God places the utmost importance upon His elect apostolic government as it is an essential tool for the establishment and function of the body of Christ to lead believers in the way of God’s covenant.

Why is the apostolic calling of utmost importance to God? Why are Jesus’ apostles essential to establishing your function in the body of Christ? The answer is that God has seen you in your wilderness experiences. When you cried out, “Where are you, God”, your heavenly Father knew that this cry came from a place of lack.

God has made provision for the church in His covenant and I want to take a look at how He establishes order so that faith can build with those things that carry His stamp of approval and power.

Galatians 1:1
Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Apostle Paul makes known clearly that his calling as an apostle was by divine appointment and not according to the wisdom or desire of man. A true apostle provides the doctrine of Christ to the church to direct believers in truth and righteousness.

Quoting from the article, Apostles Restored, on the s8w website it reads:

Doctrine is a blueprint of knowledge that Jesus gave to His apostles, thus establishing their role in the church. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

– What do you want to know about prayer? That’s doctrine.
– What do you want to know about the gifts of the Spirit? That, too, is doctrine.
– What do you want to know about how God grants power to live the life of Christ here on this earth? You can’t know it or live it without first learning the apostles’ doctrine.

In Acts 2:42 God points to the source of Jesus’ doctrine, and He doesn’t point to the Bible, but rather to the apostolic calling, and this is why the doctrine of Christ is also called the apostles’ doctrine.

God established that the church would receive instruction and teaching from the authority of His spiritual government. Sound doctrine comes from the apostolic calling and anointing which is the key that unlocks the mystery of Christ to empower believers to serve God uprightly in faith.

The chosen government of God sits upon Jesus’ shoulders and is a refuge for believers as clear parameters are made known concerning how to walk and please God according to the standard He set for faith in Jesus Christ.

The apostolic calling is crucial in God’s plan of salvation for if the government of God is absent so too is the terms and conditions of His truth absent. There can be no salvation of the soul in the absence of truth as God designed all things for our liberty and salvation in the record of Jesus Christ.

An apostle is sent to the church with the blueprint of truth, a divine blueprint of knowledge that leads believers into the new covenant and equips them with all the spiritual tools for their faith to be living and active to accomplish God’s goal of fruit bearing in the soul.

Jesus’ government begins with apostles whom He authorized and sanctified to provide believers with the one truth and record of knowledge that the Holy Spirit bears witness to as He gives evidence to Christ.

One of the functions of God’s spiritual government is to keep the doctrine of Christ pure, unblemished from the corruption of the fleshly desires and religious aspirations of this world which is the spiritual wilderness so many are led to believe is God’s path for them.

Galatians 1:6-7
⁶ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

⁷ Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

In verse 7, Apostle Paul speaks of how false ministers pervert the gospel of Christ. He says “which is not another”, meaning that because false ministers still talk about the death and resurrection of our Lord and still talk about the need to be obedient to God, it doesn’t sound like another gospel, but it is. A perversion of knowledge takes place that God is correcting through Apostle Paul.

Perverting speaks of distorting, corrupting, misrepresenting or altering something. In one of Apostle Eric’s articles, he brings out the 5 major areas of doctrinal crimes in the false religious system. He defines a doctrinal crime as a perversion of the gospel of Christ as it misdirects believers from the way, the truth and the life which God provided in Jesus Christ to serve God another way. He says:

There are five major areas of doctrinal crimes that soil the hands of ministers today.

1. Doctrine of Balaam which speaks of independence from stewardship; it is an opportunistic gospel.

2. Doctrine of Jezebel which speaks of false prophecy and psycho-phecy; it is an exploitative gospel.

3. Doctrine of the Nicolaitans which speaks of mixing the old covenant with the new covenant, mixing the fleshly kingdom with the heavenly kingdom; it is a self-serving gospel.

4. Deeds of the Nicolaitans which promotes tithing, health, wealth and prosperity, Jericho Marches, physical communion tables, water baptism, laughter movements, dancing in the Spirit, pageantry, etc.; it is a lascivious gospel.

5. Fables which uses the compassion of God to promote one’s own theology to replace the record of Christ; it is a gospel of substitutionism.

Point by point we have a description of today’s church and why believers in this wilderness are crying out to God. This is the wilderness of false knowledge.

False ministers pervert the doctrine of Christ by resourcing knowledge which God did not sanctify for a believer to know and serve Him in righteousness. Furthermore, false ministers use that which is common to man’s signature which is the false record that spoils faith and makes the soul barren of the light and likeness of Christ.

Designing the gospel after one’s own image and calling that image Jesus changes God’s truth into the lie of man’s record. Our image reflects the struggle of man’s fallen nature, so we can understand that a gospel that speaks to the paradox of that struggle is a perversion of Christ.

The perverted gospel does not seem to be a perversion to those who have been taught to reason the scriptures to satisfy their religious logic. The opportunistic gospel drives believers into the wilderness of independence, to live out their faith separate from God. The exploitative gospel prophesies to man’s need and lack to draw upon Satan’s promises which can never give substance to our soul.

This is the spiritual wilderness where believers are taught a self-serving gospel. They are taught how to redirect their faith into the psychology of man instead of the covenant of Christ.

We can see why the perverted gospel is harmful and why God is shining a light on it. How can He bring your experience out of the wilderness when ministers continue to highlight your wilderness experience as a good thing?

One can see the necessity of pure doctrine, for when a believer’s faith is not properly defined and set within the frame of truth, then faith is turned into self-expression, wherein the flesh is used as building material. This wilderness experience is actually rebellious against the will of God and unproductive in His kingdom.

1 John 4:6
We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

This verse highlights the connection between stewardship and knowing God. “He that knows God hears us” refers to those joined to God’s apostolic government who through this sanctified avenue for faith has the privilege of knowing God. If a believer accepts stewardship, he accepts God. If he denies stewardship, he denies God.

When a believer accepts the knowledge provided through stewardship, he gains discernment between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. There can be no separation between the clean and the unclean without stewardship; for stewardship provides the scale of truth whereby contrast can be made between the things of light and the things of darkness.

The restored doctrine of Christ provided through God’s appointed stewardship brings perfect direction for faith enabling believers to know God in Spirit and in truth. The living reality of Christ is not in the traditions of men or in the ink of the Bible but in the spiritual tokens of the new covenant of Christ made known through His chosen sanctified stewardship.

Those who accept God’s stewardship and labor with the knowledge His government provides, experience the tangible power of His grace making the soul alive to Christ, for the Holy Spirit bears witness to truth with gifts and tokens of His power to confirm Jesus Christ and to confirm that our faith meets the mark of His righteousness.

When God’s government, truth and Spirit is in place there is no more guesswork for faith for everything necessary for life and godliness is made known in the record of Christ as the order of the Lord is made known through His holy knowledge.

Those joined to stewardship and laboring with the knowledge of Christ carry the same testimony of God’s mercy, testifying of His active involvement to bring healing to the soul and to renew the perspective to reflect the glory of His light and virtue.