Basics simply means to return to the Ancient order of the Gospel. Conducting our activity as the Gospel so directed. One of our strongest activities after becoming a Christian is Christian fellowship. Fellowship, to many of us today, is an ancient word of years passed that we often hear loosely thrown around. Although I mention fellowship at the beginning of this lesson, it is paramount to the Basics of Christianity. To understand fellowship we must first understand our call to it. By using the phrase, “our call to it.” I simply mean that if we do not have a desire of fellowship with other Christians, we need to study the act of fellowship, and then if we have no desire for fellowship, it will do us no good to hear the Gospel, nor to be Baptized. It is sad; but the Church has people in it that does not want to have fellowship with any one; they are withdrawn, and want to keep it that way.

We can do without Trinitarian theology at this point and just say, that the creation itself displays the fellowship of the Godhead in creation, for the Father is the source and origin of everything that exists, we can know from Col. 1:16-18 that the Son is the instrument of every thing created, and it was created for Him. Therefore, it is obvious that the Godhead, the Son, The Holy Spirit, and the angels had fellowship with each other not only in the creation, but also in the redemption of man.

Not only is the Godhead in fellowship with each other, but also since creation, God has called His people into relationship with Himself and with each other. We must remember that Paul prayed for the fellowship with the Spirit to be with the Corinthian Church 2 Cor. 13:14. Understanding this, I think that we need to ask the question: what does it mean to us to be in fellowship with the Spirit. If it does not mean anything to us, there is no need to continue to study this lesson, because we are going back to the Basics, where Christ, and the Apostles spoke, and no authority was given to anyone to make any change in the written Word, and God did place a curse upon any one tampering with His Word. Rev. 22: 18-19. 1 Cor. 4:6.

The Word of the Cross-says that to be a Christian one must die to his or her life in this world and not to be joined to anything in their heart but to Him. The Cross is a symbol of death or separation. The literal meaning of death is separation. For example, physical death is the spirit of a human being leaving the human body. Spiritual death is a human being separated from God for eternity. The death that the Apostle Paul preached and that the Holy Spirit recorded in the New Testament is the separation of a human being from this world of sin, or domain, of sin and from their self life style. This happens by a person being convicted of his sins by the Word and the Holy Spirit, and the gift thereof; they have separated themselves from the world, and from unfaithfulness to God. This is the death, separation that the Gospel of Christ brings about in a human being. The old man of sin must die. So God kills the old

Man of sin in the regeneration process that is explained in Rom. 6:4-6.

“ Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” And Jesus said in Matt. 10:38, “ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me,”

Luke 10:25-28, “ And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Jesus to the test, saying, Teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” V-25.

“And Jesus said to him, what is written in the law? How does it read to you?” V-26.

“And the lawyer answered and said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” V-27. “And Jesus said to him, you have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” V-28.

When have you heard a sermon on the above subject,” You shall love the lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul? Have you ever heard a sermon preached on this subject?

Since it is evident that this subject did not just arise when God gave the Jews the law, it would seem that since God was, and is the designer of all creation, as well as the scheme of redemption, to say the least “ Every jot, and every title” God wrote. As I said once, it is evident that in Heaven itself this article of faith was in practice. My point is, had the created angels had this love for God, there would not have been a rebellion of the angels. This we cannot deny. When the Spiritual Covenant was offered to Adam and Eve; they rebelled against God, and the Spiritual Covenant.

Therefore, my question of interest is, before becoming a child of God, an adopted son, a Christian, Must, I love the Lord my God with all my heart, my strength, my soul, with all my mind?

Deut. 6:4-9, “ Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.”

“ And you shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

“ And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart:”

“ And you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”

“ And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as signs on your forehead.”

“ And you shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.”

For sure, to me this subject that Jesus had become a part of, which was introduced in Luke 10:25-29, has become an article of faith, as well as an article of Love, and a shadow of greater things to come. It is something connected to time eternal. This article was not a part of the law that would be fulfilled. The principle, and pattern is from the beginning, from Heaven. Therefore, if I assume correctly then I can look for this to be binding to Christians through eternity. If this is not true, then you give me Biblical reasons why it is not true. WILL YOU DO THAT?

Is it not true, that to be crucified with Christ, is to become united with Him in the likeness of His death, if in the likeness of death, would it not be also in likeness of His Life?

For Jesus said,” I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given Me to do” John 17:4.

“ Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.”

This statement by Christ is in keeping with 1 Cor. 3:16. And 1 Cor. 6:19-20, which further shows that the principle and pattern of Luke 10:25-28, grows stronger as we further investigate what happens, and what we are expected to perform before being crucified with Christ.

John 15: 8-14, “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My Disciples.”

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; just as I have kept My Fathers commandments, and abide in His Love.’

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

“ This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”

“ A New Commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, you also love one another.”

It would appear from just a small portion of scripture that the life of Christ was about love, and how much He loved the people of the world, that He would willingly lay down His life for man, in order that man could love Him, and God so much as to be crucified with Christ, in the likeness of His death. DEATH? Do you mean that I must be nailed to a cross? -----NO, but what it means to be crucified with Christ is to be willing to be mocked, accused, cursed, blasphemed against, be persecuted, and slandered.

Accuse you of blasphemy, accuse you of being partial of women, and accuse you of adultery with family friends. In the likeness of His death was also His burial, under the surface of the earth, so likeness for us is to be buried in water, completely covered in water for the forgiveness of our sins. This in my opinion of Scripture is as essential as Luke 10: 25-28.

Further it is my opinion that this is the Gospel that Paul the Apostle preached, who said: Jesus Christ was raised from the dead according to my Gospel, “ 2 Tim. 2:8. This is the Gospel by which God will judge the secrets of men Rom. 2:16. This is the Gospel that has the power to deliver us from this present EVIL WORLD Gal. 1:4. This is the Gospel that says that you have died to the world and self and are alive to God Rom. 6:1-7. This Gospel does not provide a legal position to sit in until our death comes, but it provides a literal place for men to walk in and live in, not only in this present life, but for eternity.

The Gospel of the cross is simply instructing God’s people to come out of the world {let go of it, or give it up, to give up means to place something away from you, not permitting it to become part of you; separate yourself from it.}

The world is a domain, a realm or a system. People seek comfort and security from it. They trust in its produce and riches instead of in God. They seek pleasure and gratification from it. They seek fulfillment from operating in the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, which the word says, are things in the world. Coming out of the world simply means to die to it. Or, to separate one’s self from it, that is from the heart. It means loving the Lord God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, with all my might Luke 10:25-28. When this is done, and our life committed to our Lord, there is no room for the world of lust. Jesus did not die and rise from the dead in order to save the natural or carnal man from death. He died and rose so that men could follow Him in that death. Thus enabling man to be dead to the flesh and alive to the spirit.

God has always instructed His people to be separate from the world. In the Old Testament it is a Commandment. In the New Testament it is a condition without which, no one will see the Lord. Once a person is convinced, and convicted by the Holy Spirit that he must separate himself from the world and reckon himself dead, he must then feed the inner man with the Word. As the inner man partakes of the Word, two things begin to happen. He will begin to be strengthened in faith and he will begin to be separated to God from the world and from self, it takes loving my Lord with all my heart, soul and body. The Word, alive by the Holy Spirit, is the sanctifying agent, which is completed in the regeneration of man when God makes him a new creature, in mind and attitude, not in body.

The Apostle Peter informs those to whom his letter was directed to speak as if it was the utterance of God, be spiritual, be separated from the world, the world cannot give godly strength, but God can give all godly things that He may be glorified through Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 4:11-16; 1 Peter 5:10.

Jesus said, “ in the world you will have tribulation, but in me you will have joy: FOR I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.” I am not saying that there is a method where we can come out of the world physically, Rather, I am saying that coming out of the world while remaining in it is a Spiritual revelation and can only be observed by the revelation of the Holy Spirit and only by those who are truly born of water and Spirit John 3:3-5. The coming out that we do as Christians is intangible and invisible to the natural eye, We cannot see with the natural eye the Spiritual change in the mind, the attitude, the attributes, but we can feel them as they act toward God, and soon then we will be able to see our own good works, and recognize that it is God who is working in us.

It does not matter what we have materially, or do not have. It has to do with our attitude toward God and His Church vs. Our attitude toward the world and the things in the world. Coming out of the world is a result of a person turning to the Lord with all his heart. Jesus then becomes the center of everything in that person’s existence and he becomes as a Bride. He does not have a place in his heart for anything but the Lord our God.

The motivation for coming out of the world and religion is a fervent love for the Lord. Recognizing that religion is not of God; but of man. Recognizing that God has instructed man to study His Word, study to the point that he is approved by God, 2 Tim. 2:15. In turning away from the elements of the world one must recognize that every Scripture written in the original Cannon is inspired by God, 2 Tim. 3:16.

So then, as a person begins to study, or begins to be taught by another, we must confirm the things being read, or taught. The Holy Spirit gave the Apostle Paul the utterance to speak in Rom. 12: 2, and say to “ prove what the will of God is.” This was written to all people who reads, or study’s God’s Word. It takes time, it takes effort and it takes a desire to know God’s will. In this we begin to turn away from the elements of the world, which produces religion. God wants His children to grasp Christianity, and to know something about God, Christ, And the Holy Spirit before submitting to Baptism in order to become a number.

In this fervent study of God’s Word, is the thing that causes a person to love Jesus is partaking of the WORD. Taking God’s Word to heart and meditating on it will cause the Holy Spirit {not angels} to open the Word up to a Person so that he will have insight and proper perception into it. For to the natural man God’s Word is not understood, 1 Cor. 2:10- 16.

The following example perhaps might serve to show the importance of sincere, and unbiased STUDY of God’s WORD, may help us who are old in the Lord’s Church to better understand His Word.

While as a Missionary to the West Indies some years ago, I had a young man in the newly established Church who had the desire to preach, I advised him that he needed to have more Biblical knowledge before trying to teach and lead others, he agreed, so I began to teach him the BASICS, hard to understand subjects were far down the road. One Sunday soon he asked to bring a short lesson to the

Congregation, I agreed. So for 15 minutes he went to Matthew 24:3 and begin to talk about what was happening in the world today, and was relating these signs to the Lord’s second coming, O, he said you will see Him with your own eyes, its right at hand. So his time was up, and I had asked Brother Regis who was an older person to speak, but not to embarrass the young man, but allow the congregation the right to correct the young man, so brother Regis explained that Jesus now were Spiritual, and would not come back physically, then he asked the congregation to read Matthew 24:1-34, Read it and mediate upon it, then tell us what these verses mean to you today. At the end of the study, and reading, the Congregation with one accord gave the correct answer to Matthew 24:1- 34. In this way, I allowed the Congregation to read and answer their own question; all I done was just tell them to read the whole subject, they found their own answer.

The enemy {the unlearned, the unfaithful} has moved God’s people away from the concept of not being joined to anything but the Lord and toward an attitude of being in a status with God. Denying that the WORD AND THE SPIRIT will perfect us in WATER when we have fully decided to take God’s Word, Study and live by His Word John. 3:3-5.

Being separated totally to Him is the only way anyone can keep His Word or His Commandments. 1 John 2:4 says anyone who does not keep His commandments and says he knows Him is a liar and the truth is not in him.

1 John 2:15, says Do not love the world, nor the things in the world, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. On the surface, the message of the cross sounds disturbing and divisional. This is because the message of the cross instructs people that they must be crucified with Christ if He is to resurrect them. This means that they must be SEPARATED from everything that they have been accustomed to being in bondage to. Some things that folks are joined to are relatives, lifestyles, money, and things that God has given as natural urges: food, sex, and self-preservation. These things, indulged in to excess, cause divisions. But, to those who are being saved, the WORD OF THE CROSS is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1:16. In fact, the WORD OF THE CROSS is the Word for the healing of the Soul.

IN THE FIRST CENTURY those being saved, in their mind, in their attitude; they gave up everything. When GOD said be ye separated from the WORLD and those things of the WORLD. He did not mean that they could have no possessions of the WORLD; Rather GOD wanted them to have a MIND SET of having total dependence upon Him. Those being saved in the first Century did become separated from the World. Physically they were in the World; but Spiritually they were in the BODY of CHRIST and not of the World. The same people, who were being saved, were also being persecuted even to their death. Thousands upon thousands watched as their children were fed to the wild animals, and then the parents were killed, many were used as human torches. Thousands being saved had only a bag, and the clothes on their back; but they served Jesus Christ. When the need arose those who had property sold that property and the proceeds divided among the needy. Acts chapter Five is a classic example. Those being saved had set their mind to serve Christ regardless of the cost, When there was an Assembly these people were there, walking 15, or 20 miles to have fellowship with God’s SAINTS were a happy occasion for them, if someone were lame, he was carried. Excuses were not in their language.

TODAY we have moved in such fast pace that you have to beg members of the Church to be faithful, what a Shame.

Today, there is absolutely no difference in methods used by the Church of our Lord, and the world. Church members and preachers have become lazy promoters of God’s Kingdom, in separating the Church, to become worldly, He has a need of witnesses. God does not need promoters. He wants His people to be witnesses that JESUS CHRIST is ALIVE. A Witness can tell what he has seen and heard. God wants His people to tell others what great joy, peace, Patience, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control, Gal. 5:22-26.

JESUS said it best: “ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your GOOD WORKS, and glorify your Father who is in Heaven,” Matt. 5:16.

One reason why the WORD OF THE CROSS sounds strange and foreign to Christian’s ears, is that men who has become successful Ministers and who has a famous name HAVE NOT PREACHED IT.

As the Apostle Paul says in his writings, the preaching of the cross is Odious and offensive. In other words, if a minister or a ministry preaches the true and PURE GOSPEL, the word of the cross, peoples flesh {carnal mind} will rise up against that minister, and you will hear, he is a false teacher! He will cease to have a name, or be successful in his ministry! So, what has happened is that modern ministry becomes change agents, and they have succumbed to the Babylonian influence that controls everything in society, some refer to this as the bonding of world politics with Church politics and with world finance, And the society is influenced, all because society have compromised the message of the CROSS.

That is why it has been lost.

However, those being saved today, who are willing to suffer for CHRIST; they know that to be born from above means to become like a little child in their heart {Spirit}, Matt. 18:3-5. Not walking around in pride and arrogance, causing others to blaspheme the name of God because of your conduct.

It means to approach the entire WORD OF GOD with a humble and submissive and open heart.

This especially should be considered by Elders of Congregations of God’s people; they are the Lord’s chosen; they are responsible for the flock; they are responsible for what the preacher teaches; they are responsible especially for self, for the Scriptures they must know; they must know tradition from Bible truths; they must be able to discuss any issue that the Bible teaches; they must be able to examine the whole context of any subject with humbleness, and be submissive to an open heart. Elders are a very special group of people; they are God’s Ambassadors on earth, in the absence of the Apostles apt to teach.

The meaning of a new birth is not only to have an attitude of a little child; but it means walking in this world by faith and not by sight, being in the world but not part of it. Becoming a new creature or born from above means not trusting in the world or its riches. It means not finding your portion or security or comfort from this world James 4:4. It means: don’t go down to Egypt and Pharaoh for help Isa. 30:2,3. Examine yourself, to see if you are in the FAITH! 2 Cor. 13:5.

Receiving discipline from God, after being born again from above, will cause you to grow in wisdom, knowledge and understanding of Spiritual things. Proverbs 2:1-6, 10—12.

A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead; Proverbs 21:16. Evil men fail to understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understands all things, Proverbs 28:5.

People who come to Christ by PERSUASION instead of the WORD OF THE CROSS {repentance} are simply asking the Lord to come and participate in their life style and their way. God’s plan {the cross} says die to your life in this world and to your way. When a person decides to live God’s way and to God’s desires, then the blessings of God {both Spiritual and natural} will be on him; after a short time of suffering {a natural test}. The Apostle Paul said: By His cross, I am crucified to the world and the world is crucified to me. He also said, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, and again, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And then in 2 Cor 5:14-20, Paul says that the love of Christ controls us {who have been born again}, and we no longer recognize no man according to the flesh, therefore if any man is in Christ he is a new creature {he is separated from the world}, the old things have passed away, behold, new things have come.

My PLEA is for people to return to the BASICS of salvation, no excuses, no backing up, no looking back after we have put our hands to the plow. 2 Pet. 2:22, describes the excuse maker, the one who turns back as a dog returning to his own vomit! Return ye who are unfaithful. You who are weak in knowledge study to show yourself approved of by God, 2 Tim. 2:15. You who are leaders, become leaders of God’s Word, not of man, nor tradition, you that have ought against your brother, go to him in private and discuss your problem. Never discuss the problem with any one else. Turn back to first century Christianity, where people enjoyed life, simply by fellowship with each other, and with Christ. Fellowship during the Assembly is the opportunity to share in one another’s burdens, which we are commanded to do, and DON’T! Gal. 6:1-2. Fellowship is the witnessing to others the greatness, the goodness, and blessings we receive from the Lord. It is the sharing of the Gospel of Christ. Fellowship is giving, without expecting something in return. Fellowship is enjoying the PROMISES of God.

Jessie E. Mills PH.D GSRE.ED.