AA Frustrates the New Covenant -- Jesus Establishes it

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will. (AA, pg 85)

"We must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities."

Really?

That demand challenged me to no end. How was I supposed to know God's will? What did this declaration mean?

Such frustrations coincided with the Third Step of the AA cult, which impressed on me to turn my will and life over to a power greater than myself.

How does anyone do that? What does it mean?

All of these questions are never answered, because in effect there is no answer.

The whole AA program is dedicated to keeping people dependent to a program, a religious circus in which members go around and around trying to perfect themselves, when what they need, what we all need is life, and that more abundantly (John 10: 10)

How many times I would hear from members about their loneliness, their emptiness, their frustrationsin AA and Celebrate Recovery meetings.

Such a sad sight, and the AA cult perpetuates this dullness, this gray existence in which life is merely about staying one step ahead of the next drink.

Jesus is the better way, unlike the hollow, deceptive, and evil pronouncements in the Alcoholics Anonymous Book:

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14: 6)

Jesus has cut a New Covenant for us at the Cross, and the details of this New Covenant have not been preached enough:

"

10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

 

The New Covenant allows God to live within us by His Holy Spirit and permit Him to write His law on our hearts and minds. In effect, we receive a new spirit. He leads us from within, He works within us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2: 12-13). The safety-valve which prevents people from entering into a life of sin is the enforcing clause of this New Covenant:

 

He is merciful to our unrighteousness! He has paid for all our sins forever. We need never look at ourselves in order to measure up in our efforts, but rather He causes us to know Him intimately, and by His Spiri, by Christ Jesus living in us, we are more than overcomers." (Romans 8: 37)

 

Yet AA frustrates this New Covenant because the program teaches people to mindful of their sins, and to confess them and atone for them with amends.

 

There is no amendment we can perform which can rival, efqual, or egven accomodate

 

Nothing. In fact, to the degree that we continue to try in our efforts to be righteous, we frustrate God's New Covenant of grace, we fall, and we then entertain sin in our lives!

 

How terrible is that! Yet Bill W., I am convinced. was banking on just that kind of cyclical wandering/wondering so that people would "keep coming back" to his evil program.

 

Shame on AA. In Christ, you are not an alcoholic, you are definitely not anonymous, because He knows every hair on your head! He gives us all things in His Son. Your "job" is to believe on Him (John 6: 29) and receive from Him all things (Romans 8: 31-32)

Flesh Lusts Against Spirit -- Rest in Christ, and Lust No More

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (Galatians 5: 16-18)

When we try to be loving and obedient through our efforts, we end up doing the very things that we do not want to do.

The flesh, the dead Adam sin nature that every person is born with, is just terrible.

Jesus died on the Cross to deliver us from this body of death (Romans 7: 24) and to give us His life, and that more abundantly (John 10: 10)

AA, like all religions, bases its program on trying to make people better.

There is no improving our dead selves. There is no making "the old man" better.

For this reason, Paul relates at length to his readers in Ephesians that we have been taken from dead in our trespasses to alive and seated in heavenly places in Christ.

We have been promoted, not just resurrected, not just rejuvenated:

"Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17, ASB)

This love is an ever giving love, by the way, one which lavishes on us righteousness and grace at all times (Romans 5: 17)

I Hate AA -- Because It Distracted Me From His Love

One of the elements of AA which really bothers me is that the program causes you to focus on yourself.

When you are a new creation in Christ, you do not identify with your fallen flesh.

Your upsets, your hurts, any sense of pride, all of that pertains to Adam, to the old man from which we are delivered, and from the Old Man we receive Christ the second Adam, and the same takes us into Himself.

Many people claim that the Bible is not practical, when in fact, the Bible is all about showing us how Jesus is doing all things through us, and He wants us to rest and trust Him.

About the divisions between old man and new creation, and the painful struggles which result, look no further than Romans 7:

"21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7: 21-25)

We are not saved from ourselves by working Twelve Steps, but by stepping into the life which Christ Jesus gives us through His Death and Resurrection.

Our peace is not based on removing our feelings, but rather resting in His love, and letting his life pour through us.

In fact, our feelings of bitterness, or wrath, or anything else has nothing to do with us:

"1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 1-4)

What is this "death" that Paul writes about?

He explains in the previous chapter:

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2: 13-15)

We know the love of God because we know and believe that God sent His Son to die for us, and that through His death we are dead to the requirements of the law and now live in, through, and because of Christ Jesus!

AA teaches people to fix themselves. The Bible teaches us to fix our hearts on Him:

"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise." (Psalm 57: 7)

In the Book of Proverbs, Solomon writes:

"My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways." (Proverbs 23: 26)

Because of the Cross, we are all sons of God (1 John 3: 1-3), and the way is Christ Himself (John 14: 6)

Forget the Twelve Steps, forget about working a program, and growing in grace and knowledge of God's love for you!

How to Deal with Resentment: God's Love in Christ!

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. (AA, pg 66)

First of all, the notion that hurt feelings and burning sentiments will kill us is just not true.

People live in anger for years, and they may die of cancer or other autoimmune diseases in the long run, but the notion that resentment in and of itself will kill us is just ridiculous.

"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27Neither give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4: 25-27)

Anger is not a sin. Staying in wrath is a sin -- and the English translation treats this difference adequately.

Still, resentment, like many unhealthy emotions, is a product of our flesh, and wrath is ultimately all about our trying to fix our feelings, or to justify ourselves because we feel wronged or slighted.

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. " (Galatians 5: 19-21)

The solution to not walking in the flesh is not to fix the flesh, but rather to walk in the Spirit:

"16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." (Galatians 5: 16-17)

How do I do that?

Paul gives the solution in Ephesians:

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;" (Ephesians 5: 18)

How do I do that?

Paul gave the answer earlier in His Epistle:

"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power," (Ephesians 1: 17-19)

First, we need to grow in our understanding of how much God has done for us in Christ, and growing in knowledge of Him.

Then Paul shares in the third chapter:

"16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19)

No one had ever told me how much God loves me.

In fact, Jesus tells us perfectly:

"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John 17: 23)

God loves us as much as He loves Jesus.

John could not have written it better than in his first epistle:

"Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17. American Standard Version)

This love is more than some sick sentiment, but the certainty that because of Jesus' blood shed for us, we are taken from dead in our trespasses to seated in heavenly places in Christ, with His life and all blessings with Him (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

AA teaches the following for dealing with resentment:

This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code. (AA, p 84)

AA creates a terrible bind for individuals, one in which men and women are chronically running their lives by other people. The source of these resentments is never discussed nor dealt with. How can anyone expect to live through life without any crucial understanding of the truth that sets them free?

When we rest in the knowledge of God's love for us, then we in turn can be gracious to other people:

"31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4: 31-32)

"Forgive" more accurately means "be gracious"

How has God for Christ's sake been gracious to  us?

More than we can ever know fully, and for that reason, Paul wants us to receive a growing revelation of His love for us.

When you walk and develop this immersing sense of God's love for you, you are indeed walking in the Spirit, and thus you do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, including resentment.

To deal with resentment, remember how much God loves you, and your hatred, your upset, your frustrations will melt away.

Not Emotional Balance, But the Truth

We had to ask ourselves why we shouldn't apply to our human problems this same readiness to change our point of view. We were having trouble with personal relationships, we couldn't control our emotional natures, we were a prey to misery and depression, we couldn't make a living, we had a feeling of uselessness, we were full of fear, we were unhappy, we couldn't seem to be of real help to other people - was not a basic solution of these bedevilments more important than whether we should see newsreels of lunar flight? Of course it was.

When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did. (AA, pg 52)

The "God Idea" never begins with man.

God was and is and always:

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1: 1)

This statement, this truth, did not spring from within ourselves, but the need for God lives within every man.

For we come from God, and He wants us to return to Him.

For this reason, He sent His Son to bring us to Himself:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5: 17-19)

We are called to believe on Him whom the Father has sent for us (John 6: 29)

We do not need help to deal with our lives.

We need a new life.

We do not need a source of emotional balance, but rather we need to renew our minds to a new identity in Christ, that we are a new creation, with a new Spirit living in us, and a new covenant cut for us:

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

This Covenant we receive as a matter of revelation, that Jesus Christ has done all the work, and we rest in Him and receive from Him.

Emotions are a mere trigger of what we are thinking. If we bring our minds in line with the Truth, the Word of God, then the fruit of the Spirit is released in our lives, no matter what.

God is not some idea, but the Person through whom all things are made, including ourselves.

We do not need emotional balance, but rather the truth which sets us free: Jesus!

Let Go of "Letting Go" for Good

"Let Go and Let God."

This mantra, like many others in AA, seems to offer comfort.

Yet "God" has too many meanings for people, and as sensate beings, we are not that good at believing the best unless we can see it, or trust that the person, or God, we are trusting will  hold us and our situation in place.

The fact of the matter is that without a sure knowledge that God has moved first in our lives, we will never let go.

We need to understand, rather, that God has taken care of everything for us.

And He did this through His Son, Jesus Christ!

This truth cannot be a matter of a limited or self-centered conception of some Higher Power.

Furthermore, running Jesus through the Twelve Steps inevitably brings Him down to  a level of a man-made deity, one who could not complete everything on His own, but needs something from us as well.

More specifically, this notion of "Let Go and Let God" implies that we are holding onto something, that we must release our hold on whatever is holding us back, so that we can allow God to move in our lives.

The reality is quite different.

All men are born dead in their trespasses, in that we are separated from God because of a sin nature.

We do not just do bad things, but in fact we are bad through and through, and we need a Savior not just to help us, but to give us life.

We do not come to God with anything, but He comes to us, who have nothing:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

Instead of acting as if we can do (or that we must do) something, we are to look to Christ:

"1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5: 1-2)

We have been justified in Christ. Our faith does not then create this justification as much as our faith recognizes that Jesus has paid it all, and we enter into his grace.

This same Jesus, who was crucified for our sin and raise for our justification, allows us to continue receiving his righteousness and grace:

"17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5: 17)

When we understand that we have received a new life in Christ, we then no longer identify with old, dead Adam, or our former selves:

"8Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 8-11)

Reckon yourselves dead to sin, to shame, and to any sense of "have to, or else."

Because of all that Jesus has done, He is taking care of all tings for us:

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)
\
This life is not about daily dying to ourselves, but to continue bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10: 5), that He has done all things, and we are called to believe on Him (John 6: 29)

This idea of "Letting Go" implies that God is not holding onto us or to certain things in our lives.

Paul the apostle slays that lie once for all in recognizing Christ fully and forever as the Center of this Universe:

"And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:L 17)

"Consist" literally means "held together".

Jesus holds everything. It's not about letting go, but renewing our mind to the truth that Jesus Christ is holding everything in place, so stop trying to do so in your own strength.

No longer "Let Go and Let God", but rather "Grow in Grace and Knowledge of the Lord" (2 Peter 3: 18)

The Spiritual Life is Not a Theory, but a Person: Jesus!

The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it. Unless one's family expresses a desire to live upon spiritual principles we think we ought not to urge them. We should not talk incessantly to them about spiritual matters. They will change in time. Our behavior will convince them more than our words. We must remember that ten or twenty years of drunkenness would make a skeptic out of anyone. (AA, pg 83)

This passage makes no sense when a man has an understanding of all that Jesus has done for us at the Cross.

The spiritual life is not something that a mortal man creates on his own in the first place. If the Twelve Step program claims that we have been "reborn", then how does all of this talk about working a spiritual program fit in?

The Bible could not be clearer: flesh and spirit, man's effort and God's work, cannot mix:

"6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8: 6-8)

And also

"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." (Galatians 5: 17)


"Flesh" is more than sin, but anything that speaks of human effort, human initiative, actions which spring from self, instead of our resting in Christ, and letting His life live through u s.

And there we come to the bigger problem associated with this concept of "we have to live this life."

The Christian life is not an "it", not a program, not a purpose or mindset.

Life is a Person: Jesus Christ:

"10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)

and then

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." 9John 14: 60

Paul affirms for us that He is our life:

"0I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)


To the Colossians, Paul reminds them:

"1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 1-3)

Our life on this earth is Christ. He does not give us life, He gives us more than just help to live life -- He is Life, the Light of the World and the Wisdom which holds all things together.

We are not called to do more, but rather to believe on Him (John 6: 29), and as we see Him in greater fullness, growing in grace and knowledge of Christ and Him Crucified (2 Peter 3: 18), then He leads us in all things.

Forget Painstaking -- He Takes Care of Your Past

"If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it." (AA, pg 83)

The past is nothing to God, because Jesus took all the pains for our past:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

Jesus is the Mercy Seat, or the full payment, for not just our sins, but the sins of the whole world:

"1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 JOhn 2: 1-2)

Jesus is our Advocated today, representing us at the right hand of God the Father, and we are in Christ:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

and

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

In Christ, we have received His righteousness, His standing, and all that He is lives within us.

Because we are in Christ, God the Father does not see us, and He does not see our sin:

"

10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

 

God does not remember our sins because He has remembered them once and for all forever in the body of His Son Jesus Christ.

 

God does not forgive us out of pity of sentiment, but out of righteousness, because Jesus paid for it:

 

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1: 9)

 

God is faithful, honoring what His Son did, and He is just, because Jesus paid for all our sins. If God still remembered our sin, He would be unjust, in that He would not honor what His Son did for us at the Cross, remembering and bearing our sin!

 

Forget about painstaking development. Beloved child of God. Jesus took all the pain, and He has taken care of your past.

"Painstaking" Will Give You Pain: Jesus Gives You All Things

"If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it." (AA, pg 83)

Any works on our behalf, in our own strength, to effect the right living that defines righteousness will never produce the life that we need.

Paul warned the Galatians about returning to a system of rules and laws:

"8However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods.9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?10You observe days and months and seasons and years.11I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain." (Galatians 4: 8-11)

Just as members of AA observe meetings and celebrate "sobriety dates", so too the Galatian church were going back to the Jewish customs and seeking to live under the Old Covenant of law, which included the Ten Commandments.

The writer of Hebrews mentions that the Old Covenant is passing away:

"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8: 13)

The law, which the Galatians were returning to, was imperfect because of man, who cannot keep the law:

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." (Romans 3: 19)
Paul then wrote to the Romans:

"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Romans 5: 20)

The law was never about showing man the way to live, but bringing man to die, so that he would recognize his need for the Savior, who then becomes a God to us, and leads us from within.

Here are the specifics of the New Covenant which Jesus cut for us at the Cross:

"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

"11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 

"12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

 

The New Covenant does not include anything that we do, but rather focuses everything on God, who cuts the covenant with Jesus Christ, our mediator and representative at the right hand of the Father:

 

"22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel." (Hebrews 12: 22-24)

 

Because of this new covenant, we can trust that God will supply all our needs (Philippians 4: 19):

 

"31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)'

 

Instead of taking pains, reckon yourself dead to sin (Romans 6: 11), and bring every condemning and fearful thought into obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10: 5)

Forget Painstaking: Jesus Took All the Pains

"If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half way through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it." (AA, pg 83)

Working for freedom is another Orwellian double-speak webbed throughout Alcoholics Anonymous.

The program claims that men and women who work the Twelve Steps, including the act of sharing their experience, strength, and hope with others, will find this new life.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Men and women in AA go to meetings day in, day out, week in, weakly out.

There is no end to an empty existence in which a member must share his faults, his defects of character, with another person, while forever looking over his shoulder worrying about taking the next drink.

How can anyone walk though life in connection with an identity of "alcoholic" and be proud of it?

Jesus Christ did not die on the Cross so that men and women would reduce themselves to identifying with a failing, one which supposedly corrodes their ability to think and feel, one which tells the person that they must forever measure up to a program which does not work, designed inevitably to keep a man in bondage.

Furthermore, the idea that we must work for this life is both demeaning and deceptive.

Jesus Christ came that we might have life, and that more abundantly (John 10: 10)

If we need life, then any notion of our working for it will fall apart.

Jesus did all the work on the Cross, and there is not one thing that we need to do, or that we can do, so that we can receive Himself into us:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

Jesus took all the pains for our sins, something that we could not do:

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:" (1 Peter 3: 18)

Let's take a closer look the sufferings which Jesus endured for us, and what they grant to us":

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53: 3-5)

 

God could not abitrarily forgive sins, or He would contradict His nature as Light. Because God is Love (1 John 4: 10)

 

"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9: 22)

 

Jesus died for all the sins of the world once for all (1 John 2: 2). The notion that anyone of us can add to His full, final, and forever sacrifice for is not just wrong, but arrogantly so:

 

"14For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. . .
"18Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin." (Hebrews 10: 14, 18)

 

There is nothing left for us to do in order to be established in righteousness before God the Father.

 

Jesus took all the pains for our sin, that we may rest in His righteousness and receive His grace, because Christ now lives in us (Colossians

Let Go of "Let Go and Let God"

The mantra "Let Go and Let God" sounds good.

Who would not want to release all things into the hands of a higher power?

The problem, however, for many people is that this higher power turns out to be untrustworthy, unless we understood God in Truth, which is through the Bible and seen fully in His Son Jesus Christ.

I remember one member of AA, whose conception of God was badly shaken on 9-11.

"How could a loving God allow two planes to crash into the World Trade Center?"

Men must understood the power of God's Word and the covenants, which He cannto break arbitrarily.

God made a covenant with Adam, that if he ate from the wrong tree, then he and his descendants would surely die.

He ate, and he died, and to this day, men born from the womb are dead in their trespasses, until they receive Christ, believing that He died on the Cross for their sins and was raised for their justification.

Because Jesus died on the Cross, God the Father is fully and forever reconciled to the world (2 Corinthians 5: 17-21)

But if men and women do not believe on Him, then they remain dead in their trespasses and condemned (John 3: 16-18)

The world is still a fallen world, and the Holy Spirit still convicts the world of sin and their need for a Savior. Once a man is saved, passing from death to life in Christ Jesus, then the same Spirit lives in that person to convict him of righteuosness (John 16: 8-11)

The same Jesus who died for us, who lives for us, also holds us in His hands:

"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10: 28)

There is nothing for us to let go of, because everything that we have, Jesus has, holds, and forever.

"Let God and Let God" is too man-centered, like everything else in these Twelve Step programs.

We have to take our inventory, as if God does not know what we have done. He even knows the words in our mouths before we speak them. He has searched us and known all things, yet he does not cast us off. Because we are in Christ, we are accepted (Ephesians 1: 6), fully glorified, and invited to allow Him to live in us (Colossians 1: 27)

Instead of focusing in ourselves, our feelings, our frustrations, our hurts and fears, we are called to rest and recognize that we are in Christ, we have no further concourse with sin, condemnation, or death in our lives, and that He is working within us, to perfect the work that He started, and to work within us both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 1: 6; 2: 12-13)

Let Go of this silly "Let Go and Let God" concept. Jesus already has you in His hands, and He is not letting you go!

Fear is Overcome in Christ, not through Us

"We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear." (AA, pg 68)

This passage is a blatant lie.

It's just not true.

Every day, I worked at trying not to be afraid. I would psych myself up, I would say that there is no reason to fear.

Yet fears ran rampant in my life. Just when I thought that I had the fear thing taken care of, whatever person, place, or thing that had been intimidating me would set me off once again.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fraud and a scam which keeps people in bondage, even though the book and the people in the program claim that "it works, it really does."

The Bible is the source of Truth, because the Bible speaks of one person: Jesus!

How do we get rid of fears?

David offered the source:

"I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." (Psalm 34: 4)

David sang this psalm while in the cave of Adullam, which speaks of rest. He was pursued by his enemies, he had no friends to trust to, to look to for help. He was surrounded by four hundred men who were in debt, distressed, and discontented (lit. embittered in their souls).

He did not look to man for help. He looked to the LORD -- YHWH, was, is always.

What he prayed for, whom He sought, this Wonderful LORD is Jesus Christ!:

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Hebrews 13: 8)

When the writer of Hebrews described Jesus as "yesterday, today, forever", they understood right away the reference to the Name, the Holy God of Israel.

The same Lord who spoke the worlds into existence now lives in every person who calls on the name of Jesus:

"To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 6)

"The Beloved" is Jesus!

He lives in us, too!

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" (Colossians 1: 27)

and

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)

What is fear, then? It's a spirit, and it is not from God:

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8: 15)

and

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1: 7)

Because fear is a spirit, not something that we think of or do on our own, not something which emerges from ourselves, we cannot think of overcoming fear by our efforts.

John writes about the love of God, and how this love casts out every fear in our lives:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

Because we have passed from death to life in Christ Jesus, we no longer identify with our bodies, with our thoughts, with our feelings, but with Jesus, who is seated in full and forever glory at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 2: 6-8)

God has shown us this love, in that through Christ we become sons of God with Christ (1 John 3: 1-3)

Yet we need to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18) and learn the full measure of God's love for us in Christ (Ephesians 3: 16-19)

When we understand this love, then:

18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 JOhn 4?: 18)

At its core, fear speaks of a sentiment that God is still out to get us, to punish us. Yet if we are in Christ, and there is no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8: 1), then we have nothing to fear (not even ourselves).

This love, by the way, does not originate with us:

"19We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4: 19)

We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 17), and thus fears of any kind are not us. They do not belong to us, they have nothing to do with us, and therefore the perfect love of God, demonstrated in the Finished Work of Jesus at the Cross, casts out all fear from our lives.

Indeed, we are more than conquerors in Christ (Romans 8: 37) because of all that Jesus has done, not anything that we do (and that includes Twelve Steps, which lead to nowhere but death)

Reckon Yourself Dead to Sin (Defects of Character)

The Christian Life is not about getting better about living.

It's about growing in grace and knowledge of Life Himself: Christ Jesus.

Jesus did not come to make bad men good, but rather make dead men live.

The death that works in every man comes to the forefront in the face of theTen Commandments. God did not provide the Law in order to give us a standard to live by, but rather to force us to acknowledge that we cannot live the holy life through our own efforts:

"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:" (Romans 5: 20)

The law was not meant to justify us, but rather show that we are unrighteous in and of ourselves.

AA, like any other religious system, posits to members that through their efforts, men and women can claim progress (never perfection) over their addiction to alcohol or any other perversion.

Man is still seeking life, and yet his attempt to reach for life in his own strength inevitably tarnishes it with death.

"We never apologize to anyone for depending upon our Creator. We can laugh at those who think spirituality the way of weakness. Paradoxically, it is the way of strength. The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear." (AA, pg 68)

Jesus Christ does not just give us life. Jesus Christ is Life. Creation receives scant attention in the Bible. God is all about redemption today and forever, and redemption is found and founded in Jesus!

When we accept that God and Christ are all about passing from death to life, not just about not drinking, not sinning, not doing bad things, then we receive the life that He so freely offers us.

I cannot tell you the amount of time I spent trying to fix my feelings, trying to get rid of resentments, and finding that every person, place, or thing would set me off nonetheless. All of those hurt feelings are a mere manifest of our dead Adam sinful nature. When we rest in Christ, when we receive His righteousness, then we can let go of all the old and dead and harmful ways, including addictions to substances.

I was convinced that how I felt would determine whether God was with me or not. I was living in feelings all the time, lolking at myself, constatncly looking boer my shoulder to make sure that I dod not do or say something wrong.

AA does not make us more God-centered. The program makes us more self-centered!

We cannot see or understand God without first seeing and respecting his Son:

"8Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (John 14: 8-9)

 We are called to see Jesus, not ourselves, to receive His life, not try to live a better life on our own.

All of this starts and ends with our reckoning ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ:

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6: 11)

How AA Works (Against Us)

For a long time, I wondered why I was so fearful about life.

A lingering need to run my life by other people never quite left me.

One summer, after my first year at college, I came home struggling with a sense of what was I supposed to be doing with my spare time.

I did not realize it at the time, but my life had become quite reactive and reactionary, in which I was often waiting for someone to tell me what to do, tell me what to think, how to act, and how to responds to difficult circumstances in my life.

After awakening to righteousness in Christ (1 Corinthians 15: 34), I began to see that Alcoholics Anonymous teaches people to keep identifying with their failings.

When we see ourselves, we see how we do not measure up to any standard, even the ones that we lay out for ourselves.

"The physician who, at our request, gave us this letter, has been kind enough to enlarge upon his views in another statement which follows. In this statement he confirms what we who have suffered alcoholic torture must believe-that the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal as his mind." (The Doctor's Opinion)

The Alcoholic has an abnormal mind.

The further dehumanization of those who suffer from alcohol addiction receives greater scrutiny with the book:

Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. (AA. pg 30)

In reality, how different are people who drink too much from other people who do not abuse alcohol, regarding the mind?

Not much really. A man's drinking problem, or any other abuse, stems not from a mental deficiency, but a sense of reproach, of guilt, of condemnation. This sick sense of self is all the more pervasive for those who see themselves as alcoholics, men and women who are forever consigned with a label which limits them.

Psychiatrists and social workers have studied the pernicious effects of labeling people. Men and women in their adult years still carry within themselves the painful stigmas inflicted on them from their parents, from their formative years.

The solution to any perversion cannot rest on blasting people as "mentally different", but rather afflicted with a lie about who they are.

However, because members of AA are indoctrinated to believe that they are "bodily and mentally different" from other people, they also  learn that they cannot trust their own thinking, they begin relying on other people to think for them.

They learn to be dependent on the thoughts and directions of sponsors and other people in the meetings.

I was taught, because of the AA cult, that how I felt could block from "the sunlight of the Spirit."

I have since learned that this lie, among many others, created this emotional dependence in my life, that I could not make my own decisions, since I was bound with "stinking thinking".

Our thinking oftentimes rests in our perceptions of ourselves and others. What basic truth of ourselves are we resting in?

Do we see ourselves alive in Christ or dead in Adam? We have two choices as far as identity is concerned, and the choice ends up being even simpler than that:

Either Jesus Christ is Lord, and He died on the Cross for our sins to give us His life, or He is a fraud whom we must reject and thus look to ourselves for all things.

When the matter of identity has been resolved, then our thinking rests on the truth which sets us free:

"31So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8: 31-32)


Then

"36“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8: 36)

And finally:

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3: 17)

What do you do when you cannot trust your own thinking? You believe on Him whom the Father hath sent!

Not a Life Better Managed, but a New Life in Christ

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

These steps declare the glaring errors of Alcoholics Anonymous, a cult which infuses its members with a false identity, then prescribes a series of steps which keep a man wandering in self-centered guilt, shame, and fear.

The steps claim that a man's life is unmanageable, then claims that he must be restored to sanity.

Yet the Alcoholics Anonymous book posits in another passage:

Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power? (AA, pg 45)

Then:

When we sincerely took such a position, all sorts of remarkable things followed. We had a new Employer. Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well. Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. More and more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life. As we felt new power flow in, as we enjoyed peace of mind, as we discovered we could face life successfully, as we became conscious of His presence, we began to lose our fear of today, tomorrow or the hereafter. We were reborn. (AA, pg 63)

But then:

 Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

 

So what is it, then? Do we need power, a new birth, a restoration of sanity, or a spiritual awakening?

 

Because of the evasive terms refering to the transformation, one can only conclude that this program is a nullity.

 

We do not need a new mindset, a set of principles, or steps. We do not need to make our lives better, we do not need a new life.

 

We need life (period!). We need life, and that more abundantly:

 

"  16“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.18“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3: 16-18)

 

Jesus did not come to make bad men good,  but to make dead men live:

 

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." (Ephesians 2: 1-3)

 

Jesus is the life that we need. for He is Life:

 

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10: 10)

 

and

 

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (Joh 14: 6)

 

We do not need to manager our lives better, nor do we need to turn our will and our lives over to some higher power that we try to understand, but rather we need to believe on Jesus, whom God the Father sent to die for us, to live for us, to live through us, that we may live in glory with Him forever.

 

He is our life (Colossians 4: 3), and the life that He gives us is a life which works within us both to will and to do for His good pleasure, too (Philippians 2: 12-13)

 

Forget Step three, and all the other steps of the Alcoholics Anonymous Cult. Look to Jesus, and let His faith live in you (Hebrews 12: 2; Galatians 2: 20-21)

Resentment is Not You, Beloved (the Time Factor)

To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. (AA, pg 66)

This passage used to bring me into incredible bondage, all the more because I would fear getting resentful and angry, and then I would get angry about getting angry.

The truth is that we are not holding this world together, nor are we responsible in and of ourselves to make the most of every day.

"My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me." (Psalm 31: 15)

With God, time is not a factor, anyway:

"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Peter 3: 8)

Jesus made the best wine out of water in no time:

"8And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." (John 2: 8-11)

The best wine takes decades, yet Jesus made the best wine in no time flat. Jesus is the Lord of Time, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13: 8) Instead of wondering how to use our time, or fearing that we have wasted our time, let us look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith (Hebrews 12: 2).

When we see Jesus, we see God the Father:

"If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." (John 14: 7)

How does God the Father treat us when we have lost everything, wasting so much of our time?

Look at the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15: 11-32, and you will find the perfect picture of God's grace. The younger son who had blatantly disinherited his father by demanding his inheritance up front, who then squandered his wealth on wild living, who was reduced to feeding pigs and starving for their slop, who remembered who he was (and more importantly who his father is), an returned home.

How did the Father respond?

"And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." (Luke 15: 20)

Not only that, but the younger son received the best robe, shoes for his feet, and the Father's ring, which endowed him with power and authority to conduct business in his Father's name.

For all the money that the younger son lost, he regained and more because of his father's lavish love, and he was even promoted.

Do not worry about lost time. Look to Jesus, and He will restore all that you have lost and provide so much more.

Resentment is Not You, Beloved in Christ

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. (AA, pg 66)

This passage is wrong, wrong, wrong on so many counts, that there are too many to count.

But for the sake of knowing the Truth who sets us free -- Jesus (John 8: 32, 36) -- let us pick off a number of falsehoods in this passage.

"A life which includes deep resentment. . .."

The life of Christ which animates every believer is free of sin, including resentment.

Any sense of wrath and frustration belong to the "old man", or our dead nature.

Paul instructs us no longer to identify with the frustrated alienation of men and women still dead in their trespasses:

"17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Ephesians 4: 17-18)

Then Paul tells them what to "do" instead:

"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4: 22-24)

This new man does not identify with wrath, frustration, or resentment:

"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4: 31-32)

"Be put away" should be translated "be lifted up", all of which is based on God's graciousness to us through Christ.

We do not identify, nor even try to break free from resentment, but rather reckon ourselves dead to such sin and alive in Christ (Romans 6: 11-12)

Look at Jesus, Not Your Feelings or Actions, to Break Free

This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along. We vigorously commenced this way of living as we cleaned up the past. We have entered the world of the Spirit. Our next function is to grow in understanding and effectiveness. This is not an overnight matter. It should continue for our lifetime. Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty, resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of others is our code. (AA, pg 84)

"When these things crop up" implies that we must identify and remove the upsets, tremors, tumults in our lives.

The Bible teaches us to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus (Romans 6: 11-12)

Our walk in Christ has nothing to do with fixing our feelings, but rather fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is everything (Colossians 1: 15-20), and He transforms us from glory to glory.

AA claims that we are responsible for fixing our emotions and repairing our responses, a life in which we look at our thoughts and feelings, always keeping an eye on ourselves when we feel selfish, frightened, or anything else.

Resentment, especially is the "Number One Offender":

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. (AA, pg 66)

The distortions, fabrications, and outright lies of this passage are too numerous to treat in one post, so for the sake of brevity I will focus on the passage which declares that resentment "cuts us off from the sunlight of the Spirit."

Nothing could be further from the truth:

"37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 37-39)

As I was growing up, I believed that if I felt angry, frustrated, or resentful, I had to do something about those feelings before I could come to God, or before God could work in my life.

The Bible not only tells us to reckon ourselves dead to sin, in that we do not partake of any sens eof condemnation because of such feelings, but that we should come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4: 16). Grace means "unmerited favor", that we do not earn it because of anything that we do or say, or even feel.

In fact, we are invited to come to Jesus as we are, because when we believe on Him, we become children of God (1 John 3: 1-3), and God the Father sees us as His own Son (1 John 4: 17), because we are in Christ (1 Corinthians 3: 23) and He is in us (Colossians 1: 27)

Moreover, we can trust that the Holy Spirit who comforts us with the indwelling life of Jesus Christ ensures that we will be more like Him:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14: 26)

and

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3: 18)

As we grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18), we become more like Him in our walk and talk and every other aspect of life on this earth, because He is our life (Colossians 3: 4).

Instead of wasting time trying to perfect our flesh (including our thoughts and feelings), we are called to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5: 16), which makes us more like Jesus, who lives in us.

And if we still struggle with feelings, follies, failures, we can rest assured that Jesus is working on  us:

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1: 6)

and then

"12So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;13for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2: 12-13)

Look at Jesus, see Him in greater glory, and the resentments, upsets, fears, and frustrations of your flesh will fall away.

Errors of Alcoholics Anonyous: Preaching Another Jesus

1Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (2 Corinthians 11: 1-4)

My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea. He said, "Why don't you choose your own conception of God?" (AA, pg 12)

In fact, Bill Wilson's suggest was neither novel nor worthy. Men have been choosing their own conceptions of God for centuries, with disastrous results.

Isaiah prophesied against such folly:

"They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship." (Isaiah 46: 6)

Yet the LORD could not have been clearer:

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me," (Isaiah 46: 9)

Anyone who claims that they can work a Twelve Step Program with Jesus as the Higher Power has no full understand of Scripture or the devious designs behind Alcoholics Anonymous.

Paul was not subtle in denouncing the subtlety of Satan, how he brings another Jesus, one who expects a few concessions and rule-keeping from believers in order to receive his blessings.

We are not saved by works, we are not kept saved by works, either:

"But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they."
(Acts 15: 11)

and

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" (Ephesians 2: 8)

We are not perfected, either, by works, but we are called to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!

"9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." (Romans 5:" 9-10)

If Jesus died for our sins, all the more we are saved by His life (not our efforts to live the Christian life)

Paul explained to the Galatians how he lived:

"I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 21)

Paul then took a harsher take with the Galatians, who like many Christians in Twelve Step programs, believe that rule-keeping and program-working can make them perfect in Christ:

"2This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3: 2-3)

It's not about our doing more, but our seeing more of Jesus, who is our life:

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3: 18)

and

"1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3: 1-3)

Alcoholics Anonymous is just another religious system which informs us that we must do certain things to be saved or to maintain our holiness in Christ.

The Bible could not be clearer. Jesus is simple. He died on the Cross to rescue us from our sin and to grant His life (and all other blessings) through righteousness and grace.