Sons of God: The Authority of the Believer and the Church

By Charles McPherson

In 1980, the Lord, through His word, set before me a vision of what it means to be called "sons of God" and the authority He has given to His followers. Over the years, He has increased that vision, and while I am long way from walking in the fullness of it, I believe in these last days, many will walk in the fullness of God's new covenant in Jesus Christ. This book, Sons of God, began as an intended Facebook post. One morning, during my worship time, I sensed the Holy Spirit stirring in me that now was the time to start writing about the authority scripture declares belongs to the believer. However, as I began to write, I soon realized there was much more than a simple post coming forth. As a result of responding to the Holy Spirit that day, this book, Sons of God, was written. I believe it is the fruit of the Spirit of God in my life, but every word must be in submission to Holy scripture. If you find it not so, put it down. It is my desire to encourage and stretch the faith of those who desire a deeper walk with Jesus. If you have a longing in your relationship with the Lord that you have not been able to fill, this book may have some answers for you. A new journey is about to begin as there is so much more to the Christian life than most of us have experienced. I have attempted to create a vision of broader and deeper purposes of God. I pray this book will be an enlightenment and blessing to every reader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644922194

Book preview

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Sons of God

The Authority of the Believer and the Church

Charles McPherson

Copyright © 2019 by Charles McPherson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All scripture is taken from the KJV or ESV unless otherwise noted.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

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Iwould like to acknowledge and say thank you to those who helped with the edits. Martha Pech and Bette Cox, your help was invaluable. Thank you for all you did.

Introduction

Our glorious heavenly Father has given us a great salvation that means more with a much higher purpose than meets the eye, so to speak.

My goal in writing this book is to incite a faith and desire for the reader to step out of the confines of normalcy and allow their minds to be stretched to a new level of seeing who we are in Christ. There appears to be a grave misunderstanding of the position and authority God has invested in the believer and the church.

It is not my desire to be critical of what others teach or the church of Jesus Christ as a whole.

I believe now is the time to expand our faith and understanding of what God is saying to us in our day. Of course, this can only be done as God allows.

Christ is soon coming to claim that which belongs to Him. May we all be ready.

My prayer is, as you read what I believe God has given me to write in this book, it will help ready you for the great events that lie just ahead.

Amen.

1

The Full Blessing of Sonship

For as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God.

—John 1:12

As Christians we have a wonderful blessing imparted to us, that is the blessing of dwelling in the presence of Jesus Christ for all eternity. But too often we make the serious mistake of believing that Jesus came only for that purpose. There is much, much more purpose to our salvation that is rarely spoken of. If it is mentioned at all, the depth of it would barely wet the bottom of your toes if it were a pool of water. In other words, our doctrine is not very deep; in this case, not very wide either.

In our verse John has given us, we see and understand that there must be a reception of Christ in our lives, a receiving that is supported by true heart belief in the work of the cross and the resurrection of Christ. It also must be confessed with the mouth, as Paul instructs, If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved (Romans 10:9-10).

Scripture teaches us that the power of death and life are in the tongue and leads us to speak life as we confess our faith in the redemptive work of our Lord. There is so much more than mere sound waves going through the air. What we speak has power; how we speak determines the results.

Many lives have been powerfully changed by just a few words. This is why Jesus warns us that we will give account for every idle word that we speak. This is a powerful warning that should be heeded.

Only when we receive Him do we enter the blessing of becoming a son of God. Often, we hear something said like, We are all children of God. This is one of those Bible sayings that’s not of the Bible. It stands to reason that we are all sons of Adam, and in that sense, everyone is a child of the Most High, but only in that sense can it be said.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Rom. 8:14)

In our verse, the words are clear. It is those who are led by the Spirit of God that are called sons of God.

Jesus told the religious leaders of His day, You are of your father, the devil. What Jesus is telling us is that religious affiliation or being a member of humankind does not make us sons of God. Only those who receive him are given the power to become sons of God.

Again, let’s look at our chapter verse and the word power. This word in the Greek is exousia, pronounced ex-oo-see’-ah, and means privilege, force, capacity, authority, along with a few other meaningful words. There is a privilege along with the authority, force, and capacity poured out on the receiver that enables him to do something that could not be done otherwise.

This word, power, should not be confused with the word power in Acts 1:8: But you shall receive ‘power’ after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you. This is the Greek word dynamis and means miraculous power or explosive power.

The next word we must study in our verse is become. We have been given the ability to become, the Greek word ginomai, pronounced ghin’-om-ahee. The meaning is the same in English for the most part.

To become something would indicate that in the beginning, you have not yet mastered or fully become what you are becoming; in this case, become sons of God or fully matured sons of God.

This is not to say that when one comes to Christ, he or she is not fully a child of God. The scripture is telling us there is a becoming that should take place, a maturing into full-grown sons of the Most High. This is much like when a child is born; he or she is male or female, but