Will You Walk Agreed?

Amos asked the age old question, which today I would like to put in its most significant perspective: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). Straight to the point: If God’s people want to ultimately end up where God is at, we must learn to walk with him while we’re on the way. Doesn’t that make sense? I mean, how can we expect to inhabit the glory world with him if we are not in agreement with him while we are here? Right. Of course everyone claims to be walking with God, so what’s the point anyway? Well, first of all God is not here; he is in heaven, and Jesus also is there at his right hand, as we know. But Jesus did send back a divine guide to lead us, even as he said he would: “Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come, [it] will guide you into all truth” (Jn. 16:13). According to the apostle Paul, only those who follow that Spirit of truth are the true children of God (Rom. 8:14). So it becomes clearly evident that we must first receive and have the Spirit of God, and then learn to follow after it, in order to be in agreement with God (Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 2:11). It is necessary, because of the world-wide influence and of erroneous traditions over God’s people, to point out that only those who have been baptized with the Spirit into the one body of Christ are indeed God’s people. Only these even have the capacity to follow after the Spirit, because they are the only people who HAVE the Spirit (Jn. 7:38,39; Acts 5:32; I Cor. 12:13). Therein is the beginning of the reason that the body of Christ is NOT in agreement with God or following after his Spirit, which of course is the same thing. The reason for this is because Pentecostal and Charismatic tradition teaches that one ‘gets saved’ or is born again before or apart from being baptized with the Spirit with the accompanying sign of speaking in tongues.

If someone is 'saved’ or born again or whatever you want to call it, how is it that they are not in the body of Christ; and where the heck are they? Because again, “BY ONE SPIRIT are we all baptized into one body” (I Cor. 12:13). Gets pretty confusing, doesn’t it? Well, that confusion is what throws people off from following after the Spirit of truth, and you know who the author of confusion is, don’t you? So for beginners, God’s people have been snookered into not agreeing with God about who really is born again. And if the foundation of our faith in Christ is uneven and confused, what do you think the rest of the house is going to be? That’s right, uneven and confused; and so it is. Those among God’s people whose hearts yearn for that agreement with him, feel that conflict and confusion within, not understanding what it is. Then there is the arena of natural ordinances, which according to Jesus, with agreement from the apostle that he ordained to teach the Gentiles; are fulfilled by the Spirit and thereby abolished from the new testament (Jn. 4:23,24; Gal. 3:2,3; Philip. 3:3-5; Col. 2:10-12). Yet the body of Christ, by influence and dominion of the doctrines and traditions of men, continues to this day to follow the carnal ordinances of water baptism, so called ‘communion,’ and other such things. Even though the apostle Paul confirmed that there is only ONE baptism, and that the true communion is that of the holy Ghost joining us to the Lord and to one another in the same love and understanding (Eph. 4:5; II Cor. 13:14; I Cor. 1:10; Jn. 17:22-24). Not only so, but the only man sent from God to introduce Jesus on earth and to declare his mission, plainly stated, “There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” (Mk. 1:7,8). The same man declared the same in these words as well: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn. 3:30).

When Jesus went back to heaven and began baptizing with the holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, in reality water baptism decreased and was actually fulfilled, though the understanding of that reality was not realized for some time afterward. The significance of that truth was first made manifest by the Lord himself, when he personally baptized the first Gentiles to hear the Gospel, before Peter had a chance to baptize them in water (Acts 10:44-46). And even though the apostle Paul, who was sent to the Gentiles, baptized in water for a time; it is clearly evident by the scriptures that he ceased to do so upon understanding that it was fulfilled by the Spirit baptism (I Cor. 1:17; Eph. 4:5). As for the communion issue, Jesus plainly stated at the last supper, which in fact was the Passover; “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come” (Lk. 22:15-18). For something to be fufilled, means that it no longer maintains the old form, but rather gives place to the new. And the new ‘supper,’ as Jesus stated is that of the kingdom of God; which kingdom of God is defined by the scriptures like this: “For the kingdom of God is NOT meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy IN THE HOLY GHOST” (Rom. 14:17). So as Paul stated in II Cor. 13:14, communion is ONLY IN THE HOLY GHOST. We see that in these few, but significant points of the faith of Christ, God’s people have been influenced and taught by Christian tradition to NOT follow after the Spirit of truth, and to NOT be in agreement with God. Therefore it is evident that one will have to forsake the traditions of men and every affiliation that supports them, in order to come back into agreement with God. Also we need to ultimately be led by his Spirit to where he is, and to be forevermore with him; even as he is beckoning us to do. Amen.