The Dividing Asunder

The Dividing Asunder

By Morris E. Ruddick www.strategicintercession.org


"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many are those who go in by it. But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:13

The King James translation of Hebrews 4:12 refers to the "dividing asunder." "Asunder" is the place of key distinction between different parts. The "dividing asunder" is where those distinctions are blurred and veiled. Since the days of Adam and Eve, the evil one has sought to mask key distinctions between soul and spirit.

The times have become uncertain. Nations, cultures and communities have been subjected to wide swings of change. People are looking for answers. People want to be enlightened. Yet, historically the search for enlightenment has instead more often produced masks over what should be spiritual distinctions.

The Enlightenment Illusion
Black has been called white and white black; evil has been called good and good evil, with the resulting contagion referred to as enlightenment. In the early twentieth century the "enlightened" were liberated from personal responsibility when Freud's spin on psychology became the rage, blaming ones' shortfalls on their upbringing and adherence to chaste mores. Its precepts released a subtle force undermining the virtue upheld by the culture at that time.

Jesus pulled back the veil of confusion that masked the pathway into true enlightenment. Introducing His earthly ministry with the words, "the Kingdom of God is at hand," He prepared His disciples to enter by a different dimension. It was the gateway to restore God's original mandate for His people to rule over the work of His hands. It was the narrow path to releasing His Kingdom "on earth, as it is in heaven."

Paul began his letter to the Romans by applauding them for their faith. He noted that their faith was being spoken of throughout the world. In that same sequence Paul mentioned the mutual faith he shared with them. Yet, in verse eleven he expressed his desire to impart "a spiritual gift to them, that they might be established." Then in the fifteenth verse, he tells them that he was "ready to preach the gospel to them."

Paul was unmasking the dividing asunder between those who believe and those whose faith will make a difference. His reference to "preaching the gospel to them" was to the Kingdom distinction that would establish the Romans in the destiny entrusted to every believer to "turn world upside down" (Acts 17: 6).

The Fine Line
The dividing asunder: it's the fine line faced by all believers in making a difference by establishing God's Kingdom rule. It's the distinction between the gospel of salvation and the gospel of the Kingdom. It's the fork in the pathway between the impact made by the good intentions of the soul and the perfect result of the Spirit. It's the difference between having your ears tickled and paying the cost of a high calling. It's the reality-of-God needed to restore godliness in a world seeking the secular enlightenment that has minimized the power in God's people, as the pathway of destruction has been widened.

The masks that have blurred soul and spirit have created potent spiritual counterfeits, counterfeits of destruction that have added to the very turbulence people have sought to avoid. Paul's opening words to the Romans goes on to refer to those who suppress the truth in ungodliness and unrighteousness.

The Key Distinction
Jesus said that it would be by knowing the truth that we would be set free. Yet today even those, like Paul was writing to in Rome, who we share a mutual faith with, have need of an "impartation of a spiritual gift, that they might be established." They need the gospel, the full Gospel, preached to them. When Jesus referred to the gospel it was to the gospel of the Kingdom, which restores the original purpose God had for His people: to rule over the work of His hands.

The truth Jesus imparted, that would set us free, involves reestablishing God's authority. It is what the Scripture refers to as dominion, the mandate for God's Kingdom rule. It bears on the dividing asunder between soul and spirit.

Dominion, the foundation for God's Kingdom rule, is what is lacking in the quest for enlightenment among believers whose sights have been limited to conforming to the standards of those around them. It's the blurring of the spiritual realities resulting in believers whose aim is to become like the world around them. In so doing, they quench the Spirit's power and potential to bear world-changing fruit.

Kingdom Identity
Jesus said to: "seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." In short, we muddy the pathway, by going head to head with the world around us, when we hold the Kingdom advantage and the Spirit. Proverbs 3:5 tells us that in trusting the Lord, not to lean unto our own understanding. Walking in the Spirit is an entirely different dimension. It's where it all begins. It's beyond our limited understanding. It's the catalyst to true enlightenment.
"It is the Spirit who gives Life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." John 6:63 NLT

Every believer is given a measure of faith. To what end that faith is applied is the distinction Paul was making. Until we truly yield ourselves to be vessels of His purpose and bridge that dividing asunder, we will remain spiritually anemic and stuck between soul and spirit. It was what distinguished Joseph the Patriarch in the eyes of the Egyptians around him, as the scripture describes him in Potiphar's house.
"The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man; and everyone saw that the Lord was with Joseph and made all that he did to prosper." Genesis 39: 2-3

Paul went on to explain to the Romans about the most basic spiritual gifts, by which their pathway would be established; gifts that would distinguish them and their efforts from everyone else.
"So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy."
Rom 9:16 NRSV

The Dividing Asunder of Culture
The blurring of the arena of culture has been diabolically subtle. By penetrating and establishing itself in societal cultures, the kingdom of darkness has confused the genuine cultural identities of unique social groups with the standards of destruction that become known as "the world." This is the reason Paul admonished the Romans not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, that they may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 NKJV

Paul was unveiling the steps needed to become established and reach for that perfect will of God. In that same sequence, he outlined seven key gifts whose unique operation in each believer would determine not only their individual identities and callings in the Lord, but the distinction they would embrace as a people in a world gone amok.

The Heart of Darkness
Rome spiritually represented the seat of power of the world of its day. It was the heart of darkness in the struggle between soul and spirit. Its significance in Paul's day should awaken us to the distinctions that, like Joseph the Patriarch, we might establish God's Kingdom rule and bring transformation to the seats of power in the world around us.

Paul, schooled in Jewish tradition spent the first three years after his conversion in the desert communing with the Spirit of the Lord. The resulting revelations gave clarity to the distinctions that had been blurred in the covenant calling of the Jewish people. Paul then went on to plant the seeds of transformation in the Gentile world that was described in Acts 17 with the words: "these who have turned the world upside down have come here too!"

Yet, here the church is in the twenty-first century; building buildings and creating programs of relevance that attract new members while the world sets both the standard and the pathway to which we conform. We seem blind to see the distinction beyond an identity of a higher level of ethics and of being such nice people.

That which once pierced the impossible with the possible is explained by human reasoning. The prospect of the ordinary becoming the extraordinary is swallowed up by those seeking to be like everyone else.

Crossing the Threshold
Entering the narrow path Jesus spoke of represents both the start and the challenge. The gateway into God's Kingdom is narrow, indeed. Yet, it serves to form the very distinction that bridges the natural with the supernatural, naturally. It leads in a pathway that consists of the power of God that changes nations.

In the early eighties, as a committed believer called with a calling into uncharted waters, I was facing some unexpected challenges. I was grounded in God's Word, but operating beyond my natural abilities. My pastor imparted some advice that I didn't understand at the time, but that I heeded. His advice was to take three or four days alone with the Lord and do nothing but pray in the Spirit. I found that easier said than done, but I pressed through and emerged changed. That change might best be described as the gate to the bridge crossing the dividing asunder between soul and spirit. It provided and provides the release tied to the gifts Paul describes in Romans 12 that operationally were previously only trickles comparatively.

The gateway is that leap of faith we consciously take, after counting the costs, into what the scripture describes as walking in the spirit.
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

The Amplified version of Hebrews 4:12 reveals: "Every word that God speaks is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division between soul and spirit." The dividing asunder between soul and spirit is simultaneously the battleground and the bridge into the supernatural. It is the narrow path into the arena where the Kingdom of God reigns and brings the kingdom of darkness to its knees.

It's the path in which we lead by serving, we live by dying, we advance by yielding, we gain by giving. In God's kingdom, wisdom comes from simplicity, honor is a byproduct of humility, and order comes from change. It's in our weakness and humility that God's strength is manifested most fully.

It's the simple things that confound the wise. The narrow gate into God's Kingdom defines a pathway marked by the power of God. The power of God is predicated on hearing the voice of the Lord and obeying. It is the dividing asunder between what we can do for God and what we allow Him to do through us.
"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing -- if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?"
Galatians 3:3-5 NIV
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Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God in the marketplace. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling" and "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations," which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.

Mr. Ruddick is also the founder of the Global Equippers Entrepreneurial Program, which imparts hope and equips economic community builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world. To schedule a speaking engagement, sponsor a workshop, make a donation or to get more information on how you can help, contact Global Initiatives at 303.741.9000.

2009 Copyright Morris Ruddick - response@strategic-initiatives.org

Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a SIGN advisor. Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous posts or more information on SIGN, check: http://www.strategicintercession.org