Applying Partnership with Jesus
David W Palmer
(Hebrews 3:14 GWT) After all, we will remain Christ’s partners only if we continue to hold on to our original confidence until the end.
Partners with God and His People
Jesus is our primary gospel partner. Because we are covenant partners with him in our salvation, and thus in our membership of God’s family, we are also partners in his “heavenly calling”:
(Hebrews 3:1 ISV) Therefore, holy brothers, partners in a heavenly calling, keep your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.
In truth, since Jesus ascended to his Father’s right hand, he needs us and out part in this partnership:
(1 Corinthians 12:21 MKJV) And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
It is clear that in this partnership, Jesus is the “head.” We—in one sense—are the feet, hands, compassionate heart, and mouthpiece of Jesus on earth. Through us, he goes, does, speaks, and shows love etc.
(1 Corinthians 3:9 NKJV) For we are God’s fellow workers …
We are workers together with God in demonstrating his love and publishing his gospel message on earth.
The Holy Spirit is also a primary player in this partnership. Just as Jesus was filled with him, led by him, and clothed in his power; so we too are in partnership with the Holy Spirit in our ministries and witness for Jesus:
(Hebrews 6:4 ISV) … who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have become partners with the Holy Spirit.
All who love God, who have been born into his family, and who imitate him by being led by his Spirit are part of his family. They are also partners with Christ Jesus, and therefore with each other:
(1 Corinthians 12:12 NKJV) For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
So, no matter which way you look at it, we are partners with Christ Jesus and partners with each other in the gospel—provided that we “continue to hold on to our original confidence until the end.”
From what we have seen in the New Testament as we have studied the topic of partnership, Jesus jointly calls people to certain ministries; he calls, gifts, trains, and equips some to full-time five-fold ministries; but he simultaneously calls and equips others to partner with them in their gospel assignments. The grace Jesus releases, along with the rewards for obedience, is for the whole team—not merely for the one who is sent:
(Philippians 1:7 APE) “For it is right for me to think in this way about all of you, because you have been placed in my heart while I have been in my chains and in my defense for the truth of The Gospel, because you are my partners in grace.”
We also see in this passage that Paul said of his partners at Philippi: “You have been placed in my heart.” He implies that the special bond he had with his partners was supernatural; God placed his love in Paul’s heart for his allies in Philippi, and did the same for the partners. Together they made the ministry; Paul had the grace to go and preach, etc.; the Philippians had the grace to stay, pray, and to support him.
Paul’s and the Philippian’s partnership is the model partnership that the Holy Spirit highlighted in the New Testament. It had a very important financial aspect to it:
(Philippians 4:15, 19 NLT) As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help ... {19} And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Partnership Care for God’s Travelling Teachers
Jesus not only expects us to adopt the Paul-and-Philippians kind of gracious, long-term financial partnerships today; but he also expects us to contribute finances (along with love, encouragement, prayer, and hospitality, etc.) to those he sends to temporarily teach us God’s word:
(3 John 1:5–8 NLT) Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. {6} They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. {7} For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers. {8} So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.
So, whether it is regarding the partners with whom God connects you for the long haul, or visiting itinerant teachers/preachers, the Holy Spirit says we should sow financial support into what they are doing. This is one way of expressing our partnership with Jesus and his representatives. We are all his partners in getting the word to spread and multiply worldwide:
(Acts 12:24 ESV) But the word of God increased and multiplied.
Even beyond this most noble of all motivations, we would be wise to give to itinerant teachers out of our own gratitude for our personal learning and growth. And that’s not even to mention the astounding benefits coming back to us from sowing “to the Spirit”:
(Galatians 6:6–8 NKJV) Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. {7} Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. {8} For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
We also note in 3 John 1:6 (above) that the Holy Spirit says to “continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God.” For our giving to be done in a manner that pleases God, we have to do it in faith. This is because: “Without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. 11:6 MKJV).
God loves you; he appreciates your willingness to give/sow into his gospel mission. He is so grateful and loving towards you that naturally he wants to do something for you in return. He cannot simply rain money down from heaven—as it would not be legal tender here on earth—but in his covenant, he shows what he can do for us; he can and will multiply what we sow:
(Hebrews 6:10 MKJV) For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
(Hebrews 6:13–14 MKJV) For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself, {14} saying, “Surely in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply you.”
(Hebrews 6:17–18 TLB) God also bound himself with an oath, so that those he promised to help would be perfectly sure and never need to wonder whether he might change his plans. {18} He has given us both his promise and his oath, two things we can completely count on, for it is impossible for God to tell a lie.
God cannot lie. Yet to make absolutely clear his ability, willingness, and the legality of his promise to multiply what we sow, he bound himself to this promise by swearing an oath. That is remarkable. As a result, we can be doubly and absolutely sure that nothing is more definite and rock solid than this principle. This is why Gal. 6:7 is such a foundational verse; it contains the vital law for God’s interaction with man: “God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (NKJV). (And we note that in Gal. 6, the context in which the Holy Spirit mentions this law is giving to teachers of God’s word: “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. (Gal. 6:6 NKJV))
When we give to gospel ministries, God sees it as a seed he can multiply back to us. This is his way of rewarding us and being generous to us. But our part is also to give/sow in a manner that pleases him. In other words, we have to mix faith into what we are doing; if we don’t believe he will multiply our seed, this doesn’t give him any pleasure.v
God is a giver; he loves to give (See: John 3:16). If a lack of faith on our side frustrates his desire for us to receive what he gives us, there’s no pleasure in that for him. He is a Father who loves his children; his heart is full of generous loving intention to lavish good things on us. Let’s believe this; and let’s fight the good fight of faith over what he promised—namely, multiplying back to us what we sow into gospel ministries. His pleasure comes from our faith in his love, his intentions, and his promises. Don’t let the enemy get in the way of this and spoil a pure Father’s loving intention to lavish good things on his children.
(Matthew 7:11 DKJV) “If you then, imperfect as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him?”