He awakened to me the power of God's grace, and the need for us to rest in His Spirit, rather than strive in our efforts.
Man is a spirit, from the moment God made man:
" 7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2: 7)
The breath of life, the Spirit of God, defines us.
We cannot be satisfied with anything in this world, because it is not eternal, like the Spirit of God:
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (1 John 2: 15-17)
The love of God (not for God) makes all the difference.
So, why do we see so many neuroses, so much dysfunction in the world and in the Body of Christ?
We do not understand that even though we are alive in our spirit, we still walk around in a body, and because of Adam's fall, we have inherited sin and death in our bodies.
"12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." (Romans 5: 12-14)
We have to stress that our bodies in and of themselves are not sinful, but in our flesh dwells sin, and the sin in our flesh remains, even for the believer, for the man and woman who have been redeemed:
"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)
Man-centered religion and cults stress man's efforts to improve himself. There is no improving our broken selves with broken self.
We need His life, and in Christ we find not only no condemnation for sin, but His Spirit within us leading us from grace to grace as we live from faith to faith (Romans 1: 17).
Now, for years, I was convinced that I could control or limit how I feel, or that I could keep bad feelings in check so that good feelings would thrive within and lead me.
I was a carnal creature, in that I was acting from a false understanding.
No one had told me that I was born again in my spirit:
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:" (Romans 8: 16)
and then
"And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!" (Galatians 4: 6)
Now, I was convinced that if I read my Bible enough times, or if I was listening to sermons, or if I prayed on my knees or in the spirit long enough, that I could rid of residual frustrations and setbacks which I felt in my life.
For too long, I was convinced recriminations of the past were feelings and thoughts that I was responsible for, that I have to make sure that I kept thoughts and feelings in check.
Feelings of fear and shame, I had believe, needed more learning or knowledge in order to ensure that I would never feel them again.
Today, I am learning that feelings of shame, despair, or fear are not feelings to identify with at all.
I am a spirit because of God's goodness, through all that His Son has done for me. I am not called to identify with my feelings, which oftentimes merely reflect what I am thinking.
It has been a long slog. I wanted to make sure that I never had negative feelings again. Like many Christians, I just want the bad thoughts and feelings never to pop up again.
That is not possible, as long as I walk around on this earth in this body.
For years, I would pray to God for Him to do something about these attacks of fear and frustration.
When nothing was done to stop them, I got scared and then despairing, because I had believed that God was angry with me or that He was not caring for me.
I have since learned that it is the grace of God in part that He did not answer my prayer. If He had done so, He would have had to take me off the face of the earth. He is not ready to remove me, since He is using me, as much as He works through all the members of the Body of Christ, to inform the world of His Gospel, that through Christ Jesus we are justified from all things that the law of Moses could never justify us (Acts 13: 38-39)
Yet I was raised to follow certain rules and keep myself in check. When the time came that those restraints were removed, I did pretty much whatever I wanted to. And life was very empty and unfulfilling.
Putting people under law will never grant people and growth. If we do not learn to identify and walk in the Spirit, we will find ourselves either indulging the flesh or biding our time in ascetic denial, which is not life and that more abundantly promised by Christ Jesus to all of us (John 10: 10).
We are called to walk in His Spirit, to rest in the Truth of His Word. We are called to a Person, Jesus!
Maturity is based on a proper understanding of God's righteousness, not ours:
"13For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Hebrews 5: 13-14)
Righteousness is by faith in what Jesus did, not in what we do.
Period.
When we recognize righteousness as a gift, then we can grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord, since we are no longer paying time and energy toward establishing ourselves:
"
8In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
9For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
11O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee." (Isaiah 54: 8-14)
From the wrath of God put away forever, to the truth that we are established in His righteousness (Romans 5: 17), and when we understand that His wrath has been put away because of the death of His Son, then we can rest assured that we may approach Him without reservation for every need (Hebrews 4: 16)
No comments:
Post a Comment