Are You Living the Full Gospel of God’s Kingdom?

Last Days Ready Part 2

Video coming soon. Read video notes:

I believe any version of the gospel of the kingdom that does not meet these 4 objectives is simply not the true gospel of God’s kingdom. But first we will define what we mean by the gospel.

My name is Gideon Loots, and this is how we can disciple the nations through the full gospel of the kingdom and SPIRIT-GYM TRAINING.

SPIRIT-GYM TRAINING is an Unto Fullness Resource.

Join us as we guide you through ‘God’s Blueprint for Spiritual Growth and Kingdom Living’.

Disciple the Nations Through the Full Gospel of the Kingdom

We often only think of the gospel as the good news of salvation to lost people. This limited view of the gospel is not how Paul used the term in his letters. For Paul, the gospel has multiple meanings that includes ‘the word,’ ‘the truth,’ ‘the mystery,’ and other such terms, which he uses interchangeably to describe the revelation of God in Christ.

In fact, the entirety of scripture is the gospel, and every benefit of God in Christ is included in it. For instance, the benefit of having a loving heavenly Father that disciplines us. This is good news. If we were left to our own devices, we would never grow into all that God has for us.

Another term often misunderstood is ‘the faith’. The term ‘the faith’ generally refers to the entire body of Christian teaching found in the New Testament.

The gospel the apostles preached included all the truths of the faith. It was THE WAY they discipled the nations to complete the mission to bring all aspects of people’s lives under the complete authority of THE KING.

What are the four main objectives of God’s mission, and how is the gospel of the kingdom THE WAY through which these four objectives are accomplished?

The Four Main Objectives of God’s Mission – The Gospel is THE WAY

1. The Gospel of the Kingdom, the Way through which God Reveals His Captivating Glory

The first main objective of the mission is to captivate souls with an overwhelming revelation of the King’s glory. The way God reveals His glory to the world is through the preaching of the full gospel of the glory of Christ the King.

In part one, I covered the discovery of the stages of spiritual growth in the symbolism of the seven days of creation week. I was even more surprised when I discovered that Paul covered the basic truths that matches the seven days, in this exact sequence, in his letter to the Romans.

This blew my mind! Paul knew the mystery of the stages found in the seven days of creation week!

The letter to the Romans is called Paul’s gospel. It systematically covers the seven acts of Christ in this full gospel account and applies these seven acts to the stages of our spiritual walk. It truly is the most comprehensive revelation of God’s full glory in the whole of scripture.

SPIRIT-GYM TRAINING takes the seven basic teachings of the faith in the letter to the Romans as the basic framework of the training and develops these teachings further with other relevant scripture. Each session dedicates time to captivate our hearts unto loyalty to our King by exploring the depths of His glory. For more info visit spirit-gym.com.

2. The Gospel of the Kingdom, the Way through which God Brings About Obedience to THE FAITH

The second main objective of the mission is to bring about obedience to the faith among all nations. The way God brings about obedience to the faith is through the preaching of the full gospel of repentance.

In Romans 1:5, Paul links apostleship with the grace and ability to bring about obedience to the faith. This means that a test of apostolic grace in someone’s life is whether the gospel they preach produces obedience. Jesus’ commission to the apostles was:

“…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”

~ Matthew 28:19-20

Mark in his gospel, recording the same commissioning event, writes:

“…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved…”

~ Mark 16:15-16

If we read these two accounts of Jesus’ commission to the apostles together, we get a fuller picture. In Matthew we see that they were sent to make disciples and to teach how to obey. In Mark we see that they were sent to preach the gospel. This is one and the same commission, just covering different aspects. They were to make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey by preaching the gospel.

As the following verses demonstrate, the gospel is a message to be obeyed:

“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

~ Romans 10:16 NKJV

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

~ 1 Peter 4:17 NKJV

“in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

~ 2 Thessalonians 1:8 NKJV

We see in Mark 1:15 that the gospel is also a call to repentance:

“… The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

~ Mark 1:15 NKJV

Faith without works is dead (Jam 2:20). Repentance in not only about changing your beliefs, as John the Baptist said:

“Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance”

~ Matthew 3:8 NET

The body of Christ has overemphasised grace to the point that Jesus’ words in John 15 don’t even make sense to us anymore.

“Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain in my love. If you obey my commandments,  you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

~ John 15:9-10 NET

Note that it does not say “if you love me, you will obey my commands” in the sense that obedience is a natural outflow of loving Him like in John 14:23. Although it is true that loving Him will stir a desire to obey in our hearts, that is not what this verse is saying. This verse says that the way we remain in His love is by obeying Him.

Just think of it, how on earth can you claim to love the Lord and King of the universe and not submit to His lordship? This is obviously a contradiction. Loving the Lord means loving His lordship. Jesus says:

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I tell you?”

~ Luke 6:46 NET

The letter to the Romans, as the basics of the full gospel, is not only the most comprehensive revelation of God’s glory in the whole of scripture. It is also the most comprehensive instruction on how to obey the gospel. It calls us to repentance and teaches us how to obey the truths of the gospel in every stage of our spiritual growth journey.

In his introduction of the letter, Paul links his call as an apostle to both the preaching of the gospel and to the ability to bring about obedience to the faith among all nations. He then also concludes this letter by stating that God is able to establish the Romans according to his gospel, to bring about obedience to the faith.

With this, he stated the reason he wrote this letter: (1) to establish with his gospel, (2) to bring about obedience to the faith among the Romans.

Much of Christianity today has become about head knowledge and mental assent. Through SPIRIT-GYM TRAINING, we provide a platform to individuals and communities in the body of Christ to “…exercise yourself unto godliness (I Timothy 4:7)”. In so doing, we seek to help the body fulfil the second objective of the full gospel of the kingdom: to bring about obedience to our Lord and King Jesus Christ among all nations.

3. The Gospel of the Kingdom, the Way through which God Brings About the Unity of THE FAITH

The third main objective of the mission is to bring about the unity of the faith. The way God brings about the unity of the faith is through the preaching of the full gospel of unity, love, and reconciliation.

We can see in the letter to the Romans that there was disunity and division among the Jewish and the Gentile believers in Rome. There is a clear indication in the letter of tensions and conflicts between these two groups, and that Paul was seeking to bring them together in Christ.

In his letter, Paul goes through the seven basic truths of the gospel. He shows how each truth applies specifically to Jews and then to Gentiles, and demonstrates how they are unified in these truths.

He concludes, in the last section, that because of their unity in the gospel, they should get together and praise God with one mouth.

Before we apply the principles to your life, let’s go through the following outline, which shows how Paul demonstrates unity among Jews and Gentiles through the gospel.

Unity Through the Gospel

1. Both Jews and Gentiles are convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgement (Rom 1:16-3:20).

• Jews are convicted by the law and Gentiles by creation and their own conscience.
• Jews are not superior to Gentiles; both are sinners and both are condemned without Christ.

2. Both Jews and Gentiles are justified by what Jesus Christ did for them on the cross (Rom 3:21-6:14).

• Jews are not superior to Gentiles; they cannot be justified by the works of the law.

3. Both Jews and Gentiles are sanctified by walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh (Rom 6:15-8:16).

• Jews are not superior to Gentiles; they are not sanctified in the flesh by keeping the law.

4. Both Jews and Gentiles are glorified and conformed to the image of God’s son in the same way (Rom 8:17-39).

5. Both Jews and Gentiles are selected to serve God and to be the people of God (Rom 9:1-12:8).

• Jews are not superior to Gentiles; they are not selected based on ethnicity or law keeping.
• Gentiles are not superior to Jews; they should not boast against the natural branches.
  • Gentiles should be careful:
    • They stand by faith, but only if they continue in faith.
    • Some Jews were broken off because of unbelief, but can be grafted back in if they do not continue in unbelief.

6. Both the faith of Jews and Gentiles are valued by God, and both should respect one another’s journeys (Rom 12:9-15:4).

• Jews should not judge the Gentiles that have faith to eat certain foods or not to observe a day.
• Gentiles should not judge the Jews whose faith causes them not to eat or to observe a day.
  • Each will stand and fall before their own master, and they should not judge one another.

7. Both Jews and Gentiles should receive one another in Christ and should unite to praise God together (Rom 15:5-16:27).

We see through this outline the strategy Paul used. Now let’s go through it again and apply these principles to your everyday life.

Overcoming Disunity Through the Gospel

First, Paul shows how God levelled the playing field for both groups. They are both sinners in need of a saviour. They are both on equal footing before God.

This means you are not special; you need Jesus, like everyone else. You have no reason to act holier than thou because you are now saved. You were just as bad without Jesus and, therefore, you should show love and compassion to others.

Then Paul demonstrates how God lifts and builds them both up on the same basis. He shows how they are both justified, sanctified, and glorified in the same way. Jews are not superior to the Gentiles because of their Jewishness and because they have the law.

The very law they claim makes them superior, condemns them. They continually broke the covenant God made with their fathers. The only hope they have is to be justified, sanctified, and glorified through Jesus and not through the law, just like the Gentiles. In this section, Paul breaks down the pride of the Jews.

To you this means you have no reason to get prideful because you are doing better and living more like a Christian than others. If your outward behaviour is genuine, it’s because of Christ, not because of you.

Even if people hold onto false beliefs, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict them of this. Again, your job is to show love and compassion to them and not to judge and criticise.

In the next section, Paul takes aim at and breaks down the pride of Gentile believers towards the Jews. Gentiles boasted that Jewish branches were broken off and that Gentiles are now chosen by God. Paul warns the Gentile believers that if they do not keep in faith, they too will be broken off, and that if Jewish unbelievers repent, they will be grafted back in. Again, he puts both groups on equal footing.

You must be careful not to brag about how God is using you and boast that you are some chosen vessel. If you don’t continue in faith and give God glory, He will replace you. God is not a respecter of persons nor does he show favouritism. He comes through for those who trust in Him!

Paul demonstrates in the second last section how Jews and Gentiles are free to disagree on non-essential matters like foods and days. But, they should do so in love and respect, and they should not divide over these things.

To you this means that you must check your attitude when disagreeing with others. You have no right to reject or criticise others that Christ loves and has paid for with His blood. You will be held to account for this.

In the last section, Paul calls Jews and Gentiles to put their differences aside, receive one another, and praise God with one mouth. He also quotes from the Old Testament to show how this was prophesied even before the new covenant.

Although this letter was written to bring about unity among Jews and Gentiles, the truths of the faith it teaches can be applied to any division in the body of Christ we are facing today.

You are destined to live in unity with fellow believers, even if you are struggling to do so now. Get to the place where you can praise God with others despite your differences, if these are related to non-essential matters.

Each session of SPIRIT-GYM TRAINING dedicates time to applying these truths to promote unity in the body of Christ in a real and practical way.

We invite participants to develop proper attitudes towards other members of Christ’s body and, in so doing, we seek to equip them to fulfil the third objective of the full gospel of the kingdom: To bring about the unity of the faith in the Prince of Peace, Jesus our King.

As Ephesians 4:13 declares:

“till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”

~ Ephesians 4:13 NKJV

4. The Gospel of the Kingdom, the Way through which God Establishes the Local City Church

The fourth and last main objective of the mission is to establish local city churches. The way God establishes His local city church is through the preaching of the full gospel of the kingdom.

Before I continue: What do I mean by local churches?

What is a Local Church?

What we call local churches today is not how the Bible envisions a local church. We often speak of any church gathering in a specific location as a local church. Or, you might say that the church that you attend on a Sunday is your local church.

Bill Freeman writes in his booklet “What Is a Local Church?”:

“The local church is simply a location of the universal church…There is only one universal church, and it is located city by city… In the New Testament practice we see only one church in each city. Even though a church may have many meeting places and thousands of believers, it is never identified in the plural as “the churches in Jerusalem” or “the churches in Ephesus” or “the churches in Corinth.” It is just “the church in Corinth.” Whenever the plural is used, such as “the churches of Galatia” or “the churches of Judea,” it refers to a region (Gal. 1:2, 22).”

~ Bill Freeman

As we mentioned earlier, Paul’s reason for writing the letter to the Romans was to establish the local church in Rome. Paul addressed his letter to ‘all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints,’ suggesting that the Christians in Rome were not yet established as a church. Paul wanted to visit Rome to establish the church there.

In the conclusion of his letter, Paul suggests that God Himself is able to establish the church in Rome according to his gospel, the gospel he just revealed through this letter. Through this, we see that Paul hoped that God would use his letter to establish the church in Rome.

According to biblical truth, the establishment of a true local church depends on the unity of the faith among believers. If there are different divided groups of Christians, then they cannot be considered a local church according to scripture.

Frank Viola writes in his blogpost “Church Doesn’t Mean Called Out Ones”:

“In the first century, ekklesia DID NOT mean “called out ones.” So why do people say that it did? Because that’s what you get when you combine the prefix with the root word. But that’s not how you discover how people used a word during a certain era… When it came to the town hall in Greek cities, people were “called forth” from their homes to “assemble” together. It wasn’t the “calling forth” that made a group an ekklesia. It was the “assemblying.””

~ Frank Viola

This is why some translations often translate the word ekklēsia as ‘assembly’ or ‘gathering’.

A divided church is a contradiction in terms. We are called to assemble the different parts of Christ’s body in our cities. The very essence of the church is unity in Christ, and if we are divided, we are not true to our nature as the assembly of Christ’s body.

Should we then all get together in one huge mega church?

Functional Unity, Not Centralised Unity

This doesn’t mean all believers in a city have to assemble as the church in one location each week. It does, however, mean that all the different gatherings of believers as parts of Christ’s body in a city should all work together as an assembled whole and interact regularly to do so.

There were different house group gatherings in a city in the first century. But they all saw themselves as one church, and all the groups worked together as one body sharing their physical and spiritual resources as well as five-fold equippers and deacons.

This is why Paul focused his letter to the Romans on bringing about the unity of the faith in Rome. His intention was to establish the church. But the way to accomplish this was to bring about unity. A church founded and established on the gospel of Jesus Christ is a united church. If there is no functional unity with other believers in the city, it indicates that Jesus is not the full foundation of that local body.

But what about those who clearly teach unbiblical theology?

In Essentials Unity,

Non-Essentials Liberty,

and All things LOVE

Although churches today might preach on the truths of the letter to the Romans, this does not mean they understand its full implications. Paul reveals through this letter how we are one in Christ. He also reveals how we should keep this unity despite our differences on non-essential matters. The problem is we often make the non-essentials essential and the essentials non-essential.

We also often mentally assent to a truth while we deny it in practice. This faith without works is dead. We should revaluate these truths and allow it to deeply penetrate our hearts. Since I started teaching these truths it has taken root in me and my actions have changed. I am more and more willing to embrace and work with those I deeply disagree with on some topics.

The first two truths of the faith, namely the teaching of conviction and justification is essential for salvation. If a person believes in the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus and puts their trust in Him, they are saved. This means that Christ has received them, and Romans 15:7 says:

“Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”

~ Romans 15:7

This means that even if another believer does not agree with you on the other teachings of Romans, that you should still receive them as brothers and sisters in Christ. In the words of Paul in Ephesians:

“with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

~ Ephesians 4:2-3

We should cultivate a culture of unity in the body of Christ despite our differences. We should refuse to break fellowship over things that are not obvious sins. We should be patient with others, forgive 70×7, and keep receiving others as far as it depends on us.

We are not advocating that everyone leaves their churches and start one local church that meets in homes across their city. We believe that we should start embracing the truths of the letter to the Romans and it will slowly, by the Spirit, cultivate unity among believers. We also believe that God will cause a great shaking that will further purify the church and bring about unity.

Please read our booklet: ‘Receiving the Kingdom Which Cannot Be Shaken – The 12 Apostolic Foundations of Christ’s Ekklēsia’ at www.spitit-gym.com/kingdom for more on how we believe the future end-time local church will look.

Another goal of SPIRIT-GYM TRAINING is to provide biblical training through which the Holy Spirit can move the body of Christ closer to functioning in unity in our cities.

Training Objectives

In summary, each of the weekly SPIRIT-GYM TRAINING sessions contains sections devoted to: (1) revealing God’s captivating glory, (2) bringing about the obedience of the faith, (3) bringing about the unity of the faith, and (4) promoting the expression of the local church; all through the gospel of the kingdom.

These objectives are essential if the body of Christ wants to grow into full maturity. But the enemy will not let this happen without a fight. Click on this next video to see how we must also overcome the last days deception which acts as a hindrance to these objectives.