I Lived Under Competing Rules -- Now Under a Completed Savior!

I look back on many of the problems, hurts, setbacks, and pains that I had endured.

People would harrass or hurt me, and yet I was so afraid to saying anything or to stand up and say "Stop!"

I did not like what they were doing, but then two fears would flood into my mind:

"What if I get in trouble for speaking my mind?"

and

"What if I am wrong?"

These two premonitions are based on condemnation.

We so fear failure. We are so afraid of doing something wrong not because it is wrong even, but rather because we fear the reproach of men.

I never realized how fully free I was from the law.

No longer are we to be led by outer constraints.

We are now constrained by the Love of Christ.

His love is a perfect love, one which casts out all fear!

"There 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)

This passage makes perfect sense to me now--at least much more than it did before!

We are not set free from sin to live in fear of sinning.

We are set free from sin to allow His life to live in and through us unimpeded!

I still fretted constantly about what God would do or not do if I did something wrong.

Now I understand more deeply that I am free, because I am free to fail.

I am free from sin, because I am free to sin without condemnation

The freedom comes about because there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)

Now there are no longer competing rules and standards.

There is one standard: Jesus!

Jesus has fulfilled the law for me and for all!

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Romans 10:4)

Jesus is our life, and He has made all things for us!

"And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" (Colossians 2:10)

No Longer Guided by Condemnation

We are not set free through Don't, Don't, Don't.

There may be an appearance of holiness, but it is skin deep, if at all.

We need not behavior modification, but a heart transformation!

That is how Jesus sets us free!

"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)

When you are dead, you are going to do dead things.

We  need righteousness, and through Jesus, this righteousness gives us life, and causes us to live in line with His peace and joy:

"In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." (Proverbs 12:28)

and also

"For 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)

And

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4)

We are not guided by fears and threats.

We are not guided by rules and regulations.

He is our ruler, and He lives in us.

Jesus causes us to walk in His ways!

"And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:27)

This promise is fulfilled in Christ Jesus:

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)

He writes His directives on our hearts and minds, because we believe fully and forever that our sins are covered, cleansed put away FOREVER!

Today, you and I are no longer guided by outside dictates, but by His inward life!

We Are Free From the Law

The Twelve Step cult is an easy "self-helpless" program.

Instead of reminding people of the truth, that we are creations of God, and He seeks to adopt us to restore our standing as children, we are taught that we have to work hard to maintain our status before Him.

We have to "work a program."

We have to confess our sins/short-comings/setbacks/whatever.

That does not explain or expound the Gospel.

What does the Bible say about our freedom in Christ?

"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

and

"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:6)

and even:

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2)

We are not under law. We are freed from the law.

We are not set free by trying hard, or harder.

We are set free by His life:

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

34Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 36If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:31-36)

He sets us free!

Jesus, the Way the Truth and the Life! (John 14:6)

There is no freedom from sin and shame in our lives through efforts.

All of it comes from the knowledge of God's grace and truth, met in Christ Jesus:

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)

Now, there is not only the Ten Commandments, from which we are now dead through Christ.

There are our own little laws, rules, and regulations that we have imposed on ourselves, or which other people have imposed on us.

We must cast off the hollow dictates which other people have placed on us.

Check out what Paul shared with the Colossians:

"20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." (Colossians 2: 20-23)

We are dead from the little petty rules which men impose on others. The traditions of men nothing. The Truth of Jesus and all that He is, has, and does--that makes the difference!

No Other Law But Faith

Whether we realize it or not, many of us live by internal rules we have set for ourselves.

We tell ourselves what we should and should not do.

When we fail, we miserably attack ourselves, and hold ourselves to high standards.

This was my life.

I lived under the rule and drill of the Twelve Step program, too, which mandated all of these demands and requirements.

Every day I was required to take my own inventory. It was my job to figure out in some arbitrary fashion.

There is no strengthening or improving ourselves through our efforts.

We need the grace of God, and His life to move us and keep us.

Not our greatness, but His goodness.

Not our rules, but His rule over us and within us.

Many times, I found myself getting so angry with myself. I had failed in many cases. Whatever standards I was living by, I had failed.

Those standards were not even Biblical based on the Old Testament.

I had placed a rugged necessity on myself to right every wrong, to take down and shame anyone who had hurt me or made me feel bad.

Now, today, I realize that in greater measure a lot of our shame and pain comes from not measuring up to standards which ... don't really measure up in the first place!

We are delivered from the law to live under grace:

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

We are not guided by law, which actually brings out sin:

"But 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." (Romans 7:23)

The law is good, but it cannot make me good.

"For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." (Romans 7: 11-13)

Now, this revelation applies to our own self-imposed rules.

Any standard that is not Jesus does not measure up.

It cannot.

Let's keep it simple, just as Jesus did when explaining to the earnest Israelites during His earthly ministry:

"Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6:28-29)

and then

"23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3: 23-25)

How do we live, then?

No longer by law, or even our own little rules of conduct.

We live by faith!

"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17)

and also

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." (Romans 3:23-25)

We are called to live by no other law than faith!

We are dead to the law.

And our rules and standards no longer matter. The Twelve Step program is a perverse form of man's rules trying to make a man good.

It cannot work, It never will work.

We are not called to strife in our flesh. We are called to rest in His grace.

Let us trust in His grace and receive His gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17)

We Are Free From Sin When We Know We Are Free to Sin

"Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." (Psalm 32:2)

David calls this man "blessed."

The man whom the LORD does not impute sin.

"Impute" means that he does not punish sin.

Now, the man still commits sin, does he not?

Otherwise, there would be no sin to impute in the first place!

So, what do we have here?

A picture of the Gospel!

Paul announced this clear change in covenants to his people:

"Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38-39)

We must understand that righteousness is a gift which God keeps on giving to us:

"For 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)

This gift is something that we receive, even when we sin (verb):

"7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (Romans 4:7-8)

Paul later explains that this gift of righteousness sets us free from sin!

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:1-4)

We are released from sin, when we recognize that we are released from the penalty and granted a new life!

This Gospel is a deep offense to man.

The moment that we tell people that all their sins are forgiven, they become fearful and indignant.

"You are giving them license to sin!"

Yet Paul knocks down that lie without blinking.

On the contrary--we are giving people the power to overcome sin.

In effect, men and women are set free from sin ... when they know that they are free to sin without punishment.

Let us not forget that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

Man needs LIFE!

Jesus came to provide us life--Himself!

I am free to sin?

No thanks!

Life is better! His life is the best!

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4)

When I know that there is no longer any condemnation for sin--guess what? I do not want to sin!

I receive His spirit and life, and I have no desire for dead things.

Now, how does this revelation relate to the Alcoholics Anonymous cult?

The AA cult is all about driving member and prospects to get busy and stay busy.

The whole program induces a sense of shame, then forces people to identify with this perversity.

How can anyone be set free if they wake up every day convinced that they are "born that way"?

Guess what? We are all born with sin, but Jesus came to relieve us of sin and to revive us with His Life!

Alcoholics Anonymous is a sham cult based on shame, with no other interest besides keeping men and women trapped in a cycle of defeat and self-loathing.