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Grace Elements… Unionist Teaching

Unionist teaching as some people call it, is the focus on what the Bible says in relation to our being one with God through faith in Christ. Major proponents of this type of teaching are Norman Grubb and Major Ian W. Thomas. I gained a revelation of this type of teaching even before I had ever heard of such people. The teaching of these people confirmed what the Lord had already been showing me. I suppose it is a natural progression for some people as they move away from a focus on works.

Grace on Facebook

It’s a rather funny thing that some of my grace friends on Facebook have shifted from the focus on righteousness and no-condemnation, as taught by Joseph Prince, and onto the unionist message, as taught by Norman Grubb and Major Ian W. Thomas. Whereas, with me it was somewhat different in that I began with a focus on the unionist message and then move towards the focus on righteousness and no-condemnation.

Most of my notes which I wrote since studying the grace message in 2005 are in relation to the unionist message. To a somewhat lesser degree, perhaps twenty percent or so, my studies and notes are on the subject of focusing on what is wrong in the institutional church – which is a topic we will examine a little later on.

If you have an account with Facebook, you may be interested to know there is a growing network of grace believers on there. Furthermore, there are some Christians on Facebook who are strong in the unionist message, such as Fred Pruitt, Nancy Gilmore and Dee Dee Winter. Fred Pruitt has his own website called The Single Eye.

Word of Faith

In 2005 when I was attending a small, charismatic but legalistic church – I found myself gaining a revelation of what the Bible said I was by faith in Christ. Kenneth E. Hagin had portrayed a type of faith that appealed to the masses through claiming miracles, healing and finances.

To his credit, this approach to faith was radical during its time and Hagin faced strong opposition to the concept that Biblical faith could be applied practically to ones life and challenged the notion that Christianity was nothing more than a lifeless ritual and tradition. But in establishing this new approach, Hagin also established a foundation of unrealistic expectations from the Christian life, with people seeking the miraculous more than seeking a relationship with God.

Hagin would occasionally mention that the same faith that you can use to believe God for finances or healing, could be applied to any other promise found in the Bible. I believed it would be better to have faith in inner transformation, rather than faith in miracles, achievements and material possessions. When Hagin did make this rare announcement, he would typically use the example of baptism in believing God for the Holy Spirit.

Inner Transformation

By “inner transformation” I mean living a life from a position of genuine love rather than having to fake it all the time. I just considered the notion of moving away from rules, principles and guidelines into a life of wisdom and a natural, strong desire to do those things that are right for you at the time. I considered this new approach to be dynamic rather than static, spontaneous and natural rather than coaxed. You would not need to live according to a set of rules, what someone else says is a right way to live – if you knew what was right for you in your heart and had a desire to act upon those instincts.

One of the key aspects of my whole life (something I have always found very annoying) was the way in which I would desire to do something in my mind, but just be at a loss as to find the peace, desire and wisdom to be able to act upon it in my heart. I also deeply resented being patronised by other Christians, especially pastors, into performing what I saw as being perfunctory church-related routines and duties, which my heart simply did not agree with. I have struggled with apathy and lethargy all of my life and see it as a side-effect of depression and anxiety. My focus was on finding what was truly right for me at each moment in time and having the power to act upon it through the divine nature.

The verse of scripture that caught my attention more than any other was 2 Peter 1:2-4.

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:2-4

I vowed that if I ever launched my own ministry, I would call it The Divine Nature – because this was my primary focus when it came to the Christian life and the promises of the Bible.

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