Holy Boldness

ed an upgrade on the understanding and experience of God’s promises by Old Testament saints. The Old Testament was about promise but the new was about fulfillment . And that meant that anyone who is a part of the new, surpasses even the greatest of the old. The appearance of the Kingdom through the ministry of Jesus and His apostles was the rein troduction of the original intention of God from before creation. John preached to the people about repentance and change. He appealed to the will of the people but what he knew and understood of the supernatural empowerment of the spirit of grace was still minimal. There are many believers in the doctrines of Christianity that are living on the level of John the Baptist. They know the law of God. They believe a kingdom is coming. They even know the higher expectations established by Jesus but they have yet to tap into the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) Their’s is a powerless faith based on intellectual understanding but no actual engagement with the realm of the spirit. I remember the early days of my ministry. I was the pastor of a traditional evangelical denominational church. My denomination was decidedly against any kind of charismatic expression. I was raised on cessationism, the doctrine that supernatural gifts such as healing, tongues, casting out demons, and hearing God’s voice described in the Bible are no longer operative for modern Christians. During my days in seminary, I remember meeting people who claimed to have supernatural encounters with God and they seemed to have something that I did not have but it made me angry and I argued against them. I had “good theology” but they had a love and a humility that I could not answer. It frustrated me because they refused to argue with me and engage me on an intellectual level. Clearly, they were living in a higher level of personal encounter with God than I was. I was well respected in my order, “…but they who were least in the kingdom of God were greater than [me]. ” Fortunately, I was also hungry for God’s presence. Gradually, my hunger overcame my pride and I opened my heart to God’s presence and when I encountered Him everything changed. Are you living under John’s ministry or Jesus’? My journey into fullness

Paul the apostle went to great lengths to try to explain these

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