yet no one can earn Grace. Yikes! Does this seem like a no win situation? Not so; it’s an “All Win” situation. The Spirit of Truth is “the proof of having Grace”; and once Grace has arrived, so has victory in the Spirit.
Fellowship is not the same as “communication with God”; rather our relationship with God is based in our communication (prayers) with Him. However, communication is a two way street. If all we do is talk to God, yet refuse to listen, it’s not communication at all.
Slander & Libel: James defined a double-minded person as “one who blesses God, yet curses man.” This issue was of great concern. The carnal Corinth church was slandering Paul; and by their words, they left the door open for false apostles to invade. Everything produces after its own kind; so, if we slander, “the Slanderer” will send his own into our midst. Is slander based in a lie? No; not at all, Libel is a lie; but slander goes to intent. The slander can be factual; but if it’s said to hurt the person, then it’s slander. The devil talks about our past; thus our past is factual. But he does this to hurt us, not help us. The New Man may bring up something from the past, but His intent is to help us, not harm us.
First John is a book of Godly judgment, which is merely a separation between the Precious and the Vile. Those who walk in the Light have the ways of Light. So, does it mean that they’re so holy; they not only walk on water, but create it? Hardly; they know that the Blood of Jesus is cleaning them from all unrighteousness; and they also know, the same Blood is cleaning others as well. Oops; this seems to be the problem doesn’t it? We forget that the same Love which the Father has shed on us, He has shed on the rest of the Body as well. Therefore we must conclude that having fellowship with God is walking in His light, while we treat others in the Body as He would treat them. This shows that our relationship is between us and God; but fellowship with God is dependent on how we treat the people of God.
Personal relationship with Jesus: We can see how Adam had a relationship with God based on the concerns of the earth; but Adam also lacked Fellowship. How do we know? Adam turned on Eve, and then on God. Anyone who walks in Fellowship with another will not turn on them. Judas had a relationship with Jesus. After all, Judas held a position in the ministry; but it was a working relationship, not fellowship. Nor was his relationship with Jesus a personal relationship. This is another aspect, isn’t it? We can have a working relationship with Jesus regarding the Office appointed to us; but it doesn’t mean, we have a personal relationship with Him. We can have a type of family relationship based on our place in the Body; but it doesn’t mean we have a personal relationship with Jesus. We must discern what our relationship is. If all we talk about is “the world,” or the “concerns of the world” in our prayer life, we lack fellowship with the Father. On the other hand, if we pray to bring those in the world into the kingdom, we are in tune with the Father.
Communion: Communion is also a form of fellowship. In Communion, we have the bread and wine (grape juice). Paul said we are the Bread (I Cor 10:17), Jesus said, the New Covenant was in His Blood. We find two elements: the Bread represents our “position in the Body,” while the Blood represents our “condition in Christ.” We know that these two elements to be: the Rock (Body) and Church. Thus we find that Fellowship rests in “like interests,” with the ways being the means to accomplish the goal, even the salvation of our souls.
There we have it! Walk in the Light since God is in the Light; and then we will have fellowship one with the other. Fellowship with God is based on having Fellowship with the people of God. If we say we have fellowship with God, yet we don’t have fellowship with the people of God, we lie, showing that the truth is not in us. Since there are “carnal members,” “novice members,” and even some “vessels of dishonor” in the Body, how then can we have fellowship with all? Jesus has fellowship with us by the Spirit; thus we walk in the Wisdom of God discerning, rather than guessing.
Fellowship demands more than a few things in common; the Character of those fellowshipping must be in tune one with the other. The New Man in us is after God’s Righteousness and true Holiness (Eph 4:24). We are told to seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness; we are also told to be Holy as our Father is Holy. How are we going to do any of those things? We learn to do these things by the New Man; and our fellowship then, is based in the Spirit, connecting us to Grace which is “Love” by the New Man. We fellowship by the Spirit; but we “pal around” by the soul.
So how does division start? If we are Born Again of the Spirit; and the person next to us is also born again, plus the person next to them as well as the one on the side along with with the person over there who is Born Again as well…. then all of us are walking in the Spirit; and remember that this is by the same Spirit. So what then happened to cause a division? It was carnal thinking and lack of spiritual awareness.
What is the Hope? It is the New Man which can bring all of us into the Unity of the Faith by the Unity of the Spirit.
Religious conceit: How can we have fellowship one with another if we think we’ve reached perfection, yet no one else has? This thinking reflects the heart of religious conceit, which is based in “pride of religion,” which is not good, not good at all. In order to have Fellowship with God, we must be “Spiritual in nature”; and no one is going to be Spiritual without the Spirit. Once we have the Spirit, then the Process of entering the Ways of the Spirit begins to take place; and this is a process, so don’t think that if we asked today, it will be complete on the same day.
First John says, “Who is a liar, but he who denies Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son” (I Jn 2:22). Look at the verse, denying Jesus is the Christ is the same as denying the Father and the Son, how is can it be? It’s denying the Purpose of the Mercy, Cross, Resurrection, and Grace, not merely saying, “There is no Jesus.” How then do we deny Jesus is Christ? This would be by failing to accept the Christ nature, since it’s a free gift to all, Gentile or Jew. How do we deny the Father? This would be by failing to walk in mercy. It’s not verbal in nature; it’s the ways of person at issue. One can say “Jesus is the Christ” while at the same time slandering members of His Body?
The Process of spiritual growth: The Spirit of Christ is “forming us” into the Image of God’s Son through the Ways of God (Rom 8:29). This again shows process; there are times when we think we’re so far ahead we can stop or wait for all the rest to catch up. There are times when we think we’re so far behind; we hope the others wait for us to catch up. However, this is an Individual Process; so, it doesn’t matter where others are. We’re all moving along the Path of the Righteousness of Christ. It’s a Process got it? Leave room for growth in us, as we leave room for growth in others.
Double-mindedness: James said that faith alone won’t save us; but Paul said we are saved by Grace through faith. What gives? They are saying the same thing, that the works of faith are the fruit of faith; and Grace will bring the fruit of faith to the surface. What fruit? This would include the Wisdom of God, as the manner in which we deal with people and handle events. Fellowship demands that we deal with the people of God in the same manner as God does; thus James says a double-minded person is one who blesses God, but curses man.
Jesus gave us one Commandment from which all others stem; we are to Love one another as He has loved us. Some might think, “Oh yes! Amen brother; I love all the people of my little church and we have so much fun.” But what if that love needs to include, not just your little church, but the Body? Do we agree with everyone in the Body? No; of course not and neither did the Apostles. What? Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement; but they still loved one another (Acts 15:39).
Just because we say that we have no need of the foot, does it make it so? No, just because we say, “I don’t think they are of the Body,” does it make it so? No; not at all. Love gives us the basis to have Fellowship. One must take a good look at their own heart, before they cut the heart of someone else.
The Holy Ghost teaches spiritual to spiritual, by “Comparing (I Cor 2:13).” The word “Comparing” is the Greek “Sunkrino,” which is a compound word. The word Greek word “Sun” means an “effort of cooperation” or “one party assisting another”; which is also to say that, while one is a leader, the other remains a follower. This shows the “Comforter and Another Comforter,” with our souls as servants or disciples, not overseers. The Greek “Krino” means “to Judge”; literally, it means “to separate and arrange together to show an order.” The Spirit doesn’t run through our souls disrupting everything. He isn’t even in our soul; rather, he separates the soul from the Spirit to show us the differences.
Removing of hindrances: The New Man also separates things, so close that we can’t see them; and removes those things hindering us. Then, once something is found or discovered in our soul, we have the choice to have it removed by cooperation, or retain it; in this way, we have the keys. An example would be some experience of the past; the experience could be a benefit in helping others, but the pain attached to it is not. Thus the pain is removed, but the knowledge of the experience remains, with the added ability of having clarity regarding the experience.
The Charis (Grace) is given to assist the one it’s given to, so they can Witness the Lord. There are “Gifts” within the “Gift of Grace”; and there are also actions connected to Grace (12:6). These areas are not the same as the Doma and should not be confused as such. Neither should we confuse the “Manifestation of the Spirit” with the “Doma,” since the “Manifestation” is given to all saints, whereas, the Doma is not. The Manifestation of the Spirit, found in First Corinthians 12:7-11, is not a “gift”; it’s “the Manifestation, or the Exhibition of the Spirit through the Believer,” showing the manner of Witness. These areas are spontaneous. For instance, one may interpret today, but not again for months or years. One might operate in the “word of wisdom” one minute and then a “word of knowledge” the next, with “gifts of healing” the next.
The Manifestation: “The Manifestation” is the action of the New Man in us; thus there are “Gifts of the Spirit” given to each Born Again Believer. But there is also the “Manifestation of the Spirit.” Therefore, we have to make the separation between the “Gifts found in the Gift of Grace,” apart from the “Manifestation of the Spirit,” as well as learn to separate between the “Gift of Grace” and the “Doma gifts.” Don’t get confused; Jesus has perfected these methods; it’s a matter of understanding which is for what.
The Spirit has many roles, many jackets He will wear; none of us are able to place Him in a formula. Formulas are for making cakes, not for the spiritual things of God. The Spirit in us makes it possible for us to have “living waters” flow from our bellies. It has nothing to do with water baptism, since it’s something from within. This shows that the New Man is “Life based”; and the “living water” is in reference to the Mercy of God flowing by the Spirit (Jn 7:37-39). From the “New nature” we speak differently: we no longer curse, but bless and we no longer slander, but edify. Mark calls this having “new tongues.” Communication with God depends on talking the same talk. If God wants to bless, yet all we do is talk about cursing, we have nothing in common with God. We could pray our “warfare prayers” for hours or days; but if they don’t line up with the nature of God, we’re barking into the darkness.
When we are able to communicate with God, we will be able to communicate with people as well. It’s a two way street, there are times when it’s best to be silent before the Lord and simply listen. Selah.
Review of Definitions & Conditions:
Doma: The Doma is given by Jesus; and it relates to the Offices of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers (Eph 4:10). The purpose of the Gift is for the “perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ” (Eph 4:12). The Doma is support for the Gift of Grace; but it is not the Gift of Grace.
Grace is the Word in us: The New Man within is the Grace of God; and Grace is the “Word in us,” dividing asunder or separating to bring us into the perfection of a spiritual nature.
Anointing: The anointing of the Office comes with the Office in the same way that the world grants authority to an office. However, the Office forms the person; the person never forms the office.
Grace and Salvation/Offices Supporting Grace: “Grace brings Salvation,” while the “Offices support Grace.” Offices are not given to replace Grace (Titus 2:11). By Grace are you saved through Faith; it’s not by the Offices that you are saved (Eph 2:8).
Communication & Communion: Communication is the basis for Communion, which not only entails an interaction between parties; it demands that the parties be of “like minds.” Our Communication is in the Will of the Spirit and calls for an interaction of the soul; and our Communion is through the Spirit, calling for the soul to submit, in order to be joined to the Spirit by the Blood of Jesus.
Communication takes an ear able to hear, not so much a mouth able to talk. The Holy Ghost teaches by “comparing spiritual to spiritual,” the Holy Ghost is spiritual in nature, the New Man is spiritual in nature; however if we are still carnal in the soul, we will not be able to communicate on a spiritual level with the New Man.
The Commandment to be Born Again: In order to communicate with God we must be more Spirit, than natural. Therefore, it’s a Commandment to Born Again, as Jesus said, “you must”. In order for us to see (perceive) the things of the Kingdom, we must be Born Again.
Grace: Grace came with Jesus; thus Grace is having the Seed of God in us by the Holy Ghost. The phrase “the gift of the Holy Ghost” doesn’t mean that the Holy Ghost is the Gift; it means that “the method of bringing the Gift is by the Holy Ghost.”
New Man: The Spirit (New Man) is the ability to Witness Jesus; he is also our connection to God. Our souls are the treasure in this; the Spirit is the Word in us becoming engrafted to our souls. When we deal with people through the Wisdom of God, we are operating through the New Man, thus we are dealing with them in the same manner as God would.
Lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, pride of life: The Spirit of Truth will have fellowship with God, the spirit of antichrist will not. First John 4:1-4 is not some separate book apart from the rest of First John. First John tells us, there are three elements of the world: the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life; and if we have fellowship with these, we can’t have fellowship with God.
Fellowship with God: But First John tells us, that Fellowship is based on how we treat the people of God. God will not fellowship with anyone who treats His people poorly. Thus, if one says they are in the Light, yet they hate (slander) their brother, they are in darkness until now; and if they continue with the slanderous life style, they will drift from the light, further into the darkness, ending as antichrist in nature.
Anti-Christ: To be anti-Christ is not to be “anti-God” or “anti-Jesus” or “anti-Holy Ghost.” The concept of “antichrist” is against members of the Body of Christ as First John shows.
Slander and liable: Is slander based in a lie? No; not at all. Libel is a lie; but slander goes to intent. The slander can be factual; but if it’s said to hurt the person, then it’s slander.
Double-mindedness: James says a double-minded person is one who blesses God, but curses man.
Manifestation of the Spirit: “The Manifestation” is the “action of the New Man in us”; thus there are “Gifts of the Spirit” given to each Born Again Believer, but there is also the “Manifestation of the Spirit.” The Manifestation of the Spirit, found in First Corinthians 12:7-11, is not a “gift”; it’s “the Manifestation, or the Exhibition of the Spirit through the Believer,” showing the manner of Witness.
Another Comforter: Jesus taught the disciples about the Comforter as well as about “Another Comforter.” The Comforter will teach us all things and bring things to our remembrance (Jn 14:27). Another Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Spirit of Wisdom, the New Man, the Greater He… will abide with us forever, as he dwells in us (Jn 14:16-17). The Comforter will then bring the Spirit of Truth, then the Spirit of Truth will bear witness of Jesus (Jn 15:26 & I Jn 4:1-4).
The Process of spiritual growth: The Spirit of Christ is “forming us” into the Image of God’s Son through the Ways of God (Rom 8:29).
We have a hope: Greater is He in us, than the he in the world. The “He in us” is the Word, the New Man, Another Comforter, the source of the Living Water, the manifested Grace of God, as God’s true holiness and righteousness.
