Since 1977 my writings have been exploring the themes that are summarized below, focusing on the implications of the New Exodus and New Commandment of Christ. Forty-eight years have elapsed and still in 2025 the Lord’s people are generally clueless that Jesus came on the Day of Pentecost and God’s purpose is for the ekklesia to continue the ministry of Christ on earth. The visual paradigm the church communicates is “the body is one part, not many.” A.W. Tozer’s last words in 1963 capture the point:
Jesus Christ has today almost no authority at all among the groups that call themselves by His name… Because of long and meticulous organization it is now possible for the youngest pastor just out of seminary to have more actual authority in a church than Jesus Christ has. (Cited in Jesus Is Family, pp. 101-106).
May Jesus rise to His rightful prominence in the days ahead.
— Jon Zens
My Talk In Cork, Ireland
I want to share some key steps in my journey, particularly as they relate to the revelation of Christ. My hope is that what I share will inspire you toward deeper reflection and discovery. While I’ll keep this account as concise as possible, it covers a significant span of time — beginning with my conversion in 1965.
Early Encounters and the Preeminence of Christ
The preeminence of Christ has been at the center of my faith since I became a believer. My first exposure to the Bible was in 1964, but it wasn’t until January 1965 that I truly believed. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that many of the things the Lord has shown me are often missing from visible Christianity. In many ways, I’ve felt like I was swimming upstream, but I’ve found affirmation in the writings of other New Testament scholars who have discovered similar truths.
A Transformative Experience in Little Rock
A pivotal moment came in February 1977, when I was invited to speak to a congregation in Little Rock, Arkansas. This group had started with just thirteen people in 1972 and had grown to fifty by the time I visited. Most were new converts, many from the drug and hippie cultures. They met in house churches during the week for evangelism and gathered together on Sundays in a rented church building.
The vitality and authenticity of their fellowship deeply impacted me. After speaking that weekend, the elders met with me, posed some challenging questions, and encouraged me to read Reformers and Their Stepchildren by Leonard Verduin. When I read it in June 1977, it profoundly clarified my understanding of church history, particularly the development of state churches from Constantine’s time onward, and the lack of choice people had in matters of faith.
Shortly after, I read Howard Snyder’s The Problem of Wineskins, which critiqued the focus on church buildings and the neglect of the poor. Both books compelled me to speak out, resulting in my article “Is There a Covenant of Grace?” published in the autumn 1977 issue of a magazine. The article sparked both support and controversy, as I argued that we are under grace, not under Moses.
Challenging Traditions: Dispensationalism and the Reformed Heritage
My background straddled two traditions: American fundamentalism and the Reformed tradition. In fundamentalism, I encountered dispensationalism, a system popularized by J.N. Darby, which taught that God has two separate purposes — one for Israel and one for the Church. This view, which became deeply rooted in American seminaries and churches, was later challenged in my thinking through the teaching of friends and my own study.
In 1978, I published my first book, which critiqued dispensationalism. I argued that God’s eternal purpose is in Christ, not in a separate destiny for Israel. Israel’s role was to point to Christ, and God’s plan is to bring Jew and Greek together into one body.
The Reformed tradition, on the other hand, was centered on Moses, Christ, and the Ten Commandments. In 1980, I wrote an article challenging this paradigm, contending that Christian theology has been dominated by law rather than grace. Paul, I argued, was Christ-centered, not Moses-centered. Moses pointed to Christ, not to the law as an end in itself.
The Centrality of the Cross and the New Commandment
Through these revelations, I came to see that God has one eternal purpose in Christ and one commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” The phrase “as I have loved you” points directly to the cross. In the New Testament, the love of God is almost always connected to the cross — God sent His Son, gave His Son, loved us through the cross.
This connection is often missing in visible Christianity. Many remain oriented around the Ten Commandments, unaware that we are under a new covenant with a new commandment. Over time, the centrality of the cross and the new commandment to love became increasingly clear to me.
The Vertical and Horizontal Dimensions of the Cross
There is a profound aspect of the cross that is often overlooked: its horizontal dimension. While the cross reconciles us to God (the vertical), it also creates a new humanity by reconciling Jew and Gentile, breaking down ethnic, social, and economic divisions. Ephesians 2 teaches that Christ abolished the law’s commandments to create one new humanity. As long as the law stood, Jew and Gentile were kept apart; Christ fulfilled and removed it so the two could become one.
Most theology books focus on the vertical aspect of the cross, neglecting its horizontal implications — the creation of the body of Christ, the new community. This neglect is partly due to the historical emphasis on church leadership, which has overshadowed the “one another” dimension of Christian life.
The Cross as the New Exodus
Another neglected theme is the cross as a new Exodus. Just as God delivered Israel from Egypt, Jesus accomplished a greater Exodus in Jerusalem, as described in Luke 9:31. This idea, though present in Scripture, is rarely developed in theological works. Seeing the cross as an Exodus is transformative — it reveals Christ’s work as delivering us from bondage into freedom.
The “One Anothers” and the Corporate Nature of the Church
The command to “love one another” led me to study the fifty-eight “one another” passages in the New Testament. These passages emphasize relationships, mutual care, and the corporate nature of the church. Yet, church history and theology have devoted little attention to them, focusing instead on leadership roles.
The New Testament vision is corporate — it’s about the body, about loving and serving one another, about using our gifts for the benefit of all. Conferences and teachings rarely focus on the “one anothers,” but frequently on pastors and leaders. This imbalance has obscured the true emphasis of the New Testament.
Conclusion
My journey has been one of continual discovery — seeing the centrality of Christ, the unity of God’s purpose, the radical implications of the cross, and the vital importance of loving one another in the context of the body. These themes have shaped my life and ministry, and I believe they are essential for the renewal of the church today.
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Author, speaker, editor of Searching Together, itinerant encourager of relational communities.
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