Authorship Series
What is the "Authorship Series?"
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20.31
I sincerely believe, a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, has no greater responsibility in his/her calling, than to declare the deity of Jesus Christ by announcing His eternal position, as presented from the theological viewpoint of the trinitarian doctrine of the Godhead as the Second Person in the Trinity, and is currently sitting on the Throne of Heaven. It is this open declaration of the hypostatic union of Christ1 and the announcement of His position on the Throne of God that truly places Him where He belongs and allows us to say, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made;”2 however, while such a revelation of Christ comes with the greatest of blessing, beyond compare, it brings every Preacher, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher to the front lines of spiritual combat with Satan himself; nonetheless, we are assured by Christ that the enemy will not prevail and are encouraged to realize the cost of true discipleship.
There is only One Name under heaven that allows an ambassador of Jesus Christ to be given authority in this world. I want us to consider the timeline of the earthly ministry of Christ. In the Gospel of Matthew, we are told of the events of when Jesus entered into the region of Caesarea Philippi. After having visited some of the towns in the region, He asks His disciples along the road,3 “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”4 The disciples answered His question as to how the world was able to identify Who He is, based upon the townspeople’s limited knowledge of Christ and by His outward actions that they liken to those whom they already knew, seen, heard, or read about, some of the answers that were given by the disciples of what the people of the region believed Who Christ to be, had said, “John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”5 I assure you, my readers, Christ did not care about what others said of Him, because He follows up with this question, which is the most important question needed to be answered by every believer, “But who do you say that I am?”6 Nowhere else in Scripture is it more clearly seen in the events following soon after the confession of Simon Bar-Jonah, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,”7 later to become the Apostle Peter, that the spiritual battle of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to save the lost souls of this world began. After Simon’s declaration of Christ was spoken, the Lord answered him and said he was blessed, why? Because, “flesh and blood [had not] revealed this to [Simon],”8 but this was revealed to him by God the Father from heaven through the Person and Work of the Holy Ghost, thus, bringing the Trinity in action in the life of the believer and by this confession of Christ and His blood shed on the cross is the salvation, power, and authority of the Church on earth.
It is important to note that at the time this conversation was being held with our Lord and the disciples, He had not yet died and rose again which was necessary to come to past to give way for the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost; however, the confession alone was enough to grab the attention of the enemy, so much so, that he compelled Simon Bar-Jonah to reason within himself to rationalize the audacity to confront the Lord and ineffectually rebuke Him by seeking to force his will upon the Lord after Christ had predicted to His disciples that “He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”9 The Lord Jesus Christ in His divinity recognized clearly that Simon had been deceived and that he was really being used by the Enemy to prevent the Work of Christ and the will of God the Father. Satan had realized very quickly upon hearing the Lord’s conversations between His disciples, hearing His proclamation of the power and authority of His Church after the Apostle Peter’s confession, and Christ’s prediction of the redemptive plan of God for mankind was certain to bring a light into the world that would very quickly get out of control. Even worst, Satan realized that human beings would be given a power and an authority he had no ability to control. Most importantly, he realized that he was about to be conquered and men and/or women would be given the power and authority of the Triune God, within his own realm, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” I John 4.2-3
Shortly after, the rebuke given to Simon Bar-Jonah by our Lord which He had directed at Satan, the Lord called everyone to Himself to speak on the matter of true discipleship.10 As previously mentioned, the Lord Jesus Christ in His divinity recognized clearly that Simon had been deceived and that he was really being used by Satan to prevent the Work of Christ and the will of God the Father for the redemption of mankind, but more importantly, Simon had allowed himself to be deceived by Satan and was tempted to rationalize in his mind to rebuke the Lord, he did this because of his own desires of how he assumed the plans and purposes of God would come to past. The Apostle James touches upon this matter of temptation and desires to us when he wrote, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin.”11 This is important to note, because the Lord immediately addresses the matter of the desires of those who sought to follow Him, he stated, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”12 You see, taking up the cross of Christ and following Him is making the confession of Who Jesus Christ is and presenting a Gospel that teaches that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”13 This is the true cost of discipleship, setting aside all desires for ourselves and choosing to accept the plan and purpose of God for our lives. This is considered by all intents and purposes to be considered by all true Preachers, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers a “law of discipleship.” An irrefutable fact that has played itself out in history and was originally set by our Lord that true Christians will suffer for their faith.
True Christian Preachers, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers know they have no authority in the Church other than their open declaration of the true Nature and Person of Jesus Christ. They understand that a true confession of Jesus Christ and the blood that was shed by Christ on the cross was, is, and is the only way by which mankind may receive salvation from their sins and is the Rock by which the Church is based. These men and women of God teach the cost of true discipleship which means the willingness to suffer for the Name of Christ. True preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ maintain all focus upon Jesus Christ in their lives and ministries and always seek to please God rather than men, because they know as the Apostle Peter was shown by the Lord Himself “[men] are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”14
The Authorship Series is dedicated to the pursuit of knowing Christ and placing Him at the center of faith and what we believe. I have studied the Word of God for many years, and have found there is no greater way to understand the Triune God than to study the Written Word. I have learned the original language of the New Testament and have found the principle of being lost in translation to be a constant reminder of the difficulties of translating one language to another. My studies have taken me to understanding the History of the Bible and the Church as well as the Culture of the times. I have studied various hermeneutical systems and textual criticisms of the Protestant Faith as well as studied both Calvinism and Arminianism; nonetheless, I always find myself digging into the Word of God and getting His perspective on matters of theology.
My desire for the Authorship Series is to share with my readers books I have written, exegetical commentaries I have created from various subjects as well as Bible Study Outlines, along with insights as to the why’s and wherefore’s of why I wrote what I wrote, and what I was going through during that time, and how the Lord was working in my life.
In the Authorship Series, you will be provided passages of Scripture that I have translated from the original language and ultimately teach my readers how to do all this themselves; in addition, purchasing opportunities for material I have created. I want the Authorship Series to be a place where I am able to equip my readers to have the tools for themselves to find the answers they want from the Lord. I want to teach you how to hear the Voice of God in your spirit and to know that what you heard is confirmed by His Word.
The hypostatic union of Christ is an Orthodox Christian theological term that explains the union of Christ’s human nature and divine nature composed into One Person. The Biblical definition of the Person and Nature of the Lord Jesus Christ is recognized and affirmed in the Athanasian Creed (c. 400 A.D.)*, which succinctly states that Jesus Christ is both simultaneously and perfectly divine and human, possessing two complete and distinct natures at once.
* Athanasian Creed (c. 400 A.D.)
Whoever wishes to be saved must, above all else, hold the true Christian faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish for eternity.
This is the true Christian faith, that we worship one God in three Persons and three Persons in one God without confusing the Persons or dividing the divine substance.
For the Father is one Person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is still another, but there is one Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, equal in glory and coequal in majesty.
What the Father is, that is the Son and that is the Holy Spirit: the Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated; the Father is unlimited, the Son is unlimited, the Holy Spirit is unlimited; the Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal; and yet They are not three Eternals but one Eternal, just as there are not Three Who are uncreated and Who are unlimited, but there is One who is uncreated and unlimited.
Likewise the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, the Holy Spirit is almighty.
So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord, and yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.
For just as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the Christian religion to say that there are three Gods or three Lords. The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten by anybody. The Son was not made or created, but was begotten by the Father. The Holy Spirit was not made or created or begotten, but proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Accordingly there is one Father and not three Fathers, one Son and not three Sons, one Holy Spirit and not three Holy Spirits. And among these three Persons none is before or after another, none is greater or less than another, but all three Persons are coequal and coeternal, and accordingly, as has been stated above, three Persons are to be worshiped in one Godhead and one God is to be worshiped in three Persons. Whoever wishes to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.
It is also necessary for eternal salvation that one faithfully believe that our Lord Jesus Christ became man, for this is the right faith, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at once God and man: He is God, begotten before the ages of the substance of the Father, and He is man, born in the world of the substance of His mother, perfect God and perfect man, with reasonable soul and human flesh, equal to the Father with respect to his Godhead and inferior to the Father with respect to His manhood.
Although he is God and man, He is not two Christs but one Christ: one, that is to say, not by changing the Godhead into flesh, but by taking on the humanity into God, one, indeed, not by confusion of substance but by unity in one Person. For just as the reasonable soul and the flesh are one man, so God and man are one Christ, Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, is seated on the right hand of the Father, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming all men shall rise with their bodies and give an account of their own deeds. Those who have done good will enter eternal life, and those who have done evil will go into everlasting fire.
This is the true Christian faith. Unless a man believe this firmly and faithfully, he cannot be saved.
John 1.3 NKJV
Mark 8.27 NKJV
Matthew 16.13 and Mark 8.27 NKJV
Matthew 16.14 NKJV
Matthew 16.15 NKJV
Matthew 16.16 NKJV
Matthew 16.17 NKJV
Matthew 16.21 NKJV
Mark 8.34 NKJV
James 1.14-15 NKJV
Matthew 16.24-25 NKJV
II Timothy 3.12 NKJV
Matthew 16.23 NKJV
I absolutely loved it. God bless you Pastor Ron and may this article be blessed of God to reach the people it needs to.
Well done, good and faithful servant, well done. Amen.