{"id":927,"date":"2013-11-12T11:28:11","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T18:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/?p=927"},"modified":"2013-11-12T11:28:11","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T18:28:11","slug":"id-rather-be-a-dog-in-heaven-than-a-lion-in-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/12\/id-rather-be-a-dog-in-heaven-than-a-lion-in-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"I’d Rather Be a Dog In Heaven than a Lion In Hell"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the book Whole Bible Christianity<\/span><\/a> by Bruce Bertram, Chapter 10 section ‘Our True Identity’<\/p>\n

Balancing the Word causes identity problems. Most Christians reject whole Bible beliefs because of the Law, and many Jewish people won\u2019t accept us because of Jesus. So are we Christians or Jews? I don\u2019t think we have to decide. \u201cWhole Bible\u201d can apply anywhere, anytime. You can be a whole Bible Lutheran, a whole Bible Baptist, and even a whole Bible Jew. Just remember His Word comes first. Nothing should get between you and Him.<\/p>\n

Of course, in trying to live out the whole of the Word we are not going to be able to maintain any sort of sectarianism (dividing into sects) for long. The name Christian simply means \u201cpartisan of the Christ,\u201d which is what we are. Lots of people wear the name but there are many degrees of partisanship. It depends on actual obedience. Some partisans don\u2019t know any better because of false teaching. Some know better and don\u2019t care. But just because many Christians (or Jews) have dragged His name through the mud doesn\u2019t make the name invalid.<\/p>\n

Okay, I\u2019m a partisan of the Christ, but what kind? There are many combinations heavy on words and light on biblical living. So many people want to use His name and claim His blessings without actually living His Word. Accepting the whole of the Word as a valid lifestyle and discipleship method makes me distinct from most of them. So almost by default, I\u2019m a \u201cwhole Bible Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t really need a name, but a short hand way to refer to ourselves is simpler for those with short attention spans. Many labels have been co-opted by people for whom hypocrisy is an art form, and I\u2019m sure this will get the same treatment. Lots of partisans of the Christ want to think of themselves as whole Bible because they \u201cbelieve\u201d it.<\/p>\n

One lady told me she was whole Bible but \u201cnot like you.\u201d What she meant was that she \u201cbelieved\u201d the whole Bible, but she didn\u2019t follow the feasts or many other parts of the Law. Ye-e-ah. That\u2019s like a Pharisee who \u201cbelieved\u201d the Old Testament (the Tanakh) and crucified Jesus. This is a clear example of one thing this whole book is about \u2013 Christians who \u201cbelieve\u201d but don\u2019t follow. Believing without acting doesn\u2019t make sense. Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). Seems to me we are either whole Bible or not. That word \u201cwhole\u201d nails it down pretty well. There is no end to some people\u2019s hypocrisy, but whole Bible Christians are dedicated to returning God\u2019s love by living out the whole of His Word. In every detail and every part of our lives.<\/p>\n

In Matthew 15:21-28 Jesus resists a little giving help to a Gentile woman (Mark calls her a Syrophoenician in Mark 7:26, a part of the Canaanites) asking healing for her daughter. This is where Jesus says that it is not right to give the children\u2019s bread to dogs. Jews at the time generally referred to Gentiles as dogs. She has an amazing response, saying that \u201ceven dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master\u2019s table.\u201d She doesn\u2019t argue the point, but humbly accepts the fact that she wasn\u2019t first in line for help. Jesus is so impressed with her faith He tells her the demon has left her daughter. Her faith was shown by her humble submission and obedience.<\/p>\n

At first it might seem off-putting that Jesus would regard her (or me) as a dog. But I think this was more of a statement of where He was focusing His work at that time (\u201cto the Jew first and also to the Gentile\u201d) rather than a judgment against either the lady or me. Although Canaanites were historically pretty \u201cdoggy\u201d too (Ephesians 2:12, Hebrews 11:6). Those who by nature do what God requires, even if non-Jewish, belong to Him because of their faith, and aren\u2019t dogs at all. But even if it\u2019s true that my identity (in the eyes of some) is that of a dog in the kingdom, I\u2019m okay with it. He made me and can assign me any place He chooses. I\u2019d much rather be a dog in heaven than a lion in hell!<\/p>\n

The material in this book is not for the purpose of creating yet another separate group or doing away with existing groups. It may (and probably will) happen that we cannot fellowship with existing groups. Those of us who believe and practice the whole of God\u2019s Word might have to find solace in meeting separately like the first century believers, but that is not our desire. Our desire is to be one Body. If you have to split because of the Word, remember you are not alone. God scatters His people like salt among the unbelievers, whether they have nothing to do with a church or attend religiously.<\/p>\n

He wants us to be like priests, after the order of Melchizedek, representing His interests wherever we are. We are one Body with one faith and one God, and we don\u2019t need to create a unity or identity for ourselves. Our identity is in the Messiah Jesus, our root and head and life force. All we need to do is maintain or preserve that unity in a bond of peace.<\/p>\n

1Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 NASB95)<\/p>\n

Shalom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the book Whole Bible Christianity by Bruce Bertram, Chapter 10 section ‘Our True Identity’ Balancing the Word causes identity problems. Most Christians reject whole Bible beliefs because of the Law, and many Jewish people won\u2019t accept us because of … read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[476,103,312,219,242,2,96],"tags":[657,655,221,133,220,659,656,658,556],"class_list":["post-927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adoption","category-church","category-division","category-gentiles","category-humility","category-name","category-whole-bible-christianity-book","tag-bond","tag-christian","tag-dog","tag-identity","tag-lion","tag-messiah","tag-partisan","tag-root","tag-unity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wholebible.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}