The Deepest Things of God Are for All Believers!

There is no uniquely enlightened group around which God’s plan revolves and upon which His purpose depends. We are all beloved by Him, special to Him, and called by Him to fulfill His great purposes.

One of the inevitable and infallible marks of a cultish church or ministry is the presence of a spiritually elite attitude of “We have the deeper things of God – the deeper truths of God – and the rest of the Body of Christ desperately needs what we have or what we are doing!”

Unfortunately, many Christians are earnestly looking for some key truth, or the next big thing, or someone who is “God’s voice for this hour.” They seek the “Present Truth” or the “Now Word.” They want to be up to date with God’s latest prophetic revelations. They want to be part of God’s “elite forces” on the earth.

This idea of a special few with “exclusive truth” and a “higher calling” is not new. Every generation has such groups. They go by many names today: Joel’s End-Time Army, Gideon’s Army (of 300), the Manchild, the Overcomers, the 144,000, the Forerunners, the Friends of the Bridegroom, and so forth. All carry the same taint of arrogant elitism and eventually implode under the sheer weight of their own hubris, ruining many precious lives in the process. Sadly, abuse often goes hand-in-hand with elitism, and many of these groups are characterized not only by pride but also by spiritual abuse of their people.

The reality is that there is no central group in the Church around which God’s plan revolves and upon which His purpose depends. In truth, we are all beloved by Him, special to Him, and called by Him to fulfill His glorious purposes.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Moreover, any superior attitude is rebuked by the many passages in the New Testament where God tells us that His very deepest things are for everyone!

[Christ] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. (Colossians 1:28)

In Colossians 1, Paul says that “everyone” should be warned, and “everyone” should be taught in “all” wisdom so that “everyone” may be presented mature in Christ at the end. Paul is quite emphatic, repeating the word “everyone” three times in this single verse! There is no super-spiritual group that is above the rest.

In Ephesians 3, Paul affirms that the hidden mysteries of God are now revealed to “everyone”:

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things … (Ephesians 3:8-9)

In Romans 12, Paul says that God has now revealed His secret mysteries to “all nations”:

… my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith (Romans 16:25-26)

According to Peter, we have all “obtained a faith of equal standing” (2 Peter 1:1). The Greek word for “equal standing” means “equal, like, of the same kind or value, equal in honor and privilege.” There are no superstars in God’s Kingdom, other than His Son. We are all privileged to know God and to serve Him.

Peter also emphasizes that God has already given “all things that pertain to life and godliness” to all of us.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence … (2 Peter 1:3)

Certainly, many believers may not take advantage of this and remain ignorant of the teachings of the Scripture, but the fact is that the deepest things of God have been revealed and made freely available to all believers, and not only to some special group with the “latest prophetic insight.”

When Paul taught in the churches, he was careful to teach everything to everyone:

… how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house … for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:20, 27)

In fact, this is the very nature of the Great Commission – to make disciples and teach them “all” that Jesus commanded:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

God does have “secret things” – that belong to Him alone – but the things that are revealed are for everyone, even our children!

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29; see also Deuteronomy 4:9-10; 6:1-2, 6-7; Luke 18:16; Ephesians 6:4; 2 Timothy 3:15)

Of course, there will be particular leaders or churches that have special callings in certain areas. For example, Paul was the “apostle to the Gentiles” as Peter was to the Jews:

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the Gospel to the circumcised (for He who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles) … (Galatians 2:7-8; see also Acts 9:15; Romans 11:13; Ephesians 3:1-2, 6-8; 1 Timothy 2:7)

But that does not give such leaders or churches an elite status to be aspired to by others. That calling and gifting simply gives them certain work they are responsible for. The teaching they share is completely open and given to everyone.

There is no special group within the Church that is called to be the elite, but God’s ultimate purpose is for “all” His Church to come to maturity in Christ with the full, mature knowledge of the Son of God:

… until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ … (Ephesians 4:13)

The New Testament’s emphasis on the deepest things of God being freely revealed to all believers is refreshing in our current day when many elitist groups claim to possess “special prophetic insight” that is only given to those in their circles.

This claim of special insight should never impress or attract us, but rather repel us and warn us to avoid those groups that make such a claim. This attitude is always an indicator of error and often, historically, spiritual abuse.

Mature spirituality is not when we have some “deeper Truth” but when we live lives characterized by humility, gentleness, patience and love.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Living such lives is what we should strive after!