Model Warriors – Page 2 – Religion Detox Network …

CHARACTERISTICS OF WARRIOR/DISCIPLES
Joshua and Jesus symbolically represent New Covenant disciples. They were righteous men who fought against religion. Even Abraham, Moses and King David, important as they were in the history of Israel, were flawed characters who had good and bad seasons of their lives, but they all engaged in warfare against religion.

Abraham, Moses, Joshua Judges, David and certain good kings modeled aspects of what it means to be a warrior/disciple. These Biblical characters represent only snapshot views of Jesus and Joshua who are perfect representations of God and of the ultimate warrior.

Here are a few characteristics of warrior/disciples:

They understand that religion is God’s enemy and that religion unjustly enslaves and persecutes God’s people.
They take seriously God’s commands to do justice.
They are faithful to obey God’s commands to utterly destroy religious nations and tear down idols and high places, so that captives to religion can be set free from religion.
They are filled with indignation over the fact that religious leaders oppress and enslave people to religion.
They are filled with humiliation over the fact that they have sinned by being religious, that they practiced idolatry, and that they themselves were part of a religious system that oppressed and enslaved people
They are willing to lay down their lives by going into battle with religion so that others who are still religious can be set free from the sin of religion.

When we look at these characteristics, we see that they closely parallel the characteristics of messiahs. Joshua and Jesus, above all others, are the Biblical characters whose lives model for us what it means to be a warrior/messiah. They are models of perfect New Covenant disciples.

We can contrast Joshua and Jesus with Jews and Christians who are Old/First Covenant religionists who do not embody the attitudes or behaviors of Biblical warriors. They have missed the mark of what it means to be a warrior/disciple for God.

Jesus, of course, did not miss the mark. After he was baptized by the spirit, Jesus models for New Covenant disciples how they should carry out the challenge to utterly destroy religious nations and tear down idols and high places so that captives to religion can be set free from religion.

To understand what this means to us, we must understand Jesus’ qualities and apply them to our own lives:

REFERENCES TO JESUS’ QUALITIES	CHARACTERISTICS OF NEW COVENANT DISCIPLES
Before he became the son of God, Jesus was the son of man (i.e. he was a religious Jew for the first thirty years of his life). After he was baptized, he was a son of God. As such, he is the perfect example of a New Covenant disciple.	We first come to know about God through religion that interprets the Bible literally. We are Old/First Covenant religionists. After we are baptized (i.e. born again), we are New Covenant disciples because God’s spiritual laws are written on our hearts.
He is the Son of God.	To be a son of God we must be born again (i.e. baptized) by the spirit of God. Then we become New Covenant disciples who interpret the Bible symbolically and listen to God’s spoken voice.
He is the light of the world.	While we practice religion we walk in darkness. When we become New Covenant disciples, we walk in the light and spread that light to others who are still walking in the darkness of Old/First Covenant religion.
He is the spirit of prophecy.	When we were religious, we operated in the flesh as false prophets. When we become New Covenant disciples, we walk in the spirit by faith as true prophets.
His name (i.e. character) is the word of God.	When we were religious, our religious character was modeled after fleshly religious leaders. After we become New Covenant disciples who are born of the spirit of God, our spiritual character reflects our heavenly father.
He is the way, the truth and the life of God.	While we are religious we are spiritually dead. After we quit being religious and become New Covenant disciples we become spiritually alive. New Covenant disciples are also the way, truth and life because God speaks through them.
He is the mediator of the New Covenant.	While we are religious we practice and promote religion which can be observed. After we become New Covenant disciples, we walk by faith which cannot be seen, and we share with people who are still religious the good news that religion is sin that is overcome by becoming a New Covenant disciples New Covenant disciples are mediators (i.e. interpreters of the parables of the written Bible) for Old/First Covenant religionists.
He is the image of the invisible God.	While we are religious, we practice our religion so that we will receive praise for our religious work from other religious people. After we become New Covenant disciples, we must decrease in visibility while God increases in us.
He is the word of God made flesh.	While we were religious, we practiced religion based on the literal interpretations of the Bible. After we become New Covenant disciples, we listen to God’s voice, and speak for God.
He is a prophet.	When we were religious, we functioned as false prophets. When we become New Covenant disciples, we learn to function as true prophets.
He is a priest in the order of Melchizedek — not a priest appointed according to religious laws.	When we were religious we functioned as priests who receiving training and authority from religious institutions that follow religious laws. When we become New Covenant disciples, God’s spiritual laws were written on our hearts and we receive all of our instruction by listening to God’s spirit.
He is a prophet, a priest and a king.	New Covenant disciples also serve God as prophets, priests and kings.
He is the firstborn of the dead.	New Covenant disciples are considered to be raised from the dead when they are born again by the spiritual word of God. New Covenant disciples are recreated in the image of God.
He and the father are one.	Old/First Covenant religionists are separated by different religious laws. New Covenant disciples are spiritually united because they all follow God’s spiritual laws.
He is the good shepherd who willingly lays down his life for his sheep/friends.	New Covenant disciples practice the greatest kind of love in which they lay down their lives for their friends.
He waged war against God’s enemy (i.e. religion).	We are called to suffer hardship as soldiers who speak for God to correct injustice, slavery and oppression.

From this analysis it is hard to ignore the conclusion that followers of Jesus (i.e. New Covenant disciples) are actively and purposefully engaged in warfare as soldiers. People who are not so engaged remain enslaved to Old/First Covenant religion.

And here are other qualities by which Jesus and his disciples are known:

They are the word of God made flesh.
They are lights to the world.
They are the spirit of prophecy.
Their name (i.e. character) is the word of God.

People who follow Jesus will also embody these same Godly qualities and fulfill the same ministry works that Jesus fulfilled.

Next we must understand the various aspects of Jesus’ ministry:

JESUS’ MINISTRY FUNCTIONS	EXPLANATION OF MINISTRY FUNCTIONS
Bring good news to people who are afflicted with religion.	Tell people that their relationship with God depends on the condition of their heart — not on religious activity. Preach the gospel (i.e. God’s spoken word) to religious people.
Make disciples/followers.	Convert people from the religious practices of idolatry and listening to false prophets to people who listen to God’s voice. Make disciples and teach them.
Cast fire on the earth	As a prophet of God, Jesus’ ministry function can be summarized this way: Speak God’s words to people who cannot hear God’s voice. Because God’s voice is a consuming fire, the words of God that Jesus spoke are also fire. The purpose of the fire is to purify people from sin. Therefore, the purpose of God’s fiery words spoken through Jesus is to purify people from sin. Since sin is defined as religion, the purpose of Jesus’ words is to turn people from practicing the sin of religion and listen to God’s spoken voice.
He did not come to bring peace, but a sword to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;	See this link for understanding of the purpose of the sword. See this link for understanding of the symbolism of swords.
Ask questions.	Teach religious people how to be disciples.
Answer questions, teach, and interpret the spiritual meanings of the literal Bible.	Teach them to study the Bible so they can learn how to interpret its symbolism.
Heal religious people who are spiritually blind, deaf, lame, sick, and dead.	Heal religious people from the diseases and sickness of religion.
Seek and save people who are lost in religion.	Preach the gospel (i.e. God’s spoken word) to religious people.
Bring justice to people who are held captive by religion and judgment for God’s enemies (i.e. religious leaders) who hold them captive.	Set people free from religion and show disciples how to execute justice.
Undo the works of the devil and cast out demons who perpetrate religion.	Show disciples how to identify false prophets.
Model for his followers the kinds of actions they must take to utterly destroy religious nations and tear down idols and high places, so that captives to religion can be set free from religion.	Fulfill God’s commands to utterly destroy religious nations and tear down idols and high places. Break religious laws. Rebuke religious leaders. Tear down the structures of commercial religion.
Comfort all who mourn.	Convert people from Old/First Covenant religion to New Covenant discipleship.
Bring rest to people who are busy and overworked with religious activity.	Teach religious people that they must be lawbreakers with respect to religious laws while being obedient to God’s spiritual laws.
Set captives free from religion.	Preach the gospel (i.e. God’s spoken word) to religious people.
Lay down his life. Note: See Second Death.	Fulfill God’s commands to utterly destroy religious nations and tear down idols and high places. Break religious laws. Rebuke religious leaders. Tear down the structures of commercial religion.
Bind up the brokenhearted.	Preach the gospel (i.e. God’s spoken word) to religious people.
Heal the sick and raise the dead.	Preach the gospel (i.e. God’s spoken word) to religious people.
He is the spirit of prophecy.	Fulfill the attitudes and functions of a true prophet.
He is an example for New Covenant disciples to follow.	Preach the gospel (i.e. God’s spoken word) to religious people.

It must be said again that people who follow Jesus will also embody these same Godly qualities and fulfill the same ministry works that Jesus fulfilled.

It must also be said that people who claim to follow and love Jesus but do not fulfill all of these ministry functions in their own lives are hypocrites.

Since Jesus’ mission was to speak God’s words, it must be said that anyone who claims to follow Jesus must also speak God’s fiery words which have the purpose of purifying people from practicing the sin of religion. And it must also be said that anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus but does not speak God’s words has broken the third commandment.

God’s purpose in presenting Jesus as the model warrior for us to follow is to teach us how to engage in spiritual battle with the enemy (i.e. religion).

Jesus is the model of a perfect New Covenant disciple.
Jesus understood that religion is God’s enemy and that religion unjustly enslaved and persecuted God’s people.
Jesus was faithful to obey God’s commands to utterly destroy religious nations and tear down idols and high places, so that captives to religion can be set free from religion.
Jesus angered the religious leaders of his day by preaching that people should quit practicing religion.
Jesus confronted religious leaders because they were false prophets who deceived people about God.
Jesus opened the eyes of Old/First Covenant religious Jews to the fact that they were in bondage to religion.
Jesus healed people from their bondage to religion.
Jesus died because Old/First Covenant religious people (especially religious leaders) resented that he broke their religious laws and feared his attempts to destroy their religious kingdoms by setting people free from their religion.
Jesus was spiritually separated (i.e. buried) from God and others for a short time (i.e. three days) but was then restored (i.e. resurrected) to new life so that he could carry on the challenge to utterly destroy religious nations and tear down idols and high places, so that captives to religion can be set free from religion.
Jesus models for New Covenant disciples how they should carry on the challenge to utterly destroy religious nations and tear down idols and high places, so that captives to religion can be set free from religion.

New Covenant disciples can do and should do everything that Jesus did — including die for others. If they do not do the same things that Jesus did, they are not true New Covenant disciples.

But following Jesus does not mean that New Covenant disciples must physically die. Rather, they die symbolically first when they leave religion and die a second time when they become warriors who understand that religion is the enemy and do whatever they can do to correct the injustice of slavery to religion. When they actively take on the religious establishment like Jesus did they go through the same death and resurrection process that Jesus did.

STUDY TIP: See Death, Resurrection and New Life and Two Deaths for more about death.

The cross is a well-known symbol of Jesus’ death and resurrection. God uses the symbolism of a cross to represent what it means to die as a warrior/soldier. Thus, a warrior for God dies daily and carries his cross daily as though he/she is a professional, full time soldier who suffers death in the battle to fight the good fight to overcome religion. In effect, they become suffering servants who willingly, and voluntarily lay down their lives for their religious friends so that they will leave religion and become New Covenant disciples.

STUDY TIP: See Wood (trees) and The Cross for more understanding of the cross.

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