To be a Good Soldier for Jesus We have to Know our Authority and Responsibility in order to Strive Lawfully
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
5And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
Now then, we are Ambassadors for Christ...
2 Timothy 2:3-5, 15; 2 Corinthians 5:20 KJV
To be a good soldier of Jesus Christ - literally His acting ambassador here on earth, we must first understand our authority and responsibility and accountability in our roles. To act in this role we first must understand what "laws" govern our duties in our God given authority.
This means, striving LAWFULLY within the guidelines given to us - authorizing us to act within our given authority and responsibility.
Oxford Dictionary Definition of Authority and Authorization
Authority: Power to enforce obedience. Moral or Legal supremacy; the right to command. In position of power - Possession of power over others To carry an authority from God. Power to influence the conduct, actions, and belief of others. The person whose opinion or testimony is accepted.
Authorization: The conferred conferment of legality formal warrant or sanction. To make legally valid, formal approval.
AUTHORITY from a military perspective:
To know what authority, you have and where it comes from. You are also expected to use good judgment when exercising your authority.
In Bible context with scripture: To carry an authority from God. Power to influence the conduct, actions, and belief of others. The person whose opinion or testimony is accepted.
Authorization: The conferred conferment of legality formal warrant or sanction. To make legally valid, formal approval.
Responsibility:
DOD definition: The Obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion. With Responsibility goes authority to direct and take the necessary action to ensure success.
Oxford Dictionary:
Morally accountable* for one's actions; to answer for something. Capable of fulfilling a trust or obligation. Liable to be called into account.
*ACCOUNTABLE - Accountability. It is here we find a major divergence a departure from God's law and Man's law regarding Accountability. In The Word of God, Responsible is MORALLY ACCOUNTABLE. In this world, the military especially, accountability and responsibility must consider practical applications of accountability and responsibility as follows:
Delegation is a crucial aspect of management. It involves assigning tasks to subordinates and empowering them to complete the tasks. However, it is important to understand the difference between responsibility and accountability. Responsibility refers to the obligation of a subordinate to successfully complete the duties assigned to them. Accountability, on the other hand, is the obligation of the manager to answer for the work of their subordinates 123.
It is important to delegate responsibility and not accountability. Delegating responsibility means assigning tasks to subordinates and empowering them to complete the tasks. Delegating accountability means assigning the responsibility of answering for the work of subordinates to them. Managers should be accountable for the work of their subordinates and ensure that the work is completed satisfactorily 13.
In God's Kingdom (spiritual now in this realm) we as ambassadors have been granted - delegated both Accountability and Responsibility. How is this possible? Because we by Grace through Faith operate in the FAITH of Jesus Christ and NOT our own.
Therefore, from a spiritual standpoint ACCOUNTABILITY and RESPONSIBILITY are considered Synonymous.
In the coming Kingdom of Heaven which will be the Kingdom of God in the physical realm during the millennial kingdom we will have the ultimate power and authority, accountability and responsibility to reign with Jesus Christ 1,000 years on earth with him. And into the eternal state with him. Amen. This ultimate state of supreme authority will only be possible when we are in our glorified bodies to be like Him, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen!
Ambassador:
See my extensive study on our role as Ambassador's for Christ and the awesome authority and responsibility we are commissioned with by our Lord in His service.
We Saints will literally RULE with Christ
We Saints will literally rule with Christ (thethirdheaventraveler.com)
My personal history as a Naval Officer: We had to learn and show competent proficiency in Navy Law and the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. Likewise, we were trained on understanding in detail the lawful order vs an unlawful order. We had to understand the full extent and scope of our authority, accountability and responsibility and how to apply these obligations. The relationship between authority, accountability and responsibility were also deeply engrained into us as military officers.
Rule one: Authority and Responsibility can be delegated but Accountability can never be delegated or avoided. See excerpt above. Too often we see false teachers and so-called pastors and lukewarm Christians casting every excuse for failures by passing the buck or blaming our shortcomings on everyone else except our own failures. In each theater of operation, we were briefed in detail on our ROE. Rules of Engagement.
Look at how severe God was with Israel after their captivity by the Babylonians whereby Ezekiel was commanded by God in Ezekiel 18 KJV: There are no excuses, "well my pastor never taught me correctly." Or a false teacher blaming their theological seminary or their YouTube mentor. You should see the hateful comments I get regarding Russ Dizdar and John MacArthur to name a few I've called out.
In this age of Grace, we're still held to extremely high standards to walk in the Spirit and not in the Flesh, but ultimately the Command to STRIVE LAWFULLY to get our rewards is - frankly - a major wake up call to us as living Saints in this realm.
YES! We are responsible for our every detail for our actions, even those with the most noble intentions.
We gain tremendous insight into the life of the Centurian of Capernaum who approached Jesus to heal his servant who was gravely ill.
First, we see that the Centurian fully understood Jesus' Authority and understanding how authority operates and the responsibility by saying: "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come, under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Matthew 8:8 KJV and "..I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it." Matthew 8:9 KJV.
I believe Jesus Christ of course recognized this Roman officer's knowledge of authority and its associated responsibility. Jesus marveled that this gentile would recognize the authority that Jesus had and knew that Jesus was responsible for fulfilling his authority. Important NOTE: The Centurian also recognized that his own ability in his limited authority needed the supreme authority of Jesus Christ. It was the Centurian's responsibility to reach out to Jesus and admit his need, humbly with FAITH. This action led to the uncommon awareness to exercise superior faith. Matthew 8:10 KJV.
As a born-again Christian we Saints have the absolute Divine authority and the responsibility to represent Jesus Christ here on earth in the fallen world. Although it won't be until we're in our glorified bodies after the Rapture will we be given the full extent of our power and authority, Revelation 12:5 KJV; we still have immense authority and responsibility.
God commands us to study His word so that we can be successful in our roles as Ambassadors for Christ. We are commanded to study God's word to understand how we are to strive lawfully in order to receive our rewards at the BEMA SEAT. 2 Corinthians 5:10 KJV. If we do NOT, we are left ashamed and worse, we will not receive our rewards for not striving lawfully at the BEMA SEAT.
Before Jesus delivered me out of the New Apostolic Reformation and Social Gospel - False Gospel movement including Dominion Theology, I had been striving unlawfully. We're commanded to strive lawfully and to study God's word by rightly dividing the word in order to be approved unto God a Workman that need not be ashamed. 2 Timothy 2:5, 15 KJV.
Here in these links, I define what it means to strive lawfully which basically means not doing work according to our own fleshly ability and to work with the word of God in the proper dispensation and gospel. (Gospel of Grace vs Gospel of the Kingdom).
IF WE OPERATE in the false assumption of the KINGDOM GOSPEL and the Apostolic anointing meaning literally, we have been given the authority to speak in other tongues, cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, handle deadly serpents - see Mark 16:15-18 KJV. Also note that false teachers claim the early bible transcripts did not include Mark 16. This is true that the perverted Codex Vaticanus (Vatican - Catholic) and Sinaiticus from Alexandria found literally in the trash in a library in Alexandria did not have the complete verses to Mark. However, the final authority of the Textus Receptus from Antioch that was used for the King James Version Bible does have Mark 16 in full.
The majority of false teaching today cultivating Dominion Theology, Ecumenism, New Apostolic Reformation, and the many forms of demonic social gospel stems from not rightly dividing the word of truth (Dispensations) and using the proper Gospel - the Gospel of Grace and NOT the Gospel of the Kingdom. Additionally, most of these false teachers use modern day perverted Bible translations.
See full studies below:
NOTES:
excerpt
and to strive lawfully: Living Galatians 2:20 KJV Romans 8:2 KJV
GRACE vs WORKS
Works is doing anything without GRACE which is only in APPLICATION OF the scripture of the Dispensation of GRACE
* Dispensation = The word of God is divided in different times addressing different people for different purposes.
Gospel of the Kingdom vs. Gospel of the Grace of God
Why the Godhead is Biblical, and Trinity is not. Trinity is Pagan Polytheism.
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