THE IC STUDY PAGE

The truth about Mark 11:23

March 27, 1996

• (v22) And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God.
• (v23)Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him.
• (24) Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you."

We pick up again with the interpretation of Mk. 11:22-24. We have discussed what it does not mean. It does not mean this scripture offers you carte blanche with our Heavenly Father. Further, Mark 11:23 is not in reference to material goods, fame, fortune, finding the right spouse. This scripture is about the restoration of the spiritual life, a pearl of great value.

Mark 11:23 begins with Mark 11:12

Now on to the correct interpretation of this wonderful, insightful, and powerful verse dealing with the spiritual life. First, Mk. 11:23 must be interpreted from within its entirety beginning with Mk. 11:12, where Christ finds no spiritual life within Jerusalem and ends with 11:25-26, stressing the necessity of forgiving those who hurt us.

Within these scriptures we read of Christ's hunger-not a physical hunger, but a hunger for righteousness among God's people as represented by a fig tree. He desires that they live a spiritual life, producing fruits of righteousness, unto the Glory of God.

God's people were to be the messenger's of the Gospel, proclaimers of God's Holy Word, and teachers of the nations. Unfortunately, they had failed miserably from the religious leaders to the lay person. All of this was personified at Jerusalem, which had become corrupt because its leaders had rejected God as revealed in scripture in favor of a God of one's chosing, Mk. 11:15-17.

And for this reason, Jesus declared that Jerusalem would no longer be Gods' representatives in the world. Hence, the meaning of His statement, "May no one ever eat fruit (be spiritually nourished) from you again!"

Withering of one's spiritual life

Now the next morning, as Christ and His disciples walked by the fig tree He cursed, they noticed it was withered. This symbolized the destruction to come to Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans. Then Jesus said, "Have faith in God." Jesus was telling His disciples where their trust and reliance must be. Their trust must be in God alone-not in man- made religions, self-righteous works, or power and fame. For these reasons and more, Jerusalem would fall, for they did not possess faith in God. If we fall here, we have no chance to go forward in our spiritual life. Again, faith in God is the cornerstone of our spiritual life. And further, if our spiritual life withers away and is destroyed by lack of focus upon Christ, our glory blessings will forever be lost for our enjoyment-both in time and time to come.

Selling All for Christ

Then Christ said an amazing thing. He would lay the groundwork for maintaining the spiritual life. The spiritual life is of such great and inestimable value that we should sell all to possess it. John the Baptist understood the concept of selling out self and its carnal ways in order to possess spiritual life. From the moment John the Baptist laid his eyes upon Christ, He knew He was the Son of God. And with that knowledge he made this statement, "He must increase, but I must decrease," Jn. 3:30. Christ comes to the forefront in our lives only to the degree we relinquish self rule and selfish ambition.

Yet, false prophets of our time demean the spiritual life and would replace it with personal success and prosperity. Oh, how they love to quote Mark 11:23 to pyramid their power and fortune on the backs of the foolish and ignorant. Here is what Christ said:

Time to Review

Now lets review. Christ hungers and desires our righteousness and spiritual maturity. Why? Because this glorifies God and is the basis for our receiving the Glory Blessings-that hundredfold return which Christ speaks in Mark 10:29-30. This is accomplished by daily biblical study and keeping short accounts when it comes to sin. Sin must be confessed to get back our spiritual life and continue our residence within the Sphere of Faith. This the Jews did not do and Christ warns His disciples of the consequences of failing to keep focused on God. Our pleasing God, communing with Him, having fellowship with Him is hindered and obstructed by sin.

Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hid His face from you, so that He does not hear, Is. 59:2

Sin is the mountain which hinders our advancement down the path of righteousness through the valley of the shadow of death and to the promised land. Yet, God has provided the means to remove this mountain as we shall shortly see.

Pre-and-Post Salvation Sins

Before we go further, there are two issues concerning forgiveness of sin: sins that relate to our pre-salvation experience and those relating to our post-salvation experience. The sins we are talking about in this study have to do with post-salvation sinning. I mention this for there have been those who have taught that some need to be saved again because of the depth of their carnality. This is ludicrous and shows an ignorance of God's character, His integrity, and His grace.

Unconfessed Sin: A hindrance to the Spiritual Life

The hinderance of unconfessed sin in our lives must be removed if we are to live the spiritual life. Surely, no one would dispute this. This mountain of unconfessed sin must be removed-drowned in the depths of the sea. Pride, arrogance, and the self-righteousness of the Jews hindered their spiritual life. It will do the same for us. Post-salvation sins must be dealt with through confession of them. The Greek word for confession is homologeo meaning acknowledge, admit, declare. This we are to do before our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we do not, Christ is saying our spiritual life will wither to nothing and die. Sin must be confessed to rid it of its destructiveness to the spiritual life. PERIOD!

Great Value in the Spiritual Life

Let there be no doubt. Have faith in God. Believe in God's word, act on 1 Jn. 1:9 if there is unconfessed sin, and your spiritual life will be restored. And readers, what more could you pray and ask for than development and advancement of your spiritual life? There is nothing more precious, valuable, or desirable than this. Jesus says, "What good is it to gain the whole world but forfeit your soul." In the same vein, "What good is it to gain the whole world but lose your spiritual life?" The believer's greatest asset is his spiritual life. It is maintained by focusing on Christ, being balanced by God's Word, with the results that we maintain poise in a stressful world.

I hope up to this point you have come to realize how important God considers our advancement to spiritual maturity. Christ likens it to a fruit that is sweet to the taste. But the great enemy to our advancement is sin. It is a constant threat. And for most, it wins its share of the battles and goes on to defeat the believer who follows his carnal mind. But in these verses, we are clearly shown how sin is a mountain that can be removed by getting our focus back on Christ. In other words, executing 1 John 1:9.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Is an unforgiving heart keeping you out of the Spiritual Life?

We will continue with the focus of Mark 11:25-26 in our next lesson. But in anticipation, these two verses have a powerful warning. A warning which the "have what you say" interpreters almost always avoid. It was a warning to those who harbor unforgiveness in their hearts.

Christ has been addressing His desire for our spiritual life by means of His displeasure with the Israelite's lack of spirituality. Later, He replies to His disciples discovery of a withered fig tree He had cursed the day before. He uses this opening to state that the foundation of a spiritual life is built upon "Faith in God." Faith in God begins with an attitude of humility. But He goes even further. While the disciples look upon the withered fig tree, they were to understand the Israelite's lack of faith in God. Lack of faith leads to a withering of the soul.

The Israelites had become arrogant in their position as God's chosen people and mirred down in legalism and tradition that had voided God's word, Mk. 7:13. This created a mountain-an impasse-to eternal life for non-believers and loss of the spiritual life to believers. It must be removed. Christ's work on the cross was the means for its removal. He would become our great High Priest. His death would end the priestly system and its sacrificial system of animals for the forgiveness of sin. His death was the last and ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world. Through Him, forgiveness is granted to all who believe. And by belief in Christ, there is eternal life and spiritual life.

And in verses 25 and 26, Christ points to a specific mental attitude sin. It was a sin His disciples had a hard time comprehending due to their resentment of Rome and their own religious system which had become corrupt. It is the sin of unforgiveness. It is a sin we so easily justify, but a sin that will forever keep us out of the spiritual life.

Forgive and keep moving in your spiritual life

All sins, whether they be mental attitude sins, verbal sins, or overt sins, create an impasse to our relationship with God. But no sin can be so despised by God than the sin of unforgiveness. One only need look to Christ on Golgotha 2000 years ago to understand. Forgiveness is not about whether one deserves it, but whether or not one values the forgiveness God has given us. If so, forgive, and keep moving in your spiritual life.

Peter said to Jesus,

• "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?
  
• Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." (Mt. 18:21-22)

Let us not limit ourselves to the act of forgiveness (which will be required often), but to the sin of unforgiveness.

Next Lesson, Mark 11:23 Part III

Copyright ©1996 Robert W. Case Jr.,

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